Things that are killing me right now:
Russia invading Georgia
China's opening ceremony gaffes
My PS3
My cell phone
The Yankees
Things that are/will be huge disappointments:
My performance at yesterday's shoot
Sam Adam's Irish Red (WHY????)
Brett Favre on the Jets
The Mets
The Yankees
Things that I have (possibly misplaced) faith in:
USA Basketball in Beijing
My performance at tomorrow's shoot
The 2008 New York Giants
The Yankees
Things it doesn't matter about:
Your pocket full of G's and your garden full of trees
That you just won the Bingo and bought a crib in Rio
That if you ain't sharin', people ain't carin, come up in the hood and they take everything you wearin'
Things I should put more faith in:
USA Basketball in Beijing
My ability to drive to the hoop
Joe Girardi
Things that will turn out better than expected:
Olympic Track and Field events
My performance at the shoot overall
The Yankees
Things that are incredible right now:
Seafood at Cape Cod
One Day as a Lion
Carl on The Sporting News Radio Program
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps' ability to eat not only the competition, but 10,000 calories a day - or a Supersized Wendy's Triple Cheeseburger combo
-Jobimoto out.
"The Rock doesn't care about your Grammys"
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
On the nature of things...
There are beatings, and there are floggings: both are painful, but only one is embarassing. For example, last night Darrel Rasner got beat - nevermind that the Yankees won, had they lost it would have been a flogging.
What team USA is doing to every hapless third sporting world nation it plays qualifies as a flogging - out in public for everyone to see and with absolutely no hope of saving face. Last night the Redeem Team (which is by far the worst moniker I have ever heard) was "challenged" by Russia because they did not make it to triple digits in scoring. They still beat those silly punks by a score of 89-68, which, if you're keeping score at home, is twenty-one (21) points. This is not the Redeem Team, this is the Cream Team. There will be in your face Tomahawk jams from the first play to the final buzzer, and each opponent will mope away from the court morally defeated as hardworking American citizens exiting the voting booth, because in 2008 even if your guy wins, you still lose.
I still maintain that what this country's political system needs is a "no confidence" vote for when all of the candidates are embarrassing, much like how Joe Girardi has issued a "no confidence" vote to many of the other anxious young arms in the Yankees system by continually running Rasner and Ponson out there every five days. Ponson is Lucky - a mediocre pitcher who has had a "renaissance" because he has perhaps the highest run support in the American league. Not so on Friday - that was a heartbreaker. Rasner will almost always be touched for a minimum of six runs, yet he always gets the ball when it's his turn. This is a clear message to Kei Igawa, because you don't need to speak English to read the writing on that wall. But the rumor mill is saying that between Geise and Kennedy, Rasner's days in the rotation are numbered. As they should be, he gets jumpy at the finish line. He gets those first two outs and then he can't make it back to the dugout, as if the prospect of getting out of the inning is so exciting that he forgets to not hang every pitch over the fat part of the plate. Every start with him is Interesting - in the Chinese sense of the word. There is something that the Yankees like about him though, because as far as I can tell he's got only B stuff, but he's lasted longer than any of the other youngins have.
The other Interesting actions of note from around the league involve some supreme Fleecings on the part of the Dodgers and the Yankees. When the smoke cleared the Yankees had all the pieces they were missing (a corner outfielder, a lefty reliever, and an every day catcher) and the Dodgers had one of the best right handed hitters to ever play the game. The aftermath will be interesting though, as the Dodgers were simply a warm body away from gaining ground on the D'Backs, and they Yankees look like playoff contenders on paper again. It is still to be seen how this will translate in the real world. Chemistry is a funny thing, and the team looks completely different from opening day. But they upgraded while Boston and Tampa stood still, which is a sign to both teams. True, Jason Bay is a great player, but he is not Manny Ramirez. I swear I've seen grown men weep knowing that he could end the game with one swing of his bat. He is a monster, and make no mistake, Boston will rue trading him - especially in the stretch run, and especially when they face the Yanks.
Which leads me to my last, and perhaps most enjoyable point: it is a beautiful time to be a Sawx hater. Why, you ask? Because they have become Yankees Fans. Rome is burning and even though the caps on their heads have caught fire they refuse to acknolwedge the Blaze. A good friend of mine tried to tell me the other day that Boston was still the team to beat in the AL, and this was AFTER they had been swept by the Angels - at home. I shouldn't have to spell it out for you, but the Team to Beat doesn't get swept, at home or anywhere, by the team with the best record in the league. The Team to Beat has a killer starting rotation, one of the best closers in the game, and goes out and gets that switching hitting power bat at first base that made the rest of league collectively wet themselves.
The Angels suckered the poor Braves in that deal, but it was the best deal the Braves could get, so they took it. The Angels are clearly making a push for this year and this year alone, because they are a small market team with big dollar dreams. They will lose K-Rod in the offseason, Teixeira will sign with Baltimore, and they will be left with the aging shells of Gary Matthews Jr and Garret Anderson. The Angels are built to win right now with speed in the late innings and pitching that will make your knees buckle, but after another year of aging and free agency, look for them to finish third in the AL West in '09. Baltimore will be the big winner of the free agent pool in the winter. They will make a run at Manny, they will sign Teixeira, and they will still be fourth place team, just with a lot of butts in the seats.
-Jobimoto out.
"This one's a reallllll pigeon"
What team USA is doing to every hapless third sporting world nation it plays qualifies as a flogging - out in public for everyone to see and with absolutely no hope of saving face. Last night the Redeem Team (which is by far the worst moniker I have ever heard) was "challenged" by Russia because they did not make it to triple digits in scoring. They still beat those silly punks by a score of 89-68, which, if you're keeping score at home, is twenty-one (21) points. This is not the Redeem Team, this is the Cream Team. There will be in your face Tomahawk jams from the first play to the final buzzer, and each opponent will mope away from the court morally defeated as hardworking American citizens exiting the voting booth, because in 2008 even if your guy wins, you still lose.
I still maintain that what this country's political system needs is a "no confidence" vote for when all of the candidates are embarrassing, much like how Joe Girardi has issued a "no confidence" vote to many of the other anxious young arms in the Yankees system by continually running Rasner and Ponson out there every five days. Ponson is Lucky - a mediocre pitcher who has had a "renaissance" because he has perhaps the highest run support in the American league. Not so on Friday - that was a heartbreaker. Rasner will almost always be touched for a minimum of six runs, yet he always gets the ball when it's his turn. This is a clear message to Kei Igawa, because you don't need to speak English to read the writing on that wall. But the rumor mill is saying that between Geise and Kennedy, Rasner's days in the rotation are numbered. As they should be, he gets jumpy at the finish line. He gets those first two outs and then he can't make it back to the dugout, as if the prospect of getting out of the inning is so exciting that he forgets to not hang every pitch over the fat part of the plate. Every start with him is Interesting - in the Chinese sense of the word. There is something that the Yankees like about him though, because as far as I can tell he's got only B stuff, but he's lasted longer than any of the other youngins have.
The other Interesting actions of note from around the league involve some supreme Fleecings on the part of the Dodgers and the Yankees. When the smoke cleared the Yankees had all the pieces they were missing (a corner outfielder, a lefty reliever, and an every day catcher) and the Dodgers had one of the best right handed hitters to ever play the game. The aftermath will be interesting though, as the Dodgers were simply a warm body away from gaining ground on the D'Backs, and they Yankees look like playoff contenders on paper again. It is still to be seen how this will translate in the real world. Chemistry is a funny thing, and the team looks completely different from opening day. But they upgraded while Boston and Tampa stood still, which is a sign to both teams. True, Jason Bay is a great player, but he is not Manny Ramirez. I swear I've seen grown men weep knowing that he could end the game with one swing of his bat. He is a monster, and make no mistake, Boston will rue trading him - especially in the stretch run, and especially when they face the Yanks.
Which leads me to my last, and perhaps most enjoyable point: it is a beautiful time to be a Sawx hater. Why, you ask? Because they have become Yankees Fans. Rome is burning and even though the caps on their heads have caught fire they refuse to acknolwedge the Blaze. A good friend of mine tried to tell me the other day that Boston was still the team to beat in the AL, and this was AFTER they had been swept by the Angels - at home. I shouldn't have to spell it out for you, but the Team to Beat doesn't get swept, at home or anywhere, by the team with the best record in the league. The Team to Beat has a killer starting rotation, one of the best closers in the game, and goes out and gets that switching hitting power bat at first base that made the rest of league collectively wet themselves.
The Angels suckered the poor Braves in that deal, but it was the best deal the Braves could get, so they took it. The Angels are clearly making a push for this year and this year alone, because they are a small market team with big dollar dreams. They will lose K-Rod in the offseason, Teixeira will sign with Baltimore, and they will be left with the aging shells of Gary Matthews Jr and Garret Anderson. The Angels are built to win right now with speed in the late innings and pitching that will make your knees buckle, but after another year of aging and free agency, look for them to finish third in the AL West in '09. Baltimore will be the big winner of the free agent pool in the winter. They will make a run at Manny, they will sign Teixeira, and they will still be fourth place team, just with a lot of butts in the seats.
-Jobimoto out.
"This one's a reallllll pigeon"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)