Curse of Calvin Coolidge

Not much to say about our hometown Nats. Despite the heroics of Bryce Harper our disappointing hometown team was undone, in my opinion by: 1. a severely underperforming starting pitching staff; with 2. some help from genius Mike Rizzo.

1.  Our starters were supposed to be the Nationals' strength. But outside of Scherzer's first half, Strasburg's second, and Zimmermann all season they have stunk; Gio has been Gio, too many walks, and Fister completely lost it.  So for most of the season we had the equivalent of 2 reliable starters, not 5.  That's on the players.

Number 2 is on Rizzo (Matt Williams too) for the way he constructed then deconstructed the bullpen. Coming out of spring training we were too dependent on guys like Treinen and Barrett. In my opinion Rizzo made things worse by adding Papelbon and shifting folks' rolls. The lack of confidence in Storen ruined his season, and certainly didn't help the team. Hind sight is 20/20, but it can't be a coincidence that since adding Papelbon the bullpen has gone from iffy to horrendous.

Of course, the injuries to Craig Stammen and Denard Span were two killers. No one, not Treinen nor Roark, could replace the steady Stammen. And our record with Span is that of a World Series-bound team.  Without him we're a team 7 games back of the Mets with 20+ games to go.
  
But I think everyone is avoiding THE real reason the Nats have under performed - the literal elephant in the stadium - and that's the lack of bipartisanism in the Presidents Race! 

The addition of a reformist Republican like Taft didn't hurt the Nationals last season but Coolidge is THE Curse of Lez Nationals! 

Not only was he a terrible and tone-deaf President, one not worthy of a giant puppet head and tiny-in-proportion-T-rex arms, he makes the President's race as unbalanced (FOUR Rs, 0 Ds) as the Texas State Legislature.

The obvious win-win - and win a World Series - solution is to subtract Coolidge (and not for Harding) and replace him with inarguably one of the 3 greatest Presidents of all time, Franklin Roosevelt.

The first win: not only is he a Democrat that would make the race bi-partisan, he's a Democrat who successfully fought polio, the Depression, Tojo and Hitler. Think he couldn't help the Nats fight off the Mets and Barves?

The second win: he would be in a wheelchair, thus reminding us that even folks with disabilities can race and win. Who knows, seeing a guy with polio compete in a wheelchair could even toughen up guys like Strasburg, Werth, Zimmerman, etc.

Come on Nats! End the Curse of Coolidge! Give us a Democrat!  Give us a racing Roosevelt and Happy Days Are Here Again!

The Nats are killing me

As some of you may have noticed via social media, I've been a bit cranky when it comes to our hometown Washington Nationals.  Most of that crankiness was initially aimed at often ridiculous (the violence that pops up all to often during the Presidents race) and sometimes important (the stale and cheap patriotism of a standing ovation to honor convalescing veterans, an ovation that seems to absolve fans of actually helping veterans or thinking about our 13-year odyssey in Afghanistan*) topics.

But my crankiness is now metastasizing into full-on, Carolina losing to Dook after Zeller tipped in one of THEIR shots, depression.

The Nats are killing me.  

Two Sundays ago, Evan and I watched Washington complete a four game sweep of the Padres by scoring 13 runs.  THIRTEEN!  We had won 7 of 10 games, and were only 4 