Bring the Crazy

Cleveland Does Not Rock Tonight

2007-10-22T02:51:00.000-04:00

I'm imagining Cleveland fans feel much like I did in 2003 - disheartened, angry, confused, stunned, and just generally not sure that it's really all over. After Aaron Boone hit that Tim Wakefield pitch into the left field seats at Yankee Stadium, I sat on my couch, crushed. Unable to move. I stared blankly at the television, then went to bed, then woke up ... and moved right back to the couch, where I sat nearly catatonic until evening rolled around.

It all feels very unfair and unjust and wrong.

From 2004 and now, in 2007, I can tell you it feels very much right when you're on the other side.

An enjoyable series. Can't believe the Sox are back in the World Series. They'd only been once in my memory pre-2004 and now they've been there twice in four years.

Here's the final Useless Countdown update for the all-time LCS records:

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Bernie. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated in Game 6.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 24 (0)
Manny Ramirez, 21 (0)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
Manny Ramirez, 46 (1)
Kenny Lofton, 45 (1)
Derek Jeter, 4

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
Manny Ramierez, 81 (1)
Derek Jeter, 68

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 10 (0)
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Manny, 23 (1)
Derek Jeter, 20
Lofton, 15 (0)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25 & Manny Ramirez, 25 (1)
Derek Jeter, 20
Kenny Lofton, 14 (0)

SINGLES
Kenny Lofton, 34 (1)
Bernie Williams, 33
Derek Jeter, 31 & Manny Ramirez, 31 (1)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 15 (0)
Derek Jeter, 13
Kenny Lofton, 11 (0)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
Manny Ramirez, 70 (2)
Derek Jeter, 64
Kenny Lofton, 60 (1)

New #7 Channels Old #7 For A Night

2007-10-21T01:19:00.001-04:00

JD Drew steps up and acts the hero for a night.

Bottom of the first. Bases loaded. No outs. Manny and Lowell coming up. Manny and Lowell sitting down without producing a run. JD Drew steps in. Everyone expects him to do what he's done all year, which is disappoint.

But he doesn't.

He doesn't.

Truth be told, I was happy that he made solid contact. I was hoping it'd find a gap, or catch the wall. Just get us a run. Two would be great. But four? Crazy game.

And Schilling, whose probably barely 80% of what he used to be on the mound, came up huge. Again. Sure, the abundance of runs by the offense helped, but when he was in it bad in the second (two on, no outs), he pitched his way out of it. Gutsy.

So we get a game 7 and we only have to wait until tonight to get it. If nothing else, the Sox and Cleveland have given us a series with some drama - the first of the entire post-season. The "big inning" has been key to this series.

Should be a fun Sunday night.

Here's the Useless Countdown Update.

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Bernie. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated in Game 6.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 24 (0)
Manny Ramirez, 21 (1)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
Manny Ramirez, 45 (0)
Derek Jeter, 44 & Kenny Lofton, 44 (0)

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
Manny Ramierez, 80 (0)
Derek Jeter, 68

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 10 (0)
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Manny, 22 (1)
Derek Jeter, 20
Lofton, 15 (0)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
Manny Ramirez, 24 (0)
Derek Jeter, 20
Kenny Lofton, 14 (0)

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33 & Kenny Lofton, 33 (1)
Derek Jeter, 31
Manny Ramirez, 30 (1)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 15 (0)
Derek Jeter, 13
Kenny Lofton, 11 (0)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
Manny Ramirez, 68 (1)
Derek Jeter, 64
Kenny Lofton, 59 (0)

Hype This

2007-10-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

I understand why everyone hates the Red Sox. Believe me, I do. In the past several years the Sox have elevated themselves to join the Yanks as Empire clubs who can spend whatever they want to sign whomever they want. It's bad for the game to have an uneven financial playing field - I'd rather the Royals and Pirates had just as solid a chance at making the postseason every year as the Sox and Yanks. That they don't ... well, I'm just glad I grew up in New England, I guess.

I do think, though, that what's led the Sox to become the second Empire Club is having the Yankees as their primeval rival. If it were the Dodgers, and not the Yankees that had sat atop the financial landscape for the past twenty years then it would now be the Giants, and not the Red Sox, that stepped up into the financial P2 slot. Or if Steinbrenner had bought the Mets it would be the Phillies, or the Cardinals if he'd bought the Cubs, and so on. It's one thing to have hated the Yankees while they've been on this run, but when it's your rival doing it ... it stings a bit more and it blends that sting with a shot o' jealousy that almost demands a reaction.

Having sat on that side I can understand now how people look at Sox with hatred and jealousy and want to see the little guys (Cleveland's 2007 payroll is less than half of Boston's) win the Series for a Feel Good Series against the Rockies. FOX does tilt the way they sell the games towards Boston because they're a network interested in ratings and, frankly, just like any professional sports network they'd prefer teams from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston to be prominent. Part of that is the size of the television market and part is a club's history. It's annoying, and ultimately I think it hurts the sport.

Going into Game 5 of the LCS last night, with Cleveland up 3-1 and looking to clinch, most sports fans wanted the Sox to lose. Even if they don't hate the Red Sox they understand the economics and they sense the hype and the East Coast Bias (which you can't really understand the depths of, I don't think, unless you've lived west of Philly) and, frankly, the fans that make up the Red Sox Nation, and they'd just rather not have to deal with it anymore. Better to have the Smiling Racists in.

Especially since they look like the better team.

Fitting that they would have clinched last night and sent the latest Annointed One, Josh Beckett, home with the loss.

Beckett wasn't having any of it.

Not even the Smiling Racists hiring one of Beckett's ex-"galpals," Danielle Peck, to sing the National Anthem and "God Bless America," seemed to cause him a problem. I don't believe the Happy Racists did it purposely, but given they found out about the Peck/Beckett connection prior to the game, it was a cheap move to not make a switch ... if it was a regular season game, fine. But in the playoffs?

Tacky.

That said, it wasn't like Beckett and Peck had either a long-term or dramatic relationship, so I'm not sure it would even be something that could cause a problem. And, really, you can't blame the Racists for not knowing Peck and Beckett dated a few times last year. I mean, she's Danielle Peck. However popular she may be in country music circles she has yet to crossover to a mainstream audience.

Beckett was so locked in last night, though, you probably could've shown his parents having sex on the jumbotron with alien robots and he wouldn't have been flustered. With all the hype about him from the media I half expected him to come out and get bombed. Or lose a 4-3 game where he was good but not great. Wrong. He was epic, again, as he continued to make his case as the best big game pitcher of the moment and CC Sabathia continued to make his case as the next great pitcher to be playoff-challenged (see: Clemens, Roger).

Beckett's line: 8 IP, 1 ER, 11 Ks. Pretty good for a guy making less than Gil Meche.

The offense is still way too reliant on Papi-Manny-Lowell, so it was good to see Pedroia and Youk get into the act last night.

Because of Beckett and Youk, we get another game and Schilling gets another crack at beefing up his Hall of Fame resume - which is only going to be considered because of his post-season performance. If Schilling can get the Sox past Fausto Carmona then it comes down to Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 7 and he can earn his paycheck with that one game.

Here's the Useless Countdown Update. Manny jumps both Jeter and Lofton in Hits and Jeter in RBI.

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Bernie. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated in Game 5.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 24 (0)
Manny Ramirez, 20 (0)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
Manny Ramirez, 45 (2)
Derek Jeter, 44 & Kenny Lofton, 44 (1)

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
Manny Ramierez, 80 (3)
Derek Jeter, 68

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 10 (1)
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Manny, 21 (1)
Derek Jeter, 20
Lofton, 15 (2)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
Manny Ramirez, 22 (0)
Derek Jeter, 20
Kenny Lofton, 14 (0)

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Kenny Lofton, 33 (1)
Derek Jeter, 31
Manny Ramirez, 30 (1)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 15 (1)
Derek Jeter, 13
Kenny Lofton, 11 (1)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
Manny Ramirez, 67 (2)
Derek Jeter, 64
Kenny Lofton, 59 (1)

Game 5: The Last Red Sox At-Bats for Manny, Lowell, Soggy, Lugo, & Drew?

2007-10-18T07:18:00.000-04:00

Let's play the bad analogy game.

Having your team be down 3-1 in a series is a bit like hoping you hit the match on a pinball game so you can get a free credit to keep playing - it's not really likely to happen, but that doesn't mean you don't stand at the machine and wait expectantly for the set of numbers to roll on by. Every once in a while, you get a match and get to keep playing.

Usually, though, you get nothing.

The Sox, unfortunately, have played the last two games like they're waiting around for something to happen for them instead of going out and taking it. They team either looks inept (Lugo, Crisp, Drew), frustrated (Pedroia, Youk, Lowell, Varitek), or just flat-out despondent (Papi). And the pitchers look dazed, helpless. Only Manny, really, seems like his typical self.

And, really, enough with these "Manny doesn't know what's going on" stories. The guy is the second-best right-handed hitter of his generation - he knows perfectly well what's going on. The idea that he's some simple-minded idiot savant is so over-played and insulting. The guy's a bit of a goof but he's not exactly clueless; time and again he gets written and talked about like he's some Baseball Rain Man, up at the plate mumbling "Wapner" and swinging and connecting without realizing he's doing it. Please.

The Sox have to win tonight or the season's over, obviously. Speculation about next season will begin ... well, it's already begun, I suppose. For a team that won 96 games and finished with the best record in baseball, you get the feeling that massive changes are coming.

Or, at least, that everyone would like to see massive changes coming but there's not a whole lot of flexibility - yeah, the Sox have enough money to outspend their problems, but they've been hesitant to pay other teams to take their players. It's possible, even with as bad as the bottom-half of the line-up has been, that the only change we see in the starting 9 (if Lowell is re-signed) is Coco Crisp sent packing. Who the hell is going to be dumb enough to take JD Drew and his 4 years and $60 million remaining? Or Lugo and his 3 years and $27 million?

There will always be trade rumors about Manny, but I think this is the first year in a long time that the team doesn't actively seek to trade him - he's only got 1 guaranteed year left, and unless they somehow acquire another huge bat (by foolishly getting into the A-Rod Auction) there's no reason to move him unless you're going to try and sell the fans on 2008 being a rebuilding year. Which doesn't really seem all that possible, especially with the apparent vulnerability in the Bronx.

Can you tell I really have nothing to say about Game 5? What's there to say? They've got to play better. They've got to get Ellsbury into the line-up. I'm all for loyalty but when Crisp and Drew are giving you nothing ... start the kid. At the very worst he'll inject some life into the line-up.

Here's the Useless Countdown update following Game 4

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Bernie. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated in Game 4.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 24 (1)
Manny Ramirez, 20 (1)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 44 & Kenny Lofton, 44 (1)
Manny Ramirez, 43 (2)

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
Manny Ramierez, 77 (5)
Derek Jeter, 68

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 10 (1)
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
6th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20 & Manny, 20 (1)
Lofton, 15 (2)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
Manny Ramirez, 22 (0)
Derek Jeter, 20
Kenny Lofton, 14 (0)

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Kenny Lofton, 33 (1)
Derek Jeter, 31
Manny Ramirez, 29 (1)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 14 (1)
Derek Jeter, 13
Kenny Lofton, 11 (1)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
Manny Ramirez, 66 (2)
Derek Jeter, 64
Kenny Lofton, 58 (1)

Wrong Question? Beckett. Right Question? Ellsbury.

2007-10-16T18:49:00.000-04:00

Game 3 was one of those dreadful Red Sox games where you knew the game was over the second Coco Soggy (clever! witty! huzzah!) grounded into that double play to end the second inning. (Can Coco Crisp do anything at the plate other than ground out to shortstop?) Bases loaded, no outs, then Tek pops up and Crisp gets doubled up and the game is over.

There's a lot to get angry about but the most glaring problem is that the entire bottom of the line-up is filled with dead men walking: Drew (who can only ground out to first), Tek, Crisp, Lugo. Horrendous. There's no energy, no life. Just frustration on our part watching guys who are too comfortable go out and suck up the night.

So of course what ESPN wants to talk about to lead off SportsCenter is whether Terry Francona is making a mistake in not starting Beckett tonight on three day's rest. Three days rest almost never works and yet the media always wants to talk about it. It's silly and stupid. Beckett can, at most, only pitch you to two more wins, so you're going to need Wake or Schil or Matsuzaka to win a game. Wake's rested. Start him. If he's not a guy you can trust to win this game for you (he did win 17 games this season) then he shouldn't be on the playoff roster.
Obviously, Wake's not as good as Beckett (there's a reason he's the #4 starter), but better to take the chance he can outpitch Paul Byrd than outpitch Sabathia or Carmona.

No, the real question people should be asking is why is the team's second best OF sitting on the bench when Coco Crisp and JD Drew are out there looking hapless and hopeless. Neither of them even looks like they want to play and while you can't read too much into body language, you can read plenty into .227.

Which they're both hitting this postseason.

They've combined for only:

1) 10 hits - all singles except for one double by Soggy, which means Drew, the team's #6 hitter, has a slugging percentage that's NO HIGHER than his batting average. That's the very definition of suckage.

2) 5 RBIs (3 for Drew).

3) 1 walk (Soggy).

They're not alone in their postseason steamer, either. Tek and Pedroia are hitting .160. Lugo's at .238.

Yeah, how is this team still playing?

Get Ellsbury in the line-up. He'll add some life to a lifeless bottom half of the line-up.

Here's the post-Game 3 Useless Countdown update. Jeter held off Manny and Lofton everywhere except in Times on Base, where Manny caught him, but is vulnerable to be passed tonight in Runs, Hits, and RBIs. The good news for Jeter, though, is that he apparently still leads the league in postseason threesomes.

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Bernie. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated in Game 3.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 23 (1)
Manny Ramirez, 19 (0)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 44
Kenny Lofton, 43 (1)
Manny Ramirez, 41 (1)

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
Manny Ramierez, 72 (1)
Derek Jeter, 68

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9 & Manny Ramirez, 9 (0)

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
6th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20
Manny, 19 (0)
Lofton, 15 (2)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
Manny Ramirez, 22 (1)
Derek Jeter, 20
Kenny Lofton, 14 (1)

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Kenny Lofton, 32 (0)
Derek Jeter, 31
Manny Ramirez, 28 (1)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter & Manny Ramirez, 13 (0)
Kenny Lofton, 11 (1)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
4th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 64 & Manny Ramirez, 64 (2)
Kenny Lofton, 57 (1)

Only Stupid People Will Vote The Ohio State #1 This Week

2007-10-14T02:15:00.000-04:00

College football polls in October are next to meaningless. There's no reason to get excited or blow a vessel because your favorite team is ranked higher or lower than where you think it should be or could be or would be if this or that one play could be changed.

If CFB has proven anything this year it's that everything is going to get mangled. The #1 and #2 teams both lost this week - LSU to Kentucky and Cal to Oregon State. Which means the top 3 teams next week are likely to be Ohio State, Boston College, and South Florida.

The pollsters have done a good job this year reorganizing and reevaluating their polls each week
and this week provides another opportunity. If the AP simply slides winning teams up in the position they're in, the Buckeyes are going to be #1, the Eagles will be #2, and the Bulls will be #3.

That would be wrong outcome.

In looking at what TOSU, BC, and USF have done this season, I don't see how anyone can honestly vote Ohio State #1 this week over South Florida. Here's who the Buckeyes have beat: Youngstown State, Akron, Washington, Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue, and Kent State. I'll give them credit for going on the road and beating the Huskies and Boilermakers, but both of those teams are average, at best.

South Florida, on the other hand, has beat Elon, Auburn, North Carolina, West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, and Central Florida. Auburn was 17th at the time and WVU 5th.

You might not like that South Florida has only been around for just over a decade but they've got the better resume. Ohio State hasn't done anything to warrant being ranked ahead of South Florida. Maybe they will when it's all said and done, but right now, USF should be the #1 ranked team in the country.

Weird.

Ugly One Gets Away

2007-10-14T01:30:00.000-04:00

What an awful game. Cleveland 13, Sox 6. Few losses are more aggravating for me than an extra-innings blowout. Especially an American League playoff game that's 34 hours long to begin with and ends with team fan whipping gnome Eric Gagne digging the hole that former fan favorite Trot Nixon fills in.

Oh yeah, and it takes place after one in the frigging morning.

I'm going to love watching Scott Boras try to sell teams on Eric Gagne this off-season.

Here's the Useless Countdown update after Game Two. Manny passed Jeter in Total Bases and Walks. moved into a tie with him in extra base hits, and tied Bernie for first on the all-time LCS HR list. Lofton tagged him a bit of Jeter's hide, as well, passing him on the singles list.

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Bernie. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated Friday night in Game 1.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 22 (0)
Manny Ramirez, 19 (1)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 44
Kenny Lofton, 42 (1)
Manny Ramirez, 40 (1)

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
Manny Ramierez, 71 (4)
Derek Jeter, 68

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9 & Manny Ramirez, 9 (1)

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
6th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20
Manny, 19 (3)
Lofton, 13 (0)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
Manny Ramirez, 21 (1)
Derek Jeter, 20
Kenny Lofton, 13 (0)

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
Kenny Lofton, 32 (1)
Derek Jeter, 31
Manny Ramirez, 27 (0)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter & Manny Ramirez, 13 (1)
Kenny Lofton, 10 (0)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
4th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 64
Manny Ramirez, 62 (2)
Kenny Lofton, 56 (1)

Josh Beckett is Not Remotely Interested in Being Average

2007-10-13T01:53:00.001-04:00

Sox 10, Smiling Racists 3. The game was the fun kind of boring once Mike Lowell doubled Youk and Papi in - not too much suspense but Beckett's big-time performance and the offensive attack (all starters managed a hit) kept my attention without keeping me riveted.

I'll take that every night.

Two big stories emerge from the game: Beckett and the Papi/Manny Show.

Tom Verducci has a great slurp-job on Josh Beckett up at SI.com that I'm not going to compete with; you want the historical skinny on Beckett, check it out.

Here's what I think about Beckett: in the context of Red Sox pitchers, he's not as dominant as Clemens and he's not as dazzling as Pedro, but he's quickly, efficiently making the case that he's a better big game pitcher than either of them. Clemens' post-season failures are well-documented, and Petey was great so long as he didn't have to face the Yankees, but Beckett is something different. With Clemens I waited for something bad to happen and with Petey it was the same when the Sox played the Yanks. Both guys inspired confidence in the regular season but they weren't able to translate that into the playoffs.

The post-game didn't change things. Clemens always seemed on the verge of going crackers and always had an excuse (hamstring, usually). Pedro always seemed like the game was an interlude in the crazy-ass party that was his life. Beckett? Focused. He's not interested in whatever games the media wants to play, he's not interested in patting himself on the back, he doesn't come across like he's on his way to the bars. Heck, he doesn't even sound like he's having fun; it's business and he's completely locked in.

One of the most overused phrases in baseball is "professional hitter," which always gets slapped on guys like Matt Stairs and Harold Baines but Papi and Manny were professional hitters all night. They displayed the kind of discipline that makes them who they are as hitters - they make you come to them, make you throw the pitch they want to hit. If you don't give in to them, they'll take the walk, get on base, and let the guys behind them do the damage.

Hell, Manny picked up two RBIs on the night on bases loaded walks after getting down 0-2 in both counts. If I'm a Cleveland fan, I'm screaming "Throw a strike!" at my television set during those at-bats.

10-for-10.

Manny and Papi came up ten times on the night and they reached base all ten times.

People love to overstate things come playoff time but it's just one game. Cleveland's still going to throw Sabathia and Carmona three more times in this series (if it goes 7) so Friday was a great start. But anyone thinking this series is over is just wrong.

Hard to have a better opening game, though.

The Useless Countdown Juego Uno Update: 12 Balls for Manny

2007-10-13T01:20:00.000-04:00

Here's the current update on the quests of Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez to unseat Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams on the All-Time LCS records list. It was a big night for Manny - 2 hits, 3 walks, 2 runs, 3 RBIs. He moved into a tie with Jeter on the all-time walks list

Red signifies a failure to pass Jeter or Berine. Blue signifies moving into a tie. Green signifies a pass achieved in this series. Parenthetical indicates the stats accumulated Friday night in Game 1.

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
Kenny Lofton, 22 (0) Manny Ramirez, 18 (2)

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 44
Kenny Lofton, 41 (2) Manny Ramirez, 39 (2)

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 68
Manny Ramierez, 67 (2)

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9
3rd place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 8 (0)

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
6th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20
Manny, 16 (3) Lofton, 13 (0)

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
7th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20 & Manny Ramirez, 20 (3)
Kenny Lofton, 13 (0)

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
3rd place all-time: Jeter & Lofton, 31
Manny Ramirez, 27 (2)

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 13
Manny Ramirez, 12 (0)
Kenny Lofton, 10 (2)

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
4th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 64
Manny Ramirez, 60 (5)
Kenny Lofton, 55 (2)

The Useless Countdown Targets Bernie Williams & Derek Jeter

2007-10-10T14:12:00.000-04:00

As a Red Sox fan I've seen way too much of Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter over the years. I've got a lot of respect for the two guys, and looking through the all-time LCS records it's not hard to see the impact they had on all those Yankees' titles and title-runs.

Still, they are Yankees and with the possible end to the Torre Era, it'll be a bit of cheezy fun to watch them possibly slide down the all-time rankings list. Part of the reason they're on the list, of course, is that they were/are on a dominant team with the most LCS opportunities. The LCS originated in 1969 as a five-game series and expanded to seven games in 1985, giving Bernie, Jeter, and the Yanks an advantage here over previous generations. (I'm not taking anything away from them, though - they earned their chances be being so darn good for so darn long.)

The two prime assailants of Bernie & Jeter's rankings are Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez. Here are the categories and the relative rankings:

RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 31
2nd all-time: Derek Jeter, 25
4th place all-time: Kenny Lofton, 22
out of top 10: Manny Ramirez, 16

If Kenny Lofton scores 10 runs in this series, well, that would be a whole lot. Bernie, again, seems safe, but Jeter is in jeopardy. Three to tie, four to pass; if Lofton starts every game he should achieve these goals. Manny is pretty doubtful.

HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 52
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 44
6th place all-time: Kenny Lofton, 39
8th place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 37

Are you starting to realize just how good Bernie Williams was for the Yankees? Bernie's safety seems assured here, as well, but Jeter is certainly in range of both players.

TOTAL BASES
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 89
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 68
4th place all-time: Manny Ramierez, 65

Twenty-five total bases in 7 games seems less than easy. Manny will not only have to have a monster series against the Smiling Racists to catch Bernie, he'll need the series to go seven games. He can pass Jeter with one single little home run. So get on that, Manny.

Here's the rest of the categories sans comment:

HOME RUNS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 9
3rd place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 8

RBI
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
6th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20
out of top 10: Manny & Lofton, 13

WALKS
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 25
7th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 20
9th place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 17
out of top 10: Kenny Lofton, 13

SINGLES
2nd place all-time: Bernie Williams, 33
3rd place all-time: Jeter & Lofton, 31
10th place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 25

EXTRA-BASE HITS
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 19
3rd place all-time: Derek Jeter, 13
6th place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 12
out of top 10: Kenny Lofton, 8

TIMES ON BASE
1st place all-time: Bernie Williams, 78
4th place all-time: Derek Jeter, 64
6th place all-time: Manny Ramirez, 55
9th place all-time: Kenny Lofton, 53

The Useless Countdown is going all out because it's the playoffs. And we're trying it's trying to wash out the taste of Orlando Cabrera's relenting pursuit of Tim McCarver.

Have the Playoffs Started Yet?

2007-10-10T12:28:00.000-04:00

Well, that was a disappointing first round of the playoffs. What looked like four intriguing series turned into four routs, so while an individual game here or there had some drama there was none in any series.

There shouldn't be a sweep in either Championship series - the Rockies and Diamondbacks and the Indians and Red Sox seem well-matched to deliver two tight series. Arizona has the edge in pitching and the Rockies in hitting; I think Zona is the more consistent team but Colorado the more explosive team. In a 7-game series that should favor the Diamondbacks but would you bet against the Rockies right now? I'll be rooting for Colorado because it's always fun to see a new team in the World Series. And a Colorado WS appearance is the only thing that's going to save us from FOX totally overblowing their coverage of either Cleveland or Boston.

Because the DBacks are a pretty dull team. There's not a lot of storylines FOX can sell with Arizona:

"Hey, did you know Tony Clark is STILL PLAYING?"

"Brandon Webb! How long until the Yankees buy him?"

"Come watch the Drew brother that doesn't suck!"

So that means we'll get a 100 stories of that wacky Eric Byrnes. Do you want that? Because I don't. As much fun as it is watching Byrnes play the game, it's equally as irritating watching him do anything off the baseball field. He's one of these "personalities" (like Warren Sapp, Jeremy Roenick, and Michaels Waltrip, Irvin, and Strahan) that gets shoved down our collective television-throats because they're projected to be TV commentators as soon as they're done playing.

Because they're colorful. And they'll "say anything." And they make people who like Jeannie Zelasko and Stuart Scott giggle.

So, yeah, go Rockies. (Of course, it's really too bad that the Rockies couldn't have done this last year before the Colts won the Super Bowl just for all the humor that could have been derived wondering if an ex-Tennessee QB was finally going to win something that mattered ...)

By the way, I think TBS' game coverage has been pretty good, so far (with the exception of the embarrassment that is Frank Thomas in the studio) but if they give us Wacky Byrnes as a means of selling the NLCS I'm going to deduct points.

