MY FEELINGS ABOUT THE MARK DEROSA TRADE REVEALED

I usually type my blog titles after I've finished writing the accompanying blog. Occasionally, that leads me toward the desire to add an upfront explanation for said title. Rarely do I sate that desire. I figure if my title really needs explaining, it isn't really working. However, I couldn't – in good conscience – type an all-caps title today without mentioning that Billy Mays died this weekend. It's been a tough few days to be famous.

I finally talked myself into posting/advertising my blog on facebook on Friday. I thought I'd picked an opportune time because I figured my NBA Draft blog would be a good one. It was ... meh. I probably should have waited to post it until I could read back over it Friday morning and edit it/make it make more sense. As is, it really only makes sense if you watched the draft. So, my bad. I don't know that it would have boosted my readership all that much anyhow. So far, I've seen no results. Of course, I consider "results" to mean answers to the QotD, and my sports questions have a historically limited audience.

This weekend included the first of this year's Pig Pickin' pre-parties at my dad's lake house. The point of the pre-parties is to plan the actual party, which is August 15^th this year. If you're reading this blog, you're probably invited.

On to matters at hand: the Cardinals made their second trade of the season, sending right-handed relief pitcher Chris Perez to the Indians for the versatile Mark DeRosa. I'm not exactly against the trade, but there are a number of reasons that it bothers me.

1. DeRosa is a former Cub. Considering the Cubs have Aaron Miles, the Cards and Cubs have essentially switched second basemen between last season and now, though obviously not through a direct trade. Historically, when the Cards and Cubs have swapped players, it has worked out pretty well for St. Louis, but it still just feels like my best friend shot me in the ass whenever I see a Cub in a Cards' uniform or vice versa. I'm still not over the fact that Jim Edmonds finished his career in Chicago.
   
2. DeRosa's first start for St. Louis came as an outfielder. I'm guessing/hoping that DeRosa will pretty much become the everyday third baseman, so I can't fathom why he would play in the already crowded outfield, unless the Cards are betting on a softball-esque rule change, and MLB decides to allow four outfielders instead of three. He did make a pretty good play in his leftfield start – one that Chris Duncan probably wouldn't have made – but he's still more needed at third. Again, hopefully this isn't a legitimate concern, and DeRosa will start his third-base Cardinals career tonight, but it seems like a confusing message.
   
3. The Cardinals' bullpen has been immensely inconsistent this season. Of course, Perez was part of that inconsistency, but I don't agree with weakening an already weak pen. Side note: I wouldn't be surprised to see Todd Wellemeyer as a long reliever when Kyle Lohse comes off the DL in the next couple weeks, unless Brad Thompson craps the bed in his start tonight.
   
4. This pretty much means that Cleveland's season is over. The Indians have always been my favorite AL team, and it sucks to see them struggle this much. When I was growing up, I really bonded with my Grandpa Sherrick (who lived in Ohio) over talks about the Indians, so I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Now that he's gone, I can occasionally bond with Byron over talks about the Tribe because he's a fan, too. Next time I see him, I'll make sure we cry into a beer together over the wasting of Grady Sizemore's and Victor Martinez's careers.
   

I'm still predicting good things for the Cards through this trade, but I'm no more than cautiously optimistic at this time. My threat level is yellow.

In the last couple weeks, I've been trying to put myself and the Star-News gaming blog on the radar of different game companies. (I think I pretty much stopped at Activision and EA.) So, now I get an occasional email from their PR departments announcing breaking game news. It's not very useful so far. Friday I was emailed "NFC WEST TEAM AND PLAYER RATINGS REVEALED IN MADDEN NFL 10 SEASON PREVIEW," in all caps, just like that. The point of the email was pretty much to send me a link, which anybody could theoretically find, you know, if they have the internet. I guess I missed the emails announcing "NFC SOUTH AND NFC NORTH TEAM AND PLAYER RATINGS REVEALED" because those ratings evidently predate the NFC West's. I don't know that this is exactly "news": the unveiling of the made-up video game attribute ratings of professional football players, but it's the sort of email I get nowadays. If you'd like, I'd be happy to forward them.

QotD:

What do you want to see at this year's Pig Pickin'?

My take: People I care about and a continuation of the relative good fortune we've had over the past four years. So, no rain (and no rainbows) and not too much trouble.

What Bryan’s going to do at work on Friday

Don't apply for any bank loans.

6:59

So I'm trying to start an NBA Draft blog, but I turn to ESPN to hear Brian Kenny announcing that Michael Jackson died today. Not exactly how I expected this draft to start.

7:01

Anyhow, welcome to my "live" (or maybe real-time) NBA Draft blog. We're about half an hour away from the first pick, or so I understand. Between now and then, I'm going to try to get to all of the trades that have happened in the past week, but there are six, yes SIX. And the draft hasn't even started yet. Can the T-Wolves really be done dealing? Will other teams take the Lakers' opt out route? It could be a fun night.

7:03 (I'm going to start ignoring timestamps until the draft actually starts, so I can try to get to all of the trades.)

I guess I have to start with the Shaq trade. That's all Stu Scott can talk about right now. The biggest shock for me with this trade is that the Cavs got exactly Shaq. How does that happen? Don't the Suns have any contracts they want to dump?

