NKU and the Basketball Post-Season

I've never hidden my affections for my alma mater. Around these parts, it was always hard to compete with the likes of the Reds, the Bengals, the Bearcats, the Musketeers, and even the Wildcats for any sort of publicity. But for the Norse of Northern Kentucky University, that all changed when they slapped that big Division-I across their athletic department. It had been something they had been building to for a while. Their basketball arena and soccer fields rival UC and Xavier for size and quality. Now, they just need to figure out how to fill them. But those things will come with time. You can't sell out a 10,000 seat arena the first year of D-I, but it will come.

At the beginning of this basketball season, I thought the teams were doomed before they started. As part of the process to become a D-I program, for some reason, they are put on a 4-year probationary period. What this means is that they can't compete in the post-season conference tournament or the NCAA tournament. Which I think is ludicrous. Like some team that has been playing in Division-II since the school was started is now suddenly going to jump up into D-I and blow away everyone they play to gain a seed in the NCAA tournament? Sorry, I love the Norse, but that stuff doesn't happen if it's not on a movie set.

However, despite the probationary period, I learned something interesting from Paul Daugherty's article about this same topic yesterday, where he spoke to coach Dave Bezold: 

"Bezold says that if the Norse finish .500 or better, they will be eligible to play in the College Basketball Invitational. A CBI bid might sound marginal. But for a team of D-I rookies, it would be astounding."

You can read the full article HERE if you haven't maxed out your reads with that silly paywall.

But anyway, that sounds pretty neat to me. Playing in any sort of post-season tournament is pretty cool your first year in. The Norse are currently 8-11 with 7 games to play. So if Bezold's .500 mark is correct, then they'd have to finish the year on a 5-2 run. Which isn't impossible. They've got a 4-game win streak going right now. I made a chart below of the remaining opponents and how they faired in the previous match-up. All are league games. 

Remaining Schedule	Opponent	Previous Result	Score	Location
Feb 8	Lipscomb	W	67-53	Home
Feb 14	Fla. Gulf Coast	L	73-54	Away
Feb 16	Stetson	L	71-59	Away
Feb 21	Kennesaw State	W	64-53	Home
Feb 23	Mercer	W	63-53	Home
Feb 28	Univ. N. Florida	W	65-52	Away
Mar 2	Jacksonville	L	53-51	Away

All three losses came on the road, and one was by just 2 points. Kennesaw State, Lispcomb and North Florida all have sub .500 league records (NKU is currently 6-5). Of their seven remaining opponents, only Florida Gulf Coast and Mercer have overall winning records. I'd like to think with all four home games coming against teams from Florida, it may help the Norse steal a few they weren't expected to win because of travel. Also, I think of the three away games remaining, that they might only have trouble with Mercer. 

The Norse are averaging 60.1 points a game in league play. In their 6 league wins, they scored above that number. In their 5 league losses, their total was less than 60. Meanwhile, they've been holding league opponents to an average of 58.45 points per game. So, logic says NKU needs to get to that magic 60 and play enough defense to keep opponents where they've had them, and they'll be fine.

I really think this team has the chance to make it to that .500 mark. At that point, as Bezold said, they'd only be "eligible" for the CBI. It's no guarantee they'd be invited. But, boy, wouldn't that be the icing on the cake if they could get the invite.

**I'm going to check into whether or not this same scenario applies to the women's team and the alternate tournaments available. They are currently 9-11 with 7 games to play against the same opponents.**

Super Commercial Redux

Every actual sports writer is going to write about the game. The Ray Lewis finale controversy. The blackout. The brothers Harbaugh. The no-call holding at the end. Beyonce. You can get all that anywhere and everywhere. So I'm going for the other side of the party, the commercials.

I'd have to say, as far as collective Super Bowl commercial sets go, this year's crop was overall kind of sad. I'm not sure if the right advertisers didn't get the right creative teams in on the process, or if the skyrocketing cost of a 30-second spot has become too prohibitive for some of the smaller companies to compete. But for whatever reason, there wasn't much I liked this year. Also, there were a lot more movie trailers than I remember from previous years. I'm not counting them in my list.

I'll lay down my top 5 here and why, then do some lowlights as well.

5. M&M's "Love Ballad"- M&M's came strong out of the gate as the only commercial in the first break that did anything for me. That black something or other beer didn't make a lick of sense. And speaking of licking, that's what the chicks were planning for Red...and I assume more. Plus, I love when a commercial rocks a little Meatloaf, without actually having to see Meatloaf. The fellas over at Mars did pretty well here.

4. Tide "Miracle Stain"- Love a P&G spot for the hometown economy. And it's always smart to work football into your stuff. Really connects with the audience. I liked how it flowed. A lot happened in that minute. I kinda smelled the ending because the wife was doing laundry at the beginning. (Some nice foreshadowing) But the fact that she was a Ravens fan was a nice twist at the end. Plus, who doesn't want some "stain on a stick"?

