Pathetic

Sorry to break from our menu of sports talk but this morning I opened up my Yahoo! Music Jukebox and nearly threw up in my own mouth. As soon as my nausea passed, I realized that I HAD to do a post about this on Big P.

To give you a little background, I was a HUGE Black Sabbath fan growing up. I never actually got to see Sabbath in concert but did see Ozzy Osborne several times and also took in a few Deep Purple and Rainbow concerts. For any of you too young to remember (or too smart too care), after Ozzy's departure from the band in the late 70's, Ronnie James Dio took the helm for a few semi-successful albums -- most notably Heaven and Hell. After Dio's departure, Deep Purple singer, Ian Gillin took over. Both were pretty good but it IMHO, they were much better with their former bands, Dio and Deep Purple.

The funny thing was that back in the late 70's and early 80's, I loved horrifying my parents by listening to Sabbath's "devil music". I knew Ozzy was a little bit of an overweight, over-the-hill turd but didn't care. I also managed to overlook the permed hair and fringed leather of Iomi, bassist, Geezer Butler and drummer, Bill Ward. In the 90's, I started to realize how un-hip these pseudo-devil worshipping dildos were. However, nothing topped what I saw this morning...

I mean, WTF? Does Dio (third from left) not realize that he looks like my 87 year old grand father with a brown wig on? I mean seriously. And now these guys are touring? It's just sad.

I know that this new trend of bands from the 60's - 80's that pissed all their money away in drugs and mismanagement getting together for reunion tours is getting a little ridiculous but this is too much. Poor Black Sabbath. May the memory of when they were cool rest in peace.

Ugueth Urbina Sentenced to 14 Years

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Ugueth Urbina was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the attempted murder of five workers on his family's ranch, the Attorney General's Office announced Wednesday. The 33-year-old free agent was accused of joining a group of men in attacking and injuring workers with machetes and pouring gasoline on them at his family's ranch, located about 25 miles south of Caracas.

We always knew he was a little crazy when he was with the Red Sox. He had all the qualities that make closers great:

1. A slightly disturbing nervous tick
2. A good fastball with questionable control, and
3. A great nickname that fans can chant at the top of their lungs

If we'd only known he was skilled with a machete and gasoline we might have really had a Hall of Fame closer on our hands.

Good luck in jail Uggie.

Reason for Concern?

I'm feeling pretty good about the Sox this season. Based on what I've read and seen, that seems to be the general consensus of the national media. However, after reading Shaughnessy's article in this morning's Boston Globe, I am minorly concerned about the following three things:

1. Varitek - will he hit this season or is he Benito Santiago 2.0?
2. Coco Crisp - is he the center field equivalent of Kerry Woods/Carl Pavano?
3. I thought we could survive Dustin Pedroia this season if everything else clicked. If Varitek and Crisp hit below the Mendoza Line, slots 7-9 in the line-up will be mighty painful to endure.

Now I don't normally put too much thought into what Shaughnessy writes but he brings up some valid points. I'd love to get the groups thoughts on this one.

Last Night of the Patriots Dynasty?

I'm going to break ranks from the baseball talk for a second because I need help with some football questions. Namely, why is everybody bending over backwards to hail the Patriots for these free agent signings -- particularly the receivers? What in the name of Daniel Snyder is going on here?

Let's recap for a second WHY the Patriots needed to sign free agent wide receivers:

1) They've received little to no return on the first round draft pick they spent a year ago on Chad Jackson
2) The highly touted tight end position -- and the assumed ascension of Ben Watson -- hasn't really played out
3) Their best receiver is suiting up for the Seahawks, their most consistent playoff receiver is in Tennessee and the replacements for those two may have cost the team home field in the AFC title game last year

The bottom line is: the Patriots' mismanagement of the receiver position may have ultimately cost them the Super Bowl last year. In response, they've gone out and obtained Wes Welker, Donta Stallworth and Kelley Washington. While Welker has been productive, Stallworth is in the drug program and Washington hasn't even had 400 yards receiving in a season (shades of the David Terrell signing last year). Why do I get the feeling that these guys are on the Patriots roster because they were all that was out there on the market? It seems to me that the Patriots have been backed into a corner at this position to the point where they have had to scrap some of the criteria they use for evaluating players before signing them. This is a new direction for their front office -- and one that certainly hasn't worked well for others such as the Redskins.

Baseball 2.0

Curt Schilling gets it... not at the level of NASCAR, but he's onto something. If you haven't seen it yet, check out his new blog. It is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Check out this quote from today's post:

"Kevin Millar, even when he guesses right, can’t make himself swing at my curve ball... [snip]... With one out in the second Gibbons chased a good split, and then Millar comes up. For 3 years he’s talked trash, in person, through text messages, over the phone, about how I better never throw him my curve ball. Last year in Baltimore I started him off with it, he took it for a strike.

Today I shake ‘Tek 3-4 times, Millar calls time out, steps out and says to ‘Tek “What the hells he want an 0-0 curve ball?”, curve ball strike one. Curve ball again, yanked foul, now he’s laughing, and I am trying not to. Curve ball again he lays off. Count gets to 2-2 and he freezes on a 2 seamer inside for strike three. I don’t know if he’s debating the call or just talking, one never knows with him, but he never looks my way as I go into the dugout."

Occasionally, I'll meet someone who doesn't understand that NASCAR is possibly the only professional "sport" (let's just accept that driving around in circle at ~200 mph for a looooooong time is a sport) that truly caters to its fans. It's usually a painful conversation that has the other side leaving, resigned that I'm a redneck heathen.

Stats don't make a sport, so don't even start with fantasy football and rotisserie baseball being fan-centric. NASCAR lets fans in on the action, using in-car cameras and radios that peek in on pit crew negotiations. I don't even follow NASCAR and I know this much... speak to someone who really loves NASCAR and you'll be blown away by how they're constantly finding new ways to bring fans closer to the sport.

Back to today's post from Curt. This is the first time I've ever really felt part of one of the "major" sports. Sure being there for Game 2 of the World Series in 2004 was pretty kick ass, but this is a new paradigm. This is truly inviting fans into the game. Think about almost every time you go to Fenway... nice day, cold beers, interesting game, some truly great moments, but do you ever really feel like you're in the game? What would you pay to actually be in the meeting on the mound in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded, two outs and Big P getting ready to face ARod in late September? How about free? Would it be worth it?

Thanks Curt!

ps... Millar just joined the conversation. I love Baseball 2.0!

Hard Time Getting in the Mood

I live just outside Boston, MA and we just got pounded with a late season Nor'Easter. It's 12:30 AM and I am soaking wet after shoveling out from over a foot of snow and sleet. This comes on the heels of visiting sunny Las Vegas for our company's Community 2.0 Conference.

It was warm in Vegas. 80 degrees in fact. I was out by the pool on the last day of the conference thinking about spring in New England. I should be -- it's only a few days away. Visions of opening day danced in my head. Thoughts of Dice-K Matsusaka, the Sox prized new pitcher, throwing out the first pitch at Fenway made me long to be home. And then the snow fell.

Why am I surprised? This happens every year. It wouldn't be New England if it didn't. While the Red Sox wrap up in the confines of sunny Florida, I'll be slogging through slush and muck for the next few weeks. My new friend, Mukund Mohan, whom I met at the conference invited me out to CA to do a webcast today. I know he was joking but I might just take him up on his offer!

I like baseball.

My 2 Cents

My predictions for the rotation:

Schilling: 14-10
Beckett: 13-11
Dice-K: 18-8
Papelbon: 13-7
Wakefield: 12-12
Lester: 9-6
The Rest: 15-14

.. and to Adawg's point about offense, I can't disagree in the least... Thoughts welcome.

2 More Days...

Two more days until pitchers and catchers report. Can't wait for baseball.

A few predictions for the Sox starters:

• Curt Schilling: 16-9
• Josh Beckett: 17-7
• Daisuke Matsuzaka: 14-12
• Jon Papelbon: 14-10
• Tim Wakefield: 12-14
• Jon Lester: 8-4
• The rest: 15-10

I'm also going to project the Sox lineup to be in the top 5 in the AL in runs scored, slugging %, OBP, and OPS.

Thoughts?

Mr. Ineptitude

Following is a response by my cousin, Chris, to a John Clayton article I e-mailed to a bunch of my home brothers. The article was a post Pats-Bolts wrap up summing up why the Bolts (and Schottenheimer) lost... again. I couldn't resist posting this on the BP blog.

I loves me some John Clayton! There probably couldn't be a more nerdy (looking) guy in sports writing/coverage, but that cat knows his ball.

When you are a habitual offender at losing playoff games, would you expect anything else? A team that has Tomlinson pissed at the end of the game because of 'disrespect in my house.', yet Florence gets up for an imediate head butt on a simple takle play?!? C'mon.

You had yet another MVP team that has been surrounded by sycophants in both fans and sports writers alike, coming up against a hard nosed (only one pro bowl member) smashmouth football team, that also happens to be 13-2 in playoffs as the underdog yet again... what in heck did you expect? Watch the Chargers and their arrogance on almost every play. Watch the entitlement mentality of that team versus the (even though an exceedingly poor performance) unshaken, unwavering simplicity of 'BelichickBradyball'
one more time.

The best line is - after nothing was clicking on offense - "Every time I would come to the sidelines, I'd say, 'Let's try something else'." Simple, calm, cool and collected. You could watch Marty with every single missed 4th down try, and every Patriot gain saying to himself 'not again'. You aren't going to win the game on one play - you aren't going to win the game with one big LT run. You will win the game when you keep one play ahead of the other guys.

Something I found interesting that was talked about early, but missed later in the game was the fact that Marty didn't wear a headset because he was so confident in both his offensive and defensive coordinator. Funny how that headset slipped back on late in the second quarter. Funny how San Diego started to really scramble after that point. If I were the defensive and offensive coordinator and I was Mr. Playoff hex looking for his headset - I would have grabbed it out of his hands and stepped on it before he could put it on his fat head.

I was amazed at the lack of poise from the team with only two losses this season. Dodgy fourth and eleven call?!? Challenge an extremely obvious strip/fumble?!? Very odd play calling from a guy that had been there before. Granted, Marty has a rather inauspicious playoff record - but he's been there so many times you'd think he'd have his head screwed on tighter.

Unreal.

One playoff choke machine down, one more to go.

Although, to Clayton's point... Indi has shown a lot of the Pats resilience as of late. That is never a good thing. Manning doesn't get as shaken as he used to be, and he has become a bit of a grinder.

Thanks for the article, btw. It was a fun game to watch too.

I agree Chris, it was a fun game. I'm looking forward to an even better game this Sunday! I wonder if Peyton is going to enjoy any sleepless nights...

We have a closer!

So, the Sox signed Matsuzaka. Sweet.

We have a freakin' awesome looking rotation now and an awesome line up. Now everyone's talking about the bullpen and how we need to get a closer in here.

Has everyone forgotten that we have the best closer in the game on our team already. Big Papelbon damnit.

I know the kid wants to start, but I say that it is too important a role to give to an overpriced mediocre free agent (all that's left). Also, I don't want to trade any of our position players (Youk or Coco), for an iffy closer. It won't matter how good our rotation is if, they all get no decisions because of the closer giving it up.

They should sign Clemens for the one year and move Pap back to where he belongs. Theo should be singing in his ear on a nightly basis, 'you're the next Mariano Rivera, you're the best closer in the game, you're going to get into the hall because you'll be the most feared closer...ever'.

-JS

Trade Manny (updated on 12/1)

I read an interesting article in the Globe today about the Sox offering Nixon arbitration. The thesis was that the Sox may be looking at a realligned outfield in 2007 with Nixon splitting time with Wily Mo in right, JD Drew in Center and Coco Crisp in left. This would allow the Sox to trade Manny to San Diego for Jake Peavey (a starting rotation of Schilling, Beckett, Papelbon, Peavey and Matsusaka would not suck).

Losing Manny's bat (and thus Big Papi's protection) in the lineup would be a big blow. However, two things might soften that blow:

• Wily Mo having a banner year in 2007 -- he's projected by Hardball Times as the "player under 26 most likely to have a break out season in '07".
• A healthy JD Drew whom Schilling defended on WEEI yesterday. I know, coulda, woulda, shoulda... anything could happen but if Schill likes him and says he's a monster if he's healthy, you have to at least listen.
  

I will say that I'm okay with the Sox continuing to move toward a younger starting rotation, outfield and infield (Mssrs. Schilling, Lowell and Varitek excepted). If the Sox can exchange talent for youth and expectation, I say trade Manny and trade him today!

Cold

Just checking in.
But my guess is that the "cooler" has such a slick nickname because he's so cool and calm when his team doesn't need any production from him. To paint the picture: it's the top of the ninth, 0 outs, 3-1 count. The yankees are up 7-0 over the Devil Rays. He's sure to hit the 3-run homer then. If they're in Yankee stadium in October and the score is within 2 runs either way, he's surely going to strike out at every chance. At that point they probably call him the "cold". Who knows. But when he pouts in the dugout with Jeter, and they are on TV 57 times looking like their puppy just got run over (this never gets old) - those lips do look even more purple. good call.

Must be a combination of the above.

The Cooler

Remind me again why they call A-Rod "the cooler"? Is it because he is such a cool dude? Is it because he always looks cold with his big purple lips? Or is it because he likes to drink a lot of beer at the beach and thus always has a cooler with him. Inquiring minds want to know...

Watching the Tigers beating the Yankees

Well. The brutal disaster that was the end of the Sox season had left me too depressed to post for awhile. However, there was at least one positive that came out of the last couple weeks. That being Papi breaking the Sox season record for home runs.

I did make it to a few games at the end of the season, the highlight: bringing Max, at 5 months old, to his first game and having him in the park when Papi hit #50 to tie Jimmy Foxx's record.

Didn't suck being there the next night to see 51 and 52 too, either. Other than the Ortiz story, the end 'o the season was quite the kick in the johnson, with the capper of finishing 3rd to Toronto.

Anyway...that's over. And the Pats looked like the Pats again last Sunday. And Detroit split in the bronx and is now up 3-0 in the 6th in Comerica.