Ric Bucher just announced that Amar'e Stoudemire might be going to Golden State. I guess the Suns do have more contracts they want to dump. Fire sale in the desert.

Early (and unofficial) QotD:

Who gives LeBron a better chance to win it next year: Shaq or Amar'e?

My take: I'm going with Shaq here. To me, Amar'e is still a bit of an unknown quantity. Shaq is one of the 10 best players ever.

On to the Spurs/Milwaukee trade: Richard Jefferson for Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas. If the Spurs are healthy, they would now start four former All-Stars. I think they'll miss Bowen, a lot, but I think the concern was that they are never healthy. Now, they have four offensive players to shoulder the load while any of the others are in street clothes.

The Magic traded Rafer "I'm Better than Jameer Nelson" Alston and playoff standout Courtney Lee for the best dunker of all time Vince Carter. The Magic just became my guilty-pleasure favorite to win next year. I don't know how they made the Finals this year, and I'd already counted them out for next year's, but I like this move.

7:17

Halfway through the trades. Can I make it?

The Timberwolves/Wizards trade is probably the most interesting, but also the least qualifiable trade right now. I don't know that any team's future is more dependent on this night than Minnesota's.

The Hawks and Warriors swapped Acie Law (the savior) and Speedy Claxton for Jamal Crawford, who I didn't even remember went to Golden State. This isn't a particularly noteworthy trade for me, unless this somehow means that Joe Johnson is out in Atlanta (just kidding) or Golden State continues to deal, like Ric Bucher is predicting.

Finally and with a few minutes to spare, your world champion Los Angeles Lakers sold the 29^th overall pick to the New York Knicks for $3 million – just sold it. This is, so far, my favorite move of the week. This is already known as a weak draft, and the Lakers need some cash right now to keep free agents Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza. If this leads to those two staying in LA, I might start hoping for a Finals rematch right now.

7:25

I've got a few more minutes before the draft starts, so I'll take this time to ask: what the hell are the Celtics thinking? I can understand if they want to break up the Big Three. I mean, they did their job; the Celtics won a championship. But putting Rondo on the block? Really? If he sticks around, in a few years, he'll be the Big One, a la Paul Pierce for most of the '90s. He's already one of the best spite fantasy draft picks ever.

7:28

Dick Vitale is on TV talking up Ty Lawson and picking the Cavs and Spurs to go to the Finals. I guess we can't agree on everything.

7:30

Instead of the start of the draft, we get my favorite commercial on TV right now. "Let a stranger drive you home." Oh baby you, you got what I need... I'm okay with the delay if it means more of that commercial.

7:31

The NBA Draft has officially started, at least as far as ESPN is concerned. I guess draft picks=puzzle pieces.

7:32

The NBA Draft has officially started for the NBA: David Stern is finally on-stage and plugging the WNBA. And echoing a little bit. And stealing ESPN's puzzle metaphor.

7:34

Good idea Stern, tell a bunch of New Yorkers that they're a "very rowdy group."

And he's rewarded with a mix of a USA chant and Lakers booing.

7:35

The Clippers are on the clock. Why can't the NFL go to five-minute draft picks?

7:36

Somewhere, Bill Simmons is wondering why his Clippers season tickets cost so much money.

7:37

Jeff Van Gundy just called the Clippers the Lakers. Oops. Also, he's arguing that the Clippers already have too many bigs: Al Thorton, Zack Randolph, Marcus Camby, and Chris Kaman.

7:38

Did Van Gundy and Mark Jackson watch a different Zack Randolph than I did these past couple of years? He'd be the first out if I ran the Clippers. He headlined for the Jailblazers, remember?

7:39

With the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Clippers select ... Ricky Rubio.

Just kidding; they took Griffin. And now it gets interesting.

7:42

Do we really believe that the Griffin family won't move to LA?

7:44

I've always liked Mike Dunleavy, Sr. I used to like Mike Dunleavy, Jr.

7:45

Aren't we to 2 yet? What are the Grizzlies doing? It's not like the Clippers pick was a surprise; Memphis should have been planning this for a month now.

Ricky Rubio looks so much like a high schooler.

7:47

With the Thabeet pick, the Grizzlies dash any hopes of having two Spaniards in their starting lineup. In fact, they might be down to zero.

7:48

Another midway and unofficial QotD:

Better career: Thabeet or Greg Oden?

My take: I'm going with Oden because he's on a good team. I think he'll be remembered as a contributing member of a good team, but Thabeet will be forgotten as a contributing member of a bad team.

7:50

When you buy a suit that's Hasheem Thabeet-sized, does it come with a Hasheem Thabeet-sized pocket square? Or do you have to make your own out of a set of silk sheets?

7:51

Jay Bilas loves Tyreke Evans. I haven't heard anybody else love him that much.

7:52

The Thunder go with Harden; kind of a shocker. Bryan and I have talked about him as an NBA-ready player for months now. He could be second in ROY the voting. I'm still kind of surprised though.

7:54

Draft analysts always talk about every team like they have a chance to make the playoffs. The Thunder still aren't going to be a top-tier team.

7:56

We're one pick away from the T-Wolves double-dip, but Harden is answering questions about them already.

7:57

Hey, Jay Bilas like Tyreke Evans. Did you know that?

I guess the Kings do, too.

Okay, time for a T-Wolves Rubio-draft-and-trade. Maybe they can trade Rubio and Jordan Hill to the Suns for Steve Nash. It's worth asking, right?

7:59

Evans is the first PG to go in this PG-heavy draft.

I wish I could name the guy doing the post-pick interviews. I can't remember, though.

8:01

Jay Mariotti announced that the Wolves president of basketball operations is a former sportswriter on ATH the other day. Everyone else was shocked to learn that. I thought the other panelists were supposed to know their stuff.

8:03

Minnesota has four – four – first-round picks.

And the first one is...

Rubio.

8:04

I'm hoping Rubio moves before the season starts just so I can, in good conscience, play with him in NBA Live. Oh yeah, it has Pick 'Em now.

8:05

Fran Fraschilla time. Remember when he was all about some Darko?

8:06

I didn't know Wally Szczerbiak was born in Spain.

8:07

Ricky Rubio: "I'm Ricky Rubio [bitch]."

Rubio is the first player drafted to be born in the '90s. But, little-known fact, he was also the first player drafted to grow up with the internet.

8:08

Minnesota now has the last two players to be drafted exclusively for their passing ability: Rubio and Sebastian Telfair (unless you count Kevin Love).

8:10

...and Johnny Flynn? Somebody else is definitely leaving Minnesota before the night is through. Maybe the Wolves' plan is to keep trading their current players until they can sport an entire roster of rookies. I'd be down with that. They only need six or so more draft picks. I'm sure they could turn some of their current players into some second-round picks.

8:12

Austin just showed up. He's not excited about the draft coverage tonight. Just FYI.

8:13

Mark Jones. That's his name.

8:14

Ric Bucher just reported that the Wolves are keeping Flynn and Rubio. The stars are lining up. Who wants Telfair?

8:16

Austin: "Who are the Golden State Warriors?" Yeah, they're that good. Everybody in New York knows who they are: the team that drafted their favorite player, Stephen Curry.

8:19

Austin just reported that Best Buy is sold out of everything Michael Jackson.

8:21

Did David Stern just do a double-take before reading Jordan Hill's name? He just wants the Knicks to be good so badly.

8:22

Hill is the second Arizona forward that the Knicks have drafted in the last few drafts (Channing Frye).

8:24

I've always wondered: can the fans in the Garden hear the ESPN microphones? There was significantly less booing during that Jordan Hill/Mark Jones interview than I would expect if they could.

8:27

With the 9^th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Canada selects DeMar DeRozan from USC, who has four capital letters in just two names.

8:29

Mark Jones just asked DeRozan about being drafted helping out with his family's health issues. I guess moving to Canada could help out with that, too.

8:33

The Brandon Jennings experiment is over, and with pretty good results: #10 to Milwaukee.

8:34

Fran Fraschilla is like the Dick Vitale of Europe: he likes everybody.

Austin has been asleep for a few minutes now.

8:37

Mark Jackson: the Vince Carter trade sends a message that it's not about winning in New Jersey right now.

8:38

It's about Terrence Williams from the University of Louisville.

I drove through Louisville on the way to St. Louis. It's an interesting city, at least from the freeway. There's a lot of interesting architecture there.

8:39

Williams was one of the best defenders in college basketball this year.

8:41

ESPN's stat on Terrence Williams: "Carried books in a Barbie book bag in high school to be different."

The Bobcats are on the clock. How about renaming them the MJcats, now that Bob Johnson is out and Michael Jordan is pretty much the face of the franchise (other than Larry Brown).

8:45

And the Bobcats reach for Gerald Henderson from Dook University.

8:46

Henderson is the second third-team All American to be drafted in the lottery, along with Terrence Williams.

8:47

Austin awakes.

8:49

The Pacers are on the clock, and I wish Bryan was here for this.

8:50

Tyler Hansbrough goes in the lottery, and father Gene goes crazy. I guess he can probably learn a lot from Troy Murphy.

8:51

I'd heard that Hansbrough's draft stock was rising over the past few weeks, but I didn't think it had gotten this high.

I really wish Bryan could have been here for that.

8:53

Bug eyes.

8:54

Ric Bucher: the Amar'e trade can't go through until July 8.

8:55

The Suns have traded the rights to 5 of their last 7 first-round draft picks on draft day.

8:56

If the Suns selected Earl Clark, why is Brandon Jennings on stage? Maybe the Suns are working the trade angle already.

8:58

Brandon Jennings' interview was spectacular. He really impressed me. Congratulations Milwaukee.

9:00

The best draft pick of the past five years is on TV: Chris Paul. (You're welcome Charles.)

9:01

Austin Daye goes to Detroit, and Jrue Holiday might be in trouble. This is about the point where I start worrying that high-projected players don't get drafted because the teams at this point in the draft haven't looked at them much because they didn't expect them to drop this low.

9:04

Oh baby you, you got what I need... It's on the bottom TV (during an MLL game).

Austin Daye: "I've been dealing with physicalness my whole life."

9:05

Dick Vitale likes Tyler Hansbrough.

Austin (Mozingo) has lost what little interest he had in the draft. He's now watching videos on Bryan's computer in the kitchen.

