Bring on the Cubans!

Alexei Ramirez kicked all kinds of ass the year playing second base for the Chicago White Sox and ended up finishing second in the ROY voting. Let's face it, the Sox weren't getting any younger with guys like Konerko, Pierzynski, Thome and Dye so watching a young guy flourish like that certainly gave me hope for the future of the franchise. He will most likely move to shortstop next season and up until this morning, it was unclear who would be playing to his right.


That fine young gentleman pictured above is Dayan Viciedo, a "19 year old" Cuban defector who is about to sign a 4 year deal to play on the South Side. And okay, I might be getting a little ahead of myself saying that he'll definitely start at third, but he'll certainly compete for the job with Josh Fields as the only player likely standing in his way. And reports are coming in that it was that opportunity to immediately fight for a starting job that swayed Viciedo to sign with Chicago. Plus the presence of Ramirez and Jose Contreras will only help Viciedo to get acclimated to America and to Major League Baseball. He was the youngest player to ever play in the top Cuban league's All-Star game and he can also play right field. However, critics of his play maintain that he is already overweight and unmotivated. Miguel Cabrera comes to mind. That could be good and bad.


Either way, this is the second step (the first was trading Swisher which I didn't touch on here at SPLP just because he was so woefully underperformed and Kenny Williams knew he was wrong in trading for him and cut his losses) in building upon a team that made it to the playoffs this past year. Center field is a big concern as well as another starter in the rotation (Clayton Richard?). Second base could be filled by rookie Chris Getz whose minor league numbers look pretty impressive. With all the talk about the Teixeiras and the Mannys, there are still plenty of free agents out there that could have major impacts on teams. And Williams isn't shy about making trades either. I love how it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I'm already talking looking forward to baseball again. Not to say I'm ignoring the NBA by any means. In fact, the Celtics' win last night was very, very impressive. People back home are saying that Boston's defense might actually be better than last year. Holy crap. I don't think Al Harrington and Cuttino Mobley know what they're in for. (And by the way Clippers fans, how excited are you about having Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby and Zach Randolph in the game at the same time? That was only semi-sarcastic too!)

Finally, there are six HUGE NFL games this weekend that James and AdamMan will cover in their picks post. It's do or die for a few teams with Titans/Jets and Giants/Cardinals standing as potential playoff matchups. Sooo glad I have DIRECTV. Have a good weekend everyone!

Preview: Thursday Night Football! Woo!

When I think of Thursday night, the one thing that most comes to mind is how excited I am to sit back, crack open a cold beer, and occasionally check on the game on ESPN.com while watching something else because I don't get the NFL network.

Seriously though, I hate when the Colts are Thursday nighters because a) Playing three days before everyone else does sucks and b) I have to go out to actually see the game. The Colts get to play in the armpit of NFL time slots week 16, and I am looking forward to that, mainly because that means we get three extra days of rest and practice before we play the Titans the final game of the season.

Anyway, so the Steelers and Bengals sans Ocho Cinco play tonight. I don't think Cinci's chances were that great with 85, but they definitely don't improve without him. The team says no comment until after the game on why he's inactive, but sounds like no good.

The Steelers are coming off a close 11-10 game last week against the Bolts. Prior to that, the Colts beat them. They've been shaky these past couple weeks, but were able to play smart football and not turn the ball over in their San Diego win. Don't count Cinci out, but this game's being played at Heinz Field, and the Steelers are definitely looking to create some space between them and the Ravens.

I expect awkward play from both teams, because that's what happens on a Thursday night game. Roethlisberger will probably throw for 80 yards with 4 turnovers, but the Steelers still score 42 points on interceptions and fumbles returned for touchdowns or something.

The Bengals need to play consistent offense if they're going to have any chance. Last time these two teams played, the Bengals hung on for a while, but eventually the Steelers just bullied them out of the game.

On the plus side for the Bengals, at least this game gives them an extra three days to prepare for the Ravens.

James' pick: I call upset. Why the f not? Forget everything I just said, Bengals win 17-7

OH MY GOD DOC!

I guess myself, espn.com, and common sense weren't enough to sway Doc Rivers. He started BRIAN SCALABRINE tonight! He played in the first 6 minutes with Garnett suspended and did jack squat. Leon mercifully came in to replace him and this better be one of those things like Doc pulled last year. Start someone and have them play roughly half of the first quarter and sit them on the bench for the rest of the game. There is no excuse for Leon to not start and as long as he doesn't get into foul trouble tonight, there is no reason why he shouldn't get upwards of 28-30 minutes. You can even make the lame argument that Leon is more effective because he comes off the bench and provides a spark but that doesn't fly after what he accomplished in the finals last year. That's the biggest stage there is, coming off the bench or not. And it's his third year in the league. Further proof that Doc is going to bail after the Big Three move along and has no interest in grooming the young guys for future success. Honestly Doc, just because your team is 9-2 and are the defending World Champs doesn't mean you can pull crap like this. Prove me wrong buddy.

