The following, mostly sports related, thoughts (the very 1st one of the site's second year, by the way) were on my mind between Monday, July 26th and Monday, August 2nd:
- I don't get why in this day of age with interleague play that whenever a pitcher is traded from the American League to the National League, and vice versa, their stats are erased and start all over again. Last time I checked, they're still playing in MLB even after the switch to different leagues.
- So long, Antti Niemi! I think I speak for all Blackhawks fans in thanking you for all your work this season and, especially, during the Stanley Cup playoffs. I wish you well on your future team. As for the move by the Blackhawks to not give Niemi his arbitration and, instead, signing veteran goalie Marty Turco, I think that it was a good move. Not great, but good.
Look, what Niemi did in the playoffs was fantastic and all. But with the state of the team as it is with its salary cap issues (thanks to some big contracts given to guys like Marian Hossa and Cristobal Huet), is it really worth it to give a player like Niemi that just finished playing a rookie season on the NHL $2.75 million in arbitration when they could sign a veteran like Turco for $1 million less? If it was someone like a Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews, absolutely, but not Niemi. His stats were pretty average if you didn't count the sixteen playoff wins.
Niemi was going to be an unrestricted free agent next season and even if the Blackhawks paid him this year, they probably would not pay him then. Besides, the team has a good farm system that could help the team replace Niemi (kind of like how they replaced Nikolai Khabibulin, goalie for the '08-'09 Western Conference finalists team, with Niemi before this season, the Stanley Cup winning one) and they could use this opportunity to get a better chance at keeping Patrick Sharp. Though, I will miss Pat Foley's calls every time Niemi makes a great play, or posts a shut-out ("Niemi Said NO!").
- If he can make another movie in a row between May and September that can get over $350 million worldwide and an IMDB rating over 8.5, I think Christopher Nolan should be up in there as one of the king's of the summer blockbusters.
- "Mad Men" thought of the week: Wow, the change in Don Draper has been, though compelling, quite depressing to say the least. From the excessive drinking, to the hiring of a prostitute to even getting pity from women he would normally sleep with easily shows that he has turned to the dark side since divorcing Betty. It will be interesting to see how Matthew Weiner takes this further. Speaking of prostitutes, there seemed to be quite a few moments of that , from Roger doing whatever Lee Garner Jr. told him to do to Don giving that Christmas bonus to Allison the morning after they did it to even Peggy at the end of the episode. It just seemed to me that that was one of the biggest theme of the episode.
- I wish I could see Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum on national TV more often. He's like the Andre Johnson of MLB: you hear a lot about him, you see the stats and highlights proving how great he is at his particular position, but you can't see him as much as you want to unless you live in the Bay Area/Houston or have some kind of MLB Extra Innings/NFL Sunday Ticket package since he's not on a lot of nationally televised games. There have been plenty of opportunities this season where you could have have seen CC Sabbathia, Roy Halladay or even Stephen Strasburg pitch, but not Lincecum. This is one big reason why I want to see the Giants play in this year's playoffs, to see Lincecum pitch in the sport's toughest test.
- I wonder what guys like Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu and Bob Sanders felt when they heard that rookie Eric Berry signed a deal with Kansas City that made him the highest paid safety in NFL history. I bet they are now strong supporters of a rookie salary cap.
- So let me get this straight: the Chicago White Sox are in a heated race with arch-rival Minnesota Twins for the American League Central, a team they are 4-5 against this season by the way, and could have used a good pitcher or left handed bat like Adam Dunn or Prince Fielder to enhance their team, and all they got before the trade deadline was Edwin Jackson. Not Adam Dunn, not Lance Berkman (rejected a trade to the team), or even a good pitcher like Dan Haren or Ted Lilly. No, they just got Edwin Jackson, who was 6-10 with a 5.16 ERA (over 7 since his no-hitter against the Rays back in June) on an NL West team. Kenny Williams, I hope to God you know what you're doing. Because right now, I think you could have done much better.
More random thoughts to come next Monday. Enjoy your week, everybody!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you want to suggest anything to mj15 for his next blog entry (tips, perhaps?), e-mail him at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
No comments:
Post a Comment