Sports Stuff

Local sportscaster Casey Coleman says something along the lines of "sports are the toy store of life". I cannot find the exact quote, but want to give him credit for it since I've only heard him say it. His dad, Ken Coleman, used to call the BoSox games.

In honor of Casey, let's take a walk through the toy store tonight.


My sentimental baseball pick

Sorry, Scottius, it's not the Cardinals, although I would like to see them do well. LaRussa either has to prove that genius title that everyone wants to give him, or move on. Ya may have backed into the playoffs, but at least you got in.

Shouldn't I root for someone from the American League Central? Naah, not really. I got what I wanted - Detroit did not win the division, and Chicago missed the playoffs. I'll root for the Twins to win the ALCS, but not to win the World Series.

I'll go with the Mets, even though I hate all New York sports teams. Why root for the Mets then? Because of this old guy named Julio Franco. I grew up as a young teenager wanting to hit and play shortstop like Julio did for the Indians. Now, at 48 years old, he is making the playoffs as a Met, who I believe have the best chance of winning the NLCS. I gotta root for one of my old sports heroes. He is now the oldest player ever to hit a home run and steal a base. Considering all the athletes at the AAA and AA levels that are doing their best to earn a spot in the majors, it really says something about Julio's abilities and health that he is still active and contributing at the major league level. Go Julio!


Hang On Sloopy! O-H-I-O

Yep, the Buckeyes did it again. They are still not firing on all cylinders, and easily managed a victory against the Iowa Hawkeyes, who have a good team. They've now beaten two top 25 teams on the road, on Saturday nights, in front of national television audiences. Go Bucks! (Sorry, Des Moines Girl. No offense.)


Indian Fever (Be a Believer) With the Cleveland Indians

If the Tribe can fill the bullpen, shortstop, and catcher voids, they can contend next year. Big "ifs", all three:

• The shortstop, simply called "that guy", celebrated his big off-season contract signing by getting fat and satisfied. No gumption, no energy, no contribution. Several veteran teammates called him out on it, almost by name. Not good.
  

• The catcher, a "hitting machine", is reaching A-Rod levels of meaningless offensive stats. I can't recall reading about him having one game-winning hit. He should drop a spot or two in the lineup so the hungry, more productive kids (read: Ryan Garko) can step into the power positions. The "hitting machine's" batting average means he will protect whomever he bats after, but his punch isn't strong enough for batting clean-up any more. And don't ask me about his ability to throw out runners (under 15%, I believe), or to call a game (pitchers' ERAs are one point higher than when our backup catchers catch.)
  

• The bullpen...what can I say? A good demolition would do it some good. Keep Mastny, see if Davis can stick, and possibly Betancourt. After that, start over.

Kudos to Grady and Pronk for their monster years. Both would be receiving MVP consideration if it weren't for the three voids mentioned above. Go Tribe!


Send in the Clow...Browns

They did it! How about that! And they forgot to play the first half of the game again. I'm happy they pulled out this one, because they had the opportunity to go o-fer nine based on the schedule. At least they should only go 1-8. :-o Go Browns!

I guess it takes a really inept Raiders team to lose to the almost equally inept Browns. When Leigh Bodden, our shut-down cornerback, left the game, I thought we were toast. Obviously, I forgot that most of the team chooses not to show up for the first half. On that thought...


Idiot Of The Week Awards

Win - the NFL schedulers that allowed the Browns/Raiders game to occur. It was sad. It was pathetic. It was...scheduled six months ago. Okay, I cannot blame the schedulers, so I'll give it to the Browns coaching staff instead. I've never seen a team so unprepared to start a football game.

Place - Charlie Frye. His 4th quarter interception should have cost the Browns the game, but the Raiders offense is so bad, it didn't make a difference. How bad was their offense?...

Show - Randy Moss. A truly pathetic effort by a truly pathetic "superstar". My 4 1/2 year old son put more effort into watching the game than Randy did playing in it. And my son didn't get paid to run around, being fake tackled. But he is more entertaining.


Honorable Mention - the Big Ten officiating crew at the OSU/Iowa game. They called a pass interference penalty that didn't even happen (should have been an unsportsmanlike conduct call, if anything), reversed a completion call that all three announcers agreed was a catch after watching replays, and missed a pass interference call occurring in front of two officials? Point differential: 7-10 points, in my opinion. Game shouldn't have been so close.


Back to the regularly scheduled political rants later this week.