Analysis of a disaster: Meet the 2012 Red Sox club-house trouble makers

One of the first things that basically dragged me into the World of loving the Boston Red Sox was the superb level of in-depth journalism around the team. I remember sitting on a beach in Cape Cod in ’93 reading about Ken Ryan’s fastball and Johnny Val’s potential and devouring it all hungrily. Nothing has changed, although the out-put from the 'Knights of the keyboard' (as Teddy Ballgame dubbed them) might be a bit more negative the last couple of seasons in particular.

The scribes are still as incisive, however, none more so than the Globe’s Pete Abrahams, who really gets dug in to his task as beat writer to the Sox. There is a really interesting, short and yet illuminating piece by him in the Globe online today, in which he praises several players for being a pleasure to deal with. Basically he breaks the clubhouse down into three parts. Those who were a pleasure to deal with, a secondary level who he makes a point of saying were also easy to deal with, and then a pointed few who he doesn’t mention at all.

Mr Abrahams obviously has to be careful about who he chastises for being difficult to deal with, assuming they are back next season and assuming he is covering the Red Sox in 2013. However, it can’t be ignored that he named so many players and left a small number out in the cold as it were.

You be the judge.

Abrahams’ first group;

‘’But Ortiz, Pedroia, Ross, Aviles, Melancon, Will Middlebrooks, Clay Buchholz, Andrew Bailey, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Felix Doubront, Franklin Morales, and Scott Atchison were especially patient and friendly.’’

Then the second tier:

‘’So were Rich Hill, Andrew Miller, Aaron Cook, Craig Breslow, and Daniel Bard.’’

Now, for those absent from the list.  Do we assume these individuals were impossible to deal with? Do we assume they were the opposite of the above players, in other-words, impatient and unfriendly?

Notable absentees from Pete’s list of those above are;
Alfredo Aceves, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Vincent Padilla, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jose Iglesias, James Loney, Ryan Lavarnway, Daniel Nava and Scott Podsednik.

You can excuse Dice-K on the basis that even now he seems a fish out of water in America. For whatever reason, he just hasn’t fitted in. Iglesias, Loney, Nava, Podsednik and Lavarnway can all be excused also as short-timers and rookies and so forth.

That leaves a short-list of Aceves, Ellsbury, Lester and Padilla.

In effect, the most embedded and detailed Red Sox beat writer has isolated and nominated Aceves, Ellsbury, Lester and Padilla as the most difficult players to deal with in 2012, the least patient and the least friendly. Aceves and Padilla are no shock. Their toxic behaviour means they might have a hard time getting another job in baseball, let alone the Red Sox.

Lester is a tough one to swallow. Before this season he has always been a pillar of the Red Sox community. To see him isolated as one of the problems is both shocking and sad. Whatever is going on in that young man’s mind, you can only hope he figures it out and returns to being an ace on the mound, and in the Boston club-house too.

Ellsbury’s exclusion from the good list, and inclusion in our bas list, is a complete head scratcher. Did he just not get on with the writer? Or was he actually a club-house cancer, as is basically suggested. It is very hard to tell from afar, however it would appear he certainly rubbed at least one writer up the wrong way, enough to be sent a sack of coal as opposed to making the ‘nice-list’.

What we can take from this most of all is, the Red Sox club-house had plenty of good apples, a few bad ones, and that Pete Abrahams is a pretty ballsy writer, willing to (basically) come out and identify those very same bad apples.

One thing is sure, that 2012 Red Sox season could not end soon enough.

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How the US sports media is taking the Ryder Cup loss (clue: not very well)

Well, well, well. Would you look at this. There is cowardly, and then there is downright pathetic. Over the course of a magical Sunday yesterday, the European Ryder Cup team pulled off one of the greatest, most dramatic, come-back victories in team sports history. On Saturday night, despite Ian Poulter’s animated dramatics, most considered Europe completely down and out. The bookmakers had USA restrictive 1/5 favorites, with Europe available to back anywhere between 6 and 10 to 1. Come Sunday night, and Europe had hauled the USA all the way back in, to the point that Tiger Woods pathetic miss on the 18th meant Europe not only tied the US and retained the title, they won the tournament outright 14 ½ to 13 ½ .

A spectacular come-back for the ages, and, you would assume, headline news, right?

Visiting the US sporting media main pages today, it is very interesting to note that the US’s sports journalists appear to have run, scampered to the hills, their proverbial tails firmly between their legs. Is it embarrassment? Shame? Or just undignified, cowardly journalism? Instead of correctly acclaiming or at the very least tipping their caps to such a sensational come-back victory, the US sports media has simply avoided the topic of the Ryder Cup like the plague.

