The Morning After on TSE - 7.3.2007

The Ghost is just that this morning, so I'll be providing your Morning After goodness here today... which in and of itself is pretty amusing granted I'm hosting the show of same name at the same time.

Anyway, Yi Jianlian is kind of a dick.

His "people" are kind of dicks too, when you think about it. I really can't get down with their insisting that Yi go to a city with what they consider to be a strong Asian-American population. First of all, what constitutes a strong population? Straight numbers? Percentages? Density? It's pretty subjective, if you ask me. Presuming Yi was, at the absolute worst, a top 9 pick, let's take a look at the percentage of Asian-Americans (according to 2005 census estimates) in the cities with picks 3-9 in the draft, since it was nigh-impossible for Yi to be selected by Portland or Seattle:

• Atlanta - 2.93%
  
• Memphis - 1.46%
  
• Boston - 7.52%
  
• Milwaukee - 3.60%
  
• Minneapolis - 5.80%
  
• Charlotte - 3.41%
  
• Chicago - 4.33%

What were they expecting at this segment of the draft, really? None of these cities, save for MAYBE Boston (who traded their pick anyway), have what many would consider a "strong Asian-American population." Look, if they didn't want to go to Milwaukee or Charlotte or something, just say, "We don't want to go to Milwaukee or Charlotte."

But now what? Is he going to hold out? I don't ever remember anyone even threatening to do so to force a trade except for maybe Steve Francis with the Grizz. Do Yi's people really want their guy to be regarded, attitude-wise, as a 7'0" Steve Francis? Probably not.

Look, Yi, you wanted to to be in the NBA, so you've got to follow the rules for getting in at age 19. If you want to be able to pick and choose what teams can sign you, go play in China for a few years and come over as a free agent once Milwaukee's rights to you expire. In lieu of that, quit feigning sadness and sign on the dotted line with the Bucks. more...

2007 BCS Conference Team Preview: Ohio State

As part of TSE's Countdown to College Football, TSE regular Joe Table Blew It will preview all of the BCS conference teams: The Big XII, Big 10, ACC, SEC, Big East, Pac-10, and Notre Dame. This post focuses on Ohio State University, and their attempt to win three straight Big 10 Championships.

The big question last year in Columbus was could Ohio State replace their vaunted defense from 2005? That question was quickly and often answered, as the defense was a big reason why the Buckeyes were competing for a National Championship last January. The question this year? Can Ohio State replace their vaunted offense from 2006? If they can, they could be looking at another trip to the biggest BCS Bowl. That is a huge if.

Offense

Quarterback is as good of a place to start as any, as Todd Boeckman, after waiting patiently for four years, finally gets his crack at running Jim Tressel's offense. Boeckman threw a total of three passes last year, and he will be responsible not only for replacing a Heisman Trophy winner, but effectively managing a slower, more methodical, more Tressel style of offense. He will be handing the ball off to a duo of Wells, the starter being Chris "Beanie" Wells. This kid is much bigger than the man he is replacing (Antonio Pittman), and is not afraid to take a hit. The Buckeyes will have a pro-style running game when they employ Maurice Wells to do some outside rushing and pass catching. These two backs should provide a nice backfield attack for a quarterback who could benefit from reliable pass catchers and down field runners behind him. The receiving corps lost three of its men from last year to the NFL draft, two of them going in the first round. What remains is Brian Robiskie, who thrived being the third option last year for Ohio State, but can he bring that same playmaking ability to the number one split end position? Sophomore Ray Small will take over at flanker, but the real gem of this group could be Rory Nichol, the tight end. Boekman will not employ the natural arm strength and instinct that Troy Smith had, which could mean a lot of checks on his progression. This translates for a lot of catches for the tight end. Can Nichol step up? The offensive line is the one unit on this offense that should be pretty stable, as Alex Boone, Kirk Barton, and Steve Rehring return to a stout (save the Florida game) offensive line. All three of these guys are over 300 pounds, and at least 6'6". Wow. Boone and Barton have a shot at being first team All-Americans, and they make up the best bookend tackles in the NCAA this year.

