Twins 3; Angels 6

And with that, the Angels have won three consecutive series. They'll likely remain one game back of the Oakland A's They're now tied with the Oakland A's, and five games back of the Texas Rangers, and they're actually over .500 in their last ten, having won six of their last seven.

I missed a fair amount of this one thanks to Extra Innings showing this game on the same channel on which they carried the Tigers loss to the Yankees, which went into extra innings. That combined with an unscheduled nap on the couch, and well, it was 6-3 when I came to. It was actually a nice surprise considering when I first looked at the screen, I thought it said 3-0.

Second consecutive quality start for Weaver the Elder, some nice work by Donnelly in the 8th (thanks to a weird strikeout), and more Frankie dominance in the ninth (funny how those injury rumors have died down). For the second straight game, the guys at the top of the lineup got the job done. Figgins scored after a pair of leadoff walks, while the OC went 2-4 with a double and an RBI, making this the 31st consecutive game in which he has reached base. Aside from his awful start in the field, he's really putting together a solid season. Even Juan Rivera chipped in with a home run to add some insurance. On the downside, a second straight ofer from Kendry has finally dropped his average below .300, but he continues to play solid defense.

Tomorrow night the Angels face one of the top pitching prospects in the game. So far all he's done is go 3-0 with a 2.51 ERA this season, and he's allowed all of one run in his two starts. The Angels counter with their own future star in Ervin Santana, who is a completely different pitcher during night games at home. Throw in a struggling Twins offense, and this should be another close low scoring affair with the Twins, as if the Angels play any other type of game against the Twins.

This is starting to get fun again.

Twins 3; Angels 4

Looks like a picked a good day to start getting back into this. This is the type of victory the Angels have been able to put together over the last couple of years. A good outing by the starter, the offense scraps for some runs, they turn it over to the bullpen who shuts the opponent down, and the offense finds a way to pull out the victory.

Aside from the six combined hits by the top two hitters, there were some things in this game that I really liked to see. The Angels have gotten very few bad calls in their favor this season. It seems they've all gone against them, and tonight was no differen as Marvin Hudson took away a double and an RBI on a rip by Garret Anderson down the first base line. Replays appeared to show the ball was fair, but Hudson ruled it foul, and Anderson and Scioscia let him know how wrong he was. No bother. GA knocked the next pitch into center for an RBI single. So while they didn't get the call, they didn't let it bother them and got the run anyway.

The Angels defense has been one of their bugaboos all season. They rank near the bottom if the NBA in fielding percentage. But they made up for a big error in the tenth inning. After Orlando Cabrera made a two out error on an ill-advised throw to first base (Rondell White had it beat anyway), Frankie and Adam Kennedy combined to pick White off on a beautifully executed pickoff play at second. And not only did the Angels make up for their defensive miscue, they actually took advantage of their opponents'. They score the tying run on two plays that were inexplicably ruled hits in the eighth inning (apparently official scorekeepers don't expect much out of major leaguers defensively), and they scored the winning run after Figgins went from first to third on a botched pickoff throw to first from Jesse Crain to Justin Morneau.

Just another tight game with the Twins, who always seem to be within a run or two of the Angels, but lately often seem to be on the losing end. Rough nights for the kids save for Mike Napoli's single in his only at bat. This was a game the Angels would have lost pretty much all season up until about the last two weeks. They appear to be turning things around, and they're starting to get some breaks. Let's hope it snowballs. They could just rip through the soft spot of their schedule.

Slowly Coming Out Of It

The Angels have now won two consecutive series, and they really should have completed the sweep yesterday. They're coming into a stretch of games against very beatable teams, and if they can find a way to heat up, and if the rest of the division stays dormant, they very well could find themselves within a game or two on either side of first place in three weeks. Honestly, I had no idea they'd be in this position a few weeks ago, but the combination of unispired play compared against even more unispired play from the rest of the division has them within a handful of games of the top.

There are certainly reasons for optimism, moreso than there were three weeks ago. Specifically, the optimism is being provided by Michael Napoli, Kendry Morales, Dallas McPherson, and Jered Weaver. Napoli has been solid behind the plate, solid with a bat, and incredibly, he'll actually take a walk. McPherson still swings big and misses a lot, but he's hit a couple of big homers, and you can't argue that he isn't fun to watch at the plate. Morales has been a revelation. A slow started at almost every level, he's already hit two homers and has nine hits in his first five games. Despite his reputation as a butcher with the glove, he's made some sparkling plays in the field. I still have high hopes for Kotchman, but he has to be a little concerned at this point. And at a time where the starting staff needed a boost, all Jered Weaver did was throw seven shutout innings while striking out five and allowing only three hits. In the meantime, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick have gotten their cups of coffee, and they'll be better prepared to deal with the big leagues when they're actually expected to produce.

If the team isn't going to win, all I ask is that they be interesting to watch. With the future of the team in the lineup today, they're an interesting ballclub for Angels fans to watch, and the injection of youth into the lineup has put them back on the winning track for the time being, and the schedule in the near future gives me a glimmer of hope. I'm going to start easing my way back into this. Of course, if they stop winning, then I'm clearly a jinx and will need to stop again. Let's hope they get it started tonight.

Three Weeks

On May 2, three weeks ago today, I gave up on this team. I received a fair amount of criticism, and normally I wouldn't have given up on a team that was only a few games out, but based on what I had seen on the field, the team showed no fire, no ability to scrape out wins, and no chance to contend for the division. I was hoping that I would be writing a different post today. I don't like being right about this kind of stuff. But the last three weeks haven't done anything to remotely indicate that my eyes had been deceiving me over the first month of the season.

The Angels are 5-13 since that day, and have fallen six and a half games back of first place Texas. I'd imagine that they'll finish this series in that position, or be 8.5 games back. I can't see them winning both of the next two games. They've lost six games in a row. They were absolutely embarrassed by the Dodgers over the weekend. They're three games behind the Mariners in dead last in the AL West.

The problem with this team is that they aren't even that interesting to watch. It's just a bunch of old guys losing. If they'd make the decision to play the kids, they'd at least be interesting. We all knew that this was going to be a transition year, and we all hoped that they had enough to stick around and make the season interesting. But a lot of folks are now throwing blame around, to Scioscia, to Stoneman, to the players, hell one idiot was even criticising Moreno for not spending enough on payroll. The thing is, Stoneman was in a very difficult position this off-season. When you have as much talent as the Angels have coming up, you don't want to block it. The problem is that all of that talent was 1.5-2 years away. It would be nice to fill holes while that talent develops. But you can't do that via the free agent market. Anybody worth signing is getting 3, 4, 5 year deals. They aren't signing for a year or two. So you're forced to sign a guy long term with the idea that you're either going to have to move him in a few years, or you're going to have to deal prospects. The result is that three years later, you're back to square one. I'll note here that this was the reason that I think it was indefensible to refuse arbitration to Bengie. Worst case scenario, he would have been back for one year, which was exactly what they needed him for.

There's absolutely no reason to blame anyone in particular for this season. I'm not the type of person that wants to see the Angels become the Yankees of the West. I'd love to have their success, but for me, part of what made 2002 so great was that almost everyone on that team got their star in Angels uniforms. They were fun to root for because they were our guys. That doesn't mean I like Vlad or Bartolo any less, but I'd like to see the Angels succeed with guys that they develop, filling holes with free agent talent when necessary. It's no secret why Tim Salmon is the most popular player on the current club. This isn't to say that there isn't going to be goats in individual games. But going in, there was a high probability of volatility this season. This was team that could be great, or could be awful. Unfortunately, they're awful. And though I've thrown in the towel on the season, I'm still an Angels die hard.

So the key word is patience. When you look back over the first 40 years of the franchise, we've been incredibly blessed as fans for the past five years. I think we can survive a year of lumps. The future is still very bright.

Quick clarification

A few people have mentioned that Adam Kennedy is one of the few guys they wouldn't trade, at least not yet. Keep in mind that when I suggest dealing Kennedy, it's purely for contract reasons. His deal is up after this year, and I don't believe he'll be brought back, and I think he has some (not much, but some) value on the trade market. I like Kennedy, and I love his defense, but I don't think he'll be on the next good Angels team. I say deal him while we can get something for him.

Any more true believers out there?

Some of us, like me for instance, could see this trainwreck coming a mile away. Fold up the tents, folks. Time to DFA Alfonzo, trade Kennedy, call up Jered Weaver, and let the kids take us the rest of the way. Let's start getting ready for 2007.

Dear Angels:

More like that, please.

Sincerely,
Me

P.S. - Just don't hit and injure guys on my fantasy team.

And for no apparent reason, here's a High Dials video. Not my favorite High Dials song, but the only one for which I could find a video.

Two weeks later

Well, it was two weeks ago tomorrow that I essentially gave up on the season, and in the interim, the Angels have done absolutely nothing to make me believe that my decision was hasty. They still can't score runs, with the notable exceptions of two consecutive 12 run games. In eleven games since that day, they've gone 4-7, which is actually a game or two better than I would have suspected. They sit at 16-22, kept in the race only by the complete mediocrity of the rest of the teams in their division. However, the fact that they're four games out is small consolation for being in last place. Yes, that means they're behind the Mariners. This is a bad team, and anyone expecting them to suddenly become not so bad, well, thanks for keeping the faith.

