Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Tuesday 10/16 A.M. Quickie:
You Cannot Stop the Rockies

Today's Names to Know: Colorado Rockies, Matt Holliday, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Roger Goodell, Steve Pederson, Bill Stoneman, Trent Green, Marc Bulger, Brandon Lloyd, Don Mattingly, Michael Bennett, Michael David Smith and more!

MLB: Rockies sweep D'backs, win NL pennant: Oh, and don't forget it was their 7th straight playoff win (8th if you count the play-in game) and 21st win in their last 22 games. What a story. Totally unprecedented.

I was lucky enough to be at Coors Field last night. (I should call it the "frozen tundra of Coors Field.") Great atmosphere, with fantastic fans who had such a sincere appreciation for what was going on – it was very different from a winning scene in New York or Boston (or even any other team who has a tradition going back beyond 1993). Congrats to the Rockies fans.

The win itself was typical: Unknown starting pitcher delivers, bullpen-by-committee (with Fuentes as the only shaky member), the team/league/playoff MVP with a big game (Holliday HR that was an amazing in-person experience), and a key contribution from an unlikely source (PH Smith's 2-RBI dink to shallow left).

The only thing that can stop the Rockies now is time: They have an 8-day wait until the World Series starts. If they maintain their momentum, it won't matter who wins the ALCS.

(Don't know if you stayed up to watch it. Will Leitch did, for his sensational NYT baseball playoffs blog. Here's another must-read post. Jumping off a point he made: Given the unexpectedness of the Rockies' run over the last month -- let alone last 3 months, let alone last 12 months – it should ramp up expectations among every team's fans that their team, if run right, can contend immediately.)

ALCS: Indians beat Red Sox in Game 3, 4-2. Important win for Cleveland to hold serve in this first game at home and really put the pressure on Boston to get a game-winning performance out of the rested (or is that rusty?) Tim Wakefield tonight in Game 4. Game 3 starter Dice-K was more Dud-K, giving up all 4 runs in 4.2 IP. (I thought he was supposed to be the ultimate big-game pitcher? Yikes.)

Super Bowl in…London?! Yes, because nothing reflects the most American of events like "Toodle-pip!" I am stunned that NFL Commish Roger Goodell would even suggest this. I'm neither a jingoist nor a nativist, but talk about a U.S. outsourcing crisis!

Giants beat Falcons on "MNF," 31-10 in an entirely forgettable game. Eli was iffy, but connected with Burress on a TD, for those of you who needed the fantasy points.

Nebraska fires AD Steve Pederson: I'm not sure the football team's recent struggles are as much the AD's fault as they are Callahan's. Is the rest of the athletic department such a mess? (Wait: At Nebraska, why am I bothering to ask?)

Angels GM Bill Stoneman leaving the team: Could owner Arte Moreno want to make a play for free agent Walt Jocketty? (Would Jocketty go anywhere without Tony Larussa?)

Vince Young is day-to-day: Pretty disappointing season for the sophomore. Go ahead and say it, if you haven't already: "Madden jinx."

Trent Green wants to play again: That guy should get his head examined. No, not for physical damage, but to see a shrink – he is insane to want to keep playing after his most recent concussion. Let it go, man.

Marc Bulger returning to Rams: Psst…it won't make THAT much of a difference.

Brandon Lloyd should step carefully: The WR probably thinks he is gaining some sort of upper hand by bringing up old rumors about Troy Aikman's sexual orientation, but he really just looks and sounds like a jerk. Does he really want to be the NFLPA's version of Skip Bayless?

Torre Watch: Don Mattingly reportedly told members of Steinbrenner's family that he's not ready to be the Yankees manager yet. What a refreshingly candid assessment (and probably not a little bit supportive of Joe Torre's future).

Did you know today is the NFL trading deadline? Unlike baseball and the NBA, it's just not that big of a deal. Do you really care that Michael Bennett was traded from the Chiefs to the Bucs? (Well, maybe if you're desperate for an RB and Bennett isn't claimed in your league.)

Must-Read: The indefatigably talented Michael David Smith is interviewed by sports-blogger Larry Brown. Great way to get to know one of the sports blogosphere's biggest talents. (And I want to thank him for his compliments in Question 10. He raises an interesting point: Maybe I'm less of a traditional blogger than a writer who blogs. Damn you, One-Post-Per-Day format addiction!)

