Is it time for EVERYBODY PANIC Detroit!!?

Not quite yet, but when the following facts are true, we’ve gotta be getting close.  Here’s a summary of the lead-in.

• The Tigers currently have a worse record than anyone in MLB not named Mariners, Rockies, or Padres.
• That list does not include the Cincinnati Reds, who are riding a 3 game winning streak, including a series win against the former best record in baseball Marlins, while the Tigs are 1-8 in the last 9.
• The Rock City Cats are 0-5 against AL Central doormat Kansas City (the team payroll differential is a mere $80.4 M, or 1.4 times KC’s entire roster).
• Justin Verlander, the staff ace, is 1-7.
• The city’s big-high-five count is at a quarter-season low not seen since 2005.
• Detroit is located mere feet from Canadian soil. (Okay, so that’s pretty constant, but c’mon, when it rains it pours)

So maybe not time to pack it in and call it a year, after all, they do play 162 of ‘em for a reason.  But let’s raise the concern level a little here Jimmy, we can’t count on the division leader to hover around .500 all year (*cough 2005 NL West).

Jimmy, it’s time to yell at somebody.  And this time, do it in public.  Sheesh.  Really?  The stinkin’ Reds?

Enjoy this gem from Asheville @ Lexington in ‘06.  Not new, but it sure seems therapeutic.  Give you any ideas Jimmy?

NBA Playoff Banter: May 15

We wanted to be able to bring something about the NBA Playoffs to the site, however, there’s only one of us who regularly gets to (chooses to) watch most games.  That’s why I enlisted my good friend Jason Brubaker.  He’s a really good writer and you should check him out over at CHN.  We’ve been debating sports for over a decade, and now we’re taking our arguments public for you to enjoy.  We really hope you enjoy our banter about guys who are bigger, stronger, faster, richer and better at basketball than us.  If not, Brubaker made me do it.

Smoothron:  Wow, last night was full of surprises.  Okay, not at all.  Unless you consider me sitting at home by myself on a weeknight a surprise and if you do then you probably don’t know me.  I had a fabulous night, though.  Sitting around… watching basketball… Let’s move on.
 
Boston handled Cleveland in a pretty easy manner, you know, because they were playing at home.  KG was absolutely dominant, finishing with 29 points and 16 boards.  It’s simply amazing how he can be so good in Boston and seemingly disappear elsewhere.  Pierce played really well also, getting 26 points.  The surprise of the night for Boston was that Rajon Rondo had 20 points, 13 assists and played 42 minutes.  In turn, Sam Cassell only played 5 minutes, which with the way he has been playing is a good thing for the Celtics.  Rondo even hit two 3’s in the first half, which I would guess not many people would have expected (especially LeBron, who kind of called him out about it during his halftime interview with TNT).  LeBron did finish with 35 points, but he had to dominate the ball most of the time.  I’m not saying he shouldn’t touch the ball every possession, but like I said yesterday, he’s better when he is making his teammates better.  That obviously didn’t happen last night, as the Cavs only had two other players in double-figures.  I’m sure, however, Cleveland will look dominant again in game 6, forcing the inevitable game 7 back in Boston.

More NBA talk, a Sasha Vujacic reference and well, you know after the jump…

2008 Oakland A’s Season Blog, The Exodus (23-18)

Two home runs were the difference in tonights game between the A’s and Indians.  That’s a pretty big margin though when the final score is 2-0.  Joe Blanton came out and pitched what seems to be a very good game.  He only gave up 4 hits and two walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.  What the numbers don’t tell you is that 2 of those 4 hits were worth one run a piece. 

Meanwhile, CiCi’s pizza goes for a shutout with 11 strikeouts and only 2 walks.  Anytime a pitcher’s K-BB ratio hits 4+ you know he was dealing folks.  That’s what happened to the A’s tonight. 

