This entry is going to be about the transfer window. Today's for the players we sent out. This transfer window was somewhat light in the movement of star quality. With the money going in to Man City and soon enough us once Hicks and Gillett sell, next summer will certainly not be the same. Matter of fact, our owners are going back to the bargaining table with Dubai. It's gonna happen soon.
Anyway, we'll go in order. I'll include a picture for each. Okay, that's a lie. Don't think I'll cover youth players.
The first man headed out the door was John Arne Riise, to Roma for 4 million pounds.
A fair sum of money for the Norway international, but to be honest, I'm quite surprised that Roma of all teams were the ones to want him. The phrase square peg in a round hole comes to mind. He doesn't fit their style of football at ALL. I read he played well in their match against Napoli this weekend. Shocking. He still has it in him to prove himself as a top left back, but he blew it against Chelsea last year in the Semis. He had to go. Hopefully he has a few great hits like the one against PSV away during the knockout round in 2007.
Second up was Anthony Le Tallec, heading to Le Mans for about 1 million pounds.
Thank fuck.
The third man to join a new club was Harry Kewell, who joined Galatasaray on a free.
Leeds supporters were pretty pissed that Kewell joined Galatasaray. After all, there was that big incident a few years back. They should be mad! We'd have kept Kewell if he could stay fit, but he can't, so that's it for him. He's already scored twice in Turkey. By the way.
Peter Crouch headed to Portsmouth for 11 million pounds, which is, to be frank, insane.
The move gave us a real nice influx of funds we desperately needed, so, I was glad. But like I said, 11 million pounds is insane. He came off the bench for us, surely Portsmouth could've held out and gave less. I was quite happy to see him head out, Chelsea supporter he and his pops are. See ya.
Danny Guthrie moved to the northeast, Newcastle specifically, for 2.25 million pounds.
He had to go too. It's for the best. Maybe at a later date he'll be able to come back, but right now, he can't fit into the side. Guthrie has been pretty good for Newcastle. Of all the players we sent out, Guthrie's the one with the brightest future ahead of him. We should've had a buyback clause put into the move. We may have, but I doubt it. Soon enough we'll find out.
Scott Carson finally headed out on a permanent move, to West Bromwich Albion for 3.25 million pounds.
Carson blew this one for us. Had he played well, that fee could've doubled. Fuck him, and his stupid blundering ass. Had to happen.
And now we get to the moves which took place on the final day.
Steve Finnan made his exit, heading to La Liga side Espanyol, for an undisclosed fee.
Finnan's a loyal servant to the club, and truthfully, this is the only exit this summer that actually bothered me. If Xabi Alonso left I would've been really bothered, but Xabi didn't. I've got respect for any player from the Isles that makes his way to the continent. Doesn't happen very often, matter of fact, I think he and Tyrone Mears are the only ones to head out this window. I'm trying to recall any other players from the Isles that play on the continent currently, but I can't. I don't think there are any.
Last, and definitely least, Andriy Voronin headed to Hertha Berlin on a one year loan deal.
He tried to silence the Kop after scoring against Lazio. What a fucking moron. He's so shit we can't sell him, eventually we'll just stick him in the reserves after he disappoints in Germany. Let him rot. At least we got him on a free and only paid his wages, not a fee of any sort.
Tomorrow I'll talk about the guys that came in. Then international duty on Thursday.
Not the best of performances today, but you take what you can get. I thought we played better today than we did against Sunderland or Boro. I'll start with player ratings.
Pepe Reina: 6. Only had to make one or two saves, did it, and looked shaky otherwise. Played far better in mid-week against Standard Liege.
Alvaro Arbeloa: 6. Got forward well, looked really strong and like a top right back, except for that whole passing thing. Failed to set up chances.
Jamie Carragher: 8. Rock at the back, most consistent performer thus far. Legend.
Martin Skrtel: 7. Got burned by Young and Agbonlahor a few times, but stayed steady and didn't allow them to provide the final ball. Happy with his performance.
Andrea Dossena: 7. Wouldn't want to run into him after a night of drinking. Tough as fuck.
Lucas: 5. Jetlagged, played out of position. Not good.
Javier Mascherano: 7. Driving force. Hope to see this man in our shirt until he returns home and plays the rest of his days at River Plate.
Xabi Alonso: 7. He's back on form. We don't need Gareth Barry as long as Xabi keeps this up. Sunderland, Standard, and Villa have been great games for him, better than all of last season.
Dirk Kuyt: 6. Played alright.
Robbie Keane: 5. Looks like a bad buy if I'm being honest.
Fernando Torres: 6. Would've scored if not for the injury. Hope he misses international duty and nothing more.
Subs
David N'Gog: 5. Lazy, but had the best chance. Still a kid, will get better.
Fabio Aurelio: 6. Also better than last season, if he had played like this, we would've got a left back on a free to back him up, and not bought Dossena.
Yossi Benayoun: N/A. Wrong idea, didn't get a touch. Probably would've put Babel in as a front-man here.
Rafa: 4. Made bad subs, and the formation was all out of whack. The lads looked lively at the beginning of the second half, but it didn't last.
Villa's best player was Nigel Reo-Coker.
