Weekend Hangover - Love/Hate

LOVE

- You can’t stop the Flying Monkey, Calvin Borel if he gets to the rail by the last turn!! Borel rode Super Saver to the victory on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs this weekend, giving trainer Todd Pletcher his first Derby win. The most unfortunate part of the entire event was that the rain put a damper on the hats and ridiculous outfits that could be shown. The best story was the short awkward guy who won a contest that allowed him to make a $100,000 single bet, and he put that money down on Super Saver, which went off at 8-1 odds, bringing the guy a cool $800,000 for winning the contest. That’s awesome. And since there is no reason to post a picture of Calvin Borel or a horse to start the week, I’ll instead opt for a picture of Diane Lane because she is going to be in an upcoming movie about Secretariat and was at the Derby this weekend.

- Coffee is for Kobe Bryant. (to get the reference, check this clip from Glengary Glen Ross – warning: language from Alec Baldwin) Kobe scored 11 points in the final 4 minutes of the Lakers victory in game 1 over Utah, and totaled 30 points on only 19 shots, making 12 of them. He started the game hot, and then coasted through the middle of the game, allowing Pau Gasol to keep LA in the game until Bryant came in to shut the door. Kobe has a banged up finger on his shooting hand and a gimpy knee and is still the most dangerous player in the league at winning time.

- If you missed the opening game of the Cavaliers-Celtics series on Saturday night, you most likely missed the best game of the series. Was it that great of a game? No, but it’s unlikely that the old Celtics will be able to maintain the level of intensity and effort needed to compete with the Cavs. Two years ago the C’s knocked out LeBron on the shoulders of an unbelievable performance from Paul Pierce, and it is unlikely Pierce can replicate that performance this season. Saturday night was the most rest the Celtics will have before a game in this series and they still couldn’t pull out the win. Look for the Cavs to finish them off in 6 games.

HATE

- Shut Up Brett Favre. Obviously he was feeling unloved during the NFL Draft and Chris Berman must have not met his quota of mentioning Brett and genuflecting at least once per 20 minutes when he is discussing the NFL. So Brett decides that he now needs to come out on his website and mention that he needs ankle surgery if he wants to come back next season. Of course he follows it up with comments that it’s not the worst pain and he could play and you shouldn’t think that the injury would be the reason he would retire. Whatever, dude, we’re so sick of your routine and even your most ardent supporters are starting to get sick of this scripted act every spring. Just go away once and for all you drama queen.

- It was unfortunate that the Milwaukee Bucks laid an egg in game 7 against the Hawks on Sunday as the Hawks advanced to play the Orlando Magic. The Hawks are tremendously more talented than the Bucks, but the Bucks were able to stay in the series without Andrew Bogut because they played hard, played intelligent, and played with poise and determination. The Hawks are very athletic, but extremely undisciplined, sloppy, and Mike Woodson was thoroughly outcoached all series by Scott Skiles. But keep your head’s up Bucks fans, I’ll let my college roommate, the biggest Bucks fan I know and a guy we called Bango tell us why it’s going to be okay for the Bucks in the future:

1) Brandon Jennings: It is unreal to think that he is all of 20 years old. With an NBA season under his belt the sky is the absolute limit. Once he can hit a jumper at a 42-44% clip, he will be impossible to stop.
2) John Hammond-took inherited a garbage heap and made it into a 6th seed. Makes you wonder who was the one making things happen in Detroit during their times of prosperity.
3) Andrew Bogut-breakout year this year both offensively and defensively. Unfortunatelty the Bucks luck turned against them in the fateful game he messed up his arm, but he has turned himself into a second team all-NBA center according to many experts. He was also the brain child of the ingenious and incredibly successful “Squad 6.”
4) Scott Skiles – the guy can flat out coach and gets the most out of his players. Continue surrounding him with talent and we can only get better.

- Is it too soon to give up on the Brewers? I hope not, but I do not have v.ery much faith in this pitching staff to turn it around and get them above .500. Add to that the prolonged offensive slumps like this weekend against the Padres (2 runs in 4 games – one of which was a HR from the pitcher?) and you have the makings of a 75 win season at best.

- Well, no matter what Brian Kelley does to improve Notre Dame football, he can’t undo this video. Ouch. I talked to a good friend and golden dome alumni and his response pretty much summed it all up: “I just lit my diploma on fire. I couldn’t be more embarrassed.”

Heisman Vote - Brewers Signings - Snow Man Video

We’ll get to my thoughts on the Heisman, but first my thoughts on the Brewers action in free agency, my Thursday Night NFL pick, and at the end, a snowman video.

The Brewers were active yesterday, signing two veteran left-handers to bolster their pitching, which was putrid last year (starting pitching ERA was tied for last in the majors). Randy Wolf, a 33-year-old starter was signed for 3 years at $29.75 million, and LaTroy Hawkins, a 37-year-old reliever inked a 2 year deal for $7.5 million total.

