What are the White Sox doing?

What are the White Sox doing? 

Kenny Williams can tell me he’s “rebuilding,” but I see through that and know he’s just trying to lower expectations and make things easier on first year skipper Robin Ventura. 

9 months after I have “All In” thrown at me, I’m seeing the White Sox turn into something I hate watching as a sports fan and that’s an organization that’s not moving towards winning a championship. 

His World Series Championship still holds water, Williams won a title in this new era of Boston/New York spending $160-$200 million on their teams.  However, in the years since, I’ve watched him develop an identity crisis.  Is he a shrewd general manager that sells a fifty cent pieces for three quarters?  Or is he the GM that overpays people to play for him? 

What is Kenny Williams doing?

I don’t mind dealing players you don’t intend to sign for younger players in order to replenish your farm system.  But there should be a plan in place to keep players that work out the way you wanted them to when you originally traded for them. 

Let’s take John Danks for example. 

When the Sox traded Brandon McCarthy for him back in December of 2006, they were getting back a left-handed starter that scouts said had ace potential.  After a rough rookie campaign in 2007 (as a 22 year old), Sox fans have watched him develop into, although not an ace, a legitimate number 2.  He’s going to be a pitcher that will throw 200 innings every season, give you a chance to win 18-22 of the games he starts, and can win a big game or two (see game 163 against the Twins in 2008).  Now granted, he didn’t turn into the ace some thought he might be, he’s still a valuable piece to a team that’s going to contend for a championship.  I don’t understand why the White Sox wouldn’t give him a 5 year deal at market value (see what CJ Wilson signs for this year).  I completely understand why teams like the Brewers, Royals, or Rays need to let guys like Danks go, or deal them for players that can contribute on the cheap, but I don’t understand why the White Sox have to.  Chicago isn’t a small market and the White Sox spend more than 80% of the teams in baseball.  I digress.

Using the logic that seems to be in place with John Danks (trade him because you aren’t willing to sign him when he hits the open market), what’s the goal in dealing him?  Getting back a player that will develop into a player you will have to trade when he becomes too good?  Is this just a cycle of trading good players that become expensive for players you hope to be good when they are cheap?   

That’s what leaves me asking the question, what are the White Sox doing?  Are the Sox a big market team that competes for the best in free agency and fills holes by trading prospects for productive pros?  Or are they a moneyball team that is always dealing overpaid players for prospects that will overperform and give them 3-4 years of solid service at a discount? 

As the general manager, Kenny Williams needs to pick a philosophy and, pardon the pun, go “all in” with it. 

I’m ok with the White Sox wanting to go young, shed some bad contracts, and deal players that they have no intention of resigning when they hit the open market for prospects that make their farm system better.  But if that’s the direction we are going, I would hope to see some more money invested in the draft and player development.  And I hope our 2^nd best prospect isn’t Nestor Molina, a guy the Sox traded for a day ago.

I’m also ok with the Sox spending money on the right free agents and dealing prospects for proven major league talent in an attempt to win every year.  The AL Central won’t be bad forever, so while the Twins, Indians, and Royals are horrible, I’m all for trying to take advantage of that.  I’m all in for going “all in.” 

So now we are back to where we started, what are the White Sox doing? 

The trade of Sergio Santos (for more information on that, and anything else White Sox, check out my boy Jim Margalus on South Side Sox) started something that inevitably points to Kenny Williams trying to lower fan expectations of the 2012 White Sox.  John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and Carlos Quentin are all being rumored to being moved and we are left to trust that Kenny Williams is doing what’s best for the Chicago White Sox. 

My hope is that KW’s plan of moving the White Sox towards winning another World Series title starts to make some more sense to me so I can stop asking, “what are the White Sox doing?” 

I Uh, I Did Not KNOW That - Part 2

With 4 weeks left to play in the 2012 NFL season, and the Bears falling apart, I’m starting to not care about football.  But what I do love about all sports, and football in particular, is statistics, especially statistics that aren’t discussed everywhere you look.  I wrote about this after week 7 (link after the jump) but here you go, another installment of, “I uh, I did not KNOW that.”