Defense

The question mark of 2006 has straightened into an exclamation point in 2007. Leading tackler and interceptor James Laurinaitis was the well deserved winner of the Nagurski award, and should have no problem leading the Buckeye linebackers once again. Another All-American candidate is on the defensive line, as Vernon Gholston looks to improve on his 8.5 sacks last season without his partner in crime, the departed Quinn Pitcock. The secondary also features an All-American candidate in Malcolm Jenkins, the junior that had 4 picks last year. He should be solid, the real question is can another Glenville stand out, Jemario O'Neal can be a playmaking saftey, in the great tradition of defensive secondary stars at Ohio State. Another newcome to keep an eye on is Larry Grant. He is replacing John Kerr, and turned some serious heads in OSU's spring game this year.

Prognosis

Ohio State could not have picked a worse year for a semi-rebuliding year, because the Big Ten is loaded. However, there seems to be no such thing as a rebuilding year in Columbus anymore , just a reversion to the famed "Tressel ball" where the offense will simply try to control the ball and avoid mistakes. One thing is for certain: the Buckeyes defense will keep them in every game this year. Another benefit to the Bucks this year is that they should have a pretty easy road all the way through to the last week of October. Then, the heavy lifting begins. At Penn State, Wisconsin at home, Illinois (who gave the Bucks all they wanted last year), and then up to Ann Arbor to face the Wolves. On paper, PSU, Wisco, and Michigan seemingly have better teams than OSU, but no team is better coached, and I predict that no team is hungrier. This team is creepily similar to the 2002 team, and all of the pundits will regret ranking this team fourth in the Big Ten. They may not win the Big Ten title this year, but I wouldn't bet against Jim Tressel in the Big Ten, either.

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2007 BCS Conference Team Preview: Florida

As part of TSE's Countdown to College Football, TSE regular Joe Table Blew It will preview all of the BCS conference teams: The Big XII, Big 10, ACC, SEC, Big East, Pac-10, and Notre Dame. This post focuses on The University of Florida, and their attempt to repeat as National Champions.

Florida really knew the right way to celebrate their 100th season of playing football: they beat the unbeatable Ohio State Buckeyes 41-14 to win their second National Championship in school history. The win came as a huge surprise to the majority of college football, but not to the Gainesville faithful, who believed that Urban Meyer would deliver, and deliver he did. Now, what can he give the Swamp for an encore?

Offense

The Gators will have to start their repeat bid by replacing the backfield--sort of. Part-time quarterback Tim Tebow, who was used exclusively last year in short yardage situations, will now be the full-time starter, replacing Chris Leak who is moving on to the NFL. Leading rusher DeShawn Wynn is also gone, leaving Tebow as not only the top returning passer, but rusher as well. Junior running back Kestahn Moore is slated to replace Wynn, and the junior is your typical Florida running back: undersized (5-10, 208). Replacing the receiving corps will also be another challenge to Meyer's spread offense, losing two of his three top gaining receivers from last year's squad, Dallas Baker and Jemalle Cornelius. The good thing about replacing these two guys is that in a perfect spread offense, the ball is evenly distributed to various receivers. Andre Caldwell, Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy, and the electric Jarred Fayson will be the ball-catchers this year, and should fit right in to the system Coach Meyer has perfected. There should be no questions on the offensive line, probably the strongest unit of this Florida offense. The unit is returning four out of five starters, with Senior Drew Miller switching from guard to center this year. Seniors Phil Trautwein, Carlton Medder, and Junior Jim Tartt join Miller as returning starters on Florida's stout O-Line.

Defense

This side of the ball will determine how good Florida can be this year. The biggest issue is right up front, where the Gators have to replace Troy Smith's favorite defensive end Jarvis Moss, along with three other starters. The linebackers are all new as well, as Earl Everett and Brandon Siler move on, sophomores Brandon Spikes and Dustin Doe will attempt to match their production of 50 tackles apiece. Probably the most difficult person to replace on this defense comes int he secondary. Reggie Nelson, the free safety who seemed to always be around the ball, will be the biggest position player that Florida will miss on either side of the ball this year. Nobody played the deep third better than he did in college football last year, and was one of the biggest reasons Florida was playing in the National Championship game. Senior Kyle Jackson has the unenviable task of replacing the prolific Nelson.

