Fair or Unfair

Posted by on  •  0 Comments  • 

You can watch the games virtually all the time now, in the ever-popular National Football League.
 
What used to be 10am and 1pm games on Sunday, has been expanded.  We now have wildly popular Sunday night matchups, to compliment the historically famous Monday Night Football Game of the Week.
 
And tonight, the latest venture, another Thursday night game, one each week for the entire 17-week season.
 
Tonight’s Redskins-Giants matchup promised to really be special when they devised the schedule.  Robert Griffin III, the Washington quarterback everyone loves to watch, vs Eli Manning, who owns two Super Bowl rings.
 
But it won’t happen, and it likely won’t be a good game.  Neither one of these teams is great, both are trying to resurrect themselves, and New York and Washington have been shredded by injuries, just three weeks into the season.
 
So instead of dazzle, we get fizzle.  We have a Giants coach trying to save his career, the icon Tom Coughlin.  We have Jay Gruden, the latest hand pick savant, as head coach of Washington, where coaching hiring’s and firings occur just like heat and humidity in the summer, and cold raw weather in the winter. 
 
Eli is trying to figure out a new offensive playbook, with a new coordinator, and alot of new teammates, after an off season roster purge.
 
Kirk Cousins starts in Washington, because RGIII is hurt again, dislocated ankle, running away from tackles, his third major injury in just two seasons.
 
The storyline will not only be how bad are these two teams, but how bad the injuries are?  Washington had 9-players hurt, knocked out of their last game on Sunday.  In a short work week, they had 17-players miss practice on Tuesday and Wednesday.  And now just 3-days after getting beaten and battered, they have to play again.
 
Does not seem fair, not to the players, and probably not to the fans who pay big ticket prices at places like the Meadowlands and Fed Ex Field.
 
But this is the NFL, and the games go on, the show must take place, and they must fill that Thursday night TV slot they are trying to grow. 
 
Worry about the product?  No.  Worry about the players longterm health?  Guess not.  Wonder what the TV ratings will be?  Surely.
 
In carving up the big TV money pie, the Mara’s and the Snyder’s, the owners, get their paydays, the players get hurt.  Seems like some tradeoff, huh?
 
I’m not sure what is worse, the likely product on the field, or the philosophy behind doing what the NFL, its owners, and the Union are doing.
 
Enjoy your Thursday night game, but realize who is suffering the aches and pains, as you enjoy NFL football on a short work week.

Goodbye Padres

Posted by on  •  0 Comments  • 

The Padres play their final home game of another disappointing season tonite, saying goodbye to the home fans, with another game against the dreadful Colorado Rockies.

The season is ending on an upbeat note, in that the dreadful first half of the season, when they were 14-games under .500, and a half game out of first place, has been replaced by a (34-27) record since the All Star break.

Maybe you give out Gold Stars to students for  finishing the term strong, but this is the major leagues, and if you are not playing in October, this doesn’t mean much.

If you force-fed all your young players, and they put up good numbers, maybe there would be momentum into next season, but that is not the case either.  This is a roster full of utilitymen, who anywhere else, would be on someone’s bench, not in a starting lineup.

Granted, a team that was on track to establish a possible all time worst team batting average, has hit better.  But a team .226 average isn’t anything to pin your hopes on, but it is better than the .211 mark this franchise had just prior to the All Star break.

The Padres head to San Francisco after tonight’s game, with more questions than answers about the future. Carlos Quentin is owed another 9.5M on a bad contract with a player with  bad knees. Yonder Alonso is coming off hand surgery, and has yet to exhibit he will ever be the .280 gap hitter they hoped for when he came in the Cincinnati-Mat Latos traded.

Mention Cam Maybin and the first thing that comes to mind are suspensions, the injuries, then under performances.  Ditto too for shortstop Ev Cabrera, with two discipline moves on his resume.

Do you have a 3rd baseman?  Is Alexi Amirista a true shortstop?.  Is there any power in this lineup to compete with the big boys in the division, Dodgers and Giants?  Are there any hitters comng from the farm system?

The foundation of the everyday lineup is Jed Gyorko, who fought thru the sophomore slump syndrome, Yasmani Grandal, Rene Rivera, and Seth Smith.  The rest are just guys, not stars.

It is sad.  The franchise wasted phenominal pitching, from the starters to the bullpen.  If they had any sliver of hitting, San Diego would be playing tonight for a wildcard spot, not playing out the string.  You have only so many bullets in those arms, and the staff you finish with this weekend, may not be the same quality staff next year.

Of the 157-games played so far, this team has been shutout  19-times, and 68-times has scored two runs or less in a game.  Here’s the ball Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner, Ian Kennedy, go pitch a shutout and hope you can win.

They have arms, and hopefully some healthy ones returning from surgery, but they need a real infusion of everyday talent this off season.  Next Monday cannot come quick enough, then the free agent shopping season, and the winter meetings. .

The team will draw just a shade over 2.1M.  If this was a good team, it would draw 3M per year, and profit margin lines that lead to a much  bigger payroll, more internaitonal players, plus better drafts.

If they finish .500 it is an accomplishment for Bud Black, considering what a mess this was in July.  But in the big picture, another lost season, the 11th losing year in the last 15 in San Diego.

Good guys in the clubhouse to cover and work with, just not enough good players.  Don’t tell me about promotion nights, next year’s schedule, just tell me when you are getting me, and this city, better players.  Take a look at this lineup tonite.  I don’t think you’ll see a bunch of these guys back here next year.

Beat Up Bolts

Posted by on  •  0 Comments  • 

It should have been a ‘Victory Monday’ celebration at the Fortress, Chargers Park.  Instead it was glum, downcast, and a day full of cloudy emotions.
 
The Bolts beat Buffalo to move into a lst place tie with Denver, but at the cost of the very popular-very productive running back Danny Woodhead, placed on the season ending IR list with a fractured fibula-just above the shin, and ankle ligament damage.  Then last night came word linebacker Manti Te’o re-fractured his ailing foot, the third foot injury in 14-months for the starting inside backer.
 
The Chargers can survive the loss of the linebacker, but they have work to do to overcome the running back setbacks.
 
So Woodhead, the road runner outside catch and run back, is gone.  He goes down a week after Ryan Mathews, their heavy duty bulldozer of a back went down, leaving the Bolts in a real quandary, of who to add to the roster.
 
Donald Brown will remain the lead back, but he is not a 30-touch a game guy.  Behind him are the kids, Branden Oliver and Marion Grice, both rookies, with limited experience in preseason games, and for Oliver an odd carry or two on Sunday.
 
There are running backs out there, but none like Woodhead.  Who is like him, aside from Darren Sproles.
 
LaMichael James, who never really got much playing time with the 49ers, and talked his way off the team, is probably the closest clone to the departed #39.
 
Mikel Leshoure, ex-Detroit Lion, has the same traits, but has had issues off the field and injuries.
 
Of the young veterans out there, Evan Royster, a bit of power runner, had good games with the Redskins over a couple of years.  Bryce Brown showed promise run and catch with the Eagles, but then got hurt.  Ex-Cowboys speedster Felix Jones is out there, but he gets hurt and can never stay on the field.  The same too for former Arizona Cardinal high draft pick Ryan Williams.
 
Of the old veterans, ex-Raider-ex-Bear Michael Bush can do lots of things.  Power inside guy, good blocker, can catch it, can run it up inside.  Ex-Patriot and Bengal Ben Jarvis-Green-Ellis is available, but there may be an injury factor with him.  He hasn’t made any visits since cutdown day.
 
It’s a tough call for GM Tom Telesco.  They’d like explosiveness in that role, but they’d like toughness too, and they really need experience.
 
The schedule gives San Diego a break.  The awful Jacksonville Jaguars come in, then the rebuilding Jets, the hapless Raiders, and then Kansas City.  The Chargers have time to make a choice, because they do have Grice and Oliver, familiar with the system, but they need to make the right choice going forward, because they will need a trustworthy guy for 13-games.
 
I’d pick Bush or Green Ellis before anyone else.  Better safe with size and experience, than sorry with youth, mistakes and fumbles.

Chargers v. Buffalo

Posted by on  •  0 Comments  • 

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…

Posted by on  •  4 Comments  • 

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.