Sllaacs getting his Larry King On

I wonder what Paul Pierce is thinking as Kobe steals the ball... Poor Javon, drunk and gay - spraying champagne, and then later found on a street - knocked the fuck out and gaffled... What happens in Vegas... So the A's put the sweepers on the Giants - rejoice, cuz the Giants will be back, visiting the Coliseum at the end of this month to help the A's track down the Halos... By the way, has Pudge Rodriguez been a dominant catcher for the past 100 years, or does it just seem that way? Ivan will still gun a fool down trying to steal, and can pick a sucka off of any base, at any moment, and during any count... By the way, where was Javon Walker's entourage? You mean to tell me he was out partying alone? No Crew? No Posse? No teammates? A new day in the Age of the Posse... Billy Beane is so much of the man, that I wonder if we need a new definition for the term... So far the Danny Haren deal is looking like a wonderful, amazing move, and really Beane hasn't gotten smashed on any trade except for the Tim Hudson Deal... The Mark Mulder deal was genius due to Mulder's terrible health since the trade to St.Louis... A long time ago Nick Swisher was a "Young Oakland A"... Wasn't that like, a year ago Tuesday? I always thought Doc Rivers was an ass; as a player, an analyst, and as a coach. To support my innermost instincts, I enter this quote from Rivers (copied from a Scott Osler article) "Kobe's the most dangerous defender in the league." My ass... Totally meaningless statement... "Most Dangerous Defender"... Just what the hell does that mean? Is Kobe out there strapped with a Nine-Milli and at any moment might just bust a cap? Just how dangerous can a defender be? I have witnessed players who I guess could be called "dangerous defenders" in the NBA before - Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman come to mind immediately(the preceding links lead to awesome video clips of the two)... So I ask, who in this Hell has Kobe Bryant forearm shivered, or out-and-out attacked for having the audacity to take a shot at the basket? The next one will be the first... As a Warriors fan, I am not pleased with Baron Davis and his L.A. connections... The W's do have a future without Boom Dizzle, but not at the Point Guard position, not yet... Baron is the type of player that, on another team, I can easily see myself hating, but if he went to L.A., I shudder to think of the outright loathing I will feel for B.D., it would be unhealthy... Tiger Woods, Willis Reed and Kirk Gibson; wobbly kneed gamers... Justin Duchscherer... Just putting his name down for the uninitiated is all, A's fans know our boy well... The Lakers blew 2 more huge leads in game 5, but the home crowd kept them juiced, they won't have the "13th man" anymore... And just because the Lakers and Celtics are in the Finals again after a thousand years doesn't make this a "Golden Year" for the NBA, it's just another season... Or not, if the Lakers come back and win.


Sllaacs

A's vs. Boston in Japan - A Horrible and Complicated Waste of Time

The Oakland Athletics played in Japan against the Boston Red Sox in a two-game exhibition that actually counts in the American League Standings. The series turned out to be a split, which was good for both teams, as Japan is a long way to go to get swept. Amazing waste of time though. The Japanese know all about Baseball by now, I think, and there is absolutely no need to send MLB teams there to play at all, let alone in games that count in the standings. But it was done - Damn you, Bud Selig. With that money-grabbing crap-fest over, the A's and Red Sox will come back to the U.S. to play out the rest of Spring Training before beginning the regular season again. So if you are keeping score at home, that's; U.S. Spring Training, Fly to Japan for Spring Training, Open the Regular Season in Japan, Fly back to the States, Continue Spring Training, Start Regular Season again.

Awesome.

Richie Harden looked as impressive as always, which means that if his history holds true, he will pitch like Cy Young right up until he gets injured for the season.

And can the Giants look worse? That team is going to be a spectacle to behold in S.F. this year.

