Bored

Hell hasn't quite frozen over but it is getting colder as Jason Giambi is returning to Oakland. Contract is reportedly just one-year, $4 million and an option for 2010 at $6.25 million with a $1.25 million buyout. I really wasn't thrilled when the rumors started about him possibly coming back especially since he wanted a three-year contract but this is a fantastic deal at those numbers. This means after a disastrous rookie season, Daric Barton will begin the year in Triple-A.

The Ibanez signing looks ever worse for the Phillies now. Improve offense? No. Improve defense? No, which was really hard to not do when replacing Burrell. Get younger? No. Get cheaper? No.

Just in case anyone thinks this will just be your typical mediocre NBA on ESPN telecast, Dick Vitale will be calling the game. You've been warned.

Full TV Schedule for Week of 1/5 - 1/11 Network/Basic Cable Schedule MONDAY #9 Georgetown at #13 Notre Dame, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN TUESDAY Ohio State at #8 Michigan State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 #7 Texas at Arkansas, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Davidson at #2 Duke, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN #23 Louisville at South Florida, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Gonzaga at #15 Tennessee, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY #22 Minnesota at Iowa, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Oregon State at #20 Arizona State, 10:30/7:30 PM, FSN SATURDAY #23 Louisville at #18 Villanova, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN Kansas at #8 Michigan State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS #2 Duke at Florida State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN Missouri at Nebraska, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN2 Oregon at #20 Arizona State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, FSN Utah at San Diego State, 4:00/1:00 PM, Versus SUNDAY Wisconsin at #14 Purdue, 1:30 PM/10:30 AM, CBS #3 North Carolina at #4 Wake Forest, 8:00/5:00 PM, FSN #10 UCLA at USC, 10:30/7:30 PM, FSN

Nope, just like the real BCS there are no rankings after the bowls. I do factor in the bowl results when I do the preseason rankings for the following season. Yes, but you have over seven months to think about it as I don't take the new bowl names until the sign up thread for the new season is posted, primarily because I'll forget about any new bowl names by then.

Perusing the January schedule for the MLB Network for "classic" games and here's what I've found. Note just posting the first airing of each as there are replays during the week. Saturday 1/3 2008 NLCS Game 5, 10:00/7:00 AM 2008 ALCS Game 7, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM 2008 World Series Game 1, 4:00/1:00 PM Sunday 1/4 2008 World Series Game 2, 9:30/6:30 AM 2008 World Series Game 3, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM 2008 World Series Game 4, 4:00/1:00 PM 2008 World Series Game 5, 8:00/5:00 PM (assuming full game spliced together) Saturday 1/10 2006 NLCS Game 7, 8:00/5:00 pm Sunday 1/11 1989 ALCS Game 2, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, (RICKEY~!) 1989 ALCS Game 4, 4:30/1:30 PM (more RICKEY~!) April 21, 1991 - Cubs at Pirates, 8:00/5:00 PM (boxscore - 11 runs in the 11th inning) Saturday 1/17 2007 NLCS Game 4, Noon/9:00 AM 2007 ALCS Game 7, 3:00 PM/Noon 2007 World Series Game 1, 6:30/3:30 PM Sunday 1/18 2007 World Series Game 2, Noon/9:00 AM 2007 World Series Game 3, 3:30/12:30 PM 2007 World Series Game 4, 8:00/5:00 PM Saturday 1/24 2006 ALCS Game 4, Noon/9:00 AM 2006 World Series Game 1, 6:00/3:00 pm 2006 World Series Game 2, 9:00/6:00 PM Sunday 1/25 2006 World Series Game 3, 1:00 PM/1:00 AM 2006 World Series Game 4, 4:00/1:00 PM 2006 World Series Game 5, 7:30/4:30 PM Saturday 1/31 2005 NLCS Game 5, 11:30/8:30 AM 2005 NLCS Game 6, 3:00 PM/Noon 2005 ALCS Game 5, 6:00/3:00 PM 2005 World Series Game 1, 9:00/6:00 PM

