Ozzie's Best Rants

In honor of this week's little Joe West fracas, SI.com has our favorite manager, Ozzie Guillen's, best rants of his Sox career. My favorite might be on Dustin Pedroia, who he called a former Kentucky Derby jockey.

A Visit to Tropicana Field

Two weekends ago I took an adventure to the Tampa Bay area for a friend’s wedding. We decided to stretch our friends wedding into a 5 day weekend for us. On Monday we decided to explore the cities and attend a Rays game.

Even though the Rays have the best record in the league, it is well known that tickets are not hard to come by. Sure enough, about 45 minutes before the game we walked up to the gate, got $30 tickets about 20 rows behind where the dug out met the net behind the catcher.

This will be my fourth active stadium. Well technically it will be my 5th stadium, but when I went to Turner Field, it was called the Olympic stadium and looked like this (you can see where home plate is going to be on the top right) :



instead of this (That's Foulton County Stadium just behind it and the Georgia Dome off in the distance) :






Since we are counting and I am sure you care, I have been to two now demolished stadiums as well, Milwaukee County Stadium and Fulton County Stadium. So, grand total of active and inactive stadiums would be seven.

Walking up to the stadium, I couldn’t help but think of all the negative things I have heard about Tropicana Field. Stuff like, why does a Florida baseball team have a dome, it’s dull and boring and ugly. Well I can say, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed my Tropicana field experience.

As we were walking up to the field, we walked on a tile walkway that had some nice fish designs on it while Jimmy Buffett was playing on the speakers. We were walking past numerous tailgaters, even though the amount was defiantly smaller than one would typically see at a White Sox game, and defiantly smaller then the Brewers (who have the best tailgating set up I have ever seen).

We got there early enough to give us plenty of time to explore. We did a full lap around the concourse and found lots of variety of food, beverages (including Kona Brewing Company on Tap!) as well as games and other areas for family enjoyment.

After we did our first lap, we decided to go pet the cownose rays out in center field. This would actually be my third time petting them, and for $4 we decided to feed them as well. That was a weird experience. You take part of a fish (head or tail) and put it between two of your fingers. You then submerge your hand close to the bottom. The Ray will find it, swim over the top and suck the fish right out of your hand.

They don’t have very good aim, so they do end up getting your hand too, but they have small teeth (if any) and it doesn’t hurt. I know the tank might not have anything to do with baseball, but it’s still a cool experience to have at a stadium. In case you were wondering, there is a net over the tank to try and prevent balls from landing in there.

Jamie and I ended up buying t-shirt jerseys before we headed to our seats. I bought a Crawford and she bought a Longoria. When we got to our seats, the first thing I noticed was how bright it was in the stadium. From watching games on TV it always looks depressingly dark, but that’s not the case in the stadium. I don’t know if it has something to do with the cameras or what, but it was very nice inside.

Also, from the guy who was complaining about the dome in Florida, I’m not going to lie, it was humid out and I was glad not to feel sticky through the game.

The game itself had a few highlights. First inning the first three Rays reached base include Crawford on a triple (which I thought he was going to round 3rd and go for the inside the park home run). Even with all the hits, the Rays only scored 2 runs. After the first inning it looked like the Rays would cruise to an easy win.

Well, that wasn’t the case. The Rays stopped hitting after the first and after a few innings the Indians started to hit and scored three runs. The Rays then brought in reliever Joaquin Benoit...

...in the 7th who went on to throw 18 pitches and struck out five guys. Yup, he only threw three balls. That was impressive. The Rays ended up tieing the game on a fly ball to center. The Indians player made a diving grab, but lost the ball once he hit the turf. The game went to extra innings, where the Rays won in the 11th on a suicide squeeze.

The whole experience was a blast and I would recommend to anyone who is looking for cheap tickets to watch good baseball and enjoy a surprisingly nice park to check out Tropicana Field.

NBA Playoffs: Finally Watchable?

I've been having a hard time paying attention to the Association's playoffs this year.

Partially, it's just the host of distractions; Where are LeBron/Bosh/Wade going? Who's goanna win the draft lottery? Is there hockey on? (note - we apparently are continuing our reverse jinx of the Hawks here at ACSS due to the kidnapping of our head hockey writers.)

Mainly, though, it just hasn't been a very exciting postseason. Derrick Rose and the Bulls got bounced in five. The Celtics manhandled the Cavaliers, and are poised to do the same to the Magic, despite tonight's game effort by Orlando, who won 96-92 on the road.

The Lakers had some exciting matchups in their road to the Western Conference Finals, but neither Kevin Durant and the Thunder nor Deron Williams (The Flyin' Illinoisian) and the Jazz looked like much more than a speed bump in Kobe and Co.'s way.

Yawn. For somebody that loves basketball like I do, this is torture.

My friend (and occasional ACSS contributor) Alec Kinczewski and I have been having an exchange on Facebook, where he asked me for my predictions on the Suns-Lakers series. I predicted the Suns winning in six games.

This of course was immediately followed by the Suns getting stomped in Game One, leading to...

Alec Kinczewski So, Suns in 6 games? I'll give you a chance to reconsider. Also, with a close enough score at half Kobe puts down 21 in the third. James scored 28 in all of game 6. Thoughts?

Mark Fodor My primary thought is this : If it's the Lakers in the Finals, I probably won't be watching the finals, despite my love for Lamar Odom and like for Pau Gasol. The rest of the Lakers just annoy me that much. Including Smug Phil. It's just not the same when he's not YOUR Zen Master.

And, two days later...

Alec Kinczewski So, despite Grant Hill playing like the advertising departments for Fila and Sprite were watching ('I'll show them!'), the Suns are in the hole 2-0. Change your prediction?

And, another two days later...

Mark Fodor Suns. Suns. Suns.

My point is this. We finally have ourselves a potentially interesting series in the NBA Playoffs, and I'm coming down hard on the side of the Phoenix Suns. There are a number of reasons that the average pro ball fan should be rooting for the Suns here:

5. Owner Robert Sarver got out the "Los Suns" jerseys as his team took a bold stand against Arizona's anti-immigration laws in the early going of the playoffs. The ability to make a statement without being maudlin or painfully obnoxious about it demonstrates class and intelligence.

4. Steve Nash had his eye blacked by Tim Duncan in Round Two as the Suns finally dispatched their longtime rival Spurs. Then, last night, he finished the game despite a broken nose! He's having surgery on it and will play in Game Four. No doubt inspired by playoff hockey (and Los Hawks!), the Canadian is all toughness and passing ability, even at his advanced age.

3. Amar'e Stoudemire and Lamar Odom have engaged in a mostly one-sided war of words throughout. On the court, both big men are entertaining as hell to watch. Odom, with his well-rounded skill set, is one of my favorites to watch, and he was the stud of my NBA 2k5 dynasty (along with Arenas, Wally Sczcerbiak, Nene, and Marcus Camby). He had 19 and 19 in Game One and another double-double in Game Two.

Amar'e openly attributed Odom's great games to his being "lucky" (if he was that lucky, he would have landed the hot Kardashian sister, no?), and then went out last night and backed up his big talk, notching 43 and 11 in a sick, sick game. He one-upped Kobe Bryant's near triple double and made up for an awful game from most of the Suns' bench.

Also, Amar'e is bringing back the RecSpecs.

2. Robin Lopez. Everyone thought his brother was going to be much better. Well, Brook and the Nets won, what, ten games this year? Eleven? Robin dropped twenty last night, many of them in the face of All-Star Pau Gasol. He's a crazy looking dude and adds extra entertainment factor, for sure. SI.com's Chris Ballard has a nice feature on Lopez today. Here's one highlight from the season, if you've been missing out.



1. Aren't you sick of the Lakers? It's not that I don't admire their style of play. I really do. And Odom, when he's on, is one of my favorite guys to watch in the league.

But Jack Nicholson, Kobe Bryant, the Laker Girls, those awful yellow and purple uniforms... I have had enough. It's time for some real excitement in the NBA finals, not the same ten teams we've been seeing since the seventies. So I say, Viva Los Suns! Time to hit the comeback trail.

Kelvin Sampson next head coach for the Bulls?

I saw this today thought it was interesting. KC Johnson of the Tribune mentions in his article that the Bulls could look at former IU and Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson for the vacant head coaching position. I always thought he was a solid X's & O's coach, but not sure how he would do at the NBA level. Any other thoughts on this?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-spt-0520-bulls-chicago--20100519,0,3151299.story

Dear Sox: NOOOOO!

This scares the hell out of me.

Mark Buehrle is nervous that he might be traded?!

"If we don't win and this team gets blown up and gets traded, nothing you can do about it," Buehrle said Tuesday. "As far as the day when I'm a 10-and-5 guy (10 years of service and at least the last five with the same team), I'm looking forward to it." -Tribune

Uh. I'd be upset enough about trading AJ Peezy. Let's not even talk about this possibility, okay, Kenny?

World Cup TV Schedule Has Arrived

And here it is! They're broadcasting the games live. Lots of 10 AM starts...

It's about time to get our pool together, guys. I'm thinking a serpentine draft of teams, and 2 points for a win/1 for a draw in the opening rounds, then 4-6-8-10 in the playoff rounds?

Who's with me?

PS- I want that Italia goalie jersey shown above.

The LeBron Derby...A One Team Race?

This morning I awoke to the following text from ESPN Alerts (which, btw, is the greatest service ever):

"ESPN CHI CLE - Chad Ford: Three NBA GMs think Bulls will land Lebron James; more at http://budurl.com/FordOnLeBron"

So is LeBron on the verge of becoming a Bull? Assuming those three GMs aren’t complete idiots (which is entirely possible with the state of some NBA teams)…then I say YES, yes he is.

According to Chad Ford’s story, one of the GMs offered up a scenario that would send Luol Deng to the Cavs in a sign and trade in order to land Wade or Bosh as LeBron’s running mate. I don’t know if the Cavs go for that – but assuming it’s a sign and trade than, correct me if I’m wrong, I believe the Bulls would be able to add on that extra $3oM and 1 year that only the Cavs currently can.

Chad also mentioned that two of the GMs believe that Calipari will be the Bulls next head coach. Cal mentioned last week he had no interest in the Bulls coaching vacancy, however, I don’t think you can turn down an opportunity to coach this line-up:

PG: Derrick Rose

SG: LeBron James

SF: James Johnson? (With no Deng this will be an interesting position…the Bulls could try and draft somebody like Gordon Heyward or Damion Jones to develop and then use the mid-level exception to sign a veteran SF)

PF: Chris Bosh

C: Joakim Noah

All the points above are moot if LeBron chooses to stay in Cleveland…but we ARE talking about Cleveland –

Do you think LeBron would rather be a part of this:



Or this…:




My early prediction? LeBron to the Bulls. The Knicks will sign Joe Johnson to a max deal and regret it for the next decade.

30 for 30: Straight Outta LA

Did anyone out there watch ESPN’s 30 for 30: Straight Outta LA? I did, and I thought it was terrible. I know instantly what Fodor is thinking, “Rich White Boy be hating and keeping the Man down.” First off Fodor, your white and from the rough streets of Evanston Illinois, where Northwestern is located so calm down. 2nd, I didn’t think it was a bad documentary and as a white kid from the ‘burbs we all know I rocked Dre, Cube, Snoop and Easy E in my car all the time. The reason I didn’t like it, was because it was a documentary that should have been on MTV, not ESPN.

As many of you may or may not know, I was born in LA and my family spent about 5 years out there during the time the Raiders were in LA. In that time, my Dad watched a lot of Raiders game, and they kind of became his second team. I don’t remember any of this, but have talked to him numerous times growing up about LA and the sports scene. Because of this and other reasons, the Raiders have been one of my favorite non-Bears sports teams. So I was excited, to see what was going to be said about the Raiders. Why they moved to LA, what it was like while they were there, what drove Al Davis so crazy that he packed up and left back to Oakland, only to play in the same stadium he left.

What I ended up watching was an hour long documentary the spent 80% of the time talking about Gangsta rap and how NWA used Raiders gear to brand themselves. Great, interesting story, I know Ice Cube would be talking some about himself, but seriously, the this is a sports documentary.

Where was the sports? The teams the Raiders had in Oakland before the move and while playing in LA had some iconic players and coaches. Marcus Allen, Jim Plunkett, Howie Long, John Madden and of course Al Davis. All of these players were regulated to second class citizens in this film.

Ice Cube wanted to tell his story that involved the Oakland Raiders. He accomplished that, but the sports story was about the Oakland Raiders, not about Ice Cube. I’m glad he made the film, but next time, don’t show it on ESPN.

Bloomington: Nocturnal Adventures

I did something cool tonight, everybody. And no, that's not me.

Let me start at the beginning. About three weeks ago, I bought (with some timely assistance from a microfinancier in Evanston, IL), a brand spankin' new mountain bike. For those of you that are interested in that sort of thing, it's a Specialized Hardrock, a fairly starter-ish bike, but nonetheless very high quality. So far I have nothing but good things to say about it. Here it is, in all its bikey glory:

Anyway, I've been taking it out for random late-night spins whenever I get the jones to after work. I usually get off around 1 in the summertime (that's one AM for all you desk jockeys), by which time Bloomington, especially up around where I live, is basically quiet and deserted. All the kids have gone home to Indy and Chicago.

So I have the entire Indiana athletic complex to myself at night. In the past, this has led to wanderings around the football stadium, racing circles around Assembly Hall, and I definitely got a cool view of the new Cook Hall tonight from the outside.

IU Basketball's new facility is really pretty - I can't wait to see how they do it up for game days, but it already looks like a great addition to go with the North End Zone. Believe me, it looks much better up close at night with the lights on than it does in a simulation video. If I ever get a digital camera, I'll get some pics.

Rick Greenspan is really putting together something special. But I digress.

Tonight I did something a little different. I headed up to the Little 500 track, which, this being Bloomington, was sitting wide open and unlocked. Without any No Trespassing signs (in case anybody was worried.)

So I rode straight onto the cinderblock track and did five laps. In the pitch darkness. On a mountain bike.

It was awesome.
I have watched almost every Little 500 since being at Indiana, and always wondered what it would feel like to race that track. I think, looking at that picture, Barack probably felt the same way. Granted, doing it in the dark, without a crowd, not on the proper bike, and without 31 other riders trying to kill me makes for a somewhat different experience.

But I think I got the basic idea. And man was it cool.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Bloomington at night is a pretty sweet place.

On to some side notes.

The IU Men's basketball team, per idsnews.com, got a 3.14 in spring semester. All you die hards looking to go back to the glory days, let's give credit where credit is due. Tom Crean and the boys are doing it "the right way."

Me, I'll take a 2.5 and an NCAA Tourney appearance... but whatever. Way to go, guys.

Also, Joe Posnanski at SI.com is very quickly becoming one of my go-to guys for online sportswriting. Natural voice, good analysis, just an ideal blend of everything you want in good writing as a whole, not just for sports. Here are a couple of his recent articles.

Royals aren't winning, but is that really Trey Hillman's fault?

Griffey's skills are long gone -- but it was fun while it lasted

And his NFL Draft article, which I thought was dead on: It gets more hype than ever, but NFL draft is still crapshoot

One more. I'd just like to remind you all that when you get sick of Peter King, there is a solution. Kissing Suzy Kolber does a detailed rebuttal of each and every column by The Big Latte. Here's the most recent.

Big 10 Coaches

I saw this picture on facebook and it was too good not to share. Here is the south park drawings of the coaches of the big 10 as it stands.

Big Ten Coaches Meet South Park

It was too big to post on here but still worth looking at.

Sunday Night Baseball

Recently I have been watching ESPN and quite frankly I believe the Sunday Night Baseball commercials have eclipsed sportscenter commercials. For your convenience I have embeded the best commercials in my opinion. Personally, my favorite is the fielder-kinsler commercial.
Let the voting begin!

Ranking the Bears Roster

I always love when newspapers do the thing before the Super Bowl where they rank each team's players from 1-53. Well, the Bears bloggers just took a stab at it over at espn.com/chicago, and I think they screwed it up pretty badly. Jay Cutler at No. 1? Robbie Gould all the way down in the 30s? Um, sorry guys, but this is insane.

Here are my corrected rankings of the Bears, top to bottom. Where I disagree with the ESPN guys, I will note their ranking.

1. Lance Briggs (3)
2. Julius Peppers
3. Jay Cutler (1)
4. Brian Urlacher
5. Tommie Harris
6. Charles Tillman (7)
7. Devin Hester (9)
8. Robbie Gould (33)
9. Olin Kreutz (6)
10. Chris Williams

Briggs is the rock of this team and the emerging leader of the defense. Cutler still has a lot to prove. Urlacher and Kreutz are on the decline and may be overrated this high, while rating Robbie "Good As" Gould at 33 was an absolute travesty - he has been easily one of the best Bears over the last several years.

11. Matt Forte
12. Chester Taylor (14)
13. Chris Harris
14. Israel Idonije (29)
15. Greg Olsen
16. Johnny Knox (12)
17. Devin Aromashodu (21)
18. Josh Beekman
19. Nick Roach (19)
20. Anthony Adams (23)

Idonije is a stalwart on this Bears team -- he hasn't been *just* a special teamer for years, and even when he was, he was still crucial. It's great to have Chris Harris back. Adams' play was underrated last year.

21. Earl Bennett (25)
22. Roberto Garza (16)
23. Zach Bowman (8)
24. Desmond Clark (22)
25. Brad Maynard (40)
26. Frank Omiyale (17)
27. Mark Anderson (24)
28. Pisa Tinoisamoa (19)
29. Hunter Hillenmeyer (31)
30. Patrick Mannelly (53)

Again, the ESPN guys undervalue special teams. I had to bump Mannelly and Maynard, they've been great for the Bears for years. I dropped Bowman because although he's talented, he has gotten hurt way too often. The kid's gotta start more than a few games in a row before I'm ready to have much confidence in him.

31. Kevin Shaffer (35)
32. Corey Wootton (42)
33. Danieal Manning (27)
34. Major Wright (26)
35. Corey Graham (39)
36. Rashied Davis (50)
37. Caleb Hanie (30)
38. Marcus Harrison (32)
39. Brandon Manumaleuna (28)
40. Al Afalava (54)

These are a lot of guys who will either end up having to start a game or three at some point, or make a surprise impact, or excel on special teams. As for the rest of the roster, other guys I think can contribute include...

41. Tim Shaw (38)
42. Tim Jennings (41)
43. J'Marcus Webb (57)
44. Jarron Gilbert (36)
45. Kellen Davis (37)

Trivia: 1000 Games Managed by the White Sox

Ozzie Guillien has become just the 4th White Sox manager to manage 1000 games for the club. Can you name the other 3? (Note this is a hard one, I only got one correct)

Three Candidates Emerge To Fill Vinny's (Tiny?) Shoes...

SI's rumor page is reporting...that the Sun-Times is reporting...that the Bulls have three guys in mind for the newly vacant coaching gig. (Keep in mind that these are rumors...)

My ranking of the three:

1) Mo Cheeks - No reason other than "Mo is better" (I went there).

2) Doug Collins - He knows his basketball...not sure his style of play will fit with D-rose, Lebron, Bosh, and Noah next year.

3) Calipari - I would only contact him when I needed a crappy used Chevy...at least NBA players don't need to worry about their GPAs...

Who do you want for the job??

Eastcoast Sports Propaganda Network Talks About Chicago

I checked out ESPN.com this morning and to my suprise, three of the four lead stories dealt with Chicago Sports teams! Of course they other one was a Boston artilce.

Big Ten to Add 5 Teams? How Would The Conference Be Divided

ACSS reporter Derek Wilson is reporting

"A source in St. Louis familiar with the situation told NewsCenter 16 Thursday afternoon that Missouri will leave the Big XII and soon join the Big 10. Other schools expected to follow the Tigers are Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and Nebraska."


Now should we believe this or not, is one thing. Instead of debating the merits of whether this is a good thing or this will actually happen, Derek and I debated how the conference should be arranged. Here’s what transpired


DerekWilson
you believe it...?
i'm guessing its not 100% true. 16 would be gigantic

Stephen Noffke
to become the big 16?
so what, for football, you have two 8 team divisions, and they'd play each of the 7 schools in their division and 1 from the other
or would you do 4 4-team divisions
that's a lot of school

DerekWilson
I like the 4 4 team divisions...but how do you pick the champ?
my guess is they move to a 9 or 10 game conference season
I wouldn't mind 10 (for IU)...two crappy non-conf teams to warm up
for OSU and those teams it makes it hard to want to play a good non conf team
...and what happens to IUs agreement to play mizzou in a few years..? haha

Stephen Noffke
well, I guess we are still agreeing to play them

DerekWilson
haha yea
how would you map out a two division conference though...

Stephen Noffke
Here’s a picture of the schools locations


you have to do east/west break up right? for travel purposes

DerekWilson
yea, i was thinking that
i got to Nebraska, Iowa, Mizzou, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin
and Pitt, Penn state, Rutgers, Syracuse, Indiana, Purdue
not sure what to do with OSU/MSU/Mich

Stephen Noffke
I was thinking IU Purdue would be the split
there's that natural gap between MSU/OSU/MU
and NU, PU, and IU

DerekWilson
so we wouldn't play Purdue every year?
I feel like they would have to be in the same division
Stephen Noffke
so you put us both in the east?

DerekWilson
its weird geographically

Stephen Noffke
I feel like we can't split up OSU/MU/MSU. MU has to be in the same conference as MSU and OSU

DerekWilson
yea
it looks like by that map IU would be out east
DerekWilsonCFM 8:51 am
we have no natural rivals in the east

Stephen Noffke
could we send NU out east?

DerekWilson
kinda in the same boat then...

Stephen Noffke
so, are we saying it's 8 team divisions, 10 leauge games, one permanent opponent, and 1 rotating across divisions?

DerekWilson
that i could see
for sure
then you can do IU out east (and i wouldn't go to any games)...I’d day move Purdue out east. good bye
or northwestern

Stephen Noffke I’d go to Columbus, Ann Arbor or East Lansing

DerekWilson
yea
thats true
and we would have a shot at beating Syracuse!

Stephen Noffke
and Rutgers
talent wise, the east would be stronger

DerekWilson
yea
especially basketball I think


(Derek and Steve decided on this split up and the cross division game every year.)


West
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Mizzou
Purude
Northwestern
Illinois


East
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Syracuse
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Indiana

Cross Division
Indiana Purude
Michigan Minnesota
Michigan State Wisconsin
Iowa Pittsburgh
Ohio State Nebraska
Penn State Mizzou
Rutgers Northwestern
Syracuse Illinois


Stephen Noffke crap, I found a flaw with my 4 4-team conferences
how would you get a champ game (Editor’s note: Steve completely missed Derek’s comment earlier)

DerekWilson
yea, that's exactly what i was thinking
you could do a BCS formula....haha
what you could do is big 16 conference...east - west divisions
then sub-divisions
something weird like that

Stephen Noffke
and then whoever had the best confrence record in each division (regaurdless of sub-division) would go to the title game
Here’s how the schedule would break out for each team. 8 Conference games. Of these 8 games 3 would be playing the 3 teams in your region. 3 games would be against teams that finished in the same place as you in the other three divisions. 1 rivalry game across regions (Indiana vs Purdue, Michigan vs Ohio State, Illinois vs Northwestern etc.) and 1 game rotating game.

DerekWilson
yea i guess


Stephen Noffke
The only problem with that, is what Michigan was in the same sub-division as MSU, NU and PU, so they get to play those three every year, while Nebraska has to play Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota every year.
maybe not a great example, but Nebraska plays a harder schedule and MU gets an easy one?
I guess that's just luck of the draw

DerekWilson
I think at this point its MSU #1 in that division
and they have an easy road
Michigan’s defense is going to be REALLY bad this year

Stephen Noffke
yea they are
or, Michigan plays OSU every year, will Purdue gets to beat up on IU every year

DerekWilson
haha, but don't forget that IU is going to go 13-0 this year

Stephen Noffke
of course

DerekWilson
wait, how did you pick sub-divisions? there is almost a natural geographic division that kinda works out...

Penn State Pittsburgh Rutgers Syracuse
Illinois Indiana Mizzou Purude
Michigan Michigan State Northwestern Ohio State
Iowa Minnesota Nebraska Wisconsin



Stephen Noffke
here is what I have

East/Lake Erie: Penn State Pittsburgh Rutgers Syracuse
South/Ohio River: Illinois Indiana Mizzou Ohio State
North/Lake Michigan: Michigan Michigan State Northwestern Purude
West/Mississippi River: Iowa Minnesota Nebraska Wisconsin

Yes I renamed the regions. North/South/East/West are generic, and yes I know, Rutgers/New Jersey Doesn’t touch Lake Erie and Nebraska isn’t on the Mississippi River.



so you went like, far east, near east, near west and far west in the divisions
DerekWilson
haha i guess
yea, i didn't take into account any cross divisional rivalries or anything

Stephen Noffke
yeah I didn't either, the only difference between us in OSU and PU

DerekWilson
yea, true


My Cross Division Games


Illinois Northwestern
Indiana Purude
Ohio State Michigan
Michigan State Penn State
Iowa Pittsburgh
Mizzou Nebraska
Syracuse Minnesota
Rutgers Wisconsin



So that's what Derek and I came up with. Clearly there is a lot to have to happen before this becomes reality. Even if it does happen there is a lot different ways one could break up the confrence. We just through out our ideas, but how would you guys out there break up the confrence? Any other ways besides the 8 and 4 team divisions?


Update:

Here is ESPN.com's Big Ten Blogger Adam Rittenberg's stance on the 4 4-Team Divisions

Chris from Kansas City, Mo., writes: Adam, what are your feeling on the recent report of the 4X4 plan? In this plan you would see the big ten take Missouri/Nebraska/Syracuse/Pittsburgh/Rutgers. Then put all 16 teams into four, four-team divisions?

Adam Rittenberg: The division argument has gained some traction among fans and media members, but I haven't heard much about it from legitimate Big Ten sources. This format likely would require two weeks of playoffs to determine a league champion, unless they had a way of selecting the top two division winners to meet in one championship game. Two weeks of playoffs seems pretty tricky scheduling-wise, especially for a league that saw plenty of resistance to moving the regular season after Thanksgiving. It would be important to create competitive balance within the divisions, and as I've said all along, geography shouldn't be the overriding factor in creating divisions. If putting Penn State with some new schools from the East makes sense, great. But if it screws up the competitive balance in the other three divisions, I'd rather see Penn State in the same division with an Iowa or a Wisconsin.

Meet The Double Baggers

I have been lazy in posting of late, and for that, dear reader (s), I apologize.

Today I thought I'd take a look at one of everybody's favorite online activities, and one of the worst to actually talk about. (It's not what you think).

It's fantasy baseball! My annual squad, the Double Baggers, is in first place in Yahoo Public 475862 after three weeks, although I'm currently getting beat down 7-2 thanks to a rough week for my starting pitching.

A word about actual strategy - I tend to ignore closers and go after a ton of starting pitchers, more because I like to watch SPs in actual games than anything else. Its not necessarily a winning strategy but when it works well, it REALLY works - you either dominate wins, strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP, or you lose three out of the four, but if it's a good week, you're winning, period.

Anyway, here's three guys who have been playing well for me to start out the season, and three who have stunk it up.Ryan Braun, OF, Milwaukee Brewers (first round pick) - He was the best available player with the fifth pick in the draft, although I seriously considered Tim Lincecum (see hilarious sportscenter video here -- I love Big Time Timmy-Jim!) or even Roy Halladay. But I really didn't feel great about the pick, and Braun started out slow. However, with the Brew Crew exploding offensively over the last two weeks, the 26-year old outfielder has rounded into form as one of the best all-around offensive threats in the league.

With 19 runs, 20 RBIs, 5 homers, and six steals over his first 97 at-bats, Braun is a complete five-tool player (currently #4 overall in the game) and I was wise to listen to the Y! Rankings over my own sentiment here. Go Brewers. Thumbs up to Braun. And yes, that is him and his ex-girlfriend after last year's season.

Victor Martinez, C/1b, Boston Red Sox (third round pick) - I figured this was about the safest pick I could make. V-Mart has always been consistent power and a lock at the catcher position, and I could even shuffle him to first if I wanted, right? Well, he has sucked so far. Between his O-Rank (Yahoo's projected ranking) of 32 and his ACTUAL rank of 874, Martinez is hitting just .235 (he's a career .300 hitter) and his OPS is off by over 200 points.

His lack of production out of the 3 and 5 spots in the Red Sox lineup is one reason why they're scuffling along at 11-13. Like Bostonians everywhere, I can only hope for a turn around. Till then, thumbs down on V-Mart.


Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Colorado Rockies (seventh round) - He already pitched a no-hitter this year. His numbers (5-0, 0.79 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 31 Ks) are ridiculous. He's only behind Lincecum and Roy Halladay in the rankings, yet he was drafted just after Yovani Gallardo and Jake Peavy. A big thumbs up on Jimenez.

Also, I have Mark Buehrle, SP, White Sox, whose perfect game was AWESOME and won me that week. But he has struggled ever since. Still, I will be keeping Number 56 on the roster - I'm willing to take the hit on his bad starts just to get his good ones.

On the subject of White Sox, how about Gordon Beckham, 2b/3b (eighth round) - There's no sugar coating this. Beckham is having a terrible spring. Like most of the Pale Hose, his batting average has hovered around .220, and he has scored just ten runs despite batting in the 2-hole, with a single home run and just four RBI. This, my friends, is a sophomore slump. Beckham is currently planted on my bench.

Lucky for me, I grabbed Brewer Casey McGehee, 2b/3b off the free agent wire! I also got Ricky Romero, Colby Lewis, and Hideki Matsui this way. McGehee is batting fifth in the Brew Crew order, which means he gets to follow Braun and Prince Fielder to the plate. How awesome is that? He's batting over .300 with 19 RBIs, tops among eligible second basemen.

So there you have it, my own personal three up, three down.

How are your teams doing? Who's been breaking your heart or carrying the squad? And does anybody care about fantasy baseball?