Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Talk About Shredding Your Pecs
All the cool kids are doing it. Just ask Broncos' All-Pro Elvis Dumervil. He'll miss the entire season with a torn pectoral muscle. Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson is so money that he's done it 2 years running. To 2 different pecs. Now, worst of all, Ohio State "star" Tyler Moeller has been forced to the sidelines for the remainder of the Bucks run to the BCS Championship with his own shorn pectoral. What a shame. Ty tallied 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles (both team highs), 20 tackles, a sack and a pick. Moeller had already submitted a petition to the NCAA for a 6th year of eligibility as he missed the entire '09 campaign after being accosted in a Florida bar. Classy as always sunshine state. Hopefully, the powers that be will smile down on Tyler and grant his request. Still, that doesn't put him on the field in 2010 and his absence will be glaring in the weeks to come.
5 Bucks to Tailgate? Hells, No!
B/c I'm sure what you want to do on game day is piss off a bunch of drunken, blue-collar Browns fans.
Pretty Girl 10.05.10 - Claire Forlani
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Pain is Finally Over
And yet I can't wait for mid February. Just as watching the Indians all but sent me into convulsions, they rattled off that 7 game streak and almost cracked 70 wins. Still, Manny Acta took a team expected to lose 90+ games and... went right ahead and lost 93 games. Boo. Hiss. There were a staggering number of disappointments this past season and none of them was more revolting than the performance of the so-called manager. Manny's a nice guy; I'm sure the kids love him. The issue is that he simply has no business leading an MLB team. It just crystallized for me; he's a babysitter, not a leader. That's the translation of "he's good with a young, rebuilding team." It also gives us a very clear demarcation of when the team has turned the corner and might win again. Simply put, if Acta's here, the team is not committed, nor does it expect, to win.
Enough of the bellyaching. Let's take a look at what I think are givens for next spring...
C - Carlos Santana ('Nuff said)
1B - Matt LaPorta (If he's healthy, he'll be given every opportunity to succeed)
SS - Asdrubal Cabrera (One of 3 Indians to qualify as Type A in the Elias rankings)
LF - Michael Brantley (Hopefully he's not just a second half player)
CF - Grady Sizemore (Assuming micro-fracture recovery goes as planned)
RF - Shin-Soo Choo (The best thing going on this team)
DH - Travis Hafner (As long as we're still paying him)
SP - Fausto Carmona (Nothing's changed here. He looked masterful down the stretch)
SP - Josh Tomlin (The only other starter I believe has a guaranteed spot)
CP - Chris Perez (My bet as our all-star next season)
Barring unforeseen circumstances, these are all easy calls.
Here are some bolder predictions -
2B - Jason Kipnis (He won't be there on opening day because of that arbitration clock nonsense, but whoever runs out against the White Sox will only be keeping Kipnis' grits warm.)
SP - Mitch Talbot (Pretty sure, but he's got a short leash)
SP - Jake Westbrook (He comes back at a hometown discount. Believe it.)
SP - Carlos Carrasco (Straight out of camp)
Bullpen - I think someone signs Germano, but the rest of the bullpen comes back mostly unchanged. Rafael Perez, Tony "Gasman" Sipp, and Frank Herrman all reprise their roles from this past season. Justin Masterson, despite assertions that he'll arrive in Goodyear as a starter, become a back-end reliever. Vinnie Pestano, based on a strong showing in the last two weeks, wins a job unless he tanks it in Arizona. Add Chris Perez and we have a 6 man 'pen. Now some scrub vet may be added to pepper "experience" into the clubhouse and he may steal the spot of any save the closer. Or they may carry 7.
Backup C - Lou Marson is likely resigned to his life as a career back-up and he knows the staff. Those are his only strong points. Luke Carlin looked pretty damn good after his late recall, despite my deprecation. I'm betting on Luke. In fact, I'll straight out apologize to Carlin after his bomb on Sunday (his 2nd). Luke, I was wrong. I'm sorry. I've got your back come the thaw.
Complete Unknown (Like a rolling stone) -
3B - Marte. Gone. Believe it. Goedert? Unless he tears up in March? Probably not. Nix? God, I hope not. Here's a quick jaunt out onto a thin branch: Kevin Kouzmanoff gets not-tendered by the A's and make a triumphant return to the Jake. At least until Chisenhall is ready.
Odd Men Out -
Luis Valbuena
Jensen Lewis
Aaron Laffey
David Huff
Jess Todd
Jeremy Sowers
Chris Gimenez
Enough for now. Let that percolate until the New Year and we'll check again.
