September 2009
48 posts
2 tags
Minor Leagues Strike a Blow Against Fashion
As a quick follow-up to my previous column about MLB batting helmets, breaking news: Minor League Baseball announced that the Rawlings S-100 will be mandatory for all Minor League players starting in 2010. If this is really a set-up to grandfather the S-100 into the Majors, Jeff Francoeur’s runway career may be in an imminent danger….
-T
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Bron as a Free Agent →
In case you guys missed it, here’s ESPN’s projection on where LeBron ends up after this season. 38 votes CLE, 8 votes NYK.
August 2009
71 posts
3 tags
BQE vs. DA
In my mind, the Browns have an interesting decision to make at the quarterback position. And when I say “the Browns” I really mean Eric Mangini because let’s be honest, we all know who’s calling the shots.
On one hand, you have Brady Quinn, who had a very high completion percentage in the pre-season (67.7% through 31 attempts) with 1 TD and 1 INT but little regular...
Random Thoughts On My First Visit To Browns...
Well, thanks to Timbo, I attended my first game at the not so new Cleveland Browns Stadium last night. I had awesome seats, Row 1 (which is really the third row??) in the South End Zone. So, here’s my thoughts:
Browns will be much improved this year - they appear more diciplined, better tacklers, more determined. They have improved much over the last three games - but you have to be...
In Brief...Okay, Not That Brief
My plans for tonight got cancelled, so here are a few things to think about on a few guys while other sources float around different, less relevant pieces of information and stats…
The Indians acquired Yohan Pino from Minnesota today to finish off the Carl Pavano trade. In his article on the deal, Paul Hoynes says that Pino isn’t considered a high-end prospect. I’d like to know...
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Amazing Video!
Find more videos like this on Allen Iverson Official Fan Club
Got this via Twitter from my man E-Snow (@NBATVEric) - who I once corresponded with about Cinco de Mayo, but that’s another story.
The video is a “short sneak peek video of me working out with E Snow.”
The “me” in that sentence is future Hall of Famer Allen Inverson. He posted this video on his...
Eric Mangini Scavenger Hunt
I didn’t think I was going to have much time to post tonight, so I tried coming up with something fairly straightforward. I was looking around on the Plain Dealer’s Browns page and decided to check out the transcript of Alpha Dog’s Thursday press conference to see if there was anything of note there.
After reading the transcript, I was left marveling at Mangini’s ability...
Football Outsiders →
Site that I, regrettably, just heard about on the BS Report - and realize that I am probably ages behind on the awareness curve. Then again, I’ve been busy trying to build an actual career.
I’ll check it out and probably draw from for my pre-season football column, which I still have a couple of weeks to get up thanks to the late start of the NFL, but I have to say that the guy who...
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Do We Really Think Mangini Cares? →
Posted a lot of links today, but I like to think it’s our commentary that makes JMID interesting reading. In this case, it’s my reaction to the headline on Bud Shaw’s column:
“Mangini’s Patience With QB Competition Wearing Thin With Fans”
I’ve been informed in the past that the writers who write the columns don’t write the headlines, so I’ll...
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Cliff Lee on Indians Fans →
The above link is to a Cleveland Plain Dealer interview with Cliff Lee that, I must say, does not include any softballs from “DW” (whoever that may be, since the article is credited to Dennis Manoloff or “DM” where I come from).
I suspect the following will get a lot of run around Cleveland:
DW: Do you feel bad for the fans who see the core of their team traded, fans who...
Furrey is Wonderful, Don't You Agree
In his brief time with the Browns, I’ve decided that I like the play of Mike Furrey. (Pronounced Furry, as in Murray — Roswell, Holla).
He’s made some really nice catches, particularly on third down. He’s a hard nosed player, someone C-Town can really learn to love. I predict he will be a fan favorite by the time the year is up.
I liked him before today, but after...
The NBA Box Score Is Fixed →
Essential reading about stat keepers fixing the books for the home team in the NBA, particularly with blocks and assists, but also with rebounds and steals.
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Pinocchio Story: Part 2
My original goal with last night’s post was to make it through the main accounting tricks pulled by MLB franchises so that I could spend tonight focusing back on the bigger picture. However, I forgot a couple, and I think it’s important to lay out as much as possible so that you get a clear scope of just how fast and loose owners can play with their books.
So without further...
