The Reds are in 1st place, 7 games over .500 - and I'm done with them. I refuse to get my heart ripped out this season. As the team is currently constructed, we cannot win the division.
I took the girls to the game today and watched Chapman blow yet another save opportunity. When are the Reds going to realize that Chapman is a starting pitcher. He is not a closer!!! I don't care how fast you throw it. If you throw 100 mph fastball after 100 mph fastball, major league hitters are going to hit it. As a closer, Chapman has all but abandoned his slider, and rarely throws any off-speed stuff. He can offer this team so much more.
He has now blown 2 straight saves, and blown 4 of his last 7 opportunities. Even worse, the Reds are so worried about him that they rarely even use him. Before today, the last time he pitched was Tuesday. Not really adding much to the team there.
The Reds need to put Marshall back into the closer role. He blew 1 game and was yanked. He is so much better suited to close. They need to stretch out Chapman and make him a starter for the late season and maybe playoffs. They also need a bat. I don't even care. Either a true leadoff man or a real cleanup hitter.
Without that, we lose this season - again. I refuse to attend another game or watch on TV until they make some changes.
Above is the free poster I got from attending the midnight opening show for Prometheus last Thursday night in IMAX 3D. After walking out of the movie, my 1st thought was, "Damn, it's 2:30am and I have to be at work in 4 and a half hours!" My 2nd thought was, "Holy hell, that was the most unbelievably good-looking film I have ever seen," (from a special effects standpoint). Just beautiful to look at. My 3rd thought was, "What the hell just happened?"
Without giving any spoilers, I told Dad that I was giving the film a rating of "I" for incomplete, fully expecting a sequel (or two).
5 days after seeing it, my head is now reeling. I am forced to reevaluate my original impression, and I find myself being sucked in further to Ridley Scott's crazy world. On further review, I am upgrading my rating to an "A-" without even seeing it again.
Tom Rench emailed me a link to a rather in depth discussion (DO NOT READ UNTIL VIEWING PROMETHEUS) of the film that points out the finer points of the movie. After reading that, I clearly see that the "finer points" weren't so fine, and that Ridley has a clear message in his film. I won't go so far as to agree with everything this guy says, but his argument is rock solid and supported by quotes from Ridley himself. The 1st thing you should do after watching Prometheus is read the above link. The next thing you should do is go see it again, which I will be doing next week.
If that isn't enough, there is a bonus clip at the end of the movie credits that I have embedded above. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with the plot and can be safely viewed. Ridley Scott is not even close to subtle in trying to show us that this
is HIS very own sci-fi epic... Know any other movies that use themes
from
Nietzsche? Maybe one that has a classic score using a certain piece by
the same name????
Let's go even further down the rabbit hole... You are probably aware there was a viral marketing campaign that led up to Prometheus. There is now a new website associated with the movie:
Not much else there yet, but there are some REALLY COOL things if you click the Weyland logo at the top and explore the Weyland Industries website. However, it is clear
that Ridley still has some tricks up his sleeve. Clearly, something is
significant about 10-11-12. It is the fictional date of Weyland Industries being
incorporated, but it's more than coincidence that the date is this year
in reality.
I have no idea where this is going, but it's starting to really suck
me in. I'm thinking that date could be anything from the Blu-ray
release date, to a new website, to a major announcement about a sequel.
You don't think Ridley pulled the ULTIMATE fast one and did a LOTR style double shoot without letting us know do you?
Comments are NOT spoiler free below! Colin let the cat out of the bag!
I'm 99% sure Kevin has read them, but is anyone else into the HBO series Game of Thrones? The 2nd season finale was Sunday, and let me just say... WOW!
If you guys aren't watching this, you are missing perhaps the greatest spectacle on TV. This is like an Oscar-caliber movie that just goes on and on every week. The 1st season starts out strong, but just builds bigger and better every week. The final scene of season one is one of the most jawdropping, iconic scenes in TV history. Season two remarkably ups the ante.
Granted, this is a grandiose plot, with MANY characters and locations. However, HBO has done a good job helping viewers keep it all straight. They even have some good online interactive content to help novice viewers. I have made it a habit to read an episode summary each week to make sure I understand the names and places, and any subtle plot points I may have missed.
If you haven't watched this, download, rent or Netflix the series immediately! It is so good, I may even buy the season blu-rays. My only problem is waiting for the next season. I may break down and read the book series, even though it will spoil the surprises that the series has thrown me early and often so far.
