World Cup 2010

I am not a huge soccer guy. I understand the game and played it for years as a kid (who didn't really). I stumble across the occasional match on ESPN or Fox Soccer Channel (those stumbles are bound to get more often as FSC is now in HD on Dish), but don't go out of my way to watch the Premier League or Champions League like some.

However, I love the World Cup and will go out of my way to watch as much as possible.  Its the only true "World" competition. What other sport does every single country in the world play? Just qualifying for the World Cup is more intense than most sporting events. And every single game in the actual World Cup is played like guys lives are on the line.

Some basic story lines I will be watching when the World Cup starts in less than two weeks:

-Is this finally the year the USA makes a significant run? We have been told for 20 years that soccer was this close to breaking through in the States as a major sport. American's love winners. I just don't see soccer clicking a big time sport if we don't have a strong showing in the most important tournament at some point. This could be the year we make some noise. The draw could have been a lot worse with England, Algeria, and Slovenia. Anything less than a trip to the knockout round is a huge disappointment.

-How will chronic underachievers Spain blow it this time? Constantly one of the favorites, Spain always comes into the World Cup on a roll but finds a way to lose when it counts...

-How will Diego Maradona do as coach of Argentina? One of the best players of all time who scored one of the most famous and controversial goals of all time, he has been a bit crazy as coach...Read the captions on this rant to see what i mean. He also has had some drug and weight problems since retiring. Who knows what to expect? Especially since he has who many think is the best player in the world right now: Messi.

-How will South Africa do as the host in administering the tournament (this is the biggest event ever to be held on the Continent of Africa I believe). If it is run well logistically, Africa could become a realistic player down the line in other international competitions like the Olympics.

-What country will come out of seemingly nowhere to make a run? My options are Ivory Coast, South Africa (host country), Greece, Netherlands, and Cameroon.

These are just a few. There are literally hundreds of other storyline that will play out over the monthly long tournament...Can Italy repeat? Is this England's year? Is Brazil still the safe bet to win?.....

I will anxiously watching them all play out and waiting for an awesome goal call like this one (about 20 seconds in).

I'm a schizo, and so am I

(Photo: A Bob with a split personality)

Semi-retired Post-Gazette blogger, Bob Smizik, has hit an all-time low as a hypocrite.

Thursday, in regards to the Pirates decision to continue to pitch Charlie Morton during his disastrous 2010 campaign, Smizik wrote:

"Considering his upside and the improvement he's shown this month, the Pirates are right in keeping Charlie Morton in the rotation."

The very next day, after another of Morton's epic pitching failures, Smizik changed his mind:

"Starting Morton again makes no sense. He needs to get out of Pittsburgh. He doesn't need the scrutiny or the ridicule he will receive in another start or even in a relief role."

I'm wondering if Bob Smizik has dissociative identity disorder. Honestly, how can you write something one day, and then pen the total opposite the very next day? Either way, he did it, so someone needed to call him out on it. Perhaps it's time Bob fully retires...or at least begins to read Baby Steps by Dr. Leo Marvin.

Technically, Smizik is off the hook because the Pirates put Morton on the Disabled List yesterday. This reminds me of Limas Sweed getting hurt in the 2008 AFC Championship Game after dropping a sure touchdown. The injury wasn't real, and unfortuntately, it appears the talent isn't real, either.

Sweed, Morton, and Smizik appear to have something in common, then.

The Office (quote of the day)

Today's quote from "The Office" (from my Office calendar):

Pam (about the new copier): It'll be ready soon.

Kevin: Soon could mean anything. Soon could be three weeks.

Pam: Is that what soon means to you?

Kevin: Sometimes.

Pam: Then come back soon.

Half Baked?

Zach Randolph has been an underachiever on the court for years.  We may have finally figured out what has been distracting him all this time (entire article here):

According to a probable cause affidavit, a trusted police informant identified Memphis Grizzlies player Zach Randolph as a major marijuana supplier in Indianapolis.


And that is not the only connection Randolph has here. Apparently, the police stopped someone outside a suspected drug house driving an Escalade with "secret compartments" filled with drugs and guns. It was registered to Randolph. And further investigation led them to a storage unit where Randolph has four lockers under his name. Two of those were filled with weed and ammunition which led to more vehicles registered under Randolph being searched and found to have similar contents.

Randolph made 16 million this past season and will make 17.33 million next. 


Why would he allow himself or the people he associates with to be anywhere near stuff like this? Has he just spent too much time playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Pro athletes are notorious hardcore video gamers)? Or is he just longing for his time as one of the "Jail Blazers" after reading one too many articles about how he has turned his life/career around in Memphis?


Craziest part of this? Its not even the most outrageous article about an NBA players' off court life I stumbled upon today. What exactly is going on with Eddy Curry? Who takes a loan with 85% interest and pays $1075 a month for cable and satellite?


I guess being a multi-millionaire isn't as easy as some of us think it would be......But would it be that hard for these guys to hire someone to manage their friends and/or finances fairly?

Demons OUT!

The healing has apparently begun.

Roger Goodell has given Ben Roethlisberger permission to rejoin team activities next week.

Since Goodell found the need to wait until today to clear Ben, I'm just wondering...

