The Inverted W

Big shout out to my brother Steven for bringing this article to my attention today! With the news that the great and powerful Stephen Strasburg has been put on the 15 Day Disabled List due to a strained shoulder, it has opened the debate floor as to why Strasburg already has arm problems. The best part about this article is that it was written over a year ago. 

I had always been aware of power pitchers who are guilty of bringing their elbows higher than their shoulder plane were usually ripe for devasting injury which sometimes required the dreaded Tommy John surgery i.e. Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Joel Zumaya to name a few. I wasn't aware that there is an actual term for that mechanical flaw, and it's called The Inverted W (pictured above). Maybe it's part of the reason why Strasburg has shoulder problems already, or maybe it isn't. I tend to think it is, especially in light of Strasburg's 90 Mile an Hour Changeup.

One thing I can say with confidence however, is that I don't think we as baseball fans should be expecting a long career from one of the most legendary draft picks to ever come out in Baseball History.

15 Second Rule

I've been meaning to get to this, but just in case you were wondering I LOVE that Rick Pitino being nothing more than a hypocritical dirtball scumbag is now officially public record. One of the things that makes Pitino absolutely deplorable is that he will use death as a means to try and convince people that he's a nice guy, and/or people should leave him alone. His list of deaths that he's used over the years include his late son Daniel's death of a congenital heart defect at the age of 6 months, his brother in law Billy Minardi's death on 9/11, and even Ted Kennedy's death when Pitino had his infamous press conference when told the media to stop reporting these "lies". Pitino, who once wrote a self-help book called (and I'm not making this up) "Success Is A Choice" despite running the Boston Celtics into the ground as well as have a "holier than thou" arrogantly catholic approach to his life and family, while being the subject of numerous recruiting violations over the years.

Now comes word that Mister Integrity himself not only has affairs (albeit 15 seconds worth) outside of his perfect marriage - even though once again he demanded that the media stop reporting these "lies" - but also didn't mind putting aside those supposed die hard catholic beliefs aside so that his WHOOOOARE could have an abortion.

Deadspin and Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio are covering the public flogging of Pitino like a blanket, and they couldn't have found a more deserving target. No one escapes their past Rick, especially when it's built on lies and hypocrisy.

What......WHAT?!

So I'm sure you have all heard the bizarre nature of this equally bizarre story by now yes? To quickly sum up : It was on ESPN.com, then it was removed, Deadspin recovered it and made it available, ESPN gave a B.S. Spin Cycle answer of "it was inadvertently put on the server", as to why it was removed.
After reading it, I can honestly say it wasn't really that entertaining, or intriguing, or shocking for lack of a better word. By all other stories I've read or heard about celebrities or athletes in Las Vegas, LeBron's experience was incredibly tame, to the point where I'm convinced that I'M actually capable of partying way harder than LeBron when I'm in Vegas!

There are any number of theories as to why it was pulled from the website. Everything from, "It makes LeBron look like a child" to "It looks bad if it seems that many NBA players go to Las Vegas all the time because of the gambling availability" and so on, are all perfectly good enough guesses. If I had to come up with a reason as to why, I would guess that it's mainly because it specifically names Maverick Carter as the man behind "The Decision" idea, and it makes ESPN look like they are subservient to superstar athletes, rather than jouranlists.

If that's the case than it just further shows how completely out of touch ESPN really is. Everyone with a three digit I.Q. already knows that ESPN is nothing more than a well-oiled P.R. Machine with zero journalistic integrity, and if they didn't before "The Decision", they certainly know it now. Anyway as I said, the story and the way it's been handled is bizarre, and if it gives people like me another reason to hate LeBron so be it?

Now if I could JUST get confirmation of he juicy rumore I heard that someone went up to Dwayne Wade and asked "How does it feel to be Scottie Pippen?", and that there's now tension between Wade and LBJ...

Open Post To My Guy Mike

One of the joys or writing this blog is to get reactions like the one I received from my friend Mike, who is a very knowledgeable and impassioned sports fan. It's guys like him and Rossi, that will go tooth and nail with anyone when they think they're right, and I'm more than happy to accommodate either one of them when they feel the need to come at The Beard. So a big "Keep up the great work guys!" to not only Mike and Rossi, but to Joe, Steven, Thomas and the rest of you dear readers as well! You make Whitey Guccione a fun place to be!

With all that said, I'd like to post a rebuttal to Mike's "Moneyball" comments, but since I don't think I'll have enough room in the comments section, I'll just take a whole post instead since Mike provided a whole lot to chew on, and I'll need to systematically go through certain excerpts.

1. "The job of a GM is to get the team in that position in the first place.": No, the job of a GM is to build a team that wins the World Series, period. GM's have no other expectations whatsoever. Everything they do is designed to achieve the goal of a World Championship. Any GM that's happy or satisfied with anything less than that, will be let go/terminated by any self-respecting organization, and being happy with just going to the playoffs from a fan perspective is nothing but Loser Talk, plain and simple. You can ask your heroes Boers & Bernstein if you don't believe me.

