Saturday, November 22, 2003
A FEW WORDS ON THE (TREE TOP) APPLE CUP...
Washington beat Washington State in the 96th (Tree Top) Apple Cup, 27-19, at Husky Stadium Saturday night.
I was only able to watch the Apple Cup from the 13-minute point of the 2nd quarter on. Why? Because Fox Sports Southwest felt the urge to satisfy all 3 Stephen F. Austin football fans by airing their rivalry game with NW State at 3 pm Central. It didn't end until 6:25 Central, meaning that I had to miss the 1st quarter of the Apple Cup. What did I miss? Well, I missed the first 10 Cougar points. That's a big deal, IMO. So, as always, F U, FOX SPORTS NET!!!!
Back to the game...
The Cougars had this game won. Unfortunately, they went soft in the 4th quarter. A soft, i.e. PREVENT, defense always means trouble. So what does Huskies quarterback Cody Pickett do?
He just wins the ballgame for the Montlakers.
There's no need to rehash the Apple Cup too much. Same ol' song and dance. Huskies beat the Cougars for the 6th year in a row. The last time the Cougars won the Apple Cup, Ryan Leaf was a good quarterback and Randy Johnson was still a Mariner.
No Newell pics this week, because there's no need to post any. The guy better know his way to San Jose, home of the Silicon Valley Bowl. Should a 6-6 Husky team go to a bowl game? No. But they will go to one, so let's just get that out of the way now.
Where does this leave Washington State? They'll just have to plan their trip a little further down south, in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. The Holiday Bowl is always a good game, so the Cougs should be happy if they end up there. Not happy, but at least it's not the Silicon Valley Bowl.
But I will post this pic. This is posterized glory.
HUSKY FANS TRYING TO TEAR DOWN THE GOALPOSTS
Unreal. Who would have ever thought that this day would come for the Husky fans? Tearing down the goalposts after beating the Cougs? Wow. I guess people's expectations have lowered...
But what the hey, they're "Northwest Champions" again. I'm sure former Husky RB Braxton Cleman is giggling right about now about this. But I'm not so sure this group of Huskies could beat Eastern Washington. Beat EWU, then we can talk about a "Northwest Championship"
I'm joking. If you beat the 3 Northwest Pac-10 schools other than yourself, then you have won the "Northwest Championship". Too bad that's the only championship that UW Football can celebrate this season.
Husky fans, I hope you know the way to San Jose. In the holiday spirit, I'd like to help you guys on your way to San Jose. So here's the way to get to San Jose!
The Silicon Valley Bowl is on December 30 at 4:30 Pacific time on ESPN.
The Bay Area is great anytime of year. Hopefully, if the Huskies go bowling in San Jose, they won't repeat their performance in Berkeley.
And enjoy your little "Northwest Championship"...
I was only able to watch the Apple Cup from the 13-minute point of the 2nd quarter on. Why? Because Fox Sports Southwest felt the urge to satisfy all 3 Stephen F. Austin football fans by airing their rivalry game with NW State at 3 pm Central. It didn't end until 6:25 Central, meaning that I had to miss the 1st quarter of the Apple Cup. What did I miss? Well, I missed the first 10 Cougar points. That's a big deal, IMO. So, as always, F U, FOX SPORTS NET!!!!
Back to the game...
The Cougars had this game won. Unfortunately, they went soft in the 4th quarter. A soft, i.e. PREVENT, defense always means trouble. So what does Huskies quarterback Cody Pickett do?
He just wins the ballgame for the Montlakers.
There's no need to rehash the Apple Cup too much. Same ol' song and dance. Huskies beat the Cougars for the 6th year in a row. The last time the Cougars won the Apple Cup, Ryan Leaf was a good quarterback and Randy Johnson was still a Mariner.
No Newell pics this week, because there's no need to post any. The guy better know his way to San Jose, home of the Silicon Valley Bowl. Should a 6-6 Husky team go to a bowl game? No. But they will go to one, so let's just get that out of the way now.
Where does this leave Washington State? They'll just have to plan their trip a little further down south, in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. The Holiday Bowl is always a good game, so the Cougs should be happy if they end up there. Not happy, but at least it's not the Silicon Valley Bowl.
But I will post this pic. This is posterized glory.
HUSKY FANS TRYING TO TEAR DOWN THE GOALPOSTS
Unreal. Who would have ever thought that this day would come for the Husky fans? Tearing down the goalposts after beating the Cougs? Wow. I guess people's expectations have lowered...
But what the hey, they're "Northwest Champions" again. I'm sure former Husky RB Braxton Cleman is giggling right about now about this. But I'm not so sure this group of Huskies could beat Eastern Washington. Beat EWU, then we can talk about a "Northwest Championship"
I'm joking. If you beat the 3 Northwest Pac-10 schools other than yourself, then you have won the "Northwest Championship". Too bad that's the only championship that UW Football can celebrate this season.
Husky fans, I hope you know the way to San Jose. In the holiday spirit, I'd like to help you guys on your way to San Jose. So here's the way to get to San Jose!
The Silicon Valley Bowl is on December 30 at 4:30 Pacific time on ESPN.
The Bay Area is great anytime of year. Hopefully, if the Huskies go bowling in San Jose, they won't repeat their performance in Berkeley.
And enjoy your little "Northwest Championship"...
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CHILLS
Man, why didn't they think of this years ago?
But tonight's Canadiens/Oilers game was well worth the wait. I just saw the highlights on Sportscenter and boy, I would have loved to have been there in Edmonton. Of course, that would involve freezing my ass off, but that's fine with me.
There really isn't any words to explain how cool the Heritage Classic is. So here's some pics.
Canadian Air Force flies over Commonwealth Stadium
Mark Messier. Guy Lafleur. Wowness.
A view of the madness from one's guy's glasses
O Canada
The Oilers' Eric Brewer scores in the 2nd period
Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore freezing his ass off, with a cool looking beanie I might add.
This is what the "Southwest Airlines Goal Cam" would look like, if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was smart and had put this game on American television
Oh yeah, the Canadiens beat the Oilers, 4-3. Richard Zednik scored 2 goals for Montreal, with the game-winner at 14:18 of the 3rd period. Theodore had 34 saves to help the Habs win the first outdoor game in NHL history.
57,167 fans were on hand to witness history. If David and I were there, it would be 57,169. But sadly, it wasn't to be.
It's nights like tonight where I wish I grew up in Canada. I've been a hockey fan since I was a little kid. But I'll never really be able to understand how much this sport really means to the great folks up north. God bless them.
We love hockey. You should too. So get your game on...
Game On.
But tonight's Canadiens/Oilers game was well worth the wait. I just saw the highlights on Sportscenter and boy, I would have loved to have been there in Edmonton. Of course, that would involve freezing my ass off, but that's fine with me.
There really isn't any words to explain how cool the Heritage Classic is. So here's some pics.
Canadian Air Force flies over Commonwealth Stadium
Mark Messier. Guy Lafleur. Wowness.
A view of the madness from one's guy's glasses
O Canada
The Oilers' Eric Brewer scores in the 2nd period
Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore freezing his ass off, with a cool looking beanie I might add.
This is what the "Southwest Airlines Goal Cam" would look like, if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was smart and had put this game on American television
Oh yeah, the Canadiens beat the Oilers, 4-3. Richard Zednik scored 2 goals for Montreal, with the game-winner at 14:18 of the 3rd period. Theodore had 34 saves to help the Habs win the first outdoor game in NHL history.
57,167 fans were on hand to witness history. If David and I were there, it would be 57,169. But sadly, it wasn't to be.
It's nights like tonight where I wish I grew up in Canada. I've been a hockey fan since I was a little kid. But I'll never really be able to understand how much this sport really means to the great folks up north. God bless them.
We love hockey. You should too. So get your game on...
Game On.
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OH JOY
I'm listening to the Heritage Hockey Classic right now and I wish I could be watching it on national TV, but such is not the case in the States. If I was back in Brem, I could flip on the CBC and watch it, but alas, no such dice in EBurg.
Lemme tell ya though, it gave me chills to hear Mark Messier, Guy Lafleur, and Wayne Gretzky's names announced, especially with the little bio-line they gave them before the announcements. Gretzky's had something close to "he is the NHL's all-time leading scorer, with over 1000 more points than the nearest player..."
Gretzky has won the opening faceoff. The radio announcer -- "he's still got it."
Here's what the Canucks remember about outdoor hockey as kids. There's a part where Trevor Linden says the games would be called off if the temperature got below minus-18 Celsius. The temperature in Edmonton right now is minus-20.6 Celsius.
The announcers are having trouble seeing the numbers on the old-school Habs jerseys. The colors clash -- there's a lot of dark colors.
And here's the ESPN take on the Classic...
And the official site of the whole deal.
A little cartoon about the whole deal.
Lemme tell ya though, it gave me chills to hear Mark Messier, Guy Lafleur, and Wayne Gretzky's names announced, especially with the little bio-line they gave them before the announcements. Gretzky's had something close to "he is the NHL's all-time leading scorer, with over 1000 more points than the nearest player..."
Gretzky has won the opening faceoff. The radio announcer -- "he's still got it."
Here's what the Canucks remember about outdoor hockey as kids. There's a part where Trevor Linden says the games would be called off if the temperature got below minus-18 Celsius. The temperature in Edmonton right now is minus-20.6 Celsius.
The announcers are having trouble seeing the numbers on the old-school Habs jerseys. The colors clash -- there's a lot of dark colors.
And here's the ESPN take on the Classic...
And the official site of the whole deal.
A little cartoon about the whole deal.
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ANGELS START SPENDING
I'll just hope this takes away some of the money they could be throwing at Tejada, but then again, the Mariners threw some stupid money at Raul Ibanez...
The Angels are reportedly going to sign Kelvim Escobar from the Toronto Blue Jays for 3 years and $18.75M (!!!).
Did I mention I really hated it when he beat the Mariners last year? By the same token, the Mariners lost to countless pitchers last year that were worse than Escobar.
The Angels are reportedly going to sign Kelvim Escobar from the Toronto Blue Jays for 3 years and $18.75M (!!!).
Did I mention I really hated it when he beat the Mariners last year? By the same token, the Mariners lost to countless pitchers last year that were worse than Escobar.
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THE FIRST DOG DAY
Yet another installment of Mariner instant message chat between Jeremy and David, your writers for Sports and B's. Emotions are raw, so if anything seems too wacky, that's why. It wasn't as wacky at the time.
If you need me to set the scene for you, I'll just say it was the day after the trade deadline, the White Sox beat the Mariners 12-1 and Freddy Garcia couldn't get out of the 2nd inning, note the start time of the chat -- the game was STILL GOING ON. Any additions, once again, will be in bracketed italics. To the wayback machine! (Posts and subjects slightly edited in some spots to preserve continuity)
Session Start: Fri Aug 01 19:57:02 2003
Jeremy: WAIVE FREDDY
David: yep. raised his era by 0.40
David: dude, i was wanting a 20-0 game
Jeremy: the m's/white sox game is on wgn tomorrow night, and frankly, i don't give a $h!+
David: well, just be thankful garcia isn't pitching tomorrow so you won't have to see his sorry ass
Jeremy: did freddy get booed very loudly?
David: pretty loud, but half the upper deck in right field is missing. hope the mariner mgmt likes seeing that
Jeremy: on a SUMMER FRIDAY NIGHT...NICEEEEE
Jeremy: i'm not even bothering to open up the radio feed....it's not worth my time
David: great column, by the way
Jeremy: thanks
David: mariners with six batters and six outs...great stuff
Jeremy: yeah, really great
David: mateo should just throw all fastballs
Jeremy: why the hell not. this game is so over
Jeremy: but david, we have REY SANCHEZ to bring us back!!!
David: maybe he could experiment with a knuckleball or something. or hell, have rey pitch...he'll do better than freddy
Jeremy: hey, why not....give Hawk Harrelson some good material, why not. sure
David: i want rey sanchez five days from now
Jeremy: you could even have captain plastic go out there and throw a shutout inning [come on, you all know you've seen Captain Plastic at the Safe]
Jeremy: "Standing Pat has overtaken Seafair as the big summer activity in Seattle." [I forgot what article that was quoting...]
David: where was the b-town connection in that? capt plastic?
Jeremy: cassandra (last name protected) follows him around [Cass was a student at our HS]
David: okay, i thought it was cass (surname)
David: the yanks/a's are tied at 1
Jeremy: hooray...GO YANKEES
Jeremy: the yankees NEED to sweep this series
David: niehaus just brought up the possibility of a white sox/cubs world series...and i vomited and then laughed because that will never happen
Jeremy: i wanna say this: for all of those idiots out there who think that freddy garcia isn't worth aaron boone, they are so wrong
Jeremy: ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? [pertaining to the all-CHI World Series topic]
Jeremy: Niehaus said that? Wow, EVEN HE has mailed in this season.
David: dude, i just found out i had class at central with dick fain's bro-in-law...i had him in my english 101 class [Dick Fain of KJR]
Jeremy: woah...damn
Jeremy: not to toot my own horn, but i love this line in my blog:
Jeremy: "Hell, his best friends are Benjamin, Ulysses, and Andrew"
Jeremy: referring to Howard Lincoln
David: ron: i wonder if freddy is tipping his pitches [Fairly said this]
Jeremy: 100s, 50s, 20s.....they are good to howard lincoln indeed, and he won't share them
Jeremy: freddy garcia is so f---ed up in the head he would pitch poorly for boston too. that is why i am so pissed off that he didn't get traded
Jeremy: the mariners should do the right thing and try to waive him. i'm sure SOMEBODY would pick him up
David: the pirates scored 6 runs in the 9th to beat the rockies...the mariners could score six runs today and they would lose
Jeremy: that is a sobering thought
Jeremy: earth to the casual mariner fan: these aren't the tigers. this is a red hot white sox team....but the mariners should beat them anyway
Jeremy: i dunno, if the red sox were to actually win the world series this year, i could have a week-long vomit party. or the cubs for that matter
David: dude, the braves would make me vomit like hell because i still hate them to death
Jeremy: the braves winning too would be sickening. but the red sox and cubs haven't won since before my grandparents were born
Jeremy: 1918 and 1908. for the record, my oldest grandparent wasn't born til 1924
Jeremy: niehaus bringing up a white sox/cubs world series is just sickening to think about
David: cameron hit the wall hard trying to run after carlos lee's home run. 8-0, by the way
Jeremy: carlos lee hitting a HR in safeco field....shocking
David: perish the thought. but they won't have james baldwin mowing the mariners down though
Jeremy: if i can do anything about human time, i would bring back the 1997 mariner offense and mesh them with the 2000-2003 mariner pitching staff and we have something
Jeremy: bartolo colon >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> james baldwin
David: i wonder how good the 97 offense woud have been at safeco
Jeremy: they probably wouldn't have hit 244 home runs as a team, but they would have over 200
David: i would hate myself if i had tickets for this mariner game, this absolute dog of a mariner game
David: and i just know if the mariners come back, they will lose 7-6, or they will tie it and then blow it
Jeremy: dude, you know my theory of never leaving a game? well, if we were there, we would just leave. yep, i said it, i would leave
David: dude, i would raise hell. this is where hopefully we could scare up some paper and a marker and write some antagonistic signs
Jeremy: i would ask nicely for a pen from a nearby fan. since it's seattle, they would give it to you.
Jeremy: then you buy a scorecard...and then write on the scorecard itself
Jeremy: biono, something like that [to those unprivy to it, "biono" is short for the phrase "but I don't know."
Jeremy: or, you go to a nearby souvenir stand, jack some of the cardboard that's behind the stand, and write on that
Jeremy: or go to the nearest trash can and there will be cardboard stacked up against it
David: mateo's struck out six...wonder who the starter should have been tonight?
Jeremy: hmmmm. aw, but melvin doesnt care. he's on autopilot now
David: if you said REY SANCHEZ, you're RIGHT
Jeremy: geezus, these espn posters are just hysterical: TITLE: I don't care if the M's make....MESSAGE: ....the playoffs. I just want them to be competitive and fill the seats, and selling 7 dollar beers.
Jeremy: you wanna know what the worst thing about this game is? the fact that Darrin Jackson is calling this game for fox sports chicago
Jeremy: 2-1 yankees. wow, what is this? david dellucci is 2-for-2
David: yippee
Jeremy: scored the 2nd run
David: that may be the only good thing about tonight
Jeremy: yeah david, midseason acquisitions are overrated
David: you know, i hate that i have finally noticed that dave and ron move to the radio side in the bottom of the 5th. now i have to hear that dumbass homer rizzs
Jeremy: it's terrible
David: my goodness, the booth guys are friggin fixed on the possibility of freddy tipping his pitches. they're saying mateo is throwing some of the same pitches garcia did, but the only one that got tagged was the lee dong
Jeremy: they are such jackmonkeys
Jeremy: diamond club update? green with envy yet?
David: a couple seats above the "ajinomoto" sign are empty, but i haven't looked back a couple rows yet
Jeremy: good deal
David: bartolo colon has a one-hitter through 5...YEAH!!!! WAIVRE WIRE, BABY!!!
Jeremy: VIVA LA WAIVERS
David: IT'S SO BAD I SPELLED IT THE FRENCH WAY!!!
Jeremy: Midseason acquisitions are overrated: Shannon Stewart was 3-for-5 tonight with a HR, double and 2 runs batted in.....
Jeremy: JAMES BALDWIN got the SAVE for the Twins tonight.....unreal
David: VOMIT!!!!!!! score of that game?
Jeremy: 10-4, baldwin did pitch 3 innings though
David: okay, I figured it would be a long save
Jeremy: 5 hits, 1 run for baldwin.....and it was against the Tigers
Jeremy: midseason acquisitions are overrated: the cubs' aramis ramirez drove in the winning run in the 14th inning, beating the diamondbacks 4-3 at wrigley
Jeremy: WHAT????? Rey Sanchez in the 2 HOLE????
David: yup
Jeremy: Bob Melvin is making his case for a new bike for his daughter...Uncle Howard would be more than happy to give it to her
David: it's obvious that mess board poster is oozing with sarcasm...i love it
Jeremy: howard lincoln is the reason why i won't buy a gamecube...sony, baby
Jeremy: that's the reason why i even read the espn board. sarcasm is a great gift to have in life
David: olivo just missed a foul ball. FLY ball
Jeremy: baseball tonight next....i can't wait for this.
Jeremy: what am i thinking? dibble on the set
David: berthiaume?? dammit [Steve Berthiaume is crap on BBTN...almost as bad as the single catchphrase man Brian Kenny]
David: they must have been burnt out from yesterday...this panel sucks ass
Jeremy: and it's friday night. except for brantley. brantley rules.
David: we don't have harold to kiss angel berroa's ass
David: here's part of my fain letter
David: "You know, I know they're employed by the Mariners and stuff, but I get tired of hearing such home-spun blather on Mariner broadcasts. There's no way anyone can spin me the right way when I'm watching a Mariner game when they're down 8-0."
David: "I love Niehaus, and I'd never get rid of him, but I'd get rid of Rizzs in a second. He couldn't be realistic if he tried. I know it'll never happen, but I wish the Mariners would can Rizzs and bring in a Kevin Calabro-type guy. Why? If the game is crap, Kevin won't let the players get away with it."
Jeremy: agreed 100 percent
David: If the Sonics are turning over the ball a bunch, Kevin will definitely let you know that. You would never hear these out of Rizzs: "All White Sox tonight, as they lead 8-0" or "Garcia is brutal tonight, throwing 66 pitches in 1 2/3 innings."
Jeremy: oh man, if i were calling the games, i wouldn't hold back
David: crap, wonder who the last yankee was to wear 19. oh wait, it was ventura, wasn't it
Jeremy: i think so
David: they probably just made him wear robin's jersey. i still can't believe they got rid of robin ventura, that shocked me
David: me too...but they basically stuck it to drew henson...funny
Jeremy: m's lowlights...rey sanchez got a hit?
David: it's true...for all the press fla has gotten about willis and lowell, nothing is said about how ivan rodriguez is handling and tutoring that young pitching staff
Jeremy: pudge has done well. sad thing is, he won't stay there b/c of jeff loria
Jeremy: so much for that nonsense, still 8-0 bad guys goin into the 8th
Jeremy: damn colon only has 78 pitches thru 7 [that's still amazing here on Nov 22]
Jeremy: franklin is up tomorrow night.....care to guess how many HRs he gives up? one solo HR is all it takes, b/c he doesn't get run support
David: aaron taylor...he should give up at least two runs
Jeremy: yep
David: matt morris is done
Jeremy: melvin has given up: rule 5 at 2nd, mabry in RF [Rule V is Luis Ugueto, in case you haven't caught on to Jeremy's vernacular here at Sports and B's]
Jeremy: the cards could really use garcia, believe it or not. but god forbid, the mariners acquire a scott boras client, we can't have that [JD Drew, Boras client]
David: crap, you see esteban yan on the roster and that's all you need to know
Jeremy: exactly....but i'll speak as a guy who has seen the cards play 5 times a week and say that they REALLY, REALLY need help. Jeff Fassero started tonight for STL
Jeremy: garcia for drew would have been one hell of a deal. drew is a left handed hitter who can rake, and garcia in the NL could be scary
David: you know, this is sick, but if you heard krueger on the groz/gas show, you would have vomited when he said that fassero actually looked good to him and would have been a nice fit in the mariner pen
Jeremy: WHAT?
David: i kid you not
Jeremy: that's terrible
David: i about barfed everywhere...frankly, i don't even know how fassero even had a career after the mariners released him
Jeremy: the only thing i remember him for after he left seattle was the fact that he gave up the HR to cameron in the 19th inning in 2000
David: well, looks like the red sox rolled snake eyes and got the hentgen from 5 years ago
Jeremy: you know, the m's oughta just go 6 up 6 down the rest of the way so the people left there can catch the 9:55 ferry
Jeremy: not good times for boston. 3-0 on cameron....he'll ground out here
Jeremy: I was half right: he flied out to right
David: man, must hurt to be a dodger fan...11 runs in 9 games
Jeremy: oh yeah, Randy Winn is 0-for-3...nice to know that he's on a roll
Jeremy: dammit wilson....why do you have to have a base hit during an 8-0 asskicking
Jeremy: bloomquist single....dammit
David: i love when the bbtn guys look to the wrong camera; both dibble and brantley did it to end the show
Jeremy: haha
Jeremy: WAY TO GO, NEW GUY.........sanchez grounds out, inning over
Jeremy: oh, what's this? MABRY DROVE IN A RUN??? damn you john mabry
Jeremy: colon with 98 pitches thru 8.....go out there and finish the game
David: well, it's garbage time...scheffler scored 7 pts in 2 minutes of play as the sonics lost to the rockets 94-78 [had to throw some early '90s Sonic references in]
Jeremy: shove it up the m's ass, colon
David: bloomquist in left...good god, you know it's the 9th when that happens...rule v with a 4-3 putout of carlos lee. lee finishes a triple short of the cycle
Jeremy: dammit. carlos lee, my fav non-mariner doing the job tonight
David: mondesi muffed the fly ball and the cubs won...comical because it's arizona
Jeremy: HAHA...Jeremy: Raul Mondesi is a punk, plain and simple.
Jeremy: PAT BORDERS AT THIRD
David: lest brantley forgets that the middle infield of the twins sucks ass...it ain't just the pitching [Brantley must have been railing the Twins pitching staff on BBTN]
David: graeme lloyd blew the royals game
Jeremy: he's still good though
David: hey!! taylor's given up two runs!! i'll be damned!
Jeremy: HEY!!!!!!!!!
David: OH MAN!! pat borders just had the easiest foul ball to catch and he overran it
David: first thing rizzs says "don't get on borders, he's just trying to help out..."
David: gimme a friggin break, that's inexcusable
Jeremy: VERY INEXCUSABLE
David: oops, gave taylor too much credit...taylor's given up three
David: sorry to everyone in mariner nation who thinks otherwise, but aaron taylor is not that good
Jeremy: he has a long way to go to become the "future mariners closer"
Jeremy: get sick, it's 2-2 in oakland. crede singles... IT'S 4 RUNS
David: how bout an aaron boone bomb to put the yanks up
Jeremy: boone singles to lead off the 9th. LOVE IT
David: oh man, rizzs waxing nostalgic about the senior/junior father/son game...(i'm vomiting)
Jeremy: oh my f----ing god
David: i think they somehow related that to sandy and rob alomar
Jeremy: intentional walk to nick johnson here....keith foulke is pitching
David: i wish the mariners had balls this year...they've owned keith foulke every year except for this one
Jeremy: oh nevermind, it was a pitchout.....and Boone stole 2nd
Jeremy: this is sick. after johnson, Alfonso Soriano is up. He's the 8TH HITTER, Soriano is.
David: that is so wrong. that lineup is absolutely wrong
Jeremy: johnson flies out to left
Jeremy: CHARLIE STEINER ON THE CALL
Jeremy: I have the Yankees radio feed on, thanks to my real one superpass. yeah baby
David: employed by who? the yanks?
Jeremy: I think so....
David: yikes. koch is in
Jeremy: it's a 3 man booth....sterling the play by play guy
David: probably will be his only 1-2-3 inning this year [as in Koch]
Jeremy: steiner and, i wanna say michael kay
Jeremy: soriano HBP
David: luis ugueto is 0-for-3 this year
David: sterling and kay...if they weren't yankee guys, i'ld like them a lot more
David: it's hilarious how sterling sounds like an entirely different guy when he isn't in the home run call voice
David: a much younger guy
Jeremy: it is...he sounds like my psychology prof at OC
Jeremy: Rule 5 grounds out
David: dellucci in the hole still? wanna know the delay betw sportsline and superpass
David: gametime for seattle
Jeremy: yep. now dellucci gets on base....
David: jeter hitting leadoff...that seems so incredibly wrong
Jeremy: soriano out at 2nd, dellucci safe at 1st
David: they just need a deep fly ball
Jeremy: boone at 3rd. 2 outs here, jeter up
Jeremy: oh man, manuel has no confidence whatsoever in billy koch. Koch is pitching for Chicago.
Jeremy: sportsline is about 10 secs faster than real one. 3-0
David: you know, the only thing i've liked about the white sox in the past 10 years is that their uniforms have been extremely tasteful
Jeremy: this is very true
Jeremy: nice job jeter [he got out somehow]
David: it's great and i like it that way...besides, they don't have a color scheme which renders itself well to anything that they could make crappy uniforms out of
David: dammit
Jeremy: punkass. yankee game off
David: game!
Jeremy: baseball's best coming up [the ol' KJR Mariner postgame show...big fun that kicks the crap out of the corporate KOMO/Mariner radio network postgame]
David: postgame show time
Jeremy: borders ended the game with a groundout...fitting
David: on a related note, the offense sucked again...freddy gave up the first run and it was over
Jeremy: SO OVER
David: but it didn't matter...like they were gonna score 7 runs on bartolo colon anyway. when does that ever happen?
Jeremy: Never
David: let's hear fox sports nw try to spin this
Jeremy: we can't go on, and living this way....NEVER...woah woah, NEVER. Heart reference there
David: fsnw headline: "freddy's dead"
Jeremy: yep, couldn't say it better
David: callan says sellout crowd...i think there were a ton of no-shows
Jeremy: woohoo, finally. puckett at the plate tonight [Jason Puckett helmed the postgame show that night]
Jeremy: $h!+, chavez reaches on an infield single...ON RIVERA
David: krueger: three of freddy's 5 wins in june were against NL teams...guys who don't know him
Jeremy: that's a GREAT FACT
Jeremy: HAHAHHAHAAAAAAAA [responding to KJR caller...explanation forthcoming]
David: ?
David: HAA!!!!!!!
David: no dump button there
Jeremy: "billy koch's hair on his chin looks the hair above my girl's [hoo-hah]" [NOTE: they weren't quick enough to bleep the guy out on the air]
David: i didn't think they'd let that slide. what a way to start the postgame
Jeremy: fitting
Jeremy: ramon hernandez pops out....t-long up. 1-2 on t-long
Jeremy: garcia was 4-6 in april and may
Jeremy: t-long singles to center...chavez to 3rd. chris singleton up
David: crap. yeah, good point, boston would have gone nuts if they got freddy and he did this in his first outing there
Jeremy: damn straight
David: starts off 2-0 on singleton...yikes
Jeremy: 2-2
Jeremy: come on rivera
David: progress
Jeremy: tonight was freddy's shortest outing ever i think
David: all right, puckett thinks johnson tanked it in 98 too [Randy Johnson, that is]
Jeremy: i've gone all the way back to 2001....and he never had this short of an outing
Jeremy: it's a tough call.....i think he did, but at the same time i don't think he did. but it is very suspicious [Freddy to Randy transition there]
David: sd could get giles on waivers...unless detroit blocked it or something
Jeremy: EMOTIONAL BOOST...singleton k's
David: whew
Jeremy: oh, it's on to extra innings yay
David: hoping for a giambi smash
Jeremy: man these people are morons [some of the callers]
David: wtf??this guy is on crack
Jeremy: the only people in the world who bring up this crap are seattle fans
Jeremy: If you can hit, you can hit, doesnt matter what league you hit in
David: i think that guy was trying to call komo or something
Jeremy: probably
David: jabba the hutt checking in to kjr
Jeremy: "the mariners are going to be alright"
David: nutless ownership
Jeremy: coaches always told us to improve. hell, i always tell myself to improve as a journalist
Jeremy: the day you become complacent, you are doomed to all hell
Jeremy: DAMMMIT.........1-2-3 inning for the Yanks....bottom of the 10th here
David: puckett needs a second guy...i feel sorry for him right now [the KJR clubhouse guy was flying solo]
Jeremy: ellis, hatteberg, and tejada up
Jeremy: damn straight.......if kjr paid my airfare, i'd be there, no doubt
Jeremy: airfare and a little spending money and i'd be great
Jeremy: man this is so eerie...the m's were 66-42 at the deadline last year also [this proved to be a little TOO prophetic]
Jeremy: antonio osuna on the hill for new york. this game should be over soon
Jeremy: Ellis walks on five pitches
David: yup. 3-gm lead
Jeremy: TRES ROCKIN. TRES LIBRAS [reference to the song "3 Libras" by A Perfect Circle]
David: 1 out
Jeremy: oh my bad. f---ing sportsline
Jeremy: it said four balls...oh well i guess
David: like garcia had the control to knock everett on his ass the next time he came up [caller suggested to knock down carl everett after he homered]
David: if he tried to do that, it would probably go over the plate
Jeremy: melvin is not aggressive at all.
David: then and only then
Jeremy: 2-2 on hatteberg
Jeremy: hatteberg strikes out
David: as long as rivera doesn't groove one...
David: osuna, excuse me...
Jeremy: 0-2 on tejada
David: don't give me this mabry bullcrap
Jeremy: john mabry sucks
Jeremy: yeah, WHEN THE SCORE IS 10-1
Jeremy: biono. NO MABRY AT THIRD, PLEASE NO
Jeremy: BALL F---ING GAME. TEJADA HOMERS. TRES LIBRAS
David: F---!!!!!! dammit dammit dammit
Jeremy: how fitting
David: AAARRRGHHHH!!!!
David: yup, it's official...nothing went right tonight. at ALL!
Jeremy: to steal a line from karen carpenter: IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN
Jeremy: DOO....DOO....SHARING THE LAUGHTER BETWEEN THE TWO OF US (howard and pat). DAMMMIT
David: there's no one in tacoma...is this guy on crack? [caller probably suggested there were a bunch of talented guys or arms in Tacoma, which just wasn't the case]
Jeremy: nobody
David: what the hell has bloomquist done lately? dumbass
Jeremy: nothing
David: damn straight...for all the guys ripping nelson, he's got his three rings...he can bitch whenever he wants
Jeremy: four. great, here's melvin
David: dammit...friggin yanks
Jeremy: GOOD STUFF?????????? [Melvin referring to Freddy]
David: tell me he didn't say that [he did]
Jeremy: HOT TEAM??????????
David: SAME OLD CRAP!!!
Jeremy: LOCATION PROBLEM?????? DISCUSS THINGS TOMORROW. TOO GOOD A STARTER [quoting Melvin]
Jeremy: DO IT TONIGHT, BOB [as in discussing things]
Jeremy: hey bob, TRES LIBRAS BABY
Jeremy: and he's 9-11 [Freddy's record]
Jeremy: JOSE HERNANDEZ was an All Star last year
Jeremy: don't give me that "oh, freddy was an all star last year" crap
David: he's with al-qaeda...maybe he can get apprehended by the fbi so the mariners don't have to keep him [Garcia]. that was terrible, i know
Jeremy: no apology needed
Jeremy: (posts link to picture of another Freddy Garcia)
David: they should put that guy on the mound
Jeremy: oh man, Tejada homered on a 1-2 pitch [RUBBING IT IN]
David: he did. i was surprised puckett waited so long to unveil that score. that would have set some people off
Session Close: Fri Aug 01 22:47:57 2003
If you need me to set the scene for you, I'll just say it was the day after the trade deadline, the White Sox beat the Mariners 12-1 and Freddy Garcia couldn't get out of the 2nd inning, note the start time of the chat -- the game was STILL GOING ON. Any additions, once again, will be in bracketed italics. To the wayback machine! (Posts and subjects slightly edited in some spots to preserve continuity)
Session Start: Fri Aug 01 19:57:02 2003
Jeremy: WAIVE FREDDY
David: yep. raised his era by 0.40
David: dude, i was wanting a 20-0 game
Jeremy: the m's/white sox game is on wgn tomorrow night, and frankly, i don't give a $h!+
David: well, just be thankful garcia isn't pitching tomorrow so you won't have to see his sorry ass
Jeremy: did freddy get booed very loudly?
David: pretty loud, but half the upper deck in right field is missing. hope the mariner mgmt likes seeing that
Jeremy: on a SUMMER FRIDAY NIGHT...NICEEEEE
Jeremy: i'm not even bothering to open up the radio feed....it's not worth my time
David: great column, by the way
Jeremy: thanks
David: mariners with six batters and six outs...great stuff
Jeremy: yeah, really great
David: mateo should just throw all fastballs
Jeremy: why the hell not. this game is so over
Jeremy: but david, we have REY SANCHEZ to bring us back!!!
David: maybe he could experiment with a knuckleball or something. or hell, have rey pitch...he'll do better than freddy
Jeremy: hey, why not....give Hawk Harrelson some good material, why not. sure
David: i want rey sanchez five days from now
Jeremy: you could even have captain plastic go out there and throw a shutout inning [come on, you all know you've seen Captain Plastic at the Safe]
Jeremy: "Standing Pat has overtaken Seafair as the big summer activity in Seattle." [I forgot what article that was quoting...]
David: where was the b-town connection in that? capt plastic?
Jeremy: cassandra (last name protected) follows him around [Cass was a student at our HS]
David: okay, i thought it was cass (surname)
David: the yanks/a's are tied at 1
Jeremy: hooray...GO YANKEES
Jeremy: the yankees NEED to sweep this series
David: niehaus just brought up the possibility of a white sox/cubs world series...and i vomited and then laughed because that will never happen
Jeremy: i wanna say this: for all of those idiots out there who think that freddy garcia isn't worth aaron boone, they are so wrong
Jeremy: ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? [pertaining to the all-CHI World Series topic]
Jeremy: Niehaus said that? Wow, EVEN HE has mailed in this season.
David: dude, i just found out i had class at central with dick fain's bro-in-law...i had him in my english 101 class [Dick Fain of KJR]
Jeremy: woah...damn
Jeremy: not to toot my own horn, but i love this line in my blog:
Jeremy: "Hell, his best friends are Benjamin, Ulysses, and Andrew"
Jeremy: referring to Howard Lincoln
David: ron: i wonder if freddy is tipping his pitches [Fairly said this]
Jeremy: 100s, 50s, 20s.....they are good to howard lincoln indeed, and he won't share them
Jeremy: freddy garcia is so f---ed up in the head he would pitch poorly for boston too. that is why i am so pissed off that he didn't get traded
Jeremy: the mariners should do the right thing and try to waive him. i'm sure SOMEBODY would pick him up
David: the pirates scored 6 runs in the 9th to beat the rockies...the mariners could score six runs today and they would lose
Jeremy: that is a sobering thought
Jeremy: earth to the casual mariner fan: these aren't the tigers. this is a red hot white sox team....but the mariners should beat them anyway
Jeremy: i dunno, if the red sox were to actually win the world series this year, i could have a week-long vomit party. or the cubs for that matter
David: dude, the braves would make me vomit like hell because i still hate them to death
Jeremy: the braves winning too would be sickening. but the red sox and cubs haven't won since before my grandparents were born
Jeremy: 1918 and 1908. for the record, my oldest grandparent wasn't born til 1924
Jeremy: niehaus bringing up a white sox/cubs world series is just sickening to think about
David: cameron hit the wall hard trying to run after carlos lee's home run. 8-0, by the way
Jeremy: carlos lee hitting a HR in safeco field....shocking
David: perish the thought. but they won't have james baldwin mowing the mariners down though
Jeremy: if i can do anything about human time, i would bring back the 1997 mariner offense and mesh them with the 2000-2003 mariner pitching staff and we have something
Jeremy: bartolo colon >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> james baldwin
David: i wonder how good the 97 offense woud have been at safeco
Jeremy: they probably wouldn't have hit 244 home runs as a team, but they would have over 200
David: i would hate myself if i had tickets for this mariner game, this absolute dog of a mariner game
David: and i just know if the mariners come back, they will lose 7-6, or they will tie it and then blow it
Jeremy: dude, you know my theory of never leaving a game? well, if we were there, we would just leave. yep, i said it, i would leave
David: dude, i would raise hell. this is where hopefully we could scare up some paper and a marker and write some antagonistic signs
Jeremy: i would ask nicely for a pen from a nearby fan. since it's seattle, they would give it to you.
Jeremy: then you buy a scorecard...and then write on the scorecard itself
Jeremy: biono, something like that [to those unprivy to it, "biono" is short for the phrase "but I don't know."
Jeremy: or, you go to a nearby souvenir stand, jack some of the cardboard that's behind the stand, and write on that
Jeremy: or go to the nearest trash can and there will be cardboard stacked up against it
David: mateo's struck out six...wonder who the starter should have been tonight?
Jeremy: hmmmm. aw, but melvin doesnt care. he's on autopilot now
David: if you said REY SANCHEZ, you're RIGHT
Jeremy: geezus, these espn posters are just hysterical: TITLE: I don't care if the M's make....MESSAGE: ....the playoffs. I just want them to be competitive and fill the seats, and selling 7 dollar beers.
Jeremy: you wanna know what the worst thing about this game is? the fact that Darrin Jackson is calling this game for fox sports chicago
Jeremy: 2-1 yankees. wow, what is this? david dellucci is 2-for-2
David: yippee
Jeremy: scored the 2nd run
David: that may be the only good thing about tonight
Jeremy: yeah david, midseason acquisitions are overrated
David: you know, i hate that i have finally noticed that dave and ron move to the radio side in the bottom of the 5th. now i have to hear that dumbass homer rizzs
Jeremy: it's terrible
David: my goodness, the booth guys are friggin fixed on the possibility of freddy tipping his pitches. they're saying mateo is throwing some of the same pitches garcia did, but the only one that got tagged was the lee dong
Jeremy: they are such jackmonkeys
Jeremy: diamond club update? green with envy yet?
David: a couple seats above the "ajinomoto" sign are empty, but i haven't looked back a couple rows yet
Jeremy: good deal
David: bartolo colon has a one-hitter through 5...YEAH!!!! WAIVRE WIRE, BABY!!!
Jeremy: VIVA LA WAIVERS
David: IT'S SO BAD I SPELLED IT THE FRENCH WAY!!!
Jeremy: Midseason acquisitions are overrated: Shannon Stewart was 3-for-5 tonight with a HR, double and 2 runs batted in.....
Jeremy: JAMES BALDWIN got the SAVE for the Twins tonight.....unreal
David: VOMIT!!!!!!! score of that game?
Jeremy: 10-4, baldwin did pitch 3 innings though
David: okay, I figured it would be a long save
Jeremy: 5 hits, 1 run for baldwin.....and it was against the Tigers
Jeremy: midseason acquisitions are overrated: the cubs' aramis ramirez drove in the winning run in the 14th inning, beating the diamondbacks 4-3 at wrigley
Jeremy: WHAT????? Rey Sanchez in the 2 HOLE????
David: yup
Jeremy: Bob Melvin is making his case for a new bike for his daughter...Uncle Howard would be more than happy to give it to her
David: it's obvious that mess board poster is oozing with sarcasm...i love it
Jeremy: howard lincoln is the reason why i won't buy a gamecube...sony, baby
Jeremy: that's the reason why i even read the espn board. sarcasm is a great gift to have in life
David: olivo just missed a foul ball. FLY ball
Jeremy: baseball tonight next....i can't wait for this.
Jeremy: what am i thinking? dibble on the set
David: berthiaume?? dammit [Steve Berthiaume is crap on BBTN...almost as bad as the single catchphrase man Brian Kenny]
David: they must have been burnt out from yesterday...this panel sucks ass
Jeremy: and it's friday night. except for brantley. brantley rules.
David: we don't have harold to kiss angel berroa's ass
David: here's part of my fain letter
David: "You know, I know they're employed by the Mariners and stuff, but I get tired of hearing such home-spun blather on Mariner broadcasts. There's no way anyone can spin me the right way when I'm watching a Mariner game when they're down 8-0."
David: "I love Niehaus, and I'd never get rid of him, but I'd get rid of Rizzs in a second. He couldn't be realistic if he tried. I know it'll never happen, but I wish the Mariners would can Rizzs and bring in a Kevin Calabro-type guy. Why? If the game is crap, Kevin won't let the players get away with it."
Jeremy: agreed 100 percent
David: If the Sonics are turning over the ball a bunch, Kevin will definitely let you know that. You would never hear these out of Rizzs: "All White Sox tonight, as they lead 8-0" or "Garcia is brutal tonight, throwing 66 pitches in 1 2/3 innings."
Jeremy: oh man, if i were calling the games, i wouldn't hold back
David: crap, wonder who the last yankee was to wear 19. oh wait, it was ventura, wasn't it
Jeremy: i think so
David: they probably just made him wear robin's jersey. i still can't believe they got rid of robin ventura, that shocked me
David: me too...but they basically stuck it to drew henson...funny
Jeremy: m's lowlights...rey sanchez got a hit?
David: it's true...for all the press fla has gotten about willis and lowell, nothing is said about how ivan rodriguez is handling and tutoring that young pitching staff
Jeremy: pudge has done well. sad thing is, he won't stay there b/c of jeff loria
Jeremy: so much for that nonsense, still 8-0 bad guys goin into the 8th
Jeremy: damn colon only has 78 pitches thru 7 [that's still amazing here on Nov 22]
Jeremy: franklin is up tomorrow night.....care to guess how many HRs he gives up? one solo HR is all it takes, b/c he doesn't get run support
David: aaron taylor...he should give up at least two runs
Jeremy: yep
David: matt morris is done
Jeremy: melvin has given up: rule 5 at 2nd, mabry in RF [Rule V is Luis Ugueto, in case you haven't caught on to Jeremy's vernacular here at Sports and B's]
Jeremy: the cards could really use garcia, believe it or not. but god forbid, the mariners acquire a scott boras client, we can't have that [JD Drew, Boras client]
David: crap, you see esteban yan on the roster and that's all you need to know
Jeremy: exactly....but i'll speak as a guy who has seen the cards play 5 times a week and say that they REALLY, REALLY need help. Jeff Fassero started tonight for STL
Jeremy: garcia for drew would have been one hell of a deal. drew is a left handed hitter who can rake, and garcia in the NL could be scary
David: you know, this is sick, but if you heard krueger on the groz/gas show, you would have vomited when he said that fassero actually looked good to him and would have been a nice fit in the mariner pen
Jeremy: WHAT?
David: i kid you not
Jeremy: that's terrible
David: i about barfed everywhere...frankly, i don't even know how fassero even had a career after the mariners released him
Jeremy: the only thing i remember him for after he left seattle was the fact that he gave up the HR to cameron in the 19th inning in 2000
David: well, looks like the red sox rolled snake eyes and got the hentgen from 5 years ago
Jeremy: you know, the m's oughta just go 6 up 6 down the rest of the way so the people left there can catch the 9:55 ferry
Jeremy: not good times for boston. 3-0 on cameron....he'll ground out here
Jeremy: I was half right: he flied out to right
David: man, must hurt to be a dodger fan...11 runs in 9 games
Jeremy: oh yeah, Randy Winn is 0-for-3...nice to know that he's on a roll
Jeremy: dammit wilson....why do you have to have a base hit during an 8-0 asskicking
Jeremy: bloomquist single....dammit
David: i love when the bbtn guys look to the wrong camera; both dibble and brantley did it to end the show
Jeremy: haha
Jeremy: WAY TO GO, NEW GUY.........sanchez grounds out, inning over
Jeremy: oh, what's this? MABRY DROVE IN A RUN??? damn you john mabry
Jeremy: colon with 98 pitches thru 8.....go out there and finish the game
David: well, it's garbage time...scheffler scored 7 pts in 2 minutes of play as the sonics lost to the rockets 94-78 [had to throw some early '90s Sonic references in]
Jeremy: shove it up the m's ass, colon
David: bloomquist in left...good god, you know it's the 9th when that happens...rule v with a 4-3 putout of carlos lee. lee finishes a triple short of the cycle
Jeremy: dammit. carlos lee, my fav non-mariner doing the job tonight
David: mondesi muffed the fly ball and the cubs won...comical because it's arizona
Jeremy: HAHA...Jeremy: Raul Mondesi is a punk, plain and simple.
Jeremy: PAT BORDERS AT THIRD
David: lest brantley forgets that the middle infield of the twins sucks ass...it ain't just the pitching [Brantley must have been railing the Twins pitching staff on BBTN]
David: graeme lloyd blew the royals game
Jeremy: he's still good though
David: hey!! taylor's given up two runs!! i'll be damned!
Jeremy: HEY!!!!!!!!!
David: OH MAN!! pat borders just had the easiest foul ball to catch and he overran it
David: first thing rizzs says "don't get on borders, he's just trying to help out..."
David: gimme a friggin break, that's inexcusable
Jeremy: VERY INEXCUSABLE
David: oops, gave taylor too much credit...taylor's given up three
David: sorry to everyone in mariner nation who thinks otherwise, but aaron taylor is not that good
Jeremy: he has a long way to go to become the "future mariners closer"
Jeremy: get sick, it's 2-2 in oakland. crede singles... IT'S 4 RUNS
David: how bout an aaron boone bomb to put the yanks up
Jeremy: boone singles to lead off the 9th. LOVE IT
David: oh man, rizzs waxing nostalgic about the senior/junior father/son game...(i'm vomiting)
Jeremy: oh my f----ing god
David: i think they somehow related that to sandy and rob alomar
Jeremy: intentional walk to nick johnson here....keith foulke is pitching
David: i wish the mariners had balls this year...they've owned keith foulke every year except for this one
Jeremy: oh nevermind, it was a pitchout.....and Boone stole 2nd
Jeremy: this is sick. after johnson, Alfonso Soriano is up. He's the 8TH HITTER, Soriano is.
David: that is so wrong. that lineup is absolutely wrong
Jeremy: johnson flies out to left
Jeremy: CHARLIE STEINER ON THE CALL
Jeremy: I have the Yankees radio feed on, thanks to my real one superpass. yeah baby
David: employed by who? the yanks?
Jeremy: I think so....
David: yikes. koch is in
Jeremy: it's a 3 man booth....sterling the play by play guy
David: probably will be his only 1-2-3 inning this year [as in Koch]
Jeremy: steiner and, i wanna say michael kay
Jeremy: soriano HBP
David: luis ugueto is 0-for-3 this year
David: sterling and kay...if they weren't yankee guys, i'ld like them a lot more
David: it's hilarious how sterling sounds like an entirely different guy when he isn't in the home run call voice
David: a much younger guy
Jeremy: it is...he sounds like my psychology prof at OC
Jeremy: Rule 5 grounds out
David: dellucci in the hole still? wanna know the delay betw sportsline and superpass
David: gametime for seattle
Jeremy: yep. now dellucci gets on base....
David: jeter hitting leadoff...that seems so incredibly wrong
Jeremy: soriano out at 2nd, dellucci safe at 1st
David: they just need a deep fly ball
Jeremy: boone at 3rd. 2 outs here, jeter up
Jeremy: oh man, manuel has no confidence whatsoever in billy koch. Koch is pitching for Chicago.
Jeremy: sportsline is about 10 secs faster than real one. 3-0
David: you know, the only thing i've liked about the white sox in the past 10 years is that their uniforms have been extremely tasteful
Jeremy: this is very true
Jeremy: nice job jeter [he got out somehow]
David: it's great and i like it that way...besides, they don't have a color scheme which renders itself well to anything that they could make crappy uniforms out of
David: dammit
Jeremy: punkass. yankee game off
David: game!
Jeremy: baseball's best coming up [the ol' KJR Mariner postgame show...big fun that kicks the crap out of the corporate KOMO/Mariner radio network postgame]
David: postgame show time
Jeremy: borders ended the game with a groundout...fitting
David: on a related note, the offense sucked again...freddy gave up the first run and it was over
Jeremy: SO OVER
David: but it didn't matter...like they were gonna score 7 runs on bartolo colon anyway. when does that ever happen?
Jeremy: Never
David: let's hear fox sports nw try to spin this
Jeremy: we can't go on, and living this way....NEVER...woah woah, NEVER. Heart reference there
David: fsnw headline: "freddy's dead"
Jeremy: yep, couldn't say it better
David: callan says sellout crowd...i think there were a ton of no-shows
Jeremy: woohoo, finally. puckett at the plate tonight [Jason Puckett helmed the postgame show that night]
Jeremy: $h!+, chavez reaches on an infield single...ON RIVERA
David: krueger: three of freddy's 5 wins in june were against NL teams...guys who don't know him
Jeremy: that's a GREAT FACT
Jeremy: HAHAHHAHAAAAAAAA [responding to KJR caller...explanation forthcoming]
David: ?
David: HAA!!!!!!!
David: no dump button there
Jeremy: "billy koch's hair on his chin looks the hair above my girl's [hoo-hah]" [NOTE: they weren't quick enough to bleep the guy out on the air]
David: i didn't think they'd let that slide. what a way to start the postgame
Jeremy: fitting
Jeremy: ramon hernandez pops out....t-long up. 1-2 on t-long
Jeremy: garcia was 4-6 in april and may
Jeremy: t-long singles to center...chavez to 3rd. chris singleton up
David: crap. yeah, good point, boston would have gone nuts if they got freddy and he did this in his first outing there
Jeremy: damn straight
David: starts off 2-0 on singleton...yikes
Jeremy: 2-2
Jeremy: come on rivera
David: progress
Jeremy: tonight was freddy's shortest outing ever i think
David: all right, puckett thinks johnson tanked it in 98 too [Randy Johnson, that is]
Jeremy: i've gone all the way back to 2001....and he never had this short of an outing
Jeremy: it's a tough call.....i think he did, but at the same time i don't think he did. but it is very suspicious [Freddy to Randy transition there]
David: sd could get giles on waivers...unless detroit blocked it or something
Jeremy: EMOTIONAL BOOST...singleton k's
David: whew
Jeremy: oh, it's on to extra innings yay
David: hoping for a giambi smash
Jeremy: man these people are morons [some of the callers]
David: wtf??this guy is on crack
Jeremy: the only people in the world who bring up this crap are seattle fans
Jeremy: If you can hit, you can hit, doesnt matter what league you hit in
David: i think that guy was trying to call komo or something
Jeremy: probably
David: jabba the hutt checking in to kjr
Jeremy: "the mariners are going to be alright"
David: nutless ownership
Jeremy: coaches always told us to improve. hell, i always tell myself to improve as a journalist
Jeremy: the day you become complacent, you are doomed to all hell
Jeremy: DAMMMIT.........1-2-3 inning for the Yanks....bottom of the 10th here
David: puckett needs a second guy...i feel sorry for him right now [the KJR clubhouse guy was flying solo]
Jeremy: ellis, hatteberg, and tejada up
Jeremy: damn straight.......if kjr paid my airfare, i'd be there, no doubt
Jeremy: airfare and a little spending money and i'd be great
Jeremy: man this is so eerie...the m's were 66-42 at the deadline last year also [this proved to be a little TOO prophetic]
Jeremy: antonio osuna on the hill for new york. this game should be over soon
Jeremy: Ellis walks on five pitches
David: yup. 3-gm lead
Jeremy: TRES ROCKIN. TRES LIBRAS [reference to the song "3 Libras" by A Perfect Circle]
David: 1 out
Jeremy: oh my bad. f---ing sportsline
Jeremy: it said four balls...oh well i guess
David: like garcia had the control to knock everett on his ass the next time he came up [caller suggested to knock down carl everett after he homered]
David: if he tried to do that, it would probably go over the plate
Jeremy: melvin is not aggressive at all.
David: then and only then
Jeremy: 2-2 on hatteberg
Jeremy: hatteberg strikes out
David: as long as rivera doesn't groove one...
David: osuna, excuse me...
Jeremy: 0-2 on tejada
David: don't give me this mabry bullcrap
Jeremy: john mabry sucks
Jeremy: yeah, WHEN THE SCORE IS 10-1
Jeremy: biono. NO MABRY AT THIRD, PLEASE NO
Jeremy: BALL F---ING GAME. TEJADA HOMERS. TRES LIBRAS
David: F---!!!!!! dammit dammit dammit
Jeremy: how fitting
David: AAARRRGHHHH!!!!
David: yup, it's official...nothing went right tonight. at ALL!
Jeremy: to steal a line from karen carpenter: IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN
Jeremy: DOO....DOO....SHARING THE LAUGHTER BETWEEN THE TWO OF US (howard and pat). DAMMMIT
David: there's no one in tacoma...is this guy on crack? [caller probably suggested there were a bunch of talented guys or arms in Tacoma, which just wasn't the case]
Jeremy: nobody
David: what the hell has bloomquist done lately? dumbass
Jeremy: nothing
David: damn straight...for all the guys ripping nelson, he's got his three rings...he can bitch whenever he wants
Jeremy: four. great, here's melvin
David: dammit...friggin yanks
Jeremy: GOOD STUFF?????????? [Melvin referring to Freddy]
David: tell me he didn't say that [he did]
Jeremy: HOT TEAM??????????
David: SAME OLD CRAP!!!
Jeremy: LOCATION PROBLEM?????? DISCUSS THINGS TOMORROW. TOO GOOD A STARTER [quoting Melvin]
Jeremy: DO IT TONIGHT, BOB [as in discussing things]
Jeremy: hey bob, TRES LIBRAS BABY
Jeremy: and he's 9-11 [Freddy's record]
Jeremy: JOSE HERNANDEZ was an All Star last year
Jeremy: don't give me that "oh, freddy was an all star last year" crap
David: he's with al-qaeda...maybe he can get apprehended by the fbi so the mariners don't have to keep him [Garcia]. that was terrible, i know
Jeremy: no apology needed
Jeremy: (posts link to picture of another Freddy Garcia)
David: they should put that guy on the mound
Jeremy: oh man, Tejada homered on a 1-2 pitch [RUBBING IT IN]
David: he did. i was surprised puckett waited so long to unveil that score. that would have set some people off
Session Close: Fri Aug 01 22:47:57 2003
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STRETCHING FOR CONTENT
Okay, just one article, by Finnigan, is up for tonight's Seattle print Mariner update, and it's about the Korean first baseman Lee Seung-Yeop, who I don't even think should be mentioned in the same breath as Richie Sexson in terms of an Olerud replacement. The Angels and Dodgers are more in the running anyway. At age 27, he had surpassed the 300-homer mark in (what I'll take a wild guess and say is South) Korea.
But what I love is this...
Lee...played most of his games in a smallish Samsung park, only 311 feet down the lines, 386 to center.
311 down the lines?? 386 to center?? You know, the current incarnation of Legion Field in Bremerton (only baseball-only field in Kitsap, Jefferson, or Clallam County WITH LIGHTS), on which I played for five years, has these dimensions: 325 to LF (~8ft fence), 385 in CF (~12ft fence), 308 in RF (~14ft fence). If Lee has hit in fields like Legion Field for the last 7-9 years, then no wonder how he has 300 bombs. I hit in Legion Field for six total years (five after the remodel), and my measly 5'7" 150-pound ass put only two balls out of there, both in leftcenter. One was against Bainbridge as a sophomore where I was the only run in a JV game where we got creamed (how Bremerton is that), the other was during practice for the Pro Rentals Senior Babe Ruth team. What I'm trying to say is that EVEN I could put a ball out of the parks that Lee has been hitting his in. Sure, he's a pro ballplayer now and I'm a dead-end geology major at a friggin state school, but you get my drift.
---
One other thing is that Matt from Just Another M's Blog is so right about when MLB centralized all the team websites. Centralized was a great word to use there; I'd been trying to think of a good word for it, and all I could come up with was the phrase "putting all the websites under the same umbrella." Kudos to Matt. The first thing I thought when the websites were taken over was that they all became cookie-cutter personalityless pieces of garbage. The old Mariner website had TONS of goodies on it. Matt mentioned the downloadable radio clips. What I really went for was the Mariners wallpapers and most definitely the screensavers. The 2001 All-Star Game screensaver was a great one. Unfortunately, I think I deleted all the screensavers off my hard drive, but they might still be there. If I have them, it's entirely possible I could email them to people who are starved for Mariners screensavers.
Just one more post coming before I cash it in...it'll follow up Jeremy's post about August 1st...
But what I love is this...
Lee...played most of his games in a smallish Samsung park, only 311 feet down the lines, 386 to center.
311 down the lines?? 386 to center?? You know, the current incarnation of Legion Field in Bremerton (only baseball-only field in Kitsap, Jefferson, or Clallam County WITH LIGHTS), on which I played for five years, has these dimensions: 325 to LF (~8ft fence), 385 in CF (~12ft fence), 308 in RF (~14ft fence). If Lee has hit in fields like Legion Field for the last 7-9 years, then no wonder how he has 300 bombs. I hit in Legion Field for six total years (five after the remodel), and my measly 5'7" 150-pound ass put only two balls out of there, both in leftcenter. One was against Bainbridge as a sophomore where I was the only run in a JV game where we got creamed (how Bremerton is that), the other was during practice for the Pro Rentals Senior Babe Ruth team. What I'm trying to say is that EVEN I could put a ball out of the parks that Lee has been hitting his in. Sure, he's a pro ballplayer now and I'm a dead-end geology major at a friggin state school, but you get my drift.
---
One other thing is that Matt from Just Another M's Blog is so right about when MLB centralized all the team websites. Centralized was a great word to use there; I'd been trying to think of a good word for it, and all I could come up with was the phrase "putting all the websites under the same umbrella." Kudos to Matt. The first thing I thought when the websites were taken over was that they all became cookie-cutter personalityless pieces of garbage. The old Mariner website had TONS of goodies on it. Matt mentioned the downloadable radio clips. What I really went for was the Mariners wallpapers and most definitely the screensavers. The 2001 All-Star Game screensaver was a great one. Unfortunately, I think I deleted all the screensavers off my hard drive, but they might still be there. If I have them, it's entirely possible I could email them to people who are starved for Mariners screensavers.
Just one more post coming before I cash it in...it'll follow up Jeremy's post about August 1st...
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Friday, November 21, 2003
LATE NIGHT MIGGY STOVE
Aug. 1, 2003
A's 3, Yankees 2
Miguel Tejada walk-off home run off of Antonio Osuna. (Click on 8/01, "Play of the Game", 56K or 300K, depending on your computer)
This was the same night the Mariners got their asses kicked by the White Sox at Safeco Field, 12-1. One day after the trading deadline, it was on August 1 that the momentum went Oakland's way. Why?
Because of one swing.
The A's were 34-20 in the final two months of 2003, compared to the M's 26-27 record. You know, you follow a team all season long, and you think things aren't as good as they should be. And after digging up this stat tonight, well, my stomach turned.
Let's face it. The Mariners need Miguel Tejada. I'm not asking for the M's brass to sign Tejada, I'm demanding it.
Get it done.
And keep that Miggy Hot Stove burning...
A's 3, Yankees 2
Miguel Tejada walk-off home run off of Antonio Osuna. (Click on 8/01, "Play of the Game", 56K or 300K, depending on your computer)
This was the same night the Mariners got their asses kicked by the White Sox at Safeco Field, 12-1. One day after the trading deadline, it was on August 1 that the momentum went Oakland's way. Why?
Because of one swing.
The A's were 34-20 in the final two months of 2003, compared to the M's 26-27 record. You know, you follow a team all season long, and you think things aren't as good as they should be. And after digging up this stat tonight, well, my stomach turned.
Let's face it. The Mariners need Miguel Tejada. I'm not asking for the M's brass to sign Tejada, I'm demanding it.
Get it done.
And keep that Miggy Hot Stove burning...
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MELVIN IN BOSTON????
Sit down, guys and gals, because Blow-Mel is staying in Seattle.
The Red Sox contacted the Mariners to see if they could interview Blow-Mel for their vacant managerial position. Not surprisingly, the M's said no.
Oh man, could you imagine Blow-Mel in Boston? It would be hysterical. After Manny Ramirez flies out to end a close ballgame at Fenway Park, the media will be there to crucify Melvin and he would still suck on his root beer barrels, saying, "hey, Fenway is a great place to watch a game. We'll get em' next time."
So now it looks like the Red Sox will hire former Phillies manager and current A's bench coach Terry Francona. He's interviewed with the Red Sox twice, and is their leading candidate. Francona is a retread, plain and simple. He sucked in Philly, and what makes the Red Sox think that he's going to do well in Boston?
But man, just reading the headline "Boston shows interest in Melvin" got my hopes up for about 3 seconds. Then sadly, the reality train rolled in.
Don't expect the Mariners to do much between now and the end of the month, because of Thanksgiving and all that jazz. But they should release their 2004 schedule pretty damn soon.
Fire Up The Miggy Hot Stove...
The Red Sox contacted the Mariners to see if they could interview Blow-Mel for their vacant managerial position. Not surprisingly, the M's said no.
Oh man, could you imagine Blow-Mel in Boston? It would be hysterical. After Manny Ramirez flies out to end a close ballgame at Fenway Park, the media will be there to crucify Melvin and he would still suck on his root beer barrels, saying, "hey, Fenway is a great place to watch a game. We'll get em' next time."
So now it looks like the Red Sox will hire former Phillies manager and current A's bench coach Terry Francona. He's interviewed with the Red Sox twice, and is their leading candidate. Francona is a retread, plain and simple. He sucked in Philly, and what makes the Red Sox think that he's going to do well in Boston?
But man, just reading the headline "Boston shows interest in Melvin" got my hopes up for about 3 seconds. Then sadly, the reality train rolled in.
Don't expect the Mariners to do much between now and the end of the month, because of Thanksgiving and all that jazz. But they should release their 2004 schedule pretty damn soon.
Fire Up The Miggy Hot Stove...
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Thursday, November 20, 2003
CANUCKS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2 (OT)
The Canucks came back from being down 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second period to wrestle this one away from the Blackhawks with three unanswered goals, the third of which nailed down the game.
Scoring goals for the Canucks tonight were Ed Jovanovski, Bryan Allen, and Sami Salo.
Jovo continues his great play from the blue line a mere two days after his insane 10-shot game against the Habs. Bryan Allen finally got his first point of the year and bailed the Canucks out of a third-period deficit. Sami Salo netted the gamer. The Canucks blueline is nuts. In the last two games, the defensemen (all of whom are Jovanovski, Ohlund, Malik, Sopel, Salo, Allen, Slegr) have scored seven of the eight Canuck goals, and they lead the NHL in points from defensemen. Tonight, the blueline play picked up the slack where the top two lines couldn't get anything going. For the second game in a row, the Canucks came back from a 2-0 deficit to win.
Jason King picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 4 games. Johan Hedberg did a good job in net tonight, stopping 30 of 32 shots.
The Canucks are now 9-0-1-0 on home ice.
Big BIG day for hockey on Saturday. At 1pm, the Heritage Hockey Classic will occur at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Hockey OUTDOORS. It starts with an alumni game, and WAYNE GRETZKY WILL SUIT UP. He never does these types of games, and he'll never do another one. And you can hear everything on Mojo Radio of Vancouver, from the Heritage Classic MegaStars game between the Habs and Oilers. At 4, the current NHLers of the same teams play the first NHL outdoor game. The outdoor rink. You bet.
Here's the two teams in that Heritage Classic...
Edmonton
Captain: Wayne Gretzky, Goal: Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford, Andy Moog
Forwards: Glenn Anderson, Ron Chipperfield, Dave Hunter, Jari Kurri, Ken Linseman, Dave Lumley, Dave Semenko, Craig Simpson, Esa Tikkanen
Defencemen: Jeff Beukeboom, Paul Coffey, Lee Fogolin, Randy Gregg, Charlie Huddy, Kevin Lowe, Marty McSorley, Craig Muni
(There were also rumors that Mark Messier would suit up)
Canadiens
Captain: Guy Lafleur, Goal: Steve Penney, Richard Sevigny
Forwards: Benoit Brunet, Guy Carbonneau, Cam Connor, Russ Courtnall, Lucien Deblois, Yvon Lambert, Kirk Muller, Mark Napier, Chris Nilan, Stephane Richer, Steve Shutt, Bobby Smith
Defencemen: Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Gilbert Delorme, Gaston Gingras, Guy Lapointe, Craig Ludwig, Larry Robinson
(Pat Roy was invited to play and declined)
Check out this stacked Oilers team of yore...
And it doesn't stop there...
At 7pm, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be in Vancouver facing the Canucks in a huge matchup, which you can hear as always on CKNW.
Game on.
Scoring goals for the Canucks tonight were Ed Jovanovski, Bryan Allen, and Sami Salo.
Jovo continues his great play from the blue line a mere two days after his insane 10-shot game against the Habs. Bryan Allen finally got his first point of the year and bailed the Canucks out of a third-period deficit. Sami Salo netted the gamer. The Canucks blueline is nuts. In the last two games, the defensemen (all of whom are Jovanovski, Ohlund, Malik, Sopel, Salo, Allen, Slegr) have scored seven of the eight Canuck goals, and they lead the NHL in points from defensemen. Tonight, the blueline play picked up the slack where the top two lines couldn't get anything going. For the second game in a row, the Canucks came back from a 2-0 deficit to win.
Jason King picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 4 games. Johan Hedberg did a good job in net tonight, stopping 30 of 32 shots.
The Canucks are now 9-0-1-0 on home ice.
Big BIG day for hockey on Saturday. At 1pm, the Heritage Hockey Classic will occur at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Hockey OUTDOORS. It starts with an alumni game, and WAYNE GRETZKY WILL SUIT UP. He never does these types of games, and he'll never do another one. And you can hear everything on Mojo Radio of Vancouver, from the Heritage Classic MegaStars game between the Habs and Oilers. At 4, the current NHLers of the same teams play the first NHL outdoor game. The outdoor rink. You bet.
Here's the two teams in that Heritage Classic...
Edmonton
Captain: Wayne Gretzky, Goal: Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford, Andy Moog
Forwards: Glenn Anderson, Ron Chipperfield, Dave Hunter, Jari Kurri, Ken Linseman, Dave Lumley, Dave Semenko, Craig Simpson, Esa Tikkanen
Defencemen: Jeff Beukeboom, Paul Coffey, Lee Fogolin, Randy Gregg, Charlie Huddy, Kevin Lowe, Marty McSorley, Craig Muni
(There were also rumors that Mark Messier would suit up)
Canadiens
Captain: Guy Lafleur, Goal: Steve Penney, Richard Sevigny
Forwards: Benoit Brunet, Guy Carbonneau, Cam Connor, Russ Courtnall, Lucien Deblois, Yvon Lambert, Kirk Muller, Mark Napier, Chris Nilan, Stephane Richer, Steve Shutt, Bobby Smith
Defencemen: Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Gilbert Delorme, Gaston Gingras, Guy Lapointe, Craig Ludwig, Larry Robinson
(Pat Roy was invited to play and declined)
Check out this stacked Oilers team of yore...
And it doesn't stop there...
At 7pm, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be in Vancouver facing the Canucks in a huge matchup, which you can hear as always on CKNW.
Game on.
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NEXT EPISODE...
Now that Raul Ibanez is signed, sealed, delivered, the Mariners have more work to do.
So Joe Randa may come to Seattle? Well, if that happens, then it means the M's can't get Robin Ventura, and that's a good thing.
The only question I have about this is if Ibanez is pushing for Randa, then why isn't he pushing for Carlos Beltran? I mean, it's the same deal as when David yesterday questioned why there wasn't a Vladimir Guerrero party?
I'll say it. I don't want Lee Seung-Yeop. I want PROVEN MAJOR LEAGUERS! And yes, Richie Sexson is the guy I want after 2004. Don't let this assclown ruin that possibility.
The Mariners would be stupid as hell if they kept both Mike Cameron and Randy Winn. With the Ibanez signing, I think Cameron should stay instead of Winn. All along, I've said that Cameron is as good as gone. But Winn scares me in center field. I'm willing to put up with 50,254,357 strikeouts from Cameron just so I don't have to see Winn in CF.
Of course, my CF pipedream would be to deal Winn and Freddy Garcia to St. Louis for Jim Edmonds, but Edmonds has a no-trade clause, so that's not going to happen. And even if he didn't have a no-trade clause, what makes me think that the M's would step up and get a guy like Edmonds?
Finally, The Miggy Stove is up and burning. Tejada to Seattle. Why the hell not?
So Joe Randa may come to Seattle? Well, if that happens, then it means the M's can't get Robin Ventura, and that's a good thing.
The only question I have about this is if Ibanez is pushing for Randa, then why isn't he pushing for Carlos Beltran? I mean, it's the same deal as when David yesterday questioned why there wasn't a Vladimir Guerrero party?
I'll say it. I don't want Lee Seung-Yeop. I want PROVEN MAJOR LEAGUERS! And yes, Richie Sexson is the guy I want after 2004. Don't let this assclown ruin that possibility.
The Mariners would be stupid as hell if they kept both Mike Cameron and Randy Winn. With the Ibanez signing, I think Cameron should stay instead of Winn. All along, I've said that Cameron is as good as gone. But Winn scares me in center field. I'm willing to put up with 50,254,357 strikeouts from Cameron just so I don't have to see Winn in CF.
Of course, my CF pipedream would be to deal Winn and Freddy Garcia to St. Louis for Jim Edmonds, but Edmonds has a no-trade clause, so that's not going to happen. And even if he didn't have a no-trade clause, what makes me think that the M's would step up and get a guy like Edmonds?
Finally, The Miggy Stove is up and burning. Tejada to Seattle. Why the hell not?
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AFTERMATH...
Okay, kids. The Raul Ibanez thing became a formality. Big fun. Okay, the complete opposite, because everyone who knew better wanted Vlad Guerrero and KNEW that the Mariners could make that work, but had operatives working at Edgar's party and not any party of Vlad's.
Bottom line is, if this team is stupid enough to keep both Cameron and Winn on the roster, then I will take a page out of Bill Simmons' book and I will light myself on fire. You just can't have both of those guys, because someone is going to be on the bench and that someone is going to be massively overpaid. If Winn gets $5M (!!) in arbitration, I don't care how good he is, no 4th outfielder should be making 5M damn dollars. That's friggin ridiculous.
Oh, by the way, the other more esteemed and REPUTABLE David at USS Mariner mentioned that Jose Cruz Jr would have been a more reasonable and smart signing by about the same price, and HE would have been the right former Mariner to go after in this case. And oh yeah, HE WON A GOLD GLOVE THIS YEAR.
Okay, now the press conference articles -- Times. P-I.
First, the Finnigan stuff...
- First thing brought up is 3B Joe Randa possibly following Raul to Seattle. Maybe at least SOMETHING good can come out of this...
- Ibanez "was at the top of [the Mariners'] offseason wish list for outfielders," though "team officials will be happier still when they have about another half-dozen moves made." Hopefully they're better than this one.
- Apparently Korean slugger Lee Seung-Yeop took a tour of the Safe and hung out in the city, and speculation suggests Lee "as a possible replacement for John Olerud in a year or two." Once again, the question arises of foreign talent versus proven Major League talent. And as for replacing Olerud in a year or two, I have two words which I have used many times on this site -- RICHIE SEXSON.
Now the Hickey stuff...
- brings up Ibanez/Winn/Ichiro outfield, or signing Cam and shopping Winn. PLEASE, NO RANDY WINN IN CENTERFIELD. Remember that week this season when Cameron was tending to an ailing relative and Winn was in center? He was a zoo. I'll say that over and f---ing over again (thanks for that one, Lou). The guy didn't have anywhere near the range that Cam did, and I didn't expect him to. But he made errors that seem to stick out in my mind. That and HE HAS NO ARM.
- so Ibanez worked with Kevin Seitzer when he was hitting with the Royals. Maybe Seitzer's former Brewer teammate Paul Molitor can help Ibanez hit even better. I'm not banking on it, but man, Seitzer and Molitor were two awesome hitters.
That's all for tonight from Lind Hall on the campus of Central Washington University. It's time to do some geologic cross-sections...
Bottom line is, if this team is stupid enough to keep both Cameron and Winn on the roster, then I will take a page out of Bill Simmons' book and I will light myself on fire. You just can't have both of those guys, because someone is going to be on the bench and that someone is going to be massively overpaid. If Winn gets $5M (!!) in arbitration, I don't care how good he is, no 4th outfielder should be making 5M damn dollars. That's friggin ridiculous.
Oh, by the way, the other more esteemed and REPUTABLE David at USS Mariner mentioned that Jose Cruz Jr would have been a more reasonable and smart signing by about the same price, and HE would have been the right former Mariner to go after in this case. And oh yeah, HE WON A GOLD GLOVE THIS YEAR.
Okay, now the press conference articles -- Times. P-I.
First, the Finnigan stuff...
- First thing brought up is 3B Joe Randa possibly following Raul to Seattle. Maybe at least SOMETHING good can come out of this...
- Ibanez "was at the top of [the Mariners'] offseason wish list for outfielders," though "team officials will be happier still when they have about another half-dozen moves made." Hopefully they're better than this one.
- Apparently Korean slugger Lee Seung-Yeop took a tour of the Safe and hung out in the city, and speculation suggests Lee "as a possible replacement for John Olerud in a year or two." Once again, the question arises of foreign talent versus proven Major League talent. And as for replacing Olerud in a year or two, I have two words which I have used many times on this site -- RICHIE SEXSON.
Now the Hickey stuff...
- brings up Ibanez/Winn/Ichiro outfield, or signing Cam and shopping Winn. PLEASE, NO RANDY WINN IN CENTERFIELD. Remember that week this season when Cameron was tending to an ailing relative and Winn was in center? He was a zoo. I'll say that over and f---ing over again (thanks for that one, Lou). The guy didn't have anywhere near the range that Cam did, and I didn't expect him to. But he made errors that seem to stick out in my mind. That and HE HAS NO ARM.
- so Ibanez worked with Kevin Seitzer when he was hitting with the Royals. Maybe Seitzer's former Brewer teammate Paul Molitor can help Ibanez hit even better. I'm not banking on it, but man, Seitzer and Molitor were two awesome hitters.
That's all for tonight from Lind Hall on the campus of Central Washington University. It's time to do some geologic cross-sections...
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003
GOT ONION??
We have links on the sidebar for both the Onion and the group Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting.
Put them together and you get this. An article about FAIR's findings about biased home team newspaper coverage. That's the sports tie to all this.
Yes, it's hilarious.
Put them together and you get this. An article about FAIR's findings about biased home team newspaper coverage. That's the sports tie to all this.
Yes, it's hilarious.
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GOOGLE UPDATE
Here's the updates on those searches I hypothesized earlier...a couple of them showed up.
vlad guerrero mariners never
link 92
willie bloomquist south kitsap sucks
only 2 links to us, including this post from September 30, right after the demise of the Mariners 2003 campaign.
WHOOP-DEE-FRIGGIN-DO
Chuck Stark of the Sun was sent to the Willie Bloomquist lovefest and autograph ice-cream social at Today Chevrolet in the Town of B.
Bloomquist obliged a steady stream of fans, posing for photographs and signing hats, gloves, baseballs, cards, photographs and even copies of the sports section of this newspaper -- the July 14 edition that led with a screaming headline: "Willie goes wild."
How sad is that? Almost as sad as: .250 BA (196 AB), 1 HR, 14 RBI, 19 BB, 39 K, 4 errors (.975 fielding pct). There weren't many good things that happened to the Mariners down the stretch, but one of the good things was when Guillen and his bat were put at third and put up some worthwhile numbers.
Comment (0)
message posted by wicketywacko @ 2:08 AM
The second link of the Bloomquist search pointed to me saying how Bloomquist was one of the few position players to actually make it up through the Mariners system and get significant time on the ML roster.
dan wilson sucks offense links 41 and 42
vlad guerrero mariners never
link 92
willie bloomquist south kitsap sucks
only 2 links to us, including this post from September 30, right after the demise of the Mariners 2003 campaign.
WHOOP-DEE-FRIGGIN-DO
Chuck Stark of the Sun was sent to the Willie Bloomquist lovefest and autograph ice-cream social at Today Chevrolet in the Town of B.
Bloomquist obliged a steady stream of fans, posing for photographs and signing hats, gloves, baseballs, cards, photographs and even copies of the sports section of this newspaper -- the July 14 edition that led with a screaming headline: "Willie goes wild."
How sad is that? Almost as sad as: .250 BA (196 AB), 1 HR, 14 RBI, 19 BB, 39 K, 4 errors (.975 fielding pct). There weren't many good things that happened to the Mariners down the stretch, but one of the good things was when Guillen and his bat were put at third and put up some worthwhile numbers.
Comment (0)
message posted by wicketywacko @ 2:08 AM
The second link of the Bloomquist search pointed to me saying how Bloomquist was one of the few position players to actually make it up through the Mariners system and get significant time on the ML roster.
dan wilson sucks offense links 41 and 42
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SPEAKING OF GOOGLE SEARCHES...
For as long as I've hooked Sports and B's up to BlogStats, we've popped up on some Google/Yahoo/MSN searches, most notably...
at least 42 times for Elisabeth Hasselbeck
10 times for Jason King, Canucks rookie from Corner Brook, Newfoundland
5 times for Bremertonians
3 times for Fox Sports Grill
2 times for "Brett Favre tobacco chew"...interesting
I tell ya, I think we've put Elisabeth Hasselbeck's name on this blog maybe four times total (add two to that now), and we're popping up toward the top of most of these internet searches. Hilarious. And her name is only on this blog because her hack quarterback husband had a chance to start a game for the Redskins (and just might this Sunday).
Quick brainstorm here -- other search criteria that Sports and B's may meet...
-- vlad guerrero mariners never
-- ibanez tejada better
-- kazuo matsui tejada proven
-- willie bloomquist south kitsap sucks
-- dan wilson sucks offense
-- aaron sele gutless north kitsap
When I get bored, I'll copy those and paste them into Google one by one and see what the hell happens. Should be fun...
at least 42 times for Elisabeth Hasselbeck
10 times for Jason King, Canucks rookie from Corner Brook, Newfoundland
5 times for Bremertonians
3 times for Fox Sports Grill
2 times for "Brett Favre tobacco chew"...interesting
I tell ya, I think we've put Elisabeth Hasselbeck's name on this blog maybe four times total (add two to that now), and we're popping up toward the top of most of these internet searches. Hilarious. And her name is only on this blog because her hack quarterback husband had a chance to start a game for the Redskins (and just might this Sunday).
Quick brainstorm here -- other search criteria that Sports and B's may meet...
-- vlad guerrero mariners never
-- ibanez tejada better
-- kazuo matsui tejada proven
-- willie bloomquist south kitsap sucks
-- dan wilson sucks offense
-- aaron sele gutless north kitsap
When I get bored, I'll copy those and paste them into Google one by one and see what the hell happens. Should be fun...
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THE CASE FOR MIGUEL TEJADA
Since it's obvious to everybody now that the Mariners will not go after Vladimir Guerrero, let me present The Case For Miguel Tejada.
#4 Miguel Tejada, Shortstop, Oakland Athletics (1997-2003)
A.L. MVP 2002
A.L. All-Star 2002
Has hit 25 + HRs each of the last 4 seasons
(30 2000, 31 2001, 34 2002, 27 2003)
Has driven in 100 runs or more each of the last 4 seasons
(115 2000, 113 2001, 131 2002, 106 2003)
Has played 162 games each of the last three seasons
(Has missed just 5 games over the last four seasons)
Has hit at least 30 doubles or more each of the last 5 seasons
(33 in 1999, 32 in 2000, 31 in 2001, 30 in 2002, 42 in 2003)
Post All-Star Break 2002 and 2003
2002: 19 HR, 72 RBI, .325 BA (7th inning-on: 4 HR, 18 RBI, .327 BA)
2003: 12 HR, 50 RBI, .326 BA
The Oakland A's Post All-Star Break Since 2000
2000: 43-32, .573 winning percentage (won the AL West, .5 GA of Seattle)
2001: 58-17, .773 winning percentage (earned the Wild Card, 14 GB of Seattle)
2002: 53-21, .716 winning percentage (won the AL West, 10 GA of Seattle)
2003: 42-27, .609 winning percentage (won the AL West, 3 GA of Seattle)
The A's 2000-2003 Post-All Star Break
196-97, .669 winning percentage
Miguel Tejada is a clutch ballplayer. Sure, his playoff performance in 2003 wasn't good. But hell, you can't justify not wanting a player based on his playoff performance. Look at the stats above, and tell me how Kazuo Matsui would be better for the Seattle Mariners than Tejada.
The deal is, you can't do it. Miguel Tejada is what's missing from this Mariners ballclub. It's no secret that the M's have sucked ass in the second half the last two seasons. 2004 cannot be another repeat of 2002 and 2003. This is a huge offseason for the Mariners. And the signing of Raul Ibanez doesn't make me excited at all.
But Miguel Tejada would. So, M's brass, get the job done. And hell, dip into your ceramic money pig and give Tejada what he wants. He's clutch.
And I'm sick and tired of him kicking my team's ass the past couple of seasons. I want him on my team now.
#4 Miguel Tejada, Shortstop, Oakland Athletics (1997-2003)
A.L. MVP 2002
A.L. All-Star 2002
Has hit 25 + HRs each of the last 4 seasons
(30 2000, 31 2001, 34 2002, 27 2003)
Has driven in 100 runs or more each of the last 4 seasons
(115 2000, 113 2001, 131 2002, 106 2003)
Has played 162 games each of the last three seasons
(Has missed just 5 games over the last four seasons)
Has hit at least 30 doubles or more each of the last 5 seasons
(33 in 1999, 32 in 2000, 31 in 2001, 30 in 2002, 42 in 2003)
Post All-Star Break 2002 and 2003
2002: 19 HR, 72 RBI, .325 BA (7th inning-on: 4 HR, 18 RBI, .327 BA)
2003: 12 HR, 50 RBI, .326 BA
The Oakland A's Post All-Star Break Since 2000
2000: 43-32, .573 winning percentage (won the AL West, .5 GA of Seattle)
2001: 58-17, .773 winning percentage (earned the Wild Card, 14 GB of Seattle)
2002: 53-21, .716 winning percentage (won the AL West, 10 GA of Seattle)
2003: 42-27, .609 winning percentage (won the AL West, 3 GA of Seattle)
The A's 2000-2003 Post-All Star Break
196-97, .669 winning percentage
Miguel Tejada is a clutch ballplayer. Sure, his playoff performance in 2003 wasn't good. But hell, you can't justify not wanting a player based on his playoff performance. Look at the stats above, and tell me how Kazuo Matsui would be better for the Seattle Mariners than Tejada.
The deal is, you can't do it. Miguel Tejada is what's missing from this Mariners ballclub. It's no secret that the M's have sucked ass in the second half the last two seasons. 2004 cannot be another repeat of 2002 and 2003. This is a huge offseason for the Mariners. And the signing of Raul Ibanez doesn't make me excited at all.
But Miguel Tejada would. So, M's brass, get the job done. And hell, dip into your ceramic money pig and give Tejada what he wants. He's clutch.
And I'm sick and tired of him kicking my team's ass the past couple of seasons. I want him on my team now.
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OK, THIS IS JUST BULLCRAP
KTHV, the CBS station in Little Rock, is NOT airing the Victoria's Secret special tonight. Instead, they are airing a holiday special.
What kind of crap is this? You know, NOT EVERYBODY in the state of Arkansas is a Wal-Mart loving, PC kiss ass, edit every damn CD and magazine in the damn world kind of person.
I'll just have to get by looking at the pics on Yahoo. This is still bullcrap though.
In related news, I went to Wal-Mart the other day and did you know that even ANDY GRIFFITH's work is EDITED? I kid you not.
So, when you want to buy CDs, don't go to Wal-Mart. Just look at the price tag and look for a little black box with a white "E" in it. When you see that, don't buy it.
(I guaran-damn-tee you that some assclown will do a Google search for "Andy Griffith Victoria's Secret" now...)
What kind of crap is this? You know, NOT EVERYBODY in the state of Arkansas is a Wal-Mart loving, PC kiss ass, edit every damn CD and magazine in the damn world kind of person.
I'll just have to get by looking at the pics on Yahoo. This is still bullcrap though.
In related news, I went to Wal-Mart the other day and did you know that even ANDY GRIFFITH's work is EDITED? I kid you not.
So, when you want to buy CDs, don't go to Wal-Mart. Just look at the price tag and look for a little black box with a white "E" in it. When you see that, don't buy it.
(I guaran-damn-tee you that some assclown will do a Google search for "Andy Griffith Victoria's Secret" now...)
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THE SEARCH IS OVER, AND IT HAPPENED RIGHT UNDER MY SLEEPY EYES
Anytime I can get in a Survivor reference, life is good.
Anyways...
I can't say I'm shocked by this. Raul Ibanez is back in Seattle for 3 years, 13 million. Looks like it's 4.3 mil a year. Who was I kidding to think that somehow, someway the M's would try to get Vladimir Guerrero?
But I will say this. If this means that they go get Miguel Tejada, then by all means Ibanez is a good acquisition. But right now, color me underwhelmed.
I hope Ibanez's second stint in Seattle is just as good as Bret Boone's current stint. Hell, he better be for the money he's getting. But we can look at this deal this way:
Bill Bavasi didn't waste any time. It's November 19 and we are talking about a free agent signing for the Mariners. Pat Gillick would have waited until mid-December to do this.
With the signing of Ibanez, this means that either Mike Cameron or Randy Winn will be gone. I've said all along that Cameron is gone. I can't see him coming back to Seattle, no matter how much he loves the fans.
The only way I can tolerate having Randy Winn in center field is if the Mariners step up and sign Miguel Tejada. There's no reason why this can't happen. Absolutely no goddamn reason why Tejada should not be a Mariner.
It's obvious that the M's need pop. Ibanez will probably hit 20 HR and drive in 90 runs. That's fine and dandy. But the M's need 35 HR-125 RBI pop, and Tejada would bring that to the table.
And again, it must be stated that if the M's were to sign Tejada, it makes Oakland weaker. Isn't that what it's all about? We can talk about the World Series all we want, but in my opinion, the M's need to worry about winning the West over Oakland first before ANY World Series talk can happen.
Give me a big bat or give me death. Give me Miguel Tejada for 4 years, 45 mil. Make this happen, dammit!
Anyways...
I can't say I'm shocked by this. Raul Ibanez is back in Seattle for 3 years, 13 million. Looks like it's 4.3 mil a year. Who was I kidding to think that somehow, someway the M's would try to get Vladimir Guerrero?
But I will say this. If this means that they go get Miguel Tejada, then by all means Ibanez is a good acquisition. But right now, color me underwhelmed.
I hope Ibanez's second stint in Seattle is just as good as Bret Boone's current stint. Hell, he better be for the money he's getting. But we can look at this deal this way:
Bill Bavasi didn't waste any time. It's November 19 and we are talking about a free agent signing for the Mariners. Pat Gillick would have waited until mid-December to do this.
With the signing of Ibanez, this means that either Mike Cameron or Randy Winn will be gone. I've said all along that Cameron is gone. I can't see him coming back to Seattle, no matter how much he loves the fans.
The only way I can tolerate having Randy Winn in center field is if the Mariners step up and sign Miguel Tejada. There's no reason why this can't happen. Absolutely no goddamn reason why Tejada should not be a Mariner.
It's obvious that the M's need pop. Ibanez will probably hit 20 HR and drive in 90 runs. That's fine and dandy. But the M's need 35 HR-125 RBI pop, and Tejada would bring that to the table.
And again, it must be stated that if the M's were to sign Tejada, it makes Oakland weaker. Isn't that what it's all about? We can talk about the World Series all we want, but in my opinion, the M's need to worry about winning the West over Oakland first before ANY World Series talk can happen.
Give me a big bat or give me death. Give me Miguel Tejada for 4 years, 45 mil. Make this happen, dammit!
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I DISAGREE
This ain't Hollywood Squares and I'm not taking Shadoe Stevens or Jim J Bullock to block...
But this David disagrees with the more reputable [edit 19 Nov, 12:20p: thanks very much to the comment person that corrected my previous and incorrect 'refutable'] David at USS Mariner, who says the Blue Jays made out like bandits in the Kielty-for-Lilly deal.
Okay, this post may be mildly stupid and everything, but I have to say this.
I hate Ted Lilly. No stats, no nothing. I know for me as a baseball fan that there's those certain guys that come out of nowhere and I see them for the first time and think "damn, I hate that guy." Actually, this holds for real life too for me. Anyway, one of these guys for me is Ted Lilly.
I remember when the Yankees brought him up at about the same time as they brought up Randy Choate. I saw some frail looking baby-faced punk on the mound who was throwing nothing but slow pus up to the plate. It was funny seeing him get lit up, and it was fun knowing that King George was cringing every time Ted Lilly was out there.
Sure, Lilly was hot the last part of last year for the A's. I firmly believe this is a fluke and he'll suck once again. He still finished 2003 with a so-so 12-10 record, after all. So physically, Lilly reminds me of Dave Fleming, so that makes me link him with falling off the face of the earth. As a player, he reminds me (and Jeremy) of Cory Lidle. Yes, that Cory Lidle, ex-Devil Ray and ex-A, who had his hot couple months with the A's and then realized that he indeed is a mediocre pitcher.
And what topped it off last year was when Ted Lilly tried to grow a beard. He looked like a damn 7-year-old kid with a beard. Funny as hell. Anyway, for me there's no excuse when I don't see teams bash the crap out of this guy. When he had that no-hitter going against the Mariners a couple years ago, I was absolutely incensed. I was beside myself.
I can't help it. I just have it in for Ted Lilly. Irrational? Maybe. But I can't fight this feeling anymore (as Kevin Cronin would say).
So that last part in the last post where I said that was all I was going to post for tonight...I lied. NOW this is my last post for the night.
And to make this post come full circle...circle gets the square. That and I think the A's get the better end of this deal and will probably just use Justin "Douchebag" Duchscherer in Lilly's spot.
But this David disagrees with the more reputable [edit 19 Nov, 12:20p: thanks very much to the comment person that corrected my previous and incorrect 'refutable'] David at USS Mariner, who says the Blue Jays made out like bandits in the Kielty-for-Lilly deal.
Okay, this post may be mildly stupid and everything, but I have to say this.
I hate Ted Lilly. No stats, no nothing. I know for me as a baseball fan that there's those certain guys that come out of nowhere and I see them for the first time and think "damn, I hate that guy." Actually, this holds for real life too for me. Anyway, one of these guys for me is Ted Lilly.
I remember when the Yankees brought him up at about the same time as they brought up Randy Choate. I saw some frail looking baby-faced punk on the mound who was throwing nothing but slow pus up to the plate. It was funny seeing him get lit up, and it was fun knowing that King George was cringing every time Ted Lilly was out there.
Sure, Lilly was hot the last part of last year for the A's. I firmly believe this is a fluke and he'll suck once again. He still finished 2003 with a so-so 12-10 record, after all. So physically, Lilly reminds me of Dave Fleming, so that makes me link him with falling off the face of the earth. As a player, he reminds me (and Jeremy) of Cory Lidle. Yes, that Cory Lidle, ex-Devil Ray and ex-A, who had his hot couple months with the A's and then realized that he indeed is a mediocre pitcher.
And what topped it off last year was when Ted Lilly tried to grow a beard. He looked like a damn 7-year-old kid with a beard. Funny as hell. Anyway, for me there's no excuse when I don't see teams bash the crap out of this guy. When he had that no-hitter going against the Mariners a couple years ago, I was absolutely incensed. I was beside myself.
I can't help it. I just have it in for Ted Lilly. Irrational? Maybe. But I can't fight this feeling anymore (as Kevin Cronin would say).
So that last part in the last post where I said that was all I was going to post for tonight...I lied. NOW this is my last post for the night.
And to make this post come full circle...circle gets the square. That and I think the A's get the better end of this deal and will probably just use Justin "Douchebag" Duchscherer in Lilly's spot.
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AND SO WE KNOW
I guess I thought I'd been reading the content at One Hundred Sixteen long enough to think that it was going to be about baseball and nothing but. So when I came across the post from the other day, it caught me by surprise. I thought it would raise some eyebrows, and it certainly did.
So if there's just one thing to come out of this, it's that now we (or at the very least, I) know what to expect from Kevin at One Hundred Sixteen, and if we like it, we'll keep going back, and if we don't, we won't. The ball is in our court. He has the right to post, we have the right to visit/not visit, or vent/not vent. Such is the beauty of the blogosphere.
So now that we have that put to rest...trudge forth, fellow bloggers.
So if there's just one thing to come out of this, it's that now we (or at the very least, I) know what to expect from Kevin at One Hundred Sixteen, and if we like it, we'll keep going back, and if we don't, we won't. The ball is in our court. He has the right to post, we have the right to visit/not visit, or vent/not vent. Such is the beauty of the blogosphere.
So now that we have that put to rest...trudge forth, fellow bloggers.
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RAUL FOLLOW-UP
Raul Ibanez is a Seattle Mariner for the second time.
From the P-I article (Hickey)...
- "sources close to the club" are cited as confirmation
- articles brings up thought of moving Winn to CF, eliciting my gag reflex
- apparently Mike Cameron called Blow-Mel last week to tell him he wanted to come back, which I hadn't heard yet
From the Times article (Finnigan)...
- source said it'll be 3 yrs, $13M
- asserts that letting Ibanez go in the first place was "one of the Mariners' most glaring mistakes of recent years"
- apparently some Mariners basically ganged up on him at an Edgar shindig in Puerto Rico and told him they'd like him back in Seattle
- Winn in CF also brought up here (gag), but return of Cameron also brought up, in which case your 4th outfielder named Randy Winn would be making $4.5-5M off the bench.
Initial thoughts about this... No real surprise here. We Mariners fans dream and expect more and get the same old middle-of-the-road crap. On that note, we welcome Raul Ibanez back to the Safe. And if anyone is stupid enough to think that letting Ibanez go was one of the Mariners' most glaring mistakes of recent memory -- the reason they let him go is because HE SUCKED!! Plain and simple, the guy sucked, and he had no place (especially with how bad he was sucking) to fit in as a Mariner. So what do you do if a guy sucks? You let him go, unless you have his huge contract and can't move it. Another thought...why can't a bunch of Mariners go to a Vlad Guerrero party and try to get him to come to Seattle? Why can't this happen? Last thought...there's no way I want Randy Winn sitting on the bench and making $4.5M at the same time. No friggin way. I liked his work here in Seattle for the most part, but if it comes to that, cut him loose.
Oh, another thing. I remember distinctly that Ibanez came through the Mariners minor league system as a catcher. Chalk that one up to another LONG list of guys that could have caught for the Mariners over the past decade that hit way WAY better (at least eventually) than Dan Wilson. Maybe the whole outfield switch confounded Ibanez because he sucked ass when he was up with the Mariners, who knows. But too much has been done to keep Dan Wilson behind the plate in Seattle, much to the detriment of any offense coming from the catcher position since the trade of yore that brought Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala to Seattle.
And some bonus thoughts about the infield...if they get Tejada or Matsui (which better be one of the next moves, because it's horribly apparent Vlad's not coming) and move Guillen to third, great. For me, anything that gets Willie Bloomquist less playing time is a good thing. So I hate South Kitsap. Sue me. If I had enough time to search back into the USS Mariner archives, I know I could find one of those three guys using Bloom's minor-league stats to prove that he could never hit well, even in the minors. I'm also pretty sure that Todd Linden of Central Kitsap has more walk-off hits in 18 games with the Giants than the Bloomer has had in his tenure with the Mariners. And yes, Linden has at least one and I think I'm correct in guessing Bloom has zip.
Okay, that's it for tonight. Probably a better bet now than yesterday that Vlad isn't coming to Seattle. Sadness indeed. Let's just hope Raul's second stint with Seattle is as good as Bret Boone's second stint has been.
From the P-I article (Hickey)...
- "sources close to the club" are cited as confirmation
- articles brings up thought of moving Winn to CF, eliciting my gag reflex
- apparently Mike Cameron called Blow-Mel last week to tell him he wanted to come back, which I hadn't heard yet
From the Times article (Finnigan)...
- source said it'll be 3 yrs, $13M
- asserts that letting Ibanez go in the first place was "one of the Mariners' most glaring mistakes of recent years"
- apparently some Mariners basically ganged up on him at an Edgar shindig in Puerto Rico and told him they'd like him back in Seattle
- Winn in CF also brought up here (gag), but return of Cameron also brought up, in which case your 4th outfielder named Randy Winn would be making $4.5-5M off the bench.
Initial thoughts about this... No real surprise here. We Mariners fans dream and expect more and get the same old middle-of-the-road crap. On that note, we welcome Raul Ibanez back to the Safe. And if anyone is stupid enough to think that letting Ibanez go was one of the Mariners' most glaring mistakes of recent memory -- the reason they let him go is because HE SUCKED!! Plain and simple, the guy sucked, and he had no place (especially with how bad he was sucking) to fit in as a Mariner. So what do you do if a guy sucks? You let him go, unless you have his huge contract and can't move it. Another thought...why can't a bunch of Mariners go to a Vlad Guerrero party and try to get him to come to Seattle? Why can't this happen? Last thought...there's no way I want Randy Winn sitting on the bench and making $4.5M at the same time. No friggin way. I liked his work here in Seattle for the most part, but if it comes to that, cut him loose.
Oh, another thing. I remember distinctly that Ibanez came through the Mariners minor league system as a catcher. Chalk that one up to another LONG list of guys that could have caught for the Mariners over the past decade that hit way WAY better (at least eventually) than Dan Wilson. Maybe the whole outfield switch confounded Ibanez because he sucked ass when he was up with the Mariners, who knows. But too much has been done to keep Dan Wilson behind the plate in Seattle, much to the detriment of any offense coming from the catcher position since the trade of yore that brought Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala to Seattle.
And some bonus thoughts about the infield...if they get Tejada or Matsui (which better be one of the next moves, because it's horribly apparent Vlad's not coming) and move Guillen to third, great. For me, anything that gets Willie Bloomquist less playing time is a good thing. So I hate South Kitsap. Sue me. If I had enough time to search back into the USS Mariner archives, I know I could find one of those three guys using Bloom's minor-league stats to prove that he could never hit well, even in the minors. I'm also pretty sure that Todd Linden of Central Kitsap has more walk-off hits in 18 games with the Giants than the Bloomer has had in his tenure with the Mariners. And yes, Linden has at least one and I think I'm correct in guessing Bloom has zip.
Okay, that's it for tonight. Probably a better bet now than yesterday that Vlad isn't coming to Seattle. Sadness indeed. Let's just hope Raul's second stint with Seattle is as good as Bret Boone's second stint has been.
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THE BIRDS SING, "CHEAP CHEAP"
Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the second era of Raul Ibanez as a Seattle Mariner. Accompanying post coming shortly...
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003
CANUCKS 5, CANADIENS 4 (OT)...HEAT 105, SUPERSONICS 98
The Canucks played their third overtime game in a row, and managed to win this one.
Mattias Ohlund scored 3:02 into the overtime to keep the Canucks unbeaten at the Garage this season, tying Geoff Courtnall for most game-winning goals in Canucks history (I think the number is 5).
The first period apparently sucked, and no goals were scored. Richard Zednik scored back-to-back goals to put the Habs up 2-0 in the 2nd. Salo and Morrison then scored power play goals to tie it. Markov of the Habs and Jovo traded the first two goals in the 3rd, then Jovo popped in a power play goal to get the Canucks a 4-3 lead which lasted exactly 51 seconds thanks to Michael Ryder (and Dan Cloutier). It went to overtime, then Ohlund scored the game-winner as noted above.
Goal scorers for the Canucks tonight: Jovanovski twice, Ohlund, Salo, Morrison
Top lines...
Bertuzzi (3 A)/Morrison (1 G)/Naslund (zip) = 4 pts
H Sedin (zip)/King (1 A)/D Sedin (zip) = 1 pt
defensemen: Jovanovski (2 G, 1 A), Ohlund (1 G), Salo (1 G) = 5 pts
Jovanovski got an insane 10 shots...unheard of for a defenseman. He also put a deathly hit on Richard Zednik, which got onto the ESPN highlights.
Various things tonight from hearing the Canucks postgame show...Bertuzzi apparently looked like crap tonight, but still got three assists; a testament to how good he is. Matt Cooke seems to be able to get away with anything at GM Place in the realm of rough stuff. The Canucks scored twice on 4-on-4 tonight, their first two tallies on 4-on-4 in the situation all year after being scored on 5 times. In a year so far in which the Canucks have been great 5-on-5 but sucked on the power play, they scored three times tonight on the power play. Callers think defenseman Brent Sopel makes too much mistakes and want his ice time reduced.
Game photos: one, two
---
As for the Sonics, well, they lost to the damn Heat. There's not much more I can say about it, other than that sucks. That aside, here's some quickie stats.
Ron Murray is still nuts, scoring 31. Rashard Lewis scored 16, but went 6-for-17 from the field. Bad Vlad Rad was out tonight, scoring 10 on 4-of-11 shooting. Oh yeah, the Sonics were outrebounded 48-30.
What a stinker. That's why there's the Canucks.
Mattias Ohlund scored 3:02 into the overtime to keep the Canucks unbeaten at the Garage this season, tying Geoff Courtnall for most game-winning goals in Canucks history (I think the number is 5).
The first period apparently sucked, and no goals were scored. Richard Zednik scored back-to-back goals to put the Habs up 2-0 in the 2nd. Salo and Morrison then scored power play goals to tie it. Markov of the Habs and Jovo traded the first two goals in the 3rd, then Jovo popped in a power play goal to get the Canucks a 4-3 lead which lasted exactly 51 seconds thanks to Michael Ryder (and Dan Cloutier). It went to overtime, then Ohlund scored the game-winner as noted above.
Goal scorers for the Canucks tonight: Jovanovski twice, Ohlund, Salo, Morrison
Top lines...
Bertuzzi (3 A)/Morrison (1 G)/Naslund (zip) = 4 pts
H Sedin (zip)/King (1 A)/D Sedin (zip) = 1 pt
defensemen: Jovanovski (2 G, 1 A), Ohlund (1 G), Salo (1 G) = 5 pts
Jovanovski got an insane 10 shots...unheard of for a defenseman. He also put a deathly hit on Richard Zednik, which got onto the ESPN highlights.
Various things tonight from hearing the Canucks postgame show...Bertuzzi apparently looked like crap tonight, but still got three assists; a testament to how good he is. Matt Cooke seems to be able to get away with anything at GM Place in the realm of rough stuff. The Canucks scored twice on 4-on-4 tonight, their first two tallies on 4-on-4 in the situation all year after being scored on 5 times. In a year so far in which the Canucks have been great 5-on-5 but sucked on the power play, they scored three times tonight on the power play. Callers think defenseman Brent Sopel makes too much mistakes and want his ice time reduced.
Game photos: one, two
---
As for the Sonics, well, they lost to the damn Heat. There's not much more I can say about it, other than that sucks. That aside, here's some quickie stats.
Ron Murray is still nuts, scoring 31. Rashard Lewis scored 16, but went 6-for-17 from the field. Bad Vlad Rad was out tonight, scoring 10 on 4-of-11 shooting. Oh yeah, the Sonics were outrebounded 48-30.
What a stinker. That's why there's the Canucks.
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WELL, THE A'S GOT BETTER
OF Bobby Kielty to Oakland for LHP Ted Lilly.
Well, this is a great trade for the A's. Kielty is a huge improvement over everybody in that pathetic outfield, which includes Eric "I Sucked Major Ass After My Pac Bell Cycle" Byrnes and Jermaine "2001 ALDS Game 4 Leg Injury F@$#@%& My Career" Dye.
When David is done with his classes tonight, he gets free reign to bash the living hell out of Ted Lilly. Kids, David hates Lilly with a passion.
I think he sucks too. There, that's what I think of Lilly. Stay tuned tonight for the Lilly Bashing show. You won't want to miss it.
(Edited at 4:45 Pacific: Yeah, Ted Lilly in the Skydome. That's going to work out REAL WELL!)
Well, this is a great trade for the A's. Kielty is a huge improvement over everybody in that pathetic outfield, which includes Eric "I Sucked Major Ass After My Pac Bell Cycle" Byrnes and Jermaine "2001 ALDS Game 4 Leg Injury F@$#@%& My Career" Dye.
When David is done with his classes tonight, he gets free reign to bash the living hell out of Ted Lilly. Kids, David hates Lilly with a passion.
I think he sucks too. There, that's what I think of Lilly. Stay tuned tonight for the Lilly Bashing show. You won't want to miss it.
(Edited at 4:45 Pacific: Yeah, Ted Lilly in the Skydome. That's going to work out REAL WELL!)
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THE A'S JUST GOT WEAKER
The A's traded All-Star catcher Ramon Hernandez today to the San Diego Padres.
Along with Hernandez, Terrance Long was sent to San Diego in return for Mark DL Kotsay. This is a great deal if you're a Mariner fan. Hernandez was solid behind the plate for the A's the past couple of seasons.
Boy, I tell ya, if the M's can get Miguel Tejada, the A's will be in trouble in 2004. Now the Tigers say they are interested in Tejada. Like THAT'S going to happen, so quit dreaming, Tigers fans, all 4 of you.
And Barry Bonds won another NL MVP award today. Ho hum.
Along with Hernandez, Terrance Long was sent to San Diego in return for Mark DL Kotsay. This is a great deal if you're a Mariner fan. Hernandez was solid behind the plate for the A's the past couple of seasons.
Boy, I tell ya, if the M's can get Miguel Tejada, the A's will be in trouble in 2004. Now the Tigers say they are interested in Tejada. Like THAT'S going to happen, so quit dreaming, Tigers fans, all 4 of you.
And Barry Bonds won another NL MVP award today. Ho hum.
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GIVE ME A BIG BAT OR GIVE ME DEATH
OK, I won't go THAT far, but you get the point...
Let's be serious here for a moment. Yes, we can be serious here at Sports and Bremertonians, so don't scoff at that.
Miguel Tejada is better than Kazuo Matsui. He is more proven than Matsui. He has AL West ties. He's a shortstop. And he's an MVP-candidate year in and year out.
So what's the deal here?
Oh, it's because Tejada isn't Japanese. You know how the Mariners have their little ceramic money pig set away for foreign players? Well, use some of that "pig money" for Tejada.
Tejada is rumored to want a 5-year deal. I can understand the M's theory of not giving contracts to players for 4 years or more. But for some players, just forget about that little rule.
We all want Vladimir Guerrero, but it isn't going to happen. So they might as well go after Miguel Tejada. Let the Dodgers overpay for Matsui and his 15 homers a year. Yes, he will only hit 15 homers in 2004.
For once, I would love to see the Mariners act like the big market team that they are. When you're in the Top 5 in revenue, and draw over 3 million fans, you're a big market team, like it or not. The fans deserve to see a championship team out on the Safeco Field stage.
Go get Tejada. And if the M's get Tejada, Oakland is worse off for it.
Matsui = Shinjo
No Ibanez!!!
Let's be serious here for a moment. Yes, we can be serious here at Sports and Bremertonians, so don't scoff at that.
Miguel Tejada is better than Kazuo Matsui. He is more proven than Matsui. He has AL West ties. He's a shortstop. And he's an MVP-candidate year in and year out.
So what's the deal here?
Oh, it's because Tejada isn't Japanese. You know how the Mariners have their little ceramic money pig set away for foreign players? Well, use some of that "pig money" for Tejada.
Tejada is rumored to want a 5-year deal. I can understand the M's theory of not giving contracts to players for 4 years or more. But for some players, just forget about that little rule.
We all want Vladimir Guerrero, but it isn't going to happen. So they might as well go after Miguel Tejada. Let the Dodgers overpay for Matsui and his 15 homers a year. Yes, he will only hit 15 homers in 2004.
For once, I would love to see the Mariners act like the big market team that they are. When you're in the Top 5 in revenue, and draw over 3 million fans, you're a big market team, like it or not. The fans deserve to see a championship team out on the Safeco Field stage.
Go get Tejada. And if the M's get Tejada, Oakland is worse off for it.
Matsui = Shinjo
No Ibanez!!!
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MATSUI AT MIDNIGHT
Both Mariner-related articles from the Times and P-I today have something to do Kazuo Matsui's decision to make himself available to Major League teams.
Let's see real quick if I can get the good parts of the Finnigan article...
- says the Mariners were tired of Kazuo's mulling over the decision
- says Mariners don't like bidding contests; inevitable for Matsui
- article definitely gives the impression that Matsui in a Mariner uniform is definitely not a lock
- unnamed baseball executive believes Mariners just aren't tipping their hand and are after Matsui
From the Hickey article...
- speculation of getting Matsui and moving Guillen to third
- projected that his 33 homers would turn into 15 for Seattle (OUCH)
- unfortunately tried to spin a possible Raul Ibanez signing as a good thing
- SOMEONE in the Mariner front office KNOWS what the hell is going on!! Read on...
More than one member of the Seattle front office likes the thought of going after Tejada, even though he'll probably cost more than Matsui.
"Tejada is a known quantity," one Mariners insider said. "If you sign him, you know what he can do. There's no adjustment for him. Matsui has a tremendous upside, but there is going to be a period of adjustment."
- Hickey does some quick math at the end of the article. I thought Cirillo made a million more than $5.72M, but what made me sick was the assertion that somehow Freddy Garcia could add $2M onto the $6.875M he made last year...BASED ON WHAT?!!?!
- Hickey leaves $33M to mess with free agents and stuff
My conclusion on just the articles themselves is that Hickey brought his stuff today and Finnigan, well, just less content this time. At least he's no Darrin Beene of the Tribune. Yuck. I remember he wrote some brass-friendly articles last year and I hated him then. Then the GM meetings came around and Jeremy realized that the guy reporting for the Tribune about these GM meetings wasn't named Larry LaRue. That's quite a discrepancy in legitimacy and journalistic talent right there.
The number one thought in my mind after these articles is that if the Mariners know better (they've shown otherwise many times), there's no way they let themselves fan on both Tejada AND Matsui. If they don't get either of those guys, Vlad Guerrero better be wearing teal, navy blue, and silver with number 27 on his back and they can redo the Freddy Garcia "You're Gonna Make It After All" promo with Vlad instead. Vlad doing hopscotch. You bet. Or Vlad bashing one 700 feet and saying "you got to hit 'em where they ain't."
Oh man, now I want to tear apart last year's Mariner commercials. John Mabry hit better while hitting pepper in the Hawaiian shirt commercial than he did all year. In the same commercial, Joel Pineiro tells Freddy he has a nice shirt. Freddy should say, "thanks. It's gonna cost us at the deadline."
Okay, so the train of thought careened off the track at only one commercial. Damn. Got a big airphoto test to study for that's in about 17 hours...
Let's see real quick if I can get the good parts of the Finnigan article...
- says the Mariners were tired of Kazuo's mulling over the decision
- says Mariners don't like bidding contests; inevitable for Matsui
- article definitely gives the impression that Matsui in a Mariner uniform is definitely not a lock
- unnamed baseball executive believes Mariners just aren't tipping their hand and are after Matsui
From the Hickey article...
- speculation of getting Matsui and moving Guillen to third
- projected that his 33 homers would turn into 15 for Seattle (OUCH)
- unfortunately tried to spin a possible Raul Ibanez signing as a good thing
- SOMEONE in the Mariner front office KNOWS what the hell is going on!! Read on...
More than one member of the Seattle front office likes the thought of going after Tejada, even though he'll probably cost more than Matsui.
"Tejada is a known quantity," one Mariners insider said. "If you sign him, you know what he can do. There's no adjustment for him. Matsui has a tremendous upside, but there is going to be a period of adjustment."
- Hickey does some quick math at the end of the article. I thought Cirillo made a million more than $5.72M, but what made me sick was the assertion that somehow Freddy Garcia could add $2M onto the $6.875M he made last year...BASED ON WHAT?!!?!
- Hickey leaves $33M to mess with free agents and stuff
My conclusion on just the articles themselves is that Hickey brought his stuff today and Finnigan, well, just less content this time. At least he's no Darrin Beene of the Tribune. Yuck. I remember he wrote some brass-friendly articles last year and I hated him then. Then the GM meetings came around and Jeremy realized that the guy reporting for the Tribune about these GM meetings wasn't named Larry LaRue. That's quite a discrepancy in legitimacy and journalistic talent right there.
The number one thought in my mind after these articles is that if the Mariners know better (they've shown otherwise many times), there's no way they let themselves fan on both Tejada AND Matsui. If they don't get either of those guys, Vlad Guerrero better be wearing teal, navy blue, and silver with number 27 on his back and they can redo the Freddy Garcia "You're Gonna Make It After All" promo with Vlad instead. Vlad doing hopscotch. You bet. Or Vlad bashing one 700 feet and saying "you got to hit 'em where they ain't."
Oh man, now I want to tear apart last year's Mariner commercials. John Mabry hit better while hitting pepper in the Hawaiian shirt commercial than he did all year. In the same commercial, Joel Pineiro tells Freddy he has a nice shirt. Freddy should say, "thanks. It's gonna cost us at the deadline."
Okay, so the train of thought careened off the track at only one commercial. Damn. Got a big airphoto test to study for that's in about 17 hours...
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Monday, November 17, 2003
FIRST SEGMENT OF KJR RADIO, NOV 17, 2003
Yes, I was awake well before 5:30am partly because I'm nuts and also because I had a big outline to do in preparation for a test.
Stretch and Sandmeyer are on the air and Mitch isn't there yet. He gets in late, but that's because he didn't know about the road work closure at 4th Ave by the Safe, so he had a hell of a time getting to work, having to take I-5 South and trying to hang a right and shoot north, probably around industrial Seattle.
So Mitch gets in, and suddenly there's champagne pouring at the studio on Elliott Avenue at 6am. Why? Mitch promised himself that if the Chiefs lost Sunday, he would bring in the cheapest bottle of champagne he could find and celebrate...a la the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the last undefeated team in the NFL. Sandmeyer was Larry Csonka, Stretch was Bob Griese, and Mitch was Nick Buoniconti, and the three celebrated with lame bottle of Korbel champagne bought from a Rite-Aid in Factoria; a playful joke on what really is a joke in the actual celebration that the 1972 Dolphins really do get together and have every season when the least undefeated team bites it. Wonder if anyone ratted these guys out to the FCC...
Stretch and Sandmeyer are on the air and Mitch isn't there yet. He gets in late, but that's because he didn't know about the road work closure at 4th Ave by the Safe, so he had a hell of a time getting to work, having to take I-5 South and trying to hang a right and shoot north, probably around industrial Seattle.
So Mitch gets in, and suddenly there's champagne pouring at the studio on Elliott Avenue at 6am. Why? Mitch promised himself that if the Chiefs lost Sunday, he would bring in the cheapest bottle of champagne he could find and celebrate...a la the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the last undefeated team in the NFL. Sandmeyer was Larry Csonka, Stretch was Bob Griese, and Mitch was Nick Buoniconti, and the three celebrated with lame bottle of Korbel champagne bought from a Rite-Aid in Factoria; a playful joke on what really is a joke in the actual celebration that the 1972 Dolphins really do get together and have every season when the least undefeated team bites it. Wonder if anyone ratted these guys out to the FCC...
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EL STORMO Y FUEGO DE LA POLITICA
From Kevin at One Hundred Sixteen...
I'm glad Derek [Zumsteg of USS Mariner] took the time to blast Bill Singer from the Mets for being an obnoxious racist jerk. It is almost inconceivable in this day and age that anyone can rise to a position of prominence with so few functioning brain cells. It is this kind of nonsense that gives rise to even worse solutions like hate crime legislation. Apparently the Mets will ask him to resign later today.
Rebuttal from Gabriel at the Safest Blog...
"...that's quite a powerful addendum there. I'd like to hear an explanation before I blast it out of the water. ... I have mixed feelings about responding to a post like that from 116. It's provocative and stems from a baseball issue, but I'm inclined to hold my tongue about the specifics of the argument."
This brings me to one of the main reasons I do this whole sports blogging thing -- it's to get away, WAY AWAY, from the sick sad world (cue up your MTV Daria music) we live in right now. Call it a copout, call it what you will, but for me, there's a time and place for my politics, and it's not here. If someone else drops in some political stuff and sees a bunch more hits to their site, more power to 'em. If they put in the political stuff and people are so turned off by the spin to their sports and no one comes, then I guess they should have known better.
When I'm posting (and I have a feeling Jeremy echoes this too) here on Sports and B's, you can rest assured that you'll get a heavy dose of sarcasm and a heavy dose of sports opinions that hopefully will help you get away from the reality (politics, bills, that assface co-worker, etc) of the rest of your day and maybe even put a smile on your face -- I know it does for me, and that's something politics cannot do.
I'm glad Derek [Zumsteg of USS Mariner] took the time to blast Bill Singer from the Mets for being an obnoxious racist jerk. It is almost inconceivable in this day and age that anyone can rise to a position of prominence with so few functioning brain cells. It is this kind of nonsense that gives rise to even worse solutions like hate crime legislation. Apparently the Mets will ask him to resign later today.
Rebuttal from Gabriel at the Safest Blog...
"...that's quite a powerful addendum there. I'd like to hear an explanation before I blast it out of the water. ... I have mixed feelings about responding to a post like that from 116. It's provocative and stems from a baseball issue, but I'm inclined to hold my tongue about the specifics of the argument."
This brings me to one of the main reasons I do this whole sports blogging thing -- it's to get away, WAY AWAY, from the sick sad world (cue up your MTV Daria music) we live in right now. Call it a copout, call it what you will, but for me, there's a time and place for my politics, and it's not here. If someone else drops in some political stuff and sees a bunch more hits to their site, more power to 'em. If they put in the political stuff and people are so turned off by the spin to their sports and no one comes, then I guess they should have known better.
When I'm posting (and I have a feeling Jeremy echoes this too) here on Sports and B's, you can rest assured that you'll get a heavy dose of sarcasm and a heavy dose of sports opinions that hopefully will help you get away from the reality (politics, bills, that assface co-worker, etc) of the rest of your day and maybe even put a smile on your face -- I know it does for me, and that's something politics cannot do.
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RAMBLING MAN
That's what I am today.
---Alex Rodriguez won the A.L. MVP today for the first time in his career. Good deal. He was so due for an MVP award it wasn't even funny.
In Mariner-related MVP news, Bret Boone was 10th in the voting. Take that, Sodo Mojo lovers.
---YAY! Seahawks scored 35 on the pitiful Detroit Lions. I should be excited about this. But 42 or 45 points would have been better. If Anthony Wright starts at quarterback for the Ravens this Sunday, the Seahawks should win this game, Ray Lewis be damned.
---After the Chiefs defense kills Rick Mirer in Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday on the first series of the ballgame, expect Steve DeBerg to fly into Kansas City and suit up immediately. DeBerg has played for every damn NFL team, which will include the eventual Los Angeles expansion team in a few years. He can play until he's 145 as far as I'm concerned.
He's better than Rick Mirer. Then again, the JV quarterback at Klahowya High School is better than Mirer, so that's not saying much.
---In related Raiders news: Mr. Mirer, here's your cup. (No way does the REAL Rick Mirer win a football game these days. Yesterday's win over the Vikings was the first win for Mirer as a starting quarterback since the days of the New Radicals, who suck even worse than Mirer)
---Tonight's Monday Night Football barnburner features the 3-6 Pittsburgh Steelers vs the 4-5 San Francisco 49ers.
Yeah, I'll pass on this. Monday Night Raw will have more exciting moments than that damn game.
---Speaking of wrestling, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was at the WWE Survivor Series event last night in Dallas. Cuban came into the ring to confront Eric Bischoff. Then all of a sudden, Randy Orton comes out and gives Cuban the "RKO", otherwise known as a modified version of the Stone Cold Stunner. Absolutely classic stuff right there.
Before he got the "RKO", Cuban was asked which refs he liked better, the WWE's or the NBA's. He said that "all refs suck." Knowing David Stern, he would LOVE to fine Cuban for that remark. But even Stern knows that it is just wrestling.
---Two days later, Washington's 54-7 blowout loss at Cal is still funny as hell. Holy hell, the Apple Cup is going to be a great game to watch. Take the Cougs in this one, kids.
Mike Price was 3-11 in the Apple Cup series (1989-2002). Bill Doba is 0-0. If Doba isn't the Pac-10 coach of the year, then I don't know who is.
However, I take that back. Jeff Tedford wins Pac-10 coach of the year if the Cal Bears get to a bowl game. It doesn't matter if its the Silicon Valley Bowl in San Jose, just down the road from Berkeley. A bowl game is a bowl game for the Cal Bears, who were screwed out of a bowl game last year because of NCAA violations, which were total bullcrap.
---That new AstroPlay turf at the Superdome is not bad at all. Any way to get rid of all AstroTurf surfaces is fine by me.
---We should all root for Ohio State to play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. I hate OSU with a passion, but bear with me here.
If OSU plays OU, the Sooners will put up 40 points on the lucky Buckeyes. No luck of any kind could help the Buckeyes against Oklahoma. We should want a OSU-OU Sugar Bowl.
Better to see the Big Ten get their asses kicked in the national championship game than the Pac-10...
---Enough rambling from me for now...
And no, I still don't want Raul Ibanez on this Mariner ballclub.
---Alex Rodriguez won the A.L. MVP today for the first time in his career. Good deal. He was so due for an MVP award it wasn't even funny.
In Mariner-related MVP news, Bret Boone was 10th in the voting. Take that, Sodo Mojo lovers.
---YAY! Seahawks scored 35 on the pitiful Detroit Lions. I should be excited about this. But 42 or 45 points would have been better. If Anthony Wright starts at quarterback for the Ravens this Sunday, the Seahawks should win this game, Ray Lewis be damned.
---After the Chiefs defense kills Rick Mirer in Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday on the first series of the ballgame, expect Steve DeBerg to fly into Kansas City and suit up immediately. DeBerg has played for every damn NFL team, which will include the eventual Los Angeles expansion team in a few years. He can play until he's 145 as far as I'm concerned.
He's better than Rick Mirer. Then again, the JV quarterback at Klahowya High School is better than Mirer, so that's not saying much.
---In related Raiders news: Mr. Mirer, here's your cup. (No way does the REAL Rick Mirer win a football game these days. Yesterday's win over the Vikings was the first win for Mirer as a starting quarterback since the days of the New Radicals, who suck even worse than Mirer)
---Tonight's Monday Night Football barnburner features the 3-6 Pittsburgh Steelers vs the 4-5 San Francisco 49ers.
Yeah, I'll pass on this. Monday Night Raw will have more exciting moments than that damn game.
---Speaking of wrestling, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was at the WWE Survivor Series event last night in Dallas. Cuban came into the ring to confront Eric Bischoff. Then all of a sudden, Randy Orton comes out and gives Cuban the "RKO", otherwise known as a modified version of the Stone Cold Stunner. Absolutely classic stuff right there.
Before he got the "RKO", Cuban was asked which refs he liked better, the WWE's or the NBA's. He said that "all refs suck." Knowing David Stern, he would LOVE to fine Cuban for that remark. But even Stern knows that it is just wrestling.
---Two days later, Washington's 54-7 blowout loss at Cal is still funny as hell. Holy hell, the Apple Cup is going to be a great game to watch. Take the Cougs in this one, kids.
Mike Price was 3-11 in the Apple Cup series (1989-2002). Bill Doba is 0-0. If Doba isn't the Pac-10 coach of the year, then I don't know who is.
However, I take that back. Jeff Tedford wins Pac-10 coach of the year if the Cal Bears get to a bowl game. It doesn't matter if its the Silicon Valley Bowl in San Jose, just down the road from Berkeley. A bowl game is a bowl game for the Cal Bears, who were screwed out of a bowl game last year because of NCAA violations, which were total bullcrap.
---That new AstroPlay turf at the Superdome is not bad at all. Any way to get rid of all AstroTurf surfaces is fine by me.
---We should all root for Ohio State to play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. I hate OSU with a passion, but bear with me here.
If OSU plays OU, the Sooners will put up 40 points on the lucky Buckeyes. No luck of any kind could help the Buckeyes against Oklahoma. We should want a OSU-OU Sugar Bowl.
Better to see the Big Ten get their asses kicked in the national championship game than the Pac-10...
---Enough rambling from me for now...
And no, I still don't want Raul Ibanez on this Mariner ballclub.
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ROIDER NATION
I'm posting this because I always hear "ESPN reports that..." when ESPN has a scoop or "(local paper) reports that..." whenever some big city paper has the scoop on something.
Something I never hear though, for whatever reason, is "CBS SportsLine.com reports..." Well, here it is.
CBS SportsLine.com reports that four Raiders -- Dana Stubblefield, Bill "That Bowflex Assh@[&" Romanowski, Barrett "Takin' A Little Walk On Super Bowl Sunday" Robbins, and Chris Cooper -- have been notified via letter that they have tested positive for the good ol' steroid-of-the-week, THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), and all face a 4-game suspension. They have also been subpoenaed to appear in the IRS probe of BALCO.
The article also features a picture of an absolutely 'roided-out Romo.
Sure, the Raiders beat the Vikings yesterday. But if you didn't think the Raiders were dead already, they'll be post-postmortem if they lose these four guys.
Something I never hear though, for whatever reason, is "CBS SportsLine.com reports..." Well, here it is.
CBS SportsLine.com reports that four Raiders -- Dana Stubblefield, Bill "That Bowflex Assh@[&" Romanowski, Barrett "Takin' A Little Walk On Super Bowl Sunday" Robbins, and Chris Cooper -- have been notified via letter that they have tested positive for the good ol' steroid-of-the-week, THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), and all face a 4-game suspension. They have also been subpoenaed to appear in the IRS probe of BALCO.
The article also features a picture of an absolutely 'roided-out Romo.
Sure, the Raiders beat the Vikings yesterday. But if you didn't think the Raiders were dead already, they'll be post-postmortem if they lose these four guys.
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Sunday, November 16, 2003
MORE ON BOONE'S SUB-MVP SEASON
To further back up Jeremy's post from earlier, I found this little tidbit by that dork Jayson Stark on ESPN.com. Yes, Jayson Stark, whose geekiness and statistical proclivity automatically makes him holier than thou. That's the vibe I always get out of him anyway. That aside, I'll bite some material from his article.
In his AL MVP speculation article, he goes on about how there's no real favorite for the AL MVP award. He brings up Alex Rod, David Ortiz, Carlos Delgado, et. al. After that, there's this...
Bret Boone? Went 3-for-30 while the Mariners stumbled in September.
Yeah, I never realized Bret Boone had a 3-for-30 stretch in September. Ouch. I knew it was bad, but I just didn't know how bad.
As bad as Bret Boone did, I'm surprised Jim Street isn't trying to mount an AL MVP campaign for Ichiro I've-suddenly-convinced-myself-I'm-a-fly-ball-hitter Suzuki. I can tell you whose bad performance out of the two infuriated me more last year, and his last name rhymes with "gadzookie."
In his AL MVP speculation article, he goes on about how there's no real favorite for the AL MVP award. He brings up Alex Rod, David Ortiz, Carlos Delgado, et. al. After that, there's this...
Bret Boone? Went 3-for-30 while the Mariners stumbled in September.
Yeah, I never realized Bret Boone had a 3-for-30 stretch in September. Ouch. I knew it was bad, but I just didn't know how bad.
As bad as Bret Boone did, I'm surprised Jim Street isn't trying to mount an AL MVP campaign for Ichiro I've-suddenly-convinced-myself-I'm-a-fly-ball-hitter Suzuki. I can tell you whose bad performance out of the two infuriated me more last year, and his last name rhymes with "gadzookie."
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SEAHAWKS 35, LIONS 14
Quick postgame notes on the game today...
The Hawks buried the Lions in the first half and held on.
Interestingly enough, the score at halftime ended up being the final score.
Hasselbeck got pretty good protection all day and wasn't sacked once.
There was more pressure on the quarterback from the Hawks defense.
The Hawks defense still sucks overall though...lots of untimely long pass plays allowed and a few too many long runs given up.
The Lions had 69 more pass yards than the Hawks and had only 9 less total yards than Seattle. The bottom line is that they had 21 less points. Thank goodness for that. The Lions had the ball for quite a large portion of the second half but could never put any points on the board.
The Seahawks committed all eight of their penalties in the second half.
Shaun Alexander had half his 110 rush yards on one play.
The Hawks buried the Lions in the first half and held on.
Interestingly enough, the score at halftime ended up being the final score.
Hasselbeck got pretty good protection all day and wasn't sacked once.
There was more pressure on the quarterback from the Hawks defense.
The Hawks defense still sucks overall though...lots of untimely long pass plays allowed and a few too many long runs given up.
The Lions had 69 more pass yards than the Hawks and had only 9 less total yards than Seattle. The bottom line is that they had 21 less points. Thank goodness for that. The Lions had the ball for quite a large portion of the second half but could never put any points on the board.
The Seahawks committed all eight of their penalties in the second half.
Shaun Alexander had half his 110 rush yards on one play.
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FRUSTRATION
Yes, it looks like the Bears are gonna blow this game against the Rams. The Bears had a 14-3 lead at halftime and appeared to dominate the game. Fast-forward to late in the 3rd quarter...
I got out of the shower and Marshall Faulk busted off a huge run from the Rams 40 to the Bears 8-yd line ON FOURTH-AND-1. Yeah, the Rams punched it in from there to make it 14-10.
THEN, the Rams recovered an on-side kick. Just now, they converted ANOTHER 4th down, this time a 4th-and-2.
AAAAARRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!
Yes, folks, this is why the Seahawks should have taken care of business against the Redskins...so they don't have to depend on hack teams like the Bears pulling an upset against the Rams so they can have a division lead going into the game at Saint Louis.
I got out of the shower and Marshall Faulk busted off a huge run from the Rams 40 to the Bears 8-yd line ON FOURTH-AND-1. Yeah, the Rams punched it in from there to make it 14-10.
THEN, the Rams recovered an on-side kick. Just now, they converted ANOTHER 4th down, this time a 4th-and-2.
AAAAARRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!
Yes, folks, this is why the Seahawks should have taken care of business against the Redskins...so they don't have to depend on hack teams like the Bears pulling an upset against the Rams so they can have a division lead going into the game at Saint Louis.
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SPORTS BROADCAST PERSONALITY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK
Okay, it'll be two bad ones and a good one here.
Early in the week, the FSNNW Northwest Sports Report was doing highlights for a Toronto Raptor game. There was a play in which Milt Palacio dished the ball off to Vince Carter. The part where it gets a little too-hot-for-TV is that Angie (Marzetta to Arlati to) Mentink pronounced it differently from how I'd pronounce it. I'd pronounce Palacio as puh-LOSS-ee-oh, but Angie pronounced it as puh-LAY-shee-oh. Then she said something to the effect of "Palacio rhymes with..." And then Jim Watson was laughing in disbelief at the obvious unsaid dirty joke. With all the employee turnover that's gone on at FSNNW, how come Angie Three Names is still there? I mean, sure, I'm glad Matt Biondi is gone (boy, did that guy suck ass), but the first anchors for the Regional Sports Report were Rod Simons and Tom Glasgow, and if it was really fair, Rod Simons should have never been cut loose.
Moment number 2 was from ESPN SportsCenter. Linda Cohn was doing highlights for a hockey game. Someone punched in a loose puck in front of the net for a goal. Linda Cohn, however, called the loose puck a "loose rubber." That didn't put a good thought into my mind. Especially if anyone's run across an actual loose rubber in public, you know firsthand this didn't put a good thought into your mind.
Moment number three is the good moment. Last Friday morning on KJR, Mitch Levy was out with whatever sickness was going around the office. This left Steve Sandmeyer and Matt "Stretch" Johnson behind to take the reins of the 5:30-10am shift. As I've come to learn over the years, if Steve Sandmeyer is filling in for a regular host, hilarity will probably ensue -- look no further than what happened one day when he filled in for Softy and The Nintendo Incident (RealPlayer needed) happened. On this day, Sandmeyer and Stretch were talking about handicapping football games, and how the guy they bring on every week to help people pick football games was 5-16-3 the week before with his picks and was barely over .500 on the year (and he's getting PAID to do it). They were talking about taking Baylor and the 53 or so points against Oklahoma (a bet which would have raked in cash), stuff like that. Then they got a little into story mode. Sandmeyer told about a place in the building they call the Sports Pit, where basically everyone hangs out, throws stuff at each other, and stares at women walking across the street. Sandmeyer prefaced all of this with "[w]e're not compulsive gamblers at all, by the way." One day they were betting on anything and everything; the fax machine was the pay station, basically where everyone put their money if they had action. Crumpled-up one-dollar bills were everywhere. When guys in suits walked by, they told them "nothing" was going on. The peak of the betting, though, was apparently when one of the production guys came in and said "[t]hat seagull will leave that lamppost in over or under four-and-a-half minutes!" They started wagering, and it got to the point where they were yelling at the seagull when it would make any sort of motion on the lamppost. You really had to hear it.
Early in the week, the FSNNW Northwest Sports Report was doing highlights for a Toronto Raptor game. There was a play in which Milt Palacio dished the ball off to Vince Carter. The part where it gets a little too-hot-for-TV is that Angie (Marzetta to Arlati to) Mentink pronounced it differently from how I'd pronounce it. I'd pronounce Palacio as puh-LOSS-ee-oh, but Angie pronounced it as puh-LAY-shee-oh. Then she said something to the effect of "Palacio rhymes with..." And then Jim Watson was laughing in disbelief at the obvious unsaid dirty joke. With all the employee turnover that's gone on at FSNNW, how come Angie Three Names is still there? I mean, sure, I'm glad Matt Biondi is gone (boy, did that guy suck ass), but the first anchors for the Regional Sports Report were Rod Simons and Tom Glasgow, and if it was really fair, Rod Simons should have never been cut loose.
Moment number 2 was from ESPN SportsCenter. Linda Cohn was doing highlights for a hockey game. Someone punched in a loose puck in front of the net for a goal. Linda Cohn, however, called the loose puck a "loose rubber." That didn't put a good thought into my mind. Especially if anyone's run across an actual loose rubber in public, you know firsthand this didn't put a good thought into your mind.
Moment number three is the good moment. Last Friday morning on KJR, Mitch Levy was out with whatever sickness was going around the office. This left Steve Sandmeyer and Matt "Stretch" Johnson behind to take the reins of the 5:30-10am shift. As I've come to learn over the years, if Steve Sandmeyer is filling in for a regular host, hilarity will probably ensue -- look no further than what happened one day when he filled in for Softy and The Nintendo Incident (RealPlayer needed) happened. On this day, Sandmeyer and Stretch were talking about handicapping football games, and how the guy they bring on every week to help people pick football games was 5-16-3 the week before with his picks and was barely over .500 on the year (and he's getting PAID to do it). They were talking about taking Baylor and the 53 or so points against Oklahoma (a bet which would have raked in cash), stuff like that. Then they got a little into story mode. Sandmeyer told about a place in the building they call the Sports Pit, where basically everyone hangs out, throws stuff at each other, and stares at women walking across the street. Sandmeyer prefaced all of this with "[w]e're not compulsive gamblers at all, by the way." One day they were betting on anything and everything; the fax machine was the pay station, basically where everyone put their money if they had action. Crumpled-up one-dollar bills were everywhere. When guys in suits walked by, they told them "nothing" was going on. The peak of the betting, though, was apparently when one of the production guys came in and said "[t]hat seagull will leave that lamppost in over or under four-and-a-half minutes!" They started wagering, and it got to the point where they were yelling at the seagull when it would make any sort of motion on the lamppost. You really had to hear it.
