Sorry guys, but I'm in and out again. I know its been a while since I've blogged and I'm here to tell you it's going to be a little longer. But soon enough.
And I'll make it special. Hope everyone is well.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Yep. The Tigers are back to their old, sucky ways.
I owe ultimate thanks and shout-outs to my boy, Babe Ruth, who saved me the completely unnecessary hassle of explaining to the anonymous postman that he was being completely ignorant while talking about the Tigers being "back to their same ole ways." But I'm going to explain it anyway.
I'm not exactly sure what was going on with that response. But please, don't question my knowledge of baseball when you're being completely ignorant. If you have something smart and well thought-out to post, please do so. I appreciate those posts very much, even if they aren't parallel with my own opinions.
What I said in my last blog was absolutely true in every respect. The Cardinals are playing much better baseball than any of the "experts" suggested they would. Across the board, the big guns who "know" baseball were picking the Cardinals to finish below Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati. As of now, we lead the Cubs by a game, the Brewers by 1.5, and the Reds by four.
To have the gut to suggest that the Cardinals were supposed to be playing as well as they are AND to say that the Tigers "suck," then to ask when they became a dominant baseball team is, well....gutsy. And uninformed.
It was also said that the true "shocking" story of the baseball season thus far is the Kansas City Royals. Your Royals have lost five of their last eight. Which is anything but shocking. It's true, it was a nice, kosher cup-of-tea story while it lasted. But everybody and their uncle Tom knew it wasn't going to last. Which is why I didn't call their start "shocking." It was luck. The 'Birds continue to play well, and will continue to play well. They're young and enthusiastic. They have proven Big-Leaguers in both the field and on the mound. They have a Hall of Fame coach, and one of the best pitching skippers in the game. We have good fans, strong support, and smart baseball people at the helm. The Royals have none of the above. Mark Grudzielanek doesn't count. Alex Gordon isn't proven. Mark Teahan is probably the most known name on that roster, and he's never batted over .300, never hit more than 20 homeruns, and never drove in more than 70 runs. They have Brett Tomko. We had Brett Tomko in 2003, he was old and decrepit and useless then.
I'm not a baseball expert, by any means. And I don't get paid big bucks to be accurate when I talk baseball. Or any other sport, for that matter. But I promise that I do my best to not just talk out of my ass. When I say the Tigers are supposed to be good, they're supposed to be good. It's not like I said the Royals were supposed to be good, or the Pirates. What I said was that the Royals are playing the way a team with Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Miguel Cabrera, and Brandon Inge should be playing.
That's eight "could-be" All-Stars batting in that lineup right now. And when "should-be" All-Star Curtis Granderson gets back, they'll move "could-be" All-Star Inge to the bench. That's a good ballclub. I don't need big bucks to know that this team isn't back "to their old ways" and they sure as hell don't suck.
But hey, I love getting burly about baseball.
------
Here's a tidbit from Bryan Burwell in a recent column. The column concerns why we continue to talk about race in sports, and he uses many great examples. As many of you know, at least the ones who have been reading this blog since it's beginning, I'm not a big fan of Burwell. However, I think he made some great points in this column. I share this with you, because, in all honestly, who the hell doesn't respect Tyler Hansbrough:
"It's because Tyler Hansbrough — clearly fatigued by the intentional and unintentional insinuations that all his hustle and hard work cover up some glaring lack of athleticism — interrupted a questioner during the NCAA Tournament last month and asked him to talk to the opponents he outplays every night on his way to becoming national college basketball player of the year to see if they thought he was a good athlete."
Props to Hans.
I'm not exactly sure what was going on with that response. But please, don't question my knowledge of baseball when you're being completely ignorant. If you have something smart and well thought-out to post, please do so. I appreciate those posts very much, even if they aren't parallel with my own opinions.
What I said in my last blog was absolutely true in every respect. The Cardinals are playing much better baseball than any of the "experts" suggested they would. Across the board, the big guns who "know" baseball were picking the Cardinals to finish below Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati. As of now, we lead the Cubs by a game, the Brewers by 1.5, and the Reds by four.
