Catching Up, Yet Again

Wow, I just checked the blog and realized it has been awhile since I've written.

Part of that (read: most) can be attributed to the fact that from last Thursday morning until Monday evening I was traveling to North Carolina for a nice Parker-boys golfing weekend with my dad, brother, and uncle.

^{"We played 54 holes in 3 days... everyone of 'em great." --Buck McCoy}

My brother did an excellent job in scouting out three courses for us to play. Each one, in my opinion, was better than the one preceeding it, culminating in playing the Duke University course on Sunday. It was probably the hardest course I've ever played.


My game was rusty, as was to be expected. I salvaged a decent tee game, with my driver being in play about 50-60% of the time, my 5-wood being pretty good, and my long irons serving their purpose. My mid-irons were good. My short game was horrible, as is usual. I putted well on Friday, but not so well on Saturday and Sunday.

We scrambled all three rounds, and were a collective 10 over par, I believe. Not bad for three Yankees, two of which had not picked up their clubs yet this year. And, for my own little feather-in-cap moment, we birdied a par 5 on the Duke course. And we used all 4 of my shots. Git some!


Band

The band is playing at the Newport Music Hall again this evening. It was originally a five-band bill, I believe, but I was informed this morning that "Freak Nut Rat Patrol" has dropped out. edit It turns out one of their members was seriously injured and they were unable to play. I previously made a throw-away comment as to their sound, and for that I wish to apologize (having never heard their music). My bad, guys.


Sports

The Tribe is set to break camp today and begin their move northward. The final roster is set, and shakes up like this:

C: Victor Martinez, Kelly Shoppach
1B: Ryan Garko
2B: Josh Barfield
SS: Jhonny Peralta
3B: Andy Marte
LF: Jason Michaels, David Delucci
CF: Franchise McSizemore
RF: Casey Blake, Trot Nixon
DH: Travis Hafner
Bench: Mike Rouse
SP: CC Sabathia, Jake Westbrook, Jeremy Sowers, Paul Byrd, Fausto Carmona (Cliff Lee on DL)
RP: Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz, Tom Mastny, Rafael Betencourt, Jason Davis, Fernando Cabrera (Matt Miller on DL)
CL: Joe Borowski

Some notes: Lars is no doubt happy that his boy Garko made the team. The "plan" for right now is that Garko will play some first base against lefties, will pinch hit, and possibly DH any days that Hafner plays first or gets a day off (which should be never!). Blake, Martinez, and Hafner will also split time at first base, depending on pitching matchups and Martinez needing days off behind the plate.

I like the Mike Rouse move. He hit very well in spring (which I know means nothing) and can play all three other infield spots. The thought of them keeping two utility infielders in lieu of Garko's bat was not one I would have endorsed.

Even though his addition to the bullpen was more a result of Matt Miller hurting himself, Tom Mastny pitched well in spring anyway. He also pitched well down the stretch last year until a dead arm ended his year. And, really, I'm rooting for him just a bit since the Indians were rude enough to put him AFTER Sizemore in the autograph line on the press tour, meaning a lot of people breezed right past him after getting Grady's signature. Not me, man. I let him sign my jersey (which also has FCabrera, JPeralta, RGarko, and AMarte on it). I like to think that my faith in him is the root of his good pitching in the spring, but it could be his control. The jury's still out at this point.

Despite my Randy-Quaid-in-Major-League-2 stance currently, I'm starting to warm a bit to the Tribe. I'm still skeptical of the bullpen, which will be the main deciding factor as to whether or not this team goes anywhere. They had the starters and the offense last season, and while their infield defense wasn't the greatest, the main reason they dropped off was their bullpen. The infield defense is marginally better (at least on paper, and so far during spring anyway), but the bullpen still scares me.

And, as the name of my one fantasy team suggests ("85 Wins and 4th Place"), it's going to take a little while for me to buy into all of the publications' pre-season picks of the Tribe winning the division. Prove me wrong, boys.


The Browns inch closer to the draft (April 28th). The first five picks in this draft are pretty much set in terms of which players they will be, but as for order and even the teams making the picks, no one can really know.

I, myself, will still be shocked if the Raiders don't take JaMarcus Russell, but the Lions are the wild card here. Matt Millen is capable of fucking almost anything up at any given time, so who knows who he'll pick? The consensus is that Calvin Johnson is the *best* prospect in the draft, but none of the top-3 really seem to want him. So, does that portend a trade up by someone else? The Lions would probably be best served by a trade down, as would the Browns in all reality.

Things that make me nervous as a Browns fan:
1. Brady Quinn. As I said earlier, I will light myself on fire if we draft him #3. There is talk that the Lions might take a flyer on him at #2, which (I hope to all things holy) would be the Browns' dream scenario. To have Joe Thomas, Johnson, and Adrien Peterson on the board at their pick at #3 would be ideal, both in terms of getting the player they want, and in trading down.

2. All of this talk about trading up to get Russell. Russell may be the best QB prospect in the draft (his workout was, as quoted by one coach or GM, "like a video game"), but the Browns are in no position to be giving up picks to move up a spot or two to get a player who isn't in the biggest position of need.

3. Adrien Peterson. Most accounts have him being the player the Browns will take, and while he has the potential to be a stud running back for many years, he also has the potential to be Ki-Jana Carter and be battling injuries every year.

For my money, the pick has to be Joe Thomas. Adding him to Eric Steinbach on the left side would be the best move they could make. That move would make all of the running backs and quarterbacks on the roster that much better, and to me, that's like a 2-for-1 pick. This is not to say that I think Charlie Frye or Derek Anderson will be Pro-Bowlers with Thomas on the o-line. Far from it. I'm just saying that adding Thomas along with Steinbach makes the left side of the line so much better, which in turn makes Jamal Lewis and Jason Wright better, as well as giving a pocket passer like Anderson a better chance of making a play and gives a guy like Charlie Frye more protection and less reason to have happy feet and bolt from the pocket. It also keeps them both from getting pulverized, which has to help their development just a touch, no?

So, while I will be happy with a pick of Peterson because of his potential to be a game-changing back, I will go on record as saying a pick of Thomas would make me happiest. The Lions hold the key. The Raiders won't take Thomas, but the Lions could. I'll be interested to see what Savage does if Thomas and Peterson are on the board at #3, and there's no viable trade option.


The Cavs went on a tear in late February and early March, and have hit a bit of a bump in the road. Three losses in four games, one of which was to the freaking Knicks. They've officially clinched a playoff spot, but currently a half a game seperates them from 2nd in the conference and 5th in the conference (since for some reason, Chicago is 5th behind Washington, despite having a better record than the Wiz...). I don't have to spell out how much better served they'd be in the 2nd spot over the 5th spot (though I apparently will by noting that, at present, it would be the difference in playing the Nets with home court versus playing the Wiz with no home court).

They have 10 games left, with only 4 at home. They have a huge game in Chicago coming up this weekend, as well as a tough back-to-back with Miami and Washington next week. Time to get back on the horse, gentlemen.


The Jackets are making another run at franchise records for wins and points (they currently sit at 71 points, 3 behind their record). Hitchcock has them playing with effort, and is (wisely and rather successfully) trying to get them excited to play next year, as opposed to just playing out the string. I don't know much about his off-season program/plans, but if he can get them this motivated right now as also-rans, my hope is that they can carry some of that into next season, hopefully get off to a better start, and build toward a possible low-seed playoff push. Though you don't really see it in overall record, the progress they've made since his arrival is definitely more noticable this year than in any other. It's hard not to see them as the Nashville Predators of 2003-2004.


Other News

The weather is finally getting nice. The yard is starting to come around. This is my favorite time of year. Nice, sunny, warm days, and crisp evenings and nights that allow one not to have to run the heater or the air conditioner, and allow one to sleep with a window open and under a blanket. If it was like this all year, there would be no complaining from me.

Yard projects are significantly in smaller supply this year, and will hopefully require much less back-breaking labor than years past. I'm looking forward to tweaking this year, as opposed to completely overhauling as in years past.

I think that's about it. Good times.