The big story today is the Torres injury. How long is he going to be out? Hopefully not too long. We cannot afford to lose him for United at Anfield and Marseille away. Both United and Marseille are missing their top wingers (Ronaldo and Ben Arfa), so would this balance that out? Really, hell no, it wouldn't. We still haven't played a match with everyone available for selection. Now Riera's coming in too. He better perform, if he bottles it against United, safe to say the lad will never settle in. Hopefully Gerrard plays on the right so that both Alonso and Mascherano can stay in the lineup. If not, Alonso's the guy out.
Now, for the other matches I watched today...
AC Milan vs. Bologna
I woke up real early, as the temptation got me. I had to see Ronaldinho play for Milan. I had to see Shevchenko make his return. Fortunately, Ronaldinho didn't disappoint. Massimo Ambrosini headed in a beautiful cross from Ronaldinho. Ronnie's back. Doesn't look fit though. Sheva missed two golden chances, but he'll score plenty of goals this season. He just hasn't had a consistent run of matches in a while. The talent is still there. Bologna won after a fantastic goal from Francesco Valiani. Still think Milan are going to win Serie A.
Numancia vs. Barcelona
Well, Barca put in a stunning performance. In the worst way possible. Lionel Messi looked like the only one who brought his boots. The rest of his teammates played terribly. Henry had a great chance but missed, Eto'o had another great chance, but hit the crossbar. That's about it. Hleb should've started in place of Yaya Toure. Deep down, I expected they'd have a rough time against the La Liga new boys, because they'd never won at Numancia. Numancia won 1-0, thanks to a great goal from Mario.
Fiorentina vs. Juventus
I wound up watching more of this match than I thought I would. Highly interesting. Pavel Nedved opened the scoring in the 39th minute after a nice cross from Zdenek Grygera. A Czech Republic Connection! Alessandro Del Piero played strong and created some great chances for new addition Amauri, but the former Palermo striker couldn't finish. Too bad, he looks quality. In the second half, Stevan Jovetic, a new 18 year old addition from Partizan Belgrade, came in and played a strong game. Not strong as in hard to knock off the ball, because he was actually quite easy to knock off the ball. He provided a spark and set up a few free-kick chances, which new left back Juan Manuel Vargas failed to capitalize on. New Fiorentina defensive midfielder Felipe Melo was sent off after a reckless challenge on new Juventus man Cristian Poulsen, and from there, the match really picked up. Alberto Gilardino blew quite a few chances this match, until scoring a brilliant, hard-work goal, leveling the match in the 89th minute. Here's the goal. The match would stay level, and end at a 1-1 draw. Fantastic match, great result for the Viola. Although Mario Santana had no factor in the goal, he played fantastic. Man of the Match in my opinion. Because I watched so much of this, I didn't watch so much of this...
Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Madrid
Good, back and forth match, which ended 2-1 for Deportivo. Both of their goals were scored on headers from set pieces, and Ruud van Nistelrooy banged home a goal (in the box of course), after a defensive mistake. No doubt a disappointing result for the defending La Liga Champions, but they haven't won at Deportivo in 17 years. 18 years now. Mexican Andres Guardado was the best player for the winning outfit, but they suffered an injury, as substitute Riki tore his hamstring while bursting down the left side late. Too bad.
Tomorrow I'll discuss our transfer dealings, as the window closes. Tuesday I'll talk about international duty for LFC players, and our World Cup Qualifying match against Cuba, in Havana.
A few hours ago, I was at my Grandparents (my Grandfather is dead, so now a man named Tony lives there), and Tony said "I ain't votin' for no nigger."
Damn.
We actually had a tie for the top spot among second basemen between a current Hall of Famer and future Hall of Famer but the current one wins out per Win Shares Above Average as they played in six fewer games.
Top 20 Second Baseman Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Ryne Sandberg, 1984 - Chicago Cubs 38.3 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1984 24 CHC NL 156 636 114 200 36 19 19 84 32 7 52 101 .314 .367 .520 140 331 5 4 3 3 7
2. Craig Biggio, 1997 - Houston Astros 38.3
3. Roberto Alomar, 2001 - Cleveland Indians 37.4
4. Jeff Kent, 2000 - San Francisco Giants 36.9
5. Ryne Sandberg, 1991 - Chicago Cubs 36.6
6. Alfonso Soriano, 2000 - New York Yankees 35.5
7. Roberto Alomar, 1999 - Cleveland Indians 34.8
8. Craig Biggio, 1998 - Houston Astros 34.8
9. Roberto Alomar, 1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 34.2
10. Ryne Sandberg, 1990 - Chicago Cubs 33.8
11. Ryne Sandberg, 1992 - Chicago Cubs 33.1
12. Mark Loretta, 2004 - San Diego Padres 33.1
13. Craig Biggio, 1996 - Houston Astros 32.4
14. Bret Boone, 2001 - Seattle Mariners 31.7
15. Craig Biggio, 1992 - Houston Astros 31.7
16. Chuck Knoblauch, 1996 - Minnesota Twins 31.6
17. Robert Alomar, 1996 - Baltimore Orioles 31.2
18. Steve Sax, 1986 - Los Angeles Dodgers 30.8
19. Craig Biggio, 1999 - Houston Astros 30.7
20. Willie Randolph, 1980 - New York Yankees 30.5
Had this idea at work. Simple concept, create an All-Star team using only one player from each country. 25 man roster, plus a manager.
Starters
C: Dave Nilsson, Australia
1B: Sadaharu Oh, Japan
2B: Glenn Hubbard, Germany
SS: Luis Aparicio, Venezuela
3B: Reno Bertoia, Italy
LF: Larry Walker, Canada
CF: Devon White, Jamaica
RF: Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rico
DH: Babe Ruth, USA
Rotation
SP Pedro Martinez, Dominican Republic
SP: Bert Blyleven, Netherlands
SP: Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwan
SP: Dennis Martinez, Nicaragua
SP: Tony Mullane: Ireland
Bullpen
CL: Mariano Rivera, Panama
RP: Lance Painter, United Kingdom
RP: Moe Drabowsky, Poland
RP: Danny Graves, Vietnam
RP: Bobby Chouinard, Phillipines
RP: Byung-Hyun Kim, Korea
Bench
C: Eddie Ainsmith, Russia
IF: Orlando Cabrera, Columbia
IF: Hector Espino, Mexico (the minor league home run king)
OF: Elmer Valo, Czechoslovakia
Manager: Bruce Bochy, France
Yeah, I'm turning this into a Liverpool Football Club blog. We'll see how long that lasts. I usually have a shitload to say about my favorite club and never quite get around to saying it. Now I will. After the Villa match tomorrow, I'll give player ratings...a rant on the new stadium and ownership...preview for international duty (for each player and the United States for that matter)...and lastly, a wrap-up of our transfer dealings this summer, and my opinions on the new acquisitions. I'll post about other leagues too, whenever something comes to mind. I probably won't get bored with this, unlike when I kept this as a wrestling blog. I usually have tons to say about football. Sometimes it'll be related to our Americans playing in Europe, like Jozy Altidore with Villarreal. I doubt many people will read this. Maybe that's a positive.
Today I watched West Ham vs. Blackburn...
Quality of football was dire outside of the goalscoring moments. Which were admittedly quite nice, especially Bellamy's volley. I wish he was able to stay healthy, we'd have kept him.
Arsenal vs. Newcastle
Newcastle were dire. Could've been a lot worse. Barton is a thug, but I found it funny how after his challenge on Nasri, he smiled. What a guy.
Sampdoria vs. Inter Milan
Maureen's introduction to Italian football was a rough one. I really like Antonio Cassano. Fantastic player. Ibrahimovic took his chance well, but Inter found themselves under seige late. Mourinho should be glad to have got the point.
Valencia vs. Mallorca
Silva + Villa = Champions League football. If both can stay fit and in form. This David Villa is far improved from his play last season, prior to Euro '08. He was really bad until the Euro. Afterward...wow.
Tomorrow I'm going to watch
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
Numancia vs. Barcelona
Fiorentina vs. Juventus (some of this match, like during time between Barca match and the other, and during halftime of...)
Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Madrid.
Of the three non-Pool matches, looking forward to the last one the most. No van der Vaart and no Ruud should leave Madrid with a very tough test. Both guys were sent off during the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup last week at the Bernabeu.
In case you didn't know, the internet is where political debate and a personal opinion go to die. Now everywhere I go online, I hear bullshit like "OBAMA A SECRET MUSLIM" or "PALIN AN EVIL WOMAN!"
This is what politics has transformed into: a shouting match. Taunting each other. Puffing one's chest. Saying retarded things like "Barack Obama HUSSEIN!!!!" This is not political discussion or observation. This is childish bullshit. This has become The Justice League vs. The Legion of Doom for some people. How else would you explain the popularity of political blogs that say the same right wing and left wing talking points?
This is retarded. I do not want McCaine to be the next president.* I also wish people on both sides were better than this, and that dumb personal attacks, "our way or the high way" and "America: love it or leave it" bullshit didn't exist. But it does. Maybe it's because the internet has given retarded mouth breathers a voice that no one with a properly functioning brain would want to hear. People should be better than this, but they aren't. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have the likes of Michael Moore and Sean Hannity. It's not a eprfect world though.
In short, until you have something to say that's 1.) Not a talking point, 2.) Actually intelligent, 3.) Not a stupid personal attack on character that has nothing to with the issues, or 4.) Mature, then I don't want to hear it. Blow it out of your ass. People like this are what's ruining political discourse in this country. It has gotten to a point where disagreement leads to insults and shouting. Come on, you can be better than that.
*I do however, want to fuck Palin's brains out.
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder
Waiting for an invitation to arrive
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive
CHORUS
I was struck by lighting
Walkin' down the street
I was hit by something last night in my sleep
It's a dead man's party
Who could ask for more
Everybody's comin', leave your body at the door
Leave your body and soul at the door . . .
(Don't run away it's only me)
All dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man
Waitin' for an invitation to arrive
With a dead man . . . Dead Man . . .
Got my best suit and my tie
Shiny silver dollar on either eye
I hear the chauffeur comin' to the door
Says there's room for maybe just one more . . .
CHORUS
Don't run away it's only me
Don't be afraid of what you can't see
Don't run away it's only me . . .
If you had to guess the first baseman who had the best single season of the last 30 years you might guess Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell, Albert Pujols, Jason Giambi, or maybe even Don Mattingly in his prime. And you'd be wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...at least according to Win Shares. This player's numbers don't look huge at first glance but they came in a season when in the N.L. the average team only scored 3.94 runs a game, one of only four seasons since '79 that teams average under 4 runs a game in the N.L.
Top 20 First Baseman Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Will Clark, 1989 - San Francisco Giants 43.8 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1989 25 SFG NL 159 588 104 196 38 9 23 111 8 3 74 103 .333 .407 .546 175 321 0 8 14 5 6
2. Mark McGwire, 1998 - St. Louis Cardinals 40.9
3. Jeff Bagwell, 1996 - Houston Astros 40.7
4. Albert Pujols, 2004 - St. Louis Cardinals 39.7
5. Frank Thomas, 1997 - Chicago White Sox 39.1
6. Albert Pujols, 2006 - St. Louis Cardinals 38.6
7. Albert Pujols, 2005 - St. Louis Cardinals 38.3
8. Jason Giambi, 2000 - Oakland A's 38.2
9. Jason Giambi, 2001 - Oakland A's 37.8
10. Derrek Lee, 2005 - Chicago Cubs 37.2
11. Jeff Bagwell, 1999 - Houston Astros 36.9
12. John Olerud, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 36.7
13. Will Clark, 1988 - San Francisco Giants 36.7
14. Carlos Delgado, 2000 - Toronto Blue Jays 36.4
15. Will Clark, 1991 - San Francisco Giants 34.3
16. Jason Giambi, 2002 - New York Yankees 34
17. Jim Thome, 2002 - Cleveland Indians 33.9
18. Lance Berkman, 2006 - Houston Astros 33.7
19. John Olerud, 1998 - New York Mets 33.5
20. Todd Helton, 2003 - Colorado Rockies 33.5
10 p.m.
• So this is the last week of the better half’s employment and her idiot boss gave her a $30 gift card to Panera Bread. Oh yay. For those that don’t know, Panera is one of those hippie stores that sell overpriced food that doesn’t even come close to filling you up. Because we were going grocery shopping today, we decided to just buy a bunch of shit and get this $30 gift card out of our lives forever.
Now I’ve never been in a Panera store before, but it was no different than the few other times I went into these kind of eateries. Mrs. kkk got a sandwich, cookie and frozen coffee. I got a sandwich, soup and frozen smoothie. Not quite $30 but it was close. However, this is what blew my mind. We got one of those coaster-things that flash when your order is ready. That’s odd, but whatever. As we sat at our booth we heard “kkk, your order is ready.” Well what’s the point of having the coster-thingy if they’re just going to call out our name anyway? I digress. I also went to the stand that called out our order. I noticed that we only had our soup and sandwiches. Figure out what I said and what the Panera employee said:
“Where’s the rest of our order?”
“You have to get the drinks over at that register.” *Points leftward.*
OK, so I went and took the food to our booth and went to pick up the drinks. I then noticed Mrs. kkk’s cookie was nowhere to be found. Figure out what I said and what another Panera employee said:
“Where’s the cookie to this order?”
“You have to get cookies over at that register.” *Points leftward.*
You’re being serious? I had to go to three registers to complete my order. Thank Christ this store was near empty. Damn hippie store. Oh well, at least they didn’t put grass on my food like the Atlanta Bread Company.
• Good thing Osama isn’t Jewish; God knows what Jimmy would be calling him. His stuttering was the best part.
* #107 Self Aware Hip Hop References
* #106 Facebook
* #105 Unpaid Internships
* #104 Girls with Bangs
* #103 Sweaters
* #102 Children’s Games as Adults
* #101 Being Offended
* #100 Bumper Stickers
* #99 Grammar
* #98 The Ivy League
* #97 Scarves
* #96 New Balance Shoes
* #95 Rugby
* #94 Free Healthcare
* #93 Music Piracy
* #92 Book Deals
* #91 San Francisco
* #90 Dinner Parties
* #89 St. Patrick’s Day
* #88 Having Gay Friends
* #87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
* #86 Shorts
* #85 The Wire
* #84 T-Shirts
* #83 Bad Memories of High School
* #82 Hating Corporations
* #81 Graduate School
* #80 The Idea of Soccer
* #79 Modern Furniture
* #78 Multilingual Children
* #77 Musical Comedy
* #76 Bottles of Water
* #75 Threatening to Move to Canada
* #74 Oscar Parties
* #73 Gentrification
* #72 Study Abroad
* #71 Being the only white person around
* #70 Difficult Breakups
* #69 Mos Def
* #68 Michel Gondry
* #67 Standing Still at Concerts
* #66 Divorce
* #65 Co-Ed Sports
* #64 Recycling
* #63 Expensive Sandwiches
* #62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
* #61 Bicycles
* #60 Toyota Prius
* #59 Natural Medicine
* #58 Japan
* #57 Juno
* #56 Lawyers
* #55 Apologies
* #54 Kitchen Gadgets
* #53 Dogs
* #52 Sarah Silverman
* #51 Living by the Water
* #50 Irony
* #49 Vintage
* #48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
* #47 Arts Degrees
* #46 The Sunday New York Times
* #45 Asian Fusion Food
* #44 Public Radio
* #43 Plays
* #42 Sushi
* #41 Indie Music
* #40 Apple Products
* #39 Netflix
* #38 Arrested Development
* #37 Renovations
* #36 Breakfast Places
* #35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
* #34 Architecture
* #33 Marijuana
* #32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
* #31 Snowboarding
* #30 Wrigley Field
* #29 80s Night
* #28 Not having a TV
* #27 Marathons
* #26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
* #25 David Sedaris
* #24 Wine
* #23 Microbreweries
* #22 Having Two Last Names
* #21 Writers Workshops
* #20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
* #19 Traveling
* #18 Awareness
* #17 Hating their Parents
* #16 Gifted Children
* #15 Yoga
* #14 Having Black Friends
* #13 Tea
* #12 Non-Profit Organizations
* #11 Asian Girls
* #10 Wes Anderson Movies
* #9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
* #8 Barack Obama
* #7 Diversity
* #6 Organic Food
* #5 Farmer’s Markets
* #4 Assists
* #3 Film Festivals
* #2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
* #1 Coffee
6 p.m.