2. "Hudson, Mulder, and Zito were part of Beane's pitching evaluation." : That's perfectly fine, but I would ask you this. Are you aware of where Hudson, Mulder, and Zito went in their respective drafts? Don't worry I'll spare you having to look it up. Hudson was drafted in the 6th round from some small, no-name school called AUBURN. Hudson represents the lowest picked of the three. Mark Mulder was taken #2 overall in the 1998 Draft...number 2. Barry Zito was selected #9 overall in the 1999 Draft. So what's more believable? That Billy Beane scoured the earth using every available resource he had to find these three pitchers that nobody had ever heard of and they turned out to be 3 of the best pitchers in the league because Beane believed in them, or that those 3 were very well known and highly evaluated pitchers going into their respective drafts and the A's were just plain lucky enough to be in position to draft them? I think the latter part is more accurate, so let's not act like Billy Beane's genius evaluation skills were responsible for their success when it's more likely they were going to be successful no matter what.

3. "It's unfair to judge Beane's efforts based on the playoffs. He admits his system applies only to the regular season where the sample size is large enough to evaluate what's going on." : OK, well what's been the problem lately then? I hate to bring this to your attention but his wonderful system hasn't worked too well. In the past three seasons since their last playoff appearance they've finished at least 10 games under .500 each season, and the best part is, their pitching has been pretty good the entire time. Check out this breakdown:

2007 A's AL Rankings : Team ERA (6th out of 14); Team Runs Scored Per Game (11th out of 14)
2008 A's AL Rankings : Team ERA (5th out of 14); Team Runs Scored Per Game (14th out of 14)
2009 A's AL Rankings : Team ERA (3rd out of 14); Team Runs Scored Per Game (9th out of 14)
2010 A's AL Rankings : Team ERA (2nd out of 14); Teams Runs Scored Per Game (11th out of 14)

So while they may not have The Big 3 anymore, it's not like they haven't gotten any solid pitching since they've finished in the top half of the American League in Team ERA the entire time, wouldn't you agree? Assuming you do, you also have to concede that the A's Offense has been terrible the past 3-4 seasons. When you have a book written about how brilliant you are for valuing On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage above all other offensive metrics, and your team that YOU put together still finish in the bottom half - including a last in the league ranking one season - in Runs Scored Per Game, that is a HUGE Indictment of your ability and effectiveness as a General Manager. Or is the sample size not big enough?

In closing Mike, I would also ask you these questions. I had heard from an anonymous source, that you place a tremendous over-emphasis on regular season win totals in baseball. Is this true? If so I would like to ask you where the 1993 San Francisco Giants rank in your "greatest baseball teams of all time"? That team won 103 games and didn't make the playoffs. Since I'm one of these people that believes Championships are the best way to rank the greatest teams of all time, the 93 Giants don't really come up much in that conversation, but I'm curious to see if they come up in your conversations?

I can't wait for your comments buddy!

Why? (Part II)

As I was driving south on I-880 on my way to work today, I noticed a funny thing at the Oakland Alameda-Coliseum. The tarp covering the top rows of seats was missing. This is unusual during baseball season, and since there's no Raider preseason game happening anytime soon, it struck me as odd for a moment. Then I suddenly realized why the tarps are off....today was the first day of principle photography for the movie adaptation of Moneyball.

The other thing that struck me as odd, is that after being initially shelved, the Moneyball Project was re-lit with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin taking over. For the life of me, I still can't figure out why this movie is being made, much less which casting director is high off their ass for casting Brad Pitt as Billy Beane and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe? For those who never got around to reading the book, the best way to succinctly summarize it is that the Oakland A's were the first team to use sabermetrics in their approach to fielding a winning team NOT because they WANTED to, but because they were forced to because they don't have nearly the budget, fan attendance, or television/radio deals the Major Market teams have.

The book is a good read overall, if not an arrogant read. It's written by a very smug, know-it-all guy in Michael Lewis who's a great writer, just ask him and he'll tell you. Lewis also writes in a way that almost seems like lecturing the reader at certain parts. In a way he was perfect for writing about Billy Beane, as Beane is very much like Lewis in that he also believes he has a better pot to piss in.

Both Beane's and Lewis' arrogance and perpetual self-congratualtions would be fine though if there wasn't one little flaw...it didn't work. The Oakland A's have won exactly ONE playoff series in 11 years that they've been implementing sabermetrics in their organizational philiosophy. They claim that no matter what you try to do as an organization the playoffs are a "crapshoot". Funny how the Yankees don't really believe that, but OK. The other problem Moneyball has, is the Minnesota Twins. Up until recently, the Twins didn't have any damn money either. Rather than dive in with both feet into the Sabermetrics pool, the Twins actually did something crazy and built a farm system that was designed to develop young players that are very skilled defensively to come in to replace any superstars they developed once they left for greener pastures financially (read Torii Hunter and Johan Santana). The Twins also managed to beat those genius Oakland A's in the 2002 playoffs.

I could go on and on about why I don't think Moneyball is the End All Be All, but that's not the point. The point is, what is this movie going to be about? If it's about the role Sabermetrics played in getting baseball fans to rethink and re-evaluate players and teams, fine. I actually agree with that, and have come to appreciate baseball more as a result of the advanced stats, but I'm not sure that really translates to the big screen though? If it's about the genius and courage of Billy Beane, then the movie is going to have a VERY unhappy ending. If it's about charismatic characters, then they are going to have to take a lot of liberties with the truth because 90% of the people involved are about as interesting and dynamic as a block of cheese.