The Hawkins signing seems like a pretty good deal for a veteran reliever that can be a set-up man for Trevor Hoffman, and has closing experience if necessary. Hawkins still has pretty good pop on his fastball, hitting the low-90’s consistently, which is a perfect contrast to Hoffman and his devastating change-up. Last year Brewers opponents saw Suppan’s 86 mph fastball, followed by Carlos Villanueva’s 87 mph fastball in the set-up roll before Hoffman came in with his 89 mph fastball. Now, hopefully Hawkins ability to consistently buzz the plate in the low 90’s will not allow the hitters to sit on the heater.

At first blush, I was underwhelmed by the signing of Randy Wolf, and confused by how aggressive the Brewers were in going after him. I’m still a little fearful that giving a 33-year old a 3 year contract could be risky, but after looking at the numbers, reading about his career and looking at the other options, I am firmly in the “good signing” camp on this one. Wolf has good velocity on his fastball and has a wicked curve. He has been healthy since his return from Tommy John in 2006, among the league leaders in starts in 2008 and 2009. He is an innings eater, and is a perfect core component of a good pitching staff. While that sounds less than thrilling, it is.

I think his upside is a great #2 in the rotation, and his likely production will make him a very solid #3 starter. So doesn’t $9 million seem expensive for a #3 starter? There are two ways to look at it: First, would you have traded Mike “K”ameron for Randy Wolf? I would have in a heartbeat. “K”ameron made $10 million last year. Second, there weren’t better options out there, and the Brewers may not be done. Basically, the Brewers were at the dance, scouting the talent, and they had more than few drinks in them to drown the sorrows of last year's disappointment. After that seventh drink, they decided they had the money to buy a drink for the best looking girl at the bar - and you're hoping that she turns out to still be good looking once you sober up - like Jenna Fischer after a couple seasons of The Office.

With the money they saved trading J.J. Hardy, they might still be in the running for Jarrod Washburn, a Wisconsin native. There is also still a chance they can pull off a trade for Javier Vazquez of Atlanta by dangling Matt Gamel out there. And finally, what about Ben Sheets or Mark Mulder? I know they’re coming off injuries, but they have tremendous upside if they can return to some form of their old selves. If you can ink them to an incentive-laden deal, wouldn’t that be worth it? We know Sheets has the stuff to be a #1 starter, but we’re also all too familiar with his injury history. I’d be willing to ride that roller coaster again now that we have Gallardo, Wolf, Parra, Bush & Suppan already in the fold.

Oh, and this guy has way too much time on his hands for this breakdown of Randy Wolf, and proves that baseball is a game that can be a little too reliant on stats. It’s kind of like choosing a wife based purely on her 36-24-36 measurements, and not taking the fact that she’s crazy into account. Something Chuck Finley probably should have thought of before tying the knot with Tawny Kitaen.

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I don’t actually have a Heisman vote, because surprisingly, they don’t hand out votes to guys whose athletic careers peaked in middle school, and don’t work as an actual journalist. But if I did have a vote, here’s how my ballot would look, working from the bottom to the top:

Write-In Vote: CJ Spiller – RB, Clemson
The guy is the most electric player in college football. He can score through kick returns, punt returns, rushing, receiving, and he even threw a touchdown pass.

5 – Tim Tebow – QB, Florida
I would vote Spiller higher than Tebow, who has been a great leader, but not a great player this year.

4 – Colt McCoy – QB, Texas
On Thanksgiving, I thought McCoy was wrapping up the award, but his terrible clock management and poor play in the SEC Championship cost him the chance. He wasn’t good in the biggest games of the year.

3 – Ndamukong Suh – DE, Nebraska
He was completely dominant against Texas, and will likely be the #1 pick in the NFL Draft. Yet as a defensive player, he doesn’t move the needle enough to be a Heisman winner.

2 – Mark Ingram – RB, Oklahoma
He was a monster in the SEC Championship, guaranteeing Tebow won’t win the award. He has put up great numbers, and might resemble Emmitt Smith. But he was awful against Auburn with 19 yards on 16 carries, and on the bench during his team’s comeback.

1 – Toby Gerhart – RB, Stanford
The guy is a beast and put up huge numbers against the best opposition he played against. In an underwhelming year of top players, Gerhart is the choice.

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THURSDAY NFL PICK

BROWNS (+9) over Steelers
The Browns are playing much better, Brady Quinn resembles an NFL quarterback, and the game is in Cleveland. Pittsburgh is coming off losses to Oakland, Kansas City & Baltimore, and reeling. Quinn can take advantage of the struggling Steelers secondary (if Gradkowski could throw three 4th quarter TDs…..) and put enough points on the board to get the cover.
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What would you expect to happen when a foot of snow drops on Madison, and the University calls off school the following day? Amazingly, the kids went out and got hammered and made snowmen in the middle of the street……..

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This has been flying around pretty quickly, but it’s a great spoof on Notre Dame buying out Charlie Weis. And now that Brian Kelley has admitted that he is “pro-choice” he may have removed himself from consideration as their next coach. Randy Edsall of UConn is the next guy to go through the car wash……….