Weak End.

I'm 3.4 billionth in line to be King of England, 5th in Line to be Saints Head Coach.

The picture and caption are my lone comment on the Saints coaching situation.  I don’t have the energy to go into detail.  Hence the title of the post, “Weak End.”  I’m not sure how strong we’re going to close out the week.  Remember those Aussie T’s?  They had a shop at the King of Prussia Mall.  They were so edgy.  I had one that said, “See It. Fear It. Own It,” on the back.  I wore it around like I was free-climbing sheer rock faces on the weekend.  Very regrettable.  Almost like having a “No Fear” decal on your car.  I loved that shirt.  Anyway, they had another shirt that said, “Seven Days Without Soccer Makes One Weak.”  That’s what I thought about when I cranked out that awful pun in the headline.

***

I bet you are all anxious for a Flyers Kitten Update.  What’s he been up to?  Well, I decided to Google our good friend this A.M. and I found out that Flyers Kitten is a lot more famous than we let on here.  Perhaps you remember last year when Flyers Kitten went on a tirade about Ed Snider.  Actually, you probably don’t remember.  Flyers Kitten’s salty mouh wasn’t too well received around these parts.  The post didn’t even generate a “HA.”  It was a total, “is thing on,” moment for me.  But, what was lost on some was latched onto by others.  The Flyers Kitten YouTube video, which now has over 1,100 views, was also posted on Crossing Broad.  Crossing Broad is one of the most popular Philly sports blogs, and I know this because the guy who writes it has tons of haters and there’s no better indication of internet success than people ripping you in the comments section all day.  I’m just sorry I didn’t see this video when it was posted.  Opportunity lost for Flyers Kitten.

In terms of the actual series…The Flyers play tonight and Sunday afternoon against the Penguins.  Golf in 80 degree weather on Sunday afternoon or Flyers game?  Tough call.  By coming back to beat Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, the Flyers flipped the home ice in their advantage and guaranteed that every Flyers fan is now expecting a Cup run.  It doesn’t take much with the Orange and Black faithful.  I’ve already talked myself into it–come on aboard.  Standing in the Flyers’ way is Vegas.  Prohibitive favorites to win the series and favorites to win the Stanley Cup, the Pens have been installed as beefy (-200) favorites tonight.  It’s the biggest line on the board.  That would tell me that we’re coming back to Philly tied at one game each, but if the Flyers don’t get down two, three to zero tonight, who knows?  Flyers Kitten is sticking with his prediction of Flyers in 3.  Still the Beat Bang.

***

About 30 seconds before he homered last night, Ty Wigginton popped up in foul territory.  I had a Wigginton diatribe on the tip of my tongue, another pop up?  In his first two at-bats, he’d seen two pitches.  Ty, this isn’t Grand Slam.  You don’t have to swing at every pitch to get your token’s worth (still operating on 1994 Grand Slam knowledge when they used tokens).  In general, the whole Nix/Wigginton/Thome thing hasn’t exactly flourished in the early going.  Three slow, free-swingers.  Just what the doctor ordered to fill in for one slow, free-swinger who actually hit home runs.  But, Gabby Sanchez couldn’t catch the pop up, Wigginton homered, and he bought himself another six or seven at-bats.  For me, it was symbolic. This team is going to take your right to the edge of losing your mind.  If you allow it…

The second straight win over Florida evened the Phillies’ record at 3-3 and .500 has never looked so good.  There’s a cavernous gap between 2-4 and 3-3.  Don’t want to let the Nationals get too far out in front.  The truth is, every win is going to be important for this team until they get healthier.  A 3-1 win on Thursday was just as pretty as the seven runs they plated the night before.  A realist says the Phillies are starting players at 4 positions who wouldn’t be regulars on many other (if any) teams:  1B, 2B, 3B, LF.  Throw in the pitcher and that’s one patchwork lineup.  The Phils are working at it, though, and look a little better than they did heading into last weekend.

The Mets slink their way into town this weekend without David Wright.  Not seeing Wright on the field should allow Philly fans to curb their obsession for the “Worley and Brown for Wright” Mega-Deal that they seem to think could be pulled off with one simple phone call.  Bad News:  Nobody is coming through a trade for a good while.  Good News:  The Mets started well, but are still crap.  Phillies have to shrug off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey tonight before they get a match against whipping boy, Mike Pelfrey, over the weekend.  Phils got that first two of three last night, time to keep churning them out.

***

Pitcher of the Day Bet:  Status–($125)

Wow.  Never has a theory started so ominously.  I actually think it could be a good sign.  I’ve been humbled, embarrassed, it’s time to move on.  Dust myself off.  It was a mistake taking Greinke on the road.  Lesson learned.

