I'm so sorry, Blake Griffin

I flip-flopped on my opinion of Griffin during the college season. I think he'll be a good, not great pro. Too bad he has to play for the worst organization in professional sports.

Ricky Rubio is going to be scary on the Grizzlies.

Thanks for the Memories, Greg?

One thing I always appreciated about the Cubs growing up was that, as an organization, they didn't shove their history down your throat. Sure, I knew about the billy goat, the sign in right field, and every year an uninspired sportswriter or two would brush off an article about curses and whatnot, but I feel like the Cubs themselves mainly focused on who was on the field.

I think one of the places where I appreciated this the most was in the fact that a 100-year old organization had only retired 2 numbers. I remember asking my dad about Ernie Banks and Billy Williams when I was young, thinking they must have been pretty special players if they were the only ones deemed worthy to have their numbers hanging from the foul poles. I also remember being confused when the Cubs were on the road and I saw other teams with upwards of a dozen numbers retired. I was kind of happy that the teams I root for (the Bulls as well, who only had 2 at the time,) were the kind of teams that don't retire numbers willy-nilly (coughMiamiHeatcough)

I was happy both times when Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg joined them. I'm completely fine with Santo getting bonus points for his work in the booth. Both players had great careers that will forever be associated with Chicago Cubs baseball.

Which is where I have a problem with Maddux. I get that both Maddux and Fergie wore 31, which was at least part of the impetus for retiring their number at the same time. I was a little skeptical at first that 4 players from a team that pulled off one of the most notable collapses of all time needed their numbers retired (I know Ernie was on the very downside of his career then, but still.) But after checking Fergie's baseball reference page, I have to admit he has some stats that jump out at you, like a consistent ERA+ over 120 and a few years leading the league in BB/9 and WHIP.

But then you look at Maddux's page. Fergie's best year was below average for Maddux. Greg has back-to-back ERA+ years of 271 and 262! He led the majors in BB/9 pretty much every year in the 90s. You could make the argument that Greg Maddux is the best player to ever put on a Cubs uniform.

So why am I against his number being retired? 5 years from now Maddux is going into the hall of fame. It should be unanimous, or at least any writer who leaves him off should have his or her voting rights examined. But he's going in with an A on his cap, not a C. Maddux gave his best years to the Atlanta Braves because the Cubs were too stingy to pay him what he deserved (in fact, probably less than he deserved, considering his salaries in those mid-90s years were in the 6 million range.) You can't go back now and pretend those years didn't happen. Greg started just as many playoff games against the Cubs (1) as he did for them. I know Fergie pitched for other teams, too, but he will be remembered as a Cub, and for good reason. While we love Maddux, let's face it: he's a Brave.

Fergie- 167 wins as a Cub
117- other teams

Greg- 133 as a Cub
222- other teams (mostly Atlanta) (PS- did you know he was at 16 wins in 94 when the season was shut down?)

It's not quite the Heat retiring friggin Dan Marino's number, but it still didn't sit well with me.

Future posts:
1. Rick Telander, Ryan Theriot, and steroids
2. If you could go back to the last regular season Bulls game against Toronto and have them win, setting up a series with Orlando, would you?

Miniature Yankees

The post title sums up how I feel about this year's Cubs team. I've seen about half the games this year, but then again, I got back from the gym today and realized that they were up by a ton, and shrugged. I checked the box score to see who did well, but to be honest if you get ten walks against the Padres the writing is on the wall. If you haven't had the chance to read Taibbi's takedown of Brian Cashman do yourself a favor and do it.

Besides the particulars of his argument, the general form holds. Baseball is overwhelmingly tilted toward the top teams (Yanks, Sox, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, Cubs,etc) If those teams aren't challenging for a championship year in and year out then there is something organizationally askew. And at this point, it honestly looks like the team is moving backwards.

We lost Wood and DeRosa, two of our team leaders and DeRo's flexibility sure would be coming in handy right about now, hey Jim. When you have the kind of resources we do and Wrigley Field just printing money, how did we go into the season with a bullpen where Lou didn't trust anybody. How the hell did we let Bob Howry get away? Oh that's right, we declined to offer him arbitration. He signed for 2.75 mil with one of the worst teams in the league. I know San Fran is a cool place to live but look at Howry's face when he's on the mound and don't tell me that he is not one hell of a competitor. He is exactly what this team is missing, which is a major injection of intestinal fortitude. I mean for crying out loud every one of our major contributors has issues, D Lee is almost 34 and has a bad back, I hear that's a recipe for athletic excellence, Aramis usually gets hurt running the bases, this time it was a freak accident in the field, and Soriano has baseball Tourette's and can't stand the mental pressure of hitting 3rd in the lineup, so how are his teammates supposed to rely on him in the clutch/postseason.
No disrespect to guys battling injuries or physical limitations (Aaron Miles is just not a major league offensive player, or at least he hits like one of those old-school #8 in the lineup shortstops when he hits .290+ but apparently he cant do that anymore and he's only a mediocre defensive replacement. He is effectively Lindsey Hunter without the veteran leadership.) Basically though this team is battling injuries and still 5 games over even, I don't like how we got here from last year's team, which was one of my favorites ever. Howry-Marmol-Wood, Reed Johnson making crazy defensive plays. Dempster shuttin em down like he did today. I don't know hopefully Ryan Freel can show me something, and then Hendry can keep showing me something. And then since I'm in a bad mood, I thought I'd kick off the old school hip hop for the blog. WEST WEST.

More games at the Cubs' expense

In the unlikely event you just stumbled upon this blog and didn't know anything about me, you might think from the last two posts that I hate the Cubs. I don't, but I do enjoy using small sample sizes to point out absurd things like this.

Here's the BA/OBP/SLG for two groups, the 4-5-6-7-8 hitters in the lineup (Lee, Bradley, Fontenot, Soto, Miles) and for the starting pitchers. See if you can figure out which one is which:

Group 1

.202/.280/.351
.186/.329/.371
.222/.319/.414
.175/.305/.200
.208/.265/.273

Group 2

.278/.376/.500
.231/.286/.231
.154/.213/.231
.111/.111/.111
.000/.063/.000

Okay, I guess the slugging percentages are something of a giveaway. But still, it's kind of absurd to go to a game Harden's pitching and have his be the 4th highest batting average in the lineup.

Also, come back soon, Big Z. The lineup needs you.

Let's Play- "Guess Chad Fox's ERA!"

I apologize for the fact that I still haven't gotten to the Greg Maddux discussion, but I don't have the time or energy for anything more than this little game (which hopefully will NOT become a recurring feature.)

Seriously, take a guess right now.

Then click on the link and scroll down to check it out:

http://www.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=290509108

BG

I have to say, I kind of like having BG on the team, or at least I appreciate his unique abilities to score in stretches. But its the sort of thing that I appreciate as a kind of aesthetic good, especially this past year where he has lost a little of the hitch in his movement and probably just as a result of increased fitness he has been able to mix in a little more of the Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton style which complements his ball skills well and highlights his ability, like the aforementioned All-Stars, to take and make awkward half-open shots through a combination of ridiculous body control, core strength, and some innate predisposition to remain unaffected by not really looking at the basket. So I think Gordon is an overall good for the NBA and its fans, especially since he boosts each individual game's chance of becoming compelling through a scoring spree or making seemingly impossible shots. I just think that given the obvious decision to make Rose the franchise centerpiece, it is not in the financial or managerial interests of the organization to re-sign him.
Points 1-X
BG will be overpaid because NBA GM's are stupid and he did well in the high profile playoff series.
-The Bulls are already seriously financially committed to an assortment of overpaid players (Jerome James has a 6.6 million player option for next year, and we owe Tim Thomas 6.45 to do less than nothing, Brad Miller gets 12 million and Luol gets almost twice as much as Salmons to play terrible defense and be a marginally better scorer who shows little interest or ability to improve beyond a solid role playing career.
-Defense wins championships and a Gordon-Rose backcourt is significantly limited in defensive capabilities (bigger guards and really any dynamic 2 paired with a serviceable 3 makes BG defensively a huge liability) Gordon really seems content to simply outscore his counterpart which really brings into question his commitment to team defense which has proven to be the most effective and truly determinative quality for team success in playoff competition.
-The last one is really the kicker, I just don't believe that without a drastic remake of the current Bulls lineup (ie a big name defensive minded coach like Adelman or Popovich, a defensive superstar like KG, Duncan, etc.) BG fits into any conceivable team structure that can defensively hang with the top teams in the league. One of these days a team will win the championship without a strong defense, the Suns came pretty close, but I don't think its the direction the team should be headed. Plus we need the cap space to sign D Wade next year. I think that about covers it. Oh and also his total and unrepentant gunning at the end of some of those Celtics games shows a lack of respect for Rose, which is understandable given that he's a rookie and choked a bit under pressure, but refusing to pass the ball and disrupting the offense only makes your teammates mad and sacrifices the long-term viability of what you are trying to accomplish as a unit. Basketball is still very much a team game at the NBA level and if you are convinced that your teammates suck enough to not pass it back then the team goes nowhere.

Really real

Here is the promised anti-BG rant, which I've noticed is not as unpopular a position as I thought it would be given his play during the Celtics series. Two notes before I get into that, I think Tris's response about the Kenny Smith quote is perfectly fair, especially because it was a personal reaction and I didn't see the segment in question, I was thinking more along the lines of how to appropriately label the series or any exciting sporting event like that and how they are incredibly fun and exciting especially if your favorite team is involved but that like most of life they are best causally explained as the result of playing the same game over and over, eventually cool things will happen and in the case of average to good players are more often the result of luck instead of whatever happens to particularly gifted athletes when they "step their game up" through increased focus or will power or whatever. I think Ben Gordon and Ray Allen, Rondo, and Rose qualify as "step their game up" type players, but Brad Miller getting deadly behind the arc and Tyrus and Big Baby hitting 18-footers, anything Eddie House or Scalabrine did, falls more into the sheer random luck category and those things are often diminished or overlooked in the immediate aftermath of such an emotionally exciting event like Bulls-C's. I think the Warriors-Mavs series is a great comparison because it had many more genetically freakish talents capable of athletic feats most people sprain an ankle dreaming about and less flukish type occurances and a collaborative coaching effort seemingly dedicated to producing games with Maximal Overtimes. Ok that was more than I wanted to say about that and it's more of a separate issue so I'll leave it for now.
The second thing was about Louis' post, which was a fantastic idea btw, and all solid picks, but I think taking Goliath over Abe at the 5 was a mistake, for a few reasons. One, ignoring for a moment the inconclusive evidence about whether he actually existed, historical measurements are notoriously nonstandard (and other translations put him at a more realistic 6'9" but most biblical scholars agree the story is largely allegorical) and if he was in fact the tallest person who ever lived I think the NBA has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that as height (and weight, ie Shaq) increases after a certain threshold, the physical toll of playing 35-40 minutes of high-level basketball has a significantly limiting effect on whether a given person can even participate without serious and long-term injury risks. We know Abe was physically adept (wrestling) and there are established benefits to having ugly people on your team. Ok now I'm splitting this up and making the BG thing its own post.