Fitting Description of the Reds’ Offense

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Bronson Arroyo deserves better. He gave up one run in seven innings. The Reds could muster only one run in his support. The bullpen entered the game in the eighth inning and promptly surrendered four runs. The poster above is in honor of the worst bullpen in baseball.

I may vomit the next time an analyst bends over backwards to describe how the bullpen is stocked with crafty veterans – Weathers,Stanton & Cormier - and with “nasty arms” – Coffey,Coutlangus & Saarloos.

Nasty is the taste I get in my mouth whenever Narron makes a call to the bullpen. What a shame to waste quality starting pitching night after night.

Finally!!

After the disaster known as the Phillies series I was beginning to wonder if the Reds knew how to hit. I was positive that Chris Chambliss was somewhere laughing himself silly. Adam Dunn looked very Dunnish; that is to say he struck out every other AB, especially with runners in scoring position. I am giving serious consideration to conducting a ”Dunn study” this year, logging the number of times that he fails to drive a runner in from second or third with less than two outs. The only time this guy comes through is on Opening Day; at least, that’s how it seems.  The Reds actually scored more runs and produced more hits last night than they did during the entire Philadephia series. Philadelphia is not that good. It has yet to be determined if Cincinnati is that bad.

 They played well last night; however, both offensively and defensively, and credit for that is due to Alex Gonzalez. The Reds signed Gonzalez in the offseason to a three year $14 million deal mainly to improve a weak left side of the infield. He has made some spectacular plays, including a “Jeteresque” play last night. Lopez was one of my favorite Reds, only because he was nice enough to autograph my youngest son’s ballcap when no other Red – Wily Mo Pena and some stiff I didn’t recognize – would. My sentimental feelings for Felipe aside, adding Gonzalez to the roster was another smart move by Krivsky. No, Gonzalez will not perform like this from the plate most of the time, but he will play great defense and I’ll take the 2 HR, 2B, 1B, 4 runs, 5 RBI, and 11 TB when they come!

Harang pitched a great game. We’ve come to expect that from him, even though he has struggled a couple of times this year. The bullpen was lousy again, giving up a run when you up by eight might not seem bad, but why can this group not enter the game and just shut the opposition down. Every one of those guys are, in the words of Marty, “a thrill a minute”. I cringe every time a starter leaves the game.

Junior finally belted a homerun this year, and it was #564 placing him in sole position of 10th place on the all-time list. I’d love to see Griffey break the 600 barrier this year, but I doubt if he is able to hit 37 homers in one season anymore. I may be wrong. I hope I am.

The NFL Whuppin’ Stick

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has levied two precedent setting suspensions against the League’s biggest thugs. Tennessee Titans CB ‘Pacmcan’ Jones will be forced to sit out the ‘0878 season, and Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry will miss half of the season.

After the penalties were announced the commissioner issued the following statement:

We must protect the integrity of the NFL. The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right. These players, and all members of our league, have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis.

These men stand to lose significant sums of money ($1,292,500 and $204,705.88 respectively), and their teams will be without important pieces of the puzzle. That’s good. Hopefully, character will begin to count for something on draft day, and when the same player is continually arrested, regardless of his play on the field, maybe, hopefully, he’ll be given his walking papers; not just from the team but from the league.

Donovan to Stay at Florida

Billy Donovan has told the University of Kentucky “Thanks, but no thanks”, according to ESPN’s Andy Katz. Donovan is reported as saying:

After finally having an opportunity to sit down with my family, and with Jeremy Foley, I’ve decided that I will remain at the University of Florida. I have great respect for the University of Kentucky, its great history and tradition, and I had five wonderful years in Lexington. That being said, I’m very proud of what we’ve built here at the University of Florida and I look forward to continuing build on it.

This is what I predicted, and it makes the most sense for Donovan; at least in my opinion.

While listening to the Reds beat up on the Cubs this afternoon, I was shocked; that’s right shocked, to learn that Bob Huggins will leave Kansas State for West Virginia. John Goodman of FOXSports.com writes:

The Kansas State head coach, who took over the program a year ago, has reached a tentative agreement to coach the Mountaineers,according to sources close to the situation. Huggins is expected to get on a plane and fly to Morgantown later today. A news conference is slated for Friday. Huggins met with representatives from West Virginia in Ohio in the past few days — after John Beilein left for Michigan. He returned to Manhattan on Wednesday night and reached the decision to leave Kansas State for West Virginia. He then met with the president and athletic director at Kansas State and while he was torn with the decision, he has decided to return home.

So this Coyote Walks In and…

I’ve been to downtown Chicago twice. In Chicago I experienced stuff that you just don’t experience in Smalltown, IN. I have never seen a coyote walk into a sub shop and cop a seat on the drink cooler. But it happened.

