Hope Springs Eternal

The record may not have shown it, but last year's Reds club was not awful. It just had the worst bullpen in baseball. Fransico Cordero may not be JJ Putz, and I'm no fan of throwing money at closers, but when you are this bad in the pen, something must be done. Check out this piece by Jason Stark and note the stats:

• This is a team that led more games at the end of the fifth inning last year (75) than the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks (among others). You could look it up.
• This is a team that got outscored by 71 runs after the seventh inning last season and by 92 runs after the sixth.
• This is a team that lost eight games it led after seven innings and went a ridiculous 7-17 when it was tied after seven.
• And this is a team that was last in the National League in bullpen ERA (5.13) -- and allowed the highest opponent batting average (.282), on-base percentage (.360) and OPS (.807) of any bullpen in the league.

Arroyo had more quality starts last year (22) than Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt or Josh Beckett -- and still wound up 9-16. Part of that was due to five blown saves.

Sometimes, you just gotta roll the dice. The Cubs won the NL Central with what, 85 wins? The Reds were just a bullpen arm or two from contention. Maybe now they have have it.

Colts retain DE Josh Thomas

Josh Thomas has signed a one year deal to return to the Colts for the 2008 season. This is good news for the Colts. Thomas is a very useful player and can step in and play well in a pinch. He's not close to being a starting-caliber player, but he did make some great plays during the regular season. The position of Defensive End continues to be the big question mark that prevents the Colts from being my prohibitive AFC favorite for next year's Super Bowl. This is a good thing.

At least he gives a rip

With the recent statements by team president and round-ball messiah Larry Bird that not even his job is secure given recent statements by ownership, I think it's appropriate to note that he said he actually would like the chance to return and right the ship. Frankly, this sort of amazes me. Larry Legend could easily spend all his time playing golf and doing memorabilia shows and enjoy his retirement, but instead is buried in the unenviable task of remaking a roster that has utterly imploded both on and off the court. As a fan, I'm almost too exhausted to even care, and I don't have to answer the phone at 2 am every fortnight to deal with another member of the freakshow that has become the Pacers locker room shooting up Naptown. Larry wants to keep his job, and frankly I admire him for it. I don't blame him for the this mess, but I certainly can't see any way out of it. Being stuck in the NBA's lower middle class is basically a death sentence. You don't ever draft high enough to turn the tide, and can't attract any free agents to help you. The only solution is to grab a future Hall of Famer with the 11th pick in the draft.

Good luck finding another one of those at that slot. Oh, and if you do, be prepared to endure the boos from the Indy faithful on draft day. So good on you, Larry, for still wanting to be a part of things. You are a better man than I.

At least we killed the Knicks again. Things could always be worse.

(Oh and by the way...No, I'm not going to get over Reggie being gone, so quit asking. And yes, I will be this way about the Colts in about 8 more years. )

Links:
An Eagles blogger celebrates the arrival of Dan Klecko as a fullback. Obviously, this isn't a huge loss for the Horse, but let's all give him a nice pat on the back farewell for scoring a huge touchdown in the AFC Championship game in 06. Thanks Dan. Best of luck.

IU comes in on the list of greatest tourney comebacks. What a night that was.

Irrelevant but Irritating

This title could describe so very many many things in life (Keith Oberman, The Jacksonville Jaguars, TPS Reports), but in this case it describes the strength of schedule for next year's NFL season. Listen, I know it doesn't really matter because lots of teams look good one year only to suck the next year, so we don't really know if a schedule is tough or not before hand. The Colts play twice against 8-8 Houston, who could easily regress to 5-11. They play 10-6 Cleveland who I can't see winning more than 6 games next year. Still, it sucks to see your team sitting with the 2nd hardest schedule in the NFL based on last year's records (the Steelers have a harder one mostly because they play us and we play them). Ultimately, the entire AFC South is in the top 8, so the disadvantage won't be too great.

So what's irritating about all this...?

The Pats have the NFL's easiest schedule. Their opponents combine for a winning percentage of .387. The Chargers schedule is 2nd easiest.

Lovely.

