Home plate in a parking lot

No one lives here anymore

2005-05-01T01:13:00.000-04:00

The Blog has moved...

2005-03-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

Argh

2005-03-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

From Jim Caple:

"I think the timing is good for us this year,'' longtime Sox fan Steve Fisher said. "I don't think any of our guys are on steroids. None of them is in that good of shape.''

Unfortunately, no one on the Twins seems to be on steroids, either.

I'm glad he's on the team...

2005-03-08T15:21:00.000-05:00

... and it was one of the best signings of the winter, but A.J. Pierzynski is still a punk. I hope he turns out well this year.

I know I'm not the only person who feels this way...

2005-03-08T12:59:00.000-05:00

Mariotti is a stooge. He's a complete no-talent and I still can't believe he has a job.

As you can see

2005-03-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to figure out a way towards a proper redesign. I'm not sure it's working out so well, but I think I'll figure it out soon. At least I hope I so.

Predictions

2005-03-04T12:28:00.000-05:00

In a recent e-mail chain, some of my friends and I made our yearly predictions. The predictions follow. Mine are in the first column, obviously, but let me say, the other three are Cub fans.

The predictions are at a different place, as Blogger can't seem to handle tables. Oh, well. Click here to see the predictions.

To quote Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew...

2005-02-16T11:21:00.000-05:00

"Today is the day."

I'm pretty excited for the Sox to start 2005. While Minnesota has to be considered the clear favorite, Detroit and Cleveland both are good teams. The Sox are close to the Twins, but every non-KC team in the Central looks to have a good shot at winning the division. All the Sox need is for someone to pull a Jeff Gillooly on Justin Morneau, who I think will hit 40 HR this year.

In other news, I still hate Phil Rogers.

Retiring

2005-02-11T22:29:00.000-05:00

With both Karl Malone and Reggie Miller retiring, I'm reminded of last year's NBA Finals. I can't feel sentimental about either Miller or Malone, as both were chumps and got slapped around by MJ and the Bulls during the '90s (just like the Pistons and Lakers are teams I was raised to despise). I mean, come on. Malone's redneck ass and Miller's goofy alien thing both got on my nerves, big-time during the glory years.

Some notes...

2005-02-10T13:36:00.000-05:00

• First off, Phil Rogers is an idiot, but not for the reason you're probably thinking. I've hated these dopey ESPN.com Hot Stover Heaters this year, but when Rogers — a HOF voter, no less— compares BTO to Bach, I'm way off the bus. What a moron.
• I'm going to get started on a preseason picks post, going division-by-division. I'll spoil it for you now: the Sox aren't going to the World Series. Sorry.
• I'd write more about the Bulls, but, I don't have much access to the games. Unlike baseball, I don't have the basketball cable package, so I can't see any of the Bulls games. I have seen exactly two Bulls games this season and one of them was in a bar with the sound down. I've been relying on newspaper reports and Internet radio for updates.
• I've plugged him before, but my friend Kelly is writing for SI.com now, and he's one of the best guys they've got. I used to be a four-letter network fan, but increasingly, I'm getting really tired of their crap. If I have to read another Chad Ford story about some dopey European giant who can't play NBA ball, I think I'm going to puke (or even worse, an 800-word column about a medicore team and Ford's 20 different trade scenarios).
° Speaking of the four-letter network, Marc Stein has a coumn/story up about the Baby Bulls. It's pretty laudatory, but he's skeptical. I know the Bulls has an especially easy January, but I think, if they can go .500 for the rest of the way, hello playoffs. Keep your fingers crossed.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again...

2005-02-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

Dan Le Batard is the best columnist in the country. And whoever is second (Wilbon, maybe?)isn't really close.

Brett Favre

2005-01-30T13:54:00.000-05:00

Warning: do not watch this if you are John Madden.

Straight cash, homey

2005-01-14T18:33:00.000-05:00

Especially after beating the Packers, I love Randy Moss. The moon thing was stupid, but not offensive. Anyway, he got fined ten big ones by the NFL. In the story, he just brushed off the fine. Best part of the exchange was this, by far:

Reporter: "If you don't write checks, how do you pay these guys?"

Moss: "Straight cash, homey."

Straight cash, homey. That may become the name of this blog.

Bulls 110, Sixers 78

2005-01-13T07:11:00.000-05:00

Read it for yourself:

From the wire game story about the Bulls' win last night(ESPN.com):

With a pair of five-game victory streaks in the last month, they've won 11 of their last 14 and moved within three games of .500 after an 0-9 start.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, they'd be in as the No. 8 team in the East.

Um, playoffs?

I've been critical of Paxson and Skiles before (I still hate Skiles), but it's pretty clear that Pax knew what he drafted Ben Gordon. I thought Gordon would be a total bust, but he really can score. He had 31 points last night, including 19 in the fourth quarter.