• Was Ben too dangerous to return to team activities this week? Come on.
• Is there any doubt that Goodell is ordering these evaluations just to make it look like he's doing his due diligence? (seriously--unless the tests showed a MASSIVE brain injury, there was no way Rog could keep Ben from the team)
• Goodell has every intention of reducing Ben's suspension to 4 games, doesn't he?
• Where's the Players Union in all of this?
• Roger Goodell is a hypocrite. He hurriedly destroyed the Spygate tapes when Bill Belichick was accused of cheating yet he's been painstakingly deliberate with his decisions regarding Roethlisberger. What are Goodell's true standards for investigating something?

Ben's a creep, but suspending someone who hasn't been charged with a crime is risky business. The Steelers are the ones who should've suspended Ben, not Goodell. After all, the NFL teams don't constitute a single entity...

I think Ben's a creepy dude. I'm beginning to think Roger Goodell is, too. Nice recommendation, Danny boy.

Strasburg Debut

The Washington Nationals are going to promote the first overall draft pick in 2009, pitcher Stephen Strasburg, to the majors.

The Nats want his first start to be successful so they've handpicked an awful opponent for him to debut against.

Hmmm...any teams come to mind?

(right now, the only person on the planet who can't guess who Strasburg will debut against is Bird.)

I guess I'll tell you, Bird. Strasburg is going to debut against your Pittsburgh Pirates in the beginning of June.

The game will be in Washington, which sucks, because Strasburg is the Pirates best chance of selling out PNC Park this summer.

Unless, of course, Bob Nutting orders an Aki Iwamura Bobblehead Day...

Thoughts on Anthony's Thoughts.....

What I think I know about Anthony's post:

-Anthony claims I "defended" the Aki Iwamura trade. Not true. What I defended is the logic behind the trade at the time.  This past offseason, the Pirates had basically no options internally to play 2B in 2010. They had traded Freddy Sanchez in July after he turned down a fair offer to stay. Delwyn Young was clearly not the answer. Neil Walker had never played second.  Andy Laroche had not played second since the minors. So, they needed to go outside of the organization to get someone to be a 2010 stopgap.

Enter TB who had multiple options at 2B and Aki Iwamura who was going to be an expensive backup.  Based on career stats and the fact that he had successfully come back late in the year from injury, there was no reason to think he would much of a step down from Freddy Sanchez (if any). The OBP and OPSs  were very similar. Iwamura just walked more while Freddy singled more.  So, the Bucs and Rays made the trade. Jesse Chavez was sent to TB and while young is VERY replaceable. He throws hard but seems to be very hittable. His stats this year and the last couple months of 2009 back that up.

Of course, Aki has turned out to be a mess. He has been beyond awful both at the plate and in the field. The Pirates will probably end up releasing him at some point and eating some money.  But at the time and with the data available, the trade made sense. Sometimes things just don't work out and in this case, its very easy to cut their losses.

-Speaking of hindsight, those that criticize the Iwamura trade now should be praising the McLouth trade for selling him at the right time based on what has happened to him.  They typically don't though, claiming you can't use how Nate has performed since the trade to justify trading him because you didn't know he would be this bad. Right, that doesn't sound hypocritical.....

-So, Anthony gave up on 24 because of Jack's dad and brother being involved in one of the plots. Why was that part too outrageous, but all the times Jack survived getting shot/tortured, fought off ridiculous amounts of terrorists at one time, or the fact that the city survived multiple explosions of nuclear bombs not? Or how about the various people who came back from the dead? It just seems crazy to me that his Dad as a terrorist pushed the show over the believability line.

-Am the only one who could not care less that the Super Bowl is being played in NY? It just doesn't affect me one way or the other. So, it might snow during the game. The fact that the NFL made this a major story proves how much control they have over the media. Actually, I hear the pregame show is starting any minute. I can't wait.

-Best movie? As Anthony said, going across genres is difficult. It almost has to be a drama, right? Shawshank is always said by people and is very good. It seems to be too easy of a choice though (as exhibited by this IMDB poll). Just off the top of my head, some of my favorite dramas are Scarface, Goodfellas, The Usual Suspects, and The Prestige.

I Think I Thought...

Very Random Thoughts:

Jared Allen is getting married...so he's losing the mullet. Is that a prerequisite for getting married or something? First--the mullet. Next--the wallet.

The boys on the 102.5 WDVE morning show stole some thunder from yours truly. I heard them refer to Octavio Dotel as "Don't Ask, Dotel" this morning. And I thought those dudes were original.

The majority of voters (17-10) in our latest poll think Tim Tebow will be successful in the NFL. Apparently people aren't impressed by your SAT score, Jim.

If Neal Huntington openly admitted that he purposely screwed up every trade since he's been the Pirates G.M., Bird would still defend him to the death. You should've heard him defending the Aki Iwamura trade yesterday. Bird has clearly flown over the cuckoo's nest. Please pray for him.

The Superbowl is finally going to be held in a cold-weather city in 2014. Way to go, Rog. You've now done 2 things to improve the league. (Speeding up Round 1 of the Draft is the other). Really earning those bucks.

I'm currently watching Season 4 of Seinfeld. Great stuff--but not nearly as funny as The Office.

