MacPhail

Recently Rick Maese did an article grading Andy MacPhail's performance as Orioles' President. I think its a cool concept, but I think Maese did a horrible job. Here are my comments. Vote in the poll to the right to evaluate MacPhail's performance.

"Uh, frankly I think this is kind of stupid. It seems like a good idea but that you struggled to come up with content so you just assigned MacPhail as the responsible party and then gave him a bad grade for it. By your logic, should we give MacPhail credit for the new Orioles Magic music video, staring players on this year's team? If so, he gets an A++ for that.

Why don't you start off by saying what his job responsibilities are, which in my opinion, is building a championship team from the ground up without Angelos interference, which he has done thus far . In face, I'd say he's done a pretty damn good job with that so far, restocking the farm system and getting great players back in both the Bedard and Tejada trades.

And the O's have a good product on the field. And making Trembly the manager on not an interim basis and keeping him on for this year was MacPhail's decision too."

Tiger is unreal

Soak it in folks, you might be looking at the best golfer to ever play the game. Tiger Woods just pulled off yet ANOTHER amazing victory. I was fortunate enough to go to the gym for an hour during work so I could catch the last 5 holes while running 5 miles. What I was able to see was pure greatness. Rocco Mediate had Tiger down for the count. He played fantastically, but it was almost like Tiger was toying with him, giving him the taste of victory and then springing on him to crush his hopes and dreams, even as Rocco made 3 birdies on the back nine to pull ahead of Tiger until 18 when Tiger got to the green in 2 and birdied to force jus the 2^nd Sudden Death overtime in U.S. Open history. (On a side note, I love the 18 hole playoff. The U.S. open isn’t trying to adhere to television and their viewers – they’re trying to determine the best golfer in the United States and the best way to do that is by playing 18 more holes if you’re tied after 72. But I digress…)And that is what is most amazing about Tiger. Just when you think he's down for the count, he's right back up and winning another Championship. Possibly the greatest golfer to ever walk the course and maybe one of the best clutch athletes we'll ever see. Year from now, people will refer to this as the “Tiger Era” and we’ll be fortunate enough to say we were able to live through it.

I wasn’t fortunate enough to really remember Jack Nicholas’ prime years. I was brought up by my father to believe in three things: respect and love your family, jazz is the best and only truly American Art Form, and that Jack Nicholas is the best golfer to ever play the game. Tiger might soon be taking that crown away, as today he became just the second player in history to capture the “Career Grand Slam” 3x’s over. Tiger now has 14 Major championship and trails Jack’s 18 by 4. Its also worth noting, in my opinion, that Jack came in 2^nd 19 other times. That is amazing in and of itself. Jack could have won 37 Majors but winning almost half of those and still coming in 2^nd is just amazing. I think Jack is still #1 and it depends on how Tiger finishes his career before he gets the crown as best golfer ever. The other point to think about is this: if you give Jack Nicholas the same equipment and conditioning that Tiger has now, who wins? Jack’s answer to that question, from an article by Jason Sobel on ESPN.com is “The game today is so different, so nobody will ever know. But Tiger is awfully good, he's terrific, and I guess I wasn't too bad in my time.”

And when it comes to breaking Jack’s record 18 Majors? “I suspect that he probably will, but you never break a record until you break it. I suspect in the next four or five years, that it will probably happen, but who knows what's going to happen in the next four or five years? Certainly at the rate he's going and the way he plays, he should do it. He's awfully good.”

Will Tiger go down as the best ever? Only time will tell. But I don’t think any will question that in their prime, Jack Nicholas and Tiger Woods are the best golfers to ever play the game.

Who Cares about the NBA?

After the latest scandal in the NBA, with former ref Tim Donaghy now alleging that the NBA instructed him to make sure certain playoff series went to 7 games and that key players weren't ejected, my real question is, who cares? When I watch an NBA game and then watch a college game, the difference to me is unreal. I'd rather watch any college basketball game vs. an NBA game. The NBA just isn't fun to watch. There is often little to know defense, the league is full of thugs, and its all about the money. College games are just so much more enjoyable to me. I'd venture to say I'd rather watch pro wrestling than an NBA game. At least with Pro Wrestling they tell you its fake up front. With the NBA, they just charge you a lot of money and act like its real. Sounds like false advertising to me...

Here we go again...

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse for Maryland basketball, I got a call from my Mom the other night saying that Gus Gilchrist was transferring out of Maryland. I thought “What? You’re crazy!” Apparently, since the ACC again denied Gus’ appeal to allow him to play at the start of the season rather than waiting until after the Fall semester, he wants to leave Maryland and play at a non-ACC school. There are several things here that don’t add up…
1. If Gus goes to another school, he’ll have to sit out a year before he can play again, unless he’s granted a waver by the NCAA, which by no means is a guarantee.
2. Even if Gus is granted a waver, he’ll likely only get 3 years of eligibility, rather than the 4 he is seeking so he’s risking having to sit out another entire year to be able to play for 1/3 of this season, against what will probably be cupcake games mostly. Seems like a big risk for not much return…
3. Gus seems to have left Maryland on good terms – no one is really disappointed or angry with him. That just seems weird to me…is it possible that Gary knew that if Gus’ latest appeal was denied, he was going to leave, and hence Maryland has been trying to bring in all of these other recruits last minute as a stop gap for a possible Gus absence? Is this why Shane Walker left, because he knew that even if Gilchrist left, he still wasn’t going to get playing time as Maryland looked for a possible stop gap for Gilchrist rather than relying on Walker? Or is Walker just kicking himself now for leaving because he probably would have factored huge into the upcoming season.

Just received an update on this...apparently Gus is going to play at a Ju-Co school, where he can play immediately, and then go straight to the NBA, or so the voice whispering in his ear, his "advisor," tells him...still seems like a lot of work just for missing like 10-15 cupcake games...

Who is to blame here? Is it Gary? I’d say this is just a string of bad luck for Gary, but if he knew Gilchrist was going to do this if he’s appeal was denied, then part of the blame must be placed on him for not having an alternative. EVERYONE should be angry with Debbie “I hate the Men’s basketball program even though it pays my salary” Yow, since she hasn’t gone to bat for any of Gus’ ACC appeals or for the Men’s program in general. She has to be one of the worst AD’s in the Nation when it comes to supporting some of her biggest programs. It’s almost like she WANTED these things to happen so she could get Gary out and hire her own Men’s Basketball coach. I for one will no longer be supporting the Athletic Department at Maryland so long as Debbie Yow is the AD. I encourage any fellow Terp Supporters to do the same.

Matt Bracken does a great job with a recruiting timeline for the 2008 class at Maryland, showing all of the potential players that could have been here and where we are now. Remember, at various points, Maryland had commits from the following for 2008: Tyree Evans (4 stars), Terrance Jennings (4 – 5 star big man), Bobby Maze (3-4 star combo guard), Gus Gilchrist (was already enrolled at the school and was eligible to play in Dec., but has since decided to transfer).

What are we left with? Sean Mosley, a talented guard who is committed for the 2008 class, still has to qualify academically. If we lose him as well, Maryland is screwed beyond screwed, to the tune of possibly having a season similar to that of UVA this past season, in which 1 really talented player (Vasquez) dominates but has little support around him. Jin Soo Kim, a forward that is committed for the class of 2009, is trying to get into Maryland’s 2008 class. Pray that he is able to, because Maryland currently has a huge hole in their front court offense.

Its Time for WAR on Red Sox Nation

I'm tired of Red Sox fans coming to Camden and acting like they're at home. I'm determined to do something about it. Suggestions are welcome, but I'm going to try to come up with a solution. I freaking hate the Red Sox fans and my hatred came to a climax when Manny hit his 500th homer this weekend. More to come...leave comments/suggestions...