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Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Your Weekly Present from Us Comes a Day Early
Yama hama its fright night!
Well, the weekend has come early here at WCT bitches! So we are serving up a heaping helping of Friday T&A on Thursday.
But first, let’s examine the 2007 NBA Finals, which begin tonight.
The official WCT pick is Spurs in six (we picked with our head, not our heart), but we will be cheering like hell for our Cavs to prove us wrong. Unlike many, we think the Cavs have a very good shot to take down the Spurs for several reasons:
This is the most poised and determined the Cavs have looked all year.
Let’s face it. This is old hat to the Spurs. This is their fourth trip to the finals in nine years. They were just in the Western Conference Finals last year they cannot possibly be as hungry as the Cavs. And in the Pistons series, the Cavs had a look about them that we did not see at any point during the year. Every time Detroit made a run, the Cavs answered. Every time the Pistons did something to try to rattle them, the Cavs kept their composure. They had a hungry, determined look about them that we have not ever seen. Even LeBron, who at times during the regular season looked like he was sleepwalking, rose to the occasion in a way that no one thought he could. The hungrier team will always win a closely contested series, and we think the Cavs are hungrier. If the series is close, we like the Cavs.
When the whole world zigs, you should zag
Everyone and their momma thinks that the Spurs are sweeping the Cavs. Everyone (us included) thinks the Spurs have too much experience in situations like this to be beaten by the upstarts from Cleveland.
Remember last October, when everyone thought the Tigers, from the stronger AL would crush the 83-win Cardinals team from the “AAAA Baseball League?” Remember the Florida team that didn’t have a shot against Ohio State in the BCS Championship game? (unfortunately, we do) Remember the Pistons team that was going to get run out of the gym by the Lakers in the ’04 finals? When you tell a team how much they suck and how they have no chance to win, it has a funny way of inspiring them.
Rest vs. rust
Most say that the ideal time a team would like to have off in between playoff series is three to five days. When game one tips off, the Cavs, who finished off the Pistons on Saturday, will have had four full days off. The Spurs will have been off for seven full days.
Better eye candy in the stands
Most importantly, and we checked with the Elias Sports Bureau on this one, the team with the women in the stands is 9-1 in the last 10 NBA Finals. The lone loss coming in 2004 of course when the Pistons beat the Lakers.
Come to a Cavs game on the right day, and you might have a seat next to Amanda
But first, let’s examine the 2007 NBA Finals, which begin tonight.
The official WCT pick is Spurs in six (we picked with our head, not our heart), but we will be cheering like hell for our Cavs to prove us wrong. Unlike many, we think the Cavs have a very good shot to take down the Spurs for several reasons:
This is the most poised and determined the Cavs have looked all year.
Let’s face it. This is old hat to the Spurs. This is their fourth trip to the finals in nine years. They were just in the Western Conference Finals last year they cannot possibly be as hungry as the Cavs. And in the Pistons series, the Cavs had a look about them that we did not see at any point during the year. Every time Detroit made a run, the Cavs answered. Every time the Pistons did something to try to rattle them, the Cavs kept their composure. They had a hungry, determined look about them that we have not ever seen. Even LeBron, who at times during the regular season looked like he was sleepwalking, rose to the occasion in a way that no one thought he could. The hungrier team will always win a closely contested series, and we think the Cavs are hungrier. If the series is close, we like the Cavs.
When the whole world zigs, you should zag
Everyone and their momma thinks that the Spurs are sweeping the Cavs. Everyone (us included) thinks the Spurs have too much experience in situations like this to be beaten by the upstarts from Cleveland.
Remember last October, when everyone thought the Tigers, from the stronger AL would crush the 83-win Cardinals team from the “AAAA Baseball League?” Remember the Florida team that didn’t have a shot against Ohio State in the BCS Championship game? (unfortunately, we do) Remember the Pistons team that was going to get run out of the gym by the Lakers in the ’04 finals? When you tell a team how much they suck and how they have no chance to win, it has a funny way of inspiring them.
Rest vs. rust
Most say that the ideal time a team would like to have off in between playoff series is three to five days. When game one tips off, the Cavs, who finished off the Pistons on Saturday, will have had four full days off. The Spurs will have been off for seven full days.
Better eye candy in the stands
Most importantly, and we checked with the Elias Sports Bureau on this one, the team with the women in the stands is 9-1 in the last 10 NBA Finals. The lone loss coming in 2004 of course when the Pistons beat the Lakers.
Come to a Cavs game on the right day, and you might have a seat next to Amanda
Amanda is a member of the Cavalier Girls dance team, the most underrated dance team in the NBA (who sit in the stands behind the baskets), a native of the Cleveland area, and All-Star representative of the Cavalier Girls at this past All-Star Game in Vegas.
Or, maybe Amanda will be dancing on the bar at a Cleveland area establishment, and you will be lucky enough to have a good view
On the other hand, come to a Spurs game, and you better hope that somebody doesn't forget to put on her make-up. Otherwise you might be seated next to...
Yama hama its fright night!So there you have it. As Nick Backay used to say, everything makes sense when you break it down scientifically. We’ll try to check in with you sometime this weekend in the midst of our three-day bender. But for now, its time to grab our “WITNESS” t-shirt and our Andy Varejao wig, pull up a barstool, and settle in for game one.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
We Really Hate To Do This...
We really know that we shouldn’t be thinking about this right now. We know that the sentiment we are about to express smacks of an inferiority complex. We KNOW we should be celebrating the Cavs first trip to the finals in franchise history. But instead, we are being annoyed by sore losers and sour grapes from the Pistons, their supporters in the media, and their fans.
Where should we begin? Well let’s start with Pistons guard and soon-to-be free agent Chauncey Billups:
“I'm just mad we lost four straight games to a team that I felt wasn't better than us.”
This is what I call the “Matt Leinart response” to losing, after Leinart famously stated “I still think we’re better than them” after losing the 2006 Rose Bowl to Texas. It is a second cousin of the “Michael Hart response” of “if we played them again we would win.”
Chauncey, not only were you not the better team in the series as a whole, you were not the better team in any of the six games of the series. The Pistons were very fortunate to win games 1 and 2 as a result of the Cavs not being able to hit big shots down the stretch.
And one more thing: if we can get on our soap box for a second: Can we please put to bed the whole “the better team didn’t win” take as a response to losing a big game or series? We get so sick of people in sports who say this after a game. When you play a seven game series, or a big football game, the better team ALWAYS wins. That’s why you play, to determine which team is better. The Pistons are a veteran team, they knew what was at stake, if they were so much better, why did they let the LeBron embarrass them in game five and completely come apart at the end of game six?
Ok, now how about the conspiracy theorists:
“The NBA wanted LeBron in the Finals and not the Pistons.”
You know, we weren’t going to dignify this take with a response, but what the hell. Was it David Stern who left Daniel Gibson alone in games four and six and allowed him to rain threes? Was David Stern on the court setting picks for LeBron and giving him a clear path to the basket for dunks at the end of regulation in game five? Was Stern willing LeBron's perimeter jumpers into the basket as he shot the lights out in the overtimes of game six?
"The Cavs got very lucky with their playoff draw"
Yes, Washington was injury riddled this year when the Cavs played them in the first round this year. But last year a less experienced Cavs team played basically this same Washington team with Gilbert Arenas and with Caron Butler and they took them out in the first round.
As for Jersey, well, when you are the second seed in the playoffs, you have earned the right to possibly play a mediocre team in the second round. That’s why the teams are seeded.
Also, when you take out the number-one seed in your bracket, how can it be argued that you got an easy draw? You had to go thorough the best team (theoretically) in your conference and win at least once on their home court, how is that an easy draw? Why is it that no one is saying that the Spurs got an easy draw because they didn’t even have to play the number-one seed in their bracket? And they got the benefit of a favorable suspension in the Phoenix series, why is this not brought up?
And last, and most definitely least, as seen on many a Pistons blog:
“The officiating was unfair.”
Do you know how many total free throws the Cavs attempted in this series? 170. Do you know how many free throws the Pistons attempted in this series? 155. That is a difference of 15 free throws over the course of the six game series, or just over two more free throws per game attempted. How about total fouls called you say? Well how about 133 fouls called on the Cavs and 136 called on the Pistons, or an average of less than one more foul per game called on the Pistons. What was the aggregate score differential from the series? Cavs by a total of 22 points. So how much difference did the refs really have in this series?
There, now that we have that off or our chest, we will focus on our attention on the Finals, and the Cavs likely losing in 5 games to the San Antonio Spurs.
We really know that we shouldn’t be thinking about this right now. We know that the sentiment we are about to express smacks of an inferiority complex. We KNOW we should be celebrating the Cavs first trip to the finals in franchise history. But instead, we are being annoyed by sore losers and sour grapes from the Pistons, their supporters in the media, and their fans.
Where should we begin? Well let’s start with Pistons guard and soon-to-be free agent Chauncey Billups:
“I'm just mad we lost four straight games to a team that I felt wasn't better than us.”
