Best of the NBA

The all-star tandem of Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, and Craig Sager have to be the best in sports. A great mix of knowledge, humor, and style, their commentary is a welcome relief from dumbasses Bill Walton and Snapper Jones. Seth shook Sager's hand at a Timberwolves game four years ago and I bet he still hasn't washed it.

A Frustrated Sunday

Alright, Chicago defense, you now have permission to snap. Tonight was After forcing five takeaways and holding New England to 17 points, including a recovered fumble on the final drive to deny the Patriots a score only to have Rex throw an interception on their first offensive play, you may let out the rage on Grossman (who had all four turnovers himself). You could see it in their eyes--the defense can't take it much longer...

You've Got To Be Kidding Me...

During a time when Major League Baseball is trying to escape the steroid era and get back to what baseball should be, the experts reward a power hitter with the MVP. Despite the black eye baseball has endured the past five years, I guess people are still awed by the longball, and I find it almost comical that two descriptors clarifying why Howard won were:

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player on Monday after leading the majors in home runs and RBI.

He had the most homers in the major leagues since Barry Bonds hit a record 73 in 2001.

Is it a good thing to be compared to Barroid Bonds? As I already analyzed, Albert Pujols was probably more deserving. This is the third time Pujols has finished second in the MVP vote, the first two times to Bonds. How many times this season did I hear an ESPN analyst claim Albert Pujols is "the best player in the game" (and more often, "best hitter in the game") only to then declare his support for Howard because of his particularly great season. Shouldn't "the best" usually win this award?

Stacking the two up next to each other yields these certainties:

-Howard's lead in home runs and runs-batted-in outweighed Pujols' higher finish in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, and stolen bases.

-It went without much recognition that Howard finished second in the league in strikeouts with an incredible 181 whiffs. (Albert was 131st with 50 K's.)

-The often used argument of team success translating to player value did not come into play as the Cardinals made the playoffs with Rolen, Edmonds, and Eckstein fighting/sidelined by injuries. The Phillies failed to make the postseason.

-Defense isn't nearly as important as offense. Howard finished second in number of errors by all major league firstbasemen. Pujols won his first career Gold Glove Award.

Is it sour grapes? Yes. Am I still right? Yes.

UPDATE: Apparently this guy agrees with me completely. Wow, the numbers are very telling. It's not even really close; one of Howard's two statistical edges resulted in many more RBI opportunities, not clutch hitting.

NFL Surprises

1) As usual, I spent Sunday at my neighbor's place watching NFL games. He has two tvs side-by-side (a 42" plasma and a 17" LCD inside his fireplace) and the two midday games on air featured Houston and Seattle. My friends didn't understand why I was proud to sit there and watch both Seneca Wallace and Sage Rosenfels behind center on their respective teams. Sure, they might not have won, but they still represented ISU well.

2) On the flip side, it was horrible to sit there and watch Dallas beat Indy. Most Texans cheer excessively when Dallas makes a good play while losing, jump up and down and hollar the Cowboys' greatness when beating a lesser team, and will absolutely not let up when they knock of the lone undefeated, and nearly invincible, Colts. Although I had a hunch Indy would take a fall this week, due to recent subpar play, I still thought they were better than this. One thing's for sure: it's not Peyton's fault. Well, for the most part. He did overthrow recievers, particularly towards the end of the game when it would have made the difference, but the way he controls his team is unmatched. How many times did he approach the line and point out the blitz and bark commands regarding oncoming defensive formations only to have the offensive line let him down? Credit the Cowboys with fired up defense, but Peyton should have had more protection. The fact the Colts have won all their games by an average of less than a touchdown could be a bit worrisome, but I think P. Manning has replaced Tom Brady and an aging Brett Favre as the smart and talented quarterback to watch in the NFL; this just might be the Colts' year.

As for Dallas, I wished this season they had to play the Bears...

3) ...who are possibly a more all-around football team than people think. I still hear comments about how Chicago is one-dimensional with great defense and could be a better team if they got a 'real' quarterback. What these people don't know is that in addition to the #1 defense in the league, they are currently second in the league in points per game on offense. Grossman is third in the league in touchdowns (behind two guys named Manning and Brady) and happens to be first in TD %. The comeback against Arizona was an anomoly and Rex will be consistently reliable in time for the playoffs. But what really makes Chicago complete is their special teams. They lead the league in punt returns, kicking points, and last week had a record 108-yard missed field goal TD return for the second straight season. Robbie Gould is the hottest kicker in football right now having just broke the franchise record with 27 straight made field goals. He is the only kicker who hasn't missed (aside from Gramatica who is one for one on FG) with an amazing 10/10 on 40-yarders. Let's just hope they can keep this momentum going into the postseason and the Bears will be tough to beat.

4 News In Brief

A few of my recent favorite pieces from The Onion Sports--all brutally true and hilarious. Honestly, who comes up with this stuff?


John Madden Reminds Viewers Of Importance Of Quarterback To NFL Teams
DENVER—Color commentator John Madden spent the third quarter of the San Diego Chargers-Denver Broncos game explaining exactly how important it is for an NFL team to have a quarterback. "You're definitely gonna need one of these guys on your team if you want to have any success in the NFL," Madden said, explaining how having somebody standing directly behind the center when the ball is snapped provides a feeling of stability and consistency. "If Denver, for example, didn't have a quarterback, they could maybe hand the ball off to the running back, but there's absolutely no way the Broncos could pass the ball to the receivers. Frankly, I don't know how the Raiders do it." Madden later went on to talk about how different football would be if there were no end zone and the field "just went on and on forever."


Lou Piniella's First Big Move As Cubs Manager Is To Resign

CHICAGO—During his formal introduction as Cubs manager Tuesday, Lou Piniella announced that his first and only managerial decision will be to step down immediately and permanently from his new position—a bold, unexpected move that he successfully carried out just moments later. "My time in Chicago has been great, and it feels like it was just yesterday that I started this job, but I truly believe that this move will give me a better opportunity to win," Piniella said at the press conference while ceremoniously removing a Cubs hat and jersey. "I'm very excited about leaving this team." After the announcement, Cubs GM Jim Hendry praised Piniella's sound judgment and pure baseball instinct, saying that "his ability to make quick, smart decisions like this one is exactly why we hired him."


Hideki Matsui Unable To Grasp Translator's Explanation Of Where Cory Lidle Is

NEW YORK—Hideki Matsui's interpreter Roger Kahlon has been unable explain to the Yankees' Japanese-speaking left fielder that former teammate Cory Lidle died instantaneously last Wednesday after flying his four-seat, SR20 aircraft into a high-rise apartment building in Manhattan's Upper East Side. "At this point, I'm pretty sure [Matsui] thinks Lidle is either in his four-bedroom apartment or on a 20-minute plane ride to upstate New York," Kahlon said, adding that in order to make Lidle's whereabouts clear to Matsui, he has even resorted to making one of his hands into a plane, the other into a building, crashing them together, and making explosion noises. "This kind of thing just doesn't translate very well." According to Kahlon, the last time he asked Matsui where Cory Lidle was, a confused Matsui answered, "The bullpen."


Larry Coker Fights For His Job By Swinging Helmet At Athletic Director, Chancellor

CORAL GABLES, FL—University of Miami head football coach Larry Coker, afraid of being scapegoated and fired in the wake of Saturday's brawl involving Hurricanes players and those from Florida International University, defended himself by suspending 13 players, taking full responsibility for disciplining his team, and swinging a Hurricanes football helmet at the heads of athletic director Paul Dee and chancellor Donna Shalala during a press conference Wednesday. "What happened was unfortunate and does not reflect our character as a team or my philosophy as a coach," said Coker, grasping the helmet by the faceguard and delivering repeated blows to Shalala's face and neck. "However, I believe that dismissing me at this time would in fact send the wrong message about discipline to our players and the wrong message about the University of Miami to the public." Dee was physically unable to comment or breathe after the press conference, but Shalala seemed to indicate that she would handle the matter internally as soon as she stopped bleeding internally.

Re: More Bang For Your Buck

Cale Kassel said: I'd be very interested to see what these number are at the end of the season and see what, if anything changes...

Per request, here are the final standings regarding regular season wins per million dollars paid in team salaries. More teams changed position than expected. Even though it wasn't quite the all-star break when the first numbers were posted, it is still a good representation of how the teams performed in the second half of the season.

*Take note of the AL Central: two of the largest gainers were the Twins and Royals while the two biggest drops were the Tigers and White Sox.

2006 World Series Champions!

I would like to announce my triumphant return to blogging. Triumphant, of course, because I am still celebrating the Cinderella-story World Series victory by my St. Louis Cardinals. Or am I already celebrating next year’s repeat? Or am I getting a little ahead of myself…
Regardless, no one outside of Redbird Nation expected them to win (or even get into the playoffs, for that matter) and they epitomized the mentality that once you make the post-season the regular season *doesn’t matter*. It wasn’t a juggernaut lineup or potent starting rotation or dazzling defense—it was timely hitting and timely pitching. Suppan, Rolen, Weaver, Taguchi, Wainright, and last, but certainly not least, Little David Eckstein all stepped up in a huge way at the right times. Then combine that with LaRussa pulling the right strings from the foxhole.
I do realize that by now any one of our few readers must be sick and tired of my plugs for St. Louis and right now you must be rolling your eyes (if you’ve even read this far), but I tell you, it is a tremendous feeling when your team finally wins it all. I became a Bulls fan at the height of their success, amid the Jordan era while winning championships, and it almost became expected and certainly less thrilling. But if you’ve been waiting your entire life for your team to get to the top, especially after fear they may have missed their chance two years earlier and came into this October huge underdogs, it is so much sweeter. Cale, you know what I'm talking about. (I will admit their drought hasn’t been my entire life, as their last WS title was in 1982—twenty-three days after I was born. I also looked up the date of my birth and it happened to be the very day St. Louis won its very first division title. You see, being a Cardinal was my destiny.)
Anyways, I will cease gloating and just sit here with the permanent grin that will last me through the off-season. Come April we get to do it all over again, with new heroes and new villains and new underdogs, and I can’t wait. Maybe next year we’ll get that White Sox-Cardinals October matchup. Maybe it’ll be the Cubs. Riiight. Either way, baseball truly is a sport unlike any other.


UPDATE: I think The Onion speaks on behalf of all non-Cardinal fans.