Those big-city experiences; you just can’t beat ‘em!

Gators Repeat

I used to believe that Billy Donovan was an excellent recruiter but a lousy coach. After winning his second consecutive championship, it’s obvious that I was wrong. The Florida Gators proved to be too much for the OSU Buckeyes, and Florida has defended their national title. That’s right, an SEC team not named Kentucky has won consecutive basketball championships. You may remember that Florida also won the football championship in January. Their opponent? The OSU Buckeyes.

You may not like the long haired, chest thumping Joakim Noah, but give the young man and his teammates their due credit. Florida was the better team. Individually, I’d take Conley or Oden before all of the Gators, except Brewer, but as a team Florida was too formidable. Credit for that goes, not only to the players, but to the coach; the coach I used to say could only recruit but couldn’t manage his team or the game.

Speaking of Coach Donovan, Florida fans should breathe easy, and UK fans should prepare for rejection, because I believe that ‘Billy the Kid’ will stay put in Tallahassee. Why should he leave? He has been successful at Florida – three Final Fours and two titles – and he will never be in the fishbowl at Florida like he would be in Lexington. No matter how many basketball championships the Gators win, that school will always be a football first university. Urban Meyer is the Tallahassee coach with all the pressure. Donovan can live large and step easy. He has already won two more basketball championships than was expected.My NCAA bracket started off rough, I picked Purdue, Butler, and IU to lose in the first round and Notre Dame to advance. I ended up well. My Elite Eight picks were perfect, and I was 75% correct on the Final Four. I had the right championship game picked, but I had OSU defeating Florida. Not too bad, though; much better than usual.

Congratulations Coach Donovan and the Florida Gators. Here is hoping that Kelvin Sampson and company will be cutting down the nets next year!Go Hoosiers!

And This One Belongs to the Reds!

The Reds have defeated the Chicago Cubs 5 – 1 in the season opener. I was able to listen to Marty and Thom Brennaman call the game; along with Joe Nuxhall. Adam Dunn crushed two homers off of Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano, and Junior played a flawless RF while hitting two opposite field shots. Alex Gonzalez proved to be a huge defensive improvement at SS. Aaron Harang pitched a great game. One game doesn’t make a season, but it’s always good to win the opener.

Giuliani Jokes

Enjoy these jokes at Giuliani’s expense. (Note: posting these jokes does not mean that I am for or against Giuliani. I just think the jokes are funny; especially considering the recent admission by Judith Giuliani.)

Here is some Jay Leno material:

“We’re now finding out where all the candidates met their spouses. Barack Obama met his wife at a law firm. John McCain met his wife at a Naval officers’ dance. And Rudy Giuliani met his third wife when he was cheating on his first wife with his second wife.”…
“In an interview, Rudy Giuliani’s wife admitted that Rudy Giuliani is not her second husband, but actually her third husband. She forgot about her first husband. But Rudy understands, when they started dating, he forgot he had a wife too.”…
“Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said today that the toughest part about getting married to his current wife was finding a wedding song that they both haven’t used before.”…
“Rudy Giuliani has defended Newt Gingrich, saying it’s okay Newt had an affair and that no one is perfect. That’s when you know the Republicans are in trouble — when a guy with three marriages and an affair is defending the guy with three marriages and two affairs, so they can team up and beat a Clinton.”…

Now for you David Letterman fans…

“While you folks were applauding, Mrs. Giuliani remembered another marriage.”…
“You all excited about the 2008 presidential election? There’s some interesting potential matchups. For example, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. … On the one hand, you have a pushy New Yorker with a history marital problems. Or, you have a pushy New Yorker with a history marital problems.”

(HT: Political Humor)

Go Reds!

The Indianapolis Star had a great article in this morning’s paper about Josh Hamilton. I have posted about Hamilton twice already. You can read those posts here and here. I am not only pulling for this guy as a baseball player, but I would love to see this young man succeed by staying clean.

Opening Day in Cincinnati is a unique and wonderful experience. In fact, I am sure that no other city does Opening Day like Cincinnati, as the city and the entire tri-state area celebrate baseball’s oldest franchise.

Since 2001 the city could only celebrate baseball on Opening Day. Last year’s team was a pleasant surprise. While the team fizzled down the stretch, they proved to be on the verge of turning the corner. Hopefully, this year will prove that the corner has been turned. The good news is that the NL Central is a weak division. The Cardinals won the series last year because they got hot at the right time; their regular season was underwhelming. I believe the Reds are as good as any team in the Central this year. That’s not saying much, but it’s true.

Hopefully the Redlegs will play all the way to the finish this year, winning the Central division. It would be great to watch Josh Hamilton finally put it all together and contribute to an unexpected title run.

Go Reds!