Speaking of t.v. shows, I'm glad LOST is over so Bird can quit talking about it. I'm also glad 24 is over because in my mind, it ended after Season 5. In the beginning of Season 6, the writers tried telling us that Jack Bauer's Dad and Brother were involved in all the chaos. Stupid. That was it for me.

My post on Hoosiers got me thinking...what's the best movie ever made? Tough call, because different genres make comparing movies pretty difficult. Initially, I considered American History X and Braveheart, and then it hit me... The Shawshank Redemption.

No, Bird, I'm telling you...Shawshank is better than Gigli.

Positive, Negatives, and the Next Wave of Pirates......

Almost two months in, the Pirates season has been up and down to say the least......

-Andrew McCutchen has continued to be much better than advertised. According to this article, he is already a very similar player to Carl Crawford and has been the best CF in the league since his callup...He is extremely fun to watch. However, McCutchen has inexplicably been moved to third in the order and constantly comes up with no one on base. So, a lot of his hits and on base skills are being wasted. Partly because.....

-John Russell's lineup construction has been unbelievably bad. Why is Iwamura still batting leadoff? Why is McCutchen not batting first or second? Why is Delwyn Young and Bobby Crosby and their low OBPs batting second? Why is Ryan Church playing almost every day? Why is Ryan Doumit batting 7th? Its almost as if Russell is going out of his way to create worst possible lineup for actually scoring runs.

-Speaking of the "leadoff hitter," Aki Iwamura has been awful. He just finished a historic hitless streak and might have 5 or 6 total hits in the month of May. And his defense has fallen off a cliff. Anthony has already declared the trade for Iwamura the worst in baseball history.

-Ryan Doumit's has been great at the plate. He is second in the majors among qualifying (ie. have played enough games to be eligible for the batting title) catchers in OPS, behind only future hall of famer Joe Mauer. On the other hand, his defense has been atrocious. Players that have no other stolen bases are routinely stealing second off him. There is absolutely no fear from opposing baserunners.

-Guys like Lastings Milledge, Jeff Clement, and even Garrett Jones to an extent have underachieved so far.

-The backend of the bullpen has been almost perfect when given a chance to win/keep the team in the game. The team has lost one game they have had a lead after the 5th inning. Evan Meek especially has gone from a guy who couldn't throw strikes at all in 2008 to being almost unhittable. He is now throwing a 97 mph fastball and 81 mph curveball.

-The starting pitching was expected to be better. Charlie Morton's struggles/bad luck have been well documented by Anthony and I. Zach Duke and Paul Maholm have been average overall. Ross Ohlendorf missed almost a month and has pitched just ok otherwise. Daniel McCutchen might as well have been throwing batting practice out there. Brian Burres and Jeff Karstens have had their moments but have basically done what you expect them to to: sprinkle a good start or two in with a whole bunch of bad ones.

I could go on and on. For every positive, there is at least one negative.

Times may FINALLY be changing for the Bucs though. Neil Walker was called up today after continuing to dominate AAA like I wanted. And he is probably just the start of a domino effect of callups/promotions. Brad Lincoln will be called up soon to replace Burres. Alvarez and Tabata could be here not long after that. Guys like Bryan Morris and Diego Moreno are being promoted in the minors with others like Nathan Adcock and Jeff Locke ready to move on as well.

Here is just one potential starting lineup by the end of June:

LF Jose Tabata
CF Andrew McCutchen
3B Pedro Alvarez
1B Garrett Jones
C Ryan Doumit
RF Neil Walker
2B Andy Laroche
SS Ronny Cedeno

That is much more impressive than what is being run out there tonight. The guys that have struggled or underachieved in the majors are finally being pushed from below......

The Journey of Marian Hossa

Its been a strange and wild ride for Marian Hossa the last couple of years. Winning has followed him. To a point at least....

Early 2008: Marian Hossa is on a going nowhere Atlanta Thrashers team and viewed as a bit of a career underachiever based on his skill level. He is a hot commodity at the NHL trading deadline because some think he has just never been in the right situation and is the perfect "rent a player" for a team wanting to make a run at the Stanley Cup. The Penguins come out of seemingly nowhere to trade for him in the last seconds of the trading deadline. He plays great for the Penguins once healthy, shedding his playoff choker label by finishing 3rd in playoff scoring, and is a big factor as to why the Pens get to within two games of the Stanley Cup....

Summer 2008: Hossa spurns the Penguins' more lucrative multi-year offer for a one year contract with the Detroit Red Wings because he views them as a better bet to win the Stanley Cup.....

June 2009: Hossa prediction turns out to be wrong as his Red Wings lose to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. He is for the most part a non-factor in the series. Pittsburghers mock him endlessly....Hossa says he does not regret his decision...

Summer 2009: A free agent once again, Hossa takes the big money, long term deal he passed on previously by signing a frontloaded, 12 year 62.8 million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are viewed as a team "on the cusp" but not necessarily a Cup contender. Most think Hossa just took the most money he could get after his close calls the previous two years.....

May 2010: The Blackhawks complete a four game sweep of the #1 seeded San Jose Sharks and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992. They haven't won a Cup since 1961.  Hossa becomes the first player to play in 3 straight Cup finals for 3 different teams. The question remains if he will become the first guy to lose in the Cup finals 3 years in a row for 3 different teams....


I know he is still hated in Pittsburgh, but I hold no ill will towards Hossa. He came in 2008 and did his job very well. He was a rent-a-player to win in the playoffs. Ray Shero made the trade to try to win the Cup in 2008, not prepare for the long term.

Hossa didn't owe anything to the Penguins or the fans beyond that season. The outrage over him leaving is just insane. In fact if you take a step back, his not signing here was a blessing. There is a pretty good chance guys like Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Max Talbot, Marc Andre Fleury and even Evgeni Malkin would not have been able to be resigned under the salary cap if Hossa signed a big multi year contract with the Pens. And who would you rather have for the next 5 years or so....Jordan Staal and Malkin and Letang and etc.. or Hossa? I think that is a no-brainer.

After the craziness he has gone through the last three years, I know I will be rooting for Hossa and the Blackhawks in the Cup finals....Anyone else?

A Man Named Brady

ESPN's Mike Reiss recently wrote about New England Patriots Wide Receiver Julian Edelman filling in admirably for an injured Wes Welker last year--which Edelman did.

But the Patriots offense has nothing to do with their wide receivers.

Names like Julian Edelman and Wes Welker have become household names because of their quarterback. Don't get me wrong, Welker has been phenomenal--but I'll bet you didn't know who he was when he played for the Miami Dolphins.

Tom Brady turns his WRs into gold...heck, Antwaan Randle El might lead the NFL in receptions if he played with Brady.

This isn't a shot at Welker, Edelman, or guys like Deion Branch, Jabar Gaffney, David Patten, Troy Brown, David Givens, Doug Gabriel, or even Reche Caldwell. (actually, thanks to most of these guys, my point is easily proven)

Tom Brady has taken average players and made them great...hence, Tom Brady is great.

As a Steelers fan, it pains me to say that. But he is.

He's won 3 Superbowls and made a 4th (was MVP of 2 of those games), was league MVP for the 2007 season, made 5 pro bowls (and turned down an offer for a 6th), and single-handedly resurrected Randy Moss's career.

Not bad for a 6th round draft pick out of Michigan.

So, get well soon, Wes. And best of luck, Julian. But if for some reason neither of you ever play football again, it really won't matter. The Patriots will always be contenders as long as Brady's around.

P.S. No, I don't have a man-crush on him like weirdo probably does.

A Night at the Ballpark

Since Anthony stole my thunder regarding Dejan Kovacevic's embarrassing puff piece on Nate McLouth's recent "resurgence" in yesterday's Post-Gazette, I instead bring you some thoughts from the game itself last night......

-This was the fourth game I have been to this year. The first three were very entertaining victories. This was a clunker. It was just one of those nights where the Ross Ohlendorf didn't have it and the hitters somehow couldn't hit a very hittable Tim Hudson. 

-Nate McLouth is a tiny guy. The 5'11 he is listed at is very generous. I never realized that when he was here. He got a mixed reaction at best each time he batted (I was expecting loud cheers after the outrage last year when he was traded). It was probably more boos though. I would think that is due to the comments about the organization he made in spring training that his publicist Dejan forgot to mention yesterday. And those new contacts he desperately needed?  They aren't helping him yet. He hit three lazy fly balls and sac bunted to help setup runners on second and third for the pitcher Tim Hudson. No mention of any of that in the Post-Gazette game summary.

-Jason Heyward on the other hand is a monster. He is every bit the 6'5", 240 lbs he is listed and just crushes the ball every time he makes contact. He was a triple short of the cycle. The Pujols  comparisons may not be so ridiculous after all. Pirate fans should be more disgusted Dave Littlefield passed him up in the 2007 draft than the constantly talked about Matt Wieters. By the way, he doesn't turn 21 till August!

-As much as I ripped him before, its time for Neil Walker to come up and play 2B. I think he has finally earned a promotion by dominating AAA. Not to mention they are wasting valuable time and at bats playing the underwhelming combo of Delwyn Young and Bobby Crosby at second base while Aki Iwamura is "hurt." The team needs to see what they have with Walker and start to figure out how the infield is going to be configured once Pedro Alvarez is ready.

-Why is Ryan Church getting so much playing time?

-Finally, there were a decent number of Braves fan there last night. Come to think of it,  there always is when the Pirates play Atlanta. Where do these people come from? The Braves don't draw very well at home, much less have a national following. Are these fans Pittsburghers who just threw their arms up after the 1992 NLCS and decided to join the winning team? Weird.

The beauty of baseball after a lackluster game like last night? You get to play again the next day. Hopefully it works out better tonight and the next time we go.....

Pay it Forward

I'm guessing that the Post-Gazette's Dejan Kovacevic was waiting on pins and needles to write something positive about Nate McLouth. AND HE JUST COULDN'T WAIT ANY LONGER...

It sounds like Kovacevic is using McLouth's recent 9 for 24 "surge" as justification for writing something positive about him. See for yourself.

Dude, you must really, really want to write something positive about someone if you've waited until they got their batting average to .208 before deciding that now is the right time. I could see being somewhat positive if he hit the game-winning grand slam for the Braves last night (which, of course, he didn't). Anything more than briefly mentioning McLouth's return to Pittsburgh tonight is utterly absurd.

