I was thinking that Sporty needed a running segment in which we get to spout our nonsensical opinions about the current events in the sporting world.  Then I realized that Killer already had created a "Rants and Raves" section that we hadn't been using.  (Because we update with such vigor)  So I will now hijack Killer's column for a day because I don't have time to properly execute my original idea.

RANT

I've spent my last two articles covering the baseball awards and most specifically blasting sabermetricians.  In reality the old-school way of voting for awards based on a player's history and popularity was probably worse than using advanced analysis.  However, I still think it's absolute nonsense to fault a pitcher for playing on a team with a good defense.  If you're going to do that you don't need to fluff your argument or waste your time with meaningless equations.  Just give the Cy Young to the pitcher who has the highest strikeouts per nine innings.  If you're looking for the guy who missed the most bats, it's pretty fucking simple.

RAVE

All in all the baseball writers did a great job with the Cy Young and MVP voting.  There were no real surprises and definately no East Coast bias.  Grienke deserved the Cy more than anyone based on his awful prediciment of being a Royal.  Albert is the best player in the game and Joe Mauer owned the AL.  I'll even admit that Tim Lincecum is the best pitcher in the National League. And  I'll further admit that I feel bad about the pot joke in my previous article. I've always believed that the only things pro-athletes owe sports fans is their performance on the field.  Which leads me too........

RANT

Leave Tiger the fuck alone.  I'm addressing purveyors of gossip who call themselves sportswriters like Mark Kriegel.  Jason Whitlock already wrote the best article on this subject.  But Tiger owes the media nothing.  He didn't cheat at his chosen profession, the game of golf, so don't equate him to Alex Rodriguez.  At what point did we decide that we own our professional athletes when they walk off of the field.  This isn't an image issue, Tiger is a merchandising icon because he's the best ever at his game and was taught to be that since day one.  He never invited the media into his life and never told the sponsers he was as pure as Christ.  Just because you're jealous of him and want to see him suffer, doesn't mean he owes you the satisfaction of making his private failures public.

RAVE

Elin Nordegren, nice short game. 


This is not PGA approved dress, but I imagine the ratings would skyrocket.

RANT

Thierry Henry, you cheating bastard.  While Tiger may have stolen your thunder with his "transgressions", your cheating set the world on fire two weeks prior.  You are a star for two of the great power's in the football world, France and Barcelona.  Yet, for all the glory you've had in your career you somehow found it necessary to tarnish your name and the credibility of the sport that made you a global icon.  It was a blatant hand ball.  You're now public enemy #1 in Ireland and for the entire time your country participates in the World Cup competition they will be playing under the shadow of your misconduct.  You might as well have downed a couple gallons of human growth hormone or smacked around a couple call girls.  In America our journalists act like children while our fans forgive and forget, for the most part.  But in the world's beautiful game the fans run the show, and you are a wanted man now.  Retiring to the MLS may not be too far off.



RAVE

Blackburn beats a full strength Chelsea squad in the Carling Cup, setting up final which will have only one Big Four squad at the most....  The Rams are doing their damnedest to get the #1 pick in the draft. Good show boys, rebuilding is more important than winning now.  Jimmy Johnson went 1-15 in his first year as Cowboys coach, it's not a big deal to suck while reorganizing.... Albert Pujols 3-time MVP.

After the Cy Young voting was announced and ballots were made public.  Keith Law was one of only 2 voters to exclude Chris Carpenter on his ballot.  Naturally he irked a large percentage of Cardinal Nation.  He did an interview with 101.1 ESPN radio in St. Louis the day the award was announced.  It was a heated and remarkably amusing exchange but we couldn't help but wonder what we would have asked him if he came on our show... that is if we had a show, we're working on that.  So here are Keith Law's real answers from the 101.1 interview, mixed with the questions that we would have asked if given the privilege to do the interview, parody intended.

Sporty – Good to have you here Keith. How are you?

Keith Law - Good thanks, how are you guys

Sporty – Sparkling. Let's get down to brass tacks. You left a 17-4 pitcher with a 2.24ERA off of your Cy Young ballot in favor of Javy Vasquez who was15-10 with a 2.87 ERA. Why are you such a tool?

Keith Law – Well, for several reasons.

Sporty – But why would you even think about putting Vasquez in there?

