30 August 2006
When is a GIDP not a GIDP?
I was at the game tonight, and even I have no freaking idea what happened on that last play.
I was too busy snapping a photo of the scoreboard to document the new name for Minute Maid:
It's now "The Donut Shop."
And then all of a sudden, it's one out, Huff's at the plate, everybody's screaming at him just to take the walk or strike out looking so that Luke can save the day, and the idiot hits into a double play.
Or does he? The moment he's forced out, Lamb's now free to run and has to be tagged out, not forced out.
Lamb slides, and somehow the game's over.
By the way, biggest screwover of Clemens was by Ausmus. Worthless at the plate, hitting and preventing passed balls. Roger's last K wasn't an out because Ausmus let it bounce all the way to the Brewers' dugout.
Willy T, on the other hand, was a monster in the field. Rifle-shot dead-on putout at third, two diving catches, and an over-the-shoulder.
Beltran who?
Lidge (shakes head) Lidge... do they give out Lead Glove Awards? The man was flopping on a slow roller, grabbing and missing twice like John Candy in the mud wrestling pit in Stripes.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/30/06 11:39 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
Kubiak disputes media accounts that Davis may be cut
The Houston Texans have been posting lots of quotes on their website after practice each day.
Here is an interesting quote from Texans coach Gary Kubiak on running back Domanick Davis during Tuesday's session:
“The idea of cutting Domanick has not even played a factor. I don’t know where that came from. The decision is strictly if his knee is going to be healthy enough to play. If his knee is not healthy enough to play, if that is the decision that’s made about him, then he’s looking at an I.R. (injury reserve) season. If he is going to be able to make it back, then he is going to be on this football team. The other choice (cutting Davis) has never been a factor. Domanick Davis is a big part of this football team as I’ve said all along we’re going to do what’s right for him.”
The idea seems to have come from John McClain and a Houston Chronicle headline writer Tuesday morning:
Texans' Davis in danger of being cut: If season started today, Lundy would be No. 1 on depth chart
While John McClain did not emphasise the possibility that Davis might be cut, he did include it in the story's reporting:
The Texans will have several options. They can make Davis, 25, part of the final roster and wait for him to get healthy. They can place him on waivers. They can put him on injured reserve, which means he wouldn't play this season. They also could trade him, which is unlikely because he's damaged goods.
McClain changed the reporting somewhat in the story that appeared today, AFTER Kubiak's quotes to the media yesterday:
When making their decision on Davis, the team's career rushing leader, the Texans have three options. They can keep Davis, 5-9 and 227 pounds, on the roster and hope he returns soon enough to help them. They can place him on injured reserve, which means he won't be available this season. Or they could place him on waivers.
Kubiak said after practice Tuesday that if Davis is unable to play, injured reserve is the most likely option.
"Domanick is a big part of this team, as I've said all along, but if his knee isn't healthy enough for him to play, then he's looking at injured reserve," Kubiak said. "I don't know what's going to happen. We've got to sit down as a group to discuss the situation."
Now why in the world didn't McClain include that other quote, in which Kubiak stresses that Davis will either be on the roster or injured reserve, and he can't imagine where anybody picked up the idea that Davis might be cut? Maybe because it makes it look as though the veteran NFL writer didn't ask the questions of the Texans staff that he should have before writing the story that appeared on Monday?
UPDATE (2006-08-31): ESPN.com runs a story that debunks the notion that the Texans were considering dumping Davis. Furthermore, Davis' agent points out that cutting him really is not an option for the team, since he is injured. At the very least, the team would have to come up with some sort of injury settlement, it would seem.
UPDATE 2 (2006-09-01): The General writes that some unnamed Texan told him that Davis might be cut:
This week, I wrote that he could be cut because that was what I had been told, without naming who told me. A day later, they'd changed their tune.
Whatever. The problem with this storyline is that a day later, McClain was still writing that Davis might be placed on waivers, despite Kubiak's denial and despite Kubiak's wondering out loud where people came up with the idea he would cut Davis. This reporting seems to have suffered from lazy/nonexistent vetting, no matter how much McClain wants to spin it after the fact.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 10:11 PM | Technorati | Comments (2)
Payton: Bush/McAllister "easier than not having any back"
The Chronicle's John McClain plays mindreader today:
No one in the Texans organization is more frustrated with Domanick Davis' knee injury than the running back himself.
No one?
I suspect many of the football geniuses who passed over Reggie Bush because they thought they had a quality NFL starter (which was itself overrating Davis, who was an average starter before the latest injury) are probably frustrated that they will be starting the season instead with someone named Wali Lundy.
But hey, on the bright side for all of our Katrina-displaced fans in town, Saints coach Sean Payton seems to be enjoying his riches at the position:
The New Orleans Saints have great options at running back in Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush.