You're actually tied with and differ on the GMAC Bowl as well so it can still go tiebreak. Might as well post an update on the undecided bowls. N.C. State 18, Arizona 17 (AA484 - Ball State, UZI - Tulsa) Ball State 17, Syracuse 15 (Vampiro - Buffalo & Oklahoma, CC - UConn & Florida) Kentucky 18, Nebraska 17 (Danville - Buffalo & Oklahoma, Mecca - UConn & Florida) Tennessee 17, Ohio State 16 (Brandon - Connecticut & Texas, Gert - Buffalo & Ohio State) LSU 16, Notre Dame 16 (teke - Buffalo & Tulsa, PK - UConn & Ball State) iggymcfly, AlwaysPissedOff, Agent Bond34, still fly, and Agent of Oblivion are in the victory formation in their bowls.

The AP poll is not part of the BCS. The coaches are supposed to vote the winner of the BCS Championship Game #1 although some have broken rank before. In 2003 three coaches voted USC over LSU. Regardless of what happens to Texas on Monday and what happens in the MNC game, there's little chance Utah ends up #1 in the AP. And really it wouldn't matter anyways if they did because the AP poll champion is just as mythical, if not more so, as the BCS champion.

Yup that's probably your footbaw game right there. Hey remember everyone, the season is all one big playoff!

Rickey Henderson, Left Fielder Oakland Athletics 1979-1984, 1989-1993, 1994-1995, 1998 New York Yankees 1985-1989 Toronto Blue Jays 1993 San Diego Padres 1996-1997, 2001 Anaheim Angels 1997 New York Mets 1999-2000 Seattle Mariners 2000 Boston Red Sox 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 2003 Awards 1981 AL Gold Glove - OF 1981 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1985 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1989 ALCS MVP 1990 AL MVP 1990 AL Silver Slugger - OF League Leader 1980: Stolen Bases 1981: Runs, Hits, Stolen Bases 1982: Walks, Stolen Bases 1983: Walks, Stolen Bases 1984: Stolen Bases 1985: Runs, Stolen Bases 1986: Runs, Stolen Bases 1988: Stolen Bases 1989: Runs, Walks, Stolen Bases 1990: OBP, Runs, Stolen Bases, OPS, OPS+, Runs Created 1991: Stolen Bases 1998: Walks, Stolen Bases Career Ranks OBP: 56th Games: 4th AB: 10th PA: 4th Runs: 1st Hits: 21st TB: 35th BB: 2nd SB: 1st RC: 10th Best Performance October 5, 1991 - Oakland at Texas 4 for 4, three runs, three rbi, two doubles, home run, two walks, four stolen bases. Total domination. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 50 (26) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 143 (105) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 52.6 (62) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 183.5 (52) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 5 (Paul Molitor, Lou Brock, Joe Morgan, Robin Yount, Al Kaline) Other Similar Batters: Craig Biggio, Rusty Staub, Steve Finley, Tim Raines, Vada Pinson Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1979: 10/1.3 1980: 34/10.7 1981: 27/12.1 1982: 28/8.0 1983: 30/10.0 1984: 28/9.0 1985: 38/13.2 1986: 26/10.6 1987: 20/7.0 1988: 28/9.3 1989: 30/11.1 1990: 39/15.3 1991: 25/9.7 1992: 25/9.6 1993: 25/10.0 1994: 11/6.4 1995: 19/5.8 1996: 16/6.0 1997: 15/4.6 1998: 20/7.2 1999: 16/5.9 2000: 8/3.7 2001: 12/1.9 2002: 4/1.3 2003: 1/0.1 Career Win Shares: 535 Career WARP3: 189.8 Bored's Stupid Opinion Bored knows that Lou Brock was overrated and that RICKEY~ is the greatest of all-time.

The Don Larsen perfect game is on right now, with original ads.

Since the board is acting weird I'm going to create an AIM chat for the game in a test run to see about having a chat for the MNC game. Invite yourself to TSMRoseBowlChat.

OH NO JOE PATERNO BROKE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATED PREGAME INTERVIEW WITH ESABCPN!

I'm stuck at work, am I reading the Sun Bowl final score right? 3-0!? Did they play in a monsoon?

Like last year I'm going to split the bowl season into two threads, one for the games before 12/31 and one for the bowls 12/31 and beyond. There will be a separate thread created for the MNC game once we get a little closer to it. It's pretty amazing that a bowl game as relatively insignificant as the Junior Holiday Bowl (aka Poinsettia Bowl) will have the biggest match-up of all the non-BCS bowls. Attendance should be fine for that tilt but with the current state of the economy it will be really interesting to see the attendance figures of some of the lesser, and some would say completely unnecessary, bowl games. Humanitarian Bowl tickets are going fast! Can't find any updates since Monday but maybe they are in the 20's by now. FRIDAY FCS Championship: Richmond vs. Montana, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY EagleBank Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Navy, 11:00/8:00 AM, ESPN New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State vs. Fresno State, 2:30 PM/11:30 AM, ESPN St. Petersburg Bowl: Memphis vs. South Florida, 4:30/1:30 PM, ESPN2 Las Vegas Bowl: #16 BYU vs. Arizona, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN SUNDAY New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Troy, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN TUESDAY, December 23rd Poinsettia Bowl: #9 Boise State vs. #11 TCU, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN WEDNESDAY, December 24th Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Notre Dame, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN FRIDAY, December 26th Motor City Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN SATURDAY, December 27th Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia vs. North Carolina, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPN Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Florida State, 4:30/1:30 PM, ESPN Emerald Bowl: Miami vs. California, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN SUNDAY, December 28th Independence Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN MONDAY, December 29th PapaJohns.com Bowl: N.C. State vs. Rutgers, 3:00 PM/Noon, ESPN Alamo Bowl: #21 Missouri vs. #23 Northwestern, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN TUESDAY, December 30th Humanitarian Bowl: Maryland vs. Nevada, 4:30/1:30 PM, ESPN Holiday Bowl: #13 Oklahoma State vs. #17 Oregon, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN Texas Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Rice, 8:00/5:00 PM, NFLN

So it's the week of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge which has not been any sort of a challenge for the ACC. In the nine year existence of this made for t.v. event the ACC has never lost the overall head-to-head meetings. When you take into account that Maryland, picked to finish 7th in the ACC, waxed Big Ten favorite Michigan State this past week in the Old Spice Classic (and the Terps proceeded to get destroyed by Gonzaga and Georgetown) there isn't whole lot of reason to think this year's challenge will be any different from the last nine. Note the Duke/Michigan game on Saturday is not part of the event. In other conference dick measuring contests there is 2nd Annual Big XII/Pac-10 Hardwood Series which begins Thursday. Er, scratch that it began on Saturday when Stanford beat Colorado. You see there is no real organization to this particular made for t.v. event as after this week there are still two more games in the "series" on December 23rd (Kansas at Arizona) and December 28th (Texas Tech at Stanford). And yes teams play more than one game (Stanford and Arizona) and there are an even number of games so there can be a tie which happened in the inaugural event last year. Also for some reason they decided to have the exact same match-ups this season as last. All of that makes this "series" very, very lame. Full T.V. Schedule for Week of 12/1 - 12/7 ESPN & FSN Schedule MONDAY Wisconsin at Virginia Tech, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 TUESDAY Ohio State at #21 Miami, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN Clemson at Illinois, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2 #4 Duke at #9 Purdue, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN Virginia at Minnesota, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Indiana at #15 Wake Forest, 7:15/4:15 PM, ESPN Penn State at Georgia Tech, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2 #1 North Carolina vs. #13 Michigan State, 9:15/6:15 PM, ESPN Florida State at Northwestern, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY USC at #6 Oklahoma, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 #12 UCLA at #8 Texas, 9:00/6:00 PM ESPN Oklahoma State at Washington, 11:00/9:00 PM, FSN SATURDAY #4 Duke at Michigan, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPN #21 Miami at Kentucky, 5:30/2:30 PM, ESPN2 #24 Baylor at Washington State, 11:30/8:30 PM, FSN SUNDAY Nebraska at #19 Arizona State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, FSN #23 Florida at Florida State, 6:00/3:00 PM, FSN Kansas State at Oregon, 8:30/5:30 PM, FSN

"Halftime" Scores #1 N.C. State leads #2 Arizona 12-11 with three differing games remaining #6 Georgia Tech leads #4 Miami of Ohio 13-12 with five differing games remaining #8 Syracuse leads #5 Ball State 11-10 with nine differing games remaining #9 Alabama leads #10 Virginia 11-8 with six differing games remaining Kentucky leads #3 Nebraska 11-10 with six differing games remaining #7 Tennessee is tied with Ohio State 8-8 with eight differing games remaining Notre Dame leads LSU 11-9 with six differing games remaining South Carolina is tied with Fresno State 10-10 with four differing games remaining Arizona State leads Minnesota 9-8 with six differing games remaining Indiana leads Boston College 8-6 with five differing games remaining

That was a mansized run by Jeremiah Masoli to give Oregon the lead. And hey ESPN isn't time for another shot of Chase Daniel's family? I mean I know they played last night but shit we only saw them 200 times, why stop now?

Mark Grace, First Baseman Chicago Cubs 1988-2000 Arizona Diamondbacks 2001-2003 Awards 1992 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1993 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1995 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1996 NL Gold Glove - 1B All-Star Selections: 3 (1993, 1995, 1997) League Leader 1995: Doubles Career Ranks Doubles: 39th Walks: 79th Runs Created: 98th Best Performance July 7, 1989 - San Diego at Chicago Goes 4 for 4 with three doubles and a home run. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 3 (507) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 86 (265) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 38.0 (165) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 60.5 (309) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Enos Slaughter) Other Similar Batters: Keith Hernandez, Mickey Vernon, John Olerud, Hal McRae, Wally Joyner, Bill Buckner, Al Oliver, Joe Judge, Joe Kuhel Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1988: 16/4.3 1989: 25/7.6 1990: 22/6.4 1991: 17/5.4 1992: 25/8.0 1993: 23/7.6 1994: 12/4.3 1995: 23/6.9 1996: 20/5.7 1997: 20/6.8 1998: 27/6.4 1999: 21/5.2 2000: 18/4.8 2001: 16/4.8 2002: 8/2.0 2003: 1/-0.1 Career Win Shares: 294 Career WARP: 86.2 My Stupid Opinion Grace always hit for a good average (Top 10 in N.L. batting average nine times), get on base at a good rate (Top 10 in OBP seven times), and was a superb defensive first baseman. Problem with him though is that he had very little power and the standards for HOF first basemen are higher than any other position and he just doesn't really have much of a case. Among first basemen who had a minimum of 3000 plate appearances between 1988 and 2003 (when Grace was active), he ranks only 17th in OPS+

heh, I'm mildly surprised that in the small sample of writers who have made their HOF ballot public so far that he's received almost no support as I figured there would be a handful of writers who would cite that fact as an excuse to vote for him.

Alabama's All-American left tackle Andre Smith has been suspended for the Sugar Bowl due to illegal contact with an agent. Guess it's safe to assume he's declaring for the draft.

A lot of conference play tips off this week which features Georgetown playing both UConn and Pitt. ESPN2 will have a college basketball marathon on New Year's Eve although nothing too compelling on the schedule. Full TV Schedule for Week of 12/29 - 1/4 Network/Basic Cable Schedule MONDAY #11 Georgetown at #2 Connecticut, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Cincinnati at Memphis, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 TUESDAY Illinois at #9 Purdue, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Northwestern at Penn State Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 Wisconsin at #23 Michigan, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN2 Loyola (MD) at #5 Duke, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN2 UNLV at #18 Louisville, 6:00/3:00 PM, ESPN2 #7 Notre Dame at DePaul, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 #1 North Carolina at Nevada, 10:00/7:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY #15 Villanova at Marquette, 2:30 PM/11:30 AM, ESPN FRIDAY #13 Syracuse at South Florida, 8:30/5:30 PM, ESPN #12 UCLA at Oregon State, 10:30/7:30 PM, FSN SATURDAY #3 Pittsburgh at #11 Georgetown, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN #14 Tennessee at Kansas, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN N.C. State at Florida, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS SUNDAY #12 UCLA at Oregon, 3:30/12:30 PM, FSN Kentucky at #18 Louisville, 4:30/1:30 PM, CBS Boston College at #1 North Carolina, 5:30/2:30 PM, FSN Virginia Tech at #5 Duke, 7:30/4:30 PM, FSN Arizona at Stanford, 10:00/7:00 PM, FSN

Jay Bell, Shortstop Cleveland Indians 1986-1988 Pittsburgh Pirates 1989-1996 Kansas City Royals 1997 Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2002 New York Mets 2003 Awards 1993 NL Gold Glove - SS 1993 NL Silver Slugger - SS All-Star Selections: 2 (1993, 1999) League Leader None Career Ranks None of note Best Performance July 27, 1991 - Pittsburgh at Houston Goes 4 for 5 with two home runs, four runs scored, and four rbi. Hall of Fame Stats Gray Ink: Batting - 32 (727) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 26.9 (352) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 30.5 (576) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: None Top 10 Similar Batters: Toby Harrah, Ray Durham, Bobby Grich, Benito Santiago, Devon White, Alan Trammell, Frank White, Edgar Renteria, Alvin Dark, Amos Otis Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1986: 1/0.3 1987: 1/0.3 1988: 2/0.0 1989: 8/2.5 1990: 17/8.1 1991: 22/9.0 1992: 24/8.0 1993: 26/10.6 1994: 19/6.8 1995: 13/4.6 1996: 15/4.0 1997: 21/11.1 1998: 20/7.6 1999: 23/6.9 2000: 19/5.5 2001: 12/3.8 2002: 1/-0.1 2003: 1/-0.2 Career Win Shares: 245 Career WARP3: 88.8 My Stupid Opinion Certainly not a HOFer but a much better player than the average fan probably remembers. Good hitting shortstop with good defense, at least early in his career, who was very durable as from 1990-2000 he never missed more than 13 games in a season. Fun Fact: Only player in MLB history to ever have 30+ sacrifice hits in a season (39 in 1990 and 30 in 1991) and also have a 30+ home run season (38 in 1999) in their career.

I'm starting to think a separate thread for the Teixeira signing and the fallout should have been created. In non-Yankees Are Destroying America news, Randy Johnson has agreed to one-year deal with the Giants. Was hoping he'd sign with the A's but he wanted to stay in the N.L.

Matt Williams, Third Baseman San Francisco Giants 1987-1996 Cleveland Indians 1997 Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2003 Awards 1990 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1991 NL Gold Glove - 3B 1993 NL Gold Golve - 3B 1993 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1994 NL Gold Glove - 3B 1994 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1997 AL Gold Glove - 3B 1997 AL Silver Slugger - 3B All-Star Selections: 5 (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999) League Leader 1990: RBI 1994: Home Runs Career Ranks Home Runs: 61st AB/HR: 79th Best Performance April 18, 1993 - Atlanta at San Francisco Goes 4 for 6 with two home runs, including a walk off in the 11th inning. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 8 (272) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 58 (426) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 29.4 (286) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 70.0 (258) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Johnny Bench) Other Similar Batters: Vinny Castilla, Andruw Jones, George Foster, Rocky Colavito, Ron Cey, Robin Ventura, Frank Howard, Gil Hodges, Jack Clark Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1987: 5/2.1 1988: 2/1.6 1989: 7/3.4 1990: 28/8.3 1991: 22/8.8 1992: 11/4.0 1993: 28/10.0 1994: 18/9.5 1995: 20/6.9 1996: 18/6.1 1997: 18/6.5 1998: 12/5.9 1999: 26/9.1 2000: 7/2.5 2001: 10/3.5 2002: 6/2.0 2003: 3/0.9 Career Win Shares: 241 Career WARP3: 91.2 My Stupid Opinion Most famous for being "on pace" to tie Roger Maris' then single season record of 61 home runs (OMG STILL NON-STEROID RECORD!!!) in 1994 before the strike killed that opportunity. He was the best third baseman in baseball from 1993-1995, though it was in '95 where he started to have injury problems. Had a lot of power and played a very good third base but also a big time hacker who posted only a .317 career OBP. Overall just not impressive enough to warrant serious consideration for the HOF.