Keith Law - One is just that he, like Lincecum and Wainwright provided more bulk value to his team by throwing more innings. Vasquez I think had the smallest gap over Carpenter with 27 or so innings. You know, the equivalent of 3complete games. That's a pretty significant advantage and Carpenter would have had to have been much more effective in the innings that he threw to close the value gap with Vasquez. And another major reason is that defense counts and we have to, when trying to evaluate a pitcher value we have to back that out of the equation. Carpenter and Wainwright both got significant help from their defense because the Cardinals fielded a pretty defensive club this year. Whereas Vasquez and Lincecum really weren't helped by their defenses, they weren't hurt much by them, which is surprising because Lincecum played in front of a lousy defensive club. But they weren't helped by them and once you look at some of the more advanced statistics that try to tease out pitching value vs defensive value, uh, Vasquez really rose above all the pitchers in the National League except for Tim Lincecum who just lapped the field. To me Lincecum was clearly above every one else. And then you have I think a lot of arguments about how you would order the next four guys in the league, two Cardinals guys, Javy Vasquez, and Dan Haren, who is who Will Carroll voted for over Carpenter.

Sporty – So, bottom line, Javy Vasquez promised you half of his of his $70,000 bonus if you could get him into fourth place?

Keith Law - No, that's not what I said. Uh, he provided less value.

Sporty – Less than half, got it. Look, since you've got such an impressive knowledge of baseball help me out with this. I recently lost in the finals of an RBI Baseball tournament. I was the American League All-Stars. My friend was the National League All-Stars. He won by one run in the tenth inning, what the hell happened?

Keith Law - He played on a better defensive team and got more help from his defense. He did less himself. He put more balls in play. Now you put those same balls in play in front of an inferior defense and you get worse results. This is sort of one of the major breakthroughs, I would say, in baseball analysis in the last 10 years, is giving us some kind of separation between the value of pitching and the value of defense.

Sporty – But that game's stats are all screwed up, George Brett isn't a right handed hitter and Rick Sutcliffe never had a 1.12 ERA. Seems like poor analysis to create statistics that make some players look better than they actually were.

Keith Law - Well,it's certainly not poor analysis its actually accurate analysis.

Sporty – You're telling me that you have formulas that can prove Rick Sutcliffe's ERA should have been lower and George Brett hit right handed? I've seen Brett play in person and he swung left-handed.

Keith Law - {Laughing in wiener voice} I don't know if you have a background in analysis to question the quality of my analysis.

Sporty – Do you ever watch baseball games or do you just back out of the stadium after the National Anthem?

Keith Law - The question is, how much do you back out?

Sporty – You think it's more important to read statistical analysis on a pitcher rather than watch him pitch first hand, before voting on something as important as the Cy Young award?

Keith Law - What we know about pitchers is they can do one of four basic things with a hitter. Strike a guy out, give up a walk, give up a home run, or give up a ball in play. Well the first three it's fairly absolute what happens next, but with a ball in play it can become an out, it can become a hit, and it can become a hit obviously various kinds of hits. The things a pitcher can do most to help his team, the thing that a pitcher can do most to help his team, the things he can do strike more guys out reducing the risk of a ball in play that becomes a single or a double or a triple, avoid home runs, avoid walks.

Sporty – Well yeah, I guess if a pitcher has that little responsibility his job's pretty easy.  He can just spend his off days smoking pot, hitting teammates with pies, and playing Guitar Hero.

Keith Law - Tim Lincecum was the best in the National League at doing those 3 critical things. And keeping balls out of play.

Sporty - But baseball hitters are almost legendary if they succeed 3 out of 10 times.  Why shouldn't more pitchers just play the percentages and let the batters hit the ball, Wainwright and Carpenter do?  The efficiency will give pitchers more time to play Guitar Hero.

Keith Law - If you can tell me exactly how much credit we should give back to Carpenter and Wainwright because they were deliberately trying to pitch to contact as opposed to being unable to strike more guys out I'd love to hear it. But we don't know that. But I'm not willing to arbitrarily just make up a figure for that, I think that would be totally irresponsible. I use the most advanced statistics that I have seen that are available outside of the proprietary work done for Major League teams, to try and evaluate who are the best pitchers in the National League and put them in the proper order this year. And that's the order in which I voted.

Sporty - Do your advanced statistics tell you who would win between Adam Wainwright and a Level 20 Dwarf if Waino rolled a 16?

Keith Law - I don't understand what the question is.

Sporty - Wait a damn minute. Dave Duncan told me that guys like you grew up playing dice rolling games because no one would pick you for sports.

Keith Law - I didn't say Dave Duncan was wrong.

Sporty - So since you're the expert, who wins Waino or the Dwarf?  Or should we just ignore Dave Duncan's ramblings altogether?

Keith Law - Again I'm not really sure what the question is. You're asking me if pitchers should ignore their pitching coach?

Sporty - Jesus no.  I don't know how these games are played.  Isn't there a dice roll baseball which is based on player stats on the back of his card, and a dice roll Dungeons and Dragons game which is based on the costumes you make for yourself?  Can those worlds not intersect?  Can Adam Wainwright from the baseball game world only do battle with the Dwarf from D&D if he becomes a Knight or something? 

Keith Law - You're asking me if Adam Wainwright goes to another team is he going to be a completely different pitcher. I don't know that any more than you do. We don't know at all.

Sporty - Another team? Duncan tells me you're an expert at dice rolling games but you can't give me an answer.  And Duncan tells Wainwright to pitch to contact and you won't give him a Cy Young? 

Keith Law - That's what just about every pitching coach tells his guys to do. Dave Duncan happens to be particularly good at it. I have praised Duncan many times because I think he is an extremely effective pitching coach. I think his work with Joel Piniero is an excellent example of that.

Sporty - You're preaching to the choir about Piniero.  Who do you think is more effective at picking awards, baseball writers or Nobel Prize voters?

Keith Law - I don't know it's my first vote.

Sporty - What about baseball writers and Grammy voters?

Keith Law - Don't really have any experience with that.

Sporty - Well I'd definitely put the outrage at you for your dismissal of Chris Carpenter up there with the Jethro Tull over Metallica reaction.  What do you think of that?

Keith Law - I am amused tremendously by it. Because who cares. Why does some random Cardinals fan care whether or not Chris Carpenter won the Cy Young or not? By the way I didn't make the difference. If I put Carpenter second instead of Vasquez he still wouldn't have won the award. And I think it's pretty clear that Lincecum deserved to win the award. If there's a questions over whether Lincecum is the best pitcher in the National League or not, I don't really see that as that much of a discussion. He's clearly above everyone else. So why does it matter?

Sporty - The Cardinals went into the playoffs, while Lincecum faded when his team needed him during the stretch run.

Keith Law - That is absolutely incorrect, Lincecum pitched well in September. I mean have they changed the standings. Do they weigh games more in September now then the games in April?

Sporty - No but there's a clutch factor.  I'm sure you'd understand competitive social dynamics if you ever played sports in your life.

Keith Law - See that's the type of old school nonsense that, to me, just does not have a place in baseball analysis.

Sporty - What's wrong with being old school or reminiscing about back in the day?  When all the kids were getting suited up for sports what were putting on for your dice rolling contests?

Keith Law - Make up.

Sporty - No wonder you sound like a guy who's never seen a vagina.

Keith Law - I've spent this whole year traveling around the country, going to games. So that's a pretty bogus argument.

Sporty - Sorry for assuming.  But it's still pretty clear that you're a dude who has to pay for sex.

Keith Law - Very clear.

Sporty - I bet that kind of come with the territory for guys who spend their free time creating advanced formulas to vote on awards for a glorified children's game.

Keith Law - And you know what, to the extent that people want to see the rationale for my vote, by all means I wrote an article on it today. Trying to explain it using the advanced statistics, but in a way that makes them accessible to people who aren't familiar say, wins above replacement or fielder independent pitching. Which are types of stats that major league front offices are actually using now to evaluate player performance. They're not as commonly heard in the mainstream media and I understand that a lot of fans may not be familiar with them. But I worked in a front office and understanding how Major League teams are approaching the question of historical value and also projecting forward. Those are the criteria and the types of statistics that I use in voting on this award.

Sporty - Criteria that outrages St. Louis, which is a dangerous city to visit let alone outrage.

Keith Law - Got some good emails so far from Cardinals fans who just wanted an explanation,wanted a little back and forth. You mentioned outrage and that's what just cracks me up. I don't understand that.

Sporty - Honestly though, if you could cross characters into different worlds, you would pick Lincecum over Carpenter to swing an axe for your party in a battle against slimy ogres?

Keith Law - Mmmmmm Not what I said and not the question we need to answer with the Cy Young award.

Sporty - So if all your analysis didn't lead you to the pitcher with the most wins, the pitcher with the most innings, the pitcher with the lowest ERA, or the pitcher who's quickest at decapitating ogres, than what were you voting for?

Keith Law -The question that I tried to answer was who provided the most value for his team this year among pitchers in the National League.

Sporty - So if you were either in a dice roll baseball playoff game, an RBI championship game, or some type of dungeon that may or may not contain a dragon, you'd vote for Tim Lincecum to be your go to guy?

Keith Law - That's not the same as who I'd want. And frankly the guy I'd want out of all these guys to start the first game of the playoffs is Tim Lincecum. I want a guy who can miss bats.

Sporty - Because the bats distract the warriors and block magic spells, right?

Keith Law - That's exactly what it is.

Sporty - I think I've got it now.  Thank you for your insight on statistical analysis and dice games.  I'm going to open this pack of Topps baseball cards so I can start a season of dice roll baseball.  Do mind if I eat the stick of bubblegum?

Keith Law - No no go ahead. 

