More Bullshit In Washington

No, its not more political posturing. This time it is the sorry excuse for a back four that DC United insist on trotting out there every week. Try as I might, I don't believe United's problem defensively is that Quaranta and Gallardo don't track back.

The problem is our center backs who can't run, mark or jump. They are a triple threat.

A keeper who is seriously lacking in confidence doesn't help much either.

It's gonna be a long season if they don't sort this out quickly.

Bullshit In Washington (Shocking, I Know)

Alright, the vagaries of building sports stadia, while using at least some public funds to do it, is always a matter of political controversy. That is how it should be. Too many wealthy people already get too fat on the public trough. I get that.

What I dislike is the plethora of bullshit arguments that arise along with the more germane financial considerations. The Cupples station warehouses in St. Louis are the perfect example of this. When the Blues were looking for a place to build their new venue to replace the venerable, but decaying and rat infested, Arena, they found a great spot near to the existing Busch Stadium. There was plenty of unused land, the parking and road infrastructure was already in place, and not a single existing business had to be negatively impacted. Perfect, right?

Well, hold on there. Turns out there were old warehouses that hadn't been used in at least a decade sitting on the land. These, we suddenly were told, were of considerable architectural significance. Funny thing is Cardinals fans had been parking next to these things for years without thinking anything about them except, "Gee, that looks like a likely place to get mugged."

So, in the end, the Blues were kept from building in downtown St. Louis. (They eventually found a location and built in midtown...which is O.K. but not really the same thing in terms of adding to the downtown core of the city.)

Another funny thing happened when the Cardinals decided to replace Busch Stadium. They built on the same land the Blues had been eyeballing. Suddenly the Cupples warehouses...excuse me, that would be the still vacant Cupples warehouses, were knocked down without so much as a "by your leave." (I understand a couple of them were rehabbed into offices...but it isn't as if the Blues couldn't have done the same.) In effect, this rendered the earlier Cupples warehouse objection as complete and utter bullshit.

Now, I'm seeing some of the same bullshit in DC United's bid to build a stadium in the District.

A soccer stadium in Anacostia would be a splendid addition to Washington's resurgence as a sports town. But the city has no business paying for such a facility or grabbing riverfront parkland to build it.

...

Poplar Point is a national park, a place of remarkable beauty that could become a gateway to the river, a gathering spot for recreation and exploration of nature. In this divided city, the notion that an irreplaceable riverfront park is the right place for a stadium development would never pass the laugh test over in the affluent, white part of town. Grab a chunk of Rock Creek Park for a stadium and massive parking lots? The ultimate nonstarter. But in poor, black Anacostia, all politicians and developers have to do is keep reciting a mantra of "jobs, jobs, jobs," and maybe they can get away with a land grab of the most cynical kind.

Bullshit...and race baiting bullshit to boot.

I lived in DC for eight years, and Poplar Point is in no way, shape or form part of the landscape of that city's life. The neighborhood was too economically depressed and dodgy for it to be. Now, I'd agree that a soccer stadium doesn't get enough use to anchor a re-development plan (although I believe the writer of this deliberately low balls the actual use such a facility in our nation's Capital would generate.) But that is a larger problem involving the economic plans for the entire Anacostia community. It is disingenuous in the extreme to suggest that it is the role of DC United, or any sports franchise, to solve pre-existing social and economic problems as a prerequisite for building themselves a place to conduct their business.

The fact is, just like the Cupples warehouse in St. Louis, there are no other plans that would benefit the Poplar Point area in the offing. As such, there is no "land grab" as no one else to clamoring to use the area. It certainly isn't being used extensively as a recreation area.

It must also be remembered that there is popular support for the stadium in the affected community.

You know...the race baiting shit really pisses me off. It is easy for the author of a this piece, who probably lives in an area with violent crime stats like the following,



to tell people who live in an area with violent crime stats like this,




that their desires should be ignored, but don't act like you are doing them any favors. The only people who are enjoying the way Poplar Point is today are those rich people who are viewing it from the "right" side of the river.

Reason #45,877 ESPN Is Total Crap

What do the stupid assholes at ESPN have on the mother channel instead of showing all of us the U.S. playing England at Wembley?

Mike Golic eating tomato soup.

Really.