I think the ALCS sets up for some damn good baseball. Both teams can pitch, hit for power, run, play defense ... we shouldn't see too many 8-2 games. There's no great insight here but I think the series is going to come down to how well Sabathia and Carmona pitch to Ortiz and Lowell. If the Indians' two big starters can put the clamps on Papi and Manny then the Indians should win; if they can't then the Sox should take the series. I think it's really that simple - for that not to hold we'd either need to see an offensive explosion by the Indians to off-set the Papi-Manny attack, or someone else in the Sox line-up would have to step up.

Other than Mike Lowell, I don't think that man exists in the Sox line-up. After what Papi and Manny did to the Angels, though, you have to wonder if the Indians will simply by-pass them to pitch to Lowell. It'd be a high-risk strategy - putting more men on base for a guy who hit .324 and drove in 120 runs (more than either Papi or Manny) but common sense says you'd rather pitch to Mike Lowell than Manny Ramirez, right?

Francona has moved Schilling up to pitch Game 2 of the series and I think it's a panic move. Yeah, Schilling is the better pitcher, but the way things line up now Schil would pitch Game 6 and not Game 7 and Matsuzaka would pitch Game 7. Even before that, I'd rather have Schilling as the back-stop in Game 3, the first game in Cleveland. I'd like Schilling in the match-up against Jake Westbrook and if the Sox are down 0-2, Schil can put the Sox back in the series; if they're tied 1-1 or up 2-0 he can put them in charge.

Should be two fun series. I think predictions are pretty meaningless, but I'm thinking Rockies in 6 and Sox in 7.

Orlando Cabrera Defies the Useless Countdown

2007-10-01T23:34:00.000-04:00

Orlando Cabrera did not pass Tim McCarver on the all-time Home Run List. No, instead of breaking the record, Cabrera decides to hold us all hostage until next year. Good job, O. Maybe we won't even remember your silly little pursuit next year.

Or maybe you'll rub it in everyone's face and hit a HR a game in the playoffs.

In a weird occurrence of statistical convergence, both Chase Utley and David Wright ended the season with 97 career HRs, tied with Cabrera, McCarver, Cap Anson, and John Vander Wal.

Maybe we'll follow their pursuit of Orlando Cabrera next season. Bet they don't go over a month without knocking one out.

Poll Busting Saturday

2007-09-30T09:07:00.000-04:00

How many top 13 teams can possibly lose in a weekend of college football?

Seven, apparently.

Oklahoma (3), Florida (4), West Virginia (5), Texas (7), Rutgers (10), Oregon (11), and Clemson (13) all fell this past weekend, meaning your CFB Poll this week could very well see Kentucky and South Florida in the top 10. Of course, all those losses will probably allow the ridiculous SEC and Big-12 sympathizers to keep UF and Oklahoma in the top 10 ... I'm sure there will be countless ballots turned in this week that have Oklahoma still ranked over Colorado, Florida over Auburn, West Virginia over South Florida, Texas over Kansas State, Rutgers over Maryland, and Clemson over Georgia Tech. A large block of voters will probably hammer Oregon, even though the Duckies lost to 6th ranked Cal. Instead of breaking down the games, then, I thought I'd take a look at the above pairings to see if their expected poll outcomes will be justified.

1. Oklahoma over Colorado. Yes, but it's closer than you might think. The Sooners are now 4-1 and the Buffs 3-2, but Colorado has the bigger win and their losses were to Arizona State and Florida State, both of whom are likely to be ranked in the top 25 this week, and Oklahoma's wins are over North Texas, Miami, Utah State, and Tulsa.

2. Florida over Auburn. Yes, but again, it's closer than what AU will likely get credit for. They're now 3-2 to Florida's 4-1, but one of their losses was a 3-point OT defeat to South Florida, a team that just took out the 5th ranked team in the nation, and they do have a victory over Kansas State, who just pumped the 7th ranked Longhorns in Austin.

3. West Virginia over South Florida. No. Any voter who doesn't jump South Florida into the top 10 this week is a moron. They deserve to be ranked ahead of every one-loss team in the country.

4. Texas over Kansas State. No. K State's non-UT wins are admittedly weak (San Jose State and Missouri State) but their one loss is on the road to Auburn. UT, meanwhile, has not played well most of the season, struggling against Arkansas State and Central Florida, though they do have a Top 25 win over TCU. Still, beating Texas by 20 on the road is more impressive than beating TCU by 21 at home, so the Wildcats deserve to be ranked ahead of Texas.

5. Rutgers over Maryland. Push. Look, Rutgers is going to get absolutely hammered in the polls this week because they're Rutgers and most voters are old boy traditionalists who don't like new teams messing up traditional looking polls. Honestly, though, even though few of them will take it into account, they'll be right to hammer Rutgers. Victories over Buffalo, Navy, and Norfolk State and a loss at home to a two-loss Maryland do not a top 25 team make. Maryland's other two victories are against Florida International and Villanova, which doesn't count for anything, but their two losses are to West Virginia and Wake Forest. Neither Rutgers or Maryland should be ranked next week.

6. Cal over Oregon. Of course, but the Ducks should be rewarded in the polls by not being unfairly hammered. They lost to a top 6 team. There's no reason they shouldn't remain among the top one-loss teams in the country.

7. Clemson over Georgia Tech. Yes. Ga Tech hasn't beat anyone, and Clemson, at least, has beat Florida State. Clemson should probably just remain inside the top 25 - at least until they lose to Va Tech next week.

If I had a vote in a poll this week, I'd submit the following top ten ballot:

1. Cal
2. LSU
3. USC
4. South Florida
5. The Ohio State
6. Wisconsin
7. Boston College
8. Kentucky
9. Florida
10. Oklahoma

Orlando Cabrera's Last Chance to Not Let the Useless Countdown Down

2007-09-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

Today is the final day of the 2007 MLB regular season.*

Orlando Cabrera has stood on the brink of history for 39 days, needing only one HR to pass Tim McCarver on the all-time HR list.

Orlando, hit a home run. By all that's holy, hit a home run today so we can put this ridiculously contrived countdown to bed. Because I'll be honest, we starting a new ridiculously contrived countdown as soon as your season is finished. You can be with us, or against us.

Your call.

*In the American League, at least. Depending on what happens in the NL today they could be playing until Wednesday to figure out who makes the playoffs.

Not That It's Not Worth Popping Some Bubbly ...

2007-09-29T00:35:00.000-04:00

... but how can anyone really get excited about winning the division?

The Sox have been in first place every day since April. Is winning the AL East suddenly a surprise?

Yeah, the Sox clinched the AL East for the first time in 12 years but they did win a World Series a few years ago from the Wild Card slot. In the era of the Wild Card I'm not sure winning a division really means anything except a chance to hawk a few extra t-shirts. All that matters is you get into the playoffs.

They've known they were in the playoffs for a few days and I'm OK with the team blowing off some steam and all, but is anyone going to think this is enough?

On winning the division, John Henry said, "It's as good as it gets."

No, it's really not.

59 is the New 107

2007-09-25T23:42:00.000-04:00

Syracuse has jumped up to #59 in the latest SI.com rankings.

Not exactly a reason to dance on the ceiling or anything, but when you've been ranked in triple digits and you almost half the chart in one week ... a little celebrating ain't a bad thing.

I'm still pretty stunned by the victory - maybe not as stunned as the Jose Mourinho sacking/resigning/mutually agreed divorce but certainly more surprised than seeing Manny back in the starting line-up tonight and batting second.

The thing about big upsets is that you never really know which team it says more about - the team that pulled the upset or the team that took it on the chin. I know it will sound pessimistic but
don't we have to think this was more about Louisville being awful than Syracuse being good give what had happened the previous two weekends?

The Ville (the dumbest self-appointed nickname of a college in history) was beaten by Kentucky and allowed 40-something points to Middle Tennessee State. The Cuse (okay, this might actually only sound better than "the Ville" because I went there ...) got rolled by Illinois and Iowa, two middle-of-the-road teams in a middle-of-the-road conference.

That's not to say there isn't reason for optimism on the Hill. Andrew Robinson finally got some protection from his offensive line and the WRs finally did some catching.

Amazing what happens when people actually do their job.

Robinson had his best game of his short career and proved, I think, that he's a QB you can build a winning team around.

What I liked best about the game, however, is that it finally looked like the coaching staff came up with a game plan to win a game instead of a game plan to not lose. I'd much rather see these guys go down swinging than playing everything cautious. Next up is the Ohio version of Miami on Saturday, which should allow this team to continue to improve offensively.

C'mon, Get Happy

2007-09-23T02:17:00.000-04:00

Despite playing like a team that had been eliminated back in July the past few weeks the Red Sox became the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot Saturday night after coming back to win a game in the 9th that they blew in the 7th.

It's good to know the team didn't do much celebrating over clinching a playoff spot because anything short of making the World Series is going to be seen as a disappointment.

If the AL shakes out like it almost certainly will, with the Sox, Yanks, Smiling Racists, and Angels making the playoffs there's no clear cut favorite so it's there for any of them. Cleveland might be happy to just be back in the playoffs but none of the other three are going to be happy with anything less than a World Series appearance.

The Sox are the first in the playoffs - here's hoping they're not the first out.

I Think It's Fair to Say No One Saw This Coming

2007-09-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

Syracuse 38.
Louisville 35.

Yeah, I think I'll just let that soak in for a while.

A Trick of Hats!

2007-09-22T16:50:00.001-04:00

When the top team in the league and the second-to-bottom team in the league square off, you expect just what Arsenal and Derby County delivered on Saturday - a 5-0 thrashing by the Gunners. Emmanuel Adebayor had a hat trick as Arsenal thoroughly dominated the overmatched Rams at the Emirates.

Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas added the additional goals, and Theo Walcott was highly impressive as he logged his most minutes of the Premiership season. At least, Walcott was 75% impressive - his dribbling, his speed, his moves ... all good. His finishing? Not good.

Arsenal plays next on Tuesday night in a third round Carling Cup match against Newcastle United at the Emirates. Because, apparently, Arsenal gets to play all of their matches at home this year.

Now That's How You Start a Competition

2007-09-19T22:45:00.000-04:00

In one of the more interesting opening matches in the Champions League, Arsenal beat Sevilla 3-0 behind goals from Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Eduardo at Emirates Stadium. (Which can't be called Emirates Stadium during Champions League matches because Emirates isn't a UEFA sponsor but an Arsenal sponsor. Silly.)

Fabregas is playing out of his mind right now. After a brilliant offensive performance on Saturday against Tottenham, Fabregas was the beneficiary of a bit of luck on his goal. His shot struck a defender on the way towards goal and was misdirected past the Sevilla keeper. Fabregas contributed to the second goal, as well, sending a free-kick into the box that was deflected by Sagna and kicked home by van Persie.

Though it's not something that shows up in the scoring table, Alexander Hleb continues to pass the ball extremely well in the midfield.

-- And in late-breaking news (meaning, I'm just seeing it as I write this) Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has quit the club. Chelsea's been struggling in the Premiership this season; they currently reside in 5th place, though they're only 2 points off league-leading Arsenal.

Eric Gagne Sucks at His Job

2007-09-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

When people thought the Eric Gagne acquisition was the MLB trading deadline deal that would have the biggest impact on the season, I don't think anyone meant that it would turn out like this.

Eric Gagne has fallen. Unquestionably, unmistakably, epically.

From "Guy Who Clinches World Series for Red Sox" to "Guy Who Will Be Lucky to Make Post-Season Roster."

Eric Gagne has flat-out sucked since coming over from Texas and real consideration has to now be given to whether he deserves a place on the playoff roster. (Of course, that assumes he's not going to choke away a total collapse that keeps the Sox out of the playoffs.) Last night Gagne was up to his red-socked tricks, blowing a 2-1 lead as the Sox lost 4-3 to the Blue Jays in Toronto. Everyone blows leads, of course, but it's how Gagne does it that's infuriating. After getting the first two batters out, Gagne walked Frank Thomas, gave up a single to Aaron Hill, walked Matt Stairs (after having him 0-2), walked Greg Zaun (Greg Frickin' Zaun) to let in the game-tying run, and then allowed a double to Russ Adams to let in Toronto's two final runs.

Last night was a try-out for Gagne. From Gordon Edes piece in today's Boston Globe:

"There were a lot of reasons to keep [Gagne] out there and pitch and have success," said Francona, explaining why he took the long view and stayed with Gagné even as the wheels came off, and even though he had Jonathan Papelbon warming up. "If it doesn't work, it hurts. It hurts all of us. I think it's the right thing to do. That doesn't make it easier." Moments later, the manager reflected on the same theme. "That's why we stay with him," said Francona. "We believe, even when other people don't or it's hard to believe. I think that's part of why we are successful. It certainly doesn't feel like it tonight."

Is he going to get a spot in the playoff bullpen? I think it depends on just how many pitchers the Sox take into October with them. Here are the nine automatics: Beckett, Matsuzaka, Schilling, Wakefield, Papelbon, Okajima, Timlin, Tavarez, Delcarmen. That leaves likely two spots for Buchholz, Corey, Gagne, Hansack, Lester, Lopez, and Snyder. One of the spots is likely going to Lopez - he's left-handed, which helps, and he's been quietly consistent though not spectacular this season (his 3.05 & 25 Ks are solid, but his 17 walks in 38 innings is disturbing). I'd guess Lester is out because they won't need a 5th starter. It's going to come down to Buchholz, Snyder, and Gagne - and likely in that order.

I just can't see putting a guy on the post-season roster that you don't have any faith in. Gagne hadn't pitched with a lead in a month before last night and if you can't trust a guy with a lead you don't need him around. If there is any mop-up duty to do in the post-season the Sox have Wakefield, Tavarez, and Snyder to do it.

Gagne's got two weeks to get it together, but I can't see Francona putting him back in a game to protect a lead until a playoff spot is clinched. (Magic number is 4, by the way, though that's in regards to the Tigers and the Wild Card spot and not to the Yanks and the division.) Putting Gagne on the playoff roster at this point would look like the team trying to protect its image in making the deal in the first place, which would be silly.

Trading for Gagne was the right move. Leaving him off the playoff roster would be the right move, too.

Embrace It

2007-09-19T01:33:00.000-04:00

I'll be honest - you wouldn't have wanted to watch the Sunday Night game between the Pats and Chargers with me this past week. Besides what was sure to have been a mind-warping display of channel flipping between the Pats game on NBC and the Sox game on ESPN during commercials, I didn't see much use for playful banter and idle chit-chat during the game.

There was a fist pump or two, a solitary clap here or there, but for the bulk of the night it was eyes locked on screen, absorbing the meaningful (the blitz pick-ups by the Pats O-Line and backs) and the meaningless (body language), the serious (Randy Moss' route-running) and the silly (Shawne Merriman's Shawne Merriman-ness).

The idea that Sunday Night was a referendum on the whole of New England's last seven years was absurd, and yet because the national media are such small-thinking donkeys there was an element of that in the build-up to the game. The Pats were going to be the #1 sports story on Monday no matter how they performed and reactions would be drawn to sharply based on one game.

Because that's all it was. One game. In week two.

What did we learn? We learned that two weeks into the season the Patriots are worlds better than the San Diego Not-So-Super Chargers.

Beyond that? Not much.

You can say we learned there are still two great superpowers in the NFL and they play in Indianapolis and Foxboro, but deep down you already knew that as much as you might have not wanted to admit it. There are plenty of teams that can beat either of those teams. But beat them back-to-back in January? With both games likely on the road?

Not bloody likely.

What we learned about the Patriots Sunday Night is that they're not going to turn on their coach. That, instead, they are going to rally around him. You're going to hear lots of "We don't get the respect we deserve" and "We don't care what anyone outside this locker room thinks" over the next five months. Say what you want about the Patriots but ever since the Brady/Bledsoe Dust settled this team has been consistently on the same page.

They're still there. It's the right attitude, too; instead of trying to run from their newfound "bad-boy" image, the Patriots continue to use anything and everything to their emotional bonding with one another. You get the feeling that they can take even the smallest hint of a gentle breeze and turn it into a hurricane sent by God to destroy them.

And what's most encouraging is that you already see Randy Moss and Adalius Thomas and Wes Welker speaking in Patriot Dialect.

There's a long way to go, however, so I wish people would stop awarding the Pats the Lombardi Trophy.

Enjoy the ride.

Sports Illustrated Refuses to Acknowledge the Great Pumpkin Reality

2007-09-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

I really don't know what to say about this other than to just say it.

SI.com has kept the Orange ranked #107 for the second week in a row, despite getting pumped by Illinois.

Maybe Cuse has hit the bottom of their personal barrel. Maybe SI.com simply refuses to rank a BCS conference team any lower. Maybe people are just looking at the final scores and nothing more.

If you are a fan of Tulane, Louisiana Lafayette, San Jose State, Army, Toledo, Louisiana Monroe, North Texas, Rice, Northern Illinois, Temple, Florida International, or Utah State, I'm sorry. Cuse has certainly performed worse than at least half of you and yet, no drop in the rankings. At very least Cuse should drop below Northern Illinois simply because of the uniforms and Army just because of patriotism.

Maybe that's the bigger question - Why does Sports Illustrated hate America?

We Pose the Ridiculous Question. You Decide.

In other Pumpkin news, the Cuse is a 37-point underdog to Louisville this week. THIRTY. SEVEN. POINT. DOG. To a team that has so far showed it is completely incapable of playing defense.

What's the most frustrating (and this took a few minutes to decide because there are so many frustrating things going on with the Pumpkins this season) is that, as Dave Rahme so excellently pointed out in the Post-Standard, G-Rob is STILL playing the final Paul Pasqualoni recruits more than he's playing his own recruits:

"It is time to end the debate. The Syracuse University football team, featuring a starting lineup with 16 players recruited by Paul Pasqualoni's staff (before the injury to center Marvin McCall) and only six recruited by Greg Robinson's staff, is ranked No. 116 in the nation in offense among the 119 teams that play Division I-A football. [...] It is time for him to begin to work the players he has recruited into the lineup. Yes, there is the delicate matter of team chemistry. Juniors and seniors who paid their dues should not be thrown under the bus. But they must move over - especially on the offensive line and at linebacker but everywhere, really - and allow their younger teammates to gain significant game experience in some kind of rotation."

There's no way to know just how good G-Rob is doing at recruiting than to actually allow these players onto the field. Andrew Robinson is not a bad QB, but the pieces that have surrounded him so far this season (with the slight exception of Curtis Brinkley) have let him down. Get the kids on the field - it's not like things could get worse.

Orlando Cabrera Tells the Useless Countdown to Kiss His What?

2007-09-18T17:35:00.000-04:00

Orlando Cabrera has 12 games to hit one home run to pass Tim McCarver on the all-time list. Cabrera, for those paying attention, is taking his sweet ass time getting this monumental achievement accomplished. He hasn't hit a home run in any of his last 24 games.

Since Cabrera's last home run, Hillary Clinton has announced how to fix the U.S. Healthcare system, Fred Thompson has announced he's running for President, Cristiano Ronaldo went on a hooker binge, the VMAs become officially irrelevant, Bill Belichick's entire coaching history has been put under a dark cloud, Notre Dame has trotted out 3 QBs who all suck because the O-Line couldn't block a group of extras from Friday Night Lights, and sliced bread was, in fact, invented.

The Angels have 12 games left. Get it done, Orlando. We have plenty of meaningless football non-records to follow and you're mucking up the works.

And He Thinks, "Why Not?"

2007-09-18T17:22:00.000-04:00

Here's visual evidence of Emmanuel Adebayor's goal from Arsenal Saturday's derby against Tottenham. I think what makes it even better is the call from the announcers. Wouldn't it be nice, just once, to hear Dick Vitale talk with this kind of understated awe?

Adebayor's goal shouldn't make anyone overlook how poorly the defense played, which will need to step up big against Sevilla tomorrow.

I Know It Meant More to the Yankees, But Did You Have to Play Like It?

2007-09-17T15:36:00.000-04:00

What to make of this weekend's Pilgrims v. Highlanders series at the Fens that saw the Yanks take 2-of-3 from the Sox and pull to within 4 1/2 games of the AL East lead?

The positive: the Sox lost two games by one run without having Manny Ramirez in the line-up.

The negative: The Yanks' bullpen looks like it's solidifying with the addition of Joba Chamberlain, while the Sox bullpen looks cooked with a gassed Okajima, an aging Timlin, and a lost-in-plain-sight Eric Gagne.

The positive: Josh Beckett embraces the challenge of the big game and looks ready to be the team's #1 starter in the post-season.

The negative: Daisuke Matsuzaka has hit the wall and might as well be shut down until the post-season gets here.

The positive: Lots of runs on Saturday and lots of working the count all three nights.

The negative: Without Manny in the Middle this team is going to struggle to score runs against the top pitchers they're going to face in October. Heck, even with Manny this isn't a team (like the Yanks are) that can count on going out and bludgeoning teams.

The positive: Forget 2008, Jacoby Ellsbury should be starting in CF or RF right now.

The negative: JD Drew, JD Drew, JD Drew, JD Drew, and Jason Varitek's bat. Drew and Tek came up countless times with men on this weekend and it seemed that neither was able to do anything more at grounding out to first base. Varitek shouldn't play more than every other day for the rest of the regular season.

In all, it was a blah weekend at the Fens. The Sox could have put the Yanks away, but they didn't, and now the Yanks seem just as likely to make the playoffs. And honestly, it doesn't look like the Sox want any part of the Yankees again this season.

A National Joke

2007-09-16T11:04:00.000-04:00

No disrespect to Illinois, who truly looks like they've got things headed in the right direction, but Syracuse football is officially the worst team in college football.

The Pumpkins probably had it locked up with their 41-20 loss to the Illini (the Cuse scored 10 meaningless points to end the game), but with Duke's 20-14 victory over Northwestern, there's little doubt that Syracuse University fields the most irrelevant BCS football squad in the country.

You have to be careful to not read too much into score totals, but here are the facts. Last year Syracuse lost to Iowa 20-13, this year they lost 35-0. Last year they beat Illinois 31-21, this year they lost by 21. You can't spell "going in the wrong direction" without "G-R-E-G R-O-B-I-N-S-O-N."

Oh yeah, and Iowa lost to Iowa State last night - the same Iowa State team that was ranked 106th last week by Si.com.

So if you're paying attention - the team ranked 106th (Iowa State) won this week, and the team ranked 108th (Duke) won this week, but the team ranked 107th played like being ranked 107th was generous.

Worse, there were references and snide remarks all over the college map (from ESPN and CBS) announcers that Syracuse was the worst team in D-1 football. So in case you were wondering, Daryl Gross, if people were paying attention to this joke of a squad you run out on the field each week, the answer is yes.

High Flying Derby Act

2007-09-15T10:41:00.000-04:00

Arsenal traveled to White Hart Lane to take on rival Tottenham in the season's first north London derby and came away with a 3-1 victory in a wild match against the Spurs.

The Gunners created as many opportunities for themselves on offense as they gave up on defense. Trailing 1-0 after a gorgeous free kick-goal by Gareth Bale, Arsenal sent wave after wave at Tottenham using crisp passing to create scoring opportunities.

The stars of the game for Arsenal were Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas, who not only scored the three goals but dominated the offensive end. Adebayor's first goal was headed in off a Fabregas free-kick in the 65th minute. It was the next two goals that were true highlight material. In the 80th minute Fabregas drilled home a goal from 30 yards out and then in stoppage time Adebayor added his second goal of the day, teeing up a pass then turning and blasting it past Paul Robinson.

Defensively, though, Arsenal gave up far too many chances. Robbie Keane and Darren Bent both failed to take advantage of one-on-one opportunities against keeper Manuel Almunia.

The win keeps Arsenal atop the standings with 13 points.

Next up: the opening Champions League Group stage match against Sevilla out of La Liga on Wednesday. Sevilla is the favorites to win of Group H, but it is a home match for Arsenal. ESPN 2 will have the FC Porto v. Liverpool match on Tuesday afternoon (2:30) and the Manchester Utd. v. Sporting Lisbon match on Wednesday (2:30) Arsenal v. Sevilla will be on ESPN Deportes, if you get that. Which I don't.

Baloo on Belichick

2007-09-15T01:43:00.000-04:00

Special to BtC by BALOO

When I first heard this story about the Patriots stealing signals, I thought it wasn't that big of a deal. In fact, I found it amusing. However, as more information (mostly rumors, to be honest) comes out, it makes the cheating seem worse than it initially did. Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the possible implications of the cheating, let's look at surface details that indicate a wimpy punishment. As I've stated in comments on this blog, Wade Wilson was given a 5 game suspension for buying HGH to deal with his erectile dysfunction. There's no impact on the game if that's the real reason for buying the HGH and let's be honest, most men would admit to cheating before they admitted to ED. Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson were suspended for off-field conduct that had no impact on the game, but gave the league a blackeye. Vick may get a lifetime suspension for associating with gamblers in his dog fights. If you read Vick's statement, he tries to deny gambling on the fights. So he's either a sadistic guy who likes to watch dogs rip each other apart, or he's lying to get back into the league. Concern over gambling does appear to be the bigger issue for the NFL. However, betting on dog fights won't lead to problems for the NFL unless Vick gets in deep to those gambling interests. Now Belichick's behavior was on-field misconduct that may have directly affected the outcome of games. So the lack of a suspension doesn't make much sense. My guess is that the league knew that suspending a head coach wouldn't work since they can't monitor all communication between the coach and his assistants. Anyone remember when Steinbrenner was banned from working with the Yankees' front office. I'm pretty certain he contacted them.

