I bet you thought I was gone for good, didn’t you? Well, sad to say, I’m not. I just had to recover from my new job as an Eagles groupie, which is on hiatus for now. That gives me time to blog, and I’ve got a lot to say about a few different subjects — I hope to keep it somewhat on-topic, but everybody who’s ever read this blog knows that’s difficult for me. I’m a rambler (not a gambler) after all. So let’s get to it.
MLB Playoffs: For someone who’s supposed to be the best manager in baseball, Mike Scoscia sure has screwed things up for his Angels. Nobody has talked about this (which make the following thoughts exclusive to the blog you’re currently reading), but Scioscia, as the manager of the American League team with the best record, got to choose which format he wanted for the Division Series against Boston. He chose the one that gave days off between Games 1 and 2 and between Games 2 and 3.
Mistake. Why? I’m not saying it would have made any difference at all, but the Angels are built on pitching. They could have afforded to send Jered Weaver out for Game 4 and forced Boston to pitch Tim Wakefield, always a question mark, in Game 4 for the Red Sox. The extra days off allows both teams to use a three-man rotation, and Boston has a clear advantage in that case.
Not only does it give Josh Beckett, who’s been battling an oblique issue lately, an extra day of rest, but it allows the Red Sox to only have to use Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Beckett, three of baseball’s best. So I’m not saying the series wouldn’t still be 2-0, but the Angels didn’t give themselves much of a chance even from the start of this series.
I’ve decided, anyway, that the only team I could tolerate winning the World Series this year is the Dodgers. I hate to say it, but now that he’s off the Red Sox, I kind of enjoy Manny Ramirez’s act. He’s a former Indian, after all. I know Tampa Bay is a great story, but you’re telling me I’m supposed to root for them? No. My team hasn’t won a World Series since 1948. You know what it would do to my ego if a team that’s been in existence 11 years and never had a winning record before this year won a championship before I ever saw MY team do it? I just can’t deal with that.
Kimbo Slice: Can this guy just go away now? I am not a fan, and it’s not just because he’s not a credible fighter who never should have been made the face of mixed martial arts. It’s because the guy has absolutely no personality whatsoever. I know he didn’t do anything to earn the spot he’s been given. You probably know that. But apparently he thinks he deserved it.
I saw him interviewed on PTI last week, and the interviewers were trying to have a little fun with him. But he wouldn’t play along. How can Slice, who’s been homeless and used to make money fighting guys in the streets, not know success and limelight is fleeting? Have fun with it. Show a little humility. SMILE every now and then. Because nobody was buying you as a legitimate MMA contender — only apparently that memo never reached Kimbo.
Now he’s just a guy with no personality who lost to a guy who was supposed to be fighting a preliminary fight in MMA’s MAYBE second-best organization. And he not only lost, he got knocked out in 14 seconds. Time to come up with a new plan, Kimbo.
Will He Return: You knew I’d make it back to the Wingnuts eventually, didn’t you? This time I’m going to talk about Chris Colton, the team’s center fielder.
From the start of the season, Colton has had the look of a guy who should dominate independent baseball. He has all the tools and is above average in a couple of them — speed and fielding. But he never became a consistent performer for the Wingnuts last season, and it was at times evident why he spent six years in the Mariners organization and never rose above Class A.
I still expect big things from Colton, and I expect him to find his way into affiliated ball sooner than later. He’s one of the nicest guys on a team full of nice guys. Never argues with an umpire, never makes excuses and always is smiling. He’s just a good guy to be around. I just hope he’s not TOO nice. A little more aggressiveness definitely wouldn’t hurt his game.
I’m assuming Colton will return unless he’s signed by an affiliated team this spring. I think before that happens, though, he’ll have to prove himself in independent ball. With that said, I put his chances of returning at: 92 percent.