The American League Gold Glove winners were named yesterday and, as usual, there seems to have been little regard for, you know, fielding. Rob Neyer acknowledges that the awards are a joke:
Shockingly, the voters selected MVP candidates Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira, and Derek Jeter, all of whom were probably solid defensively but might not have been the best fielders in the league (my choices at those positions were Gerald Laird, Kevin Youkilis, and Elvis Andrus). At second base, the voters chose Placido Polanco because he made only two errors all season. Polanco is a pretty good second baseman, but nowhere near as good as Dustin Pedroia, who won the award last year (and, coincidentally enough, was also the American League’s MVP).
In the outfield, the voters had to choose both Torii Hunter and Ichiro Suzuki, because both had won eight straight Gold Gloves and everybody knows that if you’ve won eight you automatically deserve to win nine. Fortunately, the voters were wise enough to make room for an exciting young outfielder who burst upon the scene in 2009 with some of the most brilliant defense we’ve seen in center field since the heyday of Andruw Jones.
I am referring, of course, to the stupendously amazing Franklin Gutierrez, who … Wait, what? They didn’t vote for Franklin Gutierrez, who spent the entire season catching everything in sight and racking up phenomenal numbers?
Anyone who uses Gold Glove Awards as an argument for a player’s defense should be punched in the face. There’s pretty much zero correlation between the winners and actual defensive prowess. To see my point, all you have to do is go back to 1999 when Rafael Palmeiro won the Gold Glove…after playing just 28 games at first base! Amazing, right? If you’re discussing a player’s credentials, a Gold Glove carries about as much weight as the World’s Best Grandpa Award. It’s like arguing that a musician is good because they’ve won a Grammy.
[ESPN]
Well we’re a couple of weeks into the season and it was time to make a trade. I’m just not liking my fantasy team right now. I took Brandon Roy first but after that it’s kind of a nightmare. Taking Marion 3rd and Brand 4th (not to mention Garnett 2nd) is going to prove costly at some point.
Luckily I’ve had some waiver magic with Brendan Haywood but other than that I’m just not sure making the top three is a possibility without dealing.
So given that my three point shooting, scoring and assists numbers completely suck ass right now it was time for a change. My boy Eds came to the rescue by offering me Aaron Brooks (who I think is playing a bit better than he should) for Mehmet Okur. His team was lacking in 3′s and rebounds and had too many turnovers.
So for what we needed, I think the deal makes sense. If Brooks can give me 16 pts, 6 assists and 1.5 three’s a game I’ll be happy. However, the little bastard turns the ball over a ton and for a tiny twerp he barely steals the ball. Not cool.
Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?
Click on the photo for The Best, Most Controversial, and Absurd Music Videos From the Last 30 Years.
Those videos really take me back. Lord knows I was quite the “big pimper” back when that video came out…
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The Press
Ohio State Tells Penn State To “Suck It!” – [Busted Coverage]
Andre Agassi Tells The Truth – [Fanhouse]
Make Fun Of A Mustache – [The Bachelor Guy]
Women Jumps In Front Of Train – [COED Magazine]
How To Eat A Chicken Wing Video – [Gibbs12]
NJ Gov. and the Booger Eater – [Manofest]
10 Coaching Freakouts – [Epic Carnival]
Steelers Beat Denver – [With Leather]
Men Can’t Write Messages – [Don Chavez]
Guy Loves Crack Pipes! – [Uncoached]
In case you didn’t get my Airplane! reference I did the best I could to make it obvious. But can we talk about the Suns right now? Steve “Kelly Leak” Nash put up a whopping 20 assists the other night and Jason Richardson is all world right now.
And let’s not forget (if I mention his name he’ll break his leg) Grant Hill and his 12 boards a game. Since I have him on my fantasy team I’m hoping that his resurgence sticks and his career averages of 18-7-5 can be duplicated this year.
Good God do you realize how good Grant Hill was in his prime before all these injuries? 21-9-7 one year? Are you kidding me? That’s like Lebron before there was a Lebron.
Throw in a healthy Amare, Leandro, and a decent bench and you got yourself a squad. As usual though, I don’t think the defense is gonna hold up come playoff time (assuming they can keep playing this well all season). Still, Phoenix is back to being a fun team.
Meanwhile in Cleveland….
Whoops, that’s not Shaq?
I never thought I’d say I’d much rather have Anderson Varejao on my team than Shaq but it’s the truth. Sorry big fella. No chance you win another championship unless you go back to L.A. and ride the pine and sit in a way lower chair than Phil Jackson
On the heels of an overall crap season, Michigan was expected to rebound and have a good year. Sure, they’d be having a good year by most MAC school standards, but not by Big Ten standards. A 5-5 record at this point can easily be classified as another crap year for Rich Rod and Co. Piling onto the disappointment that is Michigan football, the retiring Athletic Director, Bill Martin, is causing trouble.
Michigan athletic director Bill Martin pushed a student and grabbed the wind breaker of another student during two football games, according to a department of public safety report.
Apparently the incidents were similar, involving Mr. Martin trying to go to a part of the stadium that required a pass. When the students working the game asked for it, he scoffed at their request saying he’s the athletic director as if they should know who he is. Because who CAN’T recognize an athletic director? They’re right up there in visibility with the President and Oprah.
To his credit, albeit very little at this point, Martin apologized, seemingly admitting that he was being a colossal douchebag. Regardless, it probably isn’t the type of attention Michigan wanted at this point in the season where they’re 1-5 within the Big Ten.
A bit of advice for the new Michigan AD: Don’t treat students like crap and schedule more games against Delaware St.-esque teams and you’ll do just fine!
[via SI.com]
Tired of hearing about steroids in baseball? Are you ready to just move on already? Well, good luck with that:
NEW YORK — All 27 active judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals may take the unprecedented step of rehearing the baseball drug list case, which could delay a final resolution until at least 2011 and possibly later.
In a one-sentence order last Wednesday, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski asked lawyers to submit briefs by Nov. 25 addressing whether the case should be heard by the full court. That day is also the deadline for the federal government to ask the Supreme Court to review the long-running dispute, although the Justice Department could request an extension.
At this point, does anybody really give a shit? I’ve been watching baseball under the assumption that anyone and everyone has used a banned substance at some point, and honestly, it doesn’t diminish the game at all for me. I don’t think it’s right, but chalk it up to an ugly era of baseball. At least there’s solace knowing that since just about everyone is a culprit and that the statistics and records from the past decade or so have been normalized. I could not be any less interested in who’s doing steroids. It’s bad, get stricter testing, and let’s move on. Done. Instead, we’re going to have more speculation and distraction until at least 2011. Two more years of self-righteous reporters and feigned indignation!
[ESPN]
And why would he?
The Patriots worked out a pair of running backs last week, but they did not add either to the roster. It seems the Patriots will not be adding any high-profile help in the backfield, either.
Asked during his weekly appearance on WEEI if the Patriots would consider bringing in Larry Johnson, who was released by the Kansas City Chiefs today, Belichick replied simply: “I would doubt it.”
You don’t win three Super Bowls as a head coach if you’re an idiot, and it would take a true idiot to sign ex-Chiefs running back Larry Johnson. It’s not like the Pats haven’t acquired questionable character guys in the past – Randy Moss has been pretty damn good – but I don’t think this has anything to do with the media circus that will surely follow LJ wherever he may end up.
Cheaters like Bill Belichick don’t care about unscrupulous behavior. No, Belichick knows that Larry Johnson sucks, averaging only 2.7 yards per carry this season. That’s abysmally poor. Of running backs who average at least five rushing attempts per game, LJ is better than Glen Coffee. And that’s it. Philip Rivers and Eli Manning have better averages. Even Ron Dayne, who made a career of hitting the line of scrimmage and then falling forward, managed to average 3.8 ypc for his career. Johnson is one of the worst. Picking him up to be your running back would be like picking up Najeh Davenport to launder the team’s jerseys. HIYOOOOO!!!!!!
Unfortunately this is the kind of thing you never want to read when you wake up.
NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revealed in an interview Monday that he is battling a rare form of leukemia.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was diagnosed last December with chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that produces cancerous blood cells.
Abdul-Jabbar, 62, said the disease is manageable with medication and that his prognosis is encouraging
Well at least it looks as though his disease is manageable so that’s a good sign. But anytime you hear of news like this in the NBA, it’s always tough to take. Especially when it’s a guy like Kareem. Clearly etched in stone as one of the games greatest centers of all time, Abdul Jabbar has been an inspiration to other centers and players around the league.
His approach to not only the game, but to life is something we should all strive for. We here at Unathletic hope that Kareem has an easy batter with Cancer and can continue his contributions to the Lakers organization.
Kareem, this video is for you bud
[Via Seattle Post]
