The World Baseball Classic Information

I have detailed as much important WBC info as I could find across the internet (from rules to rosters) in this post. Please comment with more unlisted information as it becomes available to help me keep this thread up-to-date.

Finally, since I have no clue as to which players (other than David Ortiz) will be slotted in the DH role during the WBC, I'm simply going to list every player at their most probable position (based on NL game play)

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The (relevant) World Baseball Classic Rosters

United States
C - Brian McCann, Chris Ianetta
1B - Kevin Youkilis
2B - Dustin Pedroia, Mark DeRosa
SS - Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins
3B - David Wright, Chipper Jones
OF - Grady Sizemore, Ryan Braun, Curtis Granderson
SP - Jake Peavy, John Lackey, Roy Oswalt
RP - Joe Nathan, Brian Fuentes, Scot Shields, Jonathan Broxton, B.J. Ryan, J.J. Putz, Matt Thorton, Matt Lindstrom

Dominican Republic:
C -
1B - David Ortiz
2B -
SS - Jose Reyes
3B - A-Rod
OF -
SP -
RP -

Venezuela:
C -
1B - Miguel Cabrera
2B -
SS -
3B -
OF - Bobby Abreu, Magglio
SP - Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano
RP - Fransisco Rodriguez

Puerto Rico:
C - Pudge, Yadier Molina
1B - Albert Pujols, Carlos Delgado
2B -
SS -
3B -
OF -Carlos Beltran
SP -
RP -
Unconfirmed - Geovany Soto

Canada:
C - Russell Martin
1B - Justin Morneau, Joey Votto
2B -
SS -
3B -
OF - Jason Bay, Matt Stairs, Mark Teahen
SP -
RP -
Unconfirmed: Ryan Dempster, Eric Gange

Japan:
C - Kenji Johjima
1B -
2B - Akinori Iwamura
SS -
3B -
OF - Ichiro
SP - Dice-K, Yu Darvish
RP - Hideki Okajima
Unconfirmed -Takashi Saito, Kosuke Fukudome

The Netherlands:
C -
1B -
2B -
SS -
3B -
OF - Andruw Jones
SP - Jair Jurrjens
RP -

Panama:
C -
1B -
2B -
SS -
3B -
OF -
SP -
RP - Mariano Rivera, Manny Acosta, Manny Corpas

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The Set Up Of The WBC
The WBC is initially broken up into brackets pools (A,B,C,D) of four teams; two teams emerge from each pool in round one following a best-of-three series. Round two breaks the remaining teams into two pools, one consisting of the top two teams from Pools A & B and one of the top two teams from Pools C & D. Round two is also a best-of-three series. For round three, the top team in each pool plays the second best team from the other pool in a single-elimination game. The winners of each round three game will advance to the final round, where they will play a single-elimination game in Los Angeles.

2009 WBC Brackets
POOL A (Tokyo): China, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei*
POOL B (Mexico City): Mexico, Cuba, South Africa, Australia
POOL C (Toronto): Canada, USA, Venezuela, Italy
POOL D (San Juan): Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, The Netherlands
*Taipei's league is restricting many of the top players from participating in the WBC

WBC Dates
Round 1: March 5-12
Round 2: March 14-19
Round 3: March 21 & 22
Championship Game: March 23

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Rules

A pitcher cannot pitch until

1. a minimum of four days have passed since he last pitched, if he threw 50 or more pitches when he last pitched.
2. a minimum of one day has passed since he last pitched, if he threw 30 or more pitches when he last pitched.
3. a minimum of one day has passed since any second consecutive day on which the pitcher pitched.

A pitcher cannot pitch more than

1. 65 pitches per game in Round One of the tournament.
2. 80 pitches per game in Round Two of the tournament.
3. 95 pitches per game in the Semifinals and Final of the tournament.

• A pitcher can still finish a batter's plate appearance even if the limit is reached, but must come out after completing the plate appearance.

A game will be a called game if the leading team is ahead by

1. 10 or more runs when the opposing team has batted in at least seven innings.
2. 15 or more runs when the opposing team has batted in at least five innings.

The DH rule applies for all the games.

Rules Source: Wikipedia
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I will update this thread as more (reliable) information becomes available

The Future Of Bluetooth

Is it baseball season yet?

The Tale Of Ron Turner

Ron Turner used to be the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. He was fired because he was bad at his job.

Soon after, Ron Turner became the head coach for the University of Illinois football team. He was fired for because he was bad at his job.

Currently, Ron Turner is the offensive coodinator for the Chicago Bears (again). He is (still) bad at his job.

My Religion of Choice

We're gonna get a little sentimental today.

A standard question between any two sports fans is "so whats your favorite sport". This is as fundamental as giving your name or saying hello. However, the question is often a difficult one for me, not because i dont have a favorite sports, but because it is impossible to describe what baseball means to me. Baseball simply goes beyond sport. Not being a religious man, baseball may as well be my religion of choice. This isn't simply lip service to describe my adoration or life long commitment to the game. It is a genuine emotion that only a few of us have experienced. I have met my share of individuals who actually understand what this blog post means confirming that i'm not completely crazy, although the rest of you might think i'm at least a little loco. No other sport can compare when it comes to the history, tradition, comradery, and heroics that baseball can privide. This description can apply to any sport, but something about baseball is indescribale. It's almost like trying to expalain spirituality to an atheist, or love to someone who has never experianced it. It simply can't be done. I am very proud to be one of the few who feels this special connection to the game of baseball and hopefully one day you will too.

Happy Holidays!

DeAngelo WIlliams for MVP! No Seriously, I Swear.

The first string running back for the Carolina Panthers, DeAngelo Williams, deserves to be the 2008/2009 NFL MVP. This is not a joke article. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. He deserves to be MVP like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have before him, not like Kerry Collins does this year. Honestly. Don't believe me, well then read on. But before I explain myself, first let me discuss which positions deserve to even be considered for MVP. These positions are quarterbacks and running backs. These are the only two positions can not only affect the game, but can determine the outcome. As much as I love a good defensive battle, it is a very rare occasion that a defensive player should be the MVP. The thing about even great, HOF worthy defensive players, is that they can be ignored. Now, you will most certianly have to take them into account, but they can be ignored. If you're offensive is playing against a great DE, then you roll out to the opposite side of the field. Or let go of the ball early. But they can, for the most part, be ignored. Plus, it's the defense as a whole that determines how well an offense does, and not one individual player. If a defenisve player, in some capacity is never be ignored on EVERY SINGLE PLAY, then they definitely deserve MVP recognition. But the same reason picthers don't get MVP recognition because they only pitch every five days, also applies in a similiar logistical fashion to defesnive players.

But QBs and RBs CAN NOT be ignored. They can not be ignored because they have the ball on every single play. Because the ball is snapped for the QB to throw to a player or handed off the the RB like every other play, these players can not be ignored. You simple have to at least account for the position on every play of every drive. Plus, these are the two positions most likely to score. Next, in order to be considered for MVP, you have to deserve to start in the pro bowl. Because if you're not good enough to start in the pro bowl, the best of the best, you don't deserve to be the MVP. And based off of a previous blog post, I have already done this. For the NFC, the starters are Tony Romo (QB- DAL) and DeAngelo Williams (RB- CAR). For the AFC, Phillip Rivers (QB- SDG) and Chris Williams (RB- TEN). After narrowing down this list to four we must first do this further to only two. You can do this by looking at DVOA. As Football Outsiders puts it, "DVOA [is]... Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. This number represents value, per play, over an average [player] in the same game situations. The more positive the DVOA rating, the better the player's performance. Negative DVOA represents below-average offense" This is essentially the defintion of "valuable". The same way VORP is essentially a definition of valuable to baseball, DVOA is a defintion of valuable to football. So when determining the most VALUABLE player, one should probably look to see if a player has the most value. DeAngelo Willaims is first among RBs in DVOA so he beats out Chris Johnson who is only 12th. Philip Rivers, who is 4th in DVOA, beats out Tony Romo, who is 6th.

So now it is between Philip Rivers and DeAngelo Williams. Now this is where things get tricky because how do you compare who is better, a RB or a QB? Well you can't really. But I'm saying Williams just because he is the very best at his position compared to Rivers who is just really really good. Now if Rivers was also #1 then I'd say it's a crapshoot and you could pick either one. But because it's not, DeAngelo Williams deserves to be the MVP.

Let's take a brief look at his numbers. He's first in the league with 5.5 YPC (with a significant amount of touches, 224), 4th overall in YPG with 87.8 (but he also has much less carries than the top 3), 2nd overall in TDs with 14, 2 receiving TDs, 4th overall in total yards, has ZERO fumbles, 3rd in DYAR, plays in front of only the 8th best running offensive line (granted it's good but not MVP great), and of course, is first in DVOA. It is for these reasons that not only was DeAngelo Williams a HUGE pro snub but he also deserves to be NFL MVP.

