en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4061756 Comments by ChildePlease http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1946#IDComment592611847 There seems little doubt to me that the Big 10 is playing the best bouncy ball this season. Some of the best coaches live there, now. Matta, Crean, Ryan and of course, Izzo, who only seems to get to the Final Four every other year. My Cats made a stand at their own personal Alamo Saturday in Rupp. Completely shut down the Donovans at the end of the game. Needs to be said. Ask Andy Katz how much he enjoys the up close view of Jimmy Boeheim. Saturday's 39 point total for the Orange was just another chapter in the never-ending story of the most overrated coach in the college game. Then there's Joe Torre. After watching him coach the Yankees for years, I was never impressed. People took his implacable demeanor for sage wisdom, but he often just seemed to make questionable use of his players while mostly riding his unparalleled talent pool. To me, he was always Chauncey Gardner, straight out of Being There. All that bunting ESPN was calling him out for was rather predictable. Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:00:34 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1946#IDComment592611847 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1943#IDComment589675087 Yeah, but they don't take the best 68. The season has been so devoid of dominant teams that you have to believe there will be more upsets in conf tourneys than usual. They weigh injuries when deciding, so the Noel injury hurts them. Also, the committee places great emphasis on how you finish and the Cats are staggering to the finish line. I just don't see them getting in. They certainly don't have the team makeup to win the SEC Tournament. I'm not being a sour grapes UK fan, either. Just a realist. We are bad. And we are toast. Fri, 8 Mar 2013 19:32:59 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1943#IDComment589675087 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1941#IDComment588516714 Boy, I wouldn't want to be Sam Grossman when the Reds' front office discovers that he never played the game. And DO the Reds have the correct amount of analytic input in their organization? Until they are using advanced metrics to a degree approaching that of the Rays, I would probably think no. Andrew Friedman and his crew are setting the standard--and they are whipping everyone's butt with it. It would be supremely disappointing if my Wildcats failed to make the Dance, but, yeah, Cal should accept an NIT bid if it comes to that. Thanks for asking. Sounds to me like Grantland was mistaking sportscasters for sports writers. Thu, 7 Mar 2013 19:27:01 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1941#IDComment588516714 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1935#IDComment586316571 Majors are not easy to win. But, then there's only one guy in the history of Golf who's in Tiger's company. And for the last 4 years, Tiger has been coming up empty because of his play, not because somebody has been taking it away from him. Every major seems to be won by a new guy. Nobody has stepped up and demonstrated he is a huge obstacle to Woods if he gets his game back. And he doesn't have to be the Tiger of old to dominate again. He was that good. Who's been winning the majors since Tiger went dormy? Louis Oosthuizen Lucas Glover Angel Cabrera Stewart Cink Yang Yong-eun Graeme McDowell Martin Kaymer Charl Schwartzel Rory McIlroy Darren Clarke Keegan Bradley Ernie Els Bubba Watson Webb Simpson None of these guys scare Tiger, I'm guessing. Only Rory looks like he might be special. Tue, 5 Mar 2013 20:18:26 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1935#IDComment586316571 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1935#IDComment586116054 Really? The Bearcats are that bad that they have to rely on the 3 as the preferred method of scoring? I remember Pitino coming in and inheriting probation and 4 mountain kids from KY that nobody else wanted and being forced to play that game, but Cronin and these cats? Gotta believe they got more skillz than that. Am really happy to see C. Trent back in the Nati. Was sad to see his blog go dark a couple of years ago. Ya think Rory's dad intervened and said "you can be doin a wee bit better than that, lad?" Alas, Tiger has no one to do that for him these days. I think Jack knows that before he's done, Tiger will have many more chances, not only at Augusta, but at places where he's been known to dominate, like Torrey Pines, Pebble and St. Andrews. Say all you want about the young turks, but if a 59 year old Tom Watson can come within a bad bounce of winning the Open, Woods can compete and win more championships well into his 40s. Tue, 5 Mar 2013 16:10:26 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1935#IDComment586116054 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1929#IDComment584954810 Keep in mind that many of our prospects have already made the big club: Frazier, Cozart, Meseraco, Leake, etc. Many of the prospects being looked at are still a year or 3 away: Yorman and Henry Rodriguez, Billy Hamilton. Bruce has missed games. BP and Joey are off for a few days. Hannahan, Burriss, Lutz and Donald are playing alot. I expect to see the team playing better the last week, to 10 days of camp. But right now, we're looking at a lot guys who will be filling niche roles for us. Mon, 4 Mar 2013 17:27:08 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1929#IDComment584954810 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1914#IDComment581955182 If I remember it correctly, it's Suicide is Painless. But I have no idea where the song came from Fri, 1 Mar 2013 15:28:11 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1914#IDComment581955182 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1912#IDComment581301643 Jerry Chesney is Sargeant. Patrick Wiley is Oscar. Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:03:16 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1912#IDComment581301643 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1906#IDComment579837802 As one who spent years commuting to work on the Brooklyn Bridge, I can tell you the traffic there is one big sign of the apocalypse in and of itself. Next time you're at the Rod n Reel, check out the plank dedicated to my Dad, who used to fish there, engraved with his old email address. NKYCatFan. Love that place. I'm sure that's part of the reason Pitino left Kentucky for the Celtics. All that groveling over kids on the recruiting trail just got to be too much. It's probably part of the reason Chip Kelly left for the NF of L. Despite all the talk about how durable the pitching staff was last year, Jocketty & Co. knows that ain't happening again. Just another reason to transition Chapman to the rotation. Pitching is a very transitory thing. One day you have plenty. The next, you can't scrape together a rotation. I don't think the market is too concerned about the sequester. It knows the boys in DC are playing politics and they can retroactively fix much of what happens if they don't get something done by Friday. I think the market drop the other day was simply some people taking some gains out. Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:33:16 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1906#IDComment579837802 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1906#IDComment579837405 True dat, BTW. Did you see Boeheim's mental breakdown directed at Andy Katz? Jimmy's presser blowups are becoming legendary. What a tool. Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:32:35 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1906#IDComment579837405 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1894#IDComment576432353 Boffo TML today, Scott. Thanks. “it’s my experience is that defensive-minded coaches that preach toughness, intensity, rope-holding, etc. are absolute cowards when it comes to running an interesting offense.” Exactly. Which is why the myth that Defense Wins Football Games has had such a long shelf life. As Mel Brooks once said, “We’ve got to protect our phoney baloney jobs, gentlemen!” Guys get these head coaching gigs, and they’re not going to do anything dicey to jeopardize them—you know, like exploit the forward pass and the like. I sure wish you guys who’ve covered baseball for forever would get with the program when it comes to the value of the role of the Closer. I know it’s just the way it’s done in baseball today and we should just accept the wisdom of the folks doing things now. Nevertheless, it’s pretty much a settled historical fact that it’s just not an efficient use of a talent like Aroldis Chapman. And if your criteria is number of outings and tickets sold, I don’t know that either one of those make the case, either. Is it really important that Chapman gets into games with a 2 and 3 run lead? Or is pitching when he’s needed most a better use of his skills? How many of those losses to the Giants in October did Mr. 106 pitch in again? As for selling tickets, that argument is strictly anecdotal. Bill James once wondered if pitchers like Nolan Ryan drew more fans than other pitchers. Silly question, right? Of course, he did. Except, he didn’t. Nolan Ryan did not draw more than other pitchers. He didn't draw more than his Angels teammate Don Kirkwood in 1976. And with the Stros, he was outdrawn by Vern Ruhle and Joe Niekro in 1980. This debate about Chapman's role is going to go on all year, I fear. And I cannot fathom why. Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:04:29 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1894#IDComment576432353 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1880#IDComment571990555 "is that because dismay with Dusty is a given? :)" Pretty much, Lash. Unlike the players, whose performance can change, Dusty is locked into his way of doing things. Don't see much improvement there. Although, maybe he shocks me. I would love to see his philosophy about managing change and grow. But I fear he's too old and stubborn. Thanks for reading. Much appreciated. You, too, Kat. Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:41:52 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1880#IDComment571990555 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1880#IDComment571988340 See, that's the nice thing about working in NYC, SF. When the webinar goes all wonky--and it inevitably does--I can just look out the window and take in the view of Manhattan from the 35th floor. Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:37:46 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1880#IDComment571988340 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1877#IDComment571273551 Got it. Thanks for keeping me honest. Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:24:03 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1877#IDComment571273551 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1862#IDComment566479195 I hate you. Playing golf while I'm sitting up here in my pajamas, mittens and ear muffs. Fie on your maxfli's. Fri, 8 Feb 2013 18:51:21 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1862#IDComment566479195 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1857#IDComment565606250 I did a commercial with Bill Rafferty back in the 80s for a local NY sports network called SportsChannel. He was just the best guy in the world. I played a bartender and at the end of the commercial, I dumped a basket of popcorn on his head after he said something silly like SEND IT IN. Took about 2 hours. I always want to run down courtside when he's doing a game I'm at, see if he remembers. Very cool cat. Thu, 7 Feb 2013 19:32:17 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1857#IDComment565606250 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1857#IDComment565443865 For reasons I've never understood, arbitration is almost always skewed toward the player--which is why the Reds almost always buy out arbitration years for players they covet. When you are outside the top 10 in payroll, you just have to keep finding young pitching you can develop and control, or trade lots of prospects for guys like Latos, who are cheap and come saddled with years of team control. Could also hurt downtown business when Macys lays off security. We kid because we love, Mike. What? March is more about Offense than D? Nuh uh, Doc. This isn't football. This is a game where great defense often turns into easy points on the other end; where rebounding and getting down court before your opponent can get back makes even the most offensively challenged team successful. Remember Anthony Davis? Oh, I forgot. We don't know about UK basketball here. Nevertheless, what was the UniBrow's stat line for the championship game? 2 points and 10 blocks. Somehting like that. What about all those 80s G'Town teams who couldn't shoot but could turn you over for cheap points? Great shooting teams have one cold game and they are gone. Defense is constant when March 1 rolls around. I like Keystones in Covington. Cheap and a nice selection on tap. Plus a short walk to GASP. Thu, 7 Feb 2013 15:44:55 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1857#IDComment565443865 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1842#IDComment562783337 When you don’t a have dog in the fight, a situation most of the nation finds themselves in on SB Sunday, you simply hope for a good game. The commercials, the halftime show, everything else is gravy. When you get a bad game, like last night, the peripherals, like the above—and the announcers, talking heads, etc.—have to carry more of the load. Just ugly all around. GoDaddy commercial? Awful. More lame Lite beer commercials, aimed at frat boys. Enough. For years, I’ve felt Nance has the best job in America. Final Four one weekend, Masters the next. The older he’s gotten, the worse he’s gotten. Simms, who is supposed to know football, is telling his audience he wouldn’t take the safety. Really? I’ll never take anything he says again seriously. You could look at Beyonce all day and she has great pipes—but her show was lame. The technology overshadowed everything else, including the game. Her rehearsals were reportedly blowing out the power in the Dome. Why didn’t the NF of L step in and tell her she had to cut back on the show? Instead, they let her affect the game. Unbelievable. During the power outage, why couldn’t Shannon Sharpe’s mike go silent, too. God, he’s awful. Soon, we’ll be listening to Ray Lewis. CAN’T WANT IT. Offense wins championships. Again. Despite all the hype surrounding Kaepernick, the truth is, the Ravens figured out that too often he either looks for Crabtree or he’s looking to improvise. Last 3 plays of the game, to Crabtree, to Crabtree, to Crabtree. Still, he was held and the officials swallowed their whistle because The Shield will tell you they don’t want the refs deciding the game. Which misses the point entirely. When a team runs an all out casino blitz and the offense picks it up and exploits it by throwing a quick pass to the corner, which the receiver can’t get to because he’s being grossly held … …it’s the defensive player who decided the game not the officials. How about Oreo’s smart Twitter move during the blackout: “You can still dunk in the dark.” Smart. Maybe smarter than anything else I saw or heard last night. Mon, 4 Feb 2013 19:25:55 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1842#IDComment562783337 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1835#IDComment559048752 I'm convinced now that every time one of you men in the business continue to write about Manti T'eo, a dead sportswriter loses his wings. Just sayin. Or as my then 3 year old son would always say whenever he laid eyes on the broccoli: I CAN'T WANT IT. I was just going to say that any evaluation of Dalton will be met swiftly with silly QB ratings and other stats. Why is it that the same folks who dismiss mountains of scientific evidence of climate change have no problem rolling out football stats like they are gospel? Teams don't play the same schedules. QBs have different offensive lines. Different receivers. Different running games. Different offensive philosophies. Some QBs get to stick to the offensive plan, while others have to throw theirs out the window week after week because of their lousy defenses. Too many variables unaccounted for. That means that completion percentages and TD and INT numbers are about as meaningful as RBIs. And that's not very. I CAN'T WANT IT. NYC is a college basketball wasteland. Except for the Big Least Tournament. I think that's what made me a Knicks season ticket holder. I'm jonesin for some hoops up here. Please tell Nick not to tell us tomorrow that Tiger is just an above average golfer these days. Can't want that, either. Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:16:12 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1835#IDComment559048752 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1835#IDComment559048674 Congrats, SF. Hadn't heard anything and didn't want to pry. Thanks for sharing. Scary economy, these days. Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:16:05 +0000 http://www.tmlmobsters.com/?p=1835#IDComment559048674