O.K. I Take That Back

Remember when I said the NHL was starting to call the game by the book? Well, you can scratch that, as the Goebbels and Himmler of officiating crews is making a mockery of the game tonight. This is what happens when you let bunch of no talent hacks make up the rancid cream of your officiating crews. They could never actually play the game with any skill themselves so they resent it when they see it on the ice. Therefore a negative defensive team like the fucking Red Wings is favored over the skilled Penguins. The result is hockey that is boring as pig shit.

These refs are nothing but a bunch of cocksuckers.

(I know, I know...thats from baseball movie...but it seemed to fit.)

ADDING:

The refs are also gonna have to decide if Franzen is a hockey player or a goddam china doll. I'm betting they decide he's a china doll.

And since when did Chris Osgood become such a flopper? There seems to be something about wearing a Detroit uniform that makes you a pussy.

Well, That's a Load Off My Mind

So you're worried about Georgia's kids selling your St. Louis Rams to owners who will hold the city hostage for a sweetheart new stadium deal, or a sweetheart new stadium, or move the team to parts unknown? You say you can't go through the heartbreak, not to mention the humiliation, of losing another NFL franchise? Well, don't you worry your pretty little head about it. Let Uncle Bernie make it all better:

— OK, so what are Chip and Lucia looking for in a potential owner? Answer: They would like a St. Louis-based buyer to emerge. They want someone who cares deeply about this community, someone who can network the politicians and the corporate bosses, navigate through stadium issues and keep the franchise in St. Louis. . . .

Chip Rosenbloom will try his best to find that happy ending. He'll try to do it to honor the memory of his mother and father, and he'll try to do it for the St. Louis fans. But sooner or later, Chip and Lucia will also have to take care of their own interests.

Oh, I see. Bernie has seen into Chip Rosenbloom's soul, and discovered he's a good guy. Excellent--those sorts of gut level calls always work out well. As far as I'm concerned, all Bernie has demonstrated here is that the new owners will do what's best for them--ie, take the largest offer. It's easy to spout all sorts of inanities about appreciation for what the city meant to his mother; about respecting her wishes; about blah, blah, blah--when you always add the caveat: "Of course, we will have to do what's best for us." That's essentially what's happening here.

Whether Chip is a decent fellow or not is irrelevant. If the best offer keeps the team in St. Louis, fine. If the best offer moves the team elsewhere, he might shed a tear or two, but he'll still take it.

I feel like, as a football city, we've just been given the dreaded vote of confidence. "St. Louis has my full support, for now"; Or how about, "St. Louis is our current football home and will remain so for the foreseeable future."

Such reassurances aren't worth the columns they're parroted in.

Cooper quits his day job.

Ignoring the time-honored cliche, MLS wannabe Jeff Cooper has quit his day job:

"It means that we are so close that I've gone full time on this project," Cooper said, "to push it across the finish line. I'm confident we'll get there. The whole time this has been a matter of passion on my part. Now, I've really put everything else aside, including the business I've built for the last seven or eight years."

Essentially, Cooper has gotten out of the law business and into the soccer business.

Cooper seems convinced that the deal is imminent. And if the soccer franchise doesn't work out, he can always try to lure the Rams across the river, right? (Everybody's talking about the new sport; funny but it's still foo-ootball to me.)

OMFG

Through one period of Game One of the Stanley Cup finals and the refs are not allowing the Red Wings to interfere off the puck, trip the goaltender, or hold Penguins up after they dump the puck in.

In other words, they are actually calling the game as the rulebook says they should.

Miracles do happen.

It probably bothered Ms. Young, too

This was the headline the Post-Dispatch chose for the game story about Thursday night's assault on the San Diego Padres: "Pujols: 'It did bother me.'" The headline for the same story on Stltoday.com was "Pujols: 'It's tough. It's real tough.'"

Let's look past the pronoun 'it,' lonely without any antecedent to claim for its own in either headline. Instead, let us ask ourselves whether the lede of this story should be El Hombre's reaction to his line drive hitting Padre pitcher Chris Young.

In the story's third paragraph, we learn that

The gruesome aftermath traumatized Pujols, who admitted having little desire for the remaining innings of his team's 11-3 win.

And we have to wait until the sixth paragraph to discover

Young suffered a fractured and lacerated nose but never lost consciousness. He was assisted from the field and taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he remained overnight.

Umm, I'm all for the hometown paper covering the hometown team from a hometown angle, but is Albert's losing the will-to-play-on really more important than the extent of Young's injuries? This is not to say that Pujols' reaction isn't important--it absolutely is. But the headline's job is to identify the story's core. I mean, hitting someone with a line drive might indeed be tough, but not, I suspect, nearly as tough as being hit by a line drive.

An Eternal Question

What do you do with a #4 draft pick?

Oh, you could go for the tried and true methods: A) Pick someone you declare the "best player available," or B) Pick a player who "fills a need for us at the position," or C) Pick a player you believe will sign for near the league minimum (I'm looking at you Cozma).

However, the Blues will have the opportunity to go off the board when the NHL Entry Draft rolls around. The Blues could attempt to corner the market...the Danish hockey player market that is. I'm suggesting the Blues take this guy:

It didn't take Mikkel Boedker long to adjust to the North American game.

Boedker, an 18-year-old from Denmark, traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in the fall to suit up for the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League.

The trip was a huge success for both Boedker and the Rangers.

Boedker has developed into one of the top prospects for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and his coach thinks he is one of the players most ready to step into the NHL next season.

"He's been outstanding," said Peter DeBoer, the Rangers' coach and general manager. "He's proven that he's a top-10 NHL pick. He might be as ready to step right into the NHL as any other forward in the world other than (Steven) Stamkos."

DeBoer admitted he wasn't sure what to expect when Boedker arrived. DeBoer was building a team that would challenge for the Memorial Cup and didn't have time for projects. But Boedker put those fears to rest by becoming an impact player for his team almost immediately.

"You never know how players are going to adjust when they come from different countries and different systems, but this kid is pretty special," said DeBoer, whose Rangers are playing host for May's Memorial Cup. "He's a big, strong kid. He doesn't play a typical European game."

The Blues already have a Dane in place with the signing of Lars Eller. Why not give the kid a playmate from the home country? We don't really need another top 5 defensive prospect (not really). We do have trouble finding the back of the net, and Boedker does look like one of the better non-Stamkos options available this time around.

So, I'm making it official. GASL requests...no goddam it...GASL demands the Blues select Mikkel Boedker.

Or not...we could totally go another way.

Don't Mess With Albert

The man's a wrecking ball:

It’s hard to imagine things getting worse for the hapless San Diego Padres.

They did.

One day after reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy was placed on the disabled list, pitcher Chris Young and catcher Josh Bard sustained injuries that knocked them out of Wednesday night’s 11-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Young and Bard were injured within a span of two batters in the third inning. Young had his nose broken and cut when Albert Pujols lined a shot off his face in the third inning that sent blood streaming down the front of his jersey. Bard sprained his left ankle on a play at the plate when Pujols slid into his leg.

“When I hit it, I thought it was going over his head,” Pujols said. “But it hit him right in the face. “There was blood all over the place and I began to pray about it and make sure it was all right.”

...

After a few minutes of sitting on the grass, Young walked off holding a bandage on his face with blood on the front of his jersey.

“It was a pretty tough night,” Pujols said. “After that, I couldn’t concentrate on my other at-bats. I kind of had flashbacks thinking about that at-bat.”

Pujols’ shot ricocheted to the left side of the infield for a single and loaded the bases with one out. After Cla Meredith replaced Young, Ludwick’s grounder knocked in one run and advanced the runners. Glaus then lined a single to right to score Miles to put St. Louis up 3-2.

Brian Giles’ throw arrived at the plate at the same time as Pujols, who slid and caught Bard’s left leg. Bard went down and stayed on the ground for a few minutes before he was helped off the field, dragging his leg.

“It’s a pretty tough night to take,” Giles said.

There was nothing dirty about the play at the plate. Bard got his foot in an awkward place and couldn't block the plate with the bulk of his body. Albert just slid over his outstretched foot which rolled pretty severely. I guess it isn't broken, but they are putting Bard on the DL anyway.

You don't like to see anyone get hurt, but if Albert was gonna have a night like this couldn't he have been playing the Cubs?

Don't Mess With Yadi

Yadier Molina is a bad man: Molina dispute may incur a penalty

A day after Yadier Molina shed his catcher gear and left it at home plate in apparent protest of an ejection, the Cardinals were still waiting to hear whether those actions would cost him any additional time out of his equipment.

"We'll hear something," manager Tony La Russa said. "It's not going to go unnoticed."

A Major League Baseball official said the league was looking into Monday night's incident in Milwaukee to determine whether it merited a penalty, which could range from a fine to a suspension, or both. Any ejection draws the same attention. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Tuesday night he had not spoken to anyone with MLB about Molina.

Molina said he not been approached to discuss the first ejection of his big-league career. He declined to say anything more.

The scary thing is if Yadi doesn't get you this gal might:



I'm sure Yadi himself is thrilled with the attention.

It's The Same The World Over

Ebbsfleet United, to which GASL has devoted comprehensive and thoughtful coverage beginning one year ago this week, took the FA Trophy on Saturday in a match against Torquay as the sporting world stilled to listen.

The BBC had a live stream via BBC Devon, which featured the Torquay announcers. Set aside, if you will, thoughts of the empty void that is this scribe's life given that he spent a goodly portion of his Saturday morning on English Conference soccer. I actually enjoyed listening to it despite the fact that I couldn't name a player on either club and the only thing I know about English Conference Football is that Ebbsfleet is fan owned and I stupidly failed to buy a share last year.

I was vaguely rooting for Ebbsfleet, weighing my scant knowledge of their club against the fact that I once drove through Torquay (frequently the deciding factor in who I root for in European soccer). So I hardly had enough passion to warrant wasting 90 minutes of my weekend on this. Yet, I kept listening. What made it enjoyable wasn't the match itself, which I could barely follow. Rather it was following the slow descent into despair of the Torquay announcers. Their club was the favorite and after Ebbsfleet snagged a late first half goal, their second half demeanor kept reminding me of something familiar that I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me. I was enjoying the English version of one of my favorite guilty pleasures -- following the emotional meltdown of a certain announcer as his team pisses away yet another game. I know taking delight in the suffering of legless diabetics is not on most top ten lists of virtuous behavior, but still....

Izzy & Dunc=Bad News

Its déjà vu all over again with Izzy. And as for Duncan, I got this e-mail today from The Goat.

From the Post-Dispatch:

MORE TIME FOR DUNCAN

Chris Duncan did not start Friday night's game but will be in the lineup the next three games, all against right-handed starters, La Russa said.

Duncan entered Friday riding a 0-for-11 skid that dragged his average down to .247. He pinch hit in the seventh inning and struck out swinging. Asked what Duncan needs to break his recent funk, La Russa said simply, "At-bats."

If Tony thinks he needs more at bats then I have one word for him...............MEMPHIS!!!!! How in the fuck can you sit Ludwick at this point?!?! Thankfully I'll be on a boat today and not paying attention to it.

NOTE FROM SOUTHLANDISH - The Goat Adrift on a Boat, hmmmmm. Paging Dr. Seuss.

Scooter Lite

I died so the Aaron Miles' of the world might plague baseball as heroes.*

I saved this quote the other day and knew it had a place in the Baseball Cliché Translation Project, I just couldn't figure out where:

Aaron Miles, an infrequent starter but valued by La Russa for his energy in day games...

Just when I was going to give up and throw it to the general public (our three weekly readers) for suggestions, it hit me. Phil Fucking Rizzuto's actual HoF Plaque:

Phil Rizzuto overcame his diminutive size to anchor a Yankees dynasty... The Scooter was a durable and deft shortstop, skilled bunter and enthusiastic base runner who compiled a .273 lifetime batting average....Upon retirement, he spent 40 years as a popular Yankees broadcaster.

For those keeping score at home "enthusiastic baserunner" had Rabbit Maranville turning over in his grave.....with joy. When Scooter's plaque was unveiled, Rabbit got the monkey off of his back as the HoF member most damned with the faintest of praise.

PLAYED MORE GAMES, 2153, AT SHORTSTOP THAN ANY OTHER NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYER. AT BAT TOTAL, 10078, SURPASSED BY ONLY ONE NATIONAL LEAGUER, HONUS WAGNER. MADE 2605 HITS IN 23 SEASONS. MEMBER OF 1914 BOSTON BRAVES "MIRACLE TEAM" THAT WON PENNANT, THEN WORLD SERIES FROM ATHLETICS IN 4 GAMES.

Of course, Rabbit harbored twin shames. He neither inspired alliteration on his HoF plaque - "durable and deft" - nor parlayed his mediocrity into a four decade career announcing. Aaron Miles, on the other hand, still has the chance to be the Moon Man of his generation....

The Tilling of Virgin Soil

An image that intimates nothing whatsoever of Southlandish's behavior after
the Card's 2008 inaugural win over the Cubs.....he is, after all, right handed.

There is nothing like a fresh start that each new season brings. Game one of the Cards/Cubs v.2008 is history and Skip Schumacker has hit a walk off home run. I would say more but I hav trbul typin wit 1 hnd....