If anything, this information, if memorized, will make you seem interesting to talk to for about 5 minutes.

http://mustachesports.blogspot.com/2011/10/and-were-back.html

Quarterbacks

Eli Manning has more passing yards (3,705) than anyone not named Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees.

Tavaris Jackson has more passing yards (2,255) than Michael Vick (2,193).

Cam Newton leads the league in rushing TD’s with 13.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has more passing TD’s (20) than Philip Rivers , Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, Joe Flacco, Josh Freeman, and Michael Vick.

Tom Brady has thrown more interceptions (10) than Curtis Painter

Runningbacks

Maurice Jones-Drew leads the league in rushing with 1,137 yards.

Matt Forte has more rushing yards (997) than Michael Turner, Frank Gore, Ray Rice, Arian Foster, and Adrian Peterson.

Beanie Wells has more rushing yards (916) than Chris Johnson.

LeSean McCoy has more rushing TD’s (12) than Maurice Jones-Drew and Frank Gore, combined.

Darren Sproles has more receiving yards (522) than Reggie Bush and Chris Johnson, combined.

Wide Receivers

Victor Cruz has more receiving yards (1,076) than Mike Wallace, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, and Hakeem Nicks.

Johnny Knox has more receiving yards (675) than Stevie Johnson.

Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson are tied for second in the NFL with 9 TD’s and they play on the same team.

Wes Welker has 24 more catches (93) than any other WR in the NFL. 

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham has more receiving yards (1,046) than Mike Wallace, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, and Hakeem Nicks.

Rob Gronkowski has more TD catches (13) than Calvin Johnson.

Fred Davis has more receiving yards (796) than Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Jermichael Finley, and Antonio Gates.

Kickers

Phil Dawson has made 7 field goals of 50+ yards. 

Mason Crosby has kicked more extra points than Phil Dawson, Josh Brown, and Adam Vinatieri combined.

Defense

The 49ers defense has only allowed 159 points this season (13.25 ppg).

The Colts defense has allowed 340 points this season (28.33 ppg). 

The Ravens have 41 sacks this season. 

The Bills have 17 sacks this season.

The Packers have intercepted 23 passes this year.

The Colts have intercepted 5 passes this year. 

Happy Birthday Wayne!

It's Wayne Gretzky's 50th birthday this week and my gift to him is to, once and for all, prove that he is the best athlete to ever play any sport. It's actually quite easy. I could do it with just the next sentence.

If Wayne Gretzky never scored a goal, he'd still be the NHL's all-time leading points scorer.

Boom! Done.

Gretzky had 1,963 assists in his career.

1.Wayne Gretzky—1,963 (assists only)

2.Mark Messier—1,887 (goals + assists)

3.Gordie Howe—1,850 (goals + assists)

If that isn't amazing enough, Wayne Gretzky scored the most goals of all-time, too—894!

Case closed. Game over. So, that makes it:

•Wayne Gretzky—2,857 (goals + assists)

A whopping 970 more points than anyone ever! Absolute bananas. Just the extra 970 points is more than the career totals of:

•Maurice Richard—965 (goals + assists) Hall of Fame

•Chris Chelios—948 (goals + assists) And he played like 40 seasons.

•Bobby Orr—915 (goals + assists) Hall of Fame

If that wasn't enough:

•Wayne Gretzky is the only player ever to score 200 points in a season—and he did it four times.

•He won the MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy) eight years in a row. Nine times total.

•His teams won the Stanley Cup four times.

•His jersey number, 99, is retired by every single team in the NHL.

•His list of achievements go on and on and on...

•No steroids. No scandals. Just the most incredible athlete ever.

Picks Year to Date

NFL

C-Murder 35-28-5

Bert Kolson 40-35-6

Sef Sam Holy 36-33-3

Monster 27-37-4

College

Scott 26-17

Sef Sam Holy 25-21

Blake Witzman 7-10

Tim Tebow and Our Weekend Picks

I don’t know if I would bet that Tim Tebow’s success will sustain itself over the course of an NFL career but it’s been really fun to watch, and root for, this year.  I’m hoping the Broncos end up winning the Super Bowl so haters like Trent Dilfer, the worst person in the world on ESPN, eats a big bowl of crow and maybe gets fired for being so consistently wrong about everything he predicts. 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that next offseason, Tebow works on his passing ability.  Let him start completing just 50% of his passes and he might just turn out to be legit. 