Bias disclaimer: As a Raiders fan, I should have bitterness about the Pats, but I don't. I blame the refs for making the wrong call.* Brady's non-passing hand touches the ball prior to the fumble and there's no passing motion in the world where your non-passing hand touches the ball while you're throwing arm is moving forward. So now that I've come clean on any potential biases, I should state that I've watched most Patriot games over the last few seasons and I enjoy watching their games. After the Raiders and Colts, I'd put the Pats as my third favorite team.

*(Editorial Cheap Shot Intervention: The Refs did make the wrong call - they failed to flag Woodson for an illegal blow to the head.)

Initially I figured the cheating would help them win a game here or there. However, after thinking about this for awhile I realized that one or two games a season would make a huge difference in playoff position and there's nothing more important than that in the NFL. I can't believe that the Patriots would continue to do this if it didn't help in some way. Also, if it didn't help, then you wouldn't do it against the Jets, who know you do it. So if it helped them win close games and it gets them simply one game in the season, that could be difference between a road game or a home game in the playoffs. Think of the extra cash that Kraft would make with a home game. Think of the money lost by other teams that may have missed the playoffs or a home game because of the cheating. On top of that, homefield advantage is huge in the NFL. So if you get homefield advantage that's likely to be one more win in the playoffs.

So I figured I'd go over the last 3 seasons to see if the cheating would help their playoff position. I need to mention that my decision to only look at close final scores may hide some games where it was close and the Patriots ran away with it at the end or may include games that weren't close until late in the game. Let's start with the close games from 2006:

(Note: I'm defining close games as 7 pts or less to keep it simple.)

Week: Date / Game
1: 10-Sep / BUF 17 @ NE 19
2: 17-Sep / NE 24 @ NYJ 17
12: 26-Nov / CHI 13 @ NE 17
13: 3-Dec / DET 21 @ NE 28
16: 24-Dec / NE 24 @ JAC 21

So in 2006, there are at most 5 games where cheating may have helped. While there are rumors surrounding communications gear going down in the Lions game (on multiple occasions), let's assume that the Pats would beat the Lions. I mean, come on. The main games of interest here are Jacksonville, Buffalo, and Chicago. Based on these outcomes, only Jacksonville seems to matter for the playoffs. If Jacksonville gets the win, they go 9-7 and make the playoffs instead of the Chiefs. If the Pats cheated during that game, and it helped (these may be very big ifs) the Pats cheated the Jags out of playoff shares for the players and gate revenues for the team. On the other side, the Chiefs should send the Pats a present. If it helped in the Bills and Bears games, then the Bills still miss the playoffs and the Bears would still have homefield advantage. Now for any impact on the Patriots, in 2006, the cheating would most likely have had to help them win 2 games. If that's the case, then their record would be 10-6 and tied with the Jets (unless the Jets win the 9/17 game then the Jets win the division) and depending on tie-breakers could've made the Pats a wildcard team. If the Jets win their 9/17 game, then they are both 11-5. Add in any one other game, and the Jets win the division. Instead the Pats get to host the Jets. So again, that's pretty big, but you'd have to believe it helped them win more than one game or the Jets game and the Jets get the tiebreaker (which I'm not sure if they would). In the playoffs, the Chargers lost a close one to the Pats, but I want to stick to a discussion of playoff position. In summary, if the Jags win the 12/24 game against the Pats they make the playoffs and that's money that was stolen from them. If the Pats lose two games that they won, then they may have been a wildcard team and that's money that's stolen from the Jets.

Now let's turn to 2005:

Week: Date / Game
3: 25-Sep / NE 23 @ PIT 20
5: 9-Oct / NE 31 @ ATL 28
8: 30-Oct / BUF 16 @ NE 21
10: 13-Nov / NE 23 @ MIA 16
11: 20-Nov / NO 17 @ NE 24

Once again, there are 5 possible games that matter. The Patriots were only 10-6 that year (as a Raiders fan, I wish I could say the Raiders were only 10-6), so one of those games turning to a loss may have cost them the playoffs (the Dolphins were 9-7) based on tiebreakers. If they lose 2 of those games, they miss the playoffs even if they still win the Miami game. The game of particular interest to me, is the Steelers game. If cheating helped them win that game, the Steelers win the division and don't have to go on the road for a wildcard game. That's huge. The Steelers would have been 12-4 would have played one home game in the wildcard round instead of the Bengals. Miami and the Steelers may have been negatively affected in those seasons. And for Miami, it may have been the difference between a playoff game and going home.

So what about 2004?

Week: Date / Game
1: 9-Sep / IND 24 @ NE 27
7: 24-Oct / NYJ 7 @ NE 13
14: 12-Dec / CIN 28 @ NE 35

Only 3 games ended in close games. So even if the Patriots lose all 3 games, they'd be 11-5 and tied with the Jets at 11-5 (Jets were 10-6, but they were in one of the games above). It seems unlikely that a team as talented as the Patriots would lose all 3 games. Cincy misses the playoffs regardless of the outcome of their game. However, if Indy wins the 9/9 game, then Indy and NE are tied for the best record in the AFC and I believe Indy would win the tie-breaker since they would have won the first meeting. Once again, that's pretty big if cheating helped.

Now this is merely speculation, but I think it shows that even getting one game here or there, is a big deal. If the cheating helped, and as I stated above it must have or they wouldn't keep it up, then getting a game here or there could very well have helped them get homefield advantage or at least one more home game than they deserved. While at the same time, maybe screwing Jacksonville and Miami out of a playoff spots and quite possibly homefield advantage for the Colts in 2004. If the Pats and Colts play in Indy in 2004 and it's a level playing field, the Colts might win that game and go to a Super Bowl. I'd still argue that the Pats had the better all around team, but playing at home in the NFL is huge.

So after thinking about this for awhile, I think the penalty for Belichick was way too small considering that it may have cost other teams money and playoff position while adding money to the Kraft's pockets. Add in that it's a blackeye for the game. The fact that people are questioning Brady's play and that I'm writing this post indicate that people are questioning the integrity of the game. That's the same exact reason the NFL doesn't allow gambling. Now I realize a lifetime ban wasn't going to happen, but it should've been on the table. However, I think the best solution would be to simply give the Patriots a loss in week 1. The Jets lost the game fair and square since they caught video-boy early in the game. So they get to keep the loss. So now the Patriots and Jets should be 0-1. That would hurt the current team without hurting future teams. You'd send a message that cheating is taken seriously and that might deter others from doing the same. The current penalty says cheat all you want, we won't take too much from you. Unless you're a player of course, then we'll take gamechecks, suspend you, and publicly declare you a cheater (say hi Merriman, you steroid using loser). The Pats fine was essentially a rookie minimum salary. That's really weak.

I think the media has ignored the implications for playoff positioning. And that's the real crime here, imo. Maybe it helped them win a playoff game or two, but I think the major impact is getting home games they may not have deserved and taking away spots from deserving teams. So while the Raiders fan in me finds Billy's behavior amusing, the criminal justice professor in my finds the rewards too great for the small penalty the Pats received. Now I know a coach can only be fined $500,000, so that's fine, but the team should've lost home playoff game revenue for each season they believe the videotaping happened. Though, to be honest, I prefer my simple solution of giving the Pats a loss in week 1. It's simple and could cost them playoff position which is what the cheating was for in the first place.

107 With a Dull, Sickening Thud

2007-09-14T15:15:00.000-04:00

Syracuse football is now ranked 107th out of 119 schools, according to SI.com.

I guess the Cuse should feel lucky SI doesn't consider 1-AA schools like the AP does, or they'd probably be closer to 150 than 100.

Another week, another expected loss is coming as Illinois (ranked 55th at SI.com) comes into the Dome as 12 1/2 point favorites. That's right - a crap team, on the road, is nearly a two touchdown favorite to the Cuse.

And no matter how many jerseys SU retires or how many ugly statues they build or how much they screw-up the uniform, none of it can hide the fact that this team is freaking terrible.

And like a sucker I'll still sit down and watch them on Saturday when ESPNU puts them on the air. I'll watch because I care about the program and I'll watch because I want to see just how bad they are and I'll watch to see if Daryl Gross gets interviewed and makes even more excuses for G-Rob and I'll watch to see perhaps the emptiest Dome crowd ever for a football game and I'll watch to see how we stack up against a very mediocre Illinois team that Cuse somehow managed to beat last season.

I'll watch, too, because mercifully this might be the last chance to watch this team play this season, which means it should be my last opportunity to hear about what a great guy Greg Robinson is while no one wants to bring up how awful of a head coach he's turning out to be.

Tarnishing the Brady & the NFL's Legacy of Spying

2007-09-14T08:59:00.000-04:00

As Trout noted in the comments section elsewhere, the question of how "Spygate" is going to affect Tom Brady's legacy is a one of the questions that's going to spin out of this story.

I don't think we can answer that question right now, but it's a question to keep asking until we can definitively (or what passes for definitively in this day and age) answer it.

I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude with Brady until we have a better idea about how extensive the spying was and how the Patriots went about using that information during games. Certainly it has to diminish Brady's accomplishments but I'm not ready to say it "barely" diminishes his accomplishments or "significantly" diminishes his accomplishments as of today.

I think if you just look at the Super Bowl performances, the Rams Super Bowl seems the most obvious candidate for this kind of spying/adjusting going on (they played the Rams earlier in the season, the Rams were heavy favorites) but the game itself seems to indicate there wasn't any of this going on. The Patriots didn't dominate on offense and, in fact, struggled for most of the game against a less-than-stellar Rams defense. If they were spying and adjusting in-game then they weren't doing a very good job of it (which doesn't excuse it, of course - if you cheat poorly you're still a cheater; in fact, it's usually the poor cheaters who either get caught, or blow the whistle on someone else).

The Panthers SB is a bit more likely, but this was a shoot-out game on both sides, so I don't know what to make of it. The Eagles SB seems the best candidate for this kind of cheating - Philly had the best overall defense of the three SB opponents, ran the most complex schemes, etc., so if there was any SB cheating going on, I think SB 39 is the best candidate. But again, I don't know, so like the rest of the Patriots games under Belichick it goes into the "I don't know what to make of it" category.

To get back to Brady - I don't think there's going to need to be a massive readjustment of his spot in NFL QB Hierarchy. He's not going to drop from "one of the best ever" to "Rex Grossman," though it certainly might knock him to the bottom rungs of HoF QBs.

As to whether Belichick's insertion of Brady into the starting line-up was his "moment of weakness" that started this whole thing, I doubt it. If that season saw the beginning of spygate then I'd wager it had more to do with the ineffectiveness of Bledsoe than trying to gain an advantage for Brady. Bledsoe was awful, in the midst of a three-year slide in overall effectiveness (thanks largely to the damage done by Petey Pom Poms), and the team wasn't any better, so if spygate started then, I don't think it had anything to do with Brady. But maybe it did - these are the questions we need answers to and I hope Goodell actually investigates how extensive spygate was instead of just trying to shut his eyes tight and hope the story goes away. You know the NYC press is going to be all over this story, chasing and printing every scrap of a rumor they can, so it's important the Commissioner conducts his own through, independent investigation.

I do think some of the outrage around the League and the internets is a bit silly in its holier-than-thou-ness, however. Spying has always gone on and the Patriots big crime is a perfect storm of 1) getting caught, 2) being incredibly successful, and 3) taking cheating to a place it hasn't been before. When you're this successful you're going to get slammed harder than everyone else - look at the allegations that have dogged the 1970s Steelers dynasty for having a roid-taking offensive line. Or how Red Auerbach was only winning title with the Celtics because he didn't give visiting teams hot showers. Or how Bucky Dent's bat was corked.

Success always breeds jealousy and jealousy often breeds conspiracy.

Every single team in the League for probably the entire history of the League has people dedicated to trying to steal/interpret signs; what the Patriots have done that is so wrong (and it is wrong, make no mistake about what I'm saying) is that instead of having a coach trying to do it during games, they had a cameraman filming it so they could facilitate the process - in-game, sure, but especially post-game which could then be folded into future gameplans.

The outrage that has popped up around the League and the internets about this, though ... so much of it is clearly based on jealousy that you can't take it any more seriously than the insipid Patriots fans who argue it's completely meaningless. It's somewhere between the two, but few people want to either look at this rationally or wait until all the pertinent facts come out.

What shouldn't be lost is that the Patriots cheated and they got off light. Belichick should've been suspended. And "everyone else is doing it" doesn't make the Pats doing it a less-punishable offense, but it should be placed into its proper context. As Jason Cole's Y! Sports piece points out this morning, technological spying isn't new, either. Mike Shanahan hired spies to videotape Charger practices. Al Davis allegedly had locker rooms bugged. Are we going to call for the Broncos and Raiders' championships to be taken away, too? Are we going to suddenly argue that John Elway only won Super Bowls because Shanahan cheated? Or that Ken Stabler was only good because Al Davis had the Dolphins' locker room bugged? Of course not.

Did spying give Brady, Elway, Stabler an advantage? Of course it did.

I'm not surprised that the biggest complaints rising out of the ether right now are coming from Indianapolis, Oakland, Philadelphia, and NYC, as teams/fans look to explain their own defeats at the hands of the Patriots over the past six years. Remember, though, that Belichick's spying had nothing to do with the playoff losses the Colts took to Pittsburgh after the 2005 season or the Jets after 2002. Belichick's spying had nothing to do with the tuck rule or Vinatieri kicking a 45-yard FG in a snow storm or what Gruden's Bucs did to the Raiders in SB 37 (where we saw the real value in knowing another team's tendencies/signals, etc.). Belichick's spying had nothing to do with the Eagles losing three straight NFC Championship games. Belichick's spying had nothing to do with the Steelers missing the playoffs after the 2006 or 2003 seasons, or the Steelers loss to the Titans in the 2002 playoffs.

How much did Belichick's spying have to do with the Patriots beating the Raiders, Colts, Steelers, and Eagles in those playoff games? I think answering that question right now isn't possible, but it is an answer worth finding out, which is why Goodell needs to investigate the history of Belichick's spying.

Of course, Raiders fans complaining about other teams cheating without acknowledging their team's own murky morality is always going to be laughable so long as Al Davis is in charge, just like how Raiders fans love to talk about the tuck rule in the Snow Bowl, but never want to discuss the phantom roughing-the-passer call in 1976. They were both bad calls - one because of a stupid rule and one because of a stupid Ben Dreith. What's really changed is that the Raiders don't cheat as well as they used to as Al Davis' health sadly spirals downward.

Why is it comical that George Allen used to spy and reprehensible that Belichick did? Time? Success? That most people like George Allen and hate Bill Belichick?

The extent of the advantage gained by Belichick's spying is unknown and we need to find out more before we either condemn Brady as the next Rick Mirer or wipe it aside and continue to treat him like the next Montana, just like, for the time being, we shouldn't treat the Patriots as either the next Lombardi Packers or the next Juventus.

Let's wait and see what we find out; if it turns out the Patriots only beat the Colts and Steelers and Raiders and Eagles because of spying I'll be the first to condemn them. Right now, though, we don't know anything about the effect of spying on those games. We know the outcomes can rightly be called into question but passing any final judgment right now - either way - doesn't seem the smart course of action.

Belichick's Patriots have to now be considered alongside Shanahan's Broncos and Davis' Raiders instead of alongside Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys, Bill Walsh's 49ers, and Chuck Noll's Steelers. In fact, when all of this is said and done Belichick's Patriots might turn out to be the NFL's Juventus, after all, and as a Patriot fan that will suck a lot more than it sucks right now.

Maybe I'm too inclined to say "wait and see" because it is the Patriots. I'm not trying to make excuses for their behavior by contextualizing their spying in the League's history of spying (I've called for Belichick to be suspended numerous times and I think they got off light in terms of overall punishment) but I'm just not ready to say that Brady or the Championships are now somehow worthless.

All I can say is that if it is revealed that the Pats won one or two or three Championships because of video-camera spying I'll condemn them. All I can say is that, for right now, I am questioning the validity of those playoff wins and Lombardi trophies. In other words, I am perfectly willing to accept there's more (perhaps a lot more) to this spying scandal than we've seen, but I'm not willing say it's everything, either.

But, yeah, maybe that's wishful thinking.

Not Enough, But I'm Sure Ratgini is Smiling

2007-09-13T21:31:00.000-04:00

Roger Goodell has handed down his judgment on Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots - the loss of a first round draft pick if the Pats make the playoffs, a 2nd and 3rd if they don't, a fine of $500,000 to Belichick, and $250,000 to the organization.

It's not enough.

Belichick needed to be suspended because no amount of money is ever really going to amount to anything more than a slap on the wrist. (Unless you're McClaren and the FIA just dropped a $100 million fine on you - but that's another post for another day.)

Goodell said in a letter to the team: "This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field." If that's the case, why isn't Belichick suspended?

According to SI.com: "Goodell said he had considered suspending Belichick but didn't 'largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension.'" That may be true in terms of the draft pick but Goodell should be less interested in long-term punishment than he is in appropriate punishment for the infraction at hand. Belichick ordered the cheating to be carried out by an assistant so Belichick is the one who should bear the brunt of the punishment. Goodell obviously believes this to a degree, too, since he gave Belichick the larger monetary penalty.

How can a coach who buys HGH get a harsher penalty than a coach who illegally spies on his opponent? Makes no sense.

The draft pick penalty is ridiculous, too. Why do the Patriots get their pick protected if they don't make the playoffs? They should lose their first round pick, period. Heck, they should probably lose their first, second, and third round pick regardless of where they finish. They've got the Niners (IIRC) first round pick next year, anyway, so Goodell probably should've taken both away and just be done with it.

Of course, I'm sure Eric Ratgini is smiling away over at the Meadowlands for turning in his former boss and getting away scott free, even though Ratgini turning evidence possibly implicates not only Belichick but himself for past transgressions. It almost certainly implicates Belichick, though it's possible Mangini had nothing to do with it, took no benefit from it, etc. (Yeah, right ...)

The real loser in all this is the Jets fanbase, who now know that their supposed "Mangenious" head coach clearly can't hang with the coaching elite. Belichick keeps coaching, the Pats keep their win, the team will likely keep rolling into another playoff run, but the Airplane crowd has to sit there knowing that instead of using the knowledge that the Patriots were spying to get one over on his rival, Ratgini resorted to crying to Daddy about it, taking the short-term gain instead of hoping for a long-term swerve.

Have fun being 6-10.

Have fun with a coach who likely got his job, in part, due to spying, but now wants to act holier-than-thou about it. (But, hey, maybe he was a lone angel on the coaching staff. Time will tell.)

Ratgini's tattling doesn't excuse Emperor Hood's behavior, however. The NFL simply cannot consider this story over. They need to investigate further to find out how long this practice has been going on and if it played any role in their Super Bowl victories and if that proves to be true they need to suspend Belichick for a season, if not ban him outright from the League. I'll repeat - he should have been suspended today and should consider himself extremely lucky not to have been. The idiocy of the national media, proclaiming that Goodell has "dropped the hammer" on the Patriots is laughable. Goodell hit the Pats with a jab instead of an uppercut and, unfortunately, the message that is sent to other teams in the League is that if you use video cameras to spy you can handle the punishment that's coming.

And that's not a strong enough message to send.

Dirty Rotten Patriots

2007-09-12T14:27:00.001-04:00

As a Patriots fan I am not bothered in the least by the allegations (soon to be facts, apparently) that the Pats were caught taping the Jets defensive signals.

That doesn't mean I'm going to defend them, however.

The Patriots were cheating, they got caught, they should be punished. Severely.

How severely? I think the "fines and draft pick reduction" methods that I've heard bandied about doesn't do enough. I think taking away the victory and giving it to the Jets does too much; the Patriots should be punished for their actions but the Jets shouldn't be rewarded with either the victory or the Pats' draft picks. If I were Roger Goodell I'd do one of three things:

1) Suspend Bill Belichick for anywhere from 1 to 4 games, depending on how severe the taping allegations actually prove to be. Chris Mortensen reported on ESPN radio today that the tape was confiscated early in the game, so that should lessen the penalty, but the Pats have been warned about this behavior before, so that should increase the severity. I think a 2- to 3-week suspension should send the appropriate message. And that's not just suspended from games, but suspended from the team facility, as well.

2) Take away all of their 2008 draft picks.

I prefer the first idea to the second because the penalty should hit the current team and not the future team. What if Belichick decides to move on after this year? Then the guy responsible for the penalty gets away while the team has to suffer. This is just what the NCAA does wrong over and over - they punish the current team for previous program infractions while the coach often gets away clean. The 2007, Belichick coached Patriots should bear the burden of the penalty.

I dislike the idea of spreading the draft pick penalty out over several years because we should not be looking for ways to lessen the blow to the Pats, but rather make sure they feel it.

Whatever the penalty, Goodell should make clear to the Patriots that this behavior cannot continue. If the team is caught doing it again, they most assuredly should have that victory taken away.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same Sunday

2007-09-10T00:24:00.001-04:00

Was there an off-season? I remember there being one, but after the opening weekend of football (minus two MNF games) it doesn't look like there's a whole lot of difference between last year and this year.

Consider the following:

1. The Colts, Patriots, and Chargers are still clearly the three best teams in the NFL. While the Colts and Pats hammered 2006 playoff teams, the Chargers were less convincing against the Bears, but they do have a new coach and were playing against the best defense in the NFL so I'm willing to cut them a bit of slack.

2. Rex Grossman still sucks.

And, really, until something dramatic happens to change the balance of power in the NFL, that's all that matters. As good as the AFC is, I can't see anyone but one of the Big 3 making the Super Bowl, and as good as the Bears defense is, I couldn't see anyone but them making the Super Bowl if they had a competent QB.

Here's what else stood out about Sunday's action:

3. Randy Moss will deservedly get the bulk of attention over the next 24 hours with his 9 catch, 183-yard, 1 TD performance, but Wes Welker's 6 catch, 61-yard, 1 TD performance was every bit as important and every bit as good a sign of things to come. Welker was brought into fill the Troy Brown role - possession receiver, punt returner - and he filled the role beautifully. It's really not the talent upgrade that's important for the Patriots in terms of their WRs; what's important is how comfortable Brady feels with them and he showed yesterday he's already very comfortable with Moss and Welker.

Make no mistake, though, the most important players on the field for the Pats on Sunday were the members of the offensive line. Brady had all the time he needed to go 22-for-28, for 297 yards, and 3 TDs.

4. Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson will have a bigger impact in the NFL than Greg Oden and Kevin Durant will in the NBA. Peterson rushed for over 100 yards on 19 carries and caught one pass for a 60-yard TD. Johnson had 4 catches for 70 yards and a TD of his own.

5. The Lions are finally getting Mike Martz's offense, which means they are going to be a heck of a lot of fun to watch. Jon Kitna threw for 289 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs and the Lions scored 17 unanswered to start the game and 16 unanswered to end the game.

6. Rex Grossman still sucks. (Have I mentioned this?) It doesn't matter that everyone says it every single week; Grossman has got to get better. I don't know why teams with great defenses let a bad QB mess up their season. I'm not saying Brian Griese is the answer, either, but how do the Bears go an entire off-season and not go after Matt Schaub? How do they not bring in Byron Leftwich for a look? Why does Grossman look like he spent the off-season hanging out with Kyle Orton at Harry's instead of in the film room breaking down defenses?

7. I can't believe CBS thinks Jim Nantz and Phil Simms is a #1 announcing team. I can understand that Nantz is CBS' favorite son because of his years of appealing to the Dockers and Lifetime crowd that CBS covets, but Phil Simms is terrible. Tim McCarver terrible.

8. The Raiders still aren't very good, but they played with a bit of heart Sunday, which makes the 2007 Raiders a hundred times better than the 2006 Raiders. Down 17-0 to the Lions, the Raiders scored 21 of the next 24 points to take a 21-20 lead before watching the Lions put 16 unanswered on the board to pull away for a 36-21 victory. Josh McCown had a solid day, going 30-for-40 for 313 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs.

9. The Cowboys and Giants both looked like a mess despite rolling up big offensive numbers. The difference between the two teams? I believe in Tony Romo and not in Eli Manning. Both threw for 4 TDs, 1 INT, and over 300 yards, but Romo looked more comfortable and in-charge than the Younger Manning. I certainly can't fault Manning's stats and he did show more fire than he has in the past, but I don't think the Giants are ready to follow this guy to the locker room let alone the playoffs, while the Cowboys believe in Romo.

Lesson Learning Saturday

2007-09-09T22:42:00.000-04:00

Here are the five most important lessons learned on Saturday afternoon:

1. The Big East should stop scheduling so many cupcakes. While Louisville (Middle Tennessee State), UConn (Maine), and Pittsburgh (Grambling St.) were pounding away on lesser competition, Cincinnati drubbed Oregon State 34-3, and South Florida took out Auburn in OT, 26-23 and probably didn't get the credit those wins deserved because people think so little of the conference. The Big Eastonly has three ranked teams (tied with the Big 10 for the worst among BCS schools) at the moment (WVU, Louisville, Rutgers) but both WVU and Louisville dropped despite winning big.

The South Florida Bulls didn't crack the top 25 despite beating 17th ranked Auburn on the road (their 26th), yet unranked South Carolina goes on the road and beats 11th ranked Georgia by 4 points and somehow ends up ranked 17th. (And Georgia, unbelievably, stays in the top 25.)
The Bearcats garnered 12 voting points this week, which is seven less than 1-AA Appalachian State.

What further shows how little respect the Big East gets (much of which is their own fault) is that the announcers of the game Saturday night were all "this is a win that will put the USF program on the map" despite the Bulls beating all three of the conference elites (WVU, Rutgers, Louisville) in the past two seasons. Auburn might be a tougher environment to play in than Morgantown, but beating the 7th ranked team in the country on the road is more impressive than beating the 17th ranked team on the road, isn't it?

