Saturday, November 29, 2003
FLAMES 4, CANUCKS 4 (OT)
The Comcast cable at my parents' house is stupid. You see, "basic" cable is about thirty channels as opposed to the 60+ I have back at campus. The really stupid thing is what is considered "basic" here in B-town. They get Fox Sports NW, so they don't get screwed out of Mariners games. Get this, though -- they get The Golf Channel, ESPN IS FUZZY (black/white) AND INAUDIBLE, and THERE'S NO ESPN2. This ticks me off every frigging time I come over here. It's weird too. Other than the horribly anomalous Golf Channel, there's also Univision (it does the job sometimes, but it's no ESPN) in addition to every televangelist channel and every home shopping network you could possibly think of INSTEAD OF ESPN. Luckily, the CBC is channel 29 here, so it's not fuzzy and it's completely audible. So for the first time this year, I actually got to watch the Vancouver Canucks play hockey. Results were mixed.
To be honest with you, the Canucks should have had this game sealed. There's no way this should have ended in a tie. They had two-goal leads twice at 2-0 and 3-1. They blew the 3-1 lead and got down 4-3, which is inexcusable. Did I mention Dan Cloutier has this morbid tendency to give up his goals in twos? Well, he did that again tonight. The second and third Calgary goals in the second period were a mere 40 seconds apart. I hate when he does that.
Then on the power play in the 3rd period, Stephane Yelle put the Flames up 4-3 when Dan Cloutier overplayed the pass and left a wide-open net on his glove side. Luckily, the Canucks have a weapon (and a big huge dude) by the name of Todd Bertuzzi, and when they can park him in front of the net, good things happen. All that happened on the play was that Bert parked himself in front of the net, a couple of the Flames guys were running into him, and Brendan Morrison was able to put one through on Flame goalie Jamie McLennan.
But still, McLennan was having some knee trouble when the game was 3-1 Canucks, and that seemed to be high time for the Canucks to put this one away, which they couldn't. At later stages in the game, they seemed to have a lot of trouble keeping control of the puck, and that seemed to lead to less chances, etc. In OT, they got hit with a horribly inopportune too-many-men penalty, which they killed off, followed by a high-stick, which was weathered nine seconds later when Jarome Iginla bowled over Dan Cloutier.
Scoring goals tonight for the Canucks: Brendan Morrison three times (11, his first NHL hat trick), and Ryan Kesler (first NHL goal)
top line...
Naslund (3 A)/Morrison (3 G)/Bertuzzi (2 A) = 8 pts
Lastly, there was a nice scrum at 12:36 of the second period when everyone and their mother got into the fray and six penalties were doled out.
The Canucks get a well-deserved extended break as they face the Flames at the Garage Thursday. They had played 25 games in 50 days.
To be honest with you, the Canucks should have had this game sealed. There's no way this should have ended in a tie. They had two-goal leads twice at 2-0 and 3-1. They blew the 3-1 lead and got down 4-3, which is inexcusable. Did I mention Dan Cloutier has this morbid tendency to give up his goals in twos? Well, he did that again tonight. The second and third Calgary goals in the second period were a mere 40 seconds apart. I hate when he does that.
Then on the power play in the 3rd period, Stephane Yelle put the Flames up 4-3 when Dan Cloutier overplayed the pass and left a wide-open net on his glove side. Luckily, the Canucks have a weapon (and a big huge dude) by the name of Todd Bertuzzi, and when they can park him in front of the net, good things happen. All that happened on the play was that Bert parked himself in front of the net, a couple of the Flames guys were running into him, and Brendan Morrison was able to put one through on Flame goalie Jamie McLennan.
But still, McLennan was having some knee trouble when the game was 3-1 Canucks, and that seemed to be high time for the Canucks to put this one away, which they couldn't. At later stages in the game, they seemed to have a lot of trouble keeping control of the puck, and that seemed to lead to less chances, etc. In OT, they got hit with a horribly inopportune too-many-men penalty, which they killed off, followed by a high-stick, which was weathered nine seconds later when Jarome Iginla bowled over Dan Cloutier.
Scoring goals tonight for the Canucks: Brendan Morrison three times (11, his first NHL hat trick), and Ryan Kesler (first NHL goal)
top line...
Naslund (3 A)/Morrison (3 G)/Bertuzzi (2 A) = 8 pts
Lastly, there was a nice scrum at 12:36 of the second period when everyone and their mother got into the fray and six penalties were doled out.
The Canucks get a well-deserved extended break as they face the Flames at the Garage Thursday. They had played 25 games in 50 days.
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SONICS 95, ROCKETS 88
The Sonics bounce back from getting taken to the cleaners in Utah and beat the Rockets and Yao Ming.
Though run-and-gun seems to have fallen by the wayside and we don't know who the team really is right now, there was some inspired play tonight, from what I'm hearing from the Calabro and McKinney, and from what I saw flipping back and forth between KONG and the CBC (Canucks game). Antonio Daniels, who should have been getting more PT this whole time, provided some very inspired play, as did Luke Ridnour. One would think Yao should have just abused the undersized Sonics big guys, but he didn't totally take over this game. Sonic overpaid big man Calvin Booth got five blocks in 10 minutes. Daniels had a play just before the end of the first half where he had the ball beyond the three-point line and just exploded for a dunk and the foul. I saw Ridnour stick a couple of threes and make a great pass to the other overpaid big man Jerome James for a flush. The bigtime player tonight, though, was Rashard Lewis, returning from tending to his family after his brother's death. He scored 27 and pulled down 9 boards. The Sonics turned the ball over 9 times tonight as opposed to 21 in Utah the other night. The Rockets missed 13 of their 40 shots from the charity stripe and shot only 18% from 3-pt land (three makes).
Though run-and-gun is gone for the time being, this team did need to eventually play some defense, and they appeared to do that tonight.
Though run-and-gun seems to have fallen by the wayside and we don't know who the team really is right now, there was some inspired play tonight, from what I'm hearing from the Calabro and McKinney, and from what I saw flipping back and forth between KONG and the CBC (Canucks game). Antonio Daniels, who should have been getting more PT this whole time, provided some very inspired play, as did Luke Ridnour. One would think Yao should have just abused the undersized Sonics big guys, but he didn't totally take over this game. Sonic overpaid big man Calvin Booth got five blocks in 10 minutes. Daniels had a play just before the end of the first half where he had the ball beyond the three-point line and just exploded for a dunk and the foul. I saw Ridnour stick a couple of threes and make a great pass to the other overpaid big man Jerome James for a flush. The bigtime player tonight, though, was Rashard Lewis, returning from tending to his family after his brother's death. He scored 27 and pulled down 9 boards. The Sonics turned the ball over 9 times tonight as opposed to 21 in Utah the other night. The Rockets missed 13 of their 40 shots from the charity stripe and shot only 18% from 3-pt land (three makes).
Though run-and-gun is gone for the time being, this team did need to eventually play some defense, and they appeared to do that tonight.
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NEBRASKA FIRES SOLICH
Wow. Frank Solich goes 9-3 in 2003 and gets fired. Unbelievable.
I was traveling through the state of Nebraska in mid-April, and I could get a sense of how big football is in that state. The Cornhuskers are the state's one and only team, much like the Razorbacks in Arkansas. But the Nebraska fans are just rabid. Hell, a freaking expressway near Hastings and Grand Island is named after former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne!
I've never been a fan of Nebraska football, but I had to pick up a postcard of Memorial Stadium, the home of the Cornhuskers, while I was in North Platte. The stadium is a sea of red, and it is undisputedly one of my favorite postcards.
Back to Frank Solich:
The man was 58-19 in six seasons as the Cornhuskers' head coach. He was no Tom Osborne. But who is? It is going to be interesting to see who's going to become the next head football coach in Lincoln.
It is likely that Nebraska will play in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. That is already a great matchup to begin with. But I think the Nebraska players just got more fired up about the upcoming bowl game with the news coming down tonight.
FINALLY...
We do hit on more than just the Mariners here at Sports and Bremertonians. But we are a Mariner blog. We've hit on the Mariners most of the time here.
Trust me, we'll definitely hit on more Mariner topics next week, since there will actually be stuff to talk about.
And as always,
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was traveling through the state of Nebraska in mid-April, and I could get a sense of how big football is in that state. The Cornhuskers are the state's one and only team, much like the Razorbacks in Arkansas. But the Nebraska fans are just rabid. Hell, a freaking expressway near Hastings and Grand Island is named after former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne!
I've never been a fan of Nebraska football, but I had to pick up a postcard of Memorial Stadium, the home of the Cornhuskers, while I was in North Platte. The stadium is a sea of red, and it is undisputedly one of my favorite postcards.
Back to Frank Solich:
The man was 58-19 in six seasons as the Cornhuskers' head coach. He was no Tom Osborne. But who is? It is going to be interesting to see who's going to become the next head football coach in Lincoln.
It is likely that Nebraska will play in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. That is already a great matchup to begin with. But I think the Nebraska players just got more fired up about the upcoming bowl game with the news coming down tonight.
FINALLY...
We do hit on more than just the Mariners here at Sports and Bremertonians. But we are a Mariner blog. We've hit on the Mariners most of the time here.
Trust me, we'll definitely hit on more Mariner topics next week, since there will actually be stuff to talk about.
And as always,
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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SEXSON TO ARIZONA? LOOKS LIKE IT
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Five player trade between the Diamondbacks and Brewers
Arizona gets: 1B Richie Sexson
Milwaukee gets: 2B Junior Spivey, 1B Lyle Overbay, IF/OF Craig Counsell, LHP Chris Capuano
The Diamondbacks cleared room on their payroll after trading Curt Schilling to the Red Sox yesterday, therefore they could make this deal. Sexson will make 8.5 M in 2004, the final year of his current contract.
I'm pissed off about this. Not necessarily because the Mariners didn't get him. But the fact that that dirty SOB Jerry Colangelo acquired Sexson pisses me off greatly.
However, it's going to be one and done for Sexson in Arizona in my opinion. 2005, he's coming to Seattle. At least that's what David and I are hoping for.
But if these rumors of Raul Ibanez moving to 1B are true.........oh God help us.
Five player trade between the Diamondbacks and Brewers
Arizona gets: 1B Richie Sexson
Milwaukee gets: 2B Junior Spivey, 1B Lyle Overbay, IF/OF Craig Counsell, LHP Chris Capuano
The Diamondbacks cleared room on their payroll after trading Curt Schilling to the Red Sox yesterday, therefore they could make this deal. Sexson will make 8.5 M in 2004, the final year of his current contract.
I'm pissed off about this. Not necessarily because the Mariners didn't get him. But the fact that that dirty SOB Jerry Colangelo acquired Sexson pisses me off greatly.
However, it's going to be one and done for Sexson in Arizona in my opinion. 2005, he's coming to Seattle. At least that's what David and I are hoping for.
But if these rumors of Raul Ibanez moving to 1B are true.........oh God help us.