Of course, I'm not so sure how fair it is to complain, or at least to blame the powers that be. For the most part, they've done exactly what I wanted them to do in the off-season. Sure, there are a few differences, but they're mostly cosmetic. I wanted them to re-sign Byrd before he got too expensive, and I was completely on board with the Weaver deal to replace him. No complaints about the pen, although I wouldn't have spent the money on Pipo. Basically every position is being manned by the guys I wanted in there. Where this isn't the case, mostly first base and catcher, it's because the guys I wanted in there haven't produced. Granted, I was very vocal about offering arbitration to Bengie, and I was very disappointed when they didn't, but Bengie's not the difference between what we've got and what we expected to have.

For the Angels to be successful this year, a lot of things had to go right, and right now, almost everything is going wrong. The bullpen is still strong, but when you don't hand over many leads, there's not much they can do. The starters have been erratic at best, although Escobar has been as advertised. I can't imagine the mental strain those guys are under. They have to take the mound knowing that if they aren't perfect, they're probably not going to win. Kelvim went through that in 2004, so he's probably used to it, but it's taking a toll on the rest of them. Bart should be back soon, but I don't think that's the cure for what ails this team. They need to start hitting. But dealing for a bat is the wrong way to go, in my opinion. This season is going where it's going. Let's ride it out, hope for some progress, and see what happens.

In the meantime, my fantasy team is currently 33-3, so things ain't all bad.

Checking in and answering questions

Couple of quick comments to address:

1) Anonymous, who is probably Mike Po writes: "your not gonna go the game this week? USe russ' ticket if he cant go. Hey the angels just won the world series in 2002. You have another year before you can bitch. I expect to see you chearing on the clippers in the meantime."

First, Russ hasn't mentioned having an extra ticket. Second, there's really only one night I could make it to any of the games, and that's Tuesday, so unless the ticket's for that night, it really doesn't matter. I've got golf tournaments Tuesday, (hopefully) Wednesday, and Thursday, so that kind of throws a monkey wrench into things. Third, the Angels suck, so I'm not sure I'd want to sit through it anyway. Fourth, I gotta think the abuse walking into and mostly out of the Cell will be amplified greatly this season, although walking out with a 6'5" Polish guy usually helps deter any physical violence. So anyway, yeah, I'm probably not going to any of the games this week. It's as much a logistical issue as anything.

2) Clarence Seedorf, who is probably Phil, writes: " lets get a world cup section on the blog."

Possible, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. Due to time zone issues, this World Cup is really going to suck for those of us with jobs that force us to work during the day, much like the Olympic hockey tournament sucked. Given the choice, I'd much prefer to see the Weltmeisterschaft played in Asia like it was four years ago. Sure, games were on anywhere between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am, but I can go without sleep. If I want to stay up late, or get up at 3:00 am to watch a soccer game, I can do that. I can't very well just skip work, at least not for a month. The last time the cup was played in Europe, I was still a slacker working part time at a golf course. Assuming I haven't been fired before the tournament starts (always a distinct possibility), I'm not going to see very much of it live. And I don't do well watching recorded sports unless I'm watching something I really want to see over and over again, like the Illinois-Arizona game from the 2005 NCAA Tournament, or games six and seven of the 2002 World Series.

As for the Angels, it was nice to see them throw us a couple of bones this weekend, but they're still on pace for 2-7 trip after they lose tomorrow and get swept by the Sox. Oh well, at least my fantasy teams are doing well. The secret? I didn't draft any of the Angels' position players.

Two series, two sweeps - Time to retool - and an Adios from yours truly

Below is what I began typing up as the game was going on. As I type this, the Angels trail 5-3 7-3 in the ninth with the 5, 6, an 7 hitters coming up. JC Romero can't get anyone out, and Chris Bootcheck is coming in throwing gasoline on the fire, and the Angels will soon lose their fifth straight game and drop into a tie for last with Seattle.

Look, I hate people like me. I hate people that predict doom and gloom all season long. There are plenty of people on the Kings message board that do that, and I hate them too. But you know what, they were right. Regardless, half of the energy I spent rooting for the Kings was really spent just wanting to prove those guys wrong. And here I am, turning into one of them.

This is why I'm quitting this blog indefinitely, or at least the Angels related portion of it, which these days, is pretty much all of it. My Angels blogging days are over. I don't know when or if I'll start up again. I've kept it up for over a year now, but I refuse to dwell on what is really a depressing situation. This team is awful, and if I continue to write about them, I'll continue to get depressed, and I'm going to turn some of you from people who root for the Angels to people who root for people like me to be wrong. Rather than continue down that road, I'm ending this for now. Call me a bandwaggoner if you'd like. I'll still be watching every game. I probably won't shell out to go the Cell next week, but that has more to do with the larger crowds and Illinois State Mid-Am Championship than the quality, or lack thereof, of this team.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I'll see you when I see you.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Well, this one was pretty uneventful until Jason Kendall decided to act like an ass.

I think it's time to just about close the book on 2006. Trade Kennedy and Cabrera. Call up Morales, Weaver, and Wood. Shut down Bart for the year, and let's get this train ready for 2007. This team can't compete over a full season. They simply can't hit, and there's too much pressure on the pitchers to be perfect. As I type this, the A's are ready to remove any doubt from a game that essentially ended before it began. It's really sad when you can put runners on first and third for your 3, 4, and 5 hitters, and you can't even move the back runner up a base. And they aren't facing Nolan Ryan, folks. They're facing the A's sixth starter.

A's 2; Angels 1

And the long slide into mediocrity out of mediocrity and into downright suckitude continues. And with the schedule for the next week, it doesn't appear that thing will get any better. Look, the horse is dead, so he's not going to mind the beating, but this offense is just absolutely awful. Yeah, I know that Anderson and Salmon hit a couple of balls pretty hard. Big deal. A loud out is still an out. As I said over the Rev's site, it's gotta be a great feeling rooting for the Angels' opponent, knowing that as soon as you get a lead, the game is essentially over. They have one guy that can get them back into ballgames, and he's hitting just as poorly as everyone else right now.

Lost in the shuffle was a fine beformance by Pipo, who held the A's to one run through six strong innings. But you could tell watching this game that one run was going to be enough. They. Can't. Score. Runs.

In about a week I'm going to be ready to call up Weaver, Wood, and Morales, trade Kennedy, cut Alfonso, and just throw 2006 to the history books. Just tell the kids that no matter how bad it gets, they're going to play, because this is becoming a lost season. In about a week, after they lose another 1-0 or 2-1 game to the A's and their Cy Young candidate Brad Halsey tomorrow, after they've dropped two Detroit, three of four to Toronto, and after they get swept in Chicago, they'll be officially done. Give Bart the rest of the year to recover, give the kids a ton of at bats, and let's get 'em in 2007.

Congratulations to Kendrick on his first major league hit. He was tied for the most productive hitter on the team tonight. Although looking at this lineup, it's nothing to brag about.

Lost Weekend - Sox 6; Angels 5

Another game against the Sox, another loss, and is increasingly becoming the case, another loss helped along by completely icompetent umpiring.

Ervin Santana was not very good today. He had a crazy preoccupation with base runners, which really caused him to lose his effectiveness. He alllowed five runs in seven innings, and though he only walked one, it seemed like he was in trouble quite a bit (he also hit Joe Crede's bat, which apparently gets you a trip to first base these days). Despite his struggles, the Angels had chances to win. Santana gave back a 2-0 first inning lead, then blew a 5-3 lead in the sixth with help second base dipshit umpire Greg Gibson. Rob Machowiak singled (yes, singled) to left center field. Upon sliding into second, he overslid the bag, where he was tagged by Adam Kennedy on two separate parts of his anatomy. But in Greg Gibson's world, you're apparently allowed to overslide second much like you're allowed to overrun first. Machowiak was allowed to stay at second, and later scored the tying run. It stayed that way, thanks in part to a baserunning miscue by Tim Salmon in the bottom of the sixth, until a single by Chris Widger, a stolen base by Pablo Ozuna, a sac bunt by Scott Podsednik, and a wild pitch by Shields did the damage and allowed the winning run to score.

Right now, like most of last season, the Angels aren't very good. They can beat up on bad and middle of the road teams, but they're going to get killed by good teams, as they were this weekend. The offense is offensive, and the pitchers have essentially no margin for error. That's not recipe for success. The schedule doesn't get any easier with two versus Oakland before trips to Detroit, Toronto, and Chicago. I think a 4-7 over that stretch is actually setting the bar pretty high at this point. This season could get real ugly real quick.

White Sox 2; Angels 1

Kelvim, welcome to 2004. Of course, the lack of run support tonight came against a pitcher who apparently found something in mid-season last year, because he's been terrific ever since. Credit Don Cooper for noticing something in Contreras and getting him to Chicago where he could figure it out.

All of this shouldn't obscure the fact that the Angels' offense just absolutely sucks. They have one great hitter, one good hitter, a few OK hitters, and a bunch of dudes that are pretty much automatic outs. It doesn't help when Scioscia, apparently suffering from some massive head injury, decides to start Edgardo Alfonso at designated out-maker. I'm still trying to figure out why Tim Salmon wasn't at the plate at some point in the ninth inning. You can argue that he can no longer turn on a Jenks fastball, but to make that argument, you have to convince me that Alfonso can.