Which leads me to my original question, why is this movie being made? More importantly, who is it being made for? A's fans? I'm not sure they'll be too thrilled about this trip down memory lane. Baseball fans? Well....OK I guess but again there's that whole near ZERO playoff success thing. See where I'm going with this?

Obviously Stephen Soderbergh figured out this movie is destined to be a box office turd. Aaron Sorkin has done some good work in the past, but even he will be faced with a challenge that nobody seems to be able to answer:

How was Moneyball something more than just "Hudson, Mulder, and Zito"?

Why? (Part I)

I'm back from my Canadian Tour and I'm happy to report that Whitey Guccione is big among the Great White North. Per the request of my good friend Thomas, as well as others, I've been asked to give my take on the Dez Bryant refusing to carry Roy Williams pads incident. I'd like to point out first of all that these stories only really become stories due to the fact that NFL Training Camp is a pretty dead period, and the media will report damn near anything when given the opportunity. This is one of those opportunities. Nevertheless, there is some interesting subtext to this, mainly because of the people involved and the history behind these NFL "traditions".

Let's start with Roy Williams. After amassing three solid productive seasons from 2004-2006 which included a Pro-Bowl in '06, Williams has had a precipitous fall in both numbers and reputation ever since. He did have a somewhat decent season last year statistically, hauling in 38 passes, 7 of which went for Touchdowns but that was hardly enough production for a guy signed to a 6 year, $54 million dollar contract. Jerry Jones and the rest of those in Cowboyland thought the same thing, so they went ahead and drafted Bryant in what seemed like a move destined to doom Roy to the Cut List.

As for Bryant, well he's certainly been no stranger to controversy thus far, has he? We all now know that his mother WASN'T a prostitute thanks to Miami Dolphins General Manger Jeff Ireland double checking that with Dez before the draft. Bryant is also the same guy that didn't fully disclose his dealings with Deion Sanders and therefore had the rest of his eligibility stripped from him by the NCAA in 2009. So it's safe to say that at the very least, Dez doesn't mind being his own man and going his own way versus the conventional route.

As for the "tradition" itself, it's one of the many stupid-ass hazing rituals that take place in the NFL that I wish would just go the hell away. I understand the point of hazing, grab-assing, ball-busting among sports teams but too often the line gets crossed. I can recall the time Jeremy Shockey decided he didn't want to color inside the lines in his rookie tradition expectations, and he ended up brawling with veteran linebacker Brandon Short because he wanted to sing his Alma mater "after I finish eating".

So in summary, I'm OK with Bryant refusing to carry his pads, just as long as he understands everything that comes with that refusal. First of all, veterans have a funny way of evening the odds - just ask Shawne Merriman. The second thing Bryant needs to understand is that if he's going to refuse this expectation, he's raising the stakes for what the Cowboys expect from him. If he's asking for special treatment like this, he has to show that he is a special player each and every time out there. That not only means he must shine on the field on Sundays but also must run 110% on every drill and every practice for the rest of his career - no loafing allowed EVER.

Maybe Bryant will become one of the best receivers in the league, and maybe he won't. Either way though, he has definitely increased the zoom on the microscope of his already carefully examined young career. We shall see exactly whether or not Dez has sabotaged his own chances for success...

Parting Shots

The Beard will be taking his act out on the road starting Thursday. I shall return Monday with fresh thoughts and perspectives, but before I go here are some quick hits:

• I absolutely LOVE that USC is sending Bush's Heisman Trophy from 2005 back! Good luck with Pat Hayden as the new Athletic Director. Not sure what he's going to do? Maybe nothing, or maybe he just needs to be some B.S. Face of Integrity for the university? Either way, I love that USC is being forced to pay the piper. Believe it or not, I'm hearing from these ignorant, arrogant, and self-indulgent USC fans and alumni claiming that they are being "unfairly singled out". If by unfairly singled out, they mean, "It sucks that we got caught cheating" then yes, my hemmorhoids bleed for you Trojan Nation. Go screw yourselves.
• Imagine that, Bobby Jenks blew another win for the White Sox tonight. Jenks gave away the Sox best chance of sweeping the Mariners in Seattle since 1994. So congrats to him on another dubious milestone achieved. I've already shared my thoughts on how much he needs to be removed as the closer post-haste. Hopefully tonight gives Ozzie enough cause to do exactly that as the Sox head into Oakland.
• The rumor mill is circling and candidates Ryne Sandberg, Bob Brenly want to manage the Cubs, and hell even Joe Torre won't rule himself out as a possible candidate. Again, it's going to take more than a good manager to make a winner out of this bunch, and I still don't care what Ricketts said, I don't believe Jim Hendry is back next year.
• The Bulls are supposedly working out Tracy McGrady. YAWN. McGrady is so washed up parents tell their kids to "Tracy McGrady" before they go to bed.

See you guys soon!!!

When The World Is Running Down...

