Crotchety-Underdog: He's definitely overdue to implode this year.

Cheerful-Underdog: He was a really pleasant surprise last year, very consistent almost all season; who's to say he can't do it again?

I don't think we're starting the season with a new young arm in the pen.

Ugh.

Ned, you already hit on 18 and drew a two. Don't hit again.

I think they just burned that money away, sigh.

Trivia: who gave up the game-winning home run to Nomar Garciaparra in the Greatest Game Ever Played (Sept. 18, 2006)?

5 - That was my point when we signed Seanez for last season.

Actually, reading the details of the contract as outlined above, I don't think this is such a big deal. Lots of money tied up to bonuses and incentives. I don't think it's guaranteed he makes the team or sticks with the team if he's terrible.

It's not the money that worries me, it's wondering how many implosions the Dodgers will endure before deciding to release him.

3
I was just about to post a blackjack analogy in a similar fashion!

Trevor Hoffman???

how many implosions the Dodgers will endure before deciding to release him

How long until he's eligible for his pension or whatever...?

My hope is that someone charges the mound against Rudy and we get to see his MMA skills.

However, if the Dodgers had brought back Mark Hendrickson, it would have been like hitting on 25.

13 "C'mon, negative four! Negative four!!... ohhhh, a jack? Damn. Okay, give me another one. C'mon, negative fourteen!...."

So long as the Dodgers are willing to release him if he sucks, it's a decent move. Having one more reliever can't hurt.

12
Speaking of which, it was nice to see Mir and Big Nog notch victories over the weekend.

Memo to D4P:

If you want to own some merchandise trumpeting the Patriots' 19-0 Undefeated season, just move to Zambia:

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080204/31069_NFL_Donates_Super_Bowl_Loser's_Gear_to_Poor_Kids.htm

Actually, getting Seanez last year was hitting a soft 18 against a face card showing and getting a 2. Bringing him back won't break the club, but why hit when you have 20?

Also, to complete the blackjack analogy, signing Juan Pierre was splitting 10s, and resigning Nomar was hitting on 13 with the dealer showing 6.

16
Yeah, things pretty much went exactly as I expected.

So unless I'm mistaken, today Stanford is ranked in the top 10 for the first time in the Trent Johnson era.

Don't know if it was mentioned, but Willy Aybar is behind bars in the Dominican.

126 139 (of the last thread) I don't doubt that the overall quality of play is higher in today's baseball than in the past, but I think that really isn't the point. The question is does the quality of play suffer compared to the quality to which today's fan has become accustomed? And I think you're right, relative to the current level, the talent pools will catches up fairly quickly after the initial quality dip.

You're also right that this shouldn't be limited to pitchers. Anytime a 2007 contender has to sign Shea Hillenbrand to start, there's clearly a position player shortage too. ;)

Say, expansion would open up two new starting CF jobs....

We have such better options than Seanez, but I guess Ned Colletti wants to play it safe & have a savvy Vet, just in case. You think McDonald will make the club as a long man kind of like Bills or what?

18 ... re-signing Nomar for two years was doubling down on 13 ...

Fixed.

11 Rudy has racked up a lot of time on major league rosters and disabled lists, so he's probably doing ok there.

Trading for Santana would have been... uh... splitting sixes three times?

21 From the news report...

"Aybar was going to battle for the third base job with great prospect Evan Longoria, but it now looks like he doesn't have a chance. The only person left to battle Longoria for the job would be Joel Guzman."

Noted without comment.

18 Now that I think about it, while splitting 10s is monumentally dumb, having 10 still a good position to be in. Maybe signing JP is more like splitting 5s.

From last thread, I like wearing my T's tight (you know cause I work out) but I have to admit when I finish eating at a restaurant or at home I have to hold my stomach in to pull it off.

Signing Juan Pierre is like surrendering in blackjack

I'm not a huge fan of Blackjack Thoughts.

I actually like to use the surrender sometimes. You got 16 against a face card, what else are you gonna do?

Twenty-one analogies may not work that well in all cases. Signing JP for five years may be more like betting the bankroll on 37 at roulette.

32 Hit. Surrender and insurance are the worst bets in blackjack

33 Russian roulette?

The analogy that best helps me understand the Juan Pierre signing is the one about signing the bad baseball player for too much money and too many years.

That one really speaks to me.

Wow. I didn't think it was possible for a film to get a score lower than 10 (out of 100) on Metacritic.com, but congratulations to the makers of Meet the Spartans, you did it! Huzzah!

If you want to see a new film in theaters this month, I suggest going to your local art house place and catch a film from another country.

LATed again. But I have to admit I first read that as Saenz signed, (or however it is spelled) and this began to depress me quite a bit. I was feeling so good about how the off season was going, and how management was really beginning to realize that we had young, cheap players to fill many of our needs until I saw this. "Lucille II given a minor league contract with invite to sping training". Rudi is a bit of a wild card, and sometimes provides remarkable help. I'm glad it's not Saenz, not that I didn't appreciate him but he is done and I would feel paranoid if management did not recognize this.
When you have a great player development system, how hard is it to realize that you should use this, and then if you have more wealth, use it to supplement that system where it will mean the most. Apparently very difficult.

Now ESPN is going to try name the Top 25 college basketball players of all time.

George Mikan is #25.

Since it's ESPN, they'll pick Michael Jordan, even though it should be Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Now that Seanez is signed we can go after Giovanni. :-)

Carrara pitches Venezuela to victory

http://tinyurl.com/2ujm7r

32 - Depends on what's left in the deck.

39 That list will undoubtedly omit Jim "Bad News" Barnes, which will cause me to omit that list from my list of legitimate lists.

I thought it was Marvin "Bad News" Barnes.

When I was a kid, we'd frequently drive through Tuckerman, Arkansas, on the way to see my oldest brother in college. I'd read the signs at the town's entrances -- "Tuckerman -- Home of Jim 'Bad News' Barnes" -- and I would get nervous every time. Not having a clue who Barnes was, I thought he might still be walking the streets of Tuckerman, looking to create more bad news.

So you're saying that Jim didn't copyright the nickname?

43 Oh, Bob. I'm talking about the real Bad News Barnes. Not the imitator.

I'm talking about the guy who averaged 29 points and 19 rebounds his senior year of college, then put up 42 and 19 in an NCAA tournament game. The guy who was the #1 overall pick in the 1964 NBA draft.

He should have applied for a trademark.

Fran Fraschilla taking a jab at his ESPN colleague Digger?

"Missouri's defense is like a Jamie Moyer pitching repertoire. Lots of junk."

Fran "Bad News" Fraschilla, you mean?

I don't see anything wrong with giving Seanez a moderately-priced deal that only pays him decently if he actually performs. If Rudy in fact can fail then I doubt it'll take management long to give him the boot. For an old guy he can still throw pretty hard and pretty often (back-to-back days and such).

Speaking of college basketball, it irks me that Kansas was able to stay ahead of UCLA in the coach's poll and almost stayed ahead of them in the AP poll. The only ranked team (at the time they played) they beat was USC back in early December, and that was by only 4 points. I have a hard time believing that anyone who saw UCLA dismantle Arizona and ASU last week doesn't think they're at least the 4th best team in the country (personally I think they're the best).

I do think Memphis is better than UCLA, but the winner of that matchup would likely be won by whomever is able to control the pace.

Also, Washington State is not the 17th best team in the country. They're just not.

"the winner would be won." Sheesh.

The Seanez signing may seem like a trivial thing to get hot and bothered about, but, really, it does bother me. Just when you think Colletti is coming around to trusting the youth, he makes it pretty clear he won't even entrust the last spot in the bullpen to a young, "unproven" pitcher. Hong-Chih Kuo has probably just been bounced out the door with this signing. And obviously Eric Hull isn't going to get even a cursory look in spring training. Regfairfield says he would rather have Seanez and Hull instead of Hull alone, and that sounds nicely inclusive, but I think that is just pretending that the presence of the former doesn't crowd the latter out of the picture.

[20,22]
Too many mediocre players are populating current MLB rosters for there to be a surplus of talent for any expansion teams.

My own observations of our local Little League and HS baseball has shown me that many of the talented local athletes have abandoned baseball for other sports like lacrosse. The population in the area has exploded, however, the larger population did not translate into expanded baseball participation. Whereas, lacrosse, soccer and football has blossomed in popularity. Granted, this is the suburban east (the east is a hotbed of lacrosse), but,
many of the youngsters that once played BB have switched to lacrosse (soccer is played in the fall).

In the urban areas of the East you will find far more basketball courts than baseball fields.

Apparently, things are different out West.

Apparently, the bench (Martinez) and the bullpen (Seanez) is beginning to resemble the 2007 team.

Brazoban, Kuo and/or Hull may be crunched by Ned's penchant for PVLs. Kuo and Brazoban are out of options. However, Torre may prefer a 12 man bullpen.

56
I believe Brazoban has an option left. He was added to the 40-man in 2004 and spent time in the minors in both 2004 & 2007. He wasn't in the minors in either 2005 or 2006.

39
Off the top of my head, I'd say Alcindor and Walton have to be 1-2 on that list.

I'd probably put Pistol Pete #3, but after that I'm grasping at straws. Chamberlain at 4? Russell? Laettner, or is that too high?

I'm saying it here with the same certainty I said that Mark Hendrickson would not be a Dodger in 2008. Ramon Martinez will not be a Dodger in 2008.

39 Maravich, Robertson, Bird. Then maybe we can talk about Alcindor.

In college basketball, you have to rank Russell ahead of Chamberlain. Russell was a dominant player on two of the greatest NCAA championship teams.

Laettner will rank high. Danny Manning will be up there.

Milton Knox, you're so close to getting on one of my lists:

http://blogs.dailynews.com/ucla/2008/02/knox_update.html

60
Forgot about Oscar.

61 If I was betting on a Big Eight player from the 80's, I would guess Tisdale before Manning.

60 Midwest bias!

65 In that case, don't forget Rick Mount.

Ummm....Julius Erving? He avereged 26 points and 20 rebounds in college.

62
Funny, because LA Times reported today that he is going to re-commit to UCLA.

In case anybody is still wondering about the t-shirt sizes, I think the shirts do run a tad small. If you're a tweener, I'd suggest going "big." I'm usually a medium but I got a large and it fits good.

68
But Charlie Weis is an offensive genius!

Anyone for Bevo Francis?

Ralph Sampson should be on a list of the ten best college players.

Putting Bevo Francis on the list makes as much sense as adding Kevin Bradshaw.

70
Good thing he can't control the weather, because that might be the biggest factor in keeping Knox.

73 Bevo had the better career. Bradshaw was at best the third best player in that game.

72
Did Ralph win while at Virginia? Don't you have to at least win a title to be on the list of best college basketball players?
Walton was the best I've seen but I never saw Alcindor play. Someone put Bird on the list but neglected Magic?

While watching the Clippers win in NY, Ralph Lawler was saying that the Lakers and Clippers are staying at the same hotel. Not only that but the Kings and Ducks are also in town. So for one night we had all 3 currently active LA teams in NY city at the same time and one very succesful Southern cousin.

My feeling sorry for Willie Aybar just went out the window. Domestic abuse? What a tool.

75 I stand corrected. Well, maybe. Anyway, the two players who I thought were better than him in that game weren't in that game. There may have still been two that were better though, not sure.

76
Nope, he did not win, which is the biggest knock on him. I still think being the three time College Player of the Year shows how good a player he was.

76
Sampson will be on the list (maybe not top 10) because of the 3 Naismith POY awards (tying Walton).

76 Oscar never won a championship. Do you eliminate him? Is Barry Bonds on the list of greatest baseball players?

Bird was the better college player. Taking Indiana State to the final game is a monumental task.

Bird over Alcindor? Even people from Indiana should know better than that.

From the smaller schools, Bill Bradley and David Robinson probably belong high on the list.

The top 10 to 15 Dodgers under age 25 doesn't seem include Abreu--am I wrong?

81 College and pros, Bird was the better player. Alcindor played on much better teams, but couldn't have done what Bird did at a small school. It's very easy to look good playing with a dynasty. That's certainly no discredit to that dynasty, he was a big part of it, but it makes the game much simpler than if you have the whole team on your back every game facing double and triple teams on every possession.

Speaking of 80s big men, Ewing will probably be on the list (3 final fours, 1 title).

Players I Think Will Make It
Lew Alcindor
Bill Walton
Bill Russell
Wilt Chamberlain
Christian Laettner
Danny Manning
Ralph Sampson
Patrick Ewing
Jerry Lucas
David Thompson
Pete Maravich
Julius Erving
Oscar Robertson
Jerry West
Hank Gathers*

*A lock to make the sentimental pick.

I'm sure I'm missing some.

Mikan is on the list, but his only championship in college was an NIT, but in 1945, that was just as prestigious as winning the NCAA. Oklahoma A&M (now OK State) won the NCAA with Bob Kurland playing center.

I'm pretty sure that in 1945 the NIT was significantly more prestigious than the NCAA. The NCAA surpassed it in the early 1950s or thereabouts.

Taking Indiana State to the final game is a great and difficult accomplishment. But Andre Miller led Utah to the final game, and I'm not nominating him. Bobby Joe Hill led Texas Western there, and I'm not nominating him either.

Bird was absolutely a great player. But to say that an essentially one-way player (offense) is better than a guy who dominated offensively AND defensively like Alcindor did -- c'mon.

Bird was by far the best defensive player on that Indiana State team also. Miller and Bobby Joe did lead there teams there. However, both those two schools had good coaches, have had other pretty good teams, and are larger basketball schools than Indiana State. What Bird did was much more than leading his team, he was his team. The closest comparison since would be David Robinson, and he couldn't manage toget near as far as Bird.

New post up top.

The 1945 NCAA Tournament was also held in Madison Square Garden.
The participants were: Oklahoma A&M, Arkansas, Oregon, Utah, Kentucky, NYU, Ohio State, and Tufts

The 1945 NIT consisted of DePaul, Bowling Green, Muhlenberg, RPI, Rhode Island, St. John's, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

DePaul actually scored 97 points in one game, which was quite an accomplishment in that era.

eric stephan u r the man for putting hank on there. my aunt ali went to lmu and she was friends with bo and hank. i used to run around the court while they shot baskets. hank even took me to tgifs once...what a sad day that was. i still get the chills watchin bo make that free throw. (via blckjack)