Oh yeah, I just checked the play by play. Leon scored 6 points in the final minute of the quarter on two jump shots and two free throws.

P.S. If someone can come across an actual, real reason that Doc provided to start Scalabrine, holla.

EDIT: According to Boston.com, Doc wanted to "keep the second unit in tact." Yeah, a good way to do that is by putting a guy in who is below the second unit. They also reference the whopping 13 minutes Scalabrine played against the Bucks where he went 2-2 and had 1 assist. Great. The website also provided this gem that I addressed during the finals:

"After a 21-point effort in Game 2 of last year's NBA Finals, Powe put up a dud when he started Game 5 in place of Kendrick Perkins, going scoreless in 5 minutes of play."

Ugh.

Anyway, with 1:45 left in the 3rd quarter, Leon is leading the team with 14 points in just 15 minutes.

WTF, Mercury Morris?

So if you haven't heard, Mercury Morris couldn't stand that his fifteen minutes of post-NFL fame were over from last season. A couple days ago, the guy who was about the 6th or 7th most impressive 1972 Dolphin (seriously, he's not even their best running back. Guess which back from the 72 Fins is in the Hall of Fame? I'll give you a hint, it's Larry Csonka and not Mercury Morris) saw another opportunity to come out and have people listen to him, and said he likes the 2008 Tennessee Titans.

Now, ok, don't get me wrong. If the Titans went undefeated, that's great for them. I'd be disappointed the Colts didn't win it all, but you can't argue a perfect season. However, Mercury Morris is the same guy who was on ESPN literally every 20 minutes last year to talk about how he didn't want the Patriots to go 19-0. I didn't want them to go 19-0 either, but I can at least appreciate that what the Patriots did was far more impressive than what the Titans have accomplished thus far.

I've said it before, and this isn't just a bitter Colts fan talking now (if I'm arguing FOR the Patriots, you can't in good conscience call me biased), but the Titans aren't as good as their record shows. They don't have the capability to go 19-0, or even 16-0 for that matter. I can guarantee it won't happen. If we adjusted the records to show where teams should actually be had referees not made game changing blown calls, the Titans would have lost back in week 5 to the Ravens. You remember that false start on the Titans where the referees "blew" the whistle (funny how no one really gives up on the play despite it having been blown dead) and then Terrell Suggs gets called for contact to Kerry Collins' helmet? Except instead of hitting Collins' helmet, Suggs had a clean swipe at his arm as he threw and didn't touch his helmet at all? That play? And that call wiped out the 3rd down stop the Ravens made, allowing the Titans to go downfield and score? Yeah, that.

Anyway, you could make at least 10 of those arguments this season and change the entire shape of the playoffs. The point is, the Patriots were about 100 times the team the Titans are. I can understand how Morris is rooting for the team who no one believes in. But the reason no one believes in them is because they're not even the best team in the NFL. As long as they stay perfect, they'll be on top of the power rankings, but once they lose, expect teams like the Giants and Panthers to take their spot. If the Jets beat them this Sunday, they could also move past Tennessee.

What the Patriots did was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. No one embarrassed so many quarterbacks, so many defenses, so many coaches, or so many fans as the 2007 Patriots. When the Patriots came out, except for maybe three games during the regular season, they completely dominated the other team for 60 minutes. They hardly had to fight for a win. When have the Titans ever been accused of running up the score? The Titans are +113 in point differential so far, which is not too shabby. I won't argue that. The Patriots in week 6 were +138. By week 11, they were +254.

I love this quote from Mercury. "The Patriots, you people were crowning them after the second game and the season was a formality. I kept trying to tell you". I think they were made the favorite after the second game, but they certainly weren't handed the Lombardi Trophy. By the way Mercury, if the season was as long in 2007 as it was in 1972, the Patriots would have won the Super Bowl + 1.

I can see why Morris is rooting for the underdogs, although it's kind of strange to call the Titans underdogs. However, I just don't see how if you were part of the only undefeated team in history, you would rather a team that's barely squeaked out a good portion of their wins and benefitted greatly from others' mistakes join you in history than the most talented, most dominant group of guys ever put onto a football field.

