As the First Half Comes to a Close

Dark Wednesday is upon us once again. The day after the MLB All-Star Game.

No baseball. No basketball. No football. No hockey. Pro-am day for golf, qualifying day for NASCAR. All that's left is analysis of the All-Star Game, which will be pretty straightforward today: the American League got their butts thoroughly kicked by the National League.

Black Wednesday does hold a special place as the virtual halfway point in the calendar year, and as such, gives us a chance to look back at the first half of the year in sports. Especially since, you know, nothing else is going on.

The crowning of the king

Two years ago, we wanted to crown their asses, and we finally crowned them in June. The Miami Heat won their championship, and LeBron James finally got the ring that was preordained for him upon his entrance into the league nine years ago. For many NBA fans (this writer included), this was to be the apocalypse come early. LeBron's famous "Decision" went against all we held dear about the NBA: legendary gladiators entering the arena against other larger-than-life figures. Russell vs. Wilt, Kareem against Walton, Magic and Bird, Jordan and Shaq.

LeBron distorted that stained-glass memorial to the greatest NBA past when he decided to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Basketball is the sport of personal pride and achievement more than any other, where you work to be better than the man in front of you for 48 minutes. James couldn't beat the other guys, so he joined them, and unlike the playground, there was no reshooting for teams.

Ultimately, the super-stacked team won after a surprising loss, and at the final buzzer, the world did not tilt off its axis. Life has gone on. The moral of the story? The Heat may have won this year, but next year is not a given. Just like the Bulls of the '90s, the target is squarely on Miami's back. And make no mistake: the guns are loaded.

Thanks for nothing, Justin

The MLB All-Star Game was decided early, as Justin Verlander gave up five runs in the first inning en route to an 8-0 victory for the National League. After years of AL dominance, the senior circuit has won the last three Midsummer Classics. I can't say it's Ron Washington's fault even though he's managed the last two games; at some point, the AL hitters have live up to those lofty batting averages.

Who I can definitely fault is Verlander and Detroit. The Tigers were supposed to run away with the AL Central Division this year following the acquisitions of Prince Fielder and underrated pitcher Doug Fister, but have instead floundered to a 44-42 record at the break, 3.5 games behind the White Sox. No starter besides Verlander has an ERA under four, and the Tigers are in the bottom half of the league in team ERA and fielding percentage. You know the adage: pitching and defense win championships.

It'll be an exciting second-half in the Central. The White Sox still have to prove they are more than a first-half surprise and hold off the Tigers and Indians, both of whom are within striking distance of the top. Still, no matter which AL team makes it to the World Series, they can thank Justin Verlander for their disadvantage. Should have started Chris Sale, Wash!

Second-Half Hitmen

Speaking of the boys in black and white pinstripes, the White Sox might have finally figured it out. They rode a wave of momentum into the break, splitting four games with the red-hot Yankees in New York, sweeping the Rangers at home and finally winning a series against their personal kryptonite, the Toronto Blue Jays (and coming within a clutch hit of sweeping them). The Tigers have started to get it together a bit, but the Sox have maintained a good lead. Kevin Youkilis has become an instant hero, Jose Quintana is the latest underrated young hurler, and Robin Ventura has made everyone except me forget about Ozzie Guillen following in LeBron's footsteps. If it weren't for the Nationals and Pirates, the Sox would be the story of the year.

Now comes the difficult part of the year. 16 of their next 19 games are on the road, including three with Detroit. The Sox survived the nationwide heat wave, but the worst of July and August lie ahead. John Danks and Phil Humber need to come back and Paul Konerko must regain his early-season stroke for the Sox to win the division. The (Paper) Tigers won't stay down for too long.

Wilted Rose

The crushing reality of Derrick Rose's fourth-quarter injury in Game 1 of the NBA playoff season has become an itchy scab for most Chicagoans by now. Reports surfaced last week via TMZ that Rozay was spotted coming out of an LA club early in the morning. For any other high-flying 23-year-old, this is not news, but for an injured hometown superstar, it was akin to Marion Berry smoking crack. "HOW COULD DERRICK GO TO THE CLUB BUT NOT RUN UP AND DOWN THE FLOOR ON A TORN ACL????" was the crazed thought floating through the minds of Bulls fans.

Listen: Rose is injured and very doubtful for this coming season. At most, he'll play the last month of the year and the playoffs. Worst case scenario: he's held out for the entire year and Chicago will have to watch Miami defend their title without the chance to knock the South Be-aches off their pedestal. I know it hurts, but this is the way it has to be. We went through awful injuries on the Bears and Blackhawks last year that killed all our playoff dreams, but such is life. Rose will be back and with proper time to heal, he will be stronger. All we have to do is support the Bulls until the Legend of Murray Playground returns to the court.

Here we go...

Only six and a half hours of Dark Wednesday are left, sports fans. Tomorrow is a full slate of baseball and  more prep for the Summer Olympics. Go outside and make your own sports memories today; tomorrow, we're back to it.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS

White Sox vs. Cubs: The Saga Continues

It's been a topic of nationwide concern for months. This weekend, leaders of the Western Hemisphere meet in President Obama's adopted hometown of Chicago for this year's NATO summit. Police and citizens are on high alert, storeowners fear unruly protesters and many Chicagoans just want NATO to go somewhere else.

Traffic is sure to be backed up on South Lake South Drive for miles (for once, I'm happy to be out of the city). Vocal opponents of the current so-called "New World Order" (as opposed to the former NWO) plan to protest the event and do their best to disrupt the summit.

These possible demonstrations pale in comparison to the fierce battle that will take place approximately 6.5 miles north of McCormick Place. The ongoing civil war, renewed each year about the time schoolchildren bid goodbye to the classroom for three months and the calendar officially turns over to summer.

The fight for bragging rights. The clash of the city. The war of Chicago.

Cubs vs. White Sox.

Even in a slow-starting year for both teams, the intercity series is bound to be hotly contested once again. Cubs and White Sox beats the stuffing out of Mets-Yankees, Dodgers-Angels, Athletics-Giants and the always marquee matchup of Twins-whoever they'll play.

No matter the year, this matchup of Chicago's finest promises to provide some great moments. Here's a few the Sox provided. (Ed. note: This is going to be biased in favor of the Sox, because the Cubs really suck.)

July 1, 2006: White Sox 8, Cubs 6

About 40 days earlier, the Sox whipped the lousy Cubs (no, really, they were bad that season) in front of a packed house at U.S. Cellular Field. However, then-Cubs catcher Michael Barrett gave Cubs fans a measure of vengeance when he punched fellow backstop A.J. Pierzynski square in the jaw following a play at the plate (more on that later).

Flash forward to the first of July. The scene has shifted to Wrigley Field, and the Cubs and Sox have gone punch-for-punch all day. Aramis Ramirez is a single shy of the cycle and has driven in five runs, and after a pinch-hit Paul Konerko tied the game in the top of the seventh, Jacque Jones knocked one out to give the Cubs the advantage in the bottom half.

The Sox are down to their last out in the top of the ninth, and Ryan Dempster is poised to lock down the save. The Cub fans, in the midst of a disappointing season, will have something to cheer about, on national television, no less.