The nice thing about the Bulls actually doing something is that the rumours of an Eddy Curry trade have cooled down. It looks like Pax is going to throw some money Eddy's way this summer (when he's a restricted free agent), but I have the feeling some team is going to sign him to a huge offer sheet. Quite simply, there aren't a lot of 7-footers with the scoring touch that he has. I just hope he stays.

It doesn't matter now. If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Bulls would be in. Does it get any better than that?

Man, I love Eddy Curry

2005-01-11T08:28:00.000-05:00

From the Sun-Times:

"I'll take it,'' center Eddy Curry said. ''I'll take an ugly win over an ugly or even a beautiful loss.''

I'm glad the Bulls aren't bad anymore and Eddy's off the block. From Fanball.com:

n the midst of Chicago's best stretch since the Jordan Era, fourth-year center Eddy Curry is endearing himself to the Bulls' front office, turning what appeared to be a permanently severed relationship into one that may yield a long-term contract extension at the end of this season. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Bulls recently told Curry that they are open to the possibility of the free-agent-to-be staying in Chicago long-term.

(I'd normally link to the Trib story, but the Trib has been weird about archives lately and won't let me log in)

So, I'm glad Eddy is going to actually hang out. He's my favorite Bull.

Los Osos

2005-01-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

The Bears featured three of the lowest five rated QBs in the NFL this past season.

That really sucks.

2004-12-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

Hate to be a party pooper, but is it so necessary to elevate this guy to a new plain of good person-dom because he was a minister?

I understand Reggie White was a very pious man (which is pretty silly in and of itself), and he did a lot of charity work. I respect the hell out of his chairty work, but the fact remains, he was an outrageously homophobic guy.

Does anyone remember the homophobic comments he said to the Wisconsin Legislature all those years ago?

"Sometimes when people talk about this sin they've been accused of being racist. I'm offended that homosexuals will say that homosexuals deserve rights... Homosexuality is a decision."

Yes, he was very charitable, but he could've been a lot less malicious if he just kept his mouth shut about religion.

Best headline this year

2004-12-17T07:55:00.000-05:00

Hey, a winning streak for Bulls!

That's good.

Why I haven't posted...

2004-12-16T08:09:00.000-05:00

Baseball in DC is basically dead and the Sox traded on e of my favorite players for a guy who's name I can't spell.

This stinks.

It has come to this...

2004-11-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

The Sun Times is already predicting next year's draft, hoping the Bulls get the first pick.

Ugh. This is what happens to winless teams.

Also...

2004-11-23T15:09:00.000-05:00

The Bulls are the only winless team in the NBA. They suck.

Ron Ron

2004-11-23T15:05:00.000-05:00

I have a friend who writes basketball for Sportsillustrated.com and he and I have been going ovver this a bit recently on our fantasy basketball message board (oddly enough, there are two members who are also big-time Piston fans, as well). I'm still a little messed up on it, mainly because I like Artest.

I've liked Artest for a while; ever since the Best Buy incident while he was a Bull (synopsis: The Bulls get Sundays off from practice, so he applied for a job at Best Buy because he wanted to get the employee discount. The Bulls got word and made him withdraw the application). Everyone says he's an extremely likeable guy and by all accounts, he's very genreous and a positive force off the court (does a lot charity, never had law problems, easy to coach, etc.). Of course, he is also clearly insane.

A lot people have compared him to Rodman, but I think that is a dicey comparison, at best. Rodman is, was, and always will be a publicity hound. Rodman went out of his way — even while he was being reigned in by Phil Jackson and MJ — to get in the spotlight. He loved the spotlight. And, as much as most of the ultra-macho NBA would like to tell you, being a cross-dresser isn't much of a mental problem, if at all.

Artest, on the other hand, has anger management problems to the point that we can't even fathom. He's got a history of abuse and his problems have been well-documented.

I think, one of the reasons a lot of people like him is because he is so troubled that he's introspective. So many NBA players pose and posture, even in interviews, while Artest really speaks about himself; he's crazy as shit. He's obviously working out his problems on the fly.

The Bulls people tried to give him medication; he threw it in the trash. The people in Indy got him some help, got him on some medication, but he actually took it about half the time. So, while I'm very quick to defend him, he's also not helping himself at all.

So... I think Artest is largely at fault, but he's not the only villian. Ben Wallace is a deity in Detroit. He's a blue-collar warrior, not caring about glamorous points, but rather grabbing rebounds and blocking shots. The people in Detroit worship him. But, he committed a cheap foul on Artest and when Artest retaliated, Wallace flipped his shit and knocked Artest down. This was dirty and stupid. In pushing Artest, Wallace knows, at least, that something bad is going to happen; the least of which would be a fight on the court. If Wallace does nothing but go to the line to shoot two, we're talking about the Monday Night Football game today.

