Thursday tidbits 4/28/11

I'm trying to think of a way that I can justify doing this instead of working on my big final papers. There has to be some way this will help me write a chapter of a biography or a paper on modernism, right? Don't answer that. Let's move on...Tidbits are new and improved! Seriously. Videos are viewable in the blog itself! I think this is actually a pretty simple blogging skill, but remember, English majors tend to be a bit slow on the technology uptake.

A Quote

The newest Denver Bronco Von Miller on being selected 2nd overall in the 2011 draft:

"I had a flashback to all the hard work I've been putting in since little league football, and all the people telling me no or that I couldn't do it...I am extremely anxious to get into the league and prove myself."

A nice first impression from Miller. The Denver Broncos are at least a year away from being relevant, but it would sure be a nice building block to have if Miller is able to prove himself right away and put some pressure on the quarterback.

Who else is relieved that the Broncos were not serious about looking at a quarterback here? Maybe it will be Tim Tebow after all...


A Video

One of my favorite things about being a sports fan is disliking a player for no good reason. That's how I was for the last couple years about San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson. I just did not like him. And then the following things happened (in this order):

1. His awesome beard
2. It turns out he is a really interesting guy and a notoriously good teammate
3. His awesome beard
4. His awesome beard
5. This video (which makes me like Cody Ross too)

If for some reason you do not know who Keenan Cahill is...don't you ever waste time on YouTube? He has Maroteux Lamy Syndrome, and Brian Wilson and Cody Ross set up a fundraiser for him at the May 25th Giants game. That is great stuff.

P.S. - Brian Wilson's pants are still way too tight, and what the heck is that thing he does when he saves games anyway? Phew! Now I feel better...

A Photo

Check out this outstanding gallery of baseball players arguing with umpires. This brings a few thoughts to mind. First of all, if you are bored, you can spend time writing out the dialogue of these different arguments based on which player is in the photo. For instance, here is mine for Chicago Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena (currently batting .169): "C'mon blue. You should have called that a ball, I'll strike out on my own anyway." See how fun that is?

Secondly, I think this is one thing that any baseball player who does not play past high school (most of us) really misses out on. If you argue in high school you get suspended for the next game, your coach gets mad, blah blah blah. Just once I would have wanted to let an umpire have it and argue until I got run. Granted, I am not much for confrontations, but neither is Todd Helton who is also pictured in this gallery. 

Wait...who am I kidding? I would never do that. I felt really guilty if I tossed my helmet instead of gently placing it in its holder. If an umpire told me to give it a rest, I would say, "oh ok...I'm sorry," and then jog back to the dugout with my head down.

On the flip side, for those of you who know him, can you imagine the scene if Mike Mason could cut loose on an umpire? Bats on the field, water coolers overturned, players cowering in the corners of the dugout, mothers covering their children's eyes...and that's all before he really loses his temper. 

This is Mike. Once, when he was goalie, he choked a kid (alledgedly)



The third point I want to make is this: if I was an umpire, I would be really animated when I was ejecting a player or manager. I am talking running start, a little hop...seriously demonstrative. Just imagine if this umpire ejected somebody, and that would be me.

A Bonus Video

As the Miami Heat prepare for their series against the Boston Celtics, watch this if you have any doubt why people are fascinated with the Heat and what they do in the playoffs. If you have not seen this video, you need to watch and remind yourself that they did this before they ever played a game. It is hilarious and maddening all at the same time.



A Tweet

@reggie_bush: It's been fun New Orleans.

This was his response to the Saints drafting running back Mark Ingram in the first round tonight. The serious question here is: how were athletes supposed to pout and draw attention to themselves before Twitter? Reggie will surely get some negative attention for this, as he should.

