The Kid wins, what does it all mean?

CONGRATULATIONS TIMMY LINCECUM.

So, i promised that i'd come back and write on this, so here it is.. I dont think its necessary to talk about how great of a season the Kid had, nor mention the amazing numbers he put up pitching for a team that won so few games and provided so few runs and winning about a quarter of their games. What I really want to talk about is the trend that Lincecum seems to represent, a change in the game and the mindset that goes along with it.

A few years ago, theres a very good chance that Lincecum would have lost this award to Brandon Webb who had 22 wins to Lincecum's 18. Baseball traditionalists almost always determined the value of a pitcher almost solely on their win counts. And because so many members of the media were traditionalists, the Cy Young award went to the pitcher with the most wins almost every single year. Now this isnt to say that wins arent important, they are. Wins are the most important statistic in baseball.. they represent success and count towards making the playoffs, which get you to a championship. But, there is so much more to wins than appears. Wins are a team statistic, and while a pitcher determines almost half of a game, there are so many factors beyond their control, such as run support and errors. While wins are an extremely important measure in determining the value of a pitcher, at the same time you have to take the team into account.

What is a big deal in Tim Lincecum winning the Cy Young is a trend towards a new way of baseball thought; a new approach to the game. A few years ago, a statistician named Bill James made his mark on the game and began a revolution of new thought called sabermetrics. I first read about sabermetrics in Moneyball by Michael Lewis. Basically, sabermetrics is analyzing baseball from a statistical standpoint and determines the value of players and the aspects of the game, purely using numbers. What I see in recent years is a trend of those coming into power in baseball, whether it be in the media, GMs, or the front office- you can see more and more of the effects of sabermetrics and the influence of statistical analysis on baseball.

My hope is that Lincecum's Cy Young win will serve as a stepping stone in the evolution of the game and the mindset that goes along with it. It is important that the game continues to grow and as important as baseball tradition is, it also alienates the fans at times. Ideas like sabermetrics will be instrumental in bringing fans closer to the game. Baseball seems to finally be moving in a direction of change, and i dont think that it will be such a huge change that baseball traditionalists will be offended. It should rather be looked at as the next step in the evolution of the game.

Anyway, thats my little tangent of the day. Without further ado, here is my mini celebration for the Kid winning the Cy Young..

Dissappointment

I just finished watching the Niners and Cardinals on Monday Night Football.

There isn't much to say about the game. The Niners found themselves in a very, very fortunate position to win a game that they had already allowed to slip through their hands. The Niners started off the game with an Allen Rossum kickoff return TD, Vernon Davis' first TD grab of the season, and go into the half with a 21-13 lead and all the momentum on their side. In the first half, the Niners looked great. However, in the second half, they looked lost- they allowed Kurt Warner to do what he does best; destroy secondaries. The Niners were fortunate to find themselves in a position to win the game still as they drove down the field with 4 minutes left only to have Shaun Hill throw a interception at the Arizona 18 yard line. After getting a clutch defensive stop, the Niners were lucky enough to get the ball back with 1:06 on the clock, driving all the way to the 1 yard line. At the 1, Frank Gore was unable to get into the end zone as he stumbled towards the end zone after making slight contact with a defender only to have the ball called back to the 2 yard line. Then, the Niners predictably ran the ball down the middle only to be completely stuffed, an thus losing the game.

While the game seemed competitive, it really wasn't as close as you may think. The Niners were outscored 16-3 in the second half and were fortunate to find themselves in two positions to win the game. Normally when teams are gifted with the chance to win games that they didn't deserve to, they win them. Not the Niners. Instead, the Niners spoiled their opportunities and were dealt a spirit crushing loss to a division rival. While an upset win tonight would have definitely been a huge step in the development of such a young team and a new coach, hopefully there can be some good taken away from this horrible loss. After the controversy of last weekend when Vernon Davis and Mike Singletary got into an argument, it could have easily created a horrible locker room divide and a rookie coach starting with a bad foundation with one of the players who the franchise hope will become a big part of their future. Instead, after Davis' spectacular TD grab tonight, you could see Singletary and Davis hugging and reconciling a very important relationship between a young potential building block of the franchise and his new coach. Another thing that can be taken away from the game was that despite the turmoil over the QB situation in San Francisco, it seemed to me that the team rallied around Shaun Hill, especially after a QB scramble in which his helmet was ripped off, only to have him continue to run and successfully fight for the first down. You could see everyone on the sidelines getting pumped up and rallying around their quarterback, no matter how many games he has started for the team. This young team definitely can use plays like that for all the players to see. To see that the team is above all of them and establishing a mentality based on hard work, sacrifice and the idea that if they keep fighting, the results will come.

This is actually why I think that tonight's loss was so disappointing. I can only imagine how much good would have come out of a win tonight; on the national stage, against the division leaders. Had the Niners won tonight, how could the players ignore the results of hard work? How could the players not be motivated to work hard? In a game where every single analyst sided against the Niners, and to come out on top after fighting for every inch and yard against all expectations. And while every single player on the Niners is definitely demoralized and disappointed after probably feeling like tonight was when their hard work would pay off, we can all only hope that Mike Singletary can use his passion for the game and his emotion to get through to his young team that if they continue to fight and grow that the results will come eventually.

1 Phillie Too Many

So, according to reports and what many people expected, it looks like the first player to leave the World Champion Phillies will most likely be their slugging left fielder Put Burrell. The reason that this is of any interest to me, is that its being reported that none other than the San Francisco Giants are interested in Burrell's services.

Now, admittedly Burrell is a better player than Aaron Rowand. But i really don't think that Burrell would fit well with the team. Do we need more offense? Yes. Doesn't Burrell annually put up 30 hrs, 100 rbis? Yes he does. However, if we haven't learned anything from Rowand, we should know that players moving from the hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park to the offensive blackhole of China Basin take a huge hit in their offensive numbers. While I know that Burrell is a much better hitter than Rowand and his numbers wouldn't nearly dip as much, he is also a worst fielder (as bad as Rowand is already) and he strikes out alot (.250 avg and 136 k's). I really think that if the Giants signed Burrell it would be more of a step backwards than forwards because of how much Burrell will be demanding on the open market. We already overpaid for one former-Phillie, and i really hope that we don't repeat our mistake. Yes the Giants need offensive help, this is obvious; however, a power hitter like Burrell who hits for a low average and will be overpaid, is NOT the answer. Hopefully under the new ownership, the Giants will not continue to make the same mistakes of overpaying players (see: Zito and Rowand) only to see them become a financial burden to the team.

NBA Season Begins

Haven't updated in awhile, here are random things from the start of the NBA season

Nike Fate

100 Year- Old Curses and Suicide Squeezes

So, with the Division Series' finished up in both the AL and NL, the two teams with the best records in their respective divisions have both been knocked out of the playoffs. For one team, it was an absolute meltdown that their fan base half expected and the other just couldn't produce when it counted most.

For the Chicago Cubs, going into the playoffs you almost half expected something to go wrong at some point that made them meltdown and lose. But it didn't happen that way. There was no Bartman this year to blame- the Cubs just flat out failed. Watching game 1 of that series in Wrigley, if you just listened to the crowd you knew the Cubs fans were shook. Each one of them knew the Cubs' history and it seemed like they were scared to cheer, because they felt like the curse was just around the corner. After Dempster tanked game 1 with 7 walks and the Cubs down a game, it was a manageable deficit to come back from but it didnt turn out that way, the Cubs never recovered. I'll give credit where credit is due though, no matter how much I hate the Dodgers, they did a hell of a job shutting down the Cubs' big bats. After seeing the Cubs swept out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion, I could only feel bad for them. With no team in the NL that i was really pulling for, I had hopped onto the Cubs bandwagon at the start of the playoffs, because despite the face that they had the best record in the NL, they still seemed like underdogs playing against their plagued past. The worst part of it all is, I think this might have been their best chance in a long time at winning the World Series. After the brutal sweep, i don't know if the cubs can put this past them. This was really a miracle season for them, everything was going right- Dempster was great (except when it mattered) moving from the bullpen to a starter, Harden was both healthy and dominant for them, much of their lineup was having career years like DeRosa (again, except when it mattered), Kerry Wood was mostly healthy and their bullpen was dominant. Plain and simple, the Cubs choked and i really don't think that everything can go as well as it did this season for them to be in a similar situation heading into the playoffs next season. Oh well, at least possibly having a president will be a sufficient consolation for Cubs fans.

On the other hand, there was the Angels, the best team in baseball against the defending world champion Red Sox. After being pushed to the brink of elimination due to the dominance of Jon Lester and a freak out fielding error, the Angels clawed their way back and looked like they were sending the series back to Anaheim with all of the momentum, the now infamous suicide squeeze play happened. I personally don't like how much some writers and analysts are blasting Sciosca for calling the squeeze play. I thought it was the right play in that situation- all the conditions were right and it was a tie game in the top of the 9th. If Aybar just makes contact on that bunt play, they're up a run, K-Rod comes in to close it out and most likely, we're looking at a deciding game 5 in Anaheim, with the momentum on the Angels' side. I agree with most people when they say that the Angels were the better team, but the playoffs are the playoffs and it only matters who shows up when it matters most. The Angels hitters looked lost against the Redsox staff, despite the fact that their middle relief was terrible. I don't feel like the Angels choked as much as they were just outplayed by the gritty Redsox. Sciosca made the right call on that squeeze play- you have Aybar swinging that bat there, there is a much better chance that he gets the run in bunting than swinging the bat. However, in the end, the Redsox stepped up in the 9th to get a walk off single.

If anything, these two playoff series were just another example, that it doesnt matter what you do during the regular season- everyone has a clean slate in October. The Angels and Cubs didnt show up when it mattered most and the Dodgers and Redsox got hot at the right time. Also, its a lesson that its hard to swing the bat, when your hands are around you neck. (choking)

The Great Debate

Lately, I've been reading a few articles about the Cy Young award since the end of the season is approaching. Because the season is ending and the number of articles and debates about the end of the season awards will increase, I wanted to talk about how I felt about all of it before it was too late. So, obviously this is going to be biased towards Lincecum winning the NL Cy Young, but it is my blog, so what do i care. So, hopefully by the end of reading this, you will be convinced that Lincecum is the deserving recipient of the NL Cy Young Award this year. And before you read this, keep in mind that all stats are as of 9/11/08.


Ok, so first off, in the NL there are essentially only three pitchers that are in consideration at this point for the Cy Young award: Brandon Webb, CC Sabathia, and Tim Lincecum. So, lets talk about Webb first. Brandon Webb, the sinkerball extraordinaire who is the ace of the Dbacks' staff, is currently sitting at a 19-7 record (1st in the NL), and a 3.41 ERA (10th in the NL). These are often times the most looked at stats by Cy Young voters. And until recently, Webb was looking like the runaway candidate for the Cy Young this year, before taking 3 straight losses and inflating his ERA from 2.74 to his current 3.41. Now, after his recent rough patches, and the Dbacks falling 3.5 games out of the NL West lead, the only number that can really argue Webb as the Cy Young winner is his win total of 19-7, which I will get back to later. If Webb wins the remainder of his starts and/ or the Dbacks end up winning the NL West with Webb playing a significant role, it would give Webb a very strong case for the award, but only time will tell and as of right now, it looks like Webb is quickly loosing ground in the race.