It's not clear if A.J. had revenge for the punch on his mind, but he certainly made sure the Cubs didn't forget. On a 1-1 pitch from Dempster, Pierzynski ripped a deep fly onto Sheffield Avenue and arrogantly flipped his bat toward the Cub dugout. Boos and trash rained onto the field and when the final pitch was thrown, the White Sox had come from behind to win, 8-6.

The Sun-Times sports headline the next day? It simply read, "Take That." Take that, indeed.

June 28, 2008: White Sox 6, Cubs 5

Ah, 2008. The most famous summer of dreams in Chicago history. The unfathomable was unfolding: the Cubs and White Sox had a stranglehold on first place in their respective divisions. For the first time in 102 years, it was possible that the North Siders and South Siders could meet in the World Series.

That's right. Eat your heart out, NATO summit.

True to their 2008 form, the Cubs and Sox dominated at their home parks, and the city series was no different. The Cubs swept the Sox at Wrigley, with Aramis Ramirez late inning heroics taking the Friday game and a scintillating performance from Ryan Dempster sealing the sweep. White Sox fans burned while the Cubs celebrated. It would be a tough task to return the favor at the Cell.

Well, maybe not that tough.

The White Sox murked Ryan Dempster and the Cubs on Friday afternoon and shut down the North Siders on Sunday night behind homers from Brian Anderson (remember him?) and Jim Thome. The Saturday game, however, provided all the drama of the series. Derrek Lee went off, driving in three runs in the first four innings, while rookie shortstop Alexei Ramirez continued his hot hitting, tying the game in the bottom of the fourth with a home run. The bullpens on either side dug in, not allowing a run until the eighth inning. Then fortune shone on the Sox.

It was Carlos Marmol time.

Young slugger Carlos Quentin led off the eighth against Marmol and on what looked like an emergency swing, lifted a deep fly ball to right field. Instead of dropping into Kosuke Fukudome's glove, the ball landed in the seats, giving the Sox the lead. After a Derrek Lee double put a scare into the home fans, Bobby Jenks nailed down the save.

It wasn't the first time the season series ended in a tie, but it was the first time two heavyweight Chicago clubs had fought to a draw. The playoff future looked bright, and even though it ended rather suddenly for both teams, 2008 remains my favorite season of baseball.

May 20, 2006: White Sox 12, Cubs 2


It remains the indelible moment of the Chicago baseball rivalry: Michael Barrett tumbling head-over-heels as AJ Pierzynski slams his hand onto home plate. It's true that the series had wacky characters before the arrival of AJ and Carlos Zambrano (who gets honorable mention for cursing out Derrek Lee and destroying a Gatorade cooler), but Pierzynski, who is the only Major Leaguer who is booed at every single road game, has added the necessary spice to the annual series.

The preceding play is simple: Brian Anderson hits a medium fly ball to left field. Matt Murton (wow, this whole post is a trip down memory lane) fires home as AJ races in from third. Barrett blocks the plate before receiving the ball, and Pierzynski runs through him, and emphatically pounds home plate. Barrett grabs Pierzynski and yells, "I didn't have the ball" into his face before clocking him with a short right hand. Benches clear, Scott Podsednik tackles Barrett, and Anderson gets into it with John Mabry. A few minutes later, Tadahito Iguchi sends a grand slam into the left field bleachers and the rout is on.

The aftermath? Pierzynski dyes his hair and beard blond before going back to his natural brown, all while being one of the few starting catchers in the AL who doesn't make the transition to DH or first base. Meanwhile, Michael Barrett is waived in free agency and ends up in San Diego before making the transition to the Oaxaca League in southern Mexico.

The present day


The White Sox won yesterday in Anaheim, pushing their record to a stellar 18-21, four and a half games behind the division-leading Indians. The Cubs are even deeper in the muck at 15-23, dead last in the NL Central.

What does that mean for this series? Absolutely nothing. Throw records, streaks and odds out the window when this series start. Sabremetricians are not invited to the Crosstown Classic.

Phil Humber, he of the third perfect game in White Sox history and resultant 9.45 ERA, takes the mound against former Notre Dame football star Jeff Samardzija.

My prediction? Humber and Samardzija throw gems over seven innings, the Cubs take the lead on a sac fly in the eighth, only for Dayan Viciedo to come off the bench in the ninth and blast a two-run homer onto Waveland Avenue. Of course, it could just be an unruly slugfest.

See you in the cheap seats, Chicago. 1:20 pm, at the corner of Clark and Addison.

Oh, and if you were wondering who D-Rose will be cheering for on his couch this weekend...

South Side, all day.

JS

Barack Obama, Tim Hardaway, and Homosexuality

Eds. note: The subject and language following may not be suitable for all children or families.


"Now I can freak, flock, flow, f*** up a f****t/but understand the ways and I ain't down with gays..." - Brand Nubian, "Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down"

I loved Carl Lewis as a kid. I always watched the track and field events at the Summer Olympics, and Carl Lewis seemed to be able to fly through the air when he did the long jump and high jump. Michael Johnson was the man with the golden shoes in '96, but Carl Lewis was, as corny as it sounds, my hero.

When my mom came home one day and told me Carl Lewis had announced he was gay, I was devastated. I clearly remember disbelieving her and thinking she was trying to hurt me for some reason. He couldn't possibly be gay. There was something inherently wrong with my hero enjoying the intimate company of another man.

Even as a young man, I had been influenced to find homosexuality repulsive.

Today, Barack Obama became the first American president to publicly support same-sex marriage. The move was heralded by liberals and gay rights activists around the globe, but presumably one group of the voting public silently decried Obama's declaration.

Male professional athletes.

"I hate gay people"


In 2007, former NBA player John Amaechi announced that he was gay. The story made headlines across the sports world, but it seemed to be a "tinder story" that would flame brightly for a few days and then quietly disappear. After all, Amaechi had been a below-average baller, a forgettable face in his time with the League.

Then Tim Hardaway spoke up.

Even with Twitter in its infancy and YouTube still owned by...YouTube, Hardaway's comments spread quickly and led to a backlash of criticism and thousands of ironic jokes about his nickname "Mr. Crossover". Hardaway later apologized for his words, but the damage had been done. Hardaway had exemplified the thoughts and ideas of many pro athletes: I don't want a gay man on my team.

Many other pro athletes, owners and coaches offered their opinions on the subject, from Shaquille O'Neal to LeBron James and many of them showed support for Amaechi (make sure you read Tracy McGrady's comments). But many of them also said it would be tough for a player to be openly gay while playing.

"Who do you love?"

It was the hot subject of the week after Joe Biden appeared on "Meet the Press" Sunday and said he was fully in support of gay marriage. The Obama Administration did a dance akin to standing barefoot on hot coals for three days before Barack himself definitively agreed with the views of his VP.

With the election five months away and Mitt Romney finally clearing himself as the Republican nominee, it is important for Obama to gather firm support from a group very likely to make itself heard at the polls. It should be considered, however, how exactly another group that strongly supported Barack in 2008 will turn now that he has fully championed gays and lesbians in their quest for full marriage rights.

Just as Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Kanye West strongly supported the Man from Hyde Park in his quest for the White House, so did many pro athletes, especially black basketball players. Derrick Rose has been a very vocal supporter of Obama, and the president sends the love back to him on many occasions.

