Pro Golf's Pro Golf friend's fan blogs

I read an interesting little piece over at the Dallas Morning News' Cowboys Blog in which Cowboy's Wide Receiver Roy Williams say's he is unclear what his role is here in Dallas.

"I do not know what my role is" Williams said. "I'm just trying to help this team win, whether it's catching the ball, whether it's blocking downfield, whether it's whatever the game is calling for. My role is to ... make plays, whether it's in the run or pass game, I'm guessing."

You just said what your role is SUPPOSE to be!  Your role is to make plays and help out the TEAM!  T.O. Junior??  This is what I hate about professional athletes.  A lot of them are prima donna's that only think about themselves.  Now, I didn't say that they are all like that, but there are more than we would like to see.

Continue reading "Roy Williams is unclear what his role is?"

Yesterday was supposed to be a day of celebration; the Yankees officially clinched the AL East division title, Joe Girardi's has his first ever playoff birth, and the Yankees achieved their 100th victory. While champagne and beer was sprayed about the Yankess clubhouse after their 4-2 victory over division rival, the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees reality did not set in until today. Nothing has been accomplished when your the Yankees and you have made the playoffs.

Just a week ago, I wrote about how the Yanks had huge rotation decisions to be made, and those decisions were made easier after this Yankees sweep of the Sox, as Burnett, Sabathia and Pettite have all looked incredibly good. Super. The Yankees line-up continues to mash, with Hideki Matsui playing his best baseball in years, A-Rod looking healthy and Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Jonny Damon and Mark Texiera all adding exclamation points on some of the best years of their respective careers. Awesome. Jeter and Texeira are both MVP candidates, Rivera and Sabathia both will be in the Cy Young mix. Great. But who cares? 

Continue reading "The Yankees Clinch the AL EAST...and earn nothing yet."

Monday Morning Moneyball: Week 2- Big Apple Stars Are Born!

Welcome to Monday Morning Moneyball! Week 2 provided us with two New York tales of triumph that not only bucked old trends, but also may have unveiled the dawn of a new quarterback era in green and wide receiver tandem in blue. We start with the J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS! All week, media outlets all over the country have been replaying Rex Ryan’s message to the Jets season ticket holders. 70 seconds of fanfare and propaganda from Ryan begged for support over and beyond the norm from the Jets faithful, and his message was reiterated by Kerry Rhodes and several other Jets players, and the message was simple: We can beat the Patriots. That they did, 16-9, showing off their Baltimore style dominant defense that Ryan has brought over from the Raven dynasty. While I’ll delve into New England’s deficiencies in my Money Bites below, praise needs to be given to Mark Sanchez for his 2nd consecutive strong performance. While his numbers weren’t gaudy (14 of 22, 163 yards with 1 TD, 0 Int), his 101.1 passer rating is indicative of his efficient performance. Sanchez did everything Ryan and the Jets could ask of him in his rookie season. He stayed away from risky unnecessary throws, threw for a 65% completion percentage in the second half and executed on big plays down the stretch, including the go-ahead touchdown strike to Dustin Keller. Watch out young QB society, Tom Brady, and everyone else in the AFC, if Sanchez keeps up this act, the Jets will be a team to be reckoned with come January.

Continue reading "Monday Morning Moneyball: Week 2- Big Apple Stars Are Born!"

The New York Yankees have cruised through the 2009 baseball regular season, destroying teams with their 9 slugger deep line-up that includes not one player having a bad year. While every hitter is having varying degrees of success, not one man in that line-up is performing below their norms (save for mighty A-Rod, who's injury has slowed him down a bit to the tune of only 26 homers and 80+ RBI's). The bullpen has also been stellar, with Mariano Rivera looking as spry as he did in 1996, and with Phil Hughes redefining his 2009 season in the ilk of that very same roie Rivera held in '96- the gutsy set-up man that becomes a dominating extension of the closer. The defense has improved mightily too, especially around the infield, where Derek Jeter has revived his defensive career by extending his lateral range and improving his arm strength. Robinson Cano has looked interested for the first time in the field since his rookie season and Mark Texeira has done wonders for everyone, displaying why he is considered a defensive elite (you can tell Don Mattingly was his favorite player growing up, his range and glove work are superb). 

Continue reading "Joe Girardi- Let the Force Be With You or Else."

It is the time of the year where we bid adieu to our Sunday trips to the local outlet malls and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Where, as men, we stop our tofu and salad diets in the name of our loved ones who are repulsed by our manly guts, and turn the grill up to happiness. No more flavored waters, playing cards with the in-laws or going to the zoo with your kids- no, my fellow men, it is Football season. It is the dawning of imported German sausage links, cheap-hardcore domestic manly beers (ok, maybe Light beers, let's be honest, we are a little fat), and the most destructive hard hitting American game filling our heads with fantasy stats, eye-popping hits, and hope for a glorious triumph.

We now must switch gears and fight together as a unit to fend off fancy soaps to focus on Tom Brady's leg! Will he march his Patriots back to the promise land and back in to the leagues elite, or will his revamped defense and spotty offensive line be too many set-backs for one mere myth of a man to overcome? Just say no to hummus and no salt crackers, and instead dig into a gooey, loaded, heart attack inducing, plate of nachos while pondering Michael Vick's role with the chic Super Bowl pick Philly Eagles. Will all his prison rust, PITA stress, and obviously distracting presence be too much for the often disrespected Captain Donovan McNabb to overcome. Will McNabb's ribs, the arrival of Jeff Garcia, the forced nature that Vick's wildcat wet dream possibilities be too much to juggle for Andy Reid- who's real concern should be if he can keep Brian Westbrook healthy against an NFC East which boasts three of the best defensive fronts in the game? I need another Nacho...

Continue reading "Fall Springs Eternal- It is once again time to be a man- the NFL is Here!"

After last week's Barclays, an analyst said something along the lines of "another week, another surprise winner in this year of the underdog."  What I would have said, and what he probably wanted to say, was: "another week, another random guy wins a big PGA Tour event in this year of the disappointing finish."  For the 3rd week in a row (and what seems like the millionth time this year) a little-known player won a big tournament (PGA=Yang, Wyndham=Ryan Moore, Barclays=Heath Slocum).  But does anyone really think these guys will be consistent winners?  Let's take Y.E. Yang for instance.  Yang took down Tiger at the PGA this summer.  He didn't just edge Tiger out, he beat him soundly.  Only minutes after winning the tournament Yang was already saying that he didn't want a rematch! 

Continue reading "The year of the disappointing winner: Heath Slocum wins the Barclays over Tiger Woods"

In the National League, the elongated double switch shows again why pitching statistics are quite poorly attributed.  A traditional double switch involves the manager inserting a position player into the game  for the current pitcher and a new pitcher for a position player--typically one who just made an out, so that the new pitcher won't be batting for nearly a full trip through the lineup.

However, this same basic maneuver can also occur by simply pinch-hitting for the pitcher while on offense and then placing the pitcher in for whichever player makes the last out of the inning.  If the team takes the lead (and subsequently does not lose it), the just-substituted-for pitcher gets credited with the win.

The problem is this: if this scenario occurs before the 5th inning, the starting pitcher cannot get the win, so it'll almost certainly be the next guy who pitches that will get the win.  But given that a position player is the opne who was inserted for the pitcher, why wouldn't

Continue reading "More Thoughts on MLB Pitching Statistics"

Why aren't the Knicks doing something to better themselves this offseason?

Seriously.

The organization is so far up their butts looking into the 2010 season that they seem to care less about what is going on this year. Sure, they might be making all the right moves to give LeBron James the most money that is available to a player, but regardless of money, why would James leave when he won't have very many options around him.

He wants money, but more than anything, he wants a ring. And if he wins the 2009 NBA Championship, you better believe that he will not be leaving Cleveland.

Then what? Project LeBron becomes a failure. Tracy McGrady? I'm sure he would love to play in New York, but at the stage of his career, he wants a ring. Plus, didn't he flirt with the idea that he may retire once his contract is up?

Continue reading "What are the Knicks doing?!?!"

Here'e another quirky entry into the "Win" category:  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4318608.  If we used Team pitching statistics, that win would simply go to the Nationals pitching staff, which clearly it should have.

Also, I wonder what the rules are concerning rosters resuming suspended games.  What if the whole team was replaced in the interim?  That team would have a distinct advantage in bench players and pitchers available over the other team.  And what if Hanrahan had been traded to the Astros?  Could he have come into the game in the bottom half, given up the winning run, and earned both the win and the loss?  This one deserves some thought. 

Continue reading "Another Reason Why MLB Needs Team Pitching Statistics"

As the Brewers wrap up a series against the Cardinals and Tony LaRussa's peculiar lineup strategy, I thought it might be worth thinking about what would make certain lineups advantageous.  LaRussa has been hitting the pitcher in the 8th spot, with a position player hitting behind him in the 9th slot, for several years now.  Why?

Well, the aim is to have more men on base for the likes of Pujols as the game progresses.  This seems like a worthy goal, but I think what I'd like to see is a small study done on the benefits of simply getting Pujols (or any elite hitter) more plate appearances rather than trying to put runners on in front of him.  For instance, let's assume that over the course of a season, each slot in the lineup has 20 more plate appearances than the slot below it.  (That is, slot 1 has 20 more PA than slot 2, and slot 2 has 20 more PA than slot 3, etc.)   Then one way to gain more offense is simply to hit Pujols leadoff: he'll have 40 more PA than he does from the 3-hole.  He currently has about 360 PA and 31 HR, so he homers about every 12 PA.  If we round down, we're talking about adding 3 HR to his season simply by giving him more plate appearances.

Continue reading "The Merits of the Pitcher Hitting 8th"