Links

Mark Kriegel writes about the owners' side of the issue in the NFL's labor situation http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/NFL-owners-labor-argument-doesnt-hold-up-amid-draft-properity-042811

Jon Heyman on which MLB stars will be next in line for big contract extensions http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jon_heyman/04/28/20something.contracts/index.html?eref=sihp

Dave's Hacker Guide: Callaway Razr Hawk Driver

2011 Callaway Razr Hawk Driver

I am going to start taking this blog in a new direction with in depth golf equipment reviews. By in depth, I am talking about the every day player and their relation with the reviewed product. I'm not going to spit out ridiculous statistics or specifications, but rather funny stories from my experiences with the club or with others using the club.

The Callaway Razr Hawk driver. Engineered by Callaway Golf with the technology of Lamborghini made materials. Sounds expensive? $399.00 isn't too cheap. There is a cool story with this club. Callaway and Lamborghini designed a material called forged composite that is a far amount lighter than titanium. Callaway uses this material in their golf clubs, while Lamborghini uses it in their new 2011 and 2012 sports car line.

My first experience with this club was at an end of the year tournament at one of our golf courses. I actually played it as a prototype before it was even announced to the public. The looks are cool, sleek, and the driver looks like it's built for distance. Swing 1: snap hook into the woods. I can tell you this, the blistering speed I got with my worm burner, no higher than 6 feet off the ground got me through the low hanging branches and somewhat in play. Next hole I took the driver out again, push to the right. So this is good, I now have a club I can either hit to the left or the right. I wonder if the guy test driving the Lamborghini had the same results. "Well man I actually hit a tree left in the parking lot, then the car veered off to the right into a grassy field. I don't know what the heck happened, but I was moving pretty fast. Who puts a tree right in the middle of where you want to go anyway?"

I then bagged the driver and decided maybe it's the club and not my swing, HA! The third swing with this driver was taken by a fellow teammate. Practice swing looked awesome, but as soon as he hit the ball the club went flying into a bush. "Man that club sucked." All I'm thinking at this point is that the priceless prototype driver is now laying in pieces in some bush. But Callaway advertises that the forged composite is also a stronger material than titanium. Any titanium driver would've busted, so I'm giving this one an A+ for durability.

By this time in the round I'm feeling pretty confident. Standing on the 18th tee box I pull out the driver. Apparently in the tournament I played in, you're supposed to take a shot of brandy on 18 right before teeing off. Sounds pretty promising. I figured I'd at least feel good even if I hit a bad shot. So off I went, shot, swing, BOOM, right down the fairway about 295 yards. I was laughing so hard, someone had thrown a divot at my head during my follow through, that I didn't get to see the full flight.

The Callaway Razr Hawk driver provided lots of entertainment and many memories both good and bad, but all of them hilarious.

NBA Playoffs predictions and a Rockies thought

No time for Thursday tidbits...school. I would much rather muse on here than write about modernism or the biography of Philip Roth. Anyway, I'm allotting 20 minutes of time off from homework to write this. Ready, GO!

NBA PLAYOFFS PICKS
Eastern Conference

Round 1:
Bulls over Pacers in 4
Heat over 76ers in 6
Celtics over Knicks in 4
Magic over Hawks in 6

Round 2:
Bulls over Magic in 5
Celtics over Heat in 7

Conference Finals:
Bulls over Celtics in 6

Western Conference

Round 1:
Spurs over Grizzlies in 6
Lakers over Hornets in 6
Blazers over Mavericks in 7
Thunder over Nuggets in 6 (hope I'm wrong)

Round 2:
Thunder over Spurs in 5
Lakers over Blazers in 5

Conference Finals:
Lakers over Thunder in 7

And....NBA Finals!
Lakers over Bulls in 6...I think that the Lakers are the team to beat as long as they have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol cleaning up the glass. The Bulls have as good a chance as anybody to offset that advantage, but I'll still take Kobe and Phil Jackson.

Links to other Playoffs predictions (from the experts!)

Sports Illustarted expert picks

ESPN.com Playoff front page

Yahoo! Playoffs hub

A Rockies Thought...

As they labored on the road last year, we would torture ourselves as fans about the missed opportunities in each grinding loss. For example, Troy Tulowitzki came up with the bases loaded early in yesterday's game against R.A. Dickey. He grounded into an inning ending double play.