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COME ON DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today's "God Bless The Internet" Moment is brought to you by Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls.
If you've watched "The Price Is Right" as much as I have, you got that line there. So, since the method of my madness needs to be revealed, here it is:
The Price Is Right Online
The game is at Lycos' Gamesville. You'll need to sign up for a free account to play. However, I started a new e-mail address just for the Gamesville service, because of the countless e-mails they will send after EVERY game you play. But it's just a small inconvenience. Actually, it's the only inconvenience here.
The actual TPIR games and sounds are here. This is no ripoff, ladies and gentlemen. So, if you're like me and always dreamed of playing "Cliff Hangers", then this is the game for you. Yes, the yodeling climber is featured in "Cliff Hangers". I told you this was no ripoff!
If you can't make it out to Southern California anytime soon, then play TPIR online. It sure beats the hell out of playing Solitaire or some crap like that.
If you've watched "The Price Is Right" as much as I have, you got that line there. So, since the method of my madness needs to be revealed, here it is:
The Price Is Right Online
The game is at Lycos' Gamesville. You'll need to sign up for a free account to play. However, I started a new e-mail address just for the Gamesville service, because of the countless e-mails they will send after EVERY game you play. But it's just a small inconvenience. Actually, it's the only inconvenience here.
The actual TPIR games and sounds are here. This is no ripoff, ladies and gentlemen. So, if you're like me and always dreamed of playing "Cliff Hangers", then this is the game for you. Yes, the yodeling climber is featured in "Cliff Hangers". I told you this was no ripoff!
If you can't make it out to Southern California anytime soon, then play TPIR online. It sure beats the hell out of playing Solitaire or some crap like that.
/ Click for main page
Friday, November 28, 2003
JAZZ 98, SONICS 81...AND SOME OTHER STUFF
First off, so people don't just skip the post altogether...
THE "OTHER STUFF" IS -- the birthday experience in Port Orchard, some stuff about my North Kitsap knowledge, my stint at Okanogan Baseball Camp, ripping on Aaron Sele, and my conclusion about Barbara Hedges at UW.
Well, after my birthday semi-festivities with the 'rents (i.e., Godfather's Pizza in Port Orchard, more on that later), I came home and saw most of the second half. I saw the Sonics absolutely melt down in the 3rd quarter. Then I saw the Sonics show some signs of life in the form of Antonio Daniels (who needs MANY MANY more minutes) and Luke Ridnour raining down threes. The Sonics got a Jazz 21-pt lead whittled down to eight with about eight minutes left in the 4th quarter. Then the Sonics melted down again.
Some of the stuff is aided by the Sonics postgame show on KJR with David Locke...
To the coaching staff: what the hell happened to run-and-gun?! The team seems to be trying to play on the level of the other teams, and when you have no center, you can't play a half-court set too well. That's been the story of the Sonics even before the Sonics had those playoff runs in the early 90s and the Finals run. But why the hell have the coaches strayed away from run-and-gun? They come out and have some balls at the beginning of the season and they have one bad game where the jumpers don't fall, then they try to play half-court with these teams...stupid.
The Sonics had 22 turnovers and 14 assists tonight. Billy McKinney thought they didn't move with or without the ball. The Sonics were outscored by 17 pts at the free-throw line. The Sonics were outrebounded again, this time by 14. Lately the Sonics have had no interior defense as Dwyane Wade, Kirilenko, Harpring, and everyone else has running at the Sonics, and they're not afraid to do it. Even Lamar Odom, who was toasted, wasn't afraid to run at the Sonics.
In the Seattle sports moment of the night, we have the latest trend in Seattle sports -- getting beat by no-names. The Seahawks have had Rudi Johnson run all over them and have had Marcus Robinson have a career receiving day against them this year. The Mariners ate out of the palms of such luminaries as Mark Hendrickson, Doug Waechter, Jorge Sosa, and Billy Traber, et. al. last year. Tonight, the Sonics carry on the tradition, as the Jazz got a career-best night for RAJA FRIGGIN' BELL, who had 25 pts.
A Nate quote: "I wanna see some fight. Our starting guards need to play better defense." Nate vowed to play the guys who play hard. He said Antonio Daniels provided leadership and was showing some fight, along with Frahm, Vitaly, and Ansu.
One could say that the Sonics had no Lewis, no Allen, and no Collison. But the Jazz were missing their starting PG and C (Ostertag).
From a TV graphic, the Sonics in their first 6 games averaged 85 shots and had a record of 5-1. In the next 6 games, they averaged 77 shots and went 2-4. Tonight, they put up 70 jumpshots and lost.
As for the night at Godfather's, I stuffed my face with pizza and it was good. The people at the South Kitsap Mall branch of Godfather's have always been good to be, so I won't slam them. There was a trading card store in the SK Mall with a little Bloomquist shrine that took every ounce of my restraint to not rip down and stomp on, but I once collected baseball cards and knew it'd be rude to stomp on an enterpreneur's merch like that. There was a Todd Linden card in another display, so I'll give him that.
But the whole time at Godfather's, I was wondering what kind of reaction I would get if I just screamed "Willie Bloomquist SUUUUUUUCKSSSSS!!!" at the top of my lungs. I'm sure that would have went over well, then I would have run over to the card shop and let the owner know how I felt. Then it would have been a short jaunt over to the A&W joint in the parking lot and shaking all the SK trophies, uniforms, and garb from the shelves and the ceiling with my incessant yelling. The entire A&W place is such a SK High ego stroke it's not even funny. The strawberry milkshakes are great, though, so it's a tug of war for me sometimes.
And to respond to Matt at JAMB, I'll give props to most North grads not named Sele. As a Class of 2k member, I knew a few things about North. The two Bambls that came through were DAMN GOOD at wrestling. That open-door stall (whose idea was that?) in the locker room (might have been the girls') was nothing less than inconvenient and creepy, especially if you actually had to use the damn thing. Coach Frease seemed to turn out an amazing number of good pitchers, i.e., Will Fenton could bring the heat (he later went to UW...my UW spiel will come after this) though I never saw Clary Carlsen. One last thing I knew was that Snider Park (the Babe Ruth field by Highway 3) was TWENTY TIMES the ballfield that the NK High field was. Oh yeah, I was a member as a 16-year-old of the 1998 Okanogan Baseball Camp 16- to 18-year-old week where a fellow camper was a NK Viking third baseman by the name of Shawn (sp?) Harvey. Harvey, myself, and a Senior Babe Ruth team from the town of Beaver WA (near Forks, and don't laugh, that's really the name) were the only Statesiders in the camp, as we were surrounded by ~30 other Canadian ballplayers. Lemme tell ya, those Canadian kids were pretty dedicated and on-the-ball. A teammate of mine at camp by the name of Jon Martins was an aspiring centerfielder -- one I picked up the term "ZOO" from to use on every friggin error -- who was quite fast and idolized the hustle play of one Lenny Dykstra. At one point in the camp, I played catch with the son (~7 years old) of then-WSU Cougar baseball coach Steve Ferrington. At other points, it reached to about 103 degrees outside, but games were scheduled toward the late afternoons anyway. My shining moment of the camp came on the last play when I was playing right field, played a base-hit grounder, overthrew the cut-off man (not ever advisable, especially with my Randy Winn arm) and nailed a runner going to third base. You'll get a post of my bad baseball moments one day, trust me. And I've remembered many more bad moments than the good, let me tell you...
As for Sele...gutless. Oh-for his career in the postseason, and I'm firmly convinced the Angels won the World Series because Sele was on the shelf for most of the 2002 season. If the Angels trot him out in the playoffs instead of John Lackey, they're toast. Plain and simple. My convincing moment of Sele's tenure in Seattle came incidentally after my second convincing moment of Arthur Rhodes' tenure of Seattle (the first was the Justice homer from the 2000 ALCS). I know I've referred to this a bunch of times here at Sports and B's, but I gotta do it again. Game 4 of the 2001 ALCS, the Mariners are down 2-1 in the series after losing the first two at home (travesty, and Sele took the L in Game 1) then clobbering the Yanks in Game 3. Paul Abbott and Roger Clemens are in the weirdest pitching duel, walking a ton of guys and throwing a ton of pitches, but somehow not giving up runs. Bret Boone comes up in the 8th and ropes an inside pitch off Ramiro Mendoza into the screen in LCF to put the Mariners up 1-0. Given that the Mariners had won 116 friggin games that past season, and that they'd done it with an airtight bullpen. This game was sealed up. Art Rhodes came on for the bottom of the 8th. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" I screamed as Bernie Williams tattooed the ball into the night off Rhodes. It was tied 1-1 at that point, but you know what? As far as I was concerned, that series was over. Why? Momentum went the Yankees way and most importantly, AARON SELE WAS SLATED TO START GAME 5. I was SO SURE that the Mariners were going to tank Game 5 that I didn't even watch, and I'm glad I didn't watch that clunker, which ended up 12-3. Some to this day still argue that Lou should have been using Pineiro at that point instead of Sele. I wouldn't have argued with using Joel.
To the UW spiel I promised, I've come to the conclusion that UW's AD Barbara Hedges hates men. Why? The UW women's softball (possible steroid findings notwithstanding) and basketball programs have been friggin awesome for quite a while now. However, the last decade has seen all three of the baseball, men's basketball, and football programs go to crap or at least fall off a bit. The baseball program had a couple good years in the Jeff Heaverlo era, and I want to say that ended about four or five years ago (no stat proof, you might want to check me on that). The basketball program has been crap ever since Rip Hamilton (then of UConn -- he had 44 pts tonight for the Pistons) beat the Huskies on that last-second shot in the Sweet 16 back in 1998. The football team...well, you've probably heard what they're going through, especially in the post-Marques Tuiasosopo era (is he still with Megan Franza??).
Okay. Big loooooong rant there, bit it had to be done. I think I spewed well. Thank you for your time.
THE "OTHER STUFF" IS -- the birthday experience in Port Orchard, some stuff about my North Kitsap knowledge, my stint at Okanogan Baseball Camp, ripping on Aaron Sele, and my conclusion about Barbara Hedges at UW.
Well, after my birthday semi-festivities with the 'rents (i.e., Godfather's Pizza in Port Orchard, more on that later), I came home and saw most of the second half. I saw the Sonics absolutely melt down in the 3rd quarter. Then I saw the Sonics show some signs of life in the form of Antonio Daniels (who needs MANY MANY more minutes) and Luke Ridnour raining down threes. The Sonics got a Jazz 21-pt lead whittled down to eight with about eight minutes left in the 4th quarter. Then the Sonics melted down again.
Some of the stuff is aided by the Sonics postgame show on KJR with David Locke...
To the coaching staff: what the hell happened to run-and-gun?! The team seems to be trying to play on the level of the other teams, and when you have no center, you can't play a half-court set too well. That's been the story of the Sonics even before the Sonics had those playoff runs in the early 90s and the Finals run. But why the hell have the coaches strayed away from run-and-gun? They come out and have some balls at the beginning of the season and they have one bad game where the jumpers don't fall, then they try to play half-court with these teams...stupid.
The Sonics had 22 turnovers and 14 assists tonight. Billy McKinney thought they didn't move with or without the ball. The Sonics were outscored by 17 pts at the free-throw line. The Sonics were outrebounded again, this time by 14. Lately the Sonics have had no interior defense as Dwyane Wade, Kirilenko, Harpring, and everyone else has running at the Sonics, and they're not afraid to do it. Even Lamar Odom, who was toasted, wasn't afraid to run at the Sonics.
In the Seattle sports moment of the night, we have the latest trend in Seattle sports -- getting beat by no-names. The Seahawks have had Rudi Johnson run all over them and have had Marcus Robinson have a career receiving day against them this year. The Mariners ate out of the palms of such luminaries as Mark Hendrickson, Doug Waechter, Jorge Sosa, and Billy Traber, et. al. last year. Tonight, the Sonics carry on the tradition, as the Jazz got a career-best night for RAJA FRIGGIN' BELL, who had 25 pts.
A Nate quote: "I wanna see some fight. Our starting guards need to play better defense." Nate vowed to play the guys who play hard. He said Antonio Daniels provided leadership and was showing some fight, along with Frahm, Vitaly, and Ansu.
One could say that the Sonics had no Lewis, no Allen, and no Collison. But the Jazz were missing their starting PG and C (Ostertag).
From a TV graphic, the Sonics in their first 6 games averaged 85 shots and had a record of 5-1. In the next 6 games, they averaged 77 shots and went 2-4. Tonight, they put up 70 jumpshots and lost.
As for the night at Godfather's, I stuffed my face with pizza and it was good. The people at the South Kitsap Mall branch of Godfather's have always been good to be, so I won't slam them. There was a trading card store in the SK Mall with a little Bloomquist shrine that took every ounce of my restraint to not rip down and stomp on, but I once collected baseball cards and knew it'd be rude to stomp on an enterpreneur's merch like that. There was a Todd Linden card in another display, so I'll give him that.
But the whole time at Godfather's, I was wondering what kind of reaction I would get if I just screamed "Willie Bloomquist SUUUUUUUCKSSSSS!!!" at the top of my lungs. I'm sure that would have went over well, then I would have run over to the card shop and let the owner know how I felt. Then it would have been a short jaunt over to the A&W joint in the parking lot and shaking all the SK trophies, uniforms, and garb from the shelves and the ceiling with my incessant yelling. The entire A&W place is such a SK High ego stroke it's not even funny. The strawberry milkshakes are great, though, so it's a tug of war for me sometimes.
And to respond to Matt at JAMB, I'll give props to most North grads not named Sele. As a Class of 2k member, I knew a few things about North. The two Bambls that came through were DAMN GOOD at wrestling. That open-door stall (whose idea was that?) in the locker room (might have been the girls') was nothing less than inconvenient and creepy, especially if you actually had to use the damn thing. Coach Frease seemed to turn out an amazing number of good pitchers, i.e., Will Fenton could bring the heat (he later went to UW...my UW spiel will come after this) though I never saw Clary Carlsen. One last thing I knew was that Snider Park (the Babe Ruth field by Highway 3) was TWENTY TIMES the ballfield that the NK High field was. Oh yeah, I was a member as a 16-year-old of the 1998 Okanogan Baseball Camp 16- to 18-year-old week where a fellow camper was a NK Viking third baseman by the name of Shawn (sp?) Harvey. Harvey, myself, and a Senior Babe Ruth team from the town of Beaver WA (near Forks, and don't laugh, that's really the name) were the only Statesiders in the camp, as we were surrounded by ~30 other Canadian ballplayers. Lemme tell ya, those Canadian kids were pretty dedicated and on-the-ball. A teammate of mine at camp by the name of Jon Martins was an aspiring centerfielder -- one I picked up the term "ZOO" from to use on every friggin error -- who was quite fast and idolized the hustle play of one Lenny Dykstra. At one point in the camp, I played catch with the son (~7 years old) of then-WSU Cougar baseball coach Steve Ferrington. At other points, it reached to about 103 degrees outside, but games were scheduled toward the late afternoons anyway. My shining moment of the camp came on the last play when I was playing right field, played a base-hit grounder, overthrew the cut-off man (not ever advisable, especially with my Randy Winn arm) and nailed a runner going to third base. You'll get a post of my bad baseball moments one day, trust me. And I've remembered many more bad moments than the good, let me tell you...
As for Sele...gutless. Oh-for his career in the postseason, and I'm firmly convinced the Angels won the World Series because Sele was on the shelf for most of the 2002 season. If the Angels trot him out in the playoffs instead of John Lackey, they're toast. Plain and simple. My convincing moment of Sele's tenure in Seattle came incidentally after my second convincing moment of Arthur Rhodes' tenure of Seattle (the first was the Justice homer from the 2000 ALCS). I know I've referred to this a bunch of times here at Sports and B's, but I gotta do it again. Game 4 of the 2001 ALCS, the Mariners are down 2-1 in the series after losing the first two at home (travesty, and Sele took the L in Game 1) then clobbering the Yanks in Game 3. Paul Abbott and Roger Clemens are in the weirdest pitching duel, walking a ton of guys and throwing a ton of pitches, but somehow not giving up runs. Bret Boone comes up in the 8th and ropes an inside pitch off Ramiro Mendoza into the screen in LCF to put the Mariners up 1-0. Given that the Mariners had won 116 friggin games that past season, and that they'd done it with an airtight bullpen. This game was sealed up. Art Rhodes came on for the bottom of the 8th. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" I screamed as Bernie Williams tattooed the ball into the night off Rhodes. It was tied 1-1 at that point, but you know what? As far as I was concerned, that series was over. Why? Momentum went the Yankees way and most importantly, AARON SELE WAS SLATED TO START GAME 5. I was SO SURE that the Mariners were going to tank Game 5 that I didn't even watch, and I'm glad I didn't watch that clunker, which ended up 12-3. Some to this day still argue that Lou should have been using Pineiro at that point instead of Sele. I wouldn't have argued with using Joel.
To the UW spiel I promised, I've come to the conclusion that UW's AD Barbara Hedges hates men. Why? The UW women's softball (possible steroid findings notwithstanding) and basketball programs have been friggin awesome for quite a while now. However, the last decade has seen all three of the baseball, men's basketball, and football programs go to crap or at least fall off a bit. The baseball program had a couple good years in the Jeff Heaverlo era, and I want to say that ended about four or five years ago (no stat proof, you might want to check me on that). The basketball program has been crap ever since Rip Hamilton (then of UConn -- he had 44 pts tonight for the Pistons) beat the Huskies on that last-second shot in the Sweet 16 back in 1998. The football team...well, you've probably heard what they're going through, especially in the post-Marques Tuiasosopo era (is he still with Megan Franza??).
Okay. Big loooooong rant there, bit it had to be done. I think I spewed well. Thank you for your time.
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SCHILLING IS OFFICIALLY IN BOSTON NOW
Read it and puke...
What a 1-2 punch the Red Sox will have in their starting rotation now, with Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling. Wow. Major props go out to Red Sox GM Theo Epstein for getting this done.
The Red Sox acquire Schilling, and the Mariners have signed Raul Ibanez. Unreal.
Now IMO, the M's need to sign Miguel Tejada. It won't be as "big" of a move as Boston getting Schilling, but let's be honest:
Kazuo Matsui doesn't excite me one bit. Tejada does.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!
(and USC still deserves the right to play Oklahoma, even if LSU put up 55 points on a middle of the road Arkansas team: Song Girls on Bourbon Street baby!)
What a 1-2 punch the Red Sox will have in their starting rotation now, with Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling. Wow. Major props go out to Red Sox GM Theo Epstein for getting this done.
The Red Sox acquire Schilling, and the Mariners have signed Raul Ibanez. Unreal.
Now IMO, the M's need to sign Miguel Tejada. It won't be as "big" of a move as Boston getting Schilling, but let's be honest:
Kazuo Matsui doesn't excite me one bit. Tejada does.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!
(and USC still deserves the right to play Oklahoma, even if LSU put up 55 points on a middle of the road Arkansas team: Song Girls on Bourbon Street baby!)
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THIS IS BULLCRAP
MLB has extended the negotiating window for the Red Sox and Curt Schilling
Now the deadline for the Red Sox and Schilling to get a deal done is 5 PM ET Saturday. If I were the Mariners, or any of the other 29 teams in baseball, I'd protest this bullcrap. You know damn well that if the M's had negotiated with Schilling and couldn't meet the deadine, they wouldn't get an extension.
But since it's the Red Sox, and oh my god, they are on the EAST COAST, well, the rulebook is thrown out!
However, as long as Bud Selig is in charge, expect this bullcrap to keep on keeping on.
Now the deadline for the Red Sox and Schilling to get a deal done is 5 PM ET Saturday. If I were the Mariners, or any of the other 29 teams in baseball, I'd protest this bullcrap. You know damn well that if the M's had negotiated with Schilling and couldn't meet the deadine, they wouldn't get an extension.
But since it's the Red Sox, and oh my god, they are on the EAST COAST, well, the rulebook is thrown out!
However, as long as Bud Selig is in charge, expect this bullcrap to keep on keeping on.
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SIGH...
It's somewhat of a lull period in baseball right now in the hot stove realm partly because winter meetings aren't for another week or two, but man, it seemed so much cooler about two or three years ago when I could go to MLBTalk.com and see some trade/signing rumors that looked half-legitimate. Jeremy was the one that introduced me to the chock-full-of-rumors site, which also had hockey, football, and basketball divisions. Of course, this was before the national economic downturn came and before the evil scam known as ESPN Insider bought them out.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's have a moment of silence for what was MLBTalk.com...
Ladies and gentlemen, let's have a moment of silence for what was MLBTalk.com...
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CANUCKS 3, SENATORS 2 (OT)...AFTER A SHORT SONIC RANT
So before I start with the Canuck post here, I gotta say this just past midnight. I go to the Times and P-I sites to see if there's any juicy headlines for the my-birthday editions and I see a couple of notable Sonics headlines next to each other in the Sonics section. The first one says "Wanted by the Sonics: more offense." The one right below that is "McMillan seeks more defense." You know, they haven't fallen off the face of the earth just yet, but you just get the feeling that this is like one of those cases where you come across someone who can't play for crap and you say something like, "he can't hit, he can't throw, he can't field, he can't run -- other than that, he's a great player." If the Sonics need more offense AND defense...then it's worse than we all thought. That and I've heard people say that they're letting the other teams dictate the pace of the game rather than putting up their 90 jumpshots a game like they should be doing.
On to the Canucks...
Couldn't listen to this one tonight...the 56k mixed with ChainCast surely would have made for a crappy listen, probably with a 20-minute delay or something. Dan Cloutier got his 100th career win in net, which included a key save in the waning minutes of regulation to preserve the tie and send it into overtime. That is where Markus Naslund lit the lamp with 42.6 seconds left to get the Canucks a second point in the standings.
Goal scorers for the Canucks tonight were Mike Keane (2, second in two games), Daniel Sedin (3), and Naslund (11).
Top two lines...
Naslund (1 G, 1 A)/Morrison (zip)/Bertuzzi (zip) = 2 pts
D Sedin (1 G)/H Sedin (1 A)/King (1 A) = 3 pts (a lot of times, they score their points on the same goal)
I could rip on the Canucks for blowing the two-goal lead, which is a bad thing, but I'm really glad they didn't blow it late in the third period. There were no goals scored by the opposition (or the Canucks) in the third period, so at least there wasn't a total Cloutier meltdown. Luckily, Naslund was clutch with under a minute left in OT tonight. I can't remember which game it was right now, but I think the Canucks have been on the other side of an defeat late in OT this year, and man, it wasn't a good feeling, even for a novice fan.
The Canucks are at Calgary Saturday night and at the Garage against the same team Thursday night. I don't know why there's such a big gap between the games -- there's no Canadian holiday of any sort.
Speaking of Canadian holidays, I was stupidly hoping today that I'd be able to catch this Canuck game on the CBC. Stupid thought because Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. Damn. With that link I just posted, you can also see why the hell Boxing Day is called Boxing Day.
On to the Canucks...
Couldn't listen to this one tonight...the 56k mixed with ChainCast surely would have made for a crappy listen, probably with a 20-minute delay or something. Dan Cloutier got his 100th career win in net, which included a key save in the waning minutes of regulation to preserve the tie and send it into overtime. That is where Markus Naslund lit the lamp with 42.6 seconds left to get the Canucks a second point in the standings.
Goal scorers for the Canucks tonight were Mike Keane (2, second in two games), Daniel Sedin (3), and Naslund (11).
Top two lines...
Naslund (1 G, 1 A)/Morrison (zip)/Bertuzzi (zip) = 2 pts
D Sedin (1 G)/H Sedin (1 A)/King (1 A) = 3 pts (a lot of times, they score their points on the same goal)
I could rip on the Canucks for blowing the two-goal lead, which is a bad thing, but I'm really glad they didn't blow it late in the third period. There were no goals scored by the opposition (or the Canucks) in the third period, so at least there wasn't a total Cloutier meltdown. Luckily, Naslund was clutch with under a minute left in OT tonight. I can't remember which game it was right now, but I think the Canucks have been on the other side of an defeat late in OT this year, and man, it wasn't a good feeling, even for a novice fan.
The Canucks are at Calgary Saturday night and at the Garage against the same team Thursday night. I don't know why there's such a big gap between the games -- there's no Canadian holiday of any sort.
Speaking of Canadian holidays, I was stupidly hoping today that I'd be able to catch this Canuck game on the CBC. Stupid thought because Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. Damn. With that link I just posted, you can also see why the hell Boxing Day is called Boxing Day.
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
SUGAR SUGAR....OH HONEY HONEY
I have 12 reasons why USC should play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl January 4.
Let me count the ways...
But LSU's "Golden Girls" aren't bad either...
But in the end, my heart says "go back West, Jeremy".
And in a semi-related note, Lauren Graham is on the Craig Kilborn show tonight, so for the West Coasters who are reading this (David included), check it out. She's so wholesome.
Let me count the ways...
But LSU's "Golden Girls" aren't bad either...
But in the end, my heart says "go back West, Jeremy".
And in a semi-related note, Lauren Graham is on the Craig Kilborn show tonight, so for the West Coasters who are reading this (David included), check it out. She's so wholesome.
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MIAH DAVIS UPDATE
1999 Bremerton High graduate Miah Davis scored 24 points to lead Pacific, but the Tigers upset bid against Duke fell short, losing 82-69 in a first round game of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.
Davis was one of the main cogs of the Knights' state tournament team in 1999, finishing 5th. They won the Olympic League with an undefeated 18-0 record, and were as highly ranked as #3 in the state of Washington in the 3A rankings in 1999.
Way to represent Bremerton and the West Sound, Miah. Good luck with the Tigers down in Cali, and maybe a Big West title could be on the horizon...
And this is only a warmup as to what things will be like in 2004-2005, when Bremerton's Marvin Williams plays ball at North Carolina under Roy Williams. And if you know your college basketball, UNC and Duke are separated by 8 miles on good ol' Tobacco Road.
I'm already hearing Dick Vitale in my head calling Marvin a "diaper dandy, dipsee doo dunkaroo!"
Davis was one of the main cogs of the Knights' state tournament team in 1999, finishing 5th. They won the Olympic League with an undefeated 18-0 record, and were as highly ranked as #3 in the state of Washington in the 3A rankings in 1999.
Way to represent Bremerton and the West Sound, Miah. Good luck with the Tigers down in Cali, and maybe a Big West title could be on the horizon...
And this is only a warmup as to what things will be like in 2004-2005, when Bremerton's Marvin Williams plays ball at North Carolina under Roy Williams. And if you know your college basketball, UNC and Duke are separated by 8 miles on good ol' Tobacco Road.
I'm already hearing Dick Vitale in my head calling Marvin a "diaper dandy, dipsee doo dunkaroo!"
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I'VE SAID IT BEFORE, BUT...
If you really want the fully-intended viewing experience for this blog, then it'd be cool if you got the Denmark font. It's weird because my parents have it on their WinXP computer, I have it on my Win98 computer, but back at school the computers I use in the lab don't seem to have the font.
Bottom line is, the Denmark font looks kinda like what Fox Sports uses on their free-TV telecasts for most of their nameplate stuff. On Sports and B's, the Denmark font is used in the main title at the top of the page, and for the post titles.
Download it if you so desire, and enjoy the experience.
Bottom line is, the Denmark font looks kinda like what Fox Sports uses on their free-TV telecasts for most of their nameplate stuff. On Sports and B's, the Denmark font is used in the main title at the top of the page, and for the post titles.
Download it if you so desire, and enjoy the experience.
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HOLIDAY, SCHMOLIDAY....I NEED TO VENT
It's been a great Thanksgiving today, and now I feel the need to do what I do best: Vent.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????
To Major League Baseball: You've already alienated your fanbase enough as it is. But to have a p#$%#fest over WEBCASTS/GAMETRACKERS? Oh come on, this is just unreal.
Take my case, for example. I've been a diehard Mariner fan since I was 5. I have a life, but when it's 7:05 Pacific time on a summer night and I'm not doing anything, well, you damn well better believe I'm following the M's either on TV, radio, or the Internet. The first two options were the norm when I lived in Washington. Now that I'm in Arkansas, I've followed the M's through CBS Sportsline's Gamecenter, as well as listen to MLB.com's Gameday Audio (it was a complimentary pass, no charge for me at all). I was fortunate to get to watch the M's live on television 2-3 times a month, thanks to Fox Sports Southwest's coverage of the Rangers and the ESPN Wednesday Night late game.
But for the most part, I followed the M's 2003 season through CBS Sportsline's eyes, no pun intended. And for MLB to say that "there's no difference, in our eyes, between exhibiting a game using text and graphics and doing it on radio or television," that reeks of total greed IMO. What about the fans like myself who can't see the M's on local television every night? I'm also speaking for the Astros fan in Sacramento, the Brewers fan in Charlotte, as well as the Phillies fan in Oklahoma City.
As for "signing up" for MLB's "official" gamecasts, no freaking way! They are HORRIBLE. I'll stick with CBS Sportsline's coverage, thank you very much.
If they can still do it in 2004...
Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving Day!!!!
and FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????
To Major League Baseball: You've already alienated your fanbase enough as it is. But to have a p#$%#fest over WEBCASTS/GAMETRACKERS? Oh come on, this is just unreal.
Take my case, for example. I've been a diehard Mariner fan since I was 5. I have a life, but when it's 7:05 Pacific time on a summer night and I'm not doing anything, well, you damn well better believe I'm following the M's either on TV, radio, or the Internet. The first two options were the norm when I lived in Washington. Now that I'm in Arkansas, I've followed the M's through CBS Sportsline's Gamecenter, as well as listen to MLB.com's Gameday Audio (it was a complimentary pass, no charge for me at all). I was fortunate to get to watch the M's live on television 2-3 times a month, thanks to Fox Sports Southwest's coverage of the Rangers and the ESPN Wednesday Night late game.
But for the most part, I followed the M's 2003 season through CBS Sportsline's eyes, no pun intended. And for MLB to say that "there's no difference, in our eyes, between exhibiting a game using text and graphics and doing it on radio or television," that reeks of total greed IMO. What about the fans like myself who can't see the M's on local television every night? I'm also speaking for the Astros fan in Sacramento, the Brewers fan in Charlotte, as well as the Phillies fan in Oklahoma City.
As for "signing up" for MLB's "official" gamecasts, no freaking way! They are HORRIBLE. I'll stick with CBS Sportsline's coverage, thank you very much.
If they can still do it in 2004...
Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving Day!!!!
and FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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TRULY DISTURBING
Steve from the newest Mariner blog is bringin' it, and he has brought something really disturbing to my attention. Rather than blow up about it right now, I'll just give you some key words or phrases: baseball, overbearing, less convenient, squeezing dollars, ESPN, CBS Sportsline.
To this I add that right now, I could go over to NHL.com and listen to the Canucks game FOR FREE from my choice of either the Canucks radio crew or the Ottawa Senators' radio crew. Sure, Gary Bettman has been a crappy commissioner and has expanded the NHL to no end and the Canadian teams have all struggled to tread water under his reign (if they didn't move altogether), but one small solace I'll take from his tenure is that I can listen to hockey online for free. And if I remember right, you could listen to MLB games online up until (correct me if I'm wrong) 2000. That's right, the season in which the Mariners got to Game 6 of the ALCS and Arthur Rhodes blew it, blablabla. That was also the year that the KJR Baseball's Best Postgame Show crew included Seth Everett (he then springboarded to MLB Radio), Bill Krueger, and Steve Sandmeyer.
Okay, that's it for now on Thanksgiving. I'll end by saying something pertaining the outcomes of the NFL games today -- Jeremy called it.
To this I add that right now, I could go over to NHL.com and listen to the Canucks game FOR FREE from my choice of either the Canucks radio crew or the Ottawa Senators' radio crew. Sure, Gary Bettman has been a crappy commissioner and has expanded the NHL to no end and the Canadian teams have all struggled to tread water under his reign (if they didn't move altogether), but one small solace I'll take from his tenure is that I can listen to hockey online for free. And if I remember right, you could listen to MLB games online up until (correct me if I'm wrong) 2000. That's right, the season in which the Mariners got to Game 6 of the ALCS and Arthur Rhodes blew it, blablabla. That was also the year that the KJR Baseball's Best Postgame Show crew included Seth Everett (he then springboarded to MLB Radio), Bill Krueger, and Steve Sandmeyer.
Okay, that's it for now on Thanksgiving. I'll end by saying something pertaining the outcomes of the NFL games today -- Jeremy called it.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2003
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out there!
I'm just thankful to be alive. This is my first Southern Thanksgiving, but it's still going to be the same ol' situation. And get this, the first football game of the day won't start here until 11:30 AM. That's one nice thing about living in Arkansas.
Lions over Packers, Dolphins over Cowboys
(In Mooch I trust, and Ricky Williams is going to run wild over the Cowboys defense)
Again, Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm just thankful to be alive. This is my first Southern Thanksgiving, but it's still going to be the same ol' situation. And get this, the first football game of the day won't start here until 11:30 AM. That's one nice thing about living in Arkansas.
Lions over Packers, Dolphins over Cowboys
(In Mooch I trust, and Ricky Williams is going to run wild over the Cowboys defense)
Again, Happy Thanksgiving!
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OOPS!
Well, I Google-searched and it turns out Sports and B's is on the list at the Baseball News Blog. I was looking for our link under AL West, when in fact it is under "BASEBALL-RELATED WEBLOGS." I have corrected myself. Thanks once again to all who have linked us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'm holed up in the bunker here in Bremerton for at least the next three nights before I make my escape once again to the slow-paced and less rainy life of Ellensburg.
And if I get around to it, I'll talk about the Sonics' franchise-worst half of basketball, with that nice 25-point half against a New Jersey team that was shellshocked over the retirement of Alonzo Mourning. Clutch!
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'm holed up in the bunker here in Bremerton for at least the next three nights before I make my escape once again to the slow-paced and less rainy life of Ellensburg.
And if I get around to it, I'll talk about the Sonics' franchise-worst half of basketball, with that nice 25-point half against a New Jersey team that was shellshocked over the retirement of Alonzo Mourning. Clutch!
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RANDA RE-SIGNED BY THE ROYALS
Sports Radio 810 WHB in Kansas City is reporting that the Royals have re-signed 3B Joe Randa for one year, with an option for a second year.
So that ends the "Randa To Seattle" talk. Thank goodness.
Now let's focus on Miguel Tejada...
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
So that ends the "Randa To Seattle" talk. Thank goodness.
Now let's focus on Miguel Tejada...
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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MATSUI "OPEN" TO POSITION SWITCH
So now Kazuo Matsui says he's open to playing another position besides shortstop.
Obviously this is just to drive up his price in the market, but these comments are disturbing. Not because he could be a Yankee, but just his attitude:
All fall, speculation in New York has centered on the Yankees signing the Japanese free agent, who spent his career with the Seibu Lions and is no relation to the Yanks' Hideki Matsui. That would set in motion a chain of position changes in the Bronx, with Alfonso Soriano moving from second base to the outfield to open up a spot for Kaz Matsui.
But that doesn't mean Derek Jeter's job is safe, at least in Matsui's eyes. Nor is any other big-league shortstop, for that matter.
Wherever he ends up, Matsui would eventually like to return to shortstop. "My ambition would be to get my old position back."
Who the hell does Kazuo Matsui think he is? We all hate Derek Jeter, but we also respect the guy as well. Hell, the guy has won FOUR WORLD SERIES RINGS. And he's clutch in October.
There's no "I'll settle for Kazuo Matsui if the M's can't get Tejada" B.S. It's Tejada or bust as far as I'm concerned. And for those who say that the M's should sign both Tejada and Matsui are just stupid. Yeah, let's just disrespect a former MOST VALUABLE PLAYER and move HIM to third base, just so little Matsui can have his God-given right to play SS.
"The U.S. has so many Japanese people and restaurants," he says, "I think I can feel at home when I want to."
This is true. There are even Japanese people and restaurants in Arkansas, if you can believe that. So Arkansas is still with the current times, sort of. I say "sort of" because the local CBS station won't air the "Victoria's Secret" special because soccer moms are afraid of their little 8 year old boys being exposed to Tyra Banks' "wings". Remember folks, I live in the state of WAL-MART, i.e. God.
So anyways, that is your weekly "Screw Little Matsui" report...
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Obviously this is just to drive up his price in the market, but these comments are disturbing. Not because he could be a Yankee, but just his attitude:
All fall, speculation in New York has centered on the Yankees signing the Japanese free agent, who spent his career with the Seibu Lions and is no relation to the Yanks' Hideki Matsui. That would set in motion a chain of position changes in the Bronx, with Alfonso Soriano moving from second base to the outfield to open up a spot for Kaz Matsui.
But that doesn't mean Derek Jeter's job is safe, at least in Matsui's eyes. Nor is any other big-league shortstop, for that matter.
Wherever he ends up, Matsui would eventually like to return to shortstop. "My ambition would be to get my old position back."
Who the hell does Kazuo Matsui think he is? We all hate Derek Jeter, but we also respect the guy as well. Hell, the guy has won FOUR WORLD SERIES RINGS. And he's clutch in October.
There's no "I'll settle for Kazuo Matsui if the M's can't get Tejada" B.S. It's Tejada or bust as far as I'm concerned. And for those who say that the M's should sign both Tejada and Matsui are just stupid. Yeah, let's just disrespect a former MOST VALUABLE PLAYER and move HIM to third base, just so little Matsui can have his God-given right to play SS.
"The U.S. has so many Japanese people and restaurants," he says, "I think I can feel at home when I want to."
This is true. There are even Japanese people and restaurants in Arkansas, if you can believe that. So Arkansas is still with the current times, sort of. I say "sort of" because the local CBS station won't air the "Victoria's Secret" special because soccer moms are afraid of their little 8 year old boys being exposed to Tyra Banks' "wings". Remember folks, I live in the state of WAL-MART, i.e. God.
So anyways, that is your weekly "Screw Little Matsui" report...
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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MIDNIGHT AND...
Well, I wait for midnight to see some Mariner updates from our Seattle papers, and we don't get crap. Nothing other than the fact that the Mariners put out their schedule for the exhibition season and some other important dates. Important dates like pitchers/catchers report (Feb 20), first battery workouts (Feb 21), position players report (Feb 25), and first full squad workout (Feb 26).
One of my least favorite things (this happened when the Safe opened too) is when there's a new ballpark opening (as will happen when the Mariners help open Petco Park in SD), and the home team decides to have a damn exhibition game before the season starts. The first game in the place should be the regular-season home opener. Everybody in the ballpark can work out the kinks in the first homestand; suck it up. There's just something that ruins the sanctity of the regular-season opener for me if I know there's already been a game held in the place.
Any bets on how long it takes for the SD fans to call that new ballpark "the Kennel"?? This is a natural progression, right?
One of my least favorite things (this happened when the Safe opened too) is when there's a new ballpark opening (as will happen when the Mariners help open Petco Park in SD), and the home team decides to have a damn exhibition game before the season starts. The first game in the place should be the regular-season home opener. Everybody in the ballpark can work out the kinks in the first homestand; suck it up. There's just something that ruins the sanctity of the regular-season opener for me if I know there's already been a game held in the place.
Any bets on how long it takes for the SD fans to call that new ballpark "the Kennel"?? This is a natural progression, right?
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Tuesday, November 25, 2003
STICKEMS
A few sports-related thoughts, some of them Mariner related...
---Kazuhiro Sasaki sold to the Yomiuri Giants. Please make this happen!!!
---South Kitsap sucks (over 2300 miles away and that's still my opinion)
---If Willie Bloomquist is the starting third baseman on Opening Day 2004, can somebody please pay my airfare up to Seattle so I can start a protest outside the left field gate at Safeco Field?
---Arkansas will beat LSU on Friday. My West Coast mojo won't fail me now. We need the Pac-10 in the Sugar Bowl, even though it is USC.
--The Razorbacks are 8-3 and could be 9-3 after Friday. Yet they are likely headed to Shreveport, Louisiana for the Independence Bowl while the Huskies could go to San Jose for the Silicon Valley Bowl with a 6-6 record. You tell me which is the better town.
---If you want to get into "strength of schedule" between USC and LSU, here's my main point: USC beat Auburn AT Jordan-Hare Stadium while LSU beat Auburn at home. As a matter of fact, the Trojans SHUT OUT the Tigers. Yes, Auburn is 7-5 now, but keep in mind that they were highly ranked earlier in the season. They were ranked 6th before the USC game. The Trojans were ranked 8th.
---And believe me, the Sugar Bowl reps want the Trojans over the Bayou Bengals. Since you know your geography, the answer is already there for you.
---Hockey is not America's game, BRISTOL!!! Personally, the money that was wasted on these stupid ESPN Hockey in America promos should have been spent on broadcasting the Heritage Classic over the weekend in Edmonton. But that made too much sense.
---The only way I want Joe Randa on this Mariner ballclub is if Miguel Tejada comes to Seattle as well. I have this funny feeling that Randa could be the Bill Mueller of 2004. Don't ask me why.
---And if Randa is Bill Mueller in 2004, then the M's will be in the postseason.
---ESPN has brought back "Hearsay". Why? I like Kenny Mayne, but this is a waste of time. It's "The 25,000 Pyramid", only with dumb jocks.
---BTW, "The 25,000 Pyramid" was a great game show. Dick Clark, legend. There's no disputing this.
---CBS Sportsline's MLB Rumor Mill reports that the Twins want to acquire a veteran catcher to back up Joe Mauer. Hey Terry Ryan, I'll send you Dan Wilson (he went to school at Minnesota) and you send me a Minnesota Wild jersey, and we'll call it a deal.
---Sue me, Dan Wilson lovers. I want Ben Davis to be the everyday catcher for the M's in 2004. The M's already let Jason Varitek leave 6 years ago, and Davis could be just as good as Varitek, if not better. He just needs the chance to prove it.
Finally,
I'd like to thank the Seattle P-I for linking us on their baseball blog page. So if there's any new visitors to Sports and Bremertonians who came from the P-I blog, welcome.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
---Kazuhiro Sasaki sold to the Yomiuri Giants. Please make this happen!!!
---South Kitsap sucks (over 2300 miles away and that's still my opinion)
---If Willie Bloomquist is the starting third baseman on Opening Day 2004, can somebody please pay my airfare up to Seattle so I can start a protest outside the left field gate at Safeco Field?
---Arkansas will beat LSU on Friday. My West Coast mojo won't fail me now. We need the Pac-10 in the Sugar Bowl, even though it is USC.
--The Razorbacks are 8-3 and could be 9-3 after Friday. Yet they are likely headed to Shreveport, Louisiana for the Independence Bowl while the Huskies could go to San Jose for the Silicon Valley Bowl with a 6-6 record. You tell me which is the better town.
---If you want to get into "strength of schedule" between USC and LSU, here's my main point: USC beat Auburn AT Jordan-Hare Stadium while LSU beat Auburn at home. As a matter of fact, the Trojans SHUT OUT the Tigers. Yes, Auburn is 7-5 now, but keep in mind that they were highly ranked earlier in the season. They were ranked 6th before the USC game. The Trojans were ranked 8th.
---And believe me, the Sugar Bowl reps want the Trojans over the Bayou Bengals. Since you know your geography, the answer is already there for you.
---Hockey is not America's game, BRISTOL!!! Personally, the money that was wasted on these stupid ESPN Hockey in America promos should have been spent on broadcasting the Heritage Classic over the weekend in Edmonton. But that made too much sense.
---The only way I want Joe Randa on this Mariner ballclub is if Miguel Tejada comes to Seattle as well. I have this funny feeling that Randa could be the Bill Mueller of 2004. Don't ask me why.
---And if Randa is Bill Mueller in 2004, then the M's will be in the postseason.
---ESPN has brought back "Hearsay". Why? I like Kenny Mayne, but this is a waste of time. It's "The 25,000 Pyramid", only with dumb jocks.
---BTW, "The 25,000 Pyramid" was a great game show. Dick Clark, legend. There's no disputing this.
---CBS Sportsline's MLB Rumor Mill reports that the Twins want to acquire a veteran catcher to back up Joe Mauer. Hey Terry Ryan, I'll send you Dan Wilson (he went to school at Minnesota) and you send me a Minnesota Wild jersey, and we'll call it a deal.
---Sue me, Dan Wilson lovers. I want Ben Davis to be the everyday catcher for the M's in 2004. The M's already let Jason Varitek leave 6 years ago, and Davis could be just as good as Varitek, if not better. He just needs the chance to prove it.
Finally,
I'd like to thank the Seattle P-I for linking us on their baseball blog page. So if there's any new visitors to Sports and Bremertonians who came from the P-I blog, welcome.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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WEARIN' BLOOMERS
You know, it's only winter ball in Mayaguez PR and the stats probably don't mean much, but it sure is nice to see our former South Kitsap grad Willie Bloomquist tearing it up in Arizona at a dizzying clip in the form of...33 at-bats, a .212 average, a .325 on-base, and a .273 slug (thanks, P-I M's blog). Yep, that's a slug % LESS THAN his on-base. That's just phenomenal. Yes, that last statement oozes with sarcasm. Yes, Willie Bloomquist has worked hard and is remaining in midseason form. That's what we like to see.
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CANUCKS 5, CANADIENS 2
Well, I listened to a little over the first hour of this game before I had to attend my ill-timed 6-to-9pm airphoto interpretation class. Luckily, I did listen long enough to hear the Canucks take the lead at 2-1 which they would never (thankfully) relinquish. This was the first win regulation win that the Canucks have had in eight games. It is also the first big game on the road that the Canucks have won all season. Hopefully it's the first of many for a team that got 54 of their 104 points last year on the road.
Tonight's Canuck goal scorers: Markus Naslund twice (10), Todd Bertuzzi (8), Jason King (11 to lead all rookies), Mike Keane (first Canuck goal, first goal in 39 games)
The Canucks have had trouble lately getting behind early in the first period and having to dig themselves out of the hole. Tonight, they scored the first goal, which they did so many times during their early-season tear last month. 3:21 later, The momentum flagged a bit with under 10 minutes left in the first when Canuck blueliner Jarkko Ruutu gave the puck away, which led to a tie game on the Richard Zednik goal. To paraphrase the Canucks' radio guys (Shorthouse and Larscheid), Ruutu made the type of play for which coach Marc Crawford would usually bench him for the rest of the period. No word on if that actually happened.
Naslund gave the Canucks the permanent lead with the Canucks' second goal of the night with 5:03 left in the second period. It was a very big night for the Canucks' top line, who had lied dormant lately, as had the Mattress Line.
Naslund (2 G, 1 A)/Morrison (2 A)/Bertuzzi (1 G, 2 A) = EIGHT POINTS for the top line
D Sedin (1 A)/H Sedin (1 A)/King (1 G) = 3 pts
It should also be noted that the Canucks peppered Habs goalie Jose Theodore for a high total of 40 shots, with Naslund tallying seven. Also, Canuck 2003 first-round draft pick Ryan Kesler recorded his first point when he was given the helper on the Keane goal. Lastly, Jason King, as noted, leads all rookies with 11 goals and leads all rookies in scoring with 14 points.
The Canucks are at Ottawa Thursday and at Calgary on Saturday.
Game photos: one, two, three, four
Hey, the Canucks snapped their road funk for at least one game. Now how about those Seahawks...
Tonight's Canuck goal scorers: Markus Naslund twice (10), Todd Bertuzzi (8), Jason King (11 to lead all rookies), Mike Keane (first Canuck goal, first goal in 39 games)
The Canucks have had trouble lately getting behind early in the first period and having to dig themselves out of the hole. Tonight, they scored the first goal, which they did so many times during their early-season tear last month. 3:21 later, The momentum flagged a bit with under 10 minutes left in the first when Canuck blueliner Jarkko Ruutu gave the puck away, which led to a tie game on the Richard Zednik goal. To paraphrase the Canucks' radio guys (Shorthouse and Larscheid), Ruutu made the type of play for which coach Marc Crawford would usually bench him for the rest of the period. No word on if that actually happened.
Naslund gave the Canucks the permanent lead with the Canucks' second goal of the night with 5:03 left in the second period. It was a very big night for the Canucks' top line, who had lied dormant lately, as had the Mattress Line.
Naslund (2 G, 1 A)/Morrison (2 A)/Bertuzzi (1 G, 2 A) = EIGHT POINTS for the top line
D Sedin (1 A)/H Sedin (1 A)/King (1 G) = 3 pts
It should also be noted that the Canucks peppered Habs goalie Jose Theodore for a high total of 40 shots, with Naslund tallying seven. Also, Canuck 2003 first-round draft pick Ryan Kesler recorded his first point when he was given the helper on the Keane goal. Lastly, Jason King, as noted, leads all rookies with 11 goals and leads all rookies in scoring with 14 points.
The Canucks are at Ottawa Thursday and at Calgary on Saturday.
Game photos: one, two, three, four
Hey, the Canucks snapped their road funk for at least one game. Now how about those Seahawks...
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PROUD MOMENT FOR SPORTS AND B'S
I was reading through the Blog Stats like I do about 6-8 times a day and noticed a link coming from the Seattle P-I page. I figured someone may have linked our information or something.
Turns out that I went to the P-I Mariner blog itself and noticed something even better. I am very humbled and pleased to announce that Sports and Brems has been permanently linked to the Seattle P-I Mariners blog page. I thought it would be a little longer until this happened, if it happened at all. I figured our biggest thing keeping us off the list was the fact that we get around to more major sports than baseball, but I like to think we have our fair share of Mariner content. However, the lack of strictly-baseballness is still enough to not get us onto the list at the Baseball News Blog.
All in all, thanks to all our readers, and thanks to all that have spread the word of a couple of dudes from the town of B who rant endlessly about sports.
Mariner blog nation POWER!!!
Turns out that I went to the P-I Mariner blog itself and noticed something even better. I am very humbled and pleased to announce that Sports and Brems has been permanently linked to the Seattle P-I Mariners blog page. I thought it would be a little longer until this happened, if it happened at all. I figured our biggest thing keeping us off the list was the fact that we get around to more major sports than baseball, but I like to think we have our fair share of Mariner content. However, the lack of strictly-baseballness is still enough to not get us onto the list at the Baseball News Blog.
All in all, thanks to all our readers, and thanks to all that have spread the word of a couple of dudes from the town of B who rant endlessly about sports.
Mariner blog nation POWER!!!
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MARINER BLOGNATION IS GROWING
When you're done with Sports and Bremertonians, go check out the newest Mariners-related blog, Steve's Mariners and Other Stuff, produced by who else, Steve!
Steve has maintained all offseason long (maybe longer, I don't know) that Freddy Garcia has no trade value. He's a regular poster at the Seattle P-I Mariner blog, and was inspired to do a blog of his own. So welcome to the Mariner Blognation, Steve!!!
By the way, is there room on the Eduardo Perez bandwagon for me? I want to ride on this wagon. He would be a great addition to the bench. I can't believe I didn't think of this myself.
As for "other stuff", check out our musical sister blog, Music and Bremertonians.
It's at the bottom of the page under the non-sports links, but I'll post it up here. Not only are David and I big sports fans, we love music as well. Who doesn't?
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!
Steve has maintained all offseason long (maybe longer, I don't know) that Freddy Garcia has no trade value. He's a regular poster at the Seattle P-I Mariner blog, and was inspired to do a blog of his own. So welcome to the Mariner Blognation, Steve!!!
By the way, is there room on the Eduardo Perez bandwagon for me? I want to ride on this wagon. He would be a great addition to the bench. I can't believe I didn't think of this myself.
As for "other stuff", check out our musical sister blog, Music and Bremertonians.
It's at the bottom of the page under the non-sports links, but I'll post it up here. Not only are David and I big sports fans, we love music as well. Who doesn't?
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!
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I GUESS I CAN WATCH "THE VIEW" WITH NO SHAME NOW
Sports and Bremertonians favorite and yours too, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, has been named a co-host on the ABC daytime show "The View", replacing Lisa Ling, she of Channel 1 fame.
We like her brother in law, Matt, because he's a good quarterback. He's better than Tim. That's not saying much.
But we like Elisabeth Hasselbeck more.
MORE MORE MORE, HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS??? I KNOW YOU LIKE IT!!!
(BTW, I still won't watch "The View". But if I turn it to ABC during the 10 o'clock hour during winter break, then there's no shame in that.)
What a week for the Hasselbecks.
We like her brother in law, Matt, because he's a good quarterback. He's better than Tim. That's not saying much.
But we like Elisabeth Hasselbeck more.
MORE MORE MORE, HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS??? I KNOW YOU LIKE IT!!!
(BTW, I still won't watch "The View". But if I turn it to ABC during the 10 o'clock hour during winter break, then there's no shame in that.)
What a week for the Hasselbecks.
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MARLINS MINI FIRE SALE
1B Derrek Lee dealt to the Cubs for Hee Seop Choi and a PTBNL
Maybe I can get Marlins owner/a-hole Jeff Loria so drunk that he deals my boy Dontrelle Willis to the Mariners for Willie Bloomquist...
We can only dream, but man, if that deal was made, I'd give Bill Bavasi a hug, ala the bearded mesh hat guy in the Dave Matthews Band video "Everyday".
Maybe I can get Marlins owner/a-hole Jeff Loria so drunk that he deals my boy Dontrelle Willis to the Mariners for Willie Bloomquist...
We can only dream, but man, if that deal was made, I'd give Bill Bavasi a hug, ala the bearded mesh hat guy in the Dave Matthews Band video "Everyday".
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ROD SIMONS UPDATE!!
Yes, Rod Simons, a memorable childhood fixture of mine, longtime sports anchor for KSTW's 10 O'Clock News in Seattle (though based in Tacoma), and later original co-anchor (with Tom Glasgow) of the Fox Sports Northwest Regional Sports Report, has been sighted on a Rod Simons search as a part-time sports anchor for KSTP-5 in St Paul, MN, though no bio shows up at the KSTP ABC 5 website. Too bad.
Just lettin' y'all know.
Just lettin' y'all know.
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CONFIRMATION
Just some Seattle Times confirmation on Jeremy's previous post about Kazu Sasaki possibly going back to Japan.
This certainly is interesting. Who closes then? Do you pay up for Shig and give him thre reins which he so gracefully took last year? Or do you sign a free agent (Foulke?) and/or bring up someone from the minors or Soriano?
One thing's for sure. Any of those three options means you're not paying EIGHT MILLION DAMN DOLLARS for your closer.
ALSO IN THAT ARTICLE...the A's have contacted Mike Cameron's agent...yikes.
This certainly is interesting. Who closes then? Do you pay up for Shig and give him thre reins which he so gracefully took last year? Or do you sign a free agent (Foulke?) and/or bring up someone from the minors or Soriano?
One thing's for sure. Any of those three options means you're not paying EIGHT MILLION DAMN DOLLARS for your closer.
ALSO IN THAT ARTICLE...the A's have contacted Mike Cameron's agent...yikes.
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I KNOW I'VE BEEN SLOW, BUT...
Okay, I'm a little behind on the Sonics and Canucks, but basically, this happened...
The Sonics can't draw fans at home, and they blew two big 4th-quarter leads and nearly blew both games. The damn Grizzlies beat them at the key when White Chocolate (I hate that guy with a passion, even more so now that he's growing his hair back) starting nailin a bunch of threes with hands in his face. Luckily, they overcame their crappiness to beat the Wizards, a game in which they got the good version of Vlad Rad to show up.
The Canucks...they're not hot at all right now. They had two games on a home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the good guys basically gave the Leafs a new lease on the season. Toronto was going through some massive turmoil with some people back in TO calling for Pat Quinn's head and saying that he's lost touch with some of the players, etc. The Leafs ended the Canucks' unbeaten-at-home start to the season; the Canucks are now 9-1-1-0 at the Garage. It became horribly apparent that the Leafs were ready to play Saturday when the Leafs got two quick goals within the first 4 minutes of the game to make it 2-0 off the bat. The game was later tied, but the Leafs appeared to finally play like they were capable of playing. And that was followed again on Monday at the ACC in TO, as the Leafs beat the 'Nucks 2-1, in a game where Leaf goalie Ed Belfour passed Glenn Hall for fourth on the all-time goalie wins list with his 408th win. Yes, this is the same Eddie Belfour that went nuts and ran out on his team in Dallas. Rightfully so, though, because Marty Turco is damned good.
Last Canuck note here...the Vancouver Province held a reader poll to grade each Canuck, and here's how it came out. Rave reviews for Jason King, and the opposite for Brent Sopel.
One final note here...my self-given birthday presents popped up in the mail today in the form of some material from comedian Dane Cook and some DVDs of my favorite quirky-as-hell and weird cartoon, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I shall be laughing very much in the very near future. And yet again, the package itself outran the Amazon.com USPS tracking.
The Sonics can't draw fans at home, and they blew two big 4th-quarter leads and nearly blew both games. The damn Grizzlies beat them at the key when White Chocolate (I hate that guy with a passion, even more so now that he's growing his hair back) starting nailin a bunch of threes with hands in his face. Luckily, they overcame their crappiness to beat the Wizards, a game in which they got the good version of Vlad Rad to show up.
The Canucks...they're not hot at all right now. They had two games on a home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the good guys basically gave the Leafs a new lease on the season. Toronto was going through some massive turmoil with some people back in TO calling for Pat Quinn's head and saying that he's lost touch with some of the players, etc. The Leafs ended the Canucks' unbeaten-at-home start to the season; the Canucks are now 9-1-1-0 at the Garage. It became horribly apparent that the Leafs were ready to play Saturday when the Leafs got two quick goals within the first 4 minutes of the game to make it 2-0 off the bat. The game was later tied, but the Leafs appeared to finally play like they were capable of playing. And that was followed again on Monday at the ACC in TO, as the Leafs beat the 'Nucks 2-1, in a game where Leaf goalie Ed Belfour passed Glenn Hall for fourth on the all-time goalie wins list with his 408th win. Yes, this is the same Eddie Belfour that went nuts and ran out on his team in Dallas. Rightfully so, though, because Marty Turco is damned good.
Last Canuck note here...the Vancouver Province held a reader poll to grade each Canuck, and here's how it came out. Rave reviews for Jason King, and the opposite for Brent Sopel.
One final note here...my self-given birthday presents popped up in the mail today in the form of some material from comedian Dane Cook and some DVDs of my favorite quirky-as-hell and weird cartoon, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I shall be laughing very much in the very near future. And yet again, the package itself outran the Amazon.com USPS tracking.
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Monday, November 24, 2003
SASAKI-SAN BACK TO JAPAN?
Please say it is so!
Rumors out of Japan are that the Yomiuri Giants, Hideki Matsui's former ballclub, wants Kazuhiro Sasaki to close for them in 2004. Sports Nippon in Japan is reporting this, but I don't have a link, I just found this on some of the M's boards.
Sasaki is due to make 8 million in 2004. It is no secret that Kazu is severely overpaid. He's likely not going to Japan. But man, if the M's could relieve themselves of that 8 million dollar luggage tag, no pun intended, then I'd be one happy Mariner fan.
In related news, I've been reading several of the Mariner boards out there, and it seems like there is a lack of respect for Miguel Tejada by some people. Tejada is being considered as a "minor move" that wouldn't make an impact for the M's.
Are you kidding me? If you still think the M's are getting Vladimir Guerrero, just put the crack down, right now. Tejada fills a need for the Mariners. He's a shortstop. And let's be honest, ever since Alex Rodriguez left after the 2000 season, the shortstop position has been a black hole. Not as big as left field, mind you, but Guillen gets hurt just by cutting his toenail. The M's can't have DUIllen back out there at SS in 2004. No way, no how.
I'm sounding like a broken record here, but there is NO REASON why the Mariners cannot sign Miguel Tejada. Act like the big market club that you don't claim to be, but are. And get this deal done.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!
Rumors out of Japan are that the Yomiuri Giants, Hideki Matsui's former ballclub, wants Kazuhiro Sasaki to close for them in 2004. Sports Nippon in Japan is reporting this, but I don't have a link, I just found this on some of the M's boards.
Sasaki is due to make 8 million in 2004. It is no secret that Kazu is severely overpaid. He's likely not going to Japan. But man, if the M's could relieve themselves of that 8 million dollar luggage tag, no pun intended, then I'd be one happy Mariner fan.
In related news, I've been reading several of the Mariner boards out there, and it seems like there is a lack of respect for Miguel Tejada by some people. Tejada is being considered as a "minor move" that wouldn't make an impact for the M's.
Are you kidding me? If you still think the M's are getting Vladimir Guerrero, just put the crack down, right now. Tejada fills a need for the Mariners. He's a shortstop. And let's be honest, ever since Alex Rodriguez left after the 2000 season, the shortstop position has been a black hole. Not as big as left field, mind you, but Guillen gets hurt just by cutting his toenail. The M's can't have DUIllen back out there at SS in 2004. No way, no how.
I'm sounding like a broken record here, but there is NO REASON why the Mariners cannot sign Miguel Tejada. Act like the big market club that you don't claim to be, but are. And get this deal done.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!
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SCHILLING TO BOSTON????
It looks like Arizona RHP Curt Schilling may leave the Valley of the Sun for...
Boston.
The proposed deal has Schilling going to the Red Sox for LHP's Casey Fossum, Jorge De La Rosa, RHP Brandon Lyon and OF Michael Goss. Schilling and the Red Sox have until 5 ET Friday to work out an extension. The ace has said that he is not leaving Arizona without a contract extension.
If this deal goes down, the advantage is clearly with Boston. They get a stud pitcher who will solidify the top of their rotation, which already includes Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe. And Boston would finally get rid of the overrated POS, which is Fossum.
You have to give credit to the Red Sox if this deal does go down. The M's are in the freaking Joe Randa sweepstakes while the Red Sox are trying to get Curt Schilling. Amazing.
TODAY'S MIGGY HOT STOVE FACT:
Miguel Tejada is 2-for-3 vs Curt Schilling in his career, with a double.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boston.
The proposed deal has Schilling going to the Red Sox for LHP's Casey Fossum, Jorge De La Rosa, RHP Brandon Lyon and OF Michael Goss. Schilling and the Red Sox have until 5 ET Friday to work out an extension. The ace has said that he is not leaving Arizona without a contract extension.
If this deal goes down, the advantage is clearly with Boston. They get a stud pitcher who will solidify the top of their rotation, which already includes Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe. And Boston would finally get rid of the overrated POS, which is Fossum.
You have to give credit to the Red Sox if this deal does go down. The M's are in the freaking Joe Randa sweepstakes while the Red Sox are trying to get Curt Schilling. Amazing.
TODAY'S MIGGY HOT STOVE FACT:
Miguel Tejada is 2-for-3 vs Curt Schilling in his career, with a double.
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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THREE YEARS LATER...
Alex Rodriguez finally wants to play for a real winner, as the Red Sox and Yanks are on his wish list. I'd link this, but the Dallas Morning News is a subscriber-based site, so to save you the hassle, here's the article --
A-Rod's wish list: Red Sox, Yankees
Hurdles, including shortstop's big contract, make trade unlikely
11:43 PM CST on Saturday, November 22, 2003
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – In the latest chapter of the Alex Rodriguez saga, the unhappy star shortstop told reporters in the Dominican Republic on Friday he has informed the Rangers of two teams to which he would accept a trade.
Those teams, a major league source said Saturday, are Boston and the New York Yankees, which makes the latest development in the story pretty much no development at all. A trade to the Yankees or the Red Sox is nearly impossible, according to multiple sources.
Both teams already have elite shortstops. Both have other priorities. While the Red Sox did investigate Rodriguez, it went nowhere after Manny Ramirez went unclaimed on waivers and the Rangers passed on taking Ramirez's $20 million salary. The Red Sox have spent more time on pitching. The Yankees are worrying about right field and the rotation.
"Shortstop is not a hole," one source said.
Rangers owner Tom Hicks, bedridden with the flu, was too ill to comment Saturday. General manager John Hart did not comment. Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras also were not available.
The reason a trade remains a virtual impossibility – at least this year – is because of Rodriguez's contract. When the Rangers signed him three years ago, they were the only ones willing to pay $25 million per year. They still are.
And that is why, despite tensions between Rodriguez and manager Buck Showalter, the duo will probably be together again at spring training in February.
Rodriguez has bristled at the idea of more rebuilding, more losing and relinquishing more clubhouse power to Showalter, so the Rangers are willing to listen to offers. But the few inquiries got no further than "kicking the tires," according to Hart.
Numerous major league officials confirmed what Hart and the Rangers have said for weeks: There are no serious talks for Rodriguez because his contract is too hefty for most teams.
Perhaps by next month's winter meetings, when the issue is likely to be revived, Rodriguez's unhappiness could grow to the point he'd add more teams to the list. Anaheim and the Chicago Cubs could possibly make room to afford Rodriguez, though neither has talked with the Rangers.
The Rangers aren't yet motivated enough to make the deal more palatable for other clubs. They've indicated they won't eat any of Rodriguez's salary.
"It's that extra $5 million a year that makes it [untradeable]," said one GM. "At the time they signed him, $20 million wouldn't have been that bad, but there's nobody else over $20 million."
The Rodriguez contract was signed at the height of baseball's economic bubble. Salaries have retreated ever since, making the figure obsolete. There have been no $20 million contracts signed since Rodriguez hit the jackpot.
And you can rule out Rodriguez restructuring his contract in order to close a deal. The Major League Baseball Players Association does not allow players to restructure their contracts to reduce the value.
Boras said last week there were teams interested in Rodriguez. But Boras said he has heard nothing about talks moving past preliminary.
"We're not going to worry about the trade rumors because we haven't heard anything from the Rangers about waiving the no-trade clause or anything like that," Boras said.
E-mail egrant@dallasnews.com
--I guess the tidbits here are that the Rangers won't eat any of the salary, so there's no way in hell Alex gets traded. The other is that I didn't know the MLBPA had a no-reduction contract clause for the players, but then again it doesn't surprise me.
A-Rod's wish list: Red Sox, Yankees
Hurdles, including shortstop's big contract, make trade unlikely
11:43 PM CST on Saturday, November 22, 2003
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – In the latest chapter of the Alex Rodriguez saga, the unhappy star shortstop told reporters in the Dominican Republic on Friday he has informed the Rangers of two teams to which he would accept a trade.
Those teams, a major league source said Saturday, are Boston and the New York Yankees, which makes the latest development in the story pretty much no development at all. A trade to the Yankees or the Red Sox is nearly impossible, according to multiple sources.
Both teams already have elite shortstops. Both have other priorities. While the Red Sox did investigate Rodriguez, it went nowhere after Manny Ramirez went unclaimed on waivers and the Rangers passed on taking Ramirez's $20 million salary. The Red Sox have spent more time on pitching. The Yankees are worrying about right field and the rotation.
"Shortstop is not a hole," one source said.
Rangers owner Tom Hicks, bedridden with the flu, was too ill to comment Saturday. General manager John Hart did not comment. Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras also were not available.
The reason a trade remains a virtual impossibility – at least this year – is because of Rodriguez's contract. When the Rangers signed him three years ago, they were the only ones willing to pay $25 million per year. They still are.
And that is why, despite tensions between Rodriguez and manager Buck Showalter, the duo will probably be together again at spring training in February.
Rodriguez has bristled at the idea of more rebuilding, more losing and relinquishing more clubhouse power to Showalter, so the Rangers are willing to listen to offers. But the few inquiries got no further than "kicking the tires," according to Hart.
Numerous major league officials confirmed what Hart and the Rangers have said for weeks: There are no serious talks for Rodriguez because his contract is too hefty for most teams.
Perhaps by next month's winter meetings, when the issue is likely to be revived, Rodriguez's unhappiness could grow to the point he'd add more teams to the list. Anaheim and the Chicago Cubs could possibly make room to afford Rodriguez, though neither has talked with the Rangers.
The Rangers aren't yet motivated enough to make the deal more palatable for other clubs. They've indicated they won't eat any of Rodriguez's salary.
"It's that extra $5 million a year that makes it [untradeable]," said one GM. "At the time they signed him, $20 million wouldn't have been that bad, but there's nobody else over $20 million."
The Rodriguez contract was signed at the height of baseball's economic bubble. Salaries have retreated ever since, making the figure obsolete. There have been no $20 million contracts signed since Rodriguez hit the jackpot.
And you can rule out Rodriguez restructuring his contract in order to close a deal. The Major League Baseball Players Association does not allow players to restructure their contracts to reduce the value.
Boras said last week there were teams interested in Rodriguez. But Boras said he has heard nothing about talks moving past preliminary.
"We're not going to worry about the trade rumors because we haven't heard anything from the Rangers about waiving the no-trade clause or anything like that," Boras said.
E-mail egrant@dallasnews.com
--I guess the tidbits here are that the Rangers won't eat any of the salary, so there's no way in hell Alex gets traded. The other is that I didn't know the MLBPA had a no-reduction contract clause for the players, but then again it doesn't surprise me.
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Sunday, November 23, 2003
HITS, STICKS, AND BURIES
Just another day of being a Seattle sports fan, that's how I can sum up November 23, 2003.
---The Seahawks would be better off without Shawn Springs AND Ray Rhodes. If it weren't for his loyalty to Rhodes, Springs would still be on the bench nursing his little injuries. And Rhodes is severely overrated. You can't give up 37 points to the FREAKING RAVENS OFFENSE!!! (7 of the 44 points were special teams-related)
---The NFL has it in for the Seahawks franchise. First, the Vinny Testaverde helmet touchdown, and now today's events. I would hope that the NFL doesn't even bother to apologize to the Seahawks, it would make things a lot worse.
---I hate the Ravens franchise. You can't help but hate them. I don't know of anybody who likes Brian Billick and Art Modell. They are scum in my book.
---With another road loss, the Seahawks are now in second place in the NFC West, one game behind the Rams. If the playoffs started today, the Seahawks would be the 6th and final playoff team in the NFC. They would be, you guessed it, on the road against the Vikings. Ironically, the Seahawks have to travel to Minnesota in two weeks, Dec. 7.
---Seahawks in their home blue jerseys: 7-0 (they wore the blues at Arizona Sept. 14). Seahawks in their road whites? 0-4. I love the white jerseys, but the Seahawks don't, it seems like.
Other NFL notes
---The Dolphins home orange jerseys aren't cool at all. And they are down 20-10 to the Redskins in the 3rd quarter. That is cool though, considering that I hate the Dolphins.
---Tim Hasselbeck has been at quarterback for the Redskins since Patrick Ramsey got hurt earlier in the game. He hasn't done bad at all. And yes, when we mention Tim. we have to mention the lovely Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
But she's no Lauren Graham. Wow.
Not much to talk about on the baseball side, but there's always this line that I've coined here at Sports and Bremertonians, and I'll leave with this:
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!
---The Seahawks would be better off without Shawn Springs AND Ray Rhodes. If it weren't for his loyalty to Rhodes, Springs would still be on the bench nursing his little injuries. And Rhodes is severely overrated. You can't give up 37 points to the FREAKING RAVENS OFFENSE!!! (7 of the 44 points were special teams-related)
---The NFL has it in for the Seahawks franchise. First, the Vinny Testaverde helmet touchdown, and now today's events. I would hope that the NFL doesn't even bother to apologize to the Seahawks, it would make things a lot worse.
---I hate the Ravens franchise. You can't help but hate them. I don't know of anybody who likes Brian Billick and Art Modell. They are scum in my book.
---With another road loss, the Seahawks are now in second place in the NFC West, one game behind the Rams. If the playoffs started today, the Seahawks would be the 6th and final playoff team in the NFC. They would be, you guessed it, on the road against the Vikings. Ironically, the Seahawks have to travel to Minnesota in two weeks, Dec. 7.
---Seahawks in their home blue jerseys: 7-0 (they wore the blues at Arizona Sept. 14). Seahawks in their road whites? 0-4. I love the white jerseys, but the Seahawks don't, it seems like.
Other NFL notes
---The Dolphins home orange jerseys aren't cool at all. And they are down 20-10 to the Redskins in the 3rd quarter. That is cool though, considering that I hate the Dolphins.
---Tim Hasselbeck has been at quarterback for the Redskins since Patrick Ramsey got hurt earlier in the game. He hasn't done bad at all. And yes, when we mention Tim. we have to mention the lovely Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
But she's no Lauren Graham. Wow.
Not much to talk about on the baseball side, but there's always this line that I've coined here at Sports and Bremertonians, and I'll leave with this:
FIRE UP THE MIGGY HOT STOVE!!!!!!!!!!
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SO YOU SAY YOU'RE A SEATTLE SPORTS FAN...
Then this gut-wrenching, ref-induced 44-41 loss to the Ravens in overtime shouldn't surprise you. I'll just go over what I remember form the game.
- quite a few Seahawks wide receiver and/or Mili drops in the first qtr
- Shawn Springs getting burned multiple times AGAIN (he's the Jimmy Newell of the Seahawks defense)
- the ball going off Ken Lucas' helmet on special teams that was recovered by the Ravens
- the Hawks recovered the onside kick in the 4th qtr and STILL didn't put it away
- later on the same drive, they got a horrible spot on the Hasselbeck keeper on 4th and inches
- Trufant getting nailed for that pass interference was just bullcrap
- and to top if off, if the refs wound the clock like they were supposed to on that last drive, the Ravens would have never had time to attempt the game-tying field goal
End result from that last one, if there's a correct call, no field goal attempt, Seahawks win. They're 8-3.
Instead, you have the biggest referee conspiracy against the Seahawks since the Vinny Testaverde "touchdown" at the Meadowlands that successfully ushered in the reinstitution of instant replay into the NFL.
So even with the Seahawks shoddy special teams and porous defense against which you can just throw jump balls against and you'll have them beat every time, THE REFEREES COST THE SEAHAWKS THIS GAME. It's a total black-and-white issue. If the refs do what they're supposed to, the Ravens don't have time left, Seahawks win. NO ONE can convince me otherwise.
Just came to me...the Hawks D was terrible...ESPECIALLY when they blew that 4th-and-28 after the two-minute warning....RRRGGGH!!!
- quite a few Seahawks wide receiver and/or Mili drops in the first qtr
- Shawn Springs getting burned multiple times AGAIN (he's the Jimmy Newell of the Seahawks defense)
- the ball going off Ken Lucas' helmet on special teams that was recovered by the Ravens
- the Hawks recovered the onside kick in the 4th qtr and STILL didn't put it away
- later on the same drive, they got a horrible spot on the Hasselbeck keeper on 4th and inches
- Trufant getting nailed for that pass interference was just bullcrap
- and to top if off, if the refs wound the clock like they were supposed to on that last drive, the Ravens would have never had time to attempt the game-tying field goal
End result from that last one, if there's a correct call, no field goal attempt, Seahawks win. They're 8-3.
Instead, you have the biggest referee conspiracy against the Seahawks since the Vinny Testaverde "touchdown" at the Meadowlands that successfully ushered in the reinstitution of instant replay into the NFL.
So even with the Seahawks shoddy special teams and porous defense against which you can just throw jump balls against and you'll have them beat every time, THE REFEREES COST THE SEAHAWKS THIS GAME. It's a total black-and-white issue. If the refs do what they're supposed to, the Ravens don't have time left, Seahawks win. NO ONE can convince me otherwise.
Just came to me...the Hawks D was terrible...ESPECIALLY when they blew that 4th-and-28 after the two-minute warning....RRRGGGH!!!
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