Wednesday, December 30, 2009

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT

Vod loves to jab the needle at Picasner, often taking an opposite tack, sometimes one even HE doesn't really believe, just to play devil's advocate. This time, Vod tried to take the opposing viewpoint so quickly, that he actually made Picasner's point: that the GM money was drying up and Boras was still pushing for more. Boras hasn't recognized that his clients aren't worth what he's asking and GMs are refusing to pay it. That's why they're still out there and that was my point. I guess I should say thank you.
By the way, HALLADAY was traded and signed an extension, HOLLIDAY is still waiting.

***HAVEN'T WE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE?***
Cashman has stated that he's perfectly happy with Brett Gardner as his everyday left fielder. In 2006, he said he was happy with Bubba Crosby as his everyday centerfielder and then promptly went out and signed Johnny Damon. If I were Gardner, I'd be looking over my shoulder.

***INTERESTING GAME LAST NIGHT***
Seaton Hall looked like they had 7 men on the offensive board the whole first half. That, and some hot shooting, kept the Hall in the game. In the past, Boeheim teams would usually fold in this situation, but this team seems to have a lot of heart and a decent bench. Vod is right, Triche did look bewildered. Wes Johnson reminds me of Carmelo Anthony in that he can take over a game when needed. This team has a good future.

***PICASNER'S PICKS & PANS FOR THE H.O.F.***
Some chioces are based on numbers, some ar just opinion; you decide which is which.
SHOULD BE IN THERE:
Roberto Alomar
Barry Larkin
Lee Smith
Bert Blyleven
NOT GOOD ENOUGH:
Andre Dawson
Edgar Martinez
Fred McGriff
NO WAY...EVER:
Mark McGwire
Barry Bonds
That should elicit a blood-soaked response from Vod.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Why I Love Scot Boras

How can anyone love the arguably least lovable guy on the planet? Because he drives Picasner crazy. I really believe that if Chad's underwear was on fire and Boras had the only extinguisher in town, CP would rather fry than owe Boras a "Thanks". Then again, tha's true for many.

When push comes to shove (and defying all logic and belief in the essential harmony of the universe, there follows a useful quote from George W. Bush) the player is the "decider". Amazing. Perhaps Bush's legacy will be the 21st century Yogi of politics. Anyway. The fact that Halladay and Damon aren't signed has more to do with GMs getting smarter, (I know that too requires that we suspend disbelief) and more clubs struggling with $$$, than Boras. Damon only has value as a DH and Halladay is perceived as an offensive liability in the AL. Who woulda' thought. I have no interest in the other guy because the Yankees have no interest in him either.

The Yankees also have no interest in Brandon Triche but, more importantly, I do. The young Triche got a painful lesson in Big East basketball tonight in Newark. The Orange got out of town with a 7 point win thanks to Wes Johnson, Chris Joseph, and Scoop "The Meal Ticket" Jardine. Triche, on the other hand, was abused and repeatedly turned over by Seton Hall's 3 guard offense. The Hall got inside both his shirt and his head as Triche responded with one of the worst night of shot selections I have ever seen. And Picasner will testify to my intimate knowledge of poor shot selection having played along side Kevin LeRoy and having once personally gone 1 - 14, all done without blowing a layup.

The good news was that SU demonstrated sufficient depth to handle a run and gun, guard oriented offense - and Triche will grow into the job. JB gave him far more minutes than he deserved, a rarity for our favorite on-screen nose scratcher (I am trying hard to be more upbeat).

And, as expected, the refs allowed a hockey game in sneakers.

The bad news for the Hall - they weren't able to put away a team that committed 4, 128 turnovers and allowed 6,764 offensive rebounds.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

NO NEWS, JUST OPINIONS

***THE FREE AGENT MARKET***
The money has really been flowing this year, and most players, and more specifically, their agents, were expecting this. So some agents have moved quickly to sign their 2nd & 3rd level clients to contracts before the well dried up. Thus, Chone Figgins, Randy Wolf and Mike Cameronand the like, are set for 2010 and even Scott Boras, whose technique is to wait and wait and wait, until teams panic, has completed deals for Andruw Jones, Mike Gonzales and Alex Cora. BUT...and this is a big but...Matt Holliday, Johnny Damon and Andrian Beltre, Boras' clients all, are still swinging in the breeze. Boras has messed up big time in the past and seems to get away with it, but perhaps no more. One GM has said that the day may come, and soon, when some player sues Boras for improper representation. That would be interesting.

***WERE WE WATCHING THE SAME PEOPLE?***
ESPN Ran a poll asking about the quality of the work of umpires this season: Excellent, Good, Acceptable, or Unacceptable. The results were amazing: 6% Excellent, 34% Good and 40% Acceptable. The Umps must have had relatives stuffing the ballot boxes. That's a total of 80%. 80%! Only 20% voted Unacceptable. I don't think the Umps rating reached the Acceptable level in any one game that I saw. MLB and the Umps just agreed to a 5 year deal, but we won't know the details until the Umpires vote on it on Jan. 14th. Please don't tell me they got a raise.

A reader has asked why I haven't commented on my 'other' favorite NY team, the Football Giants. Easy, you're not allowed to curse on this website.

We've had another comment on our blog, another line of Japanese symbols. I found out that the last comment led you to a soft-porn site, so this one is gone.

Picasner will have some comments on this years' Hall of Fame candidates, either later today or tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

JUMPING THE GUN

***THIS TRADE ISN'T OVER YET***
This is obviously not the last move the Bombers will make this winter. Granted, 60% of the value of this move is an attempt to shore up the pitching staff, but a huge key will be how they fill the void in left field. Hopefully, Granderson's bat will offset the loss of Damon or Matsui, but they still need another run producer, which Cabrera was not.

The addition now of Holliday or Bay would make this deal, and the Yanks off-season moves, look a lot more productive. It would even be nice to get Damon back, at the Yankees terms, of course, just to spite Boras. I wouldn't make too much of Cabrera's defense, since left field is probably the safest defensive position on the field. I will miss his arm, though.

Picasner will evaluate when the last major move is completed.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Deja Vu all over again

Can't wait to hear Picasner's analysis of the brilliant move, trading the arguably best outfielder on the roster for a rerun of Javier Vasquez, a success in the National League but totally suspect in the AL in general and New York specifically.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

OH YEAH, THIS'LL WORK

Bumblin' Bud Selig has announced that he is forming a committee to "look at on-the-field situations and offer some possible solutions." I offer three thoughts on this:
1. At least Bud recognizes that there are problems.
2. This committee will have absolutely no power to change anything.
3. "A camel is a horse designed by a committee."

While no agenda or specific problems have been set forth for the committee, Thomas Bosworth has list of 8 he would suggest. First, the reasonable ones (Picasner's comments in red):
1. Don't award home field advantage in the World Series based on the outcome of the All-Star game. Force Selig to agree to this and then you can disband.
2. No more World Series games in November. Maybe do this one, too, before you disband.
3. Expand the use of video replay in the post season. We could try this one for a year at least.
Gee, 3 out of 8 isn't bad. These suggestions seem to be coming from someone who doesn't like baseball:
4. Ban mound visits by managers and coaches. Yeah, just yell at them from the dugout.
5. No more 'God Bless America' in the 7th inning. How about 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'?
6. Eliminate the 4 pitches in an intentional walk. Right, nothing EVER goes wrong with those.
7.Require a relief pitcher to face a minimum of 2 batters. What if there's two outs in the bottom of the 9th? Does he have to face the first batter in the next game?
8. Enforce a time limit on mid-inning pitching changes. Are you going to force those relievers to RUN in from the bullpen? Then we'll have to wait for them to catch their breath.
Here's one for the fans:
How about shortening the commercial times between half -innings? Sorry, I wasn't thinking.

***NICK JOHNSON? NICK? JOHNSON?***
His name is being bandied about frequently these days. The Angels, Braves and Cubs have all been linked with him. Then the Red Sox were interested, but they need a big power hitter in the middle of the lineup and he ain't it. Now it's the Yanks, and I can't see this one either. True, he can hit, get on base and spell Teixeira at first, but his fielding has slipped because of all the injuries and what little power he had is gone. Besides, wherever he goes, he'll be on the DL before the 4th of July. He's been there so often, he no longer has a number on his back, just a Red Cross.