• Wow, Fast Eddie talking about media bias? That's funny.
Don't worry, after Osama does his thing this week you'll be back on the "what media bias?" bandwagon.
• I'm sure there's a blogger WHOSE NAME WILL NOT BE UTTERED UNTIL THE END OF TIME that probably already scouted this kid inside and out.
"Frighteneing"? Oh well, I'm the last person to goof on another person's speling, but damnit someone got paid not to run a spell-check. I'm doing this blog for free.
Not sure how relevant this is to the above story, but as a kid I was in this bowling league. We didn’t use regular balls but rather this was a duckpin bowling league. What does that mean? The balls were smaller and there is no pinacton. Anyway, there was this kid was excellent but I hated the fuck. His dad was one of the bigwigs of the league, but his kid’s team never won a league championship in the several years I was there. This kid was so good he was always a team’s captain; each team had a really good bowler, a pretty good bowler and a few scrubs (like me). Well, this one year this kid was magically placed on a team with two other boys that had been team captains in previous years. Strangely enough, after a month or two this team amassed something like a 14-1 record. Here’s a coincidence: this kid’s dad put the teams together. What did I do about it? I took my ball and went home. Do I regret it? Shit, I forgot about this experience until reading the above article.
• Huh?
Too fat? Oh this should be a good one.
Then fry him. Of course, then the poor cops zapping this porker will be smelling bacon...
Oh Christ, the I-was-abused excuse. Sadly, below is the part of the article that pisses me off the most.
Oh boo-fucking-hoo.
Wow. That must have been one strong homemade ladder to hold that fattie up. Guess those magazines were phonebooks or something.
CM Punk jobbing to Jericho and not being in the Main Event on PPV is nothing to complain about. Face it, Punk's not ready for that kind of push yet. Please get that sand out of your vaginas and stop whining.
Enough of the worst, it's time for the best. Now instead of OPS+ for these lists I'll be using Win Shares since it rates a player's all around game rather than just their offense, although the defensive measures are very flawed. Just like the worst lists I'm picking a year to start with and this time around I'm going with 1979. The reason is that I was born on October 1, 1978 which was the last day of the 1978 regular season (among the winning pitchers that day were Luis Tiant, Ferguson Jenkins, and Rollie Fingers...ya I'm really getting old), so essentially these are the best single seasons of my lifetime.
Obviously there's going to be one glaring problem with these lists and that's the 1981, 1994, and 1995 strike shortened seasons will all be very underrepresented. And well...fuck it. I'm not going to worry about it.
Note Win Shares Above Average is used to break ties.
Top 20 Catcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Mike Piazza, 1997 - Los Angeles Dodgers 38.6 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1997 28 LAD NL 152 556 104 201 32 1 40 124 5 1 69 77 .362 .431 .638 185 355 0 5 11 3 19
2. Gary Carter, 1985 - New York Mets 33.3
3. Mike Piazza, 1998 - Los Angeles Dodgers/Florida Marlins/New York Mets 33
4. Mike Piazza, 1996 - Los Angeles Dodgers 32.9
5. Gary Carter, 1982 - Montreal Expos 31.3
6. Darrell Porter, 1979 - Kansas City Royals 30.8
7. Victor Martinez, 2007 - Cleveland Indians 30.8
8. Joe Mauer, 2006 - Minnesota Twins 30.8
9. Darren Daulton, 1992 - Philadelphia Phillies 30.8
10. Mike Piazza, 1993 - Los Angeles Dodgers 30.5
11. Gary Carter, 1984 - Montreal Expos 30.2
12. Gary Carter, 1980 - Montreal Expos 30
13. Javy Lopez, 2003 - Atlanta Braves 29.7
14. Darren Daulton, 1993 - Philadelphia Phillies 28.6
15. Jorge Posada, 2000 - New York Yankees 28.6
16. Paul Lo Duca, 2001 - Los Angeles Dodgers 27.9
17. Jorge Posada, 2003 - New York Yankees 27.8
18. Terry Kennedy, 1982 - San Diego Padres 27.8
19. Ivan Rodriguez, 1999 - Texas Rangers 27.6
20. Rick Wilkins, 1993 - Chicago Cubs 27.5
8:30 p.m.
• I wonder if the McCain spokespeople pictured doing this six months ago?
God I love my county.
• Wow. And I thought veggies were green enough.
Oh well, I guess it's better than eating food that a Mexican shit on out in the field.
Final Standings of pool play.
Giants 6-4
Dodgers 6-4
Highlanders 6-4
Yankees 6-4
Bridegrooms 4-6
Gothams 2-8
With four teams tied, a tiebreaker is actually easy to set up. Teams seeded one and four will compete, along with teams seeded two and three. The winners will play for the top spot, the loser of that getting the second spot. The losers of the first game will play for third place and the final playoff entry. The Giants pick up the first seed thanks to their 4-2 record against the other three teams. The Dodgers will get home field against the Highlanders due to better run differential. Hera are the tiebreak matchups.
Yankees (Hunter) @ Giants (Gomez)
Highlanders (Ruffing) @ Dodgers (Pettitte)
Giants 3, Yankees 2
Dodgers 6, Highlanders 3
Dodgers 6, Giants 1
Yankees 5, Highlanders 2
First round is Giants vs. Yankees, winner battles the Dodgers. Both series will be contested best of five.
Earle Combs hit .481/.526/.750, taking MVP honors. Jimmy Key will take best pitcher honors with two wins, 23 innings pitched and a 2.74 ERA.
Yankees 3, Giants 4
Yankees 1, Giants 4
Giants 3, Yankees 4
Giants 8, Yankees 2
Giants win series 3 games to 1.
Giants 2, Dodgers 15
Giants 1, Dodgers 10
Dodgers 9, Giants 10 (13 Innings)
Dodgers 4, Giants 6
Giants 8, Dodgers 9 (10 Innings)
Dodgers win series 3 games to 2.
9 p.m.
• So the kkk household just got this letter from the Nielsen people. Looks like we could be a future ratings player. Looks like the ratings will be up even more for OMG FAUX NEWS LOL 2008~! Man, I haven’t said that in a while. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I watched cable news.
• You know, stealing her purse I understand. But her cane?
Sad thing is there was a bit during “Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood.” Where a mugger robs an old lady and takes her walker. Let’s see if YouTube has this clip.
…
I give up. You’ll have to settle with this. Not sure what I like better: “niggasaki” at 0:47, the entrance doorbell at 1:25 or “the Man” at “4:07.”
It's hilarious, distrubing, perverse, scatalogical, homophobic, mysoginistic, violent, schizo-in short, it's what many a white rapper has tried to accomplish, and failed to deliever.
Rza's Production-"My beats are slammin' from the rugged programmin'"
He brags about being on welfare.
"Brooklyn Zoo" is awesome, but "Damage", "Proteck Your Neck II In The Zoo" and "Harlem World" deserve plenty of love.
"Drunk Game (Sweer Sugar Pie)" in it's entirety. "I'm the baddest Hip Hop Man on the Planet!"
He raps, sings, howls, bellows, forgets his rhymes-it's the musical equivelent of a paranoid crackhead on open mic night.
Like The Gravediggaz "6 Feet Deep", it does what Insane Clown Posse and many of their peers tried to do, but failed to in the fact that it's violent, sexist, and really fucking funny instead of completely horrible.
The opening. "Never in the History of Hip Hop" has never been used so appropriately.
He randomly sings "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
Words of aadvice: "Go To School. Take a shit. Don't wipe ya ass."
His Hip Hop drops on ya head like ra-a-ain
His balls are fragile like eggs.
GZA's performance on "Damage" is among his most underrated-plus, it's fun to hear him loosen up a bit.
Not only is there no other Hip Hop album like it, there's no other album quite like it. It's a realy one in a kind experience that everyone must experience to truly understand or love.
So around 11:30 Sunday morning, I'm sitting at the house just fucking around with the rosters on Madden football when our neighbor from across the street knocks on the front door, two tickets for the 1:05 Astros/Diamondbacks game in his hand. He says he and his wife didn't feel like going and he thought we might be interested. Never one to turn down free baseball tickets, I said hell yes.
As it happened, yesterday was also the retirement of Craig Biggio's #7 jersey. By the time we made it downtown, parked, and made it inside of Minute Maid Park, it was two minutes before scheduled first pitch (not bad, considering it's a 20-25 minute drive and sfaJill had to get showered and dressed before we could leave) and the ceremony was just finishing up.
Ah, gee, we missed it. Oh well. To me, retiring numbers is one of the most stupid things in sports. I know fans eat it up and teams sell a few extra tickets and make a few extra bucks selling commemorative t-shirts so more power to them, but, to me, it takes the 'hero worship' of pro athletes just a little too far.
Don't get me wrong--I'm all for honoring a team's great players. Lord knows as a fan that I appreciate the great ones when they help my teams do well. But do we really need to make sure that no other player ever wears a certain number again, as if that number is magical and had anything to do with his success??
If you absolutely MUST retire a number or honor a player or whatever at least have the decency to follow the Dallas Cowboys' Ring of Honor model--that way, the player is honored forever (with their number) and the number is continued to be circulated. This also allows for Bob Hayes and Emmitt Smith to make #22 great, just as Drew Pearson and Michael Irvin made #88 great.
As for the game: well, Roy Oswalt had his best start in probably three years--8 IP, 1 H, 10 K, 2 BB. He got the last 15 batters he faced out. Randy Johnson really only made one mistake all day--a 3-run HR to Ty Wigginton in the 1st--but it was more than enough to lose it for him. I've never seen a pitcher dealing like Oswalt was dealing yesteday in person. Just ridiculous.
On a side note, Biggio's is the EIGHTH number retired by the Astros (nine if you count Jackie Robinson's #42). This makes no sense. You're talking about a franchise that's been around for only 47 seasons, has won only one pennant, and zero Hall of Famers (for now, anyway). Are there really eight Astros worthy of number retirement??
Houston Astros who have previously had their number retired:
5 - Jeff Bagwell
24 - Jimmy Wynn
25 - Jose Cruz
32 - Jim Umbricht
33 - Mike Scott
34 - Nolan Ryan
40 - Don Wilson
49 - Larry Dierker
I've always been a semi-closeted fan of fantasy booking. I don't usually indulge in this habit on the board due to a lack of interest and a lack of intelligent feedback. Generally, I like to rebook difficult times in wrestling history and I'm going to rebook a once great wrestling promotion on its death bed. That's right I'm going to rebook AWA for the calendar year of 1989.
Let's look at what really happenned... In 1988, AWA joined forces with fellow struggling promotions, CWA and World Class Championship Wrestling. CWA legend Jerry Lawler was even allowed to win the AWA World title from the departing Curt Hennig. After a contentious and unsuccessful venture into PPV in December (SuperClash III), the collaborative effort fell apart. As a result, Jerry Lawler was stripped of the AWA World title on January 20th, 1989. Lawler kept the title belt and continued promoting himself as The World Heavyweight Champion on the independent circuit in an attempt to leverage PPV revenue from Gagne that was owed to him. Gagne was forced to commission a new AWA World Heavyweight title of similar design and on February 7th, 1989, the AWA would crown its new World Champion. How would AWA do this? Perhaps a one night tournament? No...a 18 man over the top rope battle royal would determine the new World Champion! The winner of that battle royal was Larry Zbyszko, longtime AWA employee and son-in-law of Verne Gagne. Zbyzsko wasn't the worst choice they could have went with but while his "human chess match" (IE stalling filled) brand of wrestling and promos may have gotten him heel heat, it wasn't exactly what you wanted to build a promotion around. With a diminishing roster and the focus of the promotion turning to the insipid, nonsensical Team Challenge Series, the promotion took a nose dive and would be finally put out of its misery in 1991.
So let's go back to late January 1989 and see what I have to work with
AWA World Champion- Vacant
AWA International Television title- Greg Gagne (A vanity title created for Verne's baby boy in December 1987. While Gagne wasn't nearly as bad of a worker as the IWC occasionally makes him out to be, he was well passed his prime at this point and by year's end, he (along with the title) would be retired. Even though the reason for the title's creation was somewhat dubious, we need a secondary title and this will do the job. Gagne, though washed up, was still a somewhat formidable veteran and over with The AWA crowd so he'll still be champ...for now.)
AWA Tag Team Champions- Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka) (Even in the dire, dying days of AWA, they usually managed to have some decent tag teams on the roster or at the very least, a good team on top. Badd Company was no exception and they would soon go onto leave for greener pastures. But that won't be for a while so they'll remain the centerpiece of the tag team division. Oh yeah, they have some guy named Diamond Dallas Page as their loudmouthed manager. Wonder whatever happened to that guy?)
Let's run down some of the members of the AWA roster circa January 1989;
Akio Sato: Joined the roster of the dissolution of Central States Wrestling. Again, another guy who was a bit passed his prime but he was still half-decent in the ring so he'll make perfectly competent mid-card material.
The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos): Former AWA job guys who would slowly ascend to the top of the tag team division over the course of the year. I like these guys, I'd repackage them and have them raise hell and beat up jobbers. They'll be the #2 heel tag team)
The Top Guns (Ricky Rice and Derrick Dukes): A salt and pepper pretty boy team. Pedestrian but not entirely terrible. Due to a lack of babyface teams, I'll keep 'em as midcard fodder.
Tommy Jammer: A new guy to the scene. In fact, made his AWA debut in the 18 Man Battle Royal for the AWA World title. This guy kind of sucked but he was somewhat of a rookie so I'll keep him on as a job guy.
"Z Man" Tom Zenk: Future internet icon, making his comeback to the wrestling world after his release from The WWF. Would go onto be the last man eliminated the 18 Man Battle Royal and have a world title feud with Zybyszko before leaving for the greener pastures of the NWA, Given the lack of youngish talent and the fact he's a half decent worker and a native Minnesotan, I'll keep him.
Larry Zybszko: We've gone over him a bit. He may not be World Champion material but with a roster this thin, there's no doubt that he's worth keeping and making an integral part of the promotion. He may have been a bit past his prime but he had plenty of gas left in the tank and was part of one of the biggest feuds in North American wrestling history.
Ken Patera: Coming home after a downright terrible WWF run. He was way way way past his prime but surprisingly, I'm going to keep him. However, there's no way I'm going to keep him as a babyface. He's a natural heel. I'll go into more detail over how I'll use him in Part Two but let's say his...umm...colorful history will be brought up.
Wahoo McDaniel: Another guy way passed his prime. I don't really see much use for him besides putting over younger talent.
Manny Fernandez: What do you know? Another wrestler who's seen better days on the roster? See The Last Entry.
Sgt. Slaughter: Umm..I could say just "See Last Two Guys" but I'll elaboarate a bit. The former WWF main eventer and GI Joe star was slumming it in the AWA. Who knew at this point that he would have another WWF World title run ahead of him? Obviously, I'm going to keep him as a top guy thanks to his name value and the fact that he could still go (Was probably just trying to impress Vince and get the hell out of there ASAP).
Colonel DeBeers: Controversial and tasteless as hell gimmick but I'm going to keep him. Watching these old shows on ESPN Classic, I see that he's quite an entertaining old school heel. I'll probably stick him in a feud with Sgt. Slaughter for the time being.
John Nord: Beloved doofus and Bruiser Brody clone. Works best as a goofy babyface or wildman heel. Given the lack of credible babyfaces roster, I'll have him as the former.
Scott Norton: Relative newcomer. Had a great look, will definitely keep him and build him up as a monster heel rather than the flapjack loving lumberjack that the AWA used him as in reality.
Brad Rheingans: Bland but technically proficient veteran. The type of fucker that Verne goes gaga over. Perfectly competent mid-card guy.
The Guerreros (Hector, Chavo, Mando): Probably the most exciting guys on the roster, ringwork wise. Some combination of them will be in contention for the tag team titles.
The Texas Hangmen: Generic masked heels. Will be used as a stepping stone for babyface teams before they go onto face Badd Company.
Kokina Maximus: The future Yokozuna was then weighing in just under 400 pounds. Would be main-event material eventually but that was a few years. Still a valuable addition to the roster.
Baron Von Raschke: Way way way past his prime. But still over enough to be used occasionally as a special attraction.
If I forgot someone, they probably aren't important enough to factor into my booking plan. Now, that's not the greatest roster obviously but its not completely without potential. Plus The AWA still had a weekly nationally televised show that promotions would covet. Still getting the AWA to recapture even a fraction of its past glory will require some outside talent being brought in.
Now this is the portion of fantasy booking most people have a problem with. They like to crow about how it wouldn't be possible to bring wrestler X into *insert name of promotion here) because such and such of a reason. Well they call it fantasy booking for a reason. I like to keep it realistic though so I'm not going to try to bring The Hulkster back to AWA or make a run at Ric Flair because that would be ridiculous.
So here are some guys (or tag teams) I'll bring in who the AWA actually might have had some semblance of a shot at getting in January 1989...
Big Van Vader: Formerly known as an indistinguishable AWA babyface, Leon "Baby Bull" White, Vader had reinvented himself as a monster heel in Japan. He had famously squashed wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in his home court, The Sumo Hall. I'll be using him as a mysterious virtually indestructible monster superheel. More along the lines of his Darth Vader helmet spewing character.
The Killer Bees: Both guys are former AWAers and a well established tag team in the wrestling world. The AWA desparately needed another good babyface tag team and these two were probably the best on the market (Yeah The Bulldogs were still on the market but Dynamite was broken down at this point and they really hated each other).
Scott Hall: Another former AWA guy, on his way to an indistinguished run in NWA. Even at this point, I think if booked properly, Hall could have been a main eventer. And he'd be a fresh addition to a stagnant group of top babyfaces.
Don Muraco: Like Patera, he's another guy who was way past his prime- workrate wise but was definitely worthy enough for a career resurrection as a heel. He was always entertaining on the mic as a heel and the AWA was in desparate need for entertaining guys at this stage.
Davey Boy Smith: Was just starting to become a singles star with Stampede. I figure there needs to be somebody on the roster who can hang with all of the hosses I have. He also hasn't yet seen the peak of his wrestling career.
Jerry Lynn: Considering he's another Minnesotan, he's a perfect fit for the roster. Lynn had just debuted at this point so I'll use him as cannon fodder at first and slowly move him up the card.
Eddie Guerrero: The Andy Gibb to his brothers' Bee Gees. The tagalong little brother who slowly starts making a name of his own in wrestling.
Coming up at some point this week...Vol. 2---I'll be highlighting the major feuds and title changes leading up to SuperClash IV in December.
If you managed to read all of this beast, I'll give you a cookie.
Clone Wars is bad, but not "I wanna kill myself bad" that some are making it out to be, though I didn't go in with high expectations-it's at least better than Phantom Menace. I actually wasn't annoyed by Ahoska, though The baby Hutt and the gay Hutt I call "Capote the Hutt" are a different story all together. Just remember that this is a minor movie made for kids-nothing more nothing less-and if you don't go into it with high expectations, then you'll be alright.
Mirrors is a wasted movie. There's 3 kills total (not bad ones either-the "jaw ripping" scene is worthy of Fulci), and it all feels like a Fulci movie-that is, one he did in his decline. It's also too long (nearly 2 hours) and poorly acted (especially Kiefer Sutherland). That out of the way, it's a rare example if a remake that's better than the original (the original is really boring), and isn't too bad-just boring.
Both get 4/10.
