Post #1 of 2005
I had one rockin’ New Years weekend. The New Years party I went to quickly dissipated after the midnight fireworks because of the presence of a bigger and better party down the street, but I had a good time anyway. Other than that, a few movies, a trip to the Mudhouse for some drinks, and plain ol’ good times with good friends made my three days off extremely worthwhile.
Other stuff ...
Other stuff ...
- Baseball news has remained scarce, partly because of the now-over holiday season and partly because Carlos Beltran – the crème de la crème of the 2004-2005 free agent crop – hasn’t decided where he wants to play for the next decade. Once that chip falls, I think we’ll see those guys in the second and third tier – Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Delgado, Derek Lowe, and Jeromy Burnitz among them – start signing. If the Royals’ plans to trade for Austin Kearns don’t advance any farther than they already have (which is to say not advancing at all), I’d like to see them at least gauge Ordonez’s interest in becoming a Royal for a year. Yeah, it’d only be a short-term solution, but I think he has a better chance of playing well than Juan Gonzalez did. Oh, and he’d be minus the attitude and fragileness, too.
Getting back to Beltran for a moment, he might want to strongly consider signing with the Cubs considering the way he’s lit up Wrigley Field with a barrage of home runs and hits in general during the course of his career. Just how good has he been there? .510/.597/1.078 good.
- My colleague Daniel Smith pointed out an extremely depressing bit of news a couple of days ago. Lee Sinins, he of The Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia, detailed the all-time worst pitchers at home runs allowed vs. the league average. Sadly, two of those pitchers – Brian Anderson (#7) and Jose Lima (#8) – will be in the Royals’ rotation in 2005. All Darrell May needs is a few more seasons, and I’m sure he’ll be on that list too. Terrence Long is looking better and better every day.
- I know some of you find my weekly SMS basketball reports extremely annoying and irrelevant, so I’ll try to keep this one short. The Bears overcame a nine-point halftime deficit at halftime and horrifyingly-bad officiating to beat Evansville 78-75 yesterday at Hammons Student Center. The coolest thing about the game was the noise level the fans created. It must’ve been good, because the players and coaches all stuck around after the final buzzer and waved to the crowd, thanking us for being rowdy and all that good stuff. I’ve said this before, but this group of players is a special one. The talent, hustle, desire, and intelligence is all there, so this could be the most memorable season since Steve Alford took his 1998-1999 team to the Sweet Sixteen.
- While browsing around the web the other day, I came across ESPN.com’s advertisement for their Insider service. It reads:
Find out what others around the country are saying about your team. We surf the Web so you don't have to, bringing you personalized stories - just for Insiders.
Wow … I think we’ve reached a new low in laziness if we need somebody to surf the web for us.
- In closing, I have just one wish for the 2005: Many, many nights spent at my Field of Dreams, Hammons Field:
