Encouraging

From the BBC: Notts Co to revive youth scheme

Notts County have revealed plans to rejuvenate their Centre of Excellence and youth programme.

It closed in May 2006 as a cost-cutting measure but now chairman John Armstrong-Holmes wants to re-open it.

He told the club website: "In the past couple of years we have seen significant financial benefit. But over the next few years we will miss out."

A proposal to relaunch the centre at the start of next season will go before the board of directors on Friday.

Chief executive Geoff Davey explained: "The proposal is indicative of the progress we have made in getting our finances back into shape.

"It's very good news that the club is strong enough to make such an undertaking."

There is no way you can run a succesful club without a vibrant youth program. This is really the first time I'd heard good news about the Magpies finances in awhile.

Baby steps.

This Is Not A Defense Of Eric Brewer's Play

For all the bitching from Blues fans about the howlingly bad play from Brewer the last three weeks or so (here is a good example), you might have figured that his was the worst blueline performance.

You'd be wrong. By every measure Barret Jackman's play has been terrible.


Jackman:
GP G A Pts +/- PIM PP SHG GWG S SPct.
30-0-3-3-(-13)- -29 -0-- 0-- 0--- 32 -0.00

Brewer:
GP G A Pts +/- PIM PP SHG GWG S SPct.
25 -1- 6- 7 -(-5)- 27-- 0--0 ---0-- 36- 2.78

Yet, for some reason, Jackman mostly gets a pass from Blues fans. I don't get it. Brewer's upside is so much greater than our other defensemen (with the exception of Johnson), that it makes no sense to attempt to run him out of town. Brewer was terrific the last 30+ games of last season, and he didn't start badly this one either. True, he has been an outright liability out there for awhile, and I certainly hope he gets some confidence back and quickly.

But, to my mind, it is Jackman that has been the biggest disappointment. He isn't taking the penalties he used to, but he is downright passive out there. A passive Barret Jackman is a completely ineffective Barret Jackman. There is no way he looks like a top four defenseman.

It's time he heard about it from Blues fans as well.

Jimmy Talk

I don't know that there is much to say about the Edmonds trade since we won't know if it's turned out well until we see how the younger guys produce in CF and where the freed up $$ ultimately ends up.

Personally, given what there is in the free agent market, I hope they don't make a signing for signing's sake. I'd rather write off 2008 and use it for 2009. Or, in the miraculous case we are in contention come late July, look to make a deal for someone we would normally say we can't afford and use the money towards their existing contract or locking up an extension before they hit the free agent market.

UPDATE: lboros has a post up on Viva El Birdos about what to do with the money. His first option of starting pitching is obvious but the names mentioned (colon, jennings, freddy garcia, john lieber, matt clement, rodrigo lopez, mark prior, and kris benson) make me cringe. I still can't believe any pair of them for $10-15 million makes us contenders. His second choice is an OF bat, but despite the lengthy assessment, his heart clearly isn't in it. I still think I'd rather suck it up this year with a payroll under $100 million and hope, Hope, HOPE that next off-season we know exactly what we need (right now who the hell can say what we have and need with so many question marks) and ownership is willing to commit to $$ to get it. For once, I'd like to have the feeling in the off-season that the franchise was willing to do some real spending in a manner that is more than just bargain hunting, stop gap measures.

Season Of Transition

No, this is not a post about the Cards trading Edmonds (although that one should be coming soon enough.) I've not said too much about the St. Louis University Billikens in the early part of the season. There are two reasons I've been mostly quiet: 1) I've been real busy in my real world activities, and 2) I knew from the start that the Bills were going to be a mixed bag this season, so why hang on every missed shot?

Don't get me wrong, I still hope they will do well, but the transition to an entirely new scheme under Rick Majerus is going to take time. So far this season the Bills look like a team that is still trying to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. The best case scenario is that they work enough out in the non-conference part of their schedule to scare some folks in the A-10 during the new year.

Maybe there are some signs that that is exactly what is happening. The Billikens picked up a big win over Southern Illinois last night, and showed some grit doing it. A few victories like this will go a long way to erasing the memory of loses like the ones to Boston College (61-39) and Kent St. (81-40).

So, right now the Bills are sitting at 7-5 with two more non-conference games to go (Loyola-Chicago and IUPUI). Given how disjointed this season was bound to be any record over .500 before the first A-10 game tips will be counted as a bonus.

This is all a long way of saying I haven't written much on the Bills yet because, for me, the season hasn't really started yet.

I'll note that the Bills drew almost 11,000 in the snow for the SIU game. That is also encouraging for the future.

This I Didn't See Coming

I thought when the Blues finally made a move this season it would be shipping off one of the extra defensemen for some offensive help. Swapping out a 35 year old center in Doug Weight for a 30 year old center in Andy McDonald simply was not what I was expecting. We also sent minor leaguer Michal Birner and a low rent draft pick to Anaheim as well.

Weight was a good member of the Blues, and showed his loyalty to the organization by waiving his no trade clause. This deal looks to make the Blues better. Weight wasn't really clicking with any of the forwards we have nowadays, although he picked up some points of late. Weight certainly should be able to help a talented team like the Ducks, so it isn't as if the Blues fleeced anybody.

Still....this is a really good move for the Note. McDonald may not be the flashiest player out there, but he is a proven goal scorer as well as a set up man. If I remember correctly, he plays a strong two-way game as well, so he should fit right into the scheme the Blues have been playing under Andy Murray.

With T.J. Oshie in the pipeline, the Blues should be set at center for a little while.

This isn't a blockbuster, but it is yet another solid move.

UPDATE: Here is THN take, Blues win deal, but is more in store for Ducks?

There are a couple of questions you have to ask yourself when assessing the trade the Anaheim Ducks made Friday.

No. 1, are the Ducks a better team with Scott Niedermayer and Doug Weight than they were without Niedermayer and with Andy McDonald in the lineup?

No. 2, is this part of a bigger series of moves for the Ducks?

What we do know is that in order to get the tagging money they needed to get Niedermayer back into the lineup, they had to acquire a contract that was due to expire after the season. As it turns out, Weight's deal is up after this season, which gives the Ducks an additional $3.5 million in tagging room, far more than the $900,000 they needed to activate Niedermayer.

McDonald, by comparison, is in the second of a three-year deal that pays him $3.33 million per season.

It's hard to believe that the Ducks got anything close to the better of this deal. Even though McDonald has had a sub-par season, he's six years younger than Weight and is coming off seasons of 85 and 78 points. Weight, on the other hand, has slowed down considerably over the past few seasons and it would seem a stretch to expect him to effectively step into the second-line center role vacated by McDonald, behind No. 1 center Ryan Getzlaf.

...

I can't help but think that's what behind all of this. Brian Burke is one of the top GMs in the league and he's not in the habit of getting fleeced in trades, even when he's not dealing from a position of strength.

That seems about right. The Blues needed the player and the Ducks needed some flexibility and someone who can be a second line center for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

Topical BCTP

Today's NYT's Headline: Selig Says Report ‘Is a Call to Action’ and Vows to Act Swiftly


TRANSLATION:My head will be in the sand with such speed, I'll become a god in the ostrich community.











It's been refreshing to read and listen to a large percentage of Mitchell Report punditry that feels little can be done and it is only the beginning of any potential change. There are few things more annoying than commentators who should know better, taking to the microphones to pontificate on the latest event, be it a player's death, arrest, drug OD, or whatever and proclaim it a turning point that will alter human behavior for all eternity. While I wish it were otherwise and I hope that the Players Union gets the kick in the balls it deserves over this one, I'm not holding my breath that the Mitchell Report does anything more than provide the slimmest of openings for meaningful change.

Let's face it, the track and field and cycling federations haven't been able to get a handle on doping after years of taking it seriously (and using incessant mandatory testing). Their marquis events, the Olympics and the Tour de France, have been rocked time and again with drug charges and it hasn't brought them down.

So I can't believe that a suddenly 'serious' MLB facing a powerful players union and enjoying rising attendance and revenues is going to accomplish shit. Baseball also appears to have a different drug dynamic. One, the percentage of participants using appears much lower. Secondly, while there are some big names, there are a high percentage of journeyman ballplayers using, while at the Olympic and Tour de France level, it is the biggest of big names being busted. Name a top cyclist or world class track star who hasn't been caught or faced serious allegations. The Mitchell Report doesn't come close to that.

The sad fact is that no one is going to give a damn unless, in a very short timespan, a couple of dozen white, upper middle class American 13-15 year olds drop dead from steroid abuse. And at least a couple of them had better be beautiful blond girls so cable news will cover it wall-to-wall for several days in between Britney Spears court appearances.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for this report. I'm just realistic enough to recognize that the same pigs that are at the trough are the ones in charge of changing things. The only way change occurs is if we fans turn our backs on MLB so I hearby declare I will never watch another MLB game.....at the fucking dome in Tampa... until the drug problem is seriously addressed. I think I'm typical. MLB and Don Fehr's behavior in perpetuating this mess enrages me, but not so much that I won't continue to follow the game. That's not exactly hope inspiring.

We've got about 10,000 years of fairly well-documented human history out there and the record for successful reform in situations with the current dynamic is about 0-1,986,567. Ascendant empires don't engage in introspection, let alone serious reform, and baseball in 2007 is nothing if not an ascendant empire.

Mitchell Report Thoughts

Alright. I read the whole summary and the section where the players implicated by Kirk Radomski are enumerated. Here is my take:

I think Sen. Mitchell should be commended for doing such an even handed job in the report. It seems clear he collected a preponderance of evidence before releasing any names, and gave all of the accused a chance to tell their side of the story...if they had one.

It also becomes clear that the players from the start have been stonewalling, and not just in the sense of trying to keep illegal activities from coming to light. The players or, maybe more accurately, the Players Association have attempted to obfuscate and wrongdoing to the point that they no longer care of the integrity of the game is at stake.

For example:

1. Of the 500 former players the Mitchell investigation attempted to interview, only 68 agreed to do so. That is 13.6%.


2. The Players Association refused to supply any documentation on any matter whatsoever.


3. They refused to make chief operating officer Gene Orza available to be interviewed. (Something to hide one has to presume.)


4. They refused full access to the director of the current drug testing program.


5. They sent memos "discouraging" players from cooperating with the investigation.


6. They refused to respond to any of the specific allegations.

The report goes over all of the information on various drug related matters that have come out over the years, but there were still many things I had never heard before. For example, despite what I have heard and read numerous times, it turns out that MLB had banned all prescription drugs obtained without a valid prescription in 1971. So, while steroids were only banned by name in 1991, their use under the prior policy would have been against the rules of baseball as well.

The report seems to indicate that Gene Orza has been working to undermine the existing testing program by deliberating dragging out the mandated notification process for testing so that players could have the drugs cleared from their system by the time, several months later, when tests were actually adminstered. Mitchell is right that the oversight for the testing program should be removed from the control of the players and the owners and entrusted to an independent body. The incentives are too great for the players to "game" the system.

Of the players whose drug involvement was already open news in the press (Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Jeremey Giambi, Armando Rios, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago, Marvin Bernard, Randy Velarde and Bobby Estalella) the only thing new I learned was that Estalella was taking the female fertility drug Clomid.

I don't think I wanted to know that.

Of the new(ish) names that have come to light because of the Radomski information, a lot of them are/were marginal major leaguers. You can understand the pressure they must have felt to try to hold onto or gain a spot on the 40 man roster. It's hard to get too pissed off about those guys. The big names?? Well, its hard not to want to spit at them.

The list: (Click here for Baseball-References links to all the players mentioned in the report.)

1. Lenny Dykstra - Long rumored, now looking like a slam dunk.


2. David Segui


3. Larry Bigbie - Bigbie did say that members of the Cards clubhouse could hook him up with more drugs if he wanted them. That's real encouraging.


4. Brian Roberts - This hurts. I always admired Roberts' game.


5. Jack Cust - So much for that "breakout" season?


6. Tim Laker


7. Josias Manzanillo


8. Todd Hundley


9. Mark Carreon


10. Hal Morris


11. Matt Franco


12. Rondell White - No wonder he breaks down whenever anyone looks at him.


13. Roger Clemons - The biggest name and the proof that the steroids investigations are not just the "man" trying to keep Barry Bonds down.


14. Andy Pettite - The biggest surprise to me.


15. Chuck Knoblauch - You would have thought he would have focused more on the whole "throwing from second base to first base" problem first.


16. Jason Grimsley


17. Gregg Zaun


18. David Justice - Didn't his career seem to just pop like an over-inflated balloon?


19. F.P. Santangello


20. Glenallen Hill


21. Mo Vaughn - Didn't his career seem to just pop like an over-inflated balloon?


22. Denny Neagle - Really?


23. Ron Villone


24. Ryan Franklin - Oops.


25. Chris Donnels


26. Todd Williams


27. Phil Hiatt


28. Todd Pratt


29. Kevin Young


30. Mike Lansing


31. Cody McKay - Oops again.


32. Kent Mercker


33. Adam Piatt


34. Miguel Tejada - Enjoy Houston. Enjoy.


35. Jason Christiansen


36. Mike Stanton


37. Stephan Randolph


38. Jerry Hairston, Jr.


39. Paul Lo Duca - Too bad. Such an enjoyable player to watch.


40. Adam Riggs


41. Bart Miadich - Never heard of him.


42. Fernando Vina - Will ESPN return his calls? Or will he wind up with Harold Reynolds in Baseball Tonight purgatory?


43. Kevin Brown - He should ask for a refund.


44. Eric Gagne - A theme is delevoping.


45. Mike Bell


46. Matt Herges


47. Gary Bennett, Jr. - One more and we've hit the Cardinals backup catcher trifecta.


48. Jim Parque


49. Brendan Donnelly


50. Chad Allen


51. Jeff Williams


52. Howie Clark


53. Exavier "Nook" Logan - Always liked Nook. Damn.

The other thing I take from this report is the obvious pressure that the Player's Association has been putting on current and former players alike to keep their mouths shut. This makes the performace of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before Congress more understandable. Not anymore right, but more understandable. I wonder if the media that has spent so much time crucifying McGwire and Sosa will visit the same venom on all the big names in the list above? Clemons and Pettite will face a shit-storm just because they are Yankees, but there are others.

I also wonder if all the pious sportwriters who claimed they could never vote for Rafael Palmeiro for the Hall of Fame will hold the Rocket to the same standard. We will see.

This is a awful day for baseball; an awful and absolutely necessary day.

Sucks Being Gary Bennett

Goddammit, George! Is this necessary? I have a .327 slugging percentage.

Twelve years, seven teams, 21 homers, and a career of obscurity is ended with a mention in the Mitchell Report. Time to do a bit of cipherin'. If his HR to AB ratio is the lowest of the position players named, he'll become immortal as the answer to a bar trivia question.

Cardinals Prospects For 2008 = Bleak

Got this assessment on the Cardinals position from the PD:

In the wake of the organization's four-week search before naming Mozeliak as successor to Walt Jocketty, and Mozeliak's four-week search for an assistant general manager, the Cardinals appear to be playing catch-up.

Any hopes of acquiring a front-line pitcher through trade have been replaced by scouring the free-agent market for a short-term acquisition such as Kris Benson, Bartolo Colon or Josh Fogg. The situation has yet to become bleak enough for La Russa or Mozeliak to suggest Anthony Reyes' possible return as a No. 5 starter, perhaps because Reyes is being shopped widely to teams such as the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies.

Club sources indicated by week's end that Rasmus could lose his "untouchable" label in a potential deal for Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Erik Bedard. Such a deal would have to include at least another prominent Cardinals prospect such as Bryan Anderson or Chris Perez. Of course, the Cardinals envision Perez as a potential heir to closer Jason Isringhausen next season. Rasmus is being groomed to take over for center fielder Jim Edmonds. Isringhausen and Edmonds are owed a combined $16 million in 2008.

Unable to decide whether Rolen is coming or going, the Cardinals are unable to deal either of their power-hitting, lefthanded-hitting outfielders, Chris Duncan or Rick Ankiel. Open to dealing Edmonds to a West Coast team, the Cardinals found his value is diminished by three consecutive injury-scarred seasons. Many within the organization admit Edmonds and Rolen offer more value to their current team than logical trading partners.

So far the Cardinals have signed free-agent catcher Jason LaRue and shortstop Cesar Izturis and drafted Cleveland Indians outfield prospect Brian Barton. They continue to offer assurances about lefthanded starter Mark Mulder's recovery from rotator cuff repair in September. His return to health, according to Mozeliak and La Russa, would answer many of the questions raised by a 78-84 season that never achieved consistency within the starting rotation.

A team that signed Chris Carpenter for the major-league minimum at the 2002 meetings and that once used 11 victories from a former tow truck operator named Jason Simontacchi to save itself five years ago again seeks to "catch lightning in bottle."

That is the long way of saying, "We're screwed."

The key will be if the organization will notice that we are screwed and look more to 2009 and beyond. If they try to salvage 2008 that could just be courting disaster, and dooming us all to a long run of futility. We don't have the prospects in our system to generate trade offers with value. The free agent market is uninspiring at best. The starting rotation and the everyday lineup are best described as representing "a wing and a prayer." And, as of right now, the Brewers, Cubs and Reds are simply better than we are. There is nothing the Cardinals could do between today and the start of Spring Training that can alter all of that. So they shouldn't try.

The impulse is for the Cards to do something...anything. But that impulse is dead wrong in this case. It doesn't even make sense to trade Rolen or Edmonds. Maybe, if they can be productive during the season they could rehabilitate some of their value by the time the trade deadline comes up, and that would represent the best-case scenario for the Cards (and for my mental health.)

As much as it pains me to say it, I think it would be a mistake to trade Rasmus in a package for Bedard. I like Bedard a lot, but he cannot save the Cards 2008 season. (He can make it suck less, but that is not the same thing.) Rasmus could be an important piece for years to come, or he may not. But that is a risk the Cards have to take, especially if they are really going to commit to the player development model.

So, were I advising Mozeliak I'd say, "Try to sign Colon for a year, and sit tight. Don't be pressured into making a dumb move just because you are new to the job. We probably won't be very good this year, and that is okay."

Half of me thinks that is exactly what Mozeliak will do, and the other half of me is waiting for something incredibly stupid that will doom the Cards to a decade of mediocrity.

Glad to Have Barton....but...

more so if his arrival were not heralded by so many potential BCTP posts I hardly know where to start:

not-insignificant power...poor-man’s Ray Lankford...useful player...gives the Cardinals different “looks”...isn’t afraid to get plunked...Busch Stadium will make this man a cult hero.

It's late so we'll start from the end and work our way back....

God Makes A Reappearance

Just when I thought Cardinals fans would forever be forsaken....

The Cardinals have decided to release So Taguchi, ending the outfielder's six-year tenure as a member of the St. Louis organization.

Taguchi was let go in order to clear space on the 40-man roster, which had been at full capacity. By opening up a spot, the Cardinals are now able to make a selection in the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning at baseball's annual Winter Meetings.

And with that pick in the Rule 5 draft we selected Brian Barton. Here is Get Up, Baby's take on Barton:

As a late-blooming, fast outfielder with not-insignificant power and a good on-base percentage, Barton reminds me the most of Matt Lawton, with the optimistic projection being some kind of right-handed poor-man’s Ray Lankford. Ah, the Ray Lankford stamp of approval–that lets you know that I am optimistic about Brian Barton. The main concern, besides his gimp knee, is that that on-base percentage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be–take a look at those hit by pitch totals! But even if you cut them in half he gets on base plenty.

Barton’s not a star in the making, but he’s got the potential to be an extremely useful player, even a starter, and with the current makeup of this team he gives the Cardinals different “looks”, as sportswriters are so fond of saying. As a fast outfielder who isn’t afraid to get plunked, one thing is certain: Busch Stadium will make this man a cult hero.

A hero of any sort would be nice, but Barton is already a hero to me since his arrival meant the departure of Taguchi.

Rolen Mania

Most of the things I read about the Rolen trade situation focus on the Cards perspective (how much salary to eat, what we need in return, etc). To the extent the other GM's viewpoint is taken into account, it's whether Rolen is healthy and will return to earlier offensive form.

I haven't seen much, if anything, on the other simple and obvious complicating factor that he may be a headcase. It's kinda, sorta said in a roundabout way. I guess since he doesn't mouth off in front of the camera, the enigma factor remains. But any GM has to take it into account if they are thinking about acquiring Rolen - the guy is 0-2 in getting along with managers. Maybe it's no big deal because he never loafs, but do you really want to gamble with a guy coming off injuries and sub-par seasons who doesn't appear to have been happy on a club where in 5.3 seasons he won four division titles, four NLDS, two pennants and a World Series ring?

I don't know what he does or does not get in the way of respect from La Russa in the clubhouse and really don't give a shit, but it sure as hell seems like there is no respect from him towards the guy who has skippered the team to a fuckwad of success (it's a technical term, you can look it up elsewhere) since 2000. Tony may micro-manage and I piss and moan about him sometimes too, but at some point you have to accept that when we look back on the La Russa era-Cards, it is pretty much as a good run of Cardinal baseball as our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers ever got to witness. Put another way. It sucks to be a Tampa Bay fan.

Say What?!?!?

This may be the only thing that surprises me more than 9 wins and a BCS bid. I never thought I would see this day come for Illini football recruiting:

There's one small problem with Illinois' remarkable Rose Bowl-tinted success.

There might not be enough scholarships to accommodate all of the recruits who want to become Illini....

...With 22 oral commitments on their current list -- and room for perhaps 10 more -- the Illini are in the unprecedented position of having to express their condolences to recruits who are recruiting Illinois.

"They're turning down guys right now that, a year ago, they would have been jumping up and down to get," said Jeff Johnson, Rivals.com's Illinois recruiting expert.

I need a Kleenex. And not to wipe away the tears of joy....

Isn't It About Time For Rolen To Man Up?

Or is he just gonna continue to be the world's biggest pussy?

Let's face it, it is an open question if he will ever get over his shoulder problems. His bat looked slow all last season, and he was even a little erratic in the field trying to compensate for something. As is he seems to be an average number seven hitter, someone who can get a hold of the occasional mistake made by a pitcher, and not in any way, shape or form "protection" for Pujols.

Given that, what more can Rolen expect from this organization? They have got a shit load of money invested in this player who will never, dollar for dollar, deliver the production one would expect. So La Russa sits him after he looks like utter crap at the plate, so what? Lots of players who look like utter crap at the plate find themselves left off of the lineup card. Scott Rolen gets all the respect he should need every time he cashes a paycheck.

So, shut up and play ball...if you still can.

It's Sad....

...When the only thing Cards fans seem to have to look forward to this winter is the resigning of So Taguchi.

Great.

Don't Worry About That Trigger

Five Minutes Ago on the P-D website:

Cabrera and Willis to Detroit for a six player package.

What Am I Missing Here?

Got this from the PD today discussing a potential trade of Scott Rolen to Florida:

The Cardinals may wait until the Florida Marlins resolve the status of third baseman Miguel Cabrera before acting.

...

Cabrera would fit the Cardinals’ need for Rolen’s replacement. However, all discussions have begun and ended with center field prospect Colby Rasmus, whom the Cardinals so far have deemed untouchable.

This makes it sound like Florida might accept a Rolen/Rasmus for Cabrera deal. It that is true.....

JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER ALREADY!!!!!WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!ARE YOU MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!

And I'd add:

AUGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It especially hurts when the only other deal mentioned is one for the Brewer's Chris Capuano. Don't we already have 6 or 7 Capuano's in our organization. Do we really need yet another lefty with 15+ loss potential?

It's Bitter, Not Bittersweet

I know the BCS is always complete and utter shit, but it still rankles that Illinois and Kansas get BCS berths while Mizzou is stuck in a total crapola non-BCS Cotton Bowl with unranked(!) Arkansas. It is small consolation that the game is a New Years Day game that will feature the two best players in college football this year. It is a ridiculously boring matchup and Missouri deserved better.

It especially sucks that Kansas gets rewarded for their special-Olympics style schedule (although one could say the same about Ohio State as well.) It says something when the number one team in the nation can lose its conference title game to the team that ends the season at #4 in the BCS, and the former #1 drops entirely out of the BCS series matchups.

It says the entire system is a joke and Ohio State and LSU aren't really playing for dick.

UPDATE:

This is from Burwell at the PD:

Of course it doesn’t make sense. You know it, I know it, even the doofuses who continue to perpetrate this idiotic Bowl Championship Series system have to know just how fatally flawed and hopelessly messed up their multi-million dollar scam is.

So Sunday night was just one more bit of annoying confirmation of how defective the BCS is.

From the broad national perspective, to the narrower parochial one, I truly hate it with all my heart. But since sports is very much like politics -- everything is local -- let’s deal with how Mizzou got robbed Sunday night by the BCS and its convoluted computers.

Missouri finished its finest season in the history of the program with an 11-2 record, won the Big 12 North, knocked off both arch rivals in Kansas and Illinois, and the Tigers finished with a No. 6 ranking in the final BCS standings.

Logic says the Tigers had to get a BCS bowl bid, right?

So why are they sitting on the outside of the BCS with an invitation to the still prestigious (but non BCS) Cotton Bowl, while five other schools that ranked lower in the BCS standings -- including the 8th-ranked Jayhawks and 13th-ranked Illini -- received bids to the more preferred BCS bowls?

...

By the time the Fox network BCS bowl selection show began at 7 p.m., Rucker and his teammates had already left the building. They couldn’t bear to watch it. They had been instructed to take the high road and go with the company line that they’re “excited” to be Cotton Bowl bound.

But Rucker, the senior who has seen Missouri football grow from inconsequential to important, couldn’t play the game. In the course of 48 turbulent hours, he’d watched his team go from No. 1 in the country with a legitimate shot at a national championship bid, to disappointed and disgusted outsiders with their noses pressed to the glass watching the BCS dance cards being handed out.

Someone asked if this obvious slight was further proof of how badly college football’s top division needs a playoff system to decide its national champions and perhaps prevent a situation like this where Mizzou was unjustly left on the outside looking in.

“I don’t know if you need a playoff system to see that it doesn’t make sense that one team (Illinois) lost three games and lost to you, and you only lost two games, and they’re going to a BCS game and you’re not,” said Rucker with a resigned shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t think we need a playoff system to understand that, do we?”

You could see the disappointment in their faces as the players got the official word and most of them quietly left the alumni center without saying a word. “I have a bunch of players who have a bunch of frowns,” said Pinkel.

Of course they have frowns. They were screwed over and left to play in a game they can gain absolutely nothing by winning. And trust me...the Tigers will not show up ready to play, and why should they? What are you going to tell them? That they are gonna be rewarded for their effort? They already know that is bullshit.

Double Shot BCTP

"One of us shall remain an unnamed pasty, ballless prick. The other is on the left."

As a shout out to JoMo in a dreadful off-season let me offer up these gems:


General Manager: "We're negotiating in good faith."

Translation: His agent is a prick.



Agent: "A lot of clubs have expressed interest"

Translation: He received several nice Christmas cards from ex-managers.

That's Just Not Right

Today the New York Times, on its front page no less, compares Missouri's being #1 in college football polls to Albania winning the World Cup.

Oh, I think that's the media ref throwing a flag for unnecessary belittling!

The appropriate analogy would have been Ecuador winning the World Cup. You can't really see them winning it all, but you can see them getting to the final tournament at least. From that point its improbable but not impossible.

Albania winning the World Cup would be more like Akron winning the BCS Bowl, or the Blues winning a Stanley Cup. Theoretically possible...but in the world we actually lnhabit simple nonsense.

I've Got Nothing

Thanks to El Birdos I've now got a new way to waste time. Just what I needed.

I'm Gonna Bitch & Moan

...Because that's just what I do.

Great, Mizzou won. I'm quite happy about it. They were CLEARLY the best team and it was well deserved.

The officiating crew, however, should be stripped naked and staked to ant hills. It was as if they were single handedly determined to keep Kansas in the game. The final total on penalties was 14 on Missouri (140 yards) to 2 on Kansas (25 yards). This doesn't count at least three penalties on Mizzou that were declined by Kansas. If Missouri looked at a Kansas player the flag was thrown. But, magically, Maclin getting lit up by a safety a full second before a pass arrives doesn't call for a flag, and a very dangerous block from behind below the knees gets "missed." Not to mention that twice Missouri was called for ticky-tack "retaliation" penalties after Kansas cheap shots. A solid 50% of the calls were made by the same white-haired asshole, I mean linesman, I pointed out at halftime.

It pisses me off because I didn't just want to beat Kasas, I wanted to humble them.

Halftime (Crap)

Well, that was a series of missed opportunities to bury Kansas. I should have known things would not go smoothly when Maclin twice should have gone for TD's on returns and first he trips over his own blocker and, second, relies on his blocker to put the punter down...which his blocker fails miserably at. Ugh.

Still....Missouri has been much the best to this point, even with some shoddy play calling. (Shouldn't you throw beyond the sticks on fourth and one?!?) Plus, Kansas got the benefit of some questionable decisions, including a truly horrible personal foul call against Missouri. Oh, and I'm calling it. The near side linesman has to be a Kansas alum because his work has been pretty damn bad and anti-Mizzou in effect.

I'll take 14-0, but it could/should have been 24-0. Here is to hoping that it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass.

Okay, I'll Give You That I'm An Idiot

Remember back when I was proud because I predicted the score of the Missouri/Ole Miss game to within a single point? Remember, also, back when I predicted a 7-5 campaign for the Tigers? Well, I long for those nice simple days.

Today I woke up at 6AM and wasn't able to get back to sleep because I'm excited about the "big game" which was 13 hours away at that point. (Trust me, the over/under on my being asleep on a Thanksgiving Holiday Saturday is usually set at 11AM...with the smart money on the over.) I'm just getting over the flu, so it isn't as if I can start making bloody marys to take the edge off. (Are mimosas more soothing on the stomach?) So, I'm sitting here fidgeting, watching the clock and waiting while the acid begins to build in my gut.

I'll say this though: I've seen Mizzou play a few times, and I've seen Kansas twice. Mizzou should win this one handily. Back in August I predicted 41-17 Missouri, and that should be about right...except everything is different now. The stakes are not just about the big rivalry game, and I worry the Tigers will not react well. But Kansas hasn't been in this position either.

Besides, it is high time Kansas got payback for 1960.

And, for no particular reason, here is a photo of Miss America/Miss Universe from 1960. C'mon Mizzou! Let's do it for her too!

Is That LSU? No, It's Just The Latest Turd Down the Toilet.

"The odds don't lie. A fetching young Farrah Fawcett is going to be visiting my bed tonight.

As a man who is officially dumber than Mel Kiper Jr. once said in an obscure blog comment:

But I feel it in my bones that someone is going to be left out and the whole notion of a title game will be a farce, yet someone will have walked away having 'earned' the national championship on the field.

At least for the next 20 hours or so Kansas is in the drivers seat, with Mizzou in a disturbingly advantageous position. Those words sound as strange to me as the ones from The Great American Novel, "Farrah peeled away the bright red swimsuit, thrust her taut nipples into the face of her 12 year old steed and....quivering....lowered her hips onto his waiting, uh, make that his not-too-distant semblance of manhood...."

Sure, it's late on a holiday weekend night and I've plenty on board but if two congnacs and a bottle of chianti have me believing in fairy dust, Jesus, or The Skunk Ape then I can't be blamed for my disorientation knowing that Mizzou is playing a game in late November that could keep them in the National Championship hunt and the Illini are bizarrely in a potential position for a BCS Bowl Game. Hey, even a horny 12 year old in 1978 would have bet that he'd fuck Farrah before Mizzou and the Illini would both be in this position. Oh, and the 12 year old's fantasy position for Farrah would have been doggy with a loooooooong reach around to tune the radio dial on those spiky nips (yeah, that's for you Walt). That should get GASL back into the X rating area....

New GM, Same Ol' Deck-Chair Reshuffling

The PD gives us this news:

John Mozeliak reached outside the organization for the first time as Cardinals general manager Monday.

The club signed free-agent catcher Jason LaRue as the backup to Yadier Molina and added depth by agreeing with starting pitchers Dewon Brazelton and John Wasdin on minor-league contracts.

LaRue assumes the roster spot held by Gary Bennett the past two seasons. Brazelton, a former first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Wasdin will bring major-league experience to the Memphis Redbirds rotation.

Well thank goodness...I was really starting to worry about that Memphis starting rotation.

I don't have any problem with the LaRue signing, actually. He might never recover offensively, but he can't be all that different from the dynamic tandem of Bennett & Stinnet.

Yes I Noticed

I've been trying not to get too excited about Tiger football...but it is becoming increasingly difficult. Thanks to the Illini beating Ohio State and Arizona beating Oregon last night, Mizzou "controls their own destiny" vis-a-vis the National Championship. This is, of course, just crazy talk: the mad ravings of a lunatic who doesn't realize that the University of Missouri is a perpetual so-so basketball power and a laughingstock in the world of college football.

But the fact remains, if Mizzou can beat Kansas St. tomorrow, Kansas next week, and Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game, there is no way they will not finish in the BCS Top 2.

So this is what it is like.

I think I'll need some Rolaids.

BCTP Continued

"Bud Smith's 75 mph heater is on the roster, right?"

Manager: "He's 'sneaky-quick'."

Translation: There is no objective measure by which this guy can be said to have a fastball, yet sadly he still isn't the rag arm of our staff.

Ebbsfleet United FC?

Who or What or Where, in the name of all thats holy, is Ebbsfleet?

MyFootballClub has agreed a deal in principle to purchase a controlling stake in Ebbsfleet United FC. Placed 9th in the Conference, Ebbsfleet United FC is one promotion from reaching the Football League for the first time in its history.

MyFootballClub members will also have the option to buy 100% of the football club in the future for a fixed price.

Funds will be made available to Liam Daish during the January transfer window to help the club push towards the play-off places.

Southlandish brought us the word about MyFootballClub way back when, and now they have gone and done something. Good luck to them. I thought about chipping in, but I didn't think I could sell the wife on the idea.

I know, I know, isn't owning a stake in an English Conference soccer club everyone's dream?

Would That The World Actually Worked This Way

From the Onion:Tampa Bay Devil Rays Change Name, Uniform, Sport

TAMPA BAY, FL—Tampa Bay Devil Rays officials announced Monday that the team will be shortening its name to the "Tampa Bay Rays," that their updated uniforms will feature a blue-and-white color scheme accented by orange rays of sunshine, and that they are now a minor-league hockey team in the Florida Panthers system. "We tried the combination of calling ourselves the Devil Rays, wearing purple-and-black uniforms, and playing the sport of baseball for 10 years, and it just didn't work out," said Rays goalie Carl Crawford, noting that it was time to move the franchise away from its association with the distinctly shaped sea-dwelling mammal, the diabolical connotations of their team nickname, and the practice of hitting and catching baseballs. "These changes will make our team more marketable, triple our fan base, and finally, give us a realistic chance to win. I can't wait to get back on the ice!" The Tampa Bay Rays will play their first game of the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League season tomorrow night against their in-state expansion team rivals, the Miami Ice Dolphins.

It's funny because it should be true.

A Bridge Too Far

"Oh baby! A couple more hands like this and you'll be seeing me on ESPN's Extreme Bridge Smackdown 2007."

Can no sport be free of scandal? Next thing you know, Putt-Putt Golf will be investigating match fixing accusations:

In the genteel world of bridge, disputes are usually handled quietly and rarely involve issues of national policy. But in a...brouhaha over an anti-Bush statement...a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month is facing sanctions, including a yearlong ban from competition, for a spur-of-the-moment protest.

At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that was held up at an awards dinner and read, “We did not vote for Bush.”

By e-mail, angry bridge players have accused the women of “treason” and “sedition.”

After two years of being rocked by doping allegations, I'm not sure Bridge can survive this and remain a top American spectator sport.

A Little Ron Zook Context

"FU UF!"

For what it's worth, here's some interesting information on Zook at Florida in an article at InsideIllini.com (H/T to The Goat):

The truth is, Ron Zook always has been a terrific coach. His first two years at Florida were his first ever as a head coach after 25 plus years as an assistant. It takes a little time to make that transition and you make some mistakes. But that apparently was enough to convince some folks that he couldn't coach.

People apparently didn't notice that at Florida, he didn't inherit one player who went on to become a fulltime NFL starter? Not one. At Florida? Yet he still got to two Outback Bowls and finished 6-2 in the SEC both of his full years. Then he rebuilt that program into one with a national championship roster. Plenty of those guys, by the way, already are starting in the NFL. And there are more to come.

Zook's SEC record at Florida -- despite that it was his first head gig, despite what he inherited and being fired midway through his third season -- was 16-8. Urban Meyer's three-year SEC record is 17-7, one game better.

Wow. Just Wow.

We pushed Ohio State's defensive line around and held possession of the ball for all but 74 seconds of the fourth quarter. Holy shit. Viagra has nothing on a win like that. Four hours?!? I'm at 40 and counting, baby....

Hall of Fame Quotage

"Children, gather around. You can learn a lot about life from sports."

What I wouldn't give to hear sports quotes like this in America. From the November 9 issue of The Guardian's The Fiver:

Rochdale manager Keith Hill is growing frustrated with his side's recent flaccid performances. "You can compare us at the moment to a bit of soft p0rn - there is an awful lot of foreplay but not a great deal going on in the box," he parped ahead of tomorrow's FA Cup game against Southend.

A Nice Tan Is The First Ten Pounds Of Any Decent Diet

I just signed a huge five year contract. Did you really think I was going to waste my off-season eating tofu and pumping iron?!?!

Time for another installment of The Baseball Cliché Translation Project. Fuck it. I'm not going to type that out every time. From here on out it's called BCTP.

Manager: "He is really showing us a lot in the early workouts"

Translation: He showed up at camp 40 pounds overweight.

The Baseball Cliché Translation Project

Even naive 10 year old Midwestern boys knew the Cardinals weren't going to win the pennant with my fastball. On the other hand, my penmanship is nothing if not stylish.


Since everyone should have something useless and unproductive to work on during the off-season (as opposed to the industriousness of drinking beer and watching baseball all summer), GASL is launching The Official Baseball Cliché Translation Project. See it's genesis here. This announcement will come as a surprise to the boss, IM, but what the hell.

I've already got about sixty baseball clichés assembled (real and fictional) and I'm going to post them over the off-season. If anyone has any to add, put them in comments. And we're off....

Manager: "He's just got a couple of things he needs to work on in the off-season."

Translation: His fastball and his off speed stuff.

Let's Get Into The Way Back When Machine

My arrival is as welcome to fans as Frankenstein's was to medieval villagers.

Surveying the wreckage that is the free agent market and the amount of payroll the Cards already have on the book, I was left with a sense of foreboding about any winter signings and I thought of an exercise a friend and I went through years ago. We assembled a list of baseball clichés and sportswriters musings and gave them translations into what they really meant. One popped into my mind as an indication of what I think we have to look forward to in the Hot Stove League:

"His bat speed is glacial, his defensive skills are deteriorating, but he
works hard and comes cheap."

Translation: We just signed Rich Gedman.

Dumber Than Mel Kiper Jr.

That is the phrase du jour at the Southlandish household after I mocked his preseason predictions. I must now bow to the genius that is Kiper in his Illini football prediction of seven or eight wins.

I'm in the same boat as IM, only with the words "Illini" and "bowl bid". Now I'm getting greedy and starting to hope for a bowl game here in Florida so I can go see them play.

I have no illusions about Saturday. Even though we have traditionally played well against the Buckeyes, we'll be mauled. But if we could bounce back and beat Northwestern to close out an 8-4 season, I'll be nothing short of dumbfounded. And to think we had a very real chance to win in all three of our losses to date. That's just crazy.

In other random thoughtlessness:

- No great opinion on the Mo GM position or LaRussa's re-upping for the Cardinals. There is so much work to be done that I don't know where to start to make this club competitive next year. Every time I begin to think about it, I simply give up in despair.

- It's been fun watching Favre lead the Packers to a 7-1 start. That Monday night Denver game was a helluva finish! I see where the traditional Thanksgiving game at Detroit will be against the Pack. That will make for a fun day of grilling turkey, watching football and splashing in the pool. Yes, I am going to rub that in since it has been hotter than ass here since April. We are finally seeing some glorious weather and coming out of our air conditioned hibernations for the first time since early Spring.

- nothing much else on the sporting front is grabbing me these days. Watching some MLS Cup matches (sorry about the DC United flame out, IM) and quite a few Premiership and Champions League games with a bit of the odd La Liga, Serie A & Bundesliga match thrown in. But since I generally don't actually root for anyone except the underdog, there's no passion involved, not that that's a bad thing. Pissing and moaning about the Cards and Illini have already taken untold years off my life so I'm not sure if or when I'll get around to finding a European club to support. Until Real Collinsville FC United launches, the MLS will also remain something enjoyable to watch but nothing that causes me ulcers.

- The next big thing on the horizon is the Illini basketball team and there is a conspicuous "we'll have to wait and see" feeling among the Illini fans I talk to.

No Words

I've no idea what to do with myself these days. I find myself doing things I've never dreamt of doing in the past, like looking at the BCS rankings with a legitimate rooting interest; coming up with scenarios where Mizzou is playing for the National Championship; writing sentences that include the words "Mizzou" and "National Championship" and DON'T include the words "fat chance."

I would have loved dearly to watch the Colorado game this weekend...as would anyone who lived through the "fifth down" game, but it has been almost as much fun to read the aftermath of it all. Mizzou's beatdown on the Buffs didn't get the press that the Jayhawks dropping 76 on Nebraska did, but it was the Tigers who had the better day. Hell, if it wasn't for two miscues (one by the offense, the other on special teams) Mizzou might have shut Colorado out. For a defense that was finding its way early on this season, that is huge.

Now it is Texas A&M at home and Kansas State on the road. And then........

No. I'll just hold off on thinking that far ahead.

The Death Of God

Something else to ponder while you are wondering how any just and loving God could allow the Boston Red Sox to be the winningest team of the new millennium:

The guys at Fark.com had this take on college football: “Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, rivers and seas boiling, forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, and human sacrifice: Missouri and Kansas ranked in the AP top 10. MASS HYSTERIA.”

Something is SERIOUSLY wrong here.

Annoyed

One of these days I will feel like I have the financial wherewith all to purchase season television packages for MLS, the NHL, and MLB. Right now I enjoy XM radio broadcasts of Cards and Blues games...but it has limitations. I don't feel the limitations on baseball too much because the Cards make it onto national TV fairly often, and you can follow baseball pretty well on radio. You can always tell how the Cards are playing.

Hockey is a bit of a different story. Following the Blues on radio is okay, but you get a better feel for how they are playing if you can actually see the game. So, while I've listened to 4 of the 5 games the Blues have played I don't have a feel for how good they are. (Although I'm enjoying the 4-1 record very much.) I thought I would get my chance to evaluate the team this weekend as the Blues are playing Minnesota and I live in the Minneapolis TV market.....but no such luck. The game isn't televised locally. (WTF?)

It is enough to leave me with a headache.

Breaking Magpie News!!!!

From BBC:

Notts County boss Thompson sacked

And lucky me sharing a blog with one of the three people on the entire planet who has, I assume, an informed opinion on the subject. Ahhh, isn't the internet wonderful. Two State-side Midwestern boys separated by 1500 miles, yet somehow connected via a shitty League Two English soccer team.*

*Take this post as an indication of how excited I am about the Seinfeldesque Pineiro signing - he's probably as serviceable a fifth starter as you'll find......not that there is anything wrong with that.

IM here:

I think you can take this quote from the BBC story as an indication of how things were going for Thompson:

"We have taken the action we believe is necessary to rectify the situation," chairman John Armstrong-Holmes said.

"I want to thank Steve for assembling what I believe is the best squad of players we have had at County for six or seven season."

Translation: "With this squad how are you sitting in 19th place in the table? How are you getting waxed by the likes of Wycombe? You bloody great pillock."

For a team that, until a late season swoon, had thoughts about possible promotion last spring their form has been truly abysmal. If you don't want to admit you made a mistake in your signings, sacking the manager is the best option. My own expectations would have had them closer to 20 points after 11 games, instead of their present 11 points.

Oh well. It might get worse before it gets better.

Shhhh, David Beckham Is Still Alive

The lack of excitement/hype about Beckham as the Galaxy have made a playoff run has been interesting (a relief), but let's face it, as the Rockies this year and the Cardinals last year demonstrate, a shitty team on a roll can be unstoppable so The Galaxy have to be taken seriously if they slip in. With Beckham, all bets are off. It may be tempting to say that his addition would be a disruption to the win streak (see Briana Scurry v. Brazil) but the Galaxy/Bulls match in August showed how, at a fraction of top form, he could still control a game, notwithstanding the loss and Angel's stellar performance. Everything about that match flowed from his presence. If he can lift an underperforming squad of England's best to play better in the European Cup qualifiers then you have to believe that he would be the ultimate wildcard on a mediocre MLS squad facing off against the big boys in the post-season. The lull in hype has been a blessing, but I'm hoping the Galaxy make the dance and Beckham gets to play again.

I say that for three reasons:

1) I never got to see the 1967 Cardinals. Gibson took a liner off his ankle that shattered it and left him out for a couple of months. Early views were that the team would fold. Instead they ran away with the pennant. In an unfair mismatch Gibson dominated the Sox in the Series that cemented his position as a great clutch player.

If LA make it, they may have proven they don't NEED Beckham but you have to marvel at the advantage it could hand to them.

2) Some poor bastard is going to end up on the bench. To paraphrase what I believe was a story related by Halberstam in Summer of 49, a young Yankee (maybe Henrich or Keller) had stepped into DiMaggio's shoes while he was injured and tore it up, hitting .350 or so. The first day DiMaggio was available, he was back in the lineup and the replacement was on the bench with tears in his eyes. The manager (McCarthy?) walked up and put his arm around him and said, 'Son, you played great and your day is coming but that is the greatest player I have ever seen and if he is healthy, he's playing."

3) I think it would make for some damned exciting soccer.

A Pineiro In The Hand Is Worth???

Here is to hoping that Joel Pineiro is worth every penny: 2-year deal will keep Pineiro here

Last month Joel Pineiro couldn't wait to test the free agent market. By Monday morning he decided the market could survive without him for another two years.

Providing a degree of certainty for himself and the suddenly aggressive Cardinals, the pending free agent agreed to a two-year, $13 million contract that ensures a degree of depth for a starting rotation under renovation.

"I was going to test the market and see how it is," said Pineiro, who last winter accepted a one-year, $4 million contract with the Boston Red Sox that he thought offered an opportunity to start or close but actually did neither. "But there's no reason for it."

Pineiro, 29, was 6-4 with a 3.96 ERA in 11 starts after the Cardinals acquired him Red Sox in a July 31 non-waiver deadline deal. He struck out 40 against only 12 walks in 63 2/3 innings with the Redbirds. A throwaway to the Red Sox, he became a link to credibility for a rotation that never found its legs during a third-place season.

"St. Louis gave me that chance in July. They took a chance on me," Pineiro said. "That meant a lot to me personally. Everything else just clicked from there."

Pineiro receives a $500,000 signing bonus, $5 million in 2008 and $7.5 million in 2009.

Given that you can never tell how the free agent market is going to go, I don't have a problem with the Cards going with Pineiro. He pitched well down the stretch, even after most of the other Cards lost interest in the season. If he can eat up some innings he should certainly be able to fill the role that a Jeff Suppan did on this club.

Of course, other big questions remain, like are we going to get an outfield bat or not? The answer better be "yes" or the Cards will be looking up at Chicago and Milwaukee (and maybe even Cincy) for years to come.

Hardware

So....DC United has won the supporters shield for the best regular season record in MLS. For some, this is the only accomplishment that matters:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

As far as I’m concerned, we’re done. In a real league, we are the champions.

I'm as much of a Eurosnob as the next U.S. soccer fan, but it doesn't feel done to me. I like postseason tournaments (in all sports), so I don't see why MLS should be any different. (If we had a twenty team league I'd be clamoring for a single table louder than anyone...but I still wouldn't have a problem with a postseason.)

I view the "Supporter's Shield" the same way I view the "President's Trophy," it's a nice thing for the trophy case but if you lose in the postseason it don't mean much. I think back to the Blues in the 1999-2000 season and I don't remember much about the 114 point regular season. I still see the opening round loss to San Jose in my nightmares.

So, the regular season success has been nice, but it is time to get to work.

Time To Take A Deep Breath

"...relax and enjoy it." Bobby Knight, 1988

Since my comments bitch about Ron Zook yesterday, I've read Kevin McCarra's blog post in The Guardian on his overachieving Scots in the European Cup qualifiers and found a little perspective to apply to my view of the Illini season:

Who cares about explanations. Such things occur every so often and only an ingrate asks why. The abrupt return of hope is agonising now that Scotland have become quite good and are abruptly back on the verge of achievement. What else is there to do but join my melancholic countrymen in taking it for granted that the side must suffer a pratfall in Georgia tomorrow?

That's the Celtic soul in a nutshell and it reminded me of my favorite passages, a reflection on The Dying Gaul by Thomas Cahill in How the Irish Saved Civilization:

Fixity escaped these people, as in the end it escapes us all. They understood, as few have understood before or since, how fleeting life is and how pointless to try to hold on to things or people.

They pursued the wondrous deed, the heroic gesture: fighting, fucking, drinking, art –- poetry for intense emotion, the music that accompanied the heroic drinking with which each day ended, bewitching ornament for one’s person and possessions.

All these are worth pursuit, and the first, especially, will bring the honor great souls seek. But in the midst of this furious swirl of energy lies a still point of detachment.

...The face of the Dying Gaul speaks for them all: each one of us will die, naked and alone, on some battlefield not of our own choosing. My promise of undying faithfulness to you and yours to me, though made with all solemnity, is unlikely to survive the tricks that fate has in store – all the hidden land mines that beset human life.

So I am just going to live in the moment with the Illini and appreciate their season for the pleasant surprise it is.....Ah, fuck it. Who am I kidding? Saturday, I am going to be uptight, bitching about every other play call, throwing tantrums worthy of a four-year old over the officiating and pleading with pantheons of gods to deliver an improbable and undeserved victory. Come to think of it, for me, that is enjoying the Illini....

"Missed It By THAT Much"

I said I wouldn't get worked up if Mizzou lost at Oklahoma...after all it's Mizzou...at OKLAHOMA.

Still...the game was there for the taking. You've got a lead going into the fourth quarter, against a team you had been out gaining (at that point pretty badly), you sort of don't expect to fall behind 17 points. Ugh.

Of course it could have been worse. Like a road loss to a dismal conference foe who hadn't played well in years. Now, that would have sucked.

Kudos

Usually I take time in this blog to bitch about things I don't like, but the time has come to offer praise. Although I was completely skeptical going into the postseason, I have found TBS's coverage of the baseball playoffs excellent. The in-studio segments are interesting and the PBP guys have been more interested in calling the game then in acting like buffoons, as we seen on some other network telecasts. (I'm looking at you Buck and McCarver.) TBS will even forgo the occasional between inning commercial break to go back to the studio for some analysis on what we are seeing in the game. For those who love the intricacies of baseball, and I do, that makes for a highly enjoyable baseball watching experience.

It is especially refreshing after spending years watching Fox's baseball coverage, where the executives decided early on that what baseball telecasts really need is plenty of dancing robots.

Uncharted Territory

To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now. I sat down on Saturday night to watch my Tigers lose a heart-breaker on national television. BOOM! Mizzou scores TD's on its first two possessions and goes up 14-0. Then I see (as usual) the refs screw Mizzou twice, missing a TD catch and then claiming they couldn't see it on replay either, and I thought "Here comes the collapse." BOOM! We blow them out the rest of the way.

There are long standing patterns of behavior that I am finding it difficult to shed. I knew Mizzou had a chance to win (although I predicted a 1 point Husker victory), but I thought they would scrape by at best. But, this season at least, Nebraska is not in Mizzou's weight class. Count me happy but confused by my new surroundings.

So next week it is No. 11 ranked Mizzou versus No. 6 Oklahoma.

Man, does that sentence look weird to me.

Oskee Wow-Wow!

Talk about a 'Holy Shit!' Saturday afternoon. I cannot recall an Illini team in my lifetime that has dominated a ranked team on the ground. Most of my Illini life has been spent casting a greedy eye on the Michigan and Ohio State offensive and defensive lines, knowing that's probably the biggest reason why they are dominating year after year. From the P-D account of the game:

Illinois battered the Wisconsin defense for 289 rushing yards, led by Rashard Mendehall's 160, furthering the team's reputation as one of the top running teams in the country.....While the Illinois offensive line won its battle, the defensive front and the rest of the defense met a challenge Zook issued. Facing an offense that had become prolific in its running game, the Illini stuffed P.J. Hill, holding him to 83 yards on 21 carries, with 30 coming on one run.

I doubt if you have ever seen IM and Southlandish both so happy at this point in the same college football season. He was predicting a Mizzou swoon mid-season, but he was also predicting a tight Nebraska game, if I recall correctly. I'm already beyond my early season expectations, though I haven't yet checked Champaign's weekend police blotter to see how many assault charges have been filed against team members. Looks like I'll be posting the Chief until we lose. Ever the optimist, I've got five more days to enjoy this.

Happy To Be Wrong

I had forgotten just how good it feels to be in a big game, let alone pull out the win. I don't know who the dumbass was who denigrated this teams chances to play winning football:

Personally, I am going to declare the season a success if the Illini win three games, one of which is in the conference...

We can play three weeks of shitty football and STILL be at .500. All is not perfect, however. The Cubs are in the playoffs and I'm not silly enough to believe my Illini have a snowman's chance in hell of upsetting the Badgers this weekend, even at home. But I'm happy to be wrong.

Mizzou Can't Lose...

...mostly because they don't play this weekend, but they are sitting at #20 in polls and the win over the Illini looks better all the time.

Of course, Mizzou fans have been here before of late and the fall usually comes fast and furious. My prediction was for the Tigers to lose by a single point next week in the nationally televised game against the Corn#$ckers, and I'll stand by that. Mizzou has been surprisingly resilient but as erratic on offense as ever.

At least I have a week to enjoy the lofty heights. Next week it is off the cliff we go.

Ouch!

Goddammit Yadier, are you sure this is how I get the candy out?

A post on the Guardian's soccer blog had some harsh word's for Arsenal's striker, Emmanuel Adebayor:

Tis only a matter of time before those who lauded him so vociferously realise that his first touch has all the elan, grace and subtlety of a rapist.

The same words could apply to Chris "Dry Hump" Duncan and his left field antics, let alone any extracurricular ones. If only what happened in the clubhouse, stayed in the clubhouse.

We've Won Three Games!

Which is thinnest - stone soup, Kate Moss or the 2005 Illini depth chart?

Today's Post-Dispatch article on the Illini brings good news:

Will Davis (Defensive End-Illinois) is 4th in the country in sacks and isn't even a starter...Davis already has equaled Walker's team-leading sack total of 2006, and the Illini are focused on making their pass rush a team strength. That didn't seem possible in recent seasons. Illinois had 12 sacks in Zook's first season to rank 116th out of 117 teams. Last year the Illini pushed that number to 23, good for 82nd nationally. Seven players have at least one sack through four games, and a deep defensive line has helped keep players fresh.

"We bring a bunch of defensive linemen to play every game," Davis said. "So there's always a good rotation. Coach tells us to go full speed, and if you get tired you tap your head because we have a lot of people that can go in."

And this new-found depth brought some hysterical snark from The Goat:

"Depth?!? Ladies and gentlemen, I'm just a simple Illini fan. I've been in a coma since the 2002 Sugar Bowl and recently awoke. Your world frightens and confuses me! I don't understand these complicated terms."