A couple thoughts on last night's Indians/Orioles game, my first of the young season.
For those who didn't watch it, the top half of the third inning ended with Miguela Tejada being doubled off first base following an outstanding diving catch by Grady Sizemore. Nick Markakis was on third base during the at bat, tagged up and crossed the plate before the throw was received at first base. There's no doubt that Markakis made it home in time, but, as I saw with my own eyes, the home plate umpire did not signal that the run would count, rather, he did quite the opposite.
In a case like this, the signal for the run scoring is something along the lines of a basketball ref signalling a made basket following a foul - he points at the plate the show the run counts. Last night, ump Marvin (Hirsch) Hudson crossed and uncrossed his arms in front of him a couple of times - like making the "safe" sign over and over, this is what reports indicate when saying "He waved off the run". I'm willing to concede that he may have simply confused himself, though it's possible he didn't have the rule correct. The run wasn't put up on the scoreboard until innings later and fans at the park got no explanation for the added run for at least a full inning after that. Most probably hadn't even realized it happened.
When the PA announcer finally did express what was happening, he introduced it as such, "...due to baseball's Rule 2..." Rule 2? What the hell is Rule 1? It wasn't even Rule 2.01(b), no, just "Rule 2".
Correctly so, Eric Wedge announced he was playing the rest of the game under protest, shocking me that he understood that if he hadn't made that decision during the game, then he couldn't do it. Wedge's reasoning for protesting the game is where he lost me. I know it's the only thing that he could say, but for me to believe that he'd have managed the game differently depends upon me believing that he knows how to manage a game in the first place. Without having the "Diff" on the scoreboard at the Jake, how does he even know who's winning?
He and the reporters could blame the decision to put one run one the scoreboard 3 innings late for the loss, but that's neglecting that in the 8th and 9th innings the Tribe bullpen surrendered 2 out, 2 run doubles after having 2 strikes on the batters.
As for action off the field, the bleachers on a Saturday night are a great place to pick up girls. That is, if you're into high school girls. Plus just keep in mind that there's no separation between seats in the bleachers, so those who find conventional seats to restricting (see: too small for their obesity) make their way to the cheap seats. Wonderful.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Peyton Manning got the weapon he needed
It's been said all along, if Peyton Manning only had one more stud, one more receiver, that he could be one of the NFL's all time greats. He got that man on Sunday.
Slipping to the 5th round as a result of having no discernible skills (though bearing a striking resemblence to one Matthew Edward Gullatta), Roy Hall was scooped up by the Colts in a move to tighten the OSU Buckeye-Indy Colt bond. Mike Doss a couple years ago, Quinn Pitcock, Anthony Gonzalez, and now Hall all drafted by the Colts. Really, outside of Ohio, had anyone heard of him before he rolled over Ted Ginn's leg? Hell of a career move there, for both guys actually.
Ginn couldn't stagger through routes for scouts, thus fooling the Dolphins into believing he's worth a Top 10 pick and Hall made a name for himself. These are the things they teach you at big time college programs. Championships, who needs them?
Slipping to the 5th round as a result of having no discernible skills (though bearing a striking resemblence to one Matthew Edward Gullatta), Roy Hall was scooped up by the Colts in a move to tighten the OSU Buckeye-Indy Colt bond. Mike Doss a couple years ago, Quinn Pitcock, Anthony Gonzalez, and now Hall all drafted by the Colts. Really, outside of Ohio, had anyone heard of him before he rolled over Ted Ginn's leg? Hell of a career move there, for both guys actually.
Ginn couldn't stagger through routes for scouts, thus fooling the Dolphins into believing he's worth a Top 10 pick and Hall made a name for himself. These are the things they teach you at big time college programs. Championships, who needs them?
Draft: Day One Review
And by Day One Review I mean a review of the Browns' Draft.
Joe Thomas (3)- Solid Left Tackle, that's all I can really say. He's not Orlando Pace, but who is. And I hope he's not Robert Gallery. Here's what bothers me about Big 10 left tackles, they don't face the type of edge rusher that they will face in the Pros. I will say that he only gave up one sack his senior year. And that sack came against the Powerhouse Bowling Green State University Falcons.
All in all this is a safe choice that immediately helps the team, and addresses a need that hasn't been addressed in the first three rounds of the draft since 1979.
Brady Quinn (22)- Here is a hot button topic. Quinn's precipitous fall from top five selection to the end of the first round played out dramatically on ESPN (until the commish ranked him out of the green room). A lot of people love this move a lot hate it. What in essence they gave up was next year's First Round pick to move up from the second round.
That's a lot to give up, especially when it might be a top five pick. Here's why I don't think its that big of a deal. If they Browns are going to pick in the top five next year they had another atrocious year this year. And Charlie Frye sure isn't the answer at QB. So they would most likely be looking at drafting a QB. By making this trade they give the QB a year jump on development and they save a ton a cap space by picking at 22 and not in the top 5.
I'm not worried that 21 other teams passed on him. Most of the teams that passed had more pressing needs than taking a QB. In picks from 10-22 only one offensive player was taken (Marshawn Lynch to the Bills) In fact the only team that really passed on Quinn after the Browns at #3 was the Miami Dolphins at #9. There's a reason the Dolphins haven't won since 1973. And has anyone seen the list of QB's that have started since Dan Marino retired, its about 12 deep and includes such stalwarts as Cleo Lemon and Joey Harrington. So lets not be surprised that the Dolphins made a mistake in passing up a potential franchise QB for a glorified kick returner.
Alright lets tackle whether or not Brady is going to be a good QB. Quinn is a four year starter at Notre Dame, the last two under coach Charlie Weiss. His numbers in those last two years are better than anyone else in this draft. Near 62% completion percentage, if that's average accuracy then that's fine. I'll take it over the below accuracy of Charlie Frye and Derrick Anderson. He has an above average arm, maybe the second or third best in this draft and he can make all of the throws. He physically has what it takes to be a top notch NFL QB.
Mentally, he makes good decisions (only 14 interceptions the last two years), and played under the biggest spotlight in college football. There are few positions in the NFL that are under more scrutiny than Quarterback at Notre Dame. He does however hesitate to make throws, which is a source of most of his inaccuracy. This is a timing issue and is not the most difficult thing to work out.
The biggest knock on Quinn is his performance in big games. Sure he never beat USC or won a bowl game, but he beat Michigan (wait who doesn't beat Michigan these days) and was an uncalled Reggie Bush penalty from beating USC two years ago. Lets be honest there wasn't a ton of talent on these Notre Dame teams. I've been hearing for the last couple of years how "overrated" ND was. Well you can't have it both ways, either they were a good team and didn't perform in big games or Quinn was the only real talent on a team that got out manned in every big game they played in. Judging by the amount Domers taken on the first day I'll go with the latter. If the biggest knock on a guy is that he didn't win big games in college I'm alright with that. Peyton Manning didn't win big games in college and he turned out alright.
Finally, I'll let the good folks at Football Outsiders (who do wonderful sabrmetric type stuff with football) tackle the QB depth in this Draft. According to David Lewin at FO, the best indicators of NFL success among college stats are games started and completion percentage. Here's what he had to say about Quinn:
Eric Wright (53)- First Round talent with a bunch of baggage that caused him to transfer from USC to UNLV. Kept his nose clean for two years while in Vegas. To me that deserves a second chance.
Joe Thomas (3)- Solid Left Tackle, that's all I can really say. He's not Orlando Pace, but who is. And I hope he's not Robert Gallery. Here's what bothers me about Big 10 left tackles, they don't face the type of edge rusher that they will face in the Pros. I will say that he only gave up one sack his senior year. And that sack came against the Powerhouse Bowling Green State University Falcons.
All in all this is a safe choice that immediately helps the team, and addresses a need that hasn't been addressed in the first three rounds of the draft since 1979.
Brady Quinn (22)- Here is a hot button topic. Quinn's precipitous fall from top five selection to the end of the first round played out dramatically on ESPN (until the commish ranked him out of the green room). A lot of people love this move a lot hate it. What in essence they gave up was next year's First Round pick to move up from the second round.
