A Post That Will Only Interest My League: 2011 Fantasy Team Rankings - Part 1

Just to prove that the fame (minimal) and fortune (non-existant) has not gone to my head since my breaking the news of what really happened in Jose Canseco's Boxing Controversy (linked on both Yahoo and Deadspin), I have bent to my league's demands (and since I have nothing better to write about) to provide my league's preseason fantasy baseball rankings.

12. John
Summary: This team is so boring, you may fall asleep while reading through the roster.

11	Joey Votto, Cin 1B
14	Kevin Youkilis, Bos 1B
35	Jayson Werth, Was OF
38	Zack Greinke*, Mil SP
59	Hunter Pence, Hou OF
62	Corey Hart, Mil OF
83	Stephen Drew, Ari SS
86	Max Scherzer, Det SP
107	Mark Reynolds, Bal 3B
110	Neil Walker, Pit 2B
131	Ricky Nolasco, Fla SP
134	Miguel Montero, Ari C
155	Drew Storen, Was RP
158	Andres Torres, SF OF
179	Jonny Venters, Atl RP
182	Logan Morrison, Fla OF
203	Dexter Fowler, Col OF
206	Ricky Romero, Tor SP
227	Brandon Lyon, Hou RP
230	David Murphy, Tex OF
251	J.J. Hardy, Bal SS

The Good: For some reason, I really like his Baltimore Orioles picks.  Even though he is going over to the tougher league in a less ideal ballpark, Mark Reynolds crushes the ball.  If he can get his batting average up to .250, he's a huge asset at third base which is not a position with a lot of depth.  I also like Hardy to have a good year as he had to deal with a wrist injury last year, so I think he can show some of the power that he displayed during his Milwaukee days. Also, Ricky Nolasco's fantasy stats have to match his advanced stats eventually, right?

The Bad: There seemed to be a ton of draft picks that lacked upside.  Werth, Pence, Hart, and Walker all seem like pretty boring picks. I'm also not real high on Logan Morrison being a great fantasy option in his first full year.  Same goes for David Murphy, because, well, he's David Murphy.  If everything goes right, it's a middle of the pack team, but unless this team gets immaculate luck, this is not a championship caliber team.

11. Chad
Summary: At least he won't be short on steals. Unfortunately, every other category could be a problem.

1	Albert Pujols, StL 1B
24	Cliff Lee, Phi SP
25	Ryan Zimmerman, Was 3B
48	Jason Heyward, Atl OF
49	Tommy Hanson, Atl SP
72	Heath Bell, SD RP
73	Roy Oswalt, Phi SP
96	Aaron Hill, Tor 2B
97	Michael Bourn, Hou OF
120	Brett Gardner, NYY OF
121	Rafael Furcal, LAD SS
144	Francisco Cordero, Cin RP
145	Brandon Morrow, Tor SP
168	Adam LaRoche, Was 1B
169	Anibal Sanchez, Fla SP
192	Carlos Lee, Hou OF
193	Ian Kennedy, Ari SP
216	Edwin Jackson, CWS SP
217	Raul Ibanez, Phi OF
240	Kurt Suzuki, Oak C
241	Frank Francisco, Tor RP

The Good: He got Albert Pujols, I hear he's good. He also got Zimmerman when a pick finally came back around to him.  I could also see Aaron Hill having a bounceback year this season.  Getting Francisco in the last round is a really nice pick since Toronto has said that he has the closer's job when he comes off the disabled list.  And for some reason, even though it makes no sense as I'm typing it, I kind of like Carlos Lee to be good again this year. Somebody on the Astros has to be good, right?

The Bad: He drafted Michael Bourn and Brett Gardner back to back, so he must really like steals. When you take Adam LaRoche, you've clearly stopped caring. He's also depending on Rafael Furcal staying healthy at shortstop and can't be expecting much at catcher with Kurt Suzuki behind the plate.  This is another team that just fails to excite me.

10. DW
Summary: Things didn't start well, and they didn't end well either, but there was a solid middle.

3	Roy Halladay, Phi SP
22	Nelson Cruz, Tex OF
27	Ryan Howard, Phi 1B
46	Jose Reyes, NYM SS
51	Brian McCann, Atl C
70	Yovani Gallardo, Mil SP
75	Brian Wilson, SF RP
94	Howard Kendrick, LAA 2B
99	Casey McGehee, Mil 3B
118	Clay Buchholz, Bos SP
123	Adam Jones, Bal OF
142	Madison Bumgarner, SF SP
147	Jose Valverde, Det RP
166	Vernon Wells, LAA OF
171	C.J. Wilson, Tex SP
190	Brian Roberts, Bal 2B
195	Jake Westbrook, StL SP
214	Kyle Drabek, Tor SP
219	Justin Smoak, Sea 1B
238	Denard Span, Min OF
243	Jair Jurrjens, Atl SP

Good: Jose Reyes and Brian McCann back to back are really good picks for the fourth and fifth rounds.  Yes, Reyes is an extreme risk, but he is in a contract year and he might just explode this year.  If he's healthy, it's great, but it could still bite him in the ass.  Shortstop is a very shallow position, so having somebody with this much upside is great to have. McCann is nearly the opposite.  He is low risk.  Worst case is that he's an above average catcher, but he has the potential to be the top catcher in the league. I also like B-Rob as a good late value who can really pay off if he's healthy or you can drop him when he has yet another horrible injury. 

Bad: Roy Halladay at number three is bad.  He could be the best pitcher in the league and still be a regrettable pick at number three.  Casey McGehee doesn't excite me in any way. Brian Wilson seems like a guy who is due to regress this year, and he's already hurt which isn't a good sign to start the year. Also, the Justin Smoak pick is simply a waste of a pick.