Here’s some fun information:

Tim Tebow’s career numbers

5-3 (8 starts)

12TD 4INT

1,363 yards passing

615 yards rushing

9 rushing TD’s

Last night he drove 95 yards on a Jets defense, that had only allowed 2 first downs through 54 minutes, in 5 minutes to lead the Broncos to a 17-13 win that was capped off by a 20 yard TD run against an all-out blitz.  The legend continues to grow and I continue to be interested. 

Week 11 NFL Picks

Bengals +7 at Ravens

Sef Sam Holy – Ravens

Bert Kolson – Bengals

Monster - Ravens

Bills +1 at Dolphins

Sef Sam Holy – Bills

Bert Kolson – Bills

Monster - Dolphins

Jaguars (Pk) at Browns

Sef Sam Holy – Jags

Bert Kolson – Jags

Monster - Jags

Panthers +7 at Lions

Sef Sam Holy – Lions

Bert Kolson – Panthers

Monster - Lions

Raiders -1 at Vikings

Sef Sam Holy – Raiders

Bert Kolson – Raiders

Monster - Raiders

Bucs +14.5 at Packers

Sef Sam Holy – Packers

Bert Kolson – Bucs

Monster - Packers

Cowboys -8 at Redskins

Sef Sam Holy – Cowboys

Bert Kolson – Cowboys

Monster - Cowboys

Cardinals +10 at 49ers

Sef Sam Holy – 49ers

Bert Kolson – Cardinals

Monster – 49ers

Seahawks +3 at Rams

Sef Sam Holy – Rams

Bert Kolson – Rams

Monster - Rams

Chargers +4 at Bears

Sef Sam Holy – Chargers

Bert Kolson – Bears

Monster - Bears

Eagles +4 at Giants

Sef Sam Holy – Giants

Bert Kolson – Eagles

Monster - Giants

Chiefs +15 at Pats

Sef Sam Holy – Chiefs

Bert Kolson – Chiefs

Monster – Pats

Year to Date

C-Murder – 30-22-4

Bert Kolson – 36-28-5

Sef Sam Holy – 33-25-2

Monster – 22-32-3

Week 12 College Picks

16 Nebraska +3.5 at 18 Michigan

Sef Sam Holy – Nebraska

Blake Witzman – Nebraska

Scott - Nebraska

21 Penn State +7 at Ohio State

Sef Sam Holy – Penn State

Blake Witzman – Penn State

Scott – Penn State

Miami -1 at South Florida

Sef Sam Holy – South Florida

Blake Witzman – Miami

Scott – Miami

USC +15 at 4 Oregon

Sef Sam Holy – Oregon

Blake Witzman – Oregon

Scott - USC

5 Oklahoma -16 at 22 Baylor

Sef Sam Holy – Baylor

Blake Witzman – Oklahoma

Scott - Baylor

Year to Date

Scott – 23-15

Sef Sam Holy – 23-18

Blake Witzman – 5-7

Week 11 College Football Picks and Ruining Your Friday

I was honestly going to write something about how I’m sick of hearing about this Penn State story yesterday but C-Murder told me to read the Grand Jury report before I posted what I had to say.  I read the Grand Jury report and will now not post what I was going to say.  It really is the sickest thing I’ve ever read and feel like I’m going to be scared for life because of it.  It’s all I’ve thought about all day and now I can see why everyone is talking about it everywhere you look.  There are going to be more disgusting details that will surface about this, we will have something for you soon on what we think of this awful, awful situation. 

If you want to read it yourself, google “Jerry Sandusky Grand Jury” and the Washington Post will have something for you with either the first or second link.  Sorry to ruin your Friday, here are me and Blake’s Week 11 College Football Picks. 