That's a lot to give up, especially when it might be a top five pick. Here's why I don't think its that big of a deal. If they Browns are going to pick in the top five next year they had another atrocious year this year. And Charlie Frye sure isn't the answer at QB. So they would most likely be looking at drafting a QB. By making this trade they give the QB a year jump on development and they save a ton a cap space by picking at 22 and not in the top 5.
I'm not worried that 21 other teams passed on him. Most of the teams that passed had more pressing needs than taking a QB. In picks from 10-22 only one offensive player was taken (Marshawn Lynch to the Bills) In fact the only team that really passed on Quinn after the Browns at #3 was the Miami Dolphins at #9. There's a reason the Dolphins haven't won since 1973. And has anyone seen the list of QB's that have started since Dan Marino retired, its about 12 deep and includes such stalwarts as Cleo Lemon and Joey Harrington. So lets not be surprised that the Dolphins made a mistake in passing up a potential franchise QB for a glorified kick returner.
Alright lets tackle whether or not Brady is going to be a good QB. Quinn is a four year starter at Notre Dame, the last two under coach Charlie Weiss. His numbers in those last two years are better than anyone else in this draft. Near 62% completion percentage, if that's average accuracy then that's fine. I'll take it over the below accuracy of Charlie Frye and Derrick Anderson. He has an above average arm, maybe the second or third best in this draft and he can make all of the throws. He physically has what it takes to be a top notch NFL QB.
Mentally, he makes good decisions (only 14 interceptions the last two years), and played under the biggest spotlight in college football. There are few positions in the NFL that are under more scrutiny than Quarterback at Notre Dame. He does however hesitate to make throws, which is a source of most of his inaccuracy. This is a timing issue and is not the most difficult thing to work out.
The biggest knock on Quinn is his performance in big games. Sure he never beat USC or won a bowl game, but he beat Michigan (wait who doesn't beat Michigan these days) and was an uncalled Reggie Bush penalty from beating USC two years ago. Lets be honest there wasn't a ton of talent on these Notre Dame teams. I've been hearing for the last couple of years how "overrated" ND was. Well you can't have it both ways, either they were a good team and didn't perform in big games or Quinn was the only real talent on a team that got out manned in every big game they played in. Judging by the amount Domers taken on the first day I'll go with the latter. If the biggest knock on a guy is that he didn't win big games in college I'm alright with that. Peyton Manning didn't win big games in college and he turned out alright.
Finally, I'll let the good folks at Football Outsiders (who do wonderful sabrmetric type stuff with football) tackle the QB depth in this Draft. According to David Lewin at FO, the best indicators of NFL success among college stats are games started and completion percentage. Here's what he had to say about Quinn:
In my opinion, Quinn’s college stats match up pretty well with his scouting profile. He completed 58.0 percent of his passes in college and started 46 games. This projects Quinn as a good pro quarterback, but not a great one. Here is the complete list of players drafted in first two rounds over the past ten years who started at least 35 games and completed at least 57 percent of their passes: Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Chad Pennington, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, Byron Leftwich, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Jason Campbell, Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler.
Are there any bad players on that list? The worst according to my numbers is Eli Manning, and he’s been decent (maybe not up to expectations, but decent). I would be happy to spend a top ten pick on most of those players.http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/04/17/ramblings/nfl-draft/5082/
Eric Wright (53)- First Round talent with a bunch of baggage that caused him to transfer from USC to UNLV. Kept his nose clean for two years while in Vegas. To me that deserves a second chance.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Indians' fans have "character issues"
"When you're a kid, they're baseball cards. When you're an adult, they're just pictures of other men."
-Warren Krapf
Is anyone else impressed by Grady's Ladies? Sizemore's fan club is setting the bar pretty high for would-be groupies. How many pro athletes have so many followers openly willing to go to bed with the player? Scariest part - the number of young, sometimes really young, girls proclaiming their love and adoration of the guy. Next time someone's up in arms about men sleeping with a number of women, just point to how many women are willing to do the deed. It's a two way street.
If I weren't using the last existing dial-up internet connection, I'd have all kinds of pictures up here of Grady's Ladies. The best I can do is point you to The Grady's Ladies Sisterhood. Look, the guy's a hell of a player, one of the best in the game today, but the legions of women openly begging to whore it up for this guy freak me out. Again, it's not so much the legal aged drunks, but the underage girls looking for the next heartthrob. Is Tiger Beat still in circulation?
Ushering in an era of bad puns
The future is not bright, Clevelanders. Besides TheBron, the city's most marketable pro athletes are Grady & Brady. The Indians should prohibit cross promotions with other teams just to make sure their star isn't subjected to the mocking that Quinn's going to get. I've never understood Marketing as a major in college, I feel like just acknowledging that the Grady/Brady connection exists earns me course credit.
Laura Quinn embarassed, changes name
I fell asleep one pick before it happened, thankfully. If I'd been awake for this, we'd be looking at buying a new TV. After making a brilliant selection with their first choice, Joe Thomas, the Browns saw Brady Quinn and figured, "Aww, look how sad he is. Hey Romeo, we need help at a lot of positions, but is it cool if we screw the team and give up a 1st and a 2nd round pick for a guy 21 teams already passed on? Seriously, he wasn't good enough for us take when it was our turn, but look, he's really sad."
Treeeemendous. Many fans wanted him, making the argument that "He'd be the face of the franchise that we've been waiting for." I'm sorry, we've had a team for the last 8 years, you've had the opportunity make any of the players passing through town the "face of the franchise". So much for no one player being bigger than the team. And how is this guy the face of the franchise? He's not even the face of his family.
"He fits the mold of the person you want representing your team." Whoa boy, let's take a look at this mold. Average accuracy, average arm, easily rattled, falters in big games, proven winner on NO level. Not exactly an impressive skill set. What has this guy done to justify the hype he's gotten? May as well check out his "intangibles". Uh, he's white. And religious. And possibly gay. Looks like JP Losman. Oh wait, he played for Charlie Weis. So we're using the argument that because he played for a good coach, then he must be a good player? That's all well and good until the numbers and game film prove differently. If Weis couldn't win a big game with this guy in college, how are the Browns going to win with him? He's "groomed for the NFL". So he's a brainless dolt who has been trained for this? Great, wouldn't want a dynamic individual who could think on his own. Shoot, I'm being a spoilsport, he's the "face of the franchise" (I'm going to use that term in everyday situations, and it's not necessarily a compliment). This is one hell of a long, incoherent paragraph but I'll sum it up by guessing this guy isn't going to be very popular with non-Caucasians.
Wait til this tall drink of water holds out. I know a lot of Browns fans have already jumped on the Brady Quinn bandwagon, but he's still far behind Bobby and Buckner on my favorite "Quinn" list. If he ever dares argue, "I'm a Top 5 talent, everyone said so. I deserve Top 5 money," the Browns had better laugh in his friggin face. "Top 5, huh? Then why did we have to save your ass from falling like a bridesmaid's dressing on wedding night? 21 teams didn't want you. Hell, even the Dolphins took Ted Ginn and not you. Piss off."
I'd bet anything that someone on the team jacks this guy in the mouth before the first game of the season. Best odds are it being Joe Thomas. Wait til Quinn sees how much less he'll get paid and lets it slip one day at practice that he thinks he's better than Thomas. The Bass Master will put him in his place.
If I understand this correctly, the Browns used three 1st rounds picks, one 2nd rounder, a 3rd and a 6th and got 3 players out of it. 6 picks to take 3 players. Unbelievable.
Treeeemendous. Many fans wanted him, making the argument that "He'd be the face of the franchise that we've been waiting for." I'm sorry, we've had a team for the last 8 years, you've had the opportunity make any of the players passing through town the "face of the franchise". So much for no one player being bigger than the team. And how is this guy the face of the franchise? He's not even the face of his family.
"He fits the mold of the person you want representing your team." Whoa boy, let's take a look at this mold. Average accuracy, average arm, easily rattled, falters in big games, proven winner on NO level. Not exactly an impressive skill set. What has this guy done to justify the hype he's gotten? May as well check out his "intangibles". Uh, he's white. And religious. And possibly gay. Looks like JP Losman. Oh wait, he played for Charlie Weis. So we're using the argument that because he played for a good coach, then he must be a good player? That's all well and good until the numbers and game film prove differently. If Weis couldn't win a big game with this guy in college, how are the Browns going to win with him? He's "groomed for the NFL". So he's a brainless dolt who has been trained for this? Great, wouldn't want a dynamic individual who could think on his own. Shoot, I'm being a spoilsport, he's the "face of the franchise" (I'm going to use that term in everyday situations, and it's not necessarily a compliment). This is one hell of a long, incoherent paragraph but I'll sum it up by guessing this guy isn't going to be very popular with non-Caucasians.
Wait til this tall drink of water holds out. I know a lot of Browns fans have already jumped on the Brady Quinn bandwagon, but he's still far behind Bobby and Buckner on my favorite "Quinn" list. If he ever dares argue, "I'm a Top 5 talent, everyone said so. I deserve Top 5 money," the Browns had better laugh in his friggin face. "Top 5, huh? Then why did we have to save your ass from falling like a bridesmaid's dressing on wedding night? 21 teams didn't want you. Hell, even the Dolphins took Ted Ginn and not you. Piss off."
I'd bet anything that someone on the team jacks this guy in the mouth before the first game of the season. Best odds are it being Joe Thomas. Wait til Quinn sees how much less he'll get paid and lets it slip one day at practice that he thinks he's better than Thomas. The Bass Master will put him in his place.
If I understand this correctly, the Browns used three 1st rounds picks, one 2nd rounder, a 3rd and a 6th and got 3 players out of it. 6 picks to take 3 players. Unbelievable.
We're back
Finally, day one of the draft is over. For the past 3 months, we've had to put up with all the speculation on which team would take who, blah, blah, blah. I'm about take an unpopular stance on the whole pre-draft hype; I don't like it. If someone wants to do one or two columns or shows about possible draftees and team needs, etc., then fine. But for reporters, columnists and broadcasters to repeatedly guess as to who's going where, a player's "ceiling" and all that bull - it's a lack of creativity. Radio show after radio show, day after day, it's all speculation by hosts, then we get the callers, "We need to take Brady Quinn/Adrian Peterson/Calvin Johnson." Just stop with all this!
Tony Grossi of the The Plain Dealer has column where readers write in with "questions". Now instead of asking about relevant information like (and I'm about to paraphrase Chris Mortenson), "How do you feel the departure of 49'ers assistant Norv Turner will impede the progress of QB Alex Smith?", the letters the past 2 weeks have been about readers finding someone to agree with them. "...I think the Browns should draft Adrian Peterson...What do you think?" or "How can they not take Brady Quinn... Am I right?" Tony Grossi gets paid for turning in these columns, what a joke.
This will be the first in a series of posts tonight, probably. I've been extremely busy and am finally free to jump back online after a long hiatus. If anyone actually reads this, sorry, we'll get better.
Tony Grossi of the The Plain Dealer has column where readers write in with "questions". Now instead of asking about relevant information like (and I'm about to paraphrase Chris Mortenson), "How do you feel the departure of 49'ers assistant Norv Turner will impede the progress of QB Alex Smith?", the letters the past 2 weeks have been about readers finding someone to agree with them. "...I think the Browns should draft Adrian Peterson...What do you think?" or "How can they not take Brady Quinn... Am I right?" Tony Grossi gets paid for turning in these columns, what a joke.
This will be the first in a series of posts tonight, probably. I've been extremely busy and am finally free to jump back online after a long hiatus. If anyone actually reads this, sorry, we'll get better.
Monday, April 9, 2007
"We"? Damn right!
I gave Mr. Bull a heads up that I was going to be commenting on this, so don't think I'm attacking him, we simply disagree on this and being drunk in a basement is the best way to debate sports, isn't it?
In his Opening Day post, the man said:
"Florida has no shot, it wont even be close, nobody can beat "us"." In basketball, I really dont give a shit. That last comment makes me laugh. "Us", wait a sec, how many fucking tackles did you make?? How many yards did YOU rush for?? "Us" We"??? I dont fucking think so. You arent a part of the team, so dont refer to your favorite team as "we" its retarded.
I understand this argument completely; fans don't take the field, nor does the outcome directly depend upon the performance of supporters. Now were it that simple, yea, I'd agree - but it's not, and I don't.
For the ease of my argument, since I'm lazy, just play along and pretend I'm responding to a professional athlete who has made these points, since some have done so in the past.
How many tackles did I make? How many yards did I rush for? That's the only way for me to be a part of this team? Really? All right then, I've got some questions for you, big shot...
- How loyal are you to your team? You're going to be back when your contract runs up, right? You say that you love playing in front of these fans, well prove it. Oh, that's right, you're going after the money, the biggest offer you can get. What happened to you being a part of your team? You sir have no team, you are a mercenary.
- Who am I going to root for when you leave? Oh yea, the next guy! Get it through your head, doesn't matter who is wearing that jersey, the fans want the team to succeed. Christ, it could be a 700lb gorilla and he'd be playing in front of a raucous sell out crowd.
- When was the last time you sat outside for three hours in the dead of winter to support a team? You think that's easy? Oh, it's cold down on the field? TRY PAYING 50 DOLLARS AND SITTING 500 FEET UP IN THE WIND!!! There's no place to go to get warm. Want to use the pisser? Get ready to stand in line for twenty minutes!
- How do you support the team? You just get on the field and perform and think that's it I bet. Sir, WE are the people who defend you guys to the death even though you probably don't deserve it. We get in fights, kicked out of bars, get tattoos, decorate our homes/cars/bodies, and hell, even name children after you just because we love the teams we cheer for.
- Who is paying you? Me! Think I don't factor into this equation? Would all professional athletes be playing these games if not for people like me paying them? Not a chance. This is a symbiotic relationship. By the way, you need me more than I need you.
- How long are you going to care about this team? Sure, you may have fond memories of playing for certain teams, but you'll move on. Not fans. Except for the bandwagon fans, we're in it for the long haul. We'll move around, put up with horrible owners & terrible decisions, heartbreaking losses, personnel changes and a lot more but we'll keep coming back. Why? Because WE care. This is more the fans' team than yours.
So to recap, my career stats are pretty empty, but so is your heart.
This is pretty incoherent, but give me a break, I've driven nearly 1800 miles in the past couple days and am kind of out of it. I'll edit this when I've got time.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Opening Day
In the past, I've been known as an extreme critic of the game of baseball. For years in college I followed college hoops and had the opportunity to talk to coaches, call games, and take in the atmosphere. For years, I thought college basketball was great.
If you would have told me that Opening Day in the MLB would mean more to me than the National Championship game five years ago, I would have told you that you were nuts. However, the former was the case this week.
I've completely lost interest in college basketball. I watched absolutley none of the games on final four weekend, and I watched maybe thirty seconds of the National Championship game. Worse yet, I really didnt care.
To be honest, if I had not been at work during the game, I may have watched VERY little more, but not much. I have simply lost interest in the game.
Opening Day this year, meant a lot more. There is something about opening day that cannot be explained. It goes beyond the ladies and their spring wardrobes being brought out for the first time.
It goes beyond the smell of the ballpark dogs, the incoherent conversation you have with one of the local legends at the park who has built their legacy on their inebriated reputation. The sense of spring is always pleasant when a great game comes with it.
Opening day is a gateway to the summer time. Longer nights, great weather, great times. Dont get me wrong, I havent had a life outside of baseball to enjoy anything outside the sport in five years, but I still understand what opening day means.
And to me, it means a lot more than the college basketball season, which I no longer have any interest in. I wanted to see Ohio State lose to Florida in football. Mainly because so many stupid ass Ohio State fans kept saying "Florida has no shot, it wont even be close, nobody can beat "us"." In basketball, I really dont give a shit.
That last comment makes me laugh. "Us", wait a sec, how many fucking tackles did you make?? How many yards did YOU rush for?? "Us" We"??? I dont fucking think so. You arent a part of the team, so dont refer to your favorite team as "we" its retarded.
Opening Day for the WV Power is only a day away, I cannot wait.
