Month: August 2007 (Page 9 of 16)

#%@&#$* Yankees!

August 16, 2007 / John Paulsen

BOSTON—Moments after the New York Yankees continued a month-long stretch that has seen them climb from the bottom of the AL East to pull within a once unfathomable four games of the first-place Red Sox by defeating the Baltimore Orioles Monday night, stunned and enraged baseball fans across America took a moment to shake their heads in disbelief and curse dejectedly at the relentless inevitability of Yankee glory.
“Fucking Yankees,” said Marshfield, MA resident and longtime Red Sox fan Lawrence Broberg, echoing the sentiments of thousands of men and woman across the nation. “Every year. Every goddamn year.”
The Yankees, coming off a decisive three-game sweep of the Central-leading Indians, have won nine out of their last 10 games, catapulting them to the top of the wild-card standings, restoring the team’s infuriating confidence, and instilling a sinking sense of impending misery among all non-Yankee fans.
“It’s like they can’t lose,” said Connecticut resident Gerry DiCenzo, who could only watch helplessly as the Yankees overcame a late Orioles rally to win their fourth straight. “They literally cannot lose. Suddenly no one can beat the Yankees. The Red Sox suck. The Orioles suck. Everyone sucks. Everyone suddenly sucks when they play the Yankees.”

Click here to laugh some more.

Fantasy Baseball, MLB

The dumbest gym owner in the world

August 16, 2007 / John Paulsen

Everyone who follows the NBA knows that Ray Allen is a standup guy. He is consistently lauded for his work in the community and has acted as a diplomat for the league. David Stern often speaks fondly of his work. So when a story breaks about a suburban-Hartford fitness club owner confronting Allen after a workout, it raises a few eyebrows.

Allen was given a guest pass to work out at WOW Fitness in Cromwell a few weeks ago and said he was given the OK to continue working out for free. Allen said he offered to pay for a membership several times but was told it wasn’t necessary. He had been there about eight times and one employee approached him about possibly linking up with the owner for a business deal that could bring more members to the club.
Good move. It was something Ray said he didn’t commit to, but was open to, because as a longtime community-oriented guy he envisioned new Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett and Glen “Big Baby” Davis along with Paul Pierce working out with him at times in the state.
Allen had ended his workout and was sitting down having his customary protein shake when he noticed a man he assumed was the owner – Lou Soteriou – having a back-and-forth with employees.
“I got up and walked back there and when I walked around the corner he was standing there waiting for me with this look of disgust on his face like I stole some money from him,” Allen said. “I extended my hand to him to say, `How ya doin’. I’m Ray. Nice to meet you.’ And he just had his hand on his hip. He didn’t even offer to shake my hand. `Did I do something to offend you?’ because I wasn’t trying to take any money from him. I didn’t take any money from him. So he goes on this rant about who gave you a pass to come in here. So I said, `One of your employees gave me the pass. I’m a guest.
“He said, `Why don’t you just buy a membership like everybody else? I have a business here to run. I don’t give any free handouts. I have a business to run here.’ … He was yelling at me like I was one of his kids or something, but once he said that he walked out the office, just walked away from me. I said, `I’ll never come in your gym again.’ He was like, `Don’t come back.'”

This looks like a case of the manager having more business sense than the owner. I don’t think that professional athletes should get everything for free, but in a situation like this, a business can make a lot of money by giving a guy like Ray Allen a free membership and making it known that he works out at their facility. Celtic (and UConn) fans in the area would flock to the gym just so that they could tell their buddies that they work out where Ray-Ray works out. One free membership could turn into a hundred or more paid memberships.

Soteriou certainly has a right to be upset if Allen comes in and demands a free pass, but that wasn’t the case here. Maybe Soteriou had a misunderstanding with his manager, or maybe he was just having a bad day, but the decision to kick Allen out of his gym was not a good one.

So next time one of your buddies flies off the handle without thinking, tell him he just “pulled a Soteriou.”

NBA, Rumors & Gossip

5,000 yards for Kitna this season? Come on Kirwan!