10 Virginia Tech -1.5 at 21 Georgia Tech*

Sef Sam Holy – Va Tech

Blake Witzman – Va Tech

19 Nebraska -3.5 at 12 Penn State

Sef Sam Holy – Nebraska

Blake Witzman - Nebraska

20 Auburn +13 at 15 Georgia

Sef Sam Holy – Georgia

Blake Witzman - Georgia

24 Michigan -1 at Illinois

Sef Sam Holy – Michigan

Blake Witzman - Illinois

Miami +9 at Florida State

Sef Sam Holy – FSU

Blake Witzman - FSU

7 Oregon +3.5 at 4 Stanford

Sef Sam Holy – Oregon

Blake Witzman – Stanford

*Swear on my momma we picked this game yesterday

Year to Date

Scott – 23-15

Sef Sam Holy – 19-16

Blake Witzman – 3-3

Lovie Adjusting: Season to Season, Game to Game, Series to Series

The Stubbornness Era

Lovie Smith resurrected the Bears in 2005 and took the 2006 team to a Super Bowl with legitimate talent.  Lovie was stubborn; he had a simple scheme and old school football philosophy that he wouldn’t abandon.

His team ran the ball, did their best to limit errors from their “game manager” (QB), emphasized “takeaways”, and shortened the field with great special teams.

Those Bears teams had defensive talent that we will never forget.  Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, Tommie Harris, Nathan Vasher, Mark Anderson put up ridiculous stats and the unit was producing turnovers and winning games.  The scheme meshed perfectly with the talent and success followed.  Stubbornness worked.  Lovie’s system worked.

Fast Forward to 2009.

The Bear’s best players were either fading away or disappearing all together.  On the defensive side of the ball, Mike Brown was gone, Tommie Harris would never be the same, and Urlacher sustained a season ending wrist injury.

The offensive side was in equally bad shape.  Matt Forte was hobbled and our line began their major decline.  Olin Kreutz was now officially old, slow , and undersized.  Johnathan Tait retired unexpectedly, the $15 million signing of Orlando Pace failed miserably, and Chris Williams was shuffled around in his “rookie” (injured most of 2008) season while looking out of place.

The reality hit us as fans, and it hit Lovie.  That generation of Bears had come to an end.  Highlighting the decline of our aging core of players was the concurrent ineffectiveness of our GM Jerry Angelo.  Very little new talent was coming in.

On to 2010: Lovie Adjusts

Lovie’s Cover-2 scheme needs real talent at certain positions, specifically from the interior defensive line and safety positions.  The Cover-2 could still be effective without Harris, Brown, Vasher, Anderson (remember his 12 sack season?), and an aging Urlacher, but it was no longer the type of dominant defense that would dictate the use of such a simple offensive philosophy.  Lovie realized that he now had a team that needed points from the offense to win games.  

Back in the day, he could run the ball a few times, grind the clock, punt the ball, and the defense would take over the game.  Those days were gone.

In firing Ron Turner, Lovie essentially fired his own offensive game plan.  Lovie and his current offensive staff had no experience in creating an offense scheme around a talented quarterback and, subsequently, made the Mike Martz hire.  

Give Lovie credit, not specifically for hiring Mike Martz, but for admitting he needed help.  His original players were gone and he adjusted.

The hiring of Mike Martz and the thought that he could bring the “greatest show on turf” here to Chicago had its own set of issues.  Martz’ overzealous faith in his offensive scheme backfired, the line failed, Angelo failed in obtaining the necessary talent, and Lovie thankfully pulled back the reigns.  He forced Martz to scale back the offense, limit the hits on Jay Cutler, and run the ball.  Lovie inaugurated the adjustment.

Led by Lovie Smith, the Bears now had two coaches with two stubborn schemes, both understanding the limits of their personnel and adapting to what they have.  While other contending teams were able to maintain their game plan and replace veterans with new talent from the draft, the Bears were forced to adapt their game plan around their weaknesses. 

If you look at the lack of talent on the 2010 team, and in hindsight, how lost the Bears were at the beginning of 2010, you realize how much Lovie Smith has developed as an NFL head coach.  That team had absolutely no business winning the NFC North and beating the Green Bay Packers.  He may be one of the worst at throwing the red flag, he shows no emotion on the sidelines, and has a boring personality, but you could never argue that his team didn’t have his back.  

From the very beginning, the Bears played hard for Lovie, but that’s only half the battle. 2010 proved he is much more than a nice guy with a simple scheme, he was willing to change with the game, and change with his team. 