***JIM ARMSTRONG OF THE DENVER POST***
"Did you hear? Tiger's wife has volunteered to perform his next knee surgery."

***NOT BUYING IT, PUDGE***
Pudge Rodriguez says he's 'only interested in winning,' and promptly signed for two years with the Washington Nationals.

***I DIDN'T KNOW THAT***
Richie Incognito was released by the ST. Louis Rams and signed by the Buffalo Bills, but nobody noticed. (Hint: read that line again)



Wednesday, December 16, 2009

WHILE WE'RE WAITING...

***AND THE BEAT GOES ON***
Texas beat Texas-Pan American, 104-42, hopefully securing their ranking as #2 in the country. Proud of yourselves, Texas? Even in the land of the "Cupcakes," Tex-P A is really inept. This rout brought their record to 1-10. If they have a football team, I think Syracuse has a spot open on their schedule.
***HOPEFULLY, THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING***
This seems a little strange, even for the Yankees. So far, this off-season, they have disposed of:
Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, Ian Kennedy,
Austin Jackson, Hideki Matsui, Chin-Ming Wang,
Xavier Nady, Sergio Mitre, & Johnny Damon (probably).
...and signed only Curtis Granderson. These guys helped win a World Series, so there must be some kind of major upgrade on the way.
***I KNOW I'M RETIRED, BUT...***
I do require some sleep. The NCAA is considering expanding the basketball tournament to 96 teams from the current 65. That's like an additional 30 games. How am I going to watch all those games? And will Texas-Pan American be in the mix? They might have trouble beating the three referees.
***CAN YOU SAY POLLYANNA?***
Tennessee football coach, Lane Kiffin, says the NCAA investigation into the schools recruiting practices, is a "compliment." Just like prison sentences are a reward.
***COLLEGE SPORTS LONGEST WINNING STREAK***
Penn State's Women's Volleyball team has won 100 straight games. And no, Texas-Pan American is NOT on their schedule.
***THIS SHOULD AMUSE VOD***
One General Manager describes the AL Central as, "...the island of misfit toys."
***THIS JUST IN***
Duke 113
Gardner-Webb 68
I wonder when the "TIN-CAN INVITATIONAL" tournament starts?
***WE'RE STILL NOT DONE***
The Cliff Lee-Roy Halladay trade now include 4 teams. Somehow, Oakland is now getting some warm bodies, too. I hope all these guys know which team they're supposed to report to in the spring.

Monday, December 14, 2009

WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS

Around the horn with a little baseball...and other things.

***CHIEN-MING WANG...IS GONE***
The Yanks wanted to hedge their bets on Wang's bad shoulder and offer a minor league contract with a major league deal if he's okay. Wang's agent wanted it guaranteed. When the Yanks said no-way, agent Alan Nero said, "He'll be moving on."

***BAD TIME TO BE A FREE AGENT***
There were 300 free agents when we started. 34 have signed, which leaves 266 more standing out in the rain. Some of them are going to be disappointed. I can hear Miguel Tejada now: "Attention K-Mart shoppers..."

***WHO'LL BE THE YANKS DH?***
One baseball exec thinks the Yanks will be content to use minor league prospect Juan Miranda. He's a 26 year-old first baseman. He hit .288 with 19 homers for Scranton last year. Naw, where's Matsui?

***SYRACUSE ROLLS***
A workman-like victory over St. Francis (the college, not the icon) yesterday. Vod is right about Andy Rautins; Syracuse is a different team when he's on the floor. Most amazing stat from the game: the Orange had 24 assists on 29 baskets. And consider this: TWO great passes could lead to a basket, but only ONE assist will be awarded, unlike hockey, where two players can be rewarded for passes leading to a score.

***DIFFERENT FLAVOR CUPCAKES***
What do Central Arkansas, Tenn. Tech, UC Irvine, Western Carolina, Sam Houston, Rider and No. Carolina-Ashville have in common? Answer: they all helped the nations' top three basketball programs to a combined 21-0 record. Yes, Kansas, Texas and Kentucky have bolted to undefeated seasons with the help of these "tin-cans." Picasner was aware of this and really wasn't picking on Syracuse.

and finally:
***A PRO-FOOTBALL QUESTION***
When does Big-D turn into Little-D? Answer: in December. Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo, continues to build up big stats and bigger losses every time it gets down to crunch time in the schedule. Yes, I know there are 40+ other players involved, but only ONE gets to date Jessica Simpson.