3. Time Warner "Clean This Up"- Anyone who's read my blog or twitter before knows I'm a "Walking Dead" fan. I'm not as much a Time Warner fan. However, much like the Volkswagen "Darth Vader Kid" spot, I'll appreciate the content of the commercial without subscribing to the advertiser's product. Plus, they got Norman Reedus to be in the spot, which adds a whole different element of awesome. **This spot is not listed on the "Adblitz" page of Super Bowl spots. I know (because I work at the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati) that this spot was actually a local commercial that was sent to us. So I'm not sure if everyone across the country saw it. I would hope so. If not, here's a look:

2. Oreo "Whisper Fight"- Another early-game favorite. The irony of having a huge, heated argument that turns violent and requires emergency first responders over a cookies is, in itself, hilarious. But to add in the fact that the entire situation occurs in a library, where everyone still adheres to the common curtesy of being quiet, is awesome. Also, it was nice of the people of Nabisco to introduce children under the age of 12 to a library, which I assume most of them believed to be a tree cemetery.

1. Budweiser "Clydesdales: Brotherhood"- Once again, Bud knocked it out of the park for me. The guys with the horses always seem to find the most creative and thought provoking commercials, and usually it has very little to do with beer. Another "lots of info in a minute-long spot" commercial, but this one tells a very poignant of a man who raises his very own Clydesdale, forms a bond with him, then sends him off to be a professional Budweiser Clydesdale. I'm sure for people with kids, it probably brought a lot of those "If you love your kid, you've got to let them make their own way in life" kind of feelings. I think everything about this commercial was well done. Not only was the content great, but it was really well-shot. Sometimes the best Super Bowl ads have nothing to do with their product, they're just memorable. This one was memorable for me.

Honorable mentions: I also liked Bud's secondary commercials with Stevie Wonder as a witch doctor controlling "Superstition". But did anyone else notice Stevie drop his shades to check out the woman who walked up? I still think Stevie might be the biggest hustler in the world. I also liked the Taco Bell stuff, although when it first came on, I thought somebody had whacked the SAP button on the TV...til I realized who the advertiser was.

Now for my Super Bowl, huh's, gross, and WTF moments.

Huh: As good as Bud was on their other spots, I really didn't get the "Black Crown" stuff. Is it just an amber lager? Ok fine. But are you saying in order to drink it, we have to be people who live in darkly lit mansions and only wear all black? Cause if that's who you're tailoring it for, you missed the mark with your football-watching audience.

Gross: GoDaddy has been going downhill for quite some time. They used to tease you with attractive women. Then, they realized the gimmick was old. So they pretended to tease you with attractive women, then it turned out to be Joan Rivers. I thought that would be the last time GoDaddy would try to give me nightmares. And I suppose this was a salute to the "Any guy can get a hot girl" notion, but this was too much. The sound effects were off the deep end. And then they showed it in the post-game too? Like I needed my eyes and ears abused twice in one night.

WTF: I know. Super Bowls aren't just about football. And approximately 50% of the audience is female. But honestly Calvin Klein. Who were you drawing in with that man-thong spot? Something about a 360-something or other, no visible panty lines or some such? I don't know. I had to block it out. The point is, if it was for the ladies, fine. But don't try to sell ME something then. Just have the guy stand there in his underwear for a while and be done. Let him read a chapter of "50 Shades of Grey" if you want, but warn me first so I can walk away. But don't ask me to be interested in your product. Cause I don't want what you're selling now. Also, I like my Hanes boxers. 3-pack for 6 bucks. And that ad ain't gettin' me to switch.

Also, the E-Trade baby is played out. That Psy "Pistachios" commercial would have been funny about 2 months ago, and not even for that long. And the whole "Coke Chase" thing didn't seem to have a very good pay-off.

****Oreos won the Super Bowl by the way. But it wasn't for a video commercial they had on during the game. It was the picture they tweeted during the power blackout that totally trolled the whole game. A winrar is Oreos****



Opinions? Disagreements? No one's ever posted a comment on any of my blogs before. Feel free to say something. I'll probably answer cause I care too much.

Super Bowl Pros and Cons List

I have taken a, what's the word? Brea...? Hiat...? Sabbati..... Oh right, that's it. I got lazy. Yeah. I just couldn't find the right topic to get excited enough about to make time to sit down and slap down some stuff that a million other people didn't already beat to death (I'm looking at you, Manti Te'o). Plus, I'm doing this for my own amusement and the few people who take the time to look. But, since the match-ups are set, I thought I'd get into a little Super Bowl talk.

Now, even though the Bengals made the playoffs, I never hold out hope for them. And as evidenced by the interwebz, lots of people didn't get the teams they wanted in the Big Game, either. But honestly, unless you're a fan of one of the two teams, are you ever really happy with the teams that make it? Every team has an element of "that's a neat story, good for that guy" mixed with "boy I hate that player/team".

But if you want some reasons to root for or against each team specifically here are my top 3 reasons for each team, pro and con.

Ravens-Pros Maybe Ray Lewis will finally be satisfied and go away. There are other players on their team. It would be nice if they got to win a ring too. The memory of Art Modell will be a feel-good thing for everyone. Except Cleveland...but then what feels good in Cleveland?

49ers-Pros People will finally give Colin Kaepernick some credit for his skill. Not just point out that he has tattoos. While he doesn't have as many years of NFL experience as Ray Lewis, David Akers will be the oldest player to step onto that field. He has never won a ring. I root for things like that. I won't have to go through the pain of another division rival winning another Super Bowl before the Bengals. (If Cleveland gets one first, I quit).

Ravens-Cons We're going to have to listen to Ray Lewis incessantly tell us why God helped him win a football game. Cause God cares more about him and the Ravens than anyone else. Michael Phelps will get to vicariously claim this victory. As if we need that guy to win any more trophies for anything. Yeesh. I guess it could be worse, he could be Ryan Lochte. Flacco will further his status as 'elite'. And I suppose it's true. But I won't want to hear about it.

49ers-Cons San Francisco already won the World Series. If they get this, we'll have to hear "San Francisco is the 'sports capital of the world'" for a whole year. Randy Moss would finally get a ring. And you'd have to hear about it. From him. Repeatedly. Alex Smith can kiss his career in San Francisco goodbye. As much as the foundation has been building all season, Kaep winning the big one has to be the cement in his shoes.

The obvious storylines will be there. The Harbaugh brothers coaching against one another. The 'love him/ hate him' situation surrounding Ray Lewis as he retires. But the one I think a lot of people will gloss over is possibly my favorite. As franchises (Just the Ravens, not a team that used to play in Baltimore under a different name) both teams are undefeated in Super Bowl play. RayRay's first Super Bowl win was also the Ravens only Super Bowl. Conversely, the Niners will appear in their 6th Super Bowl, tying Denver for 3rd on the list of Super Bowl appearances. San Fran has won all 5 previous match-ups (Although, admittedly, two of those were against the Bengals, soooooo...yeah). So, in two weeks, one team will be undefeated in Super Bowl play, and the other, will not be.

As I noted last night on Twitter, last season's playoff victory margins versus this year's break-down like this:

Wild Card
2011: 6, 17, 21, 22
2012: 6, 10, 14, 15
Divisional

2011: 4, 7, 17, 35
2012: 2, 3, 13, 14

Conference

2011: 3, 3 
2012: 4, 15

Super Bowl

2011: 4
2012: ?

So as you can see, this playoff season, we've been treated to some tighter games than last year. And unless I lay down a 5 dollar bet with someone, I'm just gonna root for a good game.

[Side note: I will be at the helm of Master Control at Local 12 the night of the Super Bowl, so I'll mostly be rooting for a long, long game so that the news starts late and I don't have to stay for the whole thing. My own selfish reasons, I guess. Unfortunately, I anticipate extra people to be lurking around all night, so I'll probably have to stay away from social media and stay on my game. You'd all like to see the Super Bowl and not a repeat of Homeworx or Andy Griffith right? Guess I better do my job.] 

And on that note, I leave you with the Super Fans, to pick the winner of the Super Bowl...although their quip about 'the queers' might be a bit insensitive.

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Community returns: 18 days

Walking Dead returns: 20 days

...In case you're counting.

Hall Monitoring the NFL

Remember when you were in middle school, and there were those kids who volunteered to be hall monitors? Yeah, those guys. Hall monitors were supposed to be substitutes for teachers when they weren't around. They were supposed to be given all the authority and control any adult would have in the school. They were supposed to keep order and control in the halls. "No gum-chewing." "No running." "Where's your hall pass?" The only problem with being a hall monitor was that when those teachers weren't around, the hall monitors' authority was reduced to nothing. No one respected a hall monitor if they didn't think a teacher was nearby.

What the hell am I talking about, right? I usually talk about sports. Well, I just made a long, drawn-out comparison of hall monitors to the replacement referees. See what I'm getting at now?

Honestly, these refs are doing the best they can under the circumstances given. Little knowledge of the pro game, unable to keep up with the speed, and above all, too much pressure from national scrutiny seem to be a few of the glaring problems. Aso, when the regular referees were out there, there was still plenty that went wrong, without this much backlash.

 But as valiant an effort as they've been giving, these replacement refs are truly hall monitors. Each week things seem to be more and more egregious. Here are 2 GIFs of what I believe to be the worst things to happen in week 3.

Darrius Heyward-Bay was hit helmet-to-helmet. In this particular instance, I don't think it was done maliciously. But for all the times that flags were thrown for hits that were not helmet-to-helmet, why was there not one thrown here. Heyward-Bay was out cold before he hit the ground. If player safety is at the forefront of everything the NFL is doing, what were they doing here?

via SB Nation

And this could be the worst of all. Bill Belichick, after a controversial field goal ends the game against the Ravens, he attempts to get an explanation from a ref who is running off the field. Which is fine. Except the part where he grabs the ref's arm. If the ref wants to stop and explain, that's all well and good. But if he doesn't, then the call he made was final and Belichick can take it up with the league office. Now, the league office will probably take it up with him.

via SB Nation

There have been numerous clock issues (outta class early). There have been far more on-field (playground) skirmishes between players, unable to be broken up by refs. And, while it's hard to document, I feel there have been far more player-influenced flags thrown in the past 3 weeks. By that I mean, it seems like there have been some situations in which a flag would not have been thrown, but a player whined (taddled), and it got thrown. As I said before, these sound like situations a hall monitor deals with. These are things that a normal ref (teachers) would have handled easily. Instead, these replacements are getting metaphorical swirlies every week. But as long as the owners are still making their money and swinging their egos in the faces of the regular refs, the game as a whole will suffer.

And Bill Belichick thinks that the league won't fine him for laying hands on the ref. Apparently someone thinks their above the rules. Those cocky jocks.

I apologize to the replacement refs. They're just doing what they can to help out. Without them, there'd be no football at all. But without the regular refs, I worry that at some point, this season will be deemed a farce because so many games have been negatively affected by poor hall monito...I mean, officiating.

UPDATE!!!!!

Did you see Monday Night? Of course you did. Did the refs see Monday Night? Well that remains to be seen. But this has to be it, right? This has to be the game where the owners and Roger say, "You know what, the integrity of the game is worth more than what the refs want, let's just do  it." At least you have to hope that's what they're saying, instead of "Boy these idiots will watch whatever we put on in any form. As long as we're getting gobs of cash from TV and ticket sales, let's just keep going with this. These refs put the 'fun' in dysfunctional." So, I'll simply leave you with this

via Darren Rovell's Twitpics (Don't know who made it first)

MLB Remaining Schedule/Playoff Notes

Just some things I found interesting while looking at the remaining schedules for the (some assumed) playoff teams. I'm not going to count games happening tonight, although they may affect standings. I'll just go from Monday on.

NL

CURRENT DIVISION LEADERS
Nationals- Brewers 1, Phillies 3, Cardinals 3, Phillies 3
Reds- Brewers 3, Pirates 3, Cardinals 3
Giants- Diamondbacks 3, Padres 3, Dodgers 3

CURRENT WILD CARDS
Braves- Marlins 3, Mets 3, Pirates 3
Cardinals- Astros 3, Nationals 3, Reds 3

STILL IN THE HUNT
Brewers- Nationals 1, Reds 3, Astros 3, Padres 3
Dodgers- Padres 3, Rockies 3, Giants 3
Diamondbacks- Rockies 1, Giants 3, Cubs 3, Rockies 3
Phillies- Nationals 3, Marlins 3, Nationals 3
Pirates- Mets 4, Reds 3, Braves 3
Padres- Dodgers 3, Giants 3, Brewers 3


AL

CURRENT DIVISION LEADERS
Rangers- Athletics 4, Angels 3, Athletics 3
Yankees- Twins 3, Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3
White Sox- Indians 3, Rays 4, Indians 3

CURRENT WILD CARDS
Orioles- Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3, Rays 3
Athletics- Rangers 4, Mariners 3, Rangers 3

STILL IN THE HUNT
Angels- Mariners 3, Rangers 3, Mariners 3
Rays- Red Sox 3, White Sox 4, Orioles 3
Tigers- Royals 4, Twins 3, Royals 3

Obviously, as the week goes on, some of these games that are currently meaningful for both teams will become less so, as teams are knocked out of contention. But especially in the National League, there are definitely more games that mean something to both teams than there are games that are only important to one.

Teams like the Nationals, Reds and Giants, depending on how they play, could affect who they meet up with in the post-season. Meanwhile, a team like the Padres, basically on the brink and only hanging on due to mathematics, could also have a big say in which teams make the playoffs and their seedings. Also, a team like Arizona, deemed out a few days ago, may sneak back in with 4 to go with the Rockies and 3 with the Cubs.

Meanwhile in the American League, the Rangers seem to have the most affect on how the playoffs may be shaped...Or more specifically, with 7 games between them, whether the Athletics make the playoffs or not. With seemingly light schedules for the White Sox and Tigers, its going to be a lot of scoreboard watching in Chicago and Detroit down the stretch. And the Rays-Orioles series to end the season could very well decide the Wild Card, and depending on the Yankees, the AL East as well.

Basically, if you're rooting for a team that's still in playoff contention, its going to be an interesting 10 days. A tip of the cap to the MLB scheduling committee for accidentally creating compelling match-ups with a week and a half to go in the season.

The Only Thing the BCS has Ever Gotten Right

That's not a typo. I said it. The BCS has done something right. One thing. That's all I'll give them credit for. And if you've read my tweets in the past, even giving them credit for one thing is amazing. The BCS is an old and blighted system created to make rich teams richer and keep small conferences out of the big-time loop.

You may think the one thing they did right is to create a 4-team playoff. And that does seem like the direction of a right idea. But I don't think they've quite made it yet. Because those four teams will mostly likely be the "entitled" teams. No, the one thing that I like about the BCS: they don't say a word til week 8.

The one thing that drives me crazy about college sports is that they are so dominated by their rankings. In professional sports, if you win your division or league or conference or whatever, you make the post-season. Plain and simple. But because there are so many schools involved in college football, the rankings become important. And I feel like a sport that is so dominated by rankings should have to give it a little more time before ranking the teams.

There are pre-season rankings. So based on the reputations of certain teams or players or coaches, some teams are expected to do well the next season. Before the first snap, some writers and some coaches tell everyone who they think will do well. It's the one part of the game I never understood. I know that not everyone can play the same schedule. I know that some teams, because of the scholarships and prestige, can attract a higher quality of player, thereby creating better teams. But I feel like there should be more time to figure that all out.

My case-in-point came last night in the opening weekend. Now, for the most part this weekend, the teams that were "supposed to" win, did win. But there was one big marquee match-up last night. That was number 2 Alabama taking on number 8 Michigan. Both have prestige. Both have dynamic players. Both are expected to do very well. But apparently, there's a big rift between being number 2 and number 8. Alabama was up 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, and won 41-14 by game's end.

Now, because of this one loss, some will begin to say, 'well, apparently Michigan isn't as good as we thought', and rank them much lower next week. Now is Michigan much worse than they thought? Perhaps. Or maybe Alabama is just that good this year. But the rest of the season, Michigan will have to fight to get back up high in the rankings because they will be knocked down.

The situation is even worse for a team to get knocked down by a team they weren't expected to be beaten by. No ranked teams lost this weekend. But if a lower ranked team were to lose to an unranked team, even if they were to win a majority of the rest of their games for the rest of the season, they may never appear on the top 25 again.

Conversely, a team like Florida State, currently ranked 7th, plays in a perennially weak ACC. Many assume them to win the ACC. Because of this, they will remain ranked high throughout the season, even though some other teams may play a tougher schedule. I'm not saying that Florida State is not susceptible to the upset.But if they lose once, because they are already ranked high, they are more likely to stay on the top 25 list, possibly over some teams that have an undefeated record but come from a less prestigious conference.

So while many times, the BCS screws up who deserves to play in what bowl when, the one thing I think that all rankings should adopt is the fact that the BCS doesn't rank anyone in any way until 8 weeks into the season. It could really change the way the new playoff system works out.

The Good, The Bad, and The Answers

I'm going to present some things that Reds fans would say, on the surface, are good things. However, if you delve deeper, these are things that could be cause for concern, create rifts among the fanbase, and ultimately bring about their downfall. I'd also like to put forth solutions for each.

THE GOOD

1. Joey Votto will be back soon.

2. Todd Frazier is doing exceptionally well right now. He should be the NL ROY.

3. Johnny Cueto is pitching lights out right now. So is Aroldis Chapman.

4. The Reds are currently the best team in baseball.

THE BAD

1a. Luckily for the Reds, Joey will be returning post-September 1st. This means he'll essentially be a roster expansion call-up, so they won't have to make a corresponding roster move. But, with the return of Votto, some options will have to be explored as to how to work a line-up card. Some of those issues include: Do they take Stubbs' defense in center even with his batting struggles, or play Heisey or Bruce in center? Should Phillips be leading off? Should Hanigan, with his ability to make contact and get on base, be hitting higher in the line-up? And, how will they ever find a place for Todd Frazier to play every day (because he needs to be). Which leads me to...

2a. Todd Frazier is my NL Rookie of the Year. I dare anyone to look at the stats and bring up Bryce Harper or Wade Miley. The NL ROY is Frazier's to lose right now. And as such, you'd think a ROY candidate should be playing nearly every day. But with the return of Votto, Frazier doesn't have a spot. Does he play left, bumping the powerful Ludwick? Does he play right, in the "shift Bruce to center and bench Stubbs" movement? Does he take the glove, bat, and veteran presence of Rolen off the field at third? It's tough to put him anywhere else. But it's also tough to watch the presumptive ROY riding the pine. Speaking of postseason awards...

3a. Johnny Cueto is the best starting pitcher in baseball. His ERA is nasty. He has the most starter wins in baseball. He very well still could be the best by the end of the year. But, Aroldis Chapman is the best reliever in baseball right now. His strikeout total is over the moon. His ability to not give up runs in unheard of in the era of power-hitters. Oh, and he throws pretty fast too. So they're both in the running for the Cy Young Award. Which means that they very well could screw each other out of it. And now that you mention getting screwed by the system...

4a. The Reds are currently the best team in baseball, according to their record. As such, they would be the number one seed in the playoffs, if they began today. But under the new format for "play-in" Wild Card teams, the number one seed gets the winner of that game, but has to play the first two games of a best-of-five series at the Wild Card team's park. Not a very nice reward for the team with the best record in the league.

MY ANSWERS

1A. As I said, I feel Frazier needs to play. And I feel Ludwick has solidified his spot. So here's how I'd like to see a typical Reds line-up look from now on.

Phillips 4
Cozart 6
Votto 3
Frazier 5
Bruce 9
Hanigan 2
Ludwick 7
Stubbs 8
pitchers spot

I know, Rolen is out. But honestly, Rolen needs to accept his role as a veteran presence on the bench. He's a much better option off the bench than Cairo or Valdez. Scott is 37. He has to know that he's on the decline. I'm sure he's a great guy and a great mentor to Frazier, and that's what the Reds need most right now. I know others will bitch that I left Stubbs on. But he's played 4 years. I think a change in his spot might help get his mind right. Too much pressure at the top of the line-up. But feel free to disagree. Remember how long people were willing to wait on Homer Bailey?

2A. As said in the previous answer, Frazier has to play. I don't think you can move Bruce and lose Stubbs ability to play center, especially this late in the season. And you can't lose Ludwick's pop. So I think going back to third has to be the only logical solution. Sure, he can use a day off and get Rolen in there to get some cuts. But the split needs to be like 80/20 to make sure you're maximizing Frazier's abilities. #FrazierROY

3A. This is the biggest conundrum of them all. Who deserves the Cy Young Award? I feel like the easy answer is both, but I doubt they'd share it. Johnny Cueto has more wins than anyone in the NL. Aroldis Chapman is second in saves by one. Cueto currently has the lowest ERA of all qualified pitchers. Chapman has 113 strikeouts in 60 innings. 3 outs per inning. So of the 180 possible outs Chapman recorded 113 were via strikeout. That's 63%. Comparatively, Cueto has 144 stikeouts in 181.2 IP. So, 545 out chances, and with 144 strikeouts, that's 26%. Chapman gets a lot of cats out via the K. Compelling arguments for both. Which is what worries me. Voters will be divided. Perhaps divided so much that they go for the "compelling story" of R.A. Dickey. I know that teams normally start campaigns to get a player voted for this or that, but I can't see the Reds promoting one player over another. I think if I had to choose today, I'd pick Cueto. But I hope in the end, they go 1-2 in the voting. As long as the Reds win.

4A. Rules is rules. And I can't see the Reds taking a dive to get to the second spot in the playoffs rather than the first, but man, playing on the road for the first two games against a team that barely made the playoffs seems a little unfair. The point of being the number one seed is that you worked your butt off during the regular season and you should be rewarded with a home venue for the playoffs. I know, they play the first two on the road and the last three at home. But those are only if necessary. And I think the fans of the first-seeded team also deserve the ability to see their team as many times as they can during the playoffs. So should the Reds retain first and play the "play-in" winner, we'll see how it all shakes down, but I would hope they would consider a change to the format next year.

New Cities For Baseball?

Things were so simple in 1993. Two leagues, two divisions. Win your division, play the other division winner, go to the World Series. There were 7 teams in each division. Everything was even. It was like clock-work. Then someone in 1994 thought, "wouldn't it be neat if we screwed with the evenness of this and added another division and a Wild Card?" No one seemed to be overly upset about this. Sure, the East and Central teams each had to get through one more team to get to the top of the division than the West teams did, but at least there were the same number of teams in the two leagues.

And then, the storm of 1998 hit. Here come the Rays and the Diamondbacks. Brand new teams, one for each league. But that's going to create an odd number of teams in each league. We need National League teams to play other Nationals and likewise with the Americans. Whatever can we do? Ah, enter Commissioner Bud's favorite Brewers. I'll make them switch leagues, he says. So now, we have a 14-team American League with 5 teams in the East and Central and 4 in the West. And on the other side a 16-team National League, with a 5-team East, a 6-team Central, and a 4-team West division. We've saved the sanctity of being in separate leagues! But wait, aren't we trying that new "Interleague Play" thing all the kids are talking about? Yeah, but it only affects about a month of the season. Everything is okay.

About 10 years later, someone pointed out, hey you know if we move the Astros from the National League Central to the American League West, each division will have 5 teams in it. So the plan was set in motion. Until someone realized that every series, there would be one Interleague game going on. That's okay though, Interleague play is a good thing. It gives teams a chance to play other teams it wouldn't normally see. Heck, old Bud and the brain-trust would even like to see more Interleague games. Shoot Bud, why even bother with divisions or leagues anymore? Why don't we just make everyone use the DH, put all the teams in a big pile, take all the strategy out of the game, and let the top 8 play in the post-season?


Or, I could offer another solution. Currently there are 30 teams in 6 divisions. Which divides well, but doesn't allow for keeping the competitive balance. But another way that does is 32 teams in 8 divisions, ala the National Football League. Which requires just one thing. Two new teams. But where to get them from? My thoughts on the 4 most logical places to start a new MLB franchise, in order of how well I think they'd do. Luckily we'd only need to pick 2.