2. South Florida is the second best college football team in the state of Florida. They're not going to the BCS, but then, neither is Florida State or Miami, are they?

3. The Big 10 is the neck and neck with the ACC for the worst performing conference in the country. There's plenty of time to get better, of course, but on the whole this is one slow, mediocre conference right now. Of the four power teams that were supposed to reside at the top of the conference (Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State) only the Nittany Lions are firing away at full speed. Michigan sucks, getting blown out by an unranked Oregon team 39-7. Ohio State struggled with Akron. Wisconsin had to rely on a late TD to beat UNLV.

It's not much better in the bottom of the conference, where Minnesota had to go to OT to beat the Ohio version of Miami, Northwestern snuck by Nevada, Michigan State was tight with Bowling Green for most of the day, and Indiana only beat Western Michigan by 10. In the middle of the confrence, teams took care of business as Purdue and Iowa blew out horrible opponents.

The Big 10 had more wins than losses Saturday, but there can't be too many fan bases feeling all that great today.

4. Boston College is the best or second-best team in the ACC, yet they're ranked behind Georgia Teach, Clemson, and Virginia Tech, who just got beat by 41 points yesterday. Under old coach Tom O' Brien, the Eagles were never able to get that defining win against the superior opponent and they got shafted by the ACC bowl selection process twice, but this team looks much better prepared under new coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Matt Ryan is a stud at QB and the offensive line is among the best run-blocking units in the country. BC plays Ga Tech next week, which I think will end up being a preview of the ACC Championship game at the end of the season.

5. And most importantly, the Pac-10 is the best football conference in the country. USC and Cal are already ranked in the top 10, UCLA is 11th, Oregon jumped from unranked to 19th after the beatdown against Michigan, and Washington and Arizona State are for real. Sure, the bottom of the conference is terrible but the bottom of every conference is terrible.

Four great games to look froward to next week:

1. (1) USC @ (14) Nebraska
2. (21) Boston College @ (15) Georgia Tech
3. (22) Tennessee @ (5) Florida

and the Upset Special o' the Week:

4. (10) The Ohio State @ (unr) Washington - The Buckeyes have not looked great, but Washington has, beating #22 Boise State yesterday, ending the Broncos 14-game winning streak. If you haven't seen U-Dub's Jake Locker play yet, make a point to tune it. The kid is totally legit - a program building QB.

The Orange Road to Nowhere

2007-09-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

Well we know where were goin'
But we dont know where we've been
And we know what were knowin'
But we cant say what weve seen
And were not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out

-- The Talking Heads / Daryl Gross and Greg Robinson

Iowa 35, Syracuse 0.

All SU fans should probably send a letter to Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz for not running up the score Saturday night as the orange laid a big fat nothing on the field yet again this week. The idea of scheduling these out of conference games is to get some national attention - both from the media and potential recruits - but so far Cuse hasn't garnered anything but scorn and ridicule as Greg Robinson continues to prove that he's been sent from the future to ruin Syracuse football.

There's really nothing else to say. Offensively, they can't do anything. Defensively, they can't do anything. Special teams wise, they can't do anything.

For the first time, too, in the GRob era, there's a slight crack in the Daryl Gross Protective Shield. Check out this quotes from the Bud Poliquin piece in this morning's Post-Standard at halftime:

"That wasn't a good half. I'm surprised. I thought we'd be a little better prepared. Obviously, it's disappointing. The nice thing is, there's a second half coming. Are you gonna get better? Obviously, they don't have their stuff together. You've just got to keep watching to see if this team shows some signs of progressing. I'll keep watching, keep listening, keep watching, keep listening . . . and see where we go.""

In Gross-speak, that's code for: "I can't hide behind hiring Luke Jensen and Gary Gait any longer and even I must publicly acknowledge that Greg Robinson is done and finished as soon as the season is over unless pigs start flying all over central New York."

But, hey, at least they gained ONE YARD in the first-half.

The Big East has two out of conference losses so far this season and Syracuse has them both. At this point, I have my doubts we can win a single game.

Baloo's 2007 Raiders Preview

2007-09-09T12:17:00.000-04:00

Special to BtC by BALOO

When I look at the Raiders this season, I find that I don't know much. This isn't from a lack of trying either. I read profootballtalk.com (the best football site on the web) and raidernews.com (all Raiders all the time) every day. However, the problem comes in from how badly they were coached on offense last season. So let's start with the offense. How good or bad is the offensive line? I really don't know. They used a man blocking scheme that not only didn't fit the players, but was coached by three different men at the same time. Needless to say the line was confused. However, the Raiders line played ok late in the season (after a terrible start). They've now switched to zone blocking scheme. So with a new scheme, will there be growing pains? I don't' know. However, many of the 72 sacks the Raiders gave up were
due to incompetent play calling. They consistently called for 5-7 step drops, would send both WRs deep and thus the QB would have to wait to throw the ball.

The worst indictment of the playcalling was in what we saw in games 1 and 2 against SD and Baltimore. While those teams were racking up sacks, the Raiders never called a RB screen. The easiest way to avoid the LB blitzes would be to dump off to the
RB. So the Ravens and Chargers never had to worry about over pursuing the QB since the RB was in to pass protect or wasn't running a quick route. Nice. So we've got a new offense and a new zone blocking system. Add in McCown or Culpepper at QB and I really don't know how good they'll be on offense. Once Culpepper's healthy, he'll add something to the offense, but I'm not sure he'll be healthy this season.

To add to the confusion of the offensive line, is that the Raiders now have 3 new starters on the OL (Carlisle, RG, Green, RT, and Newberry, C). Carlisle is a good guard who has played in this system before. Very happy with that signing. Newberry was a pro bowler prior to injuries in SF, so he may or not be effective. Green's a journeyman that I don't expect much from. But maybe he fits the system. Once again, I have no idea (getting the pattern here). Gallery's been
moved once again to a new position. I'd have thought he'd be moved to RT and stuck there until he developed. He was an ok RT in the past until Shell and his gang got the idea to move him back to LT. However, Gallery will play LG. Hopefully that works out. Sims is back at LT and while he seems to end up there every year, he's got major weaknesses (especially with speed rushers) and now he's older. My guess is that the Raiders OL will be improved because of the new system, but they'll have issues early on and early on is the easy part of the schedule. Not a good sign, imo.

The wide receivers for the Raiders don't look too great either. I count 3 underachievers: Mike Williams, Jerry Porter, and Travis Taylor. Yeah, that's going to add fear to an opponent. I'm very happy to see Kiffin starting Curry though. I really like him. Higgins is a rookie who looks good on returns and is quick. I don't see him playing much in the offense though. I've only read good things about rookie TE Zach Miller and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do. He appears to be a decent blocker and has very good hands. At running back, I'm expecting a bounce back year for LaMont Jordan, but the Raiders will benefit more from the addition of Rhodes (after his 4 game suspension for DUI and the rumored pissing his pants in the back of the squad car) and more importantly Justin Griffith, FB. He's a great blocking FB. He should actually help the passing and running games. Looking at the WRs and RBs, I see mediocrity.
This group of players won't scare anyone.

So let's put all of this together. There's nothing scary on offense so the Raiders will be inconsistent on offense. The positive is that the players like the new system and the new blocking scheme fits the personnel. The negatives, they still lack a star on offense (unless
Culpepper improves on the last couple of years). In fact, I'd say they lack even an above average player on offense. So expect a low scoring team, but not one that is irrelevant on offense like last year's team.

Now, let's move to the defense. The defense was 3rd in the league last year. I believe that to be deceptive. Yes, I like the Raiders' defense quite a bit. They're definitely a good defense, but I
wouldn't call them great. This isn't the Kyle Boller Ravens, though that's the Raiders only hope for the playoffs. The pass defense was 1st in the league last season and the rushing defense was 25th. However, both of those numbers are seriously affected by last year's incompetent offense. Once teams had a lead, even a small one, they stopped throwing and started running to keep the clock running. If you look closer at the Raiders rush defense (which the media dismisses
as weak) you'll see that they allowed 4 yards per carry and tied with the Bears and Giants. That's not great, but considering that the Raiders defense was on the field more than other teams, they should have gotten tired and given up more yards per carry. The fact that they played pretty good on defense shows the talents of Rob Ryan as a DC. Now the passing defense was number 1, but if teams aren't throwing much, you won't put up many yards. So the Raiders pass defense may be great, but it's hard to tell. The main positive for the Raiders defense was that Asomugha had 8 interceptions (tied for 3rd) when teams didn't throw much and were unlikely to throw his way. Fabian Washington has the talent to be a shutdown corner, but right
now he's a good CB who should be better this year. Huff had a quiet year, but that's not a bad thing. He didn't make mistakes, but he didn't make many big plays either. This year they're expanding his role. Hopefully, he'll become a playmaker this year, but I'll take the solid defensive player we had last year.

So with a better offense, how good will the defense be? I have no idea. They look like a top 10 defense, but it's still hard to say. The pass defense is probably not as good as the stats say and the rushing defense is better than the stats say. The DL looks pretty good with Burgess, Sapp (who had a very good year last year), Sands, and Kelly. The LBs look good to with Kirk Morrison (3rd year), Thomas Howard (2nd year), and Sam Williams. This group has quite a bit of upside and Morrison has become one of the better middle linebackers. Hopefully, he'll continue to improve. Howard played above expectations last season and I think that can continue. Sam Williams has been injured so much early in his career that it was nice to see
him play a full season. I'm still not sure what we have with him, but he's looks like an average WLB. So the defense really has no weaknesses. The depth isn't too bad either. They should play well this season if the offense gives them some rest.

Finally, the last unknown is the head coach. How good is he? I have no idea. I like what I've read. Peter King was impressed by him. I've read other articles that like what they've seen. I liked the draft, but that draft won't help them that much this season. The one thing I do like is that Kiffin released players that he felt were too one-dimensional and replaced them with players that could play special teams. So the special teams should be better. But that shouldn't be surprising since the special teams coach last year was despised and didn't have that much to work with.

So here's my prediction. I just don't think there's enough firepower on offense, but the defense will keep them in games if the offense is adequate. They are a better team than last year, due mainly to coaching. So the Raiders may not win that many games, but they'll be in closer games and they'll cause some concern for decent teams. So they're going to be competitive rather than just a doormat. If they win every game they could win, I see 7 wins. That's unlikely though. So I'd guess 5 wins for the season. If they can get 6 or 7 that's reason for optimism down the road. However, don't be surprised if they win only 3 or 4. There are going to be growing pains and the offense doesn't look like it's there yet. I have seen people picking the Chiefs to finish behind the Raiders. The Chiefs may be on their way down, but they are a more balanced team than the Raiders. So unless the Chiefs lose 10 or more games, they look like 3rd place to me. Of course, I'm the schmuck who took the Chiefs with the points this week against Houston.

Baloo

Bring the Crazy's 2007 Guide to NFL Playoff Irrelevancy

2007-09-09T12:12:00.000-04:00

Here's how I see the playoffs breaking down:

Out in Wild Card Round:
AFC: Jacksonville & Denver
NFC: St. Louis & Dalls

Out in Divisional Round:
AFC: Baltimore & San Diego
NFC: Chicago & New Orleans

Out in Conference Round:
AFC: New England
NFC: Seattle

Out in Super Bowl:
Philadelphia

Trophy Winners:
Indianapolis

We're Number One ... Oh ... One ...

2007-09-06T13:50:00.000-04:00

SI.com's latest ranking are out and Syracuse comes in as the 101st ranked football team. That's down from 94th last week (ah, the halcyon days of being ranked in double digits ...)

How little do people think of SU right now? Unranked Washington went from receiving zero votes to one vote in the AP poll after beating Syracuse by 30 points. On the road. That means, of all the writers in the country who vote on college football, only one voter thought enough of U-Dub's 42-12 thrashing of Syracuse to even rank them 25th. I didn't think the Huskies would break into the top 25 or anything, but I figured the beatdown would give a few Washington writers and Syracuse writers an excuse to toss them a few votes.

The only real spot of hope is that Iowa looked awful last week, too, and the two teams played a close game in the Dome last year that Iowa won because of their ability to stop Syracuse 47 straight plays at the goal line at the end of the game.

If SU can't show significant improvement over the U-Dub performance against Iowa then this season might implode before it really even starts.

Bring the Crazy's 2007 Guide to When Your NFL Western Division Team Becomes Irrelevant

2007-09-05T13:45:00.000-04:00

Our last tour through the NFL takes us out west, where the Western Divisions have everything, from an NFL elite team (San Diego) to solid teams (Denver, St. Louis, and Seattle) to up and coming teams (Arizona and San Francisco) to also-rans (Kansas City and Oakland). Here, then, is how long a commitment you have to make to your team of choice:

AFC WEST

4. Raiders, Week 6. The Raiders are a joke. They get the first pick of the draft, then don't sign him. Being bad is reprehensible enough, but being bad and cheap is insulting. Somewhere, the formerly sharp minds of Al Davis and George Steinbrenner are commiserating together and wondering what happened.

3. Chiefs, Week 8. Larry Johnson can't do it all by himself; the Chiefs just ask him to. Another awful team and one that will likely be out of it by Halloween.

2. Broncos, Playoffs. I've seen the Broncos picked to go to the playoffs all over the place and I wonder if we aren't all simply giving them too much credit because they're the Broncos. Are they really that good? Do you really have faith in Jay Cutler to lead them to the promised land right now? Is that running attack really able to take anyone (other than Maurice Clarett) and turn them into a star? At what point do you have to ask Mike Shanahan what can he do that doesn't involve Elway and Davis?

1. Chargers, Playoffs. Not even Norv Turner can keep Diego out of the playoffs. But I'm sure he'll try.

NFC WEST

4. 49ers, Week 11. I like the 49ers to make the playoffs. Next year. Frank Gore's a stud and the whole team is on the rise, but I think they're a year away.

3. Cardinals, Week 12. Another team with a lot to like as they go forward, but while they've got the skill players to get to the post-season, I don't think they have the O- and D-Lines to get it done.

2. Rams, Playoffs. I was on the Rams bandwagon last year and they disappointed. As you can see, I haven't learned my lesson. I'm not going to say the Rams are going to the Super Bowl, but I really, really want to. Irrationality and me, best pals.

1. Seahawks, Playoffs. The most well-rounded of all the NFC West teams, but they are not as good as the Hawks team that went to the Super Bowl a few years ago. Good enough to win this division, sure, and good enough to get to the Super Bowl, but I can't see them winning it. If Holmgren can make this team consistent, they could be scary come January.

Bring the Crazy's 2007 Guide to When Your NFL Southern Division Team Becomes Irrelevant

2007-09-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

The two best teams in the NFL's Southern Division play against each other to kick off the NFL season Thursday night as the Colts and Saints battle to become the only team in the League with a victory. The Southern Divisions are pretty weak beyond that, though Jacksonville and Carolina have some aspirations about the playoffs. The Bucs and Falcons desperately cling to notions of relevancy, while the Titans and Texans struggle just to get on the map.

What follows is a prediction about when your team will no longer be relevant in the playoff race.

AFC SOUTH

4. Texans, Week 7. Moving in the right direction but this team is still a ways away from thinking playoffs. Matt Schaub was a good trade, though if the reports are true that the Falcons offered 2 first round picks to get Schaub back after the revelations of Michael Vick being a dog murderer came out, I think the Texans made a mistake in not taking it. I mean, he's Matt Schaub. Unless he turns out to be a top 3, top 5 QB then he would've been worth more to the Texans as a trading chip and not as a QB.

3. Titans, Week 11. The Titans had a nice run to end the season last year, but I think, much like the Jets, they'll take step back in the standings before they achieve better results in 2008. I am a believer in Vince Young, but the running game is a mess.

2. Jaguars, Playoffs. the Jags made the right move in dumping Byron Leftwich. Leftwich is a fine NFL QB but David Garrard has outperformed him over the past two years and there's no use keeping a veteran like Leftwich around if there's a risk he pollutes the clubhouse, which formerly-starting-QBs almost always do - even if it's not intentionally. When a former starter has to become yesterday's news in practice, on the field, in the locker room, in the media ... it's better he goes someplace else. If I fault Jacksonville at all it's waiting so long in the pre-season to make the move. If they'd accepted a post-Leftwich universe earlier then maybe they could've traded him instead of releasing him. I like the Jags to make the playoffs this year, but their WR corps (Reggie Williams, Matt Jones, Dennis Northcutt) have to step up.

1. Colts, Playoffs. What can you say? The best offense in the NFL. The defending champs. The second best QB in football. The ultimate lock for the playoffs.

NFC SOUTH

4. Buuccaanneerrss, Week 7. Has any Super Bowl seen its two participants decline as rapidly as Super Bowl XXVII? Thanks for playing Tampa and Oakland. Now go suck for ten years. (If history serves as a blueprint for the future, Lane Kiffin will win a championship someplace else before he wins one for the Raiders - right, Chucky and Shanahan?) Tampa has no QB, a so-so running game, below-average WRs, and a declining defense. Yeah, not going to be fun in Tampa this season, is it?

3. Falcons, Week 8. Let me just say this - Joey Harrington is a better fit in Atlanta than the Dog Killer if Atlanta is going to run Bobby Petrino's Louisville Offense. I think the Falcons won't be any better or worse, overall, for exchanging Harrington for Vick, but they will be better in the secnd-half of this season with Harrington than they would be with Vick. Chances are the Dirty Birds are going to draft Brian Brohm next year anyway - unless Tampa beats them to him.

2. Panthers, Week 14. Are the Panthers any good? They should be, but do you have any faith in Jake Delhomme? Any faith? At all? A solid defense, an up-and-coming running game, a stud WR matched with a future stud WR and the season is going to come down to Jake Delhomme making plays. History has shown that more often than not he's going to hurt you when you need him to go out and win the game for you.

1. Saints, Playoffs. SI's Super Bowl Championship pick is an emerging team in a bad conference but I don't see them as better than Philadelphia or Dallas or Seattle or Chicago. They're in the mix, a Super Bowl is possible, but I'm not convinced they could win any AFC Division. Lot to like here, though, going forward - Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and Marques Colston could be the NFL's best "big three" in another year or two.

If you're a fan of a Southern Division team, take heart - your divisions suck so there's a better than average chance to getting better sooner rather than later. Lots of good coaches, lots of bad QBs make for a weird, ultimately ineffective batch of teams once you get beyond Indy and New Orleans, with the oddball Jags thrown in, as well.

The Return of Petey

2007-09-03T16:32:00.001-04:00

Best sports news of the day:

Pedro Martinez: 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 4 Ks, 3 BBs, and 1 win.

Career strikeout # 3,000.

Welcome back, Petey. Baseball's not the same without you.

Bring the Crazy's 2007 Guide to When Your NFL Northern Division Team Becomes Irrelevant

2007-09-03T13:57:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the NFL's Northern Divisions where there's one good (the AFC) and one not-so-good (the NFC) division. How good is the AFC North? Someone between the Bengals, Steelers, and Ravens is going to miss the playoffs, yet I'd pick all of them to win the NFC North. I know the Bears went to the Super Bowl last year but until Rexxy Baby improves there's no reason to consider the Bears automatic division winners. Still, the AFC North has three teams that will fight for the division and the NFC North has three teams that will fight for last place.

What follows is a guide to when you can expect to stop caring about your football team's season.

AFC North

4. Browns, Week 7. The Browns are clearly the worst team in this division but I do think they're headed in the right direction. The problem is that they're building their team from the outside in and not inside out. I firmly believe the best way to build a football team starts with the O-Line and QB and then you acquire talent at RB, TE, and WR. The Brownies have talent at RB, TE, and WR, but they waited until this year to get their QB o' the Future and their OL isn't playoff-ready, either.

3. Bengals, Week 13. Everyone knows the Bengals are criminals, but this season will tell us if they're frauds, too. I think Carson Palmer is the 4th best QB in the League (behind Brady, Manning, & McNabb), I'm a huge Chad Johnson fan, and I think Rudi Johnson is a more than capable playoff back, but that defense is not good. If it took an offense as good as the Colts all this time to get to a Super Bowl it seems kinda silly to be blinded by the Bengals' offensive talent when its not as good as the Colts' offense and their defense isn't much better than the Horseshoes' D. (And especially not the way the Colts D turned it on at the end of the season.) Would it surprise me if the Bengals won the Super Bowl? Not really. Would it surprise me if they went 7-9? Not really.

2. Steelers, Week 17. It could all come down to the last game of the season, when the Steelers and Ravens meet in Baltimore. I love the hiring of Mike Tomlin as head coach and I expect him to be immensely successful in Steel City, but I'm not sold on the right side of Pittsburgh's O-Line or RB Willie Parker. I'll go with the proven commodity for one more season.

1. Ravens, Playoffs. Baltimore is a team in slight decline but I think they've got one more playoff appearance in them before they need to retool. Losing Adalius Thomas hurts, but gaining Willis McGahee helps. The Ravens had the best defense in the NFL last year, so even with a drop due to Thomas' absence, they should be more than okay.

NFC NORTH

4. Vikings, Week 9. I think Adrian Peterson is going to be a top 5 back in the League within two years, they've got a terrific OL, and I like Brad Childress as a head coach, but there's not a lot else to like about the Vikings. Way too much pressure to put on new starting QB Tarvaris Jackson. I'm not convinced the Vikes can play the kind of ball control offense they need to play to be successful.

3. Lions, Week 10. The Lions are a trendy pick in some quarters and while I think their offense could post big numbers, their defense is not so hot. Plus, you can't escape the fact that their QB is Jon Kitna which means a roller coaster ride of good and bad weeks, and their best RB, Kevin Jones, isn't likely to be 100% until more than 1/3 of the season is gone. Detroit should be one of the more exciting teams to watch week-to-week, but they're not ready for the playoffs.

But hey, they could beat Appalachian State, so there shouldn't be any jokes about who the best football team in Michigan is this year.

2. Packers, Week 11. You'll know the season is over when Brett Favre starts to pout because Aaron Rodgers gets to talk to his teammates on the field instead of just the sideline. As long as the Pack is in contention they've got to start Favre, but it's time to play Rodgers once the playoffs aren't possible.

1. Bears, Playoffs. Hey, someone's got to win this division and the Bears' D all-but-guarantees it'll be them. I won't believe in Rex Grossman or Cedric Benson, though, until they prove they can handle the load. If you're the Bears, don't you have to look at the recently released Byron Leftwich? I know he's never been to a Super Bowl and Rex has, and I know he's not a huge upgrade but if Grossman falters wouldn't you feel better with Leftwich QBing this team than Brian Griese?

It's division winners only into the playoffs from the Northern Divisions. Tomorrow we'll hit the South where we can no longer point out that Peyton Manning has never won a big game, now that he's won two. Instead, we'll point out that Tony Dungy has no problem giving speeches in front of hate mongers.

Useless Countdown: Cabrera Homerless Streak Reaches 10 Games

2007-09-03T00:18:00.001-04:00

Orlando Cabrera's Relentless Pursuit of Tim McCarver continues to rush forward at a pace only snails and Timmy Mac could love.

Apparently unwilling to steal any of the weekend spotlight from Appalachian State or Clay Buchholz or whomever it was that knocked Maria Sharapova out of the US Open, Cabrera extended his homerless streak to 10 games.

I'm not saying I'm in a hurry for Cabrera to set the record, but I am hoping he gets it before this weekend's NFL season starts up so we can move the Useless Countdown spotlight over to just as meaningless a pursuit in another sport.

Bring the Crazy's 2007 Guide to When Your NFL Eastern Division Team Becomes Irrelevant

2007-09-02T11:16:00.000-04:00

We're going to hit one set of divisions a day this week as we gear up for NFL Opening Night on Thursday, with a Playoff Edition that same day. In looking at the two Eastern Divisions there's more of the unknown than the known. Other than the fact that New England should be very good and the Dolphins should be very bad there's a lot of wiggle room with everyone else. What follows, then, is a guide to when your NFL team will check out of contention.

AFC EASTERN DIVISION

4. Buffalo Bills, Week 8. It's not that the Bills are horrible - I think they're better than the Dolphins - but they've got a brutal opening schedule (Denver, Pittsburgh, New England, Jets, Dallas, Baltimore, Jets, Bengals) that should bury them. I don't like to play the schedule game too much, but in this case the schedule makers have done the Bills no favors. Unfair as it might be, JP Losman needs to look at those first 8 weeks as a test on whether he's the rightful QB of the Future in Buffalo. (Let me save you the time - he's not.)

3. Miami Dolphins, Week 8. The Dolphins are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Despite having some talent at RB and WR, they've got no one to run the offense, there's grumblings out of Miami that Ronnie Brown is disappointing new head coach Cam Cameron, and the defense is aging. Plus, they're the Dolphins, which means they'll check out in the second-half of the season no matter how good a start they have.

(I continue to have no idea why the Dolphins don't beg the NFL to put them in the AFC South, where they belong, which would allow the league to move the Colts to the AFC North, where they belong, and move the Ravens into the AFC East, where they belong.)

2. Jets, Week 15. I think the Jets will take a step back this year because I have no faith in Chad Pennington's arm. I like Eric Mangini and the long-term prospects of the J-E-T-S but in a loaded AFC I worry that the Jets' players might think themselves to be a little better than they actually are. Still, it wouldn't shock me if they make the playoffs, but I think they're a year (and a QB) away from really contending.