[snip]
As head coach of the Saints, Payton loves the predicament Bush and McAllister will put him in on game days.
"You need more than one back in this league, and both of them understand that," Payton said. "It's difficult, but it's a lot easier than not having any back."
Ouch! That last part stings.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 01:30 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
29 August 2006
Happy Birthday, Roy
Drayton and Roy's agents powwowed twice today, and there's an announcement coming at this evening's game that is likely the re-upping of his contract.
Well, game's over. Jason "Slam" Lane as the player of the game? (I still think he sucks) I'd say Adam Freaking Everett for actually getting a hit with bases loaded to take the lead.
Willy's streak is over in a hail of plunks.
Qualls 3 up 3 down (2Ks and Fielder grounded out) and... gets the win? So much nicer than a blown save, dontcha think?
Turnbow continues to be poison for the Astros. (Only Ausmus has a hit off him this year)
UPDATE:
KFOX in El Paso:
Roy Oswalt allowed four hits and three runs through seven innings for the Astros, and after the game received a five-year contract extension worth $73 million with an option for a sixth year. The right-hander, who posted back-to- back 20-win seasons in 2004 and 2005, struck out seven and walked one.
Oswalt's extension came on his 29th birthday. His extension includes a full no-trade provision. He'll receive $13 million in both 2007 and '08, $14 million in 2009, $15 million in 2010 and $16 million in 2011. The option year is for $16 million, while there is a $2 million buyout.
"There's more bragging about playing for this club than any other club," Oswalt said. "Even the guys that play for the big market clubs. It's like a family."
Beats the crap out of a bulldozer, eh?
BLOGVERSATION: Justice, FanBlog, H-Town Sports, Lonestar Pundit, Crank.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/29/06 10:04 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bad Sports podcast (2006-08-28)
In the latest edition of the Bad Sports podcast, Ethan Glading and I banish the Astros from the coveted "lead segment" of the podcast for the rest of the season, offer up our predictions for the Rice/UH college football teams, chat about the few positives from that mostly putrid Texans effort against Denver, and pick up quite a few more odds and ends. The podcast is available here:
Bad Sports podcast (2006-08-28)
It's a LONG one this time, about 40 minutes. We probably should have relegated the Astros to "odds and ends" starting with this podcast. :)
Feel free to leave us some feedback, including YOUR predictions for UH/Rice. Next week, we'll offer up our predictions on the Texans, so feel free to leave yours here early.
BLOG POSTS REFERENCED ON THE PODCAST:
Brunt is back! (Laurence Simon, Bad Sports)
Stros 2006 review, part eight (Tom Kirkendall, Houston's Clear Thinkers).
Red Rowdies tryouts at Toyota Center (Jeff Balke)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/06 07:44 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
28 August 2006
Brunt is Back!
Phil "Crapiron" Garner gets his wish: Eric Bruntlett returns:
The Astros recalled utility infielder Eric Bruntlett and catcher Humberto Quintero from Round Rock on Monday and optioned catcher J.R. House and pitcher Chris Sampson to the Triple-A affiliate.
Bruntlett hit .250 with nine RBIs in 55 games for the Astros this season. He was optioned to Round Rock on Aug. 2 and hit .219 in 22 games for the Express, with one home run and seven RBIs.
He brings with him catcher Humberto Quintero, who is too large to stuff in the overhead bin.
Getting roundrocked are pitcher Chris Sampson and J.R. House, who has the most number of at-bats in an Astros uniform this year without a hit (beating Hirsch by 1 and Joe McEwing by 3).
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/28/06 02:51 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
Bomar will not be attending UH
Despite the assurances of some posters on CoogFans.com that Rhett Bomar would be enrolling at the University of Houston, it appears that he will be attending Sam Houston State. Here is the Dallas Morning News report by Brian Davis:
Former Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar has enrolled at Sam Houston State, a school spokesman said Monday. But at this point, it's still unclear if he can practice, much less play, with the Division I-AA Bearkats.
"At this point, quite honestly, we don't know what his situation is working out wit the team," Sam Houston State spokesman Paul Ridings said. "But we have begun the reinstatement process with the NCAA."
Bomar, a sophomore from Grand Prairie, was kicked off the OU football team in early August for violating NCAA rules. He and teammate J.D. Quinn received money for work they did not perform at a car dealership in Norman, Okla.
Under normal transfer rules, a player going from a Division I-A school to a I-AA school can play immediately and not sit out one year. Bomar, however, must have his playing status evaluated by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement committee.
Bomar could receive no additional punishment or be forced to sit out a number of games.
"We're happy to welcome Rhett as a BearKat," Sam Houston State coach Todd Whitten said.