Moving on to CC Sabathia, the reigning AL Cy Young winning Vallejo Native. Sabathia moved from the struggling Cleveland Indians to the young Milwaukee Brewers in a trade deadline deal. Now, it cannot be argued that Sabathia has been dominant since his move to the NL; however, the question is with him- do you look at his stats as a whole or only his time in the NL? If you look at his stats on a whole, Sabathia sports a good but not great win total of 15-8 in addition to a great 2.81 ERA, which I will get back to later. If you include his stats as a whole, he is tied for the major league lead in strikeouts with none other than Tim Lincecum at 225. Now, if you look at what he's done only in the NL, he eye-popping numbers: 9-0, 1.59 ERA, 6 complete games. However, if you only take Sabathia's numbers in the NL, can you really give CC the Cy Young based on only 13 starts compared to Lincecum's 29?

Finally, there is young Tim Lincecum, sporting an NL leading 2.54 ERA, a tied for Major league leading 225 K's, and a record of 16-3 on the sub .500 SF Giants. First off, let me address the arguments against Lincecum's case for Cy Young. Traditionally, the Cy Young has often times gone to the pitcher with the highest win total, which in this case is projected to be Brandon Webb (19-7). However, Lincecum isn't too far behind, as he is currently tied for 2nd in the NL in wins (16-3). Also, if you are going to include wins, then you must also look at losses right? And if you get a winning percentage from each pitcher, Webb sits at (.731), while Lincecum is at (.842). So, besides number of wins, Lincecum trumps Webb in every other major statistical category, including winning percentage, and it really isn't that close.

Then, it can also be argued that Lincecum plays for a sub-.500 team that is going to miss the playoffs. In my opinion, since the Cy Young award is an individual award and not a team award, not only does the number of wins a pitcher has have less weight, but it also seems to me that what Lincecum has done this year is even more impressive and should even help his case for Cy Young. Had the Giants' bullpen performed better or he was given more run support, Lincecum could quite possibly have 20-21 wins right now, in which case there wouldn't be any argument over who was the Cy Young winner this season.

Next, there is the issue about what is more deserving of Cy Young recognition, a short sample of near perfection (Sabathia in the NL), or prolonged dominance (Lincecum)? And, what I believe is that you cannot look at Sabathia's numbers in the NL only and believe that he could have been this dominant all season. Looking at Sabathia's season numbers, he has a 2.81 ERA compared to Lincecum's 2.54 in addition to having a 15-8 record compared to Lincecum's 16-3. Now, all pitchers go through ups and downs over the course of the year- a pitcher can go on a month or two tear only to cool off and get shelled his next few outings. That's the thing about baseball- the season is so long that there are rarely flukes. Why do you think you almost always see the same players in discussion for best players in the league? Its because the length of the season weeds out all the players who aren't truly great. Greatness in baseball revolves around being great and being great consistently. Take for example Chris Shelton formerly of the Detroit Tigers- in the beginning of the 2006 season, he hit 10 HRs in April and was being heralded as a potential HR king for the season. What happened after that month? He went ice cold, and managed a measly 6 more HRs before the All-Star Break, after which he was sent down to the Minor Leagues.

I know Chris Shelton is an extreme example and i know that Sabathia is one of the best pitchers in the Majors, but it helps to prove my point about baseball- its an 162 game season and you cannot be rewarded for being brilliant for half of it and only decent the other half. Sabathia has been amazing since he got to Milwaukee, but is what he did in the beginning of the season to be completely forgotten? If you still aren't convinced, think about this: If Sabathia had been this good for the first half of the season, only to pitch the second half like he did in Cleveland, would he even be in the discussion for the Cy Young right now?

Lincecum has been consitently dominant over the course of the season and he has the stats to prove it. When it boils down to it, it just seems like there's too much evidence against Webb and Sabathia to argue against the numbers that Timmy has put up this season. Are the Giants making the playoffs? No. But why should Lincecum's achievements this season be affected at all by that? This isn't the MVP award, which means the player is most valuable to his team's success. The Cy Young is an individual award, and if you look at it individually, Tim Lincecum is the clear choice for the 2008 NL Cy Young.

TGIF

Thank God Its Football.

Words cannot express how happy I am that football is back. As much as I love baseball, when your home team is absolutely out of the playoff picture and there's nothing else to watch in terms of sports besides analysts talking about the Red Sox and Yankees making the playoffs this year, Football is very appreciated. Despite the terrible season opener by the Niners plagued by turnovers, I couldn't be happier with the return of fantasy football, sunday, and monday games to look forward to. I don't have much else to say about football this season yet, except that its going to be an interesting year with the Colts looking lost against the Bears and the Pats losing Brady for the season.
I guess this is also a post about my appreciation for fantasy sports, which played a huge part in both sparking and causing my interest in sports to grow. I know watching sports with fantasy points looming in the back of your thoughts is not the best way to watch games, but you have to admit, it draws more fans to the game.

In other news, the Giants just wrapped up their win against the Dbacks tonight with Lincecum on the mound almost pitching his first complete game, only to load the bases in the 9th and being pulled after throwing 8.1 shutout innings and throwing 127 pitches.
What the hell is wrong with Bruce Bochy? Look, i am happy that the Giants won tonight against the Dbacks, but its not like they were hanging onto a 1 run lead, if you are so concerned about preserving a win, why not turn it over to Brian Wilson who may end the season as the NL saves leader? I understand that itd be a cool accomplishment for Timmy to throw his first complete game shutout but come on. The Giants were up 5-0 since the 3rd inning. How can Bochy leave him in for 127 pitches when the game is in hand? Maybe it'd make sense if the Giants were in the playoff or wild card hunt, but they aren't. Is Bochy trying to sabotage the future of the Giants by destroying our franchise player's arm?? Its not like this is the first time Bochy has done this, I've written about it before. Bochy is a repeat offender of breaking rule one as a manager for the Giants this season- Protecting the Young Arms. While I'm talking Lincecum, i hope Webb continues to lose and Timmy keeps winning, so he can win the Cy Young in his 2nd season. And if you think i'm contradicting myself by saying he should have been pulled and hoping he wins the Cy Young this year- the Giants were up 5-0 since the 3rd, don't tell me he couldn't have been pulled in the 7th or 8th while at a reasonable pitch count.

Fire Bruce Bochy.
Lincecum for Cy Young.

edit: Hopefully, articles like this continue to get Lincecum some support outside of the Bay Area

Career Lights Out

Its old news by now, but perennial pro-bowl linebacker Shawn Merriman of the Chargers has decided to play this season with 2 torn knee ligaments and going against 4 doctors' suggestions in the process.

I don't understand. Am I missing something? Last time I checked, Merriman is only 24 years old, only 3 years into his NFL career, has been to 3 pro-bowls, is one of the best defensive players in football, oh yeah and did i mention he is only 24 years old?? What is he thinking? I understand that people can be stubborn and that he is a gamer and just wants to play, but at some point it becomes irresponsible. Most of the time when players 'play through the pain', i respect them more, the way i always respected McNair and Leftwich for playing injured so often. But in Merriman's case? I am losing respect for him because of how irresponsible of a decision this is.

Merriman claims that the injury isn't career threatening, but id have to say that when 4 doctors tell you to get the surgery and you are dealing with a knee injury, which are never a joke, you might be putting your career in jeopardy. I get the fact that he prepared for this season and he wants to play and that the Chargers are a favorite to win the Superbowl this year, but does he really think he will stay healthy all season playing on a torn up knee? Merriman is making the worst possible decision. What he needs to do is shut it down for the season, get healthy, and come back next season and lead his team to the Superbowl, because it isnt like LT is going anywhere fast. If Merriman isn't there this season, the Chargers will still probably go deep in the playoffs, although I doubt they'll win the Superbowl, and next season will still be superbowl favorites, but with a healthy Merriman. If Merriman plays, they'll make the playoffs, but by that time, the ticking time bomb that is Merriman's knee may have blown up and he may have done irreversible damage to his knee. Merriman is putting his potential hall of fame career on the line just to play this season even though hes only 24 years old.

The fact that Chargers management hasnt spoken up, publicly atleast, shocks me. If the cornerstone of my defense was trying to do this, i would tell him that he had no choice but to get the surgery. Not only is Merriman's choice to play irresponsible, its also selfish, because it puts the Chargers' future success at stake. Lets say Merriman's career is ruined- what happens then to the Chargers who were trusting him to be their defensive leader and cornerstone for the years to come? Yes, football contracts arent garunteed and they can cut him, but its not as if Merriman is any ordinary football player, he is a potential hall of famer at this point and losing him will definately hurt the team.

Its pretty clear what i think Merriman should do. Who knows, maybe he will come to his senses or someone will finally talk him out of this terrible decision. However, despite the fact that i dont really like Merriman as an athlete because of his over the top celebrations, steroid use, and he also seems like he has an asshole personality- i never like to see any athlete, let alone a rising star, have their career cut short. It sounds cliche, but if the self nicknamed 'Lights Out' continues with his current decision id have to gamble, although nothing is certain, that his career will be 'Lights Out' very, very soon.

I had to post this video even though its the same. The gun shot is too much, haha.

Ocho Cinco and Mucho Hurt-o

Chad Johnson has legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco, meaning that his jersey name will now officially read, "Ocho Cinco". I'd probably have to say that this is one of those red flags that other teams will not like when inquiring about a trade for Chad Ocho Cinco, formerly Johnson, who's motivation and focus is often questioned. Chad has unquestioned abilities, but his focus has often been an issue. If Chad really wanted to get traded, I think he should be showing potential suitors that he is focused on playing good football, rather than doing things that make teams question if they want the All-pro receiver on their team, like changing his name so that his jersey will read "Ocho Cinco".

In other news, Monta Ellis is going to be out for 3-4 months, meaning the Warriors already unpromising season looks to start off even worse. Pretty much i figured that the W's were going to have a bad season by essentially handing the keys over to the teams' 22-year-old guard after the surprising loss of Baron Davis, but with this, it looks like the starting point guard starting off the season may be Marcus Williams. In my opinion i dont think Monta going down affects the immediate future of the Ws at all since the Ws arent going anywhere this season. However, it does scare me that the Ws just signed the 22 year old to a $66 million contract and hes been injured three times already in his young career. Best case scenario, Marcus Williams takes full advantage of his starting time and reaches his potential that made him a 1st round pick, and the other young guys get valuable experience and Monta comes back at full speed and the Ws are a dangerous playoff sleeper. Another good/ok scenario is that the Ws suck as expected and they land a top 3 pick in the upcoming draft and land a superstar, although i dont know who the top prospects are this year. Worst case- the Ws are a so-so/crappy team that just misses the playoffs again and has a bad pick in the draft as well- so basically, they do a bit worse than this year. I dont want to admit that the Ws are taking steps backwards since making the playoffs finally and just barely missing them again this year. However, i think Ws fans need to admit that they are in a rebuilding effort and its better to do it now with our young core, than to pile on bad contracts and fight for a low playoff seed in the west.

Happy Trails, Alex Smith!

"Happy Trails, Alex Smith!" will be what we'll be hearing from Tony Kornheiser very, very soon. Up to this point, i have been a supporter of Alex Smith attributing his struggles to a combination of: normal rookie learning curve, weak supporting cast, musical chair offensive coordinators, and injuries. However, today the Niners announced that six year journeyman, and lifetime backup JT O'Sullivan was to be the starter entering the season, i am pretty much now conceding that Alex Smith is in fact a bust. For some time now, i have felt that Alex Smith may not have been the best pick for the Niners, wishing they had instead taken Braylon Edwards in 2005, tanking a year and then taking another QB in 2006 (which included Leinert and Cutler or even Kellen Clemens or Tavaris Jackson in later rounds). But instead, the Niners took Smith who not only was injured again this past season, but was upstaged by former nobody- Shaun Hill.

With JT O'Sullivan being named the starter in SF, this pretty much puts the nail in Alex Smiths proverbial coffin. I don't know too much about O'Sullivan other than the fact that he played in Martz's system last season with the Lions so he has a good grasp of the offense, was born in California and played at UC Davis so he has local ties, and has been playing well in preseason. While these are all good things that give some promise to O'Sullivan as a QB, I am pretty much taking them with a grain of salt considering that O'Sullivan is playing for his 8th NFL team in 6 seasons after being drafted in the 6th round in 2002. Maybe the 7 other teams just didn't see his true potential? Lets hope.


While i wish O'Sullivan all the best and i hope he is the next Tom Brady (coming out of nowhere and having huge success), lets just say i wont be holding my breath. On a positive note, John Clayton of ESPN mentioned yesterday that if Smith doesn't start, he doesn't reach his incentives and that could save the 49ers over $20 million. While im happy the Niners realized change is needed, i do feel bad for Alex Smith and hope maybe he gets one more shot this year after grasping Martz's system if he ever does, considering his intelligence was one of the high points on which the Niners drafted him on. Like i mentioned before, i dont feel like his failure to this point rests solely on Smith's shoulders- he was walking into a slaughterhouse being drafted first and its not like the Niners have really helped surround him with any help (Issac Bruce? Ashley Lelie? Bryant Jackson?).

At this point all Niner fans can do is wait and pray that somehow this season wont be a step backwards from an already bad 2008 season that atleast showed flashes of promise, because it looks like its going to be another long season.

Phelps-mania

Looks like Phelps wasn't done at after swimming:

On a more serious note of just how insane Michael Phelps is, if you haven't read it somewhere else, this the diet of the beast himself:

Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee

Lunch: Half-kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks

Dinner: Half-kilogram of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks

A normal person consumes 2000-4000 calories a day. Phelps consumes 12,000 calories a day including around 2000 alone from energy drinks.

Here's some more Phelps footage from the 100m Butterfly:

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LT is back!

Love and Baseball

My recent entries haven't exactly been the deepest or most profound, but today, im going to return to voicing my opinion on recent sports news, sports trends, and anything else sports. I guess thats what my original intention was for this blog; to voice my opinion on sports. and the reason for recording it here is that i think just like your opinion on anything else, fans' perspective and opinions on sports changes. recording it here will allow me to see what things changed my mind and shaped me into the sports fan that i become. At the risk of sounding like im over thinking all of this and taking sports too seriously, i guess a big reason i love sports is the meeting of preparation and logic with chance and in effect never being able to predict what will happen.

You can study and learn every fact and number about sports, but you can never predict the outcome of any given game. You can train and prepare, but when it all comes down to it, so much of your performance that is remembered comes down to luck and circumstance. In order to compete, you must be at par with the rest of your competition, but after that point, so much after that has to do with execution and chance. Take for example these Olympics. These world class swimmers are the best in the entire world and when competing, there are only hundreds of a second that seperate the Winner from the losers. Are we to then assume that the winners always trained the hardest of the group or simply were born with greater athletic ability? Of course not. But what made them the winner? What gave them a .01 second advantage over 2nd place?

I think that's why of all sports i like baseball the most, i feel like in baseball its possibly the only sport in which logic and preparation can beat out chance. I guess a lot of this opinion comes from the book, Moneyball by Michael Lewis in which he studies and writes about the Oakland As and Billy Beane's quest to build a contending team while having a tiny budget. in part of the book it talks about how over the course of the regular season at least, since there are so many games, you can evaluate players accurately by their statistical trends. instead of following traditional ideas like believing batting average was an accurate representation of a players production, Billy Beane and his team analyzed statistics and found that that was not an accurate translation to success and runs scored. they took baseball and made it into a science, something that could be studied and that could translate into success on the field.

Unfortunately for the A's the postseason does include chance as a huge deciding factor and despite making the playoffs year after the year the As would fall in the postseason. anyway, to get to my point, my love for baseball comes from the fact that its not just a game, its so much more. Everything from management in the farm system and the constant replenishment of young talent and evaluating players accurately- its all insane to think that any organization in the MLB is running 100% efficiently from top to bottom. when people say that no one is above the game, i really think it applies to baseball the most. in other sports you can have one terrible year and land some crazy phenom in the draft like Lebron and go to the playoffs the next year. in baseball, how often do you see teams make 180 turns like that? in order to have lasting success you have to plan for years and continually prepare for the future. look at the Yankees- for years people said that they could just buy the market and would continue to dominate, but what everyone forgets is that they built that success on the backs of young players that came up through their farm, like Jeter, Pettite, Mariano (who by the way were scouted and found by Brian Sabean). my point is, i think i like baseball so much because it is so hard to succeed and STAY successful. i think i probably went off on a tangent somewhere and strayed from my original intention for this post, but oh well- its my blog. i have much more to say about all this, i just cant think of it all right now.

Check out them thighs!!

Now this isnt meant to be insulting at all. Merely an observation.
While watching the Olympics the other night, and watching the women's gymnastics team choke, something was bothering me seeing Shawn Johnson on tv. While this definitely isnt a knock on her at all- for the record i think she is pretty for a 16 year old and the 2nd best gymnast in the world- but watching her and seeing how bottom heavy she was, reminded me of someone, and i couldnt place my finger on it. The sheer size of her thighs combined with her height (4'9") made her look dis proportioned.
(By the way how could a girl from Iowa ever end up with such an African American name, when you hear the name "Shawn Johnson: dont you immediately imagine a black guy that plays for the Atlanta Falcons or something?)

I kept thinking all night after watching her on tv and continued today when she competed in the Singles all around competition, when it finally dawned on me! I knew who she reminded me of, and now ladies and gentlemen, may i present to you, Shawn Johnson's body twin..........

MAURICE JONES DREW!!!

Again may i remind you i am not insulting her, and i think with a closer look, you will agree with me:

You be the Judge.

Snoop Dogg and Buster Posey

A few days after signing Conor Gillaspie, who is a promising 3b/2b who i hope can someday be an everyday position player, the Giants finally signed their gem draft pick Buster Posey. Posey got a ridiculous $7.5 million, but im glad the Giants still got it done and got him signed. In my mind, Posey can hopefully become a Joe Mauer like player for the Giants (knock on wood) because of his amazing batting skills (he hit a ridiculous .463 this year in college). I dont have much else to say other than i really hope we see Posey up in the majors soon and helping to contribute to an offense that sorely needs his bat.


- Again, i know this is completely sports unrelated, but this video was too absurd to not pass along:



Apparently Snoop was hired to do the theme song for some Bollywood movie. First, why would you choose Snoop of all people in the world. And second, this makes me question what Snoop wouldn't do for money, unless he has some secret love of Bollywood.

Injury scares and youth movement

This is coming a day late, but yesterday while i was checking the boxscores for games and knowing that another promising Lincecum vs Oswalt matchup was taking place, i checked in on the game in the 5th inning with Yabu pitching. Since the score at the time was still 1-1, i immediately panicked and searched the game notes and online to see if something had happened to the cornerstone of he Giants' future success, Lincecum. I couldnt find anything, i couldnt find an updated online source that recorded pitch count, hoping that maybe Lincecum had amassed around 100 pitches in 4.1 innings. My second thought was that maybe Bochy decided to rest his young ace and for once protect the Giants' young arms, but i quickly woke up from my dream that Bochy wasnt a constant pitcher abuser, as shown by Lincecum and Cain being numbers 6 and 8 on the pitcher abuse scale in all of MLB.

I decided that maybe everything was ok since i couldnt find anything, so i continued on with my day, half nervous that one of the Giants' lone brightspots this season, may be injured. Later that night, i was pleased to discover that The Kid was ok and was healthy enough to be walking around the clubhouse after the game and there was no fractures; just a big bruise. Im hoping that Bochy will let the young ace either skip his next start or atleast push it back a few days to insure a full recovery, AND to plan for the future. The injury scare reminded me just how unpredictable things can get when dealing with young pitchers who seem poised for stardome. God forbid if anything ever happened to Lincecum (knock on wood) id be devestated. Which brings me to a funny quote from the Disfrute El Lefty Malo blog:

Bochy is flirting with a breach of the prime directive. If he were Bart Simpson, he would have to stand at the chalkboard before every game and write

I promise to keep the young pitchers healthy. I promise to keep the young pitchers healthy. I promise to keep the young pitchers healthy…

And while it may seem like a joke, it is very serious. the Giants coaching staff, more specifically Bochy, needs to be reminded that this season doesnt mean much in the long run and that protecting our young arms for future success is what is ultimately important.

In other big Giants news, im glad to report that reports say that upper management is finally giving the younger players time to develop and get big league experience. The Giants are call up Travis Ishikawa, Pablo Sandoval, and Ryan Rohlinger and send down John Bowker and Stephen Holm plus designating Jose Castillo for assignment. All three prospects have been tearing up the minors recently batting .312 (Ishikawa), .339 (Sandoval), and .296 (Rohlinger). While im happy with what Bowker did this year, giving Giants fans some offensive hope from the farm, he has been terrible recently. Hopefully getting these young players big league experience will help the offense in the future. Now, if only we can trade Winn for some prospects so he can stop blocking Schierholtz from getting called up and playing consistently.

Olympic Revival

Since the Beijing Olympics started on 8/8/08, i was able to catch the opening ceremony on tv last night. As far as Olympic opening ceremonies go, from what i remember, they are usually very extravagant and over the top. However, watching the show that the Chinese put on last night stood out as even more extravagant, over the top, and more importantly, seemed like some sort of coming out party for them. For a long time, China has been rising as both an economic powerhouse and a military one with over 2 million soldiers and double that of the next closest nation (who else would you guess, the US). As i watched the countdown to the opening ceremony and the 2008 drummers in the middle of the stadium drumming in unison it felt like i was watching some kind of military ceremony as the drummers seemed like they were there to intimidate more than entertain. And if intimidation was the goal, i think it may have worked to an extent.

Opening Ceremony Drummers pt 1

Opening Ceremony Drummers pt2


China has been trying to garner international recognition as a world super power for years and they viewed these Olympic games as the time when the entire world would be forced to focus in on them and i am sure they have been planning since before the day they even were selected to host the games. While the Olympic games might not hold the same importance that they once did internationally, China has clearly shown that they still hold them in very high regard. Whether you see it through their Child Athlete Schools that train young Chinese nationals since birth with the sole purpose of representing China in the Olympic games or through the tireless effort and practice you can see that has gone into planning and preparing to host the 2008 games.

I remember just a few years ago, it felt like people cared so much more about the Olympics. I dont know if its simply because i stopped caring as much about the Olympics, or people all over the world stopped paying as much attention. However, I remember watching the 1998 Olympics in Nagano late at night live on tv as Jonny Moseley won the Men's Moguls event and going to school the next day and it was what everyone was talking about. Since then, the last time anything crazy happened in the Olympics, you wouldn't hear a word about it at school, except maybe a quick, "You watch the Olympics last night?".

But, maybe this is good for the world. Maybe China's over the top opening ceremony that has everyone talking is the start of an Olympic games that will revive international competition and the 2008 games will make the Olympics relevant again.

Gang Green

Looks like Brett Favre will be staying in a green uniform this season, just not a Packers one. Scratch what i said about the Bucs yesterday, looks like Jeff Garcia dodged a bullet with Favre going to the NY Jets.

Looks like Joey Galloway will return back to earth and Laveranues Coles' fantasy stock will be sky rocketing instead.

Also, i wonder what happens to the Madden 09 cover now; will Favre be wearing a Jets or Packers jersey?


EDIT:

So, according to EA Sports this is their answer to the trade.

When to say When

With Brett Favre on the verge of going to the Tampa Bay Bucs after his relationship with coach McCarthy seems to be beyond repair and the Packers' organization ready to move on, I'm wondering, is Favre condemning himself to tarnishing his own legacy by falling victim to not knowing when to hang it up?
To refresh our memories, lets take a look at a few NFL greats who didn't know when it was time to just hang up the pads:

Chris Carter

Emmit Smith

Jerry Rice

Joe Montana

Joe Namath

Ronnie Lott


I for one don't want to see Favre, who is statistically one of the top-3 quarterbacks of all-time, turn into Michael Jordan on the Wizards. Despite his storybook playoff run to end last season, I think Favre should have hung it up after his interception plagued 2005 season in which he threw a 29:20, int:td ratio. Favre has forced the Pack into a bad situation looking like the bad-guys while simultaneously becoming a distraction at a time when the Packers need to focus on the season ahead and rally around their new leader (Rodgers). IMO it is selfish of Favre to drag this out for so long, despite his desire to continue playing since he had his time to decide after the season ended, not now during training camp. Favre needs to be reminded that no one player, despite his personal accomplishments, is bigger than the team or the sport and in realizing this he must see that his actions are preventing the Packers from moving on into the post-Favre era. Seeing Favre in any other jersey besides a Packers one will just make me shake my head, so that is why i think he should save himself the embarrassment and retire. Even if Favre goes to Tampa and wins the superbowl, i will still stand by my opinion that he needs to hang it up. The Packers were forced into in a lose-lose situation and its too bad this is what the outcome became.

On a side note, Joey Galloway's fantasy stock just sky-rocketed.

Random Youtube find:


I can only imagine how the league would have been different if Larry Jordan was the same height as his brother Michael and not 5'8".

You must be atleast this tall to Win

Tonight, for the second straight start, the Giants bullpen let young Ace Tim Lincecum down, leaving him with a no-decision after leaving the game with a 1 run lead (2-1 tonight and 3-2 on 6/26). Since the All-Star break, Lincecum has yet to record a W, despite two stellar performances in his last two games.

In the last two starts, Timmy has allowed 3ER, 3BB, while compiling a whopping 24Ks in 14.0 innings- to put that in perspective, that gives Lince a 8K/BB ratio. Unfortunately for Timmy, he has been forced to turn things over in the late-innings to the bullpen with only 1 run leads, thanks to the Giants' offensive woes. After turning the game over to Tyler Walker (why are we pitching this fossil during our "youth movement"?) against the Dbacks (6/26), the Giants experienced what may have been the most painful loss of the entire season as the Dbacks rallied for 3 runs in the 8th against Walker eventually leading to a loss. Again on Friday, I was nervous seeing Lincecum forced to leave the game once again hanging onto a 1run lead, and the game was turned over to Jack Taschner, who proceeded to give up a game-tying solo shot (way to raise your trade value)to A-Gonzo. While i feared the Giants were headed for heartbreak again, they were able to tough it out in extras against Trevor Hoffman. And as happy as I am that the Giants were able to recollect themselves and win the game, i couldnt help but feel bad for the Kid who was stuck with the no-decision once again.

The bullpen woes and offensive inability of the Giants pretty much garunteed that there was no chance Lincecum was going to become a 20-game winner this season (the fact that it was even a possibilty at one point is extremely impressive). However, i think that as the young arms in the pen gain more experience, hopefully throughout the remainder of this season, they will come into their own and will help all Giants fans to rest a little easier the next time the Franchise is forced to hand the ball over late in the game.

Or if all else fails, Timmy can simply go out and throw a complete game every night.
Might not sound like such a bad idea.

Keeping up with the Kardashians and Manny being Manny

Today while trying to force myself from the couch and go to the gym, I was channel surfing when I stumbled upon Keeping Up with the Kardashians, another one of E! Channel's long list of terrible C-List celebrity reality shows (including: Denise Richards: it's Complicated, The Girls Next Door, Sunset Tan, and the newest addition- Pam: Girl on the Loose). I didn't think twice about changing the channel when I caught a glimpse of New Orlean's Saints Running Back Reggie Bush, Kim Kardashian's boyfriend. After seeing the former USC standout, I found myself curiously interested and continued to watch. Three painful episodes later I found myself still watching the show and in the past 2 episodes, Reggie had only appeared once and spoken on the phone with Kim twice, but I continued to watch nonetheless, hoping Bush would appear once again.

After coming to my senses and realizing I had probably just killed billions of brain cells from watching Kim, Kourtney, and their other sister Shrek embarrass their brother on a date with a playmate, awkwardly help the homeless, and visit New Orleans- I realized why I had become so interested in the show, I wanted a deeper look into the life of an athlete. Sports fans are just like teenage girls and stay at home trophy wives who thirst for the latest celebrity gossip, except it comes in the form of trade rumors, mock drafts, and "expert analysis". Anytime I can find a video on youtube of an athlete off the field or an MTV Cribs re-run of an Athlete's home, I always find myself glued to the screen. So assuming that I am not the only sports fan that feels this way, my question is, why aren't there more reality shows that follow athletes around? because I sure would watch.

I'm always happy to find an episode of Beyond the Glory on FSN, but you don't see much of the athletes' daily routine. The only athlete reality series that I can remember was the failed "Bonds on Bonds" show that debuted on ESPN2 at the peak of the steroid scandal.
(By the way I personally think that the series was Bonds' last ditch effort to win over fans to make up for years of being an asshole and appearing like a regular guy so that baseball fans and the media would go, "Hey, Bonds isn't such a bad guy he seems just like you and me")
There was also the Sebastian Telfair documentary, "Through the Fire" that only made Sebass seem more like a bust. And then there was also the short-lived ESPN's "Playmakers" that was a fictional inside look into the lives of pro football players that lasted a whopping 11 episodes because of its controversial potrayal of the players.

So, my idea is this, why not make more reality shows documenting the lives of pro athletes? We see athletes on the field constantly, but I wouldn't mind being able to see them off the field as well. And hey, if it doesn't work out, maybe the E! Channel would be interested in picking the series up to show in between Denise Richards and the Girls Next Door.

In Other News:

Today, the Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez in a three-way deal that sent Manny to the D_dgers. While I'm sure the Sox are just glad to finally get rid of the headache that is Manny Ramirez, I think they might have hurt their chances of contending this year. David Ortiz has been injured all season and he clearly isn't himself and i doubt he will be ready come September. Without a healthy Ortiz in the lineup, who is supposed to fill the void of both Ortiz and Manny? JD Drew, Mike Lowell, and the newly acquired Jason Bay could probably make up for some of that offensive loss, but you can't expect anyone to fill that big empty area in the clean-up spot if you're the Redsox. Even with Manny on their team, the Sox showed that they aren't ready to compete with the AL elite after more recently dropping a series at home against the Yankees and being swept by the Teixeira-less Angels at home. But, I suppose the Sox may have simply had enough of Manny daring management to trade him. Only time will tell whether or not the Sox hurt their title hopes for this season.

Blue Baron

I've always read a lot of sports blogs, but I never thought of making one simply because I don't think I have that many interesting things to say. However, after running into this picture while checking the boxscores on the Giants-D_dgers series that turned out to be a disgusting display of offensive ineptitude by the Giants that included being shutout by a journeyman pitcher who had not pitched in 2 years- I had to say something.

After Baron Davis' surprising decision to opt out of his final year in his contract, I didn't think much of it, since I figured that Mullin and Co would take care of it. I mean, I knew he wasn't happy that the W's weren't giving him the respect he felt he deserved, plus he wasn't happy after being benched by Nellie, and after playing all 82 games this season and giving the W's their first playoff appearance management continued to have their doubts about giving him a new contract- nevermind, who couldn't have seen this coming?
(For the record, i completely support the Mullin and Co for their decision of not giving Baron a max deal. The guy was one injury away from crippling the W's financially as we sat there waiting for his deal to end in 2015)

But I digress. As you know, immediately after opting out, Baron returned home to the Clippers. Despite the fact I'm hoping Baron leaving becomes a blessing in disguise, I couldn't help myself but feel a little happy when Brand jumped ship and headed East and Baron was left with the Caveman as the best player on his team (the Nuggets hadn't giftwrapped Camby to the Clippers for a 2nd rounder yet). However, I still had a good place for Baron in my heart as i still had that "I'm glad he's happy and found someone willing to give him what he wanted" feeling. However, after seeing this disgusting picture of the former W's fan favorite in a D_dgers uniform, I have now officially become a full-fledged-bitter-former-Baron-fan-turned-Baron-hater.

So, Baron, I am officially trading in my Baron-fancard for a Baron-hater one. I hope you tore an acl throwing trying to throw this pitch.