1. Patriots, Playoffs. The Pats have taken a few big hits in recent days - Harrison's suspension, Richard Seymour going on the PUP list - and despite what the National Media might try to tell you, there's a lot of question marks with this team. It takes time to rebuild a WR Corps, not just money, and the Pats aren't just integrating one new WR, but four, including Randy Moss, who has not exactly been known for either patience or sticking through tough times. Plus I'm more than a bit concerned about Lawrence Maroney as the unquestioned #1 RB. I'd like a bit more of a solid back-up than what they've got, though, yeah, they did win a Super Bowl with the likes of Antowain Smith and JR Redmond. I can't believe this team won't win the Division, however, and there's enough coaching and talent here that even a total collapse should still get them into the playoffs.

NFC EASTERN DIVISION

4. "Noble" Racists, Week 9. New QB, bad defense, is this really what Joe Gibbs wants to do instead of flying around the country with his racing team? Especially now that they'll have all that fresh, new Toyota cash to splash around?

3. Giants, Week 11. The G-Men are the whiniest team in the NFL and the veterans on this team have never given Tom Coughlin a fair shot. Unfortunately for the Giants it looks like Primary Bitcher #1, Michael Strahan, is coming back to sow more seeds of discontent. This is a critical year for Eli, who doesn't need to prove he's as good as his brother, but does need to prove he's more Peyton Manning than Kyle Boller. I like Brandon Jacobs at RB, but it remains to be seen if he can excell as the #1 back.

2. Eagles, Playoffs. If the Eagles were in the AFC they'd be just good enough to not make the playoffs; in the NFC they might go to the Super Bowl. If McNabb's back at full-strngth this team should easily make the playoffs, but they just don't scare me. They're consistent, which will serve them well in the NFC, but I'm not convinced that defense is going to hold up in the back end of the season.

1. Cowboys, Playoffs. I think the Cowboys are due for a big season. I know this sounds wrong to anyone whose followed the head coaching career of Wade Phillips, but after last season's crushing playoff loss add with the replacement of Hard-Ass Parcells with Coddling Wade, I think things should come together for Dallas. Tony Romo's not Troy Aikman, but he can get the job done, they've got a solid running game, and a good defense.

So I've got the Patriots, Cowboys, and Eagles advancing out of the Eastern Divisions. Tomorrow I'll hit the Northern Divisions and probably make cheap jokes about the inability of the Bengals to not get arrested. Good times.

Sputtering Saturday

2007-09-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

The first weekend of college football was dominated by teams with big expectations that proved themselves unprepared for the opening opponents.

The big news of the day might go down as the game of the year as Division 1-AA (or whatever silly name the NCAA is calling 1-AA now) Appalachian State knocked off #5 Michigan at the Big House, 34-32. Michigan wasn't the only team that looked less-than-stellar on opening night, however. Here, then, are 5 teams that sputtered prominently out of the gate:

1. Michigan (#5). People can say all they want about Appy St. being a defending national champion and that they could beat 20%, 50%, 90% of Division 1 schools. What remains, however, is that Appy St. might beat all those other teams, but they did beat 5th ranked U-of-M. Of all the teams on this list I think Michigan has the best chance of recovering - I still can't see them finishing worse than fourth in the Big 10 - but losses like this can either rally a team together or rip it apart, so Michigan is very much a question mark as we move forward. What's clear is that they're not a top 20, let alone top 5 team. We'll know more over the next three weeks as Oregon, Notre Dame, and Penn State all come to the Big House.

2. Texas (#4). The Longhorns won, but only by 8 over the Sun Belt Conference's Arkansas State.

3. Notre Dame (unranked). Charlie Weis doesn't want to say the Domers are rebuilding, but after a 33-3 beatdown by Georgia Tech in which all three of his QBs got playing time it looks like a .500 record is the best they can hope for this year. The offensive line was awful and the QBs were shaky.

4. Virgina Tech (#9). In their first game since the shooting tragedy, emotions were high in Blacksburg, but the team was shaky as the Hokies beat East Carolina 17-7.

5. Iowa (unranked). After two mediocre seasons, the Hawkeyes opened with a 16-3 win over Northern Illinois. NIU has been a very good team in recent years, but this can't be the opening result the Hawkeyes were looking for when they put this game on the schedule.

And a special shout-out to Tennessee. No shame in losing to Cal, but a 45-31 outcome has to be discouraging. I give Cal and Tennessee all the credit for actually scheduling a real opponent to open the season instead of Northwest Cupcake State but Cal was clearly the better team. The Vols have to hope that they simply got rolled by that rare combination of skill and emotion conspiring to give the home team a serious boost - much like they enjoyed at home over Cal last year.

The Arrival

2007-09-01T22:13:00.001-04:00

As if expectations couldn't get high enough for Clay Buchholz, the #1 prospect in the Red Sox organization threw a no-hitter against the Orioles on Saturday night.

It was Buchholz's second major league start.

Good luck sending this kid back to the minors. I know the Sox love to coddle their young players but Buchholz hasn't done anything at any level of the organization to show he's anything but the real deal.

According to the AP, Buchholz struck out nine, walked three, and ended the game on a 77-mph curveball that Nick Markakis let roll on by.

The AP puts the night into historical perspective thusly:

"Buchholz became the 17th rookie to throw a no-hitter. The last one to do it was Florida's Anibal Sanchez against Arizona last Sept. 6. The Boston newcomer became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first or second major league start, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Bobo Hollomon did it in his first start on May 6, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns at home against the Philadelphia Athletics, and Wilson Alvarez did it in his second start on Aug. 11, 1991, for the Chicago White Sox at Baltimore."

What's more is that the no-no comes exactly when the team was desperate for a win. After a horrid week, Buchholz's brilliant performance, combined with contributions from fellow prospects Jacoby Ellsbury and Brandon Moss, was just what this team needed.

The biggest defensive play of the night was an amazing diving stop up the middle by Dustin Pedroia at second on a shot off Miguel Tejada's bat. Pedroia made the diving stop, got up, spun, and fired to get a diving Tejada at first.

It's somewhat fitting that Buchholz throws his no-hitter two night before Pedro Martinez returns to the majors, as Buchholz was apparently acquired with a pick that was a compensation for losing Petey via free agency to the Mets.

ESPN points out that Buchholz's no-hitter is the 17th in franchise history, which puts the Sox in second place all-time, behind only the Dodgers.

What a night.

The Big House of Stink

2007-09-01T15:46:00.000-04:00

Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32.

Let me repeat that.

Division 1-AA Appalachian St. 34, Division 1 Michigan 32.

Um, wow. As a Syracuse fan I didn't think there'd be a group of fans more disappointed in their teams opening weak performance than us, but the stunned shocked that U-of-M fans have to be feeling right now ... wow.

It's going to get seriously ugly for Lloyd Carr this week.

Ugly Pumpkin Pie

2007-09-01T00:53:00.000-04:00

After Friday night's opening game crapfest one thing seems abundantly clear:

There should be, at most, 11 games left in the Greg Robinson Era.

Syracuse got totally hosed by a mediocre Washington team, 42-12 at the Carrier Dome. Cuse looked outmatched and outcoached from start to finish. While Washington displayed an ability to do amazing things like running plays correctly and not take silly penalties, Syracuse looked lost.

Both teams started QBs making their first collegiate start, but Washington's Jake Locker certainly didn't look like it. Locker went 14-for-19 for143 yards through the air and added another 82 rushing yards, but the stats only tell part of the story. Locker looked in control all night, never getting rattled and efficiently running the offense.

Cuse's Andrew Robinson - no relation to Coach Robinson - displayed more skill and talent that SU has seen out of the QB spot since Donovan McNabb (though being better than Perry Patterson, RJ Anderson, and Troy Nunes at QB is like being better than Stevie Wonder, Ronnie Milsap, and Ray Charles at seeing), but he's raw and cursed with a weak receiving corps. Captain Taj Smith dropped two passes in the second quarter that were right in his hands, including one in the end zone. Later in the game, Robinson missed a wide open Smith, which I supposed saved Smith the embarrassment of dropping it.

Robinson did throw for 200 yards on 20-for-32 passing, but his inexperience showed by hanging on to the ball too long and getting sacked 5 times or 7 times (depending which story you read) and killing drives with his bad decisions.

On the whole, however, Robinson looks like a player, which is more than can be said for much of the rest of the team. The Offensive Line sucked, the running game was non-existent (13 total rushing yards), and the defense could neither tackle anyone nor make a big play. Oh, and the kicker missed an extra point.

Even the uniforms looked embarrassing. (I listened to the University of Washington radio pre-game show and the announcers were all over the all-orange nightmares, saying it reminded them of the all-purple unis U-Dub trotted out a few years ago. "That only lasted one game." "Let's hope we can say the same about these Syracuse uniforms." Amen.)

Maybe this game will serve as a wake-up call, but more likely it's a sign of what's to come. A near-total embarrassment. Next week they go on the road at Iowa, so improvement better come real quick-like.

Another sign G-Rob's time is almost up? They could only get 40,329 in the Dome for the home opener. That's as embarrassing as the score - there shouldn't be 10,000 empty seats in the Dome for the entire season, let alone the freakin' home opener. I don't care if there was a Dave Matthews-Led Zeppelin-Garth Brooks-U2 quad-bill at the State Fair, let alone little ol' ex-Mr. Zellweger and Sugarland.

Rodney Likes His HGH

2007-08-31T23:14:00.000-04:00

Rodney Harrison is going to get hit with a 4-game suspension on Saturday for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Harrison doesn't admit to using steroids, but does admit to using a "banned substance," which is HGH. Harrison stated he used the banned substance to help recover from injuries and not to gain a competitive advantage.

Whatever.

Harrison puts the team in a bad spot; I think he's the second most important player on the field after Brady and without him one of the other DBs has to make the reads and adjustments.

Not a good start to the season, especially with San Diego and Criminal City on the schedule in the first month.

Falling to Pieces

2007-08-31T22:47:00.000-04:00

As if getting spanked in the Bronx wasn't bad enough, injuries are starting to pile up for the Sox. In the past week, we've seen Manny get taken out of a game and replaced by Bobby Kielty, who then got injured his own self less than an inning later. Kielty's already back playing though he's not fully healthy, but Manny could be out for a week, two weeks, or more with a strained left oblique.

Tonight things got worse. (Not even speaking of the 9-8 loss to the woeful Orioles after Varitek grounded into a double play to end the game with the tying run at second.) Tim Wakefield was scratched from his start with a sore back. Then the game started and JD Drew went out with a right foot contusion, meaning the sore-backed Kielty had to enter the game.

Of course, that's probably an improvement. The Sox could activate Johnny Pesky off the Retired for 53 Years List and he'd give the Sox more offense than Drew has lately.

Good thing tomorrow is September 1 and the Sox can call up some replacements. Clay Buchholz will make his second MLB start tomorrow and Jon Lester returns to start Sunday's game

Well, That Was Disappointing

2007-08-30T18:21:00.000-04:00

That series could not have gone any worse.

Sox head to the Bronx for 3 games with the Highlanders on the verge of being knocked out of the race at 8 games back, and leave with the Nyackers right back in it after the Yanks swept Boston 3 straight.

There's not much to be said for the series except:

1) The Yankees offense is significantly better than the Sox offense, and for the first time all season we can see direct evidence that the Sox pitching advantage isn't the equal of the Yanks' hitting advantage. All credit to Andy Pettitte, Rogah Clemens, and Chien-Ming Wang for shutting down the Sox. After a weekend series in Chicago where the Sox looked unstoppable against a team that has stopped caring, it was Boston that looked like the sleepwalking team in this series.

2) Manny Being Manny sometimes means he wants a week off.

3) Robinson Cano is Curt Schilling's Daddy. (Two HR this afternoon to mar an otherwise great performance from Schill.)

4) JD Drew cemented his place as the Worst Free Agent Signing of the Off-Season. His level of incompetence at the plate is staggering. He hit 1-for-11 in the series and seemed to come up and strike out at every crucial juncture. He's awful right now. Drew was a statistical favorite of the Sox Brass, but he hasn't done jack this season. Complete. Waste. Of. Money. $75 million for a platoon player.

Where have you gone, Trot Nixon?

MLB Security Wants an Answer Right F@#$@#ing Now, Tito!

2007-08-30T14:49:00.000-04:00

As if it hasn't been a bad enough week for Terry Francona - two losses in the Apple, currently watching his team get no hit by Chien-Ming Wang, Manny out for maybe a week - MLB Security decided to give him a pop quiz about his uniform.

In the FIRST INNING of Wednesday night's game.

That's right - MLB Security is too busy to, I don't know, stamp out steroids abuse, but they will goddamn interrupt your goddamn game whenever they goddamn feel like it to see if you are wearing the goddamn proper uniform.

Francona doesn't wear a fleece top to be a jerk, he wears it because of a history of circulation problems. Francona told reporters: "I don't want to get too personal. There are times when I get cold. There are times when I don't want to be tucked in. ... I don't want to get into sob stories, but all the stuff I wear underneath, I feel cooped up. I have two pair of tights. I get a little claustrophobic."

Well, Tito, we already know Bud Selig doesn't give a crap about the health of MLB's players so why do you think you'd be any different?

According to MLB.com: "Prior to Wednesday's game, [Bob] Watson [vice president of on-field operations], visited Francona in the dugout. Initially, Watson was disappointed, because he thought Francona wasn't wearing his uniform top. However, Francona dutifully pulled his jersey down under the pullover so Watson could see he was obeying protocol."

Are freaking kidding me?

First, I could care less if managers sitting in the dugout wear jackets or fleece pullovers as opposed to uniform tops. So long as they're wearing MLB-sanctioned gear (which used to be the rule), who cares if they're wearing a jersey no one can see? What's next, random cup checks as batters step into the box?

Secondly, and more importantly, why is MLB Security making this spot check in the middle of the inning? What's this jerkwad doing that's so important that he can't wait five minutes until the inning is over? Is Terry Francona's jersey a topic of the daily briefings at Homeland Security?

The whole thing seems ridiculous. Did Bob Watson think that after Tito proved he was wearing the jersey Francona would run inside and take it off?

Unreal.

94 is Not Progress

2007-08-29T14:07:00.000-04:00

The grace period is officially over for Greg Robinson and Daryl Gross.

It's not time to demand G-Rob and Gross be fired, but it is time to demand results.

When Gross took over a Syracuse AD from Jake Crouthamel a few years back and fired Paul Pasqualoni as the head football coach, it was the rare SU fan that was angered. Pasqualoni had won a lot of games over his years on the Hill, but he hadn't won nearly enough games against teams that mattered. So when idiot columnists berated SU fans for wanting Coach P gone by pointing to his impressive win-loss record, it always burned me that they never looked at his win-loss totals against the four schools that mattered most: Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia. It didn't matter how many times he beat up on Temple or East Carolina; it mattered what he did against the big-time competition.

And Pasqualoni failed over and over against the big-time competition as his teams never met expectations until a few losses had lowered them. He deserved to be fired, plain and simple.

As bad as Coach P was near the end of his regime, however, nothing he ever did comes as close to the disgrace Gross and Robinson have inflicted on the once-proud Syracuse football program. Under Greg Robinson the SU program is 5-18, with only one win in conference. How bad has it gotten? Here's a few examples:

1) Sports Illustrated has the Orange ranked as the 94th best football team in the country. That's out of 119.

2) As bad as the #94 ranking is, it's actually a sign of IMPROVEMENT. The Post-Standard's Bud Poliquin wrote of this "improvement" in his blog entry yesterday:

Indeed, some not-so-insignificant evidence of this can be found in ESPN.com's preseason "Bottom 10" where the Orange is -- get this -- not listed. Seriously. No punchlines. No nothing. Not for SU. At least not now. [snip] There is no Syracuse, which won four times as many games in 2006 (4) as it did in 2005 (1). And after being something of a fixture on that list over the last couple of campaigns, that is great, good news for the locals. The point, though, is that according to ESPN.com, Syracuse is crawling back. Sports Illustrated may have the Orange ranked 95th [sic] in the land. Sporting News might have wondered in print if SU still fielded a football team. And nobody, but nobody, has Robinson's boys landing in a bowl game. But Syracuse is not in the "Bottom 10." Not now, anyway. And that's a step in the right direction. A small one, sure. But a step is a step, right?

Um, sure.

3) When SI.com's Stewart Mandel wrote his recent "four-tier hierarchy" column on college football teams, Syracuse got special attention - and not the good kind. Placing SU in the third tier, Madel wrote: "In normal times, Syracuse would qualify as one of the barons (the second-tier), but they're just so darn bad and so irrelevant right now."

Yeah, but we've got new helmets! What does that do for us?

Syracuse opens the season Friday night in the Dome against Washington, another once-proud team that's descended into Suckville. I probably won't have my cable upgrade until next week, which means I won't have ESPN, which means I won't be able to watch the game, but I'm thinking that might not be the worst thing for my mental health.

Robinson is saying all the right things, of course, but he always has; it's time for less talk and more wins.

I'm taking an open approach to the season. I don't think SU will better last season's win total of 4 games, but their schedule is loaded with twinkies (Washington, Illinois, Miami (OH), Buffalo, UConn, Cincinnati) that a .500 record is certainly attainable. But likely? No. Unless there's massive improvement Syracuse is looking at yet another season of irrelevancy. Another year of "moral victories." I hope I'm wrong. I hope SU qualifies for a bowl (even if it's the International Bowl), but the team has given us no indication that it's ready to be relevant again.

It's always the coach's fault, but a lot of the blame here has to be placed on AD Daryl Gross, as well, who's seen Syracuse athletics falter across the board under his regime. The football team is 5-18, the basketball team failed to qualify for the NCAAs, and the lacrosse team - the national powerhouse lacrosse team with their 9 National Championships in the past 25 years - finished 2007 at 5-8, the first losing season since, um, at least as far back as 1977. (The SU Athletic department's website doesn't go back any further.) Gross was brought in to raise the prominence of the university's athletic programs, but so far it's been nothing short of an embarrassment.

Unfortunately, Syracuse football fans find themselves on the brink of where we were for the last five years of the Coach P Era - desperately searching for hope, but not seeing any evidence of it. Maybe Friday night can turn things around.

It's got to get better soon or it's going to get a whole lot uglier, too. In coming seasons, Syracuse is bolstering its schedule by adding the following opponents to a schedule that's already getting more difficult as the Big East improves: Boston College (2010-2017), Notre Dame (2008), Penn State (2008-2009), Southern Cal (2011-2012), and Virginia Tech (2010-2011).

BTW, Check out G-Rob's Wikipedia page, which includes the following information: "One disgruntled fan named Joel(orangenasty) has created a website called www.grobmustgo.com to create a grass roots campaign to have him fired. However, this website only has 29 members and two active posters who both live in their parents' basements."

BTW #2: That's better than the hack-edit of Robinson's Wikipedia entry from earlier this month, which simply stated: "Greg Robinson is hung like a donkey with elephantitus...you know you want it."

Yeah, the internets is a fun place.

Memo to ESPN: Rowdy Friends Are Not Now

2007-08-28T17:26:00.000-04:00

ESPN's latest attempt at jackassery is coming to your Monday Night Football broadcasts this fall in the form of "ESPN's Rowdy Friends." Look, I know ESPN-bashing is a sport all its own, and I know it must be tough for the Four Letter Network to have spent all that cake to secure the MNF broadcasting rights only to have the NFL make Sunday Night the most important game of the week, and I want to give the network credit for crapcanning Joey T in favor of Jaws but ...

Rowdy Friends? Really? Can we just put a moratorium on any idea that sounds like it comes from the marketing department?

If you haven't heard, "ESPN's Rowdy Friends" is your chance to be part of the telecast. That's right, you can make an ass out of yourself on video, upload it to the Worldwide Leader, and ESPN will broadcast it! Woo! Who's not having fun? Here's ESPN's blurb on how it works: "Each week, two fan videos will be selected and incorporated into the MNF game telecast. Get creative and get in the game -- tell us why all fans should tune in to watch your team on MNF!"

Yeah! Kick ass!

I don't really care to convince anyone why they should watch my team on MNF, and no clever 30 second video is going to make me suddenly go, "You know what? I think I will watch Tampa Bay this week because Susie from Tampa just told me that Jeff Garcia is going to throw for 400 yards and Jon Gruden looks like Chucky! I can't believe I was going to watch How I Met Your Mother instead! I mean, sure, Doogie Howser is a riot but he doesn't look like Chucky!"

With Jaworski in the booth this should be a positive MNF season, but things like "Rowdy Friends," no matter how small a role they play are just completely unnecessary, just like the mind-numbing celebrity interviews they force upon us each week.

Just cover the game. If you want to add in silly nonsense, do it at half-time. No one's sticking around to watch the Berman Schtick, anyway.

Sox Sweep Sox 46-7; Eyes Turn to the Apple

2007-08-26T19:19:00.000-04:00

Way back at the beginning of the baseball season I predicted the Chicago White Sox would win the American League Central. Um ... yeah. After the Carmines (that's for you, Hawk) beat up on a not-remotely-interested White Sox club on Sunday to complete a 4-game sweep in which the Pilgrims outscored the Pale Hose 46-7, the WhiSox find themselves 16.5 games back of division leading Cleveland (and 1.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals).

I only got to watch one of the games on television, but between that one game and the parts of the other three I caught on the net I don't think the Sox can take too much pride in destroying a team that is tossing out players that are either too old to give a crap about a lost season or too young or inexperienced to turn things around. It's a team in which most of the players are playing for themselves.

The Red Sox remain the best team in baseball according to winning percentage and can effectively clinch the AL East with a sweep this week in the Bronx. The Sox are 7.5 games up right now and will be either 7 or 8 after their day off and the Yankees' game with the Tigers tomorrow. Either way a Sox sweep will put them up by double digits with under 30 games to go. Of course, a sweep by the Nyackers and everything gets all tense again.

The success of the Yankees in regular season series that take place in August and September has been one reason why they've won the division year after year.

We're set for two great pitching match-ups. On Tuesday night it's Matsuzaka against Pettitte, and on Wednesday evening Beckett and Clemens take the mound. (Pitching match-ups for Thursday's matinee have yet to be announced.) Apparently only Wednesday's game gets national coverage, so the country will be spared from an all-out Yankees/Red Sox blitz; that comes in two weeks, when the Friday to Sunday series gets ESPN, FOX, and ESPN coverage - though I won't be able to watch the FOX game because of MLB's ridiculous decision to continually schedule Cardinals and Cubs games opposite Yankees and Red Sox. (Seriously, the NFL is never this stupid, are they? Do they ever schedule Bears v. Packers at the same time as Cowboys v. Redskins?) Hopefully by then it won't matter.

If the Sox have as good a week as they had a weekend the AL East race will be over before the college football season kicks off.

Useless Countdown: Cabrera Ties McCarver!

2007-08-23T01:25:00.000-04:00

Sure the Angels lost on Wednesday night to the Yankees, but the big story (which I'm sure the National Media will ignore - someone get Fox Sports on the phone) of the night in sports is that Orlando Cabrera hit a HR to give him 97 for his career, tying him with Tim McCarver for 713th on the all-time list.

I gotta admit - I was a bit worried this day would never come, yet here it is. Viva Cabrera! (Or something.) Cabrera pulled through, however, and now we sit on the doorstop of history, waiting breathlessly.

Two current players also sit at 97 career HR: Bengie Molina and Juan Uribe, but it's all about Cabrera and McCarver as Orlando desperately tries to surpass McCarver before the end of the season.

If Cabrera can get that final, elusive HR to forever leave McCarver in the dust, he'll be in the company of perhaps the oddest collection of players to end their careers tied with the same number of home runs. Players tied at 98 (702nd on the all-time list) include: Greg Colbrunn, Hoot Evers (who is not the Evers of Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance, but does have a first name that doubles as an animal sound and was traded by the Tigers to the Red Sox in a 9-player deal in 1952), Butch Hobson, Todd Hollandsworth, Chuck Knoblauch, and Lonnie Smith.

The Devil Rays are Matsuzaka's Daddy

2007-08-23T00:43:00.000-04:00

At least Petey had the Yankees as his daddy.

Daisuke Matsuzaka lost to the Devil Rays AGAIN on Wednesday night. The D-Rays have beat the Sox 3 times this season, all of them coming against Daisuke. Matsuzaka gave up only 2 runs on the night (BJ Upton hit a 2-run homer), but the Sox offense was shut down by the 4-12 Edwin Jackson.

If the Sox don't win the World Series it's likely going to be the fault of their narcoleptic offense, which just seems to disappear at times, even against awful pitchers.

More on that another time; right now it's about Matsuzaka, who (cliche alert) has pitched better than his 13-10 record indicates. In his last 15 starts, he's given up more than 2 runs or less 11 times, yet is only 6-7 in that span. That should happen if you're a great pitcher on a suckjob team - not when you're pitching for a club with aspirations of winning the big fancy trophy. Four of Matsuzaka's losses came in starts where he gave up only 2 earned runs. In his six wins, he gave up the following earned runs: 2, 0, 4, 0, 1, 0. It has to be incredibly frustrating to go out there time and again and just not get any run support.

After a wobbly opening two months, however, we shouldn't lose sight that Daisuke has earned his salary, if not the salary and his transfer fee. For the season (and going into last night), he currently holds the following American League ranks: 10th in Wins, 15th in IP 5th in Ks, 16th in ERA, 17th in WHIP, 12th in BAA. Given that the Sox considered him their #3 starter going into the season behind Beckett and Schilling, Matsuzaka's season has to be considered a success to this point. Sure, the wins aren't there, and yes, he's given up far too many walks, but his numbers are comparable to the best #2 starters in the AL. There's no reason not to be comfortable with Matsuzaka being the #2 starter in a playoff series, let alone #3.