9:07

The Baby Bulls are about to get a little younger.

9:08

I agree with Mark Jackson: the Bulls have to go big.

They did; they picked what I'm guessing should be the first NBA player from Wyoming: James Johnson.

9:10

Steve Kerr is back where he should be: on TV. Not necessarily because he can't GM, but just because I like him on TV.

9:11

Johnny Flynn is chatting live on ESPN's DraftCast. I guess they have other draft picks on there, too.

9:13

There goes Jrue to the Sixers, and we're done shaking hands. That's not a bad place for him to wind up, since he can probably learn behind the two Andres for a couple years before he's really needed.

9:15

Bryan's home. I guess he can stop reading this now.

Minnesota is back on the clock. Yes.

9:16

Bryan's first words through the door: "Get me a Tyler Hansbrough jersey."

9:18

Minnesota's plan evidently involves starting five rookie PGs. Ty Lawson is on his way.

9:20

Plan foiled: Lawson's going to the Nuggets for a draft pick.

9:21

Austin just announced that he won free groceries today: $11 whole dollars worth. Considering he won a "boat tote" and gift certificate from the radio the other day, he must have Linsay Jessup's horseshoe up his ass.

9:23

Hurray for Charles: two Demon Deacons in the first round. Jeff Teague goes to Atlanta to play behind Mike Bibby and pass to habitual three-point shooters Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson.

9:24

Austin is pumping the "Chocolate Rain" video now. He's not only bored; he's also starved for attention.

9:27

The Jazz picked the CAA's Eric Maynor, I suppose as a backup for Deron Williams. Bryan is hoping that this leads to the first ever appearance of a UNCW Seahawk on draft night.

9:29

ESPN just played a graphic that had a spinning "VIDEOCONFERENCING" to usher in an interview with Larry Brown. Videoconferencing: the answer to all of your sports needs.

9:31

Douchebag on a Pizza Hut commercial: "We just feasted for five bucks." I don't know that I've hated any random college student more since the first day of last semester when I hated about 50 random college students for making me teach class at 8 in the morning.

9:33

The formerly Charlotte Hornets select Darren Collison, who bought his own ticket to the draft, Julius Hodge-style.

9:35

ESPN isn't projecting Oden as one of the Trailblazers starters.

9:37

We just had a two-minute conversation about those Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" commercials. We decided they're good, but they're missing something. Our answer: Burt Reynolds.

9:39

Austin just asked for a report on his nap. Thanks to this blog, I gave him a pretty accurate one.

Portland picks some foreign guy. Two Spanish players in the first round this year. Evidently this guy isn't playing in the NBA any time soon.

9:40

I'm just talking 'bout Shaq.

I wonder what Shaq sounds like when he's just woke up. It's probably something like what he sounds like all the time.

9:42

Shaq outs himself as a telepath. He and LeBron haven't talked since the trade, but they've had many "mental conversations."

9:43

Shaq's going to be voted onto every All-Star team from now until his retirement, just in case it's his last year.

9:44

Austin: "I wonder where he [Michael Jackson] had the heart attack."

Bryan: "His heart."

Great, but asshole answer Bryan.

The Kings are picking again: the Israeli. Omri Casspi.

9:45

Fran Fraschilla just said "They better have some good falafel in Sacramento." He's winning my heart tonight.

9:46

I feel like the Mavericks have drafted well lately. They're on the clock.

By the way, the NBA 2K series got Kobe, and NBA Live got Dwight Howard, but they're boosting that star power with Mos Def on their commercials.

9:49

Mark Cuban selects B.J. Mullens from THE Ohio State University. I guess, good for him. Not a lot of big men in this draft. Like zero.

9:50

Side note: last night we were watching King of the Hill, and Dale decided to show off his dance moves. His best move – by far – involved holding his left leg with his hand at about knee height and jumping over that thigh with his right leg. Afterwards, Bryan decided to try it. He pretty much landed on his face. Ozzie immediately came to his aid though.

9:53

The Thunder pick another guy who bought his own ticket to the draft. A Frenchman, which gives us another chance for some Fran Fraschilla, who compared this pick, Rodrique Beaubois, to Barbosa, "except that Barbosa isn't a point guard."

9:55

Ric Bucher is my favorite in this coverage so far. He just announced that Mullens and Beaubois have been traded for each other. That's right, #25 was just traded for #24. Talk about an exercise in futility.

9:57

Bilas' best available are Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, both Pittsburgh players. Does Jamie Dixon have NBA enemies or something? Why aren't these guys getting drafted?

9:58

Speaking of that, Chicago is on the clock and Blair is exactly who I would expect them to take.

9:59

I was wrong. They went with Taj Gibson from USC.

10:05

I spent the last five minutes looking for this link that I had to use earlier. In the interim, the Grizzlies picked DeMare Carroll from Mizzou.

10:07

Minnesota is back on the clock, and their draft room is scouring to find out who the best PG left in the draft is. I'm guessing Toney Douglas from Florida State.

10:08

Three picks left in the first, then I'm titling, QotDing, and posting this behemoth.

10:11

David Stern: "Hi there." Awesome.

And then, the T-Wolves picked Wayne Ellington. Also awesome. They also picked Rashad McCants in the first round of the 2005 draft.

