Seen these new Puma ads?
Like the song? Here it is in it's entirety. And if you see these guys live, bring earplugs, because they are very loud. But both times I've seen them, they've been well worth the experience. I'd introduce them as Mazarin, but they aren't Mazarin anymore. The name is still pending.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Wood Down, Figgins Back
Sorry Erick, but you're about to get a lot less playing time. Wood was sent back to Salt Lake after today's game, and Figgins will rejoin the team tomorrow.
Good move by management here, mostly because Figgins will hardly realize he's no longer in AAA, since the Angels will be facing the Royals.
Good move by management here, mostly because Figgins will hardly realize he's no longer in AAA, since the Angels will be facing the Royals.
Angels 5; White Sox 2; Umpires Pathetic
If you're a major league umpire, and affiliated with the pieces of shit who called the Angels - White Sox game today, you should be embarrassed for your profession. And if you're Hawk Harrelson, well, you're already an embarrassment, so there's really nowhere for you to go from there.
In the seventh inning, with runners on second and third with nobody out, Orlando Cabrera hit a sac fly to right field, where Ryan Sweeney made a great diving catch, allowing Reggie Willits to come home. Only, home plate umpire Adam Dowdy fucked it up by calling Willits out for leaving to early. Only problem? Willits didn't leave early. He left exactly when he was supposed to leave, as replays clearly showed. Harrelson's response? Willits shouldn't have made it so close that the umpire would screw it up. Apparently he should have hung around on third for a while before leaving.
You heard that right. According to the White Sox broadcasters (Darin Jackson was equally complicit), it's Reggie Willits' and Dino Ebel's fault that the umpires fucked up. Something tells me they wouldn't have come to the same conclusion if the tables had been turned.
The embarrassment continued in the top of the 8th when Shea Hillenbrand hit a slow grounder to third. The White Sox forced out Vlad at second, then threw to first for the double play, which Hillenbrand beat by about a step. It wasn't even close. He was called out.
What is it with umpires and White Sox/Angels games. Not only do the umpires continually fuck things up, but the Angels then get blamed. It was Josh Paul's fault for not tagging out a batter on the third strike that clearly never hit the dirt. It's Reggie Willits' fault for not lingering on third base longer. It's apparently not the umpires' fault for blowing the calls to begin with, and then compounding it by either lying blatantly about it on national television (Eddings) or tossing Mike Scioscia from the game (today's asshole Dowdy).
Kelvim Escobar was excellent all day, making only one mistake, a third inning high fastball on a 3-2 count that Darin Erstad deposited in the right field bleachers for an early White Sox lead. But Ztu and Vlad went back to back an inning later to tie the game, and a two out single from Cabrera in the top of the fifth gave the Angels the lead for good. Frankie recorded the last four outs, two by strikeout, for his eighth save.
Special congratulations to Brandon Wood for picking up his first hit and scoring his first run. And don't look now, but Gary Matthews is hitting .306 and starting produce every day.
Off to KC to hopefully take at least three and have a successful road trip.
In the seventh inning, with runners on second and third with nobody out, Orlando Cabrera hit a sac fly to right field, where Ryan Sweeney made a great diving catch, allowing Reggie Willits to come home. Only, home plate umpire Adam Dowdy fucked it up by calling Willits out for leaving to early. Only problem? Willits didn't leave early. He left exactly when he was supposed to leave, as replays clearly showed. Harrelson's response? Willits shouldn't have made it so close that the umpire would screw it up. Apparently he should have hung around on third for a while before leaving.
You heard that right. According to the White Sox broadcasters (Darin Jackson was equally complicit), it's Reggie Willits' and Dino Ebel's fault that the umpires fucked up. Something tells me they wouldn't have come to the same conclusion if the tables had been turned.
The embarrassment continued in the top of the 8th when Shea Hillenbrand hit a slow grounder to third. The White Sox forced out Vlad at second, then threw to first for the double play, which Hillenbrand beat by about a step. It wasn't even close. He was called out.
What is it with umpires and White Sox/Angels games. Not only do the umpires continually fuck things up, but the Angels then get blamed. It was Josh Paul's fault for not tagging out a batter on the third strike that clearly never hit the dirt. It's Reggie Willits' fault for not lingering on third base longer. It's apparently not the umpires' fault for blowing the calls to begin with, and then compounding it by either lying blatantly about it on national television (Eddings) or tossing Mike Scioscia from the game (today's asshole Dowdy).
Kelvim Escobar was excellent all day, making only one mistake, a third inning high fastball on a 3-2 count that Darin Erstad deposited in the right field bleachers for an early White Sox lead. But Ztu and Vlad went back to back an inning later to tie the game, and a two out single from Cabrera in the top of the fifth gave the Angels the lead for good. Frankie recorded the last four outs, two by strikeout, for his eighth save.
Special congratulations to Brandon Wood for picking up his first hit and scoring his first run. And don't look now, but Gary Matthews is hitting .306 and starting produce every day.
Off to KC to hopefully take at least three and have a successful road trip.
Angels 3; White Sox 0; Ted Leo - Awesome
Missed most of tonight's game because I was at the Ted Leo and the Pharmacists concert. Dude can rock the house like no other, but I digress.
Here's the meat: Jered Weaver - 5.2 scoreless. Mr. McMillin, I believe the floor is yours. If you require any assistance, allow me:
And hey! Six runs is like, more than they had on the entire last road trip, right? And two homers in two games, neither by Vlad, that's gotta be a record!
Boy, I really hope they start hitting on the road soon.
Enjoy some Ted.
Here's the meat: Jered Weaver - 5.2 scoreless. Mr. McMillin, I believe the floor is yours. If you require any assistance, allow me:
- 5.2 innings and 107 pitches? You can't be successful if you keep that up!
- Five Ks? That's not even one per inning!
- I just can't see how a pitcher can be successful if he allows six hits in fewer than six innings. That looks like something Jeff would do.
And hey! Six runs is like, more than they had on the entire last road trip, right? And two homers in two games, neither by Vlad, that's gotta be a record!
Boy, I really hope they start hitting on the road soon.
Enjoy some Ted.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Angels 3; White Sox 7; Temperature about 45
At least they scored a couple of runs on the road.
Santana looked pretty sharp until he lost control of the Jermain Dye at bat. He had him down 0-2, lost him, threw him a fat strike on a 3-2 pitch that landed about 400 feet away. Presumably rattled, he left another pitch in a bad location to AJ Piersasdflksski and it was immediately 2-0. Again, he was one out away from ending the fifth when he gave up an RBI double to Paul Konerko. Santana has, throughout his career, struggled with putting guys away, and last night was no different.
To their credit, the Angels offense didn't fold like it had in pretty much every other road game this season. Casey Kotchman followed up three straight singles with a two out shot to right field to tie the game at three. Of course, had Vlad not been thrown out at third for the second time this week, they might have taken the lead. But don't ask Scioscia about it, because they aren't going to change their style. They're aggressive, and they'll continue to be aggressive no matter how many stupid outs they run into.
The killer all night, however, were the double plays. Mike Napoli legged it out to beat the throw on the second to last AB of the game, just avoiding what would have been the Angels fifth double play of the game. Fittingly, that left it up to Erick Aybar, responsible for two of those double plays, to make the last out.
It was pretty chilly out, and the longer you sit in that weather, the colder it gets. But at least Sox fans weren't total dicks to me last night. No one really said anything, which is fine with me. It's probably the only game I'll see on this trip, because I have Ted Leo tickets tonight, and I'll probably play golf on Sunday.
Weaver and Garland tonight. Let's see if Little Weav is still hurting, or if the last game was an aberration.
Santana looked pretty sharp until he lost control of the Jermain Dye at bat. He had him down 0-2, lost him, threw him a fat strike on a 3-2 pitch that landed about 400 feet away. Presumably rattled, he left another pitch in a bad location to AJ Piersasdflksski and it was immediately 2-0. Again, he was one out away from ending the fifth when he gave up an RBI double to Paul Konerko. Santana has, throughout his career, struggled with putting guys away, and last night was no different.
To their credit, the Angels offense didn't fold like it had in pretty much every other road game this season. Casey Kotchman followed up three straight singles with a two out shot to right field to tie the game at three. Of course, had Vlad not been thrown out at third for the second time this week, they might have taken the lead. But don't ask Scioscia about it, because they aren't going to change their style. They're aggressive, and they'll continue to be aggressive no matter how many stupid outs they run into.
The killer all night, however, were the double plays. Mike Napoli legged it out to beat the throw on the second to last AB of the game, just avoiding what would have been the Angels fifth double play of the game. Fittingly, that left it up to Erick Aybar, responsible for two of those double plays, to make the last out.
It was pretty chilly out, and the longer you sit in that weather, the colder it gets. But at least Sox fans weren't total dicks to me last night. No one really said anything, which is fine with me. It's probably the only game I'll see on this trip, because I have Ted Leo tickets tonight, and I'll probably play golf on Sunday.
Weaver and Garland tonight. Let's see if Little Weav is still hurting, or if the last game was an aberration.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Friday Morning Music
Not sure why, but I've been on a big Mary's Danish kick lately, and there is limited postable content on the net, so you get the classics. Saw them at UCR during my freshman year at the Barn, which at the time had a sort of seedy bar feel, but apparently is now a "casual dining location". At least it's still there. Good place to see a show, or to drink before going to see a show at the Rec Center.
I don't what it is about female fronted rock acts, but they seem to deliver a ton of energy to their performances. The Raveonettes come to mind as well, and the Peels. Anyway, these guys were great, and they got totally scewed by their record company. Enjoy:
I don't what it is about female fronted rock acts, but they seem to deliver a ton of energy to their performances. The Raveonettes come to mind as well, and the Peels. Anyway, these guys were great, and they got totally scewed by their record company. Enjoy:
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Angels a lot; D-Rays not so much
If you had told me before the game that the Angels' run total would equal Big Bart's strikeout total, I would have figured we would be in for a rough game to end the homestand. But the fat man fanned 11, and the offense picked up their end, with much of the damage coming in the first inning.
Bart looked fantastic, throwing a ton of strikes and basically having his way with anyone in a green uniform. It was vintage Bartolo, and it will be a huge lift for the pitching staff if it's a sign of things to come.
As for Brandon Wood, he pretty much looked like a guy who strikes out a lot playing in his first major league game. I didn't expect too much, and he delivered. But he's still got a long way to go, and he's still ahead of schedule as far as I'm concerned. Nice to see him get into a game, especially one in which the Angels romped.
Back to the road for the Angels, which has not been friendly this season. I've got tickets for tomorrow night's game, but we're supposed to get a lot of rain tonight and tomorrow morning, and it's going to be in the 40s tomorrow, so I'm not sure whether it will be worth it. We'll see.
Bart looked fantastic, throwing a ton of strikes and basically having his way with anyone in a green uniform. It was vintage Bartolo, and it will be a huge lift for the pitching staff if it's a sign of things to come.
As for Brandon Wood, he pretty much looked like a guy who strikes out a lot playing in his first major league game. I didn't expect too much, and he delivered. But he's still got a long way to go, and he's still ahead of schedule as far as I'm concerned. Nice to see him get into a game, especially one in which the Angels romped.
Back to the road for the Angels, which has not been friendly this season. I've got tickets for tomorrow night's game, but we're supposed to get a lot of rain tonight and tomorrow morning, and it's going to be in the 40s tomorrow, so I'm not sure whether it will be worth it. We'll see.
Wednesday Recap
D-Rays 1; Angels 9
Lackey was pretty sharp for the first five innings, and for once he didn't seem to be getting cute around the edges. He was challenging guys, using his fastball to get ahead early in counts, and put the D-Rays hitters away. He struck out seven over six innings, none bigger than the bases loaded, two out strikeout of B.J. Upton that ended the sixth. He loaded the bases by walking Elijah Dukes, which prompted an exchange between Lackey and home plate ump Chris Guccione, who really had no idea what the strike zone was for much of the night.
As has been true for much of the homestand, the Angels relied on awful defense from their opponents for early runs. Two Upton errors led to three Angels runs in the fifth inning, two coming home on a double from HGHMJ. The Angels did the rest of their damage in the seventh, primarily benefiting from doubles off the bats of Erick Aybar and Garret Anderson, and a two run single from Shea Hillenbrand. Speier, Carrasco, and Bootcheck all pitched scoreless innings to preserve the victory.
Big Bart is scheduled to go today if his ankle permits.
Brandon Wood Called Up
He'll replace Kendry Morales, who heads back to AAA. The Angels are essentially clearing a spot (3rd base) for Chone Figgins to do his rehab work at Salt Lake. Additionally, this is something that the Angels have been pretty good about over the last few seasons, and I think it's a good strategy. They've consistently brought their top prospects up for a taste of Major League Baseball, and not just during September. They did it with Howie Kendrick. They did it with Casey Kotchman a couple of years ago. They did it with Morales last year. They bring these guys up with very little pressure. They know that unless they set the world on fire, which no one expects, they're probably going to go back down. But most importantly, when they recall those guys (and Kendrick is probably the best example of this) at a time where they actually DO need production, the players can focus on getting the job done. They've already dealt with the distractions of making their major league debut, and they can just focus on baseball.
Wood will come up, get some at bats, start a game or two, an in a week, he'll be back in Salt Lake, hopefully with a better idea of what he needs to work on. And when he comes back up in the fall, or next season, he'll be ready to play ball.
Darren Collison Staying at UCLA
Not really surprising that he's staying, but I'm a little surprised that he's not testing the waters and getting some feedback from NBA scouts. This isn't big news so much next year as it is for the year after. My understanding is that a player can't "test the waters" twice. In other words, Arron Afflalo could not put his name into the draft pool like he did last year and still come back to school, even without hiring an agent. What this means for Collison and UCLA is that Collison can test the waters next year, and if he so chooses, can still come back for his senior season.
Now, it may sound crazy to imply that Collison won't be a first rounder after next season. But the fact is, you just never know. You never know who's going to explode onto the scene. You can't know how the next season is going to play out. The consequences of Collison testing the waters this season were that he'd probably come back, but was definitely gone after next season. But by deciding not to test the waters this spring, it means he's definitely back next season, and his options are open for his senior season.