If the Sox could score a few more runs for him he'd have 15 or 16 wins right now and would be a top 10 Cy Young candidate.

Frustrating night at the Trop all around.

I Prefer the Whore That is Your Sister

2007-08-18T13:04:00.000-04:00

Marco Materazzi has lifted the veil of secrecy and admitted what he said to Zinedine Zidane to get the Frenchman to head-butt him in the chest during the World Cup final.

He said: "I prefer the whore that is your sister."

I dunno - after all this time it's kind of a letdown. Sure, the phrase rolls off the tongue but you'd think to get the reaction he did Materazzi would've had to include at least one barnyard animal and a clever phrase describing a sex act. "The burro prefers your sister's version of the Corinthian Slurp to her Crabcake Paco."

Eric Gagne is Single-Handedly Ruining the Season

2007-08-18T12:15:00.000-04:00

It's a good thing Eric Gagne took a few extra million from the Red Sox to approve the trade that sent him to Beantown from Arlington because the way he's pitching he's costing himself money every time he walks off the field.

Last night, after a dramatic 8th inning rally that saw the Sox go from 4-1 down to 5-4 up, Gagne came on for the save and served up 3 runs to blow the save and the game as the Sox lost 7-5 in a game they shouldn't have won, then shouldn't have lost.

Teams that want to win World Series can't let those games get away.

It's fitting that on they day the Sox finally traded Number One Super-Object of Fan Ire Wily Mo Pena (to the Nationals for a package of Big League Chew and a flavored Skoal to be named later) Gagne steps up to fill Wily Mo's spot. (Even in being hated Wily Mo can't catch a break.)

I'm not questioning the decision to trade for Gagne - he was there, it cost next to nothing, it should have strengthened the already best bullpen in the game - but the results speak loudly. He's made 7 appearances, pitching 6 innings, and has given up 14 hits and 10 earned runs for an ERA of 15.00. Instead of being compared to Papelbon or Rivera, Gordon Edes referenced the never-to-be-forgotten ultimate symbol of pitching ineffectiveness John "Way Back" Wasdin in discussing Gagne this morning.

Maybe Gagne's just in a slump or maybe he's just another classic example of a soft major leaguer that just can't hack it playing in the Northeast.

Gagne's debacle also takes some of the spotlight off the first game of the doubleheader that saw heralded savior-of-the-future Clay Buchholz make a dazzling major league debut, getting the win as the Sox beat the Angels 8-4. It seems pretty clear that Buchholz is going to be in the rotation next year; as much as the Sox like to take their time with prospects before they push them up to the big league club (which you have to be in a town where fans can turn on you after one bad week), Buchholz and CF Jacoby Ellsbury (back up for the second time this season) haven't done anything but prove they deserve an extended look with the Sox. With Wily Mo now gone, it'll be interesting to see if the Sox keep Ellsbury in the bigs as a 4th OF. Usually with younger, still developing players you want to keep them where they can play every day.

Watching prospects like Buchholz, Ellsbury, and Jon Lester it's not hard to figure out why the Sox just flat-out refuse to trade them for a rent-an-arm like Gagne or a rent-a-bat like Jermaine Dye.

Your Tuesday Early Evening Useless Countdown Update

2007-08-14T17:57:00.000-04:00

I'd like to thank Orlando Cabrera for not hitting any home runs during my two week vacation, leaving him one HR short of tying Tim McCarver and two of passing him. Sources tell me that Tim McCarver is pulling a Bud Selig and refusing to follow Cabrera around anymore, but promises he'll send a representative to every game.

Or at least watch it on TV.

Or watch the highlights on SportsCenter.

Or read about it in the paper.

Or have someone tell him about it sometime ...

Shamrock!

2007-08-01T01:16:00.000-04:00

The Boston Celtics stepped back into their storied history on Tuesday, pulling off the status-quo changing of deal not seen by the local hoop club since the early 1980s as they finalized their deal for Kevin Garnett.

This is not the kind of deal an entire generation of Beantown hoops' fans has ever witnessed. This isn't moving one bad seed (Ricky Davis) and one bad contract (Mark Blount) for a slightly less-worse contract (Wally Szczerbiak). This isn't moving one bad contract (Raef Lafrentz) and a draft pick for a slightly worse contract (Theo Ratliff) and potential (Sebastian Telfair). This isn't trading for a second stint with Antoine Walker. This isn't acquiring a Rodney Rogers or Gary Payton for a playoff push. This isn't signing an end-of-the-line veteran like Dominique.

To be peferctly blunt, this is exactly the kind of deal fans of the Leprechaun have watched the Lakers pull off for two decades as the La-La club made their run at being the signature franchise of the League that was once unquestionably the Kingdom of Red & Green.

It was one thing to get beat by the Lakers in the Finals. As much as that burned it was a hundred times worse becoming irrelevant as the Lakers became dominant. It sucked. The Lakers had Jerry West and Phil Jackson and the Celtics had ... where to start? How many incompetent idiots can run a team? For a day, at least, Danny Ainge has erased the jokes that were Dave Gavitt and ML Carr and Rick Pitino and Paul Gaston and, well, Danny Ainge.

Twenty one years.

Twenty-one years since the Celtics won an NBA Championship and now hope comes in a former number 21 in the guise of Kevin Garnett. KG can't wear 21 in Boston as it hangs in the rafters in honor of Bill Sharman (he'll wear 5), but the only number that really matters is 17, and for the first time since the Pistons bounced the Cs out of the Conference final at the end of the 1987-88 season the Celtics have a legitimate shot of playing for Banner 17.

The Celtics aren't favorites to win an NBA Championship - heck, they're not even favorites to get out of the Eastern Conference (that would be Detroit) - but they are certainly in the conversation with the Pistons and Cavaliers and Bulls to get to the Finals. And for a franchise that has sucked for two decades that's a giant leap forward.

Just how irrelevant have the Celtics been? No one on the roster has made the All-NBA First Team since Larry Bird (1988). No one on on the roster has made the All-NBA Second Team since, um, Larry Bird (1990). Pierce has made the All-NBA Third team twice (2002 and 2003). that's it. That should change with Garnett in town.

Danny Ainge's overhaul of the roster is pure alchemy and something I didn't think he was capable of accomplishing in such a short time. Yes, the Cs gave up a lot but the idea that they gave up too much is absurd. Ever since Antoine's second departure this has been a team that was both too old and too young at the same time. Ainge was unwilling to give up Paul Pierce and unable to put a quality cast around him, so he kept Pierce and kept getting younger, more athletic, and filled his roster out with potential.

Then he waited for two franchises (Seattle and Minnesota) in a similar "too old-too young" fix to decide to rebuild and cashed in his potential future for their proven quanlity. Delonte West and the #5 pick to the Sonics brought them Ray Allen, and Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff's contract, and two first-round draft picks (one of which was originally Minnesota's) brought them Garnett.

Here's how to evaluate NBA trades - he who gets the best player has made the better trade. The Cs did that on both accounts. That's nothing against anyone they gave up (except Telfair) but with Pierce and Allen already on the roster there was no need to keep stockpiling potential. It was time to make a move and make a run. Sure, this could blow-up, and sure, this doesn't guarantee any banner raising, but if you're in the game to win championships you've got to go for it when presented with the opportunity. As bright a future as Al Jefferson has, he's not Kevin Garnett.

The Celtics have finally decided on a direction and it is Win Now. They were finally in a position to acquire the one player that allows them to make a run and they did it. Give Ainge credit for not taking 'No' for an answer - either from the T-Wolves or Garnett. Maybe Ainge's drive was built of out desperation and anger at getting the much-deserved shaft by the Lottery ping-pong balls. The Celtics tanked games last year to get Oden or Durant and got neither. Whatever it was he's done what many thought impossible - he's put the fire back in basketball in Boston without Oden or Durant.

There's still work to be done, of course. Right now the Celtics have only nine signed players, though draft picks Glen Davis and Gabe Pruitt will make it 11. They need at least one more player and they can potentially get two more beyond that. With the New Three on the court, Rajon Rondo can simply play the point and play defense and not worry about his poor shooting, but the Celtics desperately need a veteran point guard (not Gary Payton) on this roster. And another big man (not the Candy Man).

Things are looking up for the Celtics. From expectant (pre-ping pong) to irrelevant (post-ping pong) to nearly irrelevant (post-Allen) to the most intriguing team in the East (post-KG).

What's even more remarkable about the acquisition of all this talent is that KG, Pierce, and Allen compliment each others' games so well. KG can go down low, Allen can stay outside, and Pierce can slash. The biggest critique of KG has been that he doesn't want to take the big shot in crunch time. Not a problem because Pierce loves to take that shot and he's wise enough to recognize when another player is in a better position to take that shot.

Time to prove just how good a coach you are, Doc.

Useless Countdown: Cabrera Within One of McCarver!

2007-08-01T01:06:00.000-04:00

Orlando Cabrera has rediscovered his power stroke, hitting his second home run in four days. Cabrera is now one behind his pretend-nemesis Tim McCarver.

Bullpen Empire

2007-07-31T17:24:00.000-04:00

Eric Gagne is coming to Beantown as baseball's best bullpen gets even better.

Just prior to today's 4 PM trade deadline the Sox acquired the Rangers closer for Kason Gabbard, David Murphy, and Engel Beltre. To convince Gagne to waive his limited no-trade clause, the Sox agreed to guarantee $2.1 million in performance bonuses that were dependent on Gagne's role as closer.

It's just a sick move that puts three stoppers at the back end of the bullpen alongside Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. The Sox have been very careful not to overpitch Papelbon so now they can roll out another of the game's top closers on those off-nights.

The move also reinforces the idea that Red Sox are baseball's biggest financial bully. In the wake of an off-season that saw them pump out $100 million-plus for Daisuke Matsuzaka, $75 million for JD Drew, and $36 million for Julio Lugo, they went ahead and acquired someone they don't need (they already had baseball's best bullpen) but nonetheless helps at a cost that isn't cheap (I think the total outlay for Gagne will come in at $1.5 million/month, but I haven't seen the exact details, yet).

Embarrassment of riches, one might say. (And I just did.)

It also reinforces the idea that the Sox are not going to be bullied on prospects. They turned the unexpected solid MLB stint from Kason Gabbard, their #2 or 3 OF prospect, plus a low-level minor leaguer into the best reliever on the market. Gabbard was not part of their long-term plans, and Murphy is a future big leaguer stuck behind too many OF bodies. Short of a rash of injuries, he wasn't going to crack the Red Sox line-up so this gives him a chance to make the majors.

In other words, they acquired the best reliever on the market for three secondary pieces that aren't part of their plans. Nice.

On the downside, the Sox failed to acquire Jermaine Dye from the White Sox because the asking price was too high. Boston wanted to get rid of Wily Mo Pena, but the White Sox wanted pitching, apparently asking for 2 of the following 3 prospects: Craig Hansen, Justin Masterson and Manny Delcarmen. Hansen and Delcarmen are bullpen guys, but Masterson is another of Boston's heralded minor league starters and he's not going anywhere, especially for 3 months of an OF that's not going to stick around.

Not So Speedy After All

2007-07-31T12:20:00.000-04:00

The lone American driver in Formula 1 has been dropped. Toro Rosso, the secondary Red Bull team, dropped Scott Speed on Tuesday, and replaced him with the much more promising Sebastian Vettel, who'd spent the season as BMW-Sauber's test driver. Vettel had a solid stint in the BMW cockpit earlier this year after Robert Kubica's dramatic crash at Montreal. Vettel finished 8th at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, making him the youngest driver in F1 history to score a point in his debut.

Toro Rosso is closer to the bottom of the F1 budget scale, so it's not like Speed had a chance to shine in the sport's best equipment and, in truth, it has seemed he's usually outperformed his Toro Rosso teammate Vitntonio Liuzzi. The fact remains, however, that in two seasons with Toro Rosso Speed has yet to score a single point (meaning he's never finished higher than ninth).

Speed joins an impressive list of American drivers who have failed to find success in the Spectacle: Michael Andretti, Danny Sullivan, and Eddie Cheever have all tried their hand at F1 and failed. All returned to the States for open-wheel success, however, so Speed's dismissal is not the end of his racing career. He could possibly (though not likely) hook on with another F1 team as a test driver, or come West to land a seat in Champ Car, the IRL, or even stock cars.

While Speed isn't the driver that Juan Pablo Montoya is, JPM's success might be enough to give Speed a shot in a Cup team's Busch car. Robert Doornbos' success in Champ, and the fact that Champ cars are closer to F1 cars than the IRL chassis might make that series the best option for Speed (especially if he eventually wants back in F1), but the IRL might be Speed's best overall option. The IRL is an up-and-coming series and has the overwhelming bulk of open wheel stars in the States. Speed's addition to a line-up that includes Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, etc. would be a welcome one.

Your Monday Evening Useless Countdown Update

2007-07-30T23:58:00.000-04:00

Hey, Orlando Cabrera hit a Home Run this week. Go figure. He now needs two to tie McCarver and three to pass the broadcasting bastiche. The Angels are on the road against the Ms and As this week.

Color Them Relevant

2007-07-30T17:23:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press is reporting that the Celtics have acquired Kevin Garnett.

I'm pretty ecstatic.

The exact details of the trade haven't been hammered out, but by all accounts it's a done deal. Going the other way is some combination of All Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and perhaps Ryan Gomes and Rajon Rondo. And a draft pick or two.

That's a whole lot, obviously, but the Cs and Garnett are working on a 3-4 year extension that would be in addition to the 2 years KG already has left on his deal.

I'm going to hold off on any deeper reaction until it goes through, but this appears to be very, very good news. As soon as the Cs made the Ray Allen deal, they needed to go out and get another veteran to make a run right now.

Who would've thought the biggest MLB deadline deal would come in basketball ...

Arsenal Wins Emirates Cup

2007-07-29T19:26:00.000-04:00

If you're going to have a tournament, you might as well win it, even if it is pre-season and three of your key contributors (Emmanuel Adebayor, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott) are sitting it out.

Arsenal has won the inaugural Emirates Cup after defeating Inter Milan 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. Robin van Persie scored in the 85th minute to break the tie and guarantee the tournament victory.

All Arsenal had to do was win after PSG took out Valencia 3-0 in the day's first match.

Good start to putting 2006/07 behind them.

Valencia On Top of Emirates Cup After Day One

2007-07-28T22:16:00.000-04:00

Valencia beat Inter Milan 2-0 and Arsenal defeated Paris St. Germain 2-1 on day one of two at the inaugural Emirates Cup at Emirates Stadium. The scoring format for the tournament awards 3 points for a win and 1 point for every goal, so while the Spanish and EPL clubs are tied with 5 points, Valencia has a +1 goal differential advantage.

In the opening match it was Jaime Gavilan and David Villa getting the scores for Los Che. Mathieu Flamini and Nicklas Bendtner scored for the Gunners. Aresenal had a chance to increase their lead to 2 goals late in the contest but Bendtner's penalty kick was lame and PSG's keeper made the save.

Arsenal plays Inter Milan tomorrow while Valencia plays PSG. For some strange reason, the two clubs tied for first will not play each other. Weak. It's nice to see Arsenal fill their tournament with legit clubs, however. It seems like college hoops programs never bring in anyone tougher than an Ivy League school to fill out their holiday tournaments.

Meanwhile, the potential takeover of Arsenal by American billionaire Stan Kroenke continues to trudge along with no imminent conclusion in sight.

Useless Countdown: Cabrera Homers!

2007-07-28T22:01:00.000-04:00

Orlando Cabrera went deep during the eighth-inning of today's game with the Tigers, his first homer since June 29. Cabrera is now within 2 HRs of tying Tim McCarver and 3 of passing the former-catcher and current broadcaster.

Let the rest of the sporting world focus on Barry Bonds pursuit of immortality, we here at the Crazy will focus on one crazy-ass ex-shortstop of the BoSox.

These Are the Games I Miss

2007-07-25T10:48:00.000-04:00

Red Sox 1, Smiling Racists 0.

Daisuke Matsuzake: 7 innings, 4 hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned Runs, 3 Walks, 5 Strikeouts. CC Sabathia: 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 Run, 1 Earned, 0 Walks, 7 Strikeouts. Okajima, Papelbon, and Betancourt giving up only 1 hit in four innings of near-flawless relief.

Ryan Garko (17 games) and Julio Lugo (14 games) extending hitting streaks. Mike Lowell driving in the only run on a bloop single.

These are the games I really miss not being able to see on TV - a well-pitched game between two likely playoff teams that probably made for rather tense viewing from the fifth inning on. After three sub-par outings, Matsuzaka shut the Indians out for 7 innings before turning it over to the bullpen.

Another week and I would've been able to watch it. If I can get one of these games while I'm back in the Bay State I'll be a happy guy.

Eat it, Cancer

2007-07-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

Julian Tavarez is out and Jon Lester is back.

It's been exactly 11 months since Lester pitched in the big leagues as he recovered from lymphoma, his last appearance coming last August 23rd in a victory over the Angels. He'll get the start tonight against the Smiling Racists and Terry Francona told reporters there's no limitations or pitch count on Lester - forgetting, of course, there's always a limitation and pitch count on every pitcher every time they go out there.

From a human interest standpoint, of course, tonight's appearance is huge, for Lester and for the club that has, by all accounts, taken their time and given Lester all the time he needed to come back strong.

From a baseball standpoint, Lester has won three of his last four starts down at the Tucket, but he didn't exactly tear up AAA while he was there, going 4-5, with a 3.89 ERA.

Still, none of that really matters tonight. Whether Lester throws a no-hitter or can't get out of the first inning, for one night at least across the Nation the win or loss shouldn't matter one bit.

Of course, if he does pitch solid but not spectacular, half the caller into 'EEI tomorrow will be trading him off for Griffey or Jermaine Dye or Xavier Nady.

Your Monday Morning Useless Countdown Update

2007-07-23T10:12:00.000-04:00

Orlando Cabrera's homerless streak has reached 16 games, despite playing against the likes of Tampa Bay and Texas over that span. Cabrera went 4-for-14 in Minnesota over the weekend as the Angels dropped 2-of-3 to the Gemini. The Angels play three against the A's, starting tonight, then have a weekend three-gamer with the Tigers. All six games will be at home.

Cabrera is still three HR short of tying Tim McCarver and four short of surpassing him. McCarver is sleeping better, but he ain't sleeping well.

Props to the Swoosh

2007-07-23T10:09:00.000-04:00

Well, they might still exploit children, and there's something a bit comical about their press release stating they find animal abuse abhorrent when, you know, their shoes aren't made of soy beans and tofu, but they did suspend the release of the Michael Vick shoe, which is something.

After calling them out last week I wanted to give them a bit of credit, at least.

As Darren Rovell points out, though, it's not going to affect Nike's bottom line in any significant way: "The decision to suspend the launch of Michael Vick's new training shoe was a no-brainer. Sources tell me that, if the shoe never comes out, Nike will lose less than $1.5 million."

Kason Gabbard, Folk Hero

2007-07-21T22:46:00.000-04:00

It's been a testy week around Red Sox Nation even without getting into the whole Sports Guy v. Jerry Remy feud. The club is losing, the Yankees are winning, and the lead in the AL East has shrunk to a "mere" seven games.

It makes for great radio, if nothing else. The Big Show was outstanding this week as Sox fan after Sox fan called in to offer their own usually-ridiculous trade scenarios (it seemed like every fifth call was "let's trade Wily Mo Pena for Ken Griffey, Jr") and bash the hell out of Julio Lugo, Wily Mo Pena, and JD Drew.

That's life in the Nation of Red Socks. When things are going bad someone has to take the brunt of things and Lugo, Pena, and Drew are the new whipping boys. Lugo has finally started to hit, easing fan ire to a degree, but Pena and Drew ... at this point I don't know if Wily Mo can recover and Drew will need to get hot for the rest of the season and then have a huge playoffs to get people back on his side. For a guy who's signing was incredibly unpopular to begin with, it hasn't helped him that he's missed game after game with assorted minor injuries.

As bad as the offense has been, however, the pitching has been good. On Saturday Kason Gabbard pitched his second gem in a row to run his record to 4-0 and drop his ERA to 2.97. Gabbard went 7, giving up only 3 hits and 1 run while throwing a concise 86 pitches. Few consider him a part of the future starting rotation for the club but all it takes is another few solid starts and parts of the Nation will start looking at him the way they did the last guy to wear #61, Bronson Arroyo. Which is to say, borderline irrationally.

That's OK, though. Gabbard has the attitude Red Sox management wants - quiet, workmanlike - and if he can make himself an innings-chewing, .500 pitcher at the big league level he can slot comfortably into the back end of the rotation. Even throwing a knuckleball, Wakefield can't pitch forever.

It would have been nice to see the game this afternoon. I sat down at 4 to watch the Sox-on-Sox battle, thankful that there was no Cubs game to compete against for the Indianapolis audience. What else were they going to show in the Indy market, right? We always get the Chicago teams.

Until today, when the fuckers at Fox (either national or local) decided that it didn't matter that we're in a White Sox and Cubs-protected market, fans here didn't want to watch the White Sox, but really wanted to watch the Giants play the Brewers.

Assholes.

Can an NBA Ref Knock a Dog Killer and a Steroids Cheat Off the Front Page?

2007-07-20T14:53:00.000-04:00

The dorky looking dude to your left is Tim Donaghy.

I mean, I think it's Tim Donaghy. Sports Illustrated says it is and I'm willing to take their word on it since I couldn't pick Tim Donaghy out of a line-up. And that last bit means he might want me on his jury if he goes on trial for gambling on and fixing NBA games.

According to the AP:

The FBI is investigating allegations that a veteran NBA referee bet on basketball games over the past two seasons, including ones in which he officiated. According to a law enforcement official, authorities are examining whether the referee, identified by CBS Sportsline and ESPN as Tim Donaghy, made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered.

Of course he made calls to influence the point spread in those games. When you have something as subjective as NBA officiating, there's no way a referee can't affect the point spread.

In terms of sports, the fixing of games by a referee is a bigger story than a QB who kills dogs for fun and one of hundreds of players who take steroids to make their head swell and their balls disappear. I don't know if it's juicy enough to displace Vick and Bonds from the top of the sports reporting pile, though.

Betting on games in which you're involved is so 1980s, after all. (Right, Chuckie Hustle?) Dog fighting and steroids-using balloon heads who are about to break sacred records are so much sexier a topic for columnists and bloggers and Self-Proclaimed Worldwide Leaders.

What's there to talk about a game-fixing/point-spread altering scandal? OK, the inclusion of the mob makes it a bit more interesting, but is there anyone who's going to stand up for Donaghy? Is there anyone who thinks game-fixing is acceptable? Who will stand up for Donaghy's right to hand inside information over to the mob?

The sheer lurid nature of Vick's dog torture and the historic sacredness of the HR record help propel those stories night after night, but if Donaghy is guilty and if he has acted alone, there's likely only so much that can be said about this story. Vick and Bonds have their supporters, after all. Vick and Bonds involves issues of grey - there's debate over what punishment Vick should get now, just like there will be debate over the appropriateness of whatever punishment he gets if he's convicted at trial. Same with Bonds - what did he do, when did he do it, how many others (hitters and pitchers) are doing it, etc.? But gambling on games you're officiating is just wrong, and given Donaghy reportedly never worked a Finals ... I don't know how much long-term heat this story is going to generate.

Make no mistake, I'm not saying it shouldn't be the equal of the Vick and Bonds stories, just that if this story doesn't get bigger I'm not sure it will get the same page- and screen-time as the sexier scandals. Remember, even if Bonds breaks Aaron's record tonight he's still got a federal investigation of his own to confront.

Once again, though, the NHL is left out in the cold. The NFL has a dog-torturing controversy, MLB has Bonds and steroids, the NBA has game-fixing referees, and the NHL has ... sleak uniforms?

Heck, the MLS at least has everyone talking about the impact of Becks, and NASCAR has a whole mess of cheating crew chiefs.

At this point, Gary Bettman is going to have to contract Canada right now just to get a shout out in a sports page anywhere south of Lake Erie.

Introducing the Useless Countdown

2007-07-19T17:19:00.000-04:00

As you've no doubt noticed, over on the right side of your screen is a new Bring the Crazy feature, the Useless Countdown. Created in honor of such notable achievements as Barry Bonds steroids-fueled run at Hank Aaron's HR record and the Phillies' 10,000th loss, the Useless Countdown will celebrate completely arbitrary pursuits that, in some way, fascinate or amuse me.

First up is Orlando Cabrera's Relentless Pursuit of Tim McCarver.

Cabrera has 94 career HRs and McCarver has 97. Cabrera has 7 HRs this season, which means it will be lucky if he hits 4 more before the playoffs start.

That's what you call a bad decision on my part. I mean, it's not my intent to have the Useless Countdown be a daily feature, but I'd like it to be more regular than one-a-year, too.

I could change mid-stream because it's my blog and I don't have any money back guarantees. Instead of focusing on Cabrera's relentless pursuit of Tim McCarver on the All-Time Home Run list, I could draw everyone's attention to Cabrera's Relentless Pursuit of Former Red Sox LF Mike Greenwell on the All-Time Hits List. Cabrera currently has 1370 career hits and Greenwell has 1400, where he sits in 646th place. I know it's important for Cabrera to pass Greenwell, a guy he's probably never met or even heard of, because that's the kind of all-out effort Cabrera puts into his baseball playing.

We're sticking with Home Runs, though, even if it means Cabrera keeps us waiting into next season, because that's the kind of all-out effort I put into following records that only need to be updated once every six weeks.

Let Vick Squirm

2007-07-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

Michael Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday for "conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, as well as to sponsor a dog in animal fighting venture," according to ESPN.