Which Matt WIll Be ROY? Forte or Ryan?

This is obvious, but the answer is Ryan. As much as it pains me to say it. but Atlants'a QB Matt Ryan deserves to be and probably will be Rookie of the Year (ROY). This year actually has a damn good batch of rookies, especially running backs. The leading candidates this year are: Matt Ryan (QB- ATL), Chris Johnson (RB- TEN), Eddie Royal (WR- DEN), Matt Forte (RB- CHI), and Steve Slaton (RB- HOU) . Felix Jones (RB- DAL), when he played, most certainly deserves to be on this list. But unfortunately he was too oft injured to be considered. Defensive players like Jerod Mayo (LB- NWE), and Leodis McKelvin (CB- BUF) have most certainly played very well and were great picks by their respected teams, but were not nearly as dominant to be considered for Rookie of the Year (ROY). Some other notables that are pretty darn good rookies: Joe Flacco (QB- BAL), DeShaun Jackson (WR- PHI), Kevin Smith (RB- DET), Jonathan Stewart (RB- CAR), and Donnie Avery (WR- STL). So withour further ado, here's my ROY list:

5) Eddie Royal. The best WR rookie this year. But among active wide outs, he was only average. To be seriously considered for ROY, you need to be amoung the best at your position but unfortunely Royal is not. Eddie Royal is fiorst among rookies WRs in YPG, receptions, and TDs but only 16th, 10th, and t-25th respectively in the league. Also hard to get catches when playing beside Brandon Marshall but, so is life.

4) Matt Forte. I love Matt Forte. God I love Forte. You just watch him play, especially with Chicago's shitty O-Line, and it's just magical. Forte can run, catch, block, and even probably throw if he was asked to! I'm happy the Bears finally got a good, high pick, offensive player in the draft. But with respects to the league, he is only 31st (maybe a bit higher because of limited amount of carries people above his has) in YPC and t-16th is TDs with 6. He's also only 30th in DVOA (imagine this like the VORP of football) behind backs like Jonathan Stewart and Kevin Smith.

t-2) Chris Johnson. God this guy is just amazing. In fact, I put him as the best back in the AFC pro bowl. He has an amazing YPC 4.9 (t-3rd in the league). It's unfortunate that he loses carries to Fatboy White in the red zone but the fact remains Johnson only has 8 TDs. The things that hurts Johnson is Football Outsiders DVOA rating for Johnson: 12th in the league. And Johnson is 8th in DYAR (imagine this as VORP per individual play).

t-2) Steve Slaton. If you look at the numbers, Slaton had almost the exact same numbers as Chris Johnson. They both are t-3rd in YPC with 4.9 and both have 8 TDs. In fact, their carries are similiar, 235 for Johnson and 230 for Slaton. Both even have just one fumble lost. Even their Football Outsider numbers are similiar. Slaton is 14th in DVOA (compared to Johnson's 12th) and 5th in DYAR (compared to Johnson's 8th). Because these numbers are so similiar, they are essentially the same player and thus both are tied for second on my ROY list.

1) Matt Ryan. Honestly, I thought Ryan would suck. He proved me wrong (and unfortunately Todd McShay right). Ryan is only 11th in the NFL in QB rating, but 3rd in YPA. The kicker that moves him to #1 on my list is that he's 5th in DYAR and, drumroll please, FIRST in DVOA among ALL quarterbacks. This means, Ryan has the most total value among all QBs in 2008.
Damn you Todd McShay!!!

Why College Basketball Sucks (Part 1)

On a daily quest to strike up random sports conversations with people I’ve never met, I always hear the same sorry excuse, “I only start watching [insert random sport] when the playoffs start”. 99% of the time this means the person couldn’t tell the difference between lebron james and wayne gretzky. The other 1% accounts for an occasional situation where the person is in fact a sports addict, yet is consumed with other things like a job and a family rarely seen among our ilk. 

That being said, I feel compelled to admit something. I don’t start watching college basketball until march madness comes around. But I have a very good excuse. College Basketball Sucks! Sucks Hard!

There are so many reasons that college basketball sucks that it is impossible to cover it all in one blog post, but we’ll do our best.

Let’s begin with the game itself.

1)      Why the hell do they need a 35 second shot clock? It take 10 seconds to bring the ball up the court, 10 seconds to run a play, and 5 seconds to run around in circles.  So what are the other 10 seconds for? I’ll tell you. It’s for Greg Paulus to dribble around half court like an idiot. Thanks Greg Paulus. I understand that college players aren’t as polished as pros who work under a 24 second clock, but the 35 second clock slows down the game, makes it boring, and makes late game comebacks almost impossible

2)  What is up with the possession arrow? Why can’t they just do a regular jump ball like every other heterosexual man who have every played the game of basketball.  The definition of a jump ball is that possession is shared by 2 opposing players, hence they must jump ball to see who gets possession. This is equivalent of 2 guys getting into a fight and flipping a coin to decide who mercifully gets to beat on the other guy. Man up

3)  What is the point of having the 5 foul and you’re out rule? They play 2 halves of basketball, wouldn’t it make scene to at least have an even number of fouls. College players don’t know how to play defense, contributing to the suckiness, such that they are overly prone to fouls. If a star college baller gets 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes, he basically has to sit the rest of the half so not to foul out in the first 10 minutes of the game. Who wants to see Michael Beasely or Greg Oden sitting on the bench half the game during march madness cause of 2 early fouls. Instead we’re forced to watch bill walker embarrass the game of basketball. 

4)  That weak 19 foot 3-point line.  Seriously, this may the worst part of the college game. For those of you who have never held a basketball, no worries, even you can make a 19 foot 3-pointer. This has made college basketball into a glorified 3-point shooting contests.  It is not uncommon to see teams take half their shots beyond the arc.  The reason the shot is worth 3 points, is because it is suppose to be difficult and taken at a high risk.  However the risk/reward has been taken away due to the simplicity of the shot. You see 7 footers with neither touch nor depth perception taking 3’s. It’s a sad sight. In addition, it compacts the games as 10 of the largest human beings are all running around a 20 foot radius half circle.  Just imagine trying to buy a wii on black friday. Not a pretty sight. Yeah, they finally moved the 3-point line back one whole foot, but that’s not going to stop the problem. The NBA has a 23’9” 3-point line. Now that’s a man’s 3 pointer.  

5)  But none of that compares with our last point as to why college basketball sucks.  The college basketball talent simply sucks.  I love the game of basketball. The skill and athleticisms it takes to excel is as admirable as any other great talent in the world of sport.  For example it's nothing like rugby, from which I can tell only requires an abusive childhood and a psychopathic personality disorder.  However, college basketball players just make the game unwatchable. They can’t dribble, pass, shoot. Just the basics of the game. Unless you’re watching north carolina or kansas, you’re unlikely to see anything you cant find in you’re local playground.  So until college players actually learn the fundamentals of basketball, I suggest you watch the NBA.

You Make Plays When You Need It Most

One of my newest favorite ESPN football analysts, Trent Dilfer, is apparently being pressured to sound more like ESPN's baseball analysts. When talking about the Indianapolis/ Cleveland game a few weeks ago, Dilfer pointed out just how good Indy's D was. The final score was 10-6 so both teams put up a damn good defensive fronts but late in the game when the Browns were looking to score Indy stopped their drive and won the game. As Dilfer said so astutely about the Colts' D, "They make plays when they need to the most"

You're right Trent. Indy does not make plays when they don't need to. When it's 1st and ten and the Browns have 90 yards to go for a TD, their defense just doesn't try. Why should they they? They don't ever make plays. They only make effective plays when the Browns get in field goal range. Why try to get an interception or force a fumble when they game doesn't matter? For three plus quarters, the Indy D doesn't give a shit. In fact, we shouldn't count any defensive stats Indy players make unless it's the opposing teams last drive.

Trent. Come on. Don't stoop down to John Kruk analysis here. How about just say something like, the Colts just have a good defense? How something that their defensive ends are pro bowl caliber guys able to stop a QB on any drive and thus able to stop a QB on the last drive? Teams try to AND succeed at making plays no matter the game situation is. Not just when "they need to the most"

The Real Pro Bowl Selections (AFC) (revised)

This is now revised for final season numbers

Quarterbacks:

-*Phillip Rivers (SDG): 105.5 QB rating, 8.39 YPA, 34 TD, 11 INT, 65.3 completion percentage

-Chad Pennington (MIA): 97.4 QB rating, 7.67 YPA, 19 TD, 7 INT, 67.4 completion percentage

-Peyton Manning (IND): 95.0 QB rating, 7.21 YPA, 27 TD, 12 INT, 66.8 completion percentage

My apologies to: Matt Schaub (HOU), Matt Cassel (NWE)

Running backs:

-*Chris Johnson (TEN): 4.9 YPC, 9 TD

-Steve Slaton (HOU): 4.8 YPC, 9 TD

-Thomas Jones (NYJ): 4.5 YPC, 13 TD (Jesus Christ, I can't believe now that he's not a Chicago Bear he legitimately deserves to be a pro bowler)

My apologies to: LenDale White (TEN), Marshawn Lynch (BUF), Ronnie Brown (MIA)

Wide Receivers:

-*Andre Johnson (HOU): 98.4 YPG, 8 TD

-*Randy Moss (NWE): 63.0 YPG, 11 TD

-Brandon Marshall (DEN): 84.3 YPG, 6 TD

-Wes Welker (NWE): 75.3 YPG, 3 TD

My sincerest apologies to: Reggie Wayne (IND)

Tight Ends:

-*Tony Gonzales (KAN): 66.1 YPG, 10 TD

-Dallas Clark (IND): 56.5 YPG, 6 TD

Slight apologies to: Owen Daniels (HOU)

Center:

-Casey Wiegmann (DEN): 3^rd in AFC in pass blocking, 1^st in AFC in run blocking

-Dan Coppen (NWE): 2nd in AFC in run blocking, 14th in AFC in pass blocking (which I refuse to believe because I watch Patriots game and Matt Cassel, like Brady before him, still has like 8 seconds to throw on every play. When you watch the Patriots O-Line in pass protection they look amazing)

Punt Returner:

-*Roscoe Parrish (BUF): 15.3 AVG, 1 TD

Kick Returner:

-*Ellis Hobbs (NWE): 28.5 AVG, 1 TD

Kicker

-*Steven Gostkowski (NWE): 91.9 FG %, 1/1 50+ yards

Punter:

-*Sam Koch (BAL): 40.5 IN20%, 39.9 NET

Defensive Ends:

-*Robert Mathis (IND): 11.5 sacks, 5 FF, 48 tackles

-*Mario Williams (HOU): 12.0 sacks, 4 FF, 53 tackles

-Dwight Freeney (IND): 10.5 sacks, 4 FF, 28 tackles

-Shaun Ellis (NYJ): 8.0 sacks, 2 FF, 60 tackles

Cornerbacks:

-*Nnamdi Asomugha (OAK)

-*Courtland Finnegan (TEN)

Not enough information to determine back ups

Linebackers:

-*Joey Porter (MIA): 17.5 sacks, 4 FF, 47 tackles, 0 INT

-*James Harrison (PIT): 16.0 sacks, 7 FF, 101 tackles, 1 INT

-*D'Quell Jackson (CLE): 2.0 sacks, 0 FF, 154 tackles, 3 INT

-Lamaar Woodley (PIT): 11.5 sacks, 2 FF, 60 tackles, 1 INT

-Ray Lewis (BAL): 3.5 sacks, 2 FF, 117 tackles, 3 INT

-Terrell Suggs (BAL): 8.0 sacks, 2 FF, 68 tackles, 2 INT

My apologies to: Calvin Pace (NYJ), Jerod Mayo (NWE), James Ferrier (PIT)

Safety:

-*Troy Polamalu (PIT): 73 tackles, 0 FF, 7 INT, 0 TD

-*Ed Reed (BAL): 41 tackles, 1 FF, 9 INT, 2 TD, 1.0 sack

-Yeremiah Bell (MIA): 130 tackles, 3 FF, 1.0 sack, 0 INT

-Michael Griffin (TEN): 75 tackles, 7 INT, 1 FF, 1 TD

Slight apologies to: Gibril Wilson (OAK), Antoine Bethea (IND)

Defensive Tackles:

-*Albert Haynesworth (TEN): 8.5 sacks, 3 FF

-*Richard Seymour (NWE): 8.0 sacks (I know he's not REALLY a tackle, but hell, he plays in the 3-4 scheme so I say it's close enough)

Possible back ups: Shaun Rodgers (CLE), Trevor Scott (OAK), Elvis Dumervil (DEN)

No way to judge accurately: offensive guard, offensive tackles, special teamer, fullback

*denotes starter

The Real Pro Bowl Selections (NFC) (revised)

This is now revised for final season numbers

Quarterbacks

-*Kurt Warner (ARI): 96.9 QB rating, 7.66 YPA, 30 TD, 14 INT, 68.4 completion percentage

-Drew Brees (NOS): 96.2 QB rating, 7.98 YPA, 34 TD, 17 INT, 64.7 completion percentage

-Aaron Rodgers (GNB): 93.8 QB rating, 7.53 YPA, 28 TD, 13 INT, 63.6 completion percentage

My apologies to: Matt Ryan (ATL), Tony Romo (DAL). Fuck you Eli Manning (NYG)

Running backs

-* D'Angelo Williams (CAR): 5.5 YPC, 18 TDs

-Brandon Jacobs (NYG): 5.0 YPC, 15 TDs

-Adrian Peterson (MIN): 4.8 YPC, 10 TDs

My sincerest apology to: Michael Turner (ATL)

Wide Receivers:

-*Larry Fitzgerald (ARI): 89.4 YPG, 12 TDs

-*Steve Smith (CAR): 101.5 YPG, 6 TDs

-Anquan Boldin (ARI): 86.5 YPG, 11 TDs

-Calvin Johnson (DET): 83.2 YPG, 12 TDs

-My sincerest apologies to: Roddy White (ATL). Other apologies to: Greg Jennings (GNB)

Tight Ends:

-*Jason Witten (DAL): 59.5 YPG, 4 TDs

-Chris Cooley (WAS): 53.1 YPG, 1 TD

Center

-*Shaun O'Hara (NYG): 1^st in NFC in Run Blocking, 3^rd in NFC in Pass Blocking

-Jonathan Goodwin (NOS): 3^rd in NFC in Run Blocking, 1^st in NFC is Pass Blocking

Punt Returner:

-*Clifton Smith (TAM), 14.1 AVG, 1 TD

Kick Returner:

-*Danieal Manning (CHI): 29.7 AVG, 1 TD

Kicker:

-*John Hanson (CAR): 95.5 FG%, 26 attempts, 8/8 50+ yards

Punter:

-*Brad Maynard (CHI): 96 punts, 41.7% inside 20, 38.1 NET

Defense Ends:

-*Julius Peppers (CAR): 14.5 sacks, 5 FF, 51 tackles

-*John Abraham (ATL): 16.5 sacks 4 FF, 38 tackles

-Jared Allen (MIN): 14.5 sacks, 3 FF, 54 tackles

-Justin Tuck (NYG): 12.0 sacks, 3 FF, 67 tackles

My apologies to: Aaron Kampman (GNB)

Cornerbacks:

-Not enough information to make accurate, informed decision

Linebacker:

-*DeMarcus Ware (DAL): 20.0 sacks, 84 tackles, 6 FF, 0 INT

-*Lance Briggs (CHI): 0.5 sacks, 110 tackles, 1 FF, 3 INT

-*Mathias Kiwanuka (NYG): 8.0 sacks, 51 tackles, 2 FF, 0 INT

-Jon Beason (CAR): 0.0 sacks, 138 tackles, 0 FF, 3 INT

-Patrick Willis (SFO): 1.0 sacks, 141 tackles, 1 FF, 1 INT

-London Fletcher (WAS): 0.5 sacks, 133 tackles, 1 FF, 0 INT

My apologies to: Jonathan Vilma (NOS), Barrett Rudd (TAM)

Safety:

-* Nick Collins (GNB): 72 tackles, 2 FF, 7 INT, 3 TDs

-*Oshiomogho Atogwe (STL): 85 tackles, 5 FF, 5 INTs, 2 TDs

- Michael Lewis (SFO): 96 tackles, 1 FF, 3 INT

-Erik Coleman (ATL): 95 tackles, 2 FF, 3 INT

Defense Tackle:

-*Kevin Williams (MIN)

-*Pat Williams (MIN): Minnesota, 1^st in NFC in run blocking, 2^nd in NFC in pass blocking

I have no real way to judge other individual defense tackles

No way to judge accurately: offensive guards, offensive tackles, special teamer, fullback

* denotes starter

What Determines A Pro-Bowler?

I know this post is extremely long but it's really interesting. (Although it was actually a lot shorter on my Word document when I wrote this)

How do you define greatness? Easily, actually. In basic terms, you determine a standard category and see who best fits the terms of the category. How do you determine who's the greatest guitarist? You can look at skill level of songs and creativity. Granted these terms may not be completely objective but you can still easily create lists to fulfill your standard. How do you determine who's the greatest baseball batter? Even easier, look at OPS. How well a person draws walks and can hit for power. That's the great thing about baseball, there's so many categories that CAN be determined objectively that's it's easy to create lists of who's the best not only year to year but all time. How do you determine who's the greatest football player of all time? Well that's where a problem occurs. You can create a standard category but how do you determine who fulfills that category? This is where statistics can become a problem. First of all, some positions don't have statistics! For example: offensive guards, offensive tackles, fullbacks. Even to some extent linebackers and safeties. Let's use offensive guards and tackles as examples. First, what standard can be used to determine who the best is? Well that's easy. There two functions which are run blocking and pass blocking. The best offensive linemen are great at pass and run blocking. OK, second, how do you determine who is the best at blocking? In a great book called The Hidden Game of Football (a prelude to Football Outsiders, essentially football sabermetrics), they try to tackle this problem. Unfortunately, they look at the best linemen off all time and they use pro bowl selections. This doesn't help us when we are trying to determine who deserves to go to the pro bowl. Recently, statisticians use sack percentage: how often the person an offensive lineman is blocking gets a sack. This is a start but there are three problems with this. First, what if an offensive lineman continually lets his defender come through yet the quarterback is mobile enough to continually not get sacked? Is that offensive lineman really good even though he let's no sacks get through? No. Second, What about run blocking? There's absolutely no way to statistically determine this. Third, often, there's more than one lineman guarding specific blockers. How can you determine who's the best if you are getting help. However, if you're a football fan, you can easily determine if your lineman sucks or not. You see, you just have to watch to see how is good or not. But it's essentially impossible to watch every single player at every single to accurately determine who is good or not. That's why you want to look at statistics. But as we just determined, that's not always possible. So with that being said, here's my list of how to determine (or not) of who should go to a pro bowl:

Positions You CAN Determine Pro-Bowl Selections For:

1. Quarterback. This is one of the easiest to judge. While a quarterback NEEDS a good offensive linemen and competent receivers to have good numbers (and a running game helps but not necessary), you can look at statistics to see who is good or not: Important stats to look at: Average yards per play (AYP), TD/INT ratio, completion percentage, and quarterback rating (while as an individual statistic it's so good but if you're the top of the of league in rating you're generally good).
   
2. Running Back. Also a very easy stat. Yes, an offensive lineman and possibly a fullback are EXTREMELY important for a RB to be good. Let's face it, Jim Brown in front of the 2008 Detroit Lions offensive line would obviously not put up as good of number as he did. Yet the great ones still put up good objective numbers. One important fact to note is that the vast majority of teams have multiple RBs therefore some good, pro bowl caliber backs lose carries and therefore lose some points in some categories, but if a RB fulfills the vast majority of the categories, then they are good. Important stats to look at: Average Yards per Carry (AYC), TDs and to some extent receptions. Receptions aren't important because if you have a back that has a lot of TDs and a high AYC then who cares if your back can't catch? Average Yards per Carry is THE most important stat. How well a running back can do on each individual play is the most important. And FUCK total yards. The guys who have a lot of total cards also have a crap load of touches, usually. Set all carries equal and see how total yards shake up. However, one still must take carries into account. A player can have a great AYC but if that same player only has about 50 touches well then, that player isn't really a pro bowl. So it's not the exact amount of carries that matters just as long as a player with a high AYC also has a significant amount of catches.
   
3. Wide Receiver. Can someone please truly tell me the difference between these two stat lines? Player 1: 2 catches, 100 yards, TD and Player 2: 10 catches, 100 yards, TD. Sure Player 1 did the exact same thing as Player 2 but in 8 less catches, but who cares? The thing is, being a wide out is not about being efficient when you catch the ball; it's just all about catching the ball. Quarterbacks and running backs are extremely independent. They essentially start off with the ball and then decide what they want to do when they have the ball. Receivers on the other hand are dependant; they have to rely solely on the QB. And when you look at the scheme of things, WR only get thrown to about an average of ten times a game. Out of all the plays a team runs, the ball is in the receiver's hands for very little time. That is why similar stats you can use to determine QBs and RBS should not be used to determine WRs. Important stats to look at: Yards per Game and TDs. And really, wide outs get very little TD tosses and very little TDs. So when a WR has a significant amount more of TDs than his competitors it's significant, but a player can be a great wide out with little to no TDs. One stat that I think should be the most important is thrown to/ receptions ratio. First of all, I can not find out this stat so it's hard for me to judge receivers on this. Secondly, this stat can be screwed a little because sometimes QBs will "throw to" a receiver just to avoid a sack or an intentional grounding call and that shouldn't count against a receiver. But really, how many yards a player can get per game over and over again is very important.
   
4. Tight End. The thing about a TE is that they are a combination of a wide receiver and an offensive lineman. Since we can not objectively judge how well anyone blocks, we must unfortunately judge TEs on their receiving skills. Therefore, the same way we should judge WRs is the same way we should judge TEs. Important stats to look at: Yards per Game and TDs.
   
5. Center. This is really the only "blocking" position that can be measured through stats. The thing is, a center is in charge of the entire offensive line. While granted, unfortunately, an offensive line and a center is not a causal relationship, but if an offensive line is good, it is because of its center. And in fact, Football Outsiders use DVOA to judge how well lines as a whole are. So is a team's offensive line is one of the best, then so is its center. Important stats to look at: offensive line DVOA
   
6. Kick Returner: Easy, just look at a returner's average yards per attempt. TDs are not extremely important because really, I know we are all so used to Devin Hester, but in reality, there are so few TDs scored on kick returns. Plus, if a returner does have a lot of touchdowns, they will have a high average because it takes a lot of yards to run back a kick for a TD. Important stats to look at: Average Yards per Return.
   
7. Kicker: Another easy one. All a kicker has to do is kick the ball like 5 times a game. How efficient a guy is at kicking shows how well the kicker is. You can not clearly look at total points because this is determined by FG attempts. One other important fact that's important is percentage of kicks a guy makes from 50+ yards. These kicks are hard. The best kickers should have a decent percentage of kicks from 50+ yards AND from everywhere else. Because let's face it, as awesome as Robbie Gould is because of his high percentage rate, the fact he can't make a kick from at least 50 yards is a major flaw of his. One important point to note: amount of or percentage of game winning field goals is crap. If a kicker is good, it doesn't matter when the game situation is. Important stats to note: FG percentage and FG percentage from 50+ yards.
   
8. Punter. The punter's job is to make sure the opposing team has the worst field position possible. This means both kicking it so the punt returner has a hard time returning the kick and kicking it far and accurate enough to cause trouble to the opposition if the ball is not caught. Important stats to look at: percentage of kicks within the 20 and average net yards per punt. A beaming kick that's caught at the 5 yard line does nothing if it's brought back for a TD. That's why you have to subtract how far the kick went from how far the punter punted it. This is net yardage and the average of this net yardage determines the best. Also, kicks within the 20 means the punter is doing his job making it as hard as possible for the opposition to return kicks
   
9. Defense Ends: The one can get tricky because people tend to judge DE's by sacks. This is tough for two reasons. First, a DE has to do more than pass block, he also has to run block. Secondly, in passing situations, a great DE can apply heavy pressure to the QB without making a sack, yet he did his job perfectly. Yet at the end of the day, players that accrue the most sacks and generally the best defensive end, just please be aware sacks are not the be all end all. Plus, in 3-4, the linebackers, not the ends do the majority of the sacking. Important stats to look at: sacks and tackles for losses.
   
10. Cornerbacks. The primary goal of a CB is to make sure the opposing team's receivers do not get catches. Their goal is not to make interceptions, but to stop receivers from doing their job. Interceptions are misleading. What if let's say you have a cornerback who is pretty bad. Let's call him DeAngelo Hall. This CB is so bad that QBs throw to the receiver he is guarding often. Let's say he is thrown on so much that every once in a while he is able to get an interception. Eventually he may even be in the top 5 in the league in INTs. Is he really a pro bowler? Hell no, he's barely a competent back. In fact, a good many CBs that are pro bowl caliber do not get a lot of INTs because of how well they cover their receiver. Important stat to look at: guarding receivers total numbers. Unfortunately ESPN and NFL.com do not post these stats but you can figure out how often a CB is thrown on and how bad their receivers do. There MUST be a way considering ESPN shows these kinds of stats all the time.
    

Position You Can SORT OF Determine Pro Bowl Selections For:

1. Linebackers. The two main stats people use are tackles and sacks to measure a linebacker's success. Major problems with these. First with sacks. Not all systems require the LB to blitz the QB. In 3-4 systems, they are supposed to. In 4-3, they are not (per se). If you're a linebacker in a 4-3 system, you shouldn't be penalized because you're not asked to rush the passer often. Second, we'll talk about tackles. The same reasons interceptions suck is the same reason tackles suck. If you're a linebacker and you're defensive line is terrible at run blocking, you're going to have a lot of players run you're way. Eventually, you're going to accrue you're far share of tackles. This doesn't mean you are great, it just means players around are not. That being said, you still can kind of sort of determine pro bowlers. LBs that are asked to blitz a lot and are good at it should not be penalized for being good at what they do and get a lot of sacks. Plus, great LBs tend to be pretty good in whole bunch of stats like INTs, sacks, forced fumbles, tipped balls, etc.
   