Sporty - It's been great talking to you Keith.  I hope that front offices still are as uninterested in hiring you as they have been for the previous 5 years so you're available to craft your formulas next season.

Keith Law - Take care.

by W.H.

Major League Baseball's awards season is the annual duel between the crotchety old timer talent evaluators and the new school saber-metrics geeks. The discussions over the deserving players become a Branch Rickey vs Billy Beane debate: Win-Loss Record vs WHIP, RBI's vs VORP, cigars vs graphing calculators. Baseball analysis has always been Dungeons and Dragons type pursuit. Replace ERA with Strength, VORP with Magic, and Innings Pitched with Hit Points and the Bill James congregation can roll dice in their mom's basement for a full 162 game schedule.   The numbers portion of our national pastime has a cherished place in American history.  But can algebraic formulas really tell you which pitcher was consistently the most dominant over the course of a season?

I can't believe I lost to a reliever with only a Level 9 sinker

Zach Greinke was awarded the 2009 American League Cy Young and immediately his win-loss record and the quality of his team were called into question. As if pitching for the Royals should be considered a benefit instead of a detriment. If the Cy Young really represents “the best pitcher in the league” and not  “the best pitcher on the best team”,  then Greinke should receive bonus votes for having to suffer Kansas City's frequent waste of his quality starts. Because of the Royals offensive ineptitude, his won-loss record was low for a Cy Young winner. However the National League winner, Tim Lincecum, had less wins on a team that was in post-season contention during September. Luckily for Lincecum his lacking in the Strength category was more than made up for with a high Magic count, and probably a nifty wizard cap that added +2 K when rolling a 7.

What was significant about Greinke's win was the lopsidedness of the voting. Greinke had 23 more first place votes than his closest competition, while Lincecum didn't even have the most first place votes in his league. The Giants' ace led the league in strikeouts and opponents batting average; Adam Wainwright led the league in wins and innings pitched; while Chris Carpenter led in ERA, WHIP and winning percentage. The NL race was easily down to three almost equal candidates a Wizard, a Warrior, and some type of Bionic Commando.  However, two baseball writers with the most advanced graphing calculators and 12 sided die, Keith Law and Will Carroll, left him off their ballots all together.  Clearly Carpenter's Level 24 Axe Wielding and Charisma could not make up for his lack of innings. Although closers like Dennis Eckersley, Eric Gagne, and Mark Davis have previously won the award while throwing a fraction of Carpenter's total.

Carpenter's +10 High Kick was not taken into consideration

Greinke's victory was due to his 2.16 ERA , 1.07 WHIP and -5 Pitch Tipping, which are astounding for a pitcher who faces a DH every time through the lineup. Every one of the other American League candidates: Halladay, Hernandez, Verlander, and Sabathia, had more wins and more innings pitched than Greinke. Verlander led the league in strikeouts, Hernandez had the best Won-Loss percentage, and Halladay led in shutouts and complete games. Does this represent along overdue victory for the pocket protector crowd? Or is it merely a brief reprieve for a group used to getting it's lunch money taken every November?  Either way it seems much the way that Bob Dylan warned, the times they are a changing.  Perhaps in the next few seasons we'll start seeing players begin to wear Ricky Vaughan glasses in order to connect with the Harry Potter fans who cast the votes for their awards.  Or perhaps this is merely another phase of our National Pastime: The Dead Ball Era, The War Era, The Steroid Era, and the D&D Era.

Major League Baseball's Post-Season Awards Voting Block

wh@sportymcbloggin.com

by W.H.

After a full 24 hour media blitz is there anything left to say about Sunday night's fourth and two maneuver. For every Cris Carter or Gregg Easterbrook, who praised Bill Belichick's decision, there were a thousand Tom Jackson's and Tedy Bruschi's who were upset that the coach “didn't trust his defense”. Because of what we learned about the Patriots coach's sociopathic tendencies during the Spygate revelations, and due to his coaching specialty being defense, it seems impossible for him to not have confidence in his defense since he is the Alpha and the Omega ofit. Besides, if the Patriots defensive players lack esteem enough to lose confidence when their coach won't put the game in their hands,how devastated would they feel when they gave up the 70 yard drive for the winning touchdown?

Considering that only twelve people in the world own as many Super Bowl rings as Bill Belichick it seems irresponsible to feed the frenzy because he finally made a bold decision that didn't reap a reward (other than choosing to coach the Browns, that is).   Amid the discussion, much was made about Belichick's respect and fear of Peyton Manning, but what about his respect for his own future Hall of Fame quarterback? The New England coach may have been looking across the field at the championship quarterback on the Colts sideline, but he sends his plays in to a three-time champion. Manning may well be considered the greatest passer in NFL history by the time his career is up. However, Tom Brady has a significantly higher career winning percentage with the added bonus of ripping Dan Marino's heart out while breaking the single season touchdown record.