10:16

The Lakers/Knicks picked Toney Douglas, the third third-team All American to go in the first round. Can Sam Young make it? (The fifth would be Sherron Collins who didn't declare.)

10:19

The most fun team in the NBA is on the clock.

10:23

The Cavs select Christian Eyenga from the Congo, who also bought his own ticket.

Austin: "I didn't even think that was a possibility."

QotD:

Winner of the draft/first round?

My take: I'd like to say Minnesota. They got Rubio at a good spot and had four picks, but I really like what Chicago did with their two picks. They got athletic, big guys who could have an immediate impact in that carousel Bulls lineup. Third place would have gone to the Lakers, except that Andy Katz just reported that the supposed $3 million that LA was getting has been transformed into a second round pick in 2011 and "cash considerations."

Second (official) QotD:

Loser of the draft/first round?

My take: Detroit. I think Austin Daye could have used another year or two at Gonzaga. I'm not sure that he should have gone so high this year.

There's no way I'm reading back through and editing this. Please excuse any typos.

It’s pronounced POO-holes

Finally, a trade in the F League, between Matthew and me:

RR dropped Pat Burrell, TB to W
RR traded Alex Rodriguez, NYY to SHER
RR traded B.J. Upton, TB to SHER
SHER traded Nick Swisher, NYY to RR
SHER traded Chipper Jones, Atl to RR
SHER traded Hunter Pence, Hou to RR

I traded for A-Rod for two reasons:

1. Ours is a power league, and A-Rod can produce power numbers. (I'm not so sure about Upton, though.)
   
2. I know Bryan wants him, and I might just be flipping him, so to speak.
   

Fantasy trading is almost like a high; now that I've made one, I want to make others. I'm still trying to get Pujols from Jackling, but I doubt it's happening.

King Albert had a monster game on Sunday to net Tony La Russa his 2,500 MLB victory. The Cards have probably averaged about 1.2 bases-loaded ABs per game over the past week or so, but it's only led to two grand slams, one from Pujols in that Sunday game and one from Ludwick on Friday. If Jackling would come up off of Pujols, I could have owned both. Mwahahaha. If only...

Last night's bases-loaded AB only led to two runs on a Pujols single, but the real story was Joel Pineiro's gem on the mound. He threw his second CG shutout of the season, giving up only two hits, one in the 9^th. Pineiro had two hits and scored the first and only necessary run himself. That's a pretty useful game from him.

It turned out to be a bad day to be a New York baseball fan considering the Yanks got blanked, too. Chien-Ming Wang may be hopeless at this point (0-6, 11.20 ERA, .392 BAA). This was probably a leading reason that Matthew was so eager to make a trade, considering he drafted Wang and Dice-K (1-5, 8.23 ERA, .378 BAA).

I reviewed Prototype yesterday for the PCG, as it's occasionally known. I probably gave it the best review it's gotten, considering the average press review is 7.8, an equivalent of a C+, and I compared it to some of the most influential games of the past decade.

I think I'm going to trade in my Friday blog for a live NBA draft blog tomorrow night. I'll get to the recent trades then.

QotD:

Can there be a fair fantasy trade involving Albert Pujols?

My take: Yes, if I'm getting him. My latest offer was Jimmy Rollins, Jonathan Papelbon, and Roy Halladay for Pujols and Felix Hernandez. I don't think it matters now, but I would have taken C.C. Sabathia instead of King Felix, which might make it a little more equitable.

Separation of Missouri state

This might be another abbreviated blog entry. I'm finally able to put my Wiimote down, but now I'm absolutely hooked on Prototype, which I got from the paper yesterday. To quote Bender, it's fun on a bun.

In other video game news, here's some news for Austin. And here's some news for Bryan and Matthew. As for me, I suppose I'm more interested in the news for Bryan and Matthew.

Sportscenter has been airing this video of Wade Boggs all morning. (Hannah Storm mentions that it will be immortalized on YouTube, which makes that link much more awesome.) Boggs argues that steroid users don't belong in the Hall of Fame or at least should be relegated to some separate (but perhaps equal)* wing of their own. I've kind of waffled on the question of whether steroid users belong in the Hall, though I've usually leaned towards yes. For some reason, Boggs' comments really solidified my stance.

One thing that I really remember from the now infamous congressional hearing on steroids in baseball is that almost all of the doctors at the hearing agreed that steroids don't really help that much on a baseball field. The reasoning, I suppose, was that arguing against the benefits of steroids would further deter young athletes from "juicing," which seemed to be one of the primary goals of the hearing. Well, it worked on me, and to this day, I don't really believe that steroids help baseball players all that much. Maybe I'm naïve about this. I don't know.

However, even if steroids help a lot, I still don't think MLB can just ignore a whole era of potential Hall of Famers. Mark McGwire and even Sammy Sosa belong in the Hall of Fame, and Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens will. Thanks to Boggs, I'm completely sold on that statement now.

*Eva Mendes used this term (separate but equal) on Conan last night to describe the men's and women's quarters of some Korean spa that she and Liv Tyler want to take Conan to. First of all, Conan promised to film it, so I hope that actually happens. Also, separate is never equal.