2. Safety. You know who the best safeties are. You just do. You know how awesome Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed are. The problem is that you don't really have statistics to prove this. One good way of proving how good a safety is by looking at how well a defense does with and without the safety. For example, look how well the Colts and Bears run defense performs when Bob Sanders and Mike Brown, respectively, are not healthy. However, what if a player is always healthy? Then this will prove nothing. Polamalu and Reed have a high numbers of INTs, but as we have proved before, INTs are a shitty stat. But one stat dismissed before is actually a decent measure of a safety's performance, tackles. The thing is, a safety's job is to make sure a receiver or ball carrier does get tackled. If a cornerback let's his receiver catch a ball, it is the safety's job to tackle said receiver. They are set in place as a protection for when people mess up, because they will. However, a good safety paired with a bad cornerback will probably have an unnecessary amount of tackles. So you can look at tackles, INTS, and defensives as a whole, however there is no clear cut way to determine the best of the best.
   
3. Defensive Tackle. If a DT has a large amount of sacks, they are automatically amazing. But the vast majority of DTs do not have a lot of sacks. One measure people might say is to look at a team's run defense and if that is good then the DTs are good. Two problems with this: 1) there are more players like LBs and Ss that help with run blocking and 2) if a team does a good run defense which DT do you give credit to? Honestly, I know Pat Williams and Kevin Williams are fucking awesome, but I can not tell you which one is better than the other. The problem we encounter with run blocking creates the problem with run defense, it's just hard to objectively determine how well a guy can do with run tackling and blocking.
   

Positions You CAN NOT Determine Pro Bowl Selections For:

1. Offensive Guards. If you can give me a concrete way to determine how well a guy pass blocks AND run blocks, please tell me. As I pointed out in the beginning, this just isn't fully quantifiable.
   
2. Offensive Tackles: See above
   
3. Special Teamers: Seriously, what makes Brandon Ayanbedejo so good? Why does he keep going to the pro bowl every year? I don't even know what standards to use to determine what makes a good special teamer? Does he tackle well? Does he block well? Does he run fast enough to force the kick returner to call for a fair catch? Does he strip the ball well? WHAT!? Seriously, this is a completely bullshit category and should be taken away as one.
   
4. Fullback. The fullback's main job to do is block. And as we have fully discussed, run blocking is essentially not quantifiable. I guess an argument can be made that if a RB is good and outs p really good numbers then the FB must be doing something right? Well, maybe, the problem is what is the causal arrow? The FB may not necessarily make the RB good. What if the RB is good that it doesn't matter that the FB missed his run blocking assignment? What if a fullback does his job to a tee but his RB is kid of bad and gets easily tackled no matter what? Again, a fullback run blocks and this can't be put into numbers.

The Cubs Quest For A Power Lefty Bat

Welcome to Chicago, Joey Gathright, proud owner of a lifetime 632 OPS and one career homerun in over 1250 MLB PA's.



PS: The Jake Peavy deal supposidely died because it would eat up too many resources (largely payroll) necessary to acquire a quality player. Is this what he was talking about? Gathright was described by GM Jim Hendry as "the kind of guy we're looking for" when asked what his plans for the 2009 cubs team looked like.

WTF?

Let's put the fact that the Cubs already have one speedy outfielder who can't hit or walk (Pie) aside. What is Hendry's 2009 plan? Undo the team's league leading .355 OBP and 8% above average VORP that led to the league's highest run differential with Grindy Hotdoggers? The Cubs said they wanted a shortstop; maybe they can sign David Eckstein. Hell, maybe the management can even resign Neifi Perez and Corey Patterson and then convince Shawn Dunston to come out of retirement. While we're at it, I miss Juan Pierre and Jacque Jones.

2009, here we come!

Random Pictures

Scott Olsen's Arrest Photo (2007)


Adam Jones (O's, 2008)


Beau Vaughan (Rox AAA, 2008)




Is it baseball season yet?

Reggie Bush Is Too Pretty To Play Football

Mark Schlereth may have just committed career suicide when he responded to a Reggie Bush question by flat out saying "Reggie Bush is a bad football player". A creepy silence fell over the entire espn headquarters for a solid 3 seconds, equivalent to an hour in TV time. Schlereth, knowing that his corner office was already being cleared out and all evidence of his existence going through the shredder, decided to go for broke. He basically called Bush a pussy for never putting his head down, always stepping out of bounds, and missing games due to injuries Brett Favre wouldn't even know were there. Clearly Schlereth was out shooting another scene for "the bold and the beautiful" or whatever when espn sent out the memo proclaiming Bush one of their Golden Boys. Does he not know that Bush won the Heisman Trophy, that he runs a 4.3 40, that he's spooning with Kim Kardashian. Bush's on field performance is completely arbitrary to his status as the NFL equivalent of the chosen one. Nice knowing you Mark Schlereth. Your stunning daytime drama good looks will surely be missed.

Maxim Magazine and Sports- An Oxymoron

So at the beginning of the year I bought a Maxim magazine for a school project (I swear it's for this advertising class I'm in. I have a computer, I'd use that instead of waste my money if I wanted to look at hot girls) Anyway, they have this whole section dedicated to the NFL. They have their own NFL Prediction and they created an "All-Maxim Team" where they mentioned certain players and have little interviews with them (they also have interviews with some hot cheerleaders too 'Oh, I'm going to college right now to be a marine biologist" Sure you are sweetie, you're taking classes after football games and before you strip at nightclubs... Anyway, I'm digressing here.)

My point is this (actually I have two). What does it take to really be considered in the "All Maxim Team"? I guess they try and get the best player available at each position? But if that was the case, then why are players like Chris Cooley (TE), Ben Roethlisberger (QB), Haloti Ngata (D) (Wait, his position is "D", what they fuck is that short for? He just plays defense? What!?), Al Harris (CB), Leonard Davis (OG), and Matt Birk (C) considered for this list. I mean they're GOOD, but are they the very best at their position, probably not.
Here are some of the qualifications I think it takes to be on the "All Maxim Team"
1) You have to be available to actually sit down, take a picture, and kind of sort of talk with a Maxim "reporter" (and I use the term reporter loosely)
2) You have to like to look at hot women. Not necessary fuck them, just look at them. With something, just a little bit, covering, all their private parts
3) YOU HAVE TO BE A MAN!
4) You have to look good in a bathing suit randomly running down a sandy beech with a hot girl sunbathing in the distance...
5) You have to have a story that is kind of funny to you and your teammates but when you tell it to a Maxim "reporter" you just sound like a retard

Secondly, what does it take to be an football expert writing for Maxim? Here's the bracket of how they predicted the 2008/2009 season playoffs to shake out

AFC:
1) New England Patriots
2) Indianapolis Colts
3) San Diego Chargers
4) Pittsburgh Steelers
5) Jacksonville Jaguars
6) Cleveland Browns

(BTW, this is what the 2007/2008 AFC picture looked expect replace Cleveland with Tennessee Titans)

Round One: Pittsburgh beats Jacksonville and San Diego beats Cleveland.
Round Two: New England beats Pittsburgh and Indianapolis beats San Diego
Round Three: New England beats Indianapolis

(apparently Maxim is full of pussies and predict no upsets. Maxim, pussies, get it? It's irony)

NFC:
1) Dallas Cowboys
2) New Orleans Saints
3) Green Bay Packers
4) Seattle Seahawks
5) Philadelphia Eagles
6) Arizona Cardinals

Round One: Arizona beats Green Bay and Philadelphia beats Seattle
Round Two: New Orleans beats Philadelphia and Dallas beats Arizona
Round Three: Dallas beats New Orleans

(Ooooh, and upset in the first round! Two of them! Going bold Maxim, Go-ing bold!)

Superbowl: New England beats Dallas

(apparentely only two upsets will occus throughout the ENTIRE playoffs and both will happen in the first round of the NFC playoffs)

So here's what the playoffs are GOING to look like (pretty much)

AFC:
1) Tennessee Titans
2) Pittsburgh Steelers
3) New York Jets/ New England Patriots/Miami Dolphins
4) Denver Broncos
5) Indianapolis Colts
6) Baltimore Ravens

NFC:
1) New York Giants
2) Carolina Panthers
3) Minnesota Vikings
4) Arizona Cardinals
5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6) Atlanta Falcons/ Dallas Cowboys

(the order may not be exactly like this because the Carolina Panthers could miracously run the table and get the #1 NFC spot but don't be be too shocked to see the real playoff order turn out like this)

Good job Maxim. Way to really be on the ball on this one. Way to really tell the vast majority of your readers what they didn't already think would happen and gave great insight to predicting the future! Fucktards.