It should be noted strongly most US players have been class acts since their shocking defeat. Take for example Bubba Watson.

The media? Not so much.

Let’s have a look around at the usual suspects.

ESPN has barely a mention. A tiny single line buried on the 'headlines' feed announcing demurely 'Europe snags shocking Ryder Cup win' with as much gusto as someone selling life insurance door to door. NASCAR, college football, the NFL and baseball take all the neon lights. NASCAR, yes, that sport where everyone turns left constantly until someone is declared a winner.

The New York Times allows a tiny insert photo amongst the MLB and NFL action, with a soft headline saying, ‘Europe Retains Ryder Cup’. That’s something like saying ‘The Godfather is a movie’ or ‘The Lafayette Steak in Tante Zoes in Temple Bar is OK’.

You have to scroll down a couple of times on the Washington Post to find anything to do with the Ryder Cup, and when you find it, let’s just say it isn’t worth all the scrolling. It is buried deeper than a pro Obama article on FOX news. Here’s a screen shot of their front page, before scrolling down. There’s fat burning ads, RG3, MLB and regional NCAA action. The Washington Post would have you believe The Ryder Cup did not happen this weekend just passed!

The Boston Globe has plenty on the Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox, and another one of those tiny little insert pen-pictures on the Ryder Cup, so popular with mainstream American Sporting media today, as it apparently hides its embarrassment from the rest of the World.

Perhaps the prevailing image that will define the US sporting media’s participation at the Ryder Cup, will be ESPN’s Rick Reilly, who reportedly earns $3 million a year, sleeping soundly in the press box during the tournament.

US sporting media, wake up, stand up and be counted, show some dignity. The Ryder Cup come-back yesterday was a sensational sporting story, nay, a fantastical human story. Get your collective heads out of your hands, pull your heads out of the sand, and stop snoring on the job.

Show some respect and give the Ryder Cup and the famous European victory it’s dues.

Or else we’ll send this guy round.

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The curious story of Harry Potter and the Dublin minor team

No, this is not another installment of the popular JK Rowling book, or movie. This is even odder. You may have noticed pictures of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe celebrating with the Dublin GAA Minor (Junior) team doing the rounds on the net last night and thought to yourself, ‘Nah, that’s not Harry Potter! He’s too small, and besides, what would he be doing drinking with the Dubs?!’

The crazy thing is, it’s all true!

Taking a jab-step back for a second, a little context. On Sunday 23rd ‘The Dubs’ as they are affectionately known captured their first minor title since 1984 beating neighbours Meath by 14 points to 8. Naturally the celebration lasted a while, until the small hours in fact. Let’s turn to Dublin player Niall Walsh who wrote on his Facebook page: "Walkin down Grafton Street round 3ish bump into Harry Potter head gone lookin for the party, get few pics, get our wands out for quick leak then into a taxi to Capt David Byrnes for the after-sesh."

Beautifully put.


We think that translates to; ''We were walking down Grafton Street at  3 am in the morning when we chanced upon movie star Daniel Radcliffe who was looking for a party in which to be part of. We took pictures with the young man and then urinated on the street. We then took a taxi to a late night party in the home of our team Captain, a Mr David Byrne''

Radcliffe apparently hit it off with the boys and joined them for the house party, and if you take a peek at our headline snap (click on it to view it in it's entire glory) you will note the clock indicates the party was a Lionel Ritchie joint, as in, all night long. Radcliffe is in Ireland filming a movie, and as you can see from the below snaps, apparently is enjoying his time on the Emerald Isle.

Click individual snaps to enlarge. 

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The NFL replacement referees didn't lose the game last night: M.D. Jennings did.

Is there a more vilified role currently in modern society than the NFL replacement referees? Green Bay and New England NFL fans hate the replacement referees. Reggie Bush hates them, Drew Brees hates them. Paul Ryan hates the replacement referees. Your Grandmother probably hates the replacement referees. NFL referee costumes are going to take on a whole new meaning this Halloween. Perhaps it is time to take a short step backwards though and at least ask a few questions about this furor, before we go tar and feathering anyone.

First, that big play last night. In case you missed it, Golden Tate of the Seahawks, challenged Green Bay defensive back M. D. Jennings for the ball on the final, hail Mary type heave into the end-zone. Both players appeared to have a grip on the ball and the referees invoked the NFL rule that basically a ‘tie’ like that goes to the offensive player. You can argue the finer details until the cows come home, however, I would contend that Jennings caused much of this issue by not playing his position properly.

Any good defensive back will tell you that the correct play in that situation is not to try and catch the ball, but to slap, slam, slice the ball to the ground. Knock it down, deflect it, spike it, whatever. Just don’t try to catch it. Try to catch it in traffic like that, and complications arise, such as last night.

If Jennings did his job, if he had slapped the ball away instead of trying to catch it, we probably wouldn’t even be talking about this today. The game would have ended, and the Packers would have gone home, presumably, happy.

Instead, everyone is jumping gleefully on the ‘slam the replacement refs’ bandwagon.

Reggie Bush, that great intellect, posted on Twitter that the “refs single-handedly blew this one.” Well, actually Reggie, no, the refs made a judgement call on a poor play by Jennings, in my view. Jennings put them in that situation. Drew Brees, the New Orleans quarterback, wrote that “this is NOT the league we’re supposed to represent.” Love the capitalization, Drew, now, does this mean you will no longer be eulogizing about the bans handed down on Saints players who were proven to be trying to injure other players, or will you be keeping that up too?

My personal favorite has to be Republican Vice Presidential hopeful Paul Ryan, who has slithered onto this subject with all the class of a greasy snake. Ryan is trying his best to link the replacement refs with Obama, 9/11 and the Loch Ness Monster. In interviews the last 24 hours he is claiming to be a Packers fan, warbling;  "My blood is green and gold." Considering he is flip-flopping like a dead fish on most issues I guess we shouldn’t be shocked he was waving a Pittsburgh Steelers' "Terrible Towel" during a Pennsylvania campaign event in August. Classic Ryan.

I think we all need to calm down a little. I am not comfortable with the labeling of the NFL replacement referees as ‘scabs’. They are just a bunch of dudes who are trying to make a temporary living off of refereeing football games. Your beef should not be with them. Unless of course you think there should be no NFL games until the real referees return. Let’s all tone it down a notch, shall we? M.D. Jennings made a fundamentally poor defensive play last night, and should bear the brunt of the Green Bay frustrations. The referees who are working the game right now are doing their best. The simple fact is that without them there would be no NFL right now.

Have a think about that for a second. Is that what you want?

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Five reasons New England Patriot fans don’t need to jump into the Charles River (yet)

New England's QB Tom Brady

Nothing like a third game of the season loss to get the Boston sporting media frothing at the mouth. Visiting any New England publication today is something akin to a quick trip to a particularly sadistic dentist. You would be forgiven for locking all the doors, pulling down all the blinds, crawling into bed and pulling the covers over your head after reading some of the negative muck being trawled out today about the Patriots tough 30-31 loss to the Ravens last night. Look, a loss is a loss, and nobody felt it more than me. Any life time Patriot fan was bound to feel as if a big fat guy had just landed a hard right to the stomach after that ‘did it go over, didn’t it?’ field goal ending. For the record, most logical types are saying, yes, it went over.

We could sit here all day, knocking back Sammy Adams and bashing it all out, piece by piece, as to what went wrong. However, ‘From The Bleachers’ is a glass-half-full’ kind of place. So, take a break from the monotonous deluge of negative vibes in the usual Boston sporting online media entities, and come enjoy five reasons last night wasn’t that big a deal, really.

Five reasons not to go jumping off any bridges as a Patriots fan

1. Two minute perfection
2. Brady
3. Julian Edelman
4. Patriots were right in it to win it
5. Wicked Wes

Two minute perfection
The two minute drill the Patriots ran at the end of the first half was a thing of beauty. Given the time by the foolish Ravens, Brady marched the troops down the field and grabbed what at the time seemed like a crucial touchdown with a beautiful, sharp pass that harkened back to Brady bullets of yesteryear.

Brady
The Patriot’s trigger man looked great. Simple as that. Rumours of his demise have been greatly exaggerated, on the evidence on show here. Brady hocked up 335 yards passing completing a healthy 28 of 41. He spread the ball around well and looked sharp and in command. Look, the Patriots just went into Baltimore, the self-appointed greatest defence ever, or whatever, and Brady and his buddies just slapped them in the face with 30 points. Not a lot of NFL football teams have or will do that.

Julian Edelman
Edelman was action man on the night, doing some good things (the touchdown before half time) and some bad (a completely rubbish offensive pass interference call). He was an energizer bunny on the night and this augers well for his impact down the road. Edelman is just a baller, and a positive impact type of player. The kid is absolutely fearless.

Patriots were right in it to win it
Once again, a little context here people. Baltimore are no Miami. They are a good, tough, talented football team. They were at home, they had the officials in their back pockets largely, and they had a crowd baying for Patriot blood. They were hungry for revenge for various Patriot wins down the years, and they had momentum too, coming into the game as one of the bookies favourites to win it all this season. In context, the Patriots losing on a last second field goal, is actually a fine result. Whilst there is no reason to celebrate, there is also no reason to go getting all depressed and down about it, either. Plenty of teams will go into Baltimore and come out sternly whipped, with their tails between their legs. The Patriots, firmly, didn’t, and have their pride, their roster and their Superbowl chances intact today.

Wicked Wes
Yes, after two games of the season, plenty of Muppets were ready to toss Welker to the wolves. Maybe it is time for everyone to calm down and perhaps Welker isn’t washed up just yet. For your approval, last night’s key Welker related statistics, the little dynamo caught eight passes for a whopping 142 yards. I think he will fit in just fine.

In summary, to quote a Boston Globe favourite Chad Finn;

‘This team is going to be fine’

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President Tebow? Backup NFL QB has eyes on public office

President Tebow. Has a ring to it, you have to admit. As we approach the November election you can only imagine Republican party workers dreamily wishing Tim Tebow had announced his intentions to some day chase the political game earlier, so they could, you know, have a fighting chance against President Obama (now a restrictive 1/4 with most bookies to win the race).

You have to imagine media savvy Tebow might actually navigate the tricky waters otherwise known as The Campaign trail a little better than current Republican 'hopeful' Mitt Romney. As The Mitt hit the fan over the course of the last ten days of Romney PR disasters, Tebow is grinding away happily as the NY Jets backup, always saying the right things, never looking like a disgruntled employee and handling the media, it has to be said, beautifully. Tebow and the Republican party are a match made in heaven. The lefty in arm and not in political stance could hold office as a Republican whilst remaining a (self confessed) virgin and yet still screwing women all over America (like his potential future colleague Paul Ryan, who has voted against women getting equal pay to men).

Here's the quote from an ESPN interview that has Republican party followers dreaming of better days;

Q: With your popularity, especially in Florida, would you ever consider running for political office after you're done with football? 
A: I haven't ruled it out. Whatever avenue I feel like I can make a difference in, I'd love to do. I haven't ruled out anything like that. It won't be anytime soon in my future, but it'll be something I'll at least look at and consider one day.

I haven't ruled it out. Republicans, there is hope. To paraphrase Yoda and to quote Emily Dickinson; ''There is another sky''

 

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NFL week three picks

Mitt Romney had a brutal week. Stephen Gostowski had a terrible week. Kelvin Davis had a pretty awful week. From The Bleachers NFL tipster Mac had a nightmare week two, and hopes to bounce back in style this coming week three with some solid picks, particularly in his ‘Finest Four’ selections (in which he is still a healthy 5-3 against the spread). Mitt, Stephen, Kelvin and Mac have been walking around all week spouting sporting cliché to all who would listen, remember it is a marathon not a sprint, and so forth! In terms of the NFL, it is early days yet, and Mac is hoping to still hit his target of 60% for the season, starting with a big bounce-back in week three. Hop on for the ride!

Season to date

• Last week against the spread: 4-10-2
• Overall record against the spread: 12-20-2
• Finest Four against the spread last week: 1-3
• Finest Four against the spread overall: 5-3
• Winning percentage: 37.5%
• The finest four percentage: 62.5%

The finest four.
Four picks to boost your bankroll

The Game: Tampa Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys
Current line: Dallas -9
The Science: Whoever anointed Dallas with a 9 point handicap must have missed both their incredibly inept showing in Seattle and also Tampa’s near-thing against the Giants. Once again, too many points! Going to make this an upset special too, with Tampa getting hotter every week.
The Score: Tampa 35 Dallas 33
The Pick: Tampa +9

The Game: Detroit Lions at Tennessee Titans
Current line: Detroit -3.5
The Science: The Lions might force some serious changes in Tennessee after the wake of this potential drubbing. The Lions have the defence to completely stifle Tennessee’s brutal (this far) offence whilst their offence is ready to explode on someone. Tennessee are great candidates.
The Score: Detroit 38 Tennessee 16
The Pick: Detroit -3.5

The Game: Cincinnati Bengals at Washington Redskins
Current line: Washington -3
The Science: The ‘Skins had a `15 point lead last week, only to make some silly mistakes and squander it. You can bet your Robert Griffin the Third rookie card they won’t make that mistake again. The Bengals win over Cleveland, by comparison, is about as valuable as a Ryan Leaf rookie card.
The Score: Cincinnati 20 Washington 34
The Pick: Washington -3

The Game: Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers
Current line: San Diego -3
The Science: The Chargers come up against the first decent defence they have faced thus far, results are predictable.
The Score: Atlanta 24 San Diego 20
The Pick: Atlanta +3

The rest!

• Carolina -2.5
• St Louise +9
• Buffalo -3
• Indianapolis -3
• New York -1
• Minnesota +6.5
• Kansas +9
• Arizona +3.5
• Denver +1
• Pittsburgh -4
• New England +3
• Green Bay -3

Good luck and as always, enjoy the games!

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