At least I don't have to get emotinally invested

That's my lone consolation for IU getting stuck down at an 8 seed. It seems like a hose job (considering that other commentators had them at a 5), but hey, when you lose 3 of your last 4 you can't complain.

The loss to Minnesota was one of the most gut wrenching I can ever remember. After DJ White did about 10 legendary things in the last 20 seconds (his block of the lay up will be too soon forgotten), for that team to lose that game just made you feel like it wasn't meant to be. Minnesota's last 4 baskets seemed to be on broken plays and tipped passes. The officials blew at least 4 major calls in the second half (the most egregious was the non-goal tending call on DJ's dunk). The snake has bit these kids so many times, that they must feel like a 12 pack of white mice by now.

So now the Hoosiers have a tough 8-9 game, and if they win the reward is North Carolina in their own sandbox. Great. At least I don't have to bother worrying about IU basketball much past this weekend. I suppose this way, it won't interfere with my fantasy draft coming up.

It seemed there was more odd decisions by the committee than normal this year. The screw job they put to Butler is utter unconscionable. At any rate, I'll be following my yearly tradition of not really filling out a bracket. I occasionally throw one together with zero thought, but I found that I enjoy the tourney more if I don't feel like I have to root for some favorite to be McCrap State just because I picked them to do so. I'd rather watch the last few seconds of a tight game pulling for any and every upset.

Still, I wish DJ White could get more than just one or two more games in Cream and Crimson. He was never greater than he was on Friday night.

Insert Title Here

These days are so devoid of anything useful to discuss, that I really struggled coming up with a title today. I almost called this post "Let's Give them Something to Talk About", but I try to avoid referencing country music without some incredibly compelling reason (like someone put a sawed off shotgun to my head). We've hit one of the subtly dead weeks of the sporting calender. Spring training has lost its novelty, but the fantasy drafts are still a week away. Conference tourney's are one of the worst inventions in college basketball. NFL free agency has reached its dead zone. The NBA. . . oh never mind. So despite a few link here and there that I'll tack onto the end, I'm left just watching tv. Oh, except that sucks since few of the good shows are back from their strike related hiatuses (what's the plural there. . . hiati?). So even though no one cares, I'll share with you all my thoughts on my favorite TV shows because I have literally nothing else to say today. Here's what I use to rot my brain each week:

Lost: I wouldn't say that we've actually watched from the beginning because originally it was on up against Smallville. We did start watching when the re-ran all the episodes after the first 9 weeks or so of season one, so I think that counts as more or less being there from the start. I love so many of the principle elements of Lost (sci-fi and shows with incredibly complex story arcs). I haven't missed a week since we started watching and have long considered it one of my favorite shows. My wife and I recently re-watched all 9 seasons of the X-Files and will someday really enjoy watching Lost in it's totality.

Smallville: Another show that we started watching from the start. It sort of defies all odds. It ought to really suck, and occasionally does, but most of the time it's terrific. Last season was great; this year has been alternately wonderful and awful. I think it's time for the show to wrap up soon (they have been renewed for next year sans Lex Luthor and Lana Lang), but I still really enjoy it most weeks. I could tell you all the reasons why I love it, but let's just say that with its Freak of the Week, Vancouver shooting, and complicated mythology that it filled a void left by the X-files.

How I Met Your Mother: Comes back Monday. I won't lie. I really like this show. I'm tired of constantly wondering when it'll get canceled.

30 Rock/Office: Big deal. Everyone likes these shows.

Scrubs: Remember when this show was consistently hilarious? It's been a while. I hate to see a show that I enjoyed so much end so poorly.

Battlestar Galactica: My sisters put us on to this a few months ago (how nerdy is my family?). Comes back for its fourth and final season in a couple of weeks. Shockingly good show, no matter what Gregg Easterbrook says (ahhh! See how I worked a vague football reference in!).
I also really dig Heroes (there's a shocker) and Pushing Daisies, but they have left us 'till next fall.

It's official, this is the worst post ever. I can't believe I've been reduced to talking about my TV watching habits. You might as well go read the back of a cereal box or something. I'd delete this, but that would somehow make me more pathetic for investing the time and then giving up on it. I'll just endure the abuse.

Now for something sports related:
ESPN covers the Colts offseason...um, couldn't you just post a blank page?