Charles Tillman. Chicago Bear. Cornerback. Man Whore.

On Sunday November 30, during the Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears game, our favorite John Madden said this:

"Charles Tillman is the best stripper in the NFL"

Personally, I don't really want to know THAT much about what both John Madden and Charles Tillman are doing in their free time. All I know is, ladies, get your singles ready.

Cubs 2009

My realistic and attainable active roster for 2009:

C-Geovany Soto
1B-Derrek Lee
2B-Mark DeRosa
SS-Mike Fontenot
3B-Aramis Ramirez
LF-Alfonso Soriano
CF-Fukudome
RF-Milton Bradley
UTIL-Micah Hoffpauir (1B/RF)
UTIL-Ryan Theriot (SS/2B)
UTIL-Jake Fox (C)
UTIL-Sam Fuld (OF) -- He's got great plate disciple, prototypical for leadoff and a great defensive player for late inning replacement.
UTIL-Reed Johnson (OF)

SP-Jake Peavy (1)
SP-Rich Harden (2)
SP-Carlos Zambrano (3)
SP-Ted Lilly (4)
SP-Ryan Dempster (5)
SP/RP-Sean Marshall
SP/RP-Chad Gaudin
CL-Carlos Marmol
RP-Jeff Samardzija (7th)
RP-Kevin Gregg (8th)
RP-Michael Wuertz
RP-Kevin Hart/Donald Veal/Angel Guzman

We're Inviting Football QB's To Our New Years Party

-Want underage hot girls at your party, just invite Matt Leinart!
-Want to get arrested at your party, just invite Matt Leinart!
-Want "that dude" at your party groping the girl you're hitting on, spilling and drinking all your booze, and throwing up on your bed? Just call Kyle Orton.
-Clearly, the more of a sloppy drunk you are, the better football player you are. Someone hand me a Steel Reserve, a fifth of jack, and case of Keystone quick! Geez, I don't even wanna see Tom Brady in his social life! Wait he's sticking it to Gisele Bundchen, maybe I do wanna see him in his personal life....


Stupid blog cutting off my awesome pictures and messing up my format! Oh well. You get the idea.

Ranking ESPN Announcers

According to a random site I found, here's the ranking of ESPN best announcers:

1. Bob Ley - 9.0
2. Suzy Kolber - 8.3
3. Chris McKendry - 8.2
4. Kenny Mayne - 8.0
5. Scott Van Pelt - 8.0
6. John Buccigross - 7.2
7. Fred Hickman - 7.1
8. Rece Davis - 6.9
9. Trey Wingo - 6.8
10. Stan Verrett - 6.3
11. Dana Jacobson - 6.1
12. Linda Cohn - 6.0
13. Chris Fowler - 6.0
14. Mike Greenberg - 6.0
15. John Anderson - 5.8
16. Stuart Scott - 5.7
17. Karl Ravech - 5.5
18. Chris Berman - 5.5
19. Mike Ditka - 5.0
20. Jay Harris - 5.0
21. Michael Kim - 5.0
22. Neil Everett - 4.5
23. Dan Patrick - 4.5
24. Brian Kenny - 4.0
25. Steve Levy - 3.7

Things I've Noticed About This List:
-How bad do you have to be as an announcer if you're below Chris Berman!? I love announcers who make up random annoying nicknames. Chris "An Annoying POS Stumbling, Mumbling Poor Excuse For A " Bur-Man. God bless you Ditka.
-I persoanlly love random faux "black phrases" which is a shame that Stuart Scott isn't higher on this list.
-Where's Rachel Nichols! I guess when people watch what you have to say on mute they can't judge how good of a reporter you are.
-Having tits infinitely makes you higher on this list. See: Suzy Colbert, See: Chris McKendry, See: Bob Ley
-I hope Sal Palantonio is purposefully so bad that he didn't make the top 25. It's not that I don't like his reporting, it's just if ESPN jumps to one of his field reports, it means he's covering the top jerk off football story of the moment. "What's something football related that we at ESPN can beat to death and talk about every five minutes?" *Response* "Great! send Sal there!" I don't know if that was funny or not, but I just personally end up hating the content Sal Palantonio spews.
-Is anyone else confused when Neil Everett and Stan Verrett host SportCenter at the same time? I always get confused because there last names are spelled so similiarly. They also look so much alike, oh wait...

Source: http://announcers.sportslizard.com/rankings_sc.php

"Red Wings Make Me Gay"

This is a sports blog. Hockey's a sport. Let's talk about that.

If any of you have watched a Chicago Blackhawks game on local television this past week, and i'm guessing you haven't, you would have seen a commercial for Grant's Appliance featuring local hero Patrick Sharp. After 28 uneventful seconds, the greatest line in the history of lines was uttered by the very "straight" hawks forward. In response to being offered hot wings, Sharp replies "no thanks, red wings make me gay". You may be thinking WTF? In fact, the official line is red wings make me gag, which is quite gay in its own sense, but 100 out of 100 observers will wager their first born that Sharp says gay.

One would hope that something like this would help revitalize the hockey enthusiasm in the once proud city of Chicago. Although great strides have been taken in the past year, notably the hiring of John McDonough and televised home games, too many sports fanatics both young and old remain unaware hockey even exists. Like with an ex-girlfriend, I challenge each and every one of you to give hockey one last chance before saying adieu. Don't be the one to miss the next decade of Datsyuk/Zetterberg vs. Toews/kane rivalry reignited all over again, irregardless how gay it may be.

Awards Kerry Collins Can Actually Win

Kerry Collins may not be NFL MVP worthy, but there are several fictional awards that do capture his true essence. He can win the "QB of the best team through the first 12 games" award this season but thats truly not the MVP. Sexy Rexy won that award in 2006 and we all know how that turned out. espn's promotion of collins as the MVP was most likely based on the assumption that football is the ultimate team sport, hence winning is more important than individual stats. However, they convientely overlook the fact that collins isnt even the best player on the best team. The only players/coaches less valuable than him are his wide recievers. I'd give the MVP to cortland finnegan 50 times over before collins comes to mind. More fictional awards that collins can win are the "best hand-off to the running back" award or the "i'm more valuable than justine gage" award or the "i'm less suicidal than vince young" award

Greg Who?

I pulled this gem by Barry Rozner from this morning's Daily Herald.

Maddux never more popular

The irony is not lost on Greg Maddux.

It took his final season - before which he told the Daily Herald it was virtually certain to be his last - for him to become a truly popular figure around baseball.

Actually, it took the Mitchell Report.

Before Roger Clemens became Public Enemy No. 2 behind Barry Bonds, you rarely heard Greg Maddux mentioned as one of the best of his generation, let alone one of the best of all time.

Really? No one ever thought Greg Maddux, who won a record four consecutive Cy Young awards for being the best pitcher in the NL for four consecutive years, was one of the best pitchers of his generation? Has time and space ignored the fact that Greg Maddux walked under 1000 batters in his 5000+ inning career? Did nobody notice that he has 355 career wins (if you're into that kind of thing)? Does Barry Rozner even know who the fuck Greg Maddux is?

He was an afterthought,

With four consecutive Cy Young awards

considered less than special because he didn't overpower anyone, didn't throw no-hitters and didn't excite those who wanted 99 mph fastballs and 20-strikeout games.

Ok, so you're point is that Greg Maddux isn't Randy Johnson. You know who also didn't overpower anyone, "have exciting stuff," throw 99 MPH fastballs or strikeout 20 batters in a game? Hall-Of-Famers Cy Young, Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez and Three Finger Brown to name but a few -- all players who pitched in an era where not only was the rubber much closer to the plate and the mound much higher elevated, but one in which it was also legal to cover the ball in human feces.

Did I mention that Maddux walked under 1000 batters in 5000+ innings?

But this year, suddenly, Greg Maddux became a great pitcher, while having his worst season in 21 years.

"I'm popular now,'' Maddux said with a laugh this weekend, as he prepared for a news conference today making his retirement official. "That's OK. I didn't need the attention. Better to sneak up on people.''

By saying little and offering even less with his actions, Maddux cruised under the radar.

Remaining relatively unknown before 2008.

During 22 seasons of quietly going about his business,

And winning four consecutive cy young's, 18 gold gloves (13 consecutive) and being nominated to eight All-Star games...

he merely won 355 games,

The most of ANY living pitcher alive.

good for eighth all time and one more than Clemens, who had - up until this year - been universally hailed as the greatest pitcher of the last several decades,

Really? Not Pedro Martinez or Nolan Ryan or Sandy Koufax? Roger Clemens? Not, oh, I don't know, Randy "Bird Killer" Johnson?

and by some as the greatest of all time.

Exaggeration, verb:
1. To represent as greater than is actually the case; overstate.
2. To enlarge or increase to an abnormal degree.

