Hey, I wonder who has the most hits of any second baseman in the league so far... Oh my god! It's Orlando Hudson. Good thing we're paying Felipe Lopez $750,000 more than you, after we let you walk due to financial restraints. Now I'll be honest, 'Lope has actually impressed me. His defense is pretty solid, he's been one of the few bright spots in this early season... but isn't it possible to imagine us in a better situation with our former clubhouse leader manning the 2nd bag?
Oh yeah, Bob Melvin was fired. Forget that just two seasons he ago won the NL Manager of the Year for squeezing everything out of his club and taking them to NL West champions. I hate this move. I understand that sometimes changes need to happen, but Melvin was the first manager fired of the year after losing Stephen Drew and Brandon Webb for the majority of the start of the season.
This move was just a way for Derrick Hall to get "his guys" in the organization. Who is the replacement? AJ Hinch, our VP of Player Development. He's 34 and his managerial resume is as long as mine. What a selection to replace a struggling young club. I was wondering how many players were older than AJ Hinch in our clubhouse... turns out just 3 players (Scott Shoenweis, Tony Clark, and Eric Byrnes) are older. Then I watched the game today, I didn't recognize anyone on our "new" coaching staff and I didn't recognize half the team. Josh Wilson at SS? Josh Whitesell at 1B? Now there are talks of demoting Chris Young to AAA and Chad Tracy, who was tearing it up early in the season but was in a mini 1-17 funk, was benched. His replacement, the aforementioned Whitesell responded by going 1 for 10 in his first few games. NICE! This is the way to motivate a struggling young team that is battling injuries. Replace the entire coaching staff and start replacing mainstays in the line up. These moves show more panic than Stan Van Gundy at the post-game buffet. Cheese doodles or Cheetos. DOODLES OR CHEETOS? AHHHHHH!
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Props to the Cardinals. I really like what Bidwell (jr) and Rod Graves are constructing here in the desert. What I like even more, however, is their no non-sense approach with player's contracts. Boldin signed a new deal in 2005 with 2 years left on his rookie deal. Dockett inked his name on the dotted line in 2006 for a 5 year extension. Now it could be said that they have out performed their extensions, but the team isn't going to continue to open its pocket books on a yearly basis. Not giving in to their demands plays a strong message to a developing team. Shut up and play. When it's your turn, you'll get paid. Just ask Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. And if money is really the issue, wait it out and go join Antonio Smith and Calvin Pace in the VIP room.
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Rumor has it the Suns are close to inking a 2-year contract extension with Alvin Gentry. The Suns still have $7 mil committed to Terry Porter over the next 2 years, so they're looking to give Gentry a reasonable figure that will come off the book with Porter. Great move by the Suns. They were decimated by injuries down the stretch and unfortunately that might've been their window. A healthy Shaq, Nash, and Grant Hill coupled with a healthy STAT and Blur on an improved bench could be too much in these playoffs. Could the Lakers bench keep up with us? Especially with our handling of Kobe on a bi-summer basis? It would've been hard to say that team wouldn't have a shot. The best news is we should have the same team back next year. The luxury of resting dinosaurs Nash, Shaq, and Hill will only play dividends next year as the triumvirate of Dragic, Amundson, and Dudley improve, not to mention the late surge of
I can't wait for next season, watching the playoffs have been pretty tough to watch. I still haven't caught a LeBron game, but right now my favorite teams to watch are the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. It's too bad the Lakers will win calls as the NBA rigs up a Kobe vs LeBron finals. Ron Artest is going bat-shit crazy (if that's not an expression, it should be, but only to describe RonRon) but the refs look at his reputation and eject him at the first sign of aggression. The NBA, where profiling happens.
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The coyotes are gonna move to Ontario? That'd suck... I guess.
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Special shout out to Sean Barton, who will never read this. Nor do I have a reason for the shout out.
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Tracks: Busta Rhymes - Genesis 2001
snake eggs bitch!
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