Don't you want the ball in the hands of the guy who warms his hands on this?

The focus should come down to the down,the distance, the time remaining, and the field position. New England had 2 yards to go on fourth down and had been averaging over 6 yards a play against the Indianapolis defense. There was slightly over two minutes to go in the game with a 6 point Patriot lead and the ball on the New England 28. Considering that Peyton Manning had just engineered two 4th quarter touchdown drives, Belichick had to believe there were three possible outcomes:

1. The Patriots PUNT. Peyton gets the ball with 2 minutes left with somewhere around 70 yards to go for a touchdown. His two previous touchdown drives had each gone 79 yards and lasted 2:04 and 1:49 respectively. The Patriots defense had only been off of the field for 23 seconds of game time and had already given up 14 points in the fourth quarter. When they inevitably gave up the score there would be no time left for New England to strike back.

2. The Patriots GO FOR IT and DON'T CONVERT. Peyton has 2 minutes to go 28 yards. The New England defense is tired, the Colts score quickly. This gives Brady and Moss time to get back on the field and move the ball within field goal range.

3. The Patriots GO FOR IT and CONVERT. Game Over. They'd been averaging over 6 yards per play, have a Hall of Fame quarterback, Hall of Fame receiver, and a brick wall offensive line. Their odds of success were higher than most teams in that situation and Belichick would forever be remembered as the ballsiest coach in the NFL.

Pure unadulterated balls

For a borderline sociopath like Belichick, going for it was a no-brainier. Upon success he would receive the praise and upon failure, his players didn't execute. Did he leave that sideline any different than he came in? The media may try to craft a new legacy of failure for him, but there was nothing at risk by losing that game. New England has a 2 game lead in their division. They're 1 game behind the Bengals for a first round bye. Indianapolis may get home-field advantage but they're only 4-4 at home in the post-season under Manning. Why should the Patriots be scared of going back to Indy when they just played them to a 1 point game in their new stadium? Which Hall of Fame quarterback's hands do you want the ball in when the game is on the line, yours or theirs?

wh@sportymcbloggin.com

It's not Aaron Rodgers' fault. Not entirely. He didn't ask for his football career to be put in direct comparison to a legend's. He was supposed to go earlier in the 2005draft. He shouldn't have fallen to Green Bay. He was never meant to succeed Brett Favre. But now that's what he'll remembered for. A quarterback who became the pawn in a battle for the supremacy of the Packer organization.

10 years from now if there's a breaking story about espionage in the NFL ranks it won't be about Bill Belichick. It will be when we finally discover that Ted Thompson was a plant from the commissioner's office. An agent sent to destroy the small market Green Bay franchise, make it unprofitable and then relocate the team to London, Mexico City, or god-forbid Los Angeles. Other than the ingestion of large amounts of crystal-meth, or some inbred Alabamian ancestry there's no other explanation for the man's stupidity.

What do you mean, "where am I from?"

If Favre stayed retired no one ever would have known of Thompson's incompetence. But now, midway through the 2009 season, the Vikings are 7-1 with the Green Bay Hall of Famer at the helm and the Packers are a mediocre 4-4. The Packers suffered their latest loss at the hands of the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers and from there it only gets worse. One week prior, the revenge seeking Brett Favre marched his purple horde into Lambeau Field and dismantled his old team. Meanwhile Ted Thompson hid in the bathroom of his luxury box fearful that his ex-QB would air mail a 90mile-an-hour pig-skin between his eyes.

On two successive occasions this season Favre defeated his former team and his replacement. However, a look at the raw numbers shows that the successor to the Packers' throne was not completely out-gunned in those meetings:

Rodgers- 2 losses, 67% completion percentage, 671 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 interception

Favre- 2 wins, 69% completion percentage, 515 yards, 7 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

Considering that Aaron Rodgers has 16less years experience as a starter in the NFL, did not have an offensive line full of pro-bowl caliber players lining up in front of him, and did not have a player named Adrian Peterson lining up behind him, he fared pretty well. But those numbers do not show the amount of times that Ted Thompson's prized player took a sack and killed his team's drive.

Jared Allen, despite his lack or understanding that mullets should only be worn for comedy, is a good pass rusher. Nobody who played offensive tackle for the Packers in those games can match up with him. But any quarterback in the NFL who holds the ball 5 seconds should knows he's pushing his luck. Even though Rodgers has previously shown the ability to escape the pocket, he found it necessary to continue looking down-field for open receivers 6-7 seconds into the play. In two games Rodgers was sacked14 times for a loss of 71 yards, and a safety. A few of those were not the quarterback's fault. But it'd be hard for Heather Mills to get sacked 7 times in one game. Mainly because Jared Allen would be busy showing her pictures of his Trans-Am and trying to get her to come to a Motley Crue reunion show with him.

