Chargers v. Buffalo

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The Chargers won the game, but they paid a price for a good team win against a bad Buffalo Bills football team, a (22-10) victory..
 
The price for the victory, the loss of key running back-wide receiver Danny Woodhead, who went out with what appears to be a fractured leg.  This comes a week after the loss of heavy duty running back Ryan Mathews, gone 5-to-8 weeks with a sprained knee, coupled with the loss of Nick Hardwick and the on going injury issues to Melvin  Ingram.  You can yell next man up, but you start running out of quality players.  
 
Philip Rivers was typical Phil Rivers, 256-yards passing.  Frank Reich, the play caller, had a typical Mike McCoy type day, spreading the ball to tight ends, wide receivers and running backs.  Eddie Royal caught 2-TDs.  Malcom Floyd had 2-big receptions.
 
The storyline coming into the game, may still be the storyline going forward.  How do you replace a heavy duty running back like Ryan Mathews.  Donald Brown did yeoman’s work, a surprising 31-carries, but netted just 62-yards, and he had 37-touches in all, without a lot of productivity.  He has to be the guy now with the loss of the top two backs.
 
The defense exerted tons of pressure with 10-quarterback pressures on Bills young QB-EJ Manuel, plus 3-sacks.  Defensive tackle Kendall Reyes had his best game, nose tackle Sean Lissimore played well, and Eric Weddle and Manti Te’o combined for 20-tackles.  They caused havoc up front all day long.
 
Luckily for San Diego, it was a bad Bills team they played.  Buffalo committed 11-penalties in all.  The kid quarterback made tons of mistakes, errant passes, missed open receivers, took a grounding penalty, and a safety. Learning on the job is painful, just ask Bills fans.
 
Buffalo just could not hold up to the heat the Chargers defense brought.  End result were a bucket full of penalties, holding, personal fouls, facemasks, hands to the face, defensive holding, pass interference, and grounding.  Good teams don’t commit 11 for 101; the Bills did, and they looked really bad.
 
It took the Bills the entire first half to figure out how to slow down the Bolts, and by then, it was apparent EJ Manuel could not win the game for Buffalo.  When it was all but over, the Bills held the Chargers to 14-yards in 15 snaps, but it was too little, too late, and rather meaningless.
 
It is surprising, in each of their first 3-games, the top wide receiver of the opposing team either disappeared, or was never targeted; first Larry Fitzgerald-Arizona, then Percy Harvin of Seattle, and yesterday, the Bills flashy rookie Sammy Waktins with a couple of meaningless catches late.
 
So the Bolts come home with a (2-1) record, and just ahead, two games at the Q against the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars, and then the New York Jets.  Beyond that will be the Raiders and the caved-in Kansas City Chiefs.  The next meaningful game will be against Denver, and McCoy’s men should be (6-1), but they then start playing real people.
 
The NFL said play these guys, and the Bolts did, but they have injuries taking a toll.  Take the win, hope no one else gets hurt, and be glad your East Coast trip was to Buffalo, not New England or Baltimore.
 
They don’t ask you to give back victories just because you played bad teams or rookie quarterbacks.  The Chargers need to bank these wins, because these injury issues are growing, and now the team will have to live and die with its passing game more than anything else, because it does not appear they have much else. 
 
But the sun comes up this morning with this team (2-1), tied with the Broncos for lst place in the AFC-West.  Losing key players takes the glow of winning games.  But there are still 13 more of these to be played.

Black-out, No…

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Where there is smoke, there is usually fire…
 
If a couple of the key national media guys are reporting it, then the conversations must have taken place.
 
The storyline tonight at Petco Park is not whether the Padres can ruin the Giants pennant hopes by beating them up this weekend, but rather, the future of Manager Bud Black.
 
All this after 48-hours of reports from Peter Gammons (MLB Network) and Ken Rosenthal (Fox) that Padre leadership has had internal discussions about removing Bud Black.  This after four straight sub .500-seasons.  This after another year, 8 in all, since they were in postseason play.
 
The won-loss record is not impressive.  Neither are the long list of mistakes the people above Bud Black have made in player procurement.
 
Start anywhere on the road map, and tell me how any of this is the manager’s doing?
 
The Carlos Quentin 27M-contract to a crippled leftfielder who cannot get on the field, nor stay on the field.  The substandard play and off field problems of Cam Maybin.  The continued off field issues with Evreth Cabrera.
 
A 15-year span where just 2-Padres first round picks, Khalil Green and Tim Stauffer, got to San Diego and made any type of contribution. 
 
12-pitching surgeries in a 17-month span, including injuries that have wiped out the top four young pitchers in the organization.
 
Injuries to Yonder Alonso, Chase Headley, Yasmani Grandal.  The Mat Latos trade.
 
A roster of utilityment to play the bulk of the season.  A failed Domincan Republic program to date.
 
3-owners, a reduced payroll, 4-General Managers, and an ever changing philosophy of who and how to draft.
 
Bud Black has done more with less, than anyone in baseball over the last six years.  In just one pennnant race in that time, he has still maintained pride in the organziation, accountability, provided counsel and leadership.  His pitching coach Daren Balsley may be the best in the business, when you figure the scrap heap pickups and what he turned them into.
 
The call should be that of the new GM-AJ Preller, and his call, you have a year left on your contract, let’s retool the roster and go get a playoff spot.
 
CEO Mike Dee has fingerprints on every decision, from the hiring of the new GM, to the fan’s experience, to the Bud Selig Hall of Fame plaza hullabaloo.
 
It’s too early to hit the eject button on this manager.  He deserves better talent to put a better product on the field.  
 
Hoping Dee doesn’t do this; Prellar understands this; and Gammons and Rosenthal are wrong in their reports. 
 
No “Black-out” this off-season.

Black Eye, a Black Mark on the NFL

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The NFL is all about speed-skill and physicality.
 
For once the NFL cannot run away from what it is dealing with.  This time there are no shifty moves, nor stylish explanations out of what the league is dealing with.  In a league of big hits, the NFL has a black eye.
 
The sage of domestic abuse will not likely go away.  And now maybe it is about to develop into a feeding frenzy.
 
Women, afraid of their men, afraid of a stigma, may now start to standup and say “I was abused too.”
 
It’s bad, what Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy did.  It’s bad how the league and respective clubs have handled this.  And now it seems to be on the brink of a growing epidemic, with lawyers calling press conferences, bringing more women front and center.
 
It is also bad, that the NFL and Union have rules, that do allow due process to take place, while players are allowed to play in some cases.  And in others, players get put on an exempt list, don’t play nor practice, but still collect their paycheck.
 
Aghast at the storylines that are spreading with Adrian Peterson; offended by Ray Rice and how his case was handled; wondering the outcome of the Greg Hardy vicious beating trial coming up, it never seems to end.
 
And now you have idiots like Ray McDonald of the 49ers and Arizona’s Jon Dwyer, arrested, after the new domestic rules were put into place, you wonder, if anyone pays attention or cares.
 
Granted, we are talking about just 5-players out of 1800 on active rosters, but we are talking serious incidents.
 
Maybe if corporate sponsors start leaving the NFL, things will change.  The TV networks love to cover the stories, love their games, and those TV ratings, so I doubt they will raise a hand, make a statement, or create a showdown issue.
 
But when you realize Greg Hardy will get 710,000 per week from now till his November trial; Peterson will get 690,000 a weekend, till his case is adjudicated, you wonder if anything will ever change.
 
The NFL marches on, players get paid, even when they don’t play, more victims show up.  And there will be games this coming weekend-regardless..  Ain’t America great.

Dodgers 1st Place and With Problems

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Happenings here and there in the baseball world in Southern California.

 

That pressure seems to be getting to everyone at Dodgers Stadium. It’s crunch time and there are problems in every corner of the dugout and clubhouse.

With two weeks left in the season, the Blue have issues.  They are now down to two healthy reliable ace pitchers, the Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw, and his running mate Zack Grienke.

The third starter Hyun Jin-Ryu is ailing again, this time with shoulder inflammation, triggering a cortisone shot.  The 4th starter Dan Haren is up and down, and the other starter Roberto Hernandez is staggering.

Add to that, a group of setup, relievers, shakey at best, and now maybe an overworked Kenley Janzen as a closer.

The everyday lineup has issues.  Shortstop Hanley Ramirez has had five different injuries, and is no longer the feared productive bat he used to be.  Big money outfielder Andre Eithier is having a substandard season.

Aside from Adrian Gonzalez, the rock in the lineup, and the now healthy Matt Kemp, there is no consistency, and that’s with a team still in first place.

And then there is the Wild Horse, Yasiel Puig, staggering thru a summer long slump, that has seen him hit around .200 with no homers since early August.

He continues to make wild throws from the outfield, still has baserunning problems, and has some on going personality clash problems with fellow teammates.

Don Mattingly has had to deal with issue after issue over the last four years in LA. Injuries, the McCourt bankruptcy, his own in game decisions, Puig, and the expectation from ownership, fans, and the media.

The standings say first place, but body language, storylines, and rumors paint a very different picture.

You cannot control injuries, but they better fix all the other issues, or the Dodgers post season may be short and the offseason then stormy.

Tony Gwynn Jr.

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It had to feel different.  He had to feel butterflies.  There must have been an ache.  Of course there will forever be sadness.
 
The son returned to San Diego, the town that adored his father, and last night, our hearts had to go out to Tony Gwynn Jr. as the Phillies came to town to meet the Padres in a meaningless game between two underachieving teams.
 
In a quiet moment, Anthony Gwynn-Junior-went outside Petco Park to take a long look at the beautiful Hall of Fame statue erected to his “Pops” by the Padres years ago.
 
It has been a hard year, not the Phillies wretched season.  A tough year dealing with the reality, that Cancer would strike out his father.  The son was strong as iron trying to help the family thru the saddest of times, when the deadly disease came back a second time, then a third time.
 
It’s been a hard baseball year too for the always smiling kid, a .sub 200 batting average, a career slipping away as he gets to age 30.  An outright release, a move back to Lehigh Valley-AAA in the International League, then a recall on September lst when rosters were expanded.
 
The father was a magician at bat.  The son, a glove man, a base stealer, with a batting average hovering around .230.  Tony spent his entire career as a Padres.  Anthony has gone from Milwaukee, home to San Diego, on to Dodgers Stadium, off to Philadelphia to ply his trade.
 
As tough as this has been, there is so much respect for what the son has had to deal with.
 
Major league players, stopped the game, the first game Anthony came back from the funeral.  The Houston catcher went out to the mound, stood there, and signaled his teammates to come up to the top of the dugout, to give T-Junior a standing ovation.  The stadium erupted and they stood too, in a moment of salute to the young man over the passing of his old man.
 
Thru the heartache, he found a special love from so many people around baseball.
 
Anthony Gwynn back home for a four game series.  A game to be played for sure.  But a night to think kind thoughts of the kid, like father-like son, not as a hitter, but as a classy individual.