I'm not going to get into how sick and depraved dogfighting is (Smoking Gun has the full indictment at their website if you want to read the full, ugly details, and the AP's story breaks down the grisly details) but what the NFL should do to Michael Vick.

They should, in essence, do nothing. For now.

While Vick is definitely guilty of owning the property where the dogfighting took place, the question of his involvement is still a matter to be resolved legally. Yeah, he's guilty. I know it, you know it, Vick's always known it and now his employers - the Falcons and the NFL - know it, or at least can no longer deny it behind closed doors. There's no need, however, to rush a severe, season-long penalty at Vick until either the legal process runs its course or Vick admits to his involvement. Once we know - legally or from Vick - that he was involved, drop the hammer on him.

Until then, let him squirm.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could suspend Vick, of course, but on what grounds? Indictments don't carry nearly the same weight as a conviction and the burden of proof is much less. Jason Cole (Yahoo! Sports) quotes a league source saying: "Where (Vick) is in the most trouble is that he lied to the commissioner. He told (Goodell) in April that he didn't know anything about this. The commissioner gave (Vick) every chance to come clean, be straight about what was going on. Instead, he just kept denying it."

Suspending Vick for lying seems almost petty in the face of the more serious dogfighting charges. (Not that lying to the commish is petty, of course, just that I don't think it carries the same punitive weight as being involved in an illegal activity such as dogfighting.) If Goodell does suspend Vick for this, I'm all for a shorter 4-6 game suspension and not the half- to full-season suspensions Goodell has handed out to Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones, and the entire Cincinnati Bengals roster. The big suspension is coming.

If you're having trouble following my logic, please remember that I'm evil. Borderline, at least, and I know that the court of public opinion is going to punish Vick much more severely than the commissioner's office can at this point.

The Humane Society has already announced they're going to call for Vick to be dropped by the league, the club, and his sponsors. PETA and other groups will follow.
The pressure the public can exert at times like this can be severe, slow to build, and agonizing. Both on the athlete and their companies. When the Humane Society asked Nike to drop Vick earlier, the company said No. We'll see how they react this time around.

They're certainly not going to like their name and logo associated with every story and column written about the Vick dogfighting case from now until completion.

Not that I'd do anything like that.

Far from it.

CNBC's Darren Rovell has a statement from Nike spokesman Brian Facchini saying, "We are aware of the indictment and are reviewing the information. We have no further comment at this time."

Surely complicating things for Nike (because they are a corporation and thus put their own profit above everything else) is that they're weeks away from launching the new Michael Vick shoe. Rovell writes, "Vick's signature shoe, the Nike Air Zoom Vick IV D, is currently on the shelves selling for $84.99. The "D" stands for detachable. The Zoom Vick V is scheduled to launch in two colorways on August 23 and the suggested retail price is $100. The shoes will likely arrive at retailers in three weeks."

If anyone takes Vick off the field for an extended time right now, it should be the Atlanta Falcons. They can make a case that a player under indictment is a distraction and a hindrance to the success of the franchise. The problem is that if you send him home you still have to pay him, but for the sake of the team, the Falcons would be best served taking that course - send Vick home, and let everyone know that if/when he's found guilty you will release him, but that you have to respect the legal process. Re-brand the team around the city with another face of the franchise - someone like Warrick Dunn, perhaps, who has done yeoman's work for the community though his Warrick Dunn Foundation charity.

I understand that everyone wants to rush in and punish Vick right now - I know I do, at least. But there's a reason why we have a legal system and why a presumption of innocence is key to the U.S. legal system. If the government does its job and proves its case, Vick's headed to jail.

Which is a pretty good suspension from here. I can wait for it.

After all, the real victims in this crime - the dogs at Vick's Bad Newz Kennel - have already been removed from Vick's influence.

Kason Gabbard, Club Savior

2007-07-17T17:19:00.000-04:00

Last night at the Fens, unheralded rookie LHP Kason Gabbard threw a 3-hit shoutout at the Kansas City Royals to extend his record to 3-0 and drop his ERA to 3.38.

Gabbard is one of those players that comes out of relative nowhere (there is no actual nowhere when it comes to the Red Sox) to play a key role in a club's run at a championship. It's not that Gabbard was unheard of prior to this recent call-up but that among the organizations's numerous top-tier starting pitching prospects (Lester, Buchholz, Bowden, Masterson, Bard), Gabbard isn't even in the conversation. Yet it's Gabbard that got the call when Schilling went down and Gabbard who's giving the club everything they want from a fill-in pitcher. Gabbard's performance with the big club helps the organization to do the following:

1. Rest Curt Schilling. The thinking floating around the Sox right now seems to indicate that Schill will get a full six weeks off in-between starts. Gabbard has by no means been lights out (until last night), but he's given up only 21 hits in 29 innings. The 14 walks are a concern, but other than one bad outing in Seattle he's been solid.

2. Allow Jon Lester to Get Healthy. Lester was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma last season after having already proven himself as a MLB-ready starter, and it was no secret during spring training (post-Papelbon returning to his closer role) that Julian Tavarez was simply keeping Lester's spot in the rotation warm. When Lester was ready, he'd reclaim that spot, but that has yet to happen. While Lester has been deemed cancer free, this is cancer he's trying to come back from and it takes time. Yet listen to WEEI for an afternoon or two and you'll hear someone wondering why Lester hasn't gotten the call up, yet. Gabbard's performance puts no pressure on organization to bring Lester back until he is completely recovered.

3. Have Patience with Clay Buchholz. The #1 prospect in the Sox system will probably get a September call-up to do bullpen duty, but he's seen as a top-of-the-rotation starter and should crack the starting 5 in 2008, or 2009 at the latest. But for all the hype he just got his first AAA start the other night and only went 3 innings, giving up 2 ER (3 total) and 5 hits, with 5 Ks and 0 BBs.

The Sox big lead in the AL East helps all of this, as well, but it's Gabbard's ability to be effective that keeps everything rolling along. Of course, by the looks of Schilling on the mound yesterday he might need to take a few more weeks off to drop a pound or two.

Or thirty.

Steroids, Benoit, and Misleading Headlines

2007-07-17T16:56:00.000-04:00

Here's the Yahoo Sports headline for the Chris Benoit medical report released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday: "Investigators find steroids in body of wrestler who killed wife and son before hanging himself."

Sports Illustrated: "Benoit had steroids in system. Wrestler had elevated testosterone, Xanax at death."

ESPN: "Steroids, other drugs found in bodies of wrestler, wife, son."

Here's what the article itself says on the matter of steroids:

"Benoit's body contained 10 times the normal level of testosterone, which appeared to have been injected shortly before he died, as well as the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the painkiller hydrocodone, authorities said. [...] The state's top medical examiner, Dr. Kris Sperry, said there was no evidence of any other anabolic steroids in the wrestler's body, and nothing to show that steroids played a role in the death of Nancy and Daniel Benoit. An elevation of that ratio does not translate into something abnormal in a person's thought process or behavior," he said.

Benoit, then, was a steroids user, but steroids had nothing to do with Benoit's state of mind at the time he killed his wife, kid, and himself. Now, I'm sure it can be argued that steroids effected Benoit's personality over time, but those headlines, while true, seem to indicate that steroids played a more prominent role than the GBI stated this afternoon.

Countdown to the Next 10,000

2007-07-16T12:18:00.000-04:00

The Phillies have lost 10,000 games, which is a lot. More than anyone else, at least.

Losing 10,000 games isn't just a testament to futility, but one to longevity and probably explains, as much as anything else, why Philly sports fans are so damn cranky. Five pennants and one World Series doesn't really do a lot for a fanbase in 125 years.

As I'm sure lots of folks did this morning, I headed over to the All-Time Records page at Baseball Reference to see who was next in line.

Here's the All-Time Win-Loss records, ranked by most total losses, and including the number of losses needed to hit 10,000:

1. Phillies: 8,810-10,000 (0)
2. Braves: 9,662-9,681 (319)
3. Cubs: 9,947-9,425 (575)
4. Pirates: 9,596-9,342 (658)
5. Reds: 9,637-9,341 (659)

What's got to be disheartening for Philly fans is that not only are they the only team on that list with less than 9,500 wins, we're at least four years away from another team hitting the 10,000 loss mark, and that's only if the Braves turn into a .500 club. If the Cubs become a .500 team it'll be 2014 before they hit the Big 10-0-0-0.

Think about how good the Braves have been over the past 15 years and imagine where they'd be if they continued being the typically awful Braves. Twenty more losses a season puts them right on the verge.

Unsurprisingly, the top five teams on the All-Time Loser List are all National League franchises, and all were formed in 1882 at the latest. Here's the top five AL loss-leaders:

1. Orioles: 7,853-8,629
2. Twins: 7,933-8,557
3. Athletics: 8,007-8,460
4. Tigers: 8,370-8,153
5. White Sox: 8,340-8,142

The Giants are the only franchise with more than 10,000 all-time wins (10,151) and the next to reach that milestone is, somewhat surprisingly, the Cubbies, who are currently at 9.947. They've got 72 games left this season, so they'll most likely have to wait until next year.

Makes you wonder why Cubs' fans are always bitching about how lousy they are ...

No Spectacle for Indianapolis in 2008

2007-07-12T15:59:00.000-04:00

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George announced today that there will be no United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis in 2008, as he and Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone failed to reach an agreement.

I don't know what's more amazing to me - that two egomaniacs like George and Ecclestone ever reached an agreement in the first place, or that they're so stupid as to not be able to come to an agreement to keep F1 at the most legendary speedway in the States.

Ecclestone likes to point out that F1 doesn't need the United States because F1 has no major US sponsors, no US teams, and only one US driver (Scuderia Toro Rosso's Scott Speed), but proponents for a US date point out the importance of the US automotive market for the bottom lines of BMW, Mercedes, Honda, and Toyota.

It's a shame. I went to the race the last two years and had a great time. On the bright side, as far as I'm aware the grand prix in Montreal is still on and, let's be honest, Montreal is slightly cooler than Indianapolis, so maybe I'll save some pennies and head there next season.

In other F1 news, things are getting nasty between McLaren and Ferrari and the alleged spy scandal between the two teams. F1's governing body charged McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan, with being in possession of Ferrari technical specs, and then using them in the development of their currrent car. The FIA's statement reads: "The team representatives have been called to answer a charge that between March and July 2007, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, including information that could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car."

This could all result in McLaren's drivers - Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, currently 1st and 2nd in the championship standings - being docked points.

I Will Now Make Earth-Shattering Decrees About the 78th ASG

2007-07-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

Watching the All-Star Game at a sports bar you're not as involved with the telecast but for an exhibition it's probably the most enjoyable way to watch the game. Plus, you don't have to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver and any of the other morons working the FOX telecast. I don't have any deep thoughts about the game, but a couple things stood out in the AL's 5-4 victory over the NL in San Francisco.

And by "a couple," I mean "eight."

1. You will tell your grandkids about Ichiro Suzuki when they're forced to spend time with your drooling, wrinkled personage. The inside-the-park home run was both amazing and comical. Amazing watching Ichiro run the bases and comical watching Griffey have to chase that ricocheting ball down.

2. When NL Manager Tony LaRussa's decision not to play Albert Pujols became a post-game issue, I was instantly glad I don't have ESPN. Having to sit through unending, unchanging discussions of the issue on 1st and 10, Rome is Burning, Around the Horn, PTI, SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews ... ugh. It's all going to be variations of "Albert's a baby/LaRussa's an asshole." How much fake, righteous indignation does one issue need?

3. Albert, get over it. LaRussa, this whole issue is another example of why you suck.

4. This whole thing wouldn't be an issue if MLB would allow for re-substitutions into the game for extra innings. Who would that hurt? (And the answer, of course, is Albert Pujols, when he cries about not being able to play twice in the same game.)

5. A-Rod should have run Russell Martin over. If he had that would be the story of the day and would have further cemented his rep as the most polarizing player in the game. Plus, it almost certainly would have resulted in either Buck or McCarver's head exploding.

6. I know this will come as a shocking statement to people, but the pre-game festivities are too damn long. No offense to Willie Mays, one of the ten greatest professional athletes of all-time, any sport, but by the time he hit the field he was the target of my childish verbal assaults: "Someone take Willie Mays' jacket! Someone take Willie Mays' jersey! Someone take Willie Mays' pants!" Message to MLB: Put Jeannie Zelasko and Eric Karros on at 7:30 so Willie Mays can come on at 8:00 and the game can start at 8:20.

7. The most inevitable article we could expect to see appearing online today was the "Willie Mays Stole the Show" article. The Associated Press didn't let us down. Honestly, Mays did not steal the show. That's not a dig on Mays, but on the fact that he "stole" the love/spotlight at all. From who or what, exactly, was the spotlight stolen? Chris Issak's National Anthem? Player introductions? Of course it was the best moment of the pre-game rabble. The real newsworthy headline would have been something like: "Introduction of Dmitri Young Steals Show From Willie Mays! San Francisco Fans Shower Overweight Dude from the Nationals With Love!"

8. Seriously, at $120 a pop, how many authentic Brian Fuentes All-Star jerseys is MLB going to sell? More or less than $120 authentic Jose Valverde jerseys? Brian Roberts?

If I was an eccentric millionaire I would make it my duty to by the most obscure All-Star jersey each year.

OK, probably not my duty and I'd probably do it once, think it was hilarious, and then never do it again. But still, imagine telling your grandkids about that Brian Fuentes All-Star jersey you own.

Classic.

Waiting for Dmitri Young

2007-07-10T01:05:00.000-04:00

I am not a fan of the rule that says every MLB team needs to be represented on the All-Star rosters. I understand the thinking - by having every team represented MLB increases the odds fans will tune in to see their team's rep play.

Of course, there's a couple of problems with this logic. Or, rather, the execution of that logic. The first disconnect that comes to mind is if MLB was really interested in giving fans a reason to stay tuned, they'd play the game in the late afternoon and on the weekend. The "I'm watching to see my Royals' representative" logic seems to apply mostly to kids. I don't think all of Kansas City will be waiting with bated breath for Gil Meche to pitch tonight, but there might be some kids doing just that.

Even if it is just an act to convince their parents to let them stay up a few extra hours before going to bed. (Boo Pre-Determined Bed Times.)

The second, and more directly relevant flaw in this whole plan is that there's no guarantee everyone is going to play. Pity the poor Nationals fan who tunes in for all nine innings waiting for Dmitri Young to play if his only action comes during the pre-game introductions. Chances are, that's going to happen to someone. The game is being played in a National League park, meaning MLB rules dictate the farce that is pitcher's batting, so there's a greater chance of every position player getting action through pinch hitting.

Here are the five teams most likely to not see any significant action Tuesday night:

5. Pittsburgh Pirates - Represented only by Freddy Sanchez, who's one of three 2Bs on the team. Will LaRusa find time for both Sanchez and Orlando Hudson once he pulls Chase Utley? I'm guessing Sanchez gets to play some defense and Hudson gets to pinch run.

4. Atlanta Braves - The Braves are sending two reps, but John Smoltz is injured and Brian McCann is a catcher, which is hard to predict. Some managers will save a catcher in games like this to guard against injuries.

3. ChiSox - Repped only by Bobby Jenks. Pitchers are always a crap shoot in these games: How many starters will Leyland use? Will he try to get an inning out of each of the relief pitchers?

2. Kansas City Royals - Lonely Gil Meche is the only member of the Royals in San Francisco and he might get pegged as the dreaded "starting pitcher held in reserve in case we have a repeat of 2002" role.

1. Washington Nationals - Represented only by 1B Dmitri Young, who finds himself sitting behind Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, and Derek Lee. Pinch Hitting or Bust.

Look on the bright side, Washington. Maybe Young will pinch hit the first time the pitchers batting spot comes up and you can be in bed by 9. Small victories, Washington. Small victories.

Do Not Feel Sorry For Buddy Boy

2007-07-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

Over at SI.com, John Donovan has a column penned about the All-Star Game that comes dangerously close to asking us to feel sorry for Bud Selig. While Donovan stops just short of that, his column is decidedly in Selig's favor, as the beleaguered Commissioner is faced with heading to San Francisco for the All-Star Game festivities over the next two days.

San Francisco, of course, being the epicenter of Barry Bonds Love. And Barry Bonds, of course, being the epicenter of the Steroids Era.

Here's a sample of Donovan's tone through the short column:

It's not easy, almost ever, to be Selig, the commissioner of baseball. Early next week at the All-Star Game in San Francisco, it'll be particularly painful. How will Selig, who turns 73 later this month, maneuver through all the festivities at this year's Midsummer Classic knowing that, all around him, is the central figure in the scandal that may well define his legacy? How can Selig shake hands and smile and celebrate all that's right with the game when the person that many thousands of people believe is what's wrong with it is everywhere?

It's not my intent here to rip Donovan, but merely to point out that we're likely to hear quite a bit about the "tough" situation Bud Selig is in these days, what with Bonds being about to break Hank Aaron's all-time Home Run record and also almost-certainly guilty of illegally enhancing his body to achieve some (though not all) of those home runs. Donovan's the first column I've seen on the "difficult" situation that Selig finds himself in, though, so he gets to be the target.

For starters, if it's "almost" never easy to be Bud Selig, I think the person to blame for that difficulty of being Bud Selig would be, in fact, Bud Selig. Not Bonds, not McGwire, not Sosa, not Canseco, not Don Fehr, not Congress, not anyone other than Bud himself. I don't really care how he maneuvers through the minefield of Barry Bonds Love during the ASG; Bonds exists as he does because of the various levels of baseball administration that turned a knowing blind-eye to steroids and Selig sits atop that administrative mountain. The crown gets the glory, the crown takes the blame.

I could almost forgive Selig for sitting atop the radioactive pile of players that were making him and baseball's owners piles of cash, if he'd proven himself to be capable to dealing with the steroid issue once it was revealed. Unfortunately, Selig's handling of the steroid issue was FEMA-esque in its incompetence and willingness to say anything and do little or nothing until after a public shaming or two. Or ten. Or forty.

Make no mistake - Selig's lack of desire to be in attendance when Bonds breaks Aaron's record is a sign of his desire to act as he thinks the public wants him to act.

And that he's a coward.

Cowards can come up with good ideas (as Selig has with the introduction of the Wild Card and Interleague Play) but they are incapable of leading through even the most minor crisis (like the 2002 All-Star Game). So forgive me if I shed no tears for Bud Selig over the next few days. How can Selig sit there and smile? I don't care. But he should be there, just as he should when Bonds breaks Aaron's record. His fingerprints are all over the Steroids Era and he should own up to it. For Selig to fail to give Bonds his due (as corrupted as his achievements may be) is a glaring sign of his own guilt, and his unwillingness to ever accept any responsibility for the mess that happened under his watch.

The Other A-Rod Sucks When it Counts, Too

2007-07-06T18:00:00.000-04:00

Andy Roddick is what passes for United States Men's Tennis, these days, and while it isn't fair to place the entire burden of one country on one guy's shoulders, Andy Roddick isn't exactly the guy you'd want carrying you, anyway.

Friday afternoon at Wimbledon, Roddick (seeded third) blew a 2 sets to none lead and lost to Richard Gasquet (seeded twelfth) in 5 sets as he failed to advance out of the Quarterfinals.

Roddick said of his failure to seal the deal: "It's tough when you double your winners to unforced errors and lose. I'd love to make you try to understand what it feels like in the pit of your stomach right now, but I don't know if I can do that." Probably not. Roddick had 60 winners to 29 unforced errors for that 2-to-1 edge, but Gasquet had a 3-to-1 ration (93-to-29). Imagine how Gasquet would've felt if he'd lost.

Some of Roddick's failure to live up to the legacy of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras (hell, he's not living up the legacy of Jim Courier) is no doubt due to the existence of Roger Federer, one of the great non-clay tennis players of all-time. But Roddick has even been usurped in the role of Federer's Gimp by Rafael Nadal, who may lose to Federer on hardcourts and grass, but turns the tables on clay, dominating Federer there like Federer does everywhere else to everyone else.

Sure, Federer's defeated Roddick 3 or 4 times in Slam Semis, and twice in Slam Finals, but go ask Phil Mickelson how much fun it was being Tiger's bitch all those years until he started winning some Majors.

If there were a few more legit American players who could compete for Slam titles, Roddick could have a nice, comfortable Michael Chang-type career where no one really gave him much grief (both have one Slam win, and three Slam finals losses), but the reality is that Roddick is it when it comes to US Men's tennis right now, and he gets all the glory and all the shame that comes with it.

Red Marines

2007-07-05T14:41:00.000-04:00

The Red Sox have "formed an alliance" (what is this, Mortal Kombat?) with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League and will now share player evaluations, statistical analysis, scouting reports, coaches, staff, front office personnel, and Bobby Valentine's fake moustaches.

I guess it's a good move, but how the hell do I know the value of gaining access to Chiba Lotte's scouting reports? Chiba was supposedly helpful to the Red Sox last year when they were deciding on Matsuzaka and Okajima (I wonder who consulted the Yankees of Kei Igawa?) so they must be solid, and access to Valentine's experience in managing in both countries can't be a negative, but I always see these moves in terms of how many hats the teams will sell.

It's always good to see the club being proactive, but I wonder if MLB should outlaw these alliances. There are, after all, only 12 teams in Nippon Professional Baseball, and if these international alliances become the thing to do, it's not going to be the Yankees or Cubs or Dodgers left standing without a partner.

Maybe Wally and the Chiba Lotte seagull can get together and scare children on an international scale.

The Acedom of Matsuzaka

2007-07-03T22:36:00.000-04:00

The Red Sox beat the D-Rays 4-1 on Tuesday night behind eight shut-out innings from Daisuke Matsuzaka.

In his last six starts, Matsuzaka has given up a total of six earned runs in 42 innings for a 1.29 ERA. That he's only 3-2 in those starts speak to the unpredictability of baseball, but he's clearly been pitching like ace over the last month. He's lowered his ERA to 3.53 and is averaging better than a strikeout and inning over that span.

It has to be noted that Matsuzaka's impressive six-game streak hasn't exactly been against the powerhouses of baseballdom - Tampa, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona, and Oakland - but four of those teams are above .500, so at the very least he's shutting down the teams he's supposed to shut down.

Not being able to see him pitch all that much I still don't feel like I've got a handle on Matsuzaka, but I can't argue with his stats. Over the past month he's pitched as well as anyone, even if the Ws haven't followed.

An Excuse to Say Dinamo Zagreb

2007-07-02T23:36:00.000-04:00

Dinamo Zagreb is not a James Bond villain. It is a Croatian soccer club that finds itself 8 million pounds richer tonight as the transfer fee for sending Eduardo Da Silva to Arsenal.

Da Silva is a 24-year old striker who finished the past season with a league-high 34 goals. His addition gives Arsenal an up-and-coming attack as he slots in alongside Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Nicolas Bendtner, and even Theo Walcott. It will be tough to replace departed Thierry Henry, of course, but the cupboard isn't completely bare.

I still don't see any reason to think Arsenal is better than a 4th place team in the Premiership, but they've got a good amount of young talent now that should develop nicely.

Not the All-Stars

2007-07-01T19:10:00.000-04:00

Wow, where's Harold Reynolds when you need him?

Heck, where's Joe Morgan?

I'm not going to comment on the validity of the 2007 MLB All-Star rosters, because I don't really care. I will only say that from a Pilgrims' POV Kevin Youkilis deserved to be on that team ahead of Manny Ramirez. It's hard to get all worked up about it, since Manny will likely decide he has a sore hamstring two days before the game and Youk might slide into that spot. Besides, the Sox had five players selected (Papi, Manny, Lowell, Beckett, and Papelbon) so complaining about one who didn't go is sorta lame.

What I do want to comment on is the TBS telecast announcing the roster selections. First, the two positives: Ernie Johnson (the best studio host around) and the graphics. That's pretty much all that didn't suck.

Here's the negatives: Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Cal was awful and Gwynn looked like he was ready to put his head on the desk and take a nap. (Who does Tony Gwynn have to slap to get an apple juice?) Sure, in typical baseball idiocy, the selection show came on over an hour after it was supposed to (that's why ESPN always scheduled their selection show BEFORE a game and not AFTER it - nice rain delay, southern Florida), but it was hardly like Gwynn was on Hour 23 of the 24 Hours of LeMans coverage.

Gwynn looked tired and irritated, ill-suited for studio coverage. I thought he was okay doing game coverage when he was with the Four Letter Network, but this studio stuff just seemed beyond him. I kept waiting for him to look off-screen and yell, "Are we fucking done, yet? Tony Gwynn wants to take a nap, goddamnit!"

Many know of my irrational dislike for Cal Ripken, Jr., stemming from his desire to set the most useless record in all of sports (woo-hoo, I played me a whole lot of games! In a row!) despite being a career .276 hitter who only hit .300 or better 4 times in 21 seasons. I'm not saying he's not a Hall of Famer, just that I dislike him.

And he only hit .300 four times. And he only drove in 100 Runs four times.

And "Consecutive Games Played" records are next-to-meaningless.

Sure, if there's a record you might as well hold it, but someone out there holds the record for most screen time on Solid Gold. There are records and then there are records.

I disliked plenty of guys as players only to like them as broadcasters (Steve Kerr, Orel Hershiser, Harold Reynolds, Troy Aikman, Magic, etc.) so there was no reason I couldn't like Ripken in his new career. No reason before he opened his mouth, at least. Once he started talking he was worse doing this than Joe Montana was doing football. Just awful. Awkward, ill-prepared, and not insightful. Derek Jeter is good? No kidding. Wait - you mean he's good offensively and defensively? Get the fuck outta town Cal Ripken! Get the fuck outta town you crazy-ass ex-shortstop! Go back to destroying Little League!