Anybody need a ticket to the Ratt concert?

It is now evident that Ted Thompson has screwed up the entire situation like Larry Johnson at a nightclub. Packer nation is in a tortured state, their favorite son has turned against them, their management seems wholly incompetent at the moment and there's nowhere to turn. At least when Favre was playing for the Jets, Packer fans could still embrace him. The illusion that he wasj ust a washed up legend playing until his body quits on him, made seeing him in different colors easier. But there's no remedy for watching #4 guide the hated Vikings towards the playoffs while their Ted Thompson built team struggles against the lowly Buccaneers. The twisted feelings of resentment for Thompson, hope for Rodgers,forgiveness for Favre, and that ever present loathing of the Vikings is too much of a mess to untangle.

Favre wasn't done. He proved that in2007 but nobody would acknowledge it. Once Ted Thompson ran him out of a town and a team he revived, Favre had to prove to himself, to the media, to Packers' management that he could still play. Aaron Rodgers will have a great career in the NFL. He's a talented quarterback that will eventually learn to get rid of the ball,probably guide Green Bay to the playoffs multiple times, but will forever be tainted by his association with Ted Thompson's forced removal of Brett Favre from Cheesehead Nation.

Meanwhile Favre the victor will lead his new colors on a march to his third Super Bowl. He came close with Green Bay, and everyone now knows that it could have been them flying high in the NFC North. But management wanted to put a 13-3 team in the hands of an inexperienced quarterback. It wasn't hisfault that Ted Thompson decided to show off his managerial skills in an audition for a future Oakland Raiders GM gig. In the end neither Rodgers, Favre, or Thompson will pay the full price for this debacle. But the broken hearts and spirits of the loyal Green Bay fans maynever recover from the kidnapping of their legend.

One thing had kept Ted Thompson up at night during the offseason.  One worry had him peeking around every corner.  One dreadful nightmare scenario had him dead bolting his doors and loading his guns before sitting down to Sunday dinner with his family.  It was the beating of that infernal heart... the football loving heart of Brett Favre that is.  

Thompson had sandbagged the Packers' legend's attempt to return as starting QB.  Thompson had shipped the future hall of famer to the dank pits of Jersey one season after Favre had led the Green Bay to the NFC Championship game.  Thompson had replaced a 16 year starter with a first year starter who only managed to get the Packers 6 wins.  

In many circumstances this would be considered a complete disaster for management.  But in the final 5 games of the 2008 season Brett Favre imploded on his new Jets team.  The downtrodden fans were barely able to drown their sorrows with cat calls at gate D.  His 2 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions seemingly proved to the sports world that the Green Bay general manager wasn't completely incompetent.  The Pack had to move on with a quarterback for the future.

By the end of Wednesday November 4 we will all know who's the baseball genius.  Sure there's a little competition between Charlie Manuel and Joe Girardi.  But there's a more fierce battle between Charlie Manuel and the second guessing "never coached a major league ballclub in their lives" sports journalists.  On Sunday night Manuel sent his 4th starter, Joe Blanton, to the mound in the World Series with his club down 2 games to 1.  Nothing out of the ordinary, except that Girardi sent his ace, CC Sabathia, out on 3 days rest and his Yankees promptly crushed the Phillies and the fragile souls of Philadelphia residents.  Blanton stunk, Sabathia rolled, Phillies fans began to remember their previous 3 decades of torment, questions began to be asked.

Listening to the next 24 hour cycle you may have thought sports talkers had sent out an "Amber Alert" for Cliff Lee.  The defending champs were down 3-1 and Charlie Manuel was to blame for not matching up an ace against an ace.   Forget the fact that Manuel would probably not even have been in a predicament to be questioned had the Phils been hitting.  Slugger Ryan Howard forgot to bring a bat with him and has been singing an invisible jedi lightsaber while setting the World Series record for strikeouts.  By the end of Game 4 Jimmy Rollins was only hitting .232 as their table setter and third baseman Pedro Feliz and left fielder Raul Ibanez were batting a Mendoza-esque .196 and .213 respectively.  Do we even need to mention Brad "cross your fingers and pray this doesn't bounce" Lidge?


"I told you to stop making those light saber effect noises"

But on Monday the Phils dominated the Yankees AJ Burnett, who was on 3 days rest.  Cliff Lee pitched decent enough to win and the Phils now don't look as rough in these dire straits.  Manuel's response without actually answering the Cliff Lee questions was the performance of Lee, who was decent not dominant on 4 days rest. It can be implied that 3 days may have gotten the same result as pitching Blanton.  Although admittedly Blanton was awful and murdered his teammates like they were kids at Camp Crystal.