Escobar left the game for some reason after 72 pitches, but not before he provided some fireworks in the second when he plunked AJ Pieraslkdfjsky. I've said it before, but I hold no ill will towards AJ for what happened in last year's playoffs. He didn't do anything wrong. It's not his fault that Doug Eddings is a serial liar and incompetent piece of shit. But speaking of pieces of shit, AJ definitely qualifies, as most people who played with him on the Twins and Giants seem to agree with. The guy has been an asshole his entire major league career, and as such, if he were to get plunked in every at bat for the rest of his career, well, he probably deserves it.

This was a game the Angels could have won, though Scioscia's playing time decisions hamstrung them a bit. Now they have to win tomorrow against a pitcher who really doesn't scare me. We'll see which Magic Man shows up tomorrow. Let's hope it's the one who shut out the Sox last year in his second major league start.

White Sox 8; Angels 5

Jeff Weaver. He's not very good.

Silver linings: The bullpen ERA came way down. I got to watch the Lakers game instead. I didn't have to spend the whole night listening to Hawk and DJ.

Oh well, I figured this matchup was in their favor. I think the next two are pretty even, but the Angels need to take at least one.

Tiger 0; Angels 4

Getting to this one a little late for a couple of reasons. First, it was a day game, which meant I could only watch it intermittently while at work. Second, I got home last night around 6:30. Screwed around on the computer for about 20 minutes. Laid down in front of the TV (didn't even turn it on, mind you), and eventually woke up about 1:30 in the morning.

So anyway, obviously the big news was the arrival of Howie Kendrick in the starting lineup, if just for a day. If you had told me beforehand that he wouldn't get a hit, but would make three pretty nice defensive plays at second base, I would have been mildly surprised. But that's exactly what he did. I hope you didn't blink, or you likely missed his first two at bats. Four at bats, four balls in play, which included two ground outs to the pitcher, one to second, and a pop up to second. But he started a double play in the third that was thwarted by Quinlan's inability to scoop Cabrera's throw, and another one in the eighth after Brandon Inge walked to lead off the inning.

On the mound, Lackey was dominant, if a little wild at times. He finished the game with five walks, but allowed only one hit and struck out eight. Just when it seemed like he was ready to explode under a heavy pitch count, he found another gear and worked three more innings in which he faced the minimum and struck out two. He dropped his ERA about a run, and he's pitching like the John Lackey that we all expected to see this season. Scot Shields came on to close the game out as B-Don and Frankie grabbed another day of rest. He was touched only by Magglio Ordonez's single to right, but he was there long, as Vlad gunned him down after Maggs ventured a little too far off of first.

That wasn't the only highlight Vlad provided. He crushed his fifth home run of the year with Garret Anderson on base. GA had singled home Orlando Cabrera, and Vlad's homer made it a quick 3-0 lead. Mike Maroth must have kicked the official scorekeeper's dog, because he ruled Cabrera's routine grounder to short a hit when Carlos Guillen threw it away, which turned three runs that should have been unearned into earned runs. Maroth, off to a terrific start this season, saw his ERA triple as a result. Chone Figgins added some insurance and angered K-Rod owners by scoring in the fifth.

That makes three straight series wins in a row for the Angels who face the World Champs starting Friday. Freddy Garcia, who's been better than his ERA, take on Jeff Weaver, who hasn't been. Escobar vs. Contreras should be a great matchup, and I think the Angels have the advantage in the Sunday tilt between the Magic Man and John Garland. The Sox are really playing well right now, and Jim Thome is on fire. I can't remember seeing him play in person too often, be he hit a really impressive home run on Saturday. I mean, just a beautiful ball flight. A win in this series would be pretty nice. It would be even better if it came with the kids making some contributions at the plate. They've gotta start building some confidence.

Tigers 5; Angels 2

That's pretty much what happens when the Angels face Bonderman. They lose. And they don't hit. And as such, I really don't have very much to say about this game.

In other news, Grant Lee Phillips was on tonight's Gilmore Girls episode. Yes, I DVRd tonight's episode because I knew Grant Lee was going to be on. I'm not ashamed to admit it. He's a cool dude and great songwriter. But the coolest thing is that tonight, in his brief 30 seconds or so, he was singing "40 Years" which was one of the singles from the debut album "Monkey on a Chain Gang" by House of Freaks, whose lead singer, Bryan Harvey, was murdered on New Years Day. I'm sure Harvey and Grant Lee were acquaintances, though I've never seen them linked anywhere, but I thought that was pretty neat.

Tigers 0; Angels 3

That was a pretty freaking tremendous pitching performance all the way around. The Kid was fantastic, albeit he made a lot of pitches. But hey, that will happen when you strike out ten guys. He held the cats to 0 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, and escaped a bases loaded jam in the third inning. His fastball was really popping, and his curveball, though erratic at times, was plenty good enough to get the job done. Fantastic outing.

As if that wasn't enough, the relievers stepped up and tried to outdo him. B-Don entered in the seventh, as Santana had thrown 111 pitches to that point (only 65 for strikes - he had a lot of three ball counts) and retired the side in order, one by strikeout. Shields entered for the eighth and other than a two out double to Ordonez, was his normal virtually unhittable self.

That set the stage for Frankie. As if he had been reading Rob's recent posts, he took the mound and absolutely blew the Tigers away. He blazed three fastballs past Chris Shelton. He got ahead of Craig Monroe and sent him to the dugout on a breaking pitch (Monroe struck out four times). Then, just to show off, he struck out pinch hitter Alexis Gomez on another curve ball. That's now 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings, and his ERA has dropped to 3.72. I must admit, I'm curious to see what Rob thought was wrong with him tonight. But I kid Rob.

The only thing that could have outshown the pitchers tonight was a big night from Tim Salmon, and to make sure the pitchers didn't get all the credit, he responded with a homer to left on a breaking ball, then added some insurance with a two out RBI single in the sixth inning.

Nice way to start the homestand. Pipo takes the mound tomorrow, and hopefully he can give them five innings or so, and Kevin Gregg can pick up most of the other four, because I gotta think that the back end of the bullpen won't be available. Finally, note to the Tigers color guy, please don't comment on things you know nothing about. Just because Chone Figgins is small does not mean he doesn't have a strong arm. He does. And if you knew what you were talking about, you'd know that. There were also a couple of other asanine comments that I didn't write down, but trust me, they were there. Lucky for him he has a consummate professional in Mario Impemba in the booth next to him.

40 out; 36 in = 76

My first individual competitive round since sometime around 1997 went pretty well. Today I played in a qualifier for the Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship (limited to those with a handicap somewhere under 6 for people over 25). I fired a 76 at Balmorol Woods in Crete, IL. It's not a particularly long course, but the greens have some serious teeth, and they were rolling pretty quick today. The cut eventually came in at 79, which means I've qualified for the championship next month. It's a two day even with a cut after the first day, so the goal right now is to make it to the second day.

As for today's round, it was kind of strange, really. I bogeyed #1, which is probably one of the three or four easiest holes on the course, and one on which I can never seem to do better than bogey. I followed that up with seven straight pars, including a 3-putt par on #3, a short par five on which I hit driver - 4-iron, then proceeded to 3 jack away an easy birdie. Another 3 putt on #9 was my first bogey in 8 holes. I followed that up 8 straight pars, including brilliant up-and-downs on #13 and #16, while missing a great birdie chance on #14. Honestly, I don't think I've ever had a stretch of at least seven consecutive pars before today, let alone two.

Then came #18. I figured that 76 would be safe, and that I could probably get in with 77. After the par on 14, I figured I had three shots to play with, and I was going to need at least two, as #15 is a tough hole, and I figured there was another bogey lurking somewhere. So I went to 18 at two over, feeling pretty safe, knowing I had at the very least one shot to play with, probably two, maybe three (as it turns out, it was four). I hit an absolutely perfect drive (I drove the ball pretty well all day). At that point, I figured I was in. Worst case scenario, I make bogey and walk off with a 75. At that point, me and a fellow competitor (who, with an 85, didn't play as well as he could have) started talking about the course at which the championship is being played, counting my chickens, if you will. King of surprising, because I'm certainly no chicken counter. Anyway, I stepped up to the ball and proceeded to shank it dead right. Got a lucky break off a tree, and followed that up by chunking the next shot. So now I'm lying three in the fairway, praying that I could make double. Which is exactly what I did. Not exactly how you want to finish. I don't know how the CDGA sets up their tournaments, but this may affect my tee time. When I played in the USGA Publinx, I barely qualified for the sectional, and was in one of the last groups.

Anyway, I figured that this year would be a good year to build up some tournament experience, and next year I'd make more of a run at these events, but I'm ahead of my own schedule right now. I didn't play as well as I could have, but it was my first round in a while that meant something, where I had to hole out every putt, and I responded fairly well. Let's hope I play a little better next month.

Angels 4: A's 3

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Busy/Lazy weekend

But for now, I'd just like to know what happened to all of the "Frankie: is hiding an injury; sucks; should be replaced by Shields; etc." comments seem to have gone. Funny how that happens.