However, in both the black community and the pro basketball fraternity, there is an unspoken mandate that homosexuality is a detriment on the court. The proximity of bodies and the nature of the game that hearkens back to its playground roots makes many men uneasy about sharing the court with a gay teammate.

With the leader of the free world throwing his support behind the gay marriage movement five months before the election, the question must be asked: will those same hardwood heroes and those who adore them think twice before casting their ballots in November?

As Joe Biden said Sunday, it's a question of "who do you love?"

See you in the cheap seats.

JS

"Even When I Was Close to Defeat..."

I know you've seen it, but it's important to remember the moment.

Remember? The Bulls were cruising toward an easy victory in Game 1 against Philly. The stage was set for another five-game first round series (maybe even four if Rose played this well), a few contrite comments from Doug Collins, and the determined march to the rematch with Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Bulls fans were dreaming of it. This was the year we had the pieces in place. A strong team without Rose would be unstoppable with him, even at 90 percent.

Then, the weight of a city's expectations became too much to bear for Derrick Rose's left knee, and it bucked under the pressure. The air went out of the United Center with a discernible gasp. Expressions of exuberance turned somber in an instant. The future that had been so bright only seconds before was inexplicably cloudy.

What had just happened?

As it turns out, the Bulls had been struck by the worst sports luck of the year. Two games later, Joakim Noah went down with a sprained left ankle, and the Sixers put their foot on the Bulls' throat. 

Only ten days ago, the Chicago-Miami matchup was a hot topic of discussion even for the most hardened of sportswriter. Now, it's Game 5 with the Bulls on the brink of elimination.

History repeats

The Bulls are not unique in this respect. There have been many teams who had their superstar go down with a bad injury and subsequently saw their season go down the drain. The 1973-74 Milwaukee Bucks lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to a broken hand in the preseason; the Patriots had Tom Brady tear his ACL in their first game of the 2008; Michael Jordan broke his foot early in the 1985-86 season and didn't return until right before the playoffs (although he did score 112 points in his first two playoff games against what Bill Simmons calls the greatest NBA team of all time).

For me, Derrick Rose's injury harshly reminds me of 2008. The Chicago White Sox were 77-59 and firmly in control of the AL Central with one month to go in the regular season. The ChiSox had the surprising Gavin Floyd and the steady Mark Buerhle leading the way, but the real motor for the Sox' success was MVP candidate Carlos Quentin. The super-intense Quentin had been crushing baseballs all season alongside stalwart Jim Thome and was leading the way in the American League.

Then, on September 1, Quentin smacked his bat after missing a pitch against Cleveland's Cliff Lee (who was on fire that season). The next day, reports surfaced that Quentin had broken a bone in his wrist and would be out for the remainder of the season. 

The Sox nearly collapsed down the stretch, surviving to make one of the most remarkable playoff entrances in league history as they won three straight elimination games at the end of the season. That would be all for the "Fighting Sox", as they lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was left for the entire South Side fan base to wonder what if CQ had been healthy and available to play, especially since he never came close to his 2008 production again.

A wounded bull is more dangerous

Bulls fans weren't too worried about Rose's injury; after all, he had been out for almost half the season with various maladies and the Bulls had compiled a .667 winning percentage without him. The first half of Game 2 seemed to prove that, as Kyle Korver and John Lucas III led the Bulls to a 55-47 margin. Then, the Sixers took over and stunned the Bulls in a blowout win.

The series returns to Chicago tonight, and everyone has counted the Bulls out after two efforts in Philly fell short. The Sixers are poised to be the fourth eighth-seeded team to defeat a top seed in the NBA playoffs, albeit the first to do it after two significant injuries to the top-seeded team. Joakim Noah is day-to-day, Luol Deng has been unable to get going, and with Noah out, Spencer Hawes has come up big.

The outcome is bleak and the long offseason looms with stomach-turning nightmares of what might have been. So the question must be raised: is this really it?

The Bulls have a chance to win Game 5. They are at home and backed into a corner. The Sixers have not been in this position to close out a team on the road in the playoffs since the Iverson days, and they still don't have a finisher. The Bulls know the situation and have the crowd behind them.

The mood of Bulls fans has been despondent after the lost weekend, and they've come face-to-face with the realization that it may be Miami's championship season. That doesn't mean they should lose hope.

The Bulls beat Miami without Rose. They beat Boston without Rose. They beat the Pacers without Rose. They have the tools, they have the will. It's time to make one final pull on the rope.

To paraphrase Dr. Dre, we're close to defeat, so we must rise to our feet. If all else fails, the White Mamba is waiting.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS

The 10 Best NBA Celebrations, Part 2

Click the link for Part 1.

It's tough to pick ten celebrations in the NBA these days. It may not have a ready-made initialization like the "No Fun League", but with refs able to call technical fouls almost at whim and the best coaches being as crazy as a group of mathletes (Poppovich, Thibodeau, Carlisle), there's just not a lot of whimsy left in the Association. Never mind that all the crazy in the league is now solely in the form of Metta World Artest, there just aren't a lot of dramatic ballplayers.

Still, there are guys who can rock out with the best of them after a good play. Here's the top five of them in the NBA.

5. The Three Goggles/"German Three" (Dirk Nowitzki, Rudy Fernandez, Wesley Matthews, Patrick Mills)

I'd have put Brad Miller in this, but the recently retired former Bulls big man is now going to focus on hunting shows. So it's down to the men who make sharpshooting look that much cooler. 

(Note: Remember the scene from "Inglourious Basterds", when the Nazi officer makes the British spy because of the way he signals "three"? I wasn't sold on that...until I saw Dirk do the German three. The NBA: where learning happens.)

4. The "Where's the And-One?" (Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose)

This is somewhat sarcastic, considering Wade is kind of a crybaby when it comes to fouls. But he makes some incredible shots, and D-Rose's fadeaway two on the Lakers gained legendary status during his MVP season, thanks in no small part to Stacey King ("He didn't pull a Jordan, did he? He didn't pull an MJ?")

3. The "You Can't See Me" (DeShawn Stevenson)

Come on, don't get upset. DeShawn Stevenson had to be in the top 10 of something.

2. The "Be Quiet, This is a Library"/Crowd Shush (Kris Humphries)

I'm giving this one solely to Kris Humphries because he deserves it. This is a move reserved for away games when you're in a hostile crowd, and every arena's been hostile to K-Hump after his divorce from Ms. Kardashian. America, get over it. You be happy that Kimmy's back on the market. As for Kris, he's playing good ball for the Nets and should be extra happy at the four-spot next year, after Jay-Z gets Dwight to Brooklyn. Oops, spoiler!

1. The Gunslinger (Joakim Noah)

You thought I wasn't going to be a homer? You thought I wasn't going to pick this after the lead photo in part 1? You thought Joakim Noah wasn't going to make the list? To quote Barney Frank, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

Joakim said it best: "No one is going to out-celebrate me. Roy Hibbert is not going to out-celebrate me."

A quick lesson before I go, cheap seaters: life is meant to be enjoyed. Whatever you do in life, make sure you have fun. So if you beat your uncle at a game of checkers, get the last parking space in front of the post office, or receive a bigger tax refund than you expected, make sure you drop off a little celebration, no matter who's around.

That reminds me, I've got to do my taxes. See you in the cheap seats.

JS

"It's a Celebration": The 10 Best NBA Celebration Dances, Part 1

As soon as our Caterpillar recreational basketball league started, our team discussed our most important strategy: what dance we would do after we hit a shot. Most guys went with the Discount Double-Check (dick riders). Being a Bears fan, I chose not to ride the Aaron Rodgers wave and settled on the Clark Kent (check the jump).

Two months later, our record is a dismal 3-10, our team is fracturing faster than Greg Oden, and we're looking ahead to softball season. But the celebrations haven't quit. There's been no sign of the DD-C, but me and my boy Thomas have taken to doing the Carlos Boozer yell (see below) after a big play. So that got me to thinking: what are the best NBA celebrations in the game right now? Don't worry, that's what we're here for at LitCS.

I want to yell "Grab that shit", but I think I'd get ejected.

10. The Blank Look (Blake Griffin)

What really needs to be said after you dunk on Kendrick Perkins' entire family tree?

9. The....What Is He Doing? (Russell Westbrook)

I'm never really sure what Russell Westbrook is on when he's dunking, but I need some of it. I'd get so much more work done. Or I'd just destroy things.

8. The Chest Pound/Sneer (Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant)

The face that says, "Get off my court, I'm king of this jungle." Or maybe he means "George of the Jungle".

7. The "Kobe Face" (Kobe Bryant)

If Kobe weren't so damn clutch in the late stages, I'd say he has a toothache.

6. The Step Over (Dwyane Wade via Allen Iverson)

There is nothing more disrespectful than stepping over the body of a fallen opponent. Where have you gone, Tyronn Lue?

What could be in the top 5? Look for the remainder of the list tomorrow night. Feel free to post videos of your favorite moves at the Life in the Cheap Seats group on Facebook.

JS

Derrick Rose: The Windy City Assassin

There is always the same face in the crowd.

No matter where the shot comes from or who takes it, there is always the face. As one set of players celebrate and the others slowly walk off the court, the face is always there, despairing and wishing the futile thoughts.

It can't have happened. It was too late. There's still time.


But it did happen, there was time, and now there isn't.

The face always tells the story.

The face was in Gund Arena on May 7, 1989, as a young man leaped into the air while his counterpart slumped to the wood, hands over his eyes.

Craig Ehlo.

It was there on the Spurs' bench on May 13, 2004, as a disbelieving Fish raced into the locker room.

 

Bruce Bowen.

Now, it's forever frozen on the face of a man in the Bradley Center last Wednesday night, as he looked skyward at the giant screen in bitter amazement.

Some random dude.

The face is never quite horrified or stunned. It's a mix of both, combined with that moment before anguish really hits home.

It is the face of defeat.

A killer inside

Almost exactly a year ago, an article was published in Sports Illustrated (click the jump to read), detailing exactly how Derrick Rose had risen to the top of the NBA's elite. The piece talked about Rose playing cutthroat after dark with his roommates in a north suburban gym and how he took his competitive edge from that gym to the courts of the Association. It was an engrossing read on its own, but the article was punctuated by a quote from (who else), the White Mamba:

There are the guys who get you the need baskets," says Bulls reserve forward Brian Scalabrine, referring to the vital hoops that stop runs and close out games. "I have a different word for killers. I call them mother-------. And right now, Derrick Rose is the baddest mother------ in the league by far. He is the reason we win.

Regular beat writers, sabremetricians, and Dan LeBatard would argue that this statement from Scal wasn't true a year ago, much less today. I would agree with them two weeks ago; Kevin Durant and LeBron James were clear front-runners for the MVP award. Even Rajon Rondo was doing more to carry his team than Rose, who had sat out with various maladies for some time this year.

Then Rose sank an impossible, hang-in-the-air, rainbow floater from behind the backboard over the outstretched arm of Andre Iguodala to lift the Bulls in Philadelphia. He and Luol Deng combined to payback the Pacers, and last week, Rose sank Milwaukee at the buzzer.

Last year, Rose wrested control of the game from the Bucks in the fourth quarter as easily as pulling a ripe apple from a tree. This year, with the threat of overtime on the road looming, Rose calmly dribbled between his legs, crossed over Brandon Jennings, took a hop-step backward and drained a 24-footer over Jennings' outstretched hand.

It was, as Bucks color commentator Jon McGlocklin noted, the first jump shot Rose had taken that night.

The NBA: where evil reigns supreme


In Conan the Barbarian, the Mongolian general asks Conan, "What is best in life?" and he delivers the famous line (borrowed from Genghis Khan): "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women." So it is in the gladiator arena known as American professional sports. We wish to see our side thoroughly defeat the others so as they'll never be able to return from it. We lustily scream when fights and fisticuffs break out and boo the referees who come between them. We cheer when an opposing player or coach is ejected, and only go home happy if the other side can taste utter defeat while our guys relish in the day's victory.


American professional athletes have to straddle a fine line between mannered and grotesque. We want our players to "play nice" until crunch time comes. Then, we foam at the mouth for the earth-shattering dunks, long jumpers and blocks that will completely demoralize the other team. We, the screaming denizens of the cheap seats, want complete and final victory.

There are men who've realized that, and were elevated to hero status for it. Pete Rose played baseball with a motor constantly at 8,000 revolutions-per-minute, damn Ray Fosse's shoulder. Lawrence Taylor ended a man's career...and went on to star in movies. Michael Jordan talked about Bryon Russell in his Hall of Fame speech as if Russell had just challenged him to one-on-one in the parking lot.

All these men were reasonable men who turned into monsters when they stepped between the lines. And that's just what we wanted. As I said in the "The Kevin Durant Problem", we especially thirst for these cold-blooded ballers in the NBA. Men like Iverson, Shaq, Kobe, Magic and Bird who delighted in crushing their enemies on a daily basis further served to satisfy our visceral urges.

Bad mother-----s, as Brian Scalabrine would say. Now Derrick Rose is among them.

Linsanity arrives


Jeremy Lin showed a glimpse of the killer instinct fans crave when he dropped in a spot-up three over Jose Calderon and the Raptors a month ago, and when he turned Lakerland on its head by outdueling Kobe at Madison Square Garden. Still, the young man from Palo Alto has undergone some growing pains recently and the Knicks can't seem to get around being a break-even team.

Still, I defended Lin in this space, and will continue to do so. He is what purists such as Shaquille O'Neal and Zachary Casson Berg have been wishing for in the era of Rose and Westbrook: a traditional point guard. He can shoot the jumper, drive and score, pass well and hit free throws when fouled. But in this matchup with Derrick Rose, I will surprised if he comes out alive.

After all, Rose has proven himself to be an assassin in his young career. Every good assassin saves a bullet for the tougher targets.

And when Lin goes down, somewhere in New York, there will be the face.

The face is always there at the end.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS

On Losing a Legend

Brian Spicklemire discusses the five stages of losing his QB.

Well, we’re here, at a point that I never wanted to think about. A point that a mere four months ago I didn’t think would actually happen.

Peyton Manning, the most important athlete that the city of Indianapolis has ever known, is no longer an Indianapolis Colt.

His impact to the team and the city has been written about time and time again, but it bears repeating: his presence and play elevated this franchise, saved them from departing for Los Angeles, built a brand new stadium and brought the Super Bowl to Indianapolis. He was a remarkable citizen, extremely charitable, (his name is on two children's hospitals in town) and seemingly just a nice, down-to-earth kinda guy.

He was able to read a defense at the line of scrimmage as easy as you or I read a take-out menu, and always had the right audible ready to go. He made "ohmigoshdidyoujustseethat?" passes down the seam to Reggie Wayne as effortlessly as he made us laugh in dozens of commercials.

He was our quarterback.

This time last year, living in the aftermath of a disappointing, injury-plagued 2010 campaign and wild-card round loss to the Sanchize, I was looking forward to the team re-grouping, filling some gaps along the offensive line in the draft, re-signing Manning to a contract that would last for the rest of his career, and making a run at playing in the Super Bowl that our own city was hosting.

Then came reports of a second neck surgery, and the prospect of him missing training camp. Then came news of a third neck surgery, and that he would miss the season opener and end his consecutive-games streak happened. Then, the ‘Suck for Luck’ jokes started popping up on local sports talk radio shows. Then, the jokes got serious. Then 2-14 happened, and owner Jim Irsay and Manning started going back and forth in sharp P.R. statements that had all the charm of two middle-schoolers trying to dump the other one, but make sure everyone knows, ‘Hey, it’s not my fault, it’s their fault.’

Then, it happened. We had seen it coming, but when the words ‘Peyton Manning to be released from the Colts’ flashed across my screen, it was still surreal. The presser was tough to watch. Irsay clearly cared about Manning, and had a tough, heart-wrenching decision to make. Manning cared about staying in one place where he meant so much for his whole career, something his Dad never got a chance to do, and you could tell from the choked words that he cared about the fans, cared about the city.

It was an awful decision to make, but it was the right one. Irsay and the Colts are clearly in full rebuilding mode, as evidenced by the fire sale they had Friday afternoon, releasing 4 key pieces from the two Super Bowl runs, and Curtis Painter, and reportedly shopping Dwight Freeney out to the highest bidder. The Colts have Andrew Luck to look forward to, (and if he can win a single game with this now depleted roster, then he deserves all the hype that’s been heaped on him,) and probably have the inside track on next year’s #1 pick.

As sad as I am to see Manning go, I’m glad for him that he doesn’t have to play behind an empty O-line and get his teeth kicked in every week throughout the rebuilding project. I’m glad he has a chance to go somewhere and cement his legacy as the great quarterback to ever play them game. As sports fans, we’d be losing out if Manning never played again, or was stuck on a team that was going nowhere. There’s no greater shame then to have a transcendent player stuck on a pathetic team that has no way out, (cue Steve Nash nodding sadly.) I don’t know where he goes from here, but I hope it’s someplace that puts him in a position to win immediately.

Oddly enough, I think the best landing spot for him is with the guy he replaced as Colts QB 14 years ago, and coached up his replacement at Stanford, (though I doubt San Francisco would give him a serious look; they’re oddly content with Alex Smith.) Of the most likely landing spots, (Denver, Arizona, and Miami,) the best place for him is probably Denver, (great defense and strong running game, same combo that won Elway his Super Bowls in the twilight if his career) or Arizona, (Larry Fitzgerald is probably the best receiver in the game, and he’d have most of his games in a controlled/friendly-weather environment.)

If he wants to win immediately, he goes to one of those two places. On the other hand, if he cares about proving to everyone once and for all that he’s better than Brady, he’d have his chance to go head to head with the Patriots and Belichick, (who’s head space he currently resides,) if he goes to Miami, (and would unquestionably have the highest selling jersey in the history of sports.) The Dolphins could make him the richest player in the NFL, but I don’t think we see him announce that he’s taking his talents to south beach.

At the press conference, Manning talked about the uncertainty of his future and reflected on the past, saying "I haven't thought about yet where I'll play, but I have thought about where I've been. I've been blessed." It was the stoic, thoughtful Manning response we’ve come to respect, but interspersed with the tearful, choked words as the memories of his time in Indy came back to him. And those same words made me reflect about where I was for the major moments of his career. Where I was when through all the twelve win seasons and tough play-off losses. Where I was when he led the comeback against the Patriots in the 2006 AFC championship game, on the way to a Super Bowl victory. It reminded me where I was when he scared Belichick into going for it on 4^th-and-2 deep in his own territory. And it reminded me where I was when he took his last snap as a Colt, sitting in my seat at Lucas Oil Stadium, ‘The House Peyton Built,’ trying to one last time put the team on his shoulders and elevate the players around him and beat the Jets in that AFC Wildcard round. And if not for Jim Caldwell’s boneheaded time-out, he might have done it.

 

At the end of the Q&A section of the press conference Wednesday, Peyton was asked if he had anything to prove when he came back, wherever that may be. He brushed it off, saying that at this point in his career he wasn’t thinking about those sorts of things. But I think he’s wrong. I got a voicemail from Chris Friday night saying that he overheard a conversation between father and son. The son had reportedly asked who Peyton Manning was, and the father replied, “That’s Eli’s brother.” Manning’s injury caused him to miss the year-of-the-QB, where not only did Drew Brees break Marino’s longstanding single-season passing yards record, but 3 quarterback threw for over 5,000 yards. New rules have made quarterback the single most important position in sports, and it’s up to Manning now to prove that he’s the class of that position. I hope he comes back to the game and picks up where he left off. I hope he breaks every passing related record that exists, (except for all-time interception leader, Favre can keep that one,) and makes the case for his 5^th MVP award. I hope he leads his next team to a Super Bowl, and puts on the kind of aerial assault that I’ve become accustomed to over the years. I hope he’s great again, because we’re all richer as sports fans when he is.

 

And I hope that when it’s all said and done, he comes back home to Indianapolis.

 

 

Brian Spicklemire is a composer, percussionist, and graduate student at Butler University, where his thesis is currently driving him crazy. Check out his work on Soundcloud and on his website at http://www.brianspicklemire.com.

 

The Kevin Durant Problem

Hold on, let me get my calculator...

Hip-hop and basketball are inextricably linked. It's hard to pinpoint exactly when this marriage of culture and sport occurred, but it's a known fact that basketball's Golden Era of the 1980s-early '90s intersected with the birth of hip-hop as a musical genre.

When young Bird and Magic began their long war of the hardwood in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambataa and Kool DJ Kurt (aka Kurtis Blow) were already spinning records in the boogie down Bronx. But it was at the height of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry/Michael Jordan's rise that hip-hop began to take off. Now, the two cannot be separated, which is why it's hard to hear Rakim's "Don't Sweat the Technique" without picturing an NBA highlight tape going with it.

Wait, what, they actually did that? I had NO idea.

All the anthropology aside, both forms have given to each other over their histories. Basketball players dress like the rappers they listen to, while hip-hoppers wear throwback jerseys of the players they love. The oddest trait shared by basketball and hip-hop, however, lies in it's slang; specifically, the slang for what is considered "good".

In layman's terms, if something's bad, it's good. A nasty dunk, a sick pass, an ill crossover. Shots are deadly or cold-blooded. Countless times, I've said that Derrick Rose is disgusting. LeBron James' beard is disrespectful. (Sorry, that last one is true.)

The faces ballplayers and fans alike will make after a crazy dunk or shot are legendary: expressions of horror, disgust, or as Bill Simmons put it in his Book of Basketball: "A dunk that makes every African-American fan in the building stand up and make the face like they just smelled an extremely bad fart."

Yes, Joakim, that's the face I mean.

So it should not get lost in translation when I tell you the number one fact of the 2012 NBA season:

KEVIN DURANT IS A PROBLEM.

Making it rain among the Thunder

At some point last year, a question was asked in passing on ESPN: would you rather have Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant?

The runaway answer, of course, was Kobe. KD was in his third season and while he was the leader of a good young Thunder team, he hadn't proven himself.

This year, however, Durant is proving himself, each and every game.

The numbers:

-Per game: 27.9 points, 8.4 rebounds (career high), 3.4 assists (career high), 1.2 blocks (career high), 51.3 FG% (career high)

-51 points in an overtime win against Denver

-36 points in West's 152-149 All-Star Game win

-Averaging 1.5 points per game more on the road

The greatest difficulty for MVP voters? All these numbers are either identical or comparable to the other front-runner, LeBron James.

A "heated" argument

While the animosity of "The Decision" and the Heat's coalescence has lessened immensely, people still don't like LeBron. He had big buckets late in the ASG, but cost his team with two late turnovers. Derrick Rose indirectly disapproved of LBJ's pre-game dance routine at the All-Star game. And people are still wondering what's up with his beard.

LeBron will always draw ire for leaving Cleveland for Miami. It was a move condemned by media, fans and players alike. But he's always scrutinized for being so incredibly good as well. His skill set has only been possessed by a handful of players ever, and hardly any of them have LeBron's size and speed. The only consistent knock has been his three-point shooting, and this year he's averaging a ridiculous 47 percent from beyond the arc. While Dwyane Wade's been injured, James has carried the Heat through stretches, albeit with some help from glue man Chris Bosh. Kevin Durant can't say the same, as he's had Russell Westbrook all season to play Robin to his Batman.

The main thing hurting LeBron's MVP campaign is that he's won before. The prevailing opinion is that writers will go with a first-timer to create a new story. This was one of the ideas presented for Derrick Rose's win last season when other players had considerably better numbers. The simmering hatred for LeBron is another possible reason he would lose out.

None of those should matter this year, though. LeBron is the frontman in this year's race. For how long remains to be seen.

The best in the business

Oklahoma City and Miami have been jockeying for the best record in the league all year. The Bulls are footsteps behind, but Derrick Rose has missed games and the Bulls are 9-3 without him in the lineup. Good odds say he won't be considered. This leaves James, Durant, Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, Chris Paul, and Jeremy Lin.

All right, you've stopped chuckling, now back to reality. Tony Parker and Chris Paul are long shots, due to Rose's win last year and the writers' hesitancy to reward another point guard. Kobe's having another great season along with a beautiful ad campaign, but the Lakers are stuck with a bad bench and an underachieving third man. Plus, "Black Mamba" is a really stupid nickname.

This leaves James and Durant, and that's a numbers/crunch-time race. The award goes to whoever's team finishes with a better record and whoever measures up against conference opponents (Lakers, Grizzlies, Spurs, Clippers for Durant; Bulls, Magic, Celtics, Pacers, Knicks for James), barring injury. But the fact that it's a race in itself has thrown a monkey wrench into the plans of the basketball writers.

This was supposed to be LeBron's year. He was hungry to erase the memories of last season's defeat to the surprising Mavericks and outright flatten anyone who stood in his way. It was supposed to be a non-contest.

Kevin Durant has just been too much of a problem to ignore.

A nasty problem.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS

What's Good: the Case for Linsanity

The Toronto Raptors had to be seeing double, and not in a good way, like when you see a pair of extremely fine identical twins.

After all, it was Tuesday night and Rasual Butler had just airballed a desperation three at the horn, meaning the Raptors had just lost their second consecutive game.

Oops, excuse me: they had just lost their second consecutive game within five seconds of the final buzzer. Sunday night, it was to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, a fate many teams have shared throughout Mr. Bean's career.

Tuesday night had to hurt much more though, for as the straight-on three rippled the opposing basket with half a second left, the crowd roared...for the visiting New York Knicks.

The Raptors had become the latest victims of Linsanity.

In the Knick of time


Before Jeremy Lin was pulled from the end of the bench, the Knicks were in a familiar downward spiral. They were 8-15, near the bottom of the Atlantic Division, and without a clue as to who would start at the point. Toney Douglas was the backup, Mike Bibby wasn't ready, Baron Davis was still injured, and Iman Shumpert was a rookie. So Mike D'Antoni pulled Lin in against the Nets, and the sensation took off from there.

Lin set NBA records for points in his first three, four, and five starts, has averaged almost nine assists in his six starts (including tonight against the Kings, where he has nine assists at halftime), and dropped 38 points in NY's win against the Lakers. The same Lakers that lead the league in rebounds and are fourth in points allowed.

There is no doubt that Jeremy Lin has been the catalyst for New York's sudden resurgence, and he added to his burgeoning legend with an ice-cold step-up three over Jose Calderon Tuesday that gave the Knicks their sixth straight win. That, along with the scintillating spin move around D-Fish Friday, proved to me that the kid has that intangible quality every NBA player needs: a legitimate swagger. Bird and Magic had it. George Gervin and Pistol Pete had it. Michael, Scottie, Hakeem and Shaq had it. Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Carmelo, Rose, Dwight—all these guys have that innate arrogance in their games; they know they're better. Jeremy Lin has that same look in his eyes, and you saw it before the shot over Calderon when he waved off any possible screens from his teammates. But that begs the question: is he really better?

As Rick James would say, coold-bloooded.

An examination of the statistics

Up to this point, the NBA book on Lin is slim: 

• Graduated from Harvard in '10, went undrafted
• Got an invite to the Golden State Warriors' summer league team. Stayed on Warriors' roster for the season, 11th man on bench (behind Steph Curry and Monta Ellis)
• Waived by Warriors during lockout, got on with Rockets in preseason, subsequently waived. Picked up by Knicks in December, sent down to D-League during season, recalled by Knicks in late January

That's what the casual NBA fan knows about Jeremy Lin. Here's a deeper look at Lin's basketball career:

1. Northern California Division II high school player of the year in 2006, won DII state title, named player of the year by San Francisco and San Jose major newspapers.
2. First player in Ivy League history to finish career with at least 1,450 points, 450 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals. Put up 30 points and nine rebounds in a road game against #12 Connecticut his senior year. Said Jim Calhoun: "He's one of the better kids, including Big East guards, who have come in here in quite some time."
3. In a summer league against highly-touted John Wall, Lin scored 13 points on 6-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Wall put up 21 points, shooting 4-19 in 33 minutes.
4. In six starts for the Knicks, Lin has shot 54 percent from the field, averaged 9.5 assists and almost four rebounds.

It's only been six games, but the game tonight against the Kings is the most telling. The Knicks led 77-55 going into the fourth quarter, and Lin had only taken six shots. Put that against 13 assists, and you have the prototypical NBA point guard. Lin can pass well, penetrate the lane and shoots when necessary.

Jeremy Lin is good.

Tebow? Really?

Lin has drawn many comparisons to Tim Tebow, due to their similar rise and chronological proximity. This, along with the natural polarization of such an unlikely success story, has created an uproar across the social media network. Many people are fans of "Linsanity", while others are dismissing him as a flash in the pan, or as Floyd Mayweather put it, a feel-good story hyped because of his race.

Stop yourself right now. Jeremy Lin is none of those things.

In a roundtable discussion on ESPN, their sports experts were asked to compare Lin to Tebow. Mark Schlereth hit the nail on the head when he said that Lin has a much better skill set for his position than Tim Tebow. Lin is a good point guard; Tim Tebow is not a good quarterback. Point proven.

Aside from Floyd Mayweather only getting press for ducking Manny Pacquiao lately, he's not new to being a loudmouth. This time, Money needs to shut up. If Jeremy Lin does suddenly stop producing for the Knicks, it will not be due to his race, it will be because he was not who we thought he was. The enthusiasm of the Asian community is great for him, for them and for the NBA, who has been left with a void since Yao Ming's retirement. Still, Lin should not be looked at solely as an Asian-American ballplayer. In conclusion: Floyd, shut up until the day you can say "I'm ready to fight Manny for the title."

So what's really good?

The verdict: Jeremy Lin is what's good. The kid has the pedigree, he's putting up the numbers and the Knicks are winning games. With tonight's serving of Sacramento, the Knickerbockers are over .500 for the first time this year. When Carmelo Anthony comes back, expect J-Lin to morph into a Jason Kidd-type player: moving the ball, racking up assists, driving the lane and making big shots. He's already show the innate ability to draw contact and finish, and the shortened season will only help.

Keep the Linsanity going, cheap seaters. Just wait 'til Spike buys his #17 jersey.

That's what's good.

JS

Cheap Seats' Spring Training: Sizing Up the White Sox Outfield

Spring training is but a few sunrises away for us...if by "few", I mean "thousand" and by "sunrises", I mean "miles". Still, the great harbinger of warmer weather comes next week when pitchers and catchers report to the southlands of Arizona and Florida. It's also the moment when thousands of fantasy baseball players crawl from their hibernation spaces, rub their eyes and start scanning last season's stats for that one sleeper pick that'll make their season. Just in case that guy's on the White Sox, Jon Peterlin (@JPeterlin) breaks down the Chicago White Sox outfield.

You won’t gain anything more but insight as to who the Sox have available and how they fit. It's close to spring training I think you’ll find this knowledge helpful when evaluating how these players play getting ready for the season. I think you’ll find there’s a lot of question marks in the Sox outfield, but a decent amount to be excited about as well.

So Long, Farewell

Carlos Quentin

Quentin was traded in early January to the San Diego Padres for two prospects, one of whom (Simon Castro) we’ll see pitching up with the Sox sometime this year if things go as planned. What we’ll miss out of Quentin is his homerun power in a hitter’s ballpark.. Moving to Petco should downgrade his power, but it was a smart move for Padres for the price. Outside of his power, Quentin didn’t bring much to the table. His mediocre batting average, paired with less than mediocre fielding skills, and atrocious base running makes him a player the Sox thought he would be. The Sox got one really good year out of Quentin. Outside of that, he has been regressing back to the player he was early in his career with Arizona.

Juan PierreNo surprise here: Juan Pierre is off to try to bid an opening spot in the Phillies organization, not with the White Sox. What you see is what you get in Juan Pierre though. He’ll slap singles all day and be a threat on the bases. His lack of power and poor defensive rate for 2011 ultimately became too costly for the Sox to avoid. .279 is a decent average, though...for someone that’ll net you 20 plus homeruns and play adequate defense. Pierre can’t do either. Although he’s projected to steal 20 – 25 for 2012, there’s simply not enough good to outweigh the bad.

The Gang (that's) All Here

Now we move onto where the Sox currently stand. With three spots on the field and four reasonable candidates, the Sox have a good spring training battle for players to solidify their starting spot. The projected starting lineup consists of Alex Rios in center field, Alejandro De Aza in left, Dayan Viciedo in right, and Brent Lillibridge fighting to find an opening. We’ll start with the fan favorite and man with the most to prove, Brent Lillibridge.

Brent Lillibridge

Lillibridge is coming off his best year by far in the majors. In 97 games, the Lilli-Hurt hit 13 homeruns and posted a .505 slugging percentage. Before you get too excited and start salivating at the idea of Lillibridge continuing that pace in a full year, there’s a few things I need to remind you of.

There’s one stat that stayed consistent last year: strikeouts. Lillibridge posted a 28.7 strikeout percentage. This is right on line with his career 28.6 strikeout percentage. To put that in perspective, the league average for strikeout percentage is around 20 percent. The lower 10 percent for strikeout percentage is more where Lillibridge falls in at around 27.5.If the strikeout numbers are the same, why did Lillibridge have a better batting average?

A look at his batted ball percentage only confuses things more. Usually a spike to this degree in stats comes from more line drives. Not the case with Lillibridge. His line drive rate dropped from 25.4% to 17.4% from 2010 to 2011. So where do the higher stats come in, then? Fly balls. Lillibridge posted a 50 percent fly ball rate, up 11 percent from 2010. This explains the homerun factor.

Expect to see Lillibridge take a Carlos Quentin-type regression from 2008. His true numbers should come out this year, and we’ll see the player he really is. If he was 24, I’d say he could be coming into his own as a ballplayer and might be figuring things out. At 28, he’s hit that mark already. Injury and the dings of the season will give Lillibridge a good amount of at bats at some point. He is a utility player, so he’ll find his time; for Sox fans, hope it’s in the outfield where he’s better defensively. He’ll also be a good use for late-innings pinch-hit opportunities against lefties, due to his power and high platoon split showing he knows how to hit lefties better.

Dayan Viciedo

There’s a lot of upside I find in Viciedo, but there's also a lot of unknowns. I didn’t know where to begin to project Viciedo and his talents for 2012 so I looked to the experts. Bill James' projected stat line for 2012 is .274/.324/.455 with 21 homers. ZiPS' projection is .274/.328/.431 21 HR, so both projections are very similar.

With limited time in the majors (38 games in 2010 and 29 games in 2011), Viciedo has too small of a sample size to accurately stamp numbers on him. That’s what I think is most exciting about him. He’s also young, and at 22 years old, he’ll only get better. One big positive is his approach at the plate since coming to the majors. In the little time he was here, from 2010 to 2011, he has started taking more pitches at the plate leading to a rise of six percent in his walk percentage. Six percent is a huge jump, but unfortunately he was so far down to begin with that it only brought him up to eight percent, which is right around league average. He’s got the power and he's playing in the right park for that power, so if he really shines this year, don’t be too shocked.

Alex Rios

Not much new can be said about Alex Rios that we don’t already knowingly shake our head. Most people look at his hitting downside as the biggest reason for disappointment out of Rios. I combine that with his defense which, like many things for Rios last year, hit a career low. Rios had a -7 defense rating (meaning he cost the White Sox seven defensive runs). I personally think he’s on a steady decline that won’t get any better anytime soon. That being said, he should hit .250 and get you 15-20 homeruns. It sounds rough, but the Sox just have to wait until 2015 when they can give him $1 million and buy out his contract.

Don't expect this guy to save the season.

Alejandro De Aza

Let’s bring Sox fans down to reality first and foremost: Alejandro De Aza will not be the Alejandro De Aza we saw last year in 54 games. That being said, there’s a lot to be excited about with De Aza. He should hit double digits in homeruns if he gets everyday playing time, and there’s nothing but love to be shown for his speed. He posted a 2.8 wins above replacement in 2011, so the Sox couldn’t ask for much more out of him.

We will see his batting average drop from .329 to somewhere a little below .300. If you want to give me a left fielder that hits close to .300, has decent power, and can steal 20 bases while keeping his walk percentage ( 9.9% last year) up, I’ll take that all day. The only downside to De Aza is his age. He’ll be 28 by mid-April, so his offensive numbers shouldn’t spike that much higher, but if he shows us anything similar to what he did in 54 games last year, then I’m excited.

Down on the farm? Not much to harvest

There’s not a lot of hope for outfielders in the Sox farm system to make a splash in the majors. Here’s a brief look at the Sox’s two best outfield prospects. Don’t get too excited—neither should be in the majors for another couple of years. It’s still something to keep an eye out for as they’ll both be at spring training this year and if they progress fast enough, who knows?

Trayce Thompson

The word on Thompson is the same everywhere: he won’t be playing centerfield in the majors. He’ll be a corner outfielder with a lot of power, but strikes out a ton. He should spend the season in high A ball, and the Sox don’t expect him up to the majors until 2014.

Keenyn Walker

The biggest knock on Walker is the same as Thompson: too many strikeouts. He’s got a lot of speed and is an above-average defender, but lacks pop with the bat. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in spring training. as most scouts don’t have him in the majors until 2015. I could see that being pushed up if he bulks up and cuts down on strikeouts.

There shouldn’t be much hope for trades. The only thing I could potentially see is if they sign Cuban ballplayer Yoenis Cespedes. Right now the Marlins are in the lead, but there’s so many teams involved in that race for anyone to truly know who has the advantage.

Those people who know me know I’m a Cubs fan, so don’t think I did this as a knock on the Sox outfield. I gave great compliments all throughout this post, but the reality is the Sox are in a tough position with their current outfield. I’ll be analyzing the Cubs outfield soon enough, as they’re just as intriguing (just as bad, if not worse) with just as many question marks.

Follow Jon in his many bowling conquests and future posts on Twitter (@JPeterlin).

Bravehearts: The Only Thing We Have to Fear...

It cannot get worse for Bradley basketball.

Ok, that's not true. We could lose to ISWho twice this year. If (when) we do lose to a team that has managed to move up a few spots in the conference this year, I won't feel terrible.

What I do feel terrible about is losing by at least 30 points three different times this season to three different team.

What I feel terrible about is knowing that we have become the laughingstock of the Valley.

What I feel terrible about is knowing that this season is doomed to repeat itself next year.

Uptempo, on and off the court

Geno Ford might be one of the funniest and loosest coaches I've ever had a conversation with. He's funny, genuine, and shoots straight. I wish his team could latch on to that kind of charisma and turn it into points on the board. Geno's positivity on the side lines almost makes me wonder if he's blindly ignorant to his situation—or maybe he's just blind.  He's clapping his guys up and down the floor, never yells during timeouts, and never looks totally disparaged, as far as I can tell.

Why? Because he knows that this is only year one.

The proof is in the pudding

If you want proof that Geno Ford is the guy to fix Bradley,  look at this year's Kent State Team.  The team he assembled is 16-6, including a season-opening win at West Virginia. These guys play under Ford's former assistant, and they also run the same system Ford runs. Did I mention the guy won back-to-back MAC championships? Yes, it's the MAC, a weaker conference, but to win back-to-back means that you can find talent, and then you can mold it. Besides, Norris Cole came out of the MAC and look what he's doing in Miami.

It took him a few years, but Geno Ford can get it done.

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed." 

The Braves will rise again. They will. Their combined failures will give way to a bold phoenix, ready to spread its wings and whip away the dust and debris of this abysmal season.

But not with this crop of players.

Don't be surprised if five or six guys don't come back next season. At all. We're talking off the team, people. Personally, I'm excited to see Nate Wells and Will Egolf in the post, Walt continue working on his jump shot, and what DSE can do so ball will be in his hands more next season. 

I think we're all excited, really. They can only improve.

Until then, go check out the women's games, and Katie Yohn's passes. Trust me. 

There's always next year, 

K-Mac

Ed. Note: "A bold phoenix"? K-Mac must have been reading the fifth Harry Potter again.

Rob Gronkowski's Game of Inches

Sports has always been called a game of inches. A basketball that lands on the front iron instead of in the net, a hockey puck hitting the crossbar, the baseball striking the wrong side of the foul line.

"Right size, wrong shape" says Ken Harrelson, when a White Sox player hits a foul ball with home-run distance. When a Sox hitter knocked a fly ball just short of the fence, John Rooney used to say, "Another strip of bacon on his breakfast plate and that one's outta here." "Juuuuuuuust a bit outside," for Bob Uecker. "Threeeeeeeeee--nope" for Neil Funk.

A game of inches, they've said. For the New England Patriots, the game came down to six inches last night. It was not the six inches of indoor grass between the ball and Rob Gronkowski's fingertips, however.

No, six inches separated the Pats from their fourth Super Bowl victory. The six inches of white tape on Rob Gronkowski's left ankle.

A wounded giant...excuse me, Patriot


Allow me to channel Alfred Hitchcock for a moment.

Imagine, if you will, a healthy Rob Gronkowski. A beast of a man, quick, speedy, agile and able to catch about anything he can reach. A devastating tandem along with fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski frustrated linebackers and defensive backs all season...until he suffered a serious ankle injury in the AFC Championship game.

Suddenly, Gronk was slowed, chained, restrained. The high-ankle sprain limited his astounding mobility, turned him into a lumbering player. Gronkowski and the Patriots said all week that he would play in the Super Bowl, and when the time came, he came onto the field. But it was clear he wasn't the same. Gronkowski caught only two passes, and missed a chance to haul in the greatest of his career.

So close...


As Tom Brady looked to duplicate Eli Manning's desperation fling from four years earlier, the Patriot receivers hustled to the end zone. Aaron Hernandez arrived first and was the only man in the area who had a chance.

Rob Gronkowski, a hobbled Rob Gronkowski, was still about three yards away from the spot.

Hernandez and the Giants D-backs tip the ball in the air. Gronkowski runs and dives, but ends up short. About six inches short.

Football nation watched this year as Gronkowski made play after play this season, with his hands and his legs. He set records as a tight end for receiving yards and touchdowns. He was a leader in that vaunted Madden stat of "yards after catch".

Yet there he was, in the last moment of the first Super Bowl of his young career, coming up short.

Six inches of grass. Six inches of tape.

Does a healthy Rob Gronkowski, running full speed with maximum force on that ankle make that play?

Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he overruns the ball and is out of position. Maybe gets blocked out. Maybe he just misses it.

Or maybe he doesn't. Maybe a healthy Rob Gronkowski has more than two catches in the game. Maybe a healthy Rob Gronkowski makes Tom Brady even better and the Giants have to do more than score an easy touchdown with one minute to go.

Maybe a healthy Rob Gronkowski cradles that ball in his hands, and Tom Terrific doesn't turn into Tom Thumb on the bus ride back to the hotel.

Four years ago, the inches of David Tyree's fingertips gave the Giants all they needed. This time, the Giants got the break again.

A game of inches, indeed.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS