A Heartbreaking Nats Loss… August 24, 2007
Posted by John C in Baseball, Nationals.add a comment
At least I didn’t get to see it on TV like some of you… the Washington Nationals took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Rockies in Colorado with their trusty closer, Chad Cordero in the game… “the Chief” proceeded to give up four hits and a walk, and two runs without recording an out. Jon Rauch was brought in, and he promptly gave up a two run single to tie the game… Rauch then got two outs. DeAngelo Jimenez then made an error on a ground ball to allow the winning run to score… Yes, a what seemed to be a sure 5-1 Nats win turned into a 6-5 defeat! That’s a REAL bummer…
—–
…And We DRAFT!!! August 24, 2007
Posted by John C in Sports, fantasy football.add a comment
While I try to figure out why the Angels’ Ervin Santana and Houston’s Wandy Rodriguez suddenly have figured out how to pitch on the road, while losing their dominance at home, I figured it would be a nice time to look at the football team I drafted two nights ago for one of my fantasy leagues. So far I’ve had five drafts, with that Wednesday night one being the most recent and also most interesting!
My usual draft preference is to either get one of the first 3 spots or the last couple. So, when I found out that I would be drafting 9th, I was pretty happy. I figured in round 1, maybe I’d get lucky and get Peyton Manning there. So what happens? The guy picking before me gets Manning! Little did I know that would set a trend for me… I decide to take the exciting Reggie Bush with my first pick - yes, it’s a little early but I don’t always go by the book (or by some of the major site’s prerankings). And yes, as a UCLA graduate, it always pains me to take USC Trojans, but Reggie’s skills are just sooo impressive!!! Thanks to my friend Steve Carps, I got to see him play in person against Fresno State at the L.A. Coliseum a couple of years ago in a 50-42 thriller. It was just all I needed to see to be put in absolute awe of him. And yes, I was in the tiny minority of that crowd who spent the ENTIRE game rooting for the Fresno State Bulldogs! To this day, I’m still wondering how I survived as I was wearing one of my bright UCLA Bruins shirts amidst that sea of red - actually the walk back to my car after the game was the scariest part… Getting back to the game, Bush almost single-handedly won it for the Trojans - a pass reception of 43 yards, and runs of 45, 50 and 65 yards!!! The totals: 294 yards rushing, 68 yards receiving and 151 yards on returns. Truly INCREDIBLE numbers… I think we only got a taste of what he’s going to do as a pro in his first year with the Saints last year. He put up nice numbers as a rookie, but I only see them getting better!
One of my big things (and keys to winning) is to take players on “high-powered” offenses. Usually, you’re going to find a lot of Colts, Bengals, Rams, Jaguars, Chargers, Eagles and Saints on my teams… My second round pick was my most difficult one - I don’t usually like to take running backs with my first two picks as there often is a lot of value with them later in the drafts… Do I take RB Rudi Johnson (Bengals), or do I grab a wide receiver - Steve Smith (Panthers) or Marvin Harrison (Colts)??? Instead, I decide to take the “little guy” who lived in the aforementioned Bush college shadow - Maurice Jones-Drew (Jaguars) out of my alma mater. In spite of being 5th amongst all running backs in fantasy points scored last year, Jones-Drew has been lingering toward the end of the second round or early third round on average in this year’s drafts. Why??? Did he suddenly lose a step? Is Fred Taylor suddenly going to take carries away from him? I doubt it. Last year he only got 212 touches on offense, yet he scored 15 times!!!. He even returned a kick-off for a touchdown! In 166 rushing attempts, he got to the end zone 13 times. Amongst running backs with an average of 10 or more carries a game, there was only one in all of football who scored at a better rate than his once per 12.77 carries - that guy who wears 21 for the San Diego Chargers at once every 12.43 carries. Have you heard of him??? First three letters of the last name spell “Tom??” And we all know where L.T. is going in drafts this year…
Rounds 3 and 4 did not at all go according to plan. With the 29th and 32nd picks, I figured I would be able to grab two out of the following: WR Torry Holt (Rams), WR Reggie Wayne (Colts), QB Marc Bulger (Rams) and TE Antonio Gates (Chargers). With Holt going on average 25th in drafts, I figured my chances of getting him were remote, but possible… With Wayhe going 28th, Gates 31st and Bulger 34th on average, I was confident I would get a couple of my guys… and then the unthinkable happened… Holt goes at 24 and then Wayne goes with the next pick. I breathe a little sigh of relief as the overrated (for fantasy purposes only) Tom Brady goes 26th. At 27, Gates went. At 28, Bulger was picked!!! In the space of five picks, the four guys I was looking at all got taken. At this point, I knew I was in with a VERY savvy group of players. So what was I to do then??? Do I take Terrell Owens, Larry Fitzgerald or a running back??? I already had two running backs so I didn’t really need a third one. Figuring I’ll get one of the two receivers with the 32nd pick, I decide to take the best player left available - Donovan McNabb of the Eagles. And wouldn’t you know it, the guy with the 30th and 31st picks took BOTH T.O. and Fitz!!! So again I had to reach, taking Marques Colsten six spots earlier than his average draft position of 38th.