If you would have told me that Opening Day in the MLB would mean more to me than the National Championship game five years ago, I would have told you that you were nuts. However, the former was the case this week.
I've completely lost interest in college basketball. I watched absolutley none of the games on final four weekend, and I watched maybe thirty seconds of the National Championship game. Worse yet, I really didnt care.
To be honest, if I had not been at work during the game, I may have watched VERY little more, but not much. I have simply lost interest in the game.
Opening Day this year, meant a lot more. There is something about opening day that cannot be explained. It goes beyond the ladies and their spring wardrobes being brought out for the first time.
It goes beyond the smell of the ballpark dogs, the incoherent conversation you have with one of the local legends at the park who has built their legacy on their inebriated reputation. The sense of spring is always pleasant when a great game comes with it.
Opening day is a gateway to the summer time. Longer nights, great weather, great times. Dont get me wrong, I havent had a life outside of baseball to enjoy anything outside the sport in five years, but I still understand what opening day means.
And to me, it means a lot more than the college basketball season, which I no longer have any interest in. I wanted to see Ohio State lose to Florida in football. Mainly because so many stupid ass Ohio State fans kept saying "Florida has no shot, it wont even be close, nobody can beat "us"." In basketball, I really dont give a shit.
That last comment makes me laugh. "Us", wait a sec, how many fucking tackles did you make?? How many yards did YOU rush for?? "Us" We"??? I dont fucking think so. You arent a part of the team, so dont refer to your favorite team as "we" its retarded.
Opening Day for the WV Power is only a day away, I cannot wait.
Monday, April 2, 2007
You are the Yankees
So, remember when I said I'd be wearing my Michigan or BG attire during tonight's game? I lied. My dad went out and bought us both Florida shirts, hell yea! Sure, we took a little ribbing at the bar, but not what we would have put up with were the Buckeyes actually better than the Gators. The most annoying guy was the 60-70 year old guy bitching, "What is that? What is that?" That sir, is the shirt of the team that you've been unable to beat in the only games that matter. That's what that is.
Love how fans of teams (as much as I'd love to single out OSU supporters, I'm not that naive) will find any excuse for their team sucking up the joint. Caught parts of the game in multiple places with different crowds and the excuses ranged from "We're a football school" to "Their guys caught fire from outside and ours didn't". Well, good to see that the Buckeyes still can't admit that the better team won. It's that simple.
I firmly believe that Thad Matta's mindset was, "Ok, we've got Greg Oden, and while none of their guys can take him one-on-one, they're going to exploit our small lineup and pound the ball inside, trying to draw fouls on Oden." Well, Billy Donovan pretty much said, "Yea? Keep thinking that, as a whole, we've got the best interior players in the nation, buuuuut, we'll stick with the outside game tonight." The Bucks weren't prepared for anything but what they'd planned for and couldn't/refused to adapt.
How many times did I hear that the Buckeyes "dominated" the game? Too many. Was I watching the same game? Looked to me like Florida was passively letting Oden get his numbers and trading OSU's 2 point buckets for their own 3's. Thankfully the shots were falling, but do you doubt that there were backup plans in place in case this wasn't working?
My buddy said, "OSU killed the Gators in the first five minutes of the game." Too bad they play 40 minutes. The only score that matters is after the final gun; why not draw OSU into a comfort zone, see what they're going to give and exploit it? Also, while you were "killing them", your lead maxed out at 5. Massacre, huh?
Gee, you're the biggest school in the country and you've got the largest sports budget... Think you could win one championship in 5 years in a major sport? (Yea, I already know you'll come back with, "It's more recent than Michigan." To which I say, "Not only is Mich not my favorite school, but unlike most of your fans, I don't need championships to support my teams. I'll stick with them even when they don't win.")
This takes us back to the headline. You are the Yankees. Spend money, win regular season games - but nothing that matters. Everyone hates you, but you believe you're the trendsetters, the greatest creation since the doorbell (according to Sonic). Think about that and tell me why you're proud of your team.
Love how fans of teams (as much as I'd love to single out OSU supporters, I'm not that naive) will find any excuse for their team sucking up the joint. Caught parts of the game in multiple places with different crowds and the excuses ranged from "We're a football school" to "Their guys caught fire from outside and ours didn't". Well, good to see that the Buckeyes still can't admit that the better team won. It's that simple.
I firmly believe that Thad Matta's mindset was, "Ok, we've got Greg Oden, and while none of their guys can take him one-on-one, they're going to exploit our small lineup and pound the ball inside, trying to draw fouls on Oden." Well, Billy Donovan pretty much said, "Yea? Keep thinking that, as a whole, we've got the best interior players in the nation, buuuuut, we'll stick with the outside game tonight." The Bucks weren't prepared for anything but what they'd planned for and couldn't/refused to adapt.
How many times did I hear that the Buckeyes "dominated" the game? Too many. Was I watching the same game? Looked to me like Florida was passively letting Oden get his numbers and trading OSU's 2 point buckets for their own 3's. Thankfully the shots were falling, but do you doubt that there were backup plans in place in case this wasn't working?
My buddy said, "OSU killed the Gators in the first five minutes of the game." Too bad they play 40 minutes. The only score that matters is after the final gun; why not draw OSU into a comfort zone, see what they're going to give and exploit it? Also, while you were "killing them", your lead maxed out at 5. Massacre, huh?
Gee, you're the biggest school in the country and you've got the largest sports budget... Think you could win one championship in 5 years in a major sport? (Yea, I already know you'll come back with, "It's more recent than Michigan." To which I say, "Not only is Mich not my favorite school, but unlike most of your fans, I don't need championships to support my teams. I'll stick with them even when they don't win.")
This takes us back to the headline. You are the Yankees. Spend money, win regular season games - but nothing that matters. Everyone hates you, but you believe you're the trendsetters, the greatest creation since the doorbell (according to Sonic). Think about that and tell me why you're proud of your team.
Quick Thoughts on the National Title Game
1. Joakim Noah is a stiff. That's it, he's not even the poor man's Anderson Varejao. He's more like a homeless Scott Pollard. Way to show up for a national title game and score 8 points on 1-3 shooting and have 4 fouls. Yet he's still on the front page of ESPN.com. Go figure.
2. I think Greg Oden is ready for the NBA, or at the very least as ready as anyone else in the country. Here's his line; 25 points on 10 of 15, 12 reb. and four blocks. All of this while being guarded by three different players who are all likely top 15 picks in the draft. Not only did he outplay each of Florida's big men he dominated them on both sides of the court. If he didn't have to play one on five for 40 minutes it probably would have been even better.
3. This game illustrates everything that is wrong with college basketball. College basketball has turned into a glorified 3 point contest. That's what this game was, that's the difference in the game. Why not just roll out the racks and have each team pick five guys and we'll see who can make the most threes.
College basketball has to do one of two things; get rid of the line or move it back to NBA range. People wonder why there are no great big men in the game anymore. This is why. Its a three point contest. Hell the best player in the country was 6'11'' and spent most of his time shooting threes. Move the line back bring some skill back, open up the middle, spread the floor and then you might have a test of who the best teams are. And maybe a product people care about for more than a month out of every year.
2. I think Greg Oden is ready for the NBA, or at the very least as ready as anyone else in the country. Here's his line; 25 points on 10 of 15, 12 reb. and four blocks. All of this while being guarded by three different players who are all likely top 15 picks in the draft. Not only did he outplay each of Florida's big men he dominated them on both sides of the court. If he didn't have to play one on five for 40 minutes it probably would have been even better.
3. This game illustrates everything that is wrong with college basketball. College basketball has turned into a glorified 3 point contest. That's what this game was, that's the difference in the game. Why not just roll out the racks and have each team pick five guys and we'll see who can make the most threes.
College basketball has to do one of two things; get rid of the line or move it back to NBA range. People wonder why there are no great big men in the game anymore. This is why. Its a three point contest. Hell the best player in the country was 6'11'' and spent most of his time shooting threes. Move the line back bring some skill back, open up the middle, spread the floor and then you might have a test of who the best teams are. And maybe a product people care about for more than a month out of every year.
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