Fair And Balanced

There has been a lot of Boston-centric content on the site today, and I just wanted to level it out a bit.

Yup. That's better.

The Greatest Sports List Ever

List of things that are relevant in the sports world...
1) Yankees/NY Giants
2) 'Cuse Basketball
3) NBA 2k9 (XBox 360)
...
...
15,387,623) NY Liberty
...
22,341,587) Rest of the WNBA
...
...
89,357,689) San Antonio Spurs (They are boring as fuck to watch)
...
100,000,000) Driving golf balls into traffic
...
...
...
458,954,484) Dallas Cowboys
458,954,485) Boston Bruins
458,954,486) St. Pius X 25yr old+ Basketball Tuesday and Thursday nights
458,954,487) Curves Monday Night Palates Class (I like fat women, what do you want from me?)
458,954,488) Red Sox
458,954,489) BC (BC is gay)

Heist of the Century

With the Indians signing of Carl "American Idle" Pavano, Cash has effectively indirectly traded Pavano (valueless) for Sabathia (most valued free agent arm) without giving up any top prospects. Mark Shapiro got suckered. Job well done! Show me any GM who can beat that...

Celtics Want To Get In The Truck?

As Brendan noted this morning, some sources are indicating that Stephon Marbury might be joining the Celtics once the Knicks finally end their messy divorce. I am sure my reaction is similar to almost everyone else; what the fuck are the Celtics thinking?

Granted, he is probably still a pretty good player (who really knows though, since he hasn't donned an NBA jersey almost a year) and will probably play for the league minimum (since he will probably still be collecting close to the league maximum from the Knicks). But do the Celtics really want a guy who has never won a playoff series, forced his way out of almost every city he has played in and hated almost every coach he has ever had? As much as I hate it, the Celtics seem to have a pretty good thing going and I do not see any positive out of bringing in a guy like Stephon Marbury, especially when he will only be getting 15 minutes a game.

That being said, if he brings down a Boston team, I am all for it!

BC Is Gay

As you may know, I fucking hate Boston College with a passion. I have hated them long before Joe even thought about joining the inner circle of fagdom that is the BC student body.

It all started about 16 years ago when I was 8 and my father decided to get the family season tickets to Syracuse Football. We held on to these tickets for about 8 years, until my father decided to stop getting them the season after McNabb graduated (what a fucking brilliant move that was). The point is that since I was a young lad I have watched Cuse v. BC, both in Cuse and Boston and have a built in hatred for BC. This hatred dates back to before I even started hating the Red Sox.

In 2004, BC (along with a few others the year before) decided to leave the Big East to go to the ACC. What a fucking terrible move this was on their part. Granted Big East football isn't that good right now, but 3 of our 4 best football programs went to the ACC and look at what they are doing: Shitting the bed left and right (see: The U).

At this point I would like to un-misremember BC's last Big East football game in 2004. They were a power house in the Big East that year and all they had to do was beat lowly little Syracuse University at home to win the Big East and go on to a BCS game. In true Boston fashion, they came in and got fucking worked by Cuse the entire game and lost 43-17 and the Big East ended in a 4 way tie. So instead of going to a BCS Game, BC had the privilege of going to the Continental Tire Bowl.

Now, in my opinion the ACC was the best conference in basketball before this move, but the times they are a changing. The ACC is still pretty good, but in no way compares to the Big East. Yes I know there are 16 teams, BUT 9 OF THEM ARE IN THE TOP 25!!!

I have some more points but I am sick of thinking about this fucking awful city, fan base, and student body. And you know what, fuck their academic departments too. I am sure they have wonderful, highly ranked programs, but who really gives a fuck.

Also, as I write, Cuse is ranked #9 in NCAAM.

Baseball's Real Anti-Christ Dies

Carl Pohlad, billionaire, cheapskate and worst owner in the MLB died yesterday. According to 2008 rankings by Forbes.com, Pohlad’s net worth of $3.6 billion was 102nd in the nation. Still, his teams often had some of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called Pohlad “a true leader in our sport for the past 25 years.”

“Since the day Carl Pohlad entered Major League Baseball, he made significant contributions to our game,” Selig said. “His devotion to the Minnesota Twins, the Twin Cities and Major League Baseball was remarkable. In my long career, I have never met a more loyal and caring human being.

Gotta love Selig's crap.

Significant contributions to baseball? Name one.

Loyal? Twins fans hated him.

Caring? Put your money where your mouth is.

“I live and die by every pitch,” Pohlad once told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “I want so badly for them to win. ... If it isn’t competitive and you don’t have a team with character, it won’t be any fun.”

Pohlad had volunteered his team as a contraction candidate in return for a $150 million buyout from his fellow owners.

The Twins got the go-ahead from the state in 2006 for a $522 million stadium paid for mostly by a county sales tax. Pohlad's contribution was about $130 million.

Instead of putting revenue sharing money back into the organization, Pohlad pocketed it.

Twins fans should be rejoicing right now. There can be no worse owner than Pohlad.

Everybody loves to criticize the Steinbrenner family for their spending. But as Jay has previously stated, they put a quality product on the field for they fans, are not afraid to spend the extra few bucks and spends THEIR money, not the public's, on their ball team.

Contrary to what everybody says, this is a great day for baseball.

Cashman Crossing T's, Dotting I's

Benjamin Disraeli once said, "It is easier to be critical than right." Ironically, when ripping on Peter Abraham's pinch hitter, I was also doing it in the "easiest, laziest" way possible. In light of this, here are a few points I'd like to make in favor of moves Cashman has made this offseason.

Lost in the juxtaposition of Yankees' splashy free agent acquisitions and the general timidity with which GM's around the league have approached this offseason, has been Brian Cashman's attention to detail. Sure, Cashman has financial resources that other GM's do not, but he's also paying attention to the little things just as much as an executive of a small or mid-market team would.

Remember this move? The Yankees sold the rights to Darrell Rasner to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League for $1M. Aside from that cool million, the Yankees are off the hook for Rasner's salary (maybe another $500K?). The move also works out nicely for Rasner, who also has a chance to make up to three times what his salary would have been if he stayed in the MLB and will have a chance to pitch against weaker hitters than in the AL East. I think Cashman realized that it would be better for both parties to ship Rasner to the Pacific Rim, and saved a million and a half bones in the process. At a time when the Red Sox broke some unwritten rules and signed Junichi Tazawa, Cashman has maintained a more amicable relationship with Japan.

In trading for Nick Swisher, Cash picked up an underrated guy coming off of a terrible season for marginal bench guy Wilson Betemit, and B-level minor league prospects Jeff Marquez and Johnny Nunez. A corollary to this, I believe, is that proclaiming Swisher as their starting first baseman, quieted the "Teixeira To Yanks!" rumors enough for them to swoop in at the last minute, under nearly every one's radar.

Cashman also declined to offer arbitration to Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu and Pudge Rodriguez before it was apparent just how far teams would cut back spending this year. If they had offered arbitration to any of those players, they all almost certainly would have accepted, leaving the Yanks with too many catchers or outfielders or Andy Pettitte for over $16M. A less conscientious GM might not have gauged the market correctly, leaving the Yanks with untrade-ably expensive spare parts.

When Cashman signed his 3 year $6M extension at the end of September and went on the New York talk radio circuit, he had an edge in his voice. It seemed like he was out to correct the public perception that because of the massive payroll, anyone could GM the Yanks.

I think he's the perfect, and possibly the only guy for the job. Cashman is entrenched in the organization (an employee since he was 19) and has shown the ability to manage the sometimes unwieldy undercurrents of the front office. Do you think a new GM could have understood the complicated dynamics existing between Hal, Hank, an aging George and Randy Levine (more on him soon) quickly enough to get as much accomplished as they have this offseason? I would tend to think not.

Hurricane Brett Lands in Boston...

Boston College Football coach Jeff Jagodzinski has been contacted by the New York Jets to interview for their Head Coach job. Coach Jags, a native of Wisconsin, was an offensive coordinator for Favre in Green Bay in 2006--he did not call plays and the next season after he left the Packers reached the NFC Championship Game where they lost to the eventual World Champion New York Giants--before being appointed Tom O'Brien's successor at my alma mater BC.

BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo has apparently issued an ultimatum that if Jags interviews with the Jets he will be canned. DeFilippo, who understandably does not want the BC Head Coach job to be a 1-2 year springboard for the NFL, claims that he had an "understanding" with Coach Jags that Jags would not leave for the NFL for at least 3 full seasons at The Heights. It is generally assumed among BC fans that this "understanding" was never expressly incorporated into the contract. Also presumably missing is a buy-out clause in which any other college or pro team would have to pay BC restitution for hiring Jags. There is also speculation that Jags lied to GDF about the interview.

At this point, despite this warning and not being among the favorites for the job, Jags is dead bent on interviewing for the job. According to a reliable source, Jags has grown wary of recruiting. This is despite his prior experience in the college game.

It really is a shame that it has come to this. Post Tom O'Brien, Jags was a source of fresh air for the program.

Below is my assessment of the culpability of DeFilippo and Jags as of 6:30 on Monday January 5, 2009.

Jags: Deserves blame for accepting job knowing full well about recruiting, for failing to live up to "BC Guy" character, i.e. undivided loyalty to the school, maybe lying to GDF about the interview, for being stupid to move his family into such an unstable position--i.e. giving up a guaranteed job for a washed up, Vicodin addict NFL Girly Man #1 who is QB for one of the most pathetic franchises in sports--the New York Jets

Gene DeFilippo: An idiot for (probably) not inserting "No Shop" clause into Jags' contract that would prohibit him interviewing for another job, no buyout clause, for issuing an ultimatum before the interview instead of waiting until after interview to fire him, for making this a national news story on a Monday, for placing too much emphasis on the Vandy bowl game loss, for not allowing Jags to attempt to use leverage for a contract increase.

Moral of the Story: Get an important concession in writing.

Moral of the Story #2: If you are looking for a new job, do not get caught by your current employer.

Moral of the Story #3: NFL Girly Man #1 extends his reputation by wrecking another home.

brain cashmna is teh worrssstt!!1!1!!

Yikes. Peter Abraham's pinch hitter yesterday doesn't think too much of Brian Cashman, apparently. After laying out only Cashman's moves that haven't worked out (in hindsight) including some that Abraham points out had nothing to do with Cash, he drops this little gem:

On top of all this, His drafts have been putrid. Aside for Joba, which one of his draftees impacted the majors? He drafted Bronson Sardina over David Wright for crying out loud. How Cashman manages to escape the media’s criticisms is beyond me.

If you want to criticize a GM, this easiest, laziest and least meaningful way to do it. I just looked at the first forty picks of the 2000 draft. Guess how many guys whose names I recognized as legitimate major league players? Seven, or eight if you count Billy Traber. Grady Sizemore was drafted 75th, 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee 105th, 2007 NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb 249th, James Shields 466th, and Jason Bay 645th. Ian Kinsler and Adam LaRoche were drafted back to back in the fucking 29th round with the two picks right after the Yankees took David Lindsay (who?). You get the picture. Why can you find good or even great players so late in the draft? Because player development and drafting are largely crapshoots. That's why there are multiple levels of minor leagues and the draft has 50 fucking rounds.

Well, that was a waste of time...

Sports Bigamy Alert!

Not too long ago, Kedra was palling around with Shawne Merriman and living at the Playboy Mansion. Now Hef has an open stall in his stable, and Kendra is getting married to Hank Baskett.

I know everyone has their own preferences, but if you like Chargers Kendra better, you are nuts.

A Better Stat For Running Backs

Let's say you are an NFL coach, and you have a running back that gains 100 yards on 25 carries and you could choose how to distribute those yards over those carries. You could have him break an 80 touchdown run, but then he would only have gained 20 yards on those other 24 carries, thereby completely bogging your offense down. The best use of those 100 yards would be to distribute them as evenly as possible, in this case being 4 yards for carry. The reason being...

Aaaand I fucking shit you not, right as I'm typing this up (ask Sampson), FOX runs a graphic breaking down Purple Jesus's 18 rushes for 76 yards by each carry.

-1,-1, 2, 2, 6, 2, 40, 6, 0, 6, 1, 3, 0, 2, 0, 3, 0, 5

It saves me a lot of work, but wow that really steals the thunder of this post. Damn you FOX! How dare you listen in to my conversations with my roommate and instantly create a graphic solely to sabotage my shitty blog post that six people are going to read. Fuck.

Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes, even distribution. An even distribution is optimal because if you are picking up four yards every time, you can pick up a first down at will by running three times (theoretically, obviously picking up 4 yards on 3rd & 4 is not the same as on 1st & 10). You can put your team in good down/distance situations, opening up your offensive options. Simply put, given similar total yards and yards per carry, a guy who consistently picks up yards is more valuable than the one who gets you a few big gains but many short runs.

For the sake of argument, I'll say that 4 yards is the cutoff for a "valuable run" (VR). You run for 3 yards 3 times and you still have 4th & 1, so I think you've gotta round up. Look again at PJ's carries again. Out of 18, only 5 of them were VRs. Using the easy method of calculating yards per carry, he's averaging 4.2 YPC. Slightly better than my arbitrary determination of valuable.

What I propose is that in calculating YPC, have 10 yards be the maximum amount per carry. You can make more specific adjustments based on the distance remaining for a first down, but I really don't feel like laying out the specifics at the moment. You could call the stat something nerdy to piss of sportswriters, like VYPR (Valuable Yards Per Rush). Got a better one? Leave it in the comments?

Now, using my new, awesome and completely original formula (probably not) PJ is only averaging 2.5 yards per carry, well below the 4 yard "valuable" threshold. I don't mean to blaspheme Purple Jesus, I'm just trying to say that the 4.2 YPC somewhat overstates his value in that particular game.

[Update - 7:20pm] I type this whole thing up and Westbrook who had 16 touches for 32 yards before this basically wins the game on a 71 yard screen pass. Seem familiar, Giants fans?

[Update - 7:34pm] Wow, after TJack does a great job of reinforcing negative black QB stereotypes by throwing a bunch of shitty passes then breaking a huge run, a fumbled snap essentially ends the game. That was anti-climactic and the fucking Eagles won. I was a much happier person when I started writing this post.

Note: 20th Century FOX assumes responsibility for all cursing in this post.

Why Do 8-8 Teams Host Playoff Games?

Like Joe, I would have picked the Colts and the Falcons yesterday. Objectively, analytically, theoretically they seemed like the better teams. Manning's Colts had won 9 straight, and Matty Ice's Falcons had taken 5 out of their last 6. They both had better records than the 8-8 division winners, and were Vegas favorites. Now we are left to grapple with annoying football analyst talking points like home field advantage.

In a single game, how much does it really matter? Ironically, in baseball, where you have the tangible advantage of batting in the bottom half of the inning, home field advantage creates a 54/46 advantage, slightly less significant than in football (56/44). Vegas says 3 points, Bill Simmons says "nawt that impawtahnt any mahwah", so who really knows? One would imagine crowd noise certainly can have a greater motivational impact on players in more physical-effort-oriented sports. The adrenaline spike provided by the crowd's cheers isn't going to help Mariano Rivera locate his cutter, but it might help Brandon Jacobs punch it into the endzone. Regardless, can we just give HFA to the better team?

It's bad enough that winning a division automatically grants a team a playoff berth when teams with better records get locked out. That's probably not going to change. But those teams get to host the game too? Why? Both the Cardinals and the Chargers were 3-7 outside their division. Can we please at least give home field advantage to the team with the better record?

As a fan of a team with a first round bye, I am thrilled by the outcomes of yesterday's games (sorry Joe). Let these teams win at home in their domes, because next weekend those teams are going on the road to the blustery Meadowlands or to chilly (in January) Charlotte, where the Panthers went 8-0 this season. But taking my personal rooting interests (for this season alone) out of the equation, the system is kinda retarded.

Joba Mania

I'm not talking about the Yanks fans' intense adoration for the prized flamethrower. Every Yankee fan has it to a varying degree. I remember watching clips of his relief appearances at AAA on YouTube before he made his MLB debut and everyone still thought his name was pronounced "Joe-Bah". He's the type of talent a team brings up once every 5 or 10 years, and he receives love and loyalty from the fans that it will take the two double-initialed free agents a long time to attain. The kid has a near 100mph fastball and pinpoint control, with a slider that hitters can't identify until their hands are passing their belt buckle. He strikes out about 11 guys per every 9 innings and he probably hates Youkilis more than we do! He's got it all. And the adulation is well deserved.

Rather, I'm talking about the amazing effect the "starter vs. reliever" debate has on people, and the crazy things it makes them say. Exhibit A, Justin Sablich of the NYTimes Bats Blog:

Chamberlain in the bullpen would most likely make each starting pitcher better by shortening his starts. Fans concerned about Sabathia burning out in September or Burnett breaking down over the long haul could rest a little easier.

Over the course of an entire season, how many innings is Joba going to save Sabathia or Burnett from throwing? Joba's not available every day, and every time a starter takes the mound, he's not handing over a close game to the bullpen in the 7th inning. Looking through Burnett's game logs from last year on B-R, I counted 16 out of 31 starts where he pitched 6 or more innings in a game decided by 3 or fewer runs. It's obviously a rough calculation, and I'm being generous to his argument by including both wins (10) and losses (6).

Even if you assume Joba is available for every one of those starts, is Joe Girardi really going to leave a starter on the mound for an extra inning each of those starts because Jose Veras or Damaso Marte is coming in, instead of Joba Chamberlain? I would say the length of a starting pitcher's outing has a lot more to do with the performance of that starting pitcher than the options the manager has in the bullpen.

Anyway, lets just say that in those 16 starts, Joba saves Burnett 1/3 of an inning half of the time and 2/3 of an inning half of the time. That amounts to a grand total of 8 innings. Does anyone think that 8 or even 10-12 innings are going to make the difference between Burnett "breaking down" or not?

As I'm sure you can tell by now, I think Joba should be a starter. I was on the fence when they originally made the shift last year, but after seeing him be more efficient with his pitches and still look downright dominant as a starter, most of the questions I had were answered. I think boils down to the concept of VORP (value over replacement player).

When you take Joba out of the rotation, he gets replaced by (Hughes/Kennedy/Aceves). When you take him out of the bullpen, his innings are replaced by Veras, Marte, Brain Bruney, Edwar Ramirez, Phil Coke and possibly some AAA call ups like Mark Melancon all of whom are competent relievers. Looking at it that way, I think you have to conclude that the Yanks have a lot more to lose by filling that empty rotation spot with a (or a series of) giant question mark(s) than shifting their bullpen back an inning.

The great thing about this debate is that there is no wrong way to use Joba. There might be a "less right" way, but there is certainly no horribly, obviously wrong decision. In all likelihood, you are getting valuable innings from an awesome pitcher. Health, like with all pitchers, is the main issue. Maybe he would have gotten injured even if they left him in the bullpen last year. Or perhaps his body type and pitching style are more suited to the "fewer innings but more outings" demands relief pitching. There's only one way to find out, and in choosing between two uncertainties, I'll take the one with higher potential value.