Thankfully, the final 12 rounds of the draft went MUCH better for me. I was very happy to get Donald Driver of Green Bay in round five. Although now I’m a little worried about that pick as he got hurt in last night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Fred Taylor (Jones-Drew’s running mate in Jacksonville) went with my 6th round pick. With that potent 1-2 punch along with having Bush, I’m confident my running game will be a force to be reckoned with all year.
I had a couple of Washington Redskins targeted with my next two picks - the underrated Chris Cooley at tight end and the exciting Santana Moss at wide receiver. I picked Cooley with my 7th round pick. Moss’ average draft position so far has been 65th, so when I saw he was still available with my 8th round pick (72nd overall) I was very happy!
Rounds 9 and 10 were like the first two - I took a Bruin and a Trojan. RB Deshaun Foster went with the 89th pick, QB Matt Leinart went 92nd. Both of these guys will be backups for me, but I do know what Foster brings to the table, and he very well could be the #1 guy in Carolina (as he was before) once the 2007 season is said and done. Leinart definitely has the skills to be great in this league and he put up some very good numbers last year for Arizona. Additionally, he’s really good insurance in case McNabb happens to get hurt again.
The rest of the draft was basically just an exercise in filling out the roster and taking some chances on guys that could break out. Amongst the picks was yet another Bruin and another Trojan! Yes 3/8 of my roster is made up of UCLA and USC guys! I took Kevin Curtis of the Eagles in round 11 and LenDale White of Tennessee in the 12th. I grabbed the Eagles defense/special teams with my round 13 pick, and then took my lone Ram, Drew Bennett, with my 14th pick. My kicker (and fourth Philadelphia Eagle) went with my 15th pick - David Akers. With my last pick, I took Priest Holmes of the Chiefs. Given that he’s only going to play if Larry Johnson gets hurt, I figured it wasn’t a bad choice, especially given his history. More than likely though, I will be dropping him as soon as someone better comes along. Are you ready for some football??? The regular season is now less than two weeks away!!!
—–
Texas (Baseball) Massacre August 23, 2007
Posted by John C in Baseball.add a comment
With apologies to any of you horror flick fans - and no, I am not one of them. Just what in the world tore through Baltimore yesterday??? No, it wasn’t a tornado, it was just a baseball team tearing through Camden Yards. Perhaps the frustration of having to face the major league’s two best strikeout pitchers over the course of three days (Johan Santana and Eric Bedard) and whiffing 28 times while scoring only twice caused them to have some pent up anger. Whatever it was, baseball has not seen anything like what happened yesterday in 110 years! The final score resembled something more like you’d expect out of an NFL game: Texas 30, Baltimore 3. Then again, the stingy Baltimore Ravens defense didn’t allow more than 26 points in a single game last year, so I guess not even that one would make sense!!! This is the same Texas Rangers team who recently traded away their best slugger (Mark Teixeira) and their closer (Eric Gagne)… their RBI leader, Sammy Sosa, was also benched at the same time. With these moves, many (myself included) were calling the Rangers baseball’s worst team.
So, just how did they do it? Well, the Rangers actualy spotted the Orioles a 3-0 lead as the O’s scored a run in the first and two more in the third. The Rangers finally woke up in the fourth inning off of Oriole starter Daniel Cabrera. Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled in the Rangers first two runs, and Ramon Vazquez then hit a three-run homer to give the visitors a 5-3 lead. Cabrera would actually not give up any runs in the fifth inning. Brian Burres would relieve Cabrera in the sixth and he would get torched - in 2/3 of an inning, he gave up nine earned runs and nine hits! The “halftime” score looked like something you’d typically see on a Sunday morning in November: Texas 14, Baltimore 3.