Cheers.
Enough of the bellyaching. Let's take a look at what I think are givens for next spring...
C - Carlos Santana ('Nuff said)
1B - Matt LaPorta (If he's healthy, he'll be given every opportunity to succeed)
SS - Asdrubal Cabrera (One of 3 Indians to qualify as Type A in the Elias rankings)
LF - Michael Brantley (Hopefully he's not just a second half player)
CF - Grady Sizemore (Assuming micro-fracture recovery goes as planned)
RF - Shin-Soo Choo (The best thing going on this team)
DH - Travis Hafner (As long as we're still paying him)
SP - Fausto Carmona (Nothing's changed here. He looked masterful down the stretch)
SP - Josh Tomlin (The only other starter I believe has a guaranteed spot)
CP - Chris Perez (My bet as our all-star next season)
Barring unforeseen circumstances, these are all easy calls.
Here are some bolder predictions -
2B - Jason Kipnis (He won't be there on opening day because of that arbitration clock nonsense, but whoever runs out against the White Sox will only be keeping Kipnis' grits warm.)
SP - Mitch Talbot (Pretty sure, but he's got a short leash)
SP - Jake Westbrook (He comes back at a hometown discount. Believe it.)
SP - Carlos Carrasco (Straight out of camp)
Bullpen - I think someone signs Germano, but the rest of the bullpen comes back mostly unchanged. Rafael Perez, Tony "Gasman" Sipp, and Frank Herrman all reprise their roles from this past season. Justin Masterson, despite assertions that he'll arrive in Goodyear as a starter, become a back-end reliever. Vinnie Pestano, based on a strong showing in the last two weeks, wins a job unless he tanks it in Arizona. Add Chris Perez and we have a 6 man 'pen. Now some scrub vet may be added to pepper "experience" into the clubhouse and he may steal the spot of any save the closer. Or they may carry 7.
Backup C - Lou Marson is likely resigned to his life as a career back-up and he knows the staff. Those are his only strong points. Luke Carlin looked pretty damn good after his late recall, despite my deprecation. I'm betting on Luke. In fact, I'll straight out apologize to Carlin after his bomb on Sunday (his 2nd). Luke, I was wrong. I'm sorry. I've got your back come the thaw.
Complete Unknown (Like a rolling stone) -
3B - Marte. Gone. Believe it. Goedert? Unless he tears up in March? Probably not. Nix? God, I hope not. Here's a quick jaunt out onto a thin branch: Kevin Kouzmanoff gets not-tendered by the A's and make a triumphant return to the Jake. At least until Chisenhall is ready.
Odd Men Out -
Luis Valbuena
Jensen Lewis
Aaron Laffey
David Huff
Jess Todd
Jeremy Sowers
Chris Gimenez
Enough for now. Let that percolate until the New Year and we'll check again.
Cheers.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
DA Pulled!!!!!
We all knew it was coming. 7/14, 64 yards, 2 picks. His 23.2 rating is still higher than some of his starts last year. Max Hall is in. Unless it's Mel Hall...
Here We Go Brownies!
After watching his team nearly blow a double-digit lead for the 4th time in 4 weeks, Mike Holmgren can finally chalk up his 1st Cleveland win. Game Ball: Peyton friggin' Hillis. I'll be the 1st to admit that I was not on board with the BQ trade the day it happened, nor during training camp, not even following week 1. Post Hillis' shredding of the Ravens' D last week, I was cautiously optimistic. Today, you can officially add me to the bandwagon. It's not just the production (back to back 100 yard games), it's not just his hands (14 catches), it's the fire in his belly, it's the fact that he flat out enjoys getting hit and keeps asking for more. Love it. That's also why I dig TJ Ward and why I'll defend him up and down for the hit on Shipley that facilitated Cincy's last touchdown. He's a killer. TJ has that bloodlust that makes good safeties great. He's also a rookie, spiraling straight out of Cell Block Quack, so let's cut him some slack. Granted he needs to keep his head on his shoulders (& the wideouts' on theirs), but let's make sure we don't coach the backbreaker mentality out of him.
Of much greater concern to me is the remainder of the defensive backfield. It seems the ferry off of Wright Island leaves every other down. Rob Ryan needs to recognize the fact that his 2nd year corner does not have the chops to cover big, physical wide-outs (see Anquan Boldin and Terrell Owens) in one-on-one match-ups. The defensive coordinator is aware that he needs to draw up some risky blitzes (Matt Roth, Kenyon Coleman and Scott Fujita all produced momentous results today) to create any sort of backfield pressure, but the frequency of Wright's gaffs the past couple of weeks is unacceptable. Add to that Sheldon Brown falling down and the anonymity of the 2nd safety (is it Abe Elam? I'd have to look it up) and TJ Ward is still the best thing going in the Browns secondary.
It's a nice win #1, yessir. That is all it is. Let's not fool ourselves. Mangina still has to go.
Of much greater concern to me is the remainder of the defensive backfield. It seems the ferry off of Wright Island leaves every other down. Rob Ryan needs to recognize the fact that his 2nd year corner does not have the chops to cover big, physical wide-outs (see Anquan Boldin and Terrell Owens) in one-on-one match-ups. The defensive coordinator is aware that he needs to draw up some risky blitzes (Matt Roth, Kenyon Coleman and Scott Fujita all produced momentous results today) to create any sort of backfield pressure, but the frequency of Wright's gaffs the past couple of weeks is unacceptable. Add to that Sheldon Brown falling down and the anonymity of the 2nd safety (is it Abe Elam? I'd have to look it up) and TJ Ward is still the best thing going in the Browns secondary.
It's a nice win #1, yessir. That is all it is. Let's not fool ourselves. Mangina still has to go.
Ever Wonder What the H Stands For?
Jesus H Christ! If you haven't said it, you've heard it said and thought "Why in the Sam Hill is that darn H in there?" I always thought the H stood for Herald/Harold. You know, a play on words. Wrong-O! Straight from the son of a Biblical scholar...
In the Bible, there are two versions of what was put on the sign above Christ on the cross: In Matthew 27:37, the sign is said to have read "This is Jesus, The King of the Jews". Mark 15:26 says: "King of the Jews." and Luke 23:38, "This is the King of the Jews". John 19:19 says, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews".
To get to the "H" matter, we have to go back to the Latin versions of these inscriptions.
John's sign would read "Iesus Nazarenus (or Nazareni), Rex Iudeaorum". This becomes the initials "INRI" found on some crucifixes and religious paintings.
But, where we read "King of the Jews" in the first three gospels, the Latin reads "Savior of the Hebrews", or "Iesus Hebraorum Salvator". Other sources sometimes say "Iesus Hominum Salvator", Jesus the Savior of Man(kind), but this isn't the biblical quote. In either case, the initials become "IHS" which are found on altars and crucifixes.
Now, imagine the initials "IHS" as a monogram such as we might find embroidered on fancy shirts, ties or evening wear or engraved on your briefcase or laptop case. Those initials would be Jesus' initials. So, "I" (which is the same as "J" in Latin) is for Jesus, and "H" would be his middle initial. The "S" doesn't stand for his family name as it would in modern monograms, so just forget it.
Anyway, "H" becomes Jesus' middle initial in "Jesus H. Christ".
And that's the truth. Really! Amen!
Perhaps the best explanation I've been given of anything, ever.
Btw, the story on "Sam Hill" is much less interesting...
In the Bible, there are two versions of what was put on the sign above Christ on the cross: In Matthew 27:37, the sign is said to have read "This is Jesus, The King of the Jews". Mark 15:26 says: "King of the Jews." and Luke 23:38, "This is the King of the Jews". John 19:19 says, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews".
To get to the "H" matter, we have to go back to the Latin versions of these inscriptions.
John's sign would read "Iesus Nazarenus (or Nazareni), Rex Iudeaorum". This becomes the initials "INRI" found on some crucifixes and religious paintings.
But, where we read "King of the Jews" in the first three gospels, the Latin reads "Savior of the Hebrews", or "Iesus Hebraorum Salvator". Other sources sometimes say "Iesus Hominum Salvator", Jesus the Savior of Man(kind), but this isn't the biblical quote. In either case, the initials become "IHS" which are found on altars and crucifixes.
Now, imagine the initials "IHS" as a monogram such as we might find embroidered on fancy shirts, ties or evening wear or engraved on your briefcase or laptop case. Those initials would be Jesus' initials. So, "I" (which is the same as "J" in Latin) is for Jesus, and "H" would be his middle initial. The "S" doesn't stand for his family name as it would in modern monograms, so just forget it.
Anyway, "H" becomes Jesus' middle initial in "Jesus H. Christ".
And that's the truth. Really! Amen!
Perhaps the best explanation I've been given of anything, ever.
Btw, the story on "Sam Hill" is much less interesting...
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