Greg Oden is practicing again. I hope he comes back strong. I hate OSU grads, but I'll pull for anyone from Indy.

Colts.com has an interview with Ryan Lilja. It has a few interesting quotes. You very rarely hear from O-linemen, so it makes for a fresh read.

Demond Sanders: Okay, what this week's bigger "I've jumped the Shark" moment: You admitting you watch Battlestar Galactica or Owen Wilson starring in DrillBit Taylor? Man, that movie looks horrendous.

Seriously though at what point did you look at your current Tivo lineup and say to yourself, this list may be littered with superheroes and magic islands, but it's a little light on, and I quote Wikipedia, "A civilization of humans who live on planets known as the Twelve Colonies and make war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons, with the help of a human named Baltar."

The Worst Basketball Column of the Year

Listen, I always thought Scoop Jackson was an idiot, but recently I heard him on tv, and was sure of it. Now he has published the most bizarre piece of the year in which he claims that Larry Bird has screwed up the Pacers as bad as Isiah has messed up the Knicks, and the only reason no one talks about it is racism.

Listen, I'm not saying that Larry Legend has had a bang-up tenure as team president, but there are some very real differences that Scoop seems to be missing. Larry helped move this team to the brink of a title in 2004. Were it not for some bum legs in the playoffs and a crazy block by Tayshawn Prince, the Pacers might have been dancing that June. Then came the brawl (instigated by Ben Wallace, inflamed by the Pistons fans, turned into a zoo by the utter failure of court security, and scape-goated by David Stern in which Jermaine O'Neal was actually suspended for punching a member of Ben Wallace's posse who was ON THE COURT OF PLAY ATTACKING HIS TEAMMATES). Injuries and more off the court nonsense since then have left the Pacers desperately trying to remake their roster on the fly.
Scoop blames Larry for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy, utterly failing to realize that that trade had ZERO to do with winning and everything to do with trying clean up the aftermath of Stephen Jackson's presence. At one point, he actually cites BILL SIMMONS as his source about the Pacers' cap woes. Seriously, Scoop? This is journalism?

Scoop says that Isiah's sexual harassment verdict is the same as random Pacers getting into scrapes with the law. I'm not sure that I buy that. The point of this isn't even to say that Larry's made all the right moves. Obviously, the team shouldn't have committed to Tinsley and Artest. Clearly signing the utterly insane Stephen Jackson was a mistake (although note how no one bags on Golden State for having him around).

Ultimately, if you ignore the fact that:

• the Pacers are STILL markedly better than the Knicks despite all the problems
  
• and actually have had real success under Larry
• that much of the franchise's trouble can be traced to David Stern throwing the Pacers under the bus instead of burying the Pistons franchise for their role in the ugliness
  
• and Larry didn't ill advisedly hire a coach that ran out with 18 million dollars,
  
• AND the fact that Larry didn't sexually harass another employee, resulting in a multi-million dollar law suit and national humiliation for the owner and franchise
  

then yeah, Scoop, I guess I can see your point. The problem is that those things did happen. It's not racism, man.
People are easier on Larry because 1. it's not nearly as bad a situation and 2. it clearly wasn't all his fault.
People kill Isiah because he's an idiot, not because he's black.

Worst Baseball Article of the Year

Without a doubt, it is virtually impossible to write a piece of crap so ridiculous as what Paul Daughtery crapped out onto his keyboard for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Listen, I'm well aware that there is more to managing a team than just number crunching. I'm also willing to give Dusty Baker time before judging him because he has won 3 MoY awards. But when a columnist writes:
When some of us (OK, me mostly) advocated dealing, say, Votto and Homer Bailey for Oakland pitcher Joe Blanton, the Statboys came out flame-throwing numbers:

and

if you suggested that no number matters but Games Won, you were dismissed as an illiterate.

and

Baker understands this. If Dunn walks 30 fewer times this year, he'll drive in 15 more runs. His on-base percentage will dip. Oh, no.
If Votto takes fewer first-pitch strikes, his run production will improve.
And so on. Here's a stat: Wins as manager: Dusty Baker, 1,162; Bill James, 0