Lackey was pretty sharp for the first five innings, and for once he didn't seem to be getting cute around the edges. He was challenging guys, using his fastball to get ahead early in counts, and put the D-Rays hitters away. He struck out seven over six innings, none bigger than the bases loaded, two out strikeout of B.J. Upton that ended the sixth. He loaded the bases by walking Elijah Dukes, which prompted an exchange between Lackey and home plate ump Chris Guccione, who really had no idea what the strike zone was for much of the night.
As has been true for much of the homestand, the Angels relied on awful defense from their opponents for early runs. Two Upton errors led to three Angels runs in the fifth inning, two coming home on a double from HGHMJ. The Angels did the rest of their damage in the seventh, primarily benefiting from doubles off the bats of Erick Aybar and Garret Anderson, and a two run single from Shea Hillenbrand. Speier, Carrasco, and Bootcheck all pitched scoreless innings to preserve the victory.
Big Bart is scheduled to go today if his ankle permits.
Brandon Wood Called Up
He'll replace Kendry Morales, who heads back to AAA. The Angels are essentially clearing a spot (3rd base) for Chone Figgins to do his rehab work at Salt Lake. Additionally, this is something that the Angels have been pretty good about over the last few seasons, and I think it's a good strategy. They've consistently brought their top prospects up for a taste of Major League Baseball, and not just during September. They did it with Howie Kendrick. They did it with Casey Kotchman a couple of years ago. They did it with Morales last year. They bring these guys up with very little pressure. They know that unless they set the world on fire, which no one expects, they're probably going to go back down. But most importantly, when they recall those guys (and Kendrick is probably the best example of this) at a time where they actually DO need production, the players can focus on getting the job done. They've already dealt with the distractions of making their major league debut, and they can just focus on baseball.
Wood will come up, get some at bats, start a game or two, an in a week, he'll be back in Salt Lake, hopefully with a better idea of what he needs to work on. And when he comes back up in the fall, or next season, he'll be ready to play ball.
Darren Collison Staying at UCLA
Not really surprising that he's staying, but I'm a little surprised that he's not testing the waters and getting some feedback from NBA scouts. This isn't big news so much next year as it is for the year after. My understanding is that a player can't "test the waters" twice. In other words, Arron Afflalo could not put his name into the draft pool like he did last year and still come back to school, even without hiring an agent. What this means for Collison and UCLA is that Collison can test the waters next year, and if he so chooses, can still come back for his senior season.
Now, it may sound crazy to imply that Collison won't be a first rounder after next season. But the fact is, you just never know. You never know who's going to explode onto the scene. You can't know how the next season is going to play out. The consequences of Collison testing the waters this season were that he'd probably come back, but was definitely gone after next season. But by deciding not to test the waters this spring, it means he's definitely back next season, and his options are open for his senior season.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Another Classy Gesture From a UC Riverside Grad
From today's LA Times:
My only quibble is with the Tigers. I didn't throw a pitch for the 2006 Tigers either, and I didn't even get a half share. That sucks.
Closer Troy Percival did not throw a pitch for the Tigers in 2006, but the team still awarded the former Angels reliever a full playoff share.First he builds a clubhouse for the Highlander baseball team with his own two hands, and now this. Is it any wonder why I sponsor his baseball reference page?
Percival, who is now retired, reciprocated by spending $120,000 to lease an 18-seat luxury suite in Comerica Park for players' wives to use this season.
"I've never heard of anything like it," Detroit closer Todd Jones said. "It's the best gesture I've ever seen."
My only quibble is with the Tigers. I didn't throw a pitch for the 2006 Tigers either, and I didn't even get a half share. That sucks.
Schmendrick Starts Blogging
Just got an email letting me know that John Lackey has a new blog. Already got a couple of posts up. You can check it out right here. I'm not sure how well these "celebrity" blogs turn out, as I don't read, well, any. But a lot of people like Curt Schilling's blog, which I refuse to read because I hate Curt Schilling, but that's my issue. Should be interesting to see how interactive John is.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I was one inning off - Updated x2
A good friend of mine is a Tigers fan, and we've been exchanging emails today. When Shields came in, I told him that the Tigers would leave that inning with the lead. Turns out I was off by one.
This team is flat out awful. If they hit, they can't get starting pitching. If they get starting pitching, they can't get relief pitching. Seriously, is there anyone who thought they actually had a chance to win once Sheffield hit that ball to left?
And Shields, jebus, he really, really sucks right now. I'm pretty sure I could get on base against him, mostly by standing there and waiting for him to throw me nothing near the strike zone.
98 balls. That's how many pitches out of the strike zone that Angels pitchers have thrown. They've taken less than half of that.
And you really have to ask yourself, how shitty are the Mariners?
Update: This is turning into a battle to see who sucks more, the Angels pitching, or the Tigers defense. It's the classic battle between the movable object and the resistible force.
Update x2: In a preview of the upcoming Little League season, the Tigers defense showed that it was just as bad as it was in last year's World Series, with Todd Jones allowing the eventual winning run to reach base by not only picking up a ball that was going foul, but by then chucking it into right field. Amazing. It was a battle to see who could outsuck one another.
These are two not ver good baseball teams.
This team is flat out awful. If they hit, they can't get starting pitching. If they get starting pitching, they can't get relief pitching. Seriously, is there anyone who thought they actually had a chance to win once Sheffield hit that ball to left?
And Shields, jebus, he really, really sucks right now. I'm pretty sure I could get on base against him, mostly by standing there and waiting for him to throw me nothing near the strike zone.
98 balls. That's how many pitches out of the strike zone that Angels pitchers have thrown. They've taken less than half of that.
And you really have to ask yourself, how shitty are the Mariners?
Update: This is turning into a battle to see who sucks more, the Angels pitching, or the Tigers defense. It's the classic battle between the movable object and the resistible force.
Update x2: In a preview of the upcoming Little League season, the Tigers defense showed that it was just as bad as it was in last year's World Series, with Todd Jones allowing the eventual winning run to reach base by not only picking up a ball that was going foul, but by then chucking it into right field. Amazing. It was a battle to see who could outsuck one another.
These are two not ver good baseball teams.
If It's April....
...it's baseball season. And if it's baseball season, that means it's time to get ready for another six months of Rob overreacting to every little bump in the road.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Early Warning
If anyone who saw the first three batters of the game didn't think Weaver was going to get absolutely lit up, then they're either true believers, or don't know baseball very well.
When you give up a homer to a guy after going 0-2, then go to three ball counts on pretty much every batter, you may as well walk back into the dugout and not come out, because as long as you're in the game, your team is going to lose.
That was ugly.
When you give up a homer to a guy after going 0-2, then go to three ball counts on pretty much every batter, you may as well walk back into the dugout and not come out, because as long as you're in the game, your team is going to lose.
That was ugly.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Got To Punch, Right On Target
I wasn't quite expecting to see the lows and highs of the season in the span of about a week and a half, but shortly after looking like a Low A team for six straight games, the Angels bats woke up and tore apart the Mariners in a three game sweep.
The bats struck early and often, taking multi-run leads in the early innings of all three games, while the starters held down the Mariners until the bullpen, "led" be Carrasco and Shields, did it's best to blow up games 1 and 2. Speier and Mosely looked fine in game three. The victories coincided (though it surely wasn't a coincidence) with the return of Vlad, who hit monster home runs in games 1 and 2 to help create those early leads. And whether he had anything to do with it or not, HGHMJ, Casey Kotchman, and Garret Anderson started pitching in as well. HGHMJ also finally started playing some defense again.
Still, and I don't mean to be a downer, but we certainly aren't past concern territory. Don't get me wrong, this was the right series at the right time, but we can't ignore the fact that this was still just the Mariners. On top of that, there were a lot of hard hit balls that ended up in Angels gloves, and there were multiple line drive double plays. This was a series that can be a momentum builder, but I wouldn't take it as evidence that all is well in Halo-land.
On the positive side, Bartolo Colon looked excellent in his first start of the season. And with Jered Weaver back in the rotation, the Angels optioned a guy who would be no worse than a third starter for probably 15-20 major league teams to AAA. That's serious depth. And while he's been up, Dustin Mosely is starting to get the scent of trade bait.
But the best news of the weekend? After series number 1, Angels - 3, Cocksucker Guillen - 0. Don't worry though, M's fans, Jose went 4-12, and that's all that's really important. Team success is secondary for Guillen. What's good for Jose is good for......Jose.
Bonus points for getting the reference in the title. Minus points for using Google.
The bats struck early and often, taking multi-run leads in the early innings of all three games, while the starters held down the Mariners until the bullpen, "led" be Carrasco and Shields, did it's best to blow up games 1 and 2. Speier and Mosely looked fine in game three. The victories coincided (though it surely wasn't a coincidence) with the return of Vlad, who hit monster home runs in games 1 and 2 to help create those early leads. And whether he had anything to do with it or not, HGHMJ, Casey Kotchman, and Garret Anderson started pitching in as well. HGHMJ also finally started playing some defense again.
Still, and I don't mean to be a downer, but we certainly aren't past concern territory. Don't get me wrong, this was the right series at the right time, but we can't ignore the fact that this was still just the Mariners. On top of that, there were a lot of hard hit balls that ended up in Angels gloves, and there were multiple line drive double plays. This was a series that can be a momentum builder, but I wouldn't take it as evidence that all is well in Halo-land.
On the positive side, Bartolo Colon looked excellent in his first start of the season. And with Jered Weaver back in the rotation, the Angels optioned a guy who would be no worse than a third starter for probably 15-20 major league teams to AAA. That's serious depth. And while he's been up, Dustin Mosely is starting to get the scent of trade bait.
But the best news of the weekend? After series number 1, Angels - 3, Cocksucker Guillen - 0. Don't worry though, M's fans, Jose went 4-12, and that's all that's really important. Team success is secondary for Guillen. What's good for Jose is good for......Jose.
Bonus points for getting the reference in the title. Minus points for using Google.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Over/Under on How Many Times Guillen Gets Plunked?
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Thursday, April 19, 2007
Is is possible for the Angels to score negative runs?
With no Vlad and no Howie, it just might be.
This is not going to be fun to watch.
This is not going to be fun to watch.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Damn, I didn't know it was a day game
And you know what, I don't even care. These assholes are pathetic.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dear Bill Stoneman
Next time you're going to make a big free agent deal, shoot me an email. I would have agreed to stand in center field and not catch fly balls for half of what you're paying HGHMJ. And I would have been just as awful at the plate.
Is it possible to send everyone down? Because this team sucks.
Is it possible to send everyone down? Because this team sucks.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Please just end this
Ervin Santana, during the day, on the road, is a recipe for disaster. Nice six run first inning.
Maybe MLB knew what was best for me when they tried to take Extra Innings off of cable.
Maybe MLB knew what was best for me when they tried to take Extra Innings off of cable.
Quick Reader Request
Can someone clue me in the what the fuck is going on with Autolux/Carla Azar? I'm getting like at least 15 hits a day from people doing an image search which is turning up the old Autolux pic that I stole from some other site before I stopped hotlinking. So why all the sudden interest? New album? Did she finally marry the scientology dude? What the fuck?
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Springfield
That's where I am for the next few days. The good ol' capital city.
But let's look at the bright side. At least the Angels didn't lose today.
But let's look at the bright side. At least the Angels didn't lose today.
Friday, April 13, 2007
On GA and #42
Shorter Garret Anderson detractors:
"Why won't Garret Anderson just shut up and wear the #42 like all of us white people are telling him to?"
See Rob's better post on this subject.
"Why won't Garret Anderson just shut up and wear the #42 like all of us white people are telling him to?"
See Rob's better post on this subject.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Someday....
Maybe someday a manager will come along who, having spent the vast majority of his (or her - hey, it's the future we're talking about) life in baseball, can recognize when a pitcher clearly doesn't have major league quality stuff/control, and is man (or woman) enough to realize his (or her) mistake after one hitter.
Maybe when that day comes, we'll be spared the atrocity that was the bottom of the eighth inning of today's game, where Scot Shields couldn't find the strike zone until he was facing Travis Hafner with two runners (whom he had walked) on base. One swing, and a one run lead was a two run deficit. But hey, at least he finally threw a strike.
Maybe when that day comes, we'll be spared the atrocity that was the bottom of the eighth inning of today's game, where Scot Shields couldn't find the strike zone until he was facing Travis Hafner with two runners (whom he had walked) on base. One swing, and a one run lead was a two run deficit. But hey, at least he finally threw a strike.
Angels 4; Indians 1
Didn't make it to Milwaukee last night. Snow. Lots of it. It's actually a really easy drive when the weather is OK. I play golf a few times per year about a half hour from Milwaukee, so it seems like your close to home not long after leaving the stadium. Kinda like driving from Pasadena to Temecula. But when a 90 minute drive becomes a four hour drive, it's not quite as inviting.
That doesn't mean Tuesday night's game didn't have an affect on me, though. I was still so tired from Tuesday that I fell asleep for the last two innings or so, but by that time, the Angels had done most of their damage, and Saunders was about ready to turn it over to the lights out guys in the bullpen.
Saunders had some trouble finding the strike zone, but for the most part was excellent, making me look like an idiot for putting him on my bench this week. He walked four, but only allowed four hits and one run, a solo homer to Jhonny Peralta who did his part to help the Angels with an error out at short. Saunders also struck out five.
The top of the order did a little damage tonight, pounding out six hits, while HGHMJ scored twice. But it was Mike Napoli's RBI triple that held up for the winning RBI, and few pitches later he came home on a Jake Westbrook wild pitch. A little station to station ball accounted for the fourth run, with Cabrera singling home Matthews. Shields and Frankie closed the door from there.
I'm getting the feeling that we can see more out of this team, but it's still early. With all the expectations, you'd like to see them go on an early season run that opens up the type of real estate between them and second place, the type that takes those teams a long time to crawl back from. I think they have it in them.
Mosely takes the mound today, and serves as a reminder that Bart and Jered Weaver are on the mend. Weaver especially had a terrific outing last night. The lineup will look a little different in a month, and this team should only get stronger.
