Rafael Benitez – Not A Smart Manager

On December 23rd, after a little over six months at the helm, Rafa Benitez agreed to part ways with Inter Milan.  I’m not a fan of Inter but they did the right thing by getting rid of Benitez.  Inter is currently in seventh place in the standing, thirteen points behind leaders Milan, unacceptable.  That’s not reason enough to get rid of him.  He deserved to go because upon winning the FIFA Club World Cup he decided to give the owner an ultimatum.  He told Massimo Moratti that either the club back him with new signings or they should consider whether or not they wanted to keep him in charge.  Inter chose the latter and they decided that his services were no longer needed.

That didn't last long

Where does Benitez get off making these demands?  Did he not realize that this team has won the last four scudetti (the fifth one was handed to them)?  Did Benitez also forget that Inter just came off a season where they also won the Champions League and Coppa Italia?  Does this sound like a team that needs new signings?  Jose Mourinho was able to get this team to them top so why couldn’t Benitez make it work?  Hell, if Roberto Mancini can win a Scudetto, anyone can.  This team has five titles in the span of one year (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup) but the players weren’t good enough for Rafa Benitez.

Proof anyone can win a Scudetto

Inter has 34 player on the roster.  How do you not win with the likes of Julio Cesar, Javier Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Cristian Chivu, Dejan Stankovic, Wesley Sneijder, Sulley Muntari, Esteban Cambiasso, Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito and Goran Pandev?  Throw in youngsters Jonathan Biabiany (France), Philippe Coutinho (Brazil), and Davide Santon (Italy) and thats a pretty good team.  That’s only fifteen of the thirty-four players on this team.  Too bad Benitez had no use for Mario Balotelli (Manchester City) and Victor Obinna (West Ham), they could have really helped out this team.

Balotelli would've looked good in an Inter uniform....oh, wait

Who did he think he was going to sign?  I know the names of Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were being thrown around in the summer but why should Inter have to pay that much money to improve a team that has won so much in recent years?  Why couldn’t Rafa Benitez make do with what he had?

Sure, Rafa Benitez won a Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, an FA Cup in 2006, and two La Liga titles but what has he done lately?  That sounds harsh but in today’s game you have to win now.  Unless you’re Sir Alex  Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho, what you’ve done in the past doesn’t mean a thing now.  Benitez left Liverpool in ruins and wanted to change Inter in his own image.  Rafa Benitez might have been able to talk Gillett and Hicks into buying every player he wanted but Massimo Moratti doesn’t work that way.  You don’t tell Massimo Moratti what to do.  He does what he wants to do.  Benitez didn’t understand that and it cost him his job.

Do you know who I am?

Where does Rafa Benitez go from here?  His name has enough cache that he’ll be in the running for some major jobs but teams will also be leery of giving him too much authority after seeing what he did with Liverpool and his actions at Inter.  There’s talk of Liverpool being interested in Benitez but that probably just talk.  No way the new owners of Liverpool hand the reins back to the guy who ruined it in the first place.  Roy Hodgson won’t make it through the season as the Liverpool coach but I seriously doubt we’ll ever see Benitez there again.  He’d be better off going back to La Liga and trying to find a team to wrestle the league away from Barcelona and Real Madrid.

I thank Inter for giving him a shot because AC Milan was able to take advantage of his poor showing and find its way atop Serie A.  Thanks for the memories Rafa, we hardly knew ya.

This was a long time ago Rafa

Derek Jeter – The Real King Of New York

“Don’t feel entitled to anything you didn’t sweat and struggle for.”   -Marian Wright Edelman

I’m not one of those people who think athletes, as a whole, deserve this or that but there are some instances where I believe some athletes are entitled to a certain career.  Joe Montana should have been a 49er for life.  Michael Jordan should never have had to put on that ridiculous Wizards jersey.  Ray Borque should have won a championship with the Boston Bruins and not have to do with it the Colorado Avalanche.  Can you imagine if back in the late 1950’s the Boston Red Sox had decided that Ted Williams was past his prime and maybe he should ply his trade elsewhere?  After all, he only hit .254 in 1959.  That’s not very Splendid Splinter like and it was the lowest batting average for the career .344 hitter.  Instead, Ted Williams came back and retired on his own terms and, more importantly, retired as a Red Sox player.

 

This never should have happened

This brings me to Derek Jeter.  Am I a Yankee fan?  No, but I’m not a hater either.  I seem to be in the minority that thinks that Jeter deserves to be a Yankee as long as he wants.  Derek Jeter grew up a Yankee fan and his goal early in life was to be a Yankee.  He worked hard and achieved his dream.  He debuted in 1995, won rookie of the year in 1996, won five World Series, an All-Star MVP, a World Series MVP and five Gold Gloves.  I’ll talk more about Jeter’s most recent Gold Glove later.

Derek Jeter has become a New York icon.  He OWNS the Big Apple.  He’s the damn captain of the New York Yankees but the Yankees want to play hardball with his contract negotiations.  He’s been such a huge part of this franchise that he deserves, nay, is entitled to stick around as long as he wants.  It’s not like, at 36, he’s washed up.  Sure, he doesn’t have many good years left but he does have something left in the tank.

The sign says it all

His demands of somewhere around $25 million a year for five years is a bit steep.  Jeter’s agent denies these demands.  The Yankees are offering $15 million a year for three years.  The Yankees offer seems more reasonable given Derek Jeter’s age but their differences shouldn’t be dragged out in the media.  The Yankees told Jeter to test the market and see what’s out there.  How dare you?  Whatever the Yankees and Jeter are doing should be kept behind closed doors.

Then again, this is not The Boss’ Yankees anymore.  As much of a hard-ass George Steinbrenner was, I doubt he would allow this to be played out in the media.  Why all the sudden are the Yankees worried about spending money?  This is the same team that game Jason Giambi $120 million over seven years and Carl Pavano a four-year $40 million dollar deal.  Why is money so important now, and with a legend and future Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter?  Hopefully the Yankees and Jeter can come to terms and find a number they both can agree on.

On to the most recent Gold Glove won by the Yankee captain.  The Bearded One and The SandRant both derided the decision to bestow a fifth Gold Glove on Jeter as, “a joke”.  Why is it such a stretch?  Derek Jeter only had six errors in 2010.  Those six errors are the lowest in his fifteen full seasons.  Those six errors are also the lowest of any American League shortstop.  His .989 fielding percentage was also the lowest of any everyday American League shortstop.  Only two American League shortstops were involved in more double plays than Jeter.  Those players are Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox and Cliff Pennington of the Oakland A’s.  That’s nice but Ramirez had twenty errors and a .974 fielding percentage.  Pennington had twenty-five errors and a .966 fielding percentage.

 

He can still get it done in the field

I have a feeling the major argument anyone will make has to do with range.  Yes, there are eight AL shortstops that have a higher range factor than Jeter but how much stock should we take in this number?  Most of the shortstops above Derek Jeter in range have double-digit errors.  You definitely want a shortstop with range but let’s not get too excited about it.  How many of those extra chances a player gets by having range ends up in the stands?  Sure, getting to that ball might save an extra base hit or a run here or there but I imagine that gets cancelled out with an errant throw that allows player to advance.  Maybe Cesar Izturis of the Baltimore Orioles deserved a closer look for the Gold Glove but to totally discount Jeter is the real joke.

Besides those stats, here are some other stats you might be interested in.  Here’s a list of Derek Jeter’s girlfriends over the years.

Mariah Carey (before she became a cow)

Miss Universe Lara Dutta

Joy Enriquez

Jordana Brewster

Venessa Minnillo

Jessica Biel

Minka Kelly

Jessica Alba

Scarlett Johansson

Gabrielle Union

Vida Guerra

Rachel Uchitel (Tiger Woods knows her too)

Adriana Lima

Yankees, pay the man!

Was It Worth It Brett?

“Vanity keeps persons in favor with themselves who are out of favor with all others.” – William Shakespeare

Some time between last season and this season Brett Favre got old.  I’m sure he wasn’t expecting it but it happens to all of us.  Sure, he had probably his best season last year but he had to figure that wasn’t gonna last.  Why not go out on top.?  Looks like Favre came back one too many times.

Brett Favre 2009

336 of 531, 4,202 yds., 33 TD’s, 7 INT’s, 259 yds/game, 107.2 QB rating – Viking record 12-4

Brett Favre 2010

197 of 327, 2274 yds., 10 TD’s, 17 INT’s, 227 yds/game, 69.8 QB rating – Vikings record 3-7

Actually, even though he had a great season in 2009, Favre came back three too many times.  He should’ve called it quits after the 2007 season.  The Packers were so close to going to the Super Bowl.  Sure, his interception in the NFC Championship Game caused the Giants to win and eventually go on to beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, but that wasn’t a bad season either.  The writing was on the wall that Green Bay wanted Aaron Rodgers to take over the team.  Favre should have stepped away a hero and beloved by all but instead he felt the need to get back at the Packers and try to prove them wrong.  Big mistake.