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Pinocchio Story: Part 1
On Thursday, August 6th, Indians team President Paul Dolan met with the press to discuss a variety of issues relating to the financial health of the franchise and the impact of their recent trades. During that meeting, Dolan projected that, due to a variety of factors, the Indians’ franchise would lose $16M this season.
The problem is that if sports economics has any credence, this...
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Completing Passes, Young Boy
I’m still accumulating thoughts and perspective for my blowout pro football article (which is currently titled “Is Football the Sport Where Intangibles Matter?” so you have a sense of where I’m going with it), but in the meantime, I wanted to drop in for some debate about the value of a quarterback’s completion percentage.
When a QB drops back to throw, his job is...
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Invasion of the Youth Prospectors
Tomorrow I’m planning on writing a much more highly involved and heavily researched column on the Dolans’ claim that the Indians will lose $16M this year. So to counterbalance that, today will just be a quick thought or two on an entirely different topic.
I had the mixed pleasure of catching some of last week’s Indians-Angels series on TV, thanks to the local Angels’...
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$Cribbs$
Magically, I was able to see most of the first half of Saturday night’s Browns-Lions game complete with commentary from Kosar and Bob Costas wanna-be Jimmy Donovan. When Josh Cribbs ran a punt back for a touchdown, Donovan loudly exclaimed:
“You know what I would do?? Renegotiate his contract!!!!”
The unprofessionalism of a play-by-play acting like a drunken, crazed...
Are You Kidding Me?
Those who were there or watched on TV, I’m reading this on Cleveland.com which claims Wedgie asked LaPorta to bunt with runners on first and second and no outs in the 7th inning.
This sounds like something completely unfathomable to me, which is why I ask the question…
Thanks for your help and support.
John Schuhmann on the 3 Ball →
Includes a breakdown on the EC Finals that reinforces a lot of what we discussed about that series when this blog was started.
Browns-Lions tonight! I want to know what it sounds like when D.A. comes out onto the field for the first time at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
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The Question: Iverson in the Hall of Fame? The...
I was provoked today by frequent provocateur Adlew Druz into a conversation about whether or not Allen Iverson should be in the basketball hall of fame.
Now, I openly admit that this is a silly debate for several reasons. The first is because there’s no such thing as a NBA Hall of Fame, only a general basketball hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, which is inexplicable to me.
The second...
Alpha Dog Keeps on Humping
Despite the fact that he said earlier that whoever didn’t start the first pre-season game would start the second game (in other words, since Quinn started the first game, DA would start the second), Alpha Dog has refused to utter those words this week, even after today’s practice.
He has yet to say “DA will start the game on Saturday”.
You have to figure that’s what...
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Mangini's Method
In preparation for what I hope will be a fairly expansive post about football in general and the NFL more specifically, I’ve doing a lot of thinking about the game - while RealGM forum activists take shots at our rebuttal to the LeBron column - and, currently, I’ve been considering the role of the head coach.
This brings me to Eric Mangini (or “Alpha Dog” as my dad likes...
This Is The Kind of Crap We're Fighting Against
Watched “Baseball Tonight,” um…tonight. Obviously, they covered Cliff “I Show You How To Do This, Son” Lee’s start in Philly. Lee’s line: complete game, 11K, 0BB, 2H, 0 ER. I feel like if you said those words out loud, recorded them, and played them backwards it would just turn into “Redrum! REDRUM!” over and over.
Anyway, after showing the...
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Big Up to Andre Aldridge
…of NBA TV. Beyond just being a solid anchor on the network, Dre has established himself as a veritable All-Star on the Twitter circuit. He is one of the handful of people I’ve encountered who has used that particular format to show another side of his personality beyond just what you see on the airwaves.
That other side of his personality is generally pretty freaking hilarious.
...
"Shaq Vs." Liveblog: Episode 1
Mike, our friend Will (AKA Holland in the Comment threads), and myself decided to do a livechat during the inaugural episode of ABC’s riveting “Shaq Vs.” reality series. We originally envisioned this as a weekly feature, but after the level of excitement involved in this one, it’s possible that we could go into joint cardiac arrest if we subject ourselves to this on a...
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LaPorta: Why Wasn't He Called Up?
Like a lot of people, I was expecting the Indians to call up Matt LaPorta after the team traded both Ben Francisco and Victor Martinez. I was surprised when they didn’t, especially since Victor played first base part-time, which is allegedly the position the organization is grooming La Porta for.
I know, I know. Andy Marte has to be looked at for 1B, too. And they needed Trevor Crowe to...
Da-wight Catches Feelings →
So, apparently, Da-wight Howard is a little “hurt” by some of the comments Shaq has made about him…since, you know, saying that he stole the Superman nickname is like totally off base, right? Or Shaq’s claim that Da-wight has no post moves. That’s obscene, right?
Not to mention I’m sure Shaq is terribly afraid of a guy who compares himself to a character in an...
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Just a Reminder
…that the inaugural episode of “Shaq Vs.” airs tomorrow at 9 PM ET on ABC. For a taste of what we can expect, here’s what Shaq had to say on Sportscenter tonight about his duel with Ben Roethlisberger (who I expect to develop a new nickname for by this time tomorrow).
“That play in the Super Bowl [with Santonio Holmes catching the go-ahead TD] - if you give me the...
More NYC Comedy
This is a small bit from ESPN Insider, reporting on another story from our boys over at RealGM that the Knicks have cut off negotiations with all free agent point guards and are making a push to deal for Ricky Rubio, who is “cheap.”
What’s hysterical about this isn’t the fact that Rubio’s buyout has always been the issue, which unless Donnie Walsh is going to run...
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Baseball Helmets: The Melon Conundrum
An article appeared late last week in The New York Times about MLB batting helmets and player safety. The occasion for said article is the pending release of a new helmet by Rawlings called the S100 (pictured above).
The structure and materials of the S100 make it the most protective batting helmet in history. It gets its name from the fact that in laboratory testing, it was able to withstand...
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Guest Blog: The Grown-Ass Man
What follows is a guest blog from my aforementioned friend - and Celtics Madman - Adlew Druz, who’s working on putting together his own blog on the shamrocks…which we look forward to having many battles with…but in the meantime he wanted to share his feelings on Leon Powe with us Cavs aficionados.
There’s also chatter about Big Baby Davis, which I expect Holland may have...
More Random Thoughts on a Sunday Night
Been thinking tonight, needed to get these items into the real world
NickNames (Or Lack of Them)
I had a discussion today with Mikey and Tim’s Grandma and Grandpa - and they were lamenting the fact that kids today don’t have nicknames like they did when they were growing up. They sighted examples of the kid down the street with “big ears”, they called him...
Vick Blogs on Russell Simmons Website →
Not sure how widely publicized this will be, so I’m putting it here in case anyone’s interested.
You can see Vick doesn’t exactly want to say “the environment I grew up in made me do this” because, I would argue, he probably believes the majority of people won’t be sympathetic of this idea.
However, I believe they should be - I feel that it’s the truth.
...
Apocalypse Now To Camp + Rebounding
Cavs are going to bring Rob Kurz to camp on a non-guaranteed contact. This comes after Joe Smith decided Friday night that there are better music industry connections in Atlanta and agreed to sign with the Hawks.
I analyzed Kurz here in brief already.
On Twitter, Windhorst described Kurz as a “quality shooter.”
Seeing that he shoots 38.9% from the floor…I’m not so sure...
1st Browns Pre-Season Game of '09 (Big Dawg)
I presume Dad.com will have this covered, but since Tim and I won’t be able to see the Browns pre-season game tonight (it’s not nationally televised, shockingly) drop your comments on the game - if you’re watching - in the comments thread below.
We want to know what the beginning of the Mangini era looks like.
Alpha Dog Mangini Strikes Again
It’s about 10:30 PM EST, the night before the Brown’s first preseason game. I just read a report that says Mangini han’t publicly announced who his starting QB will be for tomorrow’s game. Supposedly, he has told both Quinn and Anderson who will start - but, I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Here’s a quote from Cleveland.com from a post about 2 hours ago:
...
I Like Justin Masterson
“It’s not about throwing as hard as I can, it’s about executing the pitches. I’d rather be able to command 93-96 with movement than blow smoke and get hit. You’ve got to find the happy medium.”
My man.
I Believe I Had This One
Mike Vick’s agent confirmed that his client finalized a 2-year deal with Philly this afternoon. So much for all those people claiming no team would ever want to taint themselves by signing an ex-con.
Also, I’m thrilled that PETA will have to contend with the fact that Vick’s new team has another animal mascot. Too bad the Browns couldn’t have gotten him - the comic...
