Running Blog of No. 1 LSU Tigers vs. No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide

12:55 p.m. Ah, Saturday. It’s a beautifully sunny, crisp day here in Long Beach, California. 61 degrees and clear right now. I was planning to see a movie today, but that didn’t happen. So I’ve spent it reading some academic stuff, writing fantasy football notes and watching Breeders’ Cup racing. It’s been a nice day.

But I’ve heard there’s, like, an important football game on tonight. Did you know about this?

It’s kind of funny because I’ve been watching ESPN for every hour of every day since Monday, forgoing sleep to watch the 3 a.m. repeat of a repeat of SportsCenter, and I haven’t been exposed to much regarding this LSU at Alabama game. The ESPN family of networks has been very subtle in its pre-week pregame coverage. Because if there’s one thing ESPN doesn’t do, it’s give a single regular-season sporting event too much airtime and suffocate its audience with continuous interviews, analysis and predictions.

But this game seems to carry some weighty significance, so I figure I’d once again ramble on while it’s being played out. Join me, won’t you?

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4:40 p.m. OK, so who’s ready for some football?

Seriously, who’s ready? You couldn’t possibly be even more ready after this week. LSU and Alabama have been nailed into your our brains. Remember those state capitols you learned back in sixth or seventh grade? Well, not anymore you don’t. All of that information has been taken up by Trent Richardson and Tyrann Mathieu.

4:45 p.m. You already know the keys to the game and what everyone is watching for:

• Which offense will be able to control the line of scrimmage more?
• Can Trent Richardson have success against LSU’s nine-man box?
• Which QB,  A.J. McCarron or Jarrett Lee, will manage the game better (a.k.a. be less stupid than the other QB)? Because they will HAVE to make some.
• Can Alabama’s wideouts beat LSU’s outstanding DBs?
• How much does home-field advantage matter?
• What crazy shit will Les Miles do tonight?
• Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

4:48 p.m. Last I checked, Alabama was a 4 1/2-point favorite. That’s a bit much, but I do think Alabama is more talented overall.

My pick: Alabama wins, 20-17.

But I’ll take LSU with the points.

4:51 p.m. I’m not here to do a lot of analysis, but I will point out a few things:

This is the 45th No. 1 vs. No. 2 game in college football history, and just the second since 1997. The last came in 2006 when No. 1 Ohio State defeated No. 2 Michigan, 42-39. I don’t remember, but I’m sure that was billed as “The Game of the Century” too.

LSU has committed three turnovers this season. THREE! And none since Septemeber!

Neither Alabama or LSU has trailed after any quarter this season. Obviously, that’s going to change tonight. But a lot is going to change tonight, including the BCS rankings and my opinion on both of these teams. Because I jump to conclusions with little regard.

4:56 p.m. I think we’re going to see a fairly boring first half as the defenses take over. It’ll probably be something like 6-3, Alabama. And then the offenses will start to make this game actually worth watching and worth (some of) the hype.

4:57 p.m. Our local CBS station here in Southern California just ended its news broadcast by telling us to stay tuned for “the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson.”

Yeah. Roll, Crimson, roll. That’s what they always say.

5:00 p.m. While checking some stats for this game, I happened upon this:

TOTAL DEFENSE IN THE FBS:

1. LSU

2. MICHIGAN STATE

3. UCF

4. ALABAMA

Does this mean that my UCF Knights have a better defense than the Crimson Tide?

Yes. Yes, it does.

5:03 p.m. The time for talk has ended. Game time is here.

Now if only the band would get off the God damn field!

5:07 p.m. Drinking game option for tonight: A shot for every hearty laugh that Verne Lundquist let’s fly tonight. The man loves the comedy styles of Gary Danielson.

5:09 p.m. And both teams come on to the field. Couldn’t have done this 10 minutes ago, could they? Nooooooooooooooo.

5:10 p.m. Nick Saban tells Tracy Wolfson that his team needs to “see ball, hit ball.”

Nick Saban is ready to win the World Series.

5:11 p.m. Alabama wins the toss and takes the ball first. Nick Saban looking for a home run return, I’m sure.