Last night the Reds played the Braves in a nationally televised game on ESPN. They won, woo-hoo. However, I noticed something that has been bothering me for quite some time; the number of questionable called strikes against Jay Bruce. Jay Bruce has always been a very streaky hitter. When he is in the zone he can hit like no other player in the game. However, when he is in a slump he becomes very ineffective and his at-bats are difficult to watch. Yet no matter how Bruce is playing I always noticed that the umpires give him very little respect in terms of called strikes against him. For some reason Jay Bruce seemingly has the largest strike zone of any player in baseball. If some of the questionable called strikes against Jay Bruce were called balls, as they should have been, he would find himself in many more favorable hitting situations. This is obvious when you think about whether a MLB hitter would rather be in the batter’s box with 2 balls and 0 strikes versus 0 balls and 2 strikes. It seems more often than not, Jay Bruce falls behind in the count due to a questionable called strike and is forced to protect the plate as opposed to attacking the pitcher. More often than not this leads to Bruce swinging and missing at a breaking ball low and away.
After thinking about this, I wondered if there was a way to actually prove it. After a 4-second google search I hit a home-run. I found a website (http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/) that provides sortable, historical pitch/FX data for hitters and pitchers. Using this tool you can see in chart form the called strikes for any MLB hitter. So let’s go to the charts:
The chart above shows pitches taken by Jay Bruce for the year. Just look at how many obvious balls were actually called strikes (by my count I see approximately 25 balls that were called strikes). It becomes clear after looking at this chart that the book on Jay Bruce is to throw low and away and hope he swings at it, and if he doesn’t swing hope the umpire calls the pitch a strike anyway, which he usually does. The problem for Jay Bruce, as well as Reds fans, is that umpires are consistently calling obvious balls thrown low and away to Bruce as strikes. Thus, Jay Bruce has no choice but to swing at those pitches because he knows that MLB umpires are probably going to call those balls as strikes. If he doesn’t swing, then he will find himself hearing the umpire yell strike. If these pitches were appropriately called as balls just think how many hitter’s counts (more balls than strikes) Jay Bruce would face, and how much better of a hitter he could be. Maybe this could even help make him a more consistent player.
For the sake of comparison let’s look at an MLB player who has more of a track record in the league who many would suspect gets more respect from umpires. The chart above shows pitches taken by Derek Jeter for the year. Jeter does have some low balls called as strikes, but he doesn’t have nearly the number of called strikes that were actually balls as Jay Bruce did (by my count I see 15 balls that were called strikes).
There are obvious limitations to this comparison: Jeter is right handed, he plays in the AL, and he bats at a different spot in the order. However, the results are still obvious, Jay Bruce finds himself in more pitcher’s counts (more strikes than balls) because umpires call obvious pitches that are low and away balls as strikes against him. Just look at that ridiculous called strike against Bruce that looks to be about 12 inches below the strike zone!
If Jay Bruce was given a fair shake when he steps in the batter’s box by umpires not calling strikes on obvious balls thrown low and out of the strike zone there is no telling how great of a hitter he could be!
It is now inevitable. The big conferences in college football have started the final assault, and college athletics will be changed forever - very soon. I knew this was coming, but I didn't realize how fast things were moving. Last week, I would have thought things were just about settled for a while, pending the new BCS structure. Today, I realize that the lull was an illusion.
The SEC and Big 12 recently announced a new Bowl partnership to create a matchup of the respective conference champions, similar to what the Big Ten and Pac 12 have with the Rose Bowl. This has several immediate, far reaching implications.
The BCS will soon become a 4 team playoff.
The conferences are now bypassing even the Bowls, and forming their OWN Bowl games.
We are quickly moving to the model of 4 "super-conferences" of 16 teams.
Clearly, the Big East, ACC and all other non-BCS conferences are on the outside looking in.
Notre Dame will have to decide what they want to do with our football program - soon.
The NCAA is irrelevant as an organization.
I liken this to a gigantic game of musical chairs, and that the music is only speeding up. All the D1 football schools are dancing around the chairs. When the music stops, there will be 4 major conferences, and everyone else will be totally out of luck. I also think that will likely be the endgame, at least in our lifetimes. 64 teams will hold all the cards. If ND is not in a conference at this point, there will be no room left for us, and we will have no mojo to maintain a competitive football team. We become Navy.
Look, since the BCS began in 1998, ND has been in 3 games. That's 3 out of 14 years. In a 4 team playoff format, we would have qualified ZERO times in those previous years. No matter what the new BCS format is, ND will be assuredly LESS LIKELY to get a spot, given the fewer teams involved. What options does that leave us? All the Bowls are likely scrambling AT THIS VERY MOMENT to secure conference affiliations. The dominoes are falling. I hate it, but I think it is truly, finally, for real, the moment that we need to make a choice. If we don't act now, the choice will be made for us.
If you rely solely on ESPN for your news, you won't see this story. Laurie Fine, the wife of Syracuse ex-assistant coach Bernie Fine, is suing ESPN for libel. She specifically names Mark Schwartz and a producer at ESPN for destroying her reputation "in an attempt to capitalize financially in the tragic wake of the Penn State Abuse Scandal."
Here's the link to the story and some of the reasons named in the suit. I wonder if ESPN will cover any of this or just hope to sweep it under the rug. Personally, I hope she wins, just to settle down ESPNs paparazzi-like attitude towards anything sports.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not convinced that Laurie Fine wasn't involved - but I don't like ESPN, so anything that can be done to limit their piranha-like attitude towards bad sports stories is a plus in my book.
So many people have realized or stated publicly that Aroldis Chapman may likely be the best pitcher in baseball at the moment. However, as he has the previous two years, he is not pitching in the starting rotation but is pitching out of the bullpen.
At first I was livid that the Reds would continue to waste his talents in the bullpen as opposed to using him as a starter. However, Reds TV guy Chris Welsh had a really interesting point the other day. He stated that the Reds are aware that Chapman can only pitch a limited number of innings in 2012 above what he pitched in 2011. Because of this, instead of "wasting" innings pitched in triple-A, the Reds have decided to limit his innings by having him pitch out of the bullpen.
In 2012 Chapman has pitched only 17.2 innings to date. In all of 2011 he pitched 50 innings. Typically a pitcher should only pitch approximately 30 more innings from one year to the next. Thus, Chapman's pitch limit in 2012 will be about 80 innings.
If he continues to pitch out of the bullpen for the next few months of the season he should probably have around 50-60 innings. Then at that point we could turn him into a starter and should be able to get an additional 4 or 5 quality starts out of him.
Those 4 or 5 starts will hopefully be exactly what the Reds need to propel them into the playoffs. Actually, I hope they don't need his starts to get into the playoffs, and can slowly stretch him out so he makes his starts late into the year and really hits his stride in the playoffs!
Or, the Reds may keep him in the bullpen all year. If that is the case I am not going to be happy.
I think the entire country agrees that the BCS in college football sucks. I also think most of sports fans know the BCS is currently conducting a series of meetings to discuss the future of the BCS. Everyone who reads this blog knows my feelings about the BCS and its implications on Notre Dame football independence.
This is a HUGE change, and one that will create 2 immediate effects:
1) Schools from traditional non-BCS conferences (and independents like ND) will have a much harder time getting a BCS game.
You think the TCU's and Boise State's had something to complain about? The only reason those teams got in in the past was because the BCS bowls were not allowed to take a 3rd BCS conference team. Money drives all, and this reverts the system to the more traditional bowl approach - schedule the best matchup to make the most cash. Having a 4-team playoff (which sounds inevitable in 2014) only makes this more likely. Those 4 teams "earn" a spot, while the other BCS bowls scramble to make big games.
2) The Big East is done.
The Big East is being assaulted on all sides by conferences poaching their best schools. Without an automatic qualifier, I doubt a Big East team will be in a BCS bowl often (if at all) as the Big East is currently formulated. The Big East has scrambled to avoid this, adding a bunch of crappy schools that are nowhere near their geographic base - watering down the league. When it's time to renegotiate TV rights, the Big East is in big trouble, and I bet it collapses.
So how does this affect Notre Dame? I think it clearly forces out hand to change conferences for non-football sports. Notre Dame didn't sign up for an all-sports league that included Central Florida, Houston and SMU. As a result, we have to have a willing conference to allow us to maintain football independence. I wonder if that is possible. There are rumblings that the Big 12 would consider that, but why would they? If we stay in the Big East, our non-football sports will suffer a slow death at the expense of maintaining football independence. Ultimately, we may be forced to give up independence and join a conference to maintain ALL sports.