Incredibly, the Rangers did all of their damage in just four innings. They failed to score in the 7th off of Rob Bell, but in the 8th the floodgates again opened as Bell would give up four hits and three walks before getting pulled for Paul Shuey. All seven of Bell’s baserunners would score as Shuey pitched inneffectively as well in the frame, giving up three hits and three runs of his own. Interestingly, Shuey ended up striking out the side. Put up another 10-spot for the Texans (I mean Rangers)… it was now 24-3. Time for the 4th quarter to begin!!!
In that 4th quarter (or 9th inning), Shuey would get tagged for six more runs… Ramon Vazquez finished off the scoring with a three run homer to deep right field… Frank Catalanotto would walk, but the Rangers would fail to convert the “extra point” and would have to settle for just the “TD” as Ian Kinsler would fly out to deep center field.
Here are some interesting numbers from the game: The Rangers had a total of 37 baserunners (29 hits, 8 walks). The hit tally: 21 singles, two doubles and six home runs. The bottom two hitters in the order, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez both homered twice and each drove in seven runs. David Murphy had five hits. Catalanotto and Kinsler each came to the plate EIGHT times! With the 29 hits in game one, the Rangers’ team batting average went from .2551 to .2584. Yes, that’s 3.3 points. Conversely, the Orioles’ staff ERA went from 4.41 to 4.62 after that one game of carnage!!
Whether you are 10, 110 or any age in between, one thing is certain - nothing like this has ever happened during your lifetime before!!! And by the way, that was actually the first game of a double header!!! The nightcap was a “defensive struggle” as the Rangers made their three field goals stand up in a 9-7 victory.
—–
Garret’s Double Vision… August 22, 2007
Posted by John C in Angels, Baseball.add a comment
Before last night only 11 major leaguers had ever managed to reach the rarified air of double-digit RBI’s in a single game. Garret Anderson of the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels became the 12th such player to accompish the rare feat last night, homering and doubling twice to drive in 10 runs as the Angels routed the Yankees 18-9 at Angel Stadium. “G.A.” actually had a chance to break the major league record of 12 RBI’s shared by Jim Bottomly and Mark Whiten when he came up with two outs and two on in the eighth inning. Whiten’s record tying night happened to come in a game I was also watching as the Dodgers were taking on the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Whiten actually hit a major league record-tying four homers that night as well. As “locked-in” as G.A. was last night, I can’t ever remember seeing anyone as locked-in as Whiten was on his magical night.
As for Anderson, his night went something like this… a double to deep right in the first inning scored both Chone Figgins and Orlando Cabrera. In the second, he would double to center, plating Vladimir Guerrero. In the third, he would hit a homer to right to drive in Figgins and Jeff Mathis. A harmless rounder to second would temporarily interrupt his night in the 5th. In the 6th inning though, with the bases juiced, he launched a shot deep into the right field bullpen to give him four more RBI’s. The crowd gave him a standing ovation after that one, and he made his first curtain call of his entire 13-year career after that one! He’d have to only settle for a piece of history though as his ground ball up the middle was fielded by Wilson Betemit for the Angels final out of the game. It would have certainly been nice to see him break the record for sure… Still, being witness to two of the most impressive offensive performances in major league history is definitely something to cherish!
—–
Nats Juice Up @ Minute Maid August 22, 2007
Posted by John C in Baseball, Nationals.add a comment
The Washington Nationals came off of a very disappointing home stand, losing five out of six games to the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. In spite of adding some much needed power in Wily Mo Peña, the Nats only scored 16 runs total in those six games.
So what happens? The Nats travel to Houston’s Minute Maid park and score seven runs on Monday night, including Peña’s second homer in as many days as the Nats shut out the Astros 7-0. Last night, the Nats took on Wandy Rodriguez, the same pitcher who had a sparkling 1.61 ERA at home in his 12 previous starts there. For three innings, things seemed to be going just like any other Wandy start at home - one hit allowed, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts. The Astros had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on the soon-to-be-retiring Craig Biggio’s 10th homer of the year. At that point, it looked like that the Nats little offensive explosion in Houston was only going to be of the one game variety… we had no warning as to what was about to transpire!
In the top of the fourth, Wandy’s home “magic wand” mysteriously stopped working… Nook Logan would record the first of his FIVE consecutive hits, and Ryan Zimmerman would hit a triple to the deepest part of the park in center to knot the game. Zim would score on a Wily Mo Peña ground out to give the Nats a 2-1 lead. The Astros would quickly reassume the lead in the bottom of the frame, as Biggio and Hunter Pence would each single in runs off of Nats starter Joel Hanrahan. The Nats would pound Wandy again in the 5th. Brian Schneider doubled and Nook Logan then singled him home. Mr. Zimmerman came to the plate again and promptly belted a two-run homer to the short porch in left to give the Nats a 5-3 lead… The Nats then poured it on in the sixth. Ronnie Belliard and Schneider drew one out walks and Wandy was done for the night. Tony Batista would single in Belliard. Logan singled in Schneider and Zimmerman would single in Felipe Lopez to give the Nats an 8-3 advantage.
From there, the Nats cruised to an easy 11-6 victory. Logan’s five hits would mark a new career high for him, while Zimmerman’s 3-for-5, four RBI performance pushed his batting average to .271 and his RBI total to 71. Zimmerman actually had two chances to hit for the cycle (needing only a double to complete it), but he grounded out in the 7th and walked in the 9th. Hanrahan was the beneficiary of the Nats offensive outburst, going just the required five innings (giving up seven hits and three runs) to record his third victory in his past four starts. Mike Bacsik takes on Woody Williams in the series finale tonight at 8:05 ET/5:05 PT.
—–
"So Small" so HUGE on Charts August 21, 2007
Posted by John C in Carrie Underwood, music.2 comments
Carrie Underwood’s unprecedented ascent to the upper echelons of Country music has been very impressive. With a debut album that will more than likely go 7x Platinum before the year is over and with four consecutive number one Country hits, Carrie has raised the bar very high for her second album. Given past music history, the odds of Carrie duplicating her past success are against her, but as most of you know she always seems to do the unexpected. Such is the case with her brand new single, “So Small.” In only 22 days of airplay, Carrie’s latest single has ascended to the top 10 of the Mediabase Country charts. Yes, that’s pretty incredible to see, but it also demonstrates just how popular Carrie has become. As one of the “chart gurus” on her official website, CarrieUnderwood.fm, I consider it an honor and privilege to be up at 4 a.m. PT most mornings to post the new Mediabase charts hot off the presses! Of course with that little sacrifice, it also means I go to bed by 10 p.m. PT most nights… There’s really not too much of a night life out here in Thousand Oaks, California (or the nearby surrounding area) so I’m really not missing out on much by effectively living on East coast time. ALL of the fun things out here require some traveling on the freeways. Oh joy! Asides, there’s no one at the gym at 6:30 or 7 in the morning, so I can watch whatever TV show (Fox News or ESPN) and listen to whatever music (Country) that I want when I go in there at that hour unlike when you go in at a similar time at night!
Just to further the above point on Carrie’s success and her growth in popularity, “Jesus, Take The Wheel” (Carrie’s first Country single) had a very impressive and record-breaking #39 debut two years ago on the Mediabase Country charts. Her first Country hit would go on to have a five week run at the top there, and a six week run on Billboard’s Country chart, and it even made it to #6 on the Christian AC charts. Two Sundays ago, “So Small” debuted on the Mediabase Country charts at #25 - a full 14 spots higher than “Jesus, Take The Wheel” did! The only questions with “So Small” are not if it will get to #1, but when? And then once it’s there, just how many weeks will it spend at the top??? With her sophomore album (still unnamed) to be released on October 23rd, there’s just no telling what kind of records Carrie is going to set when it comes out. It’s a given that the new album will ship Platinum, even perhaps DOUBLE Platinum… How many units will it move in it’s first week? A conservative guess would be about 500,000… more realistically, I expect it will move upwards of 750,000 units… All I know is that the next couple of months are definitely going to be a lot of fun if you’re as much of a fan of Carrie’s music as I am!
—–
Angels Still Yankees "Daddy" August 21, 2007
Posted by John C in Angels, Baseball, fantasy baseball.add a comment
Going into their three game series against the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles/Angels at 59-54 remained the only major league team to hold an edge on the Bronx Bombers during the Joe Torre era. Torre has coached the Yankees since the beginning of the 1996 season. Last night’s game was an yet another epic battle between the two American League powerhouses.
Alex Rodriguez quickly gave the visitors a 1-0 lead off Angels starter Dustin Moseley, singling in Derek Jeter in the first. The Angels struck back in the second off of Yankee starter Philip Hughes as catcher Jeff Mathis hit a bases-loaded double, plating three runs to give the Halos a 3-1 advantage. A run-scoring Jorge Posada groundout in the top of the fourth inning would reduce the Angel lead to one. A-Rod would strike again in the sixth inning, lining a two-run homer off Angel reliever Chris Bootcheck to put the Yanks back in front 4-3. For A-Rod, it was his major league leading 40th home run of the year. The Angels would rally off of Hughes in the 7th as Howie Kendrick walked and Reggie Willits singled with one out. Luis Vizcaino came in and promptly gave up run-scoring singles to Orlando Cabrera and Chone Figgins to give the Angels back the lead at 5-4. Vladimir Guerrero’s ground out gave the Angels a 6-4 advantage. Usually Scot Shields would come in to pitch the eighth for the Halos, but he’s been very ineffective of late so he was given Monday off. Justin Speier took Sheilds’ role for a night and promptly gave up a two-run homer to Jorge Posada to tie the game 6-6! The game would go extra innings, and this fan would fall asleep just as the 10th inning began. Yes, this is the price I pay for being a West coaster who usually lives on East coast time… Thankfully, I woke up at just after 5 a.m. this morning to see that the fans went home happy - Rookie Ryan Budde had singled in Howie Kendrick in the bottom of the 10th to give the Angels a 7-6 victory!!! The win keeps the Angels two games out in front of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West race.
—–
Diamonds In The Rough:
It’s been quite a while since I gave some recommendations for your fantasy teams. As always, the players I recommend will be players available in a large percentage of CBS Sportsline leagues.
1. Wily Mo Pena (OF - WAS) 10% owned in CBS Sporstline leagues - Just three years ago, Wily Mo Pena was amongst the biggest stories in our world of fantasy, and with good reason. At just 22 years of age, he powered 26 homers and drove in 66 in only 336 at bats for the Cincinnati Reds. Over the course of a full season of 600 at bats, those numbers work out to something in the neighborhood of 46 homers and 118 RBI’s. Yes, he can rake! In spite of his promise, Pena couldn’t earn a full time gig for the Reds. In 2005, Pena put up a similarly impressive 19 homers and 51 RBI’s in 311 at bats for them. Unfortunately for Pena, he got traded in 2006 to the one place where a right handed line-drive home run hitter just dreads going: Fenway Park in Boston. The “Green Monster” is just murder on line-drive power hitters like Pena, and his numbers in his time there show it: only 16 homers in 432 at bats. That’s only a 22 home run pace - not even half of what he projected out to in a full season with the Reds! Thankfully for Pena, and you and me that are in need of a slugger, Pena was traded this past Friday to the Washington Nationals - a team sorely lacking for power as they rank next to last to the Kansas City Royals in the majors in homers. It was a great move for the Nats, and Pena hasn’t disappointed, going 5-for-11 (.455) with two homers and three RBI’s in his first three games for his new team. Guys with 40-homer power are few and far between on your waiver wire. If you need someone who could blast you another 10 homers in the season’s final six weeks, then you have your man! Word of warning though - if you need help with your batting average, you may want to look elsewhere - a .250-ish batting average is to be expected.
2. Rick Ankiel (OF - STL) 43% owned - Is this the feel-good sports story of the year or what??? Pitcher impresses everyone in his rookie season of 2000, then somehow loses his command of the strike zone. For the next four years he struggles and never regains that command. The next year he totally reinvents himself as an outfielder… said outfielder misses the entire next season (2006) due to injury, then puts up 32 homers in the minors in 2007 before manager Tony LaRussa of the Cardinals calls upon him to contribute again to his club. All Ankiel has done in his first nine games in his new life as a Cardinal hitter is hit four home runs, drive in seven, and score eight times to go with a .313 batting average! Ankiel’s power is definitely legitimate, and while that .313 batting average will fall, he just could be essential to the Cardinals making the playoffs along with helping your fantasy team win your league!
3. Ryan Spilborghs (OF - COL) 23% owned - Who at this time of the year isn’t looking for a little boost in the batting average department??? I know I certainly am. Looking at what Ryan Spilborghs has done the past couple of years in the minor leagues, one thing is certain: he can hit!!! A .340 batting average at two levels in 2005, a .338 batting average at triple A last year while also hitting .287 in 167 at bats for the big club. Spilborghs made the big club this year and he’s finally getting an opportunity to play every day thanks to an injury to the speedy Willy Taveras. And what a perfect time to get this kind of opportunity as the thin Colorado air typically yields more home runs later in the season. So far, Spilborghs has been very impressive for the Rockies this year: 10 homers, 43 RBI’s and a .325 bating average in only 169 at bats so far… At 27 years of age, Spilborghs should just be entering his prime as a hitter. Perhaps he’s just a late bloomer, or more likely just hasn’t gotten his opportunity. While he’s never displayed this sort of power before, the high batting average should stay… enjoy the ride!
4. Tim Redding (SP - WAS) 13% owned - Once a top prospect in the Houston Astros organization, the 29-year-old Redding has suddenly began to live up to his promise since being called up by the Washington Nationals. Seven innings of shutout ball yesterday in Houston gave Redding his third win as a Nat. In his nine starts with the Nats, only once has he failed to go at least six innings, and only once has he given up more than three earned runs. As a result, Redding has posted a sparkling 2.53 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Although he isn’t striking out as many batters as you would like, he’s only allowing hitters a .237 batting average against. With the addition of Wily Mo Pena, the Nats offense is suddenly a little more daunting, and some of their close games are going to start turning into wins: good news if you’re a Nats fan and/or a Redding owner!
5. Jacque Jones (OF - CHI) 33% owned - Jacque Jones has a reputation in the fantasy world, a dubious Rodney Dangerfield like reputation of not getting much respect. Why is this? Well, primarily it’s due to the fact that he hits a high percentage of ground balls, yet he also usually hits for a lot of power. Call him a “statistical enigma.” The percentage play for years has been to say he’s not going to hit for as much power NEXT year… After posting 117 home runs over the past five years, “next year” had finally arrived in the form of 2007, or so we thought. As of just two weeks ago, Jones had put up only two home runs and driven in 33 in his first 287 at bats this year. Then something happened - the power suddenly returned… In spite of having 0-for-4 outings the past two nights, Jones is still 19-for-47 (.404) with three home runs, 13 RBI’s and three steals over his past 11 games. While I don’t expect the speed to remain, the power is legit. He could be good for another 6-8 homers the rest of the way. With the Cubs in the playoff race, you can bet that Jacque will be driven to give them all he has these final six weeks!
—–
Things Can Only Get Better (I Hope) August 20, 2007
Posted by John C in Basketball, Football, Sports.add a comment
With the guilty plea entered by Michael Vick in the dogfighting scandal, a step towards closure has occured. We now await Tim Donaghy’s anticipated naming of up to 20 other officials who may have been involved in the gambling on NBA games. I hope that once the Donaghy allegations get out that the sporting world can start looking up, and most importantly looking to make changes so that these things never happen again.
While on the topic of Vick and Donaghy, the bottom line is they are both GUILTY of heinous crimes and should be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. Why some people in the media are making comments about Vick such as “he would have gotten off if he was white” is beyond me. What does race have to do with this? Did Donaghy get off because he’s white? No! Where’s the logic in their line of questioning? Michael Vick and Tim Donaghy are felons and soon will be spending some much-deserved time behind bars.
Vick has had run-ins before. How many of you saw him flip the bird to fans at a game last year??? There have been many other incidents involving Vick over the years. The Falcons management, along with the NFL swept them under the rug. Donaghy had been suspected of gambling long before the recent revelations. NBA Commissioner David Stern did not thoroughly (if at all) investigate the original allegations. Why is this??? We look up to these people and put them on pedastals whether they deserve to be there or not. Since they are there, shouldn’t they at least TRY to act like they belong??? And shouldn’t those in charge care MORE about the integrity of the league and the fans, and LESS about the issues and interests of one individual???
Most of our officials and athletes have worked VERY hard to get to where they are at… it’s quite a shame that Vick and Donaghy have betrayed their employers, their co-workers/teammates, the public, the fans, and most importantly, their families. The images of professional basketball and football have been severly tarnished by these two criminals. Doesn’t this stuff almost make the Barry Bonds steroid allegations look like peanuts??? I hope every official, athlete and other person in a position of power can learn from the mistakes of these two felons and do their jobs with the integrity that the positions deserve!!! As a huge sports fan, I certainly hope that things will soon get better in both the NBA and NFL.
—–
Johan The Great K’s 17! August 20, 2007
Posted by John C in Baseball, Johan Santana.add a comment
If there was ANY question as to whom baseball’s most dominant pitcher today is, the great Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins once again gave a performance to reaffirm that he is still “numero uno.” Santana completely baffled the Texas Rangers at the Metrodome in Minneapolis yesterday, allowing only two hits and no runs or walks, while striking out SEVENTEEN Ranger batters! Even more amazing is that he did this in only eight innings! In case you’re wondering, the major league record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game is 20 - only the ageless wonder, Roger “the Rocket” Clemens (twice) and the injury-plagued Kerry Wood have reached that magic number. Michael Cuddyer provided all of the offense the Twins would need, homering off Rangers starter Kevin Millwood in the second inning. Santana had thrown 112 pitches through eight innings, and rather than risk injury and have him go past his “normal” pitch limit of 115 or so pitches, manager Ron Gardenhire handed the ball over to his closer, Joe Nathan, who promptly struck out two of the three batters he faced to give the Twins a 1-0 win and record his 27th save of the year. For Santana, the win was his 13th of the season. With a 2.88 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, a .214 batting average against and 191 strikeouts, the two-time Cy Young Award winner is looking to add a third trophy to his collection! Eric Bedard of the Baltimore Orioles though is giving the great Johan a run for his money this year. Bedard leads the American League in both strikeouts (206) and BAA (.210), and ranks third in WHIP (1.08), and fourth in ERA at 2.98. Santana is also one up on Bedard in wins (13 vs 12). The Twins also do have a shot at the playoffs while the Orioles do not, so this will sway some votes in Santana’s direction. The race for the AL Cy Young award should definitely be interesting all the way to the finish!
—–
Makes Me Wonder August 19, 2007
Posted by John C in Sports.add a comment
Growing up here in the L.A. area, I had the great privilege of watching, listening to and reading from some of the best in the sports business. I got to hear the great Dick Enberg do Los Angeles Rams football and California Angels baseball. Chick Hearn gave his “words-eye” view of the Lakers’ basketball games all the way up until his death in 2002. Bob Miller has given us the equivalent of Hearn in his coverage of Los Angeles Kings hockey games for over 35 years. And lest I forget that we are still blessed to have one Vin Scully painting his pictures as he’s done for 50 years in broadcasting the Dodger baseball games. Needless to say, I gained a lot of wisdom from each and every one of these greats over the years.
I gained a similar wisdom growing up from reading the sports section of the Los Angeles Times. For 37 years, up until his death nine years ago this past Friday, Jim Murray provided candor, humor, wit and his own unique perspective on the sports scene both locally and nationally. Fourteen times, Murray was named Sportswriter of the Year by his peers… He was a man of great intelligence, class and was respected all over the world. For the most part, the rest of the Times’ sports section was well-written, full of other insightful articles by sportswriters who followed Murray’s classy lead.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s though, the tone of the Times’ sports section began to change as they hired people without Murray’s class, dignity or knowledge of sports. This new breed of sportswriters wasn’t interested in building up heroes; their main goal was to cut them down!!! The best visual I can think of when describing this new breed of “sportswriters” is to think of ESPN’s classless Jim “Chrissy” Rome in print. All talk and no substabce - yes, a perfect analogy!!
Flash forward to 2007. The two lead “sportswriters” for the Times are now “men” named T.J. Simers and Bill Plaschke. Simers has been “writing” for the Times since 1990. The truly sad thing with Simers is that he actually thinks he’s funny. His articles rarely are researched, and never have much of substance. I liken reading Simers to picking up the latest edition of the National Enquirer from your local grocery store… Plaschke has been dishing out his abrasive and heartless brand of commentary for 19 years now… Though he writes sports articles, there is almost always a rude and sort of condescending tone to them. He also occasionally attempts humor, but fails miserably. Plaschke is also well known to have a hatred for certain L.A. sports people. He and Simers actually managed to successfully run Dodger GM Paul DePodesta out of town in 2005. He and Simers have also been trying to run Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant out of town for about four years now. Why???? Why does one of the nation’s largest newspapers have two lame wanna-be comedians writing their sports columns? In addition, their articles are almost always full of holes or inaccuracies - and even incorrect grammar and typos! It truly makes me wonder sometimes what exactly the requisites are to become a professional sportswriter today.
What prompted me to write about this today? Well, it’s been building for quite some time and perusing the Times Sunday sports section for all of 10 minutes finally pushed me to the breaking point. I go to page two, where Simers’ Sunday column always appears, and see this huge picture of the aforementioned Bryant with the caption:
DEFENDING KOBE: Many readers e-mailed and in no uncertain terms told Page 2 to lay off the Lakers’ All-Star guard.
Here are a few of the more interesting e-mails he received:
“Dear stupid, you are such an idiot. You’re old, ugly, and people don’t care about you, stupid. Get this through your stupid skull, knucklehead, LA LOVES KOBE BRYANT, LA HATES TJ SIMERS.” “I’ve had the extreme pleasure of watching the greatest modern player in the game, Kobe Bryant. I’ve watched a strong-willed, excellent athlete excel in a highly competitive game under very stressful conditions. I wonder what you have done in your profession that comes near to what Kobe has accomplished in his career?”
“Kobe is a GIANT while you are a NOBODY.”
Now, since I’m no longer a regular reader of the Los Angeles Times - I liken their “journalism” today to that of the New York Times, and not that of a respected publication such as the Washington (DC) Times, I do not know exactly what Simers wrote recently to get everyone so mad at him. Then again, past experience with his (and Plaschke’s) columns tells me all that I need to know: The hate mail was well-deserved!!!
Plaschke had his own little gem(s) today… Page one started with an article entitled For Gagne, the reception in Beantown has been icy. Eric Gagne is the former closer for Dodgers who from 2002 thru 2004 set a major league record of 84 consecutive saves. Injuries limited him the past two seasons, and he signed with the Texas Rangers in the off season. Gagne pitched well for the Rangers in his stay, but was traded to the Red Sox at the trade deadline. His stint with the BoSox has been anything but a bed of roses, as his ERA coming into today with them was 15.00. As of Satuday’s games, hitters were batting .452 off of him. Once blessed with a fastball that was clocked in the 97-98 MPH range, Gagne’s fastball now hovers in the 90-92 MPH range. No, he’s not the same pitcher he once was. As if to insult his and the readers intelligence, Plaschke asked this “question” of Gagne: “at one point you were the best reliever in the history of the game, remember?” Now what in the world was the point of that??? Just to make him feel worse??? Asking that kind of “question” is an insult to the intelligence of Gagne. Publishing it is an insult to the intelligence of every reader of the Times’ sports section. This is the problem with Plaschke and ALWAYS HAS BEEN. When an athlete is down, he tries to keep him down! Why is that??? Aren’t we as human beings and fans supposed to encourage and root for people when they are down?
Not only that, but there were some rather serious grammatical errors in Plaschke’s article. Check this out:
“People need to let Gagne breath,” said David Ortiz, the grand-slamming hero of the Red-Sox 10-5 Saturday night win over the Angels.
Hmmm… let me think about that for a second… is it just me, or shouldn’t that last word have an “e” at the end as in B-R-E-A-T-H-E??? Do you want to know what’s truly sad? That same grammatical error appears again later in that same paragraph:
“Everyone knows he has great stuff… let him breath, let him be confortable, let it go from there.”
—–
Yes, this is what I get to put up with here every Sunday, and what a lot of the Los Angeles sports-loving market gets to deal with every day. Isn’t a sportswriter supposed actually to LIKE sports and APPRECIATE the athletes he or she is covering? I know that Jim Murray is frequently rolling over in his grave, seeing what a wasteland his once proud and happy home has become! Where have all of the good sportswriters gone? As Maroon 5 would say, it makes me wonder… Well, one thing I do know is that there’s one good sportswriter right here waiting in the wings…
—–