The subtle strategic genius on Manuel's move is that every one of his starters pitches their final game with one more day of rest than their opponent.  This was a long term maneuver in the series as opposed to a short term fix for one game.  As an added bonus, he got a 1 vs 2 matchup in Lee vs Burnett and now gets to throw his #2 starter, Pedro Martinez, against the Yankees #3, Andy Pettitte.  This would be ideal and unquestionable had the Phillies not been down 3 games to 1 going into game 5.  So Charlie Manuel is either crazy or has rocks the size of CC Sabathia.  Whomever comes out on top, Girardi is probably glad he's facing Manuel across a baseball field and not a poker table.


A man with a poker face of stone and a fungo bat face of a child

by W.H.

As of November 1 circa 6:30 CST the truth will set Brett Favre free. America knows now, Ted Thompson is a dirty, stubborn old fool who forced a legend out of a city where he was beloved. A crooked bastard in the ilk of AIG scumsuckers who thought he could remake a legendary franchise and receive all the credit for it's revival. Problem is that the franchise Ted Thompson was trying to remake in his own vision had enjoyed it's longest run of success in the prior 30 years under the legend he attempted to sandblast with Rupert Murdoch style press clippings.

Under Brett Favre the Green Bay Packers only had 1 losing season in 16 years. In the 24 years between Favre and Lombardi the Pack had only 4 winning seasons. They went to the playoffs 11 times during Favre's tenure, went to 2 Super Bowls, and brought home a championship. Could they have won more under the all-time passing king? There is a possibility, but unlike the Cowboys of the 90's or the Steelers of the 70's they never had an elite running back or wide receiver to accompany their Hall of Fame passer. Not to mention truckloads of pot, cocaine, and whatever Terry Bradshaw took to get ate up.

The last time someone stood that close to Rodgers without sacking him

Ted Thompson ushered Brett Favre out the door in order to make his second mark on the Green Bay Packers franchise, the first being the hiring of Mike McCarthy. Aaron Rodgers, the fallen 1st round pick who plummeted into Ted's lap like a stripper at a bachelor party, was the keystone building block in Thompson's Packers vision. After 3 seasons behind the Hall of Fame gunslinger, Rodgers was thrust in front of the Packer faithful and introduced as the coming of the new guard. Had Green Bay struggled the previous season this would have easier to swallow than bratwurst for Packer Nation. However, the Pack finished 13-3 in 2007 and lost the NFC Championship game in overtime. Suddenly the were a rebuilding team due to their inexperience at quarterback after coming within a game of the Super Bowl, what would have been the 3rd Super Bowl of their now retired legend's storied career.

From the beginning being the starter in Green Bay wasn't easy for Rodgers. After his wife kicked his moping ass out of the house Favre got tired of riding a tractor in the sweltering Mississippi heat and called Thompson declaring he wanted out of retirement. Thompson was feeling rather Machiavellian and sent aman with a briefcase full of money and a lifetime promotional contract to Favre's door like he was the cancer ridden Marlboro Man. But after tasting competitive playoff football for the first time in 4 years and finishing so close to another Super Bowl, the future Hall of Famer couldn't believe the organization he saved from mediocrity would shut its doors to him in favor of an unproven Jeff Tedford project from Cal (see Kyle Boller). So Brett Favre called Thompson's bluff and in order for the GM to preserve his prized 1st round quarterback, the Packers were forced to trade Brett Favre.

"I'm not sure if I wanted to play again THIS bad"

No one will ever really know who was at fault in the break up between Packer Nation and Brett Favre. What we do know is that Aaron Rodgers was a decent quarterback in his first starting season. Although the team's 6-10 record in 2008 could give the impression that they stunk like overfried cheddar nuggets dipped in Milwaukee's Best, 7 of their 10 losses were by 4 points or less. Rodgers threw for over 4,000 yards and had 28 TD's against 13 INT's. He even had 4 rushing touchdowns which tied him for the team lead but also illustrates some of that team's struggles.

Favre almost took his new Jets team to the playoffs which would have stung Thompson like an AIDS infested herion needle but Brett suffered a Amy Winehouse style breakdown and seemingly vindicated the Packers' GM. Since Rodgers was in his first year the close proximity of Green Bay's losses were never really called into question. Neither was the fact that he took 34 sacks: 7th highest in the NFL, lost 231 yards with those sacks: 6th highest in the league, and lost 10 fumbles: 8th in the league. It was Rodgers first season as an NFL starter so luckily for himself and Thompson nothing was examined under a microscope. But in 2009 all of their actions would be looked at closer than Lindsey Lohan's firecrotch with a paparazzi cam...