The Favre we all loved

Favre was and probably still is an icon in Green Bay but with every year he comes back and feels the need to stick it to the Packers, his star faded more and more.  Did we really need to see him in a Jets uniform?  I remember John Madden falling all over himself whenever he called Packer games with Favre at the helm.  This elevated Favre but probably led to the decline of Madden.  Madden went from the beloved announcer who made the game fun to the guy who didn’t hide his man crush of Favre.  Remember how we felt about John Madden in the 1990′s?  Remember what we thought about him when he walked away?

Will we remember this in 10 years?

Brett Favre was the player everyone wanted on their team.  You hated him when he played your team but you rooted for him otherwise.  Now, we can’t wait for him to go away.  His retirements and un-retirements have grown old, just like the man himself.  I guess I could stand it when he went to the Jets but when he had to be wooed out of retirement by the Vikings, that was too much.  Then after last season he let us know that he wasn’t sure if he was coming back only to come back part way through the pre-season.  Now he says he’s done after this season.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

Brad Childress was fired by the Viking today, as he should have been.  It seems Childress’ only real game plan was to have Favre on the team and to let him do whatever he wanted.  That didn’t end well.  Favre showed that by being able to miss camps and dictate whether his streak stays alive or not, that he was in charge and not Childress.  During the 31-3 pounding this weekend at the hands of Green Bay, Favre and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell got into an argument which Favre wanted no part of.  Bevell was probably peeved that Favre pretty much locked on to his receiver right after the snap which allowed the Packers to step in front and get the INT.  Valid point by Bevell but Favre tried his hardest to get away from him and plead his case, even though he was totally in the wrong.

I’m not going to mention the whole Favre – Jenn Sterger dong photo drama.  Did it happen?  Probably.  Is it creepy?  Yes.  Does it lower our esteem for Favre?  Yes, but if he had stayed away, this would’ve never happened.  Who do you think you are, Keith Hernandez?

Please go away Brett.  Don’t wait until the end of the season, do it now.  Try to salvage some of the good memories we had of you.  Enjoy life on the ranch and don’t worry about being needed.

Too many of these moments this year

“I wanna be adored

You adore me

You adore me

You adore me

I wanna

I wanna

I wanna be adored”

- I Wanna Be Adored by The Stone Roses

NFL – Tom Brady: How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways.

Sometime between 1845 and 1846, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote Sonnet 43 in which she opined: “How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.”  The then Elizabeth Barrett wrote this during her courtship with poet and playwright, Robert Browning.  If she were around today, you could easily see her totally writing this for Tom Brady.

Let’s not pretend, as guys, we don’t have man crushes on athletes.  What’s a man crush?  Here’s what Urban Dictionary defines man crush as:

1. When a straight man has a “crush” on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him.
2. A man who has a crush on another man without sexual attraction.
3. A man having extreme admiration for another man, as though he wants to be him.

There are more definitions but these are the ones I’m thinking about.  If a dude reads this and still says that he’s never had a man crush on an athlete, bullshit!  We’ve all  been there.  I’ll tell you some of my man crushes later but now let’s talk about my current man crush, Tom Brady a.k.a. “White Jesus”.  Some of you might be shocked that I’m writing about something I actually like and not just Jersey Shore.  I don’t hate everything and everybody just most everything and everybody.

How do you not like this guy?

I don’t know what the phenomena is when someone is good that we have to instinctively not like him but it shouldn’t apply here.  Tom Brady was a good college player but not the greatest.  There wasn’t some huge hype leading up to the 2000 NFL Draft.  Brady was drafted 199th.  Here are some of the quarterbacks chosen before White Jesus:

• #183 – Spergon Wynn – Cleveland Browns
• #168 – Marc Bulger – New Orleans Saints
• #163 – Tee Martin – Pittsburgh
• #76 – Chris Redman – Baltimore Ravens
• #65 – Giovanni Comazzi – San Francisco 49ers
• #18 – Chad Pennington – New York Jets

I’m not saying any of these teams should have drafted Brady because he wasn’t a highly sought after commodity.  New England thought they could do something with him and it worked out.  I just wish my team, the Cleveland Browns, had the same forethought.  Too bad Chris Palmer was our coach back then and we all know he’s no Bill Belichick.

Tom Brady will go down as one of the best quarterbacks ever.  The best ever, no, but he will be among the best.  He has three Super Bowl Rings and two Super Bowl MVP’s.  Brady’s only 33 years old so who’s to say he doesn’t win another Super Bowl or two?  He just looks so comfortable on the field and makes it look so easily.  Let’s not forget how he OWNED Peyton Manning up until Manning won Super Bowl XLI.  Without Brady, Bill Simmons never coins the term, Manning Face.

No Brady, No Manning Face

This is why guys should all want to be like Tom Brady.  From 2004 to 2006 Brady dated Bridget Moynahan.  In 2006 while Moynahan was pregnant with his child, he broke off the relationship and immediately started dating Gisele Bundchen.  Not a bad one-two punch.  Brady and Bundchen are now married and have a child.  I’m not saying he was right to dump his pregnant girlfriend but rebounding from Bridget Moynahan with Gisele Bundchen is something we mere mortals could only dream of.  What guy wouldn’t want to be Tom Brady?

There's no wrong choice.

Yes, the haircut is a little silly but a guy like Tom Brady can pull that off.  The guy is cool as hell and, yes, he’s a handsome dude too.  There I said it.  There’s nothing wrong with saying another man is handsome.

Some of my other man crushes throughout the years:

• Joe Montana (always)
• Brady Quinn (at Notre Dame)
• Brent Barry (with the Clippers)
• Ed Cota (at North Carolina) , this still lingers
• Michael Schumacher (pre-comeback)
• Kirk Gibson (Detroit Tigers)
• Lou Whitaker (Detroit Tigers)
• Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors)
• Marco Van Basten (AC Milan)
• Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), current

Again, any guy who says he doesn’t have or has never had a man crush on an athlete is only lying to himself.

OK, maybe having Helen Mirren reciting the poem turned it a little bit gay.

 

Can there be two losers to a World Series?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy the Giants won. We managed to get a win with Cliff Lee starting on the mound, the scariest opponent in the postseason in my opinion. But this was one of the worst games of baseball I’ve seen in a long time. The box score really doesn’t do an adequate job of explaining this game. It’s been awhile since I’ve written, but today was a perfect game for a rant.

Box Score says 8 hits off Cliff Lee: I would love to say that the Giants got 6 earned runs and 8 hits off of Cliff Lee driving him out of the game before finishing five. Unfortunately, we didn’t see Lee in his true form and I already have his next start marked as a loss for the Giants. Lee didn’t have control of his pitches and when you’re a control and not a speed pitcher, that’s a bad spot to be in. The bright side of this: The Giants capitalized. Honestly, half the time I watch the Giants I swear they would strike out on a tee. They clearly know this (and how could you not? Everyone comments on their miserable offense) and their batting practice was evident. I’m not ready to say they took enough batting practice to be able to hit good pitching, but they did take enough batting practice to be able to hit mistakes. The recent offensive contributions from everyone on the roster not named Cody Ross have also been a welcome change. Hopefully this game was the confidence booster they needed to add continued run support.

Box Score says 8 hits off LIncecum: Lee had a bad game, but so did Lincecum. What was supposed to be an even better pitcher’s duel than last week’s Halladay vs Lincecum turned into a batting practice session.  Lincecum, known for being a strikeout pitcher, only rung up 3 today over 5.2 innings of work. He gave up a double to Cliff Lee. He issued a walk in the first with no outs and a runner on. He’s usually lights out once a runner is on. He luckily calmed down a bit after his first two innings of work and avoided the train wreck that was foreshadowed in the first two innings. He wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t the end of season Tim Lincecum. Unfortunately for Giants starting pitchers, I just don’t think we can win this if they’re anything less than perfect. Our offense produced today, but I don’t think we can count on that continuing. This team is undeniably built off our starting pitching and although it’s unfair to put all the pressure on them, it’s the situation they’ve been in all year. I expect a better outing from Lincecum the second time around…not that improvement from a 6.35 ERA today is an outstanding goal for a two time Cy Young winning pitcher.

Box Score says 6 errors: Thank God for both teams that baserunning errors aren’t included. Just about everything the Giants do on the bases is an error. For having such bad hitting, you would think the Giants would learn to be aggressive on the bases. Instead, they actually supplement their awful hitting with awful baserunning.  I guess I can’t be completely mad at him, going 4 for 5 today, but there’s still not much of an excuse for Freddy Sanchez. In the bottom of the first, a ball got away from Bengie Molina that should have resulted in moving the runner up. Sanchez didn’t even attempt to go to third. With one out, you especially need to take third base if it’s given to you for free so you can set up the sacrifice fly. To add to his baserunning upset, he got doubled up on the next play getting too far off the bag on a fly ball. I’ll give Kinsler credit, he made an amazing play, catching a ball over his shoulder and immediately spinning and throwing to nail Sanchez at second. Only thing is he would have gotten him whether or not he made an amazing play. Sanchez can say he fell, but he fell while three quarters of the way to third. What business does he have being three quarters of the way to third? With one out and a pop fly in potentially catchable zone, he should have been waiting. If they drop it, he’s making it to third even if he’s only a quarter of the way. I won’t go into it, but I also thought Andres Torres should have scored from first on the Sanchez double. As a leadoff hitter, you should have the speed and aggression to score on that when the outfielder is chasing a ball into the corner with his back to you. This also could just be the tipping point for me on Andrew Torres after he refused to steal second in the Phillies series when a ball got away from Carlos Ruiz (similar to Sanchez not stealing third today).

I don’t care if a pitcher can’t hit. Lincecum’s spin move the other day is about what I expect from a pitcher hitting. One thing they should know how to do though: sacrifice bunt. So why is Lincecum turning at the last second as if he’s bunting for a hit? Turning at the last second makes everything about a sac bunt harder; making contact with the ball, making sure your bat head is up, and cradling the ball, so that you’re not pushing It towards the fielders and making a play at second possible. From pitch one Lincecum was turning too late, so it’s no surprise that he popped out and ruined an opportunity to move up his runner.

In the other dugout, I think it was Kinsler, who made the most elementary of baserunning errors and threw away his infield single. After running through first, he made a move towards second before realizing that the ball hadn’t gotten past Aubrey Huff. Heads up fielding by Huff to immediately tag Kinsler out.

Box Score says the Giants used 5 pitchers in the final 2 innings: For a bullpen that gets as much credit as the Giants, I am a bit sad that Bochy used so many pitchers to close out the last two innings when we had a four run lead going into the eighth and a 7 run lead going into the ninth and there’s a game tomorrow. I just don’t think it’s worth the risk of having a sore bullpen.

Bright sides to the game:

It was nice to see some 3-2 counts. A characteristic swing happy team finally worked the count and got Lee out early. They were disciplined and made Lee throw over 100 pitches before getting retired.

Santiago Casilla came out hard after struggling a bit with Philly. No issues today.

Freddy Sanchez hitting 4 for 5. Our number 1 and 2 hitters are finally producing and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Juan Uribe. The following is a quote from a gchat conversation I was having with a friend around the fourth inning.

Me: “Uribe wants a homerun or nothing. Bad hitting.”

Friend: “It’s Juan Uribe. Of course it’s bad hitting.”

This friend is a Dodgers fan, so I was thrilled when he jinxed Uribe for the better and Uribe made it to those fences he was swinging for. Although his 4 at bats today included 3 swinging strikeouts (the true box score of someone looking for a homerun), I couldn’t be happier with the timing of his hit. Just as the Rangers pulled Cliff Lee hoping that that would be the end of their woes for the day, Uribe crushed it and kicked them while they were down. Wonderful and much appreciated.

Taking the first game was huge for the Giants, and more important is making sure they win as many home games as possible since it’s not gonna be easy in Texas.

I would love to see the Giants bring a championship to San Francisco, but I’d really rather see it in a good series. Tomorrow I’m hoping for the good starting pitching this series promised and less than 6 errors.

I would just like to conclude by responding to another comment made to me earlier, and say that I still don’t believe Cliff Lee is human.

I repeat: NOT HUMAN

Sand-Rant

MLB – League Championship Series – The Skinny

It’s League Championship Series time and, boy, did I get it wrong.  Before the divisional series started I thought Minnesota, Tampa, Philadelphia and San Francisco would all go through.  Well, I got half of it right.  I though the Giants had too much pitching for the Braves and the same went for Philadelphia against the Reds.  I was right about that part.  The other two games, not so much.

The Twins finished the season playing .620 baseball over the last two months while the Yankees limped in going 29-30 in August and September.  Maybe the loss of Justin Morneau was too much for 3^rd best hitting team in the majors.  Having Joe Mauer bat .250 with no extra-base hits didn’t help either.

 

Joe Mauer will OWN baseball someday, just not this year

 

Cliff Lee and Texas were too much for the Rays.  When you’re 26^th in batting during the regular season, like the Rays were, it’s hard to score runs when you fall behind.  A team like the Rangers can get hot in a hurry, Tampa can’t.

ALCS

New York Yankees v Texas Rangers

Pitching Matchups:

Game 1 @ Texas – CC Sabathia v C.J Wilson

Game 2 @ Texas – Phil Hughes v Colby Lewis

Game 3 @ NY – Cliff Lee v Andy Petitte

Game 4 @ NY – Tommy Hunter v A.J. Burnett

The rest of the games are TBD.  Game 5 is also in New York and the final two games are in Texas, if necessary.

Sabathia and Hughes are probably the better pitchers in the first two games.  A win by either or both would be huge for New York.  Game three is where it gets tricky.  Andy Petitte has been money whenever the Yanks have needed him in the postseason but he’s no Cliff Lee.  Lee is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA lifetime in the postseason.  He went 2-0 with 21 strikeouts in two starts against the Rays.  Texas is paying the price for not closing out Tampa in the ALDS.  I’m sure the Rangers would’ve wanted Lee and/or Tommy Hunter in those first two games in Texas.

 

Can he stay hot?

 

Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz tore it up for Texas against Tampa but they will need Josh Hamilton and Michael Young to find their swings if they want to beat New York.  Kinsler batted .444 (8/18) with 3 homers and 6 RBI.  Cruz went 8/20 (.400) with 3 homers but struck out six times.  That might be a problem against the Yankees.  Hamilton and Young went a combined .132 (5/38) with six strikeouts each.

Curtis Granderson is batted .455 (5/11) against the Twins.  He only batted .247 in the regular season.  Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have seven hits between them but they’re all singles and that won’t be enough for the Yankees to get by.  As a team Texas is batting .254 while the Yankees come in at .314.  Can the Yankees keep up this pace?

I saw on ESPN where they have the team matchups and they gave the edge to Texas in coaching.  How do you figure?  Am I wrong or did Joe Girardi win the World Series last year?

NLDS

San Francisco Giants v Philadelphia Phillies

Pitching Matchups:

Game 1 @ Philadelphia – Tim Lincecum v Roy Halladay

Game 2 @ Philadelphia – Jonathan Sanchez v Cole Hamels

Game 3 @ San Francisco – Roy Oswalt v Matt Cain

Game 4 @ San Francisco – TBD v TBD

Joe Blanton (Philadelphia) and Madison Bumgarner (SF) are the other starting pitchers but either or both teams might opt for a three-man rotation.  Game 5 is also in San Francisco and the final two games are in Philadelphia, if necessary.

Make sure to watch game one of this series.  Even if your team is not playing right now and you have no interest in this game, this is a must see game.  Lincecum and Halladay are two of the top pitchers in the game over the last three seasons.  If you like baseball, you’ll love this game.  Tim Lincecum threw a complete game one-hit shutout against the Braves in game one of their series.  Roy Halladay did him one better by throwing the second no-hitter in postseason history against the Reds in game one of that series.  I can’t say it enough, watch this game.

 

You usually don't want to bet against this guy

 

Jonathan Sanchez and Cole Hamels are similar in regular season stats.  Hamels threw a complete game shutout with 9 strikeouts to clinch the series against Cincinnati.  Sanchez gave up 1 earned run with 11 strikeouts in a no-decision against Atlanta.

Roy Oswalt and Matt Cain are also similar in stats but Oswalt has a lower ERA.  Cain went 6.2 innings with 0 earned runs in a no-decision against the Braves.  Oswalt only lasted 5 innings in his only outing, giving up 3 earned runs and 2 home runs.  This matchup could determine who wins this series.

Neither team is hitting particularly well.  Both teams hit .212 in their divisional series.  Don’t expect that number to get any higher in the first game.

Who Wins:

Philadelphia has too much pitching not to win this series.  Roy Oswalt only needs an above average game to beat the Giants.

Same goes for New York, too much pitching.  Sabathia and Hughes are better than Wilson and Lewis.  Lee should be able to handle Petitte.  It’s game four that will be huge.  A.J. Burnett was terrible in the regular season.  He went 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA.  Tommy Hunter went 13-4 with a 3.73 ERA in the regular season but lasted only 4 innings against the Rays.  Is A.J. Burnett better than a 10-15 pitcher?  Yes.  Can he show it against the Rangers?  That remains to be seen.

 

Which A.J. Burnett will show up?

 

Get ready for a Philly – New York World Series.  I’m sure the rest of the country can’t wait for that.

 

I'd watch this, again.

 

What I Know: Football report with Homerism

Great Day to be a Chiefs Fan in Jorts

1) This is the year of the 68 passer rating. In the rain, the Chiefs hold on to beat the Chargers in the opening kick-off of the new Arrowhead Stadium, (some of you may ask:  What’s a new Arrowhead? It’s a knife so watch your back, I will now referred to it as such so not to deceive people who want to go, I mean the stadium is in Missouri.) Not only did Matt Cassel have a passer rating of 68- it was also the number of yards he threw for. This definitely did not look like the Charlie Weis offense we saw last year with Clausen gunning it around at Notre Dame, but this time his team won.  Yet beware Chuck being too cautious could lead to an embarrassing exit in Kansas City.  Romeo thanks for beefing up the KC defense, missed tackles and blown assignments have been a fixture for the past two and half seasons. Oh wait, there was still a former Boise State receiver left wide open for an easy touchdown that made all of us sweat. But too Romee’s credit the Chiefs held strong against two fourth down situations deep in KC territory.

# 23 in this weeks Bearded Guy Poll

2) FCS teams are not to be trifled with.  After victories at Ole Miss and Virginia Tech, many athletic directors will be looking at their match up this week and hope they can survive  their ‘cupcake’ before entering into Conference play.  It’s quiet apparent that North Dakota State should be in the top 25 despite their loss to Northern Iowa, based simply on the round-a-bout logic of Kansas losing to them (6-3) then Kansas Beating 15 Georgia Tech (28-25) and coming in with a 1-0 record.

So here’s The Bearded Guy’s first Edition  Top 25

1-6) Ohio St-Alabama-Boise-Oklahoma-TCU-Nebraska

7-10) Some really good teams and Florida

11) Northern Iowa 1-0, Key Win: NDSU

12-21) Some good teams and LSU

22) The Denard Robinson’s and 20+ practice hours

23) NDSU 1-1, Key Win: Kansas  Admirable Defeats: 11 Northern Iowa

24) Virginia Tech, 0-2, com’on they have really cool uniforms so they get to stay

25) Kansas 1-1, Key Win: Last weeks 15 GT  Admirable Defeat: NDSU, I mean seriously losing to a ranked team by a field goal can’t hurt you!

Wasn't playing Youngstown St. in Week 2

3) Time to be serious: I observed that freshmen are still freshmen: when you put them on the road week two at number one, they might figuratively crap themselves (See Penn State at Alabama). The score reflects total domination, not the two turnovers in the first half in the red-zone that killed the lions, but not Joe Paterno.

Grinnell 2-0 and Monmouth 0-2

4) Apparently preseason Division III rankings do not mean all that much, go figure. As my Alma Mater, preseason 240, decided they would play spoiler on the road against an opponent with post-season aspirations. Not only that, it was the 1000th game in the programs history and would have made the Monmouth head coach the winning-est coach in the program’s history. This was salt in the wound for Alex Taney who was injured on the first pass play of the game, turns out the offensive line might have been a little suspect. I hope he’s able to make it back for basketball season and he can make the trip to Darby. I remember him referring to our student section so lovingly. If you don’t get the references its Grinnell vs. Monmouth. Shout out to the  Grinnell student body for giving the pioneers a heroes welcome upon the teams arrival home.  I don’t think the Pioneers, not the ones who didn’t make it to the Mississippi River, are satisfied just with these two games but it’s a great start for Jeff Pedersen’s squad.

Week 1-2 High School Team of the Week

5) Gardner Edgerton is my high school team of the week.  2-0 and coached by my former high school coach, Marvin Diener, they lost in the state final last year to a loaded Hutchinson (KS) team. I don’t see Diener and a top prospect Bubba Starling (Real name, I promise) letting that happen again.

In jest, yet serious

The Bearded Guy