As the Pirates beat-reporter, the only thing Dejan should be writing about, in regards McLouth, is that Neal Huntington--as much as I can't stand him--appears to be right about trading him. For all of the flak Neal got for trading McLouth (and the return on the trade is not promising), it looks like he correctly identified that McLouth was not a core piece of the puzzle.

So, now I've wasted your time trying to explain why Dejan Kovacevic shouldn't have wasted my time today. Pay it forward.

Hoosiers

The other day, Bird and I were talking about our favorite sports movies. While Bird was fixated on "BASEketball," the modern version of "The Bad News Bears," and "The Legend of Bagger Vance," I insisted that he sit down and watch "Hoosiers."

(Alright. I'll admit that Bird only truly likes "BASEketball," but if you like movies like that, aren't you bound to also like "No Holds Barred?" and "Rocky V"????)

On to Hoosiers.

The 1986 movie, starring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper, is the best sports movie ever made. (ESPN agrees). It's a story that's loosely based on Indiana's Milan High School's 1954 State Basketball Championship. Back then, all high schools--regardless of size--played in one state championship tournament. Milan High's enrollment was 161 students that year. I won't talk more about the movie itself, because I can't do it justice.

If you haven't seen it, buy it now.

Here are some awesome links that Hoosiers fans will enjoy:

Movie quotes that give ya the chills...

Hickory's gymnasium is still the same...

(go to this site to get autographed pics from the cast)

Here are ESPN's Bill Simmons' thoughts after his 250th viewing...

Interesting facts about the movie...

Movie mistakes (yes, there were some)...

Jimmy Chitwood's character was based on a guy named Bobby Plump...

Bobby Plump owns a restaurant...

Hoosiers trivia...

Crying Ryan Braun

Should we add Ryan Braun to the "over-zealous D-Bag" category Jim made up for Tim Tebow? 

First, there was the incident last year where Jeff Karstens hit Braun his next at bat after he homered and seemingly admired it a bit too long before rounding the bases. This is really standard baseball etiquette but not to Ryan Braun. If there was an issue, his pitcher should have hit Karstens in that game (had a couple chances). They did not. Instead, Braun continually brought up the incident the rest of the season and how "we'll see what happens." His consistent whining ultimately led to both benches emptying months later when a Brewer pitcher finally did hit Jeff Karstens (He was probably tired of hearing about it from Braun in the clubhouse). This was a bizarre episode where Jason Kendall refused to say the correct name of the Pirates pitching coach Joe Kerrigan after the game. Instead, he was "Dave Kerwin:"

"It was fine until Dave Kerwin," Kendall said, referring to Kerrigan. Kendall continued to call Kerrigan by that incorrect name -- seemingly on purpose -- even after being promptly corrected.


"I can take a lot, but I'm not going to get yelled at," he continued. "Dave Kerwin started yelling at me...."

When asked what he thought made Kerrigan so mad, Kendall responded: "I don't know. Dave Kerwin? I have no idea."

Then last night, Ryan Braun comes up to the plate to lead of the ninth with the Pirates up two runs. He lays down a bunt to get on first (sort of a goofy move by a power hitter, but understandable that he just wants to get on base since they are down two). Prince Fielder then strikes out swinging while Braun is trying to steal second. He stole it easily cause that is what guys do against Ryan Doumit. He then tries to run to third because no one was covering the base. The problem was that Andy Laroche still had the ball and tagged him out easily. The out effectively ended the game and gave the Brewers their 9th loss in a row.

Why was Braun so excited to get to 3B with one out? Did he think his run counts as two? Why was he even running in the first place? His run means nothing. But hey, it is not Braun's fault. It was Andy Laroche's superpowers:

"Getting to third base right there wouldn't have done us much good, but I saw an opportunity," Braun said. "[LaRoche] did some Matrix stuff or something, I don't know. He was about to throw the ball back to the pitcher and did a reverse spin. It was a good play by him and a stupid play by me."

Gotcha, that explains it all.

Caution: PED Crossing

Floyd Landis has finally admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the 2006 Tour De France. Actually, he admitted taking them for most of his cycling career. Always cycling...

Like many others before him, Landis is now accusing Lance Armstrong of abusing PEDs. Poor Lance. Seems like everyone is out to get him!

First, Greg LeMond wondered how clean Armstrong was back in 2004. In 2008, Armstrong strangely interrupted LeMond during a press conference about new testing procedures. LeMond's simply jealous.

In 2005, A French newspaper reported that Armstrong's 1999 urine samples were retested and found to contain illegal substances. Lance still disputes the findings. Science isn't perfect.

In June of 2007, David Walsh released a book accusing Armstrong of doping. Lance has made it known that he and Walsh don't get along. Ah ha! That explains why he wrote the book!

In March of 2009, the French anti-doping agency again levied accusations against Lance for violating the protocol for testing. When they showed up to randomly test him, Lance promptly took a shower and waited several minutes before submitting to the urine test (out of the tester's sight). When the pizza man shows up to deliver my pizza, I do the same thing before I give him his money. Uggh?

I don't know if Lance Armstrong cheated his way to 7 Tour De France titles.