Sllaacs

Sllaacs Baseball - 2008

The smell of the grass and the wet infield dirt. The sound of a ball slapping into a mitt. The calls of "Attaboy", "Cut Two!", and "Play Ball!" echoing around the field. This is spring training baseball, an almost magical prologue that happens only prior to the baseball season. Every team is a contender in the spring with the same surprises always around the corner: The kid that's going to hit .600 this spring and then get sent down anyway; the has-been's and never-was's making another try at getting a spot in the Show; the starting pitcher who dominates like he's Cy Young in March and then gets lit up like he's Willie Lump-Lump in April - and vice-versa, of course. How about the O.G's - the dudes like Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez - who will hit something like .143 and say something like: "Well, I'm just working on bat speed", or "I'm just trying to see the ball," and then the season starts and it's; "Hall of Fame Bound" being mentioned before, during and after each at-bat they have? Baseball is incomparable to any other sport. For one thing, baseball is harder than any of the big four sports, (Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey) and almost as frustrating as Soccer,(which is a very tough, athletic sport that very few Americans give a damn about, myself included.) Some of the most nonathletic looking "Athletes" have dominated baseball for stretches of time that makes an outsider think that anyone can play the game. Well, anyone who is physically able can play baseball, the question becomes more about playing the game with near-perfection - something you will only see consistently in the Major Leagues... Unless you are a Giants or A's fan. The Giants are what baseball aficionados call "Horseshit" as far as projected offense goes, and the A's are not much better. Both teams are actually going into the season touting their pitching staffs as a strength. These claims are only somewhat laughable in Giants case - they are bringing back some pretty good pitchers, (Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum) but they lost Noah Lowry to an arm injury, Barry Zito is getting smoked and their bullpen closer situation is at best unestablished, and at worst: Horseshit also. Now, Oakland's claim that pitching is their strength is laughable because; 1) the A's don't have any strengths - they traded them all away; B) The pitching probably will be the strength anyway; and III) Revenue sharing will still reward Bean for putting out a shit product. If you like young, raw and unproven talent to root for in your favorite teams' colors - and pretend that your squad will duplicate the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks successes of last year - then you are going to be excited and a-rarin' ta go, cuz' that's what Brian Sabean and Billy Bean are presenting us with in the Bay Area this year. The Giants new motto "All out, All the Time", is not only a swipe at Barry Bonds, but absolutely is the only formula that will allow them to compete for the post season in the National League West. The A's... Well, maybe next year.



Sllaacs 2008 Predicted order of Finish for the S.F. Giants and Oakland Athletics respective Divisions:


American League West: W-L

California Angels 104-58
Seattle Mariners 85-77
Texas Rangers 83-79
Oakland Athletics 76-86


National League West: W-L


Arizona Diamondbacks 92 - 70
Colorado Rockies 90 - 72
San Diego Padres 88 - 74
San Francisco Giants 71-91

John's Picks

I got an email from my attorney, Nappy McBigtoe, threatening to renounce baseball after Billy Beane traded Nick Swisher yesterday. To quote my mother-in-law, "God Damn It." That pretty much sums up the feeling today for those of us who root for McAfee Coliseum's other team.

Anyway, Sllaacs, also a huge A's fan (weird thing about the Bay Area that there a lot of A's/Niners fans and Giants/Raiders fans), is trying to talk me out of it, but I'm also thinking of Renouncing Baseball.

Anyway, this weeks picks:

The Giants beat Tampa Bay, which will expedite the hiring of Raheem Morris as the Raiders new defensive coordinator. (UPDATE: Or not.)

Seattle beats Washington. They just don't lose at home, even if they had to pay Texas A&M when they ripped off the "12th Man."

Even though they're a different species of big ass cat, the Steelers are about to get roy'd at home this weekend. I saw what that defense did against the JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders juggernaut...er...anyway, they're really good. So is the Jaguars running game. You can read that anywhere. Even Nancy Gay agrees they can run the ball.

Finally, Norv and the Dischargers vs. the Titans. Let's just say I hope Albert Haynesworth steps on Philip Rivers' head with his cleats, cutting that smug smirk off right off of it. I really hate them now. But they probably win this week, considering they're most likely going to face Kerry Collins.