Maddux wasn't even called the best pitcher on his own staff for most of his time in Atlanta

Despite being the perennial team leader in ERA, WHIP, K:BB, and Cy Young Awards.

And when he left Chicago as a free agent late in 1992, he was blasted for having made a big mistake

Actually, I do believe that it was the Cubs who were blasted for having made a big mistake.

and was informed then that Jose Guzman would be ample replacement for a guy who had never been impressive before winning 20 games and a Cy Young in 1992.

Who?

But now he's a big deal, history has been revised,

By you, apparently.

both in the real world and the imagined, and Maddux will get a hero's send-off by the national press in Las Vegas.

The man called greedy in Chicago 16 years ago this week will now be nominated for sainthood after leaving $10 million on the table.

Once called mediocre, he will be called one of the greatest of all time and absolutely the best of the last 30 years.

Who ever called Maddux, whose ERA was never above 2.75 between 1992 and 1998, mediocre?

Once called skinny and weak, he will be called clean in an era of filth.

Only fat, unathletic pitchers with big hearts and bigger stomaches are Men.

Once called dull because he was too wise to say too much, he will be called brilliant, funny and entertaining as he says farewell to the game.

"I never cared about any of that stuff,'' Maddux said. "The way I figure it, the less people know, the better. I had a teammate that played second base in Chicago who did that pretty well, and it worked out OK for him.''

Maddux will join Ryne Sandberg in Cooperstown in the summer of 2014, after he receives one of the highest vote totals in the history of the ballot.

We'll spare you the numbers because you've heard them all before,

Apparently you haven't seen his numbers before, since you think Maddux was "irrelevant" before 2008.

but Maddux finally has earned respect for an astounding career that placed him among the very best in 132 years of baseball in nearly every statistical pitching category of consequence.

And yet he was irrelevant before 2008.

But after 22 seasons and at the age of 42, Maddux has his sights set on much bigger goals.

"I want to watch my son, Chase, pitch and help him if there's anything I know worth telling him,'' Maddux said, with typical humility. "He's seen me pitch enough. He's 11 (years old) and now it's my turn to watch him.

"My family put up with a lot from me while I went off and played a kid's game. I've been lucky with health and the rest of it's just been fun.

"Everything I have is just from going to do what I enjoyed doing, and they paid me for it, too. I never got caught up in the rest of it, never looked too far ahead. I just enjoyed the moments, the going to the ballpark, the teammates. I enjoyed it all.

"I've been very lucky.''

Actually, Maddux's career -- one which was marked by a superiod HR/9 rate, a stellar BB/9 rate and well-above-average K/9 rate -- was hardly the byproduct of luck.

The rest of the article is pretty boring and pointless, but ends with this funny line

You'd forgive Greg Maddux if he privately wondered where everyone has been all this time.

I'm glad to see bad journalism alive and well in this grim post-FireJoeMorgan era.

Who Cares If You Do Coke?

Matt Jones was arrested for cocaine possession. He was arrested in July. He was convicted. His punishment?

A 3 game suspension five months after his arrest.

Let's compare this to other punishments:

-Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the thigh and owning an illegal fireman: 4 game suspension

-Albert Haynesworth: stomping on Cowboys' Center Andre Gurode's face: 5 game suspension

-6 players took a banned diuretic that they actively researched to see if it contained banned substances and even after talking to the company and thought that it was clean yet it DID have a banned substance therefore they had a banned substance in their system: 4 game suspension (possible playoff suspension)

-Exclaiming that you're upset that your colleagues that they are going out with you're "sloppy seconds": 6 game suspension (NHL)

Clearly doing cocaine is OK and not as bad as owning a gun or doing a substance legalized by U.S law you didn't realize you were taking.

Speaking of stupid suspension: Sean Avery made the "sloppy seconds" comment above and got a 6 game suspension. He got a 5 game suspension for elbowing a guy into unconsciousness and a 2 game suspension for elbowing another guy and forcing him out for 12 weeks. Making snide comments is CLEARLY worse than seriously injuring players so I can actually understand this suspension.

Diabetes Makes You Awesome!

Jay Cutler has been in the NFL for three years now. For the first two years, Jay Cutler has kind of sucked. Now this year he is good, in fact, he should be a pro bowler. So what's changed between this year and last year? This past off season, Cutler was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. And now look at what's he's done compared to what he's done in the past. Based on this one example, diabetes was clearly the reason that made Jay Cutler better.

Therefore, diabetes makes you better.

A Sample Basketball Highlight

Here's an example of a prototypical basketball highlight:

Random ESPN announcer [highlights of the basketball game show over voice]: Now let's go to Chicago/Orlando game. Here's Derrick Rose, he's in between three defenders, he does an amazing spin move, he goes around Dwight Howard, and OOHHH look at that amazing jam. Derrick Rose again in the 2^nd quarter. He gets the steal, he runs down the lane and makes the easy lay up. Rose later again, drives towards the lane, makes an unbelievable behind-the-back pass to Ben Gordan and Gordan get two. Last drive, two seconds left in the game, Derrick Rose throws it up at half court and MAKES THE SHOT as time expires. Derrick Rose had an amazing game: 42 points, 15 assists, 2 steals, and 5 rebounds.

Announcer again [a stat sheet up on screen]: Let's look, at the last Chicago players to get 40+ points and 14+ assists in Orlando. As you can see Rose joins an impressive list including Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen

OhByTheWayTheBullsGetBlownOutByOrlandoMagic132Chicago92

So here's the template for a basketball highlight

1. Show three to four amazing plays that happen during the game. Overhype those plays. If you can find audio of the team's announcer over blowing the play, that would be even better. If you can't find an amazing play, just take a random play of a player everybody knows and make it sound like the player is doing more than he actually is.
   
2. Compare what one person did during the game so some other great players. It doesn't matter what stat you make up to compare the players, this is just a time filler
   
3. Say the score of the game. This is trivial. No one care about this. The highlight actually should not even coincide with the score.

Dallas Cowboys! Oh Dallas COWBOYS! Oh TONY ROMO! OH OH T.O.! OH DAAAALLLLAASSS COOOOWWWWBOYYS! I just came.

ESPN, stop jerking off the Dallas Cowboys. We get it, they're a disappointment. A lot of people projected them to get to and even win the Superbowl and now they might not make it to the playoffs. They are coming off a 13-3 season where they were the #1 seed and had like 13 pro bowlers. And now they suck. They're terrible. They're the worst team in football. The Detroit Lions could beat this team that's really bad. There's no reason to talk about them every five minutes to tell us this.

Teams that are better than the Dallas Cowboys:

-Tennessee Titans

- New York Giants

-Pittsburgh Steelers

-Carolina Panthers

-Indianapolis Colts

-Baltimore Ravens

-Tampa Bay Buccaneers

-Minnesota Vikings

-New England Patriots

-Arizona Cardinals

-New York Jets

-Miami Dolphins

All deserve to be talked about more than the Dallas Cowboys

Teams that are bigger disappointments than the Dallas Cowboys:

-Jacksonville Jaguars (Went from being the 3^rd best team in the AFC to last in the AFC South)

-San Diego Chargers (Runner up in AFC Championship game to being shitty)

-Green Bay Packers (see above and substitute "A" with "N")

-Detroit Lions (always sucky but never THIS SUCKY. They also won 7 games last year)

-Seattle Seahawks (first in their division for like the part four years to only winning two games this year)

-Cleveland Browns (won ten games last year, also projected to go to the playoffs, and blow chunks)

-Philadelphia Eagles (projected to either make the playoffs and/or win the division, and has a worse record than the Cowboys)

All are teams that deserve more recognition for their follies than the Dallas Cowboys

If the season ended today, the Cowboys would make the playoffs and still have a chance to do so. If they lose all three of their next games, they STILL won't have a losing record. Two of their next three games are at home. Nobody cares about the Dallas Cowboys. Nobody cares about Tony Romo. T.O. is a piece of shit and if you stop replaying his comments, the he'll shut the fuck up! God I hate you ESPN if I wasn't addicted to you so much.

Stat Jokes

Thank "The 'Bright' One" for these gems:

o Three statisticians went hunting in the woods and came across a deer. The first statistician shot ten feet in front of the deer. The second statistician shot ten feet behind the deer. The third statistician proclaimed 'we got him!'

o I asked a statistician for her phone number. She gave me an estimate.

o Statistically speaking, in China, even if you are a one in a million kind of guy, there are a thousand more just like you.

No wonder John Kruk predicted Randy Johnson to win 30 games in 2005

He didn't want to get on the Big Unit's Bad Side again.

Furthermore, here is Krukie's 1991 Upper Deck card...



Little know fact: he actually struck out in this AB too.

And finally, Larry Walker and the short-lived backwards hat fad of the mid-90s.



It's OK guys, Big Unit scares me too.

Call me crazy, but Tom Glavine does not deserve to be in the Hall Of Fame

In analyzing Tom Glavine, you need to put his 305 wins aside. Wins do not measure a pitchers talents because a guy can give up 10 runs in a game, but if his team scores 11, he still gets the win. I highly doubt anyone would argue such a pitcher, someone in the mold of say Jason Marquis, is such a good pitcher.

Tom Glavine's career line is 4413.1 IP, 1500 BB, 2607 K's. That's nothing impressive, by any means. He has a career K/BB ratio of approximately 1.7 (Greg Maddux's K/BB, by contrast, is a shade under 3.4 -- depressed by a nothing-special-but-well-above-average strikeout rate. More impressively, Maddux walked under 1000 batters in 5000 IP -- truly a king of control! The major league average for K/BB was 2.00 in 2007).

Glavine never once struck out over 200 batters in a single season and only once posted a strikeout rate above 7.0 (the league average is around 6.7). Strikeouts, of course, are not the only way to show how good a pitcher is at pitching, but it is a very pitcher-controlled and fairly consistent metric by which one can monitor a pitcher's consistency, ability to fool hitters and simply dominate with good stuff. He came close to 200 strikeouts once, in 1992, when he won a Cy Young with 192 K's. Far be it from me to DENY someone HOF votes because of a low strikeout rate, but a career 5.3 K/9 rate is far from anything impressive, and I want my HOF-ers to have impressive careers.

In fact, the only thing impressive about Glavine's career may be that he posted such a low ERA between 1991 and 2002 (under 3.00 six times, only above 4.00 once). His barely above-average strikeout rates and walk rates over this period were heavily distorted by an incredibly low HR/9 rate (which, however, deteriorated rapidly after the 1999 season). In 1992, with 225 IP, Glavine surrendered only 6 HR. In 1995, he followed that up with 199 IP, 9 HRs. From 1991 thru 1999 (including the 1999 season), Glavine gave up approximately 15 HRs per year and clocked in 225+ innings in all but two seasons (165 IP in 1994 and 199 IP in 1995). After the 1999 season, Glavine only once gave up under 20 HRs in a season (2005), while his IP per season fell to 211 (it was above 230 in seasons Glavine pitched 30+ games), only topping the 225 mark once (2000).

As evident by his career 3.5 ERA, Glavine was surely (and undeniably) a work horse who ended up giving his team a lot of quality innings. However, a lot of that "quality" simply seems to be the result of luck and circumstance. His career WHIP is above 1.3 and hasn't been below 1.28 since 1999. In fact, during his 1991-1999 seasons, his WHIP was more often above 1.4 than it was below 1.2. Glavine's WHIP was never below 1.1. For reference, Maddux's career WHIP is 1.14 and was below 1.1 nine times, almost consecutively. Now WHIP is hardly the tell-tale stat since hits are a volatile statistic. However, the stat does show that Glavine did not do much to limit baserunners and keep his team out of high leverage situations. Further, while Glavine's control element of WHIP was above average, it was hardly anything impressive. Whereas his teammate Maddux walked 20 batters in 233 innings in 1997 and posted ridiculous control numbers annually, Glavine's only elite walk rate year came in 1989.

Of course, we shouldn't by any means argue that "since Maddux was a much better pitcher, Glavine doesn't deserve to go" because Maddux, like Pedro and Clemens and arguably even Smoltz, is on a completely different plane of "greatness."

Still, when you look at the total of his peripherals, Glavine's numbers are not very impressive. He did not have great control (in fact, his control was below average) and he didn't have overwhelming "stuff" (again, below the major league average (league average K/9 was 6.67 in 2007)). He was simply a quality pitcher on a great team who got inordinately lucky because he induced plentiful ground balls to a great defense over the course of his career. The only metric from the Holy Trinity of Consistency for pitchers (HRs, Ks, BBs) that he was above average in is HRs -- and his above average-ness in that department didn't even last a decade (not that I believe that pitchers generally directly control their HR rates anyways).

To quote Ken Tremendous of FJM, whose assertion I entirely agree with,

When determining whether or not Player X belongs in the HOF, we must ask "do Player X's numbers show that he was one of the very best players in the game for a long time? Because there are a lot of guys who excel for 1-3 years and then kind of fade away. And the Hall should be reserved for the ones who don't fade away. Or, alternately, the guys whose careers were cut short for some tragic reason, but who were so insanely amazing at baseball -- so utterly and completely dominant -- that you cannot deny their outrageous shining brilliance."

While Glavine hardly faded away, he didn't really "shine" for more than a few seasons. His ERA+ was pretty damn good (130 or higher) in 9 of his seasons and above 100 (league average) every year but his first four, last two and one somewhere in the middle. However, ERA, as we all know, is often a byproduct of condition and luck (especially when your WHIP is in the 1.3's). I'd say -- and kill me if I'm out of line -- that Glavine's career is a lot like Carlos Zambrano's, only with less K's and less BB's. High WHIPs and mediocre control rates coupled by lower-than-expected ERAs and high win rates.

If anything, I would simply have to put Tom Glavine in what Tremendous called "The Hall of Very Good"

___

Let me just end this with a little post-script. I do strongly believe that Mike Mussina, who has a career ERA of 3.7 (in the AL, mind you) and is just 13 wins shy of 300, belongs in the HOF. His career K/BB is 3.6 and he only ONCE walked more than 55 batters in a single season (65 in 1996, where he logged a career high 243 IP). In fact, while averaging almost 200 IP across his whole career (215+, if you only look at his first 14 seasons), Mussina only walked more than 50 batters three times. His career BB/9 is under 2. He also struck out more than 200 batters more than few times in his career (four times, to be exact, though he did rack up 195 K's in 2003). If you ask me, Moose>Glavine.

Finally, just to postulate the question, why is Bert Blyleven not in the HOF?

Kerry Collins for MVP!!!

Right now the Tennessee Titans hold the best record in football. They have a stingy defense (by law, anyone talking about a good NFL defense is required to call it "stingy"), a great running attack, and great offensive and defensive lines. But what they do not have, is a great quarterback. Hell, they barely have a halfway decent one.

Several ESPN analysts including Tom Jackson, Skip Bayless, and Woody Paige have clamored for Kerry Collins to be the NFL MVP. Are they joking? Collins is 24rd in completion percentage, 21th in Passing Yards, 25th in yards per attempt, t-21th in TD, 22 in TD%, 20st in passer rating, 11th in DVOA (a football sabermetrics stat), 14th in DYAR (another football sabermetrics stats). According to footballoutsides.com "The simple version: DYAR means a quarterback with more total value. DVOA means a quarterback with more value per play."

There's only 32 NFL teams and for the most part Kerry Collins in part of the bottom third in major passing stats

To his credit he doesn't turn over the ball. He is t-2^nd in INTs with 6 and has 11 TDs. Chad Pennington also 6 INTs but has 12 TDs. Jason Campbell also had 11 TDs and 6 INTs. Jeff Garcia, while granted have started less games that Collins only has three INTs and a better TD/INT ratio. Matt Ryan has one more INT (7) yet 3 more TDs (14). Eli Manning, Kyle Orton, and Tyler Thigpen have only two more INTs than Collins (8) and have way more TDs than Collins (20, 25, 14 respectively). All have better passer ratings.

Kerry Collins is on a team that has the second best scoring defense, the 4th overall defense in terms of yards. He's on a team that's third best in running the ball, has the fifth best RB in Chris Johnson in terms of running the ball, and the best RB in terms of TDs in LenDale White.

Kerry Collins has only three times thrown over 200 yards. Two of those opponents were against the Bears and the Jaguars. He has never thrown over 290 yards nevertheless 300. Against the Detroit Lions he didn't get a TD throw and less than 200 yards. AGAINST DETROIT! Only three times has he thrown more TDs than INTs; twice has he thrown the same amount of TDs as INTs; once he threw more INTs than TDs.

People who deserve the NFL MVP more than Kerry Collins: Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers, Clinton Portis, Adrian Peterson, Tennesse Defense, Brandon Jacobs, Anquan Boldin, Matt Forte, LenDale White, Andre Johnson, Greg Jennings, Jeff Fisher, Calvin Johnson, Matt Forte, Thomas Jones, Graham Harrell, Donavan McNabb, Jay Cutler, Chris Johnson, Marion Barber, D'Angello Williams, Titans Offensive line, Landanian Tomlinson, Peyton Manning, Albert Haynesworth, Chad Pennington, Kyle Orton, Colt McCoy, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Albert Pujols, Jason Campbell, Skip Bayless, Brett Farve, Jeff Garcia, Matt Cassel, Bill Belichick's hoodie, Joe Flacco, Gus Ferrotte, Carlos Quentin, Matt Cassel, Chase Daniel, Me, and Tom Jackson. All are better MVP candidates than Kerry Collins.