April 2007
NFL Draft musings
Let me tell you that I usually like the NBA Draft more than the NFL Draft. It’s not that I like the NBA because if you read my stuff enough, you know that I do not. I just know college basketball more than college football and I usually know at least something about each player drafted (Note to Mel Kiper: You should have gone with basketball rather than football. There is big difference between knowing 60 players and knowing 300 players). But I have to admit that Saturday was a ton of fun. I have never watched that much of the draft, but it was worth it. I will admit though, that if Brady Quinn had gone in the Top 10, I would have turned it off by 2 p.m. Which brings me to my first point…
Never have I changed my mind about a player so fast than I did Saturday with Quinn. Oh, I still don’t think he will be a Pro Bowl quarterback, but my opinion about the guy is sky high right now.
If you listened to any of our radio shows last week, I was totally against this kid. He never showed me anything at Notre Dame and I really didn’t think he should be a Top 10 pick. A TOP 10 PICK. No. 22? I still thought he was top 15, and certainly top 20. By pick No. 15 the fact Quinn hadn’t been picked went from being annoying like Matt Leinert last year to being extremely exciting. My buddies and I made a pool about where he would end up and one guy actually got it right by saying Cleveland would trade up.
Where did I predict he would go? No. 31 to the Chicago Bears. That’s right. The guy I wanted to see agonize as team after team passed on him was suddenly my draft target and a guy I wanted competing against Rex Grossman. If you think about it, it’s not that hypocritical. I didn’t think Quinn was a top 10 quarterback, but he would have been a steal at No. 31. Plus, he will still probably be better than Grossman.
There was so much excitement adding up as Quinn kept slipping, that I started thinking ESPN should have brought in Gus Johnson to do play-by-play. I can only imagine his reaction when the Browns’ trade came in.
"Oh my, we have a trade. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, OHHHHH. The Browns take Brady Quinn. HA, HA! You’re watching ESPN. This is April madness!!"
If that doesn’t make sense to you then you haven’t seen this YouTube clip.
The award for funniest moment in the draft came when the Packers picked Justin Harrell at No. 16. The clip ESPN showed of the little kids booing back in Green Bay was classic.
Congratulations to Joe Thomas who deserved to go in the top 3. I had him going to Cleveland in that spot and I’m actually happy that Cleveland got back in the game for Brady Quinn, because Thomas needs to be blocking for a least a decent quarterback or his talent is being wasted.
It’s too bad John Stocco wasn’t drafted because he could put up a good fight in any training camp. The Bears stole Chris Leak by signing him to a free agent contract Sunday night, but I would have loved to see Stocco beat out Kyle Orton for the No. 3 QB job in Chicago.
Other Badgers: Roderick Rodgers found a home in Denver. He deserves to be on someone’s roster. And my prayers go out to the New York Jets who wasted money on former UW linebacker Mark Zalewski.
Finally, I hate to switch sports but I have to give props to my Baby Bulls for sweeping the Heat. I had them winning in seven, but most people didn’t give them a chance. I think they have a great chance to beat the Pistons. My early pick is Bulls in seven.
Singleton has to go, maybe Farmer too
I’m sick of this and it’s time for White Sox fans to take a stand. Our radio crew is the worst in the business.
We used to be right at the top. John Rooney and Ed Farmer were like peanut butter and jelly. In 2005, USA Today ranked them only behind Vin Scully as the best broadcasting team in baseball.
Today, I wouldn’t rank them ahead our own WSUM crew that broadcasts the UW softball games.
Last year I was all over Chris Singleton. He had no passion and never painted a 
picture of what was going on. I’ve been to 1000 baseball games in my life and he some how makes me forget where left field is.
Singleton is a little bit better this year, but that isn’t saying much. The bigger issue I have this season is that Farmer is now as boring as Singleton. I don’t know if Singleton ****** the life out of Farmer or if Farmer is just not suited for play-by-play, but the radio team is somehow worse this season than it was last year.
The bad news for Sox fans is that these guys aren’t good enough to get a bigger offer somewhere else. The good news is that this radio team is still only in its second year and the Sox have a chance to change it.
If you are wondering why this bugs me so much, it’s because in April and September I am stuck in Madison, Wisconsin with only the radio to listen to. Right now, I’m at the point where I just want to watch the online scoreboard and Brewers game (although Brian Anderson, the new Brewers play-by-play guy, isn’t very good either).
As fans, we want to be at every game. There, the emotion comes from the crowd. At home, we can cheer but we need a third party to help feed our emotions — that third party is the broadcasting team. Ken Harrelson might be annoying to non-White Sox fans, but for us, his stupid sayings and constant yells keep us going at home.
Let me tell you what I heard last night and you tell me if it is supposed to make me excited:
It’s the bottom of the eighth, Royals have runners at second and third with two 
outs in a 7-7 game.
Ed Farmer: "Called strike three …(3 second pause)… and the Sox get out of it. We go to the ninth still tied."
Excuse me? That was the most important pitch of the game — and knowing Boone Logan, I doubt anyone thought he would get a called third strike to end the Royals threat. If Farmer was at all excited I would have been happy to throw an exclamation point in that quote, but believe me, there is no need to. Try to read the quote again, but this time read in the most boring and slow way possible. That is how Farmer sounded — and I’m done listening to him to do play-by-play.
Look, the Sox and The Score aren’t going to change their radio team mid-season, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t change it in the offseason if Sox fans do enough complaining.
Remember how great Rooney’s World Series call was when they won Game Four? I could only imaging Farmer’s:
"Grounder to short (no mention that it went over Jenks because that would be too much detail) … (three second pause while Farmer watches the play) … ‘Yes!!’ (I put that in single quotes because that is Singleton yelling) … The White Sox have won the World Series."
Now, Farmer did a great job of keeping his composure and immediately backing up Rooney with analysis when the Sox won it in 2005, but I just can’t see him doing play-by-play in such a situation. And I certainly can’t see Singleton backing Farmer up with good analysis.
The Sox never made a move when Darrin Jackson struggled early in his broadcasting career with the White Sox. Over the years, D.J. has improved into a decent analyst, but terrible play-by-play guy. Now, it’s too late to make a change.
I just hope the Sox don’t make the same mistake with the radio team.
Mugs of Singleton and Farmer courtesy Whitesox.com
Yes, the Royals will decide the Central
As the White Sox begin a two-game set with the Royals in Kansas City, I present my theory on why KC will determine who the AL Central champ is:
We all know about the 60/60 rule in baseball. Every team will win 60 games and every team will lose 60 games. What matters is what you do in the other 42. In a unique year where four teams in the Central will be vying for two playoff spots, I immediately put each of those teams’ 19 games against the Royals in the 42 that determine your fate.
At 6-12, the Royals are (as expected) already out of this thing. But as the Tigers, Twins, Indians and White Sox all beat up on each other, they will still have their 19 games against the Royals — and they are all must-wins.
Now, none of the the four horsemen will go 19-0 against Kansas City, but it is conceivable that the AL Central Champion will have a 15-4 record against the Royals and the team that finishes in fourth place with have a 9-10 record against KC.
With that said, the White Sox will have to rebound from a tough-loss yesterday (unfortunately one that was in their hands and gets put in the 42 games that can go either way) and take both of these games in Kansas City.
There are no excuses. I don’t care if its April. Go 2-0.
Happy and sad thoughts: A no-no and Virginia Tech
Last night I went from being extremely frustrated to being extremely excited in just five minutes. As the Bulls game was coming to a bitter end, ESPN’s Bottomline said that the Buerhle had a no-hitter through 7.1 innings. I immediately got the radio going and sat there with my roommates as we listened to one of the greatest things that can happen in baseball.
Congratulations to Mark who deserved it. In the end, last night might make it harder on the White Sox to keep Buerhle, but it has been so long since he has had something come so easy for him.
Meanwhile, the Bulls absolutely blew it last night. Without complaining about it, however, I am excited to see another Heat-Bulls series. This has become a pretty good rivalry over the past two seasons and Hinrich and Nocioni have already stirred the pot by saying that they would welcome a series against Miami. Apparently the Heat weren’t too happy about those comments.
Unfortunately, Game One is during the Badgers’ spring game Saturday, but it should be a good series. The Heat tried to give the Bulls the series last year but we didn’t take it. I see the Bulls winning this year in 7 games … that is of course, unless James Posey takes out the entire team.
The other news of the week is that I am finally 21. Monday was my birthday and it was a fun night. The last guy in our house turns 21 on Saturday so by the time this week is over it could be one of the best ever. I’ll consider the no-no last night as my birthday present from Mark Buerhle.
I hate to end this post on a depressing note, but with my birthday on Monday, I never got the opportunity to write about the Virginia Tech shootings.
I send my thoughts and prayers out to every one involved. This tragedy has affected a lot of people directly and millions indirectly. Being on a college campus myself on Monday, it was really errie. It has made a lot of people scared to go to class which is sad. I was certainly thinking about it a lot yesterday when I was in class in a small room with no windows in a hallway that has a lot of similar classrooms.
We are all thinking about Virginia Tech and will continue to send out our prayers.
The Virginia Tech Alumni Association has asked everyone to wear maroon and orange tomorrow Friday, April 20. I will be proud to do so and I urge everyone out there to do the same.
Rivalry between teams and roommates
There are certain series/games across sports that I can’t wait for every year. Some of them are big rivalries between teams (North Carolina-Duke or Bears-Packers). But others come as a result of living in a house with seven other guys whose favorite teams include the Packers, Cowboys, Panthers, Indians, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Duke and Ohio State.
Now some of these favorite teams are shared my multiple people (it is Wisconsin so the Packers and Brewers are popular) but some are also random and relatively fair-weathered (Panthers, Cubs, Duke).
Still, the fans in my house of the Dallas Cowboys, Braves and Ohio State are die-hards even though all three guys are from Wisconsin.
The point here is that when you factor in my favorite teams (and other than the Badgers I am on an island all alone in my house), the White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Badgers, the result is an endless combination of possible rivalry games within our casa.
Today, Friday the 13th, another one of those in-house rivalries begins as the White Sox travel to Cleveland (yes, they played each other last week but I was in Florida and my Indian-loving roommate was in Northern Wisconsin so other than a text message sent to me after Grady Sizemore led the season off with a home run, there wasn’t much of rivalry atmosphere around the series).
Unfortunately because of DirecTV’s attempt to get exclusive rights of the MLB package, our free preview on Charter Cable does not work because they are still negotiating the deal. (Just a side note here: I hate Charter almost as much as I hate Ohio State and the Indians. Okay, maybe just half as much, but that is still a lot of hatred if you know my feelings about the Buckeyes. Go ahead, test me. Do the O-H-I-O around me and watch me freak out. It’s actually pretty good entertainment). So because of Charter’s terrible service, we will be limited to Saturday’s game on WGN and the radio tonight and Sunday.
All of this, of course, is only relevant if these games actually get played. Right now it is sunny in Cleveland, but have the Indians gotten there yet? I saw the snow they brought up here to Wisconsin this week so who knows what will happen with the weather once they get home.
(Obviously I’m still bitter that they didn’t move the series to Milwaukee.)
The best rivalry games in our house are the crazy Bears-Packers games that always get out of hand, but I’m excited for next season when both the Bears and the Packers take on the Cowboys.
And I can only imagine what summers would be like if the Brewers were still in the AL Central. (And I’m amazed that Major League Baseball has not scheduled that interleague series because it would rekindle a great rivalry).
For now I can get my punches in with 19 games played every year with the Indians. It’s fun, crazy and what being a fan is all about — that is of course, if the White Sox win.
Live: White Sox at A’s
With the Sox on WGN tonight it allows me to do my first live running blog of the season from Madison, Wis.
10:04 p.m. CST– I really have never heard of this guy pitching for Oakland and quite frankly I can’t remember his name without keeping MLB’s Gameday open on my computer screen. Gaudin’s pitching well though and looks better than Garland who can’t keep his pitches down. Garland’s off speed pitch looks good though, but Gaudin’s breaking ball that is running outside is not only unhittable but it is also leaving hitters looking at fastballs right down the middle (i.e. Joe Crede to end the fourth inning).
10:10 – Flipping back and forth to the Brewers game in between innings and they just tied it 2-2 in the ninth on a J.J. Hardy ground-rule double. They would have taken the lead but Josh Willingham made a nice play on a Johnny Estrada line drive to end the inning.
I still love the fact that Joe Borchard and Miquel Olivo start for the Marlins.
10:16 – Apparently the Indians are bringing the snow to Wisconsin too. I heard earlier that a foot of snow is expected here in Madison so I assume it will snow in Milwaukee too.
I’m still hoping an unexpected snow storm hits Cleveland this weekend and they move the Sox series to Miller Park as well. I would be in Miller heaven.
10:19 — Way to run out that ground ball Pierzynski. You’re doing every thing you can to keep that average below .200.
10:32 — Did anyone else find Darrin Jackson’s obsession with Jason Kendall’s cleats back in the third inning a little creepy?
10:35 — Rain delay in Miami. Now the roommates can stop glaring at me for having the White Sox game on instead of the Brewer game.
10:38 — By the way, the MLB offices just annouced that Juan Uribe’s swing in the top of the fifth was officially the worst swing ever witnessed in the history of Major League Baseball.
Of course he somehow got an RBI on the next swing (which wasn’t much better, BUT HE DID KEEP HIS HEAD ON THE BALL). I swear every time I complain about his swing he does something good.
10:41 — The sinker is back. Those two grounders back to the pitcher were all on Garland. Way to pitch out of a leadoff triple.
10:42 — Is the WGN voice (you know the guy who does the "This game is brought to by …") not the greatest voice of all time?
It goes:
- WGN Voice
- Don LaFontaine, The Movie Trailer Voice (guy in this Geico commercial)
- God
10:59 — Well Cintron certainly just showed A.J. up by running out that fly ball and ending up on third base as Ellis dropped it. That was another example of the broadcasting jinx as Jackson talked about earlier in the game about how Mark Ellis only had two errors all last season.
Sunday in the Brewers game new play-by-play guy Brian Anderson jinxed Capuano’s perfect game by mentioning it in the third inning. The third inning?!? First off, it’s not even a perfect game in the third inning and second it was pretty funny because whoever was batting put the ball in the outfield within 2 seconds of Anderson finishing his sentence.
11:05 – BREAKING NEWS: Uribe just swung and missed at a high fastball.
11:08 — Officially my second freak out of the year as Podsednik was clearly not out of the batter’s box when that ball hit him … and the roommates are glaring at me again.
11:15 — Okay, I think D.J. just tried to attempt to tell us why Hawk isn’t in the booth tonight but I still have no idea why. Can someone in Chicago fill me in?
11:30 — Holy smokes, the Ford Drive of the Game was actually announced in the ninth inning. What happened to all the plays of the game that announce like each inning?
11:35 — This is bad.
11:42 — Stupid ex-Cub factor. Jack McDowell: "Throw a little high." Yeah Jack, a little high. Pods almost air-mailed the net behind home plate.
My roommate as Bradley scores: "Milton Bradley just pulled right muscles in his leg."
11:48 — Well at least Podsednik did his best Jose Canseco impression as he blew the game tonight. We are sitting here debating whether or not the ball hit the wall before it hit Pods’ head and the vote is 3-1 that it did. Either way it was a pretty funny way to go out tonight.
Tough loss though. I hate the City of Oakland.
… In the meantime, the radar looks bad so please snow in Cleveland this weekend.
First week wrap-up
I spent Opening Day in Florida and laughed when I saw how cold it was back in Chicago. Wednesday my parents were at Comiskey and I was on the beach. It was probably the only time in my life that I was happy that I wasn’t at a Sox game.
That laugh disappeared quickly on Saturday, however, when I was sitting in the outfield freezing and the family was now in Florida. I felt a little silly because I was sitting there all tan but also all bundled up — a walking oxymoron. Well, at least a ***** because when I packed for spring break, I packed for Florida, not for baseball games played in January weather.
Dank you very much
I went to both games against the Twins over the weekend and I have to say that the thing I am most pleased about is … wait for it … duh, the pitching. Yes, the same thing I have been so negative about. How many times did I say during the Indians series: "Told you so."
But Saturday and Sunday Javier Vazquez and John Danks were awesome.
In fact, I propose that Bud Selig passes something that allows us to put an asterisk by Danks’ record for the rest of the season. It would look like this: Danks (0-1*)
*- Danks’ loss in his Major League debut was a quality start against Johan Santana. In fact, the Twins should be embarrassed that they only won 3-1 and the White Sox had a chance to tie the game in the ninth inning. If the Sox are tied with any team at the end of the season, they automatically get the tiebreaker because in a way, they didn’t really lose to the Twins on Easter Sunday.
Don’t get me wrong here. I’m don’t really believe in moral victories. I’m saying that this should be a separate column in the standings and a one time exception. But I’m also a realist. If we can’t get an asterisk next to the stats of Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, then I don’t think we can get one for John Danks.
A new Chicago Rowand?
Is anyone else getting the feeling that Darrin Erstad is going to be absolutely beloved by the City of Chicago by May?
I sat through two games (one of which he went 0-4) and I love the guy already.
Saturday he gets two hits and lays down a great bunt that would have been a hit if Punto didn’t make a great play (but he got Pods over on the play). Then Sunday he laid down another great bunt that should have been a hit, but Santana made a great play.
He’s solid in center, very fundamental, pretty good base runner, very nice guy … sound familiar? Now, Rowand is probably a better center fielder, but he could never be a successful No. 2 hitter. The only time Rowand got on my nerves was when he tried to bunt. Erstad can bunt.
First Hoge blowup
If you have ever seen me at a game (whether baseball, football or basketball) you know that sometimes I lose it and just start yelling at a player or coach.
My first blowup of the season came Sunday when Uribe swung and missed at three straight pitches from Santana. It wasn’t that he struck out, rather it was the fact that after each swing Uribe’s head was directly pointed at me sitting behind the third base dugout instead of pointed at the plate where the ball was.
I yelled at him, "Try looking at the ball next time!"
The next time up, Uribe hit a home run for the Sox’s only run of the game.
Sunday night TV
Sunday night television is back with Sunday Night Baseball, The Sopranos and Entourage all making their season premieres last night. And of course, you have Kenny Mayne on SportsCenter to close the evening. Seriously, Mayne’s return to SportsCenter the last few Sundays has filled the void of Letterman and Conan on that night.
Give me a better night of television than one that includes Tony Soprano, Johnny Drama, Vinny Chase, Ari Gold and Kenny Mayne.
mlblogssoxpride
Recent Comments