Nashville, Tennessee- Right near the heart of Tennessee, these people yearn for baseball. Tennessee is the state that currently has the most minor league baseball teams, without having an MLB team also in the state. The closest the Bigs gets to Tennessee is Atlanta, but I'm sure they would support an MLB team well. Plus, they already have the Titans, so we know a major sports franchise can survive there.

Salt Lake City, Utah- Again, we know this place can support a major sports franchise. It's somewhat near some other cities (Denver, Phoenix) to create some rivalries, I guess. And honestly, if you live in Utah, would you mind having something else to do in the summer? (Stereotype: I assume everyone in Utah is Mormon)

Portland, Oregon- Another city with a large population, a sports franchise, and not much else to do. Except maybe stare at big trees. (Stereotype: I know next to nothing about Oregon) But they could create some interesting things being near Seattle and not much else. There's a large part of an untapped market they could draw in.

Omaha, Nebraska- It's the home to the College World Series. It's near Iowa, which I'm told is baseball heaven or something. And other than teams in Minneapolis, there's no professional sports teams to speak of in this part of the country. I think a lot of people would drive a-ways to go to baseball in Omaha. Especially after a long day of farming. (Stereotype: everyone in Nebraska, Kansas, North and South Dakota and Iowa are farmers, right?)

So those are the 4 places I would think would be most logical to put 2 new baseball teams to even things out and not have to have Interleague games every series. Any other places you'd like to see professional baseball played?


Today's Twitter Bio: @kelimepie

She's a member of the @damesongames squad. She's an Ohio State student, which I try not to hold against her. She hails from Harrison, Ohio, which I'm not sure anyone could hold against her. And she's a die-hard Reds fan. And a Joey Votto fan. And a Drew Stubbs fan. And a Joey Votto fan. And a Jay Bruce fan. And a Joey Votto fan. And a Chris Heisey fan. And did I mention she likes Joey Votto?

If you'd like to know more about how she feels on these and many more topics, please follow her and ask her. She'll tell you without hesitation. And, um, Joey Votto.

Microphone Musings

On the way home from work yesterday, I had my windows open in the car and the ballgame turned up on the radio. A car pulled up next to me at red light. There was boy of about 5 or 6 in the passenger seat. Without any provocation, he yelled to me "Who's winning?". It seems my radio was loud enough that he was able to recognize Jeff Brantley's voice. I told him "Reds 4-2" and he responded, "Yeah, go Reds!" and pumped a fist in the air. I responded with a thumbs up before the light turned green.

But as I drove on, I felt a little sad for that child. While he recognized that sweet southern drawl of The Cowboy, he was never able to know the home-grown, folksy manner of one of the greatest men to ever grace a microphone, Joe Nuxhall. I was only privileged to enjoy roughly 11 years of The Old Left-Hander's dulcet tones. And that got me to thinking, what have I missed out on? How was Waite Hoyt solo on the mike? Was the dynamic between Joe and Al Michaels better than Joe and Marty? Where does Red Barber rank all time? (he gets extra points for being named Red, right?)

I'm sure I'll never really know. But if they were employed by the oldest and grandest team in baseball, I'm sure they were all of supreme quality. Which was one of my boyhood dreams; to be among them. From an early age I realized that, while I wasn't uncoordinated, I lacked the natural physical prowess to be truly good at any sports. But I loved baseball. I was going to baseball games before I could remember what baseball was. And more than that, I was listening to Reds games. In the truck with my dad. On the front porch with a glass of lemonade on a Saturday afternoon. Begging my mom to let me stay up late to listen to a West Coast Swing...and falling asleep by the third inning. I decided I wanted to do that. I wanted to bring sports to the masses. I wanted to be a radio announcer for the Cincinnati Reds.

I used to turn down the TV sound and try to call the game myself. I didn't have any stats to back me up, mind you, just what I knew from that particular game. I used to talk during my little league games. I even dabbled in some actual announcing in high school. My senior year, I was afforded the opportunity to call the basketball games for our internet broadcasts. I'd like to think we did a pretty good job, even if only about 25 people listened per game. Then, my freshman year of college, I was handed another microphone. This time as an "arena MC", where I entertained a crowd of about 2,500 during time-outs at basketball games. But around that same time, I started working more with the technical side of the broadcasts. I began working on live sports and movies. I became more heavily invested in my camera work and editing skills. As a result, I kind of left the microphone behind.

I realize that had I continued down that path, it would have required a lot of low-level jobs, a lot of paying my dues, a lot of travel, and a very low likelihood of ever rising to the level of an announcer for a major league baseball team. My life would have been vastly different. And I know that all sounds very "crushed by the reality of the world" or however you want to look at it, but I like what I do now. I like how my life has turned out and I think that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

It was a neat dream to have; to believe I could have been included in the lexicon of great Reds announcers, but I'm just as content to be a fan and enjoy the beauty of the game with every other fan.

Twitter bio of the day: @JimDayTV

Speaking of fellas behind a microphone that I enjoy, how about Jim Day, huh? His pre- and post-game exuberance is a great reason to watch the games on TV. Not to mention his twitter chops. He's always backing the Reds, always pulling great stats, and every once in a while, throwing in some cheeky comments to entertain the masses. If you're a Reds fan, but somehow don't follow Jim Day, it seems an awful waste of your fanhood. The man knows his stuff and he does twitter the right way. So get on over there and follow Jim Day, and in the words of Marty, let him know "how we lookin'?".

All-Star Breaking Down

First off, I'm gonna leave the All-Star snubbing alone. Too many people have already speculated enough about it, and there's nothing that can really be done about it now, except Johnny Cueto possibly bringing suit against the MLB and Tony Larussa. So we'll move on.

The Reds are 3-2 on the old West Coast Swing so far. So they're doing better than I expected. Still 6 to go. Unfortunately, the farther along they go, the more damaged they become. Scott Rolen is having back spasms again. Joey Votto twisted his knee on that slide on Friday, then re-aggravated it on Saturday and we haven't seen him since. Then, last night, Zack Cozart got popped in the head by a Chad Billingsley pitch that got a little loose on him. He has a mild concussion. He cracked Cozart's helmet. Phillips is back after getting punched in the face on a steal situation against Milwaukee.

Which all basically leads to, the All-Star Break can't get here fast enough. Now, Scott, Zack and Brandon (even though he shouldn't be) will all be getting rest during that Break, Joey Votto has to play in that all-important game next Tuesday. So the question is, does he go out there, possibly hurt, to play his guts out, knowing his team might need that home-field advantage because they could make it to the World Series? Or does he withdraw himself for a few extra days of rehab, so that he can actually play well in the second half of the season to make sure that his team actually DOES make it to the World Series?

Like I said, there are 6 games left on the road-trip. If I'm Joey, I'd want to play in at least half of them, and have productive starts, to convince myself I was in good enough shape to play. Any less than that, or any issues from being out there on the days I do play, and I get myself out of the game. No sense in risking long-term knee injury for the Mid-Summer Classic.

Meanwhile, the Reds refuse to put anyone on the Disabled List. And with Cozart's injury last night, they had to play Wilson Valdez, which literally left Ryan Ludwick, and Ryan Hanigan as the only available position players, and obviously certain pitchers, like Mike Leake to pinch-hit or run if needed. That's putting a lot of faith in the 8 guys backing up that pitcher.

I know that the options at Triple-A are pretty thin. (People are pestering John Fay as to why they don't call up Billy "100 Steals" Hamilton, even though they don't understand, he plays on a High-A team, far below major league standards). But if Rolen is gonna be out any significant amount of time, or if Cozart can't pass the concussion test, you've gotta get somebody on the short DL and get a player up here who can swing a bat. At some point in this series, Dusty is going to need a pinch-hitter and see an empty bench, or more likely, he's going to hold back on using a bench player in a pinch-hit situation, thinking he needs to save said player for a later instance in the game.

I'm just going to hope Votto is feeling better and Cozart's concussion is so mild it goes away in a day or two, because if not, things could get messy in the last few games before the All-Star Break.

SIDE NOTE: With all the hoopla of the All-Star Voting and snubbing, I find one more thing interesting. The Final Vote for the NL features a Cardinal that TLR couldn't fit on his regular squad in David Freese, the guy who should have gotten picked at 2nd if they really weren't gonna take Brandon Phillips but got screwed by the "every team must be represented rule" Aaron Hill, the freshman phenom, Bryce Harper, an exciting outfielder to watch in Michael Bourn, and.......Chipper Jones.

Yes that Chipper Jones. He of the 19-year, all in Atlanta career. The one that Georgia children who have dreamed of playing baseball since the mid-1990's have emulated. The man who selflessly moved to left field in 2002 and 2003 so that Vinny Castillo could play third. Remember him? He's retiring after this season. Mostly because he's only played 45 games out of 79 this season due to injury. So this may be his last harrah. And if baseball has anything to say about it, I think he'll get it. After a day of voting, MLB.com claims that Chipper is leading the 5 NL Final Voters. The only way I don't call the Final Vote a sham is if anyone but Chipper gets in. And I'm not saying that Chipper won't get in legitimately(even though I think the fix is in)-- a lot of nostalgic 30-somethings will think back to 1995 and Chipper and Bobby Cox-- but if this game "really matters" then don't you want a guy who's more likely to get a hit in the clutch, than a guy who's close to clutching his chest in pain?

Today's Twitter Bio: @MaskMetal

He's one of my newer follows, but definitely worth it. He's a big Reds and White Sox fan. And no matter what time of day you catch him, he always seems like he's got a positive vibe going. That could be, and don't hold it against him, because he's Canadian. I'm a big fan of his #3RedsPositives he does, where he asks fellow fans to tell him what went well about each game, win or loss. It's a great way to feel good about the team, instead of ragging on minor details.

MaskMetal (aka Johnny D) doesn't really need my help. He's already got over 500 followers, but if you follow me, and somehow don't follow him, and you like the Reds, you might be doing it wrong.