E.K. NATION

...that the "Feliz Navidad" song by Jose Feliciano never, ever, ends? It just goes back and forth from

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad, prospero ano y Felicidad

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad, prospero ano y Felicidad

to

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart

And then back to the top. In all my life I have never heard that song end. It's not a song; it's a friggin' flow chart.

We here at E.K. Sports--and when we say "we" we mean The Committee of Me, Myself, and Myself, Esq.--have decided that "E.K. Sports" isn't just going to hack it anymore as the name of this weblog. We do talk about sports more often than not, but sometimes, and we are finding out that "sometimes" may be another word for "during the baseball off-season", we delve into non-sports-related topics. And "E.K. Nation" just seems to be a bit more apropos. Not that "E.K. Sports" isn't a fine title on its own, and indeed when "E.K. Sports" is "Googled"--we think it's in the dictionary now, a real verb--the first thing that comes up, at least for us, is "http://eksports.blogspot.com/".

But here's what else comes up, among others:

The Edward Knox Central School sports schedule (Go Cougars!!)

Something out of British Columbia called EKLive.com, with the banner "EK Sports!" instead of "E.K. Sports"

Some sort of outdoor sports gear site

At least three Chinese or Japanese sites containing characters that cannot be correctly displayed in this language/character set

We find nothing with the name E.K. Nation. So if we ever do, maybe we'll rename the site "E.K. Dominion," or maybe "E.K. Nation and Providence Plantations."

No, we won't. "E.K. Nation" is ours. We feel pretty decent about claiming it.

We're still a San Francisco Giants weblog. And we'll talk much much more about them when the season fires up again, and when necessary during the winter.

Whenever someone does something that ordinary people do in real life, and that someone is wearing a Santa Claus outfit, that person's activity will be filmed by a news crew and it will be broadcast on TV stations all over the country. Yesterday I saw a man in a Santa Claus outfit snowboarding down a New England mountainside, and this morning I saw a man in a Santa Claus outfit windsurfing on the Niagara River. INEXPLICABLY, wearing a Santa Claus outfit while you do stuff makes you cute.

Okay, I'll 'fess up. When Joe Horn caught his second touchdown pass of the night, and grabbed the cell phone from underneath the goal-post padding, he called...

...Me. And here's what I said to him: "Congratulations, jackass: You have now successfully completed the WORST TOUCHDOWN CELEBRATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. You punk-ass bitch, you attention-whore LOSER. A play that garners six measly points in an NFL game is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a grandiose proclamation, and a simple high five would have sufficed. Hang up and play, you idiot. Act like you've scored a touchdown before. Have some CLASS. Memo to you: If you have to act like a star after you score a touchdown, YOU ARE NOT A STAR. You're fucking JOE HORN. Dumbass! You scored FOUR goddamn touchdowns last night, but we're talking about you because you MADE A PHONE CALL IN THE END ZONE! Imagine how much of a star you'd be if you'd let the touchdowns do the talking instead of having your fingers do the walking. Yeah, I got a finger for you, jackass, and NO points for guessing which one."

ATTENTION WHORE JOE HORN

Can you hear me now, asshole?

"The performance by __________ is one of the best performances in the history of the cinema."

That's what Roger Ebert had to say on last week's "Ebert & Roeper" about a performance by a popular movie star. Coming from him, that is extremely high praise. Who might we expect to hear such praise about? Well, there's DeNiro, Pacino, Freeman, Streep, Roberts, Crowe, etc...

Who was Ebert actually speaking of? Click here to find out.

Would I have expected this name to come up in that sentence? Frankly, nope. But I saw some clips. And already I can see why he might make the statement. Such buzz has me awaiting the release of the film called "Monster," coming out in a few weeks.

Tim Worrell is gone, having signed with the Phillies, who now have what I think is a monster bullpen, when you mix in Billy Wagner. But the Phillies still are a bit short of a division title, seeing as how it looks like they're going to let Kevin Millwood go after trading for the previously-injured Eric Milton. Could the Marlins leap over the Braves next year in that East Division? Atlanta has jettisoned Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez. Who knows? I don't. Hey, I'm just asking questions!

I don't know how I feel about bringing Robb Nen back instead of Worrell after his absence from all of 2003 for rotator cuff surgery. Worrell did a pretty decent job, with an ERA of 2.87, and Nen of course has a comeback to make. We'll definitely need the help that Matt Herges and F-Rod can bring to the table.

Then again, the Giants may have an easier time in the West next year than I thought, what with the D-Backs' Curt Schilling leaving for Boston and L.A.'s Kevin Brown possibly going to the Yankees for--uhh, Jeff Weaver? Yeah, that may help take the Dodgers down a notch. And the Padres and Rockies are, as far as we know, still the Padres and Rockies. We shall see. Can pitchers and catchers just report already? How long do I have to wait, anyway?

I'm Not The Only One With A Replacement Idea: Seems ESPN's Page 2 has taken my idea of a college football playoff and passed it off as one of their own, the bah-stahds. And I do this website free. (Not that the idea was remotely innovative, but c'mon!!)

Yet again we have a team that did not even win its conference championship getting into the national championship game. This happened two years ago as well. That time, Oregon or Colorado should have gotten in, instead of Nebraska, to play Miami, and this year, it's USC getting the shaft and non-conference champion Oklahoma getting in.

If we just put a little bit of thought into it, we can have an exciting month of playoffs. So here it is. Fifteen games to determine the college football championship. Who cares if it's potentially four more weeks of playing football instead of going to class? It's not like these guys are in college because they're scholars. First three Saturdays in December are the first three rounds, and then the championship game goes on New Year's Day. Simple, right? Fifteen bowl games will be incorporated into the playoffs; any other existing bowls can invite those ranked #17 or lower to play in non-playoff bowl games.

FIRST ROUND:

#1 Oklahoma vs. #16 Washington State (Hawaii Bowl)
#8 Tennessee vs. #9 Miami-Fl. (Sun Bowl)
#5 Ohio State vs. #12 Georgia (Holiday Bowl)
#4 Michigan vs. #13 Iowa (Tangerine Bowl)
#6 Texas vs. #11 Miami-Ohio (Houston Bowl)
#3 USC vs. #14 Purdue (Liberty Bowl)
#7 Florida State vs. #10 Kansas State (San Francisco Bowl)
#2 LSU vs. #15 Florida (New Orleans Bowl)

SECOND ROUND:

#1-16 winner vs. #8-9 winner (Sugar-Fiesta-Orange-Rose Bowl rotation)
#5-12 winner vs. #4-13 winner (Gator Bowl)
#6-11 winner vs. #3-14 winner (Peach Bowl)
#7-10 winner vs. #2-15 winner (Cotton Bowl)

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS:

Two more games in the Sugar-Fiesta-Orange-Rose Bowl rotation

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP:

Last game in the Sugar-Fiesta-Orange-Rose Bowl rotation

Bonzi Wells is gone! Off to Memphis for Wesley Person and some Tylenol for that big fat headache we Blazer fans have. What a steal! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, jackass!

Props now to the Blazers' brass for finally standing up and trying to put an end to the ridiculous nonsense that has been plaguing this city for the last few years. Next on the chopping block: Sheed? Zach? Damon?

I found a link to this on someone else's blog today. It's a creative re-creation of the Indians' amazing comeback from a 14-2 deficit against Seattle from a couple years back. Worth a look.

Looks like Benito Santiago is close to signing with the Royals. But Jeffrey Hammonds is coming back, apparently.

I realized I didn't make a guess as to which players would be elected to the Hall of Fame this time around. I think Paul Molitor will get the requisite votes, as will Dennis Eckersley. That should do it.

Did Craphonso Ellis' mother have any clue what she was spelling when she named her son, the future Florida State receiver? If any name has caused me to do a bigger double take, I can't remember what it was.

Oh, wait...yes, I can. I once spotted the name of some poor chap on the news. His last name was Cockes (pronounced "Cox"), and his first name was...Dixon. I swear I am not making this up.

I guess we can now add Zach Randolph and his DUI arrest this morning to the list of Blazer miscreanticism, if that's a word. How does this keep happening?

(Upon further review, I have discovered that his arrest was for drugs other than alcohol. Oh, goody!!--E.K.)

The Hall Of Fame Ballot: Bert Blyleven, Joe Carter, Dave Concepcion, Danny Darwin, Andre Dawson, Doug Drabek, Dennis Eckersley, Jim Eisenreich, Cecil Fielder, Steve Garvey, Rich Gossage, Keith Hernandez, Tommy John, Jimmy Key, Dennis Martinez, Don Mattingly, Kevin Mitchell, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Randy Myers, Dave Parker, Terry Pendleton, Jim Rice, Juan Samuel, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Dave Stieb, Bruce Sutter, Bob Tewksbury, Alan Trammell, Fernando Valenzuela.

There is not a single player on this list who should be in the Hall of Fame. Except maybe for Paul Molitor. He actually spent an extended amount of time being an elite player in the major leagues.

But the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the truly elite. When he's eligible, Tony Gwynn is in. When he's eligible, Barry Bonds is in. When they're eligible, Roger Clemens and Cal Ripken are in. And out of all the players on this year's ballot, none of them are in the same class as these players. Out of all the players on the ballot, Molitor comes closest; he wound up ninth all-time in total hits and had quite a few years' worth of outstanding batting averages. But he's not in the same class.

Nothing wrong with letting a year go by without anyone getting in. The place is too crowded. The unforgivable error of allowing Gary Carter into the Hall of Fame could make it easier for players like Jim Rice and Ryne Sandberg to get in, and these guys aren't near the caliber we should reserve spots for. Does anyone believe Keith Hernandez should be in the same club as Lou Gehrig? Alan Trammell with Ozzie Smith? People wondering why Bert Blyleven is on the ballot may be surprised to learn he is fifth all-time in strikeouts. But then again, he's Bert Blyleven, for cryin' out loud. Out of 22 seasons in the big leagues, he was great for maybe four or five, and never elite, ever.

And what's with Bob Tewksbury getting on the ballot? And Jim Eisenreich? Juan Samuel? Who, exactly, did these men blow to get on the ballot? I mean, bless them and everything, but come on. Why? Why, why, why??

If I'm a voter, my ballot gets sent in blank. Let them know what the standards are.

Aaron's Baseball Blog: One of the most elaborate baseball blogs I've seen so far, has moved the link to E.K. Sports from "Down on the Farm" up to "Pinch-Hitters"...I'll be the first to admit that I do not belong in the category "Hall of Fame Blogs"; I have not been an elite blogger for very long. Heh, heh.