Today’s Pick:  David Price (+105) vs. Boston.  I’ll do 100 to win 105.  Price is another popular Cy Young pick, and had the best start of the aces that are going back to the hill today for their 2nd start.  You’re welcome, Boston!

***

Quiz of the Day For Old Times Sake:  Beer Logos.  

Theme:  Stock Your Coolers.

My Score:  24/25.  Shameful.

Everyone enjoy the weekend, hopefully come Monday, we’re talking commanding Flyers lead and 5-4 Phillies juggernaut.

Meyer, Duval, and Various Other Things.

Didn't Get the Ohio State Job.

We briefly talked about underrated movies on the blog last week.  Over Thanksgiving my sister offered about 235 choices that I’d missed.  But, Necessary Roughness was not on that list.  Maybe it should have been.  The movie keeps popping into my head.  First, I thought Scott Bakula may have to QB the Texans.  Now, Ohio State hiring Urban Meyer makes me think of Ed “Straight Arrow” Gennaro.  I still haven’t found a connection to, an at her hotness peak, Kathy Ireland, but it’s there somewhere.   Great flick.

I respect Ohio State for bringing in Urban Meyer, because it’s an honest move.  In Necessary Roughness, Texas State needed cleaned up, they couldn’t afford anyone but “The Arrow,” but Ohio State hasn’t lost sight of the task at hand.  They have to keep winning football games.  It doesn’t take long for a program to slide into mediocrity.  Michigan?  Miami?  Pretty soon you are piling up 7-win seasons and burning through coaches.  If your program gets too down on its luck, it’s hard to bring in that coach who can turn things around.  He’ll have better offers on his plate.  So, Ohio State isn’t going to let that happen.  They snag the guy with the impeccable track record of recruiting and winning, and dismiss the notion that his track record in other areas may not be so impeccable.

And, really, who is the coach with the clean resume at this point?  Are we going to trust anyone?  Why not just bring in the best coach and try to exert some control over his activities and the types of players he brings into the program?  It’s a lot easier than bringing in a boring guy who is just going to toe the NCAA line, but couldn’t recruit if his life depended on it.  Ohio State lost to Michigan this year, first time in a long time, and that’s a big deal.  They also went 6-6 and are still facing NCAA penalties.  Any coach would have their hands full with that scenario, and I’ll guess we’ll see if Meyer is the coach to drag OSU back to the top of the rankings.

***

If you are a a regular blog reader you’ll know that I am an unabashed fan of David Duval.  Duval took a step back in his comeback odyssey in 2011, failing to make the top-150 on the PGA Tour’s money list.  For a guy out of exemptions, it meant going back to the 2nd stage of Q-School–a humbling and hazardous endeavor.  A lot of pros (see John Daly) choose to eschew Q-School at this stage of their career in exchange for a life of sponsor exemptions and globe trotting for positions in a field.  I understand that impulse.  Once you’ve won a major, do you really want to be a Q-School failure?  If you don’t sign up, you avoid the awkwardness of not advancing, but Duval made his appearance two weeks ago at the 2nd stage and finished 2nd, easily advancing to the Q-School Final this week.

Even if the six-round struggle goes Duval’s way he’ll be further down on the status ladder than he’s ever been in his career on Tour, but you’ve got to respect that he’s keeping at it.  A lot of guys in his shoes would be on the corporate outing circuit and waiting for a career revival on the Champions Tour.  The truth is, it may take the Champions Tour for Duval to start winning again.  His putting skills will  be deadly on that circuit, but that’s a long, long way off.  In the meantime, DD tries to get back out there with the big boys.  At least the final stage has some familiar faces, Rich Beem, Daniel Chopra, Steve Flesch, Lee Janzen, Jeff Maggert, Shaun Micheel, and Boo Weekley are all also trying to get back onto the big circuit for 2012.

***

I have this really nervous feeling in my gut that the Phillies are going to announce a 4-year (vesting option 5th year) deal with Jimmy Rollins sometime in the near future.  I’m nervous about it because if they do sign Rollins it finishes the painting into a corner process that we’ve witness this off-season.  We’re going to change (our marginal bench players)!  I originally thought Rollins might get away and Madson would stay (wrong again, shocking), but that overwhelming offer from another team doesn’t seem to be out there for J-Roll.  And, the Phillies are so limited in their options to replace him.  The Freddy Galvis people need to get together with the why can’t Matt Rizzotti get some ABs people and try life on a deserted island.  Anyway, it seems like, for now the Phillies started this off-season with some good words and good intentions, but then realized they were married this to this core of players–something I’ve been saying for a long time.*

*Is this all a reverse jinx in hopes that Ruben presses the Acme TNT lever at the winter meetings?  Maybe.  That Cuban guy is still available.  The guy from Cuba, not Mark Cuban.

***

Quiz of the Day Nostalgia:  1990s Blitz.  Category: You Should Know This Stuff.  My Score:  24/30*

*Rusty.

On Uniforms.

Maryland at the Whim of Under Armour.

Drink that in, Oregon.  I don’t know what to make of this Maryland uni.  It’s almost universally being crowned as the ugliest uniform of all-time, but that’s obviously hyperbole.  The 70s happened, people, and things like the Chicago White Sox wearing shorts can’t just be erased off the books because Maryland trotted out a new helmet.

Collar From Arnold Palmer Golf.

I don’t really have a problem with any of the new uniforms, although my general rule would be: Any time you are approaching an ensemble that looks like it could have been in Any Given Sunday, it’s time to take a step back.  My biggest problem is some of these schools have 6, 8, or even more combinations that they can wear.  They’re becoming showpieces for the apparel companies, which seems like a shocking bit of hypocrisy even for the NCAA.  There was an article at Grantland last week titled, How Does Oregon do It?  Or something like that, I didn’t read it, but the blurb under the headline asked how Oregon stays competitive.  Well, I think the avalanche of money Nike drops on the school helps a bit, and obviously the other companies like Under Armour aren’t going to sit back and let that happen so they hook up with Maryland and the players find a new way to get exploited while the coaches get rich.  It’s a beautiful system.

Enough about the NCAA and trendy helmets, though.  What are the best uniforms out there?  There is some significance to a team’s colors and jerseys.  I mean, even if I was a die-hard Sixers fan, there’s no way I ever would have bought anything with this logo on it.

Awful.

And, I feel the same way about the Phillies day game jersey.  That cream-colored atrocity and awful blue hat.  I must be in the minority here, because I see tons of those jerseys every time I go to a Phillies game, but I just don’t see it.  It’s not a strong look.  If I was rating the uniforms of the Philadelphia teams, I’d probably go:

1. Flyers
2. Sixers
3. Phillies
4. Eagles

My thought process is, the Flyers may have that odd logo, but it is unmistakable and original.  They also have orange and black, which I think is a strong combination, and they’ve never really buckled and tried to do anything modern, or given up on their roots for some generic red/blue/gray scheme.  The Sixers have always had pretty solid uniforms except for the A.I. era.  We’re just going on what they’re wearing right now, though, and the Sixers look pretty minimalist and sharp. The Phils are all right, but they don’t have any claim to the color red or the pinstripe, so it’s all a bit derivative, and honestly the Phillies font is not my favorite.  The Eagles, of course, wear midnight green, and there is no excuse to be made for that.  It’s hideous.

It’s funny that I think most people would probably say they prefer the Eagles throwback uniforms.  The kelly green.  And, people might even go further to say that they liked the uniforms across the board in the 60s compared to what we have now.  I’m not sure if that is just a testament to how bad the modern uniforms are, or if the old uniforms just trigger nostalgia in people.  I don’t remember ever being really high on kelly green, but every year when the Eagles put it on, I fall in love and have visions of Randall Cunningham.   I’d imagine it’s the same with the Chargers’ powder blues, or the Pat the Patriot uniforms.  Was anyone sitting around in 1985 saying, dang, those Pats uniforms are hot!  I don’t think so.

Anyway, here’s some other uniforms I’m a fan of:

1. Cleveland Browns–No Logo is pretty gutsy.
2. St. Louis Cardinals–Timeless
3. Chicago Blackhawks–Best of the classic NHL Logos
4. Boston Celtics–Is it me, or are most NBA uniforms awful?
5. New York Yankees–The only team I can say will never change?
6. Oakland Raiders–Silver and Black

***

Quiz of the Day Returns: Guess that Batting Average.  Category: Baseball History/Test Taking Skills.  My Score: 28/50.

 

Phils Go For Sweep, Etc.

The Most 90s Graphic Ever.

Are the Diamondbacks really in this thing?  That’s what I’m wondering, because if they are, it drastically changes the National League landscape.  Here’s a little story about the San Francisco Giants.  They may play the Phillies tough, but they are shockingly mediocre against everyone else.  Really, they aren’t that much different from the Pirates.  True Story. With San Francisco’s recent 5-game tailspin they’ve allowed themselves to be caught in the NL West for the moment by the upstart D-Backs.  Well, they aren’t that upstart.  They’re 12 games over .500.  But so is San Fran and their mind-boggling negative run differential.  We hear a lot about pitchers and hitter getting lucky these days, the Giants are lucky they aren’t .500.  Or worse.  Colorado’s run differential is only 12 runs worse, and they’re 10 games behind SF.

Of course, if you were paying attention to the Giants all year you knew all this about them.  And, so far, Carlos Beltran isn’t helping.  Despite that, though, they looked like a lock to win the NL West.  Who else was going to?  San Diego was pillaged. The Rockies were injured and underachieving, and the D-Backs, well…they’re the D-Backs.  But, suddenly Ian Kennedy is an ace and Justin Upton is raking and the D-Backs can take over first place this afternoon.  It’s a crazy thought.

All the worry in Philadelphia comes from SF with a little nod to Atlanta.  Well, now SF might have to fight to even make the post-season, and Atlanta has slipped eight games back.  Remember about a month ago when I said the Braves had just played their best stretch of the season and were still 3 games back of the Phillies?  Well, this is what happens when they come back down to Earth a little bit.  The Phillies get some cushion.  Already at 70 wins, the Phils win pace is up to 104.  If they play .500 the rest of the way, they’ll still win 96.  This is a very good baseball team.

A baseball team that is going for a sweep in Colorado in about an hour.  Roy Halladay is given the task.  Isn’t he from Denver.  Home game alert.  The Phillies haven’t had much success closing out sweeps of late, although they did finish the Pirates off on Sunday.  If Halladay can beat Jason Hammel, the Phillies will be riding a 6-game winning streak into the big showdown with (1st or 2nd place?) San Francisco.  That’s going to be a handful, even if the Giants lose another one this afternoon.  Best to pile up wins while you can against the likes of the Rockies.  And, as an aside, that Pence seems to be a decent fit into the lineup, no?

***

If Washington Nationals fans had some history, perhaps we could put them among the truly tortured fan bases, but they’re still a pup.  The Jayson Werth contract debacle, Strasburg blowing out his arm, Bryce Harper going ice-cold in AA, that’s a decent foundation to a tortured fan resume, but it’s just a start.  And, there could finally be some good news on the horizon. Strasburg is actually scheduled to make a rehab start on Sunday.  It’ll just an inning or two, but it’s a major sign of progress, especially in terms of getting Strasburg ready for next year.  I think we have short memories and forget how exciting this guy was when he came up last year.  His return is certainly something to look forward to.

***

Quiz of the Day:  Historical Over/Unders.  Category:  It’s Like Gambling.  My Score: 20/24.  

***

Random Link:  Here’s an interesting story about Carl Lewis from SI, if you know, that’s your kind of thing.

Wreck Specks vs. Mitch Kramer as it Happens. *Update

Look at Those Puppies. Worley Might as Well be in Contacts.

That first day of the wild NFL season didn’t exactly have too many fireworks, did it?  I’m seriously asking, because I was on the golf course getting a sunburn on two or three random places I missed with the SPF 30.  The top of right hand should be golden brown by Thursday.  Pretty nice day out there, though.  If I can offer just a blanket and unsolicited suggestion to any golfer out there:  If you can hit the ball with any type of reasonable authority, your biggest concern should be your alignment.  Never let your alignment get too far out of whack.  Trust me.  Speaking from experience.  So, to wrap up a slow blog day, I’m going to live blog the Phils and Giants tonight before I head down to the park for the game on Wednesday.  I want to get an idea of exactly how putrid this Giants offense is, and it could be Vance Worley’s last start for the Phillies. Who knows.  Anyway, back in a bit….

*So, Tim Lincecum has the flu.  Someone must have coughed on the bong.  So, the Phillies get sloppy left-hander Barry Zito tonight.  Some of the Phils have decent numbers off Zito despite his propensity to throw…not hard.  As Dub has stated unknowingly in the comments section, it’s shifted the Phillies to quite strong favorites.  Zito had his tizzos ripped off 10 days ago against San Diego.

–One thing of note, this was supposed to be a rejuvenated Giants offense.  A full season of Buster Posey, the “next Posey” in Brandon Belt, Skinny Panda.  Not much has bounced SF’s way on those fronts.  Posey got steamrolled, Belt is back to dominating AAA, and they’re scoring less than 4 runs a game.  We’ll see how they do against Worley.

–Shame Lincecum isn’t pitching.  Puts the Phils in a bit of a no-win.  If they beat Zito, people will just say he stinks, if they lose it’ll be time to sound the alarms.

–Giants manufacture a run in the first, and lead 1-0.  It’s Zito time.  Wonder if he’s written any sweet lyrics lately.

–2 Out RBI Double by Ryan Howard.  His VORP just went up by .056.  As an aside, despite his recent RBIs and bat flip on a 337 ft homer, Michael Martinez is still killing the Phils in the 2-hole.

–3 Run Bomb for Ibanez.  4-1, Phils.  Heard more 25HR/85 RBI talk on the radio today about how that’s just what the Phillies need.  Raul is getting there the ugly way.

–Dinner Break.  Chicken Quesa-what?  Dilla.

–Wheels–“Posey is a guy you want back in the league, because he’s the kind of guy that does everything right.”  Except block the plate, I guess, according to everyone who has ever caught an inning of baseball.

–Pittsburgh is jumping on Atlanta again, 3-0.  Love those Pirates.  Beat the Braves last night and Atlanta is reeling a bit.The other day they lost to Dontrelle Willis who I thought was on a barnstorming tour with Danny Almonte.  As an aside, nice job by Pittsburgh starting to sell out Pirates games.

–John Mayberry Jr. homers to left to shake the Phils out of what was starting to look like their typical mid-game malaise when they are carrying a lead.  Hard to blame this team for getting comfortable with a lead at times, and it’s now 5-1, so don’t expect too many more fireworks.

–As usual, we are cruising right along.  So, here’s a question.  Beltran or Pence in a perfect world?  I’ve allowed some of the stat guys and pessimists to cool my enthusiasm for Pence over the last day or two, plus that deal does seem less likely.  Beltran as a rental is certainly appealing, Met or not.  It’s not like picking up Castillo.  Assuming Worley or Brown isn’t part of the deal, I’d love to get Beltran.  Teams usually do overvalue their young arms.  Everyone wants to think they’ve got the next Roy Halladay in low-A ball.

–Inside the Park home run by Utley!  He looked out.  Samuel waves him with 0 outs.  Love it.  Samuel waves ’em all.  Head first dive might have avoided the tag.  Utley’s knee looks…decent tonight.  He’s been a dervish.

–Here’s a great quiz for this site.  NFL Starting QBs–2010.  Category: Know Your DA People.  My Score: 60/63

–I don’t know what Worley’s future holds, but I know his trade value will never be higher.  It’s an interesting dilemma.  Assuming Oswalt comes back, Worley becomes the 5th starter and would be lucky to see an inning here or there come playoff time.  In the meantime, though, he’s been a stabilizing force in this rotation for the last month.

–Tom McCarthy doesn’t know the difference between a pick-off and a caught stealing.  Good to know.

–Howard adds a solo bomb to center (4th homer of the night for the Phils) to make it 7-2.  This one was about as comfortable as it can get.  Great overall game.  Worley fires a complete game, Giants manage 3 hits…better luck next time, San Francisco.

Bryce Harper Panic, Ideas and Things.

World's Leading Producer of Kryptonite.

Trouble in Harrisburg.  Bryce Harper is 6 for his first 35 with no extra base hits.  His OPS (.413) would barely qualify him for the biggest loser.  It’s not surprising that the increase in competition and the wear of a first full professional season is slowing Harper’s progress a bit.  And, if it was only his first 10 days at AA, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but he had cooled considerably even before he was promoted.  Kid logged plenty of games, but the everyday grind and the bus travel, etc. have to take a bit of a toll.  A month ago it looked like Harper was ticketed for Washington for next year’s opener, but maybe a mid-season call-up or even 2013 is more realistic.  I wonder what the Washington brass is thinking. The promotion to AA doesn’t seem to have lit any kind of fire, how will Bryce deal with his first dose of reality?  I expect more eye-black.

***

I always have strong reactions to watching Jeopardy.  One of the best parts about Jeopardy is the interaction with the contestants.  To call a lot of these people socially awkward would be generous.  They tell awful stories, Alex makes a terrible joke and then they get back to molesting their signaling devices.  Another great time to observe the contestants is right after they win.  Most of them are too awkward to show emotion.  They just piled up 40 grand and they are stone faced, or have some creepy expression going.  A week or two ago Alex actually had to tell one of the guys it was OK to smile.  When you see someone win a bunch of money on the Wheel at least you think they’ll enjoy it.  Blow it on a boat or something you simple bastard.  Who knows what these Jeopardy weirdos do with the prize money.  Anyway, the reactions are right up there with watching them try to answer sports questions.

Speaking of which, I’m not sure why a sports jeopardy show doesn’t work.  I know ESPN has tried it on several different occasions and it failed miserably, but no show works on ESPN aside from Sportscenter.  And, even that sucks, people just watch it out of obligation.  Are sports less popular than I think?  Couldn’t Jeopardy at least do a sports week?  They’ve got Kids Week, Teachers Week, College Week, where is the sports trivia?  Is watching a kid in a Yale sweatshirt really more exciting than people answering something other than Michael Jordan to every basketball question?

***

There seems to be some discussion about stadiums out there.  Old stadiums, should they tear them down or stick with the nostalgia?  People are calling Wrigley a dump, Minnesota is trying to get a stadium to keep the Vikings.  Off the top of my head, here’s 5 stadiums that need to go.  I haven’t been to Wrigley in probably 5 years, but I’d stick with it for now.

1. Tropicana Dome
2. Metrodome
3. Candlestick Park
4. Where the Marlins Play
5. Rogers Centre nee Sky Dome

Note the Dome theme?

***

Quiz of the Day: Who’s Won More Titles.  Category: 50/50 shot.  My Score: 26/30.  

Summer of the Amateur Continues.

Watson Has Been Good Company for Amateurs.

It’s always an interesting story when an amateur can get themselves on a major championship leaderboard.  The way things have gone this summer and with younger players looking more fearless in the moment than ever, perhaps an amateur winning a major championship is not as ridiculous a notion as it once seemed.  Coming off a U.S. Open where multiple amateurs handled themselves nicely, one of the early stories at the British Open Championship is the amateur Tom Lewis, who scorched the back nine for a share of the 1st round lead.  His opening 65 is a record score for an amateur, and considering he took medalist honors at his qualifier, perhaps this isn’t someone we should dismiss as a one-round wonder.  Lewis was paired with 5-time winner, Tom Watson, who a couple of years ago played the opening rounds with Matteo Manassero during his run to low-amateur honors.  Maybe watching Tom’s pure rhythm helps calm the nerves?   It’s a tightly packed and wide-open leaderboard toward the end of round one, but the chalk from the top of the OWGR is notably missing.  Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell at 2-under par are leading the way for the pre-tournament favorites.

***

Changing the subject, I’m kind of begrudging the Phillies their extra day off.  I miss the Phils.  Especially this week with little going on, 4 days without baseball seems like a long time.  I know everyone out there thinks the baseball season is too long, but there is something nice and familiar about it.  Baseball is reliable.  On a nightly basis you can catch a few innings, or check the scores, whatever it may be, but this stretch feels about as miserable as wading through a bye-week in the NFL.  It was good timing for the Phils, though, because they are in need of rest across the board, I would imagine.  I don’t know what the best preparation for facing a knuckleballer is anyway–it could be a 4-day vacation.  I’m definitely anxious for tomorrow’s game in New York against R.A. Dickey.  It’s Vance’s chance for revenge.

***

Mad Men got 73 Emmy nominations.  I think that was the number.  This angers me to no end, because Mad Men is gone. It will get exactly 0 Emmy nominations next year, because they aren’t filming a season.  AMC is getting a little cavalier with their meal ticket.  It’s nice that Breaking Bad is back after an eternity, but they drained all their goodwill by punishing people with The Killing.  I can watch almost anything, and I couldn’t watch The Killing.  The fact they didn’t even resolve the plot line and the resulting scathing reviews and near riots just vindicates me bailing on it early.  Dodged a bullet. Anyway, last chance for January Jones to doll up for an Emmy Awards show until at least 2013.  The show is coming back next year, right?  Right?  Here are my Emmy Picks, because we don’t talk enough TV.

Best Drama: Mad Men

Best Comedy: Parks and Recreation

Lead Actress Comedy: Amy Poehler–Parks and Rec

Lead Actor Comedy: Alec Baldwin–30 Rock

Lead Actor Comedy: Jon Hamm–Mad Men

Lead Actress Drama: Connie Britton–Friday Night Lights

Supporting Actor Comedy:  Eric Stonestreet (Where is Aziz Ansari’s Nom?)

Supporting Actor Drama: John Slattery–Mad Men

Supporting Actress Comedy: Jane Lynch–Glee (Still trading off Best in Show for me)

Supporting Actress Drama: Kelly MacDonald–Boardwalk Empire

Here are all the nominees.

***

Quiz of the Day:  “B” Blitz.  Category:  I went “B”raindead.  My Score: 30/40.

A Bold Statement.

Doc Holliday of Chain Restaurant Fame.

Can I come out against the nickname, “Doc,” for Roy Halladay?  I know it is quite popular.  It’s universal.  This is what people call him.  There is no going back.  I just don’t like it that much.  The primary reason is because the general population, the hoi polloi, cannot distinguish between Halladay and Holliday in their T-Rex brains.  So, I’m going to say 6 of 10 people actually think his name is Holliday.  Others know that it is Halladay, but think it is pronounced like Holliday. It’s not.  If you must, call him “Doc,” but please do not call him Holliday.  It’s enough to drive a person insane.

The other reason I don’t like it is, it’s just a bit lazy, isn’t it?  If your last name was McDonnell, would you want your nickname to be Ronald?  Is Dale Earnhardt’s daughter’s nickname Amelia?  We can all agree that those are idiotic, right? Anyway, “Doc,” aka Roy Halladay (note the windfall of a’s), is taking the hill in a couple of hours.  I might (probably will) check in during the game with some observations.  This AL team will be a nice test for Roy and Mother Lovin’ (now there’s a nickname) if he gets into the game.

How about an All-Star Game Starter Quiz?  Sure.

Most All-Star Game Starts (Pitchers).  Category: Not Paul Byrd.  My Score: 10/13.

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Cultivating Worry. AKA, Why Don’t the Braves Lose More?

Dan Uggla's Last Smile.

I’ve accepted the fact that Philadelphia is a sports town that must constantly be worrying about something.  Team in first place?  Well, they aren’t in first place the right way.  The teams behind them, in a paradox of accepted standings, are actually better than the Phillies.  Without worry, we are nothing, and so week to week we drum it up from various sources. The offense stinks, we’re too banged up, the bullpen is a joke, Charlie can’t manage a close game, depending on the day and the most recent box score, these are the refrains.  It is going to be like this until the last day of the season.  No amount of reason can change that.  Because, not only are the fans prone to worry, but they’re wounded.  Wounded from that NLCS last year and now suffering from a sports fan’s version of PTSD.

As I said, the cause for the worry is often fleeting and constantly changing.  Chase Utley?  Now he looks like about the healthiest guy on the team.  The Marlins?  They went from upstart with a dangerous rotation to winning 3 games in a month.  We’ve forgotten about the Marlins.  We’ve forgotten about Joe Blanton (no one cares if he comes back), and we can even shrug off a trip to the 15-day DL for just about anyone, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to shake the Braves.  The Braves have people terrified.  It’s a characteristic of the sports fans around here that bothers me.  We should be telling the Braves to pound sand.  They should be afraid of the Phillies.  Instead we’re sitting around waiting to drop into 2nd place.

The Braves are hot.  They’re finishing off a series with the depleted and dead Rockies this afternoon and could arrive in town just 2.5 games behind the Phillies.  They are 13-3 in their last 16 games.  The bad news?  If the Braves keep playing at an .813 clip they are going to eventually pass the Phils.  The good news?  They aren’t going to keep playing at an .813 clip. They’ve just run off one of their better stretches of the season, and it still wasn’t enough to get them into first place.  In fact, if the Braves win or lose today, the Phillies will still have the biggest division lead in baseball.

The interesting thing about how Phillies fans evaluate the Braves is that they do it in a biased manner and based solely on the standings.  If you want a flowery version of what the Braves are as a team–go ask a frightened Phillies fan.  You’ll hear of a great rotation, shutdown bullpen, young offensive talent, and of course you’ll be reminded they have won 13 of 16. When looking at the Braves the Phillies fan can’t see the warts that they are so eager to point out about their own squad.  If they were judging the Phillies on the same criteria (strengths only and winning percentage) we’d have the happiest fan base in baseball.

In the simplest terms possible, the Phillies have scored more runs and given up fewer runs than the Braves.  If you hate the Phillies offense, you shouldn’t be afraid of Atlanta’s.  They have the worst free agent signing in the National League in Dan Uggla.  They have an underperforming phenom in Jayson Heyward.  They have a superstar who is a shell of his former self in Chipper Jones.  They have a grand total of one dangerous hitter (Brian McCann) and some decent complimentary pieces.  In what way is that different from what the Phillies have?  The Braves will not beat anyone, especially the Phillies, because they out-hit them.

The Braves pitching is a different story.  Jair Jurrgens is a documented Phillies killer.  Their other starters have had mixed success against the Phils, but have shown the ability to shut them down.  Their bullpen is loaded with power arms from both sides.  They don’t cough up a lot of late leads.  Of course, neither do the Phillies.  Surely Ryan Madson/Jose Contreras and Antonio Bastardo’s 25 of 26 save conversions is at least as good as Craig Kimbrel’s 26 of 31.  And, would you really take Jurrgens, Hudson and Hanson over Halladay, Lee and Hamels?

The Braves look like a lesser version of the Phillies to me.  A team with similar strengths and weaknesses that comes up marginally short across the board.  Of course, you could have said the same thing about the Giants last year, and maybe that is the source of all this Braves worry.  It looks familiar.  But, none of that can be resolved until the post-season if the Phillies make it there.  So maybe it shouldn’t really matter how far back the Braves are.  Maybe the most important number is Philly’s theoretical 8 game lead on the wild-card spot.  Yes, the Phillies are 8 games inside the playoffs.  Does that make you feel any better?  Didn’t think so.

I don’t want to diminish this weekend series too much.  It’s a big series.  The Phillies have their rotation lined up exactly how they want it, and also get the pleasure of missing Jurrgens.  It’s at home, the Phils are coming off an off-day and a 4-2 trip where they exploded for 37 runs.  John Mayberry Jr. hit 2 homers in a game.  Dom Brown looks a little better (at the plate, not doing anything else).  And, even if Polanco and Victorino can’t go I think the Phils have the upper hand here.  I’m expecting them to take 2 of 3, but if they don’t, it’ll just be something more to worry about.

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Quiz of the Day:  Which Happened First Part II.  Category: Quick and Painless Guessing.  My Score: 17/20. 

The Figurative Rise and Literal Fall of Shane Victorino.

Shane Thinks There's Something Up There to Protect.

There was a time where Tiger Woods announcing that he was skipping a major would require a post, but at this point I assume Tiger is out until we hear otherwise, and I’m going on with my Shane Victorino post.  The Flyin’ Hawaiian hopped a plane back to Philly today, running the streak of under-reported Phillies injuries to 235.  We’ll see if this hinders Shane’s attempt to be the last chance All-Star Vote winner.  I assume Phillies fans are at work stuffing the virtual ballot boxes.

I wanted to talk about Victorino even before his eventful weekend, but it is convenient that he had such an all encompassing Shane weekend.  While the long tenured members of the Phillies line up (Howard/Utley/Rollins) deal with various issues and the new blood mostly fails to pick up the slack, Shane Victorino has been the Phillies’ most productive offensive player this year.  Even with a DL stint, he leads the team in runs scored, he’s the only regular hitting .300, he’s 2nd on the team in homers and leads in the much ballyhooed OPS stat.  The Victorino vs. Howard argument is the epitome of old-school vs. new school, but regardless of how you come down, the fact that Shane is in the discussion is an indication of the year he is having.

I don’t know that I could find the exact quote, but I know on at least one occasion I said Victorino is the position player the Phillies could least afford to lose.  Not only is Shane contributing on offense, but he’s out there in center field where the Phillies are shockingly thin.  Michael Martinez’s RBI on Monday aside, the guy shouldn’t be on the team.  Their 2nd best center fielder was just recalled from Lehigh Valley, and he hits .220.  We’ve almost accepted the lack of production coming from the corner outfielders, but for center field to become an out as well would render a mediocre offense completely stagnant.  And, whether or not you think Shane deserves his Gold Gloves (he probably doesn’t, not all of them), compared to every other outfielder on the team aside from Mayberry, he looks like a 22-year old Andruw Jones out there.

So, that’s all the upside for Victorino and the reasons we should hope his early return to Philly is just the team showing some caution, but things with Shane are not always positive.  Like I said, the weekend in Toronto was a microcosm.  He hit, he pushed things on the bases, but there were also those two plays that made your head explode.  Consider me part of the camp that thinks Shane essentially injured himself, because he had no idea what he was going to do when he caught that fly ball and changed his mind about 11 times in that one second.  Thus the fumbling, the trip, and the flight home.  He also got stone-cold picked off 2nd base, which is the latest in a long line everyday base running blunders.

How can Victorino be so productive with such a low baseball IQ?  It’s a question I struggle with all the time.  It divides the fans as well.  Some people just like that Shane is personable and hustles.  Others think he could be that much better if he just got a clue.

The announcers did some deep and thorough massaging of Chase Utley’s base running during the same Toronto series. And, for once Wheels made a halfway decent point.  It’s something that shouldn’t stick out so much, but it does, because almost nobody can run the bases.  There’s plenty of speed in the league, but that isn’t the point.  We’re talking about guys that don’t freeze for 5 seconds on every ball in the air.  Some might call it instincts.  I’d call it paying attention.  It’s a minor detail, kind of like running out ground balls, that Utley masters while just about everyone else on the team does not.

Anyway, the reason I’m talking about all of this is because I’m wondering if you can win if Shane Victorino (warts included) is your most productive offensive player.  What if Howard doesn’t have that dominant six-week stretch this year?  I think Chase Utley might make this discussion moot in another month, but what if I am wrong?  We know Shane is a very nice complimentary piece.  If he’s hitting 2nd, you’re in good shape.  If he’s hitting 7th, or is your fourth best offensive player–you’re fine.  But, what about if he’s the true engine?  I’m not so sure, and that’s assuming he can stay healthy.

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Five Tickets To Allentown: Vance Worley Logistical Edition:

1. Michael Martinez
2. Danys Baez
3. Raul Ibanez
4. Drew Carpenter
5. Scott Mathieson

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Quiz of the Day: Expensive Big Colleges.  Category: Big School Environment/Liberal Arts Price Tag.  My Score: 11/15.