I've been ranting about politics for a while now so I thought that I'd use this time to talk about some other, non-political things.
I'm going to start by sharing an update on the status of my fantasy football team. We stink.
After 7 weeks, I've compiled a wretched 2-5 record and I'm averaging less than 110 points a week, which ain't all that good. A healthy part of the problem has been the status of the players I drafted. In general, I think that my strategy (focus on receivers who have lots of catches and rookie running backs) was sound, but that my execution could use serious improvement.
Anyway, here's the status of the guys I drafted:
Still with the squad:
Round 1: Braylon Edwards, WR, CLE
Round 3: Jason Witten, TE, DAL
Round 4: Wes Welker, WR, NWE
Round 5: Matt Forte, RB, CHI
Round 7: San Diego Defense
Round 8: Jonathan Stewart, RB, CAR
Round 11: Jake Delhomme, QB, CAR
Traded:
Round 2: T.J. Houshmandzadeh, WR, CIN (traded for Amani Toomer and Randy McMichael, both of whom have been subsequently cut. Ironically, Housh has been subsequently traded)
Round 9: Felix Jones, RB, DAL (traded with Jackson and Fasano for Lee Evans and Eli Manning)
Round 10: Vincent Jackson, WR, SDG
Round 13: Anthony Fasano, TE, MIA
Cut:
Round 6: Marc Bulger, QB, STL
Round 12: Davone Bess, WR, MIA
Round 14: Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG
Round 15: Kevin Jones, RB, CHI
Round 16: Phil Dawson, K, CLE
I replaced Dawson with Gostkowski. I replaced Bulger with O'Sullivan and then cut him. I dropped Bess, Bradshaw, and Jones, and have worked through several WRs and RBs, including Steve Smith (from the Giants, not the Panthers), Reggie Brown, Koren Robinson, Duece McAllister, and Ricky Williams.
Now, what have I learned from all of this? Next time, I shouldn't simply go with WRs who rake in passes because situations can change and without proper research, it can blow up in your face. Had I known that the Bengals gutted their offensive line, I might have been able to avoid selecting Houshmanzadeh that high because a WR is only as good as the QB throwing to him and Palmer hasn't had the time in the pocket to make the throws.
Also, when it comes to any player whose job it is to catch the ball, see how often they get the ball thrown to them. Something I heard about a week before my draft was that while TO is Tony Romo's deep connection, his favorite receiver is still Jason Witten. That was all I needed to hear to bump Witten on my board.
What I also learned was that you should really think twice before picking a QB higher than the 8th round. Yeah, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady put up gaudy stats, but when your league gives you 1 point per 25 passing yards and 1 point per 10 receiving yards (plus a point per reception), receivers offer better value in the higher rounds.
And, lastly, never draft a defense/special teams unit before the 12th round. Unless you're going after the Chicago Bears, there isn't any significant difference between the #2 ranked defense and the #12 ranked defense so don't waste the draft pick.
I guess those are things to think about next year.
Another thing on my mind is music. I was digging through a stack of old backup CDs and I came across a CD with a bunch of MP3s on it. On of them, was a track from Tribe of Judah called "Left for Dead" that my buddy Joe hooked me up with. Tribe of Judah is Gary Cherone's post Van Halen project. The track isn't bad at all. Thanks again, Joe!
And of course, we have the Red Sox. The dirt dawgs made a season out of it by not only beating the Angels (who only posted the best record in baseball this year) in the Division round playoffs, but took the Rays to Game 7 of the ALCS after being down 3 games 1 and trailing by 7 runs going into the bottom of the 7th inning of game 5. Kudos to them because I really had moments this year when I doubted their ability to make the playoffs, let alone win a game or a series. They really surprised me and I'm very happy to have enjoyed the season as much as I did.
I'm also looking forward to seeing how things transpire this offseason. The Sox have some very hard decisions to make regarding two guys who've appeared in 5 American League Championship Serieses with the Sox, namely Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek. They need to add depth to their bench as well as a quality right-handed bat to the bench. There's also the starting pitching which is very much in flux right now as well. It's going to be a very interesting November in Red Sox nation.
My last thought before I close this post is this: the most anticipated (at least, most talked about) album of the decade is actually due to be released next month. Yes, Guns N Roses' "Chinese Democracy" actually has a release date, November 25th. I'll wait until I hear something from it before I even consider buying it because the idea of GNR without Slash, Duff, or Matt is almost as bad as Boston without Brad Delp.
Showing posts with label Red Sox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Sox. Show all posts
21 October 2008
25 September 2008
Idle thoughts from the moment
Been a while since I blogged and I thought it was time. Here are some of the things going on at the moment.
- The Red Sox clinched a playoff spot this week. This will be their 5th playoff appearance in the last 6 years. They also become only the second defending World Series Champion in the last 6 years to make the playoffs in the following season. The last one? The 2005 Boston Red Sox.
- Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown announced his retirement today. Brown, an 8th round draft pick by the Pats in 1993, was with the team for 15 seasons and is the franchise's all-time leader in receptions and punt returns. He finishes his career with 3 Super Bowl rings, 2 AFC Championship rings, and a host of memories most players will never have. Brown is proof that being the biggest, strongest, or fastest won't garner as much success in the NFL as being smarter, working harder, and loving it more will.
- Heard part of Jon Keller's segment this morning on WBZ. He blamed the US Government's inability to move beyond party bickering and petty squabbling on the fact that the country is run by the Me Generation, a narcissistic group of sanctimonious half-wits who claim to have uncompromising principles to serve the public interest while they seek to advance their own agendas. Keller's right. The lot of them can go to hell.
- Given the situation in Washington, I'm somewhat happy that my brother's friend did not win the primary. Washington is a hive of liars and unscrupulous human scum. Neither would have been served well by the experience.
- Aidan turns 4 in 18 days. Unbelievable how time flies. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start wondering about homework and first grade.
- Not sure how many of you live in New Hampshire, but if you do and follow NH school sports, check out the NHIAA community at www.mondopulse.com. Sign up and follow your favorite team.
15 August 2008
The 4th quarter
With 122 down and 40 to go, the Red Sox find themselves entering the 4th quarter of the season.
Here's how it shapes up for them. Out of their remaining 40 games, they play 22 at home. Not too bad for a team that's won 73% of its home games this year.
Their opponents over their last 40 games are:
Interesting note about Toronto, the Red Sox will play the Jays on back-to-back weekend serieses twice over the remaining 7 weekends of the year. So, if you're a Sox fan, you'll know all about the Blue Jays come October.
Here's how it shapes up for them. Out of their remaining 40 games, they play 22 at home. Not too bad for a team that's won 73% of its home games this year.
Their opponents over their last 40 games are:
- Toronto Blue Jays, 12 games, 6 at home, 6 in Toronto. Sox are 2-4 against the Jays this year.
- Baltimore Orioles, 6 games, 3 at home, 3 in Baltimore. Sox are 7-5 against the O's this year.
- New York Yankees, 6 games, 3 at home, 3 in New York. Sox are 6-6 against the Yankees this year.
- Texas Rangers, 3 games in Texas. Sox are 7-0 against the Rangers this year.
- Tampa Bay Rays, 6 games, 3 at home, 3 in Tampa. Sox are 6-6 against the Rays this year.
- Cleveland Indians, 4 games at home. Sox are 2-0 against the Indians this year.
Interesting note about Toronto, the Red Sox will play the Jays on back-to-back weekend serieses twice over the remaining 7 weekends of the year. So, if you're a Sox fan, you'll know all about the Blue Jays come October.
29 July 2008
Looks like I was wrong about ole Manny...
Nothing makes you feel more like an asshole than defending one in good faith.
ESPN's Peter Gammons (a.k.a., the closest thing you will ever get to man who writes the gospel of baseball) raised a very interesting point about Manny in his blog entry from yesterday.
Wrote Gammons:
I had not been aware of the fact that Manny had sat them all out and, now that I am, I'm ashamed to have defended him.
Well, it's still only July 29th. There's a chance that the Sox could still work something out with either Philly (for Pat Burrell) or a multi-team deal which would land them Colorado's Matt Holliday. Here's to hoping!
ESPN's Peter Gammons (a.k.a., the closest thing you will ever get to man who writes the gospel of baseball) raised a very interesting point about Manny in his blog entry from yesterday.
Wrote Gammons:
"Everyone in the clubhouse knows the names. Joba Chamberlain (twice), Felix Hernandez (twice), Edinson Volquez, Justin Verlander -- pitchers that Manny Ramirez didn't feel quite right to face"For those of you who were not aware, that list reads like a who's who of MLB's "best pitching talent under age 25".
I had not been aware of the fact that Manny had sat them all out and, now that I am, I'm ashamed to have defended him.
Well, it's still only July 29th. There's a chance that the Sox could still work something out with either Philly (for Pat Burrell) or a multi-team deal which would land them Colorado's Matt Holliday. Here's to hoping!
28 July 2008
It's Manny, move on...
Manny Ramirez is many things. For starters, he's one of the most prolific hitters that baseball has ever seen. He's also got the personality and demeanor of a little kid. All of which is to say that Manny is an engima.
For those of you who didn't know, he's also playing in the last year of an 8-year, $160M contract he signed in the fall of 2000. During that time, he's helped the Red Sox win two World Championships. Their first two in over 80 years I'll add. The Red Sox hold two options which they can use to extend the contract by 1 or 2 years at $20M per season.
At the All-Star break, Manny was asked questions about his contract and said that, after the season, he'd like a chance to sit down and talk with the team's management, face to face, about their plans for him. Given the nature of his comments, it drew a sharp response from the team's management. All I can say is "shame on them for dealing with their player through the media".
Anyway, last week, Manny missed a game in Seattle with a sore knee. When the Red Sox arrived back in Boston, he missed the first game of the team's big series against the rival Yankees citing the same injury. The Boston media had a field day with this, going as far to say that Manny was faking the injury because he was unhappy. Now, Manny may be many things, but he doesn't fake injuries. He just isn't willing to play through them when he's unhappy.
To make matters worse, Manny made some comments that put him back in the media spotlight. For those of you who might have missed it, before Sunday's game, Manny was asked a question by a reporter from ESPNdeportes.com and his response was "If the Red Sox are a better team without Manny Ramirez, they should trade me; I will not object". Note that he didn't say "please trade me" nor did he say "I want out". He said that, if the team felt it were in the best interests of the team to trade him, then do so. He also said that he didn't think that they would trade him. Now, not surprisingly, people are blowing this thing out or proportion too. And the comments are all coming around to Manny claiming that he wants out, which isn't true.
The thing that bothers me is that the only reason this is getting the kind of bandwidth that it is, is because the Sox are struggling. If the Sox were in 1st place by 5 games (which they were a month and a half ago), this wouldn't be an issue. But with the Sox caught up in a three team race with the Yankees and Rays, it is.
Given all these things, I'd like to turn the calendar back a year and point something out. Last year, Manny suffered an oblique injury and missed about 5 weeks. He came back for the last week of the regular season and everyone wondered if he'd be ready for the playoffs. Heh.
Here are Manny's stats for the 14 playoff games from last year:
AB: 46
Plate Appearances: 63
H: 16
BB: 16
Times on Base: 32
K: 9
R: 14
1B: 10
2B: 2
3B: 0
HR: 4
Total Bases: 30
RBI: 16
.AVG: .348
.OBP: .508
.SLG: .652
OPS: 1.160
Put simply, those are monster numbers and show that Manny did everything in his power to help his team win.
But maybe more important than those numbers would be this, after the Red Sox lost game 4 of the ALCS last year, Manny was quoted in the locker room as saying "Hey, what's the worst that can happen? If we lose, we go home. It's not the end of the world or anything." Those words were a lightning rod for criticism as the Boston media jumped on Manny for his "devil may care" attitude. What was lost in the heat of the moment was that his words helped take the scrutiny off of every other person in the Red Sox clubhouse and allowed the team to play with abandon. Which they did, outscoring the Indians 30-5 over the last 3 games.
Given that the Red Sox, as a team, have batted below .250 since the All-Star game, maybe Manny's words will finally light a fire under the ass of a team which has been struggling for the last 6 weeks.
For those of you who didn't know, he's also playing in the last year of an 8-year, $160M contract he signed in the fall of 2000. During that time, he's helped the Red Sox win two World Championships. Their first two in over 80 years I'll add. The Red Sox hold two options which they can use to extend the contract by 1 or 2 years at $20M per season.
At the All-Star break, Manny was asked questions about his contract and said that, after the season, he'd like a chance to sit down and talk with the team's management, face to face, about their plans for him. Given the nature of his comments, it drew a sharp response from the team's management. All I can say is "shame on them for dealing with their player through the media".
Anyway, last week, Manny missed a game in Seattle with a sore knee. When the Red Sox arrived back in Boston, he missed the first game of the team's big series against the rival Yankees citing the same injury. The Boston media had a field day with this, going as far to say that Manny was faking the injury because he was unhappy. Now, Manny may be many things, but he doesn't fake injuries. He just isn't willing to play through them when he's unhappy.
To make matters worse, Manny made some comments that put him back in the media spotlight. For those of you who might have missed it, before Sunday's game, Manny was asked a question by a reporter from ESPNdeportes.com and his response was "If the Red Sox are a better team without Manny Ramirez, they should trade me; I will not object". Note that he didn't say "please trade me" nor did he say "I want out". He said that, if the team felt it were in the best interests of the team to trade him, then do so. He also said that he didn't think that they would trade him. Now, not surprisingly, people are blowing this thing out or proportion too. And the comments are all coming around to Manny claiming that he wants out, which isn't true.
The thing that bothers me is that the only reason this is getting the kind of bandwidth that it is, is because the Sox are struggling. If the Sox were in 1st place by 5 games (which they were a month and a half ago), this wouldn't be an issue. But with the Sox caught up in a three team race with the Yankees and Rays, it is.
Given all these things, I'd like to turn the calendar back a year and point something out. Last year, Manny suffered an oblique injury and missed about 5 weeks. He came back for the last week of the regular season and everyone wondered if he'd be ready for the playoffs. Heh.
Here are Manny's stats for the 14 playoff games from last year:
AB: 46
Plate Appearances: 63
H: 16
BB: 16
Times on Base: 32
K: 9
R: 14
1B: 10
2B: 2
3B: 0
HR: 4
Total Bases: 30
RBI: 16
.AVG: .348
.OBP: .508
.SLG: .652
OPS: 1.160
Put simply, those are monster numbers and show that Manny did everything in his power to help his team win.
But maybe more important than those numbers would be this, after the Red Sox lost game 4 of the ALCS last year, Manny was quoted in the locker room as saying "Hey, what's the worst that can happen? If we lose, we go home. It's not the end of the world or anything." Those words were a lightning rod for criticism as the Boston media jumped on Manny for his "devil may care" attitude. What was lost in the heat of the moment was that his words helped take the scrutiny off of every other person in the Red Sox clubhouse and allowed the team to play with abandon. Which they did, outscoring the Indians 30-5 over the last 3 games.
Given that the Red Sox, as a team, have batted below .250 since the All-Star game, maybe Manny's words will finally light a fire under the ass of a team which has been struggling for the last 6 weeks.
19 July 2008
Not a great start
Memo to Tito Francona:
Point 1: When you're coming out of the All-Star Break, most managers use the opportunity to re-align their pitching rotation in 1-2-3-4-5 order. Can you please explain why you've decided to come out of the gate 5-1-3-2-4 (Buchholz, Beckett, Wakefield, Lester, and Matsuzaka)?
Point 2: Since just about everyone is aware that Jed Lowrie is the shortstop of the future, a reasonable person might expect that you'd want to give him lots of experience against MLB pitchers. Platooning him with Alex Cora isn't, in my opinion, the way to go.
Point 3: Any further discussion about running out of pitchers at the All-Star game that fails to mention your gross mis-management of them is senseless noise. One of the worst legacies Joe Torre left us with was this "everyone plays" mentality in the All-Star game. Sorry, dude, but that was fine when it was an exhibition game, but it isn't any more. Unless the game's been decided already (and a scoreless game in the 4th hardly qualifies), pitchers should be expected to go 2 innings. And it's perfectly fine if some position players don't play.
Point 1: When you're coming out of the All-Star Break, most managers use the opportunity to re-align their pitching rotation in 1-2-3-4-5 order. Can you please explain why you've decided to come out of the gate 5-1-3-2-4 (Buchholz, Beckett, Wakefield, Lester, and Matsuzaka)?
Point 2: Since just about everyone is aware that Jed Lowrie is the shortstop of the future, a reasonable person might expect that you'd want to give him lots of experience against MLB pitchers. Platooning him with Alex Cora isn't, in my opinion, the way to go.
Point 3: Any further discussion about running out of pitchers at the All-Star game that fails to mention your gross mis-management of them is senseless noise. One of the worst legacies Joe Torre left us with was this "everyone plays" mentality in the All-Star game. Sorry, dude, but that was fine when it was an exhibition game, but it isn't any more. Unless the game's been decided already (and a scoreless game in the 4th hardly qualifies), pitchers should be expected to go 2 innings. And it's perfectly fine if some position players don't play.
17 July 2008
Some idle thoughts...
My brother Greg and my buddy Joe asked me about fantasy football this year and, since I've been posting about it recently, I thought I'd offer some more information about the concept. Fantasy football is a misnomer. It's probably better thought of as "rotisserie football" but since the majority of guys who play are under the age of 30, I guess the whole fantasy tag was part of the hook.
Anyway, the basic idea is that you assemble a team of NFL players and you get points based on the stats they produce. Sounds simple enough, right? So, you play in leagues where each week you go head to head against another player in the league. Whichever player's team scores the most points in a given week gets a win for that week. The teams with the most wins at the end of the fantasy football season (which usually occurs about week 12-13 of the NFL season) make the playoffs.
Now, the key about fantasy football is building your roster. This is the part most people struggle with and it's something that Bill Simmons (a.k.a., ESPN's Sports Guy) has discussed in the past.
Quite simply, each league varies and, while the concepts are usually the same, differences in implementations can make a huge difference.
Here's what I mean. Almost universally, leagues award 6 points for a passing, rushing, and receiving TD and 1 point for every 10 rushing yards, and 1 point per 25 passing yards. However, points for receiving yardage vary and some leagues award points per reception while others don't. (The league I'm in awards 1 point per reception and 1 point per 10 yards receiving.) Then there's the issue of defenses. In most leagues, you have a generic defense/special teams unit but there are some leagues where you can pick up individual defensive players too. Defenses score points based on take-aways, sacks, and points allowed.
Back when I made my first foray into fantasy football, I got screwed by a couple of things. The first was that our provider (Yahoo!) awarded kick (both punt and kickoff) return TDs to the individual who scored them, not to the unit as a whole. Since I had Chicago's defense/special teams unit that season (a.k.a., the year Devin Hester returned 5 kicks for scores), I got screwed. To make matters worse, I couldn't even add him to my roster because it wouldn't let us add defensive players. I also made the mistake of picking several Miami Dolphins higher than they should have been selected.
Bottom line, if you're going to play, learn the rules, learn the players' situations, and build your team to maximize your point output. For example, Frank Gore of the 49ers has run for just under 2800 yards over the past two years and, based on our league's scoring, has produced an average of 287.9 points a year. But you need to know the circumstances. In 2006, he produced 333 points (with Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator). Last year, he produced only 242 points. This year, his offensive coordinator is Mike "What do you mean, run the ball?" Martz. Is Gore someone you want to count on for production? I wouldn't.
Other things
Saw JibJab's latest political satire this morning. For those of you who forgot, these are the same guys who did the Bush-Kerry sign-along to "This Land is Your Land" 4 years ago. Anywhoo, this year they've done a number called "Time to do some campaigning" (which I think is done to Richard Thompson's "Time to Ring Some Changes") and manages to mock Bush, Cheney, Obama, McCain, both Clintons, and the whole political process. I love it. Here's the link to watch it:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables/1191/time_for_some_campaignin#/teaser/1191
Now, if we could just get some candidates that were worth electing...
---
The second-half of the baseball season kicks of tonight (although, this year, it's more like the last 40%) and it finds the Red Sox in first place in the AL East. The Sox have a record of 57-40 and look to be in pretty good shape to make another playoff run. Important bits of information to consider for the Sox:
Anyway, the basic idea is that you assemble a team of NFL players and you get points based on the stats they produce. Sounds simple enough, right? So, you play in leagues where each week you go head to head against another player in the league. Whichever player's team scores the most points in a given week gets a win for that week. The teams with the most wins at the end of the fantasy football season (which usually occurs about week 12-13 of the NFL season) make the playoffs.
Now, the key about fantasy football is building your roster. This is the part most people struggle with and it's something that Bill Simmons (a.k.a., ESPN's Sports Guy) has discussed in the past.
Quite simply, each league varies and, while the concepts are usually the same, differences in implementations can make a huge difference.
Here's what I mean. Almost universally, leagues award 6 points for a passing, rushing, and receiving TD and 1 point for every 10 rushing yards, and 1 point per 25 passing yards. However, points for receiving yardage vary and some leagues award points per reception while others don't. (The league I'm in awards 1 point per reception and 1 point per 10 yards receiving.) Then there's the issue of defenses. In most leagues, you have a generic defense/special teams unit but there are some leagues where you can pick up individual defensive players too. Defenses score points based on take-aways, sacks, and points allowed.
Back when I made my first foray into fantasy football, I got screwed by a couple of things. The first was that our provider (Yahoo!) awarded kick (both punt and kickoff) return TDs to the individual who scored them, not to the unit as a whole. Since I had Chicago's defense/special teams unit that season (a.k.a., the year Devin Hester returned 5 kicks for scores), I got screwed. To make matters worse, I couldn't even add him to my roster because it wouldn't let us add defensive players. I also made the mistake of picking several Miami Dolphins higher than they should have been selected.
Bottom line, if you're going to play, learn the rules, learn the players' situations, and build your team to maximize your point output. For example, Frank Gore of the 49ers has run for just under 2800 yards over the past two years and, based on our league's scoring, has produced an average of 287.9 points a year. But you need to know the circumstances. In 2006, he produced 333 points (with Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator). Last year, he produced only 242 points. This year, his offensive coordinator is Mike "What do you mean, run the ball?" Martz. Is Gore someone you want to count on for production? I wouldn't.
Other things
Saw JibJab's latest political satire this morning. For those of you who forgot, these are the same guys who did the Bush-Kerry sign-along to "This Land is Your Land" 4 years ago. Anywhoo, this year they've done a number called "Time to do some campaigning" (which I think is done to Richard Thompson's "Time to Ring Some Changes") and manages to mock Bush, Cheney, Obama, McCain, both Clintons, and the whole political process. I love it. Here's the link to watch it:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables/1191/time_for_some_campaignin#/teaser/1191
Now, if we could just get some candidates that were worth electing...
---
The second-half of the baseball season kicks of tonight (although, this year, it's more like the last 40%) and it finds the Red Sox in first place in the AL East. The Sox have a record of 57-40 and look to be in pretty good shape to make another playoff run. Important bits of information to consider for the Sox:
- they have 65 games remaining (34 at home, 31 on the road);
- their remaining games are against Angels (6), Mariners (3), Yankees (9), A's (3), Royals (3), White Sox (7), Rangers (6), Blue Jays (12), Orioles (6), Rays (6), and Indians (4);
- the pitching has been doing well, but they get their lineup monster, David Ortiz, back at the end of the month and that should help produce more runs.
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