Here's what would have happened in this scenario last season: "And welcome back to the Rockies recap. The Rox lose another tough one on the road, again by one run here at Citi Field. It was not for lack of opportunity...the offense had a golden opportunity early with the bases loaded for slugger Troy Tulowitzki. Alas, he grounded into a double play and the offense never got anything else going, striking out 12 times."

We always looked back on those one or two chances, and we knew that if they did not come through in those spots, the offense inevitably would not produce anything else that day.

Here's what happened yesterday: they won anyway, 6-5. If they continue to hit enough on the road that they do not have to hang their entire offensive hopes on one or two moments in a given game, it will make all the difference for them maintaining their success.

Keep that curveball machine going, Carney!

Thursday tidbits 4/7/11

A Quote

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl on what team he would prefer to play in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs:

"If we had to pick and choose on it, we would probably say 55 percent Dallas, 45 percent Oklahoma City, only because Oklahoma City is athletic like we are and they have two great players...I just think right now our speed might have more effect against Dallas than it will against Oklahoma City."

What's the over/under for how long it will take for Mark Cuban to respond to this? Especially with how active he is on Twitter? If I set it at 12 hours, would anybody take the over? Anybody? How about the over/under for the dollar amount he will get fined? Never mind...

George Karl has always been especially candid with the media, but I also read this as a sign of how refreshed he feels with this new team. Now that he has players who will listen to his coaching, he is reminding us all just how good a coach he is. With that new feeling comes this confidence, methinks.

Having said that, I am a bit nervous about how much attention the Nuggets are getting as a "dangerous" team entering the playoffs. Hopefully their depth and athleticism will be enough to overcome their opponents' determination to crush the media's new darling team.

Another Quote

Allen Iverson is making me sad. Here is part of his tirade after police officers informed him that his car (with tags that expired two years ago) was going to be towed:

"Take the vehicle, I have 10 more...Police don't have anything else [expletive] to do except [expletive] with me. ... Do you know who I am?"

When Iverson was a Denver Nugget, he generally won fans over by giving us the impression that he was an older, wiser, calmer AI. Now he is blowing up, Lindsay Lohan style.

A Video

Here is a bit of Rory McIlroy's press conference after he shot a 65 in the opening round of the 2011 Masters, which has him tied for the lead. When Rory gets hot, he rips it up like a great NBA streak shooter, such as Jason Terry or J.R. Smith. You know, those times where you're watching and you think to yourself, "he just can't keep this up...can he?" And then he does...in Rory's case, for the rest of his round. It will be interesting to see if McIlroy can take advantage of this fast start and stay atop the leaderboard as the conditions get more demanding this weekend and as he hears the footsteps from veterans like Phil Mickelson (-2).

A Bonus Video!

Here is Alvaro Quiros after his opening round 65. Who cares? We do now, after David Schaffner mentioned his antics in his Masters preview. We can only hope Quiros sticks around long enough for fans to see him repeat his patented (has to be, right?) 'driver off the deck' shot in a major championship.

A Photo

Sports Illustrated gives us the top 15 NBA floppers. None of these really surprised me, although I was a bit disappointed that Shane Battier was on the list. But let me jump to #15: Sasha Vujacic. To flop, you have to pretend to care about defense...at least a little bit. Right? I'm surprised he even drops back on defense. If Vujacic just spent the whole game (all 6 minutes that he plays) spotted up at the three point line on his team's offensive end, would anybody notice? I guess there would be one less body flying around.

A Tweet

@PaulPabst: Try to use your "Masters voice" today in casual conversation. Buttery...whisper a lot..."yeah Jim, can you pass me the TPS reports?"

I was absolutely planning on using my Jim Nantz voice in class today, something like this: "Hello friends. Here on this beautiful Thursday morning, I am struck by the author's conversational voice. It's shaping up to be a glorious and exciting weekend in the Colorado State Library. Now let's send it back to Professor Ronda."

I decided not to, mainly because I could not think of a way to pipe in the relaxing theme music so that it was playing in the background. But that's the only reason I didn't do it...

A Masters prediction!