5:13 p.m. Man, how awesome must that tailgate have been today? People who have been looking forward to this game for weeks won’t remember one second of it. I’m sure five percent of the crowd has already blacked out.

5:14 p.m. AND WE’RE OFF!

Finally.

Running Blog For Rangers vs. Cardinals, Game 7 Of The 2011 World Series

The last time we witnessed a Game 7 in the World Series, this happened

I’ll get to tonight’s game in a minute. But first, this:

Grad school sucks.

There, I said it.

That’s just misplaced frustration. Actually, I’ve really enjoyed my first couple of months at Cal State Northridge. It’s just that … well … it’s taken up a lot of my blog time. Or, to be more specific, all of my blog time. No longer can I afford to just sit at home all day and watch sports — which should be everyone’s goal in life. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’m on campus for about nine hours, mostly in the library, and get home around 11 p.m. Every other day, I’m reading a whole bunch of stuff that’s less than enthralling.

I don’t mean to set the decorations for this pity party; I’m just saying that’s where I’ve been and why I’ve been gone from here for so long.

But tonight, I’ve got to make an escape. Everyone should. After the most dramatic-crazy-sloppy game in baseball history, it all comes down to one. A Game 7, winner-take-all. The winner will be showered with praise. The loser will be taunted and booed until its city’s throat is sore. It can’t possibly top what happened last night, can it? I say we find out together!

Mariano Rivera Notches Save No. 602

Along with the saves record, Mariano Rivera also has the prettiest signature in the sport. These sigs have faded some, but I got this ball at a Yankees-Angels game in Anaheim, circa 1996. I was sitting by the Yankees' bullpen, in the right-field pavilion. My mother had been yelling at Paul O'Neill all night to turn around so that she could take his picture. Someone down in the Yankees bullpen must have heard this shouting and notified an usher or somebody that they'll sign a ball for that young fan -- maybe just to quiet his mother. Sure enough, the entire '96 Yankees bullpen signed that ball. Upon its return to me, I looked down into the bullpen and Jim Leyritz gave me a thumbs-up. Whoever said he wasn't a nice guy??

Remember how Trevor Hoffman got to 601 saves? Like a tortoise working with a couple of sprained ankles during the final 50 feet of a marathon. (Why is a turtle in a marathon? Just go with the analogy)

Hoffman had 591 saves coming into the 2010 season. He blew four of his first seven opportunities, lost his job to John Axford and had an ERA of more than 13.00 in May. No. 600 came on Sept. 7. No. 601 came on Sept. 29 with a few days left in the season. It’s too bad that’s how Hoffman ended his career. Yes, he reached a milestone but he did it in agonizing fashion.

Everything today was standard Mariano Rivera. Efficient. Dominant. Bat-breaking. Simple. Rivera threw 13 pitches, nine strikes in his one perfect inning. The last at-bat had three pitches, all strikes, including a backdoor cutter that had Chris Parmelee frozen. He didn’t even get to use the new lumber he had to retrieve after fracturing his bat on the previous pitch. Parmelee was playing in just his 11th career game. Who knows where it’ll go from here, but Parmelee can always say that he’s the guy whom Mariano Rivera dominated to break the all-time saves record.

Missouri Ices Its Own Kicker. Twice.

The effectiveness of icing a kicker before a last-second field goal is debatable. Some say it actually makes a difference. Some say it’s insignificant. Everyone does it these days. I side with the “it’s not worth it” crowd. It mostly seems to me to be a tedious tactic.

Regardless, have you ever seen a coach ice his own kicker before a game-winning field goal attempt? If you watched Friday’s Missouri-Arizona State game, you did. In fact, you saw it more than once.

First of all, after a pretty entertaining first quarter, this thing became a huge pain to view. Both teams negated so many positives with so many penalties. There were 23 in all, and that counts only the ones that were accepted. Each team cost itself more than 100 yards. Missouri quarterback James Franklin throws a football like it’s three sizes too big for his hands. Mizzou’s playcalling was uncreative — it was pretty much either an out pass toward the sidelines or Franklin running after faking a draw. It didn’t take long for the Sun Devils to stop biting on the fake.

And the Tigers’ offensive line, missing two starters, must have decided before the game that it wasn’t much interested in doing some certain things, you know, pass blocking. At all. I understand Missouri likes to get Franklin out in space, but he was running for his life about seven-tenths of a second after every snap.

2011 NFL Predictions!! What Could Go Wrong?

A lot, I’m sure. But as always, I’m willing to give it a shot.

But even more importantly, we are just 27 hours away from the first NFL game this season that actually counts. That means there’s still time for me to make educated guesses that will look awful in just a few weeks. I should have just hired an octopus to do this.

Each team will be ranked in its division by order of predicted finish, and because I want to make this look pretty, wild cards will be in red. Why red? I have no idea and you don’t care, so let’s begin.

AFC EAST

1. New England Patriots, 13-3: The defense is a bit of a question mark for me, but when you consider at the cheap additions of Ochocinco and Haynesworth, and the lingering anger that I suspect still exists after last season’s playoff disappointment, I think this team is on a mission.

2. New York Jets, 10-6: This is still a solid group that can make a run, but I think the window has pretty much closed for a Super Bowl. Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason won’t improve New York’s offense much.

3. Miami Dolphins, 5-11: Here a team actually depending upon Reggie Bush to carry the ball 17-20 times per week. Yeah, good luck with that. I see no dramatic uptick in production coming for Chad Henne.

4. Buffalo Bills, 4-12: Besides playing the Patriots and the Jets twice, they play the NFC East and the Chargers. That’s eight losses right there.

AFC NORTH

1. Pittsburgh Steelers, 12-4: The schedule looks great, and with young wide receivers such as Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders, this offense is going to be plenty good enough in case that “old” defense starts to crack.

2. Baltimore Ravens, 9-7: Outside of Ray Rice, I think this offense is going to take a major step back.

3. Cleveland Browns, 7-9: They are making strides, I will give them that. But no matter what Colt McCoy showed during the preseason, this team doesn’t have enough yet on either side of the ball to seriously compete.

4. Cincinnati Bengals, 3-13: Three wins is generous. Fact.

Even With No Perfect Game, White Sox Pitcher Zach Stewart Was Quite Historic Monday

Awwwwwwww.

So Chicago White Sox pitcher Zach Stewart couldn’t get his perfect game tonight against the Minnesota Twins. I am sure Hawk Harrelson let out a loud “Dag gummit!” when Danny Valencia’s double fell in.

Still … a complete-game, one-hit shutout with zero walks and nine Ks. That ain’t too shabby. And the kicker? Tonight’s start was only Stewart’s 10th appearance in the major leagues.

According to baseball-reference.com, Stewart became just the second pitcher since 1919 to throw seven perfect innings in a start with 10 or fewer MLB appearances to his credit. The only other pitcher to fit that criteria was on the White Sox as well. Charlie Robertson actually threw a perfect game against the Indians in just his fifth ML appearance. It happened on April 26, 1922.

Hell, Stewart and Robertson are the only pitchers since 1919 to throw at least three perfect innings in a start with 10 or fewer career appearances. A bunch of relievers have qualified in recent years, but young starters don’t fare anything close to as well as Stewart tonight.

And who cares if he had that one blemish? Only two pitchers that green in the past 20 years have recorded a one-hit shutout. One was Dontrelle Willis, who started for the Reds today. Dontrelle threw the one-hitter in his eighth appearance, all starts. The other pitcher was Kerry Wood in his fifth start. If you at least 20 years old, you likely remember it.

And another tidbit: The Padres’ Jimmy Jones was the most recent pitcher to allow just one baserunner in a shutout with 10 of fewer appearances.

The case of Clay Buchholz (second career start) is extremely impressive. But if you are searching for perfection, you have to go back to the birth year of Charles Schulz to find anything that can match what Zach Stewart did on Labor Day 2011. Again, not too shabby for someone who is playing for his second team this seaosn, had an ERA entering tonight of 5.48 and threw one complete game in 57 starts in the minors.

No Worries, Dodgers Fans. Your Team Will Not Be Moved To China

The Los Angeles Dodgers: Reform and open up. And hit with runners in scoring position

So Frank McCourt has an offer to sell the Dodgers for $1.2 billion — with a “B” — from the creator of the L.A. Marathon and some institutions of the Chinese government.

It may not actually happen, although $1.2 billion in straight cash, homie, sounds like Frank would be interested in considering, you know, his wife needed six-figure spousal support.

Regardless, I heard some pretty interesting reactions from Dodgers fans on talk radio out here Thursday. It seems like they don’t quite understand what this would mean for the Dodgers; all they hear are the words “ownership” and “China” and launch into freak-out mode.

I don’t have a link and I don’t remember the comments verbatim, but one couple expressed desire that the Dodgers must be owned by Americans. I guess I get that, although I don’t think it makes a difference.

But then another couple, an older one, basically told KNX 1070 AM that it would be a bad move for the Dodgers because “we want them here.” The couple already lives in Echo Park, a Los Angeles community very close to Dodger Stadium, so they said they want to “see them stay.”

Who said they are going anywhere? Dodger fans, even if this deal doesn’t go through, understand that just because China might own your ballclub, it doesn’t mean that China is going to export it to the homeland. I would figure this doesn’t have to be explained.

“Think Blue” isn’t going to be changed to “Think Red.”

The new owners won’t demand that each player create no more than one child.

“Los Doyers” shirts won’t be replaced by copies of Mao’s biography.

In the end, no matter who become(s) the new owner(s) of the team, it will remain a MLB franchise. Yes, in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. Better yet, it will exist and remain without Frank McCourt. Dodger fans should fully support anything that brings that day one step closer to reality. Even if it means adopting communism.

Straight Reppin’ Lithuania

If I was going to post every sports-related thing that I found humorous on this blog, I and you would grow tired of this thing in short order.

However, one thing caught my eye over this weekend, and I couldn’t resist putting it on here.

It’s a rap video. So what?

It’s a rap video about an NBA player. Oooooh, big freakin’ deal.

It’s a rap video about an NBA rookie. A little strange, but Kyrie Irving is pretty good.

It’s a rap video about an NBA rookie from Lithuania. OK, now that’s interesting.

It’s also hilarious. See for yourself:

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Fantasy Football Questions

A couple of weeks ago, I started a post, writing a couple of sentences about each of the top 180 or 200 players in a fantasy football draft.

But I couldn’t finish that in time to make it meaningful to anyone. I know most of you have already finished your drafts by now.

Then, a couple of a days ago, I decided I was going to write about nothing but sleeper picks. Until I realized that my sleepers were already so popular, they weren’t really sleepers any longer. So I didn’t finish that.

Anyway, while I am disappointed I couldn’t really publish either, both posts led to one point: I like fantasy football. A lot. A healthy number of my 350+ posts here at least mention fantasy football. During the season, I hope grad school gives me enough time to write a recap of each weekend’s action with a fantasy spin, which is something I did a lot of in 2009. I plan to write a live blog here Wednesday night during my 12-team auction draft. I am currently getting paid to write news updates for a fantasy football website.

Fantasy football advice is about as solid as quicksand, but I think I know as much as anyone. And I’m not afraid to give out opinions, so please e-mail me with your fantasy football questions. You can reach me at gmenn41@aol.com. I guarantee that my advice will be just as educated as anyone else’s. And that’s a vague, blanket statement you can take to the bank!

And I’ll end this post with a couple of fantasy tidbits as we are now just four days away from the first game of the season.

Oakland Raiders ‘Retire’ JaMarcus Russell’s No. 2

Everyone is concentrating on college football today (for good reason) and talking about how Chris Johnson can finally get all of those Titans fans to [shut the fuck up] because he finally got his irregular contract for his irregular job. But please allow me to hit on a story that is a few days old.

Other than over-drafting for speed, no one knows what the Oakland Raiders are going to do. Actually, it’s better to say that what they do makes little-to-no sense. Staying true to form, the Raiders over-drafted Terrelle Pryor and his 4.3 40-yard dash time in the third round of the supplemental draft. They followed that up by not allowing Pryor to wear No. 2, his jersey number at Ohio State.

Why?

Because the Raiders want all vestiges of JaMarcus Russell gone for good.

‘The Franchise’ Episode 8: The Season Finale Brings Reflection

It ends tonight.

I think I would give “The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants” a solid B grade. There were times where it failed with situations in which it really had a chance to provide an interesting view — the Carlos Beltran trade and the brawl with the Philadelphia Phillies, especially.

But overall, it gave us some great personal stories, and it generally did what it was supposed to do. It gave us a pretty nice amount of access to the clubhouse. It gave us the lives of the players both on and off the field. The episode about Brian Wilson’s relationship with his father, and Tim Lincecum’s private nature was the highlight episode of the season, by far.

It may not have excelled in all fields, but I think this was a very successful endeavor for Showtime (I have yet to look up the ratings), and I hope that it is able to get a team to sign on next year. The Giants have enough characters to make a follow-up season watchable, and I think they would agree to do it. But their story has been told.

In the final episode, four players who have been profiled in detail described their experience with the series and talked about what 2011 means to them.

Pablo Sandoval talked about how much he has committed himself to his craft now, losing 40 pounds over the offseason.

Ryan Vogelsong calls his own story — a pitcher who hadn’t played in the majors since 2006 comes back and turns into an All-Star — incredible. “I think, in 2011, I was supposed to have this story happen, and you guys were supposed to be here to film it.”

Brandon Belt talked about how embarrassing it was to cry on TV when he learned that he had made the big-league club out of spring training. But his year has also been about a yo-yo-like existence between San Francisco and Fresno. “It’s been a lot of ups and there’s been a lot of times where I said, ‘Hey, I’m done.’ I had just kind of given up the year, and I just didn’t care about anything. But … I took care of business so that I can get back up here as soon as possible.”

Barry Zito’s story for 2011: “Watching my team go out there, and I couldn’t be a part of it.” Injuries have ruined Zito’s season, a year in which he is making $18.5 million and many have called for the Giants to release him.

“I hear things here and there. … I rip my own heart out daily. That’s a big thing, that I can go to sleep at night knowing that I gave 100 percent. It hurts bad that it wasn’t enough in some instances. But you take it personal. And that hurts.”

Tim Stauffer’s Tuesday Start Was Not A Walk In The Park. It Was Several

Instead of those boring headshots, I'm going to post baseball card photos from now on. You can never go wrong with baseball cards

San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer has a pretty good idea of where the ball’s going when he’s on the bump. Going into last night’s start, he had walked 43 batters in 166 innings pitched. He walked 24 in 82.2 innings last season. So, you know, he’s got pretty good control.

But last night, he turned into Rick Ankiel, circa 2000-01. OK, maybe he didn’t miss that badly, but he certainly missed a lot.

Stauffer walked seven Dodgers and only got five outs. He walked six in the second inning alone, including pitcher Hiroki Kuroda with the bases loaded and three consecutive batters in a span of 14 pitches. He threw just 25 strikes in 61 pitches and became the 11th pitcher to walk a lucky seven in a game this season. But all of those guys reached at least the fifth inning; Stauffer couldn’t get out of the second.

Stauffer became the 19th pitcher since 1919 to walk at least seven batters in less than two innings pitched. And man, look at some of the names on that list! Do you remember how bad Daniel Cabrera was? Or how Russ Ortiz won 21 games in 2003 despite walking more than 100 batters? Ben McDonald! William VanLandingham!! Bob Feller, who is one of the 16 players to ever walk more than 200 batters in a single season. That is some tasty stuff.

And thanks to Anthony Bass, who relieved Staffer after that seventh walk and then gave up a grand slam on his first pitch, Stauffer is also just the fifth pitcher since 1919 to allow at least seven runs while pitching so few innings and giving up that many walks.

