Monday Musings - The Short Version

by The Beef on Sep 29, 2008 8:35 AM CDT in All Sports

Well...I suppose I took the bye weekend a little too literally, as I never returned to a computer this past weekend after the epic bye week thread (thanks everyone for hanging out). So...being that I am at work already and not going to hit my normal 8:00 a.m. deadline, we are going to go with the short, short version (ala the marriage at the end of Spaceballs). Off we go...

Volleyball:

In short, they did what they needed to do this past week. Tech has always been the low-end of the volleyball totem pole in the Big XII, but you have to win that game. Mizzou went down there and played the best they had all season. Tech did not hit TOO bad, coming in at a .183 clip, but Mizzou was over .333333333333333 for the match and came away with the sweep. Wendy Wang had 11 kills and just one error, while Caitlyn Vann added another 17 digs.

On Saturday, Mizzou stepped out of conference one last time to host SIU-C and came away with another sweep, including a ridiculous 25-8 in the first set. Julianna Klein was the big hitter for the Tigers with 11 kills as the team hit .310 and only had nine hitting errors. This moved the ladies back over .500 on the year at 7-6 and 1-2 now in conference. They will stay home on Wednesday night and look to get over .500 in conference against Iowa State who is 1-3/9-6. This weekend, they head to College Station to take on an Ags team who is 1-3/6-8. Needless to say, with those records, these are games you need to win to right your ship and get you moving back towards the NCAA's.

Soccer:

Oh so close to the weekend road sweep I was hoping the Tigers would earn. Friday night, the ladies made quick work of the Cyclones, as they won 3-0. Kristen Andrighetto seems to be rounding back into form, notching two goals on the evening in another barrage of shots on net. Tasha Dittamore had her 4th shutout of the season, and Alysha Bonnick did score the other goal late in the match. Michelle Collins added two assists.

Sunday brought the ladies to Lincoln, where they took the lead in the 32nd minute on a goal by Mallory Stipetich. NU would tie it five minutes later, and it would remain that way until Alysha Bonnick scored her second goal of the weekend in the 77th minute. However, the Tigers could not close out, and NU scored with about three minutes to go to force OT. The first OT would be scoreless, but the game would end in the 107th minute and the Tigers would fall 3-2. They are 1-1 in conference, and will return home to take on the 1st place Buffs (who are there because of an early extra game and a weaker schedule) on Friday night. Sunday will bring a 1-2 Tech team to Como. As always, weekend sweeps are very important, and one for the now 6-3 Tigers would be lovely.

X-Country:

The teams split up this weekend, with the ladies heading to Chicago and coming back with a solid 2nd place effort. All five runners placed in the top 30, and it was a young crew, with one senior, three sophomores and one frosh placing. Kinsey Farren finshed 8th for the Tigers.

The men travelled to the Twin Cities and came in 11th in a tough field. The team returned more of their normal squad, as senior Garrett Jeffries took a top-20 finish in the deep field. Sophomore Phillip King was impressive, and junior Dan Hedgecock ran decently as he looks to get back to the NCAA's.

Next up for the teams will be the Pre-National race in Terre Haute, IN in three weekends, their last tune up before Big XII's....darn short season these guys run.

Other Stuff:

I missed on tennis from a week or so ago...will cover it next week when I have more time.

The second annual Johnie Imes Invitational should be played right about now for the women's golf team...however...I think they will be lucky to get 18 of the planned 36 in today. 18 more planned for tomorrow. The ladies are defending champs, as is Julia Potter on the individual side.

Random Thoughts:

Really Brett Favre? Six TD's? Sheesh...
So listening to the POST post game show of the Rams last night for just a second...someone on there was VERY much against the bringing in of Jim Haslett as interim coach, and swore up and down he would report/expose all of what Haslett has done behind the scenes if he was hired....wish I knew who it was, but there could be some interesting stuff coming out soon I guess.
My Mets became the first team to ever lose at home to the same team on the last day of the season in back to back years to be eliminated from playoff contention. Not so sure about the team (bullpen especially), but Shea deserved better. But hey, at least Citi is buying out Wachovia and not the other way around....would only be the Mets luck to have their new stadium renamed before they even play in it
With the lack of a horse in the race, I will now root for these teams in the following order: Red Sox (my grandmother is as die-hard as they come), Twins (if they make it), Cubs (for the pending fall-out here in StL), Rays (love a good story), Brewers (Sabathia was a man yesterday), Angels (may end up winning the damn thing anyway), Dodgers (good for you Joe, stick it to the Yanks), Chi Sox (if they make it...nothing against them really) and Phils (screw 'em, though I really dont know why the Mets have not been and still are not bigger rivals with them)
There are few things in sports as visually stunning as the Penn State White-Out.

I am a whore for free food and booze enough that I am going to a PRESEASON hockey game this week with the Blues and....I dont know...
Alright...half hour late...not terrible I guess. May as well finish it off with a good ol' "HOTTY TOTTY GOSH ALMIGHTY" for the Rebs.

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I have to opine on Omar

Not to balance out or gain a measure of revenge from the much deserved Cardinals bashing earlier this year here, but I have to say Omar Maniya has flown completely under the national radar with his recent 3-peat collapses. I put this squarely on his shoulders.

In 2006 they sign small guy that’s pitched a LOT of innings to a huge deal, predicated on the fact that they don’t give him a physical?? And they agreed to it. If I apply to a job and say "don’t give me a background check" then that should send up HUGE red flags. Pedro was no where to be found as they were victim to the biggest upset in MLB history (win differential).

In 2007 Omar oversaw the hugest September collapse in history. All this while trading acquiring Shawn Green, Moises Alou and every other over the hill outfielder they could find.

So not to be outdone, in 2008, he goes out and acquires Johan Santana…fires a good man in Willie Randolph and it leads to again, chocking the final game of the year with Oliver Perez on the mound.

Brian Cashman has, deservedly so, received criticism for moves he made and wasted spending with the Yankees. I think it’s time for Omar to start to catch a little heat.

by JayC on Sep 29, 2008 9:45 AM CDT 0 recs

I don't blame Minaya for this year's collapse...

I mean, how could he have seen the massive injury to Billy Wagner and the incredible downturn of Aaron Heilman coming? Maybe he could have shored up the bullpen a bit more—but bullpens are incredibly fickle. One year, they’re great, the next, they’re not. I’m never going to blame a general manager for bullpen failures unless there’s a complete lack of effort in putting together a bullpen (cough cough Cardinals cough cough).

That being said, why the Mets are keeping Jerry Manuel around for another year is beyond me. Manuel is a pretty decent manager of young talent, but when you give him a high-payroll veteran team, he’s not exactly the ideal guy to lead the team. Going out and hiring a younger player who hasn’t managed before (Joey Cora comes to my mind, but there would be a few other options) may have been a better idea.

That being said, we’re just three hours away from Tigers/Sox. In my honest opinion, if the Sox win this game, they’ll beat a Nick Blackburn-led Minnesota team tomorrow at home and make the playoffs. But they have to beat Sweaty Freddy Garcia first.

Chicago White Sox Examiner—Your What Hurts?
http://www.examiner.com/x-425-Chicago-White-Sox-Examiner

by UribeAuction on Sep 29, 2008 10:04 AM CDT up 0 recs

Youth? Fednando Tatis?

Trading 23 yr old Lastings Millage

.268 14hr 68RBI

For 30 yr old Ryan Church

.249 12hr 49RBI

? I"m sure there’s probably more behind the scenes that I’m not seeing

(as I type this I see the Mets also got Brian Schnieder to take over for Paul Lo Duca, which netted 5 years of age, but Schnieder is reported as having the lowest range factor of NL catchers)

I agree about the starting pitching, he’s not the one that traded Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. But i’ve been less than impressed with his tenure in retrospect, considering how bally-hooed he was coming in.

by JayC on Sep 29, 2008 11:18 AM CDT 0 recs

Just f-ing stop please

you are so factually incorrect in this, it is not even funny…even for you

(My other response to you got deleted, but here goes)

- Shawn Green was on the team in 2006
- Alou was on the team for all of 2007, and hit over .340
- The same Oliver Perez (who on 3 days rest gave up 2 runs) pitched in the “collapse” game of 2006 and gave up 1 run, while winning another game against you in the same series
- Calling 2006 a collapse is laughable…we were in game 7 of the LCS and lost to the team that eventually won it…that is stupid even for you (especially considering you tore down your “Miracle” Cardinals as well)
- We got our starting catcher in the Milledge deal as well
- Milledge did that in 138 games…Church hit .276 (f-ing moron) in 90 games…was over .300 before post concussion syndrome.
- Tatis CARRIED the team in July for nothing more than a cheap flyer. He hit .297 with 11 HRs….
- Mets roster is LESS THAN A YEAR older than the Cards roster and all their youth

The Mets lost one of the best closers in the game this year, along with Heilmann getting hurt…could not recover. The starting pitching was what killed them last year in the collapse, and they went out and got Santana who was nothing short of…well…Santana. They will need to rebuild the pen and add a starter (of course, they also dealt with losing John Maine to injury as well this season down the stretch)

No…he is not a god-send…I never claimed he was close, but he has made moves each season to help where there were holes the previous season. The Mets young talent is locked up and they will of course overpay for the needed pieces in the off-season.

There is a lot behind the scenes you are missing…and CLEARLY a mess of stuff in FRONT of the scenes.

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous
Rock M Nation

by The Beef on Sep 29, 2008 11:35 AM CDT up 0 recs

Forget it, he's rolling.

And sorry about that deletion thing…I deleted one of the duplicate comments, and it deleted both…

Rock M Nation
Thrust nunchuk upward!

by The Boy on Sep 29, 2008 11:40 AM CDT up 0 recs

no worries...probably better to put both together

though I would not think he could even make up stuff in BOTH posts…always setting new highs he is.

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous
Rock M Nation

by The Beef on Sep 29, 2008 11:41 AM CDT up 0 recs

Bam..

“The Mets young talent is locked up and they will of course overpay for the needed pieces in the off-season.”

The fact alone that Minaya managed to not give up Fernando Martinez in the Santana deal is reason alone as to why he’s not a bad GM. For those of you who don’t know, Martinez hit 27 home runs with a .287 batting average in Double-A this year.

At the age of 19. Martinez is going to be an impact player in the majors by 2010, and he’ll be in that Met outfield for a long time.

Look at the Mets’ starting rotation, too—outside of Pedro, nobody in it was under the age of 30. And next year, Santana will be the only one, assuming Jon Niese (who was just 21 this year—keep that in mind) enters the rotation.

It’s really not that difficult to find bullpen help on the free agent market, and I’m sure Minaya will address the team’s biggest concern.

Also, one more thing:
“(as I type this I see the Mets also got Brian Schnieder to take over for Paul Lo Duca, which netted 5 years of age, but Schnieder is reported as having the lowest range factor of NL catchers)”

First, this is incorrect. According to baseball-reference.com, Schnieder’s RF was in the 7.00’s this year. Secondly, RANGE FACTOR DOES NOT DETERMINE HOW GOOD DEFENSIVELY A CATCHER IS. IT IS DEFINED AS: (PO + A) divided by innings Let me guess that you think Yadier Molina is the second coming of Jesus. Yadier Molina’s range factor is 6.49. So, by your standards, Yadier Molina is a bad catcher.

Chicago White Sox Examiner—Your What Hurts?
http://www.examiner.com/x-425-Chicago-White-Sox-Examiner

by UribeAuction on Sep 29, 2008 11:51 AM CDT up 0 recs

Also...Tatis is a whopping 33

same age as…oh…I dont know…Braden Looper, Chris Carpenter, and younger than Ryan Franklin (that one even surprised me)

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous
Rock M Nation

by The Beef on Sep 29, 2008 12:00 PM CDT up 0 recs

I'm not claiming the Cardinals are in a youth movement

Yadi isn’t a bad catcher, Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS showed me that. ANd I never said Schnieder was a bad catcher. I listed is range factor.

I guess signing a broke-down pitcher to a huge deal without a physical was also factually incorrect. That’s stupid, even for Omar.

My initial premise was Maniya has not been as good as we’re told, and has flown under the radar from criticism with the massave (and sometimes historic) meltdowns under his watch.

Sorry to hit a sensitive spot, I could mention how Moezalik was criticized for turning down the Chris Capuano deal (instead trading Rolen for Glaus) and continue the pissing contest, but I won’t. Regardless, I’m looking forward to this MLB postseason, and I’m praying for an all-Chicago World Series

by JayC on Sep 29, 2008 12:05 PM CDT 0 recs

No pissing contest here...

I assume that is a shot at Martinez? I can only assume it is….my god man….

Since Minaya signed the "broke down pitcher", here is what he has done for NY. First off…he was 16-9 with a 3.90 for Boston in 2004…then 15-8 with a 2.82 the next season for us…total

32-23 with a prett crappy 4.8 or so ERA. Also…they paid him just under 13 million per year. Not a great deal….but pails in comparison to….

Your team re-upped your big stud…and has paid exactly 10 million dollars….PER LOSS since then. What’s worse…your team managed his health…all Pedro did was carry a bunch more innings and seasons on to a frame not built for pitching…..but we’ve been over all this before.

All in all…you made some terrifically UNTRUE statements in your attempt to back your stance. All GM’s have good moves and bad moves. Your GM just signed a pitcher who had one good season to 12 million per…how will that turn out? My point here was:

- your facts were not true
- the GM made moves each off season (and even in-season) to help the team. He could not overcome losing the closer….nor can most teams….you should know that better than most.
- While no god-send, he could not blamed as much you wanted to for a “collapse” that never happened in 2006 and the troubles we had pitching this season from the bullpen in 2008.

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." - Anonymous
Rock M Nation

by The Beef on Sep 29, 2008 12:26 PM CDT up 0 recs