Lou Piniella announced that he will retire at the end of the 2010 season. In a related note, he also announced that Candy will be given out to children on October 31, 2010. I'm kidding about the second part, but I write that to illustrate the point that this news is hardly surprising to anyone who has followed the Cubs this season. I once wrote that Lou Piniella is the most successful Cub manager they've had since their 1908 championship, but alas "most successful" is not synonymous with "good". Lou has done several things that are beyond goofy in terms of his management of the team, and it was clear that the game had passed him by. So his departure really isn't newsworthy, but the way it was announced sure is.

What makes this newsworthy for starters, is that it was announced barely a week after the All-Star Break. That's a little unusual. It also was done in a way that suggested Lou will be given some sort of send-off but yet in Lou's mind, the Cubs "aren't out of it yet"...whatever that's supposed to mean? What really struck me as strange though was the presence of Tom Ricketts and the things he said.

Ricketts said he's fully committed to Jim Hendry as Cubs GM, which if you're a Cub fan that should make you sick. It's been 7 years 2 - going on 3 managers, and whole lot of awful, bad long term contracts with enough no-trade clauses to choke a camel during Hendry's time as GM. For the owner to still back a man with that kind of track record who has pissed away all of that former Tribune and now Ricketts' money in a way that prohibits any kind of quick turnaround is mind blowing. That said, I'm still going to give Ricketts the benefit of the doubt because he was not in a position to announce that Hendry was on the hot seat....as he's sitting RIGHT NEXT TO HIM at the podium. Ricketts also might not have wanted to take the focus away from Lou's announcement considering Lou is revered in many baseball circles. I would hope (and I'm sure Cub fans would agree with me) that Rickett's knows that firing Jim Hendry is what he needs to do, and doesn't feel like tipping his hand just yet.

One of the first emails The Beard received when the news broke was if I thought there was any chance Joe Girardi would leave the Yankees to become the Cub manager. My response was that it's going to take a whole lot more than Joe Girardi, or Bob Brenly, or Ryne Sandberg to turn the Cubs around because it's going to require massive reconstructive surgery, rather than cosmetic. To paraphrase Jerry Krause, the Cubs situation isn't a team issue, but rather an organizational issue. The Rickett's Family needs to clean house at every level of the front office and start fresh with an innovative General Manager/President/Director of Baseball Operations. Rick Hahn, or Damon Oppenheimer, or Scott Proefrock are among the hottest untested names. That's a good place to start.

The Cubs need to start somewhere deep, bold, and innovative, because quite honestly there's nowhere to go but up. A new manager alone does not provide enough boost to launch the Cubs rocket...

CLOSE THE DOOR!

Today's loss made me absolutely sick! Sick! Just absolutely inexcusable. Yeah Rios gave the game away with a throw that would be worthy of a 9:15 PM Thursday Night softball game at Clarendon Park centerfielder, but the truth is, Rios should have never been in that position in the first place. Rios as well as his other teammates should know that a three run lead is safe when the closer is put in the ball game. That didn't happen today though did it?

It's decision time for Bobby Jenks. While I'm not ready to committ to Sergio Santos as the full time closer, I'm very confident Jenks is no longer able to be trusted as the closer of this team anymore especially when J.J. Putz or Matt Thornton are right there for you. Sorry guys, but this isn't 2005 and more importantly this isn't the 2005 version of Bobby Jenks.

The first thing that people must remember is that Jenks didn't start out as the closer of that team. That was Shingo Takatsu (remember him?). After that, it was Dustin Hermanson until his back gave out. THEN Jenks took over. So it's more than realistic for a team fighting for the postseason to change closers in the middle of the season.

The second thing people need to understand is that the 2005 version of Bobby Jenks had a fastball that routinely touched 98 MPH, and consistently threw his curveball and slider over for strikes. The 2010 version of Bobby strains to throw 96 MPH and when he hits 96, it's usually for ball one. He can't locate his curve and slider for strikes and when he does they are hangers which are appropriately killed. I don't want to hear about 20/22 save conversions being an acceptable ratio. Jenks is just not reliable anymore, and if he can be moved (which I don't think is possible) it should happen.

If not, he can sit right next to Scott Linebrink in the bullpen and take comfort in the fact that he won't be used in any significant games.

...Aint What She Used To Be

Well that's three now Eldrick. With the electric tournament run by newly minted British Open Champ Louis Oosthuzien, Woods is now 0-3 out of the 4 majors this year. Any thoughts from you as to why you suck now, Tiger? He says it's the iron play and putting that's been off for him. So much so that he abandoned his Nike putter for his previous putter of 13 of his 14 championships, Scotty Cameron for the final round today. That obscure and random move reeks of desperation first of all, second and most important, it didn't work either as after a nice start on Sunday he pulled Double Bogey's on 4 and 7, to finish a pedestrian 13 shots off the leader.

Here's the deal. Woods can talk all about his iron play, his putters, his ball striking, yada yada yada. It's all B.S. A lot of people speculate it's all between the ears with Woods. I actually disagree with that theory. I believe it's a physical thing with Woods....REAL physical and I'm not talking about "Perkins Waitress" physical. I'm talking about Doctor Anthony "Doctor Pee-Pee" Galea physical.