I’ll be honest, I didnt’ see a single pitch of the contest tonight.  I was thoroughly engrossed in Moneyball, which I admit that I’m very late in reading.  By the way, thank you SmoothRon for getting me a copy.  I feel almost dirty, as an A’s fan, for not reading this earlier.  I switched the game on at 9:25 EST expecting to catch the last three innings (40 minutes before a home game would start) and had to endure no baseball as the running time for tonight’s game was only two hours and 8 minutes.  Ridiculous really in this day and age.

Where do we go from here?  A day ago we had the best record in the AL (which TGC pointed out to me) and now we’re hoping for another ChiSox win to keep us in the division lead.  How does this happen?  Well, like TGC likes to say, “That’s why they play a hundred and sixty two of ‘em.”  As much as I hate Joe losing on a night when he throws seven and gives up two, in the long run the Elephants will win a lot of games in which they only give up two.

So tonight, I hate losing two in a row on the road to the Tribe.  Still, we’re scoring a lot of runs on average and not giving a lot up.  When we’re this close in the first half you have to feel good as and Oakland fan because you’re just waiting for Billy to come through with a Rincon type of trade in July.  It’ll likely be of the offensive sort this year, but you know that guy will find some cash and a three way trade to bring in someone who’ll energize the team in late June or early July.  We’re in good shape right now and that looming trade that seems to make no sense just makes me smile.  Until then, enjoy the games, enjoy some brews, and when Jack Cust starts being a Major League hitter again, e-mail me pronto.

NBA Playoff Banter: May 14

We wanted to be able to bring something about the NBA Playoffs to the site, however, there’s only one of us who regularly gets to (chooses to) watch most games.  That’s why I enlisted my good friend Jason Brubaker.  He’s a really good writer and you should check him out over at CHN.  We’ve been debating sports for over a decade, and now we’re taking our arguments public for you to enjoy.  We really hope you enjoy our banter about guys who are bigger, stronger, faster, richer and better at basketball than us.  If not, Brubaker made me do it.

Also, how in the world did I post this with the wrong date two days in a row and not get roasted by TGC?

Brubaker:  First off…no picture of the date. We’ve been out only twice, and I’d prefer not to scare her off just yet…although I’m sure it’ll happen soon enough anyway. Let’s just say she is way too hot to have gone out with me. Once she figures this out and gets rid of me, then maybe I’ll see what I can do (allow 2-3 more dates for this to occur).

Hate to rub it in, but good call on the Spurs game last night. For a team full of champions, they certainly looked like a bunch of crybabies last night, whining the entire night while letting the Hornets dictate the pace of the game. And if it’s not clear by now, I am absolutely sick of watching Manu and Parker flop every other time down the floor, laying on the ground for 10-15 seconds just to sell the foul. That’s not basketball. If they want to do that crap - go sign up for an acting class and have fun performing on stage. But quit doing it in the NBA - it’s sickening to watch.

More NBA talk, a Matt Bonner reference, about 2500 more words and some boobies as a reward for reading it all after the jump…

2008 Oakland A’s Season Blog, The Exodus (23-17)

Well the A’s were shut out by the Tribe tonight in Cleveland.  The early game allows us to put this up before midnight for a change.  Unfortunately the early game didn’t help the Good Guys tonight.

J. Duke pitched a pretty good game tonight, the hitters got on Byrd early, but unfortunately nothing ever came of it.  Not a lot of good things to take away from this game other than Duke’s starting performance. 

One small thing of note though is that I won’t doubt Daric Barton’s power.  He hasn’t hit for a lot of power and probably won’t in game situations, but that first pitch that Kobayashi (not the hot dog guy) delivered got turned around FAST.  Barton spun on it and hit it about 400 feet foul into the upper deck at the Jake (is it still called that?).  I know it’s just a foul ball in a meaningless loss at the 40th game of the season.  Still, if the guy can put that swing on the ball there’s no reason for him to not hit 25 a year.

Depending on how the Chi Sox do against LAA tonight we may have another tie for the divison.  Depending on the BoSox and about 5 other teams we may not have the best record in the AL after tonight.  Two more in Cleveland and I like tomorrow’s matchup.  The A’s need to pick up at least one of this series and getting two in a row to win it would be the perfect result heading to interleague play.  Until then, enjoy the games, enjoy some brews, and if you don’t see a post or two during the next few days, I’ll be busy reading Moneyball (thanks SmoothRon!). 

NBA Playoff Banter: May 12

We wanted to be able to bring something about the NBA Playoffs to the site, however, there’s only one of us who regularly gets to (chooses to) watch most games.  That’s why I enlisted my good friend Jason Brubaker.  He’s a really good writer and you should check him out over at CHN.  We’ve been debating sports for over a decade, and now we’re taking our arguments public for you to enjoy.  We really hope you enjoy our banter about guys who are bigger, stronger, faster, richer and better at basketball than us.  If not, Brubaker made me do it.

Smoothron:  Wow, another road game, another road loss for the Celtics.  This is getting to be an issue.  The Celtics could try and be the first team to win the NBA Championship without winning a road game.  One team has won the Championship only winning one road game and it was… of course, the Celtics.  LeBron still didn’t have a fabulous game, except for his monster dunk which pretty much ended the game.  This series to me is kind of unwatchable, even with all the superstars involved.  No one has been dominant, defense plays a major roles in both games and the two coaches may be two of the most inept in the entire game.  I think that all of the other Conference Semifinals are better basketball and more entertaining.  I fully expect Boston to win game 5, Cleveland to win game 6 and Boston to win game 7.  Until something more exciting happens, wake me when it’s over.

More NBA talk, a DJ Mbenga reference and probably some boobies after the jump…

NBA Playoff Banter: May 11

We wanted to be able to bring something about the NBA Playoffs to the site, however, there’s only one of us who regularly gets to (chooses to) watch most games.  That’s why I enlisted my good friend Jason Brubaker.  He’s a really good writer and you should check him out over at CHN.  We’ve been debating sports for over a decade, and now we’re taking our arguments public for you to enjoy.  We really hope you enjoy our banter about guys who are bigger, stronger, faster, richer and better at basketball than us.  If not, Brubaker made me do it.

Smoothron:  So, even though we’d made plans to do this over the weekend… it never happened.  Some of us drank stupid amounts of beer (me) and others had dates (you).  There were some really good games over the weekend though.  The Jazz and Spurs have made series out of 0-2 deficits, the Celtics look like they can’t win a road game and the Pistons have all but ended their series with the Magic.  Here’s a few quick thoughts on each series…
 
Jazz/Lakers…  I told you I thought the Jazz could make a series out of this based solely on their homecourt advantage and they seemed to have done just that.  Carlos Boozer waking up and realizing the series had started also helped.  He looked absolutely dominant on Friday night and played well towards the end of the game yesterday.  Deron Williams must have read what I wrote (not really), because he looked awesome in both games.  Derek Fisher getting early fouls, making Jordan Farmar have to ‘guard’ Williams is killing the Lakers.  Not that Fisher is a great defender, but he’s leaps and bounds better than Farmar.  There’s been a lot of talk about the Turiaf ejection, but that was a pretty easy call to make in my opinion.  The whistle had blown, Price was trying to get a continuation call and he just pushed him while he was in mid-air.  Pretty cheap, if you ask me.  The Lakers will obviously play better, without 18,000 crazy Mormons yelling at them.

More NBA talk, a nickname for the Spurs I’d never heard before and possibly boobies after the jump…

2008 Oakland A’s Season Blog, The Exodus (23-16)

Annnnnnnnd we’re back!  After a week-long beach trip with Miss Stat, the Exodus is returned.  Oh what a week it has been though.  Not only was the beach awesome, but the lady-friend was super understanding (and actually encouraging) of the occasional blogging (when the condo internet connection allowed).  But how did the A’s fair?

Well, going into Monday the fightin’ Elephants will again be the AL West division leaders.  Rich Harden returned from the DL and was shelled for 5 runs in a little over 3 innings.  I didn’t have time to tune in so I won’t comment on his performance.  The stats look rough (8 hits and 4 walks in less than 4 innings of work), but the strike percentage was around 60% so I’ll assume he was down in the count a lot and having to throw the ball over the plate a lot in hitter’s counts.  Then again, his ERA had nowhere to go but up so hopefully he’ll shake this one off.

At the plate, the A’s exploded for 12 runs on 13 hits and worked 8 (EIGHT!) walks.  Emil Brown and Daric Barton both went yard for Oakland.  Brown also improved his team-leading RBI count to 33.  That’s also good for fourth best in all the Majors.  Kurt Suzuki was the only starter to go hitless but he did reach base via the walk.

The offensive start for the A’s this year has been unbelievable.  Timely hitting and patience at the plate has been the club motto for years all through the orginization.  It appears to be paying off this year as the team has been very good at stringing together runners and delivering base hits and extra base hits.  The power numbers are still pitiful, but even AL teams can play small ball (sans the stolen base). 

These posts almost aren’t complete without the obligatory nod toward the ‘pen.  After Harden’s early exit the bullpen went five and a third innings without an earned run on Sunday.  Absolutely ridiculous pitching by those guys again with Devine, Casilla, Embree, and Street combining to keep the Rangers out of the game after the bats woke up.

So a great day down in Texas.  Rich Harden is back and the A’s are back in sole possession of the division lead.  The A’s head to Cleveland and Atlanta (for interleague play) next.  It’ll be nice to catch some games in 7 EST prime time instead of at 10pm this week.  Also, according to mlb.com scheduling, the A’s take on Indiana Jones on the 22nd of this month.  That Cat could whip (sorry, couldn’t resist!) the ball around in his prime.  He may have lost a bit by now though.  Until then, enjoy the games, enjoy some brews, and if you happen to know how much salary we could clear by unloading Huston Street and picking up Kyra Sedgwick, e-mail me pronto.

FWP: What? No Horse Racing?!?

Fearless Weekend Predictions is a weekly column running on Friday afternoons where our resident soothsayer (or whoever we can get) locks down what will transpire in the coming 72 hours. It’s better to get these out before the 7-year is open.  The crystal ball gets cloudy.

It’s okay… I’m sure if I just breathe, I’ll be fine.  This is the first weekend since March we won’t be making an appearance at Keeneland.  Last weekend was wild out there, slip-n-slides, gambling and lots of beer.  Big Brown did the unthinkable, not winning from the twenty-post, but actually breaking the ‘Smoothron FWP Curse.’  I did my damnedest to jinx that bastard, but somehow he won anyway.  Something happened during the NASCAR race last weekend, but none of us can even remember watching it.  The Cavs, Celtics and Jazz all made it through to the second round and the Mets even took two of three from the D-Backs.  Chances are you don’t remember, but Billy G and Bruce Pearl tag-teamed your girlfriend.  Sorry.  More hoops, baseball, NASCAR and well, you know…

The Jazz will finally beat the Lakers tonight.  Ok, Kobe Bryant is really good.  I’m still not sold on him as MVP, but no one in the league appears to be able to stop him right now.  However, I like the crazy Mormons getting really crazy (maybe some caffeine!) tonight.  It should be another wild night in Salt Lake City.

Elliott Sadler will win Saturday night in Darlington.  Usually, I try and find a douche to jinx on here (see: Hot Carl, Jeff Gordon).  Well, it’s getting to be a little harder to find NASCAR drivers who have hotties associated with them.  I then found, Lisa Tollett, who used to date Sadler.  Sadler immediately found his way into douche-ness when he let Lisa slip away.  I mean, look at her… smile.

No player from the Reds will hit three homers in a game against the Mets.  I don’t know what kind of team would allow a player on the Reds of all teams, but somehow the Cubs managed to let that happen.  I’m actually going to call the Mets sweeping the Reds.  There, I said it.  Let’s move on.

Cedric Benson will offer to captain your boat.  Decline, I beg of you, just don’t accept the offer.  He may or may not be tanked while he’s steering the ship, but I can guarantee you that he will cause a scene and scream, “MOMMA!!” multiple times. 

The NBA Playoffs will continue to matter.  I’m sure you don’t believe me, but there is some fabulous basketball being played.  If you didn’t see Spurs/Hornets, which should have been called Paul/Parker, last night, you definitely missed out.  The future of the NBA is on display, so tune in and watch Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and that Kobe guy.

Kenny Perry will win at Sawgrass.  You know what bothers me, when people say, “The TPC at Sawgrass.”  Doesn’t TPC stand for The Players Championship?  Would you say, “The The Players Championship?”  I think not!  Also, Kenny Perry’s sister is planning BobWicket’s wedding.  Somehow, the two are related.

Amanda will win Survivor.  I haven’t watched Survivor in a long time, but Amanda is really hot.  I’d think of some things to do for forty days on an island with her.  I’d need a buffalo, live or stuffed, preferably stuffed… for safety’s sake.

Billy Gillispie will meet you out at the bar and sleep with your girlfriend.  Rumors were flying last weekend in Lexington that BCG and his mentor Bill Self were enjoying themselves immensely at a local bar.  There’s nothing wrong with that at all.  Just be careful, one minute you’re enjoying a few drinks with Coach G, the next thing you know, you wake up alone and your girlfriend is asking you for a ride home from some big house in Jessamine County.

Live it up, people!  Drink some beers and watch some sports… Preakness next weekend!

 

NBA Playoff Banter: May 9

We wanted to be able to bring something about the NBA Playoffs to the site, however, there’s only one of us who regularly gets to (chooses to) watch most games.  That’s why I enlisted my good friend Jason Brubaker.  He’s a really good writer and you should check him out over at CHN.  We’ve been debating sports for over a decade, and now we’re taking our arguments public for you to enjoy.  We really hope you enjoy our banter about guys who are bigger, stronger, faster, richer and better at basketball than us.  If not, Brubaker made me do it.

Smoothron: I know I should probably do the right thing and start with the first game of last night, but it was mainly uninteresting and the second game WAS NOT.  The duel that Tony Parker and Chris Paul had going on was absolutely epic.  I can’t remember a game in which two point guards absolutely took over and scored at will.  I think Parker was a little sick of people questioning him and his team after the first two games of the series, so with Duncan not playing to an extremely high level, he decided it would be his night.  Chris Paul has thrust onto the NBA scene and it is hard to talk about the best players in the NBA without mentioning his name in the first four or five.  It was just special to watch in the second half as they just traded baskets back-and-forth-and-back again.  They flew into the lane without regard for the guys standing there who were easily six to eight inches taller than them.  Paul and Parker also both showed some of their mid-range game and (unlike some other superstars) they realize shooting the three isn’t their game and only took three between them.  Paul had the play of the night when he was fouled, did a 180 in the air and flipped it over his head for the and-one.  I kind of remember this one guy who used to do stuff like that, his name escapes me though… Parker didn’t have one single play like that, but he was just masterful with the ball.  I’m still not sure why the Hornets didn’t realize what was going on some of the time.  Multiple times in the game, Parker would take the basketball to the right corner and one of the Spur big men would come and set a screen to get Parker open close to the elbow.  Parker had eight or ten just on that play alone, he’s money from right there.  Oh, Parker and Paul had eleven and nine assists, respectively.

More NBA talk, a Fabricio Oberto reference and of course, boobies after the jump…