Ramble On...
Baseball’s Hot Stove is underway with some interesting transactions via trades and free agent signings (which I will talk about last), Nets kill me, and I will never bet on the Kansas Jay Hawks ever again. We’ll talk some NBA, College B-Ball, Michael Irvin and more…
Were you actually shocked that Michael “I Can’t Get Enough Cocaine” (well, replace “Cocaine” with “Crack” for this incident) Irvin was caught with a crack pipe in his vehicle last Friday? I’m not. He has a history, a record, of being arrested on drug charges such as cocaine and some Mary Jane. Why would anyone think or believe that Irvin was over his sniffing coke and smoking the reefer, or in this case, smoking the crack. C’mon, haven’t you seen him on the Sunday and Monday Night NFL Countdown? Why do you think he’s so crazy? Because he’s on all sorts of drugs. Why do you think he sticks up for T.O. and believes that Favre would have turned the Eagles season around? Because the man is on crack. On top of that, just take a look at his suits. If that doesn’t point the finger at him for being on crack, I don’t know what else does.
Speaking of crack and suits, is Daryl Johnston on crack too? Did anyone see the suit he was wearing on Sunday during the Giants/Seahawks game? The man had on a teal suit jacket, a navy blue vest, faded light blue and white striped collared shirt and red tie. He looked absolutely ridiculous. What was he thinking? Is he married? Who allowed him to appear on television like that?
Also more about Moose besides his jacket, and before I get into that whole Jay Feeley debacle. Daryl Johnston was all over Mike Holmgren’s jock during the game. Every play call that was made, Johnston made an “Oh” face and praised him. It was utterly annoying. That deserves a few kicks in the shins. Then again, if he gets kicked in the shins, that means he will fall to his knees, which I think is the position Johnston would prefer to be in while in front of Mike “The Walrus” Holmgren.
Now onto the Giants game. Jay Feeley looked so alone on the bench in Overtime. Oh, wait, could that be because he missed not 1, not 2, but 3 consecutive game winning field goals. Ok, ok, I understand him missing the 53 yard FG, but he had one that was 47 and another for 42 or 43 yards. He could have, or at least should have, hit 1 of those 2. If I were on the Giants, I’d be sure to give Feeley an atomic wedgie.
Thanksgiving was a good time last week. I ate a lot of ham, yes, that’s right, ham, not turkey. I hate turkey. Anyway, I watched the two football games, the Lions/Falcons game and the Denver/Dallas game. Of course the Lions SUCKED. But at least the Denver/Dallas game was entertaining. A game that went into O.T. and cost my buddy Bords some cash, all because Ron Dayne is out of shape and was unable to score a TD on that 45 yard run in O.T., which just led to the inevitable Jason Elam game winning FG, which gave the push. But Ron Dayne had a nice game filling in for Tatum Bell. Where was this Ron Dayne when the Giants drafted him 6 years ago?
Friday night, the same day Irvin was arrested for having a crack pipe (And on another note, how can you be so stupid to carry paraphernalia with you in your car after you have been arrested twice for drugs---although the marijuana charges were later dropped. It is beyond me. Only a man on crack can be that stupid. That is, of course, on top of his suits.) Well, anyway on Friday night I had some people over my place for some poker. Everyone drank, of course I lost money, and then myself, Bords and Cheetah put down some money on the Over in the Nets/Suns game. I mean, c’mon, they gotta cover the over, right? There’s no way they can’t, right? Both teams are horrible defensively, so it’s a given. Am I right? WRONG. I vow that I will never put money on another Nets game EVER. (Note: The three of us then put money for the Under in the 2nd half. Good thing we actually hit on that. But for now on, I will never put money on a Nets game.)
How did U.T. almost blow the game against Texas A&M last Friday?
Tim Duncan got me my first triple double of the season in NBA Live. I am averaging about 168 points a game. My first 5 picks in the NBA Live Dynasty Mode were Duncan, LeBron, Zach Randolph, Grant Hill and Earl Boykins. And my bench consists of: Eddie Griffin, Stephen Jackson, Dan Dickau, Josh Childress, Bruce Bowen, Dajuan Wagner and Kyle Korver. Put it this way, my team is unstoppable and I am going to beat the Bulls 1997-1998 record of 72 wins. Heck, I think I’m going undefeated.
Saturday night I went out to Blackthorn. It’s a pretty cool place. Cheap drinks. So my buddy Berger and I were watching the Notre Dame game (He’s a PSU Nittany Lion fan, and alum of PSU) so he, of course, was rooting against Notre Dame. The kicker (I have no clue of the kid’s name) had missed a PAT (Extra Point) which cost them big time, along with a FG. He single handedly almost blew the game for them because of that missed extra point. I felt really bad for him. But not that bad. And to think, I was about to take Notre Dame in that game as 13 point favorites over Stanford. I am grateful for Bergs telling me not to take that game.
My hockey fantasy team is starting to pick it up. Let’s hope it can continue like this.
I am officially done with 1 of my fantasy football leagues. I have a very slim chance of making the playoffs in my Garwood league, the team I share with Billy, called Laces Out (for those who can’t pick up the reference, and shame on you that don’t, it’s a bite off from Ace Ventura). My other league, my team Ray Finkle, has the most points in the league, but fighting for a playoff spot. Very important game this week. It is the last game of the regular season, playoffs start next week, and I am playing the team that is one game ahead of me in the division. If I win this game, I get into the playoffs, and he doesn’t. Please, let’s all hope that I get in, or else I won’t be a pleasant person to conversate with.
And now…Baseball…
I want the A’s to sign Mike Piazza. They don’t really have a DH anymore, which Hatteberg gone. What they have is C: Jason Kendall, 1B: Dan Johnson, 2B: Mark Ellis, 3B: Eric Chavez, SS: Bobby Crosby, LF: Bobby Kielty/Jay Payton, CF: Mark Kotsay, RF: Nick Swisher. If they added Piazza to that lineup, it would be much added power to the middle of the order. And then Piazza can spell Kendall from catching once or twice a week. Piazza is also a great clubhouse guy, and would be great for this young team.
Ok, I’m not very happy though with one of the A’s acquisitions. Why are they giving $21 million to Esteban Loaiza? That is absolutely absurd. They have 6 guys who can start (Blanton, Haren, Harden, Zito, Saarloos and Joe Kennedy), along with rookie Dan Meyer who should be over his troubles from last year, and 2 other guys who spot start if need be (Juan Cruz and Justin Duchscherer). So why sign Loaiza to such a large deal? Why are you signing him for $7 mil/year? You could have had Tim Hudson for $10 million. This just frustrates me. Now rumor has it that this makes room for Barry Zito to be traded away. Look, I understand that the A’s are a small market team and the only way for them to be competitive is to build up their farm system, have them play for their major league club for anywhere between 5-7 years, then before they become high priced free agents (like Zito in this case, and Hudson a year ago), they trade them away for top prospects. But hold onto at least one of your players that was and still is the core of the foundation. Please, that is all I am asking you to do.
The Florida Marlins started their fire sale with the trade of Josh Beckett and 3B Mike Lowell to the Boston Red Sox for prospects. I don’t know how I feel about this trade. Josh Beckett, although only 25 years old, has already been on the DL 5 times in his career. Mike Lowell had an off year last year, but in order for the Red Sox to obtain Beckett, they needed to take on Lowell’s contract as well. Yes, the Red Sox gave up top prospects, but they haven’t proven anything in the majors, yet. Beckett, on the other hand, has proven to be a big game pitcher (look at the complete game in Game 7 of the 2003 World Series against the NY Yankees at Yankee Stadium). Mike Lowell had a bad year last y ear, but he had 3 very good, impressive years prior. But it’s Beckett’s health that concerns me. But you know what, the Red Sox had to take a chance on this deal and give up some of their top prospects in their farm system in order to get a legit ACE.
As for the other part of the fire sale, the Marlins traded away their 1B slugger, Carlos Delgado to the New York Mets (this kind of surprised me). The Mets gave away a pitching prospect and C/1B Mike Jacobs in this deal. The Mets also received $7 million towards Delgado’s contract. I don’t know how I feel about this trade for the Mets, but I am dedicating a column for the Mets acquisitions and will elaborate more on that.
Then finally, the Florida Marlins just traded away Luis Castillo (who was actually with the team in ’97 when the won the WS, but at that time, Craig Counsel was their starting 2B. But he has been plagued by injuries, but I think this is a good trade for the Twins. They get a legitimate top leadoff hitter, or you can bat him 2nd (depending on if you want to keep Shannon Stewart at leadoff, I personally would put Castillo at 1, and Stewart at 2). He is an excellent defensive 2B, gold glove material, and has a lot of speed, and can steal bases, although he has only stolen 52 bases in the last 3 seasons. But those numbers dropped due to injuries and moving behind Juan Pierre in the order to the 2 hole, which is exactly why I would put Castillo at the top of the lineup because he can steal bases. Stewart isn’t much of a threat. He will also get a lot of triples, especially in what was formerly known as the Metrodome, and will score a ton of runs batting in front of Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau (who should put up better numbers). And also imagine if the Twins do sign Mike Piazza? They will have a pretty dangerous lineup to go with their already formidable pitching staff and bull pen.
The Chicago White Sox resigned Paul Konerko to a 5year/$60 million contract. Konerko took less money than what was offered to him by the Orioles ($65mil, and reportedly were going to up the price) and the Angels. I am happy for the White Sox, especially after acquiring Jim Thome from the Phillies (and getting the Phils to pay a decent chunk of the contract). Their lineup is more thunderous which should make them the favorites to repeat. But how often does a player resign with their team, and for less money, because he believes that can win the championship again and because he loves the place he plays. I tip my hat to Paul Konerko.
I also tip my hat to Brian Giles. He received a 3 year/$30 million offer, and resigned with the San Diego Padres. He too, like Konerko, could have received more money else where (Yankees or Dodgers), but decided to take a hometown discount and stay with the Padres.
And also worth noting, the Yankees biggest acquisition of the free agent signing period (Matsui doesn’t really count, because he didn’t technically become a free agent and available to other teams), back up catcher, Kelly Stinnett.
Until next time…
Were you actually shocked that Michael “I Can’t Get Enough Cocaine” (well, replace “Cocaine” with “Crack” for this incident) Irvin was caught with a crack pipe in his vehicle last Friday? I’m not. He has a history, a record, of being arrested on drug charges such as cocaine and some Mary Jane. Why would anyone think or believe that Irvin was over his sniffing coke and smoking the reefer, or in this case, smoking the crack. C’mon, haven’t you seen him on the Sunday and Monday Night NFL Countdown? Why do you think he’s so crazy? Because he’s on all sorts of drugs. Why do you think he sticks up for T.O. and believes that Favre would have turned the Eagles season around? Because the man is on crack. On top of that, just take a look at his suits. If that doesn’t point the finger at him for being on crack, I don’t know what else does.
Speaking of crack and suits, is Daryl Johnston on crack too? Did anyone see the suit he was wearing on Sunday during the Giants/Seahawks game? The man had on a teal suit jacket, a navy blue vest, faded light blue and white striped collared shirt and red tie. He looked absolutely ridiculous. What was he thinking? Is he married? Who allowed him to appear on television like that?
Also more about Moose besides his jacket, and before I get into that whole Jay Feeley debacle. Daryl Johnston was all over Mike Holmgren’s jock during the game. Every play call that was made, Johnston made an “Oh” face and praised him. It was utterly annoying. That deserves a few kicks in the shins. Then again, if he gets kicked in the shins, that means he will fall to his knees, which I think is the position Johnston would prefer to be in while in front of Mike “The Walrus” Holmgren.
Now onto the Giants game. Jay Feeley looked so alone on the bench in Overtime. Oh, wait, could that be because he missed not 1, not 2, but 3 consecutive game winning field goals. Ok, ok, I understand him missing the 53 yard FG, but he had one that was 47 and another for 42 or 43 yards. He could have, or at least should have, hit 1 of those 2. If I were on the Giants, I’d be sure to give Feeley an atomic wedgie.
Thanksgiving was a good time last week. I ate a lot of ham, yes, that’s right, ham, not turkey. I hate turkey. Anyway, I watched the two football games, the Lions/Falcons game and the Denver/Dallas game. Of course the Lions SUCKED. But at least the Denver/Dallas game was entertaining. A game that went into O.T. and cost my buddy Bords some cash, all because Ron Dayne is out of shape and was unable to score a TD on that 45 yard run in O.T., which just led to the inevitable Jason Elam game winning FG, which gave the push. But Ron Dayne had a nice game filling in for Tatum Bell. Where was this Ron Dayne when the Giants drafted him 6 years ago?
Friday night, the same day Irvin was arrested for having a crack pipe (And on another note, how can you be so stupid to carry paraphernalia with you in your car after you have been arrested twice for drugs---although the marijuana charges were later dropped. It is beyond me. Only a man on crack can be that stupid. That is, of course, on top of his suits.) Well, anyway on Friday night I had some people over my place for some poker. Everyone drank, of course I lost money, and then myself, Bords and Cheetah put down some money on the Over in the Nets/Suns game. I mean, c’mon, they gotta cover the over, right? There’s no way they can’t, right? Both teams are horrible defensively, so it’s a given. Am I right? WRONG. I vow that I will never put money on another Nets game EVER. (Note: The three of us then put money for the Under in the 2nd half. Good thing we actually hit on that. But for now on, I will never put money on a Nets game.)
How did U.T. almost blow the game against Texas A&M last Friday?
Tim Duncan got me my first triple double of the season in NBA Live. I am averaging about 168 points a game. My first 5 picks in the NBA Live Dynasty Mode were Duncan, LeBron, Zach Randolph, Grant Hill and Earl Boykins. And my bench consists of: Eddie Griffin, Stephen Jackson, Dan Dickau, Josh Childress, Bruce Bowen, Dajuan Wagner and Kyle Korver. Put it this way, my team is unstoppable and I am going to beat the Bulls 1997-1998 record of 72 wins. Heck, I think I’m going undefeated.
Saturday night I went out to Blackthorn. It’s a pretty cool place. Cheap drinks. So my buddy Berger and I were watching the Notre Dame game (He’s a PSU Nittany Lion fan, and alum of PSU) so he, of course, was rooting against Notre Dame. The kicker (I have no clue of the kid’s name) had missed a PAT (Extra Point) which cost them big time, along with a FG. He single handedly almost blew the game for them because of that missed extra point. I felt really bad for him. But not that bad. And to think, I was about to take Notre Dame in that game as 13 point favorites over Stanford. I am grateful for Bergs telling me not to take that game.
My hockey fantasy team is starting to pick it up. Let’s hope it can continue like this.
I am officially done with 1 of my fantasy football leagues. I have a very slim chance of making the playoffs in my Garwood league, the team I share with Billy, called Laces Out (for those who can’t pick up the reference, and shame on you that don’t, it’s a bite off from Ace Ventura). My other league, my team Ray Finkle, has the most points in the league, but fighting for a playoff spot. Very important game this week. It is the last game of the regular season, playoffs start next week, and I am playing the team that is one game ahead of me in the division. If I win this game, I get into the playoffs, and he doesn’t. Please, let’s all hope that I get in, or else I won’t be a pleasant person to conversate with.
And now…Baseball…
I want the A’s to sign Mike Piazza. They don’t really have a DH anymore, which Hatteberg gone. What they have is C: Jason Kendall, 1B: Dan Johnson, 2B: Mark Ellis, 3B: Eric Chavez, SS: Bobby Crosby, LF: Bobby Kielty/Jay Payton, CF: Mark Kotsay, RF: Nick Swisher. If they added Piazza to that lineup, it would be much added power to the middle of the order. And then Piazza can spell Kendall from catching once or twice a week. Piazza is also a great clubhouse guy, and would be great for this young team.
Ok, I’m not very happy though with one of the A’s acquisitions. Why are they giving $21 million to Esteban Loaiza? That is absolutely absurd. They have 6 guys who can start (Blanton, Haren, Harden, Zito, Saarloos and Joe Kennedy), along with rookie Dan Meyer who should be over his troubles from last year, and 2 other guys who spot start if need be (Juan Cruz and Justin Duchscherer). So why sign Loaiza to such a large deal? Why are you signing him for $7 mil/year? You could have had Tim Hudson for $10 million. This just frustrates me. Now rumor has it that this makes room for Barry Zito to be traded away. Look, I understand that the A’s are a small market team and the only way for them to be competitive is to build up their farm system, have them play for their major league club for anywhere between 5-7 years, then before they become high priced free agents (like Zito in this case, and Hudson a year ago), they trade them away for top prospects. But hold onto at least one of your players that was and still is the core of the foundation. Please, that is all I am asking you to do.
The Florida Marlins started their fire sale with the trade of Josh Beckett and 3B Mike Lowell to the Boston Red Sox for prospects. I don’t know how I feel about this trade. Josh Beckett, although only 25 years old, has already been on the DL 5 times in his career. Mike Lowell had an off year last year, but in order for the Red Sox to obtain Beckett, they needed to take on Lowell’s contract as well. Yes, the Red Sox gave up top prospects, but they haven’t proven anything in the majors, yet. Beckett, on the other hand, has proven to be a big game pitcher (look at the complete game in Game 7 of the 2003 World Series against the NY Yankees at Yankee Stadium). Mike Lowell had a bad year last y ear, but he had 3 very good, impressive years prior. But it’s Beckett’s health that concerns me. But you know what, the Red Sox had to take a chance on this deal and give up some of their top prospects in their farm system in order to get a legit ACE.
As for the other part of the fire sale, the Marlins traded away their 1B slugger, Carlos Delgado to the New York Mets (this kind of surprised me). The Mets gave away a pitching prospect and C/1B Mike Jacobs in this deal. The Mets also received $7 million towards Delgado’s contract. I don’t know how I feel about this trade for the Mets, but I am dedicating a column for the Mets acquisitions and will elaborate more on that.
Then finally, the Florida Marlins just traded away Luis Castillo (who was actually with the team in ’97 when the won the WS, but at that time, Craig Counsel was their starting 2B. But he has been plagued by injuries, but I think this is a good trade for the Twins. They get a legitimate top leadoff hitter, or you can bat him 2nd (depending on if you want to keep Shannon Stewart at leadoff, I personally would put Castillo at 1, and Stewart at 2). He is an excellent defensive 2B, gold glove material, and has a lot of speed, and can steal bases, although he has only stolen 52 bases in the last 3 seasons. But those numbers dropped due to injuries and moving behind Juan Pierre in the order to the 2 hole, which is exactly why I would put Castillo at the top of the lineup because he can steal bases. Stewart isn’t much of a threat. He will also get a lot of triples, especially in what was formerly known as the Metrodome, and will score a ton of runs batting in front of Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau (who should put up better numbers). And also imagine if the Twins do sign Mike Piazza? They will have a pretty dangerous lineup to go with their already formidable pitching staff and bull pen.
The Chicago White Sox resigned Paul Konerko to a 5year/$60 million contract. Konerko took less money than what was offered to him by the Orioles ($65mil, and reportedly were going to up the price) and the Angels. I am happy for the White Sox, especially after acquiring Jim Thome from the Phillies (and getting the Phils to pay a decent chunk of the contract). Their lineup is more thunderous which should make them the favorites to repeat. But how often does a player resign with their team, and for less money, because he believes that can win the championship again and because he loves the place he plays. I tip my hat to Paul Konerko.
I also tip my hat to Brian Giles. He received a 3 year/$30 million offer, and resigned with the San Diego Padres. He too, like Konerko, could have received more money else where (Yankees or Dodgers), but decided to take a hometown discount and stay with the Padres.
And also worth noting, the Yankees biggest acquisition of the free agent signing period (Matsui doesn’t really count, because he didn’t technically become a free agent and available to other teams), back up catcher, Kelly Stinnett.
Until next time…
posted by Mark D. Miller at 12:37 PM
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