Maybe they'll get better, but for right now Ripken and Gwynn seem like the trophy hires we all thought they were when TBS hired them as announcers. It's neat since, you know, they're going into the HoF together, but, man, they are some awful studio analysts.

Let's hope they get better. I mean, they can't get worse.

Unless next time there's a two-hour rain delay, I suppose. We're looking at you, southern Floridian cloud formations ...

No, Actually, You Won't Be Needed Tonight, Wily Mo

2007-07-01T09:21:00.000-04:00

Top Red Sox positional prospect Jacoby Ellsbury made his major league debut in last night's 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Ellsbury's call-up was something of a surprise given that he was replacing relief pitcher Joel Pineiro, but, according to the Globe's Nick Cafardo, with "Coco Crisp's sore left thumb needing rest, the Sox didn't want Wily Mo Peña patrolling center field while the offense isn't quite clicking and defense is becoming more vital to winning."

Ellsbury's call-up brings with it a whole range of options - they could showcasing him as part of a major deal (the White Sox are interested in him as part of a Mark Buehrle deal), or they could be giving him a long look to see if what he'll give them is better than what Coco Crisp is giving them. One thing is clear from watching how the Red Sox treat these young prospects is that they're not going to bring Ellsbury up so he can sit on the bench as the fourth or fifth OF. If he comes up, he's going to play, because the club would rather he gets playing time in Pawtucket than bench experience in the majors.

I didn't see the game, but according to reports he went 1-for-4, beating out an grounder to short for his first ML hit. So, yay him.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Ellsbury. Even if he comes up and goes white hot for a week, I can't imagine the Sox will install him as their starting CF for the rest of the season. Crisp's thumb is sore, not broken, and the plan appears to be to let Ellsbury have this cup o' coffee and then send him back down to the Tucket until September call-ups.

Amidst all the winning the Sox have been doing this year, it shouldn't be forgotten that everyday contributors Coco Crisp, Julio Lugo, and JD Drew are all under-performing in huge ways. That can be seen as a good thing (they'll get better and then the team will really take off) or a bad thing (what if they don't come out of the slumps? That's a lot of money tied up in guys not doing squat).

The three of them can't continue to be that bad, but if they are we might as well find out now if a prospect like Ellsbury is ready to contribute.

And This is Why They Are the Rockies

2007-06-30T09:44:00.000-04:00

After getting some sidebar love here at the Crazy and an actual post over at the Goat, the Colorado Rockies have shown why no one in the national media takes their winning streaks seriously - after sweeping the Yankees they've lost 8 games in a row.

Coinciding with Brian's post, ironically. Or not ironically. You decide.

So what's happened to our beloved Rockies? It's never one thing with losing streaks approaching double-digits, but as it always seems to be with Colorado, it's all about pitching. The starters are struggling and a bullpen implosion hasn't helped. Closer Brian Fuentes has taken the loss in 4 of the 8 games. The Rock have lost twice 8-9 and once 9-10 (all Fuentes losses).

The Rockies' offense is doing its part, averaging over 5.5 runs a game during the losing streak. They were only shutout once.

Sorry about the love, Colorado. If it makes you feel any better, the hottest team in baseball right now (riding a 7-game winning streak) is the Cubs, and they've only got one more win than you do right now. That doesn't make you feel better? Yeah, I guess it wouldn't.

Ray Allen is Not a Useless Piece of Meat

2007-06-29T07:16:00.000-04:00

I like the Ray Allen deal.

I admit that when the deal went down last night (after an hour or more of it being listed as "proposed" on the screen) I wasn't expecting that statement to put me in the woefully outnumbered minority of Celtics fans. I thought there'd be a 50-50 reaction to the deal and not the 90% negative reaction that it seems to have garnered. Listening to the WEEI post-draft show last night (and thank heavens for streaming internet feeds), you'd have thought Danny Ainge had just traded the 7th pick in the draft for Sebastian Telfair for the second time.

Look, Ray Allen may be 32 next month and he may have $51 million left on his current contract and he may be coming off an injury-shortened season, but Danny Ainge did not make a horrible move in acquiring Ray Allen. Allen is not, as Dan Shaughnessy spouts in typically negatively idiotic fashion this morning, "a fossil." Nor can't it be seen "as anything but a desperation move by a front office and coaching staff trying to hang onto their jobs," as Yahoo's Dan Wetzel claims.

I think a lot of the anger that's come blaring out of fans and media is left over from sitting through a junked season last year and the failure of ping pong balls to bounce the Cs way at the Draft Lottery. I could understand being indifferent about this deal but the anger being hurled at Danny Ainge this morning surely can't be because people really think Ray Allen is some washed up, good for nothing jump shooter, can it?

Just look at the deal for what it is: the Celtics gave up Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiack, and Jeff Green for Ray Allen, which means they really gave up Jeff Green. I understand people in the fanbase have an affinity for West, but you have to look at what he is - a back-up guard. Versatile, yes. Vital to any team's success, no. Better than Allen? Not a chance. Will anyone miss Wally? (Insert sounds of crickets chirping.) And Jeff Green will have a solid ten-year NBA career but he doesn't make this team a whole lot better. Green is finely suited to a team looking to add a final piece - put him on Dallas or Phoenix or San Antonio and he'd turn into Josh Howard - an intelligent young player with a tightly defined role who fits in seamlessly with a veteran core. Put him on Boston or Philadelphia where he'd be forced to contribute in a much broader, significant manner and he loses value.

What, exactly, did the Celtics give up that's worth crying over? The chance at Yi Jianlian? A shot at Corey Brewer? Is that worth the bile being hoisted upon Ainge and the Celtics this morning?

I think not, unless you're making the argument that they should have taken the pick and moved Pierce for more youngsters. And yeah, I would have preferred the Celtics did just that and drafted Corey Brewer or Yi Jianlian, but I fail to see this as a tragic move by an incompetent general manager looking to simply save his job. They acquired an All-Star without giving up any of their core youngsters. Acquiring Allen makes this a playoff team. Nobody available at the #5 spot last night did that.

I understand that people see this move and say, "This doesn't make the Celtics a Championship team." It doesn't. Even in the Easy East this makes the Celtics, at absolute best, the fourth best team in the conference, and for the NBA's most historically successful franchise it's still Banner or nothing. But you can't build a successful team solely with youth, especially when all that youth is still college-aged without being college-tested. Young guys need to learn how to win, both in the regular season and in the post-season and Ainge has now given the Cs young players a realistic shot at playoff experience.

If there are no further blockbuster moves, what this deal tells you is that Ainge has identified Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo, and Gerald Green as the young guys to build around. Pierce and Allen will be used to get these three players experience with winning. They should become playoff hardened by having Allen around, and three years from now they should be in place to be the core of a team that makes a run at the Eastern Conference Championship. Note what I said - I didn't say the Celtics would be a championship contender, but that the core of a championship contender is there. More moves have to be made because more moves always have to be made when you're a team struggling to get back in the trophy hunt.

Pierce and Allen have more NBA time behind them than in front of them but both still have 3-5 highly productive years left. If Ray Allen was nothing more than a washed out jump shooter then explain to me how his offensive numbers were up across the board last season? This is a guy who averaged 26 points per game in 2006-07. He's a risk (everyone is a risk) but he's not a leap.

While Yahoo, the Boston Globe, and ESPN are largely bashing the heck out of this move (I'm glad I watched the draft from the cozy confines of B-Dubs where I didn't have to listen to Stephen A, Jackson, Bilas, and Scott) Sports Illustrated is taking a more positive approach. Jack McCallum writes:

"I absolutely love the deal from the Celtics' standpoint. I think this move makes them a playoff team. Anytime you can get an All-Star player like Ray Allen, he's worth what you give up. All along the Celtics were trying to change the team without giving up Al Jefferson. That was goal No. 1, and they accomplished it -- and they got a terrific player. I just think his talents were getting lost in the West. He comes to the East and becomes one of the best players in the conference. Allen had never demanded a trade from Seattle, but sometimes he looked a little disinterested. He's going to be very motivated in Boston."

Chris Mannix argues that Allen is far from the washed up fossil the naysayers seem to think he is:

"In Allen, Ainge picks up arguably the league's best perimeter shooter whose presence alone will open up huge driving lanes for Pierce. Despite playing in just 55 games for the floundering Sonics last season, Allen averaged 26.4 points on 43.8 percent shooting. Granted Allen is owed nearly $52 million over the next three seasons; but at 31 (he will turn 32 next month), the UConn product is still capable of averaging 22-25 points per night in the Boston offense, where he will benefit from playing with a slashing scorer (Pierce) and a legitimate low-post presence (Jefferson)."

I don't know if the trade is the "stroke of genius" Mannix makes it out to be, but I think it's an incredibly solid move. The Celtics gave up next to nothing and got back an All-Star who fits well into their offense.

It doesn't bring Banner 17 to the rafters all by itself but it does lay the groundwork for turning Jefferson, Rondo, and Green into the core of a championship contending club three years from now, which is the best anyone could have hoped for from whomever the Celtics drafted last night.

The Last Post About the Draft Before the Draft

2007-06-28T18:11:00.000-04:00

About 90 minutes from now, the Celtics will likely be on the clock for tonight's NBA Draft. The latest trade rumor is a deal I would do in a heartbeat. According to Si.com's Ian Thomsen, the Sonics and Celtics are working on a deal involving Ray Allen:

The proposal being negotiated by Seattle and Boston would send Allen to the Celtics for a package including the No. 5 pick, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West. The last I heard was that Seattle was having second thoughts about the deal: The sticking point was that the Sonics wanted second-year point guard Rajon Rondo instead of West, which led Boston VP Danny Ainge to demand that Seattle also include center Robert Swift in the trade.

I would not give up Rondo in the deal because as long-time readers of the Crazy (and the dearly departed Planet Killer) now, I have something of a man-crush on Rondo's potential. Delonte West I could give a crap about - decent back-up at the 1 or 2 spot, but not a difference maker like Rondo will be in the near future.

West, Szczerbiak (and his 2-year, $26.6 million contract), and the #5 for Ray Allen works. Yes, Ray Allen is 32, but his numbers last year were up from previous years across the board. He can't play defense but he's still a stone-cold scorer. I'm not crazy about Smith, but he is a young center (out all of last season, IIRC) and the Cs need that but I'd hold out for the West, Wally, and #5 for Allen deal.

Adding Ray Allen for a back-up, a big contract, and the #5 pick is worth doing. It would make the Celtics better right now and give the Shamrocks a powerful offensive troika of Pierce, Allen, and Jefferson. Gerald Green could remain a back-up and tutor under Pierce and Allen and when Allen is ready to move on, Green will be ready to step in.

The other rumor that will not die involves Kevin Garnett. According to multiple reports, the Celtics still have the best offer on the table for KG (Jefferson and the 5th), but I wouldn't do that deal. I would get in on the Amare Stoudemire sweepstakes if the Suns are actually going to move him. KG to Suns, Stoudemire to Celtics, Jefferson and the 5th pick to Minnesota would be a blockbuster and should make all three teams happy (since Minny GM Kevin McHale has apparently identified Jefferson as the player he most wants back for KG). That's a better offer than the Suns, 'Sota, Atlanta deal floating around.

If the Celtics keep the pick, I'd still select Corey Brewer, but if they take Yi Jianlian I would not be disappointed.

Should be a fun night. At the very least, Danny can't trade for Sebastian Telfair again. But if he does I'll drown my sorrows in buckets of B-Dub's wings.

Manny Does Not Need Your Votes

2007-06-27T00:52:00.000-04:00

I'm on the Red Sox mailing list, so I get emails from them all the time offering news or special offers or whatever they feel like sending me. Tonight, I received an email from them that said the following:

Ramirez needs your votes
David Ortiz looks like a lock to make the AL All-Star team as the starting first baseman. But, in the past week, Mariners and Tigers fans have voted Ichiro Suzuki and Magglio Ordonez, respectively, past Manny Ramirez in a tight race for the final two outfield spots. Red Sox fans - Are you ready to respond in kind?

Nope. I'm not. Know why?

Because Manny doesn't want my vote.

Manny has made it clear over the years that he'd rather do anything but go to the All-Star Game and Festivities. He'd rather just take the 3 days off and do whatever it is that Manny does when he's being Manny outside of the public eye. And, really, he could do anything; you could tell me he spends his days disproving string theory or organizing his My Little Pony collection and my reaction would still be the same. My not voting for Manny is a vote for Manny not having to come up with a silly reason why he can't go.

If he's not voted onto the roster he probably won't get invited. His stats don't justify his inclusion. As of Monday night, he's batting .296, with 11 HR, 42 RBI, and 39 Runs. Torri Hunter, by comparison, has put up more deserving numbers: .206, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 45 Runs, 11 SB. Gary Sheffield? Try .291, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 66 Runs, 8 SB.

All of which is fine with Manny and makes me wonder why the Red Sox would try to get the Nation to vote him in, when we all know the ASG is the last place he wants to be that night.

So Nation, do you want to do what the owners wants, or what Manny wants? I say try being Manny for a few minutes - head to MLB.com and vote on the All-Star Game ... for Magglio Ordonez and Ichiro.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

2007-06-26T12:51:00.000-04:00

I get a little tired of trade rumors. They make for good talk-radio bits, but it's so high school to hear all of the rumors coming out of the mouths of media. The latest big whisper coming out of the NBA is a four-team trade involving the Lakers, Timberwolves, Pacers, and Celtics, which would send Kevin Garnett to the Lakers, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum to the Pacers, Al Jefferson and the #5 pick to the Wolves, and Jermaine O'Neal to the Celtics.

I can't see why the Celtics would make that deal. I can't see the Cs trading Jefferson for O'Neal straight-up, let alone as some complicated four-team maneuver where they'd likely have to give up Theo Ratliff's expiring contract, as well.

For what? Jermaine O'Neal? Forget it. Jefferson is a younger, cheaper version of O'Neal, and if he's not already better than O'Neal he will be by the end of the year. There's no need to make this deal and no need to talk about it as currently constructed. The Cs either need to get back a lot more, or give up a lot less for this deal to happen.

Mark Burly Would Be the Best #4 Pitcher in the History of Baseball

2007-06-24T23:08:00.000-04:00

Or at least in the history of this blog.

The Goat Feeders called my attention to rumors of a possible trade between the Soxes White and Red centering on Mark Buehrle. (And yes, I know I spelled it wrong it the headline, but since so many in the Boston media couldn't handle writing "Daisuke Matsuzaka," replacing the dude's actual name with "Dice-K," I'm sure they'll just start referring to Buehrle as "Burly" and I want to preemptively mock the jackasses.)

Anyway, according to Ian Browne, "the White Sox have reportedly targeted Red Sox prospects Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie." Which is probably why the deal won't happen. It doesn't take Peter Gammons to tell us that the Sox will not trade Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, or Michael Bowden (pictured at right) for anyone, but he was nice enough to do it anyway, because that's how he rolls.

Buchholz and Bowden are the two best pitching prospects the Sox have. (Lester's already established himself as a major league starter.) Both are at Portland right now and expected to be available for major league duty sometime next season or 2009. Soxprospects.com lists Buchholz and Bowden as the #1 and #3 top-rated prospects in the organization, and cites their MLB-counterparts as Chris Carpenter and Ben Sheets, respectively. Kenny Williams is right to target them but the Sox won't move either of them for a possible/probable rent-a-player.

That leaves Ellsbury (rated as the #2 prospect by Soxprospects.com) and Lowrie (rated #8), the former an OF prospect and the latter an IF prospect. (That's Lowrie in the picture to the right.) According to the Sons of Sam Horn Wiki (I'm not even going to pretend I know anything about them), Ellsbury is a Johnny Damon-type, but with a better swing and less power. Lowrie is a switch-hitting middle-infielder with "a strong arm and above average range."

My feeling about the minor league system is that its purpose is to develop pitchers for the big-league club and position players for trade bait. That's a benefit of being an Empire Class Organization. You only need one or two organizational prospects to contribute to the MLB club in any given season, barring a run of injuries.

Mark Buehrle would make a great addition to the Sox rotation but I wouldn't give up either Buchholz or Bowden to acquire him given his contract. If Williams will take a position-prospect, then yeah, it's worth the risk. As tough as it is to see Freddie Sanchez excelling in Pittsburgh when all we got back was less than a half-season of Jeff "Right, this is why we got rid of him the first time" Suppan, it was worth the risk and the Sox have not been hampered by Sanchez's absence. If the team had kept him he'd be playing 2B right now and Dustin Pedroia would've been moved for last year's version of Jeff Suppan.

If Williams will take either Ellsbury or Lowrie as the centerpiece of the deal, I'd do it. Sure, Ellsbury is the #2 prospect and that's a steep price for a half-year pitcher, but if the Sox are convinced Buehrle is woth a Barry Zito-esque contract, you make the deal and get the extension. I'm sure Theo is already dreaming of a Beckett, Buehrle, Matsuzaka, Lester, Schilling/Buchholz/Bowden 2008-09 rotation, but he doesn't need to gut the system to make it happen.

If Williams insists on Buchholz or Bowden, I'd pass. Having Buehrle in the rotation would clearly give the Red Sox the best rotation in baseball since they've already got one of the top two or three. I'm not going to say the Sox couldn't use him, but they don't have the need that the Phillies and Mets (to name two other Buehrle suitors) have, which means they're less likely to overwhelm Williams with an offer.

You gotta wonder, too, if one of the ramifications of Buehrle trading his Sox colors would be to trigger fire sales in Toronto and the Bronx.

Jon Lester Rates an Explanation for Not Getting Schill-In Start

2007-06-24T21:09:00.000-04:00

Schill-In? Get it? Fun with words. Proves my cleverness. Or boredom. Yeah, boredom. Hey, this is what happens when the bastards take televised sports programming away from me.

MLB.com is reporting that the Red Sox have chosen to call up Kason Gabbard to start Tuesday night in Curt Schilling's DL-vacated slot in the rotation and not Jon Lester.

Lester is recovering from lymphoma and the Sox have purposely brought him along slowly. What's interesting to me about the Gabbard call-up isn't so much that they chose Gabbard, whose having a great season for the Tucket (7-2, 3.24 ERA), but that Theo, Francona, pitching coach John Farrell, and PawSox manager Ron Johnson all got on a conference call to explain to Lester why they were making this decision.

Maybe teams do this all the time, but I can't see the four of them getting together to call Gabbard if the big club had chosen to bring up Lester.

Then again, maybe Gabbard wouldn't get a call because he can be hostile when confronted by a camera.

The decision apparently revolves around the idea that the Sox don't know how long Schilling is going to be out and thus, how many starts they'll need to fill. Since it's an unknown, they'd rather keep Lester in Rhode Island until they can recover under known conditions instead of risking treating him like a yo-yo between leagues.

It's a good move - the Sox are way up in the standings (11 games up over second-place Toronto) and Lester's not ready to take over for Julian Tavarez, yet, so they might as well leave him where he is for the time being. Maybe the Sox get lucky, too, and Gabbard strings a few really impressive starts together and makes himself appealing to other clubs looking to deal.

AK47 to Beantown?

2007-06-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

Another day, another Celtics draft/trade rumor.

Actually, this one isn't so much a rumor because Peter May is just speculating in print. He's trying to figure out what he'd do with the Cs 5th pick in the draft. May thinks the Celtics should trade the pick and he knows the Celtics are not going to be able to acquire either Keven Garnett or Shawn Marion, which is fine with him and me.

What's scary is that his deal makes a heck of a lot more sense for the Celtics than any rumor coming out of Danny Ainge's office.

Here's May's proposed deal between the Celtics and Utah Jazz:

"You'd have to think the Jazz would at least entertain a proposal in which Boston surrendered the fifth pick, Theo Ratliff and his wonderful, expiring contract, and a couple young-uns. Boston might have to take back a bad contract (Matt Harpring or Derek Fisher) to make it balance, but not necessarily. If the Celtics sent Gerald Green, West, the fifth pick, and Ratliff for Kirilenko and the 25th pick, it'd work."

I would do that deal.

Yeah, Kirilenko is most known for two things that don't help you: his wife lets him cheat on her once a year and he cried during a playoff interview session. Neither of those facts exactly scream, "Andrei Kirilenko can handle Boston," but this isn't the Sox or Pats - this is the barely relevant Celtics.

Kirilenko is a former All-Star and 3-time member of the All-NBA Defensive team (1 first team, 2 second teams). The Celtics desperately need defense and a new start might help Kirilenko rediscover his game. The risk is that he's signed for four more years at $15 million per season, but as Many points out, with Ratliff going in the other direction and Szczerbiak coming off the books next year, it's not a major financial risk.

Giving up Green would be tough to swallow, but you've got to give up someone to get someone and I'd rather move Green (who still needs a few years before he's ready to be a starter) than Al Jefferson, who's already a starter. I'm not a big Delonte West fan; I think he's a competent back-up but he's far too injury prone to trust as a starter. If I had to give up West, though, I'd ask for Derek Fisher back, too. Fisher would give the Celtics a veteran PG to ease the burden on Rajon Rondo. Rondo and Fisher would complement each other well - when the team wants to run, play Rondo; when they need to run sets, play Fisher.

Would Utah do that deal? Chances are they would. According to Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson, the Jazz might have had enough of AK's attitude:

Larry Miller told me and my radio co-host Kevin Graham on 1280 The Zone on Thursday that he agreed Kirilenko has vast maturing to do: "He hasn't just flat laid down on us. But you used the word[s] - and I'm being tough on him probably, if he doesn't like it, I'm sorry, I'll put my arm around him and tell him I still love him. But he needs to grow up . . . I just hope he will." If he doesn't, Kirilenko could be gone via a trade, depending on another ominous if - if any other team would take him, given his huge salary, reduced productivity and emotional instability.

Danny Ainge would take him. Or, at least, he should strongly consider calling and seeing what it would take. If the Jazz would rather part ways with their frustrating forward, get in on it. AK has problems with Jerry Sloan's toughness? He won't have that problem with Doc. AK wants to shoot more? He'll have that opportunity in Boston.

I still say the best thing for Boston to do is stay at #5 and draft Corey Brewer. Then talk to the Jazz. See if they'll take next year's first round pick, Green West, and Ratliff for Kirilenko and Fisher. Kirilenko is only 26; the chance to get a guy with his track record and ready to enter his prime is worth the risk.

Is Daisuke an All-Star?

2007-06-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

Maybe.

A month ago I would've said No, but after last night's paradoxical 2-1 win over Greg Maddux and the NL West leading Padres the question is worth asking. The final score says Matsuzaka was dominant but the box score says he wasn't. Matsuzaka went six innings, striking out nine but walking five, allowing ten men to reach base, but only one to score. He walked the first three batters of the game (throwing in a wild pitch just for fun), then only let one of them score. Does the process matter if the end result is what you were looking for?

Forget for a minute that Buddy Selig surely wants Matsuzaka in the All-Star Game in order to entice a few more TV sets in Japan to tune in. Forget, too, that the AL squad will be managed by Jim Leyland, who tried to pop a verbal hole in the Daisuke Balloon earlier this season right before Matsuzaka went out and threw a complete game, 7-1 smackdown of the Tigers. Position players get a chance to go to the All-Star game because they're popular, but pitchers have to make it on merit. (Though that merit sometimes comes from being the least suckiest suckbag on a sucky team.)

Is Matsuzka deserving of an All-Star spot?

He now has nine wins, second most in the American League. That sounds impressive but the top of the AL win charts is a crowded place. Josh Beckett, CC Sabathia, and John Lackey all have ten wins, and Matsuzaka is tied with Dan Haren at nine wins, while five more starters have eight. Wins alone aren't going to get him to San Francisco.

Matsuzaka is third in the AL is strikeouts with 102, but that's the last of his two really impressive rankings. Where Matsuzaka is hurt most is in ERA. He's down to 4.01 after last night's win, but only Jeremy Bonderman (4.01) and Roy Halladay (4.08) have ERAs equal to, or higher than, Matsuzaka's among the top ten (by wins) starting pitchers in the AL. He also has the highest WHIP rating (1.30) of anyone in the top 10, given up the most walks and earned runs, second most runs, and the fourth most hits.

There's nothing about those stats that cries to either be an automatic in or out. So does he make the All-Star team or doesn't he?

He's certainly still in the running, but right now he's not on the team. Right now, Lackey, Sabathia, Beckett, Haren, and Bonderman look to be locks (though what sets Bonderman apart from the pack is that Leyland is his manager; you know if it's close Leyland is taking him). That's already five starters. Matsuzaka is in the next batch of guys up for consideration but right now likely on th outside looking in; this group includes: Kelvim Escobar, Fausto Carmona, Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, Johan Santana, and Joe Blanton.

There's nothing about Matsuzaka's season to this point that sets him apart from that second-tier, and you figure Leyland might get the benefit of the doubt to his own guy (Verlander) and guys in his division (Carmona, Santana).

Daisuke is moving in the right direction, however. While only going 2-2 in June, so far, Matsuzaka's ERA for the month is 1.73, dropping his season ERA from 4.83 to 4.01 in just four starts. He's averaging 8.5 strikeouts, as well, though the 3.5 BBs/start doesn't help.

For now though, no, Matsuzaka is not an All-Star and there's a better chance that he won't be on the team than on, but he's a lot closer to making the squad now than he was even as little as four weeks ago. With Schilling being put on the 15-day DL, Matsuzaka automatically elevates to the team's #2 pitcher and he's got to continue to pitch like one during Schill's absence.