I think there's something larger at work here, though and that's the nature of fandom. I think there are a lot of fans of teams that identify themselves as [insert team here] fans, rather than fans of [insert team here]. These people identify as part of the team; as though they have a bearing on how the team does. This comes through in something that Taft has heard me rant about, the concept of the sports fan and "we." This is something I wrote about right after I got out of college:

"But, I know so damned many St. Louis Cardinals fans who address the team as "we." That kills me. I know sports give people an emotional rush (Due to my lack of friends where I live, my emotions do vary by how the Sox do)and I know there is a connection to the team... The fans do not own the team. Yes, you may spent lots of money on going to games, watching them on tv, and buying jerseys and such, but that does not make you part of the team. Albert Pujols can call the Cardinals "we." Scott Rolen can call the Cardinals "we." Bob Averagefan probably shouldn't."

I saw this big-time when the Red Sox won the World Series. I work with a woman named Moira. She is a Red Sox fan, and when they won the WS, people congratulated here. She had nothing to do with the team winning; she didn't get a single hit, didn't throw a single pitch. Hell, she didn't even go to any games.

Some people really think that their rooting for a team has a bearing on it. The Marlins won the WS with a below-average attendance average; were the 18,000 fans a nigh rooting extra hard? I doubt it. The Wizards are always in the top 5 in attendance every year; are Wiz fans extra weak? I doubt it.

I love the Bulls. I love the White Sox. I understand the way a team can affect one's emotions. But, I also realize that the Bulls' 0-9 start isn't a reflection on me, the City of Chicago or the greater Chicago metro area. None of those entities hired Scott Skiles, traded Elton Brand or wasted the no. 3 pick on Ben Gordon.

And I think that happened Friday night, where fans thought they could change the way the Pistons played. That chubby guy in the Tigers hat and Wallace jersey thought he could go toe-to-toe with Jermaine O'Neil; he even got in a boxing stance with his fists up. These motherfuckers think it's OK to throw beer, popcorn or even a chair at a player.

Look, I've heckled players. I understand that it's part of the game, but buying a ticket doesn't make it OK for you to act like a total jerkoff. Motherfuckers throwing batteries or pooring beer on outfielders or whatever, these idiots are ruining the game for people like us who like to taunt Manny Ramirez with chants of "¿Quieres Fumar?" Those fans were totally out of line and should be banned from the arena for a little while.

As for Stern's punishment... I don't know if it was fair. I know Stern has every right to do whatever he wants; he's not punishing Artest, per sé, he's sending a message to the next person who wants to fly into the stands. But, the last time someone went into the stands (Vernon Maxwell), he only got 10 games and a huge fine. Stern admitted Artest's history contributed to it; so, Jermaine O'Neil— one of the league's golden boys— (who went into the stands unprovoked) only gets 25 games. Not fair, but it is an example, and I think, for the good of the league, Stern had to throw Artest under the bus. He doesn't want to project the league as one of thugs and gangstas.

Would it have been different if Dirk Nowitzki would've went into the stands? I think so. I think race has a little to do with it, but I'm not sure we'll ever see, because Nowitzki never gets the racial epithets that a lot of black players get thrown at them.

Back to the fans, for a second, though. Has there ever been a sporting event any of you guys have gone to where you felt it necessary to throw something at the players? Run onto the field of play? Of course not. You're reasonable people.

Another issue is security. The fact that the refs let the game get so out-of-control that those stupid fouls were being committed says something. The fact that those dopes were throwing shit on the Pacers as they left the arena says something about the Palace's security.

I think the bottom line, though, is that going into the stands is never OK. Throwing shit onto the court is never OK. Running onto the court is never OK. It's too bad.

I am an idiot

2004-11-17T21:25:00.001-05:00

In a recent post, I made up my dream all-Chicago-area-raised team. I forgot about two players: Kevin Garnett (played his senior year at Farragut) and Dwyane Wade. So, instead of this:

"You could have Quentin Richardson at point guard, Corey Maggette at the two, Glenn Robinson's corpse at the small forward, Walker at the big forward position and Eddy playing center"

You have this:

Dwyane Wade (Richards HS)-PG
Corey Maggette (Fenwick HS)- SG
Antoine Walker (Mt. Carmel)- SF
Kevin Garnett (Farragut)- PF
Eddy Curry (Thornwood)- C

This is what happens when I watch Dwyane Wade play on ESPN. If only he would've fallen to where the Bulls picked two years ago. Bulls fan would be able to cheer another hometown boy, instead of cheering the elfin wonder, Kirk Heinrich. Fucking Jayhawk.

I am an idiot

2004-11-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

Los Reyes 113, Los Toros 106

2004-11-17T07:45:00.000-05:00

Let's just go at it with bullet points:
- Tyson Chandler and Eddy both had double doubles. This says to me that Scott Skiles doesn't know how to run the team with two good big men, being that he was a scrappy guard. The bottom line remains: Scott Skiles is a shit coach.
- The Bulls are now, since the dynasty ended, 0-33 on the circus trip. This is awful.
- The Bulls are now 0-5. This is embarassing.
- Well, at least they play the Warriors tonight. The Warriors suck, too, even though, according to their advertising, "God is a Warriors fan." (I find this hilarious)

I'm getting tired of writing about the Bulls. They really suck.