But hey, at least he didn’t give up that many hits. In fact, Stauffer was so busy throwing pure junk, he gave up just one hit. We’ve had a few guys — Edwin Jackson and A.J. Burnett jump to mind — throw no-hitters while issuing walks without care. But they didn’t give up seven earned runs to go with it. Thus, Stauffer became just the third pitcher since 1919 to allow seven runs in three or fewer innings on no more than one hit. The Cubs’ Ryan Dempster actually did it twice: In 2001 with the Marlins and 2003 with the Reds.

I don’t expect this to happen to Stauffer again unless, like Ankiel, it becomes more of a mental than physical problem. There’s reason to expect that either, but there was no reason to expect he would match the Dodgers’ attendance in walks in one start.

My One College Football Prediction For 2011

It’s all pointless.

All preseason polls are worth a price somewhere between that gum on the bottom of your shoe and a used VHS copy of “Snake Eater III: His Law” starring Lorenzo Lamas. I’ve seen that movie. I believe I was nine years old, and it was the first time I saw a woman’s tunnel of love on film.

Anyway, back to college football …

I absolutely refuse to post another top-25 preseason poll. Even though everyone knows you can pretty much pick and slot whatever teams wherever you want, I put too much pressure on myself to actually be correct on something that will turn horribly wrong after just a couple of weeks. So while a bunch of bloggers will throw out their own top-25, I’m just going to pick one team. One team to NOT win the championship that will probably win the championship. Follow?

You see, I’ve been so wrong in the last two years that it actually stands out. In 2009, I said Alabama, AP preseason No. 5, was the most overrated team. I’m not sure why, but I think it had something to do with the Crimson Tide’s lack of offense. Or at least my perception that they lacked enough offense. They ended up winning the national championship.

I said Oregon, AP preseason No. 11, was the most overrated team to start 2010 because of the off-field distractions caused by LaMichael James and the loss of Jeremiah Masoli. They reached the national championship game.

So who am I tabbing as a disappointment this year and as a result, indirectly vaulting into January’s BCS title game?

I Am Clayton Kershaw’s Good-Luck Charm

Well, not really. Dude’s been pretty dominant all year long, and he’s making me feel pretty smart for picking him to win the Cy Young prior to this season.

At home, Kershaw is 10-1 in 14 starts with a 1.80 ERA. But when I’m in attendance, Kershaw turns it up a notch, obviously in an effort to impress me. On Monday, I went to my tenth Dodgers game this season and for whatever reason, Kershaw has been the starter in 40 percent of those games. In those four starts, Kershaw has allowed a total of four runs and nine walks with 32 strikeouts. He has an ERA of 1.04 and a WHIP of 0.78.

Most impressive is the fact that Kershaw has pitched 34.2 innings in those four starts. Some simple multiplication tells you how awesome that is, especially when you consider Kershaw had a really tough time just making it out of the sixth as little as two years ago. Now he leads the NL in innings pitched.

Granted, one of those games — April 21 versus the Braves — went 12 innings, but which starting pitcher is expected to throw more than nine innings in any game ever?

I will be going to one more Dodgers game this season — Sept. 21 versus San Francisco. I have no idea if Kershaw will be on the mound. I would like it if he’s not because while watching him work is really fun stuff, I’m sick of going to the games that the Dodgers actually win. But if the Giants and the Dodgers keep their rotations the same for the next three weeks and I do get to see Kershaw yet again, he’ll be matched up against Tim Lincecum. I’ve got no problem with that beauty.

Lastly, this is something that I probably would have held off writing about until one of those “Running Off At The Electronic Mouth” posts, but I really need to wean off those things. For one, they don’t get almost any views and secondly, it is kind of a cheap way to mention things (read: covering my ass) I should have written about earlier in the week.

I know I’ve said this before. But this time, I’m gonna mean it.

Running Off At The Electronic Mouth, No. XXV

Coming to you live from about a 25-minute drive north of the home of the best Little League Baseball team in the world … .

• Did anyone else find this past week really depressing? It just seemed like every story — Irene not included — had a sad center to it. None more so than the news that Pat Summitt has early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type. It’s a very naive viewpoint, but I just keep thinking about what she is going to be like as we honor her later in life for everything she has meant to women’s college basketball and women’s sports in general. I compare it to Muhammad Ali: An iconic sports figure known for toughness and ferocity, now captive in their own body.