So how much talk did Larry Csonka do during the season? Well, he said he didn't wish the Patriots any luck, but would congratulate them if they went 19-0. That was it.

Mercury, for the love of Peyton Manning, just go away. I'm really really hoping the Jets quiet him for another few months on Sunday.

Would Tom Brady make a difference at this point?

I know it's kind of a silly question, but after putting up a 30-51 400 yard, 3 TD no INT performance (with 60 rushing yards just because) on a really good defense, what else can Matt Cassel do at this point? The team still lost on Thursday and wouldn't even make the playoffs if the season ended today. In an earlier post I mentioned how the injuries were once again piling up for New England. Combine that with a defense that is almost last in passing TDs given up and the amount of quality teams in the AFC, the Pats, even with a 6-4 record might be headed for a disappointing end to their season. Miami squeaking out a crappy win against Oakland on Sunday didn't help matters either. Speaking of the Dolphins, they host the Patriots this Sunday. It's been a while since a late November Miami/New England matchup actually meant something. Here's a helpful tip to Belichick and the boys: if Miami is lined up in the wild cat, RONNIE BROWN IS GOING TO RUN THE BALL. You're welcome. (How they failed to adjust to that at halftime is just crazy.)

The rest of New England's schedule has the Steelers and the Cardinals at Gillette and road games in Seattle, Oakland and Buffalo. They need to win at least four of those and the playoffs still aren't guaranteed. Meanwhile, the current leaders of the AFC East are the damn Jets who just so happed to be in Tennessee this week. Collins vs. Favre, catch it! Old bastards...

Stupid panda jerk. Making me look like an idiot!

Whenever I start Cotchery, Favre NEVER throws him the ball. In the two games I didn't start him? 14 catches 187 yards and 1 TD. Anyway, after the Titans, New York still has to travel to San Francisco and Seattle. They have home games against Denver, Buffalo and Miami. We could be getting into crazy tie break territory when all is said and done. Buffalo has really dropped of the face of the earth and that loss last night might have sealed their fate.

Switching topics now to the NBA. Every team has played at least ten games and now and looking at the standings, there are very few surprises so far. The Knicks (vomit) are currently 6-4 and Mike D'Antoni has expertly swept all the drama under the rug and has his team playing halfway decent basketball. I love how he just isn't playing Marbury, the type of dude who exemplifies the NBA thug stereotype. He's also the type of dude that will seriously just sit on the bench all year and collect his TWENTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS. What a joke. New York does play Boston tonight however. Just ask Atlanta what happens to your momentum when you play the Celtics. (quick note: Garnett has been suspended for tonight's game. Leon starting anyone?)

How about Dwight Howard's 30 point 19 rebound 10 block performance last week? Can you imagine if he could hit his free throws? The Shaq parallels eerily continue... Oh and I like how he's already talking about the dunk contest.

The rookies have been playing some good ball too. Rose, Beasley and Mayo are all putting up some big numbers with guys like Jason Thompson, Luc Mbah a Moute and Marc Gasol all seriously contributing to their respective teams.

And if having your team start 3-7 isn't bad enough, how about charges of insider trading? I like Mark Cuban more often than not (especially how he constantly brings up how poor the officiating is) but what is a billionaire doing worrying about losing $750,000? Sure I would take several hundred Jack Bauer kicks to the balls for that kind of cake but c'mon Mark. Guess you won't be buying those Cubs now huh?

Oh and congrats to little Dusty P for winning the AL MVP Award. Laser show indeed.

Shocked

I almost fell out of my chair yesterday watching the San Diego/Pittsburgh game. Jim Nantz was talking about a hurt player and actually said, "he's out with a hamstring injury." He said injury! As a person I hold personally responsible for starting the whole, "this guy's out with a knee/leg/assneck" trend, it made my day to hear him refer to the entire malady, not just the body part. I was almost as surprised by this as the woman who sits in front of me at work who spends half of her day on personal calls. And we don't sit in cubicles here. There are three rows of tables facing the offices of the more important people. I've never seen anyone with such blatant disregard to office etiquette. It's so bad that at some points, she'll be there talking on her work phone when her cell phone rings. She'll answer the cell phone too and have a phone in each hand! Seriously! How she is still employed blows my mind. On top of that, she talks at full volume and just babbles about the most mundane "details" of her life. What an insufferable pig. (Of course this is coming from a guy who posts on his sports blog during work so I guess it's all relative. But at least it looks like I'm working...)

Anyway, nice job Jim. Keep up the good work.

I'll hopefully be back later tonight with some random musings on the first ten games of the NBA season, the AFC East and more.