Angels 6; Twins 4

Nice recovery from last night's debacle. Despite some early game struggles from Hector Carrasco, he was able to settle down and turn the game over the Kevin Gregg in the fifth inning who escaped a two on, none out jam with no damage. Excellent contribution in his first game replacing Bart, who was placed on the DL. He gave them four strong innings with only one run allowed. He entered the game trailing and left with the lead, turning it over to Donnelly, who struggled through two four hitters.

The big brass ones award goes to Mike Scioscia. One night after watching Frankie get lit, he brought him in for a four out save. Frankie responded, retiring the first three hitters he faced before allowing a two out single, after which he struck out Torii Hunter to end the game. Every time he struggles, Will Carroll (who is actually a pretty good guy in person) is ready to bury him, and today was no different, as Will speculated that Frankie could be hiding an injury. Maybe he is, but if that's the case, he sure hid it pretty damn well today. Look, anyone can predict that a small guy who throws 96 is going to get hurt. Hell, anyone can predict that ANY pitcher will get hurt. Do it long enough, and you're bound to be right. This is the fourth straight year that a fairly serious injury has been predicted for K-Rod. At what point does the law of averages turn analysis into an amazing ability to predict the inevitable?

Adam Kennedy is in full contract year mode. Two more hits and two more RBIs today. He's up to .388 and as NPCody pointed out over at the Rev's site, he's got a higher batting average (.388) than wunderkind Howie Kendrick (.386). He's been dominant on the road trip, and if he could hit for power, he could be carrying the team. He can also catch, which is a step above just about everyone else on the team.

Big set with Oakland gets underway tomorrow. The A's choked one away against the Tigers today, giving the Angels sole posession of first place. Big series, man. Big series.

Angels 10; Twins 12

Pretty much everything about the Angels right now is awful. They can't get anybody out, and when they do get guys to hit the ball to people, they drop it. If you lose a game to the Twins in which you score double digit runs, you truly suck. The sad thing is that it was so predictable. I have yet to watch a fly ball go to right field without cringing as it approached Vlad. He gets lazy, and he drops easy fly balls. He's done it his entire career, and he did it again tonight.

The stat I find almost unbelievable is the seven walks allowed by Angels pitchers. This was not exactly what you'd call a small strike zone, yet Angels pitchers still were unable to hit it. Almost as unbelievable were the three walks drawn by the Angels. That has to be damn close to a season high.

If you saw Frankie pitch to Joe Mauer and came away thinking that the Angels had a chance in hell to get to a 10th inning, you truly are a person of faith, because that was just about the most predictable ninth inning I've ever seen. The only unexpected aspect of the inning was that the Angels held the Twins to only one run. Every person in the universe knew exactly what pitch was on the way to Mauer at 0-2, and he drilled it. With Sierra at the plate, you could see the fear in Frankie's eyes, as he wanted absolutely no part of the slugger. And then the coup de grace, a 3-2 bases loaded slider. I understand he'd just thrown one in the zone, but that's all the more reason to realize that lightning wasn't going to strike twice. A predictable walk, a tie game, and a few minutes later, the complete reversal of a 9-4 lead into a 12-10 loss was completed with Michael Cuddyer's walk off home run.

Piss poor play has defined the Angels' season this year, and it's tough to see it getting better any time soon. The only guy really ready to come up and possible make a difference plays the one position that has been fairly productive for the Angels. Now might be the time to trade Kennedy, as he's hitting well and might actually fetch something.

Right now, this is a very bad baseball team. Fortunately, the A's suck just as much right now. Welcome to the AL Worst, folks.

Angels 8; Twins 2

The pythagorean numbers are starting to come back to earth now that the Angels have been on the winning end of two lopsided vicotories in their last three. I have to admit, I wasn't optimistic about this one. After watching Vlad hit into a first inning double play, visions of the the five double play, 11 hit shutout that Silva threw against the Angels last year were dancing in my head. When the Twins got on the board first in the third inning, I was pretty sure that the Angels were done. Fortunately, I don't write the script, and the Angels responded with two runs in the top of the fourth, and three more in the top of the fifth, the final two coming on a monster shot over the right field baggie by noted slugger Chone Figgins.

Kelvim almost let the lead get away from him, giving up a double to Lew Ford, followed by two straight singles to open the bottom of the fifth. But he responded by striking out Joe Mauer and Luis Castillo before inducing an inning ending grounder from Tony Batista. The good news was that the infield actually held on to the ball this time and actually did end the inning. Escobar escaped with only one run in the frame, and the Twins wouldn't score again. Those were two of 10 strikeouts from Kelvim, who rebounded from a poor start in his previous effort.

Our Santana takes the mound tomorrow night. The Angels mercifully avoid their Santana later in the week. Then again, as his fantasy owners will tell you (me included), their Santana has been pretty mediocre to awful in his first few starts, so maybe that's not necessarily a good thing. The Angels go back up over Oakland by a half game for a couple of hours until Oakland dispatches the Tigers. The good news is that despite the Halos' uninspiring play to this point, they're still atop the division, thanks to the rest of the division playing really crappy as well. The bad news is they've missed a golden opportunity to open a three game lead or so. Oh well, it's a long season.

Angels 2: Orioles 4 - and who cares, because it's Luc's final night.

Didn't see one pitch. Yeah, I know, I've been slacking to this point as I've probably missed more games than I've seen. I wouldn't be shocked if you never came back. But look at your calendar. It's April 17th, which is the first working day after after April 15th. Now is a good time to remind yourself that I work in the tax department of an accounting firm, which means today is kind of a big day. If you can't remember that, well, I hope you don't get a letter from the IRS. Anyway, I work in sales tax, which means for me, today isn't a huge day, but at the same time, the tax department throws a big party with lots and lots of free food, and most importantly, free beer.

So anyway, knowing Jeff Weaver was on the mound, I decided to drink free beer rather than watch the Angels lose, which frankly, was pretty obviously going to happen. It's a combination of crappy pitcher being backed up by an offense that has a history of making guys like Daniel Cabrera, a pitcher who refuses to live up to his potential, look like Cy Young candidates. Tonight was no exception.

Anyway, tonight is a night to celebrate the end of tax season, and a night to watch the greatest left wing in the history of the NHL play the final game of his career. Here's to you, Luc. Soon you'll have your number up on the rafters of Staples Center, and in a few years, you'll be in the hall of fame. I didn't make it to Toronto when Peter Stastny, the greatest European in the history of the NHL, made it to the hall of fame, but a few years out, I plan on making the trip for Luc's induction ceremony. Congratulations on a wonderful career Luc. I'm gonna miss your presence in the lineup.

:(

Angels 9; Orioles 3

Well, the good guys salvaged one from the series, and for once, they're on the right end of a blow-out. Vlad obviously had a huge game, and from what little I saw, they did a good job executing the little things. It didn't hurt that they benefitted from some mistakes on the other side.

I only saw the hilights from this one. I recorded it to the DVR and headed off to the Sox game for about three innings before that one got rained out, then headed to a friend's house for Easter dinner. But from the looks of things, Lackey is on track a few weeks early, and I have every reason to believe he is going to be a top five Cy Young guy this year.

There's gonna be some concern about Frankie, and well there should be, especially considering that Shields hasn't been particularly sharp so far. According to the Times, it's not expected to sideline Frankie for very long, if at all. Almost makes you wonder if he was getting drilled because he was hurt or if he....I won't go there.

Angels try to complete the split today. With Weaver on the mound and the ball flying out of that ballpark, let's just say I'm not optimistic.

Angels 2; Orioles 3

Didn't see this one. I'm sure it was available on the computer, but I have a qualifying round for the Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship in a little over a week, and I needed to get out and practice. The good news is that in my first real round of the year, I fired a 74, and that's with a double bogey on the last hole when I inexplicably decided to play conservative. I did string together a stretch of three holes where I was four under par (birdie, eagle, birdie), so that's a good sign.

As for the game, it's my understanding that the Angels still refuse to play defense. When you don't score a lot of runs, it's imperative to keep the other team from scoring some of their own, and refusing to play defense is somewhat incompatible with that. The ace is on the mound tomorrow, and if I could choose one guy to help us salvage a game, it would be Lackey. Let's hope he starts like he finished his last game.

Angels 5; Orioles 6

Second 6-5 loss of the season. Santana looked a little ragged actually. Not many walks, but he had trouble finding the zone at times, and got tagged for three homers. The bullpen, which has been hit and miss so far, was miss tonight, with Shields blowing the save in the 8th, then giving up the walk off homer in the ninth.

On the bright side, the Angels took advantage of the wind to unleash their power bats, with Anderson, Rivera, Kennedy and Mathis getting in on the action. Mathis' came with two out in the ninth to extend the game an extra half frame, so that's a positive sign that he can perform under pressure.

As for today, it's another day with a lot of hockey, so it appears I won't be getting this one on TV, which means it's computer or nothing.

Kings officially done

Just for the three people out there who held out hope, the Kings were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs tonight. The death blow came before they decided to not try to beat Phoenix, so the fact that they got their assess kicked by the pathetic, yet demonstrably superior Coyotes was more or less meaningless. So instead of doing a long post mortem, I'm going to bed.

But please don't let that stop you from enjoying this wonderful excerpt from an episode of Gimmie Gimmie Octopus.

"Kure Kure Takora" everyone!

Sean Avery - done with the Kings

According to this article in the Times, Sean Avery will no longer play for the LA Kings, this season or next. This ends a tenure in which he was twice the most penalized player in the league.

Avery has always been the type of player of whom people said "I hate his guts, but I'd love to have him on my team." And frankly, that was the feeling of most Kings fans this season, as was evidenced by the quick selling "What would Avery do?" T-shirts. But as the team's fortunes went south, so did a lot of the patience with Avery, no doubt accentuated by the fact that he took a lot of penalties on a team that simply refuses to try to kill them.

Avery set career highs this season with 15 goals, 24 assists, and 39 points. He's only 26, and if he can rein in his emotions, I think he could be a hell of an NHL player. Hell, even if he can't, I think he has the skating ability and talent to be a 30 goal scorer at some point in his career, maybe better. But his act wore thin on management and apparently some of the guys in the locker room as well. He was dismissed from practice for refusing to perform a drill, then getting into an argument with Mark Hardy. Not to defend Avery, but maybe if more people stopped listening to Hardy, they'd be able to kill a power play every now and then.

One thing's for sure. This is going to look like a much different team next year. Unfortunately, they're probably not going to look much better. As for Avery, there will be takers, and I fear he'll turn into a productive offensive player as he matures. I'm right on the fence on this one, but I'm leaning more toward "sad to see him go" than "good riddance".

Blown out. Rangers - A lot; Angels - not so much

Pretty much over by the fourth inning or so. Cabrera's boot at second led to a bunch of runs. The Angels had a chance to get back into this one when they loaded the bases with no one out, but Robb Quinlan swung at a 3-1 pitch that was probably a little high and popped it to right, driving in the only run the Angels would get back. By the time they scored again, the pitching staff had given up 11 runs, and the fans had given up hope.

The Angles have now allowed 12 more runs than they've scored, and they're a game over .500. That's the early season for you. Off day today as the team heads to Baltimore for three, followed by Minnesota and Oakland.

Rangers 4; Angels 5

While last night's game showed us what to expect from the 2006 Angels, tonight's game was an homage to the 2002 Angels. Kept in the game by an adequate performance from Jeff Weaver and solid work by the bullpen, the Angels offense pushed across just enough runs to win their second straight over the Rangers without the benefit of a home run.

This game wasn't on Extra Innings, as there were a plethora of NHL games to be shown, none of which featured the Kings, which is a good thing when you're recovering from an illness. Anyway, it's tough to follow those games, so I can't really speak intelligently to how Weaver looked. He obviously looked great to Hank Blalock, who tagged him twice.

After getting down by three runs, tonight's rally twins, Darin Erstand and Casey Kotchman, got the Angels back into the game with back to back doubles. Both would eventually score. The two struck again in the ninth, with the ever patient Erstad drawing a lead off walk, followed by Kotchman's single. Although Jeff Mathis failed to get the bunt down, Adam Kennedy came through with a game winning double as the Angels handed Frankie Cordova another last inning loss.

I'm not sure the Angels have the offense to do this on a consistent basis. In fact, I'm sure that they don't, so it may be a long year for the rally monkey, but he's off to a great start. Weaver did what the Angels signed him to do, and that's give the team a chance to win. With the A's losing, the Angels draw even with the A's at 5-3.

Your fun stat for the day: It's early, but all four AL West teams have allowed more runs than they've given up. In the Mariners and Rangers case, it's due to them not being very good. In the A's and Ange;s case, it's due to each of them getting slaughtered once by the Yankees, who are 3-4 despite outscoring their opponents by an average of two runs per game.

Rangers 2; Angels 5

This is pretty much the way they draw them up for this Angels team. Timely hitting, excellent pitching, good defense, and win by a couple of runs. All seven runs were scored with two outs, and the Angels did an excellent job of answering the Rangers two first inning runs with one of their own in the bottom of the first, followed by three in the second. The unsung play of the game was Adam Kennedy's hustle in the bottom of the second to beat out a double play. It extended the inning and was followed by Chone Figgins' RBI triple, Orlando Cabrera's RBI single, and Vlad Guerrero's RBI single (which extended his hitting streak to 37 straight against the Rangers).

Those four runs were all John Lackey would need (though they added a fifth). He fantastic following a first inning hiccup which saw him Walk Mark Teixeira with two out, which Phil Nevin followed with a homer. From there he settled down, allowing only those two runs on four hits and walk, while striking out eight. Almost as important, of the 12 batters who made outs by putting the ball in play, nine of them did it on the ground. These are the kind of starts that Angels fans and fantasy owners expect Lackey to put together on a more consistent basis this season. He did it against a heck of an offensive lineup, and one that has had his number in the past.

As for the defense, it was excellent as well. Cabrera, Kennedy, and Kotchman combined for a double play ground out by Michael Young. Kotchman himself turned in the defensive play of the night when he stabbed a hot shot by Hank Blalock with one out in the seventh. They completed the game without commiting an error, which is an encouraging sign after committing nine in their first six games.

Jeff Weaver goes tomorrow against Rick Bauer, who didn't start in his only appearance this season. It doesn't look as if it will be on Extra Innings, so it will probably be a computer night. A lot of people picked the Rangers ahead of the Angels this season, so it would be nice to open up a little teensy bit of daylight with a series sweep.

The Weekend

So obviously there have been no recaps of the games this weekend, Saturday because my out of town guest and I watched most of it at a bar, and Sunday because I didn't see much of the game due to playing in a golf tournament with said out of town guest. A breakdown of my weekend:

Saturday:

• Early morning - drive to airport to pick up out of town guest.
• Late morning - watch TV
• Early afternoon - get lunch, head to Golfsmith to kill some time
• Late afternoon - go back to Golfsmith so that out of town guest can buy a new driver
• Night - head to bar to get dinner and beer

Sunday:

• Early early morning: Wake up about 10 times during the night due to mystery illness
• Early morning: throw up about three times with what appears to be food poisoning
• Late early morning: throw up in my car as we arrive at the golf course, painfully hit golf balls on the driving range in a brave effort to soldier on despite illness
• Late morning: Despite illness, lack of glycogen, and severe lack of sleep, drill a three wood about 240 yards to about 15 feet on the 6th hole of the day to set up a birdie, getting us to -5 through 6 holes (it was scramble format*).
• Noon or so: We birdie our eigth hole of the day, getting us to -7 through 8.
• Couple hours later: Birdie our 15th, 17th, and 18th holes to finish -12 on the day.
• Hour or so later: Celebrate our first victory in three years of playing in this tournament, try to eat solid food. Go home, fall asleep watching Masters.

So that's kinda why I didn't post anything yesterday. I was pretty out of it, yet still managed to hit the ball fairly well.

As for our team, well, it was a total team effort. You win scrambles one of two ways: 1) Everyone on the team is playing well, or 2) everyone is playing OK, but someone always steps up to hit a clutch shot when you need it. We won the second way. Whenever we needed someone to put us in the fairway, or knock one tight on the green, or to make a big putt, someone always came through. It's very satisfying to win a tournament like that when everyone on the team makes major contributions. Two years ago we shot -6 in decent conditions and finished in the top half of 36 teams. Last year we played in brutally cold weather, shot -6, and finished somewhere in the top ten. Yesterday, conditions were terrific. Sunny all day, in the mid 50s most of the day. Under those conditions, I'm a little surprised that -12 held up, but as it turns out, we won by two shots. The $100 gift certificate will come in handy, seeing as how I spent $150 on new pants and new windshirt after throwing up on myself.

Anyway, enough about this for now. There will be plenty of golf talk as the amateur events start to roll around (I try and qualify for the Illinois State Mid-Amateur in two weeks). Back to Angels blogging beginning tonight.

Yankees 1; Angels 4

I mentioned the other day that I thought the Angels had an advantage in this one based on the premise that while the Yankees were throwing their number 4 starter, the Angels had arguably their best pitcher going. That being the case, the result didn't surprise.

The Angels jumped on top in the first inning with Orlando Cabrera hitting his second homer in as many games, this one following a Chone Figgins double. They added on in the fourth after Darin Erstad singled home Garret Anderson. And when the Yankees got on the board with a Johnny Damon double, the Halos answered right back on a bases loaded infield single by Juan Rivera, aided by some nice hustle by GA.

Some scary moments in the seventh when JC Romero couldn't find the plate, creating a situation much like the one he wriggled out of on opening day by walking two batters. Scot Shields added to the trouble by walking the bases loaded before inducing a double play grounder to end the threat. After an easy eighth from Shields, Frankie put it away in the ninth, a little scare on a deep fly ball to center by Posada notwithstanding.

So the Angels improve to 2-2 on the season, and they continue to hold the upper hand against the Yankees. Terrific start by Kelvim, who didn't walk a batter, and fanned his 1000th batter, and it was Jason Giambi, certainly no slouch.

