tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20752515165434481432024-02-26T11:37:07.359-08:00Keith's Sports JournalFollowing Brian Wilson's twitter account since 2009.....49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.comBlogger2615125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-66669974417134654152016-09-03T06:19:00.001-07:002016-09-03T06:19:28.236-07:00College Football Week 1 Live Blog<div style="display: none;">
Live Blog Week 1 College Football Live Blog</div>
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Welp I blinked and college football season is already here. And thank God because we needed a distraction from freaking Deflategate or whatever nonsense Roger Goodell is up to. The first week is always interesting because you have a combination of intriguing games and non-competitive games featuring Pac-12 teams versus Grambling (Looking at you Cal). Don't let that bother you though and enjoy the weekend!<br />
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(Schedule via <a href="http://506sports.com/forum/index.php?topic=18259.0" target="_blank">506</a>)<br />
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Thursday, September 3rd<br />
<b>North Carolina vs South Carolina (Charlotte) 6:00: (ESPN- Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, <i>Kaylee Hartung</i>)</b>: Why South Carolina is always the first game of the season pisses me off. Get all excited for the college football season and there's South Carolina and some patsy in the way. Thankfully the opening Thursday has more than these two so let's just move on.<br />
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<b>OK State at Central Michgian 7:00 (ESPNU- Adam Amin, Kelly Stouffer, <i>Olivia Harlan</i>)</b>: Ready for some MACtion? Of course you are! OK State is looking to bounce back after a terrible 2014 season and traveling to Central Michigan is going to be a tough way to start the year. Central Michigan is coming off a bowl game and should be pretty good again this year.<br />
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<b>Michigan at Utah 8:30 (FS1- Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, <i>Molly McGrath</i>)</b>: Gut feeling: Michigan wins this game, everyone gets excited about them, and then they finish the year 6-7. Utah meanwhile should be one of the best teams in the Pac-12 this year but this is still a tough game to start out with even if they did beat Michigan last year in the big house.<br />
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<b>TCU at Minnesota 9:00 (ESPN- Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, <i>Tom Luginbill</i>)</b>: This is it for TCU. Expectations are high and they start the season right out of the gate against a tough Minnesota team in St. Paul. TCU has to make a statement in this game because this could be the game the playoff committee looks back on and tries to keep TCU out of the playoff if they lose.<br />
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Friday, September 4th<br />
<b>Colorado at Hawaii 1AM (CBSSN- Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, <i>Jenny Dell</i>)</b>: I'm only highlighting this game because it starts past Midnight on the East coast and at 10PM on the West coast. FOOTBALL AFTER DARK!<br />
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<b>Baylor at SMU 7:00 (ESPN- Dave Flemming, Mack Brown, <i>Allison Williams</i>)</b>: Baylor is the other Big 12 team that needs to make a statement early. While SMU isn't exactly the team to make a statement against they are a start.<br />
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<b>Washington at Boise State 10:15 (ESPN- Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, <i>Quint Kessenich</i>)</b>: Well this is awkward. Chris Petersen who built Boise State into the powerhouse that it now is returns to the blue turf. Washington fans need to be patient because they're rebuilding and they'll probably won't be ready to compete for titles for another two years. Boise State as usual will be good again.<br />
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Saturday, September 5th<br />
<b>Stanford at Northwestern Noon (ESPN- Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, <i>Jerry Punch</i>)</b>: Can I interest in you two nerd schools playing at 9 in the morning? Stanford is looking to bounce back from a disappointing year. And yes before you ask Kevin Hogan is still on the team. Feels like he's been there since Stanford was founded.<br />
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<b>Louisville vs Auburn (Atlanta) 3:30 (CBS- Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, <i>Allie LaForce</i>)</b>: These early games pitting a ACC/Pac-12/Big 10 team versus a SEC team always crack me up. The SEC team always wins these games and then everyone craps all over the other conferences while giving the SEC a handjob. If Louisville had a proven QB I would give them more of a chance.<br />
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<b>Virginia at UCLA 3:30 (Fox- Joe Davis, Brady Quinn, <i>Kris Budden</i>)</b>: Nothing would make me happier than UCLA losing this game. Still when UCLA falls flat on it's face this year BruinsNation.com is going to be hilarious.<br />
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<b>Nebraska at BYU 3:30 (ABC- Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, <i>Todd McShay</i>)</b>: Welcome to Nebraska Mike Riley now go to Provo to play BYU! I still have no idea why Nebraska hired Riley who hasn't coached a good team since 2010 and hasn't beaten Oregon in eons. I guess Nebraska wants to be mediocre forever.<br />
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<b>Arizona State vs Texas A&M (Houston) 7:00 (ESPN- Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, <i>Holly Rowe</i>)</b>: ASU is another Pac-12 team that looks overrated. Herbstreit is actually picking them win the Pac-12 and play in the playoff. Sorry but I won't believe until I see it.<br />
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<b>Texas at Notre Dame 7:30 (NBC- Dan Hicks, Doug Flutie, <i>Kathryn Tappen</i>)</b>: Texas is still a year away from making this a good game. Still it should be close because Texas' defense this season should be better because they're returning most of their starters. I'm looking forward to seeing red faced Brian Kelly again.<br />
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<b>Alabama vs Wisconsin (Dallas) 8:00 (ABC- Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, <i>Heather Cox</i>)</b>: Here's another one of those Big 10/ACC/Pac-12 vs SEC first weekend game where the SEC will dominate and everyone will freak out. I wouldn't be shocked if Bama won by 14 even if they didn't play a quarterback and just had their running back take all of the snaps.<br />
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Monday, September 7th<br />
<b>Ohio State at Virginia Tech 8:00 (ESPN- Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, <i>Heather Cox</i>)</b>: Virginia Tech shocked Ohio State last year in Columbus so can they do it against in Blacksburg? Ohio State still hasn't named a quarterback yet but we all know it's going to be Cardale Jones who will then trunk some VA Tech defenders.<br />
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<b>Recipe of the Week, <a href="http://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/detail/327" target="_blank">Smoked Sausage Patties</a></b>: One of the best investments I ever made was a wood pellet smoker. I honestly don't grill anything anymore because of it. I smoke everything from cheeseburgers to chicken to smoked sausage patties. The premise is simple, get some Jimmy Dean sausage, mix in whatever ingridents you want, make hamburger patties and smoke it for 2 hours. Best meal ever, especially on game days.<br />
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<b>Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, <a href="http://avbc.com/our-beers/summer-solstice/" target="_blank">Summer Solstice</a></b>: When I went to the Reno beerfest in June this beer stole the show in my opinion. It's one of the smoothest, best tasting beers who'll ever have. Hurry up though and buy now because it is a seasonal that will go out of stock soon.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-63568790532179661992015-06-16T08:52:00.000-07:002015-06-16T08:52:01.559-07:00Talkin' Baseball: Blue Jays, Terrible Boston, & Hacking Cardinals <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>49er16</b>: I like how the Blue Jays recently said, "screw it we'll pound teams with our offense and not let our bullpen blow this game". And it's worked! Because of their 11-game winning streak they're now only 3 games back and over .500.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I love how polar opposite the Blue Jays are. Great <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">offense</a> while the <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">pitching</a> couldn't be any different. And that pitching staff is bad. They give up a home run every 9 innings while only leaving 70% of runners on base. They're going to be an interesting team at the deadline.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: The problem with today's baseball is that with the extra wild card there's hardly any sellers and more buyers. The Blue Jays certainly have the prospects to make a trade. But do the Blue Jays just call up Norris and Sanchez instead of selling? Or do they trade someone like Pentecost for a pitcher?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I think at the very least they need to trade lower end prospects for some bullpen help. Both the White Sox and A's have relievers that could help Toronto.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Speaking of the AL East, I'm enjoying how bad Boston is. They're bad defensively, offensively, and in the field. Ortiz is finally looking like an old man who can't hit lefties. Pablo is way out of shape. Hanley doesn't give a shit out in the field. They stupidly traded for and extended Rick Porcello who's always been a disappointment. What a delight.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: You forgot to mention Wade Miley feuding with John Farrell in the dugout. I like how they can't <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/looking-for-a-way-forward-for-the-red-sox/" target="_blank">find a position</a> for Hanley when it doesn't matter since he doesn't give a shit about playing defense.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: To me Hanley is more of a poison than Pablo. Pablo is a good guy who just has an appetite. Hanley with his indifference can bring a whole team down. Going to be funny when they trade all these players to Los Angeles.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I don't think the Dodgers are going to save their ass this year. There's no Adrian Gonzalez to sweeten up the deal.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: <b><span style="color: red;">BREAKING NEWS! </span></b>Hot off the presses the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?smid=tw-bna" target="_blank">St. Louis Cardinals are being investigated by the FBI</a> involving them hacking into the computers of the Houston Astros.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: A couple of points: 1) <a href="http://deadspin.com/leaked-10-months-of-the-houston-astros-internal-trade-1597951970" target="_blank">Deadspin</a> reported a while ago the Astros security on their files was vulnerable. Why haven't they fixed that problem yet? 2) This is the Patriots Spygate. This is fucking corporate espionage. That's why the FBI is investigating.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: My favorite points from the story: 1) According to the NY Times this was not a sophisticated hack. 2) The Cardinals wanted revenge against Luhnow for making the Cardinals better while he was there. 3) Luhnow never changed his passwords since going from the Cardinals to Houston. Come on Jeff, even my father knows to change his password when he went from one job to another.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Now I wonder how baseball handles this? They'll of course wait until the investigation is over but from there what do they do? Do they take draft picks away from the Cardinals? Suspend their GM? Fine them? What?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: MLB will give Alex Rodriguez a year long suspension for this.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Ha! MLB is so mad they're going to impose a salary cap on the players!