This is what I call the “Matt Leinart response” to losing, after Leinart famously stated “I still think we’re better than them” after losing the 2006 Rose Bowl to Texas. It is a second cousin of the “Michael Hart response” of “if we played them again we would win.”
Chauncey, not only were you not the better team in the series as a whole, you were not the better team in any of the six games of the series. The Pistons were very fortunate to win games 1 and 2 as a result of the Cavs not being able to hit big shots down the stretch.
And one more thing: if we can get on our soap box for a second: Can we please put to bed the whole “the better team didn’t win” take as a response to losing a big game or series? We get so sick of people in sports who say this after a game. When you play a seven game series, or a big football game, the better team ALWAYS wins. That’s why you play, to determine which team is better. The Pistons are a veteran team, they knew what was at stake, if they were so much better, why did they let the LeBron embarrass them in game five and completely come apart at the end of game six?
Ok, now how about the conspiracy theorists:
“The NBA wanted LeBron in the Finals and not the Pistons.”
You know, we weren’t going to dignify this take with a response, but what the hell. Was it David Stern who left Daniel Gibson alone in games four and six and allowed him to rain threes? Was David Stern on the court setting picks for LeBron and giving him a clear path to the basket for dunks at the end of regulation in game five? Was Stern willing LeBron's perimeter jumpers into the basket as he shot the lights out in the overtimes of game six?
Don't get us wrong, NBA executives have to be thrilled to have an exciting young star like James to showcase in the finals rather than an old, whining team like the Pistons, but that is not WHY the Cavs won.
How about this one from NBA analyst Ernie Johnson:"The Cavs got very lucky with their playoff draw"
Yes, Washington was injury riddled this year when the Cavs played them in the first round this year. But last year a less experienced Cavs team played basically this same Washington team with Gilbert Arenas and with Caron Butler and they took them out in the first round.
As for Jersey, well, when you are the second seed in the playoffs, you have earned the right to possibly play a mediocre team in the second round. That’s why the teams are seeded.
Also, when you take out the number-one seed in your bracket, how can it be argued that you got an easy draw? You had to go thorough the best team (theoretically) in your conference and win at least once on their home court, how is that an easy draw? Why is it that no one is saying that the Spurs got an easy draw because they didn’t even have to play the number-one seed in their bracket? And they got the benefit of a favorable suspension in the Phoenix series, why is this not brought up?
And last, and most definitely least, as seen on many a Pistons blog:
“The officiating was unfair.”
Do you know how many total free throws the Cavs attempted in this series? 170. Do you know how many free throws the Pistons attempted in this series? 155. That is a difference of 15 free throws over the course of the six game series, or just over two more free throws per game attempted. How about total fouls called you say? Well how about 133 fouls called on the Cavs and 136 called on the Pistons, or an average of less than one more foul per game called on the Pistons. What was the aggregate score differential from the series? Cavs by a total of 22 points. So how much difference did the refs really have in this series?
There, now that we have that off or our chest, we will focus on our attention on the Finals, and the Cavs likely losing in 5 games to the San Antonio Spurs.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Last Week In Baseball! - Pleasant Surprises
If you are like us, you grew up on Mel Allen and “This Week in Baseball.” Here at WCT, we have “Last Week in Baseball!” Please don't sue us Fox!
Ok, so we were pretty negative last week with the whole “guys who are having surprisingly sucky seasons” theme. Well, we're in a good mood today, so we are going to turn that around and examine pleasant surprises. We are going to look at guys who are exceeding expectations. Most of these guys are thought of as being good, but none of us really knew that these guys were this good:
Kevin Youkilis - Before this year, this guy with nothing more than a guy with a funny name who walked a lot and was more famous for appearing in "Moneyball" than for any on-field exploits. This year, he is hitting .350 with a .982 OPS.
Chad Gaudin - Where do the A's find these guys? Three years ago the Tampa Bay Devil Rays traded this guy away for next to nothing. Now Gaudin has won five starts in a row, and is third in the AL with a 2.41 ERA.
Magglio Ordonez - If the AL MVP award were handed out today, Magglio, and not Alex Rodriguez, would get our vote. A-Rod has more home runs (thanks to his other-worldly April), but Ordonez has more hits, runs, RBI, walks, fewer strike outs, a higher batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and (obviously) OBP.
Now, on to our LWIB notes!
- The fact that Roger Clemens had to miss his scheduled start today against the White Sox because of a “tired groin” is an ominous sign. But even more than that, it is the result of signing a 44 year-old pitcher in the middle of May, with no spring training, rushing him through his preparations, and expecting his body to be ready to go after three minor league starts.
- A few weeks back, we said that the Brewers might have a tough time in May, and felt that if they were still in first as May turned to June, then we would consider them “for real.” Well, they were pretty unspectacular in May (14-15), but the rest of the division was downright abhorrent (55-86 combined record, no team over .500). The division is the Brewers to lose as far as we are concerned, not so much because Milwaukee is that good, but more because the entire NL Central is a joke.
Now, on to our LWIB notes!
- The fact that Roger Clemens had to miss his scheduled start today against the White Sox because of a “tired groin” is an ominous sign. But even more than that, it is the result of signing a 44 year-old pitcher in the middle of May, with no spring training, rushing him through his preparations, and expecting his body to be ready to go after three minor league starts.
- A few weeks back, we said that the Brewers might have a tough time in May, and felt that if they were still in first as May turned to June, then we would consider them “for real.” Well, they were pretty unspectacular in May (14-15), but the rest of the division was downright abhorrent (55-86 combined record, no team over .500). The division is the Brewers to lose as far as we are concerned, not so much because Milwaukee is that good, but more because the entire NL Central is a joke.
- When was the last time that ESPN televised a game during the week that did not involve a) the Yankees, b) the Red Sox, or c) the Mets?
Take a look at the ESPN schedule for the next few weeks:
Tonight: Yankees at White Sox
Wed June 6: Mets at Phillies
Mon June 11: White Sox at Phillies (disaster scenario: Yankees & Red Sox off day, Mets on west coast)
Mon June 18: Red Sox at Braves
Mon June 25: Cardinals at Mets
Fri June 29: Mets at Phillies
Mon July 2: Twins at Yankees
- Its really good that Lou Pinella is keeping his preseason promise of “taking it easy” this year.
* * * * *
Its our blog dammit, so we are going to talk about our team every week - Something has got to be done about Jeremy Sowers. He just cannot get it done at this level right now. The schedule gets really soft now with the Royals, Reds, Mariners (make up game), and Marlins on the horizon.
* * * * *
How ‘bout tha... er, I mean, I'll be goddamned! - Jeremy Bonderman beat the Indians on Sunday to improve to 5-0, earn a split of the four game series for the Tigers, and salvage a bit of dignity for Detroit sports fans.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
Well, I'm Sure Glad I Decided Against Going to that Tribe Game
I really don't want to overstate things in the heat of the moment, but I think its fair to say that that people will point to May 31st, 2007 as the moment when LeBron became a "great" player. A "get on my back, I won't let us lose this game" great player. I have already heard more than one local sports talking head call last night's performance by James "the greatest postseason performance in Cleveland sports history" and I would be hard pressed to argue. A few quick hits:
(and since this is the Friday T&A post, there will be pictures of the Cavalier Girls peppered throughout the post)
- Nice to see the Cleveland teams do the Detroit two-step, with the Indians coming back to beat up the Tigers.
- That being said, is it just me, or have the Cavs not outplayed the Pistons in each of the first five games of this series? They are essentially two made shots from sweeping and having the series not even reach game five.
- Everyone, and when I say everyone I mean everyone, in the bar we were in thought the game was over when Billups sank that three with just seconds left to put the Pistons up 91-89.
- Why are Detroit fans, especially the ones that were at the Palace last night, so quiet and tense? They are like Red Sox fans from a few years back. They just won the championship like two years ago.
- I really hope this quiets the idiot critics that hate on LeBron and expect him to be Michael Jordan in his fourth NBA season.
- He is Twenty-two years old for crying out loud.
- Antonio McDyess did not deserve to be ejected for his clothesline of Andy Varejao. He deserved a flagrant foul, but not an ejection. But oh well. Them's the breaks
- The Pistons complain about EVERY foul called against them! Every single one. Its really annoying
- I am by no means an NBA fanatic, especially to the extent that I am a baseball fanatic and a football fanatic, but really get irritated with NBA haters that make up reasons why they don't watch pro basketball. I hope this shuts a few of them up.
- One more thing: Billy Donovan is a douche. And a mercenary, and a Liar. I hope he is a spectacular failure in the NBA.
Well I'm at a loss for words. As a Cleveland sports fan, we don't have many nights like last night, so you have to let a guy bask in it for a while.
Have a great weekend people, and enjoy game six on Saturday night. Unfortunately, as it turns out, I will be back in New York for the game, and won't be able to go. But suffice it to say, I will be watching and will be sufficientlyliquored up fired up for the festivities.
I really don't want to overstate things in the heat of the moment, but I think its fair to say that that people will point to May 31st, 2007 as the moment when LeBron became a "great" player. A "get on my back, I won't let us lose this game" great player. I have already heard more than one local sports talking head call last night's performance by James "the greatest postseason performance in Cleveland sports history" and I would be hard pressed to argue. A few quick hits:
(and since this is the Friday T&A post, there will be pictures of the Cavalier Girls peppered throughout the post)
- Nice to see the Cleveland teams do the Detroit two-step, with the Indians coming back to beat up the Tigers.
- I hate to pee all over everyone's parade, but the Cavs were up 3-2 going home against the Pistons last year in the second round of the playoffs. They should not get ahead of themselves.
- That being said, is it just me, or have the Cavs not outplayed the Pistons in each of the first five games of this series? They are essentially two made shots from sweeping and having the series not even reach game five.
- Everyone, and when I say everyone I mean everyone, in the bar we were in thought the game was over when Billups sank that three with just seconds left to put the Pistons up 91-89.
- Why are Detroit fans, especially the ones that were at the Palace last night, so quiet and tense? They are like Red Sox fans from a few years back. They just won the championship like two years ago.
- I really hope this quiets the idiot critics that hate on LeBron and expect him to be Michael Jordan in his fourth NBA season.
- He is Twenty-two years old for crying out loud.
- Antonio McDyess did not deserve to be ejected for his clothesline of Andy Varejao. He deserved a flagrant foul, but not an ejection. But oh well. Them's the breaks
- The Pistons complain about EVERY foul called against them! Every single one. Its really annoying
- I am by no means an NBA fanatic, especially to the extent that I am a baseball fanatic and a football fanatic, but really get irritated with NBA haters that make up reasons why they don't watch pro basketball. I hope this shuts a few of them up.
- One more thing: Billy Donovan is a douche. And a mercenary, and a Liar. I hope he is a spectacular failure in the NBA.
Well I'm at a loss for words. As a Cleveland sports fan, we don't have many nights like last night, so you have to let a guy bask in it for a while.
Have a great weekend people, and enjoy game six on Saturday night. Unfortunately, as it turns out, I will be back in New York for the game, and won't be able to go. But suffice it to say, I will be watching and will be sufficiently
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Funny How Things Work Out
If our posts from this week have seemed more inspired, if you could feel the spirit of the Buckeye State oozing through this blog and out of your computer screen, its because we (I) am back in Cleveland for a couple of graduation parties. So instead of coming to you from my cubicle WCT world headquarters in midtown Manhattan, I am blogging this week from my parents' house the WCT midwest bureau in the Northeast Ohio suburbs.
(Quick Aside: Being back allowed me to attend game 4 of the Cavs-Pistons series on Tuesday, and come to the realization that an NBA game is no longer a sporting event, its a circus. Between the loud pumped-in music, the fire-balls, and the constant graphics on the jumbotron, or as its known here "Q-tube", you really feel like the average NBA fan must be a 14-year old with ADD.)
Anyway, tonight I will once again bathe myself in the overwhelming good fortune of our local sports teams, and their battles with Detroit (it always comes around to Ohio vs. Michigan doesn't it). We have a buddy who has tickets to the Tribe vs. Tigers game tonight at the Jake, but more likely, I will find my way to a local barstool, and have one eye on the baseball game, and one eye on the Cavs and the Pistons.
If the point of this post seems like an excuse boast, well thats because it is. It is not very often that we here in this fair city have two relevant sports teams that playing at the same time. And the fact that they are playing teams from the same city, just makes it even better.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Barbequed Links
(Thanks to Larry Brown Sports for the image)
Another loss and an early exit for the most overrated athlete in individual sports history. (ESPN)
As we said a couple of weeks ago, the obsession with this pole vaulting chick has GOT to stop! (Washington Post)
Shawn, the son of Ed “guns” Hochuli, is an official in NFL Europe! A chip off the old (incredibly chiseled) block! In all seriousness, finding out little news tidbits like this is exactly why we love blogs (the FanHouse)
Non sports: Lindsay Lohan - who has been through rehab, and Alcoholics Anonymous, and was picked up for a DUI over the weekend, and was photographed drunk and puking her guts out a couple of days after her DUI arrest – had a vodka company sponsoring her birthday party, but the company pulled out after her recent transgressions. I don’t have a joke here. (Signal to Noise)
Maria Sharapova, cussin’ at a chair umpire. Is that what they’re called? “Chair umpires?" (YouTube via the Hater Nation)
(quick aside: we have heard from more than one Russian-speaker that her last name should be pronounced sha-ROP-ova, not SHARA-pova.)
Evidently Ashley Judd’s husband races cars (who knew she was even married?). Not only that, he apparently won the Indy 500! We were more interested in the fact that former OSU Buckeyes and nativeIndianapolisians Indianapolans people from Indanapolis Mike Conley and Greg Oden were on hand. (Automotive Blogger via the Big Lead)
(Thanks to Larry Brown Sports for the image)
Another loss and an early exit for the most overrated athlete in individual sports history. (ESPN)
As we said a couple of weeks ago, the obsession with this pole vaulting chick has GOT to stop! (Washington Post)
Shawn, the son of Ed “guns” Hochuli, is an official in NFL Europe! A chip off the old (incredibly chiseled) block! In all seriousness, finding out little news tidbits like this is exactly why we love blogs (the FanHouse)
Non sports: Lindsay Lohan - who has been through rehab, and Alcoholics Anonymous, and was picked up for a DUI over the weekend, and was photographed drunk and puking her guts out a couple of days after her DUI arrest – had a vodka company sponsoring her birthday party, but the company pulled out after her recent transgressions. I don’t have a joke here. (Signal to Noise)
Maria Sharapova, cussin’ at a chair umpire. Is that what they’re called? “Chair umpires?" (YouTube via the Hater Nation)
(quick aside: we have heard from more than one Russian-speaker that her last name should be pronounced sha-ROP-ova, not SHARA-pova.)
Evidently Ashley Judd’s husband races cars (who knew she was even married?). Not only that, he apparently won the Indy 500! We were more interested in the fact that former OSU Buckeyes and native
Monday, May 28, 2007
Last Week in Baseball! - Strug-a-ling
If you are like us, you grew up on Mel Allen and “This Week in Baseball.” Here at WCT, we have “Last Week in Baseball!” Please don't sue us Fox!
Well sports fans, its Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of summer. We are through basically two months of baseball, so it is officially no longer “early.” In other words, the people and teams that we had high expectations for and have sucked so far are officially having sucky years, and, in many cases, it will take significant movement in the other direction to reverse the momentum of the suckiness. Lets examine some of the suckitude:
The New York Yankees – this is an easy and obvious one, so we will be brief here. Consider this, the Yanks went 4-8 in the so-called “12 games to define their season.” On the last day of April we said that it wasn’t panic time yet, since then, they are 12-13 and have lost six games in the standings. But have no fear Yanks fans, John Kruk has "declared" the Red Sox the AL East champs. That should make you feel better.
Andruw Jones – Yes, his OBP is a respectable (we guess) .338, but he is batting .215, and even worse, he hit .167 in May with only one home run, so things are actually getting worse. This is his free agent year too.
Alfonso Soriano – He has been able to improve his batting average to .301 with hot May (.916 OPS), but he still only has four home runs and 12 runs batted in in two months so far. Not exactly what the Cubs thought they were getting when they got him. While we’re on the Cubs…
Carlos Zambrano – 5.24 ERA so far. How are those contract negotiations going so far Big Z? Actually…You know what? The hell with it…
The Chicago Cubs – if we can kill the Yanks for their 21-27 start, then we should kill the Cubs and their 22-26 start in a laughably bad division. There are times when it looks like Lou Pinella’s head is going to explode.
Michael Young - .281 OBP? .662 OPS??
We promise we’ll be more positive next week!*
*(probably not)
Now, on to our LWIB notes!
- Names you should start to make yourself familiar with :Tim Lincecum (P Giants), and Kelly Johnson (2B Braves)
- is there a LWIB jinx? We picked Jason Schmidt to compete for the NL Cy Young, he goes on the DL. We pick Elijah Dukes to compete for the AL rookie of the year, he threatens to kill his wife and kid. Wow.
- We have to give credit where credit is due: the Phillies are proving us wrong. We buried this team back in April, and they are now over .500. They just swept the Braves, and have thrust themselves into the wild-card race (such as it is in late-May). Ryan Howard is back healthy, and Cole Hamels seems to be the real deal.
* * * * *
Its our blog dammit, so we are going to talk about our team every week - A very nice weekend sweep in Detroit. We have lifted our embargo on Josh Barfield, after his .295 May and stellar defensive play at 2B. Also, Ryan Garko is officially now the Wasting Company Time man-crush. It doesn't get any easier though, with three at Fenway and the Tigers at the Jake for four.
* * * * *
How ‘bout tha... er, I mean, I'll be goddamned! - We knew that Jake Peavy was good, but when did he wake up and decide that he was going to be the best pitcher in the NL? 7-1 1.47 ERA so far? Yowzers!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Interesting Tidbit
We don’t cover a lot of hockey here, but we actually like the sport. We consider ourselves “casual” fans that tune in when the playoffs roll around. We are definitely bigger fans of the NHL than we are fans of American Idol. That is why when we came across this story in the FanHouse, we were unfamiliar with those involved.