Let's go to the Eye Test by reviewing some of the unreal shots Woods has made over the years:

1. 2000 U.S. Open -Woods took a 7 iron and drove the ball over a huge tree, a tall hill, and the cut of the cove onto the cusp of green.
2. 2008 U.S. Open - Woods made a playoff forcing putt with a broken leg and a torn ACL.
3. 2000 Bell Canadian Open - Woods takes a 6 iron out of a fairway bunker, hits the ball over the water and part of the gallery to stick it on the green within 15 feet of the hole.

Remarkable, almost legendary performances indeed wouldn't you say? Whether or not you personally believe that Woods used performance enhancing drugs over his career is up to you at this point, but ask yourself this. It's certainly clear that the remarkable shot-making that used to be a trademark of Woods' tournament performance are certainly missing aren't they? What's a more realistic explanation for their absence? He's not mentally there because his wife is going to take him to the cleaners in the divorce settlement, or does he no longer have the muscle strength to make impossible shots and the muscle memory of what his putts are supposed to feel like anymore?

You answer that, and you may start to understand why Woods is no longer Tiger on the golf course these days...

Putting The "Ass" In "Class"

OK, I feel just as dirty as you think I should for writing two Yankee related Blog Posts in the past week. I don't hate the Yankee Organization mind you, I'm indifferent to them. They have the most money of any team in baseball and a middle finger of a ballpark that after being funded by taxpayer dollars, now charges their fans $15 for a hot-dog. Fine...good for them. I do reserve my hate for Yankee FANS however. I cannot stand them. They are some of the most classless pieces of garbage I've encountered this side of Philadelphia. There's one big difference though, and that is that Yankee fans are all too quick to remind anyone who will listen (while sporting a smug smart-ass grin while doing so) that they are the "classiest" organization in professional sports. Ugh!!

As you no doubt have been beaten over the head during the past week, with the incessant coverage of the "tragic" losses of George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard - which I didn't know that dying at 99 years old is necessarily that "tragic", you may or may not have noticed a funny thing happened. Despite all the fan fair, hyperbole, and mysticism surrounding the late "Voice Of God" Bob Sheppard, not ONE Yankee player PAST or PRESENT showed up at Sheppard's funeral. Not one...nobody...

Does that strike you as odd? It certainly did to me. I mean Derek Jeter DID use a recording of Bob Sheppard's introduction when he came to bat at last weeks All-Star Game right? Jeter also did nothing but gush over the passing of Sheppard, and kept repeating how much Sheppard meant to the players and organization. Yet when it comes to answering why Jeter missed Sheppard's funeral, "...I don't necessarily think you have to go to a funeral to honor someone..." REEEAAAAALLLY Derek?! Well guess what then schmuck, I don't think anyone should go to YOUR funeral either then when it happens, since you apparently don't think it's a requirement. How do you like that, you sanctimonious dick-nose?

This is just one more example of not only Jeter acting like a complete punk-ass, but that wonderful classy organization called the New York Yankees feeding people chicken sh*t and calling it "Prime Rib" rather than Chicken Salad. So please Yankee Fans, don't tell me that you're organization is so much better than everyone else, when they operate on a whole other level of hypocrisy and double talk.

Viva La Deadspin!

Did I ever mention how much I dislike ESPN? Well at the risk of repeating myself, yes I still HATE ESPN! Tonight is another reminder of why I do, as their annual event/self-fellatio takes place tonight, otherwise known as The ESPY Awards. The event is full of attempts to try and convince people that sports figures are heroes in every sense of the word and deserve our unconditional admiration for simply walking the same earth as the likes of Drew Brees, Landon Donovan and Phil Mickleson do. The ESPY's are an award show, that even for an award show, is so pretentious, self-aggrandizing, and sappy, that "nauseating" isn't nearly a strong enough word to describe it.

As I pondered if there has ever been a time I was remotely interested in watching the ESPY's, a flashback suddenly hit me. The flashback of 1998 hit me like a bucket of water. That years' ESPY awards were hosted by Norm MacDonald, and I remember this because he gave one of the funniest and envelope pushing monologue's I've ever seen anyone pull off. I then randomly clicked over to Deadspin and thankfully they were (once again) way ahead of me and had the monologue readily available.

So click here to view it. As you will no doubt agree, ESPN will NEVER allow for something like this to ever happen again, simply because it was awesome...

Death Is Not Synonymous With Character

I was going to take Rossi's suggestion and write about the current changes taking place for next years NCAA Tournament, Mark Cuban's apparent initiative towards making David Stern actually do his job by investigating the Heat for Tampering, and the Feds Investigating Fraud and Doping charges against (F*ck) Lance Armstrong, but the death of "The Boss" officially took place today - even though he's been practically dead for years now- and that death is prompting me to shift in another direction for today's post.

My focus today is going to center on my annoyance and overall displeasure on the use of death as a way to re-write someones history. New York Yankee Owner George Steinbrenner died today at the age of 80, and last week former NHL tough guy Bob Probert kicked the bucket as well at the age of 45. What I'm surprised and kind of shocked about is people's reactions to their respective deaths. I was under the impression that it was well known and accepted that both of these men were absolute jerks to many people they encountered during their time on earth. Probert was far more of a jerk that Steinbrenner obviously since his overall behavior put people's lives in danger, but I'll touch more on that in a moment.


Let's start with Steinbrenner. OK, I get that in many ways Steinbrenner has done some amazing things as an owner. He's never been shy about spending money to make money, which in terms of the history of owners in sports, is actually very maverick and cavalier. Where he also scored points as an owner is his commitment to winning no matter what. Put it this way, who would you rather have owning your team as a fan, George Steinbrenner or Donald Sterling? The answer is obviously Steinbrenner.


That's where my list of positives ends with The Boss. On the flip side of the coin, Steinbrenner was a convicted felon, as he plead guilty for making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and to an obstruction of justice charge. That earned him his first suspension in baseball. His second suspension was the result of what he did to Dave Winfield. After making Winfield the highest paid player in the game, George decided to stiff  his contractually obligated donations to Winfield's Charity for which Winfield sued Steinbrenner 3 different times to get Steinbrenner to donate! He also paid Howard Spira $40,000 to "dig up dirt" on Winfield. This, as well as the hiring and firings of Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, and other mistreatment of Yankee sacred cows lead to Commissioner Fay Vincent banning Steinbrenner from baseball for life. Obviously that ended once the owners voted Vincent out as commissioner, and Jerry Reinsdorf got Bud Selig to reinstate his old buddy Steinbrenner in 1993. The other part about Steinbrenner that gets missed is just how awful he treated his employees. I'm not referring to his baseball team, or managers, but rather front office employees and people who reported to him. His mistreatment of the "little people" was infamous among Yankee employees, and that ultimately is his legacy in my eyes - he was nothing more than a bully, plain and simple.

As for Bob Probert, it's actually a much darker animal to deal with than Steinbrenner. Probert was beloved in some hockey circles because he was "old time hockey tough"...which from what I understand means he just beat the hell out of people on the ice. I have no problem with appreciating a hockey goon. Goon's are a part of the game, better or worse, but the part that really makes it frustrating about Probert was that he actually was a talented defense man, who CHOSE to be a goon rather than develop his game. Probert also had a looooong history of drug and alcohol abuse. This lead to Probert being arrested at the U.S.-Canadian border with 14 grams of cocaine for which he served 3 months in federal prison. Probert then crashed his motorcycle while having three times the legal limit of alcohol and trace amounts of cocaine in his system. He was also arrested twice more after his playing days were done, including one time where he was tasered by the police. So I think it's safe to say the Probert's ultimate legacy is that while he had "demons", he still managed to put innocent people in harms way by driving drunk, in addition to being a convicted felon. Not exactly a "sweetheart" as he's been described by ex-teammates.

Which leads me to my moral outrage. I have seen the media handle both Probert and Steinbrenner with nothing but oven mitts since their deaths. All of a sudden, both of these convicted felons were "misunderstood", "sweethearts", and "did so much for the community". It's as if their deaths has given both of them character in people's eyes, and it's really sad if that's the case. A wise old man told me a long time ago, that true character shines when people are up against it, and too often when Steinbrenner and Probert were up against it, they failed over and over again.

So please stop telling me that Steinbrenner and Probert were good guys who just made mistakes, let alone try to tell me that they could have given Mother Theresa a run for her money because it's simply not true. They were abusive, tyrannical, and in some cases life threatening to be around. Here's the other truth people need to understand as well, Steinbrenner and Probert never cared about you, and wouldn't pee on you even if you were on fire. Knowing that, do they still deserve the adulation they are currently receiving?

Nice guys indeed...

Rumors and Innuendo

Nothing like the All-Star Break to interrupt a historic making run by your favorite baseball team. I needed something to scratch my White Sox itch besides that silly-ass Home Run Contest tonight. Hearing Chris Berman screaming his NOOTS off and acting like he's never seen a home run before doesn't really do it for me, but hey don't worry Chris, "You're With Me Leather"...

So I hit one of my favorite websites, mlbtraderumors.com, and they gave me a little White Sox fix. There's some interesting nuggets in the past couple days about the White Sox attempts to land Cliff Lee. Essentially any deal the White Sox would have struck with Seattle would have involved giving up Gordon Beckham - which I'm very glad the White Sox are unwilling to part with Beckham, as I'm loathe to acquire pitchers over 30 years old, and I don't believe Beckham is this bad a ball player. 

In terms of the other options the Sox have to try and land, Roy Oswalt is the first name on the list, but it seems both the Sox and Oswalt don't really want each other since Kenny Williams said he's reluctant to get pitchers from the National League (Funny how he didn't feel that way a year ago when he traded for Jake Peavy...), and Oswalt has said he would veto any trade to the Sox. That's fine with The Beard. The one name that I REALLY hope doesn't come up in Zambrano. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want Zambrano because he's a lunatic - even though that would be more that enough. The main reason I don't want him is quite simply put, he's just not that good anymore.

As for the Dan Haren, Ben Sheets, or Jeremy Guthrie's of the world....YAWN. I'd rather take a chance on any minor league pitchers other teams don't have a scouting report on yet.

Man it's nice to be "buyers" again...

First Place

And no I'm not talking about the World Cup or LeBron James pathetic and legacy-shattering decision. Incidentally, here are two of the best written reactions the conclusion of the LeBron-stakes I saw posted here and here. Both pieces logically, eloquently, and succinctly call LeBron out for wilting under the pressure and passing at the chance at becoming one of the all time greats in NBA History.

That's neither here nor there now, as my focus has shifted to how the White Sox have risen from the ashes all the way to first place at the All-Star Break. On June 8 the Sox were 24-33 9.5 games out of first place. After that, the Sox have gone 25-5 including winning their last 8 straight games. It's also worth noting just how fitting it is that on June 9th they beat the Tigers by scoring 15 runs. After today's win which qualified them for first place, they also scored 15 runs including a 3 run bomb by Andruw Jones for his 400th career home run. "Turnaround" isn't a strong enough word. The Sox were dead in the water in the view of this observer as well as many others, and I fully admit to calling for a blowup several times this season. Even though I'm still not sure about Kenny Williams being with the team after this season, we're all eating our words now, as the White Sox have entered the discussion of post season possibilities.

In terms of franchise history, the comparison that keeps coming up is the 1983 White Sox. The 83 team's biggest deficit was 7 games out of first place however, versus the 9.5 games the 2010 team was. In terms of who's been the biggest difference maker? You could argue Omar Vizquel's defense, and Freddy Garcia's cunning and guile approach on the mound as two big culprits. You could also point to the steady outstanding play of Alex Rios - who is someone else I owe an engraved apology to, and Paul Konerko. You could point to the emergence of young players like Dayan "The Tank" Viciedo and Brent Lillibridge hitting the ball hard every time as well as Sergio Santos' outstanding relief work during his feel good story season. Those are all outstanding nominations, but for my money I believe the biggest difference maker has been Carlos Quentin. Carlos was hitting .205 7 home runs, 32 RBI's for an OPS of .697 as of June 8. Since that time, he's hit .326 12 home runs, 29 RBI's over the month since. I don't believe that it's a coincidence that since he's gone on a roll, the White Sox have as well.

What's even more remarkable about this roll they've been on, is the Sox don't even seem to be rattled by the news of Jake Peavy and his detached Lat Muscle being out for the year. They trotted out Daniel Hudson today - who I don't believe is a starting pitcher at the big league level- watched him get roughed up by the Royals, and still won in a blowout. The Sox still need another starter in the rotation, and their options of acquiring a pitcher via trade are very limited - even though I don't think they realistically had a shot at getting Cliff Lee. The beauty about being a roll like this, allows them to not really have to worry about it for now.

So cheers to the White Sox during this roller coaster of a first half of the season. Are they for real or not? I think they are. I want to dismiss this as "baseball magic" but I can't. Nobody is THIS lucky in baseball. You have to have some skills that are better than most teams in baseball to go on these types of multiple winning streaks they've had in this short amount of time. The Sox will be tested right out of the shoot with four straight at the Twins after the All-Star Break in Target Field. They've answered every challenge thus far. It will be fun to see if this unreal play continues. One thing that's for sure, it's going to make for great television when "The Club" makes it's debut on MLB Network.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Where to begin? How about getting the obvious out of the way and confirm that I'm going to share my feelings with plenty of bias. LeBron has decided that he wants to play for the Miami Heat and his buddies Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh next season. The news broke earlier this morning, and James himself confirmed it on that silly ESPN "The Decision" special this evening.

I'm going to go on record right now and say that the Miami Heat will not win a championship with this group of three players next year, or ever. I am confident when I say that for the following reasons. First, the lack of depth on the Heat roster - to which my brother astutely pointed out that all 3 will have to average 44 minutes per game. Second, the last time I checked there is only one basketball on the court. LeBron has been case as a "facilitator" in his style of play. That will ultimately be put to the test this season as he will more than likely be expected to defer to Wade in tough situation which leads me to my third reason. Third, this is STILL Dwayne Wade's team! By LeBron joining the Heat, he is either blind to this, or he really believes he will wrestle control away from Wade right away in terms of being The Face of the Miami Heat.

LeBron has made a huge mistake by not signing with the Bulls. He and his camp have also conducted themselves in a very unprofessional manner, and his stock has been permanently affected in terms of his legend status - even if he DOES manage to pull the rabbit out of the hat and win a ring. It won't be "LeBron's Championship", it will be Wade and his supporting casts championship.

Brains & Balls

Well the Chicago Bulls decided to turn it up a notch today, and not a moment too soon. The day started ominously for the Bulls with the news that Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh will be together in Miami Heat uniforms for the upcoming season. Wade and Bosh also had plans of trying to lure LeBron down to Miami as well.

Not a good start to say the least. It certainly didn't get any better with multiple reports of LeBron heading to the Knicks, which also included little nuggets like MSG stock trading through the roof today with the understanding that LeBron to the Knicks is a done deal. There was also news of the Nets being very close to signing Carlos Boozer in an effort to lure LeBron to signing with the Nets. The Bulls pursuit of LeBron seemed to be on life-support, as well as their plans to at least walk away with one splashy free agent signing. Just when it seemed like it was all over...the Bulls sprang back to life.

They managed to do so by not only indicating that they haven't been told "no" by LeBron and his camp yet, but also by stealing away Carlos Boozer and signing him to a 5 year, $75-$76 million dollar range! Carlos Boozer, in my opinion, is a much better fit for what the Bulls are going to do this year. Tom Thibodeau is a staunch believer in defense, and Boozer is much more committed to defense, aggressive low-post play, and while not the scorer Chris Bosh may be, isn't exactly Joakim Noah with the ball either.

What does this mean for the Bulls signing LeBron? Probably nothing, especially with late word out of Miami that LeBron is meeting with Pat Riley, but at least they've done something smart and gutsy. At worst case scenario, the Bulls got a Two Time All-Star who is a really good player and a really good fit for what they want to do. Boozer has also said he will try to lure his one time teammate to signing with the Bulls as well. So maybe this signing will either directly or indirectly get LeBron to sign? It's still anybodys guess but at least the Bulls showed they are NOT out of the running.  

On a side note, ESPN has really embarrassed themselves by deciding to air this special tomorrow. Think about it, if you are supposed to be one of ESPN's Inside Reporters (say for the sake of argument Rick Bucher) and you get a lock-down-money-in-the-bank confirmation that LeBron is definitely signing with Team X...you cannot report it because ESPN is in the conflict of interest position of trying to drum up television ratings for tomorrow night! Yet another nail in the coffin for the Worldwide Leader's Journalistic Integrity. Shameful...

Quit Crying

I thought I'd pull away from the LeBron Sweepstakes for a moment since I'm still not confident the Bulls are going to get him at this point. I also don't like the late news of LeBron getting ESPN to do a 1 hour special with LeBron while he announces live on TV what his final decision is either, but that's neither here nor there for today's post.

Today's post will center around baseball, specifically the All-Star game omissions. Everyone around the country is complaining about any number of players getting passed over, from Strasburg, to Miguel Olivo, to Konerko, to Rios, to Silva, to Joey Votto and I really wish they would STOP. Complaining about All-Star snubs is quickly becoming one of the reasons I don't enjoy the All-Star game as much as I used to. Inter-league play, and the biggest Overreaction to an Overreaction of Bud Selig making these games count for home field advantage in the World Series are two big additional reasons why my All-Star Game Love has subsided.

Out of all the would be snubs and their various cheerleaders calling for them to be added to this year's roster, I just have two words for them, "Hank Greenberg". Nobody has been snubbed more in All-Star Game history than Hank Greenberg. For those that don't know, Greenberg was hitting .317, .391 OBP, 1.062 OPS, 25 dingers, and 103...repeat 103 RBI'S AT THE ALL-STAR BREAK! That RBI number is still a Major League record, and it's also one of those records I don't think we'll see fall anytime soon. Greenberg also went on to win the AL MVP that season despite being left off the All-Star team. So please keep this in mind and spare me the cries for Miguel Olivo, or Michael Young, or Kevin Youkilis.

Also, for you White Sox fans that want and/or are voting for Konerko to be added to the roster, remember this : Keeping Paulie OFF the roster makes it easier for the White Sox to sign him to a new contract this offseason. So a little Big Picture Thinking wouldn't hurt...

LeBron Update Part IX : It's All On The Table...

So here we are. The cards have been laid out, and for the respective players - including the King himself - it's their move. This entire process has certainly been the circus that everyone expected. There have been some surprises and wrinkles scenario wise, some unexpected second meetings, and overall the only certainty is that it's anybody's guess on how this thing ends.


It's virtually impossible to keep track with all the developments in terms of what team made a good presentation, what team made a bad one ( btw that would be the Knicks being unprepared), and what team made a goofy one (Cavs using Family Guy, Pat Riley waving his rings in front of LeBron), and what team "put 'em on the table" (Bulls doing THIS). It's also tough to really keep track of possible scenarios with anything from Sign & Trades for Chris Bosh, or from Wade joining LeBron in Chicago or with any other team, or from LeBron going to the Knicks to join the recently acquired Amare Stoudemire.

With what I've been able to retain so far, I'd say it's coming down to a photo finish between the Bulls and the Cavs. We all know why Cleveland would be attractive to LeBron. I also must give the Cavs credit. They knew the magnitude of their chance to make their best pitch, and they handled it surprising well to the point where if LeBron had a good idea that he was leaving before all this began...he might be re-thinking it now.


Bottom line : it will come down to what LeBron wants/values more. Behind Door Number 1 is staying loyal, being well compensated while staying loyal, and remaining beloved in his hometown while they "gee, golly, gosh darn will TRY to win". Behind Door Number 2 is leaving home to go for his best chance of winning championships, expanding his brand to unprecedented heights in China (where all the merchandising money is), and run the risk of being hated more than Jim Thome in Cleveland in the process.


The way I feel right now? I think he's staying in Cleveland. I don't know if James is really that calculating or ruthless deep down in terms of positioning himself marketing wise by winning championships regardless of personal feelings. I'm not going to pretend I know the guy, but LeBron has always come across as someone who just wants to have fun more than anything. I think that leaving home to go for rings might be a major obstacle to him having as much fun as he's had in the past. Then again, who really knows? I mean isn't Delonte West still on the Cavs despite bringing the wood to LeBron's Mom?!


I've been wrong before, but I'm lowering the LeBron Clock to 50% after this weekend. The Bulls still have a chance because a lot can still happen, but my confidence is certainly not as high as it once was.