Yesterday sucked for my baseball world. The Cardinals lost to the Tigers, even though it convinced Detroit to bench one of its former All-Stars. And the Tar Heels season ended in disappointing fashion. The Heels set all sorts of College World Series records in the last four years, but have exactly zero titles to show for it. Not cool.

The Cardinals start a series against their supposed rivals the KC Royals today. Matthew and I went to two KC/StL games last year. They were actually more fun than I expected considering the Royals were just awful last season. I'm sure it wasn't like Cards/Cubs, but it was still fun.

QotD:

Do you read my blog?

My take: Most of the time I read through it to edit and check for typos, but other times, I don't.

My blog is no longer fit

Despite the overwhelming support for combining the Matthew's and my blogs, I'm holding off for now. One of the reasons that I wanted to join our blogs was that I could then selfless self-promote my blog under the guise of promoting Matthew's blog. I feel weird promoting my own blog. I guess I'm too humble (and proud of it). But I might try anyhow, you know, to beef up the readership.

I finally convinced myself to buy Wii Fit w/ balance board yesterday. I also picked up EA Sports Active. My goal is to become fit or at least active. I'm also hoping that developers come up with some good uses for the balance board. So far, I've seen boxing and snowboarding games, mostly. As of now, I'm not exactly optimistic.

My Wii is now overflowing with games for me to play. It needs a five-disc changer, at least. Beyond Fit and Active, I still haven't played all that much Grand Slam Tennis, Tiger Woods 10 finally arrived at my doorstep with my second Wii Motion Plus in tow, I never really finished Punch-Out!!!, and I had a hell of a time playing/reviewing The Munchables.

I think my blogging is suffering as a result. The problem is that my lust for video games is often ravenous if not entirely overpowering.

That Munchables review was one of the harder reviews I've had to write. You should read (or at least skim) it before reading any more of this because, otherwise, my next comment won't make any sense.

Did you read it yet?

How about now?

The review was hard for me to write because I couldn't come up with a PC way to say that my character took a shit on his boss. There's just not a good way to say that. By the way, I scoured the internet for pictures of those poop-shaped Legendary Orbs; they don't exist. It's too bad. I wish I could show the public what they look like.

The Tar Heel baseball team rocked Southern Miss yesterday to stay alive in the College World Series. The Heels tied the all-time record for hits in a CWS game with 23.

QotD:

Under what circumstances should you poop on your boss/mentor?

My take: The Munchables, for one. Or, if you are also like a boss and your boss sues you for sexual harassment.

One Shining Moment

Wait, that's college.

Yesterday had potential to be a great day in sports, at least for me: UNC/ASU, Cardinals/Indians, and what turned out to be the clinching game of the NBA Finals.

But then, the Tar Heels lost in the tenth, the Cardinals got three hits against Cliff Lee, and the Lakers/Magic game was about as exciting as a Nicholas Sparks movie.

Phil Jackson now has to be considered the best NBA coach of all time, considering he's won more championships than any professional coach ever. Even so, there's no way to ignore the fact that he did so with at least one of the top ten players ever on all of his winning teams. He still did it. It's not like he took steroids or anything. I don't think Jackson's legacy is tarnished for having talent, which seems to be a semi-popular argument.

As for Kobe, I didn't realize that this was his first Finals MVP award. I'd argue that Trevor Ariza, Derek Fisher, and Lamar Odom all played (relatively) better than Kobe, meaning that those three played better than they usually do, whereas Kobe played about average for Kobe. It's pretty amazing, though, when your average play is better than 99% of the world's best play. So, I guess he deserved the MVP.

In between the UNC game and the Cardinals and Lakers games yesterday, I watched Get Smart, the movie not the show. I really liked the show, but I didn't really have great expectations for the film. Thanks to my low expectations, the movie actually far surpassed them. It was actually really funny.

Matthew finally got around to posting that story I promised. You should read it.

QotD:

Am I jumping the gun in naming Shaq, Kobe, and MJ as three of the top ten NBAers of all time?

My take: No. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.

I think it was the fourth of July

I'm writing a rare Saturday blog because I have stuff to say but couldn't get to it yesterday because my day was kind of busy – at least by my standards. I met my dad at his restaurant around 11:45. Then, I drove home to Wilmington, stopping at the Star-News to pick up The Munchables. Yeah, I'm excited about playing that. When I finally got back to my house (after 10 days away), our house had fleas, like it was a living animal. Bryan had already flea bombed the house, but we still had to clean up. By the time I was done with that, it was night, and then I went to bed. So no time for blogging.

The main reason I'm writing a Saturday blog is because I feel the need to at least mention that Futurama is returning from its oft-disturbed grave. Futurama is definitely in my top ten shows of all time, so I was visibly excited the last time that it was resurrected as four straight-to-DVD films, all of which I own. But then the movies weren't fantastic, and I was kind of let down. I'm hoping Futurama has a trajectory similar to that of The Simpsons, which clearly peaked years ago, probably when they employed a future The Tonight Show host as a measly writer. For the middle part of this decade, though, The Simpsons has been sub-par, especially considering it then had to compete with shows like Futurama, King of the Hill, and Family Guy. I think The Simpsons has experienced something of a renaissance, though, in the past couple of years, including the movie that lived up to what looked like insurmountable hype. My hope for the future Futurama episodes is that they also reach or at least near the standards that the show's original run set.

For those of you who either haven't read my thesis or barely read my thesis, you probably didn't get to the Futurama reference that I included. I'm going to put it here because, well, I love Futurama:

In an episode of the animated TV series Futurama, the Planet Express crew uses a what-if machine to see hypothetical situations. Delivery boy Philip Fry asks the machine: what if life were more like a video game? In the process of this hypothetical story arc, Fry is gobbled up by a Pac-Man-esque Dr. Zoidberg. Leela, the captain of the crew, says, "Oh my god! He ate Fry! Fry is dead." But Fry slides in from off-screen and responds, "It's OK. I had another guy" ("Anthology"). Another-guy-ism is a common component of video games. In arcade games, players are often forced to buy extra "lives" with extra quarters, so in that sense it is purely an economic decision made by the game designers. Some games make players earn extra lives with tasks, like gaining points or opening treasure chests, thereby rewarding skill or just simple curiosity. But other games just give players extra "lives" or somehow create mechanisms for the player's character to cheat death so the game experience can continue even if the character falls off of a cliff, is shot in the head, or otherwise experiences the sting of mortality. CoD4 is one of those games.

Speaking of my writing, I've posted a review of Grand Slam Tennis on the Port City Gamers blog, or whatever it's called. The review is less than glowing, and after one game with Bryan back in Wilmington, it may have been too glowing.

By the way, I'm giving the most important QotD of all time about a week to simmer to see if I get any more response. *Ahem* Jenny...

But by next Wednesday, I/you will have made a final decision.

QotD:

Most annoying bug, which includes insects, arachnids, assholes, etc.?

My take: Gnats, not to be confused with Nats, who are by no means pesky.

Wonder Twin powers activated?

After more than a week-long hiatus, there's a lot to get to today: NBA Finals, E3 news, a St. Louis trip including Cardinals' news, and what might turn out to be the most important QotD of all time.

If playoff series don't really start until the home team loses, then I guess there's no reason to watch either the Stanley Cup Finals or the NBA Finals. I guess you could watch the NBA Finals if you like bad officiating or Kobe Bryant.

One late-game play caught my eye/mind during last night's game. It was right after Lamar Odom saved the ball from going out of bounds with about a minute and a half left. Either Derek Fisher or Trevor Ariza caught the ball at about the three-point line. This is where the late-game rulebook came into play: Hedo Turkoglu pretty much bear hugged whichever Laker it was with the ball, but the refs didn't call a foul, in my estimation, because the Lakers weren't winning at the time. It was exactly the sort of touch foul that every NBA team uses to send winning teams to the free throw line to extend games. Only, the Lakers weren't the winning team at the time. At any rate, this Lakers/Magic series has turned out to be better than I expected.

This blog probably won't be very organized.

E3 was full of previews for games that have already been announced. A lot of the presentations were just updates. EA Sports showed a watchable Xbox 360 demo of a game that already has a playable demo on Xbox Live and previewed a game that was shipping within 10 days of the conference. The new Madden will have an online franchise mode, which could be awesome if I had 31 friends who play or if they allow smaller leagues with computer-controlled teams included.

Nintendo announced new games in a number of classic franchises, like Metroid, Zelda, and Mario Galaxy, some of which I care about. But they were pretty much just announcements, other than the Metroid trailer, which just reminded me why I don't play Metroid games.

The Microsoft press conference was evidently about Project Natal, and it's probably had the biggest ripple effect of the conference. I often compare the video game industry to the movie industry, considering they have similar assets and, presumably, similar goals. In that light, the Wii was like the first successful movie in a particular genre; it's Le Voyage Dans la Lune for sci-fi or Shrek for animated, G-rated movies with PG-13 jokes. Now that the relative success of the Wii is well established, all the other game makers are attacking exploding moon men with umbrellas and masking sexual innuendos with cartoon donkeys. Now we just wait for the video game equivalents of Star Wars and The Incredibles. It's only a matter of time.

[Page break]

I'd say I had an appropriate amount of fun on my St. Louis trip, if not more. For some reason, my cousins have really cool friends, so I was always with good company.

We went to the first two games of the Cardinals' abysmal series against the Rockies, after which the Cards had securely lost their first-place status.

The first game started out really well: Adam Wainwright only gave up two through six. But then the seventh started. The bullpen came in and gave up nine runs, including six by Dennys Reyes and Jason Motte, neither of whom recorded a single out. (Motte also lost last night's game without recording an out.) Then we got to see the MLB debut of Jess Todd, who at least got some guys out to end the inning. The top of the seventh probably lasted 30+ minutes and took a severe toll on some of our fellow bleacher-mates, but I'll leave that whole story for Matthew's blog.

The Saturday game was also bad for St. Louis, which was, in turn, bad for me. I decided to pick up Kentucky Colonel Todd Wellemeyer in the fantasy league, so I'd have something else to root for, besides a Cardinals' win and/or something other than a blowout. It worked out well because I was facing Matthew last week, so I got to remind him of how many points each of Wellemeyer's season-high six Ks were worth in our matchup. But then Wellemeyer gave up six through seven and got the loss, so that didn't work out as well. I still whooped Matthew, though, especially after Roy Halladay's Sunday gem. Unfortunately, Matthew was already on his way home to Texas before that game was final, so I had to call him on the phone to gloat about his fantasy team's utter destruction.

My St. Louis trip was also, in part, about the graduation of my cousin Emily (Dunn) and her/our friends Katie and Jessica. I probably said this about a million times while I was there, but congratulations again to all three of them. I suppose I should also congratulate my other cousin Emily (Sherrick), who probably (officially) graduated sometime in the near past, and Charles' brother Patrick, who graduated Thursday. I think Jenny graduates at some point this month, but not from high school.

This St. Louis trip also afforded me the chance to drive my grandpa's car, at one point through this:

(Not the golf ball.)

QotD:

As you probably know, Matthew, a.k.a. stat boy, started his own blog a little over a month ago. Matthew and I have discussed combining our blogging powers into one über-blog that would include, but probably not contain, both of our thoughts. (Max Kellerman wanted too much money.) There are both benefits and problems with this plan, but I won't mention any here to avoid any pollution of my readers' (pronounced Bryan's) opinions.

At any rate, the QotD is:

Should Matthew and I combine our blogs?

My take: If the ayes have it...

Editor's note: Matthew is currently homeless as he waits out a period between leases, so his access to the internets may be limited, in which case, this decision might rest on the shoulders of one Bryan Sherrick. Can he handle the pressure of this decision and the intense boredom of Buies Creek all at one time? We'll find out.

To be fair: “The Daily BISdom” isn’t “daily”

Not much sports news today. Since last we spoke, the Magic finished off the Cavs in a pretty definitive fashion. LeBron was evidently a pretty poor sport about the whole thing, but that's only because he's a "winner." Except that he lost and still acted like a loser afterwards. So, where does that leave us?

Jameer Nelson is looking to return for the Finals. Considering how easily the Magic dispatched the Cavs without him, his return would make them pretty much unstoppable, right? Right?

Yeah, so really, not much sports news.

I have plenty of movie news though. Bryan and I watched two movies this weekend: X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Neither was fantastic, but one was significantly better than the other.

I've been reading a lot of old Marvel comics online, and I'm starting to see how so-called fanboys could get so upset about the different plot moves that the different movies have made. I'm not necessarily upset by the differences, though. There are some great stories in Marvel history, but some of them are uber-complicated and rely on years of canonical information that don't really fit into a few movies stretched over half a decade. I'm not a big fan of arguments based on "canons" anyhow. Strict canons have a tendency stifle creativity, which I consider a negative for creative works, like comics or film. Just because the movies are establishing their own canon that is separate from the comics' doesn't necessarily make the comics' canon somehow negated. It just means that we now have both. Again, one may be better than the other.

One of the weirder things about the Wolverine movie is the inclusion of a number of pointless shots. Do we really need to see Wolverine driving to work as a lumberjack from two different angles? Do we really need to see him looking up a staircase that he's about to climb after we've already established that he has to get to the roof of the building? Are Wolverine fans not intelligent enough to figure out that Wolverine might take stairs up to the top of a building? I guess maybe it's important from a character development standpoint to show that Wolverine would prefer six flights of stairs over the elevator when people's lives are at stake. We all know that Wolverine doesn't play by the rules, unless that rule is: "In case of emergency, use the stairs."

Bryan and I decided it might be worth watching last night's MTV Movie Awards, mostly because Andy Samberg hosted. Samberg didn't disappoint, but the rest of the show was incredibly (maybe purposefully) awkward and not that entertaining. Other than the handful of awards that were given out and the few musical acts, the show acted mostly like a movie trailer release party, with exclusive (until they hit the internet) looks at the new Harry Potter, Twilight (blood-curdling scream), and Transformer movies. At least they didn't play any music videos. It'd be really out of character for MTV to actually air something that they promise.

In one of the more relevant moments (to my age group) of the night, Ben Stiller won the "Generation Award." During his acceptance speech, MTV showed a shot of Will Ferrell either as a way of mocking the potentially more important actor or possibly as a sort of apology, as in, "We're sorry Will, but Ben Stiller used to work for us, so we kind of had to go with him."

I'll be traveling for the next couple weeks, mostly to St. Louis, so blogging may become erratic. But, E3 starts today, so I'll probably try to get a post in about that at some point. Right now I'm just trying to watch it. It's streaming on IGN and live on G4, but my IGN feed keeps "stalling" (a rather appropriate but underused term for the internet), and my Time Warner Cable pretty much murders G4's watchability. At this point I'm trying to watch G4's internet feed of the Microsoft press conference. I'm so glad I own a TV and pay for digital cable just so I can watch TV on my computer. TWC: worst company ever.

QotD (from MTV's Movie Awards):

Movie of the year?

1. Twilight (blood-curdling scream)
   
2. The Dark Knight
   
3. High School Musical Three: Junior er... Senior Year
   
4. Iron Man
   
5. Slumdog Millionaire
   
6. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull
   (Just kidding. This wasn't an option. It probably would have won though.)
   

My take: Well, I've seen two of them, and I liked The Dark Knight more than Iron Man.

MTV's viewers: Twilight (blood-curdling scream)