That doesn't mean Tuesday night's game didn't have an affect on me, though. I was still so tired from Tuesday that I fell asleep for the last two innings or so, but by that time, the Angels had done most of their damage, and Saunders was about ready to turn it over to the lights out guys in the bullpen.
Saunders had some trouble finding the strike zone, but for the most part was excellent, making me look like an idiot for putting him on my bench this week. He walked four, but only allowed four hits and one run, a solo homer to Jhonny Peralta who did his part to help the Angels with an error out at short. Saunders also struck out five.
The top of the order did a little damage tonight, pounding out six hits, while HGHMJ scored twice. But it was Mike Napoli's RBI triple that held up for the winning RBI, and few pitches later he came home on a Jake Westbrook wild pitch. A little station to station ball accounted for the fourth run, with Cabrera singling home Matthews. Shields and Frankie closed the door from there.
I'm getting the feeling that we can see more out of this team, but it's still early. With all the expectations, you'd like to see them go on an early season run that opens up the type of real estate between them and second place, the type that takes those teams a long time to crawl back from. I think they have it in them.
Mosely takes the mound today, and serves as a reminder that Bart and Jered Weaver are on the mend. Weaver especially had a terrific outing last night. The lineup will look a little different in a month, and this team should only get stronger.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Angels 6; Indians 7
My second trip to Milwaukee and my first trip to Miller Park. You've really got to hand it to Milwaukee. On basically one day's notice, for two teams that aren't even in their league, they drew more people than the A's drew for a home game against the 2005 World Champions. But I don't need to remind any of you that A's "fans" suck.
I'm very glad that I had purchased and printed my tickets out earlier in the day. As it was, it took us a while to get into the parking lot, and we missed most of the first inning. Had we stood in the walk-up line, we wouldn't have gotten into the game until the third or fourth inning.
As we were walking to our seats, we were interviewed by Erin Toner of Milwaukee's NPR station for a national story. Unfortunately, it sounds like we ended up on the cutting room floor. They played the story on Morning Edition and they only used interviews with Indians fans. My friend was right. We should have told them we had flown in that day from LA. A lot more compelling than an interview with someone who drove up from Chicago.
We had seats (as you can see from the pictures in the post below) down the third base line. Started in row 25, but met up with Josh from Pearly Gates who was in the same section in row 9, and we sat with him for pretty much the entire game. All tickets were $10, and parking was only $8. The stadium was nice and warm. I hear the concessions lines were pretty long, but I never left my seat, so I can't give a first hand account. Still, on short notice, the Brewers did a pretty good job of throwing this together. I was pretty sure I was going to try to get to tonight's game as well, but with the snow (they're supposed to get 4 inches or so up there), it's not worth the four hour drive that it will become.
Santana clearly didn't have it. He couldn't throw strikes, and the ones he did throw got tagged for two long home runs. The Angels had Darren Oliver up in the fourth before Santana got out of the inning, and followed that up with two runs to get back into the game. At that point I mentioned to someone that they probably ought to take Santana out, because he was likely to give those runs back, and sure enough, he conspired with Pipo to do just that, with Pipo giving up a sac fly and a two out, two run double before getting out of the inning.
Still, the Angels worked their way back into the game, with two runs in the eighth and a run in the ninth. They had the tying run on first base, and Howie Kendrick coming to the plate. Speculating from the stands, Erick Aybar never even entered my mind. I thought for sure they would use Willits or Murphy to pinch run in that spot, but I'm assuming the idea was to move Kendrick to first and Aybar to second if they had tied the game. And seriously, standing there, Jose and I went back and forth over how bad of a baserunner Aybar was. He's fast, but he's not a good baserunner, and he's not a good base stealer by any means.
So what happens with a fast guy on first and a hot hitter at the plate? Aybar goes and gets thrown out to end the game for the second time in a week. It was quite possibly one of the dumbest ways to end a game I've ever seen. At least when Frankie dropped the ball a couple of years ago, it was lazy, but it was a mistake. This, on the other hand, was simply an awful, awful decision, and the blame is shared equally between Aybar and Scioscia. Scioscia should have been smart enough to give Aybar the red light, and Aybar should have been smart enough to just say no to the green light.
Other than Howie's 4-4 night and GA's 3-5, the other bright spot was Chris Bootcheck. 1.2 IP, no hits, a walk, and a strikeout. I'll take that from the fifth or sixth reliever every time. Props to Darren Oliver who got Travis Hafner looking in a tough spot as well.
It really was a fun evening, despite the douchebags sitting in front of us for the last few innings. I enjoyed Miller Park, and it was kind of neat to finally attend a game indoors. First time I've ever been in a dome, or at least a retractable roof stadium with it's roof closed. Sight lines could be a tiny bit better, but otherwise it was a really nice park, and it was super easy to get out of the parking lot after the game ended. I wouldn't mind getting up there for another game sometime this season.
In other news, Brendan Donnelly is still kind of a bad ass, and Jose Guillen is still a cocksucker. Donnelly struck out the piece of shit on three pitches, then grabbed his crotch, which set Guillen off. Guillen got run, and Donnelly plunked the next batter. I love baseball.
I'm very glad that I had purchased and printed my tickets out earlier in the day. As it was, it took us a while to get into the parking lot, and we missed most of the first inning. Had we stood in the walk-up line, we wouldn't have gotten into the game until the third or fourth inning.
As we were walking to our seats, we were interviewed by Erin Toner of Milwaukee's NPR station for a national story. Unfortunately, it sounds like we ended up on the cutting room floor. They played the story on Morning Edition and they only used interviews with Indians fans. My friend was right. We should have told them we had flown in that day from LA. A lot more compelling than an interview with someone who drove up from Chicago.
We had seats (as you can see from the pictures in the post below) down the third base line. Started in row 25, but met up with Josh from Pearly Gates who was in the same section in row 9, and we sat with him for pretty much the entire game. All tickets were $10, and parking was only $8. The stadium was nice and warm. I hear the concessions lines were pretty long, but I never left my seat, so I can't give a first hand account. Still, on short notice, the Brewers did a pretty good job of throwing this together. I was pretty sure I was going to try to get to tonight's game as well, but with the snow (they're supposed to get 4 inches or so up there), it's not worth the four hour drive that it will become.
Santana clearly didn't have it. He couldn't throw strikes, and the ones he did throw got tagged for two long home runs. The Angels had Darren Oliver up in the fourth before Santana got out of the inning, and followed that up with two runs to get back into the game. At that point I mentioned to someone that they probably ought to take Santana out, because he was likely to give those runs back, and sure enough, he conspired with Pipo to do just that, with Pipo giving up a sac fly and a two out, two run double before getting out of the inning.
Still, the Angels worked their way back into the game, with two runs in the eighth and a run in the ninth. They had the tying run on first base, and Howie Kendrick coming to the plate. Speculating from the stands, Erick Aybar never even entered my mind. I thought for sure they would use Willits or Murphy to pinch run in that spot, but I'm assuming the idea was to move Kendrick to first and Aybar to second if they had tied the game. And seriously, standing there, Jose and I went back and forth over how bad of a baserunner Aybar was. He's fast, but he's not a good baserunner, and he's not a good base stealer by any means.
So what happens with a fast guy on first and a hot hitter at the plate? Aybar goes and gets thrown out to end the game for the second time in a week. It was quite possibly one of the dumbest ways to end a game I've ever seen. At least when Frankie dropped the ball a couple of years ago, it was lazy, but it was a mistake. This, on the other hand, was simply an awful, awful decision, and the blame is shared equally between Aybar and Scioscia. Scioscia should have been smart enough to give Aybar the red light, and Aybar should have been smart enough to just say no to the green light.
Other than Howie's 4-4 night and GA's 3-5, the other bright spot was Chris Bootcheck. 1.2 IP, no hits, a walk, and a strikeout. I'll take that from the fifth or sixth reliever every time. Props to Darren Oliver who got Travis Hafner looking in a tough spot as well.
It really was a fun evening, despite the douchebags sitting in front of us for the last few innings. I enjoyed Miller Park, and it was kind of neat to finally attend a game indoors. First time I've ever been in a dome, or at least a retractable roof stadium with it's roof closed. Sight lines could be a tiny bit better, but otherwise it was a really nice park, and it was super easy to get out of the parking lot after the game ended. I wouldn't mind getting up there for another game sometime this season.
In other news, Brendan Donnelly is still kind of a bad ass, and Jose Guillen is still a cocksucker. Donnelly struck out the piece of shit on three pitches, then grabbed his crotch, which set Guillen off. Guillen got run, and Donnelly plunked the next batter. I love baseball.
Pics from Miller Park
Game one of the three game set between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Cleveland Indians of Milwaukee.
Sausages
Santana
Sausages
Bootcheck
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Off to Milwaukee
Just bought two tickets for tonight's game. Third base line. Section 126, row 25. $11 per. Not too bad. I've only been to Milwaukee once, and it wasn't a particularly memorable experience (just stopped for dinner before heading over to Madison).
How often do you get a chance to see two American League teams play in a National League ballpark?
How often do you get a chance to see two American League teams play in a National League ballpark?
Monday, April 09, 2007
One Week Down
So the Angels are off to a 5-2 start, which has to be just about the best start they've had in the last few years, and they're a couple of key hits away from being 7-0. Still, the offense has sputtered with runners in scoring position, or at least it sure did against the A's. Only Cleveland, Seattle, and Minnesota have allowed fewer runs to this point, and that's only because Cleveland and Seattle had an entire series postponed, while Minnesota has played two fewer games. The starting pitching has been darn near stellar, and only the Yankees have a better relief ERA to this point.
Offensively, Vlad has been a monster, and the Angels have the fifth best OPS in the league to this point, due in large part to Vlad's 440/483/880, and Casey Kotchman's 375/464/625 line. Howie is off to a slow start at the plate, but he's been downright excellent in the field. Speaking of which, early returns on the defense are mixed. A two error inning on opening day led to a run and a ton of pitches from Lackey, but didn't affect the outcome of the game, and HGHMJ has been pretty solid in the field to this point, save for his one error.
It would have been nice to take three of four from Oakland, but I'll settle for a split. Now the Angels move on to Milwaukee to face the Indians. It's cold here, folks. Too cold for baseball. And I'm not surprised that the morons in charge have Minnesota, a dome team, playing in Chicago (where one game was canceled due to single digit wind-chills), and Seattle (not) playing in Cleveland, where as mentioned above, not one game was completed. Good thinking, schedule makers. With any luck, I'll be able to make it to Milwaukee for one game. It's about a 90 minute drive, but I'm working on making plans for the game.
Offensively, Vlad has been a monster, and the Angels have the fifth best OPS in the league to this point, due in large part to Vlad's 440/483/880, and Casey Kotchman's 375/464/625 line. Howie is off to a slow start at the plate, but he's been downright excellent in the field. Speaking of which, early returns on the defense are mixed. A two error inning on opening day led to a run and a ton of pitches from Lackey, but didn't affect the outcome of the game, and HGHMJ has been pretty solid in the field to this point, save for his one error.
It would have been nice to take three of four from Oakland, but I'll settle for a split. Now the Angels move on to Milwaukee to face the Indians. It's cold here, folks. Too cold for baseball. And I'm not surprised that the morons in charge have Minnesota, a dome team, playing in Chicago (where one game was canceled due to single digit wind-chills), and Seattle (not) playing in Cleveland, where as mentioned above, not one game was completed. Good thinking, schedule makers. With any luck, I'll be able to make it to Milwaukee for one game. It's about a 90 minute drive, but I'm working on making plans for the game.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Angels win
Seriously, I'll be back to blogging games soon. But last night I fell asleep on the couch at about 8:00, and the next thing I knew, it was 8:30 this morning.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Frankie Update - er, Updated
Frankie Responds to Matt Hurst of the Press Enterprise (yay, Riverside!):
Seriously, that last paragraph is probably the dumbest thing I've ever read, and it reeks of CYA because I think Derek is smarter than that. But that's what happens when you have to defend a post entitled "Francisco Rodriguez Doctoring the Ball."
Anonymous in the comments asserts:
I'm quite aware of that rule. I already linked to that rule in the previous post. That's why I called loading up a hat with rosin technically illegal. And it's the foundation atop which Zumsteg builds his entire argument. And it's stupid.
Ya know, it's also technically illegal to have your back foot out of the batters box, and there's such a thing as a catcher's balk. Show me the last time they were ever enforced.
They put a freaking bag of the stuff on the goddamn mound, fer chrissakes. This isn't like glue. It isn't like pine tar. This isn't like vaseline. It's stuff they put on the mound for the use of every pitcher in every professional baseball game. When they start putting a pine tar rag or a tube of super glue on the mound, I'll treat those the same way.
But if you're a real crusader, I expect to see you out there with a pitchfork demanding that the umpires make pitchers wash their hands between pitches, lest they get dirt on the ball.
I talked to Francisco Rodriguez about this white substance on the underside of his bill and he grabbed the hat from his locker, flipped it over and said "This?"More on MLB.Com.
On the black underside of his cap was a sizable white smudge.
"It's rosin," Rodriguez said.
There is a rosin bag on the back of every mound in professional baseball filled with the white, chalky substance that pitcher's can use on their hands to eliminate sweat so they can better grip the ball. John Lackey, for instance, puts it on his left wrist, just above his glove, so he can wipe his right hand on the wrist instead of constantly going to the rosin bag.
So, why does Rodriguez continually tug on his cap, bringing suspicion about?
Because he stopped wearing his trademark goggles, he fidgets with his hat instead of his glasses.
The Angels had a two-word response to Internet posted allegations of doctoring baseballs by closer Francisco Rodriguez in two games this week against the Texas Rangers.As for Derek, well, this is pretty weak stuff:
"It's resin," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
"It's the same stuff I've had since I was called up [in 2002]," Rodriguez said, showing his cap to a pair of reporters at his locker to show the resin residue on its bill. "A lot of pitchers use it. They rub it on their pants and use it when they need it. I have it on my cap. You can see it in all the pictures; it's there.
Umm, Derek, I like you, but seriously, get the fuck over yourself. They aren't going to refrain from taking action because it came from the internet. They aren't taking action because there's no there there. It's fucking rosin. Do you think they walk out there and inspect the hands of every pitcher after he drops the bag to make sure that no specks remain on his hands before he grabs the ball? Fucking A, I'm sure there are trace amounts of rosin on EVERY ball. It's one thing to have pine tar on your hands as a pitcher. It's a whole 'nother thing to have the same exact crap they put on every mound SPECIFICALLY FOR A PITCHER TO HANDLE on your hands, or hat, or glove, or any other part of your body.Rosin is a foreign substance, same as pine tar. Now, players have pine tar on their helmets and uniforms, and that goes unenforced. But this is where they might take action: it’s clear that there was something on his cap, whether they find evidence that it was applied to the ball at any point. But it seems like it’s a lot more likely that the most dramatic action they’d take is a warning.
Part of this is political: if the league takes action on something that’s perceived as coming from the internet, MLB might see it as opening the floodgates for every fan to start making rules complaints, and there’s no way they want that.
Seriously, that last paragraph is probably the dumbest thing I've ever read, and it reeks of CYA because I think Derek is smarter than that. But that's what happens when you have to defend a post entitled "Francisco Rodriguez Doctoring the Ball."
Anonymous in the comments asserts:
um... even if it is rosin...The he quotes rule 8.02(a). You can read it yourself in the comments.
I'm quite aware of that rule. I already linked to that rule in the previous post. That's why I called loading up a hat with rosin technically illegal. And it's the foundation atop which Zumsteg builds his entire argument. And it's stupid.
Ya know, it's also technically illegal to have your back foot out of the batters box, and there's such a thing as a catcher's balk. Show me the last time they were ever enforced.
They put a freaking bag of the stuff on the goddamn mound, fer chrissakes. This isn't like glue. It isn't like pine tar. This isn't like vaseline. It's stuff they put on the mound for the use of every pitcher in every professional baseball game. When they start putting a pine tar rag or a tube of super glue on the mound, I'll treat those the same way.
But if you're a real crusader, I expect to see you out there with a pitchfork demanding that the umpires make pitchers wash their hands between pitches, lest they get dirt on the ball.
Frankie Under the Microscope
Apparently MLB has initiated an investigation into whatever the stuff is on Frankie's hat. This all started when Derek Zumsteg blogged about it on the site he set up, I assume, to promote his book, but I could be wrong about his intentions (about the site). Full disclosure, I've always liked Derek, and had a few very brief electronic conversations/thread interactions with him in the old Primer days. I don't think he wrote a book and then went looking to find a guy cheating to get his name out there. I think if anything, he wrote the book and got used to looking for that kind of stuff. You know how when you're in the market for a new car, you start noticing every car on the street and wondering what it costs (or is that just me)? Kinda like that. Anyway, I'll try to break down what we know:
I actually think the most likely most likely explanation on that list is #5, and it gets decreasingly plausible as you ascend towards number 1. Of course, they also get increasingly worse for Frankie as you ascend towards number 1, so my rules of plausibility are probably based in bias.
A couple of other notes: Derek claims that video shows the pitches where it's "clear" he loaded up (all fastballs) move a lot more than the pitches where it's not clear. Personally, I think this is crap. It's almost impossible to perceive the motion on a four seem fastball on television, and the gameday feature on MLB.com shows the ball moving anywhere from about 2-3 inches consistently. FWIW, Rob Neyer thinks it's either chalk or talcum, which he's using to keep his fingers dry, presumably as opposed to loading up the ball.
And finally, I'm not trying to bust Derek's chops on this, but I think he reported this incredibly unprofessionally. That's fine, it's his blog. But for Christ's sake, the title of the post is "Francisco Rodriguez Doctoring the Ball". That doesn't leave you a lot of wiggle room in case the whole thing turns out to be fairly innocent. You'd think a guy who spent a lot of time wiping egg off of his face after announcing that Pete Rose had reached an agreement with Selig for reinstatement might measure his words a little more carefully.
I'll be curious to see what they have to say about this tonight during the broadcast, which I get to watch now.
See also: The Chronicler's take on the subject.
- Frankie had some white junk on the underside of the brim of his cap. It's pretty clearly visible in some pictures, so it's really undisputed.
- Frankie seems to like to touch that part of his hat a lot before he pitches.
- Frankie throws some really nasty stuff.
- Frankie has been going to his hat like that since he entered the league in 2002.
- The underside of the new hat that New Era is producing this year is black.
- Frankie has been throwing really nasty stuff since he came into the league.
- Possibility #1 - Frankie feels like he needs something extra this season, so he's started loading up his cap with a foreign substance to get more action on the ball. If I were, say, a Mariners fan (like, for example, Derek), I'd probably be pre-disposed to believing that. It would also be good pub for my book if I pointed that out and everyone ran with it(hey, like I said, it's speculation).
- Possibility #2 - Frankie has been cheating for years, and no one has ever caught him, and no one has ever said anything, including current Mariner and noted cocksucker Jose Guillen, who famously ratted out Brendan Donnelly a couple of years ago when he was in Washington. Note, however, that Frankie didn't pitch in any of those games, or maybe Guillen would have done the same thing then.
- Possibility #3 - Frankie has been cheating for years, and no one ever noticed because the color of the underside of the
hatehat. Note that this also requires Frankie to be really stupid, as he must have not noticed that any substance he was using was now pretty noticeable. - Possibility #4 - Frankie has loaded his hat with some rosin, or whatever the hell they're putting in the bag this year, so that he can dry his fingers without constantly going back to the bag. This is seemingly innocuous, but also technically illegal.
- Possibility #5 - Frankie goes to the bag, then wipes his fingers off on his hat, inadvertantly depositing rosin on his hat in the process. This would, one would think, also leave a white mark on the top of his hat. Photos are inconclusive at best.
I actually think the most likely most likely explanation on that list is #5, and it gets decreasingly plausible as you ascend towards number 1. Of course, they also get increasingly worse for Frankie as you ascend towards number 1, so my rules of plausibility are probably based in bias.
A couple of other notes: Derek claims that video shows the pitches where it's "clear" he loaded up (all fastballs) move a lot more than the pitches where it's not clear. Personally, I think this is crap. It's almost impossible to perceive the motion on a four seem fastball on television, and the gameday feature on MLB.com shows the ball moving anywhere from about 2-3 inches consistently. FWIW, Rob Neyer thinks it's either chalk or talcum, which he's using to keep his fingers dry, presumably as opposed to loading up the ball.
And finally, I'm not trying to bust Derek's chops on this, but I think he reported this incredibly unprofessionally. That's fine, it's his blog. But for Christ's sake, the title of the post is "Francisco Rodriguez Doctoring the Ball". That doesn't leave you a lot of wiggle room in case the whole thing turns out to be fairly innocent. You'd think a guy who spent a lot of time wiping egg off of his face after announcing that Pete Rose had reached an agreement with Selig for reinstatement might measure his words a little more carefully.
I'll be curious to see what they have to say about this tonight during the broadcast, which I get to watch now.
See also: The Chronicler's take on the subject.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Why I Gave Money to John Kerry
The man gets things done. InDemand and MLB just announced that they've reached a deal that will put Extra Innings on cable television this season, and going forward. Baseball is back on in my apartment.
Seriously, games are already on my television. This is a happy day. I'm welcoming myself back to the Halosphere.
And a major, major thumbs up to Maury Brown over at the Bizness of Baseball and Bizness of Sports for following these negotiations non-stop for the last few weeks. He did a great job of aggregating the reports and being essentially a one stop shop for updates, and a forum for all of us to bitch about not having access by opening day. Great work, Maury.
Seriously, games are already on my television. This is a happy day. I'm welcoming myself back to the Halosphere.
And a major, major thumbs up to Maury Brown over at the Bizness of Baseball and Bizness of Sports for following these negotiations non-stop for the last few weeks. He did a great job of aggregating the reports and being essentially a one stop shop for updates, and a forum for all of us to bitch about not having access by opening day. Great work, Maury.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
I Know Yesterday was Opening Day...
But if you're looking for baseball content, you've probably come to the wrong place. And there probably won't be any for a while. You can keep checking here to find out when it might be back, if ever.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Re-visiting Saturday Night
I'm gonna be honest, I've got very little memory of what happened Saturday, and that's probably for the best. The brief post that preceded this one was an alcohol fueled rant, and trust me, there was a lot of alcohol involved. Word of advice, it's probably not a good idea to get really, really drunk the night before you have a morning golf tournament. We finished second, which was less surprising than the fact that we were even able to wake up in time to make it. Of course, we won it last year, and I played the whole round with food poisoning after spending the morning puking, so maybe I was in better shape this year.
If you had told me before the game that the Bruins would win the turnover battle 16-3, I would have felt pretty good about the game. Of course, that would have meant omitting the fact that they were completely dominated on the boards, that they couldn't shoot (39%), and that they really couldn't shoot from beyond the arc (22%). The Bruins had the game within four early in the second half before Florida ran off a 21-4 run that more or less decided the game.
As for the officiating, I don't believe the refs cost UCLA this game. I do believe that the game was pretty much over when they called the second foul on Arron Afflalo. They can't win a big game without Afflalo playing a major role, and when he was taken off the floor practically before the game even started on what were really ticky tack fouls, the game was essentially over. They can't win a big game when he only gets 22 minutes.
Before the game, I figured that a key for the Bruins would be the player (either Afflalo or Shipp) who was not guarded by Brewer, because I figured that was a matchup advantage for UCLA. When Afflalo was taken off the floor in the first two minutes, it took away that advantage. I'm not saying that analysis was correct, but we never got a chance to find out whether it was.
Speaking of Shipp, he provided a lot of hope for next year. His play down the stretch this year was excellent, and he was the lone bright spot in the semi-final. He finished with 18 points, shooting 50%, grabbed four rebounds, dished out five assists, and stole the ball four times. It will be good to have him back, even if Afflalo decides to leave.
So ignore the vitriol in the previous post. It was a disappointing end to an excellent season, and again, the Bruins should be even better next year with the arrivals of Kevin Love and Chace Stanback, combined with the continued improvement of Aboya, LRMAM, Keefe, Roll, and Westbrook. They may even get contributions from Ryan Wright and Nikola Dragovic. I still think they're a top five team going into 2007-2008.
So congratulations to the Bruins on a great season, and hopefully OSU will beat the shit out of Florida.
If you had told me before the game that the Bruins would win the turnover battle 16-3, I would have felt pretty good about the game. Of course, that would have meant omitting the fact that they were completely dominated on the boards, that they couldn't shoot (39%), and that they really couldn't shoot from beyond the arc (22%). The Bruins had the game within four early in the second half before Florida ran off a 21-4 run that more or less decided the game.
As for the officiating, I don't believe the refs cost UCLA this game. I do believe that the game was pretty much over when they called the second foul on Arron Afflalo. They can't win a big game without Afflalo playing a major role, and when he was taken off the floor practically before the game even started on what were really ticky tack fouls, the game was essentially over. They can't win a big game when he only gets 22 minutes.
Before the game, I figured that a key for the Bruins would be the player (either Afflalo or Shipp) who was not guarded by Brewer, because I figured that was a matchup advantage for UCLA. When Afflalo was taken off the floor in the first two minutes, it took away that advantage. I'm not saying that analysis was correct, but we never got a chance to find out whether it was.
Speaking of Shipp, he provided a lot of hope for next year. His play down the stretch this year was excellent, and he was the lone bright spot in the semi-final. He finished with 18 points, shooting 50%, grabbed four rebounds, dished out five assists, and stole the ball four times. It will be good to have him back, even if Afflalo decides to leave.
So ignore the vitriol in the previous post. It was a disappointing end to an excellent season, and again, the Bruins should be even better next year with the arrivals of Kevin Love and Chace Stanback, combined with the continued improvement of Aboya, LRMAM, Keefe, Roll, and Westbrook. They may even get contributions from Ryan Wright and Nikola Dragovic. I still think they're a top five team going into 2007-2008.
So congratulations to the Bruins on a great season, and hopefully OSU will beat the shit out of Florida.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
If I'd Only Known
Dear NCAA,
Next year, when you decide in October who will be in the National Championship game, please let me know so I don't have to waste a whole season watching what I think is a fairly called college basketball season.
Utlimately, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference, but I think the decision the fact that they simply weren't going to let Arron Afflalo play meaningful role in the game was devastating.
Also, Billy Packer can eat a cock. He's a piece of shit, plain and simple.
Next year, when you decide in October who will be in the National Championship game, please let me know so I don't have to waste a whole season watching what I think is a fairly called college basketball season.
Utlimately, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference, but I think the decision the fact that they simply weren't going to let Arron Afflalo play meaningful role in the game was devastating.
Also, Billy Packer can eat a cock. He's a piece of shit, plain and simple.
Friday, March 30, 2007
So What's Gonna Happen Tomorrow?
Hell if I know. Of course, I actually did pretty well on my selections, getting three of the Final Four participants correct, and I may have been an Acie Law IV layup away from having all four. I also correctly picked U$C to beat Texas, and UNLV to beat Wisconsin, which were among the larger upsets I got correct (at least by perception).
But honestly, I'm not terribly optimistic about UCLA's chances versus Florida. Keep in mind, people who know me will tell you that I'm a pessimist by nature, and images from last year's game are still stuck in my mind.
There are two players that I see holding the keys for their respective teams. For the Gators, it's Corey Brewer. The Bruins have played enough teams with good big men that I think they neutralize Horford and Noah. But Brewer is a big time matchup problem with his size, quickness, and ability to play on the perimeter as well as slash to the basket. And while it may look like Horford and Noah just kill teams inside, it starts with the respect that teams have to pay to Brewer. Hopefully coach Howland has developed a strategy to prevent him from opening up the middle for the dunk fest that we witnessed last year.
For the Bruins, I think the X-factor is Josh Shipp, and seeing as how he's the only guy in the starting line-ups who played no role last year, I'm not really going out on a limb with that. But convential wisdom says that Brewer will guard Afflalo, and that leads Humphrey to guard Shipp. I think Josh Shipp can exploit that matchup. The question is, will he be willing to beat Humphrey and settle for mid-range jumpers. I think he can beat Humphrey, but Josh likes to go to the basket, and that's where he could run into trouble. I still have nightmares of the 2001 Illini losing to Arizona in the regional final, watching Frankie Williams and company getting swatted by Loren Woods again and again and again. If they had simply pulled up from five feet, the Illini would have rolled in that game. But I digress.
If Shipp has a good shooting game, the Bruins have an excellent chance to move on. Brewer is going to have to guard one of Shipp and Afflalo, and I think it give the other a big advantage that the Bruins will need to hammer.
I'm not going to pick against UCLA. I think this team can adapt to many different styles and still be successful. Witness their sweeps over both Arizona and Washington State this year. They'll play your game and beat you at it. But Florida is very good, and playing very well right now.
Either way, it should be a very entertaining game.
But honestly, I'm not terribly optimistic about UCLA's chances versus Florida. Keep in mind, people who know me will tell you that I'm a pessimist by nature, and images from last year's game are still stuck in my mind.
There are two players that I see holding the keys for their respective teams. For the Gators, it's Corey Brewer. The Bruins have played enough teams with good big men that I think they neutralize Horford and Noah. But Brewer is a big time matchup problem with his size, quickness, and ability to play on the perimeter as well as slash to the basket. And while it may look like Horford and Noah just kill teams inside, it starts with the respect that teams have to pay to Brewer. Hopefully coach Howland has developed a strategy to prevent him from opening up the middle for the dunk fest that we witnessed last year.
For the Bruins, I think the X-factor is Josh Shipp, and seeing as how he's the only guy in the starting line-ups who played no role last year, I'm not really going out on a limb with that. But convential wisdom says that Brewer will guard Afflalo, and that leads Humphrey to guard Shipp. I think Josh Shipp can exploit that matchup. The question is, will he be willing to beat Humphrey and settle for mid-range jumpers. I think he can beat Humphrey, but Josh likes to go to the basket, and that's where he could run into trouble. I still have nightmares of the 2001 Illini losing to Arizona in the regional final, watching Frankie Williams and company getting swatted by Loren Woods again and again and again. If they had simply pulled up from five feet, the Illini would have rolled in that game. But I digress.
If Shipp has a good shooting game, the Bruins have an excellent chance to move on. Brewer is going to have to guard one of Shipp and Afflalo, and I think it give the other a big advantage that the Bruins will need to hammer.
I'm not going to pick against UCLA. I think this team can adapt to many different styles and still be successful. Witness their sweeps over both Arizona and Washington State this year. They'll play your game and beat you at it. But Florida is very good, and playing very well right now.
Either way, it should be a very entertaining game.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I Think This is Where I'm Supposed To Say "I'm Out"
After roughly two years of baseball blogging, this blog will more than likely be going, if not dark, than at least dim over the summer months. Despite what appear like fair offers from InDemand, and in the face of repeated requests from Senators to at least offer the Extra Innings package this season while continuing negotiations over the alleged 2009 launch of the Baseball Network, Major League Baseball's Deputy Douchebag, Bob Dupuy has all but eliminated any hope of digital cable networks carrying extra innings this season.
You can certainly see where he's coming from. Nearly a century and a half of professional baseball, with record attendance and interest over the last few seasons, revenue through the roof. But dammit, if they can't get the baseball channel in front of 16 million DirecTV subscribers, 15.7 million of whom won't even know they have it, then baseball is doomed. Or, as Bender might say "DOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMED".
And let's get one thing clear about Dupuy: The man is a lying sack of shit. Baseball refuses to offer Extra Innings to InDemand unless they match the terms offered by DirecTV. Only, one of those terms was that baseball would give DirecTV a 20% equity stake in the baseball channel, a stake not offered to the other carriers. So in other words, InDemand and other dish networks need to match the terms that DirecTV gave to MLB, but MLB doesn't have to match the terms it gave to DirecTV. Or put more simply, pay us the same consideration as we got from DirecTV, and we'll give you a fair amount less than we're giving DirecTV. Like I said, the guy is a piece of shit.
So what does this mean for you (and by "you" I mean "me")? Well, it means that for the time being, I'm more or less done with baseball. I will not be switching to DirecTV (where rumor is there's a two month wait for HD equipment). I will not be purchasing the streaming video offered by MLB.TV (motto: For an extra $20, you can get the version that only kinda sucks!). I will not be purchasing the package that provides radio broadcasts. Baseball has essentially decided that it no longer wants my business. And that's fine. That's their prerogative. And I certainly don't expect others to join me. This is not a crusade. It's not a boycott. They've made a business decision, and I've made a business decision.
The natural next step, of course, is that unless a deal is reached in the next two days, I won't be blogging about baseball anymore. I don't like to blog about sporting events I haven't at least witnessed on television, other than to comment on some news item. And since I won't be doing that anymore, I probably won't be covering those events here.
It's not going to be easy, and I may completely relapse. It's like giving up heroin (or, at least what I imagine giving up heroin may be like, without the actual physical symptoms...OK maybe that's a bad analogy). I've been addicted to baseball for as long as I can remember, and I've been a pretty loyal customer over that time as well. But I imagine that if I can get through the first month or so, I'll be gone (from baseball) for good....or at least for the year.
So unless something breaks in the next couple of days, consider this a swan song of sorts, at least as it pertains to baseball. I'll still check in on the final four, the occasional concert, and when UCLA football gets underway again, it will probably be business as usual next fall (though I can't guarantee that - sometimes it's too easy to not blog).
Senators spent two hours urging Major League Baseball and TV executives not to let the Extra Innings pay package land exclusively on DirecTV's satellite system. But despite congressional brush-back pitches — warnings of legislation and even the oft-repeated threat to review baseball's anti-trust exemption — MLB President Bob DuPuy didn't flinch.He left out "of course, the fans who want more baseball but either don't want to, or can't, switch to DirecTV can go fuck themselves."
Although he promised to continue negotiating through Saturday, the eve of opening day, DuPuy said baseball was willing to make an unpopular call — inconvenience about 230,000 Extra Innings subscribers on cable and the Dish Network satellite system — to get broad distribution of the league's planned Baseball Channel on DirecTV in 2009.
But DuPuy would not agree to extend the negotiations into the season, allowing cable and the Dish Network to carry Extra Innings while talks continued.
"We as a business matter view the Baseball Channel as critical to our long-term survival and the interests of our fans who want more baseball,'' he said during the two-hour hearing.
You can certainly see where he's coming from. Nearly a century and a half of professional baseball, with record attendance and interest over the last few seasons, revenue through the roof. But dammit, if they can't get the baseball channel in front of 16 million DirecTV subscribers, 15.7 million of whom won't even know they have it, then baseball is doomed. Or, as Bender might say "DOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMED".
And let's get one thing clear about Dupuy: The man is a lying sack of shit. Baseball refuses to offer Extra Innings to InDemand unless they match the terms offered by DirecTV. Only, one of those terms was that baseball would give DirecTV a 20% equity stake in the baseball channel, a stake not offered to the other carriers. So in other words, InDemand and other dish networks need to match the terms that DirecTV gave to MLB, but MLB doesn't have to match the terms it gave to DirecTV. Or put more simply, pay us the same consideration as we got from DirecTV, and we'll give you a fair amount less than we're giving DirecTV. Like I said, the guy is a piece of shit.
So what does this mean for you (and by "you" I mean "me")? Well, it means that for the time being, I'm more or less done with baseball. I will not be switching to DirecTV (where rumor is there's a two month wait for HD equipment). I will not be purchasing the streaming video offered by MLB.TV (motto: For an extra $20, you can get the version that only kinda sucks!). I will not be purchasing the package that provides radio broadcasts. Baseball has essentially decided that it no longer wants my business. And that's fine. That's their prerogative. And I certainly don't expect others to join me. This is not a crusade. It's not a boycott. They've made a business decision, and I've made a business decision.
The natural next step, of course, is that unless a deal is reached in the next two days, I won't be blogging about baseball anymore. I don't like to blog about sporting events I haven't at least witnessed on television, other than to comment on some news item. And since I won't be doing that anymore, I probably won't be covering those events here.
It's not going to be easy, and I may completely relapse. It's like giving up heroin (or, at least what I imagine giving up heroin may be like, without the actual physical symptoms...OK maybe that's a bad analogy). I've been addicted to baseball for as long as I can remember, and I've been a pretty loyal customer over that time as well. But I imagine that if I can get through the first month or so, I'll be gone (from baseball) for good....or at least for the year.
So unless something breaks in the next couple of days, consider this a swan song of sorts, at least as it pertains to baseball. I'll still check in on the final four, the occasional concert, and when UCLA football gets underway again, it will probably be business as usual next fall (though I can't guarantee that - sometimes it's too easy to not blog).
Monday, March 26, 2007
Hoodoo Gurus w/ Goldstar at the Abbey - 3/25/07
It's not often that you get to a see a band in concert whom you've been listening to for almost 20 years, especially when you thought they'd broken up about 10 years ago. It's also not often that I'm arguably the youngest person in the crowd. But lo and behold, my update email from Pollstar told me that the Hoodoo Gurus were playing the Abbey, and I felt obligated to get a ticket. I'm very glad I did.
Goldstar, who is apparently a local Chicago band led off the evening, and quite frankly, I found them to be pretty entertaining. I want to be delicate about this, but these aren't exactly spring chickens we're talking about. Throw in the matching shirts, and I'm sure one can be forgiven for underestimating them. But they played a very tight set, threw in some comedic banter between songs, and generally seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage.
The Gurus took the stage shortly thereafter, and after firing up with about a 20 second jam, they launched into "I Want You Back". They played an excellent mix of songs from across their eight proper albums, without too much focus on any one in particular. They hit all of the major tracks, though I would have loved to have heard Leilani, Death Defying, Desiree, or I Don't Mind, I can't really complain about the set list. I've tried to reproduce what I could remember, and this, like always, is not the order in which they were actually played:
Decent crowd. I'd guess the Abbey holds a couple hundred people (a little bigger than Schuba's), and it was more or less filled. I was about 10 feet from the stage, and it looked pretty packed behind me. If you're a fan, or even if you just have a passing familiarity with their stuff, do yourself a favor and check them out. It's called entertainment, folks. Not every song has to change the world.
Goldstar, who is apparently a local Chicago band led off the evening, and quite frankly, I found them to be pretty entertaining. I want to be delicate about this, but these aren't exactly spring chickens we're talking about. Throw in the matching shirts, and I'm sure one can be forgiven for underestimating them. But they played a very tight set, threw in some comedic banter between songs, and generally seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage.
The Gurus took the stage shortly thereafter, and after firing up with about a 20 second jam, they launched into "I Want You Back". They played an excellent mix of songs from across their eight proper albums, without too much focus on any one in particular. They hit all of the major tracks, though I would have loved to have heard Leilani, Death Defying, Desiree, or I Don't Mind, I can't really complain about the set list. I've tried to reproduce what I could remember, and this, like always, is not the order in which they were actually played:
- I Want You Back - Stoneage Romeos
- Dig It Up - Stoneage Romeos
- Kamikaze Pilot - Stoneage Romeos
- Bittersweet - Mars Needs Guitars
- Poison Pen - Mars Needs Guitars
- Like Wow, Wipeout - Mars Needs Guitars
- What's My Scene - Blow Your Cool
- Where Nowhere Is - Blow Your Cool
- Middle of the Land - Blow Your Cool
- Come Anytime - Magna Cum Louder
- Another World - Magna Cum Louder
- Miss Freelove '69 - Kinky
- 1,000 Miles Away - Kinky
- The Right Time - Crank
- Form A Circle - Crank
- Be My Guru - Stoneage Romeos (Bonus Track)
- At least two or three from Mach Schau
- At least two or three from Blue Cave
Decent crowd. I'd guess the Abbey holds a couple hundred people (a little bigger than Schuba's), and it was more or less filled. I was about 10 feet from the stage, and it looked pretty packed behind me. If you're a fan, or even if you just have a passing familiarity with their stuff, do yourself a favor and check them out. It's called entertainment, folks. Not every song has to change the world.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
UCLA 68; Kansas 55 - Bruins Off to the Land of Many Peachtree Streets
Seriously, I've been to Atlanta, and there are like 18 streets all called Peachtree. It's very confusing. But I digress...
Look, this isn't gonna be an easy post for me to write without going into how much I hate Kansas. It started with Roy Williams poaching SoCal's best players, and the hatred intensified when that cocksucker Bail $elfish left Illinois to take the Kansas job. Let's get one thing straight, $elfish is a great recruiter, but he is a flat out AWFUL game coach (with an exception or two, which I'll get into later). Ask any Illinois fan who witnessed the 2003 debacle against Notre Dame where he suddenly decided that guarding the perimeter was not a priority, and when ND hit a ton of first half threes, he still thought it wasn't a priority. Result? Predictable.
Let me go ahead and write out the quotes from Kansas players right now:
On to the the game itself, I'll be honest. I was not happy with the first half. Too many turnovers. Too many bad decisions. At about the 15 minute mark, I thought 'just get it to three by halftime'. But a nice run over the last five minutes, and a great play at the end of the half (which failed later in the game) gave the Bruins a four point cushion. At that point of the game, I called my dad and said the first five minutes of the half were of utmost importance. This has been kind of a theme of mine this season. Ever since they lost the Stanford game, I've been all over the importance of the first five minutes of the second half. Well, tonight, after the first five and half minutes of the second half, UCLA pushed a four point lead out to nine, and would make it 11 just a minute later. Kansas never returned to that four point deficit.
So many heroes tonight. Josh Shipp's three pointers, including the three at the end of the first half. He finished with 9 points, 5 assists, and 6 boards. Darren Collison handled the Kansas pressure for the most part and tossed in 14 points. Don't look at the assist to turnover ratio. It's meaningless tonight. The defense of Aboya, Mata, and LRMAM, once again forcing a ton of misses on "easy" shots. Russel Westbrook, 2-2 on a dunk and a layup. Instant offense. And I'll say it right now, I hope Collison doesn't leave, but if he does, I could see Russel making the same type of transition that Collison has made in Jordan Farmar's absence.
But the hero, UCLA's best player, was UCLA's best player, Arron Afflalo. What. A. Game. He poured in 24 points. 10-15 from the field, most of those in the second half (he started off poorly). 3-7 from beyond the arc. And he showed the country once again that you should never feel comfortable in the final second of the shot clock. He nailed one. Collison nailed one. They were back breakers for Kansas. There's just something about giving up those types of shots late. You think you're about to get the ball back. You think you have a chance to cut a six point deficit to three or four, and all of the sudden your down by nine. This kid is a winner, and the only bad news from tonight is that he probably cemented his status as an NBA first rounder.
Ben Howland. Talk about a class act, and a hell of a game coach. He stayed with the game plan, and knew his players could execute. And you had to love the respect he showed former UCLA PBP announcer Dick Enberg. And I will give credit to $elfish for his strategy with about 3 minutes left. Kansas had not committed many fouls, and they knew they would need to probably put UCLA on the line at the end. But he didn't wait until a minute remained to foul on purpose. He got his team to really start ball hawking with about three minutes left. Go for the foul, and if you foul, who cares? It was a good strategy and it led to a couple of turnovers.
But despite the turnovers, despite some poor decision making, UCLA is heading to it's second straight final four. Ben Howland has returned this team to the top of college basketball's elite. And these kids, who have worked so hard all year, are headed back to college basketball's biggest stage. Congratulations, Bruins.
Look, this isn't gonna be an easy post for me to write without going into how much I hate Kansas. It started with Roy Williams poaching SoCal's best players, and the hatred intensified when that cocksucker Bail $elfish left Illinois to take the Kansas job. Let's get one thing straight, $elfish is a great recruiter, but he is a flat out AWFUL game coach (with an exception or two, which I'll get into later). Ask any Illinois fan who witnessed the 2003 debacle against Notre Dame where he suddenly decided that guarding the perimeter was not a priority, and when ND hit a ton of first half threes, he still thought it wasn't a priority. Result? Predictable.
Let me go ahead and write out the quotes from Kansas players right now:
- We missed a lot of easy shots.
- We missed a bunch of shots that we usually make.
- We picked a bad time to miss a bunch of layups.
- Yada...Yada...Yada....
On to the the game itself, I'll be honest. I was not happy with the first half. Too many turnovers. Too many bad decisions. At about the 15 minute mark, I thought 'just get it to three by halftime'. But a nice run over the last five minutes, and a great play at the end of the half (which failed later in the game) gave the Bruins a four point cushion. At that point of the game, I called my dad and said the first five minutes of the half were of utmost importance. This has been kind of a theme of mine this season. Ever since they lost the Stanford game, I've been all over the importance of the first five minutes of the second half. Well, tonight, after the first five and half minutes of the second half, UCLA pushed a four point lead out to nine, and would make it 11 just a minute later. Kansas never returned to that four point deficit.
So many heroes tonight. Josh Shipp's three pointers, including the three at the end of the first half. He finished with 9 points, 5 assists, and 6 boards. Darren Collison handled the Kansas pressure for the most part and tossed in 14 points. Don't look at the assist to turnover ratio. It's meaningless tonight. The defense of Aboya, Mata, and LRMAM, once again forcing a ton of misses on "easy" shots. Russel Westbrook, 2-2 on a dunk and a layup. Instant offense. And I'll say it right now, I hope Collison doesn't leave, but if he does, I could see Russel making the same type of transition that Collison has made in Jordan Farmar's absence.
But the hero, UCLA's best player, was UCLA's best player, Arron Afflalo. What. A. Game. He poured in 24 points. 10-15 from the field, most of those in the second half (he started off poorly). 3-7 from beyond the arc. And he showed the country once again that you should never feel comfortable in the final second of the shot clock. He nailed one. Collison nailed one. They were back breakers for Kansas. There's just something about giving up those types of shots late. You think you're about to get the ball back. You think you have a chance to cut a six point deficit to three or four, and all of the sudden your down by nine. This kid is a winner, and the only bad news from tonight is that he probably cemented his status as an NBA first rounder.
Ben Howland. Talk about a class act, and a hell of a game coach. He stayed with the game plan, and knew his players could execute. And you had to love the respect he showed former UCLA PBP announcer Dick Enberg. And I will give credit to $elfish for his strategy with about 3 minutes left. Kansas had not committed many fouls, and they knew they would need to probably put UCLA on the line at the end. But he didn't wait until a minute remained to foul on purpose. He got his team to really start ball hawking with about three minutes left. Go for the foul, and if you foul, who cares? It was a good strategy and it led to a couple of turnovers.
But despite the turnovers, despite some poor decision making, UCLA is heading to it's second straight final four. Ben Howland has returned this team to the top of college basketball's elite. And these kids, who have worked so hard all year, are headed back to college basketball's biggest stage. Congratulations, Bruins.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Pitt 55; UCLA 64 - Bruins Dance Into the Elite 8
Not quite so much drama as the last time the Bruins were the Sweet 16, but a win is a win, and the Bruins are still playing. They'll face Kansas on Saturday.
In a bit of a change of pace, UCLA won this game at the free throw line. That's right, I said they *won* it at the line, making 23 of their 26 free throws. And quite frankly, if you watched the game, you shouldn't have been surprised. Why? Look at the free throw distribution. Of their 26 free throws, 22 were shot by Arron Afflalo (10/10), Darren Collison (6/6), and Josh Shipp (5/6). If those three had shot 86% of UCLA's free throws all season, they wouldn't have been at the bottom of the Pac 10.
The defense was stifling yet again. The press will write about how UCLA was lucky that Pitt missed so many easy shots. My response: What easy shots? Not only did the Bruins play their typical ball hawking defense on the perimeter, but they brought quick double teams on Aaron Gray (who had all of one assist to show for his great passing out of double teams), and they routinely made life miserable for Pitt in the paint. Lorenzo Mata may only be somewhere between 6'8" and 6'10", but the guy probably has the strongest lower body in the country. You simply don't back him down. Other than the misadventures of Alfred Aboya and Ryan Wright (note to Dick Enberg: They aren't the same guy - Wright wears a head band), the Bruin defense was very stingy inside.
Unsung hero of the game? He was 2-2 with five points, no assists, no rebounds, no steals. But Michael Roll knocked down both of his open shots. With the Bruins leading by five, and under a minute to play, Darren Collison drove the lane, kicked it out to Roll, and his two point jumper made it a three possession game, essentially icing the victory. He didn't force it. He didn't try to do things he couldn't do in the first half. He waited for the game to come to him, and hit a huge shot.
Arron Afflalo shot the ball poorly, but did his damage at the free throw line and finished with 17 points. Josh Shipp shot it a little better, hit a couple of big threes, and finished with 16 of his. And Darren Collison didn't put up great numbers across the board, but he still finished with 12 points on 3-5 shooting, though I would like to see a little better assist/turnover ratio (4/3 may not cut it against Kansas).
Again, I don't know a ton about the Jayhawks, other than I hate their coach, and I don't think he's all that good. From what I saw tonight, they look long and athletic. No huge force on the inside, but they may create matchup problems in the backcourt. I like the fact that Collison has the experience edge over Sherron Collins. That could be a difference maker. And the best news of all, there won't be any other games on at the same time, so I'll actually get to see the whole game in HD.
Final notes: It's hard not to like Aaron Gray. Dude looks like the Michelin Man when he comes out the game, bouncing from side to side with a dumb guy grin on his face. Good luck to him in the NBA. Also, Satan lost tonight. Sure, it was against OhowIhateOhioState, but Satan is dead nonetheless. Bruce Pearl, quite possibly the biggest piece of shit in college basketball, is done, and that makes me happy.
In a bit of a change of pace, UCLA won this game at the free throw line. That's right, I said they *won* it at the line, making 23 of their 26 free throws. And quite frankly, if you watched the game, you shouldn't have been surprised. Why? Look at the free throw distribution. Of their 26 free throws, 22 were shot by Arron Afflalo (10/10), Darren Collison (6/6), and Josh Shipp (5/6). If those three had shot 86% of UCLA's free throws all season, they wouldn't have been at the bottom of the Pac 10.
The defense was stifling yet again. The press will write about how UCLA was lucky that Pitt missed so many easy shots. My response: What easy shots? Not only did the Bruins play their typical ball hawking defense on the perimeter, but they brought quick double teams on Aaron Gray (who had all of one assist to show for his great passing out of double teams), and they routinely made life miserable for Pitt in the paint. Lorenzo Mata may only be somewhere between 6'8" and 6'10", but the guy probably has the strongest lower body in the country. You simply don't back him down. Other than the misadventures of Alfred Aboya and Ryan Wright (note to Dick Enberg: They aren't the same guy - Wright wears a head band), the Bruin defense was very stingy inside.
Unsung hero of the game? He was 2-2 with five points, no assists, no rebounds, no steals. But Michael Roll knocked down both of his open shots. With the Bruins leading by five, and under a minute to play, Darren Collison drove the lane, kicked it out to Roll, and his two point jumper made it a three possession game, essentially icing the victory. He didn't force it. He didn't try to do things he couldn't do in the first half. He waited for the game to come to him, and hit a huge shot.
Arron Afflalo shot the ball poorly, but did his damage at the free throw line and finished with 17 points. Josh Shipp shot it a little better, hit a couple of big threes, and finished with 16 of his. And Darren Collison didn't put up great numbers across the board, but he still finished with 12 points on 3-5 shooting, though I would like to see a little better assist/turnover ratio (4/3 may not cut it against Kansas).
Again, I don't know a ton about the Jayhawks, other than I hate their coach, and I don't think he's all that good. From what I saw tonight, they look long and athletic. No huge force on the inside, but they may create matchup problems in the backcourt. I like the fact that Collison has the experience edge over Sherron Collins. That could be a difference maker. And the best news of all, there won't be any other games on at the same time, so I'll actually get to see the whole game in HD.
Final notes: It's hard not to like Aaron Gray. Dude looks like the Michelin Man when he comes out the game, bouncing from side to side with a dumb guy grin on his face. Good luck to him in the NBA. Also, Satan lost tonight. Sure, it was against OhowIhateOhioState, but Satan is dead nonetheless. Bruce Pearl, quite possibly the biggest piece of shit in college basketball, is done, and that makes me happy.
Texas A&M Got Screwed....Kinda
Background: 3.1 seconds on the clock as the ball went out of bounds, with A&M down by one. But the refs had to take some time off. They took 1.1 seconds off.
What you'll hear in defense of the refs: The ball was touched by Memphis, then bounced in bounds before landing out of bounds. That probably was at least one second, so the refs got it right. But....
Here's why they still got it wrong: If you watch the replay in real time, the ref under the basket at which Memphis was shooting blew his whistle as soon as the ball hit the floor. The clock should have been dead right at that point. I do not believe the refs are allowed to change the time left on the clock when the whistle blows. They can review it on made baskets and such, or they can put time on the clock if the whistle comes late, but they are not allowed to add "in play" time when the whistle is blown early.
The refs screwed that one up. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but trying telling Texas A&M that they didn't need an extra eight or nine tenths of a second.
What you'll hear in defense of the refs: The ball was touched by Memphis, then bounced in bounds before landing out of bounds. That probably was at least one second, so the refs got it right. But....
Here's why they still got it wrong: If you watch the replay in real time, the ref under the basket at which Memphis was shooting blew his whistle as soon as the ball hit the floor. The clock should have been dead right at that point. I do not believe the refs are allowed to change the time left on the clock when the whistle blows. They can review it on made baskets and such, or they can put time on the clock if the whistle comes late, but they are not allowed to add "in play" time when the whistle is blown early.
The refs screwed that one up. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but trying telling Texas A&M that they didn't need an extra eight or nine tenths of a second.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
UCLA v. Pitt
There's been a lot of silence from me leading up to this game. That's due to a couple of things. Between traveling home for work, going to client sites, and general business, I haven't had a ton of time.
But mostly, I don't really know what to say. I haven't seen Pitt play all year. Between watching a lot of Big Ten and Pac Ten games, I don't have a lot of time for or interest in Big East basketball. I know they have a talented big man in Aaron Gray. For much better insight than I can provide, visit these guys. They do a lot better job of previewing these things. I can only comment on what I've seen, and like I said, I haven't seen Pitt.
I'll try and have more on Friday. Of course, I'm destined to either watch this game on a computer scree (again), or without sound. Ohio State plays at the same time, and this is Big Ten country. That means no Bruins on local TV. No Bruins in High Def. Sometimes I really hate living in Chicago.
But mostly, I don't really know what to say. I haven't seen Pitt play all year. Between watching a lot of Big Ten and Pac Ten games, I don't have a lot of time for or interest in Big East basketball. I know they have a talented big man in Aaron Gray. For much better insight than I can provide, visit these guys. They do a lot better job of previewing these things. I can only comment on what I've seen, and like I said, I haven't seen Pitt.
I'll try and have more on Friday. Of course, I'm destined to either watch this game on a computer scree (again), or without sound. Ohio State plays at the same time, and this is Big Ten country. That means no Bruins on local TV. No Bruins in High Def. Sometimes I really hate living in Chicago.
InDemand Matches DirecTV...
...Or at least they did for a minute. But it looks like MLB is still intent on giving fans the finger.
Didn't want it to end like this, but there's a good chance that this is going to be my second to last baseball post for a long, long time. I've decided I'm not going to DirecTV. And unless I change my mind, or Comcast goes the Cox route and offers me MLBTV for free, it's looking like Cubs and White Sox only, which is to say, I won't be watching much baseball this year. If, when all is said and done, MLB insists on screwing over its most loyal fans, I'll probably do one more post about it, and that will be it.
On the plus side, I may actually start getting some sleep when the Angels are on the West Coast.
Didn't want it to end like this, but there's a good chance that this is going to be my second to last baseball post for a long, long time. I've decided I'm not going to DirecTV. And unless I change my mind, or Comcast goes the Cox route and offers me MLBTV for free, it's looking like Cubs and White Sox only, which is to say, I won't be watching much baseball this year. If, when all is said and done, MLB insists on screwing over its most loyal fans, I'll probably do one more post about it, and that will be it.
On the plus side, I may actually start getting some sleep when the Angels are on the West Coast.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Listen to this song
Then listen to it again. And when you're done, listen to it one more time. If by then, you aren't hooked, you have no soul. Either that, or your taste in music just sucks.
That's Viva Voce, and they opened for the Shins on the recent tour. I missed most of their opening set, because unless I know a lot about the band, I hate seeing opening acts at big shows. 50% of the audience isn't there, and of those who are, 90% of them aren't paying attention. It makes for a shitty atmosphere. But it was my mistake this time (note: I also screwed up by missing most of the High Dials set the first time I saw them when they opened for the Brian Jonestown Massacre). But this song is brilliant. And the video is good too.
And just in case you thought those were actors, and that Anita can't really shred like than on actual guitar, here's a live version:
Hat tip to the Uncanny Canuck over at Song of the Day.
That's Viva Voce, and they opened for the Shins on the recent tour. I missed most of their opening set, because unless I know a lot about the band, I hate seeing opening acts at big shows. 50% of the audience isn't there, and of those who are, 90% of them aren't paying attention. It makes for a shitty atmosphere. But it was my mistake this time (note: I also screwed up by missing most of the High Dials set the first time I saw them when they opened for the Brian Jonestown Massacre). But this song is brilliant. And the video is good too.
And just in case you thought those were actors, and that Anita can't really shred like than on actual guitar, here's a live version:
Hat tip to the Uncanny Canuck over at Song of the Day.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Excuse the light posting
I'm in L.A. at the moment, and will be traveling back to Chicago tomorrow. Between travel, golf, In-N-Out, Mexican food, training, and more travel, I haven't had a whole lot of time to write.
But dang, those DirecTV screens on JetBlue are really, really nice.
But dang, those DirecTV screens on JetBlue are really, really nice.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Survive and Advance - First Impressions
It wasn't pretty, but in one fell swoop, the Bruins have moved on, and eliminated probably the most despicable human being in college basketball.
Darren Collison was the show tonight, and on an evening where he didn't get a lot of help, they really needed him to step up. Congrats to DC and the rest of the Bruins.
And for the record, Kelvin Sampson is the dictionary definition of a piece of shit. He's a scumbag, plain and simple, and the fact that Indiana hired him reflects very poorly on that institution. There's a colloquialism that says "I wouldn't piss on him if he were on fire", and for me, Kelvin Samscum is the person for whom that was written. Pure and simple, he's a grade A shitbag.
Darren Collison was the show tonight, and on an evening where he didn't get a lot of help, they really needed him to step up. Congrats to DC and the rest of the Bruins.
And for the record, Kelvin Sampson is the dictionary definition of a piece of shit. He's a scumbag, plain and simple, and the fact that Indiana hired him reflects very poorly on that institution. There's a colloquialism that says "I wouldn't piss on him if he were on fire", and for me, Kelvin Samscum is the person for whom that was written. Pure and simple, he's a grade A shitbag.
Illinois - It's Finally Over
Disappointing, to be sure. No offense over the final eight minutes. Horrible free throw shooting. Poor decision making. After 32 minutes of excellent basketball, the Illini played a pathetic final 8, and allowed Virginia Tech to erase a 13 point lead, and win by two, 54-52.
0. That's how many points the Illini scored over the final 4:20. No field goals.
No free throws. No nothing. With roughly eight minutes to go, and trailing by double digits, Va Tech went to a full court press. The Illini actually handled it pretty well, but once they got the ball into the front court, they played they all had brain slugs attached to their heads, making poor decision after poor decision, bad pass after bad pass, turnover after turnover. It was painful to watch, but Illini basketball has been painful to watch most of the season.
So that's it. Numerous injuries, two DUIs, one major car accident, and 23 wins, all finally, mercifully, at an end. This was, without a doubt, the toughest season to live through since 1998-1999. The difference then was that everyone knew the Illini were going to be awful, and Frank Williams, Brian Cook, and Marcus Griffin were all set to join the team the next season.
Where do the Illini go from here? They have to hope the Demetri McCamey and Quinton Watkins (assuming he officially commits), are the real deal and can contribute to the offense next season. Sean Pruitt will be the main scoring threat, but the question has got to be 'where will the help come from'? They lose both Rich McBride and Warren Carter, who were their only reliable scorers, and I'm using a loose definition of reliable. Can Brian Carlwell recover and provide support in the post? Can Trent Meacham be a more reliable shooter? Will Jamar Smith even return to the team? And after a season of illness and injury, what can Richard Semrau bring to the team? And if healthy, will Brian Randle finally live up to the potential that so many see in him?
The upside is probably another mid to low seed in the NCAA tournament. I would imagine that they'll be projected as an NIT team next year, probably seventh in the conference. That's just a hunch based on little to no analysis, so take that with a gigantic grain of salt. There are a lot of question marks. But the off-season is a time for healing, and the Illini have a lot of healing to do.
0. That's how many points the Illini scored over the final 4:20. No field goals.
No free throws. No nothing. With roughly eight minutes to go, and trailing by double digits, Va Tech went to a full court press. The Illini actually handled it pretty well, but once they got the ball into the front court, they played they all had brain slugs attached to their heads, making poor decision after poor decision, bad pass after bad pass, turnover after turnover. It was painful to watch, but Illini basketball has been painful to watch most of the season.So that's it. Numerous injuries, two DUIs, one major car accident, and 23 wins, all finally, mercifully, at an end. This was, without a doubt, the toughest season to live through since 1998-1999. The difference then was that everyone knew the Illini were going to be awful, and Frank Williams, Brian Cook, and Marcus Griffin were all set to join the team the next season.
Where do the Illini go from here? They have to hope the Demetri McCamey and Quinton Watkins (assuming he officially commits), are the real deal and can contribute to the offense next season. Sean Pruitt will be the main scoring threat, but the question has got to be 'where will the help come from'? They lose both Rich McBride and Warren Carter, who were their only reliable scorers, and I'm using a loose definition of reliable. Can Brian Carlwell recover and provide support in the post? Can Trent Meacham be a more reliable shooter? Will Jamar Smith even return to the team? And after a season of illness and injury, what can Richard Semrau bring to the team? And if healthy, will Brian Randle finally live up to the potential that so many see in him?
The upside is probably another mid to low seed in the NCAA tournament. I would imagine that they'll be projected as an NIT team next year, probably seventh in the conference. That's just a hunch based on little to no analysis, so take that with a gigantic grain of salt. There are a lot of question marks. But the off-season is a time for healing, and the Illini have a lot of healing to do.
Friday, March 16, 2007
One Down, Five To Go
UCLA
It wasn't the 50 point win I was hoping for, but I'll settle for 28.
Another slow start. UCLA led by only one with eight minutes remaining in the first half. But Michael Roll, slumping lately, hit two consecutive three pointers that set off a 22-5 run to end the first half, and the game was essentially over at that point.
Apparently Darren Collison is feeling OK. His numbers were good, but not eye-popping. 14 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers. But the number that should catch your eye, especially in a 28 point blowout, is 32, as in minutes. I've gotta think the ankle felt fine if Ben Howland was willing to leave him in that long. Josh Shipp's thumb appears to be OK as well. He finished with 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from long range). But if UCLA is going to make a deep run, their best player needs to be their best player, and last night Arron Afflalo was exactly that, finishing with 22 points in 32 minutes, to go along with 8 rebounds (though I'd like to see him cut down on the 3 turnovers). He struggled early, but found his stroke as the game winning, finishing 8-15 from the field, and 3-5 from beyond the arc.
In an apparent homage to Cade McNown, Lorenzo Mata recovered from a bit of an upset stomach (not that you would have known it if all you had was the TV broadcast), puking up his lunch before returning to the court and throwing down a couple of dunks on his way to 6 points and 7 rebounds.
Indiana awaits, after having taken care of Gonzaga, which means no rematch of last year's regional semi-final. I've watched Indiana a few times this year, and quite frankly, I'm not particularly impressed. DJ White is a very good player, and he's pretty polished offensively, but he's not particularly tall. I think the Bruins can cover him with one guy, at least when Mata is on the floor. Mata's strong lower body should be able to keep White from the rim. That's going to be important, because if they're forced to double team, it will leave the perimeter open for Indiana's good long range shooters. UCLA is a better team, but this is certainly a game they're capable of losing.
Illinois
Virginia Tech awaits the Illini tonight. Haven't seen them play, but they seem to have a strange habit of beating very good teams (they took out UNC twice), and losing to mediocre teams (Florida State, NC State twice, Clemson). That's great news for Illinois, because the Illini are all kinds of mediocre.
It wasn't the 50 point win I was hoping for, but I'll settle for 28.
Another slow start. UCLA led by only one with eight minutes remaining in the first half. But Michael Roll, slumping lately, hit two consecutive three pointers that set off a 22-5 run to end the first half, and the game was essentially over at that point.
Apparently Darren Collison is feeling OK. His numbers were good, but not eye-popping. 14 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers. But the number that should catch your eye, especially in a 28 point blowout, is 32, as in minutes. I've gotta think the ankle felt fine if Ben Howland was willing to leave him in that long. Josh Shipp's thumb appears to be OK as well. He finished with 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from long range). But if UCLA is going to make a deep run, their best player needs to be their best player, and last night Arron Afflalo was exactly that, finishing with 22 points in 32 minutes, to go along with 8 rebounds (though I'd like to see him cut down on the 3 turnovers). He struggled early, but found his stroke as the game winning, finishing 8-15 from the field, and 3-5 from beyond the arc.
In an apparent homage to Cade McNown, Lorenzo Mata recovered from a bit of an upset stomach (not that you would have known it if all you had was the TV broadcast), puking up his lunch before returning to the court and throwing down a couple of dunks on his way to 6 points and 7 rebounds.
Indiana awaits, after having taken care of Gonzaga, which means no rematch of last year's regional semi-final. I've watched Indiana a few times this year, and quite frankly, I'm not particularly impressed. DJ White is a very good player, and he's pretty polished offensively, but he's not particularly tall. I think the Bruins can cover him with one guy, at least when Mata is on the floor. Mata's strong lower body should be able to keep White from the rim. That's going to be important, because if they're forced to double team, it will leave the perimeter open for Indiana's good long range shooters. UCLA is a better team, but this is certainly a game they're capable of losing.
Illinois
Virginia Tech awaits the Illini tonight. Haven't seen them play, but they seem to have a strange habit of beating very good teams (they took out UNC twice), and losing to mediocre teams (Florida State, NC State twice, Clemson). That's great news for Illinois, because the Illini are all kinds of mediocre.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
The Picks
I'll preface this by saying that I'm kind of doing this freestyle. In other words, the picks I make here may or may not be the picks I make in any particular pool. I just kind of look for teams that jump out at me, and it could be different every time. So here we go (upsets in red):
First Round
Midwest Region
Florida over Jackson State
Arizona over Purdue
Butler over Old Dominion
Maryland over Davidson
Notre Dame over Winthrop
Oregon over Miami (OH)
UNLV over Georgia Tech
Wisconsin over Texas A&M
Yup. No first round upsets on this side
West Region
Kansas over Niagra (barely)
Kentucky over Villanova
Illinois over Virginia Tech (C'mon, I have to)
Southern Illinois over Holy Cross
Duke over VCU
Pittsburgh over Wright State
Indiana over Gonzaga
UCLA over Weber State
East Region
UNC over Eastern Kentucky
MSU over Marquette
U$C over Arkansas
Texas over NMSU
Vanderbilt over George Washington
Washington State over Oral Roberts
Texas Tech over Boston College
Georgetown over Belmont
South Region
OSU over Central Connecticut State
BYU over Xavier
Tennessee over Long Beach State
Virginia over Albany
Stanford over Louiville
Texas A&M over Penn
Nevada over Creighton
Memphis over North Texas
Second Round
Midwest Region
Florida over Arizona
Maryland over Butler
Oregon over UND
UNLV over Wisconsin
West Region
Kansas over Kentucky
Illinois over SIU
Duke over Pitt
UCLA over Indiana
East Region
UNC over MSU
U$C over Texas
WSU over Vandy
Georgetown over Texas Tech
South Region
OSU over BYU
Tennessee over Virginia
Texas A&M over Stanford
Memphis over Nevada
Sweet Sixteen
Midwest Region
Florida over Maryland
Oregon over UNLV
West Region
Kansas over Illinois (that hurts)
UCLA over Duke
East Region
UNC over U$C
Georgetown over Wazzu
South Region
OSU over Tennessee
Texas A&M over Memphis
Elite Eight
Midwest Region
Florida over Oregon - Florida's size will be too much
West Region
UCLA over Kansas - A season of playing in a crappy conference, plus crappy coaching, catches up with Kansas
East Region
Georgetown over UNC - I haven't seen much of Georgetown, but I'm not all that impressed with UNC
South
Texas A&M over OSU - Acie Law IV's experience is too much for the Buckeye freshman
Final Four
UCLA over Florida in a rematch of last year's final
Georgetown over Texas A&M
Championship
UCLA over Georgetown.
Talk about a run. If this were to hold, UCLA would have knocked off Indiana, Duke, Kansas, Florida, and Georgetown. Other than Florida, that's a lot of tradition. But something just seems right about UCLA riding it's basketball team to it's 100th overall national championship. Besides, I overrate the teams I root for all the time, so it's hard to pick against them when they're actually good.
First Round
Midwest Region
Florida over Jackson State
Arizona over Purdue
Butler over Old Dominion
Maryland over Davidson
Notre Dame over Winthrop
Oregon over Miami (OH)
UNLV over Georgia Tech
Wisconsin over Texas A&M
Yup. No first round upsets on this side
West Region
Kansas over Niagra (barely)
Kentucky over Villanova
Illinois over Virginia Tech (C'mon, I have to)
Southern Illinois over Holy Cross
Duke over VCU
Pittsburgh over Wright State
Indiana over Gonzaga
UCLA over Weber State
East Region
UNC over Eastern Kentucky
MSU over Marquette
U$C over Arkansas
Texas over NMSU
Vanderbilt over George Washington
Washington State over Oral Roberts
Texas Tech over Boston College
Georgetown over Belmont
South Region
OSU over Central Connecticut State
BYU over Xavier
Tennessee over Long Beach State
Virginia over Albany
Stanford over Louiville
Texas A&M over Penn
Nevada over Creighton
Memphis over North Texas
Second Round
Midwest Region
Florida over Arizona
Maryland over Butler
Oregon over UND
UNLV over Wisconsin
West Region
Kansas over Kentucky
Illinois over SIU
Duke over Pitt
UCLA over Indiana
East Region
UNC over MSU
U$C over Texas
WSU over Vandy
Georgetown over Texas Tech
South Region
OSU over BYU
Tennessee over Virginia
Texas A&M over Stanford
Memphis over Nevada
Sweet Sixteen
Midwest Region
Florida over Maryland
Oregon over UNLV
West Region
Kansas over Illinois (that hurts)
UCLA over Duke
East Region
UNC over U$C
Georgetown over Wazzu
South Region
OSU over Tennessee
Texas A&M over Memphis
Elite Eight
Midwest Region
Florida over Oregon - Florida's size will be too much
West Region
UCLA over Kansas - A season of playing in a crappy conference, plus crappy coaching, catches up with Kansas
East Region
Georgetown over UNC - I haven't seen much of Georgetown, but I'm not all that impressed with UNC
South
Texas A&M over OSU - Acie Law IV's experience is too much for the Buckeye freshman
Final Four
UCLA over Florida in a rematch of last year's final
Georgetown over Texas A&M
Championship
UCLA over Georgetown.
Talk about a run. If this were to hold, UCLA would have knocked off Indiana, Duke, Kansas, Florida, and Georgetown. Other than Florida, that's a lot of tradition. But something just seems right about UCLA riding it's basketball team to it's 100th overall national championship. Besides, I overrate the teams I root for all the time, so it's hard to pick against them when they're actually good.
DirecTV Update
For those of you who haven't been following, MLB agreed to a deal with DirecTV that would make the Extra Innings package non-exclusive. In other words, cable companies still have a chance to carry the package. However, a pre-requisite to offering the package is an agreement to carry the baseball channel (when it launches) on the basic tier. As has been noted by Maury Brown, this is a poison pill. It's a provision that baseball knows no cable companies are going to go for, so it's still a de facto exclusive deal.
Personally, I may have been 50/50 about switching to DirecTV a few weeks ago. Now I'd say there's probably no more than a 10% chance I'll make the switch. And with MLB using this as an opportunity to jack up the cost of MLBTV, chances are I'm not getting that either. So it's looking more and more like I'll be a casual baseball fan this season at best. That means about 99% less baseball content here, and during baseball season, that means about 99% less content period.
There may be a last ditch effort to save the package for cable companies, though. Senator Kerry has scheduled a hearing for March 27th:
"The senator all along has wanted to know more about this, so he's going to be asking a number of questions," said Vincent Morris, Kerry's spokesperson. "We're going to be looking to hear from all interested parties: baseball, satellite carriers, probably the cable operators, possibly ordinary fans. We're still putting it all together."
Well, Senator, I've got some vacation time available and some frequent flyer miles saved up. I could probably clear some time on the 27th. The email address is up in the right corner. I'll be waiting.
Personally, I may have been 50/50 about switching to DirecTV a few weeks ago. Now I'd say there's probably no more than a 10% chance I'll make the switch. And with MLB using this as an opportunity to jack up the cost of MLBTV, chances are I'm not getting that either. So it's looking more and more like I'll be a casual baseball fan this season at best. That means about 99% less baseball content here, and during baseball season, that means about 99% less content period.
There may be a last ditch effort to save the package for cable companies, though. Senator Kerry has scheduled a hearing for March 27th:
"The senator all along has wanted to know more about this, so he's going to be asking a number of questions," said Vincent Morris, Kerry's spokesperson. "We're going to be looking to hear from all interested parties: baseball, satellite carriers, probably the cable operators, possibly ordinary fans. We're still putting it all together."
Well, Senator, I've got some vacation time available and some frequent flyer miles saved up. I could probably clear some time on the 27th. The email address is up in the right corner. I'll be waiting.
Monday, March 12, 2007
NCAA Tournament - First Impressions
UCLA
The Bruins ought to send the committee some flowers and chocolate. They lost their number one seed, but got the next best (maybe better) thing with a 2 seed in the West. They'll play in Sacramento, then (God willing) San Jose on their way to another final four. As thousands of others have probably mentioned at this point, this is the Ben Howland invitational bracket, as the Bruins will match up with Howland's alma mater, Weber State, in the first round, then face a potential regional semi-final against Pitt. Too bad NAU couldn't find its way into this year's field.
Illinois
The other side of the bracket is the Bruce Weber invitational. Illinois, if it can get past Virginia Tech (it's the most obvious 12-5 upset on the board in my opinion), faces a potential second round matchup with Weber's old school, Southern Illinois. Get past them, and former Illinois coach Bill Self looms on the horizon. That is, of course, assuming that Self can get past the first and second rounds, a tall order given his recent tournament performances.
Mid-Majors
Speaking of Illinois, there has been a lot of howling about Illinois not deserving its place in the field, despite a superior tournament resume compared to #9 seed Purdue, who finished with a worse record, with a worse strength of schedule, and finished 15 spots behind Illinois in the final RPI. Their lone argument over Illinois was win head to head at Mackey Arena.
But here's a little thought experiment. Over the last 20 years or so (give or take), the argument that mid-majors are treated unfairly at the expense of the power conferences has grown. This year, you're likely to hear that Drexel should have been in the field over Arkansas or Illinois, despite finishing fourth in their conference. Already there are howls that UNLV and Nevada were unfairly seeded. How could the country's #10 team be a 7 seed?
Let's assume this argument has merit. Wouldn't the likely result be a slew of very good, yet underrated, mid major teams playing in the NIT? And wouldn't they be playing against a bunch of overrated and mediocre power conference teams in the NIT? And if we accept those premises, then would you expect the mid-majors to be relatively successful in the NIT? I'm not talking about dominant, I'm talking about holding their own.
You know how many mid-major teams have won the NIT in the last 20 years? 1. Uno. Note that I'm considering Conference USA to be something other than a mid-major, as Memphis won the championship before all of the good teams left for the Big East. Now, this is somewhat tempered by the fact that most early round games are played at the home courts of power conference teams. On the flip side, how much home court advantage is there in the loser tournament at power conference schools?
So Drexel, go out and show you're the best of the losers, and maybe in the future you and your mid-major brethren will start to get some respect.
The Bruins ought to send the committee some flowers and chocolate. They lost their number one seed, but got the next best (maybe better) thing with a 2 seed in the West. They'll play in Sacramento, then (God willing) San Jose on their way to another final four. As thousands of others have probably mentioned at this point, this is the Ben Howland invitational bracket, as the Bruins will match up with Howland's alma mater, Weber State, in the first round, then face a potential regional semi-final against Pitt. Too bad NAU couldn't find its way into this year's field.
Illinois
The other side of the bracket is the Bruce Weber invitational. Illinois, if it can get past Virginia Tech (it's the most obvious 12-5 upset on the board in my opinion), faces a potential second round matchup with Weber's old school, Southern Illinois. Get past them, and former Illinois coach Bill Self looms on the horizon. That is, of course, assuming that Self can get past the first and second rounds, a tall order given his recent tournament performances.
Mid-Majors
Speaking of Illinois, there has been a lot of howling about Illinois not deserving its place in the field, despite a superior tournament resume compared to #9 seed Purdue, who finished with a worse record, with a worse strength of schedule, and finished 15 spots behind Illinois in the final RPI. Their lone argument over Illinois was win head to head at Mackey Arena.
But here's a little thought experiment. Over the last 20 years or so (give or take), the argument that mid-majors are treated unfairly at the expense of the power conferences has grown. This year, you're likely to hear that Drexel should have been in the field over Arkansas or Illinois, despite finishing fourth in their conference. Already there are howls that UNLV and Nevada were unfairly seeded. How could the country's #10 team be a 7 seed?
Let's assume this argument has merit. Wouldn't the likely result be a slew of very good, yet underrated, mid major teams playing in the NIT? And wouldn't they be playing against a bunch of overrated and mediocre power conference teams in the NIT? And if we accept those premises, then would you expect the mid-majors to be relatively successful in the NIT? I'm not talking about dominant, I'm talking about holding their own.
You know how many mid-major teams have won the NIT in the last 20 years? 1. Uno. Note that I'm considering Conference USA to be something other than a mid-major, as Memphis won the championship before all of the good teams left for the Big East. Now, this is somewhat tempered by the fact that most early round games are played at the home courts of power conference teams. On the flip side, how much home court advantage is there in the loser tournament at power conference schools?
So Drexel, go out and show you're the best of the losers, and maybe in the future you and your mid-major brethren will start to get some respect.
The Walkmen w/ the Broken West @ Schubas - 3/11/07
Fanboy alert.
There are bands who get on stage and lack the ability to re-create the magic of the recording studio. There are bands who get on stage and sound exactly like they do on their records, which is good, but not exactly what you want from the live experience. There are bands who, on stage, transcend what they're able to do on a record.
Then there are the Walkmen. From the opening note to the final farewell, it's pure, nonstop energy. Their albums are fantastic, but they were made for the stage. It's not so much a collection of instruments as it a cacophony of sound. It so loud, and so dense that it just hits you like a blast of wind. But amazingly, you're still able to pick out every distinctive sound present in their studio tracks. I saw these guys at Pitchfork last summer. A big open space isn't what they're best suited to. But get them in a tiny room packed with 160 people, like Schuba's, and they're really in their element.
First things first, the Broken West led the night off with a half hour of music from their new LP "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On." I'd listened to it about 8-10 times in the last week, and I was looking forward to their set. Pretty straightforward powery-pop type stuff. Pretty accessible and easy to listen to. They played (if I remember correctly):
Then the Walkmen came out, and I'm gonna be honest, they played a bunch of stuff I haven't heard before. And quite frankly, that would usually piss me off, but the way the night flowed, it didn't really bother me. It just cranked up the anticipation for the next song. In 2006, they released a song for song remake of Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats", so I'm guessing they played some stuff off of that. And let's get the negatives out of the way early: no We've Been Had; no Little House of Savages; no Emma, Get Me a Lemon. That did kind of suck, I'm not gonna lie. But what they did play was pretty amazing. Among the songs in the setlistsetlist:
On the downside, they skipped the tracks mentioned above, and they only played for about an hour. In their defense, it was 11:00 on a Sunday night, and it was their second show of the evening, and sitting through an hour, you'd wonder how they had the energy to go through that twice in one night.
The moral of the story is that if you get a chance to see a band this polished and this impressive in such a small venue, you need to do it. You won't be disappointed. Sample tracks below.
And I know they didn't play it, but I still love this song:
There are bands who get on stage and lack the ability to re-create the magic of the recording studio. There are bands who get on stage and sound exactly like they do on their records, which is good, but not exactly what you want from the live experience. There are bands who, on stage, transcend what they're able to do on a record.
Then there are the Walkmen. From the opening note to the final farewell, it's pure, nonstop energy. Their albums are fantastic, but they were made for the stage. It's not so much a collection of instruments as it a cacophony of sound. It so loud, and so dense that it just hits you like a blast of wind. But amazingly, you're still able to pick out every distinctive sound present in their studio tracks. I saw these guys at Pitchfork last summer. A big open space isn't what they're best suited to. But get them in a tiny room packed with 160 people, like Schuba's, and they're really in their element.
First things first, the Broken West led the night off with a half hour of music from their new LP "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On." I'd listened to it about 8-10 times in the last week, and I was looking forward to their set. Pretty straightforward powery-pop type stuff. Pretty accessible and easy to listen to. They played (if I remember correctly):
- Down in the Valley (see below)
- So it Goes
- On the Bubble
- Shiftee
- Big City
- Slow
- Brass Ring
Then the Walkmen came out, and I'm gonna be honest, they played a bunch of stuff I haven't heard before. And quite frankly, that would usually piss me off, but the way the night flowed, it didn't really bother me. It just cranked up the anticipation for the next song. In 2006, they released a song for song remake of Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats", so I'm guessing they played some stuff off of that. And let's get the negatives out of the way early: no We've Been Had; no Little House of Savages; no Emma, Get Me a Lemon. That did kind of suck, I'm not gonna lie. But what they did play was pretty amazing. Among the songs in the setlistsetlist:
- Louisiana (assisted on horns by one of the guys from the Broken West, and some other guy) (see below)
- All Hands and the Cook
- Another One Goes By (still not as good as the Mazarin version)
- They may have played Don't Get Me Down (Come on Over Here), but my memory is a little fuzzy
- Wake Up
- Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone
- The Rat
- They're Winning
- Blizzard of '96
- They also may have played the North Pole
On the downside, they skipped the tracks mentioned above, and they only played for about an hour. In their defense, it was 11:00 on a Sunday night, and it was their second show of the evening, and sitting through an hour, you'd wonder how they had the energy to go through that twice in one night.
The moral of the story is that if you get a chance to see a band this polished and this impressive in such a small venue, you need to do it. You won't be disappointed. Sample tracks below.
And I know they didn't play it, but I still love this song:
Friday, March 09, 2007
Illinois 58; Indiana 54
First overtime game all year in the Big 10, and fittingly there were all of 12 points scored, many at the free throw line. It wasn't pretty (no Illinois game this year has been), but that win should get the Illini into the tournament. I will be surprised, but not shocked, if the Illini are left out.
One thing about watching Illinois: It's sad to see a team shoot 56% from the line in a game that goes to OT and thing "Gee, I wish UCLA could be that good from the free throw line".
I'll be the one guy who doesn't rip on Rich McBride. They focused on him all night, he could never really get open (though he missed the one open three that he had), but he didn't force up 30 footers, and a couple of times he drove and passed off for shots that either led to baskets or fouls.
And Brian Randle probably wishes he hadn't spent the off-season kicking all those kittens and puppies that belong to Big 10 refs.
One thing about watching Illinois: It's sad to see a team shoot 56% from the line in a game that goes to OT and thing "Gee, I wish UCLA could be that good from the free throw line".
I'll be the one guy who doesn't rip on Rich McBride. They focused on him all night, he could never really get open (though he missed the one open three that he had), but he didn't force up 30 footers, and a couple of times he drove and passed off for shots that either led to baskets or fouls.
And Brian Randle probably wishes he hadn't spent the off-season kicking all those kittens and puppies that belong to Big 10 refs.
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