From an email from reader Michael M. just before I published this post: "no update as of 9am + shanoff at rockies clincher = shanoff probably in jail. now thats a story i wanna read about in the quickie."

-- D.S.

64 comments:

pv845 said...

Go Rockies! Go Indians!

Am I the only one that sees similarities between the Red Sox of this year and the Yankees of the early part of the decade? Buying pitching that chokes in the playoffs... seem similar to anyone else?

As I understand the situation at Nebraska, the AD brought Callahan from a horrible NFL team. Think that the resulting suckitude of the Huskers shouldn't lay with him?

Unknown said...

Still need responces for Daily Quickie Fantasy Basketball from:

Natsfan74
Danielle
Dan Shanoff (no surprise)

bkelly126 said...

it didn't help when the AD fired a coach who was 10-3 in his last year.

but then again when the bread and butter of your program (the option) is murdered by the U on national TV you wonder if a program could ever recover from that

QWIJIBO said...

I think one of the other highlights from last night MNF, other than the Giants victory of course, was Kimmel's appearance when he was talked about Theismann.

Unknown said...

"Giants beat Falcons on "MNF," 31-10 in an entirely forgettable game. Eli was iffy, but connected with Burress on a TD, for those of you who needed the fantasy points."

Dan was talking about me. I was down 151-133 in Daily Quickie fantasy to Rafael and Burress got me 21 points so I could win by a field goal, 154-151.

Sorry Raf.

Unknown said...

I thought Manning looked pretty good last night. Granted I didn't watch the whole game but his arm looked strong and he was fairly accurate minus the one long interception at the end.

I liked Kornheiser's if I were Eli Manning thing at the beginning. It was hilarious. With the 49ers and Dolphins next, Giants could be looking at 6-2 which is fairly unexpected considering how bad they looked in their first two.

I fell asleep watching the baseball game and woke up to see the Rockies celebrating. What a run. However I have a feeling that as long as the Red Sox or Indians don't wear out their pitching too much in trying to beat each other, they won't win the Series that easily.

hutlock said...

Nice to see Dan fall into that old East Coast Bias trap of talking about how the RED SOX FAILED as opposed to HOW THE INDIANS WON. Dude, how about a LITTLE credit to Jake Freaking Westbrook! The ageless Kenny Lofton! Joe 1-2-3 Borowski! I some of you are tired of the "no respect" card the Indians (and yes, the fans) are playing, but geez, if you would just give us some it would stop!

Also where are the jeers this morning for Big Floppi getting nailed by that batted ball trying to go from second to third with Manny at the plate? Has anyone ever even seen that happen in the majors?!? Not to mention, dude woulda been out by 20 feet at third base anyway.

hutlock said...

Oh, and big ups to the Rockies! I am officially scared to play them.

Jingoist said...

Given the unexpectedness of the Rockies' run over the last month -- let alone last 3 months, let alone last 12 months – it should ramp up expectations among every team's fans that their team, if run right, can contend immediately.)

If by "contend immediately" you mean home grow your talent for the past decade to score your first winning season since 2000, and first-ever NL pennant, then sure, that sounds like contending immediately.

Seriously, 2/3 of the starting lineup were drafted by Colorado (impressive, yes) and their best reserve (Spilboroughs) was too.

Not to overshadow their run here and their NL Championship, but the Rockies are not so much a shocking surprise as much as they are more in the "it's about time" category.

pv845 said...

@ Jingoist: I agree completely. I love how everyone talks about the up and coming teams like they did something in the past two years that made them contenders. I guess they did when they didn't make a stupid trade to dump their young guys.

@ Toddthesecond: I forgot about Big Messup by Ortiz. I didn't catch the end of the game but on the highlights, it looked like Ramirez couldn't care less about the loss. That is Manny being Manny.

Richard K. said...

I'm actually going to be at the Dolphins/Giants game in London...

You guys have no idea how much the NFL is marketing this to the ticket holders. I recently "was invited to attend" the Dolphins official overseas tailgate which was of course sponsored by Coors Light.

Beetle said...

"If they maintain their momentum, it won't matter who wins the ALCS."

Ummmm....yeah it will.
Both the Indians and Sox are superior teams to the Rockies.
Momentum will only carry you so far.
Sure, the Rockies run has been great, but they beat the "Just happy to be here" Phils and the pythagorean anomaly D-Backs.
The AL is going to bring a real challenge to the Rox.

chitown italian said...

The only thing that will stop the Rockies right now is too much time off. Let's see how Hurdle gets his team ready after a five day (or more) layoff.

Enjoy this video about the Cubs and their futility (don't know how to link it so it will have to be copied):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quKraecWnTs

Unknown said...

For the record, the Rockies could win every game in the last month by 10 runs and the Sox/Indians could be the ugliest 7 game series ever that ended on a fluke error and the edge would still be to the AL team.

Gary said...

To the Rockies credit, they handled easily the Red Sox and Yanks during interleague play this season winning 5 or 6 of the games.

Those are the only two playoff teams from the AL they played, so not too shabby.

I think the layoff hurts the Rocks more than anything as this Cle/Bos series seems pre-ordained to go 7-games.

Unknown said...

Think of it this way:

Do you think for 1 second that the Red Sox or Indians couldn't outscore the D'Backs 18-8 in a series like the Rockies did?

I bet the Sox put up 30 runs.

Boomhauertjs said...

Not to get ahead of ourselves here, but the Tribe's fast outfield would be a huge asset at Coors Field.

Beetle said...

Yeah,
I don't want to discredit the Rockies, they are a good team with an AL style lineup and fearless playing style, but the competition is going to be quite a bit more stiff in the WS.
Also, regular season records really don't matter.
Just ask the Yanks who were 6-0 against the Indians, or the Red Sox who were 5-2 against the Tribe.

marcomarco said...

"with fantastic fans who had such a sincere appreciation for what was going on – it was very different from a winning scene in New York or Boston"

Not to take away from your experience in Colorado, but by that statement, I assume you have personal experience to compare that to a 'winning scene in New York or Boston'?

If not, then your comparison is hollow.

marcomarco said...

Dice-K was more Dud-K (I thought he was supposed to be the ultimate big-game pitcher? Yikes.)

So, you're rescinding your Cy Young nomination?

Mike said...

I was walking the streets of Boston in 2004 and there were plenty of appreciative fans. Just because there are a lot of "ya doods" and other meatheads in boston doesn't mean that there weren't thousands of fans who have been sox fans their whole life and really care about boston and this team. Don't label us all.

Unknown said...

Is there any chance that the Red Sox took a dive in Game 2 just so they could prove Dan's prediction of "whoever wins Game 2" wrong?

They do love proving Dan wrong.

See: 2004 ALCS.

marcomarco said...

"I'm calling it now: Matsuzaka will win the AL Cy Young Award in 2007." - Dan Shanoff 11-14-06

Flip

Flop

David Kippe said...

THE GEEEEEEE-MEN! that is about all i like of Berman these days.

As for the Super Bowl in London, i see no problem with it. The fan makeup is almost completely corporate now as it is. There is no homefield advantage involved anyway, i say why not? I don't think it really matters where we play it.

Geoff said...

I really hope Cleveland can pull this series out. It would be nice to see the AL Central have a World Series rep in 3 straight seasons. Not to mention it would be great to see the AL East fail yet again.

And yeah, having the Super Bowl in London is such an awful idea on about 1000 levels.

jhawkjjm said...

remember that the Nebraska faithful were all calling for Solich's head before his firing. The funniest part of everything going on yesterday were the reports that Nebraska fans wanted the chancellor (!) of the university fired for the poor performance of the football team. If that doesn't show how pathetic the state is I don't know what is.
The worst sin in Nebraska athletics is to be an outsider. I'm bettting that the first name their going to want for AD is Osborne.

Unknown said...

What did Lloyd say?

Mills said...

Am I the only one that sees similarities between the Red Sox of this year and the Yankees of the early part of the decade? Buying pitching that chokes in the playoffs... seem similar to anyone else?
---------------
Try again. How bout the Yanks of today? Yanks of the early part of the decade made it to the WS.

Also - this Red Sox squad as 2 of the best big game pitchers evAr.

wolverine425 said...

rafael said...
What did Lloyd say?

CARR?

Mills said...

I'm bettting that the first name their going to want for AD is Osborne.
--------
you are about two days late on that rumor. it has been floating around since sunday afternoon. supposedly bring rutledge (i think that is his name -- outland winner from the 70's) on as an associate ad.

hutlock said...

All I know is my seats were near-ish to a bunch of frontrunning Ohians dressed up in Red Sox gear who were about ready to get several beers dumped on them. They even tried to use the real "team" nicknames to sound authentic (e.g., "Come on, V-Tek!") but they messed a few up, so you could tell they weren't actually followers of the team full-time. It was kinda sad, actually.

No, scratch that -- it was more annoying than anything else.

philipjsnell said...

The reality of the Nebraska situation is that Bill Callahan is going to be fired... not IF, but WHEN. Steve Pederson, who recently gave Callahan an extension, has no credibility to hire a new coach if/when he would have fired Callahan. This move gives the new AD time to evaluate the coaching situation and make the right moves at the right time.

As a Nebraska fan I am NOT calling for Tom Osborne to be the AD. Today's athletic directors are more CEOs than anything else and Tom is not a CEO. He is a good ambassador for the program, that is about it. Plus I don't think he has the cajones to fire the current staff and make the right hire.

philipjsnell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
philipjsnell said...

Mills, you're thinking of Dave Remington, the president of the Boomer Esaison Foundation.

futurelegendvinceyoung said...

jhawkjim you do not know shit about Nebraska athletics. Pederson had ties to the Nebraska athletic department when Osborne was still coaching. Pederson also grew up in Nebraska. Pederson is an egomaniac and ran a number of good people out of the athletic offices with his power hungry ways. There are also stories surfacing on how he used Osborne to get the facilities built.

His one man coaching search is also being questioned. He ran off one of Nebraska's legends in Turner Gill and pretty much passed on Bo Pellini to be the new coach after he fired Solich. Bringing in Callahan was supposed to be a huge splash but Callahan was the 5th guy asked and of course he was going to take the job after being canned by the Raiders.

I think Osborne needs to be associated with the athletic department maybe make him AD emeritus like they did with Bob Devaney before he passed away. I do not think he wants to be like Schembechler was at Michigan after he retired from coaching.

Maybe the option was crushed by Miami in 2001 but what type of offense did Nebraska run that crushed Miami, Florida and Tennessee in the title games. Although this year is pretty much ruined this is some good news and hopefully Nebraska can move back to the elite in college football.

marcomarco said...

@todd

As a die hard sox fan, I would've been the first to pour those beers.

It's one thing to go into someones house representing, but another to be a pompous assclown. Even worse if the tags are still on your jersey and you mispronounce names.

All I could think of was that snl-dane cook "matsusaka kakee"

This is ACTober!

marcomarco said...

*Sigh* Hey blue, go piss on yourself.

CMFost said...

I bet they were wearing Pink Hats also, I really hate fraud fans.

Ed Chavis said...

The numbskull is back with Easterbrook's column again...

The village called... they want their idiot back.

Super Bowl in London is a bad idea because of the 6 hour time difference between London and EST. They would have to start playing at midnight to get the game into prime time viewing hours in the U.S.

Anonymous said...

Blue is MIA.

Mills said...

Mills, you're thinking of Dave Remington, the president of the Boomer Esaison Foundation.
-------
yes, thank you.

CMFost said...

mr. Ed - A 3:00 or 4:00 Pm ET start would not be that bad for the Superbowl but I do not think it should played in London just for the shear fact that only places that have Teams should get Super Bowl with the exception being Vegas

CMFost said...

Weis says Sharpley at QB represents 'best chance of winning'


Weis benches is star recruit Clausen not sure why other then he is not that good and Sharpley runs the team better

Unknown said...

cmfost-

No Super Bowl on Smurf Turf?!?!?

Have a heart.

wolverine425 said...

You put a lot of thought into that CUT and PASTE of TMQ Stainer. What do you really think?

CMFost said...

Guy that would be a somewhat interesting.

The heroin sheik said...

As someone who holds a red and a blue passport I think having the super bowl in the UK is stupid for two reasons. First the time difference is a big problem as no one would want to watch it on tape delay. Either that or they would have to play the game at like noon EST. Secondly I was under the assumption that the only way you can host a SB is if the city has nice weather or is in a dome. I am pretty sure the stadium is like the one in dallas where it is open for"god to watch" February in London is pretty nasty. Wet, windy, snowy,downright miserable. I don't know if I want to watch a game where the weather could have a huge impact.

regardless, when you realize that 20 years ago they was no way to keep up with the NFL living in Scotland to now being able to pretty much stay up to speed with whatever team you support is impressive. Still the majority of British dislike Americans and I really think that the only reason for doing this is so the NFL can make more money because the average fan over there would rather watch West Brom draw 0-0 to Sunderland over something exciting like every Pats super bowl victory.

CMFost said...

Mills said...
"i'm not going anywhere. don't you fret zeke..."
"i have always randomly posted over there. normally to point out how retarded big d in. however, there were two other idiots on there today that got me riled enough to post."


Mills it is time for you to leave and had back to the troll fest that is LOV

Unknown said...

I always wondered if they could pull something really cool off like using the field as a blue screen.

The heroin sheik said...

Vegas and LA should be the only cities without a team to hold a SB. Although I kinda thought it would be cool to get rid of the Pro-bowl and make that stadium be the permanent home of the SB. That way it would truly be a destination vacation. Sure is a shitload better than detroit in February.

Mills said...

CMFost said...
"I'm the peice of meat in a Big D and Brian in Oxford sandwich. Who wants to be the mustard?"
----------

I like seeing you talk about the Red Sox over here.

The heroin sheik said...

Does anyone know when the NCAA started allowing FB games on Sunday. I remember it was almost always just on thursday nights and saturdays with the rare friday game thrown in. I think I have counted at least three games on sunday this year. my girl was flipping through the channels on sunday and she sees orange and blue and hollers that the gators are playing on tv. I think she does that on purpose every time Boise state plays just to see my reaction.

Mills said...

i think it is more of a conference decision not to play games outside of saturdays. i don't think the ncaa either prohibits or authorizes what day games can be played.

i know the big10 will not play on friday nights (because it supports high school football or something).

jhawkjjm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Kippe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
patrick said...

Vegas will never have a Super Bowl unless they build a stadium for it. It the corporate sponsorship era, Sam Boyd Stadium / Silver Bowl is not a feasible option to hold the Super Bowl

Mills said...

I'm referring to Callahan and his staff as the outsider. He was doomed from the get go because he wasn't an insider.
---------
bull. don't remember who said it, but they were right. there was a large faction of NU fans that wanted to make a change from Frank to a new style of football.

Callahan had his chance. People aren't as upset with his offense as they are the fall of the black shirts.

jhawkjjm said...

(I hate how you can't edit posts)

future-

I was referring to Callahan not being an insider. The die-hard Nebraska fans that I know thought this was some form of treason to not bring in someone at least partially connected to Osborne.

I still think Callahan was doomed from the get go. Yes they needed to upgrade the offense to more "modern" football, but again he was an outsider. It's almost like people (again the people I know who follow Nebraska football) were just waiting for him to screw up.

(And for full diclosure, these are peole I know from school at KU who all came from Nebraska. And honestly, KU is not much better when it comes to basketball.)

Michael Moulton said...

I don't want to see the Super Bowl in London and I hope the owners (especially in the north) raise hell, and here's why:

We always hear that the northern teams in open stadiums don't get Super Bowls because of the weather at Super Bowl time. So instead of letting a team like Pittsburgh host the SB in winter weather, they're going to let London have it in weather just as ugly?

The Super Bowl should rotate among EVERY stadium in the league, and nowhere else.

TBender said...

Re: The Rockies

Sure, the Indians or the Red Sox are better. But right now, would you bet your life on an AL World Series winner? I mean, it isn't just one Rockies player getting hot, it's different guys every night.

And I think St. Louis last year proved league (or even team) dominance means nothing in a short postseason series.

Jen said...

GO TRIBE!!!!
GO TRIBE!!!!
GO TRIBE!!!!

Here's hoping Byrd man is on tonight like Westbrook was last night! So far it hasn't rained, but it sure looks like it's going to explode soon.

I agree with Michael; if the SB is going to be held in London, that is absolute BULL. Cleveland and Pittsburgh have open stadiums and will never get the SB but miserable London is going to get it? Come on, that is absurd. I'd rather sit in the snow than the rain anyhow!

Ted Hill said...

SHANOFF - If I remember correctly, you drafted both Chris Chambers and Ted Ginn for your fantasy team (which was dumb). Now however, it looks great as Chambers was traded to the Chargers. He has a better chance at touchdowns there and plus it means Ted Ginn will finally see the field more in Miami. Congrats!

futurelegendvinceyoung said...

Tom Osborne is going to be named the interim AD at the University of Nebraska.

Jingoist said...

Now if only Osbourne will come back as head coach too.