How Not To Fix The World Baseball Classic

There's still smoke and confetti in the air following Japan's thrilling extra-innings win over Korea in last night's World Baseball Classic final. The trophy engraver's tools are still warm, the players have yet to return to their professional clubs, and yet a chorus is already in full throat. The WBC is broken, sayeth the nays, and here's how you fix it.

Everyone seems to have a solution to the problem--hold it during a different time of year, mix up the format, force the best players to participate. The possible changes are infinite, but the impetus for these critics' frustration is identical: Their team lost.

Had the United States managed to win this tournament, the conventional wisdom would have been that it's fine--at least until the first big WBC star suffered an injury this season. I'm sure that the Dominican blogscape is even more vitriolic, after the DR was dumped in the first round by a motley nine from various Dutch colonies. Conversely, I doubt many Japanese or Korean pundits have a beef with the WBC's current landscape.

My only hangup is with the captain of this ship, one Allan H. "Bud" Selig. As with most pivotal decisions Bud has made, the WBC has infuriated me in execution while pleasing me in substance. If we could only lessen Bud's grip on this tournament, it might end up just about right.

Look, I wanted to win just as badly as any other American fan. I suffered through appearances by our starting pitchers, guys who are normally dominant but looked rusty and rotten this March. I too wished that aces such as C.C. Sabathia, Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon could have found their way onto the roster.

The U.S. also went through a long dry spell in international basketball, but we were able to remedy that at the Beijing Olympics. This country should realize that we can't just roll out an all-star team and expect to dominate the world. Our size and wealth offers us tremendous advantages, but hinders us as well. Japan is the most homogeneous society in the world, free from our racial, linguistic and regional differences. It's far easier for Japan to assemble a team that acts as a cohesive unit than it is for the U.S.

But those are provincial problems with specific American players, not structural deficiencies in the event.

The largest issue, for every nation but particularly for those that rely on MLB players, is the readiness of pitching. This is an enormous crapshoot, as pitching tends to be in any short-format playoff. How else can you explain how Freddy Garcia was a postseason stud for the 2005 World Champion White Sox, yet was dogshit before and has been dogshit since?

Major league pitchers are used to ramping up their workload during March. Starters will toss an inning or so in their first few appearances and gradually add to their pitch counts. It's only this week that you're seeing pitchers in the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues turn in appearances that approximate what they'll show in the regular season.

Pitchers also use March to try goofy shit, because the games don't matter. Zach Greinke of the Royals has been dabbling with a new changeup grip and getting absolutely torched. If that grip is ready for Opening Day he'll add it to his arsenal, if not he'll scrap it when the games count. The point is that Spring Training is the only chance these guys get to experiment with unproven tricks under game conditions.

So by running the WBC throughout the month of March, you do a couple things with pitching. You throw players who have yet to work into shape into the fire before they're ready--how else can you explain Carlos Marmol getting lit up by the Netherlands? You also remove their built-in laboratory for tinkering. The results can be erratic.

The best potential solution I've heard comes via Jayson Stark of the four-letter. He wants to distill the monthlong grind of the current WBC into a one-week sprint at the end of March, when pitchers should be approaching peak form. You'd play games every day at multiple sites, eliminating the numerous off days that had participants bitching about sporadic workloads. You'd end up with a final four, and you'd play the semis and finals during a lengthened All-Star break in July--when interest in baseball is at its peak and the players are literally in midseason form. I think it's brilliant, but it will never happen.

That's because Bud Selig and his fellow owners are the most short-sighted gang of rich people alive. Every decision baseball makes is focused only on the immediate dollar, never the long-term growth of the game. Shortening or suspending the season to accommodate the WBC are off the table, because owners will not sacrifice game revenue. This is also the primary reason that baseball has been booted from the Olympics in 2012--Bud and his cronies refuse to plan around a break in the season as the NHL has done.

Selig shouldn't take all the blame for the sorry state of international baseball--the players' union is devious and obstinate on this issue as well. They've stonewalled drug testing for decades, as we know, and even with all the strides baseball has made on doping the union still refuses to allow Olympic-standard testing by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Blood testing for possible HGH detection is similarly opposed. The international sports community looks at professional baseball in America as a dirty game run by crooks, because it is. Fuck, even cycling has more credibility.

The idea of a World Baseball Classic is fantastic, and as we've seen in 2006 and this spring, the world can play. High-level ball is being played by athletes from dozens of countries. If we approached this tournament with integrity, instead of only looking for American TV viewership and merchandise sales, it could grow into a true classic.
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Mitch Slapped!

Man, I can’t even begin to describe how sick I am of steroid talk. I’d rather change George Mitchell’s bedpan than listen to another minute of this crap, but one little nugget has emerged in the past 24 hours that I need to vent about:

Roger Clemens is not going to Cooperstown.

Buster Olney, who’s one of my favorite writers ever and a Hall of Fame voter, went on the radio this morning and stated his belief that Rocket will get shut out. The old assholes, Olney’s brethren on the Baseball Writers Association of America, will make an example out of Rocket and pass him by.

(Ed. note: I saw it after I wrote this post, but check out Buster's blog from a couple days ago. Reasonable, rational, lucid...pretty much the opposite of every other hack that votes on baseball awards and honors. The way to save baseball would be to replace Bud Selig--a small-minded, reactionary weasel--with Buster Olney.)

I hate Clemens. If he decided to fall down a well tomorrow I’d throw a party. But I’ll be God damned if he’s not the greatest pitcher I’ve ever seen, better than Nolan Ryan. Doc Gooden and Pedro Martinez may have been better for stretches, but Roger Clemens is hands down the greatest pitcher of the last 50 years. And now he will take his seat alongside Shoeless Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds—outcasts sitting on a bench outside the gates of baseball’s hallowed Hall.

I’m not crying for Rocket, but this whole thing is a joke. You can’t penalize players who were named in the Mitchell Report, because it’s alarmingly incomplete and unsubstantiated. Sammy Sosa’s name appears nowhere within it. Does that mean he gets in to the Hall now, baseball writers?

Let’s take another example, Clemens’ old Astro teammate Craig Biggio. He was left out of the report as well, and to my knowledge has never been implicated in any steroid controversy. But he’s been a Major League Baseball Player for the last two decades, so let’s just assume he’s been on the juice.

In five years, when both Biggio and Rocket are eligible for induction, Biggio will get in and Rocket--ten times the player--will not. Because no one ratted on Biggio. Nice system.

The easy answer for any of these fucks is don’t do drugs. The odds that someone would say you were cheating if you weren’t is slim. But to think that we’re any closer to solving baseball’s issue with steroids after the Mitchell Report came out, or to placing the Steroid Era in some sort of historical context, that’s preposterous.

I would like to induct any writers who keep Barry or Rocket—the two greatest players of my generation—out of Cooperstown into another Hall. My personal Hall of Fuck You You’re Stupid.
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T-Hen To Goodell: Kiss My Ass

Be honest: how often are you truly shocked anymore? Surprised, yes. But shocked? It takes a lot. When I heard that Travis Henry got off on his pot suspension, I was floored.

For a long time, I thought T-Hen was simply delaying the inevitable with his legal chicanery, and that he would eventually have to take a year off. On several occasions I heard about the possibility of a reduced suspension, similar to when Jared Allen found Jesus and O'Doul's and had his four-game DUI break cut to two.

But it never entered my mind that he'd get off.

What's it mean to the Broncos? I don't know. I suppose this could produce an unexpected victory or two in December, provided Henry can hold on to the fucking football. It damages my fantasy teams, which had been built around a Henryless ground game (as of last week, on one squad, I owned Selvin Young, Andre Hall and Cecil Sapp).

What's really important, though, is that we've revived an entire industry of athlete excuses. As fans we've surely tired of hearing these lame lines every single time a jock gets busted: It was a tainted supplement. That's my cousin's backpack. I never knowingly took it. And until now, we've called bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. But who knew it would ever work?

Travis Henry wants you know that he's totally honest and respectable, and would like to issue the following statements (more after the jump, and feel free to leave your own in the comments)

That’s not my sperm.

She swore she was eighteen.

I told you it was oregano.

I ejaculated in self defense.

It must have been a poppyseed muffin.

Coach told me to hit the hole harder.

Can I buy you a fish sandwich?

My dog ate my playbook.

If I offended anyone I apologize, I’m really high.

I thought it was flaxseed oil.

She told me she was on the pill.

If necessary, my attorneys can provide you with pubic hair samples.

Rectum? Damn near killed ‘em.

If I’m such a deadbeat dad how come I dance so good?

Jay Cutler gave me a Vitamin B-12 shot.

I ingested steroid-fed beef, but I did not inhale.

She was impregnated through second-hand semen.

Liquor? I don’t even know her.
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Monogamy with the Enemy: Broncos v. Titans

The House of Georges planned to publish a pregame exchange with a Tennessee fan/blogger, but we were unsuccessful finding one. Oh, the Broncos' opponent tonight has fans, it's just that none of them can read and write. Just for fun, a little demographic data:

The median income for Tennessee is less than $39,000, below the U.S. average of $44.3k and well south of Colorado's $50.1k. On the plus side, season tickets to Titans games cost just $85, or the equivalent in hogs and moonshine. 15% of Tennesseans reside below the poverty level, 19.6% hold a bachelor's degree and 75.9% graduated from high school. Again, all of those stats are well below U.S. averages (12.7, 24.4 and 80.4), which in turn are well below those for the majestic state of Colorado (10.2, 32.7, 86.9).

But Tennessee does have Albert Haynesworth, who will not only stomp your unprotected facial features with a cleated boot but also rape your parents with a knife dipped in hot tar and broken light bulbs. Haynesworth is questionable this evening, not only in terms of morality and emotional stability but also injury-wise with an iffy hammy. On the Denver sideline, ex-Titan Travis Henry is also questionable due to a bum knee.

After the jump, many more football themes explored, with absolutely no U.S. Census data foisted in support thereof...

Peter King Gathers No Moss Cecil's longtime pal King logged another Monday Morning QB today, and it predictably left this fan scratching his head. Pete described Randy Moss as having a "borderline Canton career." Borderline? That's patently ridiculous, Pete.

I'm no Moss guy, in fact I really, really despise him and every team he's ever played for. But Randy Moss is a lead pipe lock for the Hall Of Fame right now, and a few more years with Tom Brady may well cement his status as the second-best receiver of all time. Look at the numbers, Pete:

Moss has 117 TDs, good for 5th all time behind Rice, Carter, Owens and Harrison. His 11,752 receiving yards and 742 receptions are 17th and 26th, respectively. He has 16 TDs thus far this season, and will easily eclipse Rice's record of 22. Let's say he gets 10 more this year and plays three more years with the Pats (he's only 30 and has never had a serious injury), averaging 15 per. That leaves him with 172 touchdowns, far clear of Carter's 130 for second behind Rice.

Furthermore, give him modest reception and yardage totals over those next three years, say 80 and 1,000 each. That leaves him sixth and third all-time, for a guy that has never been a possession receiver. Now that he's hooked up with the Evil Empire of Football, you must acknowledge the fact that Randy Moss will go down as one of the best to ever play the game at his position.

Gaping Vagina Alert To everyone excoriating the Pats for buttfucking hapless opponents such as the Bills: please go away, and hand in your maxi pads at the door. This is professional football. It ain't intramurals, brother, and it ain't even Division I. It's paid pros who are required by contract to do a job, and those assigned to slow down the New England offensive blitzkrieg are failing at that job. I find Belichick's douchebaggery and bloodless demeanor distasteful, and he's certainly worthy of karmic retribution. But if you whine about an NFL team running it up on another NFL team, you need to turn in your man license and head over to our sister MLS blog, the House Of Puss.

On another New England tangent, I watched an excellent HBO special on the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry Saturday morning, shortly before the actual game (which sucked nuts). My favorite part of the film centered on Buckeye coach Woody Hayes, who was a maniacal asshole hellbent on winning. He ran up the score every chance he got, once going for two against the Wolverines to advance the final score to 50-14. Why'd you go for two, Woody? he was asked. Because he couldn't go for three, you dickless pansy.

Anyway, Woody was nuts, and his career ended after he punched a Clemson player in the neck at the Gator Bowl. That was bad, but these days they've erected statues of the guy and he's revered for his success. To me, that's Belichick. He's a cock, and he's a convicted cheat, and unless you're a Pats fan he's Enemy No. 1. But the guys is going to go down as one of the best pure football coaches ever, up there with Bear Bryant and Vince Lombardi and, yes, Woody Hayes.

I Call Bullshit The ending of that Ravens-Browns game was among the nuttiest I've ever seen. With the Broncos off, I spent much of the afternoon watching the NFL Red Zone channel, an excellent side effect of Sunday Ticket that sends the viewer all around the football dial. There are no commercials, very little commentator antics and zero sitting through shitty, boring games (let's just say I watched almost none of that Indy-KC disaster).

I did, however, catch a huge chunk of Baltimore-Cleveland, including the goofy field goal at the end and overtime. And it was, of course, a legit field goal and the officials eventually got the call right--bravo. But if you're going to tell me that neither the ref nor the booth officials looked at the replay because they weren't allowed to, I'm waving the flag. The flag of I don't fucking believe you. It's clear that they did, and if I were Brian Billick I'd be pissed. Not because my team deserved to win--they didn't--but because the rules of replay were not followed.

This is why I don't want replay in baseball. It would clearly be limited to certain calls (like home runs or fair/foul) and exclude others (like balls and strikes). Drawing those kind of lines, like football does with pass interference and field goals as nonreviewable, is arbitrary and dumb. Either review everything or nothing. And one more thing--get rid of that asinine rule that a ref can judge whether a defender pushed a receiver out. Either you got your feet in or you didn't, that judgement crap is bullshit.

Comeuppance I'm not a big steroid moralist. I loathe the juice and all who cheat by injecting it, but I firmly believe that so many guys are tainted there's no use trying to sort it out at this point. Get better testing. That being said, the positive test of Shawne Merriman was all I needed to hate that bastard for life. Fucking cheater. I thoroughly enjoyed this play (hurry before the NFL takes it down), and the reaction of Deadspin's Mighty MJD (a notorious Bronco-hating Charger fan) to it. I must also go on record as saying that this season's Smorgasbord is about one-tenth of the awesomeness it once was--wha happen?

Suck It Anyone who bitches about Dre' B'l"y' or thinks the Lions got the best of that trade didn't watch the Detroit game against the G-Men yesterday. Tatum Bell is invisible, having been benched, inactive for the last five games and now replaced by T.J. Duckett of all people. And George Foster is back to where he was as a Bronco--trying his damnedest to get his QB killed. After allowing Michelle Strahan to pummel John Kitna yesterday Foster took his well-worn seat on the pine, and afterwards took his usual zero accountability. God I hate that fat fuck.

AFC West Notes Jesus, this division is miserable. It obviously will not yield a wild-card team, so it's win it or go home when it comes to January. Can the Broncos hold off the Chargers and Chiefs and make that happen? I've come full circle on thus season, which I once saw as a pointless exercise. No one outside of a healthy Colts club can stop the Pats, but if Denver can win the West and a playoff game that is what I consider a darn good season, especially considering the injuries and the youth at QB.

San Diego is a rich man's version of the Broncos, fairly loaded with good players but hampered by an inconsistent young signal-caller. KC is the hobo's version, as Brodie Bangs is not ready for this league and may never be. If Denver can come out on top tonight (and, obviously, beat the Chiefs and Bolts in December) then the division should be theirs. And I like their chances against a second-tier AFC club (Cleveland, anyone?) at Invesco.

Finally, let those crappy Chiefs be a lesson to anyone considering giving big money to a running back. I'm no huge fan of Shanahan the GM, but he does understand one thing: RBs are a dime a dozen. Now unless you can get your hands on Adrian Peterson (hurt, by the way) or LaDanian Tomlinson, there's no sense in paying guys like Larry Johnson or Shawn Alexander. If you want to waste that money, give it to me. I can be just as injured and worthless as LJ, and I can blow cash on chauffeured douchemobiles and poon tang just as fast. If not faster. I run a 4.2 to the titty bar ATM.
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Hunkerin' Down

There's no day baseball today, but we do kick off a number of important series in the majors. For a more complete rundown of what's going on all across MLB, including an excellent analysis of the Royals' recent hot play and trading-deadline decisions and some news about Barry and A-Rod's special balls, check out, as always, Buster.

ATLANTA @ SAN FRANCISCO (4 GAMES)

Sure, you're being overwhelmed with Barry crap right now, but it's not every day that someone passes Hank Aaron. The Giants have rigged Barry's playing time in order to let the beast get his record in San Francisco, and now AT&T Park welcomes its genetic freak home for seven days of delirium. I think we're all hoping we can just get this over with sooner rather than later, and the first episode goes down tonight at 8 Mountain on ESPN2.

The Braves are quietly hanging around in the NL East race at 3 1/2 back, as the Mets still can't put either Atlanta or Philadelphia away. Smoltz pitches tonight, and Barry has eight jacks against him in his career, and blah blah blah...Joe Morgan can fill you in on all this shit later.

BOSTON @ CLEVELAND (4 GAMES)

Two of the better teams in the American League hunker down for a scrum at Jacobs Field, starting tonight at 5 on ESPN2. The Red Sox are embarking on their most difficult stretch of the second half, as their next six series are at Cleveland, at Tampa, home vs. Baltimore, at Seattle, at Los Anaheim, at Baltimore. They get Jon Lester's feel-good story on the mound this evening. He had cancer and blah blah blah...talk to Joe.

Boston is seven and a half up on New York following the Yanks' blistering of the D'Rays over the weekend (45 runs combined on Saturday and Sunday, yo). The Tribe sits a game back of Detroit, who despite dropping a series to Kansas City is still playing lights-out ball. So this series is pretty stinkin' big.

NY YANKEES @ KANSAS CITY (4 GAMES)

Bankmeister informed me this morning that he'll be taking in at least one of these games, which is a good thing. Otherwise I might have had to revoke his access card to the HoG's palatial corporate headquarters in suburban Overland Park. There's a lot happening here, including:

Kansas City's remarkable run (24-19 since June 1) combined with the wretched play of the White Sox has the two teams tied for fourth place. KC has a chance to finish somewhere other than last for the first time since 1896. Wait, did I say 1896? I meant 1896.

The Yankees come in smoking hot (9-3 since the break and 30-17 since June 1) and are clearly back in the postseason picture. In addition to pulling within shouting distance in the East, they're 6 1/2 back of Cleveland in the wild card standings, with only Seattle standing between them and the Indians.

KC doesn't really care who you are or what your record is, as evidenced by their play last week. They strutted into the homes of first-place Boston and first-place Detroit and took two of three from both clubs. These aren't your father's Royals, but they aren't your older brother's version either.

Best of all, tomorrow is some anniversary of George Brett's pine tar home run, and the Royals are running a t-shirt promotion with a powder-blue Old No. 5 smeared in faux pine tar. Bloody brilliant. Now don't fuck it all up, Royals--the nation is watching you in your quest to topple the hated Yankees. Finish the job.

SAN DIEGO @ COLORADO (3 GAMES)

All of their hard work this season has garnered the Colorado Rockies exactly nothing but a chance. They're in the divisional picture at 5 1/2 out of first, and they get the second-place Padres and the first-place Dodgers at Coors all week. If they can win either or both series, they're officially legitimate. Tonight's starters are soft-tossing maestros Greg Maddux and Jeff Francis. One of these guys is a future Hall of Famer and who's fond of Internet chat with underage boys, and the other one is the only professional athlete named "Francis" not to have been labeled "Franchise" at some point in his career. Until tonight. Or maybe not. Read more

Midseason Report: AL East

This is the House of Georges, and this is the HoG’s Midseason Baseball Report. In it we’ll examine each of baseball’s six divisions with a fan of a team in that division.

Today’s selection is the American League East, and our divisional expert is Rustoleum. He's originally from upstate New York, just like me. We both love Syracuse basketball because of it. But when it comes to baseball, we've gone to opposite sides of The Force. Rusto chooses the Evil Empire, while I cheer for the swarthy Jedis of the Rebel Alliance.

Old No. 7: Let's not beat around the bush...what the fuck is wrong with the Yankees? Does Joe Torre still have what it takes to run this team?

Rustoleum: The Yankees have finally had their past greed of selling the future for the present bite them in the ass. All of the past midseason moves to make a playoff run made have caught up with them and their farm is now depleted. There always has to be a nice mix of some young players and vets. The Yankees, other than Robinson Cano and maybe Philip Hughes, don’t look very solid as far as young players go right now. Also a rash of injuries hasn’t exactly helped. Who knows what might have been if they had been healthy from the start?

That said, the Yanks have been at best inconsistent. They have good hitting, shitty pitching or vice versa. One thing for sure, they can’t have another streak like they just came off. Over .650 the rest of the way is really the only shot they have to get in it…and forget catching the Sox.



As far as Torre goes, he absolutely still has it. This is his team and these are his players. I do think that this will be his last year, and then destiny strikes…Don Mattingly. The best Yankee first baseman of my generation takes the reins…too bad he’s been part of zero championships in the big leagues. That could be a bad omen…Joe Giradi is still around and not a very good commentator.

Old No. 7: Moving on to the Red Sox: I'm biased, but they look like they're ready for a run. The rotation is good enough to keep them in games (especially if Curt Schilling comes back healthy at some point) and the lineup is deep even with Julio Lugo, Coco Crisp and J.D. Drew having below-average years. What are the weaknesses of this team? What AL teams could give them the most problems in a potential playoff series?

Rustoleum: Julio Lugo…not good. J.D. Drew…who? At least Coco started turning things around before getting hurt. But that’s really about the only thing you can give the Red Sox any kind of shit about. They have an all around solid team. A good mix of young guys and vets. Any team with Manny (Ramirez) can’t go wrong, he should be due any time to request a trade…and then hit about 40 home runs. And Big Papi is probably my second favorite player in the bigs, as clutch as they come and he will spit in his hands before shaking yours. Youk (Kevin Youkilis) was the biggest snub for the all-star game. The only thing I see stopping this team would be very key injuries or just totally dying at the plate.

Any of the AL playoff teams can play with them, but the Tigers have the best shot, in my opinion, having both solid pitching and hitting. The Angels offense can be inconsistent and the same can be said for the Indians pitching…and they suck on the road. The NL would seemingly be overmatched by any AL team, most of the teams in the running have glaring weaknesses. However, I thought that last year when the Cards made the series and they won it. It is baseball and anything can happen.

Old No. 7: Is baseball better off with or without teams in Florida? Before expansion, I always liked the fact that Florida had Spring Training but no big-league teams. Even though the Marlins have inexplicably won the World Series twice, it always seems like the D'Rays and Marlins are on the verge of falling apart. Their stadiums suck, no one goes to games and they're always threatening to move. Will Tampa ever be a viable baseball market?

Rustoleum: Tampa could be a viable market if the Yankees or the Red Sox played there for all of the D-Rays home games, otherwise their home attendance is a joke. I disagree that the Marlins are on the verge of always falling apart, I think the way that organization is run is vastly underrated. Twice they’ve blown up teams that have won the World Series, yet they always seem to reload and make a run every couple years. I do agree, though, that baseball in Florida should probably go. Tampa has good talent, but they will never be able to hold on to those players without an NFL-like salary cap.

I’ve been in favor of retraction for years. I think MLB should retract six teams and go with six four-team divisions. That would improve teams by subtracting out awful Kansas City pitching and spreading around the good players to other teams. Florida and Tampa are certainly good choices. The Washington Expos are terrible and baseball in the summer in Phoenix is laughable. Toronto doesn’t deserve a team, this is America’s pastime. Canadians have hockey and should keep it to themselves. The final retraction should be Kansas City, frankly the city doesn’t deserve any sports franchise.

Old No. 7: Is Peter Angelos killing the Orioles the same way Dan Snyder is killing the Redskins? You've observed Steinbrenner for many years...how do you feel about a rich, meddlesome owner who'll do anything to win but tends to get in his own way?

Rustoleum: Angelos is a weird owner. You love when your owner is willing to spend money. The Orioles problem is spending money on crappy or washed up players who may or may not be on the juice or speak English. A franchise is only as good as it’s GM and the Orioles have a good one in Andy MacPhail. He’s won championships in Minnesota and done the impossible…getting the Cubbies within five outs and a Bartman away from the world series. Owners would be wiser to sit back and let guys like this do their job, but it’s the owner’s team and he’s free to do what he likes. Their track record as scouts, despite claims to the contrary, are not that good.

Old No. 7: We've taken one franchise away from the Canadians, so why do we still have to deal with the Blue Jays? Should we go to war with Canada? The Jays have a decent collection of talent but have been hammered by injuries this year. What will it take for them to get back to the playoffs in the next five years?

Rustoleum: The Blue Jays best shot of getting to the playoffs would be switching to the National League…or becoming a hockey franchise.

Old No. 7: Which league will have home field in the World Series, and which team will win it?

Rustoleum: The AL clearly has the better roster, but it’s a baseball game that could easily end in a draw. (Editor's Note: That question was asked before last night's All-Star Game) The World Series winner…Yankees in 6.

Old No. 7: Is the American League East the worst division in baseball?

Rustoleum: I don’t know about the worst, but it may be the most overrated. There’s always a lot of hype surrounding the AL East and it certainly hasn’t lived up to its billing. I still think the worst division in baseball is the NL Central. The teams in that division just plain suck, other than the Brewers. The Brewers are a young, inexperienced squad but solid. I don’t know how they will fare come playoff time, but I do think they could be good for years to come. St. Louis is a mess right now, Houston is all over the place, and the Pirates and Reds are really just awful.

Old No. 7: Do you think steroids could have put Don Mattingly and Mark Grace in the Hall of Fame?

Rustoleum: I think with Mattingly, steroids may have helped him from those nagging back injuries. His career stats were pretty good considering he only played over 150 games six times in 14 years: .307 avg, 222 hr, 1099 rbi. Mark Grace also had decent career stats: .303 avg, 173 hr, 1146 rbi. It’s hard to say whether could have helped Gracie all that much. He really wasn’t a home run hitter. Mattingly had three seasons over 30 home runs in his prime, Gracie never hit more than 17. Maybe on the the juice Gracie could have hit 22 jacks, only the baseball writers of America and Victor Conte could tell us the exact number he would have hit.

Old No. 7: Without a salary cap but with revenue sharing, is baseball fair? I know teams like the Yankees and Red Sox have inherent financial advantages over most teams, but if you look at the smart GMs in small markets (like Terry Ryan in Minnesota and Billy Beane in Oakland) and the fact that we've had eight different WS champions in the last eight years, is it fair enough?

Rustoleum: Is it fair…no, but that is the state of baseball today. The big market teams certainly have the advantage of tremendous wealth, great fan bases, and lucrative television contacts. There are certainly the small market teams that have been able to compete and win World Series, but generally it seems to be the same teams and GMs that win. For the casual fan, I could see where that might be a bit boring. Unless baseball decides to go with a hard cap, it will probably never be fair…go Yankees!
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One Man's All-Star Ballot

First off, allow me to state that All-Star voting is ridiculous. The most popular teams get all their players in, good guys get screwed every year, and the mandatory representative from every team is problematic at best. Tying the result of this game to World Series home field is still the most asinine decision made by a sport in my lifetime. And the game itself has slipped noticeably in quality over the last decade.

Still, I love the MLB All-Star Game. I am always riveted by the rosters, the pregame announcements, and the managerial decisions within the game. It's one cool thing from my childhood that's still relatively pure. I try to vote every year, even if it means that I get thousand of junk marketing e-mails as a result of doing it online. Here are my selections:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1B I'm taking Big Papi, and if you don't like it you can lick the sweat off the large man's large balls. I know he's not a first baseman, but he does fine there when asked. Alls I know is that a lineup with Ortiz in it is infinitely better than one with Morneau or Teixeira. Sorry.

2B Brian Roberts is a surprisingly clear-cut choice. Although Ian Kinsler has 14 jacks he's hitting .243. Placido Polanco has a .333 average but no power, and although Robinson Cano has straightened out his season he's nowhere near Roberts (.324-4-22-24 steals).

3B Alex Rodriguez is one of three no-doubt no-brainers on the ballot (along with Chase Utley and Russ Martin). So of course I went with Mike Lowell. I'll never be able to punch a ballot with this guy on it.

SS Carlos Guillen is killing it, and gets the nod over Orlando Cabrera and Jeter.

C I'm perfectly willing to sacrifice defense for hitting stats at most positions, but these teams need decent leather up the middle. So although Victor Martinez is far and away the best hitter at the position and Jorge Posada is raking at a .341 clip, I'm taking Kenji Johjima. He's quietly putting together a nice all-around season and is a big reason the Mariners are not putrid this year.

OF Normally I am of the opinion that Ichiro, Vlad Guerrero and Manny Ramirez are the default candidates for the AL outfield, unless either one of them is hurt/slumping or someone else is clearly deserving. Magglio Ordonez is definitely in the latter category, and he bumps Manny from the ballot. Although he's turned it around in '07, I think we need to finally accept the fact that Manny has reached the downside of his prime and is no longer the .330-40-140 monster we had come to expect.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1B You have to reward the season that Prince Fielder and the Brewers are having. I'm sorry, Mr. Pujols. This doesn't mean you don't get into the Hall of Fame.

2B If you voted for anyone other than Chase Utley you have serious issues.

3B Miguel Cabrera keeps putting up huge stats and gets the nod over such badasses as David Wright and Aramis Ramirez. I love Wright and he can slot into more spots in a loaded lineup, but the NL needs Cabrera's power here.

SS Although Hanley Ramirez is awesome and the poor man's Jose Reyes, I opted for the actual Jose Reyes. Call me crazy. Jimmy Rollins will make the club too. Good group.

C Just like second base, there is no decision here. Russ Martin is the only acceptable choice.

OF Here is where the NL displays its inferiority the most. The junior varsity for the AL is better than the starting options of the Senior Circuit. Matt Holliday is having an MVP-caliber season and gets a spot. Soriano, while not yet playing up to his contract, deserves inclusion (and will be forced to play center, which is potential comedy gold). The third position, I'm sorry, goes to Barry Bonds. Barry gets my vote not because he's at home and not because he's about to pass Aaron (although both of those are good enough reasons for me) but because he's honestly the third-best outfield bat in his league. Just missing are Carlos Lee, Griffey and Eric Byrnes. And tell me how the NL can win this game subbing in those three, while the AL brings Manny, Sheffield and Sizemore off the bench. Good luck. Feel free to disparage my selections in the Comments.

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I'm Required To Write This

There's nothing I hate more than the mandatory writing assignment. I didn't like them in school, and I despise when I'm called upon to pen some bullshit paragraph for an ad or somebody's stupid obituary because I'm "the writer" in whatever group. Fuck that. I'll grant you that I'm really awesome, and that if I saw someone as good as me in any field I would insist that they exercise that magical skill all the time.

But Sammy Sosa hit a bomb last night, and he did some ridiculous song-and-dance routine to celebrate it, and I am now compelled to say something about it. Because it involves a massively important baseball milestone, and because I love the game of baseball, and because I care about the Hall Of Fame. At some level the Hall's selection process is just like the voting for the All-Star Game and MVP award, which to call circuslike is an insult to the hard working folks of Barnum and Bailey's. But the Hall is different. For one, it's easily the coolest museum you'll ever enter. If someone unworthy gets in, it gets under my skin. Is Sammy Sosa worthy?

An examination of his statistics quickly says absolutely yes. In addition to the firth-most HRs of all time, Sammy has amassed 2361 hits and 1449 runs scored. He has 1628 RBI, which is the 25th best total ever, and of the top 25 only Ken Griffey, Ted Williams, Jimmie Fixx, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth have fewer than Sammy's 8637 ABs. His HR totals from '93-'04: 33-25-36-40-36-66-63-50-64-49-40-35. He topped 20 doubles nine times. He has 234 steals and was twice a 30-30 man. From '98 to 2002, this is Sammy's average season: 157 games, 184 hits, 124 runs and a .306 average. Sure he averaged 58.4 homers too, but he was a reasonably balanced hitter who drove the ball to all fields.

My lasting image of Sammy will always be from a 2002 game at Coors Field when he could only run in straight lines. He was so bulked up that he could not turn his torso to chase batted balls and was virtually worthless in the outfield. His home run swing and routine of gestures to the crowd were intact, however, and it's hard to remember Sammy as a complete ballplayer. The stats don't lie, though--for a time Sammy was among the two or three most feared hitters in baseball, and that should be the biggest criteria for a Hall of Fame.

Yes, he was roided out of his skull. He somehow skated during the congressional testimony that sank Mark McGwire's Hall candidacy by forgetting that he spoke English (magically, he conducted an ass-kissing presser in English last night). Other than McGwire, he was the worst overall hitter among all of these 400+ HR hitters of the Steroid Era. He struck out too much and turned into a cartoon, but I still says Sammy' in. And now I need to go take a shower.

As for the other active or recently retired players over 400 HRs, here's my Hall assessment: Delgado (No), Piazza (Yes), Sheffield (Yes), A-Rod (Yes), ManRam (Yes), Thome (No), Thomas (Yes), McGriff (No), Griffey (Yes), Palmeiro (Yes, barely, and it has little to do with juice), McGwire (No, and it has nothing to do with juice), Barry (absolutely).

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Baseball In The Daytime: 6-21-07

I hope all you pervs enjoyed your portion of softcore smut yesterday, I sure did. Now that Bankmeister has issued his weekly post and we're still a couple days away from Cecil's weekend witchcraft, you're stuck with me til payday. Suck it up, and enjoy some more weekday baseball, bitches.

I don't know who's catching for the Cubs these days, but someone's going to have to drop signs for Ted Lilly (6-4) starting at 12:05 Mountain. Chicago gets one more game in Arlington against the Rangers, following last night's awkward milestone. The eminently awful Vincente Padilla (3-8) gets the start for Texas on XM 182 and DTV 734. One juicy Cubs note is that even though the White Sox are hosting their interleague, intracity rivalry series this weekend, they'll still play the afternoon game tomorrow. Awesome.

The Big One today is at Coors. Seriously. The Rockies have gone to the hardware store and purchased brooms, and they're fixing to break them out against the God damned Bronx Bombers at 1:05 on XM 176 and DTV 735 (no word on FSRM's intentions). The Rocket will make over a million dollars to try and halt the Yankees' miniature losing streak, while the surprising Rodrigo Lopez revisits his old AL East tormentors. I am trying very hard to reach a spot where I can watch this game and give y'all some updates and observations, we'll see how that goes. By the way, the Red Sox are back to a double-digit division lead, so everyone can step away from the bridge railing.

Although those Red Sox have already arrived in San Diego for their weekend series versus the Padres, their hosts still have a getaway game with the Orioles to host. This one gets underway at 1:35 on XM 189 and DTV 736. Erik Bedard, who's only 4-4 despite a nice ERA and the MLB lead in strikeouts (the O's 'pen is horrible), faces B.F. David Wells (3-4) in another ex-AL East matchup.

UPDATE: I tried to live-blog Rockies-Yanks, I really did. But the "sports bar" I intended to watch from was an abject disaster: it doesn't open until 2, it has no wireless Web-com-nets and the TVs have neither Extra Innings nor Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. These are the times when living in a small, isolated alpine community licks the balls. As a bonus, I'm blacked out from watching on MLB.TV, so I'm stuck with the radio broadcast. I could say fuck it and go home, but that would be bad form. I'd rather sit, sulk and not work. By the way, a couple of solo jacks from Atkins and Tulowitzki have tied it at 2, end of the 2nd. Read more

Jocks v. Nerds

The nation (and the Nation) breathlessly watched as Rocket mowed down the Toledo Mud Hens yesterday and proclaimed himself ready to play for his last-place employers. Good times.

After the game, the press conference turned mean and nasty when some reporter (I'm really annoyed than several seconds of research did not reveal his or her name) brought up the fact that Rocket is not universally adored. Quoth Rock:

"If you want to be negative be negative. I'm not a negative person," he said. "You be negative as much as you want. If I stink and I don't pitch well out there, I know I stink. I don't need you tell me that. I have pride in what I do. I'll pull my heart out and set it right there [pointing to the table] for you to see it. When I perform, I've done it. I got that from my mother so if you want to write and these other people want to write negative...everything has to be negative these days. There always had to be a negative. I've always been positive in my life. It won't end. I don't want to be around negative people. So I won't associate myself with those people. So if it makes you feel good to write negative stuff then go ahead but you've never been in the arena. Never been in this arena to understand what it's like. Keep that in mind. People read your column and associate things with me that are not true. I'll answer it as honestly I can so that 10-year old when he reads about won't assume things. You can tell how passionate I am about it. Ok?"

First of all, if you've seen the clip, Rocket starts to get a little misty, pounds the table and bolts. Real Leave It To Beaver stuff. I get the feeling that Rocket wishes he could go back and play in the Fifties, when ballplayers called their managers "Skip" and reporters knew their place. Of course, he'd prefer to take a tackle box full of pills from the Bay Area with him in that time machine, but that's neither here nor there.

What really gets me about this little outburst is that Rocket played the "you've never been in the arena" card. It's as old as he is, maybe older, and that's really old. Every jock who's ever lived has had this feeling. They get better and better, and they receive nothing but adulation and bullshit praise. And then one day some hack, a fat idiot who gets winded climbing the steps to the press box, criticizes them, and they lose it.

Listen, Rock. You're not some fireballing rook in need of Kevin Costner's advice. You've been around the block and you know how this works. You're making $28 million of George Steinbrenner's money for half a season's work. George has never "been in the arena" either, but you resepct what he does, right? Over your career you've earned more money than the GDP of India. And the reason you've banked so much is the fan interest you've created, interest that has been fed by the media you blasted yesterday.

Most of us that write about sports are failed athletes. If we were good athletes we'd still be playing, because that's fun. Writing is work. Even the bullshit that I spew here takes time, Rock, and talent. And a little shot of smack, just to get me through the dark times. It ain't a fuckin' walk in the park. I know you work hard, but that scribe you dissed yesterday does too. After all, he traveled to Scranton to watch you pitch in the minors. And Scranton blows mega-balls.

If you don't like it buy the newspaper--you can afford it. Then you can run whatever "positive" stories you like for all the innocent 10-year-olds out there. Until then deal with it, old man.

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Baseball In The Daytime: 5-23-07

I hate to ruin your Wednesday, which is rightly dedicated to poon, but we've got a ball game today. Fear not, at some point before sundown Bankmeister will grace us with some bulbous jugs and sweet ga-dunk-a-dunk. That is, if he's not exhausted from complaining about how excruciating his vacation is.

Back here in America we have jobs, taxes, rain and Jason Giambi. But we also have an afternoon tilt between Minnesota and Texas (noon-oh-five Mountain time, XM 177 and DirecTV 734). Your pitchers are gonna be Robinson Tejeda for the Rangers and "Coach, How Dat Look Up In Da" Boof Bonser for the Twins.

I've always hated the Rangers, and I don't really know why. Sure, they're from Texas (even worse, metro Dallas), but that's not it. They've never really been good enough to despise, and although they've had some true knuckleheads grace their roster their players are generally cool. Dubya once owned them, that's not good. And from 1989 to 1994, the period of Bush's ownership, they sported most of baseball's juiciest dudes: Sosa, Palmiero, Pudge, Juan-Gone, Incaviglia, Canseco and Dean Palmer, plus ball doctorer Kenny Rogers and Julio Franco, who found some mysterious "fountain of youth" cough! HGH cough!

On the other side of that coin, I've always sorta liked the Twins. Can't really explain it. They've always had likable players, and the fans in Minnesota tend to be good honest Midwestern folk. Life's an enigma sometimes.

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Only The Horsehide Was White

The last thing I want to do is bump the comedic brilliance of our Weekend Correspondent down the page. But today is April 15, and that is significant. Not because of the IRS, although I hope you jackasses have paid The Man. No, today is the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s first game in the bigs, and this event has been typically, nauseatingly overprocessed by the four-letter network.

It wasn’t enough for ESPN to turn the (very cool) NFL Draft into a two-month festival of snores. They then had to create a multimedia assault around the gayness of John Amaechi. ESPN had the publishing rights to Amaechi’s public outing. So they aired dozens of interviews with him, and then took the opportunity to grill every single sports-related figure on Earth about their feelings. Most of the comments were benign and boring, yet LeBron said a few things that made him unpopular in the Bay Area and Tim Hardaway jumped into a pool of burning gasoline. Conveniently, ESPN was there to cover it all, as if it were a random news story.

Now we have the Robinson anniversary. As it so happens, it falls on the same day as ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, which has already ruined Opening “Day” this season. So we get the Dodgers facing the Padres, interspersed with millions of clips of Jackie, interviews with old black men, and Joe Morgan telling us about the experience (while staying mighty positive).

A few themes that Joe and the Bristol Machine will beat us over the head with today are: A.) How great and noble baseball is for honoring Jackie in this way, B.) The controversy over who’s wearing Jackie’s No. 42, and C.) The dearth of African-Americans in the game today, how much of a tragedy that is, and what we can do to remedy it.

All three of these themes make me puke. First off, it is the height of hypocrisy for Bud Selig to dry-hump the legacy of Jackie Robinson, when he represents the ownership of Major League Baseball. The only thing that kept Negro Leaguers prior to Robinson out of baseball was the ownership of Major League Baseball. And the only reason Robinson and other early black stars were let in, prior to seminal civil rights events such as Brown vs. Board of Education, the Birmingham bus boycott and the Johnson voting rights legislation was a desire to win baseball games. Plain and simple. Branch Rickey was a good man, and he stuck his neck out at a time when doing so had serious repercussions, but the root of his move was to improve the plight of his historically struggling ball club.

Bud Selig is going to pat himself and his fellow owners on the back so hard tonight that he may require Tommy John surgery. What would be more honest would be an acknowledgement that his predecessors artificially created the color barrier. They should use this day to honor Jackie, yes, but also to be publicly accountable for their stance 60 years ago.

At last count over 150 major leaguers will don Robinson’s No. 42 jersey today. This rubs some, like Torii Hunter, the wrong way. Hunter feels that only African-American players should be allowed to wear Jackie’s digits, which is flat bunk. The significance of Robinson’s achievement was that of creating opportunity, an opportunity that now exists for players of every race and nationality. Why wouldn’t an Asian or Dominican player feel the same debt to Robinson that Hunter does? And why couldn’t a white player show the same respect?

In America we tend to break discussions of race strictly long a black-white border. That ignores the fact that Latinos are the fastest growing demographic in the country and that immigrants from every country, race and ethnicity on the planet call this nation home. Most also play baseball, and for Torii Hunter to exclude them from today’s celebration is just plain ignorant.

Finally, we have this tired debate over the dwindling numbers of black players in MLB. Where have they gone? ask the morons. How can we get them back? Where they’ve gone is to other sports, and they’re not coming back. In 1947 baseball was the biggest sport in the country. Jackie Robinson was a baseball star at UCLA, but he also played varsity football, basketball and ran track. If he were a modern athlete, there’s very little chance he would have gone on to play baseball. He was a good enough running back to make the NFL, which is where he’d probably set up shop today.

These days kids who are good athletes are typically not allowed to play multiple sports. They’re pigeonholed early and placed on traveling summer teams. And baseball today is a very regional sport. Look at the top college and high school teams. With very few exceptions, they’re all in the South and West, where they can focus on the sport year-round. I suppose if you’re a black kid in those areas, you may wind up on a track to the big leagues. But if you’re from the Midwest or Northeast, you’ll more likely end up playing football or basketball.

In addition, the decline in African-American players coincides with a huge influx of Latino and Asian ones. The game has never been better, or more internationally diverse. And many of the black players that remain are superstars, and there are even some that are clean. So when Joe Morgan tells you tonight that it was better back in his day, tell him he’s full of shit. The game is fine.

(Update: The Dodgers-Padres game was as bad as I could have ever expected. I think baseball has made an entire generation hate Jackie Robinson now. The best, and by best I mean worst, was the half-inning that Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, spent with John and Joe in the boof. Thanks to Padres' pitcher Chris Young's eternal shittiness, she muct have talked for an hour and a half. Painful.)

(Update No. 2: I don't know who it was, because they didn't put his name on the back of his jersey, but No. 42 for the Dodgers was fucking everywhere last night. He stole like ten bases, pitched well and even made some sparkling defensive plays. I need to get that kid on my fantasy team.) Read more

Sched-u-Well Vol. 2

Just wait until the Draft. Then I'll be posting some really long, self-involved shit.

Back to breakdown of the Denver Broncos' 2007 schedule. For those who missed it, which I believe is probably all of you, volume one is a few posts down. I still don't know how all this bloggery works. Why we can't have the voluminous comments engendered by these little pieces of sport-literature ecstasy appearing as they do elsewhere, in a list below the post? How come we can't click the ads? Just why is it that we rule so fucking hard someone at SMU is wasting time reading this nonsense when they could be studying? (Thanks to our Administrator for the joke, and you, Mustang--no masturbating. We're watching.)

Anyway...

9. Nov. 11, at Kansas City, 11 a.m.
Not only an Arrowhead game (you'll hear more about the tradition before game-time, but to break it down: several people from the great state of Colorado travel across the hostile plains to the flat state of Kansas/Missouri, where they indulge in bottles galore of Pabst Blue Ribbon, plenty of local barbecue and, usually, a good dose of crow following), but a morning Arrowhead game. The Chiefs could be 0-fer and we'd still have trouble. I have high hopes for future Cutlerian victories, but alas: Chiefs, 30, Denver 27. Broncos 7-2.

10. Nov. 19, Tennessee, 6:30 p.m.
I have a feeling--along with every other sentient human who follows the NFL--that Travis Henry is going to be glad to finally be on a team that doesn't have a high-priced "stud buffalo" (Shanahan's pet phrase, which says something about him...not sure what, though) waiting to get carries. In Tennessee it was LenDale White, a former Denver-area schoolboy player at South and Chatfield--where his coach was ubiquitous Denver sports figure Dave Logan--who used to run for like 260 yards a game back when he was playing against pre-pubescents. Then he went to USC, ate a lot of meat, won a Championship or two, was the best back on the field against Texas, got drafted by a team that employed his college offensive co-ordinator and disappeared. I was flummoxed. I thought LenDale, in addition to having a great name, would be the kind of Jamal Lewis-esque pro who would wear down defenses but still skip and hop through the secondary with nimble, elfin footwork. And who knows? He might still be--but he could not beat out Henry last year when that team would have liked nothing better than to have him do so. We'll see how LenDale fares in his return home, but my money's on Travis. Denver rolls, 41-17. 8-2

11. Nov. 25, at Chicago, 11 a.m.
Road, NFC North team, morning game. Disaster. I don't want to write this, but I will, even though I think the Bears are wicked overrated: Bears 27, Broncos 7. Denver at 8-3, losses in two of the last three...

12. Dec. 2, at Oakland, 2:05 p.m.
While we never like playing the Raiders because they cheat and rape grandmothers, we feel a bit better heading into this game than the first. Why? Because the unknown is now known: JaMarcus (assuming they drafted him, which I think is a safe assume) didn't help. Randy retired early to work his IntaJuice franchise. Lane Kiffin proved to be no Tom Flores. Hell, Lane Kiffin proved to be no Joe Bugel. The Raiders remain a mess. And we still almost stumble here because sometimes that just happens in the NFL. Denver 21, Oakland 20. 9-3.

13. Dec. 9, Kansas City, 2:15 p.m.
This is how it goes, every year: we lose in KC. They lose in Denver. It's the Timeless Rhythm of the AFC West, our tide. Our swallows to Capistrano. We don't question why, we just go with it. Last year, Larry "I'm Really Not The Biggest Fuckbag in the League, Really" Johnson ran for like 130 yards, our offense looked like the intramural squad at Northern Tennessee Teacher's College...and we still won. Don't look for the tide to change this year. Denver 24, Kansas City 18. 10-3

14. Dec. 13, at Houston, 6:15 p.m.
I believe in Kubiak. I think that, given enough time and shittiness, he'll eventually accumulate the talent to make that team a winner. Providing, of course, they give him the time...but how many years did they give Dom Capers? And Dom Capers, besides having truly astounding ears, is a doof. How many coaching gigs can you wring out of a few years of mild success a decade before? Kubiak deserves at least that. And maybe Schaub is worth it. Maybe. They still need receivers, an offensive line, a running game, a competent defense and a reason for their fans to keep caring, which won't come today. Denver 33, Houston 10. 11-3. Denver fans are excited. Again.

15. Dec. 24, at San Diego, 6 p.m.
I tipped my pick earlier when I said we'd split the season. Cutler gets a faceful of 'roid rager Merriman, That country bumpkin Rivers throws a few TDs to ex-Northern Colorado kid Vincent Jackson, and the fans who can just barely show up in number enough to keep their team from moving to Torrance jump around and crow like they've won something. Memo to dude dressed as a thunderbolt: no amount of scrubbing will ever remove your shame. Chargers 30, Denver 17. 11-4

16. Dec. 30, Minnesota, 2:15 p.m.
OK. The list is: night games, dome games, morning games, and games against the NFC North. It's a baffler. A few years back, the Broncos played Minnesota in the dome (ack!) and lost in one of the craziest games I've ever seen. A few years even before that, Sean Salisbury beat us in Mile High. The memory still claws at the back of my eyelids. Do I think we can exorcise some of those demons o' the frozen north? Yeah. I do. I think we roll, 34-13. I think we finish 12-4 and get at least one home playoff game. I doubt 12-4 will be good enough for home field, but who knows?

So get some sleep, Cutler. The Broncos monitors at HoG are expecting big things from you. Read more