By The Beachwood Olympic Bureau
1. “That kind of celebration is not uncommon in Canada.”
Posted on February 26, 2010
Fantasy Fix
In the real world, the move that sent Antawn Jamison to Cleveland was the most significant of a series of late-breaking deadline deals, essentially guaranteeing LeBron James and the Cavs their first NBA championship.
Not so in the fantasy world. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jamison and James both see a leveling off in their numbers as they try to get a rhythm going (though for James, that just means fewer triple-doubles).
No, in the fantasy world, the trade with the most impact will be the one that sent Brendan Haywood to Dallas, along with Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson. Haywood, not Jamison or James, is likely to see the biggest bump in his stats.
Haywood moves from the stodgy Eastern Conference to the wild Western, where his rebounds and blocks will get constant feeding from the West’s overly-aggressive shooters.
And while Haywood has never been an offensive star, he’s got more game with the ball in hand than Erick Dampier and other Dallas big-men, so the position might become more important to the Mavs offensively.
Just another reminder that fantasy evaluation is a different animal than real world evaluation.
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It’s Week 18, and all this trading after a lackluster All-Star break makes the NBA fun again. Let’s take a look.
Posted on February 25, 2010
Tommy Boy’s Cubs
By George Ofman
Tom Ricketts, the new owner of the Cubs, sauntered into training camp in Mesa with an important message for his adopted dysfunctional clan: “We want everyone to feel they’re part of the family.”
Somewhere, Sister Sledge was experiencing a minor seizure.
Has Ricketts met Carlos Zambrano yet? And did he hand him a Gatorade and the business card of a friendly shrink?
If he shook hands with Alfonso Soriano, did he whisper in his ear, “You’re part of the family only I want some of my money back?”
Did he trade high fives with Carlos Marmol? That would be the safe way as opposed to having the Cubs’ closer throw him a “welcome to the family” first pitch.
Did he hug Geovany Soto and tell him fish and chicken is where it’s at? Did he bow to Kosuke Fukudome and then rush to translate the value of the yen to the dollar?
The new boss is ecstatic about owning a team whose heritage is about losing. But he brings with him an air of boyish charm and optimism.
“Oh man, it gets better and better,” he enthused. If he’s talking about the pitching staff, I can suggest an opthalmologist in Scottsdale.
“This is terrific” he offered of hobnobbing with the players in the locker room. “We think we had a terrific off-season and we have great players and great coaches and we should have a great year.”
Someone better warn Ricketts comedowns are hard to take when believing in the Cubs.
Posted on February 24, 2010
Olympic Moments
By The Beachwood Olympic Bureau
Ice dancing, the mysteries of curling, Ryan Miller’s exhaustion and the Unemployed Olympics.
1. Sensuous and flowing.
Posted on February 23, 2010
SportsMonday: Sorry, Canada
By Jim Coffman
I feel bad for Canada. Everyone agrees the hosers who live up there care more about a certain Olympic sport more than any other athletic pursuit, eh? Although I am generally loathe to generalize about these sorts of things, it is clear that the Winter Olympic host nation’s heart is housed in a hockey rink. And Sunday’s loss had to burn, burn, burn.
I was happy when the U.S. men’s hockey team triumphed 5-3 in Vancouver on Sunday evening. But I know I wasn’t nearly as happy as millions of Canucks were hacked off that their team had let them down. Then again, I’m a sap for even thinking about this. If I may paraphrase Da Coach: In life there are winners and losers and if the former doesn’t want to become the latter, it won’t waste time thinking about feelings. I would say “Just win, baby” at this point except the forever Raider famous for the phrase actually just loses these days. Instead I’ll go with, “My condolences, Canada.”
Posted on February 22, 2010
TrackNotes: Santa Margaritaville
By Thomas Chambers
You try to be a fan.
They look the other way on corked bats and steroids to produce ultimately meaningless home runs. They put out the yellow flag to keep the “stock” cars together lest a master mechanic set up his ride to run and hide. They sanction one woods as big as a Wiffle golf club to make sure you don’t swing and miss.
And now they’re seriously considering eliminating weights in the Santa Margarita Invitational, a Grade 1 handicap race Zenyatta will use as a prep for her April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational showdown with Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra at Oaklawn Park.
God forbid Zenyatta loses a race under normal, competitive conditions.
You have to remember not to blame the animal. Trainer John Shireffs and owners Ann and Jerry Moss coddled her by keeping her at home on the synthetic California circuit for most of her 14-0 career, lucking out in having her Breeders’ Cup Classic on her familiar Santa Anita course.
Posted on February 19, 2010
Olympic Moments
By The Beachwood Olympic Bureau
1. It’s all about the amplitude, dude.
Posted on February 18, 2010
Setting The Spring Training Table
By George Ofman
Hope springs eternal. Cubs fans, of course, are eternally hopeful every spring.
White Sox fans are simply grateful they have what the Cubs don’t: a World Series title.
Welcome to spring training, where our boys of summer have designs on being the boys of October.
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The Cubs will convene in Mesa, Arizona, where trying to pay for a new facility has rankled the other 14 major league tenants who have thrived thanks to the Cubs’ existence in the Cactus League.
The Cubs have been printing money here for years. What they haven’t done is hang banners proclaiming “World Champs.”
Posted on February 17, 2010
Fantasy Fix: Baseball’s Top 40
By Dan O’Shea
Fantasy basketball leagues have been on All-Star hiatus since last Thursday and just starting up again as I write this. So, this week, will skip our fantasy hoops treasure hunt and go right to our first fantasy baseball report of the year.
As Major League Baseball spring training starts this week, there’s no question who will be the first two picks, but after that things get pretty interesting. Overall, I think it will be a big year to go after starting pitchers in the early rounds, and probably a good time to lower superstar outfielder expectations. Here’s my top 40:
1. Albert Pujols, 1B, STL: No doubter, despite what was actually a slow second half last year.
2. Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA: Still young, still looking for batting average, stolen bases to grow.
3. Ryan Braun, OF, MIL: A stat motherlode. BA, SBs make him a better third choice than A-Rod.
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NYY: His first un-stressed season in years after a great post-season, but aging.
5. Chase Utley, 2B, PHI: Tough call because all-around stud could easily be third. No. 1 in 2011?
Posted on February 17, 2010
Olympic Moments
By The Beachwood Olympic Bureau
1. Our intrepid correspondent Scott Buckner checks in:
I’ve never been a huge fan of figure skating, mostly because I happen to favor winter Olympic sports where it’s possible to either kill yourself or get disqualified because you simply can’t handle a snowboard like American crash-and-burn Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis.
But I’m paying attention to Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko and his trash talk. Like it or not, Plushenko’s a contender for a gold medal, and when you’re in contention, trash talk is acceptable.
More disturbing is the trash emanating from Team America. “American Johnny Weir will provide another dose of shock value with his outrageous and extravagant performance in the long program, but he sits in sixth place and seems well out of contention,” Yahoo! Sports notes.
Green Day may want to adopt Johnny Weir for it’s Glee-inspired Broadway show, except under the working title American Asshole.
Posted on February 17, 2010