A baking and gardening journal. Mostly.
by A.J. Coltrane
I had an opportunity for a free baseball hat a while back, so I went for the hat with what I thought was the least identifiable logo — the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL.
It turns out the Thrashers are moving to Winnipeg! Who knew?? My hat will soon be “rare”!
by A.J. Coltrane
Predictably, expectations for the Seahawks’ season are headed south (Grantland):
FALLING
Seattle Seahawks
OPENING LINE: 7 wins, Over EVEN, Under -120
NOW: 6.5 wins, Over +145, Under -165Even at 6.5 wins, the Seahawks’ odds keep falling. On Monday, that over was at +130. Now it sits at +145. Although they beat the Chargers in the preseason opener on Thursday, it wasn’t pretty; Tarvaris Jackson looked awful at quarterback, key left tackle Russell Okung sprained his ankle, and the Seahawks left some of their first-team players in for the entire first half, a sign of how far they have to go in installing their offense under new coordinator Darrell Bevell. Would you want to bet on the combination of Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst winning seven or more games this season? It’s become increasingly difficult to find anyone who would say yes to that question.
The Grantland piece links this piece, which talks about the “The Magic of 55 Percent Winners” — how often gamblers have to win to succeed at gambling on sports. Very instructional if you’re at all interested in how the process works.
While we’re here, through two preseason games:
Charlie Whitehurst – 28 of 39, 71.8%, 212 yards. 1 TD, 0 INT, 93.1 rating.
Tavaris Jackson – 14 of 26, 53.8%, 88 yards. 0 TD, 1 INT, 45.0 rating.
And Coltrane favorite:
Colt McCoy – 19 of 28, 67.9%, 231 yards. 4 TD, 0 INT, 132.6 rating.
By Blaidd Drwg
Back in 1998, Topps included an insert subset in their baseball card set called “Hall Bound” with the intention of predicting guys who were going to be heading to the Hall of Fame some point after they retired. The way it looks, 14 of the 15 guys in the set should at some point have a plaque in Cooperstown. Here is the list:
1998 Topps HallBound #HB1 Paul Molitor
1998 Topps HallBound #HB2 Tony Gwynn
1998 Topps HallBound #HB3 Wade Boggs
1998 Topps HallBound #HB4 Roger Clemens
1998 Topps HallBound #HB5 Dennis Eckersley
1998 Topps HallBound #HB6 Cal Ripken
1998 Topps HallBound #HB7 Greg Maddux
1998 Topps HallBound #HB8 Rickey Henderson
1998 Topps HallBound #HB9 Ken Griffey Jr.
1998 Topps HallBound #HB10 Frank Thomas
1998 Topps HallBound #HB11 Mark McGwire
1998 Topps HallBound #HB12 Barry Bonds
1998 Topps HallBound #HB13 Mike Piazza
1998 Topps HallBound #HB14 Juan Gonzalez
1998 Topps HallBound #HB15 Randy Johnson
Some of these “predictions” were pretty easy – Molitor, Gwynn, Boggs, Eckersley, Henderson and Ripken were all at the tail end of their careers by 1998 and, with maybe the exception of Eckersley, were all pretty much locks for the Hall by that point.
Maddux, Clemens and Bonds were all in the league roughly 10 years by that point and were pretty much locks by that point. McGwire was also in the league about 10 years by that point, but he hadn’t broken 60 home runs and was probably a borderline candidate at best.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the list:
Ken Griffey Jr. – He had just come off his first 56 home run season and won an MVP award. He was pretty much a lock by this point in his career for the Hall, unless he had completely fallen apart. While he only had 2 more great seasons left, he stuck around long enough and had enough good seasons to stay on track.
Frank Thomas – He was looking like a no-brainer selection for the Hall after the 1997 season. He would start his decline after ’97, but like Griffey stayed good long enough that there is no real question about his HOF credentials.
Mike Piazza – He was the first really risky choice on this list. He had only 5 full seasons under his belt after the 1997 season (granted with 3 finishes in the top 5 in MVP voting) and played a position where lifespan is generally not great. Posted a 23 WAR through 1997 and 26 from 1998 through the end of his career, but is probably the best hitting catcher in history, so he should cruise into the Hall easily.
Juan Gonzalez – Juan Gone was one of the most feared hitters at the time. He had one MVP and would win one more and like Griffey, looked like he would cruise into the Hall and would have only 2 more great seasons after 1997. Unlike Griffey, Gonzalez had his last great season at age 31 and was pretty much done after that and probably won’t see the Hall unless he buys a ticket.
Randy Johnson – The Unit was probably the most interesting choice on the list. He was 33 after the 1997 season ended, had recorded an ERA+ of 129, 2000 strikeouts and won a Cy Young Award, but had only recorded 124 wins. While he was great, he didn’t exactly scream Hall of Famer. From 1998 to the end of his career, he managed to pitch to age 45, win 4 Cy Young Awards, win 179 games, strike out 2875 batters and post a 141 ERA+. I would say he padded his resume just a bit.
by A.J. Coltrane
The Cubs futility continues (SI.com):
But the lineup was put together largely by Hendry, and not much has gone right for a team that hasn’t won it all in 102 years.
Pitcher Ryan Dempster got in a shouting match with his manager, the disabled list has been crowded with Cubs and Carlos Zambrano – who criticized his own closer early in the year – was banished from the team for a month after walking out of the clubhouse on a night he surrendered five home runs.
Hendry tried to bolster the lineup and drew some buzz by bringing back one-time ace Kerry Wood with a one-year, $1.5 million deal to be a setup man for closer Carlos Marmol. Yet fat contracts for Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez have always had fans wanting more from their stars, and the only move the Cubs made at the trade deadline last month was dealing outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to Cleveland.
I read a theory a number of years ago that said (I think it was Bill James, I’m paraphrasing the quote) “The Cubs are going to sellout the stadium and sell tons of merchandise whether they win or not. This creates more inertia in and around the organization than is conducive to winning.”
Really, Hendry should have been fired for the Alphonso Soriano contract (8 years, $136m). To some degree though, it was the Fukudome (4 years, $48m) and (especially) Zambrano (5 years, $91m) contracts that did him in. Hendry seemed to have a knack for signing guys to long term deals right after they’d peaked.
Hendry’s background was in scouting. If the Cubs ever get stats-oriented they’re going to be tough to beat.
Actually, I think that would make them the Red Sox.
by A.J. Coltrane
Schwingen: It’s sort of a combination of sumo meets greco roman wrestling. The Fall Schwingfest at the Swiss Sportman’s Club of Tacoma featured Schwingen, as well as beer, food, and Swiss dancing.
The guys in the video above are larger than the athletes in Tacoma, still, there were some pretty big dudes at the Tacoma event — it sounded like fun to try until I actually saw it in person.
by A.J. Coltrane
From ESPN:
The Oklahoma City Thunder forward and reigning NBA scoring champion dazzled the crowd by scoring 66 points in an Entertainers Basketball Classic game Monday.
“I’ve always wanted to play at Rucker Park all my life,” Durant told one of the league’s emcees after his DC Power team beat the Sean Bell All-Stars, which featured Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas III.
Rucker Park, located across the street from where the Polo Grounds used to stand, is famed for pickup games and leagues that have counted Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant among its visitors.
Durant fell two points short of the EBC scoring record, set by Steve Burtt Jr. in 2007. Joe (The Destroyer) Hammond is recognized as holding the park record of 74 points in a game.
My favorite part:
After the game, Durant tweeted: “No lie, jus had one of the best times of my life at Rucker park..wow! I love NY…Harlem waddup.”
Kevin Durant: The prize free agent signing of the 2017 NY Knicks!
We can all dream.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
A few weeks ago I was lamenting over a San Giorgio Spaghetti commercial that I couldn’t find, well I finally found it (in the video below at minute 1). It isn’t complete, but you will get the idea. I think they had a budget of about $10 for the commercial and picked up random people off the street to appear in it – the production values are just not there.
I got interrupted when I was watching it so I didn’t hit stop when it was over, and it lead me to encounter a commercial which I forgot about – the NY Giants singing a commercial for Pepsi Lite. I don’t know which is more disturbing – the Giants singing and dancing (terribly) in towels or that there was something called Pepsi Lite in the 1980’s. (The commercial starts at 1:32).
There are some other 1980’s, New York regional commercials in this block too, so enjoy.
By Blaidd Drwg
Manchester United recently wrapped up their MLS exhibition tour with a 4 – 0 crushing of the MLS All-Stars in New York. In the 4 game series, the Reds outscored their opponents 18 –2, but they still have one game left before they cross the pond – they are playing a competitor that should prove to be slightly more challenging than the MLS teams. They get to play the team that crushed them in the Champions League finals – FC Barcelona. THAT should be a good game.
I watched some of the Sounders-ManU match and, while US soccer has come a long way, it still has a longer way to go. The Sounders held their own in the first half of the game, but I think that had to do more with adrenalin and playing in front of 65,000 people than level competition. They got absolutely crushed in the second half when both teams essentially played their second strings and it became obvious that ManU was easily the better team. Wayne Rooney also reminded everyone that he can still play the game by putting on a clinic, netting a hat trick in 22 minutes and looking like he was Michael Jordan in a pickup game against a bunch of high school kids.
Until US Soccer switches to a system like the Europeans with a feeder program that stresses fundamentals rather than winning, changes the league structure to allow for relegations and promotions, and allows teams to be competitive and sign European and Latin American players in their prime (as opposed to washed up “stars” like Beckham and Henry), we will never be able to compete consistently on either a club level or international level with the rest of the world.
By Blaidd Drwg
The Mariners finally showed some signs of life today by beating the Yankees 9-2. It must be an embarrassing day to be a Yankees fan, not only losing to a team that hadn’t won a game since before the All Star break, but giving up 9 runs to the worst offense of the last 50 years in the process.
Sadly, this won’t even be the lead story on Sportscenter, since Ervin Santana had to go out and throw a no-hitter. It was a strange game – Santana allowed only 2 base runners, the leadoff hitter who reached on an error, stole second, was moved over to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead and an 8th inning walk. The Indians also managed to commit 5 errors in the game leading to the wonderful final line of 1 – 0 – 5.
Also pushing the Mariners off the lead will be the impending trade of Carlos Beltran to the Giants and the trade of Edwin Jackson to the Cardinals by way of the Blue Jays.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program already in progress
by A.J. Coltrane
Multiple sources are reporting that the Seahawks are parting ways with Matt Hasselbeck. They chose to go with two new guys, signing Tavaris Jackson and Matt Leinhart.
Ugh.
I’m of the opinion that Hasselbeck is cooked, so I’m not broken up about him leaving — I don’t think the Seahawks were going to win more than 9 games with him anyway. Tavaris Jackson, however, is… terrrrrible. Worse than terrible. I thought he stunk with the Vikings — bad technique, bad decision making, just tons of stuff that made me glad he wasn’t my quarterback… I’m not sure I could stand watching him as the quarterback of the Seahawks on the weekly basis.
I’m hoping we won’t have to.
I seem to be in the minority in that I think Whitehurst may still prove that he can play. There’s also the possibility that Leinhart may “get his act together” and show that he’s the guy.
Here’s Mike Sando’s take on it, appropriately titled “Tavaris Jackson? What Seattles Thinking?” John Clayton also has a video at the bottom of the Sando piece.
I know that this has all been rumored for days, but now that it finally happened my reaction is… I’m disgusted.
The Vegas over/under is 6.5 wins for the Seahawks. Take the under before it moves.
FlatbreadGarden 