Prognosis

Even though Florida has to replace virtually all of their offensive and defensive playmakers, the Gators are the class of the SEC and have the potential to be that way for the foreseeable future. Urban Meyer's coaching is unmatched in one of the best coached conferences in college football. The true test of this team's will could be the back to back match ups against SEC West foes Auburn at home and LSU in the Bayou. With the SEC East being supremely less talented than Florida, these two games will be the best test of the revamped Gator offense and defense. I think Florida avenges their only 2006 loss by beating Auburn at home, but they lose to LSU on the road, and then again in the SEC Championship game. more...

End Fan Suffrage -- MLB Edition

Every year every sport (except football!) goes through a process of the fans voting on the starting lineups at their respective all-star games. This yearly song-and-dance nearly always ends in bad snub leading a national media outcry that the fans don't know dick. And you know if the national media says it, it must be true!!

Well here's the thing... this time it is true.

This year's example: Ivan Rodriguez

Yes, yes, I know that The Guy Who Stole Carlton Fisk's Nickname is one of the two best catchers over the past decade of baseball and is a future Hall of Famer, but that does not an all-star starter make. Even with Joe Mauer's injury, Rodriguez (call him I-Rod and I'll frigging kill you) has been the third, and possibly fourth, best catcher in the American League to this point in '07. Observe the stats as of this morning:

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	HR	RBI	Runs	CS%
Ivan Rodriguez	.280	.293	.444	.737	8	43	33	23.1%
Jorge Posada	.336	.405	.525	.930	9	45	42	21.3%
Victor Martinez	.323	.384	.543	.927	14	63	40	28.8%
Kenji Johjima	.300	.340	.468	.808	8	32	28	36.8%

Posada and Martinez have numbers that are far and away better than Rodriguez's and you could make a strong case that Rodriguez over Johjima is an all-star snub in 2007. Rodriguez has a passable batting average at .280, but an on-base percentage under .300 and a sub-.750 OPS is flat-out unacceptable for an all-star (most all-stars usually have an OPS around .900).

"But his defense makes up for his offense," you say. It's a classic argument to defend Ivan Rodriguez. But this year the usually laser-armed Tigers catcher is only sixth in the AL for percentage of runners thrown out trying to steal at 23.1%. Even Martinez--previously inept in the Caught Stealing category--is ahead of him on the list, making it hard to maintain such an argument.

Obviously this is one of many cases where a combination of the silly fan vote combined with the archaic notion of representing every team at the all-star game is hurting the game's credibility. Look, if it's an exhibition game these things are fine... but if you're going to have the All-Star Game determine home field advantage in the freaking World Series... you need to absolutely have the best players in the All-Star Game. That starts with saying goodbye to the fan vote. more...

The Morning After on TSE - 7.2.2007

So I decided to take the morning off work.  So here's your TMA post.

Roger Federer is good at tennis and shit.

You get the idea.

More later.

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All aboard the new handle bandwagon!

Well, all the cool kids are doing it...

Seriously, it's silly of me to not fit in with the other two guys so I will henceforth be known on this site as "The Seaward." For those of you not up with Arrested Development... go rent the DVD's. Seriously. Don't come back until you've watched them.

[Reeeee-dacted] more...

My Summer Project: Tennis -- Part I

So every summer I try and set out one project for myself such as traveling to Greece (2000) or seeing the Hockey Hall of Fame (2006). This summer I have set myself a new goal: learn to play tennis. I've decided that in order to try and keep myself on task, I will update all of you TSE weekend faithful every Sunday of my progress toward this goal.

So here you go with update number one:

SUNDAY, JULY 1ST

I don't have a racket yet.

With my wrist pretty messed up over the past two weeks I'm not really in any condition to actually swing a racket, but I should probably go get one anyway. I'll probably pick one up before Entourage tonight.

I did, however, make a big step in terms of the mental approach when I bought a hat like Andy Roddick's from Lacoste yesterday (Jimmy Connors sold separately, sadly). I think the hat will put me in the right frame of mind to play a Roddick-style game. That's right: pretty soon I, too, will be losing focus and getting upset in the second round of Grand Slam tournaments!

Observe:

You can't put a price on that kind of mental toughness. Actually, you can: $27.99. Still... totally worth it.

Maybe by next week I'll have played a little bit. Stay tuned! more...