To have the gut to suggest that the Cardinals were supposed to be playing as well as they are AND to say that the Tigers "suck," then to ask when they became a dominant baseball team is, well....gutsy. And uninformed.
It was also said that the true "shocking" story of the baseball season thus far is the Kansas City Royals. Your Royals have lost five of their last eight. Which is anything but shocking. It's true, it was a nice, kosher cup-of-tea story while it lasted. But everybody and their uncle Tom knew it wasn't going to last. Which is why I didn't call their start "shocking." It was luck. The 'Birds continue to play well, and will continue to play well. They're young and enthusiastic. They have proven Big-Leaguers in both the field and on the mound. They have a Hall of Fame coach, and one of the best pitching skippers in the game. We have good fans, strong support, and smart baseball people at the helm. The Royals have none of the above. Mark Grudzielanek doesn't count. Alex Gordon isn't proven. Mark Teahan is probably the most known name on that roster, and he's never batted over .300, never hit more than 20 homeruns, and never drove in more than 70 runs. They have Brett Tomko. We had Brett Tomko in 2003, he was old and decrepit and useless then.
I'm not a baseball expert, by any means. And I don't get paid big bucks to be accurate when I talk baseball. Or any other sport, for that matter. But I promise that I do my best to not just talk out of my ass. When I say the Tigers are supposed to be good, they're supposed to be good. It's not like I said the Royals were supposed to be good, or the Pirates. What I said was that the Royals are playing the way a team with Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Miguel Cabrera, and Brandon Inge should be playing.
That's eight "could-be" All-Stars batting in that lineup right now. And when "should-be" All-Star Curtis Granderson gets back, they'll move "could-be" All-Star Inge to the bench. That's a good ballclub. I don't need big bucks to know that this team isn't back "to their old ways" and they sure as hell don't suck.
But hey, I love getting burly about baseball.
------
Here's a tidbit from Bryan Burwell in a recent column. The column concerns why we continue to talk about race in sports, and he uses many great examples. As many of you know, at least the ones who have been reading this blog since it's beginning, I'm not a big fan of Burwell. However, I think he made some great points in this column. I share this with you, because, in all honestly, who the hell doesn't respect Tyler Hansbrough:
"It's because Tyler Hansbrough — clearly fatigued by the intentional and unintentional insinuations that all his hustle and hard work cover up some glaring lack of athleticism — interrupted a questioner during the NCAA Tournament last month and asked him to talk to the opponents he outplays every night on his way to becoming national college basketball player of the year to see if they thought he was a good athlete."
Props to Hans.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cardinals shocking the Baseball World.
Is anybody else maybe possibly hopefully starting to get a little itch concerning the Cardinals possibly being the real deal?
Sure, there are still 150 games left. Big Papi is batting BINGO numbers. 0.7.8. The powerful Tigers look as bad as the Royals should be and the Royals, for a while anyway, looked as good as the Tigers should be. Nobody is really even paying attention to the Red Sox-Yankee series yet. The greatest closer, statistically, in the history of the game has two losses, one blown save, and an era over 7.00.
The season is still early. BUT, the Cardinals have exemplified many reasons to consider them more than bottom feeders. The offense is stroking, the starting pitching has done it's job pretty damn well so far (outside of the last two against the Candlestickers), and the bullpen is holding its own.
Mark Mulder seems to have shades of his old self so far in his rehab mission. Joel Pineiro was shaky in his first start, but I believe there's reasons to be optimistic about him. Chris Carpenter and Matt Clement, both prominent pitchers in their past, are still shelved. If the rotation can continue to string together quality starts, we can continue to buy time and resist the urgency to rush pitchers back into the rotation.
Who knows how long our pasty gluey puzzle of a rotation can hold up? And who knows how long this so-so lineup can continue to produce?
Nonetheless, the Cardinals are being talked about on the sports talk airwaves and the questions are all the same: "Will they continue this?" The answer across the board is a resounding "NO." But, in all honesty, the experts are hardly ever right. And that's the downright truth. Those guys rely on statistics that are drummed out of nowhere and make little sense, or at least have little relevance to baseball. They never rely on their gut, unless they're talking about the BoSox or Yanks.
But I'm telling you that my gut tells me we're the real deal. I didn't feel that way last year, I really didn't. The last time I felt that way was 2004, when we strung together a so-so ballclub that was so sub-par feeling that it featured Ray Lankford. On opening day, I looked at my buddy Jeff Fahrner and said "there's something special about this team." They ended up in the World Series.
Something different seems to happen when the odds are stacked against the Cardinals. Something special seems to happen when the odds are stacked against Tony LaRussa. Or at least when we have SOME legitimate talent.
This year's team has talent, it may be young but its ripe. And LaRussa knows how to manage a ballclub. I'm saying we've got something special here. And I wouldn't just throw that comment out there and risk my previously undiminished record when it comes to counting "special" Cardinal clubs.
Just watch. And listen and laugh as the experts stumble over their words the rest of the way.
Sure, there are still 150 games left. Big Papi is batting BINGO numbers. 0.7.8. The powerful Tigers look as bad as the Royals should be and the Royals, for a while anyway, looked as good as the Tigers should be. Nobody is really even paying attention to the Red Sox-Yankee series yet. The greatest closer, statistically, in the history of the game has two losses, one blown save, and an era over 7.00.
The season is still early. BUT, the Cardinals have exemplified many reasons to consider them more than bottom feeders. The offense is stroking, the starting pitching has done it's job pretty damn well so far (outside of the last two against the Candlestickers), and the bullpen is holding its own.
Mark Mulder seems to have shades of his old self so far in his rehab mission. Joel Pineiro was shaky in his first start, but I believe there's reasons to be optimistic about him. Chris Carpenter and Matt Clement, both prominent pitchers in their past, are still shelved. If the rotation can continue to string together quality starts, we can continue to buy time and resist the urgency to rush pitchers back into the rotation.
Who knows how long our pasty gluey puzzle of a rotation can hold up? And who knows how long this so-so lineup can continue to produce?
Nonetheless, the Cardinals are being talked about on the sports talk airwaves and the questions are all the same: "Will they continue this?" The answer across the board is a resounding "NO." But, in all honesty, the experts are hardly ever right. And that's the downright truth. Those guys rely on statistics that are drummed out of nowhere and make little sense, or at least have little relevance to baseball. They never rely on their gut, unless they're talking about the BoSox or Yanks.
But I'm telling you that my gut tells me we're the real deal. I didn't feel that way last year, I really didn't. The last time I felt that way was 2004, when we strung together a so-so ballclub that was so sub-par feeling that it featured Ray Lankford. On opening day, I looked at my buddy Jeff Fahrner and said "there's something special about this team." They ended up in the World Series.
Something different seems to happen when the odds are stacked against the Cardinals. Something special seems to happen when the odds are stacked against Tony LaRussa. Or at least when we have SOME legitimate talent.
This year's team has talent, it may be young but its ripe. And LaRussa knows how to manage a ballclub. I'm saying we've got something special here. And I wouldn't just throw that comment out there and risk my previously undiminished record when it comes to counting "special" Cardinal clubs.
Just watch. And listen and laugh as the experts stumble over their words the rest of the way.
Friday, April 04, 2008
A Whole Load of Ass-kissing
Let me start by saying two things about the baseball season thus far.
The first involves bashing my favorite ignorant and half-stupid baseball columnist Jeff Passan who said these things about the Cardinals:
On the Cardinals accepted mediocrity for the season: "True enough, though the Cardinals seem stuck in that abyss of mediocrity that swallows so many teams. New GM John Mozeliak sees enough in the cupboard not to clear it out completely, and so Pujols delays the inevitable Tommy John surgery that will keep him out for a year to play with a team that will acquaint itself with mediocrity only under the most fortuitous of circumstances."
On Rico Washington's comment: "We’ve got great fans here in St. Louis.”
Passan: "Didn’t take long to brainwash him, either. Cardinals fans think highly of themselves because they clap for a strong throw or a well-executed sacrifice or hustle to prevent a double play. In reality, it’s their blind loyalty that’s most admirable, their willingness to pack stadiums even when the Cardinals stink."
And on the most storied tradition in all of sport's opening days: "Clompy the Clydesdale is complaining about hoof pain."
Jeff Passan can kiss my ass.
True, I've written numerous times about St. Louis fans being bandwagoners. But that's only because I've been around, I've seen how quickly St. Louis fans take Jason Isringhausen's pitching and took Scott Rolen's defense for granted. For fans that do know A LOT about baseball, it seemed ironic and stupid to me that fans were jumping ship on players so quickly.
But for Passan to say that we should stop attending ballgames at Busch Stadium in order for management to improve spending, and from there, our ballclub, ranks as one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard. Where does this guy get off talking about St. Louis fans this way?
He's from Kansas City. If I saw him in the streets tomorrow I'd ask him where low attendance and craphole fans has gotten his franchise the last 39 years. 23 losing seasons, and only one winning season in the last 12 years. That's where.
No thanks, Passan. We have no interest in sucking that bad. Keep your uneducated and completely ignorant thoughts to yourself. We here at the mighty semosportsweb.com would rather read "War and Peace" 415 times and look at a fat, naked J-Lo than have to read your crap and look at your picture.
And secondly, I'm already sick of hearing about Coors Light's new cans. When is Coors Brewing Company going to stop making better cans and start making better beer? It would be easy to sell your crappy product if it didn't taste like mud water. Forget about your trendy cans, and start making good beer. That's the key to your success.
And last but not least, the next time you're drinking real beer send out a toast to the St. Louis Cardinals puttin' it to all the baseball experts who think we're going to suck and be the worst team ever.
I momentarily regretted yelling violently at Steve Phillips as he sat on the field doing a postgame ditty following the Cardinals World Series victory. I was harsh enough towards the man that he actually took the time to acknowledge me with a head nod during a commercial break. And to be honest, I felt like I was giving St. Louis fans a bad name there for a minute. But after hearing all these guys continually give their nods to the coast teams with the big budgets and simply signing everybody else off so early in the season, without really studying the potential of these teams, especially the Cardinals...they can kiss my ass too.
The first involves bashing my favorite ignorant and half-stupid baseball columnist Jeff Passan who said these things about the Cardinals:
On the Cardinals accepted mediocrity for the season: "True enough, though the Cardinals seem stuck in that abyss of mediocrity that swallows so many teams. New GM John Mozeliak sees enough in the cupboard not to clear it out completely, and so Pujols delays the inevitable Tommy John surgery that will keep him out for a year to play with a team that will acquaint itself with mediocrity only under the most fortuitous of circumstances."
On Rico Washington's comment: "We’ve got great fans here in St. Louis.”
Passan: "Didn’t take long to brainwash him, either. Cardinals fans think highly of themselves because they clap for a strong throw or a well-executed sacrifice or hustle to prevent a double play. In reality, it’s their blind loyalty that’s most admirable, their willingness to pack stadiums even when the Cardinals stink."
And on the most storied tradition in all of sport's opening days: "Clompy the Clydesdale is complaining about hoof pain."
Jeff Passan can kiss my ass.
True, I've written numerous times about St. Louis fans being bandwagoners. But that's only because I've been around, I've seen how quickly St. Louis fans take Jason Isringhausen's pitching and took Scott Rolen's defense for granted. For fans that do know A LOT about baseball, it seemed ironic and stupid to me that fans were jumping ship on players so quickly.
But for Passan to say that we should stop attending ballgames at Busch Stadium in order for management to improve spending, and from there, our ballclub, ranks as one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard. Where does this guy get off talking about St. Louis fans this way?
He's from Kansas City. If I saw him in the streets tomorrow I'd ask him where low attendance and craphole fans has gotten his franchise the last 39 years. 23 losing seasons, and only one winning season in the last 12 years. That's where.
No thanks, Passan. We have no interest in sucking that bad. Keep your uneducated and completely ignorant thoughts to yourself. We here at the mighty semosportsweb.com would rather read "War and Peace" 415 times and look at a fat, naked J-Lo than have to read your crap and look at your picture.
And secondly, I'm already sick of hearing about Coors Light's new cans. When is Coors Brewing Company going to stop making better cans and start making better beer? It would be easy to sell your crappy product if it didn't taste like mud water. Forget about your trendy cans, and start making good beer. That's the key to your success.
And last but not least, the next time you're drinking real beer send out a toast to the St. Louis Cardinals puttin' it to all the baseball experts who think we're going to suck and be the worst team ever.
I momentarily regretted yelling violently at Steve Phillips as he sat on the field doing a postgame ditty following the Cardinals World Series victory. I was harsh enough towards the man that he actually took the time to acknowledge me with a head nod during a commercial break. And to be honest, I felt like I was giving St. Louis fans a bad name there for a minute. But after hearing all these guys continually give their nods to the coast teams with the big budgets and simply signing everybody else off so early in the season, without really studying the potential of these teams, especially the Cardinals...they can kiss my ass too.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Yes, I was actually rooting AGAINST Blake DeWitt. C'mon, dude. Are you serious?
Well, I know that I'll have at least one pissed-off reader angered to hear that I was actually leaving the broadcast of one of the only Cardinal games I'll get to see all season in order to catch Blake DeWitt's at-bats for the Dodgers on Monday afternoon.
Back early from my river trip due to a few river problems, I was getting to enjoy one of the only Cardinal games I'll get to see via the television this season. The Cardinals playing the Rockies. They come few and far between. But, despite my alliance and obvious bias towards my alma mater Notre Dame, and, for some reason, the percieved notion that I hate all things Sikeston, it was me that was giving up my precious time with the St. Louis Redbirds to watch my supposed bitter rival Blake DeWitt take a couple swings at the big league level.
I must say, there has never been a more frustrating post for me to read on any of my blogs. I could care less where DeWitt's from. And I'm pretty sure most of my readers will agree that I've been anything but unfair when it comes to addressing the rivalry between Sikeston and Notre Dame. When I was in high school, it really wasn't a rivalry. We didn't get along with Cape Central, and we didn't really like Jackson. But Sikeston? Never have I had a hard feeling towards them. The most memorable night of my high school career took place in Sikeston, in fact.
Do you really think I wasn't proud to see a Southeast Missouri product playing at the big league level? Do you really think, after 6 years, that I haven't made peace with even the bitterest of my high school rivals at Cape Central? I seem to remember mentioning in a blog earlier this season that one of my favorite high school basketball memories was watching Jeff Beck drain three's against us every single time we played them. Do you know who was guarding him when he was hitting those bombs? Me. Do you have any idea how frustrating that was when I was the opponent playing against him? The one guarding him? I wanted to knock the kid out, I even remember losing my temper one game in his gym and fouling him on a three point attempt. There's no excuse for that. Coach Brian Brandtner about knocked me three rows deep for that move.
I can say without hesitation that if I ran into Jeff Beck today in the streets of Durango, I'd buy him three of the finest beers we brew in this town.
I'm over it, guys. And sorry to rant on all of you who don't deserve the rath. But for those of you who are stuck on calling this site NDSPORTSWEB.com. Move on. The reason you keep coming back is because we talk about Sikeston sports on this website more than any other website in the area. Bottom line.
This is a big deal. A local kid starting for the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day? You've got to be a complete moron to not excited about that. I was on the edge of my seat watching DeWitt bat. And do who know who I was sitting with? Scott Wittenborn. If there's one guy in the history of Notre Dame that's going to have a problem with Blake DeWitt, it's Wittenborn. And do you know what he was doing? He was hardly letting me watch the Cardinals because he wanted to see DeWitt play defense as well. He was stoked.
Get off the horse. Notre Dame is not the devil. Us ND kids get just as excited as everybody else when we get to see a local kid make it to the big time.
And I'm probably one of the biggest Duke fans in this country, but every single ounce of blood in my body is Carolina blue this weekend because I'd love, absolutely LOVE, to see Tyler Hansbrough win a national championship. And then I'd like to see him come back next season and become North Carolina's all-time leading scorer. There's just simply no bad blood anymore concerning my high school rivals and myself.
And you should probably stay off Mark's case as well. Because you'd be digging yourself a deeper ditch if you called him out on this issue. The minute he heard that DeWitt was getting the start, he called both me and Jamie Hall and told us about it. He was just as excited as us.
Sorry it didn't get immediate blog attention. I was just getting back into town, and Mark was out of town. And then Jamie put it right on the front page.
Congratulations, Blake. Here's hoping the best for you and your future. We'll be paying attention to your every move. But forgive us if we're not blogging every step of the way. When you have one of the greatest Hall of Fame managers in the history of the game talking about you in the postgame press conference, we probably seem like small pees here at semosportsweb.
But we're paying attention. And we're rooting hard. And I'm sure the same goes for everybody in this area.
Back early from my river trip due to a few river problems, I was getting to enjoy one of the only Cardinal games I'll get to see via the television this season. The Cardinals playing the Rockies. They come few and far between. But, despite my alliance and obvious bias towards my alma mater Notre Dame, and, for some reason, the percieved notion that I hate all things Sikeston, it was me that was giving up my precious time with the St. Louis Redbirds to watch my supposed bitter rival Blake DeWitt take a couple swings at the big league level.
I must say, there has never been a more frustrating post for me to read on any of my blogs. I could care less where DeWitt's from. And I'm pretty sure most of my readers will agree that I've been anything but unfair when it comes to addressing the rivalry between Sikeston and Notre Dame. When I was in high school, it really wasn't a rivalry. We didn't get along with Cape Central, and we didn't really like Jackson. But Sikeston? Never have I had a hard feeling towards them. The most memorable night of my high school career took place in Sikeston, in fact.
Do you really think I wasn't proud to see a Southeast Missouri product playing at the big league level? Do you really think, after 6 years, that I haven't made peace with even the bitterest of my high school rivals at Cape Central? I seem to remember mentioning in a blog earlier this season that one of my favorite high school basketball memories was watching Jeff Beck drain three's against us every single time we played them. Do you know who was guarding him when he was hitting those bombs? Me. Do you have any idea how frustrating that was when I was the opponent playing against him? The one guarding him? I wanted to knock the kid out, I even remember losing my temper one game in his gym and fouling him on a three point attempt. There's no excuse for that. Coach Brian Brandtner about knocked me three rows deep for that move.
I can say without hesitation that if I ran into Jeff Beck today in the streets of Durango, I'd buy him three of the finest beers we brew in this town.
I'm over it, guys. And sorry to rant on all of you who don't deserve the rath. But for those of you who are stuck on calling this site NDSPORTSWEB.com. Move on. The reason you keep coming back is because we talk about Sikeston sports on this website more than any other website in the area. Bottom line.
This is a big deal. A local kid starting for the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day? You've got to be a complete moron to not excited about that. I was on the edge of my seat watching DeWitt bat. And do who know who I was sitting with? Scott Wittenborn. If there's one guy in the history of Notre Dame that's going to have a problem with Blake DeWitt, it's Wittenborn. And do you know what he was doing? He was hardly letting me watch the Cardinals because he wanted to see DeWitt play defense as well. He was stoked.
Get off the horse. Notre Dame is not the devil. Us ND kids get just as excited as everybody else when we get to see a local kid make it to the big time.
And I'm probably one of the biggest Duke fans in this country, but every single ounce of blood in my body is Carolina blue this weekend because I'd love, absolutely LOVE, to see Tyler Hansbrough win a national championship. And then I'd like to see him come back next season and become North Carolina's all-time leading scorer. There's just simply no bad blood anymore concerning my high school rivals and myself.
And you should probably stay off Mark's case as well. Because you'd be digging yourself a deeper ditch if you called him out on this issue. The minute he heard that DeWitt was getting the start, he called both me and Jamie Hall and told us about it. He was just as excited as us.
Sorry it didn't get immediate blog attention. I was just getting back into town, and Mark was out of town. And then Jamie put it right on the front page.
Congratulations, Blake. Here's hoping the best for you and your future. We'll be paying attention to your every move. But forgive us if we're not blogging every step of the way. When you have one of the greatest Hall of Fame managers in the history of the game talking about you in the postgame press conference, we probably seem like small pees here at semosportsweb.
But we're paying attention. And we're rooting hard. And I'm sure the same goes for everybody in this area.
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