PART II is coming soon

wh@sportymcbloggin.com

by Killer

Let me just start this by saying that in no way do I speak for my partner here or anyone else.  I just have a few things that I need to get off my chest, that’s all.  Feel free to disagree but this is just the way I feel about some things.

 

Rant

 

Come on folks, it’s the all star game.  I don’t want to hear your political agenda nor do I care what you thought.  You don’t Boo the president.  I don’t agree with some of what Obama’s doing but I have too much respect for the office itself to boo him at an all star game. You think you can do better?  You run for president.  While I respect your right to boo (see amendment 1), I don’t agree that an all star game is the time or the place for that. 

 

Rave

 

I happened to catch a little league game before my beer league softball on Wednesday night.  I walked up and asked what the score was and who was winning, etc.  The answer I got was quite astounding.  4 – 2 bottom of the seventh and the lady went on to explain that the other team was bringing in the best player to pitch and the bottom of the lineup was coming up for them so it might be over soon.  Let me lay this out for you. It is 4-2 and a runner on first with nobody out. The first pitch comes in from a giant 12 year old and there goes the runner at first.  The throw is fired to second from the catcher and it’s a bang, bang play with a cloud of dust and the umpire wildly yelling safe! Three pitches later, the kid at the plate walks.  Now there’s two on and no one out and the lead off hitter is up.  Now the fans (parents) start to really cheer.  With a 2 and 1 count the batter slaps one into center and the run scores from second.  Now it’s 4-3 with two on and still nobody out.  With six straight pitches the next two batters strike out.  Now it’s down to their last out and last hope.  The first pitch is hammered into left center and bounces all the way to the fence.  Here comes one runner into score.  The bleachers are shaking with excitement as the second runner rounds third and heads for home.  As all of this is going on the outfield quickly gobbled up the ball and was firing it to home plate.  Once again it was a bang, bang play and a cloud of dust as time stopped for what seemed centuries to me but was probably only a split second!  We all waited for the call and sure enough he was SAFE! 

 

The point of this story is that Americas past time is alive and well. Even in a troubled economy we can still find happiness in even the smallest, most meaningless game in the sport.

 

Rant

 

Cardinals, where the hell is Ballpark Village?  I was down at ground zero for three days straight for the all star game and I must say I was embarrassed to see no ballpark village.  No wonder St. Louis can only get the Pokemon tournament.  Hmmm, probably because we have a softball field where shops, restaurants and offices were supposed to be.  St. louis has a lot to offer and the cardinals are taking a huge dump on it by leaving ballpark village unattended for so long.  It took three years to build a softball field that to my knowledge no on even plays on!  What a load of crap.  Being the best baseball fans in America, I think we deserve better.

 

Rave

 

Ryan Franklin. New look, new attitude and now one of the best closers in the baseball.  After Chris Perez and Jason Motte can’t finish games for the cardinals they were lost on who to turn too.  Going to Ryan Franklin in the ninth turned out to be the best decision Larussa has made all year.  Converting 21 of 22 saves with an astounding .89 ERA, the season rests on his shoulders.  Seeing his composure on the mound all year has made me fearless of the ninth inning once again.  Not to mention a 12 pitch 1,2,3, inning in the all star game. 

 

Rant

 

The ESPN coast bias continues.  I was eating lunch and watching ESPN the day after the all star game and they are breaking down the red sox season?  Can’t we talk about the game last night?  I’m sick of seeing red sox and Yankees thrown in my face.  There are so many great athletes that get over looked because ESPN won’t cover anything away from them.  Does anyone out there know who Joe Nathan is?  Isaac Bruce? Yadier Molina before two weeks ago?  Come on lets start being the true world wide leader in sports.

 

The 2009 All Star Game was held right here in St. Louis and my big star of the game is not Albert Pujols, it's Yadier Molina.  I went to the festivities and I'll admit that I didn’t get to go to the game like my esteemed colleague W.H., but I did watch it on the big screen right outside the stadium.  It’s been awhile since the 2006 World Series and I’m not sure, but the roar for Molina when he slapped a low and outside fastball into center field may have been bigger than anything I heard during the series.  Seeing Yadier on second base smiling from ear to ear really made me think about how he doesn’t get the spotlight very often.  Let’s face it, being in the wake of Albert is no easy task if you want to get recognized.

Molina has been quietly throwing out 50% of would be base stealers, picking off the ones who chose not to run and batting .290. Albert being the dud on All Star weekend like he was, St. Louis needed one of its 3 all stars to rise to the occasion.  It was great to see such a class act finally get his day in the sun.  Molina ended up going one for two with a clutch hit right when the national league needed it the most.  He also made a great throw to third to get the lead runner in the 1^st inning.  I don’t think that anyone would have made an argument against Yadier winning the MVP, had the National League won.