2011

You know the story; the Bears came out of the gate with a great win against Atlanta and then proceeded to revert back to early 2010 form.  The line was lost, injuries hit, and Mike Martz got away from the revised Martz offense, and the Bears weren’t running the ball enough with their best playmaker, Matt Forte.  

Lovie once again initiated the adjustments and made tough decisions (release of Chris Harris) that have resurrected this team with minimal talent.

Mike Martz will still have his flashes of craziness (see Wildcat) but he too has taken Lovie’s lead and shown the ability to adapt.  The Bears are calling more roll outs to take advantage of Jay’s gun-slinging ability.  Cutler has had good games in the past, but he has never looked as comfortable as he has, specifically the last two weeks.  Yes it’s the line giving protection, but the line is performing better because defenses aren’t sure what’s coming.   If the Bears run, defenses aren’t sure if it’s up the middle, a toss play pulling linemen, or power run on the edge.  If the Bears pass, defenses can no longer tee off on Cutler by assuming he is going to be in the pocket taking seven steps, rolling out, or throwing a screen.   Time will tell if we can continue executing, but for now our offense is showing signs of being dynamic.  

2011 also has marked a first for Lovie, the willingness to adapt on the defensive side of the ball. 

Old Lovie stuck with his scheme with minimal adjustments, regardless of the team they were playing, the situation, or field position.  As a result, the Bears would always fare well against certain offenses, but always play poorly against others.

We are now seeing Lovie and his staff adjusting from game to game, from half to half, and from series to series, and its been fun to watch.  The talent at certain positions is still far from perfect, but the synergy on defense that Lovie seems to have discovered looks like it could be here to stay.

The Adjustment Era

The bottom line is that Jerry Angelo has given Lovie (and us Bears fans) a team that that really has had no business winning more than 6 games the last couple of years.  Rather than multiple weeks of Sunday football indifference, we have football to be excited about.  Lovie has given us football when Jerry has tried to take it away, and for that I am adjusting what I think of Lovie Smith as a football coach. 

Let's Get Random!

Some random thoughts about the sporting world from the past week or so.

The Alabama LSU game was the best game I’ve ever watched where the only scoring was 5 field goals. 

Even though the Honey Badger didn’t do a whole lot (except for taking out Alabama’s Dre Kirkpatrick on a play he will get suspended for), Tyrann Mathieu is still my favorite player in all of college football. 

Oregon Stanford this weekend is going to be awesome.

Denard Robinson shouldn’t be playing quarterback at Michigan anymore.

Oklahoma State is not going to finish the season undefeated.

I don’t know much about what is going on with the latest Penn State and Jerry Sandusky but it sounds really terrible.  Sandusky was apparently molesting high school football players in the shower at his camps.  No joke here, the book he wrote was called, “Touched.” 

The NHL is really awesome and I think Versus/NBC does a great job covering it.  I really wish more people cared about hockey. 

Losing the Vancouver last night was really disappointing but seeing how good the Blackhawks are going to be this year has me not missing the Bulls as much as I probably should.

Steven Stamkos, for my money, is better than Sidney Crosby.

I believe this lockout is helping the Bulls more than any other team in the NBA.  D Rose is so much of the Bulls offense that playing a shortened season is only going to help him when the playoffs start.  Rose’s legs will stay fresh and we shouldn’t see him run out of gas come late 

May like we did last season.

This lockout has made me hate David Stern.

College basketball is going to make me not miss the NBA as much.  I’m not a huge college basketball guy but this seems like a great opportunity to get to know it better. 

The thing I’m worried about more than anything with the Bears Eagles game tonight is the fact that I probably won’t go to bed until 11.  I still love the Bears and hope they win, I just think I’m getting really old.

I think the Bears are going to lose by 2 touchdowns. 

Chris Johnson is the reason I’m 5-4 instead of 7-2.

Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson are the reasons why I’m 5-4 instead of 3-6. 

Theo Epstein taking over the Cubs didn’t make me nervous at first, but now, after watching him hold press conferences and conducting business the way he is doing so, is making me think the Cubs could be legit moving forward. 

I really hope Albert Pujols doesn’t sign with the Cubs.

Robin Venture looks like Jesse Isenburg.