Because unless you have video evidence--in Lance's world--you can't prove anything. If a video ever does surface,go ahead and assume it had to be professionally doctored...

An ODE to LOST

When the first episode of LOST hit the air on 9-22-04, I thought it was "Lord of the Flies-Adult Version." By the time that first episode ended two hours later, I knew there was WAY more to it. And I was hooked.   

Over the years, it made so many ludicrous things seem perfectly reasonable by via great storytelling. In no particular order, here are just a few examples (FYI, what follows is technically full of spoilers if you have never seen the show but they won't necessarily make sense without other plot points):

-Polar Bears running around on a tropical island. Because they escaped their cages on the other island a short boat ride away.

-Survivors of the crash had their cancer and paralysis cured.

-Island natives who lived in a nice village full of modern technology, but kidnapped kids and pregnant women while disguised as backwards neanderthal looking people for mysterious purposes.

-An underground "hatch" that had a countdown clock that had to be reset every 108 minutes by entering a specific sequence of numbers and pushing a button. And if you don't press the button? The world would end.

-A character who is so untrusting that he dug up two bodies and found their wallets and driver's licenses to prove a "bad guy" is lying.

-The Island can be moved to save it from destruction by others by turning a frozen wheel well underground. And when  that happens, those on the island start jumping through time. 

-A trail of smoke called the "Smoke Monster" that can show up, read thoughts, shapeshift into different bodies, and kill at will if needed. 

-A seemingly invincible dog that survived the plane crash and all of the craziness around him time after time.

And those bullet points just cover what the tiniest bit of what happened on the island. The Flashbacks in each episode slowly told the backstories of the survivors and linked perfectly with happenings on the Island. So well in fact, that the flashbacks changed twice into even better storytelling devices.

Even with all of the crazy happenings and mixing in of science fiction, LOST is probably ultimately a show about the basic argument of Science vs Faith and Free Will vs. Destiny. I say probably because unlike other shows LOST hasn't ever come out and told you what you are supposed to think. There is never a scene where a character sits down another to explain something event by event. Mysteries are revealed with answers that answer the issue while raising more questions. 

That open-endedness has only made some (like me) even more intrigued. Of course it has turned others off, but that's ok. Those that love LOST go above and beyond. Has there every been a show that has an almost 6900 article online encyclopedia for anything and everything about the show created purely by fans? You could literally spend days on Lostpedia reading anything from episode recaps to timelines of events, to quotes and theories. How about another show that produced 10+ page recaps on Entertainment Weekly.com (Totally LOST) that are filled with obscure literary references, philosophical theories, and religious links? And there are plenty more theories and analysis here, here, here, and here. No show has been embraced and made for the internet like LOST.

All in all, there was never a show like LOST before and probably never will be again. Networks are just not going to take the risk when they can greenlight shows like CSI: Insert City Name here and get solid ratings.

The finale Sunday is going to be a sad day.

Yip Yip Hooray

Jarod Saltalamacchia has the yips. While you hate to see a guy struggle like this, part of me loves these stories.

The "yips" refers to a sports condition where you can't do simple things that you used to be able to do with ease. Steve Blass, Mackey Sasser, Chuck Knoblauch, and Rick Ankiel all were very good players who inexplicably lost the ability to throw a baseball 60 feet. They all tried "everything," and only Ankiel ever recovered his career with an improbable switch from pitching to the outfield.

It captures and magnifies what I love about baseball - there's a mental aspect, a constant struggle every player experiences whether or not they ever get the dreaded yips. It's why we see hot streaks and cold streaks. It's why Dallas Braden gives up six runs in four innings and ten days later throws a perfect game. It's why Albert Pujols strikes out six times in three games against the Dodgers and later in the year goes 27 straight games without any strikeouts (wow). It allows us to identify with players, to hang with them through difficult stretches, and to hold out hope that somebody like Oliver Perez will eventually get it together.

Nobody in the NFL gets the yips. A player is drafted, learns his position, and (save for injury) is that same player until age takes its toll. Not so in baseball. Each player is in part a soul-searcher on a meandering journey in search of perfection. One day you're an unstoppable force and the next you're in over your head.

Good luck, Salty. I know how you feel.

Lebron is Long Gone....says ESPN

Lebron James is officially a free agent in 42 days. Of course, I am just estimating. We can get it down to the minute if you like per this ridiculously over the top Lebron Tracker on ESPN.com.
The page is dedicated to everything Lebron. More specifically the question: Where is Lebron going to go when he leaves Cleveland on July 1st? They have decided that him going to another team is a foregone conclusion at this point.

ESPN seems to be just totally discounting the fact that Lebron can make more money (about 30 million more due to the way the salary cap works) by staying in Cleveland. He would also be more than starting from scratch going to New York or New Jersey as they have just a couple guys signed for next year but not much more cap room if they sign Lebron . Chicago is a different story, but does he really want to be compared to Jordan every single day playing there? Let's also not forget that he would be leaving a place he has lived all his life, and a team that really just needs some tweaking to win. I just don't see him leaving.

Why is ESPN's coverage so skewed towards him leaving? Because, Lebron playing in Chicago or New York is better for ESPN Chicago.com or ESPN New York.com of course. And that is what matters to ESPN long term. There is no ESPN Cleveland.com and probably never will be. ESPN needs a big star in one of those two cities to help expand their local reach.