It's always wise to treat "news" posted on fan message boards with skepticism.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/28/06 01:54 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
27 August 2006
Kirkendall checks in on the Astros
Tom Kirkendall has posted his review of the most recent 1/10th of the Astros season.
Kirkendall criticizes Tim Purpura for the club's current nearly punchless state of affairs, as well as Phil Garner for misusing the offensive resources he does have at his disposal. As always, it's a good read.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/06 10:05 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Focusing on what's important in Astros land
I like it when journalists focus on what's really important in what has been a very disappointing season for the Astros. Here's something from earlier in the week:
Jason Hirsh, the rookie pitcher who got hammered in his third major league start Tuesday, make a big rookie mistake when he didn't hang around to talk to the media. Whether it was intentional or not, the move was not looked upon very favorably by several of his teammates, especially the veteran players.
[snip]
Hirsh is a bright and likeable kid, who has a lot to learn. He'll likely catch some hell from some of his teammates today, and he should. He should take their advice, learn from it and move on.
It sounds like it wasn't looked upon very favorably by journalists with blogs, either.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/06 08:34 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Thank goodness this storyline will end today
The "Gary Kubiak is returning to Denver" storyline has been going all week.
Here's the lede from a Dale Robertson story that was particularly heartwarming:
Because the Texans have taken to Gary Kubiak, they seem inclined to want to make him look good in his Denver "homecoming" Sunday night.
This is especially important to quarterback David Carr, who will ultimately be most responsible for showing Broncos fans that Kubiak has a solid grip on things in Houston. Houston's new head coach was, of course, hired for his offensive acumen, learned at the right hand of Broncos visionary Mike Shanahan.
But the Texans' early bumbling against the St. Louis Rams last weekend didn't reflect well on the boss. And Carr knows what he and the first-team offense did — or rather, didn't do — in St. Louis last weekend wasn't acceptable.
"We want to be really effective, especially with coach Kubiak coaching in Denver for the first time," the franchise's first first-ever draft choice said.
I can tell they're inspired!
Texans offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun probably didn't experience anything quite like this when he was in Denver:
Although neither Kubiak nor Calhoun was sure if the Broncos were a source of motivation for the Texans players because of the ties between the two franchises, both seemed to appreciate Carr's sentiment.
"Our guys always want to play well against anybody," Calhoun said. "But I'm sure they feel fortunate to have the coach they do."
Painful to read, that is. Thank goodness the game with Denver is tonight, and this storyline can be replaced by some heartier fare. We hope.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/06 05:28 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
26 August 2006
Ryans gets starting nod at middle linebacker
On Friday, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak announced that rookie DeMeco Ryans will be manning the middle in the team's new 4-3 defense:
“There’s no doubt. The guy has earned it, and he has earned it from day one. He’s going to go through some growing pains, but we believe in him and there is no time like the present. He has earned the right to play that spot. He will be our starting Mike linebacker on opening day.”
[snip]
“Well, I like everything the kid stands for. He’s very smart. There is not too much he can’t handle. He’s very versatile. If we had a problem, he could move around. The kid loves to play the game. He plays with passion. He’s doing the same things here that he did in Alabama . It’s a great opportunity for us to build our defense. We have two great young players right in there for us to build our defense around for a long time to come. We know we’re putting a lot on his shoulders, but we’re ready to go do it.”
Ethan has been touting this player for some time on the podcast. It looks like we're going to see a lot of him this season.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/26/06 04:08 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
C-USA Basketball Preview
Compiled by ESPN. Here's Doug Gottlieb on UH:
And here's Andy Katz on Rice and Morris Almond:In my mind, the team that should win this league is the Houston Cougars.
I agree with most of what is said about the conference and our local teams, but that is probably just because the article is loaded with generalities and hedges. I disagree that Lanny Smith is the key to UH's season. I want to see Penders' latest recruits in action before making an assessment like that. And as far as Rice being a contender in C-USA, I'm not sold.Almond should make Rice an instant contender in C-USA. He can score from anywhere on the court. He's also becoming a leader that the Owls have lacked. Expect Almond to be a national player this season.
Posted by Ethan Glading @ 08/26/06 12:58 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
25 August 2006
Who Screwed Roger Clemens?
I can't remember if I shamelessly plugged this before, but there's a goofy little exercise I've been doing since it became apparent that the Astros fielders and hitters (who are surprisingly one and the same!) tend to get sloppy when Roger Clemens is on the mound and hurling his best performances.
It's called Who Screwed Roger Clemens Bingo.
The game is simple. I lay out a Bingo card with the roster arranged in a not-so-random order:
Then as each player makes a Clemens-screwing error at the plate, around the basepaths, or in the field I'll tint their square red.
The worse the screwover, the redder. (Ensberg hurls one over Lance's head - slightly red. Ausmus kills a rally with a GIDP - redder. Lane comes in to Pinch-K - even redder. Qualls or Lidge blowing a save - solid red.)
I'll be livebingoing the game over at isfullofcrap.com tonight if you want to play along. I'll also be on most of the major chat networks as isfullofcrap if you think I've been overly harsh or not harsh enough.
Or, you can whip together your own Bingo card. Just be sure to arrange the starters and the other starting pitchers in a way so a Bingo actually is possible.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/25/06 02:55 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
24 August 2006
Texans' O-line concerns Seattle newspaper (and the rest of us)
A Seattle newspaper has a rundown on the Texans.
The author seems to think that the offensive line will continue to be the team's glaring weakness.
There's also this nice capsule:
2005 RECORD: 2-14 (4th, AFC South)
LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: None
COACH (RECORD): Gary Kubiak (first year with Texans, first overall)
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Mike Sherman
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Richard Smith
OFFENSIVE STAR: Domanick Davis, RB (976 rushing yards, 39 receptions, 6 TD)
Nice, except the offensive coordinator is Troy Calhoun, not Mike Sherman.
And Domanick Davis has missed pretty much the whole preseason, so maybe Andre Johnson ought to get the nod as the team's established offensive star, since he actually has made the Pro Bowl as a Texan.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/24/06 10:41 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
UH hopes defense will be improved
The Chronicle's Michael Murphy sounds fired up about UH's new defensive coordinator:
With 10 returning starters from last year's unit, Weddell hasn't found it necessary to raise his voice that much.
He spends his time raising the players' IQs when it comes to his bring-it-fast approach to defense and bring-it-straight approach to life off the field.
"We're really excited because of his style of coaching," said senior linebacker Wade Koehl. "He's implementing core values for our defense right now, and by that I mean he's making sure we're good people.
"Once we are who we need to be off the field, we'll be able to be who we need to be on the field. That's great stuff."
Great stuff is what is expected of Weddell, the former La Marque coach who led that team to three straight state championships (1995-97) and five straight appearances in the state title game.
[snip]
When Briles announced Weddell was replacing Ron Harris as defensive coordinator, it was almost as if a new age dawned on Cullen Boulevard.
It will be nice when the season actually starts, and some of the filler we are seeing in football coverage at the moment is replaced with actual news.
As for UH -- it remains to be seen whether the collection of high school coaches is going to get it done at the I-A level, but the schedule is favorable, and year four is enough time to expect some results.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/24/06 09:55 PM | Technorati | Comments (3)
23 August 2006
Want to be a Red Rowdy?
Jeff Van Gundy was on Charlie Palillo's KBME-790 program touting a Rockets promotion designed to give the Rockets some semblance of a home court advantage, which Van Gundy says has been lacking in recent years.
Here are the details from the Rockets website:
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy and his team want the most passionate red-and-white fans in Houston inside Toyota Center on a permanent basis.
Are you willing to prove that you're one of them?
The organization will hold open auditions on Saturday, Aug. 26 for fans to earn a chance to win season tickets for the 2006-07 season. The winning fans will be seated in the team's new "Red Rowdies" section!
The fun will begin at 9 a.m in Toyota Center. It will be a no-holds barred event where anything goes. Each participant will have 30 seconds to be as outrageous, creative and noisy as possible. The name of the game - Exude Rockets pride!
A select number of rowdy, crazy and energetic fans will receive the grand prize of full season tickets to attend all Rockets home games for the 2006-2007 season.
On Palillo's program, Van Gundy indicated the section would include 50 people total. Are there still 50 hardcore Rockets fan in this city?
UPDATE (08-27-2006): I was being tongue-in-cheek, but only 60 people turned out according to Jeff Balke. I would have expected triple digits at least.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/23/06 08:08 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
22 August 2006
Qualls blows the lead, Chron blows something else
There's something wrong about this story about last night's Astros-Reds game.
See if you can spot it:
Aurilia's blast off Chad Qualls tied the game and was the highlight of a four-run eighth-inning outburst that allowed the Reds to send the Astros to a devastating 4-3 loss Monday night at Great American Ball Park.
"Just stings even more because they scored a bunch of runs late," Qualls said. "They've always scored late, but just the way they scored. I felt good out there and made a couple of good pitches here and there. The one mistake I made, they made me pay for it."
The Astros, losers of eight of their past 10 games, fell six games behind Cincinnati in the National League wild-card race with 37 games remaining. Time is running out, if it hasn't already.
"It's certainly very disappointing," first baseman Lance Berkman said. "There's not much you can say about it."