<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: In all seriousness, everyone needs to follow <a href="https://twitter.com/BestFansStLouis" target="_blank">@BaseballsBestFans</a> right at this moment.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: "DURR OTHER TEAMS ARE JUST JEALOUS OF THE CARDINALS! THEY'RE COWARDS WHO HAVE TO GET THE FBI INVOLVED TO STOP THE CARDS!"<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Have a good week, folks.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-34149952665157483132015-06-08T08:38:00.001-07:002015-06-08T08:38:33.612-07:00Talkin' Baseball: The MLB Draft and the Horrendous Mariners <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>49er16</b>: The MLB Draft is tonight and I've read all the <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-mock-draft-replacement-post/" target="_blank">mock drafts</a> and I gotta admit, I still have no idea who'll the Giants will select and who is the best player in the draft?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: No one ever knows who the Giants are picking. They play everything close to the vest and they usually draft someone who isn't that high up on everyone else's boards (hello Joe Panik). What cracks me up about the draft is when they decide to hold it and the fact that the MLB Network never runs any pre-draft "hey these are the players to look out for" coverage.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: They do but it's aired 2 minutes before the draft is aired. The MLB draft is such a weird endeavor in that most people have never heard of these guys being drafted and some of the guys that are drafted are still playing in the college baseball world series. Could you imagine if the NBA had their draft in the middle of the NCAA tournament.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: "Congrats Justice Winslow on making it to the final 4. Also tell us what it's like being drafted by the New York Knicks?"<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jun/08/if-mike-trout-had-gone-to-the-cardinals-the-nightmare-scenario" target="_blank">DJ Gallo</a> had a fun post about what would happen if some current stars where drafted by different teams. Imagine Mike Trout on the Cardinals or Dustin Pedroia on the Yankees? The horror, the horror.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Man did a lot of team, including the Giants, whiff on Trout. The Mariners took Dustin Ackley at number 2 instead. Woof.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Speaking of the Mariners, <a href="https://twitter.com/kt1000/status/607054221259751425" target="_blank">we were discussing</a> how bad they've been since 2001 and in my opinion they are the worst run team in sports since the start of the millennium. Yeah there are teams that have longer playoff droughts (Blue Jay, Bills) teams with racist/horrendous owners (Clippers, Marlins, Redskins) and teams that have had some just straight up shitty luck (Rockies) but the Mariners are the crap filet mignon.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Yeah I can see it. Hell even the Raiders have made the playoffs more recently (though not by much). Just looking at their draft record is really freaking depressing. Hell in the 05 draft alone they could have selected Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, or Troy Tulowitzki. They chose Jeff Clement instead.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: What's depressing about <a href="https://twitter.com/lonestarball/status/607050276621549568" target="_blank">this tweet </a>is that besides Hultzen, all of these guys have made it the majors and not been sidetracked by any injury.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The Mariners are the full buffet of awful. Bad trades (Bedard for Adam Jones, trading Cliff Lee for Justin Smoak) bad managers (too many to count) and bad free agent signings (Chone Figgins). Hell even when they made a good signing (Adrian Beltre) it turned into a disaster. Beltre <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/beltrad01.shtml" target="_blank">usually averages about a 5 WAR per season</a> and besides one good year he was mostly a 3 WAR player for the Mariners.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Well when you're hiring a manager and you look at Lloyd McClendon and you say to yourself, "You know what? He'd make a good manager. Yeah he stunk in Pittsburgh but everyone stunk in Pittsburgh for 20 years" then you're going to be up shit creek without a paddle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Would you hire this man?</td></tr>
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I just love how Jack Z thought it'd be a good idea to hire McClendon 10 years after he'd been a disaster in Pittsburgh. "Hey that happened 10 years and in Pittsburgh. No one will notice." Kinda says everything about the Mariners.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I'd say they need to blow everything up and start over but Christ they've been doing that for 10 years now. They're a team that needs a whole new identity. Not just a new manager or GM but they need a new owner who doesn't just sit in Japan and shows no interest in the team.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Well that's been one of their problems. They have an absentee owner who has let the inmates run the asylum.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Poor Felix Hernandez. Wasting his entire career with them. He's the MLB version of Kevin Garnett. Now watch him get traded to the Dodgers.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Shut your fucking pie hole.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Have a good week folks. 49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-56017747053398338672015-05-20T09:07:00.002-07:002015-05-20T09:07:37.692-07:00Talkin' Baseball: The A's Putrid Defense, Troy Tulowitzki's Trade Value, & Coors Field <b>49er16</b>: You see the A's are thinking about <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/20/report-the-as-may-hire-ron-washington-to-help-with-their-atrocious-defense/" target="_blank">bringing back Ron Washington</a> to help improve their putrid defense? "Playing first base isn't hard Scott. Tell him Wash."<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: "It's incredibly hard." In all seriousness I'm shocked that the A's defense is bad. Who knew going from Josh Donaldson and Jed Lowrie to Brett Lawrie and Marcus Semien would turn the A's defense into a putrid defense?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: That last game Scott Kazmir pitched he looked like he was ready to strangle poor old Marcus Semien for making another throwing error. The A's have also been incredibly unlucky. Their record in 1-run games is like 2-16.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The A's relievers have been bad this year. Hard to win one run games when your bullpen blows leads in the 7th and 8th innings.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: On the bright side, <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=12768&position=P" target="_blank">Sonny Gray is looking like a legit ace pitcher</a>. So they have they got that going for them.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The Rockies are horrible again and Troy Tuloqitzki's name is being brought up again in trade talks. <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/troy-tulowitzkis-trade-value/" target="_blank">I agree with Fangraphs </a>that Tulo's trade market basically comes down to a big market team that can take on his huge contract but can throw in some good prospects. I can't believe though Dave Cameron didn't mention the Dodgers as a trade partner. They have the budget and prospects to send to Colorado.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: If I were the Rockies, I would ask for Alex Guerrero and Joc Pederson and a pitching prospect and see if the Dodgers say yes.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The Mets arguably have the best package for Tulo. They could trade a trio of pitching prospects. But do the Rockies really need pitching prospects? They have guys like Eddie Butler who are suppose to be good and look good in the minors and then bomb once they get to Colorado.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Well that brings up the age old question about Colorado. Could Cy Young himself even be a successful pitcher in that park? And what gets me is that park seems to ruin pitchers even when they leave and play on the road.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I go back to what Jim Leyland said about Coors Field after his one year managing there, "That ain't baseball." And he's right.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Well when they finally trade Tulo or Gonzalez they'll receive another pitching prospect to be ruined by the altitude.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I have a feeling that team is never going to have sustained success unless they play in a dome because that field chews up too many pitchers to keep being good for a long stretch.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Anything else we need to hit upon today?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Nah, I've got a bagel that I've been staring at for an hour so it's time for me to go.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Have a good week, people.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-37602397451965148352015-05-06T08:58:00.001-07:002015-05-06T08:58:57.933-07:00Talkin' Baseball: Astros, Mets, & AL Central <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>49er16</b>: Okay we've got to talk about the surprisingly good teams so far this year. And of course we need to talk about the Astros. Their swing for the fences or strike out approach is actually working and has given them a lead in the AL West which admittedly, is very weak. Does this last though?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Talk about extremes. Check out their team <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=8,d" target="_blank">BB%</a> and then check out their team <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=9,d" target="_blank">K%</a>. They're basically the Orioles Southwest except they walk a little more. It's too early to tell if this sticks but I don't see why not because the AL West appears very mediocre.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I still don't believe in that pitching staff over the long run. They're pitching well right now but they still don't strike out enough batters (ditto for the Giants in this area as well). All this being said, it cannot be pointed out enough that the AL West is weak as hell. The A's are inconsistent. The Mariners don't have a bullpen. The Angels really don't have a lineup except for Trout. Texas is injured. Astros could almost win that division by default.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The Mariners need relievers badly. They cannot hold onto a lead in almost every game. They blew another game last night. I've counted that they have blown leads/games in at least 5 games that I've seen.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: The Mariners bullpen has really made me appreciate the way the Giants have built and sustained a good working bullpen.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The team that I really don't believe in is the Mets. Yes their starting pitchers are really good. That lineup though leaves a lot to be desired. They don't homer or walk. Their wRC+ is below average. Plus that division looks to be much better than the AL West.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Nice to see that Mike Redmond will actually get to keep his job since the Marlins have been playing really well lately. The Braves will most likely fall off. The NL East might be the most interesting division in baseball.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The most interesting division to me is the AL Central. You have the good (Royals, Tigers), the intriguing (Twins), and the disappointing (White Sox & Indians).<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: The Twins fascinate me. That lineup is solid at hitting. Mauer is healthy and doing Mauer things again at the plate. That lineup though cannot field and that pitching staff is still very suspect.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The White Sox lineup is a flaming disaster. Shocker they signed another first baseman/DH at the end of his line and he ain't hitting and this time it's Adam LaRoche. Plus they should have traded Alexei Ramirez when he still had value because right now he's a disaster. They strike out too much and walk/homer too less.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: What a waste of a great pitching staff.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The funniest subplot of the season to me so far this year is that the <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=0&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=19,d" target="_blank">Tigers are one of the league leaders in stolen bases</a>. The Tigers are going to literally steal the AL Central!<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: While right now we believe the Astros can sustain their success despite being a home run or bust team, can the Royals sustain their's by being a high batting average low walk team? I'm going to say no for right now. <br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Yeah I seriously doubt the Royals are going to have 8 players batting .300 the rest of the year. They are though creating runs at a high rate so they're not stranding that many players. Plus they pitch and play defense.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I'm sure Earl Weaver would be proud of the Royals. Home runs, defense, and pitching.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: They're the complete opposite of the Indians right now.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Anything else we need to hit on this week?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Did you finally finish <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Ottomans-Great-Middle-East/dp/046502307X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430927625&sr=1-1&keywords=the+fall+of+the+ottomans" target="_blank">'The Fall of the Ottomans"</a> yet?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I did and recommend it. Also have a good week, folks.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-67575393595621893662015-04-28T10:18:00.000-07:002015-04-28T10:18:29.377-07:00Talkin' Baseball: Josh Hamilton, Red Assed Royals, & Ryan Braun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>49er16</b>: We got to talk about this Josh Hamilton deal. What a disaster for the Angels. They try to weasel out of his contract after his reported relapse, then have to swallow the majority of that contract and <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/27/deal-done-josh-hamilton-traded-to-the-texas-rangers-for-cash-considerations/" target="_blank">shipped him to Texas</a> for nothing in return. What fools.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Like was said on <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/27/did-the-angels-shoot-themselves-in-the-foot-in-the-josh-hamilton-situation/" target="_blank">Hardball Talk</a>, if you wanted to get a better return for Hamilton maybe next time don't leak that he failed a drug test. I do love these stories about Moreno. He's basically Donald Sterling without the racism and mistresses. He has LA envy, probably will do whatever it takes to move to Los Angeles, and tries to buy championships. I've secretly loved everything about this story involving him.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Here's what I wonder. Hypothetically lets say the Dodgers move. Would Moreno move the Angels into Dodger Stadium like when Sterling moved the Clippers into the old LA Sports Arena? If so that would be hilarious.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I think he has so much Dodger/Los Angeles envy he would. I mean why else would he call his team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: You know what's sad, the Hamilton debacle is on the low end for debacles Moreno. Trading and swallowing Vernon Wells' horrendous contract and signing Albert Pujols to that deal still top this whole ordeal.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Can we talk about the Kansas City Royals for a moment. I want to thank them for being this year's resident red ass team. We need a new team to hate every year and the Royals have chosen to be this year's team.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I love how cocky they've gotten. They're like an NFL team. They celebrate every little play, get cranky when someone back talks them, and starts fights. Their defense and pitching can certainly back up their mouths and fists, but can their hitting finally come around?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Hosmer and Moustakas appear to be finally living up to their potential until you look at their <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=7&rost=0&age=0" target="_blank">BABIPs</a> and see they are above average. Moustakas especially is due for a come down. He's barely walking 4% of his ABs so we'll see if they continue this pace. Gut feeling the White Sox will eventually start hitting and stick around in that division. The Tigers though are still the class.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Speaking of the AL Central how bad are the Cleveland Indians who Sports Illustrated picked as their world series favorite? They can't <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">pitch</a>, <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">hit</a>, or <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">defend</a>.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Ah got to love the good ole Sports Illustrated curse.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Speaking of a terrible teams, the Milwaukee Brewers are the surprise worst team. Whoever bet money on Philadelphia being the worst can tear up that ticket. Other than a declining, old pitching staff, Ryan Braun has been nothing short of a disaster.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I'm shocked, just shocked that Braun has been injured and ineffective since failing that drug test. It's almost like his past performance came straight out of a bottle.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: The contrast between him and Alex Rodriguez fascinates me. And it makes me wonder how many of these guys were purely pharmaceutical experiments gone right and how many of these guys really are naturally talented and decided to take it up a notch with PED's? ARod to me was clearly a naturally talented player who decided to cheat. Braun is looking like a science freak.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I think we can clearly see PEDs definitely help these guys with their bodies in terms of staying healthy. Braun hasn't been healthy since getting off of PEDs. Then again Barry Bonds shredded his knee at the tail end of his career.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: At the end of the day it really is a case by case status with these players. Braun though has clearly been ineffective and injured since his suspension. <br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: On the plus side, the Brewers still have to pay Matt Garza and Kyle Lohse past this year to be old and ineffective!<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Anything else we need to hit on this week?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I'm starting to feel old. I could use some<strike> PED's</strike> drinks.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Have a good week, everyone.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-27147844015997056742015-04-14T08:36:00.002-07:002015-04-14T08:36:53.843-07:00Talkin' Baseball: Opening Week and Pace of Play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>49er16</b>: Well all the teams in baseball have had their home openers now and what are your first impressions of the season?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: My impressions/questions so far: 1. Are the Royals really this good? 2. Is the AL West really that mediocre? 3. Same old Giants on offense 4. Are the Nationals really <i><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/04/14/loss-to-red-sox-enters-the-pantheon-of-worst-nats-games-ever/" target="_blank">that</a></i> bad <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">defensively</a>? 5. Atlanta really isn't that good, are they?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: To answer your last question, no I don't think they are. Plus they've played both the Marlins (twice) and Mets to start the year. Sorry if I don't quite buy into the Braves yet. The Royals are the most intriguing team. We knew they could defend and pitch, but now they're mashing home runs. They definitely won't keep up with this pace but if they're improved at the plate they might be one of the best teams in baseball this season.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I really don't know why people are surprised their bullpen is still good. The Giants have had the same 4 relievers(Casilla, Romo, Affeldt, Lopez) for 3 championships and have been fine. Good pitchers even if they're relievers will stay good at least for a few years.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I think the problem is Sabmetrics writers have told themselves so long about how bullpen pitchers are highly capable of having a good year then having bad year without taking a look at who the pitchers are. I might be wrong there but there have been countless relievers who've had long careers pitching very well. If you look at the Royals bullpen, those guys have a history of pitching well year after year.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Basically what we're saying is the Royals should be good for the entire year and the AL Central should be one hell of a fun race between them and the Tigers and still possibly the White Sox/Indians.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: The fucking Giants still can't score any fucking runs. They stranded 12 fucking runners on base, 8 alone in the first two innings yesterday.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I'm not going to talk about them yet.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Then let's talk about the pace of play rules that were implemented this year. <a href="http://deadspin.com/mlbs-attempts-to-speed-up-the-game-appear-to-be-working-1697688811" target="_blank">THEY APPEAR TO BE WORKING!</a> SMALL SAMPLE SIZE BUT GAME TIMES HAVE BEEN TRIMMED BY 8 MINUTES AND GAMES AREN'T LASTING 3 HOURS!<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The one rule they implemented that they needed for a long time was the coming back from a commercial break and the pitcher and batter are immediately ready rule. Nothing was more annoying then the game coming back from commercials and the hitter and batter are still goofing around for another minute before the first pitch is thrown.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Sadly the thing that really slows down games and it won't ever get changed is the pitching changes. Nothing slows down a game more than when a manager brings in a reliever during an inning in the later innings. Brings the games to a complete stop.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Oh if they didn't have pitching changes I bet games would last 2 and a half hours then. They would be the length of basketball games. You're right though, we're so far down the road with pitch counts and pitching changes that there's no need to even look back now.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Haven't heard that many complaints from hitters whining about having to stay in the batters box since David Ortiz whined about it. And he whines about everything.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Like you said, he whines about everything. I haven't heard other batters complain about that rule so I'm going to assume the batters don't care which is good for everyone.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: We need to anything else or are we done here?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: We're done.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Have a good week, people.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-21303217941311418142015-04-03T02:00:00.000-07:002015-04-03T02:00:09.144-07:00Talkin' Baseball: Opening Day <b>49er16</b>: /dusts off the blogger cobwebs<br />
Who are you again?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Just an asshole in a white suit who likes baseball. And like Mike Krukow said, <a href="https://twitter.com/LOLKNBR/status/582556550264291328" target="_blank">I'm sick of Scottsdale</a>. I know we complain every year that spring training is too long but man did this year's camp feel like it dragged on forever.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Yeah a little over 6 weeks in spring training is way too long. I know it's for the pitchers but for crying out loud it's still too long. Spring training basically lasts from my birthday in February to my brother's birthday in April.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: We can complain all we want but it ain't changing. They make too much money down there so the 40 day training camp ain't ending. Moving on, what or who are you looking forward to seeing this year?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Everyone is saying is how loaded the AL Central is this season so I am looking forward to seeing that division. Are the Tigers about to fall off the cliff? Are the Indians as good as Sports Illustrated is projecting? Can the Royals repeat? Are the White Sox improved? When will the Twins call up their super prospects?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: It's going to be funny when the Tigers win that division again after everyone said the Tigers would take a step back this year.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Are we ready for another postseason failure for the Tigers? I'm also looking forward toward the NL Central race. The Reds in particular fascinate me because they're getting older, haven't really improved, and are <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/brandon-phillips-hates-on-base-percentage--and-doesn-t-care-if-you-agree-213530589.html" target="_blank">getting grumpier</a>. You would have to figure they're going to try and move either Phillips or Bruce this season, right?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Moving Bruce would be easier because his <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/national-league-central/cincinnati-reds/" target="_blank">contract ends </a>after next season and he doesn't have 10-5 rights like Phillips. On paper that Reds team looks miserable. Some bad contracts there. I'm not looking forward to another Cardinals victory in that division.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: We need to talk about the Cubs. Them firing Rick Renteria after 1 season to hire Joe Maddon feels wrong to me. I'm rooting against them with Maddon because of that situation.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Maddon is just another person in a long line of "Cubs Saviors". From Dallas Green to Sweet Lou the Cubs every 5 or 6 years hires someone new who is suppose to lead them to the promise land and nothing happens. I'm not looking forward to the fawning Joe Maddon praise from everyone and you know it's going to be worse this year since he's with the Cubs.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Some people were already talking about how smart he is because he had a pitcher batting eighth in spring training. OMG JOE MADDON IS BATTING THE PITCHER EIGHTH! WHAT A GENIUS! IT'S NOT LIKE TONY LA RUSSA EVER DID THAT SORT OF THING! Puke, let's move on before I punch something.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: How the mediocre AL East? Seriously besides the Red Sox, I don't see how anyone in that division improved themselves. I agree with the projections in that whoever wins that division will only have between 86-89 wins.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: And yet we'll still be subjected to a million Yankee games on the MLB Network.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Oh man don't get started down that road............on second though, get it out of your system. You know you want to complain about the MLB Network airing a ton of Yankee games.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Here's the thing that pisses me off. I get why ESPN, Fox, and TBS air a bunch of Yankee games. They need max viewers and the Yankees do provide them that. But the MLB Network not only sending their own broadcasters to their games and simulcasting a bunch of their games infuriates me. Last time I checked the MLB Network is suppose to promote the league. Doesn't that mean showing non-Yankee games? I'm almost positive there won't be a week this year where a Yankee game will not be played on that network.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The problem is the executives at the MLB Network think just like the execs at the rest of the networks. More Yankee games because of viewers. They're not about promoting the league and teams like the Pirates. They're about money and viewership and sadly the Yankees drive it.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Sadly you're correct. Anything else you're looking forward this year?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: The AL West is the division that interests me the most. Will the Angels take a step back? Will the new Oakland pieces gel? Are the Mariners as good as projected? Will the Astros OBP/Dingers/Strike outs strategy work?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: I love how the Astros have created a lineup that is either boom or bust. I'm sure everything will work out just fine for them with this strategy.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: What's amazing to me about the Astros is that we heard about how amazing their farm system is, but I don't remember anyone saying that these guys are strike out machines?<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Why do we get so excited for farm systems/drafts? Most of these guys never live up to the hype and we're always left with blue balls.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Because we're suckers for the future.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: We need to talk about anything else?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Nope<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Enjoy opening day folks.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-87015074251286874002015-03-27T09:50:00.000-07:002015-03-27T09:50:13.419-07:002015 MLB Predictions Hey look at that. The Colonel and I are back to give you our 2015 MLB predictions. Looking back at our 2014 predictions I can say...........well at least we correctly predicted <a href="http://49er16.blogspot.com/2014/03/mlb-predictions.html" target="_blank">what managers will get fired</a>. As always these are semi-serious predictions. Also we plan on doing some more Talkin' Baseball's in the future starting sometime between now and Monday of opening day as our first one.<br />
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49er16<br />
<b>Don Mattingly will get fired</b>: I've been predicting his firing for 3 years now. It has to come true eventually right? Probably not because this team is so talented it really doesn't matter who the manager is.<br />
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<b>The AL East will be perfectly mediocre</b>: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings#AL-E" target="_blank">ZIPS is projecting</a> that none of the teams in this division win 90 games with the divisional winner having only 87 wins. I disagree with the projection system saying the Red Sox win the division but I do agree with the projections that this will be a perfectly mediocre division with no great teams but no bad teams.<br />
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<b>The Chicago White Sox will be the surprise team of the AL Central</b>: <a href="http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/03/27/si-mlb-preview-playoff-bracket-indians-world-series" target="_blank"> Sports Illustrated</a> picked Cleveland to win the world series. I'm picking the White Sox to be the surprise team of the season and Cleveland not even making the playoffs. Chicago improved the rotation with Jeff Smardjajaja and improved their lineup with Melky Cabrera. Plus factor in Jose Abreu and Chris Sale and you're looking at a sneaky good team.<br />
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<b>The Oakland A's won't make the playoffs</b>: They barely made the playoffs last season and that was before they sold everyone. Now the A's did make some smart moves in acquiring Zobrist and Billy Butler but I'm just not a fan of the roster as a whole. The A's are still relying on Coco Crisp who cannot stay healthy. They're hoping Ike Davis will settle at first nevermind the fact he's been a disappointment everywhere he's gone. The rotation is hoping a bunch of guys come back from injuries. The bullpen looks good again but I'm just not feeling the rest of that roster.<br />
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<b>The Marlins will still be mediocre</b>: ZIPS is projecting a perfectly <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings#NL-E" target="_blank">mediocre 81-81</a> record for the fish. And that sounds about right.<br />
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<b>The Reds will trade one of their key players:</b> The Reds were bad this year and their main core of players aren't getting younger. I think this is the year they finally bite the bullet and trade one of their key players, either Jay Bruce or Brandon Phillips. Joey Votto's contract is too expensive to trade so he's not going anywhere.<br />
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<b>The Giants will hit the least amount of home runs</b>: The Giants <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=4,d" target="_blank">last year</a> were in the middle of the pack in home runs. That was before they lost Sandoval and Mike Morse and replaced them with guys who combined to hit 5 home runs last season. The Giants better pray they can knock balls into the gaps because they ain't hitting a lot of homers this year.<br />
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<b>The Padres won't have the pitching</b>: The Padres finally shat and got off the pot and improved their team through trades. That should be one of the best outfields in the game this year. One problem I have with them though is their starting pitching. Yes they improved it with James Shields but he ain't exactly a staff ace. The rest of that rotation ranges from good to who? There's a reason why they'll be linked to a Cole Hamels trade all season.<br />
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<b>The Mariners will make a panic trade that hurts their franchise</b>: The Mariners are projected to be the <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings#AL-W" target="_blank">division winner in the AL West</a>. They still have holes though at first base and most of the outfield. I could easily see them trading one of their<a href="http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/1/7/7511835/seattle-mariners-top-20-prospects-for-2015" target="_blank"> stud prospects</a> in a panic that hurts their franchise in the long run.<br />
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The Colonel<br />
<b>Brad Ausmus or Mike Matheny will get fired</b>: Either the Tigers or Cardinals are set up for a disappointing season (most likely Detroit). I could see the fan bases and front office of either of these teams being disappointed and firing either one of these managers. (<b>Note</b>: This might be the first time in 10 year I have no idea which manager will get fired. My darkhorse to be fired though is Joe Girardi.)<br />
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<b>The MLBPA will complain about Kris Bryant not making the major league roster and still won't do anything about it</b>: This has been a storyline all spring training and you know what, the players union won't do a damn thing about it. They like to holler and raise their voice (mostly Tony Clark) but I doubt the players really give a crap if Kris Bryant makes the big league roster immediately or not because of arbitration time.<br />
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<b>The Blue Jays will once again win between 78-84 games</b>: The Blue Jays appear to be stuck in a rut. Yeah they keep improving the team with trades and signings but they still look stuck in place. A big part of this is injuries and the health gods have already taken Marcus Stroman from us. They'll once again win between 78 and 84 games.<br />
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<b>Bruce Rodon will win the AL Rookie of the Year</b>: Keep Rodon's name in the back of your mind. He's the left handed stud who should have been the first pick and instead fell to the White Sox at 3. He might not make the club on opening day but he'll eventually make the big leagues and win rookie of the year.<br />
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<b>The Astros will make the playoffs</b>: I look at the AL West and go "belch". I'm sorry I just don't like the A's or Mariners. Rangers are already falling apart. The Angels rotation is getting older. So the Astros are my surprise team and I don't even feel good about that.<br />
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<b>The Nationals will once again fall short in the NLDS</b>: It's going to be hilarious when the Nats are losing in the NLDS again this time to the Dodgers or Pirates.<br />
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<b>The Cardinals finally don't make the playoffs</b>: Okay I'm just wishing this and not actually predicting it.<br />
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<b>The Giants will be lucky if they win 80 games</b>: The Giants have just flat out sucked in spring training and I don't see this as a coincidence. They don't have power, they're counting on guys like Hudson, Vogelsong, Lincecum, and Peavy in the rotation. They look like they're going to be a disaster.<br />
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<b>OMG JOE MADDON!</b>: Old goofy Joe has joined the Cubs and my God I'm not looking forward to the fawning over this guy with the Cubs. OMG JOE MADDON IS SUCH A GENIUS, HE CUT HIS HAIR INTO MOHAWK TO MOTIVATE HIS TEAM! WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT? OMG? OMG?49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-51675190437772647442015-01-14T09:31:00.001-08:002015-01-26T10:22:12.450-08:00ESPN's Early Sunday Night Baseball Schedule Ah it's the time of the year. Football is starting to go away. You're paying more attention to college basketball. The NBA is in the doldrums of their season. And baseball is right around the corner. Okay fine, baseball is still 3 months away preceded by never ending spring training games. And it's still really freaking cold for most of you east of the Rockies. But still baseball is coming, you just haven't realized it yet.<br />
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ESPN has realized it and have<a href="http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2015/01/espns-2015-early-season-sunday-night-baseball-schedule/" target="_blank"> released the schedule for their early part of the Sunday Night Baseball schedule</a>. And predictably there are a bunch of Yankee/Red Sox games:<br />
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April 5th: St. Louis at Chicago<br />
April 12th: Boston at New York<br />
April 19th: Cincinnati at St. Louis<br />
April 26th: Mets at Yankees<br />
May 3rd: New York at Boston<br />
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A few thoughts:<br />
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- The Cardinals are the Yankees of the National League and the Midwest. I'm fully prepared for at least 8 appearances by them this season on Sunday Night Baseball.<br />
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- I do enjoy the fact that no matter how bad the Yankees are, ESPN (Fox, MLB Network, TBS are just as guilty) will still shoehorn their games onto the network.<br />
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- Prepare for a lot of Cubs games this year. They did way too much in the offseason and have way too many expectations not be seen on the Mothership at least 4 to 5 times this year.<br />
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- To be honest, I'm more offended at this point with the MLB Network shoving Yankee games down my throat than ESPN. You're a network covering a single league. There are more teams than just the Yankees. And yet I'll guarantee you there will be more than 20 Yankee games aired on the MLB Network with at least 9 of them being their showcase Thursday night game. This offends me more than whatever Fox or ESPN does.<br />
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- And if I'm being really honest, I hardly watch the Sunday night games anymore, especially in the spring time when programming like Game of Thrones and Mad Men are also on. Add to the fact that John Kruk and Curt Schilling at the analysts, and I just don't watch these games anymore.<br />
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So yes kiddos the baseball season is right around the corner. Be excited!49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-80035873309425159542015-01-12T12:56:00.000-08:002015-01-12T12:56:50.609-08:00College Football National Championship Game <div style="display: none;">
Live Blog College Football National Championship Game</div>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="550px" src="//wwwssl.coveritlive.com/embed.html?altcastCode=41b6c25f2c&srcdom=www.coveritlive.com&srcdomsec=wwwssl.coveritlive.com&height=550&entryLoc=top&commentLoc=top&titlePage=off&replayContentOrder=chronological&embedType=stream&titleImage=%2Ftemplates%2Fcoveritlive%2Fimages%2FbuildPage%2FSportsImage.jpg" style="height: 550px; width: 100%;"></iframe>49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-44285091637069268482014-09-18T02:00:00.000-07:002014-09-18T02:00:04.942-07:00Must List: Week 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just a few weeks ago I was complaining about the weak slate of games, especially the Thursday night game. Well this week there's almost too many good games on with a great Thursday night game. Maybe I should complain more. Or uh........look ahead at the schedule. Nah I'll just complain some more. Here's this week's must list.<br />
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Thursday, September 18th<br />
<b>Auburn at Kansas State, 7:30 (ESPN: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, <i>Samantha Ponder</i></b>) I'm completely surprised Bill Snyder would schedule a game like this. He usually schedules non-conference games against junior colleges. This must have been scheduled while he was gone the first time. As for the game itself, it should be an offensive shootout. Both of these teams can run the ball with ease and they should be able to pass as well. Auburn appears to be the better defensive team but neither of them have played enough games yet to make a judgement on that. Should be a fun game.<br />
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Saturday, September 20th<br />
<b>Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech, Noon (ESPN: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, <i>Tom Luginbill</i></b>) Remember last week when I said I didn't trust Virginia Tech and it wouldn't surprise me if they lost to a very good ECU team? (pats self on back) I still don't trust them but I like them a little bit more against Georgia Tech at home because the Yellow Jackets really haven't played anyone yet until this point while the Hokies are a little bit more tested.<br />
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<b>Iowa at Pittsburgh, Noon (ESPNU: Adam Amin, John Congemi</b>) I only highlight this game because this is the matchup the devil himself would pick to watch. What a miserable mashup of boring offenses and stingy defenses. First team to score in this game wins.<br />
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<b>Florida at Alabama, 3:30 (CBS: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, <i>Allie Laforce</i></b>) This game has blowout written all over it. A Florida team on the road for the first time all season after they haven't played anyone in Alabama. The best thing that could happen in this game for Florida is that this is the week that Bloodchamp gets canned.<br />
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<b>Utah at Michigan, 3:30 (ABC/ESPN2: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, <i>Todd McShay</i></b>) Yeah I know Michigan was blown out by Notre Dame. Yeah they haven't looked that hot at all this season. But they're at home and I have a hard time picking against them at home. On the other side is Utah who I really don't know if they're good or not. They've looked good against punching bags but let's see them on the road at Michigan before making a call.<br />
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<b>Virginia at BYU, 3:30 (ABC: Bob Wischusen, Matt Millen, <i>Quint Kessenich</i></b>) Speaking of teams I don't know how good they are yet, let's talk about the other Utah school, BYU. The Cougs have crushed teams this year like Texas in Austin but this week is different. Virginia is a very good defensive team having given up only 21 points as their high this year and they should be 3-0 on the year if their offense didn't give up the ball so much against an overrated UCLA team. Classic game between a punishing running attack versus a punishing defense.<br />
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<b>North Carolina at ECU, 3:30 (ESPNU: Clay Matvick, Anthony Becht</b>) Speaking of teams that look overrated, UNC plays at ECU this week with the Pirates coming off a victory against Virginia Tech. Maybe I'm crazy for calling a 2nd ECU upset in two weeks but I'm feeling it. UNC doesn't deserve their ranking while ECU should be ranked higher.<br />
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<b>Miss State at LSU, 7:00 (ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, <i>Holly Rowe</i></b>) Ah the annual tradition of Mississippi State not playing anyone in non-conference, playing a tough SEC team for their opening conference game, and getting crushed. LSU gets the pleasure this year of spanking Miss State right out of the gate.<br />
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<b>Oklahoma at West Virginia, 7:30 (Fox: Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, <i>Molly McGrath</i></b>) Ah you gotta love these all offense and no defense matchups. And when I say no defense, I mean West Virginia. Does that gambler Holgorsen even pay attention to his defense? At least Oklahoma still tries on that side of the ball.<br />
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<b>Clemson at Florida State, 8:00 (ABC: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, <i>Heather Cox</i></b>) I'm <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jameis-winston-s-latest-blunder-shows-tone-deaf-qb-still-needs-to-grow-up-020131876-ncaaf.html" target="_blank">beginning</a> to think that Jameis Winston is a <a href="http://deadspin.com/jameis-winston-yells-fuck-her-right-in-the-pussy-kil-1635466887" target="_blank">bit of a knucklehead</a>. Call it a hunch. But then again if you get off on a rape case and slapped on the wrist for stealing crab legs you'd also think you can get away with anything. Leave it up to the courageous <a href="http://www.tddaily.com/news/jimbo-fisher-fsu-deciding-whether-jameis-winston-will-miss-any-of-saturdays-game/" target="_blank">Jimbo Fisher</a> taking his sweat time deciding whether or not Winston is going to play this week. Yeah think real long and hard Fisher maybe even take this decision into next week because after all you are playing against Clemson this week................If I've learned anything these past two weeks its that football people are cowards when it comes to violence against women or children.<br />
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<b>Miami at Nebraska, 8:00 (ESPN2: Joe Tessitore, Brock Huard, <i>Shannon Spake</i></b>) Yeah Miami hasn't looked this year and they're on the road. I'm still calling for the upset in this game. Look at who is calling the action and look at who they are playing. I'm ready for some Joe Tessitore crazy game action.<br />
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<b>Recipe of the Week, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Lemon-Chicken-with-Mushroom-Sauce/Detail.aspx?evt19=1" target="_blank">Baked Lemon Chicken with Mushroom sauce</a></b>: Confession, I've been trying to eat healthier and one way to eat healthier I've been told is to eat chicken with lemon sauce. This is one of the recipes I'm going to try while on the healthier path this week. <br />
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<b>Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, <a href="http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/392/25880/" target="_blank">Imperial Pumpkin Ale</a></b>: Then I'm going to wash it all down with an unhealthy, fatty, full of sugar beer called Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Sorry but I love pumpkin ales. I love the pumpkin spice, I love how that spice warms my tummy, I love the taste, I love everything about pumpkin ales. If that makes me a hipster douche then I don't care.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-60655922451530913612014-09-11T02:00:00.000-07:002014-09-11T02:00:00.922-07:00Must List: Week 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another week, another weak schedule of games. There are a few games that I'm interested in because we still can't judge these teams yet but we're getting close. There are about 6 teams I'm interested in and how well they look and play this weekend so not all is lost. Still though we need to get into the meat of the conference schedule soon because this is a weak slate.<br />
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Thursday, September 11th<br />
<b>Houston at BYU, 9:00 (ESPN: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, <i>Samantha Ponder</i></b>) I only have this game down because I want to get on my soapbox for a second. The ESPN Thursday night football game used to feature really good teams and really good games. And then the NFL comes along and takes over Thursday nights with their crappy games and bogarted the night and basically kicked college football to the curb. So now we're stuck with games like Arizona-UTSA and Houston-BYU. What I'm getting at is that like usual, the NFL sucks.<br />
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Saturday, September 13th<br />
<b>East Carolina at Virginia Tech, Noon (ESPN: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, <i>Tom Luginbill</i></b>) Would anyone be surprised if Virginia Tech lost this game? Virginia Tech has entered the Clemson zone, losing games they shouldn't have receiving hype, and after beating Ohio State last week in Columbus the Hokies are receiving hype and they're about to play a team that gave South Carolina everything they could handle at the chicken coop.<br />
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<b>West Virginia at Maryland, Noon (BTN: Joe Beninati, Scott McBrien, Chuck Long, <i>Frank Hanrahan</i></b>) Think Joe Beninati will be fair and not biased calling this game? And what about poor Kris? Has to listen to this clown call Capitals games and now has to listen to him call a Maryland game.<br />
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<b>Georgia at South Carolina, 3:30 (CBS: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, <i>Allie LaForce</i></b>) Yeah South Carolina isn't very good but we're talking about Georgia here and I would not be surprised at all if the Bulldogs lose this game. And then there's the fact this game is on the road and couldn't you just see Georgia blowing this game late?<br />
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<b>Arkansas at Texas Tech, 3:30 (ABC: Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, <i>Jeannine Edwards</i></b>) Both of these teams haven't looked good in their first two games. Texas Tech had to hold off UTEP late last week and Arkansas has already been blown out in a conference game. So what happens in this game? Do both teams say "screw it" to defense and just try to out score each other?<br />
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<b>Illinois at Washington, 4:00 (Fox: Joe Davis, Joey Harrington,<i> Kris Budden</i></b>) Both of these teams are 2-0 on the season but they shouldn't be feeling good about their records. Washington barely beat a terrible Hawaii team and needed to score 59 points to beat FCS Eastern Washington. Illinois has played essentially no one to claim that 2-0 record. Fun fact: Illinois is 8th in the nation in passing and 122nd in rushing. Maybe balance that offense a little more fellas. <br />
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<b>Minnesota at TCU, 4:00 (FS1: Tim Brando, Brady Quinn</b>) I'm interested in this game purely for the teams. How good are these two teams? TCU has struggled so far away from the Mountain West and a win against Minnesota would be good for them. Then you have Minnesota who plays in the wide open B1G West. Is this the year they're more than just a middle of the road team?<br />
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<b>Tennessee at Oklahoma, 8:00 (ABC: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, <i>Heather Cox</i></b>) This is our game of the week? Fine. Oklahoma is once again scoring points with ease while you have Tennessee who isn't even in the top 50 for passing or rushing. Tennessee's defense though looks like it'll be much improved and ahead of the offense. I'd give Tennessee a better chance in this game if it wasn't played in Norman.<br />
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<b>Recipe of the Week, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sirloin-Steak-with-Garlic-Butter/Detail.aspx?evt19=1" target="_blank">Sirloin with Garlic Butter</a></b> : Sirloin is one of the best cut of steaks there is. It's probably the second best after filets. Now this recipe calls for you to melt butter with garlic to pour on the steak after you're done grilling. I like to put the butter on the steak while it's grilling to grill in the flavor. I'll see if this is a better way.<br />
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<b>Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, Bloody Mary</b>: Here's a really<a href="http://deadspin.com/lets-make-a-really-good-bloody-mary-for-once-1497855206" target="_blank"> good recipe</a> for making a proper Bloody Mary. One thing I like about this recipe is that it doesn't call for a fancy vodka or a citrus fruit like limes. Keep the vodka simple and keep your limes out of my drinks.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-73958719861258952362014-09-04T02:00:00.000-07:002014-09-04T02:00:00.078-07:00Must List: Week 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay here was the deal with me this summer and the state of this blog. I work in agriculture and a harvest was taking place this summer, mainly peaches. That chewed up two months of my time, specifically July and August, and left little time for any blogging at all. Well the peach harvest is done with and at a perfect time because college football and the NFL start up or have started up.<br />
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One problem though is that I was still in harvest right when the first week of the college football season started so I couldn't get a Must List done. And just my luck there was a glut of great games played during the first week of the season. Also my luck when I finally had time to work on a Must List the second week of the college football season is as bad as the first week was good. Have you seen the<a href="http://506sports.com/forum/index.php?topic=16978.0" target="_blank"> slate of games for this week</a>? Yikes. Still there are a few good games and here's the very first Must List of the season. (<b>Ed Note</b>: I'll try to do a weekly Must List until the end of the year but I can't guarantee this blog will be very much active from now on besides a post here and there with a live blog.)<br />
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Thursday, Sept 4th<br />
<b>Arizona at UTSA, 8:00 (FS1: Tim Brando, Joel Klatt)</b>: Both of these teams looked really good in their opening week games. Rich Rod had Arizona rolling against UNLV racking up over 700 total yards of offense. Then you have the return of Larry Coker at UTSA coming off a big victory against Houston. UTSA may be out of their league in this game but they're definitely a team to keep en eye on.<br />
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Saturday, Sept 6th<br />
<b>Oklahoma at Tulsa, Noon (ABC/ESPN2: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, <i>Todd McShay</i>)</b>: Ah another year of college football, another year of Oklahoma hype. The article this time is that the <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-defense-midseason-form-213258628--ncaaf.html" target="_blank">Oklahoma defense</a> is already in midseason form. Who wants to bet when Oklahoma's defense collapses and people are writing them off? I say week 8 against Kansas State. Or it come sooner again against Texas like last season.<br />
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<b>UAB at Mississippi State, 2:00 (FSN: Bob Rathburn, Tim Couch)</b> Speaking of another team that always starts the season red hot and then fades badly it's Mississippi State. They thrashed Southern Miss to start the year and will probably thrash UAB this week. I want to see them play against SEC teams before I start blowing smoke up their butts like Oklahoma.<br />
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<b>Eastern Washington at Washington, 3:00 (Pac-12 Net: Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron, <i>Drea Avent</i>)</b> Intriguing game because this isn't a guaranteed win for Washington. The Huskies weren't exactly impressive in their debut against Hawaii for new coach Chris Petersen. Eastern Washington meanwhile is a power in the FCS side of college football and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they win this game.<br />
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<b>USC at Stanford, 3:30 (ABC: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, <i>Heather Cox</i>)</b> Alright nothing like a great inter conference game at the beginning of the year. USC responded well to their erm....distractions by thrashing Fresno State on Saturday. Stanford looked great against UC Davis. The question coming into this game then is USC really that good and is Stanford still the reigning king of the Pac-12?<br />
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<b>Michigan State at Oregon, 6:30 (Fox: Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, <i>Molly McGrath</i>)</b> Maybe the game of the year in college football. The Oregon offense vs that Michigan State defense? And don't sleep on Sparty's offense either. Remember what they did to Ohio State in last year's B1G title game? Now the question for this game is the Sparty defense quick enough for the Oregon offense?<br />
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<b>Virginia Tech at Ohio State, 8:00 (ABC: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, <i>Holly Rowe</i>)</b> One of the downsides of working is that I haven't had much prep for the season, which means I have no idea how good Virginia Tech will be this season. Then again this is Virginia Tech meaning they have a good defense, great special teams, and a shaky quarterback who'll make the wrong decision at the wrong time leading to a loss again in primetime.<br />
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<b>Colorado State at Boise State, 10:15 (ESPN2: Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, <i>Jessica Mendoza</i>)</b> Colorado State is morphing into junior Alabama. They beat Colorado last week by grinding them down via the rushing attack while stifling them on defense. Boise State meanwhile still hasn't found a QB to replace Kellen Moore. Grant Hedrick threw 4 awful interceptions against Ole Miss last week.<br />
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<b>Texas Tech at UTEP, 11:00 (FS1: Craig Bolerjack, Ryan Nece)</b> Texas Tech barely beat Arkansas State last week while UTEP was awfully impressive against New Mexico. Not saying there's going to be an upset but this is a game to keep an eye on.<br />
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<b>Recipe of the Week, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Bacon-Jalapeno-Wraps/Detail.aspx?evt19=1" target="_blank">Grilled Bacon Jalapeno Wraps</a></b>: Ready to have one last sweat before summer ends. Burn your mouth with this recipe or be a wuss and remove the seeds from the jalapeno because really who wants to burn their mouth and cry?<br />
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<b>Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, <a href="http://www.dogfish.com/" target="_blank">Dogfish Head IPA</a></b>:<a href="http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/dogfish-head-indian-brown-ale-making-delaware-relevant-1629488704" target="_blank"> Deadspin</a> recently wrote about this beer and I've tasted it before. IPA's aren't my favorite beer because they can be like drinking a brick, bloating your guy, but this IPA is surprisingly smooth and doesn't leave you with a bloated feeling or a nasty after taste.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-35818288247342993532014-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:002014-08-30T08:56:16.721-07:00College Football Week 1 Live BlogCollege Football is back! <a href="http://506sports.com/ncaaf.php">Here is the Week 1 announcing schedule.</a> Find the game you like and leave comments with the usual crew.
<div style='display:none;'>Live Blog 2014 College Football Week 1 Live Blog</div><iframe src='http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3b8f6e6ded/width=500/height=550/entryLoc=bottom/commentLoc=bottom/titlePage=off/replayContentOrder=chronological' scrolling='no' height='550px' width='500px' frameBorder ='0' allowTransparency='true' ></iframe>kt1000http://www.blogger.com/profile/08119453717717924501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-71151293227003474922014-08-28T13:35:00.003-07:002014-08-28T13:35:42.891-07:00College Football Opening Day Live BlogI've been busy all summer with work, couldn't post anything on this blog and by sheer luck I finished with harvest on the day college football started. So as a celebration for one harvest being over (I have another coming up in a few weeks) I'm going to do a college football live blog. Leave comments, be nice, and enjoy the games. South Carolina-Texas A&M get us started on 3 PT.<br />
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<a href="http://506sports.com/ncaaf.php" target="_blank">Here's the rest of the schedule for tonight</a>.<br />
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Live Blog College Football Opening Day Live Blog</div>
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<script type="text/javascript">window.cilAsyncInit = function() {cilEmbedManager.init()};(function() {if (window.cilVwRand === undefined) { window.cilVwRand = Math.floor(Math.random()*10000000); }var e = document.createElement('script');e.async = true;var domain = (document.location.protocol == 'http:' || document.location.protocol == 'file:') ? 'http://cdnsl.coveritlive.com' : 'https://cdnslssl.coveritlive.com';e.src = domain + '/vw.js?v=' + window.cilVwRand;e.id = 'cilScript-b889c795c3';document.getElementById('cil-root-b889c795c3').appendChild(e);}());</script>49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-73644522709178723962014-06-26T15:30:00.000-07:002014-06-26T15:30:00.942-07:002014 NBA Draft Live Blog
<div style='display:none;'>Live Blog 2014 NBA Draft Live Blog</div><div id='cil-root-4e908d26e4' class='cil-root'><span class='cil-config-data' title='{"altcastCode":"4e908d26e4","server":"www.coveritlive.com","geometry":{"width":500,"height":550},"configuration":{"newEntryLocation":"bottom","commentLocation":"bottom","replayContentOrder":"chronological","pinsGrowSize":"on","titlePage":"off","skinOverride":""}}'> </span></div><script type='text/javascript'>window.cilAsyncInit = function() {cilEmbedManager.init()};(function() {if (window.cilVwRand === undefined) { window.cilVwRand = Math.floor(Math.random()*10000000); }var e = document.createElement('script');e.async = true;var domain = (document.location.protocol == 'http:' || document.location.protocol == 'file:') ? 'http://cdnsl.coveritlive.com' : 'https://cdnslssl.coveritlive.com';e.src = domain + '/vw.js?v=' + window.cilVwRand;e.id = 'cilScript-4e908d26e4';document.getElementById('cil-root-4e908d26e4').appendChild(e);}());</script>kt1000http://www.blogger.com/profile/08119453717717924501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-87582494473357275862014-06-10T08:13:00.000-07:002014-06-26T13:44:55.290-07:00Now This Is How Fast a MLB Game Should LastLast night I was browsing through some old MLB videos and came across this old game of Tom Seaver's only no-hitter thrown in 1978 while a member of the Cincinnati Reds. The first thing I noticed about this game was that it lasted only an hour and 48 minutes. That's incredible even for a no-hitter. Has there been a game this season that has lasted under two hours? Either way enjoy this old game.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zPI9i0_gq-E?list=PLi70flcQkwNseXKsic6UnGDL9e8O5HIvP" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b>Other Observations</b>:<br />
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- Another reason why this game was so quick was because the batters never left the batters box. I hate to sound like old baseball person but why can't batters be like these guys? They stand in the box and wait for the next pitch. No leaving the box to readjust their batting gloves or to take a practice swing. Why can't things be the way they used to be?<br />
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- Seaver's delivery and pretty much all pitchers delivery's in those days looks like it was a very easy delivering of the pitch to the plate. Seaver and guys like Jim Palmer pitched forever back in those days and it makes me wonder if we see less elbow surgery's if guys had easy deliveries like his?<br />
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- I'm not the biggest Marty Brennaman fan but he was really good for this game. It dawned on me that announcers like players have primes. Marty is past his prime and is in "get off my lawn" mode today. In the 70's I understand why he eventually became a hall of famer.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-43467917383362220692014-06-04T07:07:00.001-07:002014-06-04T07:07:23.844-07:00I Guess Cubs Games are Boring The Cubs actually won last night but it wasn't exactly exciting. A<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/new-york-mets-chicago-cubs-340603116/" target="_blank"> 2-1 victory</a> that lasted over 3 hours and didn't end until a walkoff by Nate Schierholtz. So can you really blame the out of town scoreboard operator for falling asleep?<br />
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Poor guy. The Cubs are so boring they're putting him to sleep. Hopefully the Ricketts family doesn't fire him for falling asleep on the job.<br />
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(Via <a href="http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/wake-up-asshole-1585812070/+bubbaprog" target="_blank">@bubbaprog</a>)49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-53790041071194196612014-05-27T02:00:00.000-07:002014-06-27T09:43:41.083-07:00Talkin' Baseball: Fired up Red Sox, Cubs vs MLBPA, & Red Hot Blue Jays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/rf/image_r/Boston/2011-2020/2014/05/25/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/b8a32e44ec704b89bd2c8f7b9a85ff48-b8a32e44ec704b89bd2c8f7b9a85ff48-0.r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bostonglobe.com/rf/image_r/Boston/2011-2020/2014/05/25/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/b8a32e44ec704b89bd2c8f7b9a85ff48-b8a32e44ec704b89bd2c8f7b9a85ff48-0.r.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>49er16</b>: Can you tell me when was it not appropriate to advance a base on a error? I didn't realize the <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/25/benches-clear-in-red-sox-vs-rays-game/" target="_blank">Rays broke some unwritten rule here</a>?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I think I agree with the assessment that the Red Sox were mainly frustrated with themselves more than with the Rays themselves. I mean after all the season hasn't exactly been stellar for them. Their guys that had career years last year aren't panning out (we'll call this *gulp* Giants Syndrome) and the guys they didn't bring back like Salty are chugging along. They were a big time hocus pocus team last year. Career years and karma really carried them.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Their pitching staff has been a mess this year. Pedroia has regressed badly. I would say Big Papi finally looks old but he's looked old before and came back.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I like this story about the<a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/26/the-union-would-like-the-chicago-cubs-to-spend-more-money-on-players/" target="_blank"> players union complaining about the Cubs not spending enough money</a>. "WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS SIGNING CRAPPY PLAYERS TO CONTRACTS, DAMMIT?"<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: "Seriously? Why haven't you guys signed Jeff Keppinger yet?" I do love how vague their message is. It doesn't suggest at all who to sign? Do they want the Cubs to sign someone like Kendry Morales? Do they want them to pick up Jeff Keppinger? Or are they wondering why the Cubs didn't go after someone like Ellsbury? And shouldn't this be a overall baseball issue to take up during the CBA negotiations?<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: I've predicted multiple times but I do believe the next CBA negotiations are going to be heated. Between players like Morales and Drew not signing until after the first month because of draft picks, to teams like the Astros holding back Springer to delay his free agent eligibility, there's going to be some issues the owners and the MLBPA are going to have to sort out.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: It's going to be a mess. The union is going to have to enter new territory with everyone else. These new Sabermetric GM's are going to strip down these teams, collect assets, and not overpay for role players anymore. I'm sorry but the union is going to have to adjust to this new life in baseball with everyone else.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Can anyone <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/the-grand-slam--encarnacion-continues-must-see-power-surge-in-jays-6th-straight-win-152526951.html" target="_blank">stop the Blue Jays right now</a>? My goodness they're hitting at an incredible rate. They just went through the A's like a buzzsaw. I said it a few days ago that I'm still skeptical of their pitching staff but this is impressive.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: In that division, I ain't counting them out. All those teams have flaws. We already went over the Red Sox. I don't believe in the Yankees based on their collective age and injury history. The Rays have too many injuries. The team to look out for is Baltimore.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Baltimore to me is too inconsistent. They're hot, they're not. Their pitching looks good. It looks horrible. Their hitters are crushing the balls. Their hitters are flaying away at everything. I'm not sold.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Plus their run differential like everyone else in that division is horrible. It is amazing to me how badly the run differential is in that division.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: Combination of things to factor in the AL East. You've got regression (Red Sox), age (Yankees), injuries (Rays), and hackers (Orioles) is why you see the out of whack run differential.<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: So what games are we looking forward to the rest of this week? I'm personally looking forward to watching Sale pitch again on Tuesday. He's pitching porn.<br />
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<b>The Colonel</b>: /watch Sale have to have Tommy John surgery<br />
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<b>49er16</b>: Have a good week folks.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-48026826934830074262014-05-23T02:00:00.000-07:002014-05-23T02:00:02.172-07:00This Week in Baseball: 5/18-5/23<b>70 Percent</b>: That's the percentage of people who can't watch the Los Angeles Dodgers on Time Warner in the Los Angeles area. <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/10-degrees--dodgers-and-their-crazy-tv-deal-top-mlb-s-biggest-disappointments-053835872.html" target="_blank">Jeff Passan </a>has the details of the story. The Dodgers signed a huge contract in the billiions and now their own fans can't watch them play because Time Warner and DirecTV are playing hardball with each other. And if you think this is a mess google "<a href="http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/03/15/astros-comcast-file-more-arguments-in-csn-houston-lawsuit/" target="_blank">Houston Astros" and "CSN Houston"</a> for more gory details about home team fans not being able to watch their team.<br />
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<b>Miguel Olivo Gone Mike Tyson</b>: <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/report--dodgers-prospect-alex-guerrero-gets-ear-bitten-in-fight-with-teammate-231800191.html" target="_blank">Word came on Tuesday</a> that during a minor league game, veteran catcher Miguel Olivo bit off a piece of his teammate Alex Guerrero's ear.<a href="http://deadspin.com/miguel-olivo-reportedly-bites-off-chunk-of-teammates-ea-1579283612" target="_blank"> Seriously he went full Mike Tyson </a>on the poor Cuban prospect.<br />
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<b>Will Stephen Drew Help the Red Sox?</b>: Stephen Drew finally signed a contract and it was with the Boston Red Sox.<a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/47439/stephen-drew-only-a-minor-fix-for-red-sox" target="_blank"> Sweet Spot </a>asks will this help the Red Sox who are mediocre as it gets this season (it's their pitching that stinks)? And no he wont help. There are too many problems on the Red Sox right now like their outfielders not hitting, Dustin Pedroia with career lows in OBP and OPS, and some guys not hitting like they did last year like Mike Napoli.<br />
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<b>Tony La Russa Hiring is Short Sighted?</b>: Getting back to<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tony-la-russa-s-hiring-casts-doubt-on-direction-of-diamondbacks-214738948.html" target="_blank"> Jeff Passan</a>, he also writes this week that it's incredibly short sighted of the Arizona Diamondbacks to hire Tony La Russa as their chief baseball officer. Passan's article admittedly is very convoluted and he's all over the place but he believes La Russa is too much "my way or the highway" type of guy to sit back and watch Kevin Towers and Kirk Gibson run the baseball operations. After watching the Diamondbacks the past couple of years I have to ask, is that a bad thing?<br />
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<b>This is Just Mean:</b> Corey Kluber of the Indians last night was trying to do a TV interview. I say trying because his teammates dumped sunflower seeds, powder, and water on him during the interview. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/5/21/5738068/corey-kluber-sunflower-seeds-water-baby-powder-indians" target="_blank">Jerks</a>.<br />
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<b>Game Score</b>: Game Score is a remarkably easy stat that isn't promoted the way it should be. It was developed by Bill James and it reflects how well a pitcher did in a game. You start at 50 and you either add or subtract points depending on what happens during the game. <a href="http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/5/22/5737916/game-score-pitcher-evaluation-bill-james-tom-tango" target="_blank">Beyond the Boxscore</a> looks at how well you can project a pitchers career based on their first 30 Game Scores. That's all fine and good until I found out that Matt Cain's perfect game was the best Game Score since 2000. MATT CAIN! MATT CAIN!<br />
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<b>Game of the Year</b>: On Wednesday the Tigers-Indians played the game of the year ending with the Indians walkoff win in extra innings on a balk. <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/47505/game-of-year-so-far-exposes-tigers-flaws" target="_blank">Sweet Spot</a> argues that game exposed a lot of flaws in the Tigers like little bullpen depth (a constant problem for them), little bench depth, and shortstop problems. How bad that division though is, it shouldn't be a problem for the Tigers making the playoffs. Winning the championship is a different story.<br />
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<b>Best of the Weekend</b>: A look at the best games and pitching matchups of the weekend.<br />
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<b>Friday, Los Angeles at Philadephia, Kershaw vs <strike>Fausto Carmona</strike> Roberto Hernandez</b>: This is a game to pay attention to because Kershaw hasn't looked good in his last two starts. He got blasted by Arizona in his last start and gave up a 0-2 home run off his curveball in his start before that. Let's see how well he does against Philly.<br />
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<b>Saturday, Washington at Pittsburgh, Strasburg vs Cole</b>: Ah nothing like a young pitching duel to cleanse the pallet. Expect a lot of strikeouts in this game. Both guys average at least 8 strikeouts per 9 innings.<br />
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<b>Sunday, St. Louis at Cincinnati, Wainwright vs Leake</b>: Wainwright's ground ball rate is down but he's leaving more people on base than his career average. His xFIP is also up which makes me wonder if his overall pitching is starting to regress or is it still too early to judge?<br />
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<b>Monday, Detroit at Oakland, Scherzer vs Milone</b>: The thorn in the sides of the Oakland A's. Scherzer though unlike Verlander hasn't owned the A's.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-12719808771551119692014-05-22T07:08:00.001-07:002014-05-22T07:08:32.003-07:00All Edwin Encarnacion Does Is Hit Home RunsToronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion is on fire in the month of May. He's had four different two home run games including one last night against the Boston Red Sox.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bvfB6uOCGTc" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Encarnacion has been the most underrated hitter in the game. He hits for power. Gets on base. And strikes out very little. That's a rare trait in power hitters in today's baseball.<br />
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The Blue Jays as a whole have kinda snuck out of nowhere and judging by how mediocre the AL East is this season they could definitely make the playoffs. They're the only team in that division with a positive run differential. They have a great 1-2 punch with Bautista and Encarnacion, Melky Cabrera is playing better, Adam Lind is a BABIP machine, and Anthony Gose is showing some promise that made him a highly thought of prospect.<br />
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The one area that the Blue Jays do have a concern is still at <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=14&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0" target="_blank">starting pitcher</a>. Yes Mark Buehrle has turned back the clock and Drew Hutchinson is pitching well, but it's still hard to take that starting staff seriously. They as a group don't walk many batters but almost all of them over rely on their defense leading to their high xFIP's. You have to wonder how long that's going to last? Or will it matter at all because of how mediocre the AL East has looked so far this year?49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-54397963146792740172014-05-21T07:21:00.000-07:002014-05-21T07:21:02.630-07:00Scaredy Cat The Derek Jeter retirement tour rolled into Chicago Monday night and on Tuesday night a lightning strike let Jeter know that God is telling him it's time to retire.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hHiNW0aCWwE" width="560"></iframe><br />
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What a scaredy cat. Afraid of a little lightning.<br />
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/I would have ran for cover immediately49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2075251516543448143.post-47440116238537274272014-05-20T07:18:00.000-07:002014-05-20T07:18:16.704-07:00"You Should Have Taken a Job at McDonald's!"The<a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sterlings-litigation-20140520-story.html#page=2" target="_blank"> Los Angeles Times </a>has an amazing story about the many lawsuits filed by Donald Sterling and his wife Shelly over the years. The gist of the article is that Sterling will sue anyone or any place that he can and they're almost all petty. Check out this paragraph from the story.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"In 2001, he sued Bill Fitch, another fired head coach mired in a dispute over money. Sterling argued that he should not have to pay $4 million because Fitch had failed to look for another job as the terms of his contract required. The suit and Fitch's countersuit dragged on for a year and a half, becoming increasingly personal and unpleasant. <b>Sterling's side accused Fitch of lounging around on the golf course instead of looking for work with one Clippers executive testifying that the veteran coach should have taken a job at McDonald's, according to court filings.</b> Ultimately, the case was settled on the eve of trial."</blockquote>
Unbelievable. Sadly that case didn't go to court because I would have loved to have seen the testimony from Fitch defending himself from those accusations. "I'm 60-years old! You really think I'm going to get a job at McDonald's?"<br />
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The worst suit from Sterling was against former player Marques Johnson who ended his career with the Clippers after a neck injury. Johnson was owed $1.3 million and the Clippers of course stopped cutting him checks. This of course lead to a lawsuit which lead to this creepy moment.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When Johnson asked for NBA arbitration, Sterling responded with a fraud suit, accusing him of failing to disclose a past cocaine problem during contract negotiations. <b>The suit contended that Johnson wasn't entitled to any more money and in fact, he and his agent should have to pay the Clippers for "losses to the overall quality of the team," including decreased ticket sales.</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
During the dispute, Johnson's toddler son, Marques Jr., drowned. An acquaintance of Sterling approached Johnson and said the team owner was sympathetic to his grief and wanted to speak to him, Johnson recalled. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I called Donald and he starts yelling at me and berating me and telling me how he is going to ruin me financially," Johnson said. He settled the case out of court for less than he wanted, he said. "I was worn down psychologically, spiritually and financially."</blockquote>
That's all sorts of fucked up right there. And there all sorts of fucked up details in this story about the many lawsuits filed by Sterling and his petty old lady in this story. From going to accuse Bill Walton of drug use in a suit to suing a hotel because Shelly slipped and fell on some ice.<br />
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The Sterlings love to fight and the NBA will certainly have a fight on their hands.49er16http://www.blogger.com/profile/07480858283150569377noreply@blogger.com1