First off, let me get this out of the way: Trevor Hoffman cost the Padres a playoff birth when he blew two saves in the span of three days. He totally blew it. Had he been able to retire Tony Gwynn Jr. on Saturday or one of the Rockies on Monday, the Pads would be playing Game One of the NLDS in Philly today. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
I wasn’t going to weigh in on this because broke up with the 2007 Padres in late August and Monday was the first time I watched them play in six weeks but all those people on the message boards and talk shows vilifying Hoffman and calling for the Padres trade him or buy out his contract are just driving me nuts. I mean, I was at Nicky Rotten’s for lunch today and I heard some doofus say that they should move Hoffman to the setup role because you can’t have a closer who throws in the mid-80s. I mean, did this jerk even see any one of Hoffman’s 524 saves? Did it look like he could close out a game throwing in the mid-80s? Listen, you don’t get rid of a great closer after he blows a save ok? I don’t care how important the game was. Did the Oakland A’s get rid of Dennis Eckersly after he gave up the homerun to Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series? Did the Yankees cut Mariano Rivera after he blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series? To get rid of Hoffman this off-season would not only be a total knee-jerk reaction, it would be completely ludicrous shoot-yourself-in-the-foot move.
People say “Hoffman isn’t a ‘money closer’ like Rivera.” Yeah, but who is? I take a look around the major leagues and I can’t even name half the closers out there right now. Let’s take a roll call of the five best closers outside of Hoffman and let’s see who we have:
Mariano Rivera: REC 3-4 SV 30 ERA 3.15
John Papelbon: REC 1-3 SV 37 ERA 1.85
Billy Wagner: REC 2-2 SV 34 ERA 2.63
Francisco Rodriguez: REC 5-2 SV 40 ERA 2.81
Jose Valverde: REC 1-4 SV 47 ERA 2.66
Rivera struggled at the beginning of the year and even the most ardent Yankee fan will admit their confidence level in Rivera is not as high as it used to be and Paplebon struggled to end the season -- the second straight year he’s struggled in September. After that you have Billy Wagner, K-Rod, and Jose Valverde-- who looks like he’s either going to be a great closer or go kill someone within the next few years.
What’s my point? My point is that there aren’t any great, lights-out, closers out there right now. They’ve either gotten hurt (Eric Gagne), have gotten old (Rivera, Hoffman) or haven’t arrived yet (Paplebon, Valverde, Joel Zumaya). I mean if you look at that list up there, there are two (TWO!!) proven closers in their prime in all of major league baseball. TWO! So to suggest that the Padres get rid of Trevor Hoffman is just plain absurd.
Does Trevor Hoffman have a penchant for blowing big games? Heck yes he does. There was a hint of it in 1998 when he was one save away from the consecutive save record and blew it by giving up a homerun to Moises Alou. Later that year he took the loss in Game Two of the World Series. And of course, he blew the save in last years All-Star Game (even though I wouldn’t really consider the All-Star Game a “big game”).
Obviously games like those -- and there are many more, are indefensible. But think about this: Unlike Mariano Rivera who pitches for the Yankees where every game is life or death, Hoffman wasn’t really battle tested earlier in his career. Rivera, who was a set-up man for John Wetteland on the 1996 World Series team, has been in the postseason every single year of his career but one. Hoffman didn’t make it to the playoffs until 1996 (his fourth year in the league), was there again in 1998 and didn’t make it back until 2005 and 2006. I mean going from pitching in relative obscurity at Qualcom Stadium and PetCo Park to the postseason is a pretty big leap. It would be like grilling for your family and friends one day and then getting thrown into Hell’s Kitchen the next. I mean it’s really not the same right? I’m not making excuses for Hoffman but maybe if the Padres were a little more competitive earlier in his he would be able to handle these pressure situations a little better.
Whatever the case may be, the Padres are a better team with Trevor Hoffman. I mean, outside of Peavy and Hoffman what does this team really got? Hoffman’s one of the few somebodys in a team full of nobodys. Remember in 2003 when Hoffman missed most of the year and we were subjected to the catastrophe known as Brandon Villafuerte? Most Hoffman critics probably won’t because it was the pre-PetCo days and they probably weren’t Padre fans yet, but Villafuerte was billed as a guy who could handle the closers role for a year while Hoffman was out and he totally, completely, and utterly bombed. That guy gave it up so many times he would have put Paris Hilton to shame. Go see Villafuerte working at the local L&L and he’ll probably tell you that closing isn’t easy.
And who are the Padres going to go with if they get rid of Hoffman anyways? As we talked about above there aren’t too many options out there. Think about it this way: In 2008 they’ll have Heath Bell in the 8th, Hoffman in the 9th and Clay Meridith, Doug Brocail, Joe Thatcher and some transient Towers picks up in the Pilipino League and the Pads will still have one of the best bullpens in baseball.
Trevor Hoffman cost the Padres a playoff birth when he blew two saves in the span of three days.
Let’s not make this a bigger thing than it has to be.
Showing posts with label padres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label padres. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Wiping the Puke Off My Chin
You wanna know how I feel today? I feel like puking my guts out, that’s how I feel. Every time that I’ve read anything about the Chargers over the past week and every time I’ll read something about the Chargers this week I feel like reenacting the “Lard Ass” pie eating contest scene in “Stand By Me.” It literally makes me sick to see how bad these guys are playing. Sick to the stomach.
Hold on for a second (raaaaaaaaalllllllppppppppphhhhhh).
OK, I’m back.
It’s like a bad dream every Sunday now. This week we were subjected to four turnovers (three by Phil Rivers) which directly led to 16 KC points and an embarrassing 30-16 loss to the Chiefs. The offense didn’t score a single point in the second half. The defense continued to stink up the joint. And the loss was punctuated by 65,000 or so pissed-off fans chanting “Marty! Marty!”
How embarrassing.
Up to this point, everything everyone who doubted the Chargers have said is true. Norv Turner can't hack it as head coach, Ted Cotrell is less aggressive as defensive coordinator, Rivers has regressed... and so on and so forth...
Look at what Patriot fan and ESPN columnist Bill Simmons wrote about the Chargers this past Friday:
“The 2007 Chargers have clearly given away their ‘Super Bowl contender’ status and become this year's test case for the time-proven phrase, ‘Coaching matters.’ Which reminds me ...
1. A few readers e-mailed me about this: When Norv Turner was coaching the Raiders in 2005, I created a Norv Turner Second-Half Collapse Checklist. Three games into Norv's tenure with the Chargers, we already have six of the nine categories checked.
• Guys arguing on the sidelines? (CHECK)
• Embarrassing losses at home? (NO)
• QB getting sacked and throwing the ball up for grabs? (CHECK)
• Just an ungodly amount of penalties? (NO)
• Steady stream of excuses? (CHECK)
• Players taking veiled shots at the coaching staff? (CHECK)
• General malaise and dissatisfaction within the fan base? (CHECK)
• Local columnists taking shots at him? (CHECK)
• Big coaching name looming in the background as a replacement? (NO)
(Basically, we're a penalty-filled upset loss to the Chiefs, followed by rumors of Bill Cowher taking over the Chargers, from the entire Norv Turner Second-Half Collapse Checklist getting filled before the baseball playoffs start. I think this is amazing.)
2. A longtime reader named Jason created a Norv-related blog called The Coach is Killing Me, named after the story when my buddy Hopper drove Norv from a blackjack table in Vegas back in May '01 because Norv kept staying on 16 against a 10. He's been hired as a head coach not once but TWICE since I retold this story on ESPN.com. As Herm Edwards would say, clearly, more NFL owners need to have the Internet.
3. Everyone keeps blaming Norv (and with reason), but for whatever reason, defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell hasn't been treated with the same level of scorn. Remember what the Guy Who Knows Things said before the season (in my NFL Preview)?
‘[San Diego] is the perfect storm for bad -- Norv as a head coach and Ted Cottrell as the [defensive coordinator]. You cannot get any worse than that. Consider how Laveranues Coles described Belichick and Mangini this week and you'll feel like Bobby Knight felt every time he faced Dale Brown by not picking Norv and the Chargers: 'They have a very smart coaching staff and we have a very smart coaching staff. They basically use us as chess pieces. How they position us to play this game, that's the main thing now. Whoever can make the adjustments the best and the fastest will probably have the edge.' With Norv and Ted, they cannot beat enough of the good chess players. The game is in the details and they leave too many untouched.’
So what happens to this Chargers team the rest of the way? I see them rebounding with a 4-1 run over the next six weeks (KC, Broncos, OAK, bye, HOUS, minny) before the annual second-half Norv collapse kicks off in November (INDY, jags, BALT, kc, tenn) and we can break out the checklist again. We'll have all the checkmarks filled before Week 15. I promise you.”
Well, after yesterday you can check “Embarrassing Loss at Home” off the list. And if / when they lose this Sunday at Denver they’ll be an unimaginable 1-4 to start the season. This season is quickly turning into a complete and total disaster. We’ve gone from rooting for a Super Bowl title in Week 1 to hoping for an AFC Championship rematch after Week 2 to now, just hoping to survive the regular season and somehow sneak into the playoffs.
I’d like to say it doesn’t get any worse than this, but I’d be lying to you. It could get a lot worse. Stay tuned, if you have the stomach for it…
As for the Padres, they failed miserably at salvaging the weekend for me. They had two shots to clinch a wildcard birth and crapped the bed both times. Saturday, Trevor Hoffman blew a save and they lost in extra innings and yesterday they just got blown out of the water. Hopefully the third time will be a charm as they have Jake Peavy going tonight in a one game playoff against the Rockies for the final wild card spot.
I haven’t been this excited about a one game playoff since the Indians and Yankees went at it in the original Major League. Had Bud Black gone with Greg Maddux while a bummed out Peavy got drunk at a bar and then slept with Brian Giles’s insanely insane wife the game tonight would have the similar feel of that game.
Here’s to the Padres making the playoffs!
And unless the chaotic happens (chaotic in this instance would mean Jake Peavy giving up like 25 runs on 53 hits), The Khalil Green All-Stars (the fantasy baseball team run by my Cousin Jimmy and I) will officially clinch our league tonight. Woot!
At least I will have won something this weekend.
Hold on for a second (raaaaaaaaalllllllppppppppphhhhhh).
OK, I’m back.
It’s like a bad dream every Sunday now. This week we were subjected to four turnovers (three by Phil Rivers) which directly led to 16 KC points and an embarrassing 30-16 loss to the Chiefs. The offense didn’t score a single point in the second half. The defense continued to stink up the joint. And the loss was punctuated by 65,000 or so pissed-off fans chanting “Marty! Marty!”
How embarrassing.
Up to this point, everything everyone who doubted the Chargers have said is true. Norv Turner can't hack it as head coach, Ted Cotrell is less aggressive as defensive coordinator, Rivers has regressed... and so on and so forth...
Look at what Patriot fan and ESPN columnist Bill Simmons wrote about the Chargers this past Friday:
“The 2007 Chargers have clearly given away their ‘Super Bowl contender’ status and become this year's test case for the time-proven phrase, ‘Coaching matters.’ Which reminds me ...
1. A few readers e-mailed me about this: When Norv Turner was coaching the Raiders in 2005, I created a Norv Turner Second-Half Collapse Checklist. Three games into Norv's tenure with the Chargers, we already have six of the nine categories checked.
• Guys arguing on the sidelines? (CHECK)
• Embarrassing losses at home? (NO)
• QB getting sacked and throwing the ball up for grabs? (CHECK)
• Just an ungodly amount of penalties? (NO)
• Steady stream of excuses? (CHECK)
• Players taking veiled shots at the coaching staff? (CHECK)
• General malaise and dissatisfaction within the fan base? (CHECK)
• Local columnists taking shots at him? (CHECK)
• Big coaching name looming in the background as a replacement? (NO)
(Basically, we're a penalty-filled upset loss to the Chiefs, followed by rumors of Bill Cowher taking over the Chargers, from the entire Norv Turner Second-Half Collapse Checklist getting filled before the baseball playoffs start. I think this is amazing.)
