Happy Thanksgiving
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving hoping you will have an enjoyable feast with your friends and relatives. Enjoy!
A few comments regarding sports so that I may forget for a few minutes what is happening in the world today. I shake when I see so many prophecies being fulfilled right in front of my eyes.
NFL
I am sure very few of you watched the Jacksonville - Tennessee NFL game Thursday which was in direct competition with the Warriors. I did not recognize the Jaguars with their gold uninforms with a kind of brown trim that covered the stomach of the players. It was almost the color of the football which would make it easier to run the pistol offense because the ball could be hidden much easier. I can't believe the NFL allows a team to have such an advantage. Oh yes, I can the NFL continually proves a person doesn't have to be smart to make it in this world. Just look at their commissioner.
Don't know why but I caught part of the Bills Jets game last week. The Bill were dressed in all red and the Jets in all green. Game should have been played on Christmas Day.
The Warriors
Down by 23 to the Clippers considered by some one of the better teams in the NBA the boys from Oakland rallied to win. They might give people a heart attack if this continues. The Warriors play exciting and entertaing basketball but it's too bad these games don't count and are just a preparation for the season that really beings in late March.
The Giants
Some comments and thoughts on what I have read.
The Giants signed Kyle Banks who had impressed me when he played for the Padres a few years ago. I am told he is a poor outfielder but can hit for power which Bochy loves. He can also play first base and with Belt's continual bad luck he could be a very valuable addition.
I wasn't surprised when the Giants let Aoki become a free agent. He doesn't fit in the
Giants lineup. They need a hitter that drives the ball like Byrd rather then a hitter that beats out ground balls to shortstop. Immediately the media had the Giants looking for a left fielder. If this is true will they make the same mistake they have made in the past two years? Remember eight second basemen before they called up Panic from their farm system and he was the answer. Then last year they suffered with McGehee at third until they realized they had the answer in Duffy. Will they sign an left fielder and then later discover that Parker is their answer in left field. Parker showed he has power but also hit .347 in his short time with the team,.
Cepedes is also mentioned as being a Giant. When he was with Detroit last year before being traded to the Mets I thought that the Orange and Black might has a chance to sign him. Then he hit a stride and was a leader in the Mets drive to the National League pennant. I believe he priced himself out of the Giants range.
Everybody knows the Giants need pitching. Signing Leake would be a great start. Samardzija could be a real help but they might have to give up a first round draft choice and that might be too steep a price to pay.
The 49ers
No comment is necessary. I wish their new quarterback luck. Just tell me where to send flowers.
Christmas Party
If you happen to be making your annual visit to Disneyland around December 13 stop in and join the party. This may be our last because of my wife's severe COPD. I am not sure why we are hosting one this year except that our friends kept saying, "You're going to have your party aren't you? How could we resist.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Winter Plans
Giants
If the Giants do not sign two starting pitchers that can give them seven innings most games they will not be a contender next year. This will be very competitive and not easy to do since it seems about 80% of major league teams have the same need. It would be nice to start with signing of Mike Leake. If they don't look for them to get beat out in trying to sign other pitchers just like last year. However I don't blame the Giants for having a lid on how much they can pay a pitcher. They are already paying Cain $20 million (that's $10 million a win over the last two seasons) and they just dumped Lincecum $17 million so hopefully they have learned their lesson the hard way
The Giants own evaluation program ranks Pagan last in fielding in the major leagues. That is enough reason to dump him but you know what? No what! There are 10 million reasons to keep him. I have heard they might try and trade him. Good luck! I did hear one rumor that a American League team would take Pagan if the Giants threw in Bumgarner to complete the deal.
I believe Bruce Bochy played close to an outfield he would love in the last week of the season when he started Bryd in left, Parker in center and Williamson in right with the idea that Pence would be in right next year. Too expensive for a team now worth billions. So look for Aoki, Pagan and Pence health permitting to be starting next April for the Giants. It really doesn't matter who plays the outfield if the Giants don't pick up at least two starters.
The big 2015 story was that injuries killed any chance the Giants catching the Dodgers. The truth is that the Giants were never considered a real threat. Thanks to a great season by Crawford the surprise development of Duffy and Panic proving he wasn't a one year fluke the Giants managed to make a race out of it until September.
It will be an interesting fall and winter season.