August 15, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

Check out the crap NFL.com’s Pat Kirwan is slinging out these days:

“After watching their three- and four-wideout packages with Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson, Mike Furrey and Shaun McDonald, the one thing that looked clear to me is (Jon) Kitna is on his way to a 5,000-yard season.”

Now, mind you, only one other quarterback has passed for over 5,000 yards and Kitna is no Dan Marino, who threw for 5, 084 yards in 1984.

Everybody is geeked about the Lions offense this year and it’s hard not to with the combination of Mike Martz, Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson. However, will Tatum Bell be successful without Alex Gibbs’ zone block system? If Detroit can’t run the ball, defenses will just key on the pass and no team can be successful one-dimensional. Plus, will the offense line give Kitna a millisecond to even get the ball off?

I agree with Kirwan’s assessment that the Lions will be behind in many games this year, forcing them to pass a lot, but the prediction of Kitna passing for 5,000 yards is a bit much.

General Sports, NFL

KJ to miss first 6 weeks?

August 15, 2007 / John Paulsen

What is going on in Detroit? First, we hear that RB Kevin Jones is only 50/50 to start the season. Then, the Lions say that he is “ahead of schedule” in his return. Now, the Sporting News is reporting that KJ is expected to stay on PUP, which will cause him to miss the first 6 weeks of the season.

RB Kevin Jones (Lisfranc surgery) is expected to remain on the physically unable to perform list and miss the first six games of the regular season. Jones is ahead of schedule and is expected to make a full recovery but team officials want to be cautious with his return. Tatum Bell, who has impressed the coaching staff with his versatility, will be the starter. …

Fantasy owners are unsure about which direction to head. On one hand, you have Bell, who is a talented runner that reportedly looks great in camp. On the other, you have Jones, who finished as RB12 in PPR leagues even though he missed four games in 2006. Bell is going 6.01 in Antsports drafts, while KJ is going 8.01.

With this report about KJ, Bell suddenly becomes a serious sleeper in the fifth round. If it is confirmed by the team, he would be a very interesting pick in the fourth. There’s going to be risk, but that’s the case with any of the guys (Cadillac Williams, Ahman Green, Marshawn Lynch, DeAngelo Williams, etc) being drafted in that round. If Jones stays on PUP, at worst you have a likely top 10 RB for the first six weeks of the season. I’d recommending grabbing KJ later to cover yourself, but these types of situations rarely happen on schedule. If he sits out and Bell is running well, chances are good that they’ll bring him along slowly and Bell’s value will continue deeper into the season.

Update: According to the Detroit News, Mike Martz thinks that KJ will be back for week 1:

Martz said Wednesday that he thinks Jones will be ready to play when the Lions play at Oakland on Sept. 9.
“Yeah, I do,” Martz said after practice Wednesday. “I think we’re all optimistic about that. I think Kevin is, too. He’s making good progress, and we’re all anxious to have him back.”
When healthy, Jones has been the starting tailback for his three seasons with the Lions. However, Martz did not guarantee that he would reclaim his starting job immediately.
“He has to come back and compete for his job like everybody else,” Martz said. “Nobody has a stake on anything. It’s like everywhere else. He’s got to come back and get back in football shape and compete with all the other backs in that spot.
“You can’t plan this stuff. You just cannot plan. What you have to do is wait, get him back, and you take one step at a time. As soon as you make these plans, these plans start getting broken.”

You know all that stuff I said before about Bell being an interesting pick in the 5th (or even the 4th)? Scratch it.

This is turning into a mess of Shanahan-sized proportions. Martz has always been a one-back guy (Marshall Faulk, Steven Jackson, etc.), so someone should emerge. The lesson? If you’re going to draft one Detroit RB, you better draft both.

Fantasy Football, NFL

The Value Draft

August 15, 2007 / John Paulsen

There are many keys to a successful fantasy football draft, but you’re unlikely to be a true title contender if you don’t uncover some value picks throughout the draft. In my latest column, The Value Draft, I pinpoint a few value prospects in rounds 1-11, yielding a lineup that includes Steve Smith and Thomas Jones.