RealGM's Piece of Comic Fiction
Earlier today, my boy Adlew Druz - Celtics madman and Boston transplant living in NYC - alerted me to an article on RealGM entitled “10 Reasons LeBron Could Choose New York”
Knowing that Tim would thoroughly enjoy the post, I forwarded it to him and then got the following response via email:
“OMFG…do you want to write about this tonight or should I? Maybe we split it...
Rios + Peavy + Market Value
A fairly big deal was made over the weekend about the White Sox picking up Alex Rios’s contract when they claimed him off of waivers from the Blue Jays. Rios signed a 7 year $69.8M deal with the Blue Jays in 2008. The White Sox will pay the rest of the $5.9M he’s owed for this season, $9.7 million in 2010, $12 million in 2011 and 2012, and $12.5 million in 2013 and 2014.
The Sox...
BJT68 Guest Report: Browns Training Camp
Friend and commenter BJT68 took a trip - I believe - with Kosar19 to Browns Training Camp today. What follows is his first hand account:
I went to Browns Training Camp today and it was much more focused than last year. The whistles blew and everyone was hustling and playing hard. Braylon tweaked his ankle early and rode a bike the rest of the practice. As for the QB situation, it wasn’t...
Michael Moore: Zombie Basketball Critic
I was reading an article in the latest issue of Rolling Stone tonight about how Obama has performed so far as a President. The article itself is really a roundtable interview with CNN analyst David Gergen, noted economist Paul Krugman, and provocative documentarian Michael Moore.
During a discussion of the President’s efforts to shut down Guantanamo, Moore had this to say:
“Sadly,...
Hoynes Goes In on Shapiro →
I must say, if you have the time, watch this interview Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer has with Mark Shapiro. He definitely doesn’t back down - and Shapiro presents an interesting portrait of the front office perspective for a mid-market MLB team like the Indians, a lot of the issues we’ve been discussing here come up.
Notable is the fact that Shapiro seems convinced that Cleveland is...
It's All About Carrasco!
Carlos Carrasco, who you’ll remember most Indians reporters characterized as “struggling” in Triple-A before the Indians acquired him as part of the Cliff Lee deal, was dominant tonight, striking out 10 in 8 innings, walking none, and giving up no home runs in an International League victory.
Also, BJT68, great comment in the old post I’m referring to - I’m sorry I...
It's All About Asdrubal!
I know that you are all expecting me to trash Jhonny tonight, but I will refrain. All I want to say is if you saw the Indians game tonight - you saw A MAJOR LEAGUE SHORTSTOP - and his name is Asdrubal.
He made four very good plays tonight, two bordered on excellent, the last I’d say was pretty damn good. It was a sliding stop of a ground ball - to the right of second base - when they had...
Don't Worry About the Government (or the Celtics)
First off, I would like to congratulate myself for likely being the first sports blogger to ever title a post after a Talking Heads track. I expect my “Hipster-Sports Blogger of the Year” trophy is being engraved as I type this sentence. I also expect that trophy to be shaped like guy wearing a lumberjack plaid, cut-off shorts, and an unseasonable beard.
With that out of the...
Who Is This Guy?
I haven’t specifically gone on the record saying this, but in the non-sequitar that often is the Browns QB debate, I’m a Derek Anderson guy. The reasons are simple - he had one good season, which is a lot more than Brady Quinn has had.
Of course, Quinn also had a commercial with the company that created Andro - the substance Mark McGwire was taking during the home run race with...
Pluto Gets It Right
I’ve been hard on Terry, you guys know this, but here he drops the facts…
6. Very few Midwestern teams are being sold. Dan Gilbert bid on the Milwaukee Brewers before purchasing the Cavaliers. His final bid was in the $200 million range. Why didn’t he go higher, since he paid $375 million for the Cavaliers? Because the Cavs have LeBron James, and because they play in a league...
Peralta's Second Half - Reminder
Lots of people - my dad included - clammoring for Jhonny Peralta’s head because he’s playing well in the second half, like he always does, after a sub-par first half.
But how much better is he really doing?
Peralta’s batting average in the first “half” of the season, everything prior to the all-star break, was .257 or 78 hits in 303 at bats. This was across 79...
"Dad-dot Called a Strike...and Look She's Smitten"
With another Indians win today, the subject of how much the team strikes out was raised again on Paul Hoynes’s blog.
This has long been a point of contention for me. It’s been asserted in the past, and again today by Hoynesie, that the Indians front office doesn’t care about strikeouts. They don’t think high strikeout players are a bad thing.
I’ve long believed...