Riding The Pining

Posted on February 23, 2013 by

This weekend is one of my favorite sports weekends of the year. College Hoops is winding down and teams are jockeying for seeding in their conference tournaments. College Baseball enters it’s second weekend in places where there isn’t a foot of snow on the ground. Speedweeks are coming to their conclusion in Daytona and NASCAR is underway. However, baseball is my favorite sport, and this weekend the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues unleash their full schedules. This is a huge deal for a Seamhead like myself. It means we made it through another off-season. Between now until three weeks before Thanksgiving a new baseball game will be within 24 hours reach. This is a cause for celebration.

Since I’m done celebrating it’s time to get down to the tough business of watching and listening to baseball. As l look at the schedule I look for reasons to choose one game over another. Looking at today’s slate of games I notice the Rays are playing the Red Sox Pirates. Why would I care about this game? Because former Royals prospect Wil Myers is in the starting line-up for the Rays. As you might recall Myers is who the Royals gave up, among others, in the trade for James Shields and Wade Davis.

You can get into all kinds of psychological jargon as to why I care about what Wil Myers does or may do in the major leagues. For today’s purposes Wil Myers is just a reason to discern which baseball game I’m going to watch or listen to. But that got me thinking. How long will I care what Wil Myers does for the Rays. How long will I and other fans check box scores in passing or thumb out tweets regarding his performance. I guess that will be determined by how well James Shield and Wade Davis do for the Royals. If the Royals are doing well I’ll probably stop by summer. If the Royals are the same dumpster fire they’ve always been, I just may watch more Rays games.

Random thoughts on Spring Training:

Miguel Tejada, your next Royals Manager

I’ve listened to one Royals game and I’m already tired of the organization telling me what a great “clubhouse guy” Miguel Tejada is. This is the type of stuff that Allard Biard did during his tenure. Sign an over the hill player and give them way more playing time than they should. If Tejada is the 2nd utility infielder and only gets 100-150 at bats I’m ok with that. From the way this organization is trying to “sell” him to the fan base I’m pretty sure we’ll see Tejada more than we’d like. This reminds me of those dark seasons of 04, 05, 06 when this type of thing happened way too often. If Miguel Tejada is being kept around and paid because he’s such a great “clubhouse guy”, why not just make him a bench coach?

Year 6 of The Process has been a disaster.

Is Miguel Tejada a part of The Process?

Bob Davis rides away

Bob Davis announced last week that he will not return to the Royals broadcast booth. Opting instead to stay with his Jayhawks full-time and care for his wife who is ailing from Parkinson’s disease. Good for him.

When Davis first signed on to do Royals games I was excited. Bob Davis had been a staple on the radio waves across Kansas since I had been old enough to know that sports on the radio was a thing. And now Davis would be working with the other icon of sports broadcasting in this region, Denny Matthews. However, in my mind it didn’t work out that well. Frankly, Bob Davis isn’t very good and calling baseball games, and there were a lot of awkward silences when Davis and Matthews worked together. You will never get a public comment on the situation but the broadcast when those two were together was choppy enough that I have always wondered if they got along. Not that it matters now. And back to my original point. Good Luck with your down time Bob. You’ve earned it.

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This thing is still here?

Posted on February 16, 2013 by

Wow, I haven’t written anything since September. I renewed the domain name, and then quit writing. That means I skipped an entire football season. How much sense does that make? The problem is, I can’t guarantee that I’ll have time or the inclination to write going forward. Life with family, other hobbies, and the need to get enough sleep to facilitate all that makes writing difficult. I guess I’ll keep the website going on the off chance that I want to.

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Product Decline

Posted on September 25, 2012 by

Let’s say you are a long time consumer of a company’s products. In fact you liked and bought into this company so much that instead of the company paying you to advertise for them, you paid money to the company and in return you wore their gear and advertised for them. And in your mind everything was fine because this company created a quality product and you and your friends enjoyed the product. This company was so popular it came to a point you almost felt compelled to buy their product because you would feel left behind in society if you didn’t. It seemed this company could do no wrong, even though some of the stuff they did was questionable.

One day this company announces they are switching suppliers. The company says in their press release that the old supplier was costing them too much money, and that they had found a new supplier at a fraction of the cost. But not to worry…the quality of the product you had come to know and love would be the same. You found this kind of odd considering said company just announced record revenue, and was on the brink of signing a new large contract.

Except the products in question wasn’t of the same quality. The company asked for patience in integrating the new supplier into their business model. You extended said patience because the company in question had a good track record. Except the product not only didn’t get better, it got worse! Things were not improving. Yet again the company pleaded for patience. Then one day the company’s products declined to the point that they simply didn’t work. But instead of being apologetic…the company said that the problem wasn’t theirs or their suppliers. That they didn’t see anything wrong with their products and it was in fact misusage by the retailers and consumers that was the problem.

Do you think you would continue to use this company’s product? I know I wouldn’t. So I’m not. NFL you can get back to me when you have your regular referee’s back. And no, I’m not buying any of your gear again for a long time.

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Giant Fandom

Posted on September 14, 2012 by

Earlier this week cooler weather swept away the last strangle hold of summer on our area and it finally began to feel like fall. Football is about enter it’s third weekend, and all the craft beer breweries have released their “Fall Seasonal” or “Oktoberfest”. (of which I am sampling while I type this) September through October is one of my favorite times of year in the sports world and life in general. Unfortunately it’s also the time of year that I have to pick a major league baseball team to root for during the pennant chase and subsequent playoffs. It’s unfortunate because the team I pick is never actually my favorite team; The Kansas City Royals. The Royals do not have a playoff appearance since I have been cognizant of such things. I’ll write more about the Royals in the next few weeks. Right now I’m going to tell you about my resurgent fandom and bandwagoning of the San Francisco Giants.

When I say resurgent fandom I mean just that. I don’t mean that I was on their bandwagon when they won the World Series in 2010. For some reason a World Championship didn’t push me back on the wagon that year. It goes back further than that, way back, back to the days of Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams, and manager Roger Craig. (There was another San Francisco Roger Craig in those days. He was a running back for the 49ers) Before I was a fan of the San Francisco Giants. I was a fan if the Wichita State Shocker Baseball Team.

In the years of 1988 and 1989 there was no other baseball team in my world. Yes, the George Brett led Royals were around and in the glow of their recent World Series title. They were still a decent team…but they were a long three hour car ride away. In the mind of my boyhood self baseball was the Shockers, they were across town. I could go to a game, and did so regularly. In Wichita it seemed like Shocker baseball was on TV as much as any major league team including the Royals. For a while I thought the Shockers were a professional baseball team. It wasn’t until my favorite players started graduating that I realized the difference. It’s probably because of the late 80’s, early 90’s Shocker Baseball teams that baseball is my favorite sport.

This photo is probably my favorite childhood baseball memory

In 1989 the Shockers won the College World Series led by the pitching of Greg Brummett and a supporting cast of future major leaguers that included Eric Wedge (former Cleveland Indian and current Seattle Mariners Manager), Mike Lansing, and Tyler Greene. It also happened that the San Francisco Giants were having an excellent year in 1989 too. The San Francisco Giants took Brummett in the 11th Round of the Amateur Draft that year. As a Shocker fanboy I decided if the Giants were going to take Brummett I was going to follow along and be a Giants fanboy too. I have no problem admitting I was a fanboy, because at the time I was in fact, a boy.

In addition to my favorite Shocker being drafted by the Giants; In those days it was quite easy to watch west coast teams with the way ESPN was covering Major League Baseball. These were the days before MLB.tv. But every Wednesday and Friday ESPN had an MLB double-header and it seemed that the second game of the double-header always involved the Giants. I, being a youngster was only able to watch one or two innings on Wednesday, but most Friday nights I got to watch the Giants play an entire game. The rest of the time I kept track of the Giants by reading box scores in the local paper.
I remember being upset when the Giants were swept in the 1989 “Earthquake” World Series by the Oakland Athletics. I also remember the Giants battling the early 90’s Braves for what was then the NL West Title. I remember being excited when they signed Barry Bonds as a free agent. Then one day Greg Brummett got the call to make his MLB Debut. I don’t know if it was the National Game of The Week, or if a local station bought the rights to carry the game on their own. Regardless of how this game ended up on television, I remember watching every pitch. You can check the boxscore here. Brummett pitched decently and got the win. Sadly I think that might have been the highlight of his MLB career.

Brummett’s MLB Debut was in May of 1993. That was the last spring of middle school. When you get out of middle school other things start to take most of your attention like girls, playing football, and trying to be cool. Not sure if I ever did any of those things correctly. Yes, I paid attention to baseball while in High School, but nothing like I did before turning into a teenager. I lost track of baseball and lost track of the Giants…even the Royals.

In 2001 I finally made it to San Francisco on a business trip and took in my first live Giants game. I cheered for the Giants but nothing like the enthusiasm I had as a kid. It wasn’t until I moved this summer came across all of my Giants memorabilia from that era that I even recalled this whole episode. I must have every Will Clark baseball card from 1987 through 1994. My subscription to MLB.tv also helped. I can’t watch the Royals because of MLB’s archaic blackout policy. So I watch a lot of Giants games because they’re on late when I have time to watch baseball.

Each fan base has a certain culture. I think part of being a fan of a team is attending games and knowing the ins and outs of the stadium. Knowing where the local or regional watering holes are located. Knowing the personalities and paradigms of the media that cover the team and subsequently bitching about them. All of those things make up the culture of a fan base. I have been a apart of the culture of being a Royals fan and with Twitter and other social media still feel a part of that culture.

I don’t think I can fully integrate myself into the San Francisco Giants culture like I have the Royals culture. I’m not from the Bay Area, and I don’t know enough about the area to even pretend. Not only that, I’m still a Royals fan…for some reason. But, I don’t see why I can’t root for the Giants during the post season. I don’t see why I can’t root for the Giants during the regular season either. They could be my National League team. I just don’t think I could ever call myself a “Giants Fan” like I call myself a “Royals Fan”

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Lessons In Profanity II: 2012 Chiefs Season Preview

Posted on September 6, 2012 by

A year ago I wrote this blog entry to explain how I learned to cuss and preview the Chiefs 2011 Season. In that post I picked the Chiefs to go 7-9. While I didn’t pick the correct 7-9, they did go 7-9 and a lot of what I was worried about then came to fruition. I guess that looks good on me. Had I completely missed I would have written some self-depreciating piece on how I don’t know anything about sports.

I had a good feel for that Chiefs team even though it wasn’t a good feeling. I have no idea what the 2012 version of the Chiefs will do. And I don’t think the lack of feeling comes from a lack of paying attention to them. There’s a new coaching staff. Players that were injured last year are healthy, but are they all the way healthy? What is Matt Cassel going to do with a better offensive line and a new offensive coordinator? And if those questions weren’t enough, new injuries have cropped up, and rookies are starting because of those injuries. There is just so much no one knows about this team.

That’s what’s cool about sports, and the NFL in particular where roughly 50% of the playoff teams turn over every season. At noon on Sunday the Chiefs are going to tee it up against the Atlanta Falcons and we’re going to get some answers. As the season unfolds we’re going to get all the answers. It’s compelling for sure. I’m sure of a few things. I’m probably going to cuss some, and fist pump some. Below is what I think will happen. In four months we’ll know if I know anything or not. Hopefully I’m wrong, especially during Week 17.

Week 1: Atlanta : Since I’m not really sure what this team is going to be I’m going to rely on Arrowhead magic for a Chiefs win on Opening Day. 1-0

Week 2: At Buffalo : The Chiefs needed overtime to beat the Bills at Arrowhead in 2010. Last year they destroyed the Chiefs on Opening Day 41-7. Both teams should be improved but it’s a road game, which statistically means a loss. 1-1

Week 3: At New Orleans : Last time the Chiefs went to the Superdome is was embarrassing. Unless the Chiefs develop a pass rush without blitzing by this game it’s going to be embarrassing again. 1-2

Week 4: San Diego :For some reason the Chargers’ brains fall out when they come to Arrowhead. It’s a divisional game which means it’s the cliché “You can throw the records out when these two teams get together”. If the Chiefs look inept in weeks 1-3 I’m still calling this a win. 2-2.

That’s one quarter of the season. I have the Broncos at 3-1, Chiefs and Chargers at 2-2, and the Raiders at 1-3 through this point in the season.

Week 5: Baltimore : Baltimore is a popular pick to win the Super Bowl. They came into Arrowhead during the 2010 Divisional Game and took the Chiefs to the woodshed out behind Lot M. I expect the Chiefs will be seeing that woodshed again during Week 5. 2-3.

Week 6: Tampa Bay :Have no idea how, but the Chiefs win this one. Just call it one of those weird NFL things. 3-3

Week 7: Bye : Go to a pumpkin patch or something.

Week 8: Oakland : Divisional Arrowhead Magic strikes again. Win! 4-3. The Chiefs are above .500 for the first time this season.

Week 9: At San Diego : Full disclosure. Because of the ambiguity of this team I have the Chiefs winning all the division home games, and losing all the division road games. Because that’s normally how it works. Or like last year when they lost the home games and won the road games. Loss. 4-4.

We are halfway through the season. By now some of you have abandon your Fantasy Teams. Hopefully I’ll have won the office pool a few times. Here is how I have the division at this point. Broncos and Chargers at 5-3, Chiefs 4-4, Oakland 3-5. In Week 10 at all four AFC West Teams play on the East Coast.

Week 10: At Pittsburgh on MNF: I think this game is winnable. But I’m sticking to the script. Loss. 4-5

Week 11: Cincinnati : Cincinnati is supposed to be terrible. Win. 5-5

Week 12: Denver : I don’t care if it’s Peyton Manning. Division home game, Win. 6-5

Week 13: Carolina : Cam Newton at Arrowhead. I fear he will have a career game. Loss. 6-6

We are three quarters through the season now. We’ll be doing Christmas shopping while refreshing HardballTalk for news about the baseball winter meetings. Hoping the Royals have made a move that actually matters. By now, the Chiefs will have established themselves as a middle of the road team. With games at Oakland and at Denver remaining The Chiefs will hold their playoff destiny in their own hands. I have the rest of the division like this: Broncos 7-5, Chiefs, Chargers, and Raiders at 6-6.

Week 14: at Cleveland : Cleveland should be the worst team in the league this season. The Chiefs should win this game to get to 7-6. Denver will lose at Oakland, and the Chargers will lose at Pittsburgh. There is a three way tie for the division lead. The Chiefs still have road games at Oakland and Denver.

Week 15: at Oakland : This is where knowing a team’s personality would go a long way in figuring out who they are. This is a game a serious playoff team should win to help lock up their division and prove that they can win big games in December. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen this out of this Chiefs team. It might be there, but it hasn’t shown. All things being equal it’s a road division game. Loss. 7-7. Oakland is the only AFC West team to win this week. Raiders take the division lead.

Week 16: Indianapolis : Andrew Luck is going to be good. But not good enough to win at Arrowhead in December against a team in the playoff hunt. Win. 8-7. Everyone but the Chargers is tied for the division lead.

Week 17: at Denver : The Chiefs will roll into Denver with a chance to win the division. The first game against Peyton Manning and the Broncos the Chiefs got lucky. You only get lucky in the NFL a few times before things even out. I don’t see the Chiefs getting it done. They will lose and have a record of 8-8. Denver wins which puts them at 9-7 and that will be good enough to win the division. I will cuss a lot and see when pitchers and catchers report.

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I don’t have ESPN, and it’s awesome

Posted on August 23, 2012 by

My family and I recently moved, and when we moved we decided not to get cable or satellite hooked up at the new residence. At the time of the move, this decision was based on finances. The budget was going to be tight and we felt that television was not a high enough priority to justify the cost. Since then our financial situation has improved to the point that we could afford to go with a cable or satellite provider.

You would think that a person who uses the handle sportsdrenched would have to have all the ESPNs, every Regional Sports Network, NBC Sports Talk, CBS Sports Network, and a myriad of other sports channels available to a person who immerses themselves in the world of sports. This might have been true for me a few years ago. Since then I have realized I don’t have time for that much programming anyway and in essence I was paying for something I did not use. Kind of like a land phone line. I don’t pay for that anymore either. As I have gone through the past seven weeks I have realized I actually enjoy this new set-up. Consider I did not get bombarded with constant Tim Tebow news, nor have I heard or seen anything related to Peyton Manning. I see comments on message boards complaining about ESPN’s saturation coverage of anything that it does. Since I don’t have access to ESPN I don’t feel the need to complain about it.

It’s not like I don’t get my share of opining in the sports world. I have a longer commute than most, and on a good weather day I can get four different sports radio stations, and a fifth does a sports show in the evenings. There is Twitter, there is Facebook, not to mention FOX, CBS, SI, ESPN, NBC..anyone who is anyone in sports media maintains an extensive website. I haven’t even mentioned the idiots like myself who blog about sports. What I’m saying is, there is enough free sports content that no one should have to pay your cable/satellite provider for it.

With Sports Radio, who needs ESPN?

That’s not to say I haven’t dropped some coin to get access to the stuff I want access to. For the cost of two months of a mid-range cable package I subscribed to MLB.tv. I’ve stated before that I’d rather listen or watch games than listen or watch people talk about games. Streaming baseball games lets me watch games. For the past month that’s all I’ve done with my TV watching time. Ok, so I watched some Olympics, but even that was actual events, not experts breaking down events.

I have thought about the change of seasons with baseball winding down and football starting up. Most of the football games I watch are on over the air channels anyway. For anything else there is ESPN3. Yes I get that it’s still ESPN but it comes with my internet package and its not half as obnoxious. It’s just games. If it’s not on ESPN3 I’ll just have to find it on the radio. If it’s not on the radio I’ll just go without and read Sports Illustrated. I have also contemplated streaming NHL games, but I must determine which NHL broadcast territory I’m in so I know which team will be blacked out. If the Avalanche are blacked out here I probably won’t sign up for this. The rest of the winter sports I’ll be content to watch what is on over the air.

This brings me to the one draw back I have found with this entertainment set-up. Because I am in the Royals broadcast area their games are blacked out on MLB.tv. I do have the option of going back and watching 90 minutes after the game is over, but I rarely have the time for that. I get by with the radio, and picking up highlights once they’re posted to various websites. Once or twice I have gone back and watched an archived game. This is the only part I’m not sure about. If anything gets me to sign up for cable/satellite again not being able to watch the Royals live will be it. Of course, if you beleive this article, one day I might be able to watch the Royals without paying for ESPN or anything else we don’t want.

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Cockroaches

Posted on July 27, 2012 by

Vacation is over, and our move has settled down. There are still several projects I should be doing around the house besides blogging and watching sports. But, it’s time to emerge from the blogging hiatus. The first topic of this new blogging season I am going to discuss cockroaches. Unlike humans, who occasionally need time off and rest, cockroaches are always around. You can bet if you see one cockroach. Three more are waiting where you can’t see them.

Why am I so enamored with cockroaches? Because I think the Kansas City Royals are filled with them. Kyle Davies was the worst starting pitcher in major league history. Royals fans thought things could only get better after the Royals released him? Nope! In fact, two more showed up in the form of Luke Hochevar and Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez has since been traded to the Rockies for another cockroach. Luke Hochevar’s cockroach’s are so bad they infected the mound at Kauffman Stadium. How else do you explain Justin Verlander’s 5 run 1st innings in the All-Star Game.

It’s not a recent trend either. It seems every time the Royals make a move to replace someone who is the league worst at their position, they replace them with another league worst at that position. Royals fans were tired of Angel Berroa, who replaced him? Tony Pena Jr, who replaced him? Yuniesky Betancourt. This cycle of insectery at shortstop seems to have been exterminated with Alcides Escobar, who the Royals have signed to a long term deal. At least The Process has done something productive.

Year 6 of The Process has been a disaster.

Unfortunately “The Process” doesn’t seem to be working with the starting pitching staff. At one time I would have blamed Dayton Moore’s Process for this infestation of historically high ERAs. Not anymore. One has to realize that before Kyle Davies there was Jose Lima, Chris George, and Runelvys Hernandez. If a problem persists through two exterminators maybe you don’t need an exterminator. Maybe you need a new homeowner.

Since David Glass has owned the Royals there has always been a starting pitcher on the Royals who represented the closest thing to a forfeit as you can get in professional sports. The Royals record during Glass’s ownership tenure is the worst in Major League Baseball. The Royals next closest competitor for futility during this stretch is the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates not only swept the Royals in a three game series earlier this season. They are leading their division and making trades for starting pitching to solidify their playoff chances. This leaves the Royals to wallow in the basement with the cockroaches.

As a fans, there’s not much we can do about a terrible owner except do facepalms, complain on social media, express our dissatisfaction with our wallets, and come to terms with the fact that our favorite team may be moved before it wins again. For me, that’s fine, another city can have Kansas City’s cockroaches.

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