Evidently, somebody named Kellie Pickler, a chick who was on American Idol at some point, and, we're told by people who follow the Idol show closer than we do (losers), took the money from her first record contract and bought herself some new boobs, and at one time in her life thought it was a good idea to wear this to her prom
is dating a member of the Nashville Predators. The Predators have also been in the news recently because there is a rumor that they may move to Canada (as they should).
we will use this ridiculous story, and the lament from the fact that this stupid karaoke show is making more and more stars out of common everyday rednecks, to distract us from the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers are now down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals to the hated Detroit Pistons, and they could easily be up 2-0 heading home.
Have a great long weekend everyone
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Why Wasn't This a Bigger Story?
This has nothing to do with sports, but we just came across it - Why exactly was Don Imus fired for saying "nappy headed ho" on the radio, and Rush Limbaugh gets a pass when he plays this song?
This has nothing to do with sports, but we just came across it - Why exactly was Don Imus fired for saying "nappy headed ho" on the radio, and Rush Limbaugh gets a pass when he plays this song?
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Linkin' Like its Our Job
Now that the formality of the NBA Lottery is out of the way, we can get to the real fun: The mock drafts! Chad Ford is sure that the Blazers will take Oden number 1, while the Big Lead is certain that they will take Durant. We're having fun already. (ESPN Insider, the Big Lead)
Andy Katz has the Celtics taking somebody named Yi Jianlian with the fifth pick. They went from intentionally tanking games to get a chance at Oden or Durant, to ending up with Yi Jianlian. That is a precipitous fall. Serves 'em right. (ESPN)
They used to award Super Bowls to cities. Now they award them to vague regions of states. “South Florida” has the big game in 2010, and now “North Texas” has it in 2011. “ Eastern North America” is the leading candidate to be awarded the game in 2012. (dallascowboys.com)
If you were a rich teenager and your dad was the greatest basketball player of all time, what would you do on vacation? Don’t lie, you would do stuff like this. And so would we. Don’t hate. (Media Take Out via Our Book of Scrap)
If Kenny Mayne really is using SportsCenter to promote Barack Obama and piss off Right-Wingers, then maybe we were all wrong about him. But this story is still pretty far-fetched. (SPORTSbyBROOKS)
Jason Giambi failed an amphetamines test last year. Wait, Giambi takes drugs? (New York Daily News)
You may have read earlier this week about the NFL Assistant Coach who was forwarding porn around, well, we have found the culprit ladies and gentlemen. The streets are safe once again. (The Fanhouse)
Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop sticking microphones in front of the mouth of Clinton Portis. (The Fanhouse)
Was A-rod’s take-out slide in the eighth inning last night a cheap shot? We think probably not, but it did raise our eyebrows when we saw it live. (The Boston Hearald)
Jason Giambi failed an amphetamines test last year. Wait, Giambi takes drugs? (New York Daily News)
You may have read earlier this week about the NFL Assistant Coach who was forwarding porn around, well, we have found the culprit ladies and gentlemen. The streets are safe once again. (The Fanhouse)
Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop sticking microphones in front of the mouth of Clinton Portis. (The Fanhouse)
Was A-rod’s take-out slide in the eighth inning last night a cheap shot? We think probably not, but it did raise our eyebrows when we saw it live. (The Boston Hearald)
A.J. Nicholson’s Girlfriend now says that the recently-released Bengal’s LB didn’t hit her, SHE HIT HERSELF. That’s a new one. (WCPO.com)
We Are Officially Sick of Hearing the Words "Mike," "Vick," and "Dogfighting."
We are officially sick of this story.
Don't get us wrong, we own a dog, love dogs, and feel that idea of dogfighting is reprehensible. That being said, we are sick and tired of the indignation over this story.
We are sick of the grandstanding congressman, incidentally the same guy who was grandstanding on the baseball/steroids issue two years ago, who is calling for NFL Commish Goodell to hit Vick hard, “or else.”
We are sick of idiot players like Clinton Portis coming out and defending dogfighting.
We are sick of snarky sportswriters who are saying stupid things like “I bet the Falcons are sorry they got rid of Matt Schaub now!” Please. The Falcons will not miss Matt Schaub. Matt Schaub has never won an NFL start, and Houston Texan fans will soon see why Atlanta let him go for a song.
We are sick of the grandstanding congressman, incidentally the same guy who was grandstanding on the baseball/steroids issue two years ago, who is calling for NFL Commish Goodell to hit Vick hard, “or else.”
We are sick of idiot players like Clinton Portis coming out and defending dogfighting.
We are sick of snarky sportswriters who are saying stupid things like “I bet the Falcons are sorry they got rid of Matt Schaub now!” Please. The Falcons will not miss Matt Schaub. Matt Schaub has never won an NFL start, and Houston Texan fans will soon see why Atlanta let him go for a song.
If the authorities eventually find that Mike Vick was involved with, or at least had knowledge of dogfighting taking place on his property, then by all means, throw the book at him. Until such time, please, lets just stop talking about this whole thing.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Last Week in Baseball! - Interleague Play Still Kicks Ass.
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Its our blog dammit, so we are going to talk about our team every week - Is anyone else noticing what Fausto Carmona is doing? He has been virtually untouchable since being converted from closer to starter in spring training. He threw a complete game shutout against the Twins on Thursday to complete the sweep of Minnesota. This is the guy the Indians have bouncing back-and-forth between AAA and the Majors in favor of stiffs like Jeremy Sowers and the injured Jake Westbrook.
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How ‘bout tha... er, I mean, I'll be goddamned! - Somebody named Jesse Litsch pitched 8 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and one run for the win in his Major League debut for the Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
If you are like us, you grew up on Mel Allen and “This Week in Baseball.” Here at WCT, we have “Last Week in Baseball!” Please don't sue us Fox!
We still love interleague play. We think that it is one of the few good things that has changed in the game under, as Keith Olbermann used to call him, "Acting Commissioner For Life" Bud Selig. But lately there has been a lot of talk about the fact that interleague play causes teams to have unequal schedule strength and could effect playoff races. For example, Chipper Jones of the Braves complained about the fact that his team has to play the Red Sox six times, and the Indians three (.667 combined winning percentage) while the Mets play the Yankees six times, and the and A’s three (.467 combined winning percentage) both teams play the Twins and Tigers. This is true. But the unbalanced schedule that teams have within their leagues already creates larger inequities. Consider this: Lets say that the NL wild card race comes down to the Braves, and the Astros. The Braves have to play the Mets, Marlins, and Phillies, 18 or 19 times. All three of those clubs finished last year at or near .500. At the same time nearly half of the schedule of the Astros is made up of games against the Reds, the Cubs, the Pirates, and the Cardinals, none of whom are .500 clubs. The strength of a team’s schedule is determined in large part by the strength of that team’s division (particularly in the NL central which has six teams) and not by the strength of a team’s interleague opponents. If Jones and others want teams involved in playoff races to have equal schedules, they should be directing their ire at the unbalanced divisional schedules, not nine interleague games. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy crosstown rivalries like Yankees-Mets, White Sox-Cubs, and Angels-Dodgers, and other matchups like Red Sox-Braves, and Tigers-Cardinals that we couldn't see otherwise.
Now, on to our LWIB notes!
Brewers Closer Fransisco Cordero is now 17 for 17 so far this year in save opportunities. (look for him to blow his next 17 now that we have mentioned that)
The New York Daily News called the 12 games the Yankees would play against the White Sox, Mets, Red Sox, and Angels as the 12 games that would define the Yankees season. We think that is overstating it a bit, but nevertheless, the Yanks have now lost four of the first six of those 12.
This has gone completely unnoticed because of the Yankee’s struggles, but Jorge Posada is absolutely raking at the plate. He is leading the majors with a .382 batting average has a 1058 OPS .
What the hell is going on with the St. Louis Cardinals?
Mets 3B David Wright is heating up. After going homer-less in April, he has seven so far in May (including two against the Yankees this past Saturday) and has raised his average from .244 to .282
Speaking of the Mets, who is this 2B that they have that has a 926 OPS and seven home runs in 28 ABs, and what did he do with the real Damion Easley?
* * * * *
Its our blog dammit, so we are going to talk about our team every week - Is anyone else noticing what Fausto Carmona is doing? He has been virtually untouchable since being converted from closer to starter in spring training. He threw a complete game shutout against the Twins on Thursday to complete the sweep of Minnesota. This is the guy the Indians have bouncing back-and-forth between AAA and the Majors in favor of stiffs like Jeremy Sowers and the injured Jake Westbrook.
* * * * *
How ‘bout tha... er, I mean, I'll be goddamned! - Somebody named Jesse Litsch pitched 8 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and one run for the win in his Major League debut for the Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
Friday, May 18, 2007
New Poll Question
We have no idea who the 48% of you are that love Kenny Mayne, but whatever. We have turned this week's point/counterpoint debate into the new poll question.
Have at it!
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