9. Cory
Summary: Cory's an old soul, so he drafted a bunch of grizzled vets for his fantasy team.

2	Hanley Ramirez, Fla SS
23	Prince Fielder, Mil 1B
26	Jose Bautista, Tor 3B
47	Victor Martinez, Det C
50	Chris Carpenter, StL SP
71	Jered Weaver, LAA SP
74	Paul Konerko, CWS 1B
95	Curtis Granderson, NYY OF
98	Torii Hunter, LAA OF
119	Kelly Johnson, Ari 2B
122	Ted Lilly, LAD SP
143	Aubrey Huff, SF 1B
146	Daniel Hudson, Ari SP
167	Adam Lind, Tor DH
170	Bobby Abreu, LAA OF
191	Brad Lidge, Phi RP
194	Trevor Cahill, Oak SP
215	Fernando Rodney, LAA RP
218	James McDonald, Pit SP
239	Brandon McCarthy, Oak SP
242	Jorge De La Rosa, Col SP

The Good: I really like his first two picks. Hanley's one of the few five category studs, and Prince Fielder has a lot of hitting talent around him, so there's no reason he can't produce big numbers this season. Another pick I really liked was Curtis Granderson as he actually started hitting lefties last year, so if he can mash righties like he has in the past, he could put up a monster season. On the pitching side, I think James McDonald is the kind of guy you want to take a chance on late in the draft as he put up really good numbers at the end of last year, but it is still a small sample size. Maybe it works great, or maybe he's an early drop, but it's good to have the chance to find out.

The Bad: Joey Bats at 26 is not the type of chance I would want to take off of one season's work. I don't see him falling off the face of the Earth, but I also see him more at 30 home runs than the 50 he hit last year. I also don't really like the Aubrey Huff pick, because Aubrey Huff has killed me in fantasy in the past, and when I finally gave up on him, he started hitting again. This might just be me being bitter, but I have some serious issues with Huff, and I really don't think he'll put up the numbers he had last year. I'm also not high on Brad Lidge as I'm pretty sure he's thrown his arm off and it may never come back.

8. JVD
Summary: We all hate JVD. I'm glad his team will suck.

7	Troy Tulowitzki, Col SS
18	Josh Hamilton, Tex OF
31	Mike Stanton, Fla OF
42	Ichiro Suzuki, Sea OF
55	Josh Johnson, Fla SP
66	Mat Latos, SD SP
79	Kendry Morales, LAA 1B
90	Ben Zobrist, TB 2B
103	Geovany Soto, ChC C
114	Pablo Sandoval, SF 3B
127	Brett Anderson, Oak SP
138	Chris Perez, Cle RP
151	Jordan Zimmermann, Was SP
162	Tyler Colvin, ChC OF
175	Andrew Bailey, Oak RP
186	Aroldis Chapman, Cin RP
199	Ryan Raburn, Det OF
210	Michael Pineda, Sea SP
223	Derek Holland, Tex SP
234	Brandon League, Sea RP
247	Derek Lowe, Atl SP

The Good: I'm not gonna lie, I love Troy Tulowitzki.  I wish I could somehow disparage everything in this draft, because this JVD character is the punching bag of the entire league. But while we're on the good, I also really like Josh Johnson as I thought he was underrated going into this season.  Later in the draft, he made some nice picks with Geovany Soto, Pablo Sandoval, and Brett Anderson.

The Bad: Outside of their team owner being a douche, this draft completely fell apart down the stretch. Tyler Colvin?  Regression year. Aroldis Chapman? Setup man, whoopty doo. Ryan Raburn? Who? Michael Pineda? Growing pains. A lot of people will also have problems with Mike Stanton in the third round, but if you really want a guy and you don't think he'll be around later, then you go for it, and it's not like Stanton isn't loaded with potential. Also, the Latos, Morales, Zobrist streak were all questionable decisions. I'm betting against all three.  And finally, did I mention their owner is a douche?

7. Mike D
Summary: Taking a glance at this team, you'd be surprised they're ranked this low. If you knew Mike D, you wouldn't be.

6	Carlos Gonzalez, Col OF
19	Tim Lincecum, SF SP
30	Jon Lester, Bos SP
43	Buster Posey, SF C
54	Dan Haren, LAA SP
67	Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos OF
78	Francisco Liriano, Min SP
91	Carlos Marmol, ChC RP
102	Gordon Beckham, CWS 2B
115	Carlos Pena, ChC 1B
126	Carlos Quentin, CWS OF
139	Ian Desmond, Was SS
150	Ian Stewart, Col 3B
163	Edwin Encarnacion, Tor 3B
174	Manny Ramirez, TB OF
187	Ryan Dempster, ChC SP
198	Chone Figgins, Sea 2B
211	Angel Pagan, NYM OF
222	Derrek Lee, Bal 1B
235	Grady Sizemore, Cle OF
246	David Aardsma, Sea RP

The Good: I really like some of the mid-round values that he found.  Two that stand out are Gordon Beckham and Carlos Pena.  Beckham was a huge disappointment last year, but he actually started hitting well towards the end of the season.  Pena is moving to the weaker league and a hitter's ballpark, so 40 home runs is definitely a possibility.  I also like Chone Figgins and Manny Ramirez late as they are two guys who could also have bounceback years in 2011.

The Bad: Although his pitching is strong, I think Lincecum went too high. He had ups and downs last year and pitched a ton of innings last year. I can see him showing the wear of last year during this season. I'm not a big Jacoby Ellsbury fan, because he's going to have to battle for playing time. It doesn't seem like the Red Sox are exactly in love with the guy, so I could see them pulling the plug on him very early.  And on top of that, he's injury prone. Ian Desmond seemed like a desperation pick to just get some sort of a shortstop out there, and at that point I probably would have waited towards the end to just see what was left out there.  

Tomorrow, we go over the contenders now that we're done with these pretenders.

-Joe

P.S. Sad about the Bulls losing to the Sixers? This may be a few days old, but it will cheer you up.

The Truth About Jose Canseco's Boxing Controversy

Yesterday, I wrote about news reports that surfaced this weekend about a celebrity boxing match that had scheduled Jose Canseco, but instead had Ozzie Canseco show up in his place.  The match was cancelled when the promoted realized that Ozzie was smaller and did not have Jose's distinct tattoos.  At least, this was what was reported by the major news sites. 

