by Chumley on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 10:17am
The Mariners have had a schizophrenic season. They have overachieved and managed to stay in the playoff race despite such dubious signings as Miguel Batista and Jeff Weaver as well as a mildly disappointing showing from Felix Hernandez. (Meanwhile Gil Meche, who they let go, weirdly made the All-Star team). Despite all of this, their manager who was on the hot seat entering the year, walked away while the team was on an eight-game winning streak.
Now the M’s are just a 1/2-game out of the wild card and have called up their No. 1 prospect, outfielder Adam Jones to fortify was has been a pretty inconsistent offense. Good news right? Not with these flannel-wearing rain-soaked coffee drinkers.
“I’m pissed off. I just hope they understand this is not Triple-A,” said Jose Guillen. “This is the big leagues. I guess they have something to do but this is a totally different league,” he continued. Wow, that is not exactly baking a pie for the kid. “I understand he’s a good prospect and if they think that he’s ready, then hey we’ll see.” I can just imagine him cracking his knuckles while offering that quote. For more reaction and ad audio link, click here.
Adam Jones would be hard-pressed to not be a significant upgrade as a starter over LF Raul Ibanez. But more likely he will fill in here and there while trying to avoid Jose Guillen.
There was a determination in our secret admin forum that there haven’t been enough Lebron posts. So I’ll offer up a video of the top five NBA plays from last night. I am guaranteeing that the White Mamba (in GC’s good vs. evil script) will be in at least one of them. He has to be, right?
According to Bucky Brooks, more teams will be going to the dreaded plan of shared RB workloads.
Teams using the dual-back philosophy believe that splitting the carries helps both runners stay fresh in individual games and over the season. In addition to keeping both runners fresh, the two-back system is a great way to incorporate rookie ball-carriers into the offense. Jones-Drew, Reggie Bush, Joseph Addai and Laurence Maroney put up big numbers as part-timers. After being eased into the lineup early in the season, each saw their numbers increase steadily during the last few months of the season. This year’s first-round picks, Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch, will get the same opportunity to share the load with established veterans during their rookie seasons.
Many of the teams that used a two-back system last year lost one of their ball-carriers in the offseason, but don’t be surprised if they turn to rookies or unproven young players to step in and fill the void. For example, the Colts lost Dominic Rhodes but will likely turn to second-year pro DeDe Dorsey or former CFLer Kenton Keith to pick up some of the slack. Yes, no one has ever heard of those guys, but who had heard of Rhodes before he got to Indy?
Brooks says other offensive trends for the coming season include more prominent use of tight ends and late-round draft picks starting (!) on the offensive line.
I’ve been too busy successfully boycotting Walmart to take the time to boycott the NBA playoffs. And with both underdogs winning at home in their respective Game 3s, it is safe to say that these series’ now have a little life. Unfortunately, columnist Gregg Doyel chooses today to pull out the LeBron is better than M.J. column he has been saving under his pillow. It’s a holiday after all.
But King James is not immune from criticism. Even today Swamp veteran kwgduke pointed out this article in which LeBron is accused of having attitude problems that make him unwanted on Team USA. I’d say the argument about him not fitting into the team holds water. James also is taking some heat for refusing to sign an open letter to China criticizing them for their complicit nature regarding the Darfur genocide. China, Sudan’s largest trading partner, is of course also a big market for Nikes.
by Chumley on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 01:49pm
We are designing some T-shirts and would like you to vote on what we should put on them. Please go to this Swamp thread and vote on which slogan you like best.
By the way, this is a perfect opportunity for some of you lurkers to introduce yourselves and get involved in the discussion. Turdferguson’s only good for two or three hands-down hysterical per a day. So let’s get some fresh voices in there.
Here are some other Swamp threads to which you may want to add two pennies:
by Chumley on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 12:29am
TrueHoop was in Secaucus and has some thoughts worth pondering following Portland’s lucky night.
I am not convinced that that this is guaranteed to be a Greg Oden pick, and I imagine this’ll be like the Dwight Howard/Emeka Okafor draft where no one will really know for sure until David Stern says the name. Even if Portland intimates they have a clear favorite, I’m not buying it until it’s official. Also, before the lottery there was much talk that Portland didn’t need to get any younger, and might trade the pick for a veteran. I imagine that is crazy talk now, but for the record, the veteran you could get just got a lot nicer.
Also:
–This lottery does not do wonders to restore the East/West balance of power.
–Worth considering: if Portland takes Oden, and Durant turns into the next Michael Jordan, Portland will have passed on both Michael Jordans. For the record, I trust Kevin Pritchard with this decision.
–I suppose this means Zach Randolph is more available than ever? Dallas?
Maybe you are aware of a baseball blog called Bugs & Cranks. I wasn’t until a few minutes ago, but I am pretty impressed. It has a lot to look at but one of the most interesting finds so far is a look inside the locker room of the Phillies.
What’s inside? Well, Tom Gordon has a bunch of superhero action figures. Pat Burrell has an autographed picture of the Rat Pack. Ryan Howard has an Astros jersey. There is no shot of Wes Helms’ locker, so I’m not sure if he actually is going to try the ‘roids. HGH? Creatine? Power bars? (Come on, Wes. Do it!)
So go to this cool (new?) blog and check it out.
ETA: Man, you can zoom in on the locker pictures too. Where did this blog come from? I can’t even get our blockquotes to work.
DGetSamn good example today about how good the Big East is. Probably 10 teams there that can beat anybody in America. (via @sharapovasthigh) 6 days ago
The Mariners have had a schizophrenic season. They have overachieved and managed to stay in the playoff race despite such dubious signings as Miguel Batista and Jeff Weaver as well as a mildly disappointing showing from Felix Hernandez. (Meanwhile Gil Meche, who they let go, weirdly made the All-Star team). Despite all of this, their manager who was on the hot seat entering the year, walked away while the team was on an eight-game winning streak.
I’ve been too busy 
We are designing some T-shirts and would like you to vote on what we should put on them. Please go to