The State of Sports Nov. 4th

-College Football

-Games of the week
Im going to be brave and bold this week. Have you been following the minor conferences. I mean like the real bad ones. The Conference USA, MAC and Mountain West dont count. Im talking about the WAC and the Sun Belt. I really like the WAC this year. They have some really good teams that you can talk about. I like Fresno State who is only one of two teams that is ranked in a minor conference. Their only loss has come to Oregon in a close game. Fresno also has the second best defense by a minor conference in the nation in yards per game. 22nd is what they rank, but its still best in the conference, and thats what wins you games right there.

I like Boise State, who had one of second best offense in the nation last year, but this year are just getting by. They do play on Blue turf, which is an advantage to defenses who cant stand the color blue, but their advantage is they have a good Offensive line with Jared Zabranski calling plays. That man will be a great qb in the NFL someday. They also have a good 1-2 punch with RB's Marks and Johnson.

I like Hawaii, whos got one really sick offense. How about third in the nation in passing yards. They just graduated the leading passer in NCAA history. How about the 2777 passing yards that Nate Ilola has. He was the backup last year and is doing an unbelieveable job with two freshman recievers who have 700 rec. yards and 8 and 9 TD's respectively. Its too bad they are 3-3 in the conference loosing to both Boise State and Fresno.

And then there's Nevada. They are the team that is balanced all the way across. They have no one that stands out and are in the top 4 in total defense and offense in the WAC. They play Hawaii this week and then Fresno State second to last game of their season. If Nevada beats Boise State, then they stand a chance to beat them. Fresno States defense is too good though. But, heres my prediction. If Nevada wins this week, they stand a chance to be bowl eligible (Once beating either New Mexico and Utah State, who are 6-7 at the bottom of the conference). If they play someone really good in a bowl game, they will win. Just my prediction.

-Top 25 games
Miami vs VT is gonna be one really good game vs the best defenses in football. Will it be a good defensive game, or a blow out is the question? I would like to see a blow out, but something tells me that VT will pull out with the victory because Vick is the intagible in that offense.

Penn St. and Wisconsin is another good game. I pick Wisconsin because im not a big Penn State fan. Im sure id love Paterno just as much as I liked Coach Mazzaferro, but still im not a big Nittany Lions fan.

Watch Notre Dame kill Tennesee. Watch BC-NC come down to the wire. Watch Ohio State just grill Illinios in a 30 something point game. Watch Oregon and Cal. go into overtime after a Cal comeback.

-Other games
Northwestern over Iowa (Heated about last weeks prediction), and Vandy over Florida, but that is never going to happen. I just dont think any other games will be to close to call this week.

The State of Sports Nov. 3rd

Baseball

-The Theo Situation
In reviewing everything that has been said about the resignation, I have ultimately come to the conclusion that the sox front office is going to have a difficult time finding a replacement. Gammons has said, (and I quote from insider because it cant be linked):

"Towers has worked for Lucchino. Hunsicker is one of the game's best general managers. So is Milwaukee's Melvin, who worked for Lucchino in Baltimore. If the Red Sox decide they want a pure talent man -- and with the Yankees adding the revenue from their new ballpark,
talent evaluation is the way the Red Sox have to beat the Yankees in the future -- the name of LaCava (Toronto's director of player development) will be at the forefront. And if they want an organizational baseball mind with a huge reputation in the business, they will interview
White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn.

The fans really care, and so does Henry; you have a chance to win the World Series; and
Lucchino was willing to pay Epstein $1.5 million a year. Theo needs his space -- he might go to South Africa with Pearl Jam and do social work -- and the Red Sox will find someone who wants to accomplish what he accomplished."

My view on this thing? I think that the media should be ashamed of themselves. Over the last week I read more articles that said that it was a power sharing issue than I did the new appointee for the supreme court. You can blame the Globe staff for hyping up the whole thing and really botching up coverage like this. It wasnt Shaughnessy's sunday article. Now you see reporters going along with what Theo said in his press conference. The last post i saw from Sean McAdam on ESPN was the last one before the press conference. And then the WEEI transcript with Callahan and Shaughnessy. Shamless. I am real disappointed at the people I look up to when I write my articles in "The Comment (BSC's newspaper)".

What is Boston going to do now? I think they will go out and find the best possible candidate. Fact is, they did not see this coming, contrary to what I said originally. Lucchino has done a heck of a job (with Epstien) to get the best possible front office, and I think they will do that. Problem is it has come at the wrong time. Winter meetings begin in the next two weeks. I am not worried because of the weak class of free agents. Once again I point to Sean McAdam's ESPN article. Sox wont be at a disadvange either because Epstein will stick around for a little while. I said spring training; maybe it will be a little more like a month. They want to sign Konerko right. Epstein sticks around to help with that.

More on free agents within the month.

The State of Sports Oct 31st

-Baseball

-Theo Epstein situation:
Ok, So we arent going to have Theo Epstien back next year. Im over it. And the move doesnt surprise me in the least. The man wants his privacy. Some people value it more than others, unlike David Wells who is a family man (as he states in his autobiography). Boston is a town where private matters are always public and its a very hostile environment if you cant handle it. Epstien handled it with class.

I am thinking this was a decision that he just went back and forth on. A decision that just went to the wire. He kept it private, because the media would have turned it into a negative. "How can he abandon us when its a big transition time with no really good free agents that can be signed?" or something like that. They have been saying the whole time about this front office quibble with Lucchino. I disagree with this analsis for the simple reason that in every front office your going to have diagreements. You are disagreeing with me right now I bet, but the fact remains that confict is only apart of human nature. Theo's job was to make the moves and Lucchino was supposed to approve them. When things are set up that way, your always going to have a conflict.

Bottom line is that Theo wanted his privacy, and it was a decision that no one could have predicted. The management prob knew before the off season, but I guess he just wanted to wait until the night the contract was up. Not to keep people guessing, because he himself was guessing the two weeks of the season. I dont think it was an issue of money either. If it was money he would have accepted the 3 year 1.5 million option the Sox gave him.

This isnt the end of Epstien. He will work with the management until spring training as a consultant. He will help the new GM make moves that are nessesary because they need someone in there who knows the situation. Will he make the exectutive decisions? I dont think so, but he will be someone to bounce ideas off of.


-Top priorities the Red Sox need to adress going into the off-season (in no particular order):
1) A veteran starting pitcher.
-The Red Sox need a #5 starter, badly. Lets say they trade away David Wells. The roation will be Schilling, Clement, Wakefield, Arroyo, and some other guy. People think it could be Wade Miller who has an option for this year. Gammons has said Papelbon. I disagree and think they will take a look at another leftie on the market. Maybe they will go with a #5 starter righty. Its something they need to adress.

2) An experienced bullpen
-The Sox will have Foulke coming back to close games once his knees get better from surgury. They will be signing Timlin, and will still have Bradford to set up, and it wouldnt be a bad idea to bring back Mike Myers. The sox have a lot of young arms they can bring up to help themselves out in the future at setup in the bullpen, middle and long relief. I would love to see Papelbon in middle relief. He needs to build up his endurance if they want to make him a starter in the future. He uses his fastball effectively and looses his endurance from relying on this pitch.
-Given these facts, I think the next logical move would be to get a bullpen that you can have to: teach the young guys (like Timlin will do and has been doing), anchor the bullpen, and give the sox some options in case of injuries. I would like to see a power pitching leftie setup man to complement Bradford, but I dont think I will get my wish.

3) Fourth-Fifth Outfielder
-Gabe Kapler coming back to the US was a godsend. The Sox need someone who can make Outfield spot starts, and as a defensive replacement in the field. You also would like someone with a little bit of speed, so that you can use him in pinch run situations. They thought that Jay Payton would do the job, but he wanted an everyday job. That just isnt gonna work.

4) First-Third base
-Will they sign someone to play either or and just have Youklis fill in the gap. I would like to see them resign Bill Mueller, and have Youklis play first. In seeing him at Pawtucket, I think he could go from day to day going back and forth at both positions. Mueller was a guy with the best work ethic on the team that is going somewhere else, I belive. The more I think about it, I like Youlkis to play everyday at the top of two of the order. They need someone who can get on base.
-I would love to see JT Snow in a Sox uniform. Good top of the order guy and a multiple gold glove winner. He can also play third, I believe. They wont resign Olerund. He was good for last year, but they want someone with some flexiblity.

5) Second base
-The sox have Dustin Pedroia waiting and he might be promoted this year, as Gammons has been speculating. I dont think this is whats going to happen. They will sign a stopgap for a year, and call up Pedroia in July-August, and ease him into it like they did with Papelbon. That is the best approach. You never want to rush someone. I just dont see him as the starting second baseman next year.
-I would love to see Rafael Furcal replace Damon at second base. That would be the best option that the Red Sox have to leadoff games. Hes also 27 and can play SS and second base. Damon has been firey and a problem in the clubhouse. His comment after game 3 of the ALDS really burns me the F* up.


-I will highlight what im thinking about Ramirez and hopefully more "Hot stove talk" in later posts