Will you believe me that I made it before play started? You probably will since he's 7 shots off the pace. I will stubbornly continue to pick Lee Westwood until he finally finishes the deal and wins a major.

A Thought on the Red Sox

This is far from an original insight, but here it is anyway: you can't win the division in April, but you can lose it. I think this 0-6 start will prove to be nothing, because this team will win games in bunches. But they better stop the bleeding...soon.

A Suggestion

Watch Nuggets vs. Thunder tomorrow night. It might not impact Denver's playoff seed, but it should still be an intense and entertaining match-up. These might be the two best teams in the Western Conference right now. Let me emphasize right now again...because if the playoff Lakers show themselves, this theory no longer holds.

Links

Rick Reilly on the 1986 Masters http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6295999

Dan Wetzel on why Brad Stevens will stay at Butler http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-wetzel_stevens_already_found_big_time_040311

Lisa Olson on the San Francisco Giants fan who was recently critically injured in a parking lot assault (warning: will make you upset) http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2011-04-06/critically-injured-giants-fan-described-as-gentle-calming-presence

Wayne Drash writes about Nick Charles (warning: this is sad) http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/06/nick.charles.facing.death/index.html

Masters Pairings and Picks

The day has finally come for avid golf fans, Masters pairings. The big guns are spread all over the day with Tiger pulling a 10:41am time and Phil later in the afternoon at 1:48pm.

There are many interesting pairings. Immelman, Glover, and Matsuyama have a 12:09pm time. All of these players are underachieving as of late. Look for Glover to get back on track with his accuracy and distance. Tiger will have a comfortable pairing with McDowell and Allenby. I don't think any of these guys will do anything spectacular, but you can be sure that the gallery will be closely following this group. Mickelson is playing alongside Geoff Ogilvy and rising star Peter Uihlein at 1:48pm. This should be a fun group to watch with lots of fire power and risk taking compliments of Phil Mickelson.

The 9:24am group should promise to be entertaining with some of the young guns on the PGA. McIlroy, Fowler, and Jason Day all have the talent to compete at Augusta. Rickie Fowler had 7 top 10's and 2 runner ups last season, but I'm a little skeptical on his total driving stat at 150th. His 2nd best putting may keep him in the hunt come the weekend.

The 10:19am group features Kaymer, Westwood, and Kuchar. Hopefully Westwood isn't too shaken from his shaky airplane flight and can put up good numbers on the first couple of days. I'm still not sure how I feel about Kaymer. He definitely has the talent to pull out a win, but his 169th in driving accuracy scares me on a course that requires accurate drives.

One of my favorite pairings is the last of the day with Vegas, Woodland, and Quiros. I'm excited to see if Quiros hits into Mickelson again like at the PGA Championship a couple years ago at Hazeltine. His driver off the deck from 300+ yards impressed not only the gallery but Phil himself.

This years tournament should guarantee fans numerous surprises, disappointments, and Kodak moment shots. The weather forecast is perfect in the high 70's and 80's. So without further ado, here are my picks for champion, weekend contender, dark horse champion, biggest disappointment, and some fun awards.

Champion: Luke Donald. 2nd in scoring average on the tour this year. Enough said. This guy knows how to win, and how to win under pressure. Cool hand Luke will showcase his putting skills and his short iron mastery. Look for Donald to continue on his hot streak and tote the green jacket on Sunday.

Weekend Contender: Angel Cabrera. Have people forgotten that he's actually won at Augusta? Angel has had an up and down season so far but champions know how to win and make it to the weekend. Cabrera's best stats are 5th in driving distance and 17th in putting average this year on the PGA Tour. Look for Cabrera to be right there towards the end.

Dark Horse Champion: Steve Stricker. Let's run down Steve's stats for this year. 30th in GIR, 6th in putting average, 8th in scoring average, and 10th in putts per round. Stricker should always be mentioned as a threat in majors. With 3 top 10's this season, don't be surprised if Stricker shows up with a top 10 or better this year.