2. A longtime reader named Jason created a Norv-related blog called The Coach is Killing Me, named after the story when my buddy Hopper drove Norv from a blackjack table in Vegas back in May '01 because Norv kept staying on 16 against a 10. He's been hired as a head coach not once but TWICE since I retold this story on ESPN.com. As Herm Edwards would say, clearly, more NFL owners need to have the Internet.
3. Everyone keeps blaming Norv (and with reason), but for whatever reason, defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell hasn't been treated with the same level of scorn. Remember what the Guy Who Knows Things said before the season (in my NFL Preview)?
‘[San Diego] is the perfect storm for bad -- Norv as a head coach and Ted Cottrell as the [defensive coordinator]. You cannot get any worse than that. Consider how Laveranues Coles described Belichick and Mangini this week and you'll feel like Bobby Knight felt every time he faced Dale Brown by not picking Norv and the Chargers: 'They have a very smart coaching staff and we have a very smart coaching staff. They basically use us as chess pieces. How they position us to play this game, that's the main thing now. Whoever can make the adjustments the best and the fastest will probably have the edge.' With Norv and Ted, they cannot beat enough of the good chess players. The game is in the details and they leave too many untouched.’
So what happens to this Chargers team the rest of the way? I see them rebounding with a 4-1 run over the next six weeks (KC, Broncos, OAK, bye, HOUS, minny) before the annual second-half Norv collapse kicks off in November (INDY, jags, BALT, kc, tenn) and we can break out the checklist again. We'll have all the checkmarks filled before Week 15. I promise you.”
Well, after yesterday you can check “Embarrassing Loss at Home” off the list. And if / when they lose this Sunday at Denver they’ll be an unimaginable 1-4 to start the season. This season is quickly turning into a complete and total disaster. We’ve gone from rooting for a Super Bowl title in Week 1 to hoping for an AFC Championship rematch after Week 2 to now, just hoping to survive the regular season and somehow sneak into the playoffs.
I’d like to say it doesn’t get any worse than this, but I’d be lying to you. It could get a lot worse. Stay tuned, if you have the stomach for it…
As for the Padres, they failed miserably at salvaging the weekend for me. They had two shots to clinch a wildcard birth and crapped the bed both times. Saturday, Trevor Hoffman blew a save and they lost in extra innings and yesterday they just got blown out of the water. Hopefully the third time will be a charm as they have Jake Peavy going tonight in a one game playoff against the Rockies for the final wild card spot.
I haven’t been this excited about a one game playoff since the Indians and Yankees went at it in the original Major League. Had Bud Black gone with Greg Maddux while a bummed out Peavy got drunk at a bar and then slept with Brian Giles’s insanely insane wife the game tonight would have the similar feel of that game.
Here’s to the Padres making the playoffs!
And unless the chaotic happens (chaotic in this instance would mean Jake Peavy giving up like 25 runs on 53 hits), The Khalil Green All-Stars (the fantasy baseball team run by my Cousin Jimmy and I) will officially clinch our league tonight. Woot!
At least I will have won something this weekend.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Are you still spitting out blood? Still feel a little woozy? Is your jaw as sore as mine?
After a summer spent dreaming about a potentially euphoric fall -- the Padres making it to the World Series and the Chargers making a Super Bowl run, San Diego sports fans got woken up by a Chuck Liddell right hook combo to the chin this Sunday. In the morning we saw the Chargers, continuing to look disoriented on both offense and defense, lose to the Packers and drop to 1-2. About an hour later we saw Milton Bradley on first base jawing with umpire Mike Winters and Todd Helton with a smug smile on his face. The situation continued to escalate and a few pitches later the bizarre happened: Bradley exploded and started to charge Winters. And when Bud Black ran out to restrain him, Bradley fell awkwardly, hurt his knee, and had to be helped off the field. Bradley later said that Winters baited him by calling him “a fucking piece of shit” but in the end it didn’t matter. The damage had been done. The Padres eventually lost the game, got swept by the Rockies and pretty much ended any hopes we had of a third straight division title.
The next day, the carnage looked like this:
Milton Bradley: torn ACL, out for the year.
Mike Cameron: torn ligament in right thumb, out for the remainder of the regular season.
Padres (after a 4-9 drubbing Monday night): three games behind the Diamondbacks in the NL West; tied for the Wild Card lead with the Phillies.
Chargers: 1-2 tied for last in the AFC West.
Chargers Offense: ranked 27th in the NFL
Chargers Defense: ranked 22nd in the NFL
LaDanian Tomlinson: Averaging 2.3 yards per carry.
As a shaken and saddened Don Corleone asked after Sonny got shot: “How did it come to this?”
For the Padres, the answer is simple. They spent the summer avoiding their obvious weakness-- that huge LenDale White sized hole in the middle of their lineup, and put all their chips into one basket with a volatile player who couldn’t stay healthy. Hey, I was all for the Bradley trade saying at the time that he was immediately the second best hitter on the team. But maybe Kevin Towers should have hedged his bets a little. I mean, was anyone really surprised that Bradley blew up at the umpire or blew out his knee? Maybe we didn’t expect it to happen all within the span of 45 seconds but was anyone really surprised? Everyone’s heard a variation of the parable about the snake and the old man where the old man nurtures a sick snake back to health, the snake bites him, the old man asks why, and the snake says well you knew all along I was a snake. Well, with Milton Bradley the Padres knew he was volatile. And the Padres knew he was injury prone. It was just a matter of time before they got bitten.
For the Chargers the questions are more complex:
Did the Chargers come into the season too overconfident?
Did the players believe too much of their own hype?
Was last season a fluke?
Are they overrated?
Was this season lost in January when they should have fired Schottenheimer and promoted Wade Phillips?
Is Norv Turner Satan reincarnated?
I don’t know the answers to these questions but I do know that their offensive and defensive lines got pushed around for the second week in a row. I know that their defensive backs missed a ton of tackles. I know that they miss the hell out of Matt Whilhelm. I know that they hardly blitz anymore. I know that Clinton Hart should get benched for Eric Weddle. I know that Shawne Merriman should go see if Ken Caminiti has any Snickers bars stashed somewhere. And I know that their running game -- their bread and butter last year, is absolutely terrible.
And their offense doesn’t skip any downs. I heard Ron Jaworski say this about the Saints last night and I thought it also rung true for the Chargers. Its first down, second down, and third down with these guys every single drive this year whereas last year it was first down: 15 yard run, first down again: 8 yard run, second and two: 5 yard run, first down again: 15-yard pass… Put me on the list of people who thought the Chargers offense would improve under Norv Turner (and maybe it still will) but right now they are hapless. It’s one thing to get pushed around by the Patriots but the Packers? The Chargers faced a dozen defenses better than the Packers last season and ran them over no problem. And the biggest surprise of them all is that LT doesn’t remotely resemble LT that we’ve all come to know and love.
Is there an end to this madness?
Well the baseball regular season is over on Sunday so we’ll find out about the Padres soon enough. But even if they make the playoffs are they going to do anything with an outfield of Scott Hariston, Jason Lane, and Brian Giles? Chris Young is hurt, Maddux got rocked last time out and Peavy really hasn’t proved himself in the playoffs or any big game for that matter. The best case scenario for the Pads is that they go on a 2006 Cardinals-type run which isn’t that far fetched considering they play in a league where last year, the starting pitchers for game seven of its championship game were Jeff Supan and Oliver Perez. I mean, who’s the favorite in the National League right now? The Mets? Cubs? Phillies? Diamondbacks? None of those teams scare me-- even without Milton Bradley. So all the Pads have to do is get into the dance and we’ll see what’s what.
For the Chargers, who would have thought this weekend’s game against the Chiefs would be such a huge game for them. After that they’ll complete the AFC West gauntlet by facing the Broncos in Denver (another suddenly huge game) and the Raiders. If they can get through those games they’ll be 4-2 going into their bye with games against the Texans and Vikings afterwards so they can still come out of this thing looking pretty decent. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The goal this season is the Super Bowl. Doesn’t matter what they do or how they get there.
So there you have it. You never want to take it on the chin like we did this weekend but it’s not over yet. One of the things about being a sports fan is that even when you take it on the chin, you have no choice but to get back up.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Grinding It Out With the Chargers
This past weekend was a pretty solid sports weekend highlighted by the Chargers winning their season opener 14-3 and me drinking so much that I passed out sometime after the game ended as guests slowly filtered out of my house. I don’t know which Sunday performance was worse -- my drinking performance or Britney Spears’ performance at the MTV Music Awards. Rookie mistake not mixing in a glass of water here and there.
The lesson of course is that I’m an idiot.…
Here are some thoughts on the Charger game:
1. The Bears defense clearly limited the Chargers but if you think about it, the Chargers would have scored 24 points had Tommie Harris been called offside (which he definitely was) on the play at the Bears goal line where the Chargers turned it over, and had Nate Keading (who’s slowly entering “Idiot Kicker” status) not gotten a chip shot field goal attempt blocked.
2. The Charger defense looked very solid. Props to Shawn Phillips for smacking Rex Grossman in the first quarter, to rookie Eric Weddle for recording his first NFL sack, and to Marlon McCree for not getting the ball stripped from behind after his interception. Good all-around performance. Had Phil Rivers not thrown a stupid, stupid, interception the defense would have pitched a shutout.
3. Everyone looks at LT’s 25 rushing yards and says the Bears contained him but he also had 51 receiving yards (which makes it 76 total yards if my math is correct), ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. It wasn’t a typical LT performance but a pretty good day by anyone else’s standards and a great day considering the competition and the fact that the Bears were loading up the box with up to 9 guys.
4. Antonio Gates: 9 receptions, 107 yards, 1 touchdown in what was the first of many great games for Gatesy this season.
5. Phil Rivers didn’t look that sharp. In addition to the aforementioned stupid, stupid interception he was a little scattered and didn’t handle the blitz well -- especially when they blitzed up the middle. Granted he was hurt by a few dropped passes, but Rivers needs to be a little sharper-- especially this weekend. Maybe he needs to go back to the clear visor or something.
6. The bottom line is that I was glad to see the Chargers win a game where they had to grind it out a bit. And as everyone was saying afterwards, it was a good thing that they remain composed after the Rivers’ interception, the blocked kick, and when the Harris call didn’t go their way. On a call like that a year ago, Schottenheimer probably gets a 15-yard penalty for going to midfield to argue, followed by the Chargers going into prevent defense, getting two pass interference penalties called on them, and giving up a touchdown pass that gets the Bears back into the game. This year, they collect themselves, force the Bears to punt, got the ball back and that was that.
Like someone on a six-hour drinking binge breaking things up with a glass of water here and there, the Chargers didn’t let things get out of control on Sunday. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from them this year…
Friday night was the only night all weekend where I caught a glimpse of the Padres. This past week they’ve lost series’ to the Diamondbacks and Rockies and are back in second place. Padre apologists will say they haven’t been doing so well offensively because Milton Bradley is hurt but I say it’s Kevin Towers’ fault that their offensive viability in the final month of the season heavily relies on an injury-prone player who’s never played over 120 games in a season.
In any matter the Pads play the Dodgers and Frisco this week. I’ll be playing Madden ’08...
I watched the UFC fight on Saturday and was pretty entertained. My homie Rampage “Chillaxin” Jackson beat Dan Henderson to unify the light heavyweight title although he didn’t knock Henderson out. The highlight didn’t occur until Sunday when my brother pointed out that the deaf guy in one of the under card matches had a speech impediment, which led to me ask how a deaf guy would even know whether or not he even had a speech impediment. UFC is good times.
(I know, I’m really going to enjoy those 500 degree cups of coffee every morning when I’m burning in hell)…
And finally, here are my thoughts on Week 1 of the NFL:
1. I watched most of the Patriot game and I’ll have to admit, they look pretty good. Of course, any team can look good when they steal their opponents’ signals. What a bunch of cheaters.
All I can say is: It’s on this Sunday!
2. My NFC Super Bowl pick didn’t do too hot last weekend as the Eagles lost to Green Bay. My sleeper team (the Bucs), and the teams I had winning the AFC South (the Jags) and NFC West (the Rams) also lost. I’m an idiot! But I guess you already knew that…
3. I watched most of the Bengals-Ravens game last night and I’ll say this, the Bengals defense looks like its improved tenfold since last year. And from watching the Steelers highlights, Pittsburgh’s offense looks greatly improved too. Looks like it may be a two horse race for the AFC North.
4. Vince Young keeps winning games.
5. There are few things more enjoyable than rocking out to the “San Diego Super Chargers” song. That song never fails to get me jacked up, which got me thinking, if I had to compose a list of “Songs that Invariably Get me Jacked Up” it would look like this:
- “San Diego Super Chargers” by unknown black man with a sweet, sweet voice
- “Gin and Juice” by Snoop Doggy Dogg
- “Fever Dog” by Stillwater
- “Traveling Riverside Blues” by Led Zeppelin
- “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors
- “The Ultimate Warrior Theme Song” by Jim Johnson (Johnson actually discussed writing this song in the documentary “Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior”)
And you wonder why I went girlfriend-less in 2006…
I’m also posting on Wordpress now. Just another way to get the word out. Wordpress readers can read older blogs at http://www.lamlogs.blogspot.com/ and if you really want to go old school, go to www.xanga.com/phillam.
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the Week 2 NFL picks blog Thursday evening / Friday morning.
The lesson of course is that I’m an idiot.…
Here are some thoughts on the Charger game:
1. The Bears defense clearly limited the Chargers but if you think about it, the Chargers would have scored 24 points had Tommie Harris been called offside (which he definitely was) on the play at the Bears goal line where the Chargers turned it over, and had Nate Keading (who’s slowly entering “Idiot Kicker” status) not gotten a chip shot field goal attempt blocked.
2. The Charger defense looked very solid. Props to Shawn Phillips for smacking Rex Grossman in the first quarter, to rookie Eric Weddle for recording his first NFL sack, and to Marlon McCree for not getting the ball stripped from behind after his interception. Good all-around performance. Had Phil Rivers not thrown a stupid, stupid, interception the defense would have pitched a shutout.
3. Everyone looks at LT’s 25 rushing yards and says the Bears contained him but he also had 51 receiving yards (which makes it 76 total yards if my math is correct), ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. It wasn’t a typical LT performance but a pretty good day by anyone else’s standards and a great day considering the competition and the fact that the Bears were loading up the box with up to 9 guys.
4. Antonio Gates: 9 receptions, 107 yards, 1 touchdown in what was the first of many great games for Gatesy this season.
5. Phil Rivers didn’t look that sharp. In addition to the aforementioned stupid, stupid interception he was a little scattered and didn’t handle the blitz well -- especially when they blitzed up the middle. Granted he was hurt by a few dropped passes, but Rivers needs to be a little sharper-- especially this weekend. Maybe he needs to go back to the clear visor or something.
6. The bottom line is that I was glad to see the Chargers win a game where they had to grind it out a bit. And as everyone was saying afterwards, it was a good thing that they remain composed after the Rivers’ interception, the blocked kick, and when the Harris call didn’t go their way. On a call like that a year ago, Schottenheimer probably gets a 15-yard penalty for going to midfield to argue, followed by the Chargers going into prevent defense, getting two pass interference penalties called on them, and giving up a touchdown pass that gets the Bears back into the game. This year, they collect themselves, force the Bears to punt, got the ball back and that was that.
Like someone on a six-hour drinking binge breaking things up with a glass of water here and there, the Chargers didn’t let things get out of control on Sunday. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from them this year…
Friday night was the only night all weekend where I caught a glimpse of the Padres. This past week they’ve lost series’ to the Diamondbacks and Rockies and are back in second place. Padre apologists will say they haven’t been doing so well offensively because Milton Bradley is hurt but I say it’s Kevin Towers’ fault that their offensive viability in the final month of the season heavily relies on an injury-prone player who’s never played over 120 games in a season.
In any matter the Pads play the Dodgers and Frisco this week. I’ll be playing Madden ’08...
I watched the UFC fight on Saturday and was pretty entertained. My homie Rampage “Chillaxin” Jackson beat Dan Henderson to unify the light heavyweight title although he didn’t knock Henderson out. The highlight didn’t occur until Sunday when my brother pointed out that the deaf guy in one of the under card matches had a speech impediment, which led to me ask how a deaf guy would even know whether or not he even had a speech impediment. UFC is good times.
(I know, I’m really going to enjoy those 500 degree cups of coffee every morning when I’m burning in hell)…
And finally, here are my thoughts on Week 1 of the NFL:
1. I watched most of the Patriot game and I’ll have to admit, they look pretty good. Of course, any team can look good when they steal their opponents’ signals. What a bunch of cheaters.
All I can say is: It’s on this Sunday!
2. My NFC Super Bowl pick didn’t do too hot last weekend as the Eagles lost to Green Bay. My sleeper team (the Bucs), and the teams I had winning the AFC South (the Jags) and NFC West (the Rams) also lost. I’m an idiot! But I guess you already knew that…
3. I watched most of the Bengals-Ravens game last night and I’ll say this, the Bengals defense looks like its improved tenfold since last year. And from watching the Steelers highlights, Pittsburgh’s offense looks greatly improved too. Looks like it may be a two horse race for the AFC North.
4. Vince Young keeps winning games.
5. There are few things more enjoyable than rocking out to the “San Diego Super Chargers” song. That song never fails to get me jacked up, which got me thinking, if I had to compose a list of “Songs that Invariably Get me Jacked Up” it would look like this:
- “San Diego Super Chargers” by unknown black man with a sweet, sweet voice
- “Gin and Juice” by Snoop Doggy Dogg
- “Fever Dog” by Stillwater
- “Traveling Riverside Blues” by Led Zeppelin
- “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors
- “The Ultimate Warrior Theme Song” by Jim Johnson (Johnson actually discussed writing this song in the documentary “Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior”)
And you wonder why I went girlfriend-less in 2006…
I’m also posting on Wordpress now. Just another way to get the word out. Wordpress readers can read older blogs at http://www.lamlogs.blogspot.com/ and if you really want to go old school, go to www.xanga.com/phillam.
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the Week 2 NFL picks blog Thursday evening / Friday morning.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Whoa-o, Mexico
Hola LamLoggers! Due to the Labor Day weekend I only blogged once last week. I’ll make it up to you guys this week with a blog today, a football preview blog tomorrow, and another blog on Thursday night / Friday.
God only knows how I can do this for you and still maintain a full-time job…
A lot of people have been asking me if I’ve gotten back with the Padres after breaking up with them a couple of weeks ago. Over the past two weeks the Padres have gone 10-4, are back in first place, and are averaging an astonishing (for them at least) 6 runs per game! This is like breaking up with your girlfriend because she's a fat slob, then watching her drop 25 pounds, dye her hair blonde and get breast implants. But to answer your question, no I haven’t gotten back with the Padres. They’ve done this crap every single year for the past three years! They start off OK, slump, and then squeak into the playoffs where their crappy lineup that’s filled with 6th and 7th hitters are exposed worse than Michael Vick. This happens every freaking single year. So no, I haven’t been watching the Padres and yes, I’m perfectly fine with my decision…
I was in Irvine on Thursday so I only watched a few minutes of the last Charger preseason game. By all accounts, the Chargers are ready for the season and gosh darn it, so am I. I’ve heard a little bitching here and there about the team and let me tell you something: People who complain about how the Chargers look in the preseason are the same ones who get offended from LT’s Nike commercial. Look, there are more important things to concern yourselves over than how Stephen Cooper looks in the preseason. And if I were the Bears, I’d be less concerned about LT’s Nike commercial and more concerned about the 5 interceptions that Rex Grossman is about to throw this Sunday.
It’s worth mentioning here that while in Irvine I stayed at the Embassy Suites which has something spectacular called “The Manager’s Hour” or something to that effect and it’s basically an open bar for all their guests from 5:30-7:30. So there I was Thursday night polishing off two bowls of nachos (which were also on the house), one regular sized 7 and 7 and three more double sized 7 and 7s. Man, what a treat.
(After that I went over to McCormick and Schmick’s and had an average dinner that could be described as: “An overpriced plate of blandness that wasn’t remotely gratifying.” But I guess anyone who knows anything about chain restaurants could have told me that.)
Thumbs up Embassy Suites, thumbs down McCormick and Schmick’s…
ESPN screwed up its fantasy baseball league at the beginning of the season so they gave everyone a free fantasy football team. My league’s draft was this Friday and I had the sixth pick. Here’s who I got:
Round 1: Reggie Bush
Round 2: Travis Henry
Round 3: Thomas Jones
Round 4: Antonio Gates
Round 5: Plaxico Burress
Round 6: Matt Hasslebeck
Round 7: Brandon Jacobs
Round 8: LaMont Jordan
Round 9: Joey Galloway
Round 10: Mike Bell
Round 11: Chris Chambers
Round 12: Michael Turner
Round 13: Broncos D
Round 14: Craig Davis
Round 15: LP Losman
Round 16: Jason Hanson
Sixth was a little high to pick Bush but it will be good cheering for the Regginator again and I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team. In fact “I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team” could be used as the reason why I drafted Antonio Gates and Plaxico Burress as well. I should just rename my team “Guys I’ve always wanted on my fantasy team.”
In the end, I really didn’t care. I just want to win the Bada Bing! this year. That’s the league that counts…
I was down in Mexico on Saturday so I didn’t watch most of the first weekend of college football. Two things that I would have like to have seen:
1. Appalachian State upsetting 5th ranked Michigan -- the first time a Division I-AA school beat a ranked opponent.
2. Notre Dame looking atrocious. I’ll just let the K’ster (an ND alum) take it from here:
“The ND game was awful. They didn’t even look good and basically gave me no hope for the rest of the season. The defense is still slow and the O-line is pathetic. Charlie should just instill a shotgun offense for the rest of the season. We are screwed. After the game I went home and sulked and wondered why every team could find the endzone except for ND.”
Well then… we’ll check back with her next week to see how she enjoyed Week 1 of the Jimmy Clausen era.
In case you’re wondering, Mexico was pretty fun. Here are some quick thoughts:
1. The first bar we were at we had two beers, two shots of tequila and a margarita and the tab came up to a whopping $27! Man, if I wanted to get overcharged for drinks I’d just go downtown.
2. The lobster in Puerto Nuevo was pretty good but I still prefer lobsters with claws… or as most call them, Maine lobsters.
3. I bought a couple of Cuban cigars, a toy bow and arrow set, and some firecrackers down there. I smoked the cigar after I ate some lobsters and lit some firecrackers on the beach in Rosarito. Good times!
4. Rosarito was like an episode of Girls Gone Wild. Girls were dressed like porn stars and there were drunken kids everywhere. I saw a girl passed out on the street and it was only around 8:00 in the evening! Am I getting old or what? Seeing drunken 19 year olds is fun when you’re 19, but somewhat disturbing when you’re 29…
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the football preview blog to be posted Wednesday night / Thursday.
God only knows how I can do this for you and still maintain a full-time job…
A lot of people have been asking me if I’ve gotten back with the Padres after breaking up with them a couple of weeks ago. Over the past two weeks the Padres have gone 10-4, are back in first place, and are averaging an astonishing (for them at least) 6 runs per game! This is like breaking up with your girlfriend because she's a fat slob, then watching her drop 25 pounds, dye her hair blonde and get breast implants. But to answer your question, no I haven’t gotten back with the Padres. They’ve done this crap every single year for the past three years! They start off OK, slump, and then squeak into the playoffs where their crappy lineup that’s filled with 6th and 7th hitters are exposed worse than Michael Vick. This happens every freaking single year. So no, I haven’t been watching the Padres and yes, I’m perfectly fine with my decision…
I was in Irvine on Thursday so I only watched a few minutes of the last Charger preseason game. By all accounts, the Chargers are ready for the season and gosh darn it, so am I. I’ve heard a little bitching here and there about the team and let me tell you something: People who complain about how the Chargers look in the preseason are the same ones who get offended from LT’s Nike commercial. Look, there are more important things to concern yourselves over than how Stephen Cooper looks in the preseason. And if I were the Bears, I’d be less concerned about LT’s Nike commercial and more concerned about the 5 interceptions that Rex Grossman is about to throw this Sunday.
It’s worth mentioning here that while in Irvine I stayed at the Embassy Suites which has something spectacular called “The Manager’s Hour” or something to that effect and it’s basically an open bar for all their guests from 5:30-7:30. So there I was Thursday night polishing off two bowls of nachos (which were also on the house), one regular sized 7 and 7 and three more double sized 7 and 7s. Man, what a treat.
(After that I went over to McCormick and Schmick’s and had an average dinner that could be described as: “An overpriced plate of blandness that wasn’t remotely gratifying.” But I guess anyone who knows anything about chain restaurants could have told me that.)
Thumbs up Embassy Suites, thumbs down McCormick and Schmick’s…
ESPN screwed up its fantasy baseball league at the beginning of the season so they gave everyone a free fantasy football team. My league’s draft was this Friday and I had the sixth pick. Here’s who I got:
Round 1: Reggie Bush
Round 2: Travis Henry
Round 3: Thomas Jones
Round 4: Antonio Gates
Round 5: Plaxico Burress
Round 6: Matt Hasslebeck
Round 7: Brandon Jacobs
Round 8: LaMont Jordan
Round 9: Joey Galloway
Round 10: Mike Bell
Round 11: Chris Chambers
Round 12: Michael Turner
Round 13: Broncos D
Round 14: Craig Davis
Round 15: LP Losman
Round 16: Jason Hanson
Sixth was a little high to pick Bush but it will be good cheering for the Regginator again and I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team. In fact “I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team” could be used as the reason why I drafted Antonio Gates and Plaxico Burress as well. I should just rename my team “Guys I’ve always wanted on my fantasy team.”
In the end, I really didn’t care. I just want to win the Bada Bing! this year. That’s the league that counts…
I was down in Mexico on Saturday so I didn’t watch most of the first weekend of college football. Two things that I would have like to have seen:
1. Appalachian State upsetting 5th ranked Michigan -- the first time a Division I-AA school beat a ranked opponent.
2. Notre Dame looking atrocious. I’ll just let the K’ster (an ND alum) take it from here:
“The ND game was awful. They didn’t even look good and basically gave me no hope for the rest of the season. The defense is still slow and the O-line is pathetic. Charlie should just instill a shotgun offense for the rest of the season. We are screwed. After the game I went home and sulked and wondered why every team could find the endzone except for ND.”
Well then… we’ll check back with her next week to see how she enjoyed Week 1 of the Jimmy Clausen era.
In case you’re wondering, Mexico was pretty fun. Here are some quick thoughts:
1. The first bar we were at we had two beers, two shots of tequila and a margarita and the tab came up to a whopping $27! Man, if I wanted to get overcharged for drinks I’d just go downtown.
2. The lobster in Puerto Nuevo was pretty good but I still prefer lobsters with claws… or as most call them, Maine lobsters.
3. I bought a couple of Cuban cigars, a toy bow and arrow set, and some firecrackers down there. I smoked the cigar after I ate some lobsters and lit some firecrackers on the beach in Rosarito. Good times!
4. Rosarito was like an episode of Girls Gone Wild. Girls were dressed like porn stars and there were drunken kids everywhere. I saw a girl passed out on the street and it was only around 8:00 in the evening! Am I getting old or what? Seeing drunken 19 year olds is fun when you’re 19, but somewhat disturbing when you’re 29…
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the football preview blog to be posted Wednesday night / Thursday.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Breaking up with the Padres
I’m not the only one calling the Padres out on their crap. Check out what their best player, Jake Peavy had to say about the organization last weekend to the U-T (the day after Carlos Zambrano, a pitcher Peavy compares favorably to, signed a $90 million deal with the Cubs):
“I'm not optimistic about staying here as much as I'd like to remain a Padre. I hope it's not the case, but I think it's inevitable that I'll wind up somewhere else. I am not looking to break the bank. I'm not saying I want a huge payday. I'm going to ask for what's fair. And although I hope it happens here, I just don't see the Padres spending that much on a player. And if they're not thinking in that direction, they might decide to trade me before it comes to the point of free agency.
“It's not in my hands, as much as I wish it was. And when you look at (Padres CEO) Sandy (Alderson's) stance on long-term contracts, well, he's not been keen on them.”
“All I've heard from friends today are questions about Zambrano. Obviously with the Padres' track record, they're not going there, nor would I expect them to.”
“I'm more concerned about the team making a conscious effort to win a world championship. At times, I don't know if they've gone out on a limb to make it happen. I believe the big philosophy is right. But the first question I'd ask is, 'Can you give me your word that we're going to make an effort to win the World Series?'
“Honestly, they've done a phenomenal job with what they've spent. But we're being asked at a $58 million payroll to compete against the Dodgers and Giants . . . and we're doing it. But if we had made a little bit more of a financial commitment to winning, I think we could have already won a World Series.”
When you’re in the middle of a pennant race and your best player questions your desire to win a championship, I think that pretty much qualifies as a slap in the face.
For the record, I’m pretty much done with the Padres. They don’t care about winning the World Series (Alderson has admitted as much multiple times on the radio by saying their goal is to win the division) and I don’t care to invest my time and money into following a team whose goal isn’t to win a championship. Isn’t that the whole purpose of following a sports team? Fans invest hours watching their team, even more hours reading about them in the paper and trolling through the internet, listening to sports talk radio. We spend tons of time analyzing each game, each player and every transaction in hopes of the ultimate payoff: That eventually, the team that we’ve lived and died with wins a championship. I mean isn’t this the reason most of us know more about Trevor Hoffman than we do some of our own family members?
The Padres, unfortunately, feel that signing a bunch or retreads and halfheartedly competing year in and year out is enough for their fans. For some fans it may be enough, but it’s not enough for me and I’m done with the Padres.
To be honest with you I haven’t watched more than a couple minutes of a Padre game for over three weeks now and I feel perfectly fine. I check the paper to see how they did the night before but that’s it. The way I see it, I get home from work around 5:30 every night and go to bed around 11:00. That gives me about 5 hours of free time each night. I’m sure as hell not going to spend half that time watching a team full of marginal, untalented, boring players struggle each night to score two runs on five hits. Or as my sister The K’ster puts it: “It’s like bad news every day.”
So there you have it. Until they make this team exciting again, I’m done following the Padres. I’m done going to games. I’m done watching them on TV. If they somehow happen to sneak into the playoffs I may sit through a couple of games, but the days of following them day-in and day-out are over. As Peavy implied, the Padres don’t have a financial commitment to winning. They have a commitment to putting people in the stands and a commitment to making money. The Padres will do nothing but the absolute minimum as long as fans keep showing up and supporting their marginal product. Like a kid halfheartedly cleaning his room to placate his parents, the Padres will continue to acquire the Jose Cruz’s and Marcus Giles’ out there as long fans keep showing up to PetCo.
I on the other hand am done. And reading message boards and postings out there I know I’m not the only one that’s reached a tipping point with this organization. We gave them a new stadium. We made John Moores, who was already a multimillionaire, a multi-multi-multimillionaire. Couldn’t we have still signed Vinny Castilla and Doug Mirabelli playing at Qualcom?
In most relationships it’s give and take. For the Padres, it’s take and take some more. You can only be in a bad relationship and blame the other person for so long. Eventually, it’s your fault that you’re still with the person. Well, I’m at that point with the Padres. I’m not caring about a team that doesn’t care about me.
“I'm not optimistic about staying here as much as I'd like to remain a Padre. I hope it's not the case, but I think it's inevitable that I'll wind up somewhere else. I am not looking to break the bank. I'm not saying I want a huge payday. I'm going to ask for what's fair. And although I hope it happens here, I just don't see the Padres spending that much on a player. And if they're not thinking in that direction, they might decide to trade me before it comes to the point of free agency.
“It's not in my hands, as much as I wish it was. And when you look at (Padres CEO) Sandy (Alderson's) stance on long-term contracts, well, he's not been keen on them.”
“All I've heard from friends today are questions about Zambrano. Obviously with the Padres' track record, they're not going there, nor would I expect them to.”
“I'm more concerned about the team making a conscious effort to win a world championship. At times, I don't know if they've gone out on a limb to make it happen. I believe the big philosophy is right. But the first question I'd ask is, 'Can you give me your word that we're going to make an effort to win the World Series?'
“Honestly, they've done a phenomenal job with what they've spent. But we're being asked at a $58 million payroll to compete against the Dodgers and Giants . . . and we're doing it. But if we had made a little bit more of a financial commitment to winning, I think we could have already won a World Series.”
When you’re in the middle of a pennant race and your best player questions your desire to win a championship, I think that pretty much qualifies as a slap in the face.
For the record, I’m pretty much done with the Padres. They don’t care about winning the World Series (Alderson has admitted as much multiple times on the radio by saying their goal is to win the division) and I don’t care to invest my time and money into following a team whose goal isn’t to win a championship. Isn’t that the whole purpose of following a sports team? Fans invest hours watching their team, even more hours reading about them in the paper and trolling through the internet, listening to sports talk radio. We spend tons of time analyzing each game, each player and every transaction in hopes of the ultimate payoff: That eventually, the team that we’ve lived and died with wins a championship. I mean isn’t this the reason most of us know more about Trevor Hoffman than we do some of our own family members?
The Padres, unfortunately, feel that signing a bunch or retreads and halfheartedly competing year in and year out is enough for their fans. For some fans it may be enough, but it’s not enough for me and I’m done with the Padres.
To be honest with you I haven’t watched more than a couple minutes of a Padre game for over three weeks now and I feel perfectly fine. I check the paper to see how they did the night before but that’s it. The way I see it, I get home from work around 5:30 every night and go to bed around 11:00. That gives me about 5 hours of free time each night. I’m sure as hell not going to spend half that time watching a team full of marginal, untalented, boring players struggle each night to score two runs on five hits. Or as my sister The K’ster puts it: “It’s like bad news every day.”
So there you have it. Until they make this team exciting again, I’m done following the Padres. I’m done going to games. I’m done watching them on TV. If they somehow happen to sneak into the playoffs I may sit through a couple of games, but the days of following them day-in and day-out are over. As Peavy implied, the Padres don’t have a financial commitment to winning. They have a commitment to putting people in the stands and a commitment to making money. The Padres will do nothing but the absolute minimum as long as fans keep showing up and supporting their marginal product. Like a kid halfheartedly cleaning his room to placate his parents, the Padres will continue to acquire the Jose Cruz’s and Marcus Giles’ out there as long fans keep showing up to PetCo.
I on the other hand am done. And reading message boards and postings out there I know I’m not the only one that’s reached a tipping point with this organization. We gave them a new stadium. We made John Moores, who was already a multimillionaire, a multi-multi-multimillionaire. Couldn’t we have still signed Vinny Castilla and Doug Mirabelli playing at Qualcom?
In most relationships it’s give and take. For the Padres, it’s take and take some more. You can only be in a bad relationship and blame the other person for so long. Eventually, it’s your fault that you’re still with the person. Well, I’m at that point with the Padres. I’m not caring about a team that doesn’t care about me.
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