Go Tigers.

Cheers,
-JS

Da Pats

Damn the Pats looked good yesterday. I love the fact that other then in the Denver game, they are running roughshod over other teams. Any questions about whether or not this team misses Deion Branch? I didn't think so.

Next...

Where's the Reality?

I'm working to "re-inspire" myself to blog more on Big Papelbon. It ain't easy with the Sox many games out of first place, and the wild card race. As I've said several times before, "thank goodness for the Pats," even if they are turing out to be the heart attack kids!

A quick side not on the Sox since I can't seem to write a post without at least referencing them. WHY could they not have taken 3 out of 5 back in August vs. the Yanks instead of taking the 3 out of 4 this past weekend? The thing that amazed me was that the Sox threw the "all $150,000" pitching staff against the "all $15 million" dollar Yankee staff. And we still took 3 out of 4. I even think that Terry Francona and Papa Jack slipped themselves into the game as pinch hitters at one point.

Anyway, back to the main topic... Reality TV. The good news this season? Reality seems to be dying on the vine. Yes, I know that it still exists. Survivor is hanging on by a thread with their attempt to stir people up using race as a segmentation. Big Whoop! And shows like Wife Swap are still rearing their ugly head. But I'm sensing a new trend and so far, I like what I see.

Last night I watched a couple of new shows. The first was, How I Met Your Mother. Not a show that I'm necessarily going to be doing a "record all" for on my DVR, but worth a few chuckles nonetheless. Neil Patrick Harris carries over his "booze and stripper loving" persona from the movie, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. If you've seen the movie, you'll appreciate what I'm talking about. The second show was the much anticipated, Studio 60. I know one show does not a season make but I'll tell you what, so far I'm hooked. Anyone that liked the first couple of seasons of West Wing can see that the old (and riveting) Aaron Sorkin is back and he's got fire in his belly.

The only thing that is pissing me off about "Studio" is that I found out last night on IMDB that the show is just a pilot and as a result, the network only filmed five shows. That means that we're going to get a two month hiatus come early November just as we're starting to get into Amanda Peet... I mean, the series. I can deal -- that's why God invented Monday Night Football -- I'm just not looking forward to hurrying up and then waiting.

On that note, it is encouraging to see that there are a half a dozen decent options to watch now (Lost, Studio, 24, Grey's Anatomy). The other encouraging news is that I've yet to see an add for "the Bachelor goes to Romania" or "Fear Factor -- The Gay and Lesbian Series". Maybe this is reality TVs last gasp.

Any good shows that you've wached recently? If so, let me know!

Big Papelbon Blues

Ever notice how unexciting it is to read the sports page/ESPN when your baseball team is shitting the bed? That might be one of the reasons that I've dreaded coming in and posting to this blog for the last month. To be honest, I'm still recovering from the five day "Boston Massacre 2.0" that happened over a four day stretch with the Yanks back in August. I've never seen a team go down the toilet so quickly.

On the happy times front, football season didn't come a day too soon this year. Thank goodness we have the Patriots to think about now. Yes, I know they barely squeaked by Buffalo last week but that's what the Pats do. I also think the Bills are going to be a lot better this year under Dick Jauron then the were the last few years. Don't get me wrong, they won't be playoff good, but I think they will go 7-9 or 8-8 and will be a team that nobody wants to play down the stretch.

By the way, do you think Deion Branch is getting the respect he deserves in Seattle yet? Granted, I think the Pats were a little short-sighted in the way they treated him, but at the end of the day, a contract is a contract. I think Deion is also going to be in for a big surprise when he realizes a) there is a guy named Shaun Alexander who will get 30-35 touches per game (that's "Shaun", not "Shawn", not "Sean", not "Shawon" but "Shaun") and b) as good as Matt "toupe" Hasselback is, he's no Tom Brady.

That's all for now. I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving the blog untouched for such a long period of time. Until next time, let's go PATS!!!

Baseball in Play

Have you ever wondered how long the baseball is actually in play during the average baseball game? Here is the unscientific answer from Rick Reilly and Dick Wade (heh heh... he said dick).

Makes that day I spent watching parts one and two of the recent Boston Massacre seem like a complete waste of time. I think I'm going to adopt a curling team. It's probably more action-packed than baseball.

Fat lady is belting out her aria...

Well to say, it's over at this point...seems pointless. The sweep by the Mariners is what put it to bed for me. I was still holding out hope after they took 2 of 3 from the Angels.

What is really amazing to me is how fast this all fell apart. It took less than a month from being in first place, over 3 games up, to being out of the playoff race...that is freakin' crazy.

Does anyone remember a team falling apart that fast? I can't think of an equivalent.

Hard to believe that August isn't over, but our baseball season is.

-JS