And who cares if the likely outcome gets in the way of potential big business for your websites?

Why Charlie is Better than this...

Anthony strongly criticized Charlie Morton below. Obviously, this is a very easy thing to do right now. Of course, he didn't look deep into the stats (as usual). As bad as his numbers are right now, there are some definite reasons to be optimistic about Morton turning it around over the long haul.

Here are some of the oddities in Morton's 2010 stats after eight starts (courtesy of Fangraphs):

-Morton's left on Base percent (or strand rate) is 43.8%. The Major League Average is 71.5%. The worst number from a pitcher in 2009 that pitched at least 100 innings was 59%. In 2009, he was right in the middle of the league at 71.4%. Last night, Morton allowed 7 baserunners and 6 scored. These numbers are just impossible to maintain. Especially considering....

-His strikeouts are up and his walks down. He is striking out a very good 7.64 batters per 9 innings in 2010 compared to 5.75 in 2009. The walks are down over 1 per 9 innings as well (3.71 to 2.55). So, less balls are being put in play. That is always a good thing.

-His HR per flyball rate is 20.5%. Typically all pitchers, even the most dominant or most hittable ones, linger around 10%.

-Morton's Batting Average on Balls in play is .387. Again, this is way above the major league average of about .300. Morton's last year was .310 and .304 with the Braves.

There are plenty more stats that skew towards the unlucky for Charlie. I think you get the point though. It is almost impossible for him to keep these bad numbers up the way he is actually pitching. Its much more likely things will start to even out and his numbers the rest of the way are more in line with what we expected.

As for Anthony's boy Nate McLouth and that trade in general? Guys who (on a good team) are 4th or 5th outfielders themselves tend to bring back high risk, high reward guys like Morton and Hernandez (Locke is much more than a "questionable" prospect but some other time..). His contract was only team friendly if he kept hitting like he had in the first two months of 2008 when he would have been worth the money. He has not come close to doing that (with either team). Sure, he has had some unluckiness of his own in 2010 as his BABIP is a bit low, but he is also striking out more than ever (by a lot) with a drastic decrease in power. That is a terrible combination. Its very possible Nate peaked in those first two months of 2008.

Oh, that gold glove McLouth won? Its routinely viewed as one of the bigger jokes in Gold Glove voting history. Here is a post right after it happened by the author of a Pirates blog.

Most sane people view this trade as Huntington selling as high as he possibly could on a nice but not franchise changing player. Anthony will eventually get there with the rest of us.

CHAAAARLIE!!!!!!!!

I want everyone to know that Bird still defends the Nate McLouth trade.

To justify the trade, Bird points to Nate's paltry numbers since he joined the Braves.

What does that have to do with the trade? When the Pirates traded McLouth, he was a very good offensive center fielder and had just won a gold glove. His contract was also team-friendly. As far as the fans knew, he wasn't even on the trading block.

That means Neal Huntington got an offer he couldn't refuse. Rumor has it that Huntington didn't even bother to call the other 30 MLB franchises to leverage the Braves offer. Instead, he pulled the trigger.

So, what was so incredibly tempting to Neal?

Since Gorkys Hernandez projects to be a 4th or 5th outfielder and Jeff Locke is a questionable prospect, I'm guessing that Neal was infatuated with Charlie Morton.

Another great call, Neal. Find me a worse pitcher in the majors leagues, and I'll try to find you someone who will go to further depths to defend the Pirates than Bird will. We'll both fail...but not as bad as Charlie Morton does every time he takes the mound. Crazy.

OMG Tim Tebow!

One of the "Must See" articles on ESPN.com today is this gag-worthy fluff on Tim Tebow.

Why the media obsession with Tebow? Is his story so incredible? Let's recap:

- Great college QB whose skills don't translate to the NFL

- Religious

- Emotional leader

- Overzealous D-bag

OK, so maybe the last one is just me. But isn't the general sentiment in the first three true about Troy Smith or Trent Dilfer? What about Andre Ware, Charlie Ward, Gino Toretta, Tommy Frazier...? Why are we supposed to be excited about this guy's NFL career?

N.F.L.

In yesterday's Post-Gazette, Gene Collier dissected the Pittsburgh Steelers 2005 draft.

In a nutshell, he gave them a B-. That's about 4 letter grades higher than I'd give their collective 2006 to 2009 drafts.

Living near Pittsburgh, it's accepted that Kevin Colbert dominates the NFL draft every April. But in an age of what have you done for me lately, the N.F.L. can stand for--say it with me, Jerry Glanville--NOT FOR LONG if you begin to show a pattern of ineffectiveness. Colbert is the poster-child for that pattern.

In 2006, the Steelers drafted 9 players. Only 4th rounder Willie Colon remains on the team today. Almost impossibly bad.

In 2007, the team inexplicably fell in love with Lawrence Timmons and took him in the 1st round. He's so good that they needed to go resign the aging Larry Foote this past off-season. They did hit on Lamar Woodley in the 2nd round, but of the remaining draftees that year, only Daniel Sepulveda is likely to start on the team this upcoming season. He's a punter. Yikes.