I'll post the answer in the comments.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/22/06 10:51 AM | Technorati | Comments (1)
Bad Sports podcast (2006-08-21)
In the latest Bad Sports podcast, Ethan Glading and I chat about two more weeks of Astros' futility, the (preseason) 2-0 Houston Texans, the fading Dynamo, and assorted odds and ends.
The podcast is available here:
Bad Sports podcast (2006-08-21).
Technical difficulties with the site and at home kept interfering, or it would have been posted last night.
We're going to work on getting some sort of audio feedback thing set up for future podcasts, so we can play back comments. In the meantime, please feel free to leave us some good old-fashioned textual feedback.
UPDATE: As described on the podcast, look for this kind of fluff all week long:
When he is being compared to his father, Denver head coach Mike Shanahan, Texans receivers coach Kyle Shanahan wants to make something clear.
"I'm taller than my dad," he said. "Of course, just about everyone's taller than he is."
The Shanahans have a special relationship.
Don't try this at home, though, kids. It takes John McClain's thirty years of sports journalism experience to be ready for that kind of reporting! KTRK-13's Bob Allen beat everyone out of the gate with a similar story on Sunday. Everyone will surely have run one by Wednesday.
It's the ongoing MeMofication of sports journalism, where everything must be turned into a feature story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/22/06 08:40 AM | Technorati | Comments (1)
21 August 2006
KBME debuts new local morning sports show
The Chronicle's David Barron writes that KBME-790's new morning show debuted today:
KBME (790 AM) hopes to take the next step as a legitimate Arbitron ratings rival to KILT (610 AM) with the premiere at 7 a.m. today of its new morning show featuring Carl Dukes and newcomer Brad Davies.
Ken Charles, vice president of Clear Channel Communication's Houston cluster, said Davies and Dukes will take a few weeks to work out regular features with the help of three show contributors.
I listened to a little of Davies subbing for Palillo last week. Nothing I heard suggested that there's any good reason for local sports talk fans to shift from KILT-610 to KBME in the mornings, but maybe the new morning duo will be compelling (a "greater than the sum of the parts" sort of deal).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/06 08:44 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
20 August 2006
Not so proud today
A couple of weeks ago, Chronicle baseball beat writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz found someone other than Drayton McLane to lavish praise upon:
Former All-Star slugger Jesse Barfield always told his sons, Josh and Jeremy, that as long as they listened, they'd have a chance to make it in the majors and possibly be better players than he was.
The sons listened. And these are some proud days in Spring for Jesse and Marla Barfield, parents of San Diego Padres rookie Josh and New York Mets draftee Jeremy.
Unfortunately, Jeremy Barfield's success story is overshadowed today by this news that KTRK-13's Kevin Quinn reports:
A high school baseball star from Spring headed to the big leagues is soon to be charged with assaulting his father.
Jeremy Barfield is the 18-year-old son of Jesse Barfield, a former Major Leaguer who tried to make a comeback and play for the Astros in the 90s. Harris County sheriff's deputies arrested Jeremy Barfield at his parents' home Sunday morning. They say he pushed his father down the stairs.
The family lives at an address in Spring in an area known as Spring Creek. Officers responded to the Barfield home Sunday just after 8am, finding Jesse Barfield suffering from a head injury which they believe he sustained during his fall. It's unclear just how far the elder Barfield fell.
Investigators say the father and son had been arguing because the son was late for church.
Jesse Barfield was taken by ambulance to Northwest Memorial Hospital. His condition is not known.
How unfortunate. Here's hoping the elder Barfield recovers fully, and quickly.
UPDATE: KHOU-11 had an interview with elder Barfield and wife tonight. Barfield looked fine. Both were saying their son is a good kid, and this was a misunderstanding and shouldn't be a big public affair.
Umm, didn't the family member who called the police make it a public affair?
UPDATE (08-21-2006): Today's Chronicle story indicates "family members" notified authorities, which doesn't really clarify the matter. While it's possible the notification came in the form of a conference call, that seems unlikely.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/06 06:38 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
19 August 2006
Texans tonight
KTRK-13's Bob Allen just informed that the St. Louis domed stadium doesn't have very many people in it yet, but it's very noisy and could pose problems for the Texans in their preseason matchup with the Rams.
The Texans, of course, are not used to noisy enclosed stadiums, since Reliant was mostly empty last season.
UPDATE: Listening to a full half of that announcing crew on KTRK-13 was torture. I may have to do the second half on mute.
UPDATE 2: One Chron cheerleader is gushing over Mario Williams.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/06 06:42 PM | Technorati | Comments (2)
Comets
The city's WNBA team was bounced from the playoffs today.
The Bad Sports podcast listener representative has sometimes criticized us for talking trash about the Comets.
The listener rep will be relieved to know that we'll have no such reason to do so for months.
The podcast, by the way, will return Monday night, when we'll perhaps offer some commentary on the Cowboys-Saints MNF matchup.
CLARIFICATION: The Bad Sports listener representative wants us to clarify that while not our usual "local" sports beat, the Cowboys-Saints game is set for MNF, when we'll be recording the podcast, and therefore might come up in conversation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/06 06:40 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
18 August 2006
See you in St. Louie, Preston!
The Cardinals scratch their heads at Jim Edmonds and pick up Preston Wilson from the discard pile.
If Wilson keeps up his rallykilling ways, this move just turned the Wild Card Race into the NL Central Pennant Race. Reds fans rejoice.
If Wilson steps up to the challenge and comes back to Minute Maid Sept 21-24 to haunt his former team, who takes the fall for clinging to Jason Lane like a moldy ripped teddy bear?
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/18/06 02:04 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
17 August 2006
Paul Thompson: Sooner QB AND soccer player!
The Big 12 blog may be gone, but the Big 12 related blunders continue.
Click here to pop open a screen cap of the Chron.com sports page today.
Focus on the On Soccer headline.
It's a football story about Oklahoma Sooner quarterback Paul Thompson.
American football. Not soccer. Whoops!
The title for the page also contains the mistake.
UPDATE (08-18-2006): Hey, the title is cleaned up today. Do we have a Chron reader? That could... double our readership here at the little sports spinoff. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/17/06 09:27 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 August 2006
Terrible Big 12 blog retired
There's good news and bad news on the Chron.com sports page.
The good news is, they seem to have retired that dreadful, rarely updated Big 12 blog.
The bad news is, the former lackluster bloggers who previously contributed to that dreadful blog now have individual blogs on Texas A&M and UT.
The best bet is still to go read local newspapers, fan boards, blogs, and quality Big 12 writers at other newspapers. That's a shame, because there is certainly interest in the Big 12 in Houston.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/16/06 07:00 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
UNSC 1702
The United Nations Security Council is currently debating whether to send a 15,000 man multi-league peacekeeping force to protect Roger Clemens' starts as a result of repeated failures by Brad Lidge.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/16/06 01:50 PM | Technorati | Comments (2)
15 August 2006
More than a blow
The Chronicle headline describes the following as "a blow":
It was only four days ago the Astros were sniffing the lead in the National League wild-card race, having put together an impressive stretch that had many believing great things were ahead.
The Astros not only lost more ground in their tenuous playoff chase with a disheartening 3-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Minute Maid Park, they lost their best pitcher to a bruised wrist in the process.
The "many" believing great things were ahead did not include many regulars here at Bad Sports headquarters.
Furthermore, the Astros weren't really "sniffing the lead" four days ago. They weren't quite sniffing .500 even.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/06 12:38 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
Why this season is Garner's fault
During Carlos Zambrano's molestation of the Houston Astros last night, the announcers said that Zambrano has dominated right-handed hitters all season long.
Which stands to reason that left-handed hitters have a chance against him, right?
Let's see...
Huff got a hit. He batted left.
Super Luke got two hits. He batted left.
Berkman didn't get any hits but he got a walk. He batted left.
And yet, Garner left his other lefties Lamb, Munson, and Palmerio on the bench while letting Morgan Ensberg rallykill twice, ultimately stranding seven men.
Palmeiro came in to pinch-hit... after Zambrano was gone.
Lamb came in to pinch-hit... after Zambrano was gone.
Wasn't Garner supposed to be some kind of genius at arranging the lineups to face pitchers on their weaknesses?
I've said this season's already over. No point in repeating it. But if you don't recognize that Garner's guaranteeing a wide gap between his team and the wild card slot with idiotic moves like having Ensberg on third when Lamb should have been there, you need serious help.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/15/06 09:17 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
14 August 2006
Bruntlett
Phil Garner wants Eric Bruntlett back:
Expect the Astros to find a way to get utility player Eric Bruntlett back on the roster by the end of the month.
Bruntlett, who was optioned to Class AAA Round Rock on Aug. 2, played a key role for the Astros in the playoffs last season as a late-inning defensive replacement.
Playoff rosters must be set by the end of the month, but manager Phil Garner didn't want to hear questions about Bruntlett's October value.
"Let's get to .500 first," Garner said. "Let's rephrase that question. Is he a guy you'd like to have to get you to .500? Get you above .500? Yeah."
I'm sure the folks down at Round Rock would agree:
Eric Bruntlett now has three hits in twenty-eight at-bats since arriving at AAA.
You have to wonder about Phil Garner when he's got one of the best defensive shortstops in the majors in Adam Everett, and he uses Eric Bruntlett as a defensive substitution.
Brunt was this year's Vizzy, I guess. Throw him in when the starters have a hard time getting up from the bench with all the aches and pains.
Luke Scott was vastly improved, polished by the Roundrock Tumbler. Isn't there anybody else down there that Garner and Purpura can pull up, or are they afraid to bring someone up that will make the Jason Lane move back to Houston seem even more idiotic in retrospect?
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/14/06 03:41 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
We know what the BS stands for, now we know what the C means
Charley Casserly found new employment recently:
Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck was named Monday as host of Fox NFL Sunday, and former Texans general manager Charley Casserly landed a new job as an analyst for CBS Sports' The NFL Today.
Buck will remain as Fox's lead game play by play voice but will do double duty as Fox takes its pre-game show on the road for most games this season. He also will anchor Fox's postgame show on most Fox doubleheader weekends.
...
Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck was named Monday as host of Fox NFL Sunday, and former Texans general manager Charley Casserly landed a new job as an analyst for CBS Sports' The NFL Today.
Buck will remain as Fox's lead game play by play voice but will do double duty as Fox takes its pre-game show on the road for most games this season. He also will anchor Fox's postgame show on most Fox doubleheader weekends.
Because the guy you want analysing teams is someone who, as a former GM, assembled an 18 and 48 doormat for five years and gave a supposedly top-notch quarterback an offensive line with the protection factor of a whifflecondom.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/14/06 03:38 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
12 August 2006
Rallykiller gets Roundrocked
Preston of the Plutonium Sombrero won't be killing any more rallies for the Astros:
To make room for their newest starting pitcher, the Houston Astros said goodbye to outfielder Preston Wilson.
The Astros on Saturday recalled righthander Jason Hirsh from Class AAA Round Rock to start against the San Diego Padres. To make room on the roster, Houston designated Wilson for assignment.
The 32-year-old Wilson, who was signed as a free agent this past offseason, was batting .269 with nine home runs and 55 RBI in 102 games for the Astros.
How soon after this news did ESPN's Joe Morgan scream that the Houston Astros were a racist organization because they dumped Wilson instead of Jason Lane?
UPDATE
Purpura says Wilson will get traded or cut, not roundrocked.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/12/06 05:50 PM | Technorati | Comments (4)
Big local sports day
It's a HUGE day for local professional sports.
The surging Astros are at home, and have injected themselves back into the wild-card race despite still being below .500. I'm still bearish on their chances, but I hope they prove me wrong.
The Texans have a home preseason game, so we can finally stop reading Chron columnists gushing on and on and start to see things for ourselves.
And the Dynamo try to solve the scoring woes that have plagued the team since Brian Ching departed earlier in the season for the World Cup, with a big matchup against Dallas at Robertson.
I plan on parking it on the couch and checking out the Texans later.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/12/06 03:04 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Dave Maggard blog?
UH athletics director Dave Maggard appears to have started a blog.
There's just one post, and there don't seem to be working hyperlinks/archives.
However, there at least is the WORD archives, and the hint of a comments feature (although it looks like an email form). The mere hint of those features puts it ahead of certain non-blogs put out by Clear Channel.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/12/06 02:45 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
09 August 2006
Bomar, Quinn looking into UH?
The Chronicle's Ronnie Turner posted an interesting bit of news this morning:
Former Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar, who was kicked off the team last week after it was revealed he violated NCAA rules, visited the University of Houston campus Tuesday, keeping open the chance he might transfer to the school next semester.
Bomar toured the facilities and met with UH head coach Art Briles. Should Bomar, a redshirt sophomore, commit to a Division I-A school, it is believed Houston would be a strong possibility. Bomar is also considering Division I-AA school Sam Houston State. If Bomar transfers to a Division I-A school, he must sit out a minimum of one season because of NCAA transfer rules. That does not include the possible suspension he faces from the NCAA.
There's also word on the CoogFans message boards that fellow NCAA cheat JD Quinn, who was also kicked off the Oklahoma football team, is looking into UH.
Rhett Bomar's dad seems to be shopping the kid around quite a bit, but doesn't seem to have made his mind up where his little projected NFL starter is going to wind up.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/06 10:09 PM | Technorati | Comments (6)
07 August 2006
Kubiak-Carr
CNN/SI's Peter King takes a look at the new Kubiak-Carr dynamic:
This is why Gary Kubiak is the best thing that ever happened to David Carr:
The other day, Carr threw a pass into a coverage scheme that he and Kubiak knew right away was the wrong pass at the wrong time. Terrible decision. Instead of soft-pedaling his criticism, which is the way Carr has been treated for four years as the Disappointing Golden Boy of Houston football, Kubiak offered this gem: "You've been in the league four years and you make that throw? There is no way you can make a throw into coverage like that!''
You've got to love a coach who does not come in and kiss the franchise quarterback's heinie, because smooching is not what Carr needs.
Considering the number of times Carr gets sacked, you have to roll him over on his face half of the time to reach it.
"David can't assume, 'I'm OK, we've just got to fix the stuff around me,''' Kubiak told me after a Texans practice, sounding Parcellsian. "He's not OK. He's a long way from being OK.''
Compare that to John McClain's glowing praise of the Titan's pick... some guy named Vince... something.
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/07/06 03:08 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Hirshtalk
Kevin and Ethan must be drooling with glee over this possibility:
Because of today's scheduled day off, the Astros won't need a fifth starter until Saturday, which means the club likely will have to make another roster move to bring up a starter this week.
Manager Phil Garner has made it clear he'd like to carry 12 pitchers -- the club is currently at 11 -- and has said Fernando Nieve will pitch only from the bullpen. The only other candidate to start Saturday's game who is on the roster is long reliever Dave Borkowski.
That means we could see righthander Jason Hirsh called up from Class AAA Round Rock. Hirsh (13-2, 2.13 ERA) is scheduled to pitch again for the Express tonight, so his subsequent turn in the rotation would be Saturday.
Purpura and Garner are just as capable of bringing back Chris Sampson, Matt Albers, Philip Barzilla, Freaky Zeke Astacio, and even Wandy Rodriguez based on their idiotic move to return Jason "Walk Or Whiff" Lane to the 25-man roster.
However, if Garner needs to roundrock a position player, Jason Lane's the man to go down and stay down (until Garner/Purpura brainfart when it's time to make the 40-man selection).
My prediction is Freaky Zeke comes back, Jason Lane goes down, and Zeke gets rocked in ways Jose Lima can only dream about.
Who do you think will get roundrocked to make room for Hirsh?
Posted by Laurence Simon @ 08/07/06 01:23 PM | Technorati | Comments (2)
Bad sports podcast (2006-08-06)
On this edition of the Bad Sports podcast, Ethan Glading and I discuss the Astros' good week (one good week isn't, unfortunately, good enough to win the wild card), Texans' training camp (anybody have two practice tickets?), and a whole bunch of odds and ends.
Bad Sports podcast (2006-08-06)
We'll be taking this Sunday off. In two weeks, we'll be back with plenty of Astros and Texans talk, I'm sure.
UPDATE: As referenced in the podcast, Rob Booth's objection to the name Dynamo.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/07/06 06:19 AM | Technorati | Comments (1)
04 August 2006
Clear Channel launches another non-blog
Fresh off the launch of the Chris Baker non-blog, Clear Channel has launched another non-blog: ESPN 790 sports talker Charlie Pallilo's Pallilog.
Why are these Clear Channel webpages non-blogs?
Because they lack features common to even basic weblogs hosted on free services, such as permalinks, archives, comments, RSS feeds.
A "blog" that can't be linked or commented on or tracked via RSS isn't much of a blog.
It's too bad. Pallilo's a smart guy who would be a great addition to the local blogosphere.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/04/06 07:50 AM | Technorati | Comments (4)
02 August 2006
Astros win a series!
The Astros just won tonight, to make it two for two so far against the San Diego Padres.
That gives them their first series win in a while. Maybe they can get the sweep.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/02/06 11:48 PM | Technorati | Comments (2)
Mr. McLane is swell! (cont'd)
In a remarkably short column today, Drayton McLane Astros beat writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz takes his cheerleading for owner Drayton McLane to new extremes:
If Drayton McLane's ownership of the club hadn't made Houston such a rabid baseball town by spoiling the community with its most consistent winning era, folks would hardly care what was happening on the fifth floor at Union Station.
[snip]
If you give McLane a chance, he'll sell you on his sincere desire to do what is best for the Astros. In intimate settings, he comes off as a grandfatherly sage, a giant of a businessman who knows leadership is paramount.
"Change and new challenges are good," he said Thursday.
McLane is as competitive as any of his players, and the few mistakes he has made in baseball have been done with the best intentions.
And if you think we're apologizing for McLane, you should have listened to his disappointed tone on the other end of the phone late Monday night when he believed the Chronicle was putting words into Oswalt's mouth.
That's just embarrassing.
The editors of the sports section really need to have a visit with Ortiz, to help him get this fawning over the Astros owner under control.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/02/06 11:33 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
Saints RB goes to Chiefs
All summer, media reports have indicated that the Texans hoped to pull off a deal for Saints running back Michael Bennett. That will not be happening:
The Kansas City Chiefs acquired running back Michael Bennett from the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, but insisted that didn't mean Priest Holmes would retire.
[snip]
The Saints traded Bennett for an undisclosed choice in the 2007 NFL draft.
The Texans remain in need of depth at running back, since their starter has knee problems and they drafted Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/02/06 01:42 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
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