You'll Have to Forgive My Friend, He's a Bit Slow...

Oden for Big 10 POY? Come on Chopp. Greg Oden is an excellent defensive player but is at times nothing but a liability on the offensive end (see the last Wisconsin game, for example). They already have an award for game-changing defensive players who can also score a little bit - the defensive player of the year. Tucker absolutely carried an experienced, but not terribly talented, group of players to a 13-3 record in the league and a top-5 rating for much of the year. Every defense is designed to stop Tucker, yet he still scored nearly 20 a game in the conference season. Oden was a key cog on a very talented, young Buckeyes team - not a conference player of the year.

After Further Review...

...Greg Oden should have been Big-11 player of the year. ‘Do Tucker is a fine player, Oden was better. Sure, Alando averaged about 4 more ppgs, and had a slight edge in steals. Oden, meanwhile, averaged more rebounds and blocks, shot a better percentage from both the field and at the free throw line (with his opposite hand, mind you). Of course stats shouldn’t determine a individual award. Well then, Big Greg was defensive player of the year…and it probably wasn’t even close. How many shots did he alter? Some guys (Tucker included) dribbled into the lane and backed out just looking for him. If the stats are similar, what separates Tucker from Oden…especially if Oden was the Defensive Player of the Year, and played on the team that won the Big-11 title by two games? Was Alando more “valuable?” Probably. But this isn’t the “Most Valuable Player” award; it’s the Player of the Year. It should have gone to Oden…even if he’s 32 years old. Here’s guessing that if they were both Freshmen, the voting would have been different.

What Month is it?

I'ts March Baby!! Best Song Ever

D. James Named First Team All-Big East

Huh? Doesn't a league with approximately 27 teams have 5 better players than Dominic James? He's a PG who shoots a lot and doesn't do it very well (from the field, from 3 point - 28%(!), from the FT line, really from anywhere). Other than that he's a terrific player. He did play really well against Pitt, but then again he missed about 1/2 the game...

Whatever. Congratulations Mr. James. I guess.

Fitting Right In

Trying to fit in with the rest of the Brewers' injury-plagued infield, Ryan Braun was withheld from the last two spring training games with an injured elbow.

"He said his elbow is sore, so he's not playing until he says it's OK," said manager Ned Yost, who indicated that Braun might miss several more games.

Welcome to the club, Mr. Braun. Maybe that plan of playing Braun for every inning of spring training wasn't such a great idea.

On a happier note, this means that the great Mike Hunt will have to wait a few more days before slobbering all over himself with another love letter to Braun.

Green's Gone

The Packers let Ahman Green walk - allowing him to sign with Houston for $23 million over 4 years. I'm OK with this development. Although I of course appreciate all that Green did for the Packers over the past 6 or 7 seasons, the truth is he's 30 and has a lot of wear on those tires. Crawling into Ted Thompson's shoes, here are some of the reasons why I bet Ted let Ahman go:

1. The Packers run that Broncos running system now. Ted figures if Denver can throw any Joe (or Clinton, Mike, Tatum, or Mike) into the backfield and get 1,000 yards, why can't Green Bay?

2. Like every other Packers fan, he's glad that he doesn't have to listen to announcers talk about how much Ahman's sweating problems affect his ability to hold on to the ball any more.

3. Saves money on rubber elbow sleeves.

4. Apparently, Mike Sherman was heavily involved in convincing Houston to sign Green. Therefore, Thompson figured that signing Green to that contract was a bad personnel move.

Hart has wheels

Jerry Crasnick ESPN article about Ben Sheets and the Brewers. Link

Ryan Braun Watch

Games: 2
Errors: 2
Homers: 3

Ray Allen Trade Revisited

Thought I would revisit the Bucks 2003 Ray Allen trade. Here is the chain of trades involving Ray Ray and the subsequent players the Bucks got for him:

Bucks get Gary Payton, Desmond Mason for
Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, Ronald Murray, 2003 conditional first round pick (#14-Luke Ridnour)

Bucks get Jamaal Magloire for
Desmond Mason, 2006 first round pick (#15-Cedric Simmons), cash

Bucks get Steve Blake, Brian Skinner, Ha Seung-Jin for
Jamaal Magloire

Bucks get Earl Boykins, Julius Hodge, $700K for
Steve Blake

So, after the smoke cleared, the Bucks got:

28 games of uninspired ball from Gary Payton, Earl Boykins, Brian Skinner, and 700k.

In Exchange for:

Ray Allen, Luke Ridnour, Flip Murry, Kevin Ollie, Cedric Simmons and Cash

What’s the exchange rate on that? .27 cents on the dollar? Keep up the good work Larry Harris!

It's Fun to Bash the Cubs, Especially While Remaining Anonymous

Fun little quote out of Jason Stark's latest rumblings & grumblings column talking about MLB free agency:

"To me," one GM says, "if you're heading into free agency, you should either go after the absolute elite players or the filler players. The key is, stay out of the Ted Lilly-, Jason Marquis-type contracts, because those are the ones that kill you."

I'm sure this unnamed GM wasn't taking an intentional swipe at Cubs GM Jim Hendry (who signed both Lilly and Marquis). Yeah, right. Regardless, I think Mr. Unnamed GM would say that the Cubs signed all three types of players last off-season - elite (Soriano), fillers (DeRosa) and "killers" (Lilly, Marquis).

Mini Horse Enemy Cut by Steelers

Miniature horses everywhere rejoice! Joey Porter was released by the Steelers today in a salary cap purge. Does this give Joey more time to make sure his dogs don't get free to terrorize these majestic animals? Alas, probably not - he'll have a new job soon.


Mini horse is pleased with Porter's release

Spring Training Opens with a Bang

That's about what we expected from Ryan Braun in his first action of the spring, right? In the Brewers' 14-8 victory over the A's, Braun went 4-5 with 2 HRs, 7 RBIs and 1 error. Nice start, youngster - now please go out and win that third base job. I'm not real excited about the potential of a Graffy/Craiggers platoon at third.

Chopp will be pleased to know that his boy C. Vargas spun 1 2/3 terrible innings - 5 earned. Brutal.

Medic?

"Can somebody pass the Tylenol?"

In honor of Brian Butch's robo arm this weekend (I wonder if he can throw a gyroball with that thing), here are some of the best/worst sports injuries. Sorry Doug, couldn't find your Tim Krumrie leg flap.

Clint Malarchuck gets his jugular sliced. As mentioned by NHL Rich in a previous post.

Napolean McCallum: A classic MNF injury.

Joe Theisman: Another MNF great....makes it even better that I hate Theisman.

Shaun Livingston: Happened this weekend. Not good.

Franco Colombu: This is just awesome....a personal favorite of Straubs! We had this on tape in the dorms and showed it to everyone who walked through the door. The ladies were not a big fan.

UPDATE: Looks like someone on CNNSI beat me to the punch. Link. I'm deathly afraid to watch #4...just can't bring myself to do it.

Puck Me!

I can honestly say that I'm glad that I didn't attend a recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition party.

Hmmm...I think I'll take a water chestnut wrapped in bacon, a little mini quiche, and some Hepatitis A. Nothing like a touch of jaundice and severe abdominal pain to round out the evening. Not good times. At least any swimsuit models in attendance don't have to worry about being exposed - I'm sure they didn't eat anything.

You're Only Cheating Yourself, Gary

Suprise! Gary Matthews has been connected to steroids. You mean, a guy just can't go from a being a nomadic slap hitter (playing for 6 teams in 5 years) to become a five tool (or at least four tool) $50 million man just through hard work these days?

Apparently not.

Chris Leak is not smart

Congrats to Florida QB Chris Leak for winning this year’s “Vince Young Award.” This goes to the NFL hopeful who posts the lowest Wonderlic score. Who can forget Young’s alleged 6 on last years test. Well, Leak beat that by two, posting a friggin snowman! This is all rumored, of course.

Dickie V...oops

This is pretty amusing. Dickie Vitale was scheduled to be on a Knoxville radio station to preview Tuesday’s Tennessee-Florida game. Vital, who called on his cell phone, had a bad connection and apparently didn’t know he was on the air when he repeated a "confidential" conversation with Florida coach Billy Donovan.

The Hosts tried to get Vitale’s attention but all they herd was the conversation he was having with people at a restaurant in Florida. Unknowingly on the air, Vitale then made his “confidential conversation” with Donovan not so confidential. Donovan told him that NBA scouts were making a big mistake if they rated Florida’s Joakim Noah ahead of teammate Al Horford.

Dickie V, Part I

Shortly thereafter, Vital got wind of his blunder. He called the radio show again where the backpedaling machine was in high gear. Good job V.

Dickie V, Part II

Brewer Breakdown - Center Field

On to center field where Billy Hall figures to be patrolling Miller Park for a very long time after last year’s Gross/Nix/Gwynn/Clark mess.
2006 stats: .270, 35 HRs, 85 ribbies, 8 SB.

Before I start, I wanted to answer the question of “why not just move Hall to 3B? We have a plethora of outfielders already and Graffy/Craiggers at 3B isn’t very good.” Here’s what I’ve gathered:

-Ryan Braun is on the fast track to 3B. Moving Hall to 3B and then moving him to CF when Braun is ready would result in learning two new positions in 2 years.
-Melvin likes to put highly productive guys in traditionally weak positions (SS, 2B, CF). It’s harder to find a big bat to play center than it is 3B or a corner OF spot. How many CF's can bat cleanup?
-Putting Hall at 3B would again result in a daily Gross/Clark/Gwynn/Nix mess in CF. That’s probably worse than having Graffy/Craiggers at the hot corner every day.
-He might be too athletic for 3B…if that’s possible. Use his talents as much as possible, I say.

The Good: Hall is a huge part the Brewers future. His work-ethic, unselfishness (Jenks/Mench, you hear that?), and talent is top-notch…top-notch! If needed, he could probably play any position except catcher. His 35 dingers would have been a club record for centerfielders, giving the Crew some serious punch in a traditionally punchless position. Remember the days of slappys Devo White, Alex Sanchez or James Mouton in CF? Those days are over...for a long time. A guy with this much ability shouldn’t have too much trouble transitioning defensively to center….he played a pretty good SS last year, a very demanding position. Also, who would you rather have at bat with the game on the line…especially with Cirillo gone? Billy is money in pressure situations.

The Bad: Hall strikes out a ton (162, 3rd in the NL). Despite his talent and good wheels, Billy had a tough time stealing bases in 2006 as he was gunned out (9) more often than he was successful (8). His defense could initially struggle as he gets his feet wet.

2007 Prediction: .283, 34 dingers, 106 Ribbies

Grade: B+/A-. Billy isn’t quite in the CF pantheon with Carlos Beltran, Vern Wells, Andruw Jones, or Al Soriano…but he’s getting close.