U$C 9; UCLA 13

I've got the crow cooking in the oven and I'm ready for my meal. WHAT. A. GAME!! DeWayne Walker ought to be enshrined in the UCLA hall of fame right now.

Incredible performance by the Bruins defense. The sack numbers aren't indicative, but they pressured Booty all night, they completely shut down the run, and they were remarkably effective on the corners. I was very worried about Rodney Van versus whoever they planned to run out against him, but the defense held firm. The stopped the criminals on numerous third and short and fourth and short attempts. And the play of the game, Eric McNeal, a tip and interception with 1:10 to go, was absolutely amazing. On defense, it was a total team effort. The front four held their ground, and the other seven, especially Dennis Keyes, who made a lot of big tackles, did their part. Shout out to the linebacker corps as well, as they were supposed to be the weak link this season with the graduations of Justin London and Spencer Havner. They were stout. And Trey Brown, I hardly heard his name mentioned, and if you're a cornerback, that's not a bad thing.

On the offensive side, I wasn't completely wrong. I didn't think UCLA would score enough points with Cowan at the helm, but that was before I knew the defense would play out of their minds. But credit to Cowan, who did all the leg work, literally, on the only drive that led to a touchdown. And he popped back up from a major shot to the head by Ray Malalaualsdfhga, which really isn't a fair fight, since Ray has had all of that prison time to work on his cheating skills. And speaking of blatant penalties that weren't called, here's my post from Bruins Nation:

It's been that way all season. They opened the season by becoming the laughing stocks of college football in the Oregon-Oklahoma game. They further embarrassed themselves in the UCLA-Arizona game when Ben Olson was knocked out with a late hit, and Tuitama was knocked out with a helmet to helmet hit (hey, I call 'em like I see 'em)


Fast forward to tonight.

1. I thought the late hit on U$C when Cowan ran for the first down was a bad call. But the helmet to helmet hit by Maladjusted on Cowan was so blatant and so obvious that my six year old niece could have called it. Should have kept that drive alive.
2. In the last minute on the third down play, U$C calls a time-out that they don't have. This wasn't surprising, as most U$C players can neither read nor count. Yet still, the clock stopped for at least ten seconds worth of time that should have come off the clock.
3. With the new rules in college football, the clock is supposed to start after punts when the ball is ready for play. Apparently there's a caveat to that rule that says the ball isn't ready for play until U$C says it is, as the refs stood over the ball for about 20 seconds, and I think Booty was on 2 before they finally ran the clock.

Great win. Awesome performance by the defense. Pathetic display by the women of troy. And flat out embarrassing work by Pac 10 officials.

And I stand by that. the officiating was awful.

But hat's off to Karl Dorrell. Hat's off to all of the Bruins. Hats off to TJ Simers, who has called this victory for the Bruins all week.

As we speak, Arkansas and Florida both seem to be figuring out new ways to lose, so who knows for sure whether Michigan might be in the national championship game, or WILL be in the national championship game. Speaking of Arkansas, their punt returner just fucked up a play inside his own five yard line that led to a Florida touchdown. What is it about Arkansas? 8 years ago, Clint Stoerner basically handed the ball to Tennessee in game that the hogs should have won, and Tennessee ended up winning the national championship. Stupid Arkansas.

Tremendous win for the Bruins. Tremendous win for the program. They stood up to bullies and punched them in the face. Anyway, that's all I can of for now. Just an awesome win. It's been a long time.

Congratulations, Arizona

You beat an unranked team, playing without their two best players, essentially at home, and you still needed the refs to give Carter and Pruitt their fourth fouls with about 18 minutes to play. As a UCLA fan, let me just say that I'm glad this piece of shit team is in the Pac 10, because Arizona is incredibly overrated. Oh, and Cat fan, in case you forgot:

Suck on it.

What a messed up day

UCLA-U$C, Kings-Ducks, and Illinois-Arizona all on at the same time. Brutal. Worse yet, all three teams I'll be rooting for figure to lose. Ugh.

So, Tomorrow's the Big Game

Well, not THAT Big Game, but a big game nonetheless. UCLA will be getting a great deal of support from somewhat unusual locations like Ann Arbor and Gainesville, while U$C will be getting its typical support from the legions of front-runners that scoop up all that gear when the women of troy are good in football. What does that all mean? Nothing.

But anyway, as predictions go, there's no logical case that can be made for UCLA pulling off the upset in this one. The only way they win is if the score stays low, which isn't altogether impossible, just highly improbable. The big problems, as I see them:

1. UCLA has one good cornerback, while U$C has two really good receivers, along with a good running game. One and a half if you count Al Verner. But when Rodney Van is in the game, he's going to get torched. He hasn't stopped a good receiver all season, and these are the best receivers he's going to face. They can't match Trey Brown up on one without getting burned by the other, and
2. If the Bruins get behind early, the don't have the offense to come back. They'll certainly hold up their end of the bargain on the low scoring, but I just can't see them scoring enough points to win.

I think the game will play out one of two ways. Either U$C gets up big and keeps building, or the Bruin defense holds it tight and U$C pulls away in the last ten minutes. Of course, the wild card is always turnovers. And interception returned for a score here, a couple of fumbles there, and UCLA could end up taking the game if they get a lot of breaks. That's tough to predict, though, and I'm not going to do it here.

In the end, I'll say the final will be U$C 27; UCLA 13. It's going to be 17-13 with about ten minutes to go, at which point U$C will kick a field goal, get a stop, and score a touchdown to cap the scoring. Right now I'd take U$C and give the points. I hope to hell that doesn't happen, but that's what I feel in my gut.

Updates on the stuff I care about

UCLA

The basketball team will be #1 in both polls next week following Ohio State's loss to North Carolina last night in what was actually a pretty exciting game. Both teams look pretty damn good, and I wouldn't be shocked if they met in Atlanta in April, unless of course the final four isn't in Atlanta, but I'm not going to look it up, so you can figure out what I mean. Anyway, as noted before, this just means it will be that much more shocking when the UCR Highlanders shock the world on Sunday.

On the gridiron, the coaching staff announced today that Pat Cowan would remain the starter going into the game with the women of troy this weekend. I'm not happy about this. Nothing against Pat Cowan, but I see the team with two identities. They're either a) the pretty mediocre team with Cowan at the helm, or b) the mediocre team with Ben Olson behind center who may actually be really good at times. In other words, Cowan is more of a known quantity, and while Olson coming off an injury may be worse than Cowan, he may be better, and the known quantity that is Cowan will not be enough to beat $C. It's a gamble, but one worth taking. Though quite frankly, the play calling figures to be so conservative with either one that I can't see the Bruins scoring more than 21 points at best. That's probably not going to be enough.

Angels

The rumored supposedly done deal that shall remain nameless looks less and less like a done deal. The HH crew have been commenting on reports that a) Kenny Williams says he hasn't approached anyone about Crede, and b) Scioscia told Figgins he's the third baseman next year. Well, as a wise man once said, well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet. First, Williams never said that no one else approached him. Yeah, I'm parsing, but that's the way these guys work. Second, who cares what Scioscia told Figgins? Nothing is settled until those guys take the field next year. Of course, either Stoneman or Williams could make some sort of unequivocal statement that no deal will be done involving those players, but they won't because they're GMs, and GMs hedge. It's part of the job.

A reader pointed me to another take over here earlier today. I agree with this part:

If the Figgins-Santana for Crede-Garcia trade goes through, and Matthews, Crede, and Garcia all play up to their ability, Stoneman just might make a few friends in the OC.

I disagree with pretty much everything else. Sure, if Garcia, Crede, and Matthews all play at their best, like say, Crede and Matthews repeating last year while Garcia repeats his 2001 season (that was five years ago, folks), it would look like a great deal next year, and I'm sure a lot of people behind the Orange Curtain would be very happy. It would still look awful three years down the line when Santana is a top 10 starter, Crede is hurt, and Garcia is either back to sucking, or pitching for another team for HUGE dollars. Look, there is risk in every deal, and even deals apparently lopsided against you can work out in your favor if everything breaks right, but show me a GM who expects everything to break in his favor every time, and I'll say "I didn't know you were buddies with Allard Baird and David Littlefield".

There is really no one the White Sox would consider trading who could a) help the Angels this year, and b) equal the value of Ervin Santana. It's just not possible. Pitchers who have completed two seasons by age 23 with his stuff and numbers don't come around very often, and trading him now in exchange for mediocrity is such a dumb idea that I can't even believe I'm addressing it. But, that's pretty much my take. Stoneman has already burdened the team with one albatross this off-season (at least the fourth in a continuing series - see also: Erstad, Anderson, and Finley), and if he does any more damage, it may take the franchise a few years to recover. Fortunately for me, were he to make that deal, I'd be rooting for another team, and the Angels lack of success wouldn't bother me.

The Night Before

Illinois

Ugh. What a tough game to watch. Stagnant offense, poor shooting, out of control play at times. Rich McBride just looked completely lost, not a good sign for a senior. Jamar Smith is clearly still recovering from his ankle sprain. He was a step slow all night. And this was some of the worst defense I've seen from a Bruce Weber team in a while. Lots of open looks for the Terrapins, and outside of some excellent offensive rebounding, the Illini were not a good team last night. Good effort from the Illinois big men, though. Warren Carter pulled down a ton of boards in the first half, and made the only three pointer before the break. Sean Pruitt finished with nice numbers, but I'd like to see him take it to the basket a little stronger. Brian Carlwell provided a nice spark. He's got a lot of work to do, but he's going to be a good one. But boy, this team really needs Brian Randle back. I thought Calvin Brock played a good game as well. 11 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes. Not sure why he didn't get more time. He's their most athletic player with Randle on the bench.

UCLA

Not on TV, but it was nice to see the real leaders getting it done on the offensive end. They combined for 44 points, with the point guards adding another 21. LRMAM hit the boards in the second half, but it looks like he was the only one. The Bruins were killed on the glass by 41-22 margin. That's unacceptable, but having not seen the game, it's tough to see what contributed to that. On the plus side, the Bruins created 23 turn overs, while only guilty of 10 themselves. And 13 of 22 from beyond the arc is going to get it done most of the time. Nice night from Russel Westbrook, including 11 points on 3-3 from three point land. The 0 assists and 2 turnovers aren't much to write home about, though. Of course, this means the Bruins will still be undefeated when UC Riverside shocks the world on Sunday!

On the football front, the Bruins have agreed to meet Florida State in the Emerald Bowl on December 27th. Look, I can't get excited about these games either, and about eight or nine years ago, this would have been a great matchup, but the fact is that going to a bowl game means another full month of practice, and that's too valuable to turn down at the college level.

They still have yet to name a starter for Saturday's game with the women of troy, but after the way the offense operated last game under Cowan, they'd be crazy not to go with Ben Olson. On paper, this is going to be another in a long line of beatdowns. But it's a rivalry game, and stranger things have happened. With their defense, I actually think they have a better chance going into this year's game than they did last year. But I'm not getting my hopes up.

Angels

Still no announcement of the potentially worst trade in franchise history, though people in the comments both here and at Halos Heaven are reporting it's a done deal. Don't know what they could be waiting for. For now I'll still hold out hope that this is not going to go down.

Looking at his BBRef page, Santana's closest comps through age 23 are Ben Sheets and Mark Mulder. How did those two fare in their next two seasons? Sheets had an average age 23 season, going 11-13 with a 4.45 ERA, but exploded the year after that, posting a 2.70 ERA while striking out 264. He's struggled with injuries since. Mulder went 34-16 over his next two seasons, posting era+s of 134 and 136. Of course, he had already established himself as an ace at 23, so he's not as good a comp as Sheets. Regardless, there's no reason to think that Santana won't progress, and trading him before he establishes himself for such dreck as Freddie Garcia is mind-bogglingly insane. Not to mention, Santana has destroyed the A's in his first two seasons, going 6-1 with a 1.55 ERA while allowing fewer than a baserunner per inning. Might want to keep a guy around who simply owns your arch-rival.

Like I said, officially, this deal hasn't gone down yet, so I'm still an Angels fan. For now.

Idiocy

I have never been a Bill Stoneman basher. 2002 goes a long way in my opinion of most of the people in current Angels management, but if the rumors are true, someone needs to steal the keys from this madman as soon as humanly possible. The L.A. Times is reporting that the Angels are discussing a trade of Figgins for Crede. That's the good news. The bad news is that the trade would also include Ervin Santana for Freddie Garcia. That's lunacy.

The difference between the relative values of Crede and Figgins is much lower than the difference between Garcia and Santana when salaries are added in. It's the type of difference that could easily be filled by a Steven Shell, or some other such minor league arm that isn't among the cream of the Angels pitching crop. Why Stoneman would even consider a deal in which he would add a pitcher who has declined each of the last two seasons, and is owed in the neighborhood of $10MM is beyond me. Santana, on the other hand, was at least Garcia's equal last year, will only be 24 years old, and is club controlled for the next four seasons.

I've been an advocate of a Figgins for Crede deal, but not at this price. This is just fucking nuts.

Just checking in with a question

Is there anyone other than Gary Matthews Jr., his agent, Bill Stoneman, and fans of other AL West teams who think this deal is good for the Angels? I mean, has any Angels fan anywhere come close to saying that this deal isn't awful?

I think Bill Stoneman may be retarded. Seriously.

Absolutely Indefensible

The Gary Matthews signing will haunt the Angels into the next decade. Easily one of the three or four dumbest moves in franchise history.

This has basically ruined my entire Thanksgiving weekend.

Morning Roundup - Updated with Angels news

UCLA

Pretty ugly game last night. Horrendous shooting from anywhere beyond about 8 feet from the basket, and that included the free throw line. The defense was not terrific in the second half outside of a few select possessions, but they were solid when they had to be, and although they gave up what was once a 17 point lead, they never let Kentucky get the lead beyond one posession, and almost every time Kentucky took a lead, the Bruins would run it back out to about a four or five point advantage. Also, give the Bruins credit for taking care of the ball. They only turned it over 8 times, three of those belonging to Darren Collison, who made up for them with seven assists.

They're going to need to shoot the ball a hell of a lot better, though. 2 for 19 from the three point line isn't going to cut it, and 54% from the free throw line isn't much better. A rare below average rebounding night from LRMAM was offset by his 18 points, and Lorenzo Mata, coming off a knee surgery, looked excellent with 11 boards and 12 points. Georgia Tech is on the bill tonight after taking out Memphis. Another good test for the Bruins.

Illinois

Didn't see this one, as it wasn't on TV (and I had a hockey game, but that's another story). Four players scored in double figures, including Rich McBride, who played 27 minutes in his first game of the year. He was 4-10 from beyond the arc, which is OK, but without seeing the game, it's tough to evaluate. Chet Frazier had a great game with 17 points and 10 assists against 2 turnovers in 27 minutes. Nice to see him get some time on the bench with McBride back in the lineup. The numbers were down for Trent Meacham and Calvin Brock, but Sean Pruitt added a double-double. The Illini dominated the glass with a 46-19 rebounding advantage. In fact, more Illini misses were rebounded by the Illini than by Savannah State, which has to be a fairly rare occurrence. The 70% free throw shooting was pretty solid as well. Kind of curious why Brian Carlwell didn't register a shot (though he was obviously fouled three time in the act of shooting). Not much the Illini can do other than beat the teams that are put in front of them. We're a week away from the first real test for the Illini when they face Maryland at the Hall in the Big 10/ACC Challenge.

Angels

The folly continues, as the Angels ramp up their pursuit of one year wonder Gary Matthews Jr., who says the Angels are probably the top team on his list. Rumors have the contract at five years, which is too many for a guy who will be 32 in the first year of the deal, which is already pushing it for a center fielder. He's been above average (barely) exactly three times in his career, and in two of those seasons, it was in limited time. Even in last year's career year (as it's his eighth in the majors, I refuse to call it a break out year). His isolated on base percentage (OBP less batting average), was worse than Chone Figgins', and his numbers were inflated due to his high batting average, which was 14% higher than his career high (not his average, but his HIGH!) coming into this season. He hit all of 20 home runs in a hitters' park, and didn't even slug .500. He has the potential to be a pretty good player over the next couple of years, but he's doubtful to be worth what the Angels will pay him, and he's virtually guaranteed to incredibly overpaid over the last couple years of the deal.

Angels fans, cross your fingers and hope the gold mine that the Cubs are apparently sitting on is still producing. Their downright crazy off-season may be the Angels only hope at this point. This would not be a good signing for the Angels. I might rather take Reggie Willits straight up over GMJ.

UPDATE - Fox is reporting it's a done deal at 5 years, $50MM. He'll be 36 in the last year. This move is indefensible. Dumbest move since the Easley for Greg Gohr trade. Just pathetic. Fuck this fucking team.

Me

Leaving today for Toledo (four hours) to visit my sister for Thanksgiving. Then on Friday I'll be driving from Toledo to Evansville, IN (eight hours) for a wedding, then back to Chicago (six hours) on Sunday. It's going to be a long weekend. As a result, posting could be on the light side. Of course, I'll probably be bringing my computer, and with the rehearsal dinner and reception, there's an increased possibility for drunk posting, so you never know.

Hoops

UCLA at Kentucky tonight. Nice to see Aaron Afflalo get his jumper back last night. At times the game was pretty sloppy, and it seemed to be called EXTREMELY tight against UCLA. Part of me thinks that Ben Howland requested that. There were a lot of carries called that you never see called during the regular season. A lot of very ticky tack fouls called against the Bruins that you don't even see during a Pac 10 game. And that's fine with me. Get them used to that. Better to have that happen in a game in which they were going to win easily. Russel Westbrook looked very solid in my opinion. He only had three points and two assists, but he showed quickness and good decision making. If he can contribute this season as much as Collison did last season, the Bruins will be in good shape. Tonight is a measurement game.

The Illini continue the soft part of their schedule with Savannah State. Savannah hasn't played anyone of note yet, but they're 5-0, and at least they'll bring a winning attitude to the Assembly Hall. The Illini backcourt has been terrific to start the season, and no one has surprised more than Calvin Brock. Rich McBride returns to the lineup, but with Brock, Chet Frazier, and Trent Meacham playing so well, it may be tough for him to get minutes. The competition for playing can do nothing but help the team. And if these guys continue to exceed expectations, look for coach Weber's reputation as an excellent developer of guard talent to continue to improve. One of the issues with this team, as noted by the Big Ten Wonk, has been defensive rebounding. We'll see if coach Weber makes that a point of emphasis tonight.

Angels Ink Justin Speier

Four years, $18MM. My gut instinct is to criticize multi-year, multi-million dollar deals for relief pitchers, especially relief pitchers that aren't closers. The Angels have made a habit of getting pretty good performances from scrap-heap guys over the last six or seven years, then letting them loose on other teams just before they ran out of good pitches (Mark Petkovsek is the poster boy for this, but they got good seasons out of Ben Weber, Al Levine, and Lou Pote before they fell off the map as well). But the Angels bucked this trend last year with the signing of Hector Carrasco (tempered somewhat by the original plan to start him before signing Jeff Weaver, and before the emergence of Jered Weaver). So for the second year in a row, the Angels move to shore up their bullpen via free agency, signing the best free agent middle reliever on the market.

Speier is the son of former major leaguer Chris Speier, which pretty much means absolutely nothing, but I had his baseball card as a kid, so I thought I'd throw that out there. Basically this move drops JC Romero completely out of the picture (mercifully), as Speier has killed lefties the last couple of years, and drops Carrasco and Donnelly back a spot in the bullpen, assuming Donnelly returns (Stoneman has said he likely will). That won't make Donnelly very happy, but it does give the Angels the top bullpen in the AL heading into the season. As we all know, bullpens aren't built on paper, so that guarantees the Angels absolutely nothing but peace of mind for the first couple weeks of April.

It also increases the possibility that the Angels could include Scot Shields in a deal for a big bat this off-season. He's been in the mind of every team that has tried to deal with Stoneman the last few seasons, and now that the Angels have another guy capable of pitching the 8th, Shields could be used to sweeten the pot for a potential slugger, especially in light of the fact that they just removed the other best alternative from the market. Shields hits free agency next season (I think), and if this deal is an indication of his value, he'll probably command a deal of similar length at something closer to $6MM per. That may be more than Stoneman is willing to shell out.

As the Rev pointed out, this could be a case of Stoneman taking into account where the budget is going for the next couple of years and spending accordingly. At the beginning of the 2005 season, the Angels had expensive players at every infield position except for third base while employing a fairly cheap bullpen. Catcher, First, and Second just got a lot cheaper in the last year, and Stoneman probably feels like he has money to spend on a part of the roster that a) needs help, and b) saved them money over the last few years. That's fairly astute analysis, and I wish I'd thought of it.

Against my prior judgment, I like this deal. It gives the Angels options heading into the season, and should they choose not to exercise them, they're going to have an excellent bullpen yet again. This has been Bud Black's forte, so it make Mike Butcher's job a little easier as well. And if they make a move including Shields, they just paid a couple million to enhance his value.

The first big test

It's likely to come tomorrow night for the UCLA Bruins, who are slated to take on Kentucky if they can get by potential giant killers Chaminade, who took down top ranked Virginia in this tournament a little over twenty years ago. This should be a pretty good indicator of where the Bruins are at this point in the season. The field is loaded outside of the hosts. Joining the Bruins and Wildcats in Maui are Depaul, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Purdue, and Oklahoma. That's a very solid field. The Bruins could also meet Memphis in the final, the next highest ranked team behind the Bruins in the top 25.

Tournaments like these are excellent early season tests, and I commend Ben Howland for taking the Bruins to this event. I've been critical of his scheduling history in the past, and there are still a few issues I have with some of the comments he's made in the past (most notably advocating a 16 game conference schedule). A young team with a major target in it's back needs early mathups like this to help them get used to the type of intensity they're going to face from opponents every night this season.

Speaking of major upsets in holiday tournaments in Hawaii, we're coming up on the 17th anniversary of perhaps the most underrated upset in the history of college basketball. On Christmas night in Honolulu, the UC Riverside Highlanders took down then-undefeated and fourth ranked Iowa. They didn't do this on a luck three pointer at the last second. The Highlanders canned 21 threes during the game en route to a 110-92 victory. It remains probably the biggest win in UCR hoops history (it should have been overshadowed by a D-2 National Championship in 1995, but I'd rather not get into that). I only call it underrated because, for example, a google search for "Chaminade Virginia" turns up a ton of hits on that game, while I had to search for about fifteen minutes to find ONE mention of the game (OK, I found two, but one was from me talking about it on another message board). Anyway, here's a link to a brief mention of the game. You'll need to search through a bit, but it's there.

UCLA plays UC Riverside later this season. In 2001, I walked a mile and a half in a Western Chicago suburb, at night, in December, to watch the Highlanders take on the Bruins. UCR actually led by one early in the second half before being blown out, but hey, it was a Lavin team, which meant there was always a chance for an upset. This is the the only match-up in which I'll ever root against UCLA.

Continuity

I'm not sure if that's the right word, but so be it. Anyway, Wedding Crashers has been on HBO about a million times in the last couple of months, and after watching bits and pieces of it over and over and over again, I have a couple of questions:

1. The day of the Cleary wedding, the schedule apparently includes: The wedding, the reception (including pictures), a boat trip to their home on the coast, a football game, so hangin' around time, then dinner. My question is, what time was this wedding, 8:30 in the morning? Weddings rarely start before noon, and the reception was off-site, which means it probably didn't start until 1:00 or so (at the very earliest). You gotta figure that went at least four hours, so now, if everything is breaking their way, it's 5:00. I gotta figure that rounding everyone up and sending them home, then getting on the boat and cruising to their pad after everyone has left is at least another hour. So now it's 6:00, they've probably been up since 6:00 am for an early wedding, and they're still going to play football before cleaning up for dinner? Without even questioning whether they'd even eat dinner on a night like that (I mean, if you have an afternoon reception, chances are you aren't having a big sit-down dinner that night). I find that all highly improbable. Also, no one was drunk, which makes it probably the lamest wedding reception I've ever seen.
2. After the falling out, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan don't talk to each other for weeks/months. Umm, aren't these guys business partners? How can you just not talk to your business partner for that long and still have a business?
3. After Vince Vaughan marries Isla Fisher, the four main characters drive away, impliedly to crash another wedding. Wouldn't you think they'd have, ya know, a reception of their own to attend? (and they were definitely leaving the wedding, because it was only like 2:00 pm).
4. Why wasn't the chick who played their secretary at the beginning in the movie more? She was the hottest one! Bastards.
   

Otherwise, pretty funny movie.

Rivalries

Tomorrow is one of football's traditional "rivalry weeks" in which many of the top rivalries will play out in college football stadiums across the country. Michigan v. Ohio State is obviously getting the lion's share of hype, but we shouldn't forget tomorrow's other traditional rivalries, like the Iron Bowl (Auburn v. Alabama), the Land Grant Trophy (MSU v. PSU), and other traditional rivalries like Purdue v. Indiana, Illinois v. Northwestern, Montana v. Montana State (I'm serious - you might not think it's a big deal, but that game is HUGE in Montana, and I have a lot of family there, mostly Montana grads).

But the thing I like most about this week is that every year it reminds why I love the Pac 10. There is no other conference in America with such natural rivalries, all within the same conference. Every Pac 10 team has a natural rival that trumps all other rivals, and all of those are conference games, making the game that much more important (don't kid yourself into thinking U$C v. ND is bigger than U$C v. UCLA). Here's my own "pulled from ass" rivalry criteria:

1. Teams should both be in-state, or at the very least, from bordering states. Even better if they're in the same metropolitan area.
2. Teams should be in the same conference. For years, the Rose Bowl almost always came down to the UCLA v. U$C game, and it always elevated the rivalry.
   
3. Teams should both be competitive, as in, they should both make appearances in the top 25 at least every other year or so (for example, this sort of eliminates Indiana v. Purdue and Illinois v. Northwestern).
4. Most importantly, the two teams' biggest rivals should be one another. For example, Michigan v. Michigan State is a good rivalry, but Michigan has a bigger rivalry with Ohio State, which means it's not a great rivalry. Hell, people at Illinois thought of Michigan as one of our big rivals. Geez, it's not a rivalry if your "rival" doesn't really care about you.
   

So let's break down the Pac 10 rivalries:

1. U$C v. UCLA - The only negative might be that people on the back East may think that the ND v. U$C rivalry is more important than U$C v. UCLA. People back East are stupid.
   
2. Arizona v. Arizona State - No question on 1, 2, and 4. Arizona has been down recently, but they had a good run in the '90s. ASU has played for the national championship within the last ten years, and they seem to make people think they're good before just about every season. Their recent tank jobs have diminished this one a bit. Still, it's better than most Big 10 rivalries.
3. The Civil War - Oregon v. Oregon State - Both schools have been in BCS bowls in this decade, and while Oregon is usually better, they've both been not-awful for a while now. 20 years ago, no one would have cared, but nowadays, it's a big game. And it's got a cool name.
4. The Big Game - Cal v. Stanford - Not quite as good as U$C v. UCLA, but Cal has been very good lately, and Stanford has been to a relatively recent Rose Bowl. It's got some damn fine history as well.
5. The Apple Cup - Washington v. Wazzu - Washington has been down recently, but the rivalry has been buoyed by a surprisingly competitive Washington State team.
   

The Pac 10 is the only conference which brings all my "pulled from my ass" criteria together for every single team. No other conference can claim that. That's why I love the Pac 10, and that's why, when people mention a possible expansion to 12 teams, I would only like to see them add Colorado and Colorado State (or maybe the New Mexico schools).

Illinois Basketball

To this point, I've more or less neglected the 2006-2007 Fighting Illini, for no reason other than I've been busy with a bunch of other stuff lately. Also, for the first time in a few years, I expect the Illini to simply be good rather than very good, or flat out fantastic. While I would have been thrilled with this lineup coming off the '98-'99 season, it's not exactly marquee material just two seasons removed from '04-'05. That's not their fault, or course.

For the first time in a few years, I don't really think the Illini have anyone that's truly reliable heading into the season. For example, last year we all knew that at the very least, Dee and Augustine could win the Illini a fair number of games even without much help. There is no one like that on this team, and as such, predicting their finish is pretty much a crap-shoot. They're young, with only two seniors expected to get significant playing time, and neither among their most important players (Warren Carter and Marcus Arnold). This team has a lot of question marks.

The biggest questions, in my mind, are:

1. How much has Sean Pruitt improved, and with Augustine gone, can he become a reliable low post scorer and rebounder? I think he has to average about 14 and 8 for the Illini to be successful.
2. Can Chester Frazier become a legitimate threat to score? He doesn't need to replace Dee's scoring, but he at least needs to be able to draw a defender to free up someone inside or Jamar Smith.
3. Can Jamar Smith (when he returns from injury) be a more consistent scorer. Last year Jamar was a dead eye shooter who could put together a big game under the right circumstances. He needs to be able to put up big games under the wrong circumstances if the Illini are going to be successful.
4. Can Brian Randle get healthy, and if he can, will he be able to shoot? For much of the off-season, the non-recruiting discussion centered around how Randle had improved his jumper. We know he can defend. We know he can fly. What he needs to do is consistently hit 17-18 footers to pull his defenders out the perimeter before he puts the ball on the floor.

Those are my big questions for the Illini this season. Prediction? 19 wins, second round of the NCAA tournament, and that's probably it. Add a win or two if Smith and Randle get healthy sooner rather than later.

BYU 69; UCLA 82

I don't know about you, but that seemed like kind of a strange game to me. UCLA dominated early, then BYU just went freaking nuts, hitting seven of their eight three point attempts in the first half, and it's not like they were all open looks, on their way to opening up a nine point lead. I'd like to say UCLA made a methodical comeback, but it didn't really feel like that watching the game. But when you look at the game flow chart, their scoring line is almost dead straight. No real big runs, or real big lulls offensively. They scored at a very consistent pace, while BYU made a couple of big runs, but didn't really do much once they got to about 60 points. Technically, the Bruins went on an 11-0 run which started with about seven minutes to go in the game, but they did it with defense, and that run took five minutes to complete, at which the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.

I thought they looked a little nervous at first. Both Afflalo and Shipp jacked up some pretty questionable shots, and Mike Roll followed suit when he entered the game. BYU took advantage of those poor posessions to build their lead. But UCLA settled down, started to run their offense, and got a fair amount easy baskets.

The stars of the game for the Bruins were clearly Darren Collison and LRMAM. Collison went for 16 and ten assists, including a couple of second half three pointers, and a terrific drive at the end of the first half on a screen and roll. The defender turned his back, and Collison was a blur on the way to the basket.

LRMAM notched the first of what will likely be many double doubles this season (mmmm....double doubles) with 24 and 10 rebounds. He mixed in solid defense as well. Highlights included a flying dunk to finish a break, and a great second half baseline move that ended with him reaching from behind the backboard to lay it in, pushing the lead to nine with just over three minutes to play.

BYU is no pushover, and the Bruins overcame some early adversity to really put them away in the second half. And let's not forget, the early scoop was that they would have trouble with BYU center Trent Plaisted with his size and skill inside compared to the lack of same for the Bruins. He went 3-7 from the field, scored only seven points, and was in foul trouble much of the night. I think that's a good sign that they'll be able to guard the interior. Not a bad start against a team that many are picking in their field of 65. Make no mistake, I think this Bruins team can play MUCH MUCH better than they did last night. But still, it's a nice way to kick off the season.

Thank God it's basketball season

It's finally here. With the Kings having a less than successful year, and UCLA football being UCLA football, the wait for basketball season has been particularly excruciating.

My gut feeling is that this team is going to be just as good as last year's team. I think they'll be more consistent. Last year's team at their best would probably beat this year's team at their best, but I think this year's team will play at a higher level more often than they did last year. A lot of that inconsistency was due to the fact that so many minutes went to freshmen, and a fair amount was to due to Ryan Hollins, the poster child for inconsistency (who took that title from Michael Fey, finally found a way to be consistently bad). But athletic seven footers don't grow on trees, and when Hollins was on his game, he really made a big impact. They'll miss that this year.

I'm especially curious to see how how much Ryan Wright, LRMAM, and Alfred Aboya have improved over the summer. One benefit to playing college basketball in Los Angeles is that if you hang around during the summer, there are a lot of opportunities to play pick-up games and test yourself against NBA level competition. I thought last season that these three especially, with a lot of raw ability, would really benefit from those opportunities (as it appeared Mata had last year before his injuries). If they all have made some big strides, the UCLA front line could be fantastic. I don't need to say anything about LRMAM, but Aboya showed flashes last year where he could blow by the occasional defender from the perimeter. Physically, Ryan Wright has the type of body that should allow him to be a force in the paint. If those two step up, and if Mata can return from his knee surgery, the Bruins are going to be very solid inside.

The return of Josh Shipp is also another key. Word is that before last year, he was outplaying Farmar and Afflalo, but obviously the injury to his hip took him out for most of the season. He's healthy, and his scoring ability is something that the Bruins really lacked last year. I'm really looking forward to seeing him on the floor.

Looking forward to seeing Keefe and Westbrook as well, but frankly, I don't expect major impacts from the freshmen this year, save for a game or two when they really step up, as seems to happen to every freshman at some point. The top 8 are pretty solid, and should dominate the minutes. Anything they get from the freshmen should be gravy.

UCLA basketball is finally back where it belongs.

Angels going after Soriano

Not surprising. Rotoworld is reporting that the Angels have offered $80MM over six years, consistent with their strategy of making a big offer early in an attempt to avoid a bidding war. As the Times pointed out the other day, sometimes this nets you a Cy Young winner, and sometimes it nets you Mo Vaughn (allow me to digress for a moment, but I had nothing personal against Vaughn until the Percival comments. The one season where he was remotely healthy, he was a great hitter for the Angels. I can't blame a guy for getting hurt, so I don't think that was an awful move for the Angels, but it certainly ended unfortunately).

I'm not exactly a big Soriano booster, so if they were to sign him, I'd learn to live with it, and probably come to like it, but it's not going to kill me if he turns them down. I've been over this again and again, but the reason the Angels lost the AL West last year was not because of a lack of offense. They lost the AL West because they could not consistently catch and throw the baseball. That isn't to say that they had a good offense. They didn't. But the defense is what did them in. Why do I bring that up? Because according to the Times, the Angels may be considering playing him at second base and moving Kendrick to first. If the Angels sign Soriano, they have two legitimate options*:

1. Kotchman or Morales at first, Kendrick at second, Soriano in center, Rivera in left, GA at DH; or
2. Kendrick at first; Soriano at second; Rivera in center; Anderson in left; and Kotchman or Morales at DH (or another bat, should they sign one).

Under option two, the Angels are worse defensively at every position compared to option one (although I think that if Kendrick played a full season, spring training included, at first base, he'd be a very good first baseman, so there me no real drop off there). It would also make them worse at second base and left field than they were last year, when they were probably the worst defensive team in the AL. That's not a recipe for success.

Ya know, I've been pretty hard on John Lackey and Ervin Santana for nibbling around the strike zone and trying to strike everyone out instead of getting early count outs. If the Angels put out the defense laid out in option one, I'd understand why they may not want to let opposing hitters put the ball in play. And to be fair, if Soriano goes somewhere else, none of this matters. If the Angels make a move for a center fielder in addition to Soriano, the analysis changes. If someone gets hurt in spring training, the analysis changes. What concerns me is that the Angels might even consider option one. It simply makes no sense.

*Note, options subject to change based on subsequent free agent signings.

Back to the Midwest tomorrow

Back to the cold. Back to work (new job). Kinda sucks really.

So how did I spend my last few weeks?

Countless visits to the hospital (my dad's a lot better, thanks)
4 rounds of golf
3 trips to court (don't ask)
2 visits to Indian casinos
2 trips to In-N-Out (I know, only two)
2 dinners at a really good Mexican food restaurant
1 wedding (not mine), including reception and rehearsal dinner
1 trip to Palm Springs (for the wedding)
1 trip to San Diego (saw Borat with an old college roommate)
1 Kings home game
1 high school football game
1 meet up with Welch, Halofan, the Chronicler, Cupie, and Steve Smith.
1 trip to the UCR bookstore

A fairly eventful couple of weeks, I guess. Midday flight tomorrow means missing most of the days' college football, which sucks, but it is what it is.

Bud Black to the Padres

Well, this stings a little bit, but it wasn't unexpected. Bud Black has accepted an offer from the Padres to be their next manager. It's the job he's been waiting for, and probably just about the only one he would have taken in the next few years. Good luck to Bud and the Padres.

What's this mean for the Angels? Under Black, the Angels have developed Jarrod Washburn (who actually started under the previous regime), John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Joe Saunders. He was able to get better performances than he should have gotten out of Ramon Ortiz and Kevin Appier in his tenure. Interestingly, following the World Championship in 2002, the Angels only had one (that's right, 1) above average year from a starter in the next two seasons. Of course, they turned that trend around in 2005 and 2006, winning a Cy Young, and producing eight above average seasons in ten rotation spots (if you consider Colon/Weaver/Saunders as one rotation slot - all three were below average last season).

But Black's legacy with the Angels will the success of the bullpen under his tenure, always above average and frequently at the top of the league. He got productive seasons out of such luminaries as Lou Pote, Al Levine, Ben Weber, Brendan Donnelly, Mark Petkovsek, and others. That's not exactly a hall of fame waiting list. Add those to terrific seasons out of Scot Shields, Frankie Rodriguez, and Troy Percival, and well, his successor will have his work cut out for him. Bullpens are notoriously unreliable from one year to the next. Black and Scioscia hit on a formula that appeared to effectively minimize that volatility. Hopefully Scioscia can find a replacement who can fill that role with the same effectiveness.

In addition, Scioscia and his coaches have always seemed to be on the same page. His relationship with Black has, from the outside, appeared to be fairly close. Can he find a replacement who fits into the Angel family just as well as Black? We'll see. Who will it be? Hell if I know. Check this Halos Heaven thread for speculation.

Kings 6; Lanche 5

Man, what an exciting game. I mean really entertaining. Just enough bad goaltending to lead to a lot of goals, and just enough good goaltending to remind everyone that goaltending is really hard. Nice effort by Avery, and underrated play by Koptitar to steal the puck and set up the Thornton goal.

And oh yeah, it's election night. I don't do a lot of political stuff, because there are a lot of people who do it a lot better, and I don't want to alienate anyone. But just take a look at the sidebar. Yeah, I've had worse nights.

Lost Weekend

Got back from the desert last night after spending the weekend without TV and internet. Fortunately, I was there for a wedding and the accompanying festivities, so the monotony didn't completely wear me down.

Also fortunate was the fact that the lack of a connection to the wired world meant that I didn't have to witness the Kings losing, the Bruins losing, and Derrick Rose choosing Memphis over Illinois. Of course, I have some experience witnessing all three, so I was able to just imagine all of the losing and still feel like I was there. Oh, I also lost at the casinos, or rather, the casino (Agua Caliente). I won at Fantasy Springs. I also took $10 from the groom's dad at Terra Lago the day before the wedding (That's right, Dan, I was playing golf).

Speaking of golf, I've squeezed in rounds at Oak Valley, Rustic Canyon, and Oak Quarry, the latter two for the first time. Must be something about the grasses used out here, or the time of the season, but courses in the Midwest are generally in better shape. Never noticed it until this trip. Oh well, 90 degrees here today, so I'll soak up a few more days of sun before heading back to Chicago.

Probably nothing until Sunday

Heading to Palm Springs for a wedding, probably won't post until Sunday. May even miss the Bruins game, but since I don't think they're going to win, it won't kill me. Keep your fingers crossed on Rose, but don't hold your breath.

Day Late for Halloween

But here's your scary music post:



And another non-scary one just for fun.

Derrick Rose back in the picture

Hotshot point guard out the Chicago Public League is back in the picture for the Illini after narrowing his list to five Adidas schools about a month ago, trimming the Nike aligned Illini in the process. All of the sudden, the door is back open, with Rose's list consisting of Illinois alongside previous destinations Indiana and Memphis. He was at a pre-season scrimmage and practice over the weekend. What's it mean? Who knows. I'm not getting my hopes up. Four pieces of speculation come to mind:

1. He's not happy with what Adidas is offering, and he's yanking their chain a little bit in the hopes of landing a better package.
2. He's yanking Illinois' chain just to be evil.
3. He doesn't want to play in Jackass Gordon's shadow at Indiana.
4. He's genuinely interested in attending Illinois.
   

Of course, three doesn't make much sense, since he could solve that by going to Memphis. 1, 2, and 4 seem about equally plausible to me. Like I said, I'm not getting my hopes up. Decision expected to come on Saturday.

Just get it over with

There are so many things wrong with the way the Bruins played yesterday that it's impossible to catalog them all right now, but suffice to say, the second half was pathetic. The Bruins were completely outcoached on both sides of the ball. I'll give a little slack to the defense because it's not easy when the offense can't keep the other team off the field, and you're continuously heading out there after another three and out.

Two plays that stick out for me are a couple of third down plays where the Bruins needed about seven yards to pick up the first. Both times the play that was run was designed to go underneath. Got that? Not a play where Cowan went through his progressions and dumped it off. They were designed to put the ball in the receiver's hand short of the first down marker. That's just idiocy.

I stayed off the Fire Dorrell bandwagon for a long time before starting to come around this year. I'm not usually the type of guy that wants to see a coach fired. Hell, I hung with Andy Murray and the Kings for a LONG time. But Dorrell needs to be let go. It's over. I'd say fire him now and appoint an interim coach for the rest of the season, but I'm afraid they'd beat U$C and there'd be a push to keep the interim guy without doing a real search. I don't know what to think anymore. I just know I want to see a new guy at the helm next year.

It's official

Well, yes, it's official that Dan Cloutier sucks, but that's not what this post is about. After four plus years, I have officially ended my employment with the Big 4 accounting firm that absorbed Andersen's tax practice in Chicago. Gave notice Monday, and they kicked me out today. But they're paying me for the next week and a half, plus about five weeks of vacation that I'd accrued, so that should be a nice little chunk of change. In about 10 hours, I'll be on a plane to LA, where I'll spend the next two weeks out of the increasingly cold temperatures of the Midwest. The new job doesn't start until November 13th, so that's a nice little break. Of course, that doesn't mean I can take a break from you, my loyal reader(s). I'll return to my frustratingly inconsistent posting even while on vacation.

An Unfortunate Possibility

From Jon Heyman at SI.com:

Edmonds back to Angels?

Some folks believe former Angel Jim Edmonds, a Fullerton, Calif., native and free agent, would like to return to Anaheim. When he left, some teammates saw him as something of a hot dog. But he's still a pretty good center fielder.

I hearby unequivocally state that if Jim Edmonds returns to the Angels, I will suspend myself from Angels fandom until such time as he is no longer a member of the team. I will not root for the Angels as long as Jim Edmonds wears an Angels uniform, should that come to pass.

I am not joking.

UCLA 17; Notre Dame 20

I'm not really sure what there is to say that hasn't already been said. There's an old addage (and if there's not, then I'm going to make one up) that says when you play not to lose, you usually end up losing. Well guess what? After a fourth down stop with just over two minutes to go, the Bruins decided the best course of action was to put money on the Irish not having enough time to drive the length of the field. Bad decision.

As with any typical UCLA loss, mistakes played a major role, and this game was no different. Lost in the hoopla of the impending victory and sudden defeat was the fact that the winning margin was a field goal made, then missed by Justin Medlock in the first quarter, the successful attempt called back on a false start. But otherwise, the game was suprisingly mistake, well, not quite free, but let's just say there weren't too many mistakes. Only two turnovers on offense, and very few penalties in a tough building in which to play. The defense generally picked up the slack after turnovers.

But in the last few minutes, Karl Dorrell and DeWayne Walker (who really looked like a genius all day), decided to tense up, play conservative, and hope ND wouldn't wake up. Dorrell's three straight "just don't fumble" running plays, and Walker's prevent defense awoke the sleeping giant, and the rest, as they say, is history.

A couple other stats really stand out. Neither team ran the ball all that well, but UCLA completely shut down Darius Walker, and sacked Quinn five times. Their defensive line was very impressive. But the stat that I have yet to hear anyone mention is 4-5. That was Notre Dame on FOURTH down conversions. When you stop an offensive as strong as ND's on three plays, you HAVE to get the ball back, and UCLA continually allowed ND to extend drives that they should have ended.

In the end, two coaches called plays like they were concerned about what they'd read in the paper the next day. Go conservative. Play not to lose. It's what any coach would do, right?

There's no points for trying hard.

Something for the Weekend

Some early music from the finest band currently in existence. I'm serious. The Super Furry Animals are about a million times better than anything you're currently listening to. And if you don't agree, you suck.

Really weird feeling

I've just quit my job. Only, no one here knows that I've quit my job. I've accpted an offer from another consulting firm. Just sent the email a couple hours ago. More money, overtime pay, identical to slightly better benefits. A little more uncertainty than you experience at a huge firm, but a good opportunity to grow with a new practice.

But it is really weird walking around here, looking at everyone, and not being able to tell them that I'm leaving this job. Starting up a new project? Sure, I'd be happy to help! That staff meeting in December? Hit accept on the old Outlook and add it to my schedule!

It's really quite surreal.

Everyone will be clued in on Monday. The ruse will be over. But for now, it just feels really strange.

The Blueprint

The Kings aren't going to play Phoenix every night, and they definitely aren't going to play Phoenix with a backup goalie every night. Let's face it, they did a lot of things right tonight that no reasonable person can expect them to do night in and night out. But that, quite frankly, is the blueprint for a successful Kings game.

• Success on both the power play and the penalty kill;
• The discipline to avoid taking too many stupid penalties (which doesn't mean they didn't take any stupid penalties);
  
• Better than average goaltending; and
  
• Production from Brown, Frolov, Kopitar, and Cammalleri.

It's that simple. The only thing they were missing was a goal from a defenseman, which is something I identified early in the season as a key to maintaining last year's pace.

Seriously, how good is Anze Kopitar? His first period power play goal displayed a poise that simply can't be taught. He avoided swinging at the puck with a high stick, choked up, waited for the puck to drop below the cross bar, and literally bunted it in. It's hockey IQ, and it can be learned, but it can't be taught. Some players just have the ability to pick it up.

Kudos also go out to Sean Avery tonight, who aside from the stupid dive, kept his emotions in check until Shane Doan basically took both of them off the ice. He was instrumental in creating the Dustin Brown goal. Brent Sopel gets a major thumbs up for his absolute destruction of Dave Scatchard. It was a monster hit, and a joy to watch. Obviously Garon deserved to be singled out for the Kings first shutout of the season. And Cammalleri, wow! What a rocket shot. Thing of beauty.

Nice effort tonight in the second of back to back games. It would have been easy to take a step backward after last night's excellent performance but poor result. That's all we ask for. Effort, and some promis of what's to come.

Free stuff....For me, I mean

So today I get an email from Sprint saying that someone there had read my blog (yeah, this one), and since I'm such a cool guy, they want to send me a free cell phone with six months of free service just so that I can check it out tell them what I think, or not. I'm talking free everything. Unlimited minutes, web, whatever video crap you can download, music downloads, the works. For nothing. Seriously, check it out:

As a qualified participant, we will send you one Sprint Power Vision (mobile broadband) phone and provide you with 6 months of all-access service (at no charge). In addition to NFL Mobile, you?ll have access to the Sprint Music Store, live TV broadcasts, gaming, and more. Yes, you will also have unlimited free calling and data service. It?s a pretty good deal and all we ask for in return is your candid feedback (you decide how much and how often).

Pretty bitchin, huh? And I don't even write about the NFL. Unfortunately, I just bought a new phone and re-upped my Sprint contract about two months ago, and even then I never go over my minutes. But hey, if it's free, it's for me.

Seriously, this blog has now gotten me a free book, a free cell phone and six months of free service. Note to potential advertisers/product development types - you are hereby authorized to send me more free stuff. Have at it.

Kings lose again

Actually, the title isn't completely fair, as they at least managed a point, but man, they played easily their best game of the season tonight, completely outplaying the undefeated Minnesota Wild, but it still wasn't enough, as former King Pavol Demitra got a gift bounce against a goaltender who refuses to poke check and banked it in for the game winner in OT.

Despite the final result, there were a lot of positives. As I said, they played their best game of the season. They had a ton of pressure, a ton of shots, and simply couldn't find the net. They lack a lot of things right now, but chief among them seems to be an ability to finish. Among the "goal scorers", for lack of a better word, the only guy I can really pin blame on right now is Frolov. He's been an offensive black hole for more than half a season now, and he's the one that they really need to find the net. Kopitar, O'Sullivan, and even Cammy and Avery, their goals are going to come (that's right, I said Avery). But Frolov has had a number of years to develop, and it seems like he just stopped about two months into last season and, if anything, has regressed.

Congratulations to O'Sullivan, who picked up his first goal tonight. Although it sure looked to me like it was kicked by Willsie and probably shouldn't have counted. But who among us hasn't collected his fair share of garbage goals. Hell, I practically made a living out of it.

I can't really single anyone out as having a bad game tonight. Even Cloutier played well, although both goals can be attributed to his own misplays. On Rolston's goal, he should have gloved a shot he saw clearly all the way in. The subsequent rebound led to a scramble that ended with the puck on Rolston's stick with a wide open net. The OT goal by Demitra could have been avoided with a simple poke check.

But we'll take out positives where we can get them, and the Kings did everything right except for putting the puck in the net. Baby steps. I actually see them as being a team that will struggle for four months, then hit their stride sometime in February. It will be too late to make the playoffs, but they'll be a fashionable pick for the playoffs next year, and in 2008-2009, they'll be legitimate contenders.

Two wins, two losses

So after four games, the Kings find themselves at 2-2, able to beat the bad teams ( Blues and Islanders), and not able to beat the good teams (Ducks and Stars). It's tough to judge too much after these four games. They looked good against the Ducks, had a ton of shots, but came up short. They looked poor against the Blues, and so so against the Islanders, but picked up the points. Against Dallas last night, they played their worst game of the season. Very little flow, got behind early, very poor defensive coverage, and a predictable result.

Obviously the story of the early season has been Anze Kopitar, the greatest Slovenian player in the history of the game. His first goal (see post below), was real highlight material, and he did it against a future hall of famer. He added three assists in game two, and a fourth in game three. He has the game breaking skills that the Kings have never really developed from within (although they were close with Robert Lang before Barry Melrose destroyed him). He is the future, and no matter how bad it gets this season, he's going to be fun to watch.

O'Sullivan has yet to find the net, but he's an exciting skater, and he's got a sniper's shot. The kid is going to be good, but it might take half a season for him to hit his stride. He's like a better version of Michael Cammalleri. Mind you, Cammy is better right now, but when O'Sullivan reaches Cammy's experience level, I think he'll be a much better player.

I said last week that the defense had to add significantly more offense. Well, they have four goals so far, two from Visnovsky and two from Sopel. It's a good start, and it includes no goals from Blake or Teverdovsky (who in all fairness has only played two games, although he's looked smooth with the puck in those games). But the defense can't afford to let down on the other end, and they did that against Dallas, particularly Kevin Dallman who may find himself back in the press box tomorrow night.

Cloutier has not impressed me yet, but he's shown flashes of regaining his form. The problem is that he's already established himself as the pariah of LGK, a stigma that is almost impossible to get rid of. Just ask Joe Corvo and Roman Cechmanek. It's a group that practically prides itself on letting preconceived notions dictate their opions. But it's a long season, and if the worst case scenario is that his play inspires Mathieu Garon to play his way back into the number one role, then so be it.

Lots of hockey left, but it's a young team, and a difficult division and conference. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered.

Eric Gordon, Jackass

Eric Gordon made it as official as it can get until November when his family went public with his intention to accept a basketball scholarship at the University of Indiana beginning in 2007. Roughly a year ago, Eric Gordon held a press conference at his high school during which he anounced his intention to accept a basketball scholarship to the University of Illinois. He renegged on that agreement. And he did it in dramatic fashion, choosing a bitter rival, and doing it near the end of the recruiting process.

A verbal commitment is just that. Nothing is official until the player signs his letter of intent. But there is an unspoken rule against recruiting a kid who has already verbally committed to another program. Fortunately for the Hoosiers, rules have never mattered much to Kelvim Sampson, be they unspoken, unwritten, or even written. He always been slimeball. So he continued to recruit Gordon, who, along with his family, made a series of public reassurances to Coach Weber and the Illini faithful that he was still a solid Illinois recruit. Other prospects at the shooting guard position cooled to the Illini. I mean, who wants to play behind the top shooting guard in the country?

That brings us to today, when the selfish Gordon finally alerted the press that he would no longer be enrolling at Illinois, and would instead attend Indiana, conveniently coinciding with the kickoff of Indiana's pre-season practices, a televised event at which he'll be the star attraction.

The situation was handled incredibly poorly, and it does not speak well to the ethics of Sampson or the Gordons. It may also not speak well to Coach Weber's ability to recruit, but that's another issue. Players commit early and later change their mind all the time. It's not uncommon. But usually, those kids have the decency to decommit, to re-open the recruiting process, which gives their original choice time to line up a plan B. Gordon did no such thing. He fueled the rumors, strung Coach Weber along, and left the Illinois program high and dry. His parents, especially his father Eric Sr., were complicit in the deception. They must really enjoy getting their name in the paper. As for Sampson, well, we already knew he was an unethical sack of crap, so this whole episode didn't tell us anything we didn't already know.

As for Weber, everyone wants to get the blue chip prospects. For those of us who love college basketball, recruiting is the only story from April through October. But Kelvin Sampson, much like the coach who preceded Weber at Illinois, can't coach. Recruits are great, but you still need a good coach to win games. Good coaches take good talent and beat teams like Bucknell and Bradley in the first round. Bad coaches don't. Sampson's teams consistently underachieved, save for one final four appearance in 2002. And underachieving in the Big 12, a supposed "power" conference that has produced only two national champions in the last 55 years (both Kansas), and none in the last 18, is tough to do. I've lived through the Steve Lavin years at UCLA. I've seen what a great recruiter can do a program when he doesn't know how to coach. I'm completely satisfied with Weber.

But ultimately this falls at the feet of Eric and his family. This situation could have been handled much better, and they failed to do that at every opportunity. Few kids are ever the most hated player by a rival school a year before they set foot on a court, but Eric Gordon just became public enemy #2 today for the Illini faithful. I just pray that the Big Ten schedules a game between U of I and IU in Champaign during the 2007-2008 season. And if Gordon drives the lane and ends up getting pile driven into the floor, I think the pile driver will get quite an ovation from the home that night.

Another exellent take on this right here.

Anze Freaking Kopitar

Turns out this guy is pretty good.



The kids call that "sick".

Your 2006-2007 Los Angeles Kings

Not having access to any pre-season information that isn't provided to me free via the internets (in other words, having not seen any pre-season games), here's my attempt at a season preview.

Goaltender:

Mathieu Garon will back up newly acquired (and re-upped) Dan Cloutier who travels south to L.A. with new coach Marc Crawford. Injuries limited him to 13 mediocre games last season, and he played briefly in Austria during the lock-out, but the scuttlebutt is that his knee is healthy once again. Hopefully he can return to the form he displayed between 2001 and 2004, when he won over 30 games three times and never had a GAA worse than 2.43. If he can, the Kings will have their first reliable goaltender since Felix Potvin's good days in LA. One of the knocks on Cloutier is that he's soft in the playoffs. Considering that the Kings have been absent from the playoffs the last few years, I wouldn't mind getting a chance to see for myself.

Defense:

The Kings have some depth here, with eight defensemen who are at least fairly capable. The top four are pretty well set, with Rob Blake returning to L.A., joining Matty Nortstrom, Lubomir Visnovsky, and Aaron Miller. The final two spots are most likely to go to Brent Sopel and one of Kevin Dallman, Oleg Teverdovsky, and Mike Weaver. That depth is going to be important, primarily because Miller is perennially injured, and, well, this is the Kings, so it kind of goes without saying that guys are going to get hurt. The hope here is that the competition for playing time lights a fire under Teverdovsky, who is still a pretty skilled player. Be prepared to see a lot of offense from the blue line, and a lot of odd man rushes the other way. Blake especially has never been one to shy away from big hit regardless of what it costs in terms of defensive positioning. But hey, they'll be fun to watch.

Honestly, this is the strength of the team, and if they can set the tone, the Kings could be better than anyone expects. Last year they got about 40 goals from the defensive corps. 14 of those are in Ottawa this season. They're going to need about 55 this season to be competitive, maybe 60. Let's face it, the offense isn't loaded with proven goal scorers, so they're going to need all the help they can get from the blue line. I think they can do it.

Offense:

Right now, I'm not exactly sure what the line combinations are going to be, so I can't comment on each one. The offense on the whole is going to be a little shaky. They're going to be tremendously entertaining at times, and tremendously unreliable at times. That's the way young players tend to be, and it doesn't help that some of their older guys, like Frolov, already tend to play that way. The Kings are going to need a big effort from Alex this year, who has the talent to put together a 35-40 goal season. He's going to have to be the focus on offense this season, so hopefully he'll rise to the occasion. Michael Cammalleri lead all returning Kings with 26 goals last season. He's going to have to add 5-10 for the Kings to contend for a playoff spot.

The influx of youth up front is what will make this team fun to watch this season. Anze Kopitar and Patrick O'Sullivan make their NHL debuts, and both have shown a lot of offensive promise. O'Sullivan led the AHL in goals last season, and Kopitar has, by some reports, been the Kings best player throughout the pre-season. Dustin Brown chipped in 14 goals last season, and although he may continue to bring fans to their feet with his big hits on even bigger targets, he needs to increase that offensive production by about 10 goals this year. Old reliables Craig Conroy and Derek Armstrong will more than likely be solid up the middle, so the kids are going have to be the ones that take the big steps forward.

Of course, the wild card (in more ways than one) is Sean Avery. Can they keep him under control and out of the penalty box? Can he harness that speed and talent and turn in a 20-25 goal season? If he can, and if things break right for the Kings, they can be a playoff team. They could end up being they type of team that has no one score more than 35 goals, but has 10 guys that score more than 15. Balanced offensively, experienced defensively, and maybe the goaltenders are good enough to steel a few.

Special Teams:

The bane of the 2005-2006 season, the Kings absolutely must improve on the power play and the penalty kill, or they're going to live down to the low expectations that the media has set for them. In the new NHL, where there is a lot of time spent with fewer than 10 skaters on the ice, a team simply cannot be successful if they aren't solid on special teams.

On the power play, it starts on the blue line, and Rob Blake should provide some improvement over Joe Corvo, who actually wasn't too bad last year. The addition of Teverdovsky should give them a decent PP quarterback on the second unit. Logic would say that he'd be paired with Brent Sopel, but last season Norstrom got a lot of time with the extra man, and at times his no nonsense style led to getting the puck to the front of the net with some success. I wouldn't be surprised to see him out there again on the power play.

Eric Belanger, who was always a decent penalty killer, is gone to Carolina, but Alyn McCauley and Scott Thornton have arrived to shore up this unit. Look for Aaron Miller and Norstrom to log a lot of time on this unit. Hopefully Marc Crawford brought a magic formula with him. Vancouver was fairly middle of the road in both the PP and the PK, but even that would be a huge improvement over last season.

Outlook:

The Kings look to have a ceiling of about 6th in the conference, and a floor of about 14th. They'll probably end up right down the middle in about 10th place, probably contending for a playoff spot up until the last week or two of the season. If they stay healthy, they just may surprise a lot of teams and end up in the post-season, but I think the realistic expectation is that they'll miss this year, improve a little next year, and be set to really start flying in a couple of years as O'Sullivan, Kopitar, Tukonen, and Jack Johnson are hitting their stride. The future looks pretty bright, but it's still a ways off in the distance at this point. Here's hoping we get a little taste this season.

Here are my "totally pulled out of my ass" projections.

Projected record: 37-41-4
Projected finish: 4th in the Pacific, 11th in the Western Conference

Projected Stats (G-A-Pts)
Frolov: 32-40-72
Cammalleri: 33-34-67
O'Sullivan: 26-30-56
Kopitar: 16-27-43
Brown: 24-31-55
Avery: 23-29-52 (223 PIM - Four games lost to suspension)
Visnovsky: 19-41-60
Blake: 17-35-52

Cloutier: 26 wins, GAA - 2.93

Something to think about

The Angels are the only team that has ever employed the good Weaver.

Of all the teams that have ever employed the bad Weaver, the Angels are the only one not currently in the playoffs. I don't know what this means, but it pisses me off.

UCLA and Stanford

First things first, the Bruins won, and won convincingly. The defense continued to play well, and they look like they've taken a complete 180 under Coach Walker. That's the good news.

The bad news is that there are still a ton of questions:

• They really haven't played a great offense yet. And the one mediocre offense that they've played kind of tore them up in the second half, or at least, got the big plays when they needed to. That said, to the naked eye, the defense does look lightyears better than they have in the past.
• The offense has not been very pretty to watch. Inconsistent. Poor execution. Very unreliable. I do not think this team can mount a drive to win a game late in the fourth quarter, let alone three, like last year's team routinely could.
• The play calling has been pretty atrocious. I'm not sure if the personnel look bad because of the play calling, or if the play calling is conservative because they don't trust the personnel. Either way, it's bad. Although the play action they ran on 4th and goal did fool the camera man. Too bad it didn't fool Stanford.

Ultimately, from what I've seen so far, I can't see this team doing better than 6-6. If they can't beat Washington, they're probably going down to Cal, ASU, Oregon, Notre Dame, and U$C. Arizona and Washington State aren't going to be picnics either, so 6-6 may be a little optimistic. I can't see Dorrell surviving that, but stranger things have happened.

89-73

For the first time in franchise history, the Angels finished on the good side of .500 for three consecutive years. Unfortunately, for the first time in three years, the Angels won't be playing in the post-season. In a fitting end to a lost season, the Angels lost in extra innings due to an unearned run. They led the American League in unearned runs this season, and ultimately, that was their undoing. Their offense, while not good, was roughly as good as it was expected to be. Their pitching was better than average. But they were let down continuously by their defense, and that will stand as the reason the A's are preparing to meet the Twins, while the Angels are clearing out their lockers.

Tim Salmon finished his career in the on deck circle, the Angels unable to get one man on base in the bottom of the 10th to bring the Kingfish to the plate. C'est la vie. This game was kind of a microcosm of the season. Down early, then on top, then hanging around for a while, then kind of blowing it, then a furious rush to get back in it, before coming up short at the end due to their aforementioned defensive woes. Weird.

So where do they go from here? More on that later this week, but off the top of my head, I see a bit of a logjam at catcher, holes at third base and center field, with possible answers inside the organization depending on the winter. The pitching appears to be a strength, and the bullpen looks sound. They can contend again without a lot of movement, but I'd suggest not getting attached to anyone, because I've gotta think that a catcher, a pitcher, and one or more (probably more) of Kotchman, McPherson, Morales, Aybar, Izturis, Murphy, Willits, and Quinlan won't be here next year. This is going to be a tough off-season to handicap.

Catching up

Man, I've really been lazy lately. Lots of stuff going on, and not much of a desire to write about any of it. Anyway, this seems like a good time to start catching up:

• The Angels have finally, for the first time in three years, been mathematically eliminated from the playoff hunt. Expect a longer post-mortem here sometime shortly after the end of the season. I'd imagine that like last year, I'll do my position by position breakdown, outlook, and what I jokingly like to refer to as analysis. Short preview: It's the defense that did them in. No matter how much they needed a big bat, or another bullpen arm, ultimately they were sunk by allowing over 140 errors and 80 unearned runs. It's tough to win on pitching and defense when you can't play defense. It didn't help that this team seemed to lack the magic. Time for a new monkey.

• The Bruins looked downright pathetic against Washington on Saturday. They came out blazing in the first quarter, and they were so domininant that it looked like their inability to put the ball in the endzone wasn't going to be a problem. But Washington made adjustments, the Bruin braintrust didn't, and the result was predictable. The talent is there, but they need a better gameplan. Still, fundamentally they appear to be better defensively than they have been in years. But honestly, if they can't beat Washington, they aren't going to beat U$C, ASU, Oregon, Cal, or Notre Dame. That means they have to beat Arizona, OSU, Stanford, and WSU to get to six wins. I don't like those odds. It's going to be a long season, and I'd put the odds on Dorrell getting canned at better than 50/50. I'm not a knee jerk Dorrell hater, but that effort by the coaching staff on Saturday was unacceptable.

• In my last round of the year (and possibly ever?), I fired a 79 at Dubs on Saturday. This one was planned in May, and I wasn't going to stick the guy who has the permanent tee time with my $135 green fee. Kind of a weird 79, with a bad hole followed by two good holes, and so on, until bogeying the last two holes. Played the whole round with one ball, though. A real accomplishment.

Here's a cool Teenage Fanclub video.

• Hockey season gets underway soon, and I'm actually really looking forward to seeing the Kings play this year, especially O'Sullivan and Kopitar. I think their defense stacks up to be really solid, and if they can get some improvement from the likes of Cammy, Brown, and Frolov, they could surprise some people. Lord, just please get into the playoffs this season. That's all I ask. And beat the fucking Ducks.

• I'm gonna be home at the beginning of November for a couple of days attending a wedding in Palm Springs, but I'll probably take a day on either side of the weekend. Might be a good time for a small halosphere get-together since it will be the only time I'm ever home when Welch isn't in France.

Anyway, that's all for now. But keep watching this space!

Still breathing

With the Angels win over Kansas City, they've moved to six games out. Oakland currently trails Cleveland 2-1 in the fifth leads Cleveland 5-2 in the sixth. The Angels could conceivably be will be 5.5 6.5 games out after tonight, and possibly be as close as four five games out going into their first series with Oakland (seven games remain between the two). It's still a mathematical possibility.

Joe Saunders was excellent tonight, and the Angels provided more than the scraps of offense they've dished out lately, helping Saunders improve to 6-3. But he's pitched more this year than he ever has, and it shows. He needs extra rest, or he gets shelled. What do I mean? Look at his ten starts since being recalled in August:

Date	Innnings	Pitches	Earned Runs
8/1	7.0	104	2
8/6	7.0	104	0
8/11	6	100	2
8/16	2.2	70	7
8/22*	5.2	98	0
8/27	2.1	75	8
9/2*	7.1	97	1
9/8*	7.2	97	1
9/13	3.1	73	7
9/19*	7	115	1

*Extra day of rest between starts.

So that breaks down as follows:
1) In his four starts with extra rest, he's had three quality starts and was an out short of a fourth, with an ERA of 0.98.
2) In his six starts on normal rest, he's had three quality starts, with an ERA of 8.26.
3) In his last three starts on normal rest, as he pushes into his largest ever workload, he's had no quality starts, and allowed 22 runs in 8.1 innings for an ERA of 23.76.

In other words, thank God there's an off day before he makes his next start. But at this rate, he's scheduled to pitch on the next to last day of the season, with no extra day of rest. Should it matter, that's a scary thought for Angels fans and a comforting thought for A's fans. Still, I'm not sure what other options they'd have. He faces Texas next, and Volquez gets that start for the Rangers. He's been solid lately, though he got kind of hammered tonight. The Angels only hope would be to blow Volquez out early, and get Saunders a big lead after five innings so the Angels can sit him down after about 75 pitches. Problem is the Angels offense has shown a proclivity for scoring a lot of runs lately, and on normal rest, Saunders has provided PLENTY of opportunities in his first 75 pitches for opponents to basically rip the crap out of him. And quite frankly, if Saunders IS going good through five, I don't trust Scioscia and Black to do the analysis above and yank him after 75 pitches anyway.

Oh well, probably won't matter, and if does, it looks pretty bad for the Angels in that penultimate game. But damn, I'd sure like to find out.

Inconsistency

If it wasn't already in the dictionary, John Lackey would be defining it. I'm done with him. Deal him in a package for a big bat, and sign an arm via free agency.

Combined with the complete lack of pride shown by the Cock Sox this weekend, the season is coming to an end.

4.5

Angels: Winners

Bobby Jenks: Loser

Oakland's Noose: Tightening. Early stages of A'sphyxiation.

Shhh....I think I hear something....

Do ya hear it....?

Can't quite make it out.........

Getting a little louder.........

Uh-oh..........

I hear footsteps....And I think they hear them in Oakland too.


Psst, Adam. Whenever they tell you bunt, foul one off, then swing away. Trust me.

So anyway

I hear this Tiger Woods guy is pretty good. It's called history, folks. You're watching it.

Actually, I've met Tiger once. Back in 1992 when I was a freshman in college, I played with my dad as a guest in a corporate tournament at Riviera about three weeks before the L.A. Open. It was the year Tiger played in a professional tournament for the first time at Riv, and he was on the course that day as a guest of the folks putting on the event playing a practice round. At the buffet after the event, there were a couple of empty seats next to my dad and me, and Tiger and his father sat next to us. As someone who played high school golf for four years prior, I knew who he was. Can't remember much of the conversation, and he wasn't one millionth as famous as he is now, but still, that's my brush with golf greatness.

And on another note, posting will infrequent to non-existent for the next week+. I leave Wednesday on vacation. Driving back to Montana to visit relatives and to meet up with my parents who will be attending my dad's 50 year high school reunion. I'll be playing the top three courses in North Dakota at various stages of the journey. The first day will be a roughly 840 mile drive to Bismarck, which is about 160 miles short of my longest one day drive, but still plenty long. Should be fun.

6.5 Back

Dear Angels Offense,

In case you haven't noticed, the pitchers are stepping up. Howzabout a little response. What say you guys swing the sticks a little better tomorrow night so that we don't need Frankie to come in to pitch the ninth. And bring your extra good swings, because Lackey's on the mound, and he can't seem to get anyone out without throwing about a million pitches in the first five innings. So please get some hits and score some runs, and while you're at it, start playing defense a little bit better. For those counting, that's eight hits for, and 4 errors committed by the Angels in the last two games. You can't keep winning by doing that. So stop it.

Sincerely,
Me

For the second time in three days, the Angels gained ground on the A's. They're now seven back in the loss column, and at that magical place where if they were to take all remaining games against Oakland, it would be a dead heat to the post-season. I still can't see them getting there, but at least there's reason for hope.

Tremendous effort by Jered Weaver tonight. Seven shutout innings, and he broke his two game losing streak. Extra props to Adam Kennedy who drove in the game's only run, and Mike Napoli who, despite a rough day at the plate, threw out two runners trying to steal for big outs. The defense finally nutted up, with the only error coming on Weaver's bad pickoff throw to first. Biggest play of the game was the Ramon Hernandez's ground ball induced by Weaver and the crisp defense that turned it into a run saving double play in the bottom of the fourth.

Lackey turns the page on August and gets his first September start of the season tomorrow. Hopefully he burned that page in his calendar.

Southpaw Jesus Indeed!

Without dissecting every play (the game just ended afterall), Ben Olson is the freaking man. He stood up to pressure in the pocket, stepped up and threw strikes when the Bruins needed him to, made his reads to find the open receiver, and despite the lack of an effective running game, marched the Bruins down the field for three touchdowns. He looked every bit as impressive as Drew Olson did last year. Of course, not all of Drew's production came in the fourth quarter (it just seemed like it), but what a nice sight it was to see the Bruins march down the field on their first drive of the game, culminating in a scoring strike from the chose one. 26 for 35, 316 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. That's not too bad for a debut, even against Utah. Aside from a couple of shaky QB/Center exchanges, I can't remember one play that even ALMOST went for an interception. Excellent decision making and execution.

Logan Paulsen also made a name for himself tonight, hauling in five catches for 90 yards. Brandon Breazell also stepped up with some big grabs, including a very athletic leaping grab for a big first down in the third quarter. The only disappointments were Junior Taylor, with two really awful drops, and the run blocking of the offensive line, which control the line of scrimmage all night. But with the numbers Big Ben put up tonight, teams won't be able to sell out against the run.

On the defensive end, true freshman Alterraun Verner had a huge game, with an interception return for a touchdown, and a fumble forced and recovered that salted the game away. The interception was especially important as it came when the game was tied and the offense was struggling. Dennis Keyes also stood out, and the defensive line was pretty impressive. They held Utah to 112 yards on the ground.

The most important part of the game for the defense, in my opinion, was their fundamental play. They actually tackled, something the Bruins haven't done for the last five years or so. Say what you will about Dewayne Walker. Criticize his lack of experience, his schemes, what have you, but if does one thing, if he teaches these guys to tackle, this will be the best defense the Bruins have put on the field in the Dorrell era.

Well, one down, ten to go. The way they looked tonight, and the way Notre Dame looks right now, that game in October should be a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

Angels 5; Mariners 3

Nice way to finish the series. The offense finally staked Lackey to a lead that he somewhat amazingly didn't turn over. Howie was big time again, GA continues to rake, and Frankie continues to be absolutely lights out. The Angels salvaged the season series from the Mariners, ten games to nine.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. The A's swept the Red Sox and increased their lead to 7.5 games. They lead by more than a week, and there's only about five of those left in the season. At this point, the Angels need to really outplay the A's down the stretch in their games versus other opponents, and they need to pound the A's in their last seven head to head. I don't think it's a stretch to see that anything less than 5-2 pretty much ends the discussion, and realistically, even that likely won't be good enough.

Now it's on to Detroit to face the Tigers, who narrowly escaped a sweep in New York this evening when Craig Monroe hit a two out three run homer in the ninth to salvage a split. They've been struggling, and the Angels need to take advantage. Honestly, this is a series that won't kill me if the Angels lose. I have a friend who has suffered for the last 12 years with the Tigers, and their slide has him a bit on edge. I've been there, and I hate to see people go through that. So I'm rooting for the Angels, but if they get swept, it won't devastate me. There's a silver lining. Plus, Tiger wins are bad for the White Sox, and that's good for everyone.

Except the White Sox, of course.

Good lord

These guys are fucking awful.

Update: Hope Soriano's OK. Anyone else see him spit out a big fatty of dip as the trainers got to him. Good thing he didn't swallow it.

God help us

From the L.A. Times:

Napoli Is Hatcher's Project

Well, it was a nice career, Mike . See ya in the independent leagues.

More fun with Sitemeter

Someone did a Yahoo search (people still use Yahoo?) for "Seitz" and came to this site via that search. One of the other listings for Seitz was a link to this page, which, in addition to providing the correct pronunciation of my last name, links to the census bureau page which lists Seitz as the 2,837th most popular last name in America. Lookout, Smalley, we got your number!!

Actually, that's not true. I can't think of any Seitzes in my family set to add to that number, now that I think about it.

Angels nothing; Mariners something more than nothing

Anyone who thought the Angels stood a chance after the Mariners took the lead in the fourth was either fooling themselves, or named Matt Welch. Felix Hernandez had his good stuff, and the Angels hitters decided they were going to swing early and often, which helped Felix keep the pitch count down.

With the A's on their way to winning, the Angels continue to dig their hole that much deeper. But perhaps something positive can come from this game. Hopefully John Lackey and Ervin Santana were watching. Hopefully they learned something from watching a kid younger than both of them. Hopefully they've learned that you can get through a game without trying to strike everyone out. Hopefully they've learned that it's not normal to have 110 pitches through five innings. But I doubt it.

Jered Weaver takes the mound against Jarrod Washburn tomorrow. 56 vs. 56. Enjoy it, because the season has essentially been reduced to seeing how well Jered Weaver and Howie Kendrick can finish. The rest of the team can pretty much take the rest of the season off, to the extent they already haven't