Jose claimed that these reports were false, and the promoter, Damon Feldman, was lying to the public about what really happened this weekend.  I attempted to contact Jose by e-mail, but have yet to receive anything in return.  He did tweet that he'd be willing to subject himself to a polygraph test to expose the truth.

And just a little bit ago, I received this press release from his publicist, who I have been in contact with recently.  I have printed it out in its entirety to give people a first look at this document, as I have yet to see it published on any other sites.

JOSE CANSECO CHALLENGES BOXING PROMOTER DAMON FELDMEN TO A POLYGRAPH TEST

For interviews contact:
Nadine Christine
Euphoric Media and PR
323-863-6779
nadine@euphoricent.com

In the throws of dealing with his much beloved father death, Jose Canseco is also facing an onslaught and barrage of negative media surrounding Damon Feldman, a boxing promoter and currently on probation in Pennsylvania  for fixing fights.

On Saturday, March 26th, fans lined up at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fl. expecting to see Jose Canseco in a boxing match, when in actuality it was his brother Ozzie Canseco that came in to fight for Jose.  The media is spurning that boxing promoter Damon Feldman “didn’t know it was Ozzie and it was a bait and switch”, when in fact Feldman knew a week before that Jose had thrown his back out and wasn’t able to fight.

Jose called Feldmen to advise him that he was dealing with severe depression regarding his father’s death and had thrown his back out on his way back from Miami, where he laid his father to rest.  “There was absolutely no point and time that Feldmen wasn’t aware that Ozzie was coming in to fight for me” stated Jose.  “I have fought for Feldmen four times before and he knows exactly what I look like and who I am".  Witnesses were in the room with Jose when he called Feldmen to state that he wasn’t able to make it and that the fight should be canceled.  Feldmen then agreed with Canseco to allow his brother to come in and fight for him.

Upon tuning into the fight on ustream.com, Jose heard his name mentioned and immediately called Ozzie and asked what was going on.  At that point the Canseco brothers thought it would be best for Ozzie to leave.  As is the norm with all fighters, security assisted Ozzie out of the hotel.  When Feldmen realized what was happening, he started to spin the negative media surrounding the Canseco brothers because he knew they would be publicly humiliated if he created untrue and ridiculous stories about what truly happened that night.

After all the positive feedback and press that’s been coming around for Jose Canseco because of his participation in “Celebrity Apprentice” and all of the great charity work he has been doing lately, this has really came as a shock.  But for Jose it would seem a normal way of life in the public eye and people will continue to take advantage of negative media to secure themselves, much as Feldmen did in this case.

Canseco is calling out Feldmen on national television. “I know the truth behind what happened and if Feldmen believes his version of the story, he’ll take a polygraph and put these rumors to rest”, stated Jose.

Jose is working on his third book deal “The Truth Hurts” where he reveals so much of the pains and struggle he’s had to deal with as a baseball star and being a celebrity in general and currently in "Celebrity Apprentice".  When asked what he's up to these days, Jose says "It's about keeping it real, keeping the truth, making sure my fans are happy and giving back". 

 ************

So does this settle the matter?  Going by only a press release, it's tough to say.  It's basically one man's word against another man's word.  When taking a closer look at the other side of the situation, Jose's story starts to gain credibility. 

Although Jose is often lambasted in the media, he is a man who doesn't lie to the public to advance his public image. Damon Feldman, on the other hand, is no boy scout.  Perform a Google search on Damon Feldman, and the first story that pops up is him fixing celebrity boxing matches and promoting without a license.  To take this man's word and treat it as the gospel seems like a pretty risky proposition.

Meanwhile, Jose has a history of telling the truth, even when he knows it will hurt his public image.  Although at times, Jose seems desperate for money, the risk of this plan far outweighs the reward.  Jose seems to get a lot of bad publicity for any story involving him, and this story is no exception.  But when you take a step back and look at who you are going to believe, I think the answer is obvious: Jose is telling the truth.

-Joe

P.S. If you are tired of all the negativity towards Canseco, here is a more positive story involving the former slugger.

Jose And Ozzie Canseco Pull A Switcheroo...Or Do They?

It has been quite a while since we last checked in with Jose Canseco.  Between him putting people in their place on Celebrity Apprentice, talking shit to A-Rod, and warning Chuck Liddell that his girlfriend is a scam artist, it's tough to come up with a lot of interesting tweets for his followers.  But fear not, Canseco fans, Jose was back at it this weekend to provide entertainment for all to enjoy.

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

let's see who is smart enough to figure out what happened at the boxing match

Boxing match?  The only notable boxing match I knew about was Pacquiao vs. Mosley (because I saw the commercial 100 times this weekend), but that isn't until May.  Wait a minute...you don't think...no, he couldn't have...but maybe...was Jose Canseco in another celebrity boxing match this weekend?  Only with Jose could the answer be both yes and no.  

Jose was scheduled to appear in a celebrity boxing match this weekend in Miami.  According to "news" reports (I put those in parenthesees, because I'm not sure if you consider MSNBC, The Miami Herald, and ESPN news sources), Jose sent his twin brother Ozzie to pose as him for the celebrity boxing match.  The switch was figured out when the Jose that showed up did not have Jose's tattoos and looked smaller than normal. I hate to break it to you, boxing promoter, but these tattoos aren't real.

This promoter must be a real dumbass.

But let's say this is true, that he really sent Ozzie in his place, I would have no choice but to no longer consider him the most awesome human being around.  Instead, I will have to put him in another category, because it is unfair to compare mere human's awesomeness to Jose's.  He attempted to pull off a trick that was made famous by The Killer Bees and perfected by the Olsen Twins.  I can't even begin to put into words how awesome that is, but I know that nothing could ever compare to it.

But is it the truth?  Well, that's a little tougher to know for sure.  Let's look at the evidence.  Jose followed up with these tweets

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

is anyone out there smart enough to figure it out or are you all a bunch of hateful morons

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

how can you haters being so ignorant it's amazing

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

I am still waiting for an intelligent scenario

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

by the way e s p n is owned by major league baseball of course they are going to lie

It's clear to me that a bunch of idiots thought that these "news" stories were facts.  But it's just ignorance that would make people believe this.  Nobody could even come up with an intelligent scenario, because they are brainwashed by ESPN.  And don't get caught up with the MLB owning ESPN, because he was not speaking in literal terms.  But MLB has ESPN by the balls, so ESPN will follow MLB's plan to destroy Jose Canseco's life for exposing the truth about steroids in baseball.  And here is yet another piece of evidence.

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

Be very careful with Damon feldman who runs celebrity boxing he will not pay you if you fight for him

How would Jose know that Damon Feldman did not pay him if he wasn't even there?  The ignorant hater response would be that Ozzie could have just called Jose on his cell phone to tell him about not getting paid.  Unfortunately, that argument is unlikely.  I highly doubt Ozzie can afford a cell phone.  

And finally, Jose's most brilliant tweet of this ordeal.

@JoseCanseco Jose Canseco

just remember the media is write 20 percent of 50 percent of the time

Does this mean that the media is only right 10% of the time?  Maybe.  But more likely, it means that the media only does what one would consider writing 10% of the time.  Coming from someone that is writing his THIRD book, I think anyone who isn't a total hater will give credence to his opinion. 

If there's one thing that Jose stands for, it's the truth.  So why would he deceive people?  Can you explain that one to me, Mainstream Media?  No, you can't, because no matter how much you haters lie about him, Jose will rise above it all to show us the truth.

UPDATE: Jose's side of the story revealed.

-Joe

P.S.  I e-mailed Jose to get his side of the story.  Since we have a ton of mutual respect for each other's work, I'm sure he will try to get back to me, but things are crazy right now so he was unable to respond at the time of publication.  I will be sure to post Jose's response when he finds the time to e-mail me back.

P.P.S.  To help prove Jose's remark about the media, this may be the dumbest article I have ever read, and it is in one of the most well-respected newspapers in the country.

The Most Overrated Quarterback In The 2011 NFL Draft

Blaine Gabbert is the most overrated prospect in the entire NFL Draft.  Somehow 90% of mainstream talent evaluators have blatantly ignored the serious flaws that he has as a quarterback.  What they see is a big, strong kid who runs well and can really spin a football.  Those are all good traits for a quarterback, and I can't deny any of them.

Most evaluators believe that his shining moment came against my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes.  He was 41-57 for 434 yards.  Clearly, those are impressive numbers.  But if you watched the game and tried to evaluate him as a prospect, it was not nearly as impressive as a performance.

The majority of his passes were five-yard outs and crossing patterns where he used his receivers' speed advantage on Iowa's linebackers.  These were very easy pitch-and-catch throws that most high school quarterbacks could make.

He also showed two major flaws in the Iowa game.  He cannot read the field, and he cannot handle pressure.  All of his plays required him to read one side of the field and ideally fire the ball out of there as quickly as possible.  If that is not there, he is slow to look to the other side of the field and his first instinct is to scramble out of the pocket instead of checking out what other receivers he has available.  He also seems to get a bit of tunnel vision when throwing it to his receivers.  Against zone coverage, he will often lead his receivers into tough spots and put them in position to take big hits. 

The other big thing is that he does not handle pressure well.  The second that he feels pressure he tries to sprint at an angle that takes him backwards and towards the sideline.  When he does this, he just focuses on getting away from the defenders and completely loses track of where his receivers are.  If he manages to avoid the rush comfortably enough to look down the field again, he's usually ten yards further back, making a meaningful completion highly unlikely.  And although he has good speed, he is not especially adept at avoiding the rush, as he is not that quick, and he basically has to turn it into a straight sprint away from the defense as opposed to shuffling his feet to buy a little extra time and fire the ball down the field.

His game against Illinois provides great video evidence of what I'm talking about.

When watching Blaine Gabbert, there is one name that keeps coming to my mind.  It's a guy who was put in a very productive offense in college, much like Gabbert had at Missouri.  He put up good, but not great stats compared to other QBs in that system.  The good news is that this quarterback led his team to a Super Bowl.  The bad news is that it's Rex Grossman.

I know that anybody who likes Gabbert as a prospect would have rather had me stab their cat (Missouri Tigers, get it?), but let me explain.  The college comparisons are definitely there, and Rex Grossman was also seen as a first-round talent coming out of college.  Hence, he was drafted 22nd overall.  Most people seem to forget this, but there is such a thing as "Good Rex."  Good Rex did a very good job for the Bears in a lot of games.  But these were the games where his first option in Ron Turner's offense were open.  When that first option was not open, he went into "Fuck it, I'm throwing it deep" mode.

I basically see about the same things happening for Gabbert.  You can't tell me that this doesn't look like something Rex Grossman would do.

If he is an offense where his first look is consistently open, he will look like a pro bowler.  If not, he will have people screaming for Brian Griese to take the starting job.  I'll admit the comparison is a little on the harsh side, so if you want to call Gabbert a rich man's Rex Grossman, I won't argue against that.

While his physical attributes will make some talent evaluators salivate, I wouldn't even think about him until round two.  Could he develop into a great quarterback?  Maybe.  But I don't think it's very likely.  There are too many glaring holes in his game right now.  Calling this guy the next great QB prospect is just plain false and overlooks nearly everything that he's shown in games. 

But there's no need to fret, quarterback needing teams.  Next week, I will reveal the quarterback prospect that I feel is the most underrated in the draft.

-Joe

P.S.  Don't worry, Iowa hating readers, my underrated QB prospect is not Ricky Stanzi.

P.P.S.  In "Troy Tulowitzki is more awesome than you" news, he is allowing fans to pick out his walk-up song for next year after coming out to Party in the USA last year.  Needless to say, I sent in my suggestion of Seal's "Kiss From A Rose."

Why Everybody Hates Iowa Wrestling

Yesterday, I mentioned that the Iowa Hawkeyes are the most hated wrestling team in the nation.  For those that don't follow the sport of wrestling, you're probably wondering how a simple school from the heartland could be so hated by every other wrestling fan.  Well, for the average wrestling fan, it's super simple, Iowa is better than everybody else.  They go out and kick everybody's ass.

For people who follow wrestling a little bit closer, they might hate Iowa because they perceive Iowa as a dirty team.  It's tough to say they aren't.  They often give up points for unsportsmanlike conduct.  At Nationals, they not only gave up match points for unsportsmanlike conduct, but lost two team points for behavior from their coach and one of their wrestler's.

And if you're a hardcore wrestling fan, you probably look at Iowa as being a bunch of assholes.  If you ever watch an interview where an Iowa wrestler wins a decision, the wrestler will act as if he did terrible and say that he should have been more aggressive and gotten bonus points.  If he gets a major decision, he believes it should have been a tech fall.  If he gets a tech fall, he believes he should have pinned the guy.  And if he pins the guy, he says he should have done it quicker.  No matter what Iowa achieves, they always want more.  If a fan of another team sees an Iowa guy beat their guy, followed by the Iowa guy complaining about how he should have done better, I could see how that might irritate people. 

So Iowa wins all the time, they use questionable tactics, and winning isn't good enough for them, because they are always searching for annihilation.  The three reasons that people hate Iowa are the three reasons that I love Iowa.

The first and last reasons are easy to love, winning is awesome.  And winning big is even more awesome.  I could understand how people would compare the Hawkeyes with the Yankees where it can't be that fulfilling to win championships when it happens so frequently.  Well, there are two major differences with that argument.  The first is that the Yankees have a competitive advantage with their payroll to help them win championships.  Iowa is still just Iowa.  It's rare for Iowa to have the top recruiting class, but they win because they get wrestlers who are willing to put in the work to become champions.  The second major difference is that the World Series is the pinnacle of what you can achieve in baseball.  While the National Championship is great, at Iowa, the goal is to win an individual title at all ten weight classes.  It's incredibly unlikely to reach that goal, but every year, that is what Iowa wants, for every single starter to become a national champion.  They always want more.

With the second reason, I can understand how people see Iowa's style as somewhat "cheap" or "dirty," but it's much more simple than that, they wrestle hard until the whistle is blown.  If a guy is dumb enough to stand out of bounds waiting for a whistle, they're gonna get a hard shove if the ref doesn't blow that whistle in time.  Does Iowa have any chance of scoring in that situation?  Of course not, but Iowa is always going to be aggressive.

On top of that Iowa wrestlers literally don't know how to stall.  Iowa has lost matches in the final seconds, because they don't know how to flee like other schools teach their wrestlers to do.  There were actually two awesome examples of Iowa's disdain for defensive wrestling during the past weekend.  The first one was while Tom Brands was being interviewed about a previous match.  An Iowa wrestler (Derek St. John) was in a bad position near the edge of the mat.  The exchange went something like this:

Tom Brands:  Come on St. John.
Interviewer:  You want your wrestler to get out of bounds right here.
Tom Brands:  No, I want him to improve his position and keep wrestling.

This was not a case of the interviewer saying something dumb.  Every other school in America would want their wrestler to get out of bounds in that situation, but that isn't the Iowa way.  Iowa believes that no matter how bad of a position he is in, as long as he keeps wrestling, he should be able to get in an advantageous spot and score points.  There is no such thing as defense at Iowa; they're always looking for offense.

The second example was even more amazing.  An Iowa wrestler (Tony Ramos) was down big going into the third period.  But he did what Iowa does; he kept wrestling.  He kept taking his opponent down and letting him up.  Finally, he had tied up the match.  All he needed to do was ride out his exhausted opponent to take it to overtime.  But instead, with just 30 seconds left, Iowa told him to cut his guy loose.  With the escape point, his opponent took the lead, but Iowa always stays aggressive.  As time ticked down, his opponent did everything he could to avoid the Iowa wrestler's attempts.  And because of a generous ref who did not decide to call him for stalling, the Iowa guy lost the match.  Iowa could have easily ridden the match out and taken it to overtime, but that isn't the way Iowa wrestles.  I can understand how people would call that a stupid decision, and I really can't argue against that.  But this isn't a case of being smart or stupid, it's a case Iowa believing that their wrestler could get the win.  This time, it bit them in the ass, but it's not the Iowa way to look back; they're always looking forward, trying everything they can to score points.

My second favorite quote about Iowa wrestling (First has to go to Dan Gable's, "I shoot, I score.  He shoots, I score.") actually comes from StateCollege.com's Steve Sampsell as he tried to figure out the reason the Hawkeyes were able to surprise the top ranked Nittany Lions by defeating them in Happy Valley:

The Hawkeyes compete hard every minute. They never stop.

They’re Iowa. And you’re not.

And that's the best way to put it.  Every Iowa opponent knows that they're going to have to go through 7 minutes of hell when they face the Hawkeyes, and every Iowa wrestler knows that he's a Hawkeye, and his opponent isn't.  They're Iowa.  And you're not.

So what happens next year?

Honestly, it's probably going to be a lot of good things.  Going into the year, Iowa had only one returning starter from the previous year in this year's starting lineup.  Iowa was ranked 12 going into the season as everyone saw it as a rebuilding year.  They proceeded to go undefeated in dual meets.  They finished a disappointing third at nationals.  Yes, third is a disappointment, even in a rebuilding year.

Anybody who follows wrestling had to be astounded at the progress that the Iowa wrestlers made throughout the season.  It's a young team that is only going to get better.  Iowa will lose two wrestlers in 5th place finisher (and 7th year Senior), Luke Lofthouse as well as Aaron Janssen, who although he didn't place (Top-8 become All-Americans), wrestled incredibly hard after getting upset in his first match at Nationals.  149 was our weakest weight class this year, but that will be greatly helped with the return of Dylan Carew who tore an ACL early in the season.  Iowa also had a top recruiting class last year, and since everybody redshirts at Iowa (to give their wrestlers the best chance to win as many individual titles as possible), some of those guys should be ready to step up and contribute next year. 

It's a year away, so it'd be really tough to make an accurate prediction.  We know that Penn State is loaded for next year, but if you put a gun to my head, I guess I'll go with Iowa coming in...uh...yeah, 1st Place.  The Hawkeyes will not be the defending champs, but Iowa will right that wrong next year. 

-Joe

P.S.  I've watched this video about thirty times, and it's GLORIOUS every time.

A Rant On Rose, Rondo, Simmons, and ESPN The Magazine: Part 3

I love how Rajon Rondo is universally hated by Bulls fans. It’s partially because of the playoff series from two years ago, but people hated him even more when he was competing against Rose to be on Team USA this summer. Rose won that battle, but people still hate Rondo more despite him losing that battle. I'm guilty of this myself, but I can't help but hate Rondo. 

A lot of my hatred stems from the misconception that Rondo is an elite point guard.  He's good, but he's never been and never will be elite.  Just comparing him to Derrick Rose. the only advantage I see for Rondo is steals.  I won't even give him defense, because Rose has made huge strides, and very quietly, Rose leads all point guards in blocks (he led by 15 the last time I checked, but that was before this weekend’s games), and is only getting better.

But enough about Rondo.  We all hate him.  Let's focus on the man who matters, D-Rose.

This entire season, people have said, “Rose is the MVP so far, but we’ll see if he can keep it going through the entire season.” I would have been ecstastic had Rose kept up his same level of play through the entire season, but honestly, he hasn’t.

He’s gotten BETTER. But more on that later, let's address the haters first.

Early in the season, as good as Rose was, the advanced metrics (fancy statistics) despised Derrick Rose's play (by despise, I mean they saw him as a very good, not great player).  Despite this, I feel that advanced metrics are a very good way to judge NBA players, Since I have the tendency to nerd out when it comes to sports, I enjoy browsing through different things to see how players stack up.

With that being said, statistics in basketball will never be able to tell you the whole story, and they’ll probably never come all that close.  Everybody wants their stats to work like baseball's, but baseball is much easier than any other team sport, because the major encounter, pitcher vs. hitter is a one-on-one battle.

But no matter what advancement they make in statistics, it will never tell the whole story. Just off the top of my head, we can come up with a stat called should be assists where a person gets credit for finding an open guy even if the guy doesn't make the shot (we're going to ignore the difficulties in deciding what is an open shot). 

So say a guard drives to the hoop, a defender crashes in to help, and the guard passes it out to the guy that is now open.  Even if the defense gets away with one with a guy missing an open shot, I can guarantee they do not want to let that person get that open look again. The next time the guy doesn’t come to help on the guy driving to the hoop, maybe nobody helps, maybe somebody else helps, but that great drive and dish may have not led to immediate points, but it did lead to holes showing up in the defense and helped create better shots in the future.  With so many possibilities on every possession, there is no way for a stat to definitively tell us who is the most valuable player in the NBA. 

Back to Rose.  Even though the advanced metrics did not see his value at nearly the same level that fans did, the stats have slowly become more of a fan of Derrick Rose as the season has gone on.  And anybody who has watched the Bulls has also seen Rose grow as a player as the year has gone on.  This is why I see the advanced metrics as working as they do give us an idea of the value of players, but you still need to watch players to really know.

There’s no stat for team confidence or, even though I shutter every time I hear it, swagger. That doesn’t mean it does not exist. It’s there; it’s just not measurable. Even though I think the Bulls enjoyed playing together for the most part, this year they have confidence in the game plan which brings their play to another level. They are buying into the scheme, and that is why Tom Thibodeau was probably one of the top five signings of this past summer.

Now the Bulls have the best record in the East, and D-Rose (with help from Thibs) has this team playing at a ridiculously high level.  Although many don't think the Bulls can win a Game 7 on the road, I'm not as worried as most.  I just want the Bulls to be in the top two seeds so they don't have to face the Hawks or Knicks in the first round.  When I look at the way Rose plays, I just don't think that he'd let the moment intimidate him in any way.  He's got the killer instinct, and I can't wait for Rondo and the Celtics to be gasping for their last breath as Rose stomps on their throats (metaphorically, although literally would be awesome too).

A Rose by any other name is still NBA's MVP.

-Joe

P.S. Here is an awesome article on human mascots, not humans in mascot uniforms, but human mascots:

West Coast Rap's Love of Iowa Wrestling

Yesterday, I learned of the tragic passing of iconic rapper, Nate Dogg.  As someone who is known to regulate anybody who gets out of line, this was very tough to hear.  I needed a way to honor the West Coast Rap Scene.  Since "Regulate" is a flawless song already, I decided to turn to a different West Coast Rapper.  With today marking the start of the NCAA Wrestling Tournament, I have slightly altered (and also made it PG-13 since every rapper knows to play to their audience) Tupac's legendary rant at the end of "Hit 'Em Up" to show Mr. Shakur's love of Iowa Wrestling.  Oh, you didn't know that rappers loved Iowa Wrestling?  Well, I think this photo is indisputable evidence that they did.

Now you tell me who won
I see them, they run (ha ha)
They don't wanna see us
Whole Penn State wrestling click
Dressing up trying to be us
How the hell they gonna be Hawkeyes?
When we always on our job
We national champions
Pinning ain't fair
But somebody got to do it

Oh yeah, Arizona State (uh)
You wanna mess with us
You little young ass redshirt freshmen
Ain't one of you wrestlas missing a leg or something

You're wrestling with me, Cornell?
You wrestle around and catch a seizure or a heart-attack
You better back out of bounds
Before you get taken out of bounds

This is how we do it on our side
Any of you wrestlers from Oklahoma State that want to bring it,
Bring it.
But we ain't singing,
We bringing drama
Pin you and your mother loving mama.
We're gonna kill all you passive wrestlers.

Now when I came out, I told you it was just about Penn State.
Then everybody had to open their poll with an overrated ranking
Well this is how we gonna' do this:
Beat Cornell,
Beat Oklahoma State,
Beat Penn State as wrestlers, a football team, and in women's basketball too.
And if you want to be down with Penn State,
We'll beat you too.
Iowa State, we'll beat you too.
All you wannabe wrestlers,
We'll beat you too.

All of y'all stupid cowards,
Screw you, die slow Nittany Lions.
My single-leg  make sure all your kids don't grow.
You Ivy Leaguers can't be us or see us.
We bonus pointin Hawkeye riders.
Midwest till' we die.
Out here in Iowa,
We warned ya'
We'll take down you weak ass wrestlers.
We do our job.
You think you the best, Cael, we the undisputed best
Ain't nothing but killers
And the real wrestlers, all you Hawkeye rejects feel us.
Our streak goes from triple to four quadruple
You wrestlas laugh 'cause our team got cups under they black and gold singlets
You know how it is and we drop records they felt
You wrestlas can't feel it
We the winners
Screw 'em.
We wrestlin' pinners.

************

So yeah, I'm definitely picking the Hawkeyes to win the national title. I'm sure the Hawks plan on racking up some bonus points for their dead homies.

-Joe

P.S. I understand my slight alterations do a great job of honoring both Tupac and Iowa Wrestling.  This recording of a song does not honor Buster Posey.

A Rant On Rose, Rondo, Simmons, and ESPN The Magazine: Part 2

When I left off, I briefly discussed my hatred for Rajon Rondo.  It's unbelievable that there has ever been a debate about who is better between Rondo and Rose.  This is a ridiculous debate, and the only reason it got any traction is because of Bill Simmons. This is not meant to be disparage Simmons’ writing, as it is actually intended to be a compliment. His writing is so influential that he can create a debate about something that is not even close. And I understand why Simmons would compare Rondo and Rose.  Even though he's a millionaire (and although some hold it against him, I certainly don't), he's still a fan, and he can let his emotions get the best of him and make ridiculous statements like Rondo might be better than Rose.  Luckily, Rose has put an end to that debate this season, but we'll touch more on that tomorrow.  Today is dedicated to The Sports Guy.

If you don’t think Bill Simmons is a great writer, you’re either in denial or just jealous of him, and probably both. I’m not here to make that argument, because it would be stupid and he has such a dedicated following that I would just be wasting my breath.

Simmons has received nearly universal praise for an article that was published about a week and a half ago discussing a hypothetical situation that was meant to mirror the NFL Labor Negotiations.  I read it and went about my day, but this article kept coming up. Friends posted it on Facebook, people I follow tweeted about it, and writers mentioned it in their articles.  Everyone seemed to agree that this was brilliant work from The Sports Guy. Everyone except me. As I stated before, I like Simmons' writing, but I do think he can be hit or miss.  I chalked this up as an article that was a miss.  Maybe I'm overexposed to the labor negotiations, but I can't believe that people didn't realize the owners were being greedy. Did people really believe that anybody is currently struggling when the NFL is at the peak of its popularity? And yet, there were so many people that I respected that praised him for exposing the NFL.  Hell, I even read it again to see if I missed something, but I still can't find anything great about it.

As ridiculous as it was that people were praising him for exposing the NFL, there were others that were even more ridiculous.  Mike Lombardi of NFL.com said that Simmons proved to ESPN that he was greatly underpaid with his article when he was on the Rich Eisen Podcast.  Others have echoed this sentiment, and my jaw drops each and every time that I hear it.

To be fair to Simmons, he starts off his article with, "Take a deep breath, suspend all disbelief and walk through the following hypothetical (and admittedly ridiculous) scenario with me."  So it's not like he's actually believing that his hypothetical is a realistic possibility.  Since pointing out the ridiculousness of a hypothetical that the author admittedly called ridiculous is very meta of me, I'll make this quick.  Simmons' articles are meant to entertain more than inform.  There are many great sports writers who are enjoyable to read, so paying for Simmons' writing simply doesn't make sense. It basically has the same chance of prospering as the newspaper industry, and we all know how that's working out.

Simmons' writing is very good, but his writing gains credibility because of its accessibility. If he was not accessible by anybody with internet access, his articles would become a lot less relevant.  Would the world stop having a voice for their sports thoughts? No. Somebody, or more likely, somebodies (I do think it would be tough for one writer to initially step up and take his spot) would replace him. With these people being able to focus more on one topic, there is a good chance the writing would actually be stronger. That’s not a knock on Simmons, but it’s easier to focus on one topic and write great articles than it is to write great articles on a wide variety of subjects.

Bill Simmons is a great writer, but he has benefited much more from his affiliation with ESPN than ESPN has benefited from having him.  ESPN has the resources to give great writers opportunities and with the reach that ESPN has, they would have eventually found the voice of fans for their website.  Bill Simmons writes a lot of great articles every year, but his article on the NFL Lockout left much to be desired.  Unless, of course, you are just learning that no matter how much money some people get, they will always want more.  If that's the case, I'm honestly not sure if I should feel sorry for you or be jealous of your ignorance.  Maybe next week I can write the groundbreaking article of why people enjoy having fun.

-Joe

P.S.  I stand by a few rules when it comes to working out.  One of those rules is never buy a Fitness DVD that is being promoted with the jump splits.  Yes, Situation, that means you.

P.P.S.  For the single ladies out there, here's a stud who turns 18 in June.  And that's not months, that's years.  I kind of want him to be my best friend and get him dangerously drunk every time we go out.

A Rant On Rose, Rondo, Simmons, and ESPN The Magazine: Part 1

I will admit that I started writing today, and although I had a focused idea early on, it started going into different directions, and I decided that if I didn't break this up, nobody would be able to understand the points I was trying to make.  Since it all started when I opened the mail to see the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, that is where I will focus today.

I love sports.  I always have, and I always will.  That is what makes ESPN The Magazine so impressive.  It is a sports magazine that actually makes me like sports less. 

I decided to subscribe to ESPN The Magazine early this year when I found a Groupon for two years for like $12.  I really didn't spend that $12 for the magazine, but instead that it got me an ESPN Insider account which actually has a lot of great content that I had been frustrated by in the past since I was unable to access it.  Still, I figured that I could probably get some good toilet reading out of the magazine part of my subscription.

I was wrong.

After skimming through my first magazine and realizing that every article was either boring or just total garbage, every article since has been put in its proper place, my trash can.  A lot of people like how big of a magazine it is, for me, that just means more clutter for my garbage can. 

This only created a mild hassle for me up until this last issue.  They crossed a line this week when they came out with their “Style” issue.  I don't think I need to explain how stupid a style issue is for a sports magazine, so I'm not going to waste my breath getting into it.  The idea of the Style issue is bad enough, but the cover is what really pissed me off. 

When I looked at the cover, my thought process went something like this, “Oh my God, that looks like…no, it can’t be…fuck.  It is.”  It was Derrick Rose in classy clothing and a stupid hat.  That's all I remember, because I hope to never see that cover again.  It disgusts me.  A good cover with Derrick Rose would have been him with a knife to Rajon Rondo's neck.  Now I'm not such a psychotic fan that I want Rondo dead, but the symbolism would have been pretty badass.  I want Rondo to live a long life and stick around the NBA so Rose can metaphorically annihilate him on the basketball court. 

We'll touch a little bit more on that tomorrow, and a whole lot more later this week, but tomorrow is going to focus on ESPN's golden goose, The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons.   Don't worry Simmons lovers, I'm a fan as well, but I do have to critique some of the praise that he has recently received.  I'll leave you with that, but I promise to be back tomorrow for more ranty goodness.

-Joe

P.S.  Here is an awesome article on the most underrated foreign big man in the NBA, Omer Asik. 

P.P.S.  I can't wait to have kids so I can recreate this family photo from the Hart family:

The Most Underrated Prospects In Baseball: Part 2

Through my first year on the blog, what was the one thing that got overwhelmingly negative feedback?  Prospect analysis.  That's why I'm bringing it back this year bitches.  Luckily for the haters, undertaking an endeavor as large as analyzing all 100 of Baseball America's top prospects proved to be way too much work for a repeat performance.  So now it is time for the underrated prospects.  Today, I will wrap up everything and focus on players that I see jumping into next year's Top 100 or making an impact at the major league level.  The first underrated part can be found here.  If you missed the overrated, you can check it out here and here.


Phillippe Aumont - SP/RP - Phillies
I thought he was possibly the most impressive arm in the Midwest League when I saw him a couple years ago.  This could mean that he has regressed and has a chance to bounce back, or it could mean that my baseball scouting abilities are pathetically underdeveloped.  Neither would surprise me, and it could honestly be a little of both.  Either way, I just have a strong feeling that this is the era of the French Canadians.  Not since the Rougeau Brothers has there been this sort of dominance from French Canadian athletes.

I mean, there's Georges St. Pierre, and...well, that might be it, but that still makes it a great time for French Canadians, hence expect a bounceback year from Aumont as he takes a huge step forward and is seen as a top relief prospect.

Robinson Chirinos - C - Rays
I know that I am breaking a rule of mine in that I should never bet on a prospect who is as old as I am, but I'm a spry 26, and I feel the same is true for Chirinos.  Also, isn't it always a good idea to bet that the Cubs gave away promising talent in a trade?  I think so, and that is why I am willing to bet on Chirinos.  He may be old, but he crushed the ball in Triple-A last year with a .318/.412/.580 line.  And it's not like he was hitting in a band box, he did it Des Moines, IA, not a place known for it's thin air.  Do I think he'll be able to hit like that in the majors?  No chance, but I do think he's good enough to provide good offense for a catcher, and I'll be surprised if he doesn't see serious time at catcher with the Rays this year. 


Jason Knapp - SP - Indians
Jason Knapp does my favorite thing very well, and that's strike people out.  During his three years in the minors, he has 208 strikeouts in 156 innings pitched.  Is that pimpin?  That's so pimpin.  So why doesn't this guy get more love from the experts?  Well, he pitched under 30 innings last year after spending most of his time rehabbing from shoulder surgery.  Shoulder surgery is about the worst thing for a pitcher, because although Tommy John Surgery is serious, almost everybody comes back to at least 80% of what they once were.  With shoulder surgery, there's many guys who aren't half as good as they once were.  But I'm not a doctor, so I don't worry about trivial things like his arm could fall off with his next pitch.  Injuries happen all the time, so enjoy the fun while you can.  Maybe Knapp does get hurt again, but if he doesn't, he's got the stuff to be a great pitcher in the majors.

Max Stassi - C - Athletics
There's no hiding it, his offense wasn't very good in Low-A last year.  A line of .229/.310/.380 is never going to get you laid.  But I also wouldn't count a guy like this out.  He was seen as a first round talent by a lot of people going into the draft, but dropped to the fourth, because people worried about his bonus demands.  I see him getting much better on offense, but even saying that, I never expect him to be a top offensive catcher.  But the defense, oh the defense.  Reviews of his defense are somewhere between sensational and heavenly.  If he can hit like an average catcher, he'll be an asset.  I think he can still develop into an above average hitter.  The biggest concern are strikeouts, but he showed enough power in a tough offensive environment for me to believe there's more on the way.  And worst case scenario is he keeps striking out and offers little offensive value.  Mike Scioscia would still kill his own grandmother to start a catcher like that 140 times.

Ryan Westmoreland - OF - Red Sox
This is a guy to root for after having brain surgery last year. He’s no longer on any prospect lists, but I think he’ll make a full recovery to his top prospect level. Plus, anyone who has ever had to interact with baseball players realizes that a majority of them are at least mildly retarded. Hence, even if they scrambled some things during his brain surgery, he should still maintain his ability to play baseball at a high level.  In all seriousness, you root for a full recovery for anyone who has to go through something like that.  And it would be nice if a small market team like the Red Sox can get a top prospect back.

And so wraps up my baseball prospect breakdown for this year.  Am I a genius?  Am I a moron?  Only time will tell.

-Joe

P.S.  In "Derrick Rose Is Awesome" news, there's this: