Set, Hut – 1, Hut-2, Hike!

The 2008 college football season is finally here!  And I’m glad for a several reasons.

#1 – The Olympics are over, complete with a couple U.S. medal sweeps (fencing, track & field), team victories (football), surprising team upsets (water polo, softball), and all the gushing about China anyone can handle.  Yes, they put on a great show, and I enjoyed it all.  But I’m ready for a change, and for sports I can understand without the once-every-four-year commentators.

#2 – The 2008 Cubs season has been almost too good to be true.  The Cubbies continue to find ways to win, coming from behind (30-some times), getting calls to break their way (Lee to Samardzija after the bobble, anyone?), grand slams, small ball, etc.  And it has been beautiful.  But they are still the Cubs, and although they look poised to make a deep run in October, they can still break my heart.  I need to have something else to invest in, to either multiply the joy of a great baseball season, or ease the disappointment that so often defines Cubs fans…

#3 – Summer has flown by, and I’m not ready for it to end.  But college football gives me reason to be excited about fall. 

#4 – I’ve decided that I like vacations right around the beginning of the year.  Especially when they include several thousand of my closest orange-clad friends in some exciting location, like Pasadena, or Orlando, or Tampa or even San Antonio.  I’m looking forward to seeing where I could head in a few months…

#5 – College football is unpredictable (see: upsets of teams ranked #1 during 2007), and every game really matters. 

#6 - It’s easier to stay on top of one game a week that it is to follow 6 or 7 games a week.

#7 – I love seeing what players live up to the talking heads’ hype, who disappoints, and who surprises.

#8 – I now get the Big Ten Network.  And my first exposure (one night when the Olympics couldn’t hold my interest) was a classic Big Ten game — 1999 Illinois at Michigan.  I know where I was that day, and why I wasn’t able to watch the game.  And I couldn’t remember how my boys came back to shock the Wolverines.  But now I know.  Thank you, BTN.  You helped pump me up for college football.  And even though many of your shows are a bit cheesy, I’m glad I’ll be able to watch the Illini from the comfort of my living room. 

#9 – Remember the last “Arch Rivalry” game?  Mizzou beat Illinois to open the 2007 season, but their victory was threatened by an impressive comeback that fell just short with a goal-line interception with under a minute left.  Both teams went on to have impressive seasons.  Can’t wait to see what happens this year…

#10 – Since I got this far, I feel like I need to have 10.  Oh, wait — College Game Day and College Football Final.  Love them both.  They give me a reason to wake up and finally go to bed on fall Saturdays…

Outrunning History

Perhaps the favorite statistic in all of sports is the “since” statistic. As in, “Newly devegetarianized fatty Prince Fielder ate six hot dogs between innings last night, the most mid-game hot dogs eaten by a player since CC Sabathia ate seven last week.” Or maybe as in, “Tony LaRussa acted like a jerk in three separate incidents this week, making that the fewest instances of asshattery since he acted like a douche just twice between April 14 and April 20.”

The “since” statistic gives you a sense of perspective that even the non-fan or casual fan can appreciate. The “since” statistic grabs headlines.

For most of the season, the problem for the Cubs has been that all of their milestones and all of their accomplishments were marked with statistics that ended in “since 1984″ or even “since 1969.” It sounds awesome, right? 1984 was 24 years ago, and 1969 was almost 40 years ago. Vive le historical significance! But we all know what happened to the 1984 team. And the 1969 team. So we’ll consider it safe to assume that this year’s bunch would rather not be likened to either of those teams. Historical significance indeed…

But now we’ve entered uncharted territory. The “since” statistics now stretch back even further. Past the ill-fated 1984 squad. Further back than the star-crossed 1969 team. And, in some cases, even further back than the 1908 set that last won it all. And the hysteria has been raised accordingly. For several weeks now, it’s been common for those in my age group to speak of this Cubs team as “the best Cubs team of our lifetime.” If you’re around 30, that’s fine. Them’s mighty slim pickings. But earlier this week, getting my local media fix, I heard a decidedly post-30 analyst use the “best Cubs team of our lifetime” phrase.

Everyone’s jumping this bandwagon, and I am at once giddy and freaked the hell out.

Lovin’ Aramis

Aramis Ramirez hit another three-run homer last night, which makes three three-run homers in three days, for those of you keeping score at home. The most amazing thing about the two he hit on Saturday, to me, was the fact that one found the right field bleachers and one found the left field bleachers. That’s some sick power, to drive the ball to both fields at two different opportune moments in the same game.

Plus, whenever we play the Pirates, I always feel a surge of love for Aramis Ramirez. It reminds me of how Jim Hendry went into Pittsburgh and made off with Ramirez in broad daylight, and of how that epic fleecing proved that the Pirates’ ineptitude on the field is equaled only by their ineptitude off it. And of how Ramirez was still so thrilled at being rescued from that baseball hellhole that he later signed an extension at a giant discount. And of how the only thing that would have made this whole scenario even better would be if we stole Ramirez from the Cardinals. Quite frankly, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Good times.

Interference That Wasn’t, and Why I Don’t Care

Trickery, deception and lobbying of an umpire have been part of sport for a long time, probably ever since two Greek guys were wrestling naked and one of them tried to grab the other one’s you-know-whats when the ref wasn’t looking. Or since one guy tried to convince the ref that the other guy did that while the ref wasn’t looking. Maybe both.

Playing for every single advantage is just part of the game, which is the reason why I find it hard to get my shorts in a knot over AJ’s Oscar-worthy slip and fall in just the same way I found it hard to get my shorts in a knot over his filching of first base on the dropped third strike that wasn’t. Well, that and the fact that I find him slightly hot in the never-calls-you-back sort of way.

While part of me sniffs that certain tactics shouldn’t be needed if you have the skill to compete, part of me finds it hard to care about anything that doesn’t rise to the level of actual cheating and/or doesn’t endanger the health and safety of another player. Take A-Rod—outside AJ, perhaps the player best known for various antics. Screaming “I got it! I got it!” to fool an infielder is slightly funny, definitely immature, and not cheating. Slapping the ball out of someone’s glove is slightly funny, definitely immature, and cheating.

The problem I have with the Rays boils down to the same problem I always have with teams who whine about bad calls. It is exceptionally rare to encounter a situation in which a team did everything right, and the loss can be blamed entirely on a bad call. More often that not, the team made multiple mistakes, and the bad call simply exposed those mistakes.

The AJ play shouldn’t have happened. And I don’t mean “shouldn’t have happened” in the sense of “he shouldn’t have done that.” I mean “shouldn’t have happened” in the sense that the game should have been long over by then. In the bottom of the 9th, the ball arrived at home plate about four days before Brian Anderson got there. If the catcher handles that throw, the game is over right then and there.

Or how about “shouldn’t have happened” in the sense that AJ shouldn’t have been on second base anyway. If Upton didn’t stop for a spot of tea between catching Quentin’s fly ball and getting it back in, then AJ stays on first base, Dye’s bouncer turns into a good old-fashioned 6-4-3 double play, and we move to the 11th.

And even after all that, how much difference would it have made? The Rays weren’t exactly putting on a clinic in executing a rundown, even before the “interference.” They left ample time for Jermaine Dye to reach second base. In that situation, let’s assume they still put Thome on intentionally, leaving Ramirez to come up with a man in scoring position. And yes, I realize things would be different in that situation, most obviously in the fact that the 5th infielder gambit would have stayed on the shelf where it belongs. So we can’t say for sure what might have happened. But Ramirez’s hit was no cheap single. Even with the RF in his proper position, that ball is slicing away from him and there’s a good chance Dye comes home from second.

It’s like they say: when you point the finger at someone else, you’re pointing three fingers back at yourself. But the one extended finger makes for better ratings, so that’s what we’ll hear about for the foreseeable future.

Oh, I hope that the Rays and White Sox meet in the playoffs, just so we can hear about this every third play. What joy! What bliss! What scintillating TV that will make!

Why Carlos Zambrano, Despite Everything, Is Secretly Awesome

An essay in one part, by TheWittyOne.

After his most recent homer, the Commies remarked that his skill and approach were more like that of a #6 hitter than a #9 hitter. When asked by reporters if he would ever lobby to move up in the order, Z answered that he prefers to hit ahead of Soriano. With Soriano protecting him, Zambrano explained, he sees “more fastballs.”

Hee.

If Only…

AL East standings as of today:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Tampa Bay Rays	77	49	–
Boston Red Sox	73	54	4.5
New York Yankees	67	60	10.5
Toronto Blue Jays	66	61	11.5
Baltimore Orioles	61	65	16

AL wildcard standings as of today:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Minnesota Twins	73	54	–
Boston Red Sox	73	54	–
New York Yankees	67	60	6

A postseason without the Red Sox AND the Yankees? Dare all of us non-east-coasters begin to dream?

Here’s a Thought

The Cubs plan to send Harden, Lilly and Zambrano against the Reds this week, bypassing, at least for the time being, Jason Marquis. That’s not hard to understand. Jason Marquis starts are best avoided at all costs. And the off days make it possible for the other starters to go on normal rest.

But at least a little part of me wants Sean Marshall to get at least one more start. He battled through his Saturday start admirably, and particularly with three relatively easy series on the docket—Cincy, Washington, Pitt—it seems as good a time as any for him to give it a go.

Rather than using the off days to skip Jason Marquis (and trust me, no one is a bigger proponent of skipping Jason Marquis than me), it seems prudent to use those off days to give the big 4 extra rest. After all, they need to be fresh for the playoffs. Throwing Marshall out there enables you to both skip Marquis and give the others extra rest. Though his arm isn’t fully stretched out, he can give you at least 5 innings, perhaps 6 if he’s economical with his pitches. And Marquis hasn’t given you more than 6 innings since July 11. Plus, that’s usually 6 bad innings.

The Scott Eyre trade does leave Neal Cotts as the only lefty in the pen if Marshall starts. But the Cubs have an ample supply of shutdown relievers, diminishing their need for a second lefty specialist. Plus, Marquis can always go to the pen and eat some innings if Marshall can’t go at least 5.

The Cubs should be gameplanning like a team that’s already in the playoffs. Barring an epic collapse, they are in. And I realize using the phrase “barring an epic collapse” in reference to the Cubs is like painting a giant target on your back and yelling for fate to come and get you. But if all baseball sensibility and ability is going to desert your team at exactly the wrong moment, you’ve got problems that can’t be solved by juggling your rotation and so whatever you do there is moot anyway. There is no gameplanning for an epic collapse.

Gameplanning for the playoffs means making sure everyone is well rested, especially Rich Harden. He has a pretty, pretty arm but it needs lots of rest. It’s got to get its beauty sleep to stay fresh.

Olympic Dreams

Who doesn’t dream of the prestige of the Olympics every couple years?  I wanted to be a gymnast, a figure skater, a swimmer, a skier, a rhythmic gymnast (because it seemed like I would have a better chance there) and much more, depending on what I was watching.  I won’t ever live any of my dreams, but that’s fine.  I’ll just enjoy the stories of others. 

***

Michael Phelps is living his dream, and even though the media hype around him is beyond obnoxious, his dedication and talent are impressive.  He handles the attention well.  The world records are impressive, although the record books do need to note the advent of the suit that is helping these athletes smash the records.  The coverage of Michael’s mom makes for great TV.  I am most looking forward to the medly relay.

***

Thank you to host country China for providing much of the requisite Olympic controversy.  Their women’s gymnastics team is living their dream, as well.  But I loved listening to the Karolyis calling China out for cheating.  Bela and Martha are convinced that some members of China’s team are too young to legally compete.  Of course, their Chinese passports say they are old enough, but what else would you expect from China?  

Regardless, the U.S. media is making Shawn Johnson the favorite gymnast, and the cute girl from West Des Moines is living a dream.  The women may have been disappointed with their silver team medal, but there are lots of little girls across the U.S. and around the world that would love to be in their place one day.

***

Compare the story on the women’s side to the men’s team.  The U.S. was ecstatic with their bronze.  After all, they were ready to go jump in the river, which is saying quite a bit, based on what I’ve heard about the cleanliness of rivers in China.  Without their leaders, the Hamm brothers, an inexperience U.S. team took the floor and turned in several performances of a lifetime (we won’t think too much about the pommel horse routines).  The guys were fun to watch in the team environment, as they lived their dreams.  Plus, I love the classic melting pot look of the U.S. team, and the fact that a former Illini gymnast and current Illini coach, Justin Spring, played a key role in the team. 

***

The 1992 U.S. “Dream Team” dominated and lived the typical U.S. Olympic dream.  In 2008, the U.S. “Redeem Team” hopes to recreate that moment.  I’m not a huge fan of the number of pros in the Olympics, but since the even the amateurs are really more like pros, I can’t say too much.  But in general, I like the attitude of the men’s basketball team.  I wonder how the superstars are doing under Coach K and how Coach K is handling the superstars.  But really, I’m just excited that Deron Williams is on the team.  Seeing him in the U.S. contingent was one of the highlights of the parade of nations last week.  I love my Illini.

***

We will see many more Olympic dreams over the next week plus.  And we won’t hear the stories of many whose dreams were fulfilled just by making it to Beijing.  Or those whose dreams are dashed when they miss the podium.  But for a couple weeks, we will savor the dreams and feel the disappointments of athletes from around the world. 

And then college football season will be upon us, and I can begin dreaming of a bowl trip…  And the baseball post-season will be just around the corner…

Becoming a Cub

Jim Edmonds was released by the Padres early this spring.  Just days later, he put on the Cubbie blue.  Not a big deal, since players get traded all the time in major league baseball.  But this isn’t just any player — this is an all-star center fielder who made a name for himself in St. Louis.  Cubs fans know this is a big deal. 

There are few teams we love to hate as much as the Cardinals (although we are learning to feel that way about the Brewers).  And few players we love to hate as much as cocky, talented Cardinal all-stars.  So when the Cubs picked up the 38-year-old Edmonds for almost nothing, we didn’t really know if we were supposed to cheer for him or not.

But Edmonds is in the process of writing the book Winning Over Rival Fans When You Join Thier Team.  Get a few more hits — including home runs — than expected.  Make solid plays on defense, showing plenty of what made you one of the best in your position.  And then, most importantly, when your old club comes to town, keep your new team in the game almost single-handedly with a couple home runs. 

Edmonds is steadily winning over Cubs fans.  And while I’m not sure he’s fully a Cub just yet, he has moved up considerably from the rank I gave him back in mid-May as some guy who could be a great tool to get the Cubs into the playoffs to a surprisingly valuable contributor.

Another Cub in the making, Reed Johnson, has also proven is value after being released by Toronto.  And, he’s much easier to like than Edmonds, since he didn’t play for a key rival for most of his career.  He knows how to get on base, and owns the highlight of the year (so far) with that catch against the Nationals. 

Reed can write the forward for Jim’s book, which, by the way, I will recommend to Favre when it is released.  Brett, describing your arm as “fatigued” during the first week of practice doesn’t help much, especially when you spent more time talking about your old team than your new team at your introductory press conference.

Bring on the Drama

So I confess, I’m a nerd.  I love the Olympics.  I love:

• The formal ceremony – how long can we build suspense to lighting the flame?
• The heart-rending stories – Oksana as a German gymnast at 33 with a cancer-surviving son, anyone?
• The intense competition - Phelps as he realized Jason won the relay for them
• The cheesy scripts for the daily wrap-ups over overly dramatic music
• The lame play-by-play commentary by people we see only once every 4 years – the diving lady who can find problems with anything that no normal person could notice at full speed, Karch at the sand volleyball court, Rowdy at the pool, etc.
• The Today show broadcasts – is it possible for a morning “news” show to be cheesier?
• The medal ceremonies – although I don’t like the rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner being used this year
• The fact that for 2 weeks I care about sports that I don’t care about any other time (whitewater, sculling, diving, etc.)

I freely admit that I know much of this drama is manufactured.  But that doesn’t keep me from eagerly tuning in.  As I said, I’m a nerd.