Two disappointments: 1) Joe West makes me wonder how you can hold a major league umpiring position for as long as he has, yet not see the first baseman's foot on the bag for a good second after he caught the ball. Simply a pathetic mistake, which fortunately didn't figure in the outcome. 2) No Kingfish in the lineup. Would have been nice to see him come to the plate in this one, and because of the chundermuffins at Extra Innings, I didn't get to see any pre-game introductions of the team, assuming they did one.

The kid takes the mound tomorrow against Big Ugly, who looked pretty sharp in his opening day start, but who hasn't looked great against the Angels recently if memory serves, and there's a good chance it doesn't. I would imagine we'll see Timmay in the lineup at the DH slot and hopefully Juan Rivera in left as GA sits against the lefty, but I don't write out the scorecard.

As things get back to normal, it feels good to be writing one of these up right after a game again. Of course, I've got an out of town guest tomorrow and a golf tournament on Sunday, so it's another ragged weekend.

Angels 5; Mariners 6

In three games so far this season, the Angels bullpen has been very good, very bad, and very mediocre. Unsurprisingly, the latter two efforts led to losses despite solid offensive performances, and the Angels find themselve 1-2 going into the weekend series against the Yankees.

It's almost impossible to write about game outcomes at this point with a view towards the rest of the season. There's simply no way to tell what three games against one opponent mean in the greater scheme of things. It's like when I used to play hockey and we'd have seasons that were nine games long. You never knew until about 4 or 5 games in just how you matched up. So while the outings from Yan and Donnelly were no doubt disturbing, it's impossible to know whether we can expect more of the same. Can we really expect Salmon to hit like this all season? God, I sure hope so.

For the second straight night (hey, it's night where I live), the Angels got behind early, let the game get away from them in the middle innings, staged a comeback that brought the tying run to the plate, but couldn't get that man across, and fell to their Northestern rivals. I missed the first few innings due to work, so three games in, I still haven't seen a full game. What have I seen? Well, I liked the swing that Mathis put on the ball in the ninth, but the way he pulls off tells me that he's not going to be hitting many out to right field. I like the fact that they've been patient at the plate in the late innings. I like that they haven't given up when they've gotten behind. But I don't like the fact that they keep getting behind.

Tomorrow is an off day as they prepare for the home opener. The Angels have the advantage in that they have what many consider to be their likely ace on the mound against the Yankees #4 starter. But it would be nice to see them get out and get some early runs, hold a lead, and win a game from the outset. I'm as pessimistic after a loss as the next guy, but damn, it's only game three. Long way to go.

Crappy night

Angels - nice bullpen.

Kings - what more is there to say? Way to nut up on special teams. Losers.

Angels - Probably gonna lose

This game is not on extra innings, and though I can watch it on the computer, I don't think I want to. Lackey apparently doesn't have it, and Figgins is just butchering third base. Plus, the Kings are on, and they're actually winning.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Angels and Kings both win; distract me from UCLA loss

Kings 1; Vancouver 0

Because of the basketball game and various family issues, I only say the third period of this one. Great to have Pavol back in the lineup, and Garon has looked terrific the last two games. Unfortunately, they've put themselves in a position where they pretty much have to win every game, just based on who they're playing. The Kings are tied for 9th with San Jose, but the Sharks have two games in hand. They can still catch Edmonton, who leads by three points in the same number of games, and Vancouver, who leads by two with one more game played, but they need to hold the Sharks off while doing it. Two of their final six are against San Jose, so it's pretty much win those two It's an uphill battle, but stranger things have happened, and they finally have everyone in the lineup at the same time for the first time in forever.

Tonight, they face the Sucks with their season on the line yet again. Lose this one, and they're go from life support to a feeding tube.

Angels 5; Mariners 4

The Angels start the season where they left off, in first place. Missed most of this one, but I did catch the last couple of innings. Terrific at bats by Kotchman and Figgins to draw the free passes, and then clutch Cabrera came through with the game winning single. Didn't see what I can only assume was tremendous work by JC Romero to get out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the sixth. Shields was solid as expected, and other than a hanger by Frankie to Petagine, he looked sharp. Didn't throw the changeup he's been working on, but often a pitcher likes to save something like that until he needs, lest he show it too soon. Anyway, great way to start the season.

Florida 73; UCLA 57

Well, maybe it *was* the worst final four ever. No close games. No games really in doubt at any time in the second half. It was just tough to realize that if you had a rooting interest in any of the teams that got this far.

Florida pretty much took control with about 11 minutes to go in the first half, and never looked back. They played better defense than the Bruins, and they forced Ben Howland to do things that he didn't want to do, like go to a full court press, which Florida pretty much ate for breakfast. The turning point, in my opinion, came with about the 9 minutes mark. Florida had missed two straight shots, and after lay-up by Ced Bozeman, the Bruins had cut the lead to four. After another miss, Darren Collison raced up the court, and despite having opportunities to pass, tried to finish the play himself. The shot was disrupted, Florida went the other way, and Corey Brewer finished with an easy layup. It was a four point swing, taking what should have been a two point lead back to six. It killed any momentum the Bruins had created, and they never got closer the rest of the way.

Other than that, there's really not much else to say. The Gators played better in pretty much every facet of the game, and it showed on the final scoreboard. They've got some tremendous athletes, and Brewer on Afflalo was really a matchup problem for the Bruins on the offensive end. Afflalo just could not get loose all night. Their determination to keep going at Florida's shot blockers made a star out of Joakim Noah. And Florida's shot blocking affected shots even when they didn't try to block them. Witness Lo Mata's missed layup on a shot that he could have easily dunked. But he was tentative, worried about the contact, and couldn't finish the easy lay-in. It was that kind of night.

As disappointing as this loss was, it's important to keep it in perspective. I had this team pegged for a sweet sixteen, maybe an elite eight if everything broke right, before the season started. They exceeded my expectations, and probably everyone else's, too. Next year I expect this team to be better. That's not to say they'll win the championship. I think last year's Illinois team was better by a fair margin than every team in this tournament, and they ran into a better team. Anything can happen. But I think that the freshmen are going to show big improvements, especially Aboya, Wright, and LRMAM. Get them in those pick-up games with the NBA guys and we'll see where they are next year. While losing Ced Bozeman and Ryan Hollins will be tough, I expect them to actually improve at the three. Josh Shipp comes back and provides the scoring and rebounding that they didn't get from Ced this year, while a full year of Mata and improvement from Ryan Wright should adequately replace Hollins.

There's no reason to expect less than a great season from the Bruins next season, and while the loss hurts, there's a lot of reasons for optimism. Congratulations, UCLA, on a terrific 2005-2006. Congrats to coach Howland on his first final four. And best wished to Coach Wooden as he recovers from whatever it was that put him in the hospital yesterday.

Opening Day

And I won't be around to blog it. Sorry. Mom's in town, and my sister drove over from Ohio, so I can't really get of it. Fortunately I'll be home in time for the basketball game, but the baseball blogging I've been looking forward to will have to wait one more day.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder: UCLA 59; LSU 45

Ugly. That's what they all called them. Said UCLA played an ugly style. Well, tonight, they executed on both ends, and showed that the idiots who criticized the Bruins based on one game against Memphis (while ignoring their other game against Memphis) are a bunch of morons.

Thanks to a second half slow down by the Bruins who held a huge lead with 15 minutes to go, the score of this one actually ended up close to what was predicted by most of the press. But the final score doesn't tell the story of how much the Bruins dominated this game. They led by 15 points at half time, and they seemed to build up a pretty proportional lead all the way through the first 25 minutes or so. Against Memphis, the Bruins had four field goals in the second half of the game. Tonight, they had four field goals in the first five minutes, inlcuding two three pointers.

The second half opened much the same way. The Bruins canned four shots in the first four minutes. And when your first four baskets of the half consist of three dunks, including an alley-oop against the zone, and a three pointer from 25 feet with the shot clock about to run out, you're doing pretty good.

Once again, the story of the game was the Bruins defense. That's been the case for the last month. It's easier to play that sort of defense when everyone you have on the floor is rester. Starter played 53 minutes in the first half for the Bruins, while the subs played 47. That, folks, is depth.

Player of the game for UCLA was clearly LRMAM, who really got the job done on both sides of the floor. Seventeen points and nine rebounds, while playing excellent defense on Glen Davis, and really owning him athletically on the offensive end. Unsung player of the game was Lorenzo Mata. The box score I'm looking at right now has him credited with seven boards, but I could have sworn it was more, and that might change. But not only did he pull down rebounds, he pulled them down at huge times. When you have a double digit lead, you run down 30 seconds off the shot clock, miss the shot, and you're able to grab the rebound, that puts your opponents on defense for another 30 seconds. That's difficult to play through both physically AND mentally, and ultimately, that was the difference. LSU has been a better rebounding team all year, but UCLA owned them on the boards tonight.

About that defense, Big Baby and Tyrus Thomas combined for only 19 points on 7-21 shooting and 12 rebounds. LRMAM almost out counted them on his own. LSU didn't hit one three pointer in this one. Over the last two games, UCLA opponents have looked lost from beyong the arc.

Monday brings Florida, who have played extremely well during this tournament (obviously). They bring the size and athleticism of LSU, but unlike the Tigers, they hit their threes, and that will be a challenge for the Bruins. The other thing Florida has in its favor is the timing. Give Ben Howland a week to prepare, and he showed tonight that he's gonna find a way to exploit your weaknesses. He's only got two days for the Gators, and only time will tell what will happen.

Two young teams, two teams that will probably be picked for this game next season depending on the NBA draft (along with Carolina, Ohio State, and probably this LSU team), meet for the chamnpionship a year ahead of schedule. Let's hope it's one to remember. Of course, a Bruins blowout would be just fine, too.

LSU vs. UCLA - Pre-game thoughts

LSU vs. UCLA:

It's gonna be dominated by defense. There's just no two ways about. On the offensive end, it's essentially going to come down to how well UCLA shoots the ball. I'm not sure they're going to be able to get a lot done inside against Davis and Thomas, so it's going to be up to Farmar, Afflalo, and Ced to get some scoring done on the outside. I'd love to see some plays set up for Michael Roll as well to extend that defense.

On the other end, I'm not sure how the Bruins are going to stop both Thomas and Davis. Fortunately, LSU doesn't shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter, so UCLA is less likely to get burned on double teams in the post. However, if they double down on Davis, Thomas might just kill the Bruins on the offensive glass. Davis might be better off chucking the ball at the hoop as opposed to throwing it out to the perimeter. I would imagine they'd try to stick LRMAM on Thomas, and hopefully's with Luc's excellent nose for rebounding, he can keep Thomas at bay.

I like the Bruins to win this one because I think they're more complete and they're deeper, but there are still injury question marks with Hollins and Mata. I expect it to be ugly.

Crazy Weekend

There's really a couple of things I ought to be doing on this site this weekend. Chief among them would be a final four preview and some sort of season preview for the Angels. Fact of the matter is, I'm swamped. It's Saturday, and I'm typing this from the office. On top of that, my mother is flying in tomorrow, so between the action tonight, I need to kind of clean my apartment. Anyway, I'll take an abbreviated shot at some point.

Memories

Posting has been infrequent lately, but rather than come up with something stupid that is just going to bore everyone, In honor of the final four this weekend, please watch two of the greatest comebacks in college history. You'll thank me.

Liveblogging my fantasy draft

That's right. Imagine the excitement of reading about all of the exciting......things going on my fantasy draft. I can tell you're as excited about this as I am.

Actually, truth be told, this is one of the leagues I most likely won't give a shit about. I'm in four, I think, and there's only one that truly matters. I drafted what I think is a very strong team in that draft. It's with a group of people I've never met, save for one guy who was my Political Science T.A. my first year in college, and with whom I've kept in touch over the years. I took over a team four seasons ago, five seasons ago, and in that time I've improved every season, going from a .415 winning percentage my first year (it's head to head) to a .620 winning percentage and a first place finish in the division last year before losing in the championship round. Also, I think I had a pretty decent draft in the Halosphere fantasy league draft as well, so I'll probably pay attention to that one.

Anyway, this particular league is a NL only league, head to head for the first time this season. It's all guys that I went to law school with, and we've kept the league together for seven or eight seasons now. I don't really follow the NL, so I'll probably get worked. I have won this league once in the past, however. I have the fourth pick, and we're about 10 minutes away. You're going nuts with excitement, aren't you? It's all so.....exciting!!

First round: In typical ESPN cobaggery, the software is failing. We're finally underway, with Pujols, Lee, and Wright going 1-2-3, followed my selection of Chase Utley with the #4 pick. Gotta pick a Bruin. Damn, talk about exciting!! Now we wait for the guys who didn't show up to be forced to Autopilot, which should speed up the process.

Nothing pisses me off more than dudes who take the whole time to make their picks, especially their first round pick. I mean seriously, you have a goddamn week to map it out. It's not that hard. Total ratfuckery.

Second round: I take Adam Dunn. I have him on another team. My draft philosophy is that I like to take guys I have on another team, so that I have to follow fewer guys during the season. Usually by April 15th I can't remember who's on which team anyway.

Third round: Brad Lidge. I get shut out of closers every year, so I figured I'd start the run this year.

Fourth round: Right now we have four of ten guys on auto, so the draft is moving quickly. Which is good, because these get to be really boring after a few minutes. Wait, did I say boring? I mean EXCITING!! Anyway, Larry Wayne Jones is officially a Cobag.

Fifth round: Former Angel Derek Turnbow. That's two closers, and that should hold me over in the save department, unless he gets busted for roids.

Sixth round: Zach Duke. Needed a starter.

Seventh round: Brett Myers. Another good but not great starter, although he's in a hitters' park. Oh well.

Eighth round: Things are moving fairly quickly. That's eight rounds in roughly a half hour. Still, I'm probably going to miss the last purple line. Willy Taverez is the newest Cobag. Needed the steals.

Ninth round: Austin Kearns. Got him on more than one team.

Tenth Round: Mike Jacobs. Marlins. Never heard of him.

Alright, this boring. For all of us. I'm sorry, this was an idea destined to fail. Anyway, here's how the rest of it went. Bill Hall, Tony Clark, Tom Glavine, Paul LoDuca, Chris Burke, Aaron Heilman, JJ Hardy, Johnny Estrada, Ryan Klesko, man the NL really sucks, Stephen Drew (it's a keeper league), Yhency Brazoban, Orlando Hernandez, Tony Armas Jr., and finally, Ryan Langerhans.

That's it. Time to start losing.

Cool!

I don't do political stuff here very often, but this is the closest I've ever come to being linked to by a widely read lefty blog. I'm like, only a couple degrees of separation from Atrios!

Anyway, John Cole, who I like 80% of the time, went off his nut about this post by Jane Hamsher (who is a big Spiritualized fan, btw). In it, he accused the "Jane Hamshers of the left" of all sorts of nasty things. Problem is, the things he listed were never actually done by Jane Hamsher, after which John claimed that "the Jane Hamshers of the left" does not include the actual Jane Hamsher. He also implied that Jane had attributed comments to a person who had never actually said them (it's about Washington Post blogger/serial plagiarizer Ben Domenech). Only, Jane never said he said them.

Long story short, Jane got pissed, John refused to admit that he was wrong, and we all had a whale of a time in the comment thread. Jane's post on the dustup included a link to my comment where I called John intellectually dishonest. My comments include links to this blog. The Atrios linked to Jane's post. So like it goes Atrios --> Firedoglake --> My comment on John Cole's site --> Here! That's only four degrees of separation (or is it three, I can't tell?)

So that's my excitement for the day.

**UPDATE**
I try to provide my own take on the situation here, here, here, here, here, here and here. I get some nice ego strokes here, here, here, and here. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't give credit to the gang at Three Bulls for the term "cobaggery" and to Demogenes Aristophanes for the term ratfuckery.

Final Four!

Wow. Ugly game. But they give the trophies to the teams with more points.

Four down, two to go.

UCLA 73; Gonzaga 71

Almost one year ago today (just 3 days short), I gave up on a basketball game that I never should have given up on. Thank the Lord that the Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head, Roger Powell, and Jack Ingram didn't give up. They came back from a 15 point deficit with 4:00 minutes to play and completed one of the greatest comebacks in college basketball history.

Tonight, the UCLA Bruins came as close as they possibly could to equaling that stunning feat. Unable to find the basket all night, and with their stifling defense failing them for much of the game, the Bruins found another gear, and found a way to pull out a win against a team that had dominated them all night, scoring the last 11 points of the game to once again survive and advance. There's so much to talk about in this game that I can't possibly cover it all. But one of the major themes of this game for the Bruins was senior leadership. This team has had its minutes dominated by freshmen and sophomores all season long, but tonight, the seniors simply refused to let their careers end. Hollins threw in 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while going 6 for 6 from the line, none more important than the last two coming with 19 seconds left, cutting the lead to one point. Ced contributed 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, but played lock down defense on Adam Morrison after Aaron Afflalo picked up his fourth foul. You could just sense in him a desire to continue playing, which is rare, because Ced doesn't show much emotion out there.

Not to be outdone, the freshmen made their presence felt. Darren Collison didn't contribute much to the scoreboard, but provided excellent defense at the point, and suffered the worst call maybe in the history of college basketball. It wouldn't be a Bruin game without LRMAM leading the way on the boards, and tonight was no exception. He grabbed 10, tossed in 14 points, and for my money, he made the play of the game. Not the game winning shot, although he showed tremendous poise and hands while hauling in the pass from Jordan Farmar and laying it in the hoop. But in a very unfreshmanlike play, he proceeded to run down the court and steal the ball from Derek Raivio, giving the Bruins posession, and ending the game for all intents and purposes.

Farmar and Afflalo? They struggled. They were a combined 10-26, 5-15 from three, and Aaron missed some big free throws. But when the game was on the line, they stepped up. Farmar hit an amazing runner in from just outside the lane in the waning moments to bring the Bruins to within three points with under a minute to play. He grabbed the loose ball and made a great pass to LRMAM under the basket for the winning score.

Congratulations to the Bulldogs on another great season. I'll admit, I hated Adam Morrison during this game. I think he fouls pretty much every time he has the ball. But he's got great touch. He looks like he has a great feel for the game. He was pretty gracious during the post-game interview, and I wish him well at the next level. JP Batista, on the other hand, whined about a foul that simply didn't exist, and anyone who saw the game knows that. Tough way for them to lose, and if Mark Few head to Indiana, their window may be shut.

Congrats to Coach Howland. Once again, he's worked the third season magic. For the first time, he's heading to the Elite 8. Fitting, because he's truly an elite coach, and he's rebuilding an elite program.

The Bruins played arguably their worst offensive game of the season. They were outshot. They were outrebounded. Yet they still found a way to get the job done. They found the will to win and showed the heart of a champion. They may not advance on Saturday, but they've anounced their presence. The program is back on the national stage, and let's not forget, this is a learning year. Next year was supposed to be the year that UCLA anounced that they were back. Looks like the precocious kids didn't want to wait that long.

Wow!

I mean, just......wow! That's two years in a row for me, folks. I'll have more later. I need to watch the end 2 or 3 or 27 more times, but man, what a finish.

Initial thoughts, though:

• If I had a vote for player of the year, after what I saw tonight, it would go to......JJ Redick. I'm a slow white guy. If I were a 6'8" slow white guy AND ALLOWED TO FOUL ON EVERY SINGLE OFFENSIVE POSESSION, I'm pretty sure I could get 30 points a night, too.
• The "on the floor" call on the foul on Darren Collison in the final minutes may be the worst call in the history of organized basketball.
• Ced Bozeman, you could tell, simply decided that his career was not going to end tonight. hey need more of that on Saturday.
  

A new direction for the Kings

This is the post I was hoping I wouldn't have to write. The Kings fired the winningest coach in team history after almost six seasons, despite being nine games over .500. And quite honestly, Dave Taylor pretty much had to do it. There's an old adage that says you can't fire all the players, and in this case, although they deserved it more than Murray, he took the fall. The team simply stopped competing. They've looked awful in their last five games, and other than a five game winning streak that straddled the Olympic break, they've been awful for months. Some of that is due to injuries, of course. Two players were unable to play in the Olympics because of injuries, and two returned from the Games unable to continue playing. Frolov will probably be back on Saturday, and Demitra is still a question mark.

Murray's career, which started with a playoff sweep in 2000, and included a promising dash to the post-season in 2001 culminating in a first round upset of the Red Wings. In the 2001-2002 season, the Kings were very good most of the year, though they lost to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Avalanche in seven games in the first round. That loss was due in part to a charlie horse suffered by Jason Allison, and it started a trend that eventually cost Murray his job. Beset by injuries for the next few seasons, the Kings have failed to reach the playoffs since. The nadir was in the 2003-2004 season, missed entirely by Adam Deadmarsh and Jason Allison, and half missed by Ziggy Palffy. The Kings set an unofficial record for man games lost to injury that season. And it's not a lack of depth that was exposed. We're talking about the entire top line going down. No team recovers from that. For the last three seasons, its invariably the stars who have been missing time due to injury for an assortment of unfortunate incidents.

But after a terrific start to this season, things went dead south. The low point was a 10-1 loss to Buffalo, and things never really got better. They've been outworked, outhustled, and outplayed. Their specialty teams have been atrocious most of the season (a positive aspect of the firing is that John Van Boxmeer was caught in the crossfire), and their goaltending has been inconsistent. They've failed to play with passion in desperate situations, save for one terrific third period against Dallas last month. How much of that can be blamed on the coach it's impossible to know for sure. But the Kings are in the midst of a 4 day rest before their final push for a playoff spot, and if they were going to make a move to jumpstart the team, now was the time to do it. John Torchetti, who is turning into a Mr. Fixit type of interim coach takes over for the balance of the season, and will be evaluated at the end.

The elephant in the room is the status of Dave Taylor. There's almost no one more respected by long time Kings fans in the organization, with the exception of Bob Miller. But facts are facts, and since Dave Taylor took over the GM position, the Kings have won exactly one playoff series. At some point, you have to ask whether that's good enough. On the positive side, he has overseen a rebuilding of the farm system. Lubo Visnovsky, Alexander Frolov, Joe Corvo, Dustin Brown, and Michael Cammalleri have all begun to blossom under his watch. He made the deal that brought Matty Norstrom over. He acquired Tim Gleason, who is quickly becoming a fan favorite. The Rob Blake deal looked like a winner after a half season until injuries derailed Deadmarsh and weakened Aaron Miller. The signings of Conroy and Demitra appeared astute before Demitra's freak injuries. There's a fair amount of talent in Manchester right now, and the team, with better luck on the health front, is really only a few moves away from competing for the top of the division. But you can't ignore the fact that he turned the goaltending over to two untested netminders, and the results have been mixed. He traded for Jeremy Roenick, who has been invisible in all aspects other than his drain on the payroll. And who can forget deadline disasters like the trades for Cliff Ronning and Anson Carter. He gave up Kimo Timonen pretty much for nothing other than an agreement not to draft one of their goalies, neither of whom were particularly franchise players. Taylor won't be fired. He'd be moved upstairs, but the buzzards are definitely circling.

And blame certainly goes to AEG as well. They've said for years that they were preparing financially for this season and this collective bargaining agreement. Well, it's here, and the results don't speak well for their long term planning. All things considered, the franchise is much better off than when they took over, but the fact is they're real estate developers. Their sports franchises are a means to that end. That's not to say the Kings can't be successful under their ownership, but we aren't talking about an ownership that's 100% committed to winning. What the Kings truly need is their own Arte Moreno. I'm not holding my breath.

What will the future hold? Fuck if I know. There's 12 games left. They'll likely be out of a playoff spot by Saturday, and they'll have to re-earn it. But now is as good a time as any to show that they still have some life.

Thank you, Andy. Thanks for the hard work over the years. Thanks for the dedication. Thanks for that tremendous series in 2001. Not many people dislike Andy Murray the individual. I'll definitely miss him.

The Kings. They still suck.

Way to ruin Adam Deadmarsh night. I wore my Deadmarsh jersey and everything. Another year without playoffs.

Technorati

So there's this search engine out there that basically only searches blogs. It's called Technorati. You may have seen the little Technorati button on other peoples' blogs which will take you to a page that shows you what is linking to that particular blog. Here's the Technorati search for this place. It's fun to do once or twice, but it's essentially a useless tool in my opinion. Generally, if you've had a blog for a while, you have a pretty good idea of who's linking to you by just checking your site meter (assuming you have that, of course, but it's free, so I don't know why you wouldn't). Sitemeter will tell you where your traffic is coming from, so if you get here by clicking a link on another page, it tells me where you came from.

Not long after firing this blog up again after a few earlier attempts, I posted an item asking (or blegging, if you will) about a number of hits I'd get every few days or so. Some quirk of the Blogger system would make this blog (and presumably other blogs at other times) next "in line" so to speak, and clicking the little button at the top right of the page that takes you to the next blog in line would take you here. In that post, I mentioned a number of the blogs from whom traffic had been directed here. Mind you, I didn't, and don't read any of those blogs. I have no idea who updates them, or what they write about. But I did provide handy links so that you, the 12 or so people other than me that read this site, could see for yourselves.

Turns out the proprietor of a blog called Wordonthestreetis was doing a Technorati check, found the link from this site, and came over to check it out. Problem is that in a lame attempt to be funny, I said her blog sucked. Now, granted, I hadn't actually read her blog, I have no idea who she is, and honestly, it was a one off comment using the title of her blog in what I thought was a slightly humurous fashion. Here's the paragraph in question:

In the past hour, I've supposedly received hits from USAMediablog, Fallbrookinstsyle, Vishu8, depression1resources (I know I just turned 32, but I'm not that depressed. yet.), compteachis10, maristarrynight, dermatiteatopica (I thought no one knew about that rash), wordonthestreetis (word on the street is your blog sucks - j/k), omdatikvanmeou (I don't even know what language that is), and lordofthedamned (this one could actually be a real referral). Thanks to each and every one of you. However, I'm guessing these aren't actual people, but rather some random glitch in blogger software that occurs every few days.

Yesterday, the writer of the aforementioned blog visited that post and left a nasty little note in the comments:

thanks. your blog sucks, too.

I certainly can't deny that, but really, that was uncalled for. Most people spend a little time here before deciding that this blog sucks. And besides, I didn't really think her blog sucked. In fact, I even wrote j/k, as in "just kidding" next to my little joke, which I hadn't realized I'd done the first time. Boy, now that I see that qualifier, I'm not really sure why I'm apologizing, as I was clearly kidding, and not just impliedly, but expressly. But anyway, Meridith, you have my deepest apologies. I didn't get into blogging to make enemies. I have plenty of those already just from being a typical everday asshole. Just ask anyone who has ever played hockey with me. Or co-ed basketball (that one's for you, Po). Or gone drinking.

Anyway, that comment stung. Seriously. And so I'd just like to say I'm sorry.

Of course, I should also apologize to most of you who actually spend valuble time reading the endless nothingness that I post, but hey, you get what you pay for.

*UPDATE*
Meridith responds. Unfortunately, she may have taken me a little too seriously (or she's being funny and I'm a moron). Honestly, this was all meant as one big joke. I didn't mean to make anyone feel bad. Although, I probably should have tried to parlay this into some big Brian Jonestown Massacre vs. Dandy Warhols thing, which itself was just a poor attempt at imitating Blur and Oasis.