The 49ers
I think most of us knew down deep that the 49ers were going to have a tough season. But little did we realize that how awful they would be. The great #7 has been benched and his replacement will be running for his life next week because of the well known fact the OL is the worst in the NFL. Re-building starts at the top but I am afraid York will not sell his prize toy. Even his uncle Eddie went through growing pains when he hired Joe Thomas to run the team in the late 1970's before he wised up and gave the field operations over to Bill Walsh. It would be miracle if we could give Bill an encore. Maybe York should look to Stanford like his uncle did.
I remember making the comment in this blog that Kaepernick was wasting his time in Arizona this last spring trying to learn to be a drop back passer. I also mentioned that I didn't understand why the 49ers even brought TE Vernon Davis back. He wanted more money last year, did not get it and played like it. Davis is now with Denver.
I have now lost complete interest in the NFL. The TV was very quiet last Sunday.
The Warriors
I thought the Warriors would have to struggle little in the beginning of the season. But with all the talk in the communications media that Warriors didn't deserve to win last year etc that seems to have given them plenty of motivation. Actually they have been too hot. It's a long season take it easy.
College Football
Many wonder why the Athletic Director at USC Pat Hayden has not been fired. His record of selecting football and basketball coaches certainly warrants it. Pat is too respected in the community however look for him to resign in the near future because of health issues. My contact at Oxford has informed me because Hayden was a Rhodes Scholar the school has added a new course on how to hire coaches.
Stanford is certainly the surprise team with a exciting running back #5 leading the way. He certainly knows how to follow his blockers. I remember his father being a great receiver for the Denver Broncos.
If the Giants do not sign two starting pitchers that can give them seven innings most games they will not be a contender next year. This will be very competitive and not easy to do since it seems about 80% of major league teams have the same need. It would be nice to start with signing of Mike Leake. If they don't look for them to get beat out in trying to sign other pitchers just like last year. However I don't blame the Giants for having a lid on how much they can pay a pitcher. They are already paying Cain $20 million (that's $10 million a win over the last two seasons) and they just dumped Lincecum $17 million so hopefully they have learned their lesson the hard way
The Giants own evaluation program ranks Pagan last in fielding in the major leagues. That is enough reason to dump him but you know what? No what! There are 10 million reasons to keep him. I have heard they might try and trade him. Good luck! I did hear one rumor that a American League team would take Pagan if the Giants threw in Bumgarner to complete the deal.
I believe Bruce Bochy played close to an outfield he would love in the last week of the season when he started Bryd in left, Parker in center and Williamson in right with the idea that Pence would be in right next year. Too expensive for a team now worth billions. So look for Aoki, Pagan and Pence health permitting to be starting next April for the Giants. It really doesn't matter who plays the outfield if the Giants don't pick up at least two starters.
The big 2015 story was that injuries killed any chance the Giants catching the Dodgers. The truth is that the Giants were never considered a real threat. Thanks to a great season by Crawford the surprise development of Duffy and Panic proving he wasn't a one year fluke the Giants managed to make a race out of it until September.
It will be an interesting fall and winter season.
The 49ers
I think most of us knew down deep that the 49ers were going to have a tough season. But little did we realize that how awful they would be. The great #7 has been benched and his replacement will be running for his life next week because of the well known fact the OL is the worst in the NFL. Re-building starts at the top but I am afraid York will not sell his prize toy. Even his uncle Eddie went through growing pains when he hired Joe Thomas to run the team in the late 1970's before he wised up and gave the field operations over to Bill Walsh. It would be miracle if we could give Bill an encore. Maybe York should look to Stanford like his uncle did.
I remember making the comment in this blog that Kaepernick was wasting his time in Arizona this last spring trying to learn to be a drop back passer. I also mentioned that I didn't understand why the 49ers even brought TE Vernon Davis back. He wanted more money last year, did not get it and played like it. Davis is now with Denver.
I have now lost complete interest in the NFL. The TV was very quiet last Sunday.
The Warriors
I thought the Warriors would have to struggle little in the beginning of the season. But with all the talk in the communications media that Warriors didn't deserve to win last year etc that seems to have given them plenty of motivation. Actually they have been too hot. It's a long season take it easy.
College Football
Many wonder why the Athletic Director at USC Pat Hayden has not been fired. His record of selecting football and basketball coaches certainly warrants it. Pat is too respected in the community however look for him to resign in the near future because of health issues. My contact at Oxford has informed me because Hayden was a Rhodes Scholar the school has added a new course on how to hire coaches.
Stanford is certainly the surprise team with a exciting running back #5 leading the way. He certainly knows how to follow his blockers. I remember his father being a great receiver for the Denver Broncos.
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