In closing, Vod, Chad and the ladies are having plaque put on their table at the Fairport Village Inn after Saturday's 3-hour laugh-fest. The waitress said we were their BEST customers that afternoon. ...Of course, we were their ONLY customers, too!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Quick Comments

Victor does not get snow. Southern Oswego County, where we've lived for the past 30 years, gets SNOW.

SU is very real. Wes Johnson is All-American caliber. Every one underestimates Andy Rautins and regrets it. Jackson and Onuaku are heavy, wide, and agile. They have enough guard talent to bring the ball up and make no mistake, Rautins runs the offense.

Weaknesses: Frosh point guard, 7 deep at best.

And every ranked program fattens up on December cupcakes.

Lunch with the Picasners today. The wait staff actually pleaded with us to stay longer.

Friday, December 11, 2009

BASEBALL'S WINTER MEETINGS

Generally, these meetings fall short of expectations regarding trades and free-agent signings. This year, there was actually a big trade to accompany all the usual hoopla and rumors.

***YANKS-TIGERS-DIAMONBACKS***
The consensus of the ESPN sportswriters seem to think the Yanks made out the best, but Picasner isn't so sure. Yes, Granderson hit 30 homers and stole 26 bases, but he also struck out 140+ times and hit a whopping .186 against lefties. The Yanks also gave up their best prospect, Austin Jackson, who might have been a key part of a potential trade for Doc Halladay. Oh, well.

***WHY IS SCOTT BORAS USUALLY THE STAR OF THESE MEETINGS?***
##Boras says Johnny Damon is a "timeless" player, with a body that belies his age. He has conveniently forgotten all the time Damon has missed in the past 3 years with leg problems.
##Boras' comments about the Giants has irritated SF Gen. Mgr, Brian Sabean to the point that he has refused to talk to ANY Boras clients. Boras told the press that the Giants "...NEED Adrian Beltre and they HAVE to have Matt Holliday and they should spend some of that money they're just putting in their pockets." Sabean commented that "...Boras has enough money and he should buy his own team and let's see how smart he is then." Gotta love this.
##speaking of Matt Holliday, Boras has said:
*He's a good fit for the Cubs.
*The Cardinals need him
*The Mets have plenty of money and have to get him

***THE MILTON BRADLEY BOARD GAME***
The Cubs have shopped him to every sports team they can think of including the Harlem Globetrotters. Even offering to absorb his contract hasn't helped.

***BONDS' AGENT SAYS HIS BASEBALL CAREER IS OVER***
Ya' think?

***AND THE LIGHTER SIDE***
Dan Daly of the Washington Times: "Tiger Woods has reportedly redone the prenuptial agreement with wife Elin, to encourage her to stay in the marriage. He must have really sweetened it. Elin is now third on the career money list."
Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post, says the Colorado football coach told him the 3-9 Buffaloes were just 10 plays away from being a bowl team. "In a related story, the Titanic was just 10 ice cubes away from the East Coast."

***OTHER NEWS***
Are the Syracuse Orangemen for real this year? Syracuse is now 9-0 after beating Florida 85-73. That's the third ranked team they've beaten this year and all by double figures. Usually, the Orange build a great record in December by beating a bunch of "tin cans" (teams that are easily knocked over). In fact, their next three games are against St. Francis, St. Bonaventure and Oakland University. The more things change...

Chad Ochocinco was fined $30,000 for donning a poncho and sombrero after catching a TD pass this week. Last week, he was fined only $10,000 for pretending to "bribe" an official during a game. Is there a message here? I guess it's worse to be politcally incorrect than legally incorrect.

We welcome Vod and his charming wife, Laurie, who moved to Victor, NY to get out of the snow (?).

Thursday, December 10, 2009

SAY WHAT??

As you may or may not know, readers may offer comments on these postings. So far, there have only been a couple which we have NOT published since they offered no opinions, for or against.

Yesterday, there was a comment which we have published. I can't say whether it's favorable or not, but I suspect it had to do with Picasner's comment about Hideki Matsui. It's located at the end of the 11/30 posting. If anyone can help with a translation, it will be appreciated.