Monday, July 31, 2006
Interesting Way To Celebrate 1st Place
Summing up the last week of San Francisco Giants' play, and in particular the performance of Armando Benitez...
"Obviously a major malfunction."
Go into first place and get to within three outs of taking a game-and-a-half lead on San Diego, and here comes Benitez. PING!
Six losses later, here comes Benitez again with a one-run lead in the ninth. PING!
Forget steroids. The wild-card system is the shame of baseball. The Giants can lose six in a row to powerhouses Washington and Pittsburgh, lose seven in a row all told, and still be third in the wild-card standings.
What's the remedy? Mike Stanton? Who hasn't picked up a save in three years? Who blew two saves last week? Nice..........
Friday, July 28, 2006
WSOP Main Event Cards Almost In The Air
Just a few more minutes and the Main Event gets going. Here's what we wrote over on our poker blog, Jacks vs. Eights:
Time now to predict the winner of this year's Main Event at the World Series of Poker...
The winner will be John Andrews.
I say this without knowing if there is even a person named John Andrews playing in this event. Apparently there are over 7,600 people registered to play so far. Now, what are the chances that someone named John Andrews is included in the field? I don't know. But this guess is probably as good as any other guess, so this is what I am going with. It might not be "Andrews" but I do have a really good feeling that the winner will be named John.
Last year, over on E.K. Nation, I picked Surinder Sunar to win, and gosh-durned if I didn't even see his name on any of the results.
Come on, John Andrews, if you even exist!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Yay, the Home Run Contest!
It's pretty much an event that has timed itself out. Here's what has also timed itself out: "Back, back, back, back, back, back...!"
Here's what will happen in the All-Star Game. David Ortiz is going to be the MVP and the Americans will once again unfairly get home-field advantage for the World Series via their 11-5 win. It's a bullshit system and it needs to be re-thought.
• Good to see Francisco Liriano make the All-Star Game, finally. I mean, the player introductions are a few hours away. Did they really need to take this long to put him on? We were thinking about the trade the Giants made a few years back, getting A.J. Pierzynski from Minnesota for Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser. And about how great that deal turned out. And by "great" we mean "not great."
• We stick by our proposal that the All-Star Game voting system be changed. We believe the manager and coaches should pick the starters and the fan vote should determine the reserves. This way, the (allegedly) deserving players, and we say allegedly because sometimes the staff still can't get it right, get to have their moment as a starter in the All-Star Game, and then the fan vote will ensure that the players the fans really want to see will be in the game later, when there is a chance to be a clutch hero. Also, we figure the TV audience might stick around a little longer.
• No, Barry Bonds did not deserve to be an All-Star this year. But is there any doubt that next year, when the game is held in San Francisco, he will be on the National League team?
• France: You're a bunch of cheap shot artists and screw you, you got the loss you deserved. Zinedine Zidane: What the fuck are you thinking, asshole? You finishing your career in this manner is like if Cal Ripken, on the night he broke Lou Gehrig's record, hitting a home run and then charging the mound to hit the pitcher in the face with the bat.
Here's what will happen in the All-Star Game. David Ortiz is going to be the MVP and the Americans will once again unfairly get home-field advantage for the World Series via their 11-5 win. It's a bullshit system and it needs to be re-thought.
• Good to see Francisco Liriano make the All-Star Game, finally. I mean, the player introductions are a few hours away. Did they really need to take this long to put him on? We were thinking about the trade the Giants made a few years back, getting A.J. Pierzynski from Minnesota for Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser. And about how great that deal turned out. And by "great" we mean "not great."
• We stick by our proposal that the All-Star Game voting system be changed. We believe the manager and coaches should pick the starters and the fan vote should determine the reserves. This way, the (allegedly) deserving players, and we say allegedly because sometimes the staff still can't get it right, get to have their moment as a starter in the All-Star Game, and then the fan vote will ensure that the players the fans really want to see will be in the game later, when there is a chance to be a clutch hero. Also, we figure the TV audience might stick around a little longer.
• No, Barry Bonds did not deserve to be an All-Star this year. But is there any doubt that next year, when the game is held in San Francisco, he will be on the National League team?
• France: You're a bunch of cheap shot artists and screw you, you got the loss you deserved. Zinedine Zidane: What the fuck are you thinking, asshole? You finishing your career in this manner is like if Cal Ripken, on the night he broke Lou Gehrig's record, hitting a home run and then charging the mound to hit the pitcher in the face with the bat.
