Exile on Waveland

Oh . . . Ryan Howard is coming up in the ninth!?!? Cue Jim Carrey in Dumber and Dumber.

They are useful, but they aren't cheap. So if you have a limited budget and needs elshwere it's just not feasible. True. However, considering I think Wilson and Sabathia are pipe dreams (not so with Pujols/Fielder), the Cubs should be looking for reliable for the time being. Seriously, the rotation is: Garza Dempster Z (but probably not) Wells ? Overall, that's neither good nor reliable. And it's likely to get worse, since I think it's a fair assumption that Zambrano is gone. As far as Wells goes, he's gotten worse the last two years and was probably always smoke-and-mirrors. In that case, when you have two reliable starters, you have to do something. The smart thing to do is keep Zambrano and go out and get the best guy you can find. You'll get no disagreement here. I'm just dubious that will happen.

Tampa's business model is what it is at this point. I think the only thing that would change his mind was if he knows something definitive about the fate of a new stadium. Otherwise, the Rays will always have a small payroll and rely on revenue sharing to break even. The expectations were that at least with a winner on the field they would be able to put butts in seats, and yet they couldn't even sell out a playoff game. The business model was try and win on the cheap, create a fanbase, build a stadium. They've won on the cheap, there is no fanbase, and the odds of getting a stadium built in this environment with no support from the public are pretty small. The 2 go hand in hand. There's not a fan base because the ballpark sucks. If there was a ballpark there would be a much larger fanbase. Have you ever been to a game at the "Trop"? it's a truly heinous experience as baseball experiences go. Its like playing in a dark damp cheap high school gymnasium. I live an hour from Tampa/StPete and Ive been to 1 game there in the 6 years I've been here and until they play the Cubs again it's unlikely I'll go back. If they played in a nice retractable roof stadium I would likely get a game package every year and go frequently, despite the fact I really dislike the AL game. The Trop is terrible. Yet, people went to games at the old Busch, Riverfront, the Vet, Shea, etc, etc. If you can't draw when you're winning -- consistently -- I think it's a tough sell that a new ballpark is a panacea (especially if they stop winning).

They are useful, but they aren't cheap. So if you have a limited budget and needs elshwere it's just not feasible. True. However, considering I think Wilson and Sabathia are pipe dreams (not so with Pujols/Fielder), the Cubs should be looking for reliable for the time being. Seriously, the rotation is: Garza Dempster Z (but probably not) Wells ? Overall, that's neither good nor reliable. And it's likely to get worse, since I think it's a fair assumption that Zambrano is gone. As far as Wells goes, he's gotten worse the last two years and was probably always smoke-and-mirrors. In that case, when you have two reliable starters, you have to do something.

I thought that 2006 would have disavowed anyone of the notion that mediocre-yet-reliable pitchers weren't valuable. If not, I would have surely thought this year would do so. Garland may not be the answer, and a front-line starter is always more desirable, but someone akin to Garland would be very useful (and maybe necessary depending on Zambrano -- or maybe even anyway, because I'm not sure Wells can be considered reliable). If the Cubs are planning on Cashner/Samardzija in the rotation, they might as simultaneously make arrangements for the Davis-Russel-Coleman calvalcade of suck.

Agreed. I was just getting ready to post something like this. Excluding his 63-game debut season, here are Crawford OPS+'s: 81 105 111 113 117 89 116 135 85 Now, you can argue those numbers don't deserve his contract in the first place, and likely would be right. However, this isn't his first stinker of a season and he's rebounded well from the other two (though only for two years last time). I'm not sure what the future holds; but I think he's likely to rebound in the coming years (though, from those numbers, he's likely to have another stinker or two).

Crazy, right? Everyone loves the 27-year-old pitcher with a 5.0 WAR and 2.95 FIP (for 2011) -- what are they thinking!?! Meanwhile, while you're worrying about the Cubs' minor league shortstop depth behind a 21-year-old star shortstop, did you ever stop to think of what the Cubs' major league rotational depth would be without Garza? It wouldn't be pretty -- at all.

Purdue women's basketball won a national championship.

I think it's because both are good at basketball. But I'll wait for further elucidation.

One of those "remember where you were" times for me. Freshman year of college, arriving back from class as the game ended, and my roommate and dorm neighbor saw me come in, basically re-enacted the play (with more (less?) profanity), and I think I fell backwards on my backpack. Ugh. Guess it didn't really matter in the end . . . game 163 against the Giants was a lot of fun (really the most tense-yet-fun game of my Cubs fandom at that point . . . I watched in 1989 but I was just a bit young to really care). Can't believe that's been 13 years. Cool story bro.

Iowa State ahahahahahah. What in the world does that pud school/athletic program bring to the Big Ten? They'd be nothing more than a place-holder, a seat-filler at the conference award show when Ohio State or Michigan or Nebraska gets up to pee. (And, because I know it's coming, as an Indiana fan/alumnus, I'm thrilled we already were in the Big Ten because we're basically Kansas -- with less recent athletic success -- and Kansas very possibly could be left without a seat.)

Yeah, pretty much what Colts fans have been saying for years. It was generally chalked up to pro-Manning homerism. It wasn't. come on, he had a great supporting cast in the Dungy days; this year and last, not so much First, I never said Manning didn't/doesn't have some good supporting players, because he obviously has (and Marvin Harrison was great). However, last year the Colts went 10-6 and, if the present kickoff rules were in place at that time, almost certainly would have won a playoff game. Since that playoff loss, they have added Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, Antonio Johnson, Melvin Bullitt, their draft picks, and a couple veteran free agents. They subtracted one (non-scrub) player. The math here isn't very difficult.

Yeah, pretty much what Colts fans have been saying for years. It was generally chalked up to pro-Manning homerism. It wasn't.

:( Bears fan? Colts. (You don't remember our pre-Super Bowl discussions?) Anyway, the Bears have a far better (healthy) QB than the Colts do right now.

:(

Not sure I can remember being less excited for the NFL. I just can't get excited while wearing a black arm band for the Colts' season. I've been expecting this news -- or something similar -- for some time, but it stinks. Something tells me the Colts won't be going 11-5 in Manning's absence.

No local watering holes picking up the telecast? I don't know which places around here pick up PPV games. I'm not a drinker so I'm not familiar with any bars in the area and the only restaurant places near me are Shoney's and Ruby Tuesday. I'll probably end up listening on the radio to the UT game and watching LSU/Oregon on mute. I can pretty much promise any sports bar in your area will be showing the game. You also aren't required to drink to sit at a bar and watch sports (honestly, it's not that unusual -- you just better buy other stuff and perhaps make a joke about not drinking/promise to tip well). Of course, if you hate being around drunk people . . .

Massive move. Liverpool are nuts to lose him. He handed in his transfer request. I suppose they could have played hardball, but they had no desire to have a malcontent on their hands. As for the player, I think he's going to help Chelsea a lot. He's a good player and almost exactly what they need. I really liked him and hate to see him leave. I really hate to see him strengthening a rival in a position of need. However, from a Liverpool perspective, right or wrong, he was not going to be in the starting XI (he wasn't even starting with Gerrard out injured). Partly because he ran a lot during games, he struggled playing 90 minutes forcing a sub to be used (he was LFC's most-subbed out player last year). He is also a really soft tackler (cannot count the amount of times he pulled out of a tackle). He's also 28 and probably at peak value. Losing Meireles is by no means ideal, but it's not devastating -- it hurts LFC's depth, not the starting lineup (and with no Europe, depth less imperative). It stinks, but LFC had an excellent transfer window overall.

Ha. That's probably the most salient point made in the thread. It just struck me maybe more than it would have normally, because I considered Hendry to be anti-intellectual/willfully ignorant when it came to the new(ish) empirical baseball analysis. So "overly educated" seems less a disqualifier than a prerequisite to replace Hendry. And while I know that's not what the writer meant, it seemed to just jump off the page with that meatball connotation.

Arsenal has a proverbial cloud hanging over them like Liverpool did last year before the team was sold/Dalglish was hired. I don't think it's going to lift until Wenger shells out some cash for first-teamers. Because, even with Nasri, that team is headed for Europa.

Agreed. Making it an even worse word choice.

Overly educated? What the hell does that mean? More anti-intellectual garbage from "baseball men"? I'd hope that a GM of our team held an advanced degree or at least a bachelor's degree (in finance, business, economics, etc.) from a top tier university. Yeah, I could hardly read the rest of that article after the "overly educated" statement. He's too smart to be a GM? Uh, OK. Also, even with their dream move to San Jose, I struggle envisioning the A's becoming a more valuable franchise than the Giants. I think you guys are taking his use of the word "overly" a bit too literally. Sure . . . but it wasn't from a post on a message board, it was from a journalist from one of the nation's major newspapers.

Overly educated? What the hell does that mean? More anti-intellectual garbage from "baseball men"? I'd hope that a GM of our team held an advanced degree or at least a bachelor's degree (in finance, business, economics, etc.) from a top tier university. Yeah, I could hardly read the rest of that article after the "overly educated" statement. He's too smart to be a GM? Uh, OK. Also, even with their dream move to San Jose, I struggle envisioning the A's becoming a more valuable franchise than the Giants.

OK then, fair enough. I figure the meatballs have racist tendencies to the extent of thinking the Hispanic players are lazy or whatnot, but definitely not to the extent of writing racist hate mail.* For the latter group, you're correct, we shouldn't care at all. *For the record, the Pacers fans would fit in the former category.

I think people were saying the only people who would actually hold to that "I ain't watching those tattooed thugs anymore!" are the racist rednecks, in which case who cares? What's the solution to keeping the racist redneck crowd? (Besides drafting guys like Tyler Hansborough and acquiring guys like Mike Dunleavy and Josh McRoberts on purpose) Well, I certainly don't think think the Cubs should dump Zambrano based on some meatball fans. The solution wouldn't have to be so drastic, though, it could be something like having Theriot-esque players (Barney now? or who?) appear in promo ads and stuff like that. Sure, that sort of thing is implicitly racist in appealing to the meatballs, but it's rather innocuous. By ignoring or alienating the meatballs, the Cubs would have a "better" (as in smarter) fan base, but the fanbase would be much smaller. I would guess that management would sooner live with a large, ignorant fan base than a smaller, more intelligent one. In fact, the former, and more ignorant, might be better for business.