Huh. So Dunn should walk 30 times less for 15 more runs. Of course he'll probably score fewer runs too. And make more outs. Walks are not Adam Dunn's problem. Strikeouts with runners on base are his problem. His utter inability to hit a fly ball with a guy on third are his problem. I've never minded Dunner walking with a guy at third. A WALK IS A GOOD AT BAT. The problem is when he flails wildly at two bad pitches and then takes a 1-2 fastball on the inside corner because he was looking for the curve. Like I said, I'm willing to grant you that there is more to winning than just being a numbers geek (like say, ruining the future of two of your brightest young pitching stars by throwing them until their arms fall off), but the numbers guys aren't wrong. Trading Votto and Bailey for Joe Blanton would have been one of the most unforgivable deals in Reds history. At the deadline in a pennant race if you really thought he'd give you a shot at the Series? Eh, maybe. But not before spring training.

Like I said, I'm willing to pull for Dusty, but now I almost want him to be horrible just show idiots like Daughterty that stats really do matter.

I feel sick, and it's only March.

UPDATE: Here's a similar, angrier version of this post by another blogger at firejoemorgan.com (a site I generally spurn, since I love Joe Morgan as a broadcaster despite my sabermetric leanings). I'm not surprised others are saying the same thing about this piece. IT WAS AWFUL.

Shooting for the Top

ESPN has ranked the all time best shooting guards in NBA history. Our boy Reggie Miller comes in at #7 all time. That sounds about right. It's hard to argue with anyone ahead of him on the list (except maybe Iverson not exactly being a 2 guard, but whatever. He was as much that as anything else). Not that there was any question as to his inclusion, but every other eligible player on the list is in the Hall of Fame.

Who would ever have thought that a guy who once grabbed his crotch on national TV would symbolize all that once was right and good with the Pacers? Come back to us, Reggie. We need you now more than ever.

Indy South

Wow, so Jeff Fischer must really love the ex-Colts. Already a major employer of Indy castoffs (Thornton, Harper, Jabba Simon), the Titans have added yet one more former Colts to the fold by signing Jake Scott. Personally, this move squelches plans for me to get a Colts jersey with Scott on it for my son. Footballwise the move is a non-issue for the Colts. Howard Mudd will invariably turn some 4th round pick from Fartville State and create a serviceable guard out of him. Actually, it probably just means that Charlie Johnson will get a chance to start at his more natural position. It's sort of become hilarious how many ex-Colts the Titans sign, but actually it's a good sign that a solid coaching staff admires the well prepared kind of jetsam the Colts routinely spit out into the free agent tide. Jeff Fisher is my kind of coach, and the Colts make his kind of players. It's great for the NFL to have a real rivalry between Indy and Tennessee. They are the true division rivals for the Colts. Now if they only had a QB...

Meanwhile, the Titans have signed Alge Crumpler proving two things:
1. He loves QBs who can't throw (thanks to CHFF for the heads up)
2. The Titans continue to be smart enough to not blow big money receivers for a QB who can't get them the ball.

Meanwhile, Simons asks what if... I hate to even think about it. The devolution of the Pacers continues to be one of the saddest and most unexpected stories of my adult life. I literally get sick thinking about it.

Demond Sanders: Just in case anyone was wondering, Warrick Dunn isn't going to play for the Colts next year.

Back in the Loop

So I'm back from my little jaunt to South America, and I'm weighed down with a week of random thoughts:

• The Ipod Touch is great, but for some reason, I could comment on blogs but not write new ones. I supposed that saved me the embarrassment of odd misspellings and incoherent posts. Wait...
• The Colts chased and lost out on back up DE Tyler Brayton who went to Carolina for more playing time. This guy was a washout in Oakland, but might have been a solid back up. At any rate, it shows that Polian and company saw what we all saw in the Charger game: no pass rush=loss every time.
• Favre retired. I thought the talk about whether he is the greatest of all time was a little weird. I know he holds several records by virtue of just playing forever, but at no time (even when he was winning MVP awards) did I ever think he was the best QB alive. I was always blinded by Elway, I guess. The last of his records to fall will be the consecutive start record, which #18 should own sometime around 2013 (give or take some playoff games and a possible lockout/strike). I liked Favre as well as anyone, and have always been pro-Packers, but I think this is one star that fades some as time goes by.
• Lost continues to rule on Thursdays. I pity those of you who gave up on it.
• Dan Dakich is not acquitting himself well.
• Eric Gordon goes hot and cold faster than any player I've seen in a long time. He's sort of Chuck Person-esque.
• My fantasy league went to great pains to work out a draft date only to have everything thrown into a tizzy because we forgot about the stupid games being played overseas. Seriously, this has to be the dumbest gimmic of all time. Why do those games have to count in the standings? Would playing exhibition games spread the game any less than playing regular season ones? Sometimes I hate Bud Selig.
• Ok, I hate him all the time.

Tank McNamara is still around?

Apparently so. This is for the Indiana fans who aren't busy hiding under rocks. Click to enlarge.

Randy Moss: Sucker

Randy Moss signed a shockingly small contract with the New England Patriots. He's taking $27 million dollars over three years, with guarantees of $15M.

What?

It took Jerry Porter EIGHT SEASONS to score 30 CAREER touchdowns and he got $10M guaranteed from the Jags.

What?

Randy Moss had 23 touchdowns last year. 23.

Marvin Harrison got $23M guaranteed four years ago. And the salary cap has gone up dramatically since then.

What?

Adalius "bust" Thomas got the same $12M signing bonus last year, with $22M front loaded over the first two years of his deal.

Am I missing something here?

The contract is only 3 years long, so that is in Moss's favor. But realistically this is it for him. He's given up his last best chance to cash in. And frankly it all makes me sick. Remember, we're not talking about Matt Jones here. This is a guy who changes everything for your team (provided your quarterback isn't Andrew Walter). This guy caught 17 TDs his rookie year, giving Randall Cunningham his best year with 34 TDs against 10 picks. This guy made Daunte Culpepper look like an All Pro. This guy took Tom Brady, who had never thrown 30 touchdowns in a season, all the way to 50 touchdowns.

I probably need to let this go. I better go watch the Super Bowl again.

Update: Check out this hilarious piece from John Clayton. I love how Clayton thinks the fact that Moss got more than Jerry Porter was some kind of moral victory for Randy. And he almost got as much as Bernard Berrian! Take that New England! I guess "the professor" has been in the medicine cabinet again. But seriously, you have to admire Bill Belichick asking Moss to play for $7 million per season. He may be a megalomaniacal jerk, but he's a gutsy megalomaniacal jerk.

Randy Moss: Savvy Businessman

Randy Moss is moron. He's in the process of signing a 3 year, $27 million deal with the Patriots. How does this make sense? Keep in mind this will almost definitely be Moss's last chance to sign a big contract. Marvin Harrison was slightly older than Moss when in 2004 he signed his 7 year, $67 million contract. Marvin received $23 million in guaranteed money. So unless this report is false Moss has cheated himself out of a sizeable amount of money. This guy had 98 catches and 23 touchdowns last year and ran his routes like a rookie.

As another point of reference Asante Samuel is getting $20 million guaranteed on his 6 year, $57 million deal with the Eagles. The guaranteed money will be the key to fairly judging the Moss contract, but as it stands now it looks very questionable. I'd be very surprised if another club isn't willing to outdo the Pats by a wide margin. More on this as it develops.

Pay the Man

Randy Moss looks like he might still be a free agent when the weekend is over. I'm not going to go off about how the Pats are done if they don't keep him. I've been wrong about the Pats before. They are the cockroaches of the NFL. They could survive a nuclear blast. I also point to how people have written off the Colts time and again. These teams aren't going anywhere as long as Manning and Brady are still under center. But, as Jason Whitlock suggests, the Pats won't be the same team without Moss. Not even close.

Some people wrote off the Colts last spring because of their major free agency losses. Now it is the Patriots turn to suffer. The Pats have already lost key contributors Donte Stallworth and Asante Samuel. Losing Moss would cap a very poor week for New England. The Colts were able to overcome thier losses because they had capable replacements waiting in the wings. I'm not sure you can so easily replace 23 receiving touchdowns.

Heading back to the 'Tina

I'll be a little out of it for the next week, as I have to make a quick trip back to Argentina, and I'm only bringing my Ipod touch and not my laptop. I'm sure Demond is more than up to the task of keeping you all up to date with the random hilarity of the Jags and others during the fool's gold rush that is the first few days of free agency.

Seriously? Jerry Porter? I'm sure we'll get lots of hilarious articles over the next 5 months trying to convince us that the Jags have passed Indy, and more than a few about their upgraded receiving corps. I'm not buying any of it. The Jags seem primed for a huge regression just based on Garrard alone. I wouldn't bet the house on his ability to post a passer rating over 100 for a second straight year, and their defense showed serious signs of regression. The best thing you can hope for as a football fan is for a team in your division to get seriously active in the free agency period. It rarely ends well for those that do.

Jags sign Porter to big deal

The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed WR Jerry Porter, formally of the Oakland Raiders, to a six year, $30 million contract. Porter will play alongside Troy Williamson who was added through a trade with Minnesota. Neither of these players have had significant production over the past two seasons, but that isn't reason enough to discount their potential impact. When you've been catching balls from Jamarcus Russell and Tarvaris Jackson your numbers are bound to be less than stellar. Still, this makes you wonder if Jacksonville has given up on the much rumored notion of handing Randy Moss a gigantic contract. I think we'd all sleep a lot better if Randy Moss stays the heck away from the AFC South.

In other news, the Patriots defensive backfield got much weaker today. The Eagles have signed Asante Samuel to a six year deal which will no doubt be worth an enormous amount of money. I know the media has been ripping this guy for dropping that "sure pick" late in the Super Bowl, but I think it is a huge mistake to downplay Samuel's impact. He has been excellent the past few seasons. He forced your offense to gameplan around him, which is somewhat unusual in this day and age. Will his loss be a death blow to the Pats D? No, but it isn't going to help any. I like their front 3 very much, but that's about it now that Samuel is gone.

Why I love the Colts

Enough said.

Links: Here's yet another story about how Tony Dungy is set to headline EA Sports' NFL Head Coach '09. I hope they've improved this game because I heard the prior version sucked pretty hard.

The Colts gear up for the start of free agency tomorrow.

Bill Simmons and the citizens of Seattle warn sports fans everywhere that It Could Happen to You. I feel for Seattle greatly. Especially after reading these fan letters. I read Howard Schultz's book about how he turned Starbucks into a global phenomenon. Somehow I don't recall "screw over the entire city of Seattle" being one of his steps to success. Let this be a lesson to you: David Stern won't stop until he's turned every last professional basketball fan into a diehard NFL fan. My own moment came in the 2004 Eastern Conference finals against the Pistons when Stern oversaw some of the worst officiating in the history of athletics. No compound fracture, no foul.

Colts cut Morris and McFarland

The Indianapolis Colts have released LB Rob Morris and DT Booger McFarland. Both players suffered serious knee injuries in 2007 and were released today after failing their physicals.

DZ comments: That's too bad, but not unexpected. I figured Morris was done. I sort of hoped against hope that Booger could come back and be productive, but it wasn't meant to be. Now's a good time to go back and remember all that Morris meant to the Colts. As for Booger, just go back and watch the KC playoff game.

Here's a good piece by Mike Sando full of Bill Polian explaining why it's better to pick late in the first round. Yeah, he really has had an unfair advantage drafting after 30 other teams for most of the decade. Lucky bastard.

Gratuitous, but largely funny.

Holy crap. #17 is the worst and best thing I've ever seen. I remember hearing about this, but I don't think I've ever seen the whole thing.

Dungy and FO

Due to his new gig as coverboy for Head Coach 09 (09! What three year old is numbering these games?), Tony Dungy gets interviewed by Bill Barnwell of the footballoutsiders in IGN. There's not a whole lot of new info here, but it's a nice piece.

Floyd Reese, yes the same Floyd Reese who said the Colts were taking a risk by cutting Corey Simon, calls Bill Polian one of his favorite talent evaluators.

Baseball season can't get here soon enough.

Demond Sanders: Derek Schultz of XL950 covers the coaches in the hunt for the Indiana basketball job. Good stuff.