In '08, Pittsburgh drafted Rashard Mendenhall in the 1st round. He did nothing as a rookie, but was productive in his second year. He also got benched for not studying his play book so the jury's still out on him. 2nd rounder Limas Sweed has been a colossal bust, and 3rd rounder Bruce Davis didn't even make the team last year. Did they forget to scout that year?.

Last year, the Steelers drafted 9 players. Of the 9, it appears that the only guy with pro-bowl capabilities is 3rd Rounder, Mike Wallace. Atrocious.

It's too early to predict the success or failures of the 2010 draft class, but based on the trend developing, I wouldn't go buy your Maurkice Pouncey jersey just yet.

Kevin Colbert drafted very well his first few years in Pittsburgh. But his last 4 gradable drafts have been pretty awful. If Bill Cowher really is actively recruiting Colbert to join him wherever he ends up coaching, I--for one--will pitch in towards a one-way plane ticket.

Oliver Perez

Former Pirate Oliver Perez was demoted to the bullpen by the NY Mets over the weekend.

What happened to this guy? He was supposed to be the next great left handed pitcher in MLB. With the Pirates in 2004 (his first full season after a couple partials), he had a 2.98 ERA with a staggering 239 Strikeouts in 196 innings (11.0 Ks per 9 which led the league) as a 22 year old.  His ERA+, which is a measure of how good someone is (or isn't) against the average pitcher, was 145 that year. 100 is average. The best number from the current "aces" of the Pirates staff Zach Duke/Maholm is Maholm's 114 in 2008.

Perez was so good that year the Pirates would have lines of people around the block buying tickets any home game he started.  I know cause I waited in line for a half hour or so to get tickets on a random Wednesday afternoon game in August. Perez was literally worth the price of admission. He was super animated and just plain fun to watch with his unorthodox motion, up to 98 mph fastball with movement, and nasty slider. You could even see the crowd watching to be sure he did his superstitious skip over the foul line on the way to the dugout. The Pirates seemingly had a Cy Young candidate for years to come. This was the kind of pitcher the organization had literally never had in a 100+ years.

Something changed in the winter of 2004/2005 though. The most commonly held belief is summed up by the PG (very good article on the issues before the 2006 season):

.....Perez was instructed to skip winter ball in Mexico to rest. He took the order too literally, though, and did virtually nothing to keep his arm in shape. That essentially wiped out his mini camp.


Just before spring training, he slept awkwardly on his left shoulder and fell so far behind it took him until late June to begin rounding into form.

In that 2005 season, he was not very good at all and even missed two months after breaking his toe while kicking a laundry cart out of anger. He never came close to hitting 98 mph. Most of the time he was 91 or 92 at best with terrible control. He was so bad in 2006 that the Pirates sent him to AAA and ultimately traded him to the Mets for Xavier Nady. It was an obvious sign that the Pirates had given up on him. With the Mets, he was good but not great in 2007 and has gotten progressively worse since.

He has never come close to duplicating the 2004 season for more than one game here and there. He is walking more hitters than ever while striking out less. His fastball in 2010 is averaging 88 mph (soft tosser Zach Duke territory), 10 miles per hour slower than he would hit in 2004. He is just 28 years old, but all signs point to him being, as Fangraphs describes above, "broken." At least the Mets gave him a big 3 year extension before the 2009 season.

Is Oliver Perez another casualty of the Dave Littlefield regime's laziness? Should someone have been sent to Mexico that fateful winter to monitor a 23 year old kid's off season program? Especially one as emotional and fragile as Perez? And who was THE franchise ace? I think so. Is everything in Perez's career since related to that winter? I doubt it. But noone can argue that he has never looked the same.

What could have been.

Bring on the Cubs!

After a 4-3 win this afternoon, the Pirates are now 5-0 against the Chicago Cubs. If only they had 100 more games against them......

-Andrew McCutchen is 11 for 14 in the four games he has played against Chicago with a .785/.813/.1071 batting line.

-The Pirates have outscored the Cubs 32 to 14 in 5 games while being outscored in the other 31 games 206 to 96.

-In their last 6 innings against the Cubs, the Pirate bullpen has 11 strikeouts.

If you are getting dominated like the Cubs are against a team that just allowed Homer Bailey to throw a 90 pitch shutout the day after Johnny Cueto one hit them, how can Lou Pinella's job not be in jeopardy?

Did I mention they have a guy in the bullpen making 18 million dollars for the next handful of years? What a disaster of a team.

I wonder if the Bucs could trade some of the games against Milwaukee or St. Louis for more against the Cubs?

Do I Hear a Rivalry?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Miami Hurricanes are in discussions to begin renewing their football rivalry as soon as the 2012 season.

If the year were 1993, I might be excited about that. It's not, and I'm not.

Since 2003, Notre Dame is 46-40 overall and 1-4 in bowl games. During the same span, Miami is 57-31, and 3-3 in bowl games. Pretty mediocre.

I'm Irish-Catholic. I haven't forgotten what Saturday afternoons were like in my house as a kid when ND played the 'Canes. Everyone was so nervous about the game that we hardly spoke until after it was over.

Now, there's silence about the rivalry's revival for a different reason. Prolonged mediocrity has been deafening.

Go ND! I guess.