Miss the Cut: Ryan Moore. Even with two top ten's this season. Ryan Moore's 110th in GIR, 44th in putting average, and 70th in scoring average will be hard stats to ride going into Augusta. Players need to hit greens at Augusta to make the weekend and making putts helps too. Ryan Moore will have a hard time if he can't find the dance floor.

Best Outfit: Ryan Moore. Seriously, a guy who wears a shirt and tie while playing at the Master's wearing these shoes by TRUE Linkswear, deserves this honor. Rickie Fowler may be eccentric and flashy, but Ryan Moore, pure class.

Most Likely to Miss His Tee Time: The default would be Jim Furyk, but I'll go with Dustin Johnson. He seems too laid back to ever really be in a hurry. I can see him dinking around at the range showing off his 300 yard 3 wood swings and missing his starting time.

Most Likely to Card a 9 on a Hole: I hate to jinx anyone out there. A 9 isn't too hard to imagine at Augusta. Stats such as 167th in total driving, 178th in GIR, and 153rd in putting average, gives Trevor Immelman this award.

Most Likely to get Disqualified: Sorry Dustin Johnson, but you get this award also. What happened at Whistling Straits last year was goofy. I think it's a sign of things to come. I'm not sure what will happen to cause the DQ, but I guess missing the tee time would be an easy way to do it.

2011 opening baseball weekend tidbits

A Quote

Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta on his successful opening weekend:

"I am in a good spot. I am comfortable with my (shorter) swing. Plus, training in Scottsdale I played a lot more so I felt great coming into the season. It's been good so far, but I am not thinking about it. I just need to focus on coming with it every single day."

I read this article about Iannetta and was excited for two reasons. 1. He's an easy player to cheer for and 2. He can make a huge difference for the Rockies this year. As has been noted by many writers and analysts, it might very well be up to bounce back players like Iannetta, Ian Stewart, and Seth Smith to nudge the Rockies over the hump and back into the playoffs. So far so good for the team's catcher.

*FACIAL HAIR ALERT* Iannetta is wearing a handlebar mustache, bordering on a Fu Manchu (you be the judge). Excellent form. And clearly this choice is paying off at the plate.

A Video

Sports Illustrated shows the top five plays from Sunday's action, including some sweet defense (and a triple play!). You cannot tell a ton from three games, but one thing fans learned this weekend is that defense is always important. When the Rockies made their playoff runs, specifically the 2007 streak to the World Series, their outstanding defense was a key component to their success. As we start to handicap the NL West, you can put a check mark by the Rockies in the team defense discussion.

The Diamondbacks will struggle in many other areas too, but their inability to catch the ball will cost them plenty of games, as it almost did against the Rockies on opening night. And how about Aubrey Huff in right field for the Giants last night? My teammates in slow pitch softball take better routes to the ball, and that's in tennis shoes and after drinking four beers.

A Photo

Or a series of them. Also from Sports Illustrated, these are some milestones that players might reach this season. Left off the list: Huston Street's pursuit of the record of "most hits surrendered after working the count to 0-2," ESPN extending its untouchable record of "pointless Red Sox and Yankees segments," and Matthew Lecroy establishing himself as the first and only person to ever return to the league as a player/coach and lead his team in home runs. Sources close to me say that he's expecting the call-up any day now.

A Tweet

@Buster_ESPN: You can't stop the Orioles. You can only hope to contain them. Four wins, zero losses.

Hot out of the gate are the Orioles, the Rangers, the Phillies, and...the Royals! As for the Orioles, it seems like we have seen this story before. An AL East team not called the Yankees or the Red Sox starts hot, then we wonder if they can survive a long season in that division, and then they end up in 3rd place way behind 1st place as the scariest .500 team in baseball. Or...we had the Rays, who actually did keep it up more than once. So who knows? The longer the Orioles hang around, the more fun it will be.



More Facial Hair

I do not like much about the San Francisco Giants, but as a reasonably informed fan I respect them. I respect their outstanding pitching. I respect the fact that their farm system has produced Buster Posey and Brandon Belt in back to back seasons. And I really, really respect their facial hair. This gives me a chance to point out Brian Wilson's beard again and to give Barry Zito credit for his excellent mustache.

Look at it this way, Giants fans. Zito is stealing huge chunks of money from your franchise, but at least he has a cool mustache.

As we continue to handicap the NL West, the Giants have the edge in "awesome facial hair." Chris Iannetta is keeping the Rockies in the race, and it's up to Jason Giambi and Ryan Spilborghs to lead them past the defending champs.

An Unrelated Note...

Feeling burdened by our lack of diversity, Warning Track Power has added David Schaffner to the crew. Dave is left handed and he likes tennis. So there are two ways he's different right away.

Baseball Links

Joe Posnanski ranks the 32 best players for the 2011 season http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/31/the-32-best-players-in-baseball-for-2011/

An update from the Barry Bonds trial http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Avypol2OO1TqSoHmvfh8GFgRvLYF?slug=ap-bondstrial

Jayson Stark celebrates the start of the new season http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=stark_jayson&id=6289975&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fblog%3fname%3dstark_jayson%26id%3d6289975

Peter Gammons on the importance of flexible players http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110402&content_id=17298118&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Slow play? It's all relative.

This is a response to the Ben Crane slow play video previously posted. Every recreational golfer probably has some relation to what I'm talking about. Slow play for me is a definite downer. Some of the golf I've been around makes Ben Crane seem like Usain Bolt.

This brings reality back to life as I prepare for my spring golf season. All joking aside there are lots of aspects of the game of amateur golf that are a lot slower than Ben Crane's play. Scenario. A group of guys tee off on #1 at a busy public course on the weekend. After various stretches, practice swings, checking of GPS units, banter, and multiple mulligans, the round finally begins. Now I'm not saying that everyone is a professional, but at least have some respect for others on the course. There are still 17.5 holes to play and they're not going to get any faster.

Take this conversation I was a witness to last year between two golfers. "What's the distance?" "Let me check my GPS. Hang on, I have to move the cursor. Damn, it's too bright let me move under the cart. Ummm 189 yards." "What is it to the front?" "Ummm 179." "Thanks" (4-6 practice swings) "What's it to the back?" "Hang on, 195." "Thanks" CHUNK! "What is it now?" "185 yards."

Again, I'm no pro but I pride myself in my fast play. I have a laser rangefinder that I point at the flag, take a practice swing, then hit away. Golf seems to have become too techy with equipment. I listen to people all day complain about slow play and how golf takes too long. But what's too long for 18 holes? 2.5 hours? 3 hours? 6 hours? 8 hours? (yes I played in a tournament for that long). Some courses post recommended times for pace of play on each hole. I like that. A course I've been to also kicks people off if their play is too slow on Friday. I like that also.

I always laugh at my friends who complain about how the NFL is so slow with all the TV time outs and how baseball is so slow because of all the changes and visits to the mound. Let's put this into perspective. I can go play a round of golf with a friend on an empty course in 3 hours easy. When the round hits 6 hours, that would be like watching a noon football game with 3 hours of commercials. That would be ok though. I'd be dreaming about Bud Light, the AFLAC duck, Viagra, Ford vehicles, and Cash for Gold for the next 5 weeks.

My solution? I think people need to leave their phones and techy devices at home while they are on the course. Maybe fix that chunk by investing in lessons instead of a $400 unit that tells you what only golfers who are named Tiger Woods would need to know. Maybe get rid of all the golf carts. I guarantee that people would play a lot faster if they knew they had to walk to wherever their shot is, instead of driving the golf cart to each persons ball. Last of all, play as fast as the group in front of you, not behind you. If you get passed by a group of more than 2 people, Wii golf is really fun and you don't even have to wear clothes for that. Ben Crane may have to start his round on Wednesday, but if things don't speed up I'll be finishing my weekend round on Tuesday.

Response to Ben Crane's Slow Play

Last week I took a shot at Ben Crane and his slow play. Now I have more respect after watching PGA Tour's Ben Crane on slow play. Sorry Ben, I'm changing my attitude now.