Sludging and Slogging through an Epic-ly boring off season

Posted in Uncategorized by Flavor on January 11, 2011

When the main baseball news of the day is “Kris Benson Retires” you know you’re looking at a slow off season. At least for the Giants. Aurilia made a little news yesterday when he said he “bumped into Panda at a Shopping Mall and that he’s lost 17 lbs– I can’t imagine that even looked noticeable. Sandoval needed to lose 40 lbs, at least….

Good college football game last night. I was largely unimpressed with both quarterbacks. Stanford would have beaten both of those teams last night…….

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Giant Head said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:52 am

Reminds me of Camp Panda last year where they spent two weeks on intense training and food contrtol and he lost something like 12 pounds. If I spent two weeks just with someone watching what I ate, I would lose 20 pounds….

Players have to file their arb numbers this week I think.

Was bullshit for Auburn not to run that ball in. But I thought Newton fumbling that ball late in the 4th was inexcusable…
twinfan said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:54 am

He’s on pace to lose 25 in 3 1/2 months. That is a very reasonable “figure”.
twinfan said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:56 am

BTW, it was a close game, but really a “good” game as in well played.
zumarust said, on January 11, 2011 at 8:08 am

It seemed to me Oregon stuck with the inside running game too much. That fourth and goal run had no chance. Oregon’s little running backs weren’t going to get much inside on Auburn.
Good call, by the way, from Gruden on the radio. Before the game, he said he thought Oregon would need to do a couple of fake kicks or something else tricky to stay in the game. Oregon had two successful fake kicks.
zumarust said, on January 11, 2011 at 8:17 am

The star of the game, and the one who benefited the most publicity-wise, was Auburn’s defensive lineman, whose name I’ve already forgotten. This was actually the first game that I saw Auburn play, other than just watching the highlights from their games.
Rough Trade said, on January 11, 2011 at 8:47 am

I’m wondering if NFL scouts will point to the failure of Jamarcus Russell and Vince Young when evaluating Cam Newton.
Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 8:52 am

Nick Fairley, Zuma. He was already rated high. He may now go #1.

Dude was in on just abot every play.
- Nipper said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:24 pm
  
  Bleepin A
snarkk said, on January 11, 2011 at 10:01 am

I don’t care if Panda loses 25 or 50, tho’ 25 seems a little low by end of Feb for someone who had to be starting north of 260. The main thing is that whatever he loses, in so doing he learns a new lifestyle that enables him to keep it off. No more midnite runs to the Mission tacquerias for a handful of tortas carnitas…
Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 11:33 am

“Sludging and Slogging” – Flav that just cracked me up. For some reason I envision an old (or is that olde?) pub called the Sludge and Slog. Where one might go for a few pints and a nice bowl of gruel.

Not sure why, but I’m not worried about Pablo. The game is too much fun for him not to be ready this year.
eddacker415 said, on January 11, 2011 at 11:53 am

Does anyone have an espn insider acct? I’d love to see the 4 reasons SF faces uphill battle repeating. My guess is boston, texas, philley and ?? which means it is a non-article.
hot stove is officially a reason to join?

BTW, I would have loved to have watched the replays with knbr announcers, see the trophy, the citizens out and about in giants wear. A version of the ws dvd in pal.

And it is the Nudge and Snog Public House you want to be.
cheers
- Decap said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:34 pm
  
  Its basically a list of things that a doomer would say.
  1. Didn’t do anything of significance to change up the roster. Points out two similar WSC teams that fell apart after doing that.
  2. Young pitchers pitched a lot and high injury risk especially with Bum. No major league ready backup plans for injury
  3. Regression for Buster, Huff, Torres, and Sanchez. Tejada is older and worse than Uribe. On the bright side Panda couldn’t be any worse.
  4. Expensive roll players in Rowand and DeRosa could potentially block Belt or other potentially major league ready OFs “Francisco Peguero or Thomas Neal ”
  
  Nothing he says is horribly off base except I definitely think Runzler has the potential to be that 6th rotation guy or others if hes not ready, and that the Org will make room for Belt no matter what if he is ready… Also I think Neal and Peguero have 0 chance of contributing this year…
Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm

Nudge Nudge, wink wink, say no more?
- Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:25 pm
  
  A wink is as good as a nod to a blind bat, eh?
  - Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:41 pm
    
    Are you, uh,…are you selling something?
  - Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:55 pm
    
    Your wife . . . Is she a goer?
  - Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm
    
    Does she like sports?
  - Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 1:14 pm
    
    I bet she does, I bet she does!
  - Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 1:17 pm
    
    Is she interested in photographs?
  - Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 1:28 pm
    
    They could be, they could be taken on holiday. Candid, you know, CANDID photography?
    
    So Chuck, did you notice how we changed this whole thing into a tribute to Kris Benson? Well, his wife Anna at least. Wink wink.
  - wisco said, on January 11, 2011 at 2:38 pm
    
    nice. I’m feeling a bit peckish now. anyone for some cheese?
  - Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 4:00 pm
    
    I was gonna say Erin Barry. . .
Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:35 pm

ed – The ESPN guy gave four reasons why the Giants wouldn’t repeat. Here is my summary with his four reasons:
1) They Stood Pat, basically he likens last years Giants with the 93 Phils. Who fell apart in the 94 strike year.
2) Starting Rotation Cliff, he says the Giants don’t have anyone ready if one of the starters gets hurt.
3) Math Can Be Cruel, Posey hasn’t established a base level yet. Huff and Burrell not likely to repeat. Torres may have played over his head and Uribe is better than Tejada.
4) Gifts That Keep On Giving, with Rowand and DeRosa there isn’t room for Belt, Neal and Peguero.

He ends the thing with this “In the end, the Giants could survive all these issues. It’s why they play the games, after all. But to make 2011 turn out as well as 2010 for Giants fans, Brian Sabean still has a lot of work ahead.”
- zumarust said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:41 pm
  
  Decap finishes ahead of a clown, by a nose. How is that possible?
  - Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 12:45 pm
    
    Dang Zum I didn’t see Decap’s version up there. You’d think the clown shoes woulda won it for me.
  - Decap said, on January 11, 2011 at 1:04 pm
    
    Oops… Stepped on clown shoes…..
  - Bozo said, on January 11, 2011 at 1:16 pm
    
    No prob cap, I was just sludging and slogging anyway.
TedSpe said, on January 11, 2011 at 1:54 pm

The way I see it, the espn article says the same 4 basic things we’ve heard already.
1…
D’OH!!
- Nipper said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:29 pm
  
  Predicting is BS. Too many variables. Moves can happen during the season. ESPN is just entertainment. Information is hard to come by. Sometimes good and frequently less so.
Kevin said, on January 11, 2011 at 2:43 pm

There is an article on Blleacherreport giving reasons for the Giants to get Michael Young from Texas. I say forget about it!
stixwiz said, on January 11, 2011 at 3:43 pm

IF Zito fully rediscovers his Cy form displayed several years ago across the Bay, Giants could be a pretty good matchup for today’s date: 1-11-11. I see five aces there. Topper for aces will occur shortly after SF nails its second consecutive W.S. : 11-11-11. Count em up, gang. That’s six aces. If you happen to be into Numerology both dates are incredibly rare occurrences and are regarded by some as very powerful occasions.
- TedSpe said, on January 11, 2011 at 3:53 pm
  
  And it all goes to shit on January 1, 2013
Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 4:01 pm

I thought it was May 12, 2011 . . . .

That Nostradomus. What a crack-up . . .
- xootsuit said, on January 11, 2011 at 4:36 pm
  
  The Maya might disagree.
TedSpe said, on January 11, 2011 at 5:02 pm

I wasn’t talking about the end of the world. I was just talking about Fun With Date Numbers
snarkk said, on January 11, 2011 at 5:22 pm

If the Mayans were so good at predicting the end of times, why couldn’t they predict the demise of their civilization?…
- Unca Chuck said, on January 11, 2011 at 6:03 pm
  
  They did . . .
- xootsuit said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:34 pm
  
  Obviously you’ve never been to the Lacandon jungle, snarrko.
  - snarkk said, on January 11, 2011 at 11:36 pm
    
    Educate me….
mrmrbill said, on January 11, 2011 at 6:10 pm

in other baseball news, trevor hoffman retires, moves to padres office; len dykstra sex charges dropped for lack of evidence.
dirtnrocksnreno said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm

34 days? I sure wish I was still in Kauai.
PawlieKokonuts said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:19 pm

Belated happy birthday yesterday to our beloved Willie McCovey.
Flavor said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:40 pm

Dirt, 34 days is a long time but it seems like just yesterday that I was at 101 or 69. Baseball is coming…….
Flavor said, on January 11, 2011 at 7:56 pm

just checked out the Merc online and saw that Kawakami said the same thing I did about Stanford. That’s how us *esteemed colleagues” role. Kawakami’s a shit-talking rag. His latest column about Al Davis is a joke. I know that Harbaugh and Davis are cool but there was never indication that he was pursuing him or talking to him. Kawakami is trying to start shit because that’s his constant goal—he’s reaching on this one, though………
Unca Chuck said, on January 12, 2011 at 8:56 am

Wow. I never read Kawakami, but really, that Raider article is a pile of shit.

It’s all maybes and innuendo. Nothing based in fact.

Anyone with half a brain knows that drity Al never gives his head coaches personnel power. That was a given with Harbaugh. Maybe he got mad at the music? Really, Tim?
Unca Chuck said, on January 12, 2011 at 8:58 am

With Lowell Cohn in the hinterlands of Santa Rosa, someone had to take the mantle of nattering nebbish . . .

Good for you, Tim . . .
Flavor said, on January 12, 2011 at 9:53 am

Kawakami is nothing but a shit-disturber. And I agree, that Raider article has no factual basis whatsoever. If all you’re gonna do is make shit up you don’t deserve to work for a reputable news agency…..
Macdog said, on January 12, 2011 at 11:05 am

What, no Rowand pic today? 😉
- TedSpe said, on January 12, 2011 at 11:21 am
  
  LQTM
Flavor said, on January 12, 2011 at 11:55 am

i thought about RowRow but I couldn’t find any decent pics of his back. Seriously.
- zumarust said, on January 12, 2011 at 1:03 pm
  
  My wife calls Rowand: “Squatty McDuck.
  - snarkk said, on January 12, 2011 at 3:47 pm
    
    If your wife calls Rohand a Philly by opening day, I’ll be even more pleased with her description of him…
TedSpe said, on January 12, 2011 at 1:43 pm

Brad Penny signs with the Tigers for 3 mil
Giants to use variable pricing even for pre-season games. Should make a killing
Josh Hamilton has pnuemonia but it’s a mild case
Trevor Hoffman retires. Takes a front office job with the Padres
And that’s all the news that’s fit to print
macdog said, on January 12, 2011 at 3:00 pm

If it’s always this quiet after a WS title, I’ll take sludging and slogging every offseason.

Regarding the item yesterday about the possibility of the Giants’ young pitchers getting hurt: How come none of the so-called experts says the same about Philly’s Big Four? Three of them are over 30 — Halladay and Oswalt will turn 34 and Lee 33 this season — and one of them, Lee, has had back issues. Along with an aging lineup that spent a good deal of 2010 on the DL, it’ll be a miracle if the Phils make it through ’11 without some kind of setback or two.
- Kevin said, on January 12, 2011 at 4:36 pm
  
  I agree, during the playlets and the WS all I/we heard was what are the Giants going rococo stop Philly’s offense and then what are the going to do to stop the Rangers offense. So as usuall the experts are full of shit.
Kevin said, on January 12, 2011 at 4:37 pm

No not playlets playoffs
TedSpe said, on January 12, 2011 at 4:58 pm

rococo?
- Unca Chuck said, on January 12, 2011 at 4:59 pm
  
  playlets?
- Unca Chuck said, on January 12, 2011 at 5:01 pm
  
  He’s going baroque . . .
  - zumarust said, on January 12, 2011 at 5:14 pm
    
    Ah, Bach…..