Some notes, etc.
-The Sox won Contreras' debut. I can't get as hyped as this game as I'd like to. I only heard the last inning on my way home from work (I can, on clear nights, get ESPN 1000 on my car radio). Contreras only walked one guy and two earned runs, which are both nice, but I'm not impressed yet. The idea that the Sox pitching coaches can somehow fix Contreras, whereas the Yankees (a team with more resources than anyone else) couldn't... That's ludicrous. I don't know what is up with Contreras --maybe he really is a head case-- but, I doubt being on a team with a "strong Latin flavor" (as Kenny puts it) will help him. He's old. He's listed as being 32, but if you believe that, you'll believe anything.
-Washington isn't going to get a baseball team. Apparently, the date for announcing where the Expos were going was going to be around the ASB, but got pushed back to the owners meetings (in mid-August). Well, as it turns out, that date has moved past.
Supposedly (and I got this from Thom Levarro's appearance on the local sports radio station this week, so take that for what it's worth), during the ASB, Selig met with several union reps to discuss the Expos and accompanying him was Peter Angelos. The word here in Washington is that Angelos is not going for this thing and will not be bought out. I'm trying to locate all the resources that have bits of information (a Sunday NYT column has some info from it, I think), but I have to get ready for work. Anyway, it appears more and more likely that baseball in D.C. isn't going to happen. Wonderful.
-My favorite Bull is having problems. I know this is a baseball blog and all, but the Bulls are also a favorite of mine, so, allow me to digress for a minute.
Eddy Curry is my favorite player on the Bulls for a few reasons. For one, I tend to like underachievers because most of the time there are unreasonable expectations put on them. Eddy Curry, lest we forget, is barely out of his teenage years. But, everyone, from the minute he got into the league, expected him to be Shaq.
Also, Eddy Curry wears my number, two. It's dumb, but I like it.
Most importantly, though, Eddy's a Chicagoan. "This is where I want to be for the rest of my career, but people are trying to push me away. But this is my home, and this is where I want to stay," he said yesterday when asked about the team. Eddy really is a Chicagoan, though. He's a huge dude with a huge tattoo of the skyline on his shoulder. You've got to love that.
Anyway, another report (from Chad Ford of ESPN.com) says that Eddy (and Eddie Robinson) will be traded to Memphis for Stomile Swift and Bonzi Wells. This, of course, saddens me a great deal and frustrates me.
"According to sources around the league, Paxson has switched gears over the past week and now prefers to keep Chandler over Curry. Chandler has been in the Berto Center all summer working out, and according to sources in Chicago looks healthy and ready to resume playing. Chandler averaged 13 ppg and 9.3 rpg last season before a back injury stifled him throughout most of the season. "
While Tyson Chandler is more athletic and more aggressive defensively, he missed most of the season last year with a back injury. Why you would want to build around an injury-proned guy as opposed to one who still has more potential makes no sense to me. Also, Bonzi Wells had all kinds of character troubles in Portland, yet Eddy Curry is a bad character guy? Come on.
Too much of the time, Eddy Curry gets blamed for being the center(no pun intended) of the Bulls' woes. That's idiotic. The Bulls have a lot of problems. They have no shooting guard or small forward to speak of. The power forward is young with back troubles and the bench is full of overpriced guys (Eddie Robinson, Antonio Davis, etc.). Eddy is young, he's barely 21.
The problem, in my opinion, is Skiles and Paxson. Every mediocre front office person or coach in the history of sports has wanted players like himself. Tony LaRussa has an unhealthy fascination with utility infielders. Ozzie Guillen loves "small-ball." And, unfortunately, Skiles and Paxson like small "fundamental" (read: slow and unathletic) guards. Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, next year's starting backcourt, might as well be Skiles and Paxson, circa 1988. Chris Duhon, a Duke grad, was also drafted.
Gordon will be a fine player, but he's not the starting off-guard on a playoff team. He'll never be that. He's too small and can't drive to save his life. Hinrich is fine, but his dream is to be Steve Nash-lite.
So, the only way for the Bulls to get anywhere is to feed the big man. Let Eddy take off a little on the defensive end; he's an offensive force when he's on. Remember in 2002-2003, he led the NBA in field goal percentage.
Please, if anyone knows John Paxson, tell him not to trade Eddy Curry. That'll hurt the Bulls too much.
-Washington isn't going to get a baseball team. Apparently, the date for announcing where the Expos were going was going to be around the ASB, but got pushed back to the owners meetings (in mid-August). Well, as it turns out, that date has moved past.
Supposedly (and I got this from Thom Levarro's appearance on the local sports radio station this week, so take that for what it's worth), during the ASB, Selig met with several union reps to discuss the Expos and accompanying him was Peter Angelos. The word here in Washington is that Angelos is not going for this thing and will not be bought out. I'm trying to locate all the resources that have bits of information (a Sunday NYT column has some info from it, I think), but I have to get ready for work. Anyway, it appears more and more likely that baseball in D.C. isn't going to happen. Wonderful.
-My favorite Bull is having problems. I know this is a baseball blog and all, but the Bulls are also a favorite of mine, so, allow me to digress for a minute.
Eddy Curry is my favorite player on the Bulls for a few reasons. For one, I tend to like underachievers because most of the time there are unreasonable expectations put on them. Eddy Curry, lest we forget, is barely out of his teenage years. But, everyone, from the minute he got into the league, expected him to be Shaq.
Also, Eddy Curry wears my number, two. It's dumb, but I like it.
Most importantly, though, Eddy's a Chicagoan. "This is where I want to be for the rest of my career, but people are trying to push me away. But this is my home, and this is where I want to stay," he said yesterday when asked about the team. Eddy really is a Chicagoan, though. He's a huge dude with a huge tattoo of the skyline on his shoulder. You've got to love that.
Anyway, another report (from Chad Ford of ESPN.com) says that Eddy (and Eddie Robinson) will be traded to Memphis for Stomile Swift and Bonzi Wells. This, of course, saddens me a great deal and frustrates me.
"According to sources around the league, Paxson has switched gears over the past week and now prefers to keep Chandler over Curry. Chandler has been in the Berto Center all summer working out, and according to sources in Chicago looks healthy and ready to resume playing. Chandler averaged 13 ppg and 9.3 rpg last season before a back injury stifled him throughout most of the season. "
While Tyson Chandler is more athletic and more aggressive defensively, he missed most of the season last year with a back injury. Why you would want to build around an injury-proned guy as opposed to one who still has more potential makes no sense to me. Also, Bonzi Wells had all kinds of character troubles in Portland, yet Eddy Curry is a bad character guy? Come on.
Too much of the time, Eddy Curry gets blamed for being the center(no pun intended) of the Bulls' woes. That's idiotic. The Bulls have a lot of problems. They have no shooting guard or small forward to speak of. The power forward is young with back troubles and the bench is full of overpriced guys (Eddie Robinson, Antonio Davis, etc.). Eddy is young, he's barely 21.
The problem, in my opinion, is Skiles and Paxson. Every mediocre front office person or coach in the history of sports has wanted players like himself. Tony LaRussa has an unhealthy fascination with utility infielders. Ozzie Guillen loves "small-ball." And, unfortunately, Skiles and Paxson like small "fundamental" (read: slow and unathletic) guards. Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, next year's starting backcourt, might as well be Skiles and Paxson, circa 1988. Chris Duhon, a Duke grad, was also drafted.
Gordon will be a fine player, but he's not the starting off-guard on a playoff team. He'll never be that. He's too small and can't drive to save his life. Hinrich is fine, but his dream is to be Steve Nash-lite.
So, the only way for the Bulls to get anywhere is to feed the big man. Let Eddy take off a little on the defensive end; he's an offensive force when he's on. Remember in 2002-2003, he led the NBA in field goal percentage.
Please, if anyone knows John Paxson, tell him not to trade Eddy Curry. That'll hurt the Bulls too much.
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