Also, if/when the Lady Vols stumble at some point this year or next or for however long Summitt decides to keep the head coach title, who’s going to be the first bastard to hint that the team’s struggles have something to do with Summitt’s state. I’m sure someone will call it a distraction. It’s a tasteless and offensive thought, but it’s going to happen.

• Where have you gone, Javaris Crittenton? A McDonald’s All-American and Mr. Georgia Basketball in high school, he leaves college at Georgia Tech after one successful season.

He gets drafted in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and is automatically tagged as their point guard of the future, following in the footsteps of Magic Johnson in some way.

Then traded in 2008 to the Memphis grizzlies in exchange for Pau Gasol.

Traded again that year to the Washington Wizards and pulls a gun on Gilbert Arenas in the locker room on Christmas Eve 2009.

Ends up signing with the Charlotte Bobcats for the 2010 season, but spends most of the year in the D-League.

And now, murder suspect. What a crazy fall from NBA fame in about four years time.

2011 With The Bases Loaded

In honor of the New York Yankees’ three grand slams — and absurd 16 plate appearances with the bases loaded — during Thursday’s game versus Oakland, here’s how each team is doing with the sacks packed this season through Saturday, Aug. 27.

Each team is given a plate appearances/batting average/OPS breakdown followed by its grand slam total.

Angels: 82/.233/612; one home run. They are one of five teams that have hit two triples with the bases loaded.

Astros: 112/.248/.643; two home runs. It’s not very good, but some teams wouldn’t  mind this line. Frankly, it’s a little better than I thought I’d see from Houston. Oh, and Carlos Lee sprained an ankle during Sunday’s win. That lineup is now without a single name that 95 percent of the baseball-loving public would recognize.

Athletics: 117/.223/.529; one home run. The grand salami was hit by Conor Jackson. That’s the only one on his career resume, and he has just six home runs since August 2008.

Blue Jays: 104/.277/.872; five home runs. Nope, none by Jose Bautista. But Corey Patterson’s got one!

Braves: 98/.231/.629; three home runs. The Braves have sent 26 men to the plate with the bases loaded in August — already their highest number for any month this season. Despite just three hits in 19 at-bats, they have driven in 11 runs, thanks mostly to four walks and a Jason Heyward grand slam.

Brewers: 125/.283/.636; one home run. That OPS is so low because 26 of their 30 hits have been singles. Oh, and their lone grand slam came off the bat of slugger Shaun Marcum.

Cam Newton Is No Nate Burleson

OK, this is just getting silly.

In another effort to catch up on stories I’ve missed in the past few days, I must bring up what was at least our second LeBron-powder celebration in as many weeks during the NFL preseason.

I thought it was kind of neat when Nate Burleson did it. It was sort of like a middle finger to Cleveland. And when Nate Burleson is mocking your city, that’s about as rough as it gets.

But it happened again Thursday. Cam Newton scored a rushing touchdown against the Bengals — hey, nice job wrapping up, two-six — and went back to the powder well. Form could have been tighter.

I’m left with two conclusions from this, neither of which are great for Cam.

I don’t know if he and LeBron are friends, but even if so, is this really going to become the norm for Newton? Is this going to be his celebration in the NFL? Newton is such a unique talent, it would be kind of lame if the best end-zone move he could come up with is something that already has a much more successful owner.

OR … was Newton trying to follow in Burleson’s footsteps and attempting to insult the Bengals’ fans? If so, someone should probably tell him that while he was indeed in Ohio, people in Cincinnati don’t give a rat’s ass about the misfortune of their rivals sitting on Lake Erie. If anything, Bengals fans applauded Newton for that gesture because it reminded them of how much Cleveland basketball sucks these days.

I would guess that Newton has been getting a lot of cheers from opposing crowds during this preseason.

Vin Scully Is Coming Back For His 63rd Season With The Dodgers

First of all, just think about doing anything professionally for 63 years. Hell, I suspect that living for 63 years is hard enough. But yes, Vin Scully will be back in 2012 for his 63rd season broadcasting Dodgers baseball.

One thing about that Times headline: Not even God needs to give Vin Scully the “OK” to return to work. When you have basically changed the profession over the course of seven decades, inadvertently launched thousands of copycats and simply become a baseball and pop culture icon, I think you have carte blanche over the highest of powers. Even Frank McCourt knows this. No one in Los Angeles, Dodger fan or otherwise, is ready for Eric Collins full time.

When I first saw the news, I simply thought, “Well, of course he’s coming back.” It can’t be any other way. He is the Dodgers. How could he possibly leave the game? It’s just expected that he’ll be there every spring. I take it for granted. From time to time, I’ve tried to stop myself and envision watching Dodgers baseball without that sound. But I can’t fool myself. Scully must be immortal.

‘The Franchise’ Episode 7: Barry Zito’s Tough 2011 Season, On And Off The Field

Odds are that if you are reading this now, you’ve already seen this week’s episode of “The Franchise.” I’m writing this more than 48 hours after its debut, but for the sake of continuity — and to prevent myself from beating up myself all weekend about not getting around to writing about this episode — I’m going to write about this episode. And hey, if you haven’t seen episode yet, it’s all new to you, right?

Episode seven finds the Giants in peril. They have lost their grip on first place in the National League West and are fighting through their season-long hitting  slump* without so many regulars due to injury.

* I guess you can’t really call a season-long anything a slump. They are who they are, and the 2011 San Francisco Giants are not a good scoring team.

One of those ailing players is Barry Zito, who is the focus for the majority of the episode. This season has been the worst of his career for many reasons, and his overall failure since arriving in San Francisco is examined. However, Zito keeps a sunny disposition with the public as many keep calling for him to get sent packing.

“The expectations, I haven’t met them. It’s obvious and it’s not something I’m proud Of. I am proud of the fact that I keep going out there and I keep seeing the fans in an optimistic way instead of putting the wall up and saying, ‘You know what? Everyone go screw yourself.’”

Zito hasn’t pitched in the majors since July. During a rehab start this month, he sprained his right ankle. Badly. How badly?

Running Off At The Electronic Mouth, No. XXIV

I like to post stuff on here that amuses me and nothing has made me laugh more this week — insultingly so — than this question: Is Jim Thome a Hall of Famer?

Hmm …. eighth player in history to hit 600 home runs.

Eighth-most walks of any player behind only Mantle, Yaz, Morgan, Williams, Ruth, Rickey and Bonds.

Fifteen complete seasons with a slugging percentage of at least .500. Only Gehrig, Foxx, Manny, Musial, Ruth, Williams, Aaron and Bonds have more.

Ten complete seasons with at least a .400 on-base percentage, equal with Greenberg, Cochrane, Anson, Gehringer and Wagner. There’s a reason why all of these players can be identified by just one half of their name.

Thome has a career WAR of 71.5. Forty-five HOF-eligible players have a higher mark and just three of them aren’t in the Hall. Those players would be turn-of-the-20th-century shortstop Bill Dahlen; Jeff Bagwell, who has a pretty good case for induction; Pete Rose, who did that thing with the money thing.

My favorite stat: Thome joins Ruth and Bonds as the only two players with more than 600 homers and 1,700 walks.

And maybe most importantly today, no plausible steroid accusations.

But he’s been a designated hitter for too long! Wasn’t a problem for HOF supporters of Paul Molitor.

But he strikes out too much! Seemed to be overlooked when Reggie Jackson’s name came up.

But he never won an MVP Award! Then you need to evict a bunch of players from the Hall, including Eddie Mathews. In fact, Eddie Mathews finished in the top-15 in the MVP voting four times. Thome has done him two better.

The problem with Thome is perception. He wasn’t blessed with a ton of athleticism. He is not outstanding with the glove. He isn’t flashy, never talks in the third person and doesn’t get caught in tabloid headlines. He was never considered to be the best player in the game for any length of time.

But the numbers are all there even past the home runs. He’s a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame and the fact that the question is even being asked is indeed insulting.