Friday, April 29, 2005

April 29 - Steph Sizzles Out

She gave it quite a run, but Stephanie was unable to pull the chicks together and ended up getting booted off Survivor last night. With seven people left – four women and three men – Stephanie tried lo launch a gender war but it was squashed by an alliance who felt she was just too dangerous to keep around any longer. After all, she was a threat to win some immunity down the stretch and nobody wanted to face her in the finals. So the final member of ULONG is now history and that leaves us with just six competitors: Tom, Ian, Greg, Jennifer, Karyn and Katie. The next ousting is really pivotal since the way I see it, there are basically two three-member alliances right now. Tom, Ian and Katie have been hooked up since day one and will probably stick together. So that leaves Greg, Jen and Karyn on the outside looking in. What makes this interesting is Greg and Jen have been banging each other so Karyn is really the swing vote here. Can she be brought into Camp 1 and make it 4-2 against Greg and Jen.? Greg better hope not since his days are numbered if she buys a ticket to the Final four with Team Tom. Conversely, can Greg hold Karyn in line and peel off Katie or Ian? That would expose Tom, who would be at risk if he does not own immunity at tribal council. The real wildcard here is Katie who has the trust of Ian and Tom but could always flip and turn the game around. If I had to guess, I would say she will be the one to shake things up down the stretch. It will be one of those game changing moments when she flips on Tom the moment he doesn’t have immunity. She probably doesn’t have the votes to win the whole thing, but if she does knock out Tom, she will have a shot at that second place check.

Baseball Bytes from Thursday Night: The Marlins watched helplessly as their last three games at Coors got washed out. The fish aren’t scheduled to go back to Colorado this year so how in the world are those games going to be made up? This happened with Boston and Cleveland a few years back and it absolutely destroyed the Sox pitching when they hade to play seven games in four days. The moral to this story is the fish will not be playing 162 games this year. The Brewers finally cooled off the Cards as Russ Branyon hit his fifth blast of the season. The Cards now move on to Atlanta where we will see two former A’s – Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson – hook up tonight. Wade Miller had a nice outing for Pawtucket last night and it now looks like he will make his Red Sox debut on May 8th. Miller’s return more then offsets the loss of Wells, but John Halama is not exactly Curt Schilling. The Royals flat out stink even though they did get to Joe Nathan yesterday afternoon. Baseball really needs to consider contracting that franchise. Mike Maroth had a nice line for the Tigers last night as Detroit moved back to .500. Aaron Boone had a night to forget, going 0-4, with three whiffs and five runners stranded. The Yanks finally got something out of Kevin Brown last night but they were absolutely hopeless at the plate against one of the AL’s worst pitchers. Look at some of the guys who have shut the Yanks down this year: John Lackey, Chan Ho Park, Bruce Chen and Hideo Nomo. That didn’t happen in year’s past. Gil Meche threw a nice game for the M’s, but Seattle has got to be wondering when Adrian Beltre will show up. His OPS is 400 points short of where it was a season ago. You got to wonder if the Mariners bought the high and are now perhaps stuck with something a bit better then ordinary. Tonight we have Clemens vs. Maddux which is twelve Cy Youngs and 634 career wins. There is also a big matchup in the Bronx where Roy Halladay will go up against Randy Johnson. With some guy fresh off the boat slated to go for New York tomorrow, the Yanks need the Big Unit to show up tonight or they run the risk of losing yet another series at home

Thursday, April 28, 2005

April 28 - Denver Bends Over in San Antonio

What the hell happened in San Antonio last night? Somebody from Colorado hasn’t been pounded like that since an Eagle County concierge went upstairs to swap spit with Kobe and ended up getting Bryant’s double-pump reverse jam. The only difference was Bryant lasted longer in that hotel room then the Nuggets did last night at the SBC Center. In case you missed it, the score of the Spurs- Nuggets game was 63-32 at the half. Who gets doubled up at half? Did someone on the Nuggets draw a yellow card early forcing the Noogies to play a man down? Listen, I understand the Noogies were playing with the House’s money and therefore they probably conceded the game, but there is never an excuse for getting doubled up half way through the game. Looking on the bright side for Denver, they now get to go home where they have been awesome and even though Tim Duncan was terrific last night, he doesn’t seem quite right. As such, I think the Spurs would gladly get this thing back to San Antonio all even. Has anyone other then myself realized that the this matchup features the home towns of two telco giants since SBC is based in San Antonio and Qwest is based in Denver? I wonder if the CEO’s of these companies have a side bet like Mayors and Governors often make on the Super Bowl. Here is one suggestion - if San Antonio wins, Qwest has to make Manu Ginobli its corporate spokesman and if Denver wins, Carmelo Anthony will get to headline SBC’s new DSL marketing campaign. I can just see it now: “If you want to be as quick as me, get DSL now!”

Notes from the National: You can officially scratch the Giants off your post-season invite list after Armando Benitez tore his hammy the other night. That is a minimum of four months which translates into at least a dozen blown saves from Matt Herges and Jeff Fassero. The Giants bullpen was a disaster last year with Herges and there is absolutely no reason to think Act II will be any different. I think at this point, Giants GM Brian Sabean has to take a hit but I’ll save that for later. The Astros were shut out yesterday by the Pirates, but that is no surprise since it is the fifth time this has happened to Houston since April 13. Pirate hurler Kip Wells had the honor yesterday which is somewhat surprising given the fact he entered the game with an ERA of 6.47, but I guess with Houston's Berkman-lite lineup, nothing is impossible. Greg Maddux is the next lotto winner to get a shot at this feeble lineup. The Braves absolutely have Tom Glavine’s number despite his protestations to the contrary. He got smacked around yesterday by his old team and that leaves him 1-7 with an ERA over nine against the Braves since coming to New York. If you don’t think Leo Mazzone isn’t the best pitching coach in the majors, just take a look at what he has down with Mike Hampton. The Jose Reyes watch has now reached 96 plate appearances without a walk. The century mark will be pierced Friday night at RFK. Mark Grudzielanek has one triple and one dong this year and he happened to hit them both yesterday while going for the cycle. The Cards have now won six in a row and eleven of twelve. They face Hudson on Friday and Smoltz on Sunday. Derrick Lee is tearing through the National League like Goerge Patton tore through France. He had two blasts yesterday and is now hitting .430 and slugging .800. Didn’t the Cubs get Lee for his glove? Here is a scary thought – Reds shortstop Felipe Lopez has a slugging percentage that is two hundred points higher then the Reds slap hitting centerfielder. Padres GM Kevin Towers really made a shrewd move at the end of spring training by trading for Tim Redding who is now 0-4 with an ERA of almost eight. Are you telling me the Padres couldn’t find someone from within the organization to put up Redding’s numbers? The Dodgers have officially cooled off while the Diamondbacks are officially hot. The Dbacks have won fourteen games this year while they only won 51 in all of 2004. Someone should call the Sports Bureau to see what the greatest one year turnaround in history is because these guys may have a shot.

Airmail from the AL: Here is the stat of the day – Mike Mussina threw 105 pitches last night and the Angels only missed five of them. Why do Yankee fans have any confidence in this guy? He had a miserable year in 2004 and he now is having trouble reaching 88 on the gun. This is the year Mike transitions from a bit above average to a bit below average. If you have Yankee tickets for tonight’s game, get there early because John Lackey against Kevin Brown will surely feature a 7:05 fireworks show. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these guys give up four home runs tonight before being lifted. The A’s cooled down the White Sox for a couple days but Chicago now gets to play Detroit, KC, Toronto and Tampa over its next dozen games. They could easily be 24-10 by the time their schedule toughens on May 12th. Jason Bonderman won his third yesterday but he has not exactly had the kind of breakthrough start many pundits were predicting. He hasn’t been bad, just not special. The same cannot be said of his teammate Carlos Guillen who has been terrific. You know the Indians have bullpen problems when Scott Sauerbeck gets time. Before popping up in Cleveland, Scotty was last seen cleaning out the latrine at Fenway. The best forty something lefties in the AL right now are - in order: Jamie Moyer, Kenny Rogers and Randy Johnson. Rogers held Seattle scoreless for six last night even though he walked five. Do the Twins play the Royals every night? It is no wonder people predicted the Twins would win 100 – it is because they play Kansas City 35 times. I don’t see how Scott Kazmir can handcuff the Sox and get drilled by the Jays. Maybe Boston should trade for Alex Rios and keep him around as their designated Kazmir killer.

I think it is about time somebody took at shot at San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean who has been coddled by the national media for far too long. Has Sabean done a good job in San Francisco? The answer to that question is a resounding yes. Since he took over in 1997, Sabean has built the Giants into a consistent winner that has been to four playoffs in eight years and was a Scott Spiezio at bat away from a world championship. Granted, Sabean inherited the central piece to these recent teams, but that shouldn’t cloud the fact that he has done a great job of re-tooling the Giants with a mid-market budget. But Sabean’s story has been a little less rosy of late and its time he took a hit. In case you haven’t followed the Giants, Sabean’s stable is a little bit long in the tooth. To be specific, Bonds is 40, Grissom is 38, Tucker is 34, Snow is 37, Alfonzo is 32 in Dominican years, and Durham is 33. If this wasn’t enough maturity, Sabean went out this off-season and acquired 32 year old Armando Benitez. 35 year-old Mike Matheny, 38 year-old Omar Vizquel and 40 year old Moises Alou. In sum, Sabena took an aging team and made it ancient. And guess what – it is now breaking down. Alou got hurt right out of the box, Bonds has missed April and will likely miss May and now Benitez is probably done for the season. Sabean can’t be faulted for all these injuries, but what do you expect when you rely on guys whose odometers have all turned over. I understand that Sabean was in a bit of a box this winter since Bonds is headed for jail and therefore there is pressure to win right now. But my critique is not just about the old guys Brian brought in this off-season. Look at this team – with the exception of Pedro Feliz, there is not a single home grown player in the lineup. Everyone is a mid-range free agent import and that suggests to me that Sabean has done a very poor job developing and keeping young players. Sure, he has uncovered some value in the free agent market, but where are the low cost farm hands that are a must for mid-market teams? Secondly, this is a team whose bullpen has stunk in recent years, but whose fault is that since Sabean was the one who gave up on the Twins all-star Joe Nathan. It was hard to predict Nathan’s rise, but that is what good GM’s are paid to do. Finally, what about the case of catcher A.J Pierzynski? With A.J around last year, the Giants got unusually good starting pitching but with him gone, Frisco’s staff ERA is third worst in the NL. Oh, by the way, A.J. went to the Chicago White Sox and their staff ERA is now TWO RUNS lower then what it was last year. Is that a coincidence? I don’t want to make it seem like I am a huge critic of Sabean, because I am not. Hell, he caught some bad luck with the Benitez injury, but he has made a number of questionable moves that deserve critique. You will never hear such critiques form Peter Gammons and the rest of Brian’s fan club, but I think its time somebody hit this guy with something other then 24 ounce gloves. Sabean has done a good job in Frisco, but the guy across the Bay is just much better in my estimation. You give Billy Beane the same budget as Brian, and he will win you some pennants. And he will do it with guys who weren’t old enough to vote for Michael Dukakis.

For those of you who still think Penn State football is relevant, I suggest you take a look at what happened at last weekend’s NFL draft. Not a single Nitany Lion was selected in the draft. More then 250 players were selected in the draft but not a single one had the privilege of matriculating under the tutelage of Tyrannosaurus Paterno. That is pretty staggering when you consider that players from Grand Valley State, William Penn and Tuskegee all had their names read at the podium over the weekend. So that begs the question: How much further can this program fall? They were 4-7 last year, 3-9 the year before and a less then ordinary 26-33 since 2000. So let me get this straight. Penn State doesn’t win and can’t put any players into the pros yet the school remains wedded to a seventy-eight year old coach. What are they waiting for in College Park? Is it going to take a winless season to get rid of Paterno? Will 1-10 with a high-profile sexual abuse case be enough? How about 2-9 and the disclosure that Paterno lied on the job application he first filed back in 1951? Would that do the trick? I couldn’t care less that Paterno is an institution in Central Pennsylvania. There are countless institutions that have outlived their usefulness and Paterno is one of them. Hell, communism’s final years in Russia were better than Joe’s most recent at Penn State and you don’t see that economic institution still in place. Last weekend just confirmed what I have been saying for several years. It is time for Joe to go!

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

April 27 - It ain't about the shoes

It is all about the shoes, according to Sean Farnham, an analyst for Southern California Sports Report. Listen to this theory. There is a kid from Mater Dei High School in Orange County named Taylor King who is supposed to be the second coming of Chris Mullin. I think this comparison is made because the kid is white and can shoot, but maybe he is just a drunk like good old “Twelve Pack” Mullin. Regardless, Taylor is being coveted by a number of big schools even though he said two years ago – as a freshman – he was going to attend UCLA. Obviously, as a high school freshman, he wasn’t allowed to sign a national letter of intent, but some deranged UCLA fans (myself not included) thought Taylor’s verbal was carved in stone. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Taylor dropped the expected bomb and said he was rescinding his oral commitment and opening up the bidding to other schools. The junior says he is still considering UCLA, but is also looking at North Carolina, Syracuse, Arizona, Gonzaga and UCONN. So how does Farhnam describe the situation? Well, his theory suggests that King is now taking a look at schools that are sponsored by Nike since his current coach - Gary McKnight - has a pretty strong relationship with the shoe company. UCLA, it should be noted, is not a NIKE school and that, according to Farnham, sparked King to look elsewhere. This is a shining example of over-analysis in the media. Does Farnham, who couldn’t play a lick at UCLA, really believe that this kid’s college decision is going to come down to shoes? Is King really going to choose North Carolina simply out of loyalty to his coach and his coach’s shoe contract? This is a bit much for me, particularly because a former player of McKnight’s – Cedric Bozeman – currently plays at UCLA. If this shoe thing is such a big deal for McKnight, then why didn’t he steer Bozeman clear of Westwood. This Bruin alum wishes he had since Bozeman is arguably the worst prep All-American ever to play for UCLA and that includes Ray Young. Anyways, getting back to King, isn’t it possible that the kid just wants to weigh some options as he moves closer to making his binding commitment? Here is my theory on the subject – King is reconsidering because he wants to take five overnight recruiting trips where he will get to hook up with sure things in Chapel Hill, Tucson, Storrs and Syracuse. Sorry Taylor, there are no sure things at Gonzaga so you should replace that visit with a trip to Washington. All white kids from Orange County care about is getting some “Girls Gone Wild” ass, especially those who attend all-boys catholic schools. So Sean, spare us the Nike crap.

Notes from the National: How in the world did the Braves, without Chipper, get seven hits and four runs of Pedro? I could have sworn that was going to be a no-hitter. It was good to see Smoltz finally get a win, although the Braves cannot feel too good about lifting their closer - Danny Kolb - in the ninth. How long before Chris Reitsma gets that job? Jon Lieber finally lost last night as he uncharacteristically walked four in Washington. Philly fans have begun huddling outside of Citizens Bank Park and looking for the black smoke that will indicate GM Ed Wade has been fired or killed. Lance Berkman has played in a few rehab starts and it looks like he is about a week away from joining the A-Holes. Carlos Zambrano and Eric Milton took turns being gang banged last night at Wrigley and even Ken Griffey got in on the act with four RBI. The Cubs have many problems right now but Derrick Lee is not one of them. Jeff Suppan actually won a game at Busch last night but it was a costly victory for the Cards as they lost their closer – Jason Isringhausen – for a while with a pulled stomach muscle. Peter Gammons NL Rookie of the Year pick – J.J Hardy of the Brewers – is hitting .140 with two extras in fifty at bats. My ROY pick – Garret Atkins – debuted for the Rockies last night and had two hits. Josh Beckett’s line doesn’t read so well but he did hold the Rockies in check at Coors. The Diamondbacks have now won five straight while the Dodgers have lost five or six after Arizona’s 3-2 win in LA. The DBacks unquestionably overpaid for Russ Ortiz in the off-season, but four of his five starts this year have been pretty solid. Jason Schmidt was all over the place last night as it took him 131 pitches to get 20 outs. Benitez got touched up last night, giving up a game tying home run to Nevin, but J.T. Snow bailed him out in the bottom of the eighth. Snow had two doubles and a triple last night and is hitting .421 over the past week.

Airmail from the AL: The Red Sox are quickly using up their season’s allotment of bad losses as last night was a killer. As I wrote yesterday, Keith Foulke has been incredibly shaky and he showed that again last night as he gave up not one, but two Jacks. Matt Clement was completely ineffective and Alan Embree proved once again that he cannot keep inherited runners from scoring. You know things are bad in Boston when the Sox get to their nemesis – Rod Lopez – yet still lose. And to make matters worse, Curt Schilling is now going on the DL because of a bruised ankle, which makes him the third Red Sox pitcher to hurt his foot this week. Wade Miller better get his ass up to the majors in a hurry. On the bright side for Boston, Manny is certifiably on fire as he drove in his 21st over the past 11 games. Miggy and Mora were 8-11 last night with five runs scored. GAYROD had a season last night with three blasts and ten RBI. He now has 25 RBI on the year, but 16 have come in two games that the Yankees collectively won by 19 runs. “Mr. Rodriguez, would you like to hang those numbers up with these shirts?” Pavano chipped in with seven strong innings but where are the Ks? Johan won his seventeenth straight decision for the Twinkies last night. That streak dates back to July 11th and with three more wins, Santana will tie the Rocket for most consecutive victories in AL history. Wasn’t Joe Mauer supposed to be a difference maker for the Twins this year? He has five RBI in seventeen games. Ted Lilly picked up a cheap win over Dewon Brazelton in Toronto last night, moving Dewon’s career record on the road to a terrific 0-11. If you combine Brazelton at home with Jeff Suppan on the road, you may have something. Oakland scored a week’s worth of runs last night in a pitching duel that never materialized between Harden and Buehrle. Chavez had a couple of knocks last night and perhaps that gets him going. Beltre finally hit a dong for the Ms, but that only gives him two on the year. He is traditionally a slow starter so perhaps last night gets the ball rolling. Ichio, by the way, is down to .333 after hitting only .192 over the past week. It has been a bad stretch for the Japanese as the Hideki Matsui has now dipped below .300 and the Chinese are calling bullshit on that weak World War II apology.

Jason Kidd and Vince Carter are certifiable stars but it is now clear that they can’t take out the Heat by themselves. The Nets just don’t have the guns up front to stop the Heat, even though Nenad Kristic did play well last night. Take a look at what New Jersey’s starting forwards contributed. Jason Collins was 0-4 with a single point and Brian Scalabrine was 0-3 on a scoreless night. If that wasn’t bad enough, Cliff Robinson came off the bench to snag just two rebounds before he fouled out in fifteen minutes of action. The Nets just got pounded on the boards last night while shooting a putrid 36 percent from the field. And while they did a much better job stopping Dwayne Wade, the Nets were still haunted by Damon Jones who drained four bombs. I had thought the Nets were probably good enough to win a pair in this series, but I now think one is more realistic. What is the over/under on attendance for Game 3 at the Meadowlands Friday night?

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

April 26 - The Stars Come Out in Dallas

The NBA is all about stars as Houston’s two big guns proved quite emphatically last night in Dallas. Houston’s big duo of Yao and Tracy McCrady were simply too much for Dallas for stop as Yao went 13-14 from the field and Tracy poured in 28 including the game winner with two seconds to go. Maverick coach Avery Johnson better figure out a way to guard McCrady and Bobby Sura off those high screens or this series will never make it back to Dallas. Even as things stand right now, Dallas has almost no chance of prevailing as it would be only the third team in NBA history to lose the first two games of a seven game series at home and then come back to win the series. While Dallas looks to be in real trouble, Houston looks like a team capable of coming out of the West. McCrady is playing terrific right now and Van Gundy’s supporting cast is probably good enough to play with any other team out west. David Wesley is a bit of a stiff at point guard, but who needs Wesley when the rest of your team is making well over fifty percent of its shots? It is a bit too early to go crazy over this team, but if they were to lose this series, it would be the greatest collapse the city of Houston has seen since Enron got swept off the Big Board in the fall of 2001. For my money, I’ll take Van Gundy over Lay any day of the week to coach my team.

It was not a pretty sight in Boston last night where the Celtics experienced a complete fourth quarter meltdown and, in doing so, let the Indiana Pacers back into this best-of-seven series. In case you missed it, Boston led 75-68 with more then eight minutes to go. From there on out, the Celts scored an impressive four points on their way to a 82-79 loss. Along the way, the Celts missed a bunch of threes and made only one of eleven shots from the field. The Celts shot selection wasn’t merely bad – it was terrifying. Pierce took a few shots from Brookline while Toine took one shot that he wouldn’t try again in a game of HORSE. Toine then compounded his error by missing a couple of layups just as the Pacers were rallying. Indiana wasn’t playing a whole lot better down the stretch, but everything is relative in the NBA. While the Celtics were counting their money, the Pacers did just enough to get by, led of course, by fifty-four year old Reggie Miller who went for 28. Miller hasn’t had an outburst like that since his late forties and it clearly caught the Celtics off guard. Tell me how the Pacers won last night while being out-rebounded 44-31. I’ll tell you how – the Celts turned the ball over sixteen times, including some real killers down the stretch.

Notes from the National League: The Phillies, short Pat Burrell, snapped a three game losing streak at Washington last night behind Corey Lidle. Philly pinch-hitter Jose Offerman actually had a triple in this game, although replays showed National third baseman Vinny Castilla tagged Jose’s wheelchair before he got to the bag. Oliver Perez finally showed up to give the Pirates a nice outing as he threw seven scoreless innings against the A-holes. Atlanta and Pittsburgh have the worst offenses in the NL but Houston isn’t too far behind. Why was Chris Burke, a second baseman, playing left for Houston last night while Craig Biggio was playing second? Aaron Heilman gave the Mets seven strong innings last night although I have to deduct a couple of points since it came against the Braves. We got Smoltz and Pedro at Shea tonight at 7:10. You want to know what batters are hitting against Pedro this year - .110! Petey could very well throw a no hitter tonight. The Cubs blasted the Reds last night at Wrigley but if looks like they may have lost reliever Chad Fox for the year. Can anyone on that staff stay healthy? Mark Prior pitched well last night, striking out ten in six innings, while Nomar’s replacement, Neifi Perez, hit his third home run of the year. That is three more then the Cubs eight million dollar man. Meanwhile, Ken Griffey had a few hits for the Reds who are probably dying for Griff to get hot so they can begin talks to move Sean Casey or Adam Dunn, The Diamondbacks won their fourth straight last night behind AL East castoffs Javy Vasquez and Brandon Lyon. I guess the Diamondbacks don’t miss Randy Johnson after all. Wasn’t Shawn Green going to sit out this week because of Passover? The Padres got well last night against the hapless Giants who are just 3-10 against teams other then Colorado.

Airmail from the American League: Are any leads in baseball safe anymore? Now Minnesota’s Juan Rincon is getting into the swing with a blown save against Detroit yesterday. The stated attendance for that makeup was fifteen thousand but it looked like there were no more then three thousand at Comerica. It looked like a New York Knights game before Roy Hobbs was brought up. For the Twins, Justin Morneau is 3-7 since returning from that beaning so I guess we can put that issue to sleep. Take a look at the top of Detroit’s lineup – all five regulars are hitting .300 while Carlos Guillen is chasing Ted Williams. Boy did the Mariners mess up when they let him go. The Red Sox were lackluster again last night and I’ll have more on them later, while the Orioles keep chugging along behind Bruce Chen. The Panamanian-born Chen has some of the worst stuff in baseball, but he has given the birds four good starts. Chen is a perfect example of what can happen when a pitcher actually throws strikes. Sosa struck out swinging four times last night – doesn’t that entitle him to upgrade his golden sombrero to a platinum version? Manny also whiffed four times while Mark Belhorn picked up number 26. You know it’s a bad night in Boston when not one, but two Sox sprain their ankles. The White Sox are simply on fire right now as they won their eighth straight last night in Oakland. Jon Garland, who pitched a four hit shutout, sure looks like an ace right now although Oakland is probably the proper benchmark. He’s only given up eleven hits in his last 24 innings. The White Sox ERA is 2.91 this season while it was 4.90 a year ago when they won 83 games. Meanwhile, Barry Zito dropped to 0-4 and the Oakland offense officially bottomed out. Eric Chavez is in a miserable slump and Jason Kendell is providing absolutely no spark. Is it too early to start dangling Dotel for a bat? The Blue Jays had the nerve yesterday to fire their batting coach, Mike Barnett, just twenty games into the season. The Jays must have expected this guy to work miracles but, in his defense, there is only so much you can do with Corey Koskie and Alex Rios.

I have been highly critical of the Yankees over the past week, but to be fair, their main rival in the AL East has not exactly been setting the world on fire this year. After twenty games, the Red Sox are a pedestrian 11-9 against an exclusive diet of AL East teams. This team has a bunch of problems right now. Starting with the staff, Curt Schilling has lost his ability to put batters away and you never know what you are going get with David Wells. Alan Embree has been dreadful since he started squawking off to the Boston Globe and Keith Foulke has certainly had his own troubles. And what about that vaunted offense that scored fifty runs more than any other team in the American League last year? Well, Mark Belhorn has struck out 26 times in 66 at bats, Kevin Millar has yet to hit a home run and Edgar Renteria has been extremely quiet so far. Add in Billy Mueller’s weeklong battle with a mysterious flu strain and it all computes to some inconsistent production, especially against lefthanders. And let’s take a look at the big three of Manny, Papi and Damon for a second. All have pretty decent numbers but I have watched virtually every inning this year and a big chunk of this largesse has come against Tampa. I expect some of these offensive problems to iron themselves out, but that is not to say that changes to this lineup don’t loom. First of all, Belhorn has to go. I was able to stomach his whiffs last year when he was getting on base .380 of the time, but this year, his Ks are up and his OBP is now under .350. More importantly, Belhorn just cannot be relied upon in a big spot as he proved Saturday night when he whiffed with the game on the line. If his problems continue, and I suspect they will, I would not be surprised to see AA stud Dustin Pedroia called up on July 1st so long as he keeps tearing it up at Portland. First base is the other spot worth watching. Kevin Millar’s bat can no longer justify his glove and his inability to hit in the clutch is a real problem. Do you think Theo is going to sit by and let this beer leaguer continue to kill rallies? This should be an easy spot to fill in July if the streaky Millar doesn’t turn it around. I suspect that both Sean Casey and Adam Dunn will be made available by the Reds and I can see them biting on an Arroyo for Casey deal. Things will not get any easier for the Sox tonight as they go up against their nemesis Rodrigo Lopez. With a loss tonight, the Sox will be 11-10 and that is a far cry from the April this team had last year. On the bright side, last year’s team plodded along in May and June so this team will have an opportunity to get back on pace.

Monday, April 25, 2005

The Holic Catches Hell From Pete Coors

The following showed up in the Holic's inbox this afternoon from the Colorado Cat, who swears he isn't Gary Barnett, Gov. Bill Owens or Pat Bowlen.

"The Sportsaholic appears to have been drinking too much this weekend. Not a lot of love for anyone in the sports world more than 30 miles from the big dig. I’m thinking bender Saturday and Sunday… First of all, the mastermind made a great pick at the end of the third round. Clarett is one of the most talented players in the draft and received a completely bad wrap for the very minor and way overblown issues at OSU. And part of the issue, which he brought on himself by telling the truth about OSU after they screwed him on eligibility, I commend him for! Would have thought the Sportsaholic had Claretts back with spilling the beans under those circumstances… Combine times are also way overrated in my opinion; especially when you look at what the kid has done on the field (1,237 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman despite missing three games with injuries.) Clarett seems humble now and is ready to work to prove he belongs. He’s going to be a player! And if not- Who cares, he is basically a 4th round pick. How many 4th rounders and below will make NFL squads this year?

Staying in Colorado, the Sportsaholic also failed to realize the true story is the West 2 vs. 7 series. The story is the second best record in NBA history since the all star break, not Duncan’s ankle.. Is the Sportsaholic beginning to align himself with Barkley and Kenny Smith. Next we will probably see the Sportsaholic taking the Spurs in this series… ""

Wow, those are some fighting words even though the Holic will concede up front that he had a few this weekend. Where do I start. I guess I have to start off with that referrence to a "mastermind." I suspect the Cat is referring to Mike Shanahan, who is otherwise known as "The Retard of the Rockies. Lest anyone forgot this little set of facts: Shanahan hasn't won a playoff game since John Elway retired. That is six seasons with only three playoff appearances. His teams happened to lose those heartbreakers by the following scores: 21-3, 41-10, and 49-24. Had the "mastermind" not had those two rings that Elway bought him from Zales, he would have been fired two years ago. And it was too bad for Broncos fans that this didn't happen since this off-season has been an unmitigated disaster.

So let's get to Maurice. Combine times aren't important if they are off by fractions but Clarett took 6.9 seconds to run forty yards and that was with the help of a 75 mile tailwind down on the gulf. Clarett isn't merely slow - he is catatonic. They don't call him "flat tire" for nothing. Further, I give Clarett no credit for ratting out his boys at Ohio State, True, those scumbags at OSU hung him out to dry, but he was the one accepting gifts. I didn't see him offering any press releases while he still had his eligibility. In the Holic's book, once you take the gift, you get short shrift. The Holic also takes issue with the Cat's view that fourth rounders have little value. Wasn't Terrel Davis a sixth rounder?

So on to the Nuggets. I have nothing against this series, but I just couldn't find anything of note to say on game one. What do you want me to say - that if the Nuggets win this series, it will be the biggest playoff upset since the 8th seeded Noogies beat the top seeded Sonics? That woudln't be truthful since the Nuggets are only +175 which isn't exactly David versus that Big Guy. I give the Nugggets a fighting chance in this tiff, which is a big story, at least as big as they come in the NBA. But that isn't saying too much.

Sox down 3-2 in the second to the O's. I guess Wells is struggling with the gout once again.

April 24 - It's Getting Drafty in Here

There is a ton to cover today after a busy weekend in Sports. As such, I have 2000 words on the draft, the Jets selection of a kicker and a convict, Kiper's deference to Belichick, and meltdowns in Denver and Washington. I also have a ton of stuff on Baseball and some thoughts on the opening NBA playoff games. Lastly, I am putting on my media analyst hat today with some comments on some Radio programming. You want to know how busy a weekend it was - it was so busy I don't have a single word on Vijay's playoff win over Daly.

I didn’t spend a ton of time watching the nonsense that is the NFL draft but here are a few observations on the first round: Aaron Rogers lost about $12 million dollars on Saturday, which is s about the difference in signing bonuses that one gets from being the first pick in the draft and the 24th pick. It is hard to argue that it was worth it, but Rogers probably ended up in a good spot where he will be able to learn how to throw game ending interceptions from the best. Braylon Edwards may have tons of talent, but Trent Dilfer will be unable to get him the ball fifty times next year. Three corners went before the first pass rusher was selected on Saturday. That confirms this was one of the weakest drafts in recent memory. The Lions selected a wide receiver – Mike Williams - with a top-10 pick for the third straight year. I guess they are through watching Charles Rogers sit out a dozen games with a broken collarbone. The Lions selection of Williams really screwed San Diego who really wanted the former Trojan. Can you imagine that red zone offense with both Williams and Antonio Gates? So Parcells got a couple of defensive ends that supposedly will bulk up his defense. Does that mean he’s back? Not with Drew Bledsoe slinging the pigskin. As I suspected, Parcells life long partner – Mike Francesa – is fawning all over what the Cowboys did this weekend. No surprise there from Bill’s WFAN-based publicist. Would you trade Randy Moss for Troy Williamson, a serviceable linebacker (Napolean Harris) and some salary cap flexibility that could be used to beef up your defense? A lot of people gave the Vikings hell for trading Moss, but this one looks alright to me if Williamson emerges within a couple years as a 65 catch guy who can find the end zone. I actually like the second guy the Vikes picked in round one – Erasmus James from Wisconsin. For some reason, I actually watched a few Badger games last year and this guy can get to the passer. With James and Kenechi Udeze on the corners and emerging superstar Kevin Williams at tackle, the Vikes have a young group that should be able to pressure quarterbacks for the next three or four years when Williams will become a FA.

The Chiefs caught a falling knife at fifteen when they selected Texas linebacker Derrick Johnson. It seems Vermeil was persuaded by his old defensive coordinator - Greg Robinson – who coached Johnson at Texas this year and vouched for the kid. But that begs the question of why Vermeil is listening to a guy he fired a year ago? Matt Jones, the kid Jacksonville took from Arkansas, looks a lot more like a surf rat from Orange County than a born again NFL wide receiver. This kid appears to have a ton of athletic skill but will this former quarterback be able to flourish as a wide out? The question on Jones is whether he will better or worse then Drew Bennett, the other quarterback convert who catches ball in the AFC South. Everyone seems to love the Ravens selection of wide receiver Mark Clayton, and I suspect he is an upgrade over Travis Taylor, but you could put Terrell Owens in Baltimore and it wouldn’t matter so long as Kyle Boller was throwing the ball. Everyone is getting on Seattle for selecting a center from Mississippi in the first round, but should that come as a surprise given the turnover the Hawks have had in the front office. Northwestern defense tackle Luis Castillo snuck in to the first round despite admitting past steroid abuse – do you think that would have happened if he had been guilty of spousal abuse? The Patriots ran the ball down the Colts throat in the playoffs last year so what did Indy GM Bill Polian do – he picked up a cornerback. I guess that is better then another punkass wide receiver or undersized defensive tackle. You would have thought the Steelers just got their hands on Tony Gonzalez the way people are gushing over Heath Miller. Is Miller that good or is the media just obsessed with this franchise? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

Some other draft day thoughts:

Over the past two years, the Skins have given up four high picks (a first, second, third and fourth) for Mark Brunell and Jason Campbell. That is a heavy cost for one scrub headed for retirement and a SEC quarterback who was helped out by a big-time running game. The move to get Campbell was another debacle in an off-season of discontent in Washington. Gibbs should go back to NASCAR before his reputation is completely sullied.

Did the Jets stretch by selecting Ohio State Kicker Dave Nugent in the second round? Some outside of New York think it was a reach, but I think it was a sound pick, especially since it may be therapeutic for those fans still smarting from the ay last season ended in Pittsburgh. Having a deadly kicker can be a very valuable tool, especially for those who are ready to win right now. But are the Jets that close? Over the past 36 hours, I have heard some Jets fans say Nugent is all the Jets need to close a small gap between gang green and the Patriots. What gap are these people talking about? The Jets have lost four in a row to New England and only a meaningless late score prevented the Jets from losing 23-0 to the Pats at the Meadowlands last year. Nugent may be good, but he isn’t good enough to close that gap.

Jets fans are also excited by the selection of Justin Miller from Clemson, probably because ESPN showed some highlights of Miller this weekend that were nothing short of spectacular. Here is a message to those fans – highlight reels are intended to showcase a player’s strengths and should not be used to assess a player’s overall skill. To get the other part of Miller’s story, you should check out some footage that South Carolina troopers have of Miler playing nickel back at a party last weekend in Clemson. For those of you who don’t know Miler’s story, he was arrested for fighting with cops just days before the NFL draft. He is supposedly a great hitter who will certainly be a factor when the inmates play the guards.

What were the Denver Broncos doing this weekend? The Broncos selected three corners with rap sheets with their first three picks and then went for Maurice Clarett with the final pick in the third round. Since when did the Broncos get good enough to throw away valuable picks on disgruntled running backs that can’t run? This team is an absolute mess right now. They spent the off-season gathering former Cleveland flameouts and now they are going for another Buckeye state bust. What is next – bringing Ken Griffey in to play strong safety?

Is it just me or do other people think it is funny how much deference NFL draft analysts now give New England Coach Bill Belichick and Personnel Director Scott Pioli? This weekend, you could look far and wide, but almost no print or broadcast analysts (other then the Boston Herald’s Kevin Mannix) were willing to criticize the Patriots brain trust for selecting Fresno State tackle Logan Mankins at the end of the first round, even though Mankins was considered by many to be a third round prospect. Other teams would have been vilified for selecting Mankins, especially by NFL draft guru Mel Kiper who usually takes teams to task for reaching in the first two rounds. But Kiper was silent early Saturday evening when Mankins name was called and the thought here is Kiper, along with other draft analysts, is leery of challenging anything that the Belichick and Pioli touch. My sense is Pioli and Bells have nailed so many home runs in the past five years that analysts no longer have the confidence or the balls necessary to challenge their primary picks. After all, these are the guys who found Brady in the sixth round, starting center Dan Koppen in the fifth round and starting receiver David Givens in the seventh round. With that kind of track record, who is to say that Mankins won’t be playing in Hawaii within a couple years?

National League Notes: Its one thing to get knocked up by the Mets, but Vinnie Padilla got smacked around yesterday by the Braves of all people. That was an ugly weekend for the Phills, getting outscored 20-3 in a three game sweep to the Bravos. Speaking of the Braves, they have given up only 15 runs in their last nine games, although they only went 5-4 over that stretch. At some point, the Braves will have to go out and get some offense if their outfield continues to struggle. The Reds scored a whopping six runs this weekend down in Miami, but two on Sunday were good enough to stave off the sweep. John Kerry ran very poorly in Cincinnati in the last presidential election, but if he ran today against Ken Griffey in a citywide popularity contest, who would get more votes? The bet here is Kerry would as long as Griffey continues to hit .204 and slug .288. Heck, Kerry used to slug .300 before he flipped and became a pitcher. How many Asian pitchers play for the Mets? Let’s see, there is Koo, there is Ishii, and there is Seo. I thought you were supposed to keep the Koreans and the Japanese separate and that is why I think the Mets should trade Ishii to Texas for the revitalized Chan Ho Park? On second thought, if you put three South Koreans on the field at Shea, it may lead to increased tensions with the clowns in North Korea who love the Yanks. Jose Reyes has now failed to walk in 82 appearances. Does Jose think we are spinning the wheel on the Price is Right where the winner is closest to a hundred without going over? Jose, you are trying to win baseball games - not advance to the Showcase Showdown. The Cards swept the Astros this weekend and have won nine of ten. Maybe last year wasn’t a fluke after all. The M&M boys, Mulder, Marquis and Morris, all picked up wins this weekend. Mulder was particularly impressive on Saturday as he threw a ten inning shutout against the Rocket. Clemens, but the way, has given up exactly one earned run in 28 innings. How long before the Yankees call Houston to check on his availability? Kerry Wood picked up a win against the hapless Bucs yesterday at Wrigley, but why was he pulled in the bottom of the fifth after just 76 pitches? Is he hurt again? The Dodgers had a nice comeback win yesterday in Denver and guess who was the culprit? The answer is none other then BK Kim. The suicidal Korean came in during a tight game and hit a batter, gave up a double, and then gave up a single. Was that Little Penny or Brad Penny who pitched for the Dodgers yesterday? The boxscore says it was Brad and it also says he was nothing short of sub-par. Carlos Lee smacked Jerome Williams around pretty well yesterday. The Padres made it interesting at Arizona Sunday, but Brandon Lyon came in to shut the door. I cannot believe he already has eight saves. I wish the Sox hadn’t given him up for Schilling.

Airmail from the AL: We had a good old fashioned beanball war down in Tampa yesterday as the Sox and Rays went at it at the Trop. These two teams have been throwing at each other since the beginning of time, or least since Pedro first thought it would be funny to start plunking Florida’s top minor leaguers. I love Bronson Arroyo – he is always in the middle when tempers flare. Little stat – the Sox have hit thirteen batters this season – that leads the AL by three. Papi got knocked on his ass yesterday, but he hit three bombs over the weekend. Mark Belhorn has now struck out 25 times in 62 at bats and his whiff with the bases loaded in the eighth on Saturday was the Pringles Game Changing Moment. The Rays Rob Bell is the worst pitcher in baseball, but there are some everyday Tampa players I really like, including Carl Crawford and Julio Lugo. Randy Johnson talked some Yankee fans off the ledge yesterday with a nice win over Texas, but there were red flags along the way. He struck out only seven and he barely cracked 90 on the gun. How long can he exist on baseball’s equivalent of the Adkins diet where no heaters are allowed? More bad news for the Yanks came on Saturday when Jaret Wright went down. He is expected to miss only six weeks, but can a season-ender be far off? Is anyone other then GM Brain Cashman surprised Mr. Durability is hurt again. That was a real astute signing by Cashman, although as a Yankee hater, I would rather have Wright getting bloodied on the mound than bloodied on the operating table. The Orioles lit up Roy Halladay yesterday as Sammy blasted a pair. I guess it took a couple weeks for the new roids to begin kicking in. The White Sox made it seven straight yesterday with a comeback win over the hapless Royals. I say they make it eight in a row with a win over Zito tomorrow but the streak ends at the hands of Rich Harden on Tuesday. Jamie Moyer is now 4-0 for the Mariners, while Brett Boone had two hits to his brother’s one this weekend. This is a message to Vinny Padilla and Brad Penny – some guys come off the DL and throw well. Just ask Kelvim Escobar who threw six scoreless for the Orange County Halos last night. Let’s hope Colon can keep it going against Pavano on Tuesday night in the Bronx.

Radio Rambllings: What is Stephen A. Smith doing with his own two-hour radio show in New York? First of all, Smith is a Philadelphia guy. Second of all, he doesn’t know squat about any sport other then basketball, as he demonstrated last year when he thought you could re-kick errant field goals if they were missed on third down. Third, Smith has about as much cross-over appeal with whites as David Duke has with blacks. When ESPN hired this guy, I think they forgot their station’s airwaves actually reach suburbia. ESPN 1050’s Brandon Tierney is a funny dude with talent and it is too bad he is stuck over at ESPN where the suits have no idea what they want to do with their personnel, or their station for that matter. If I were running the show over there, I would pull the plug on Stephen A., and give Brandon a couple hours around lunch. Why does The Forward, the nation’s “leading” Jewish newspaper advertise on ESPN radio in New York? Is that where their target audience resides? Shouldn’t they be over there on Bloomberg or CBS Marketwatch? I love their ad by the way – “What do Larry David, Natalie Portman and Madonna all have in common?” A three pound spread of Nova and White Fish for anyone who can nail that one (My guess below). ESPN Radio’s coverage of the draft this weekend was nothing short of atrocious. There is a reason it is called a “made for television” event but evidently the guys at ESPN Radio didn’t get the message. Six hours of Mike Golic and Mike Greenburg on the radio talking about the draft is indecent and a clear violation of FCC regulation. It shocks me that ass clowns on the right will scream about some harmless MNF skit, but no one will lift a finger to complain when Mike Greenburg claims he is a dedicated football fan whose favorite receiver in the draft is Mike Williams. As for Golic, he is still trying to find a single pick to criticize. I think he may find one in the thrid round.

My guess to the Forward’s trivia question – Larry David, Natalie Portman and Madonna all practice Kabbalah. They also share the distinction of having never eaten a meal in my mother’s kitchen. Bonus points for those who know where that came from.

So the long awaited NBA playoffs are finally upon us and here are my initial thoughts. The Detroit-Philly series is not worth watching for another second. The Pistons are just too much for the Sixers. In the intra-Texas steel cage match, Dallas simply has no answer for Tracy McGrady which is a huge problem given the fact that tonight is a must win for the Mavericks. After watching some of that game on Saturday, I was left wondering if Dallas has ever seen a pick and roll before. Also, it is only one game, but it sure looks like Ryan Bowen gives Nowitski some trouble. Boston absolutely annihilated Indiana in game one but they can’t count on Raef doing that again. That was a total blowout but I wouldn’t count Indiana out just yet. For those Celtics fans who may be feeling a little cocky, may I remind you what happened on May 27, 1985. The Celts beat the Lakers that day 148-114 in the Memorial Day Massacre. The Lakers won four of the next five to win the NBA Championship. Mike Bibby had one of the worst games in playoff history Saturday night, even though I admit I watched that game through some beer goggles. Bibs was 1-16 while his opposing point guard Luke Ridnour was 0-6. That is 1-22 from the two teams starting floor leaders. That is some of the worst generalship since Meade let Lee escape back to Virginia in 1863. The Heat’s starting backcourt probably couldn’t have done much more against Kidd and Carter, as they collectively scored 62 points on 22-30 shooting. Wade had no problems getting to the rim and Damon Jones simply had no trouble draining those seven bombs. This is an interesting factoid although it is probably not too shocking – this is the first time in Shaq’s career that two of his teammates have sprung for 30. By the way, Damon Jones is one of the best interviews in the NBA. I only watched the first half of the Bulls game, but that was enough to tell me Ben Gordon is a star. The guy had 30 in 33 minutes – that is Andrew Toney versus Boston stuff. Meanwhile, Gilbert Arenas played almost as bad as Mike Bibby and that cannot happen for the Wizards to survive. What happened there? I love Arenas but he was out of it last night. Tim Duncan says he is playing at only 80 percent. The Spurs better hope he finds the other twenty percent pretty quickly or they run the risk of going to Denver down 0-2. I challenge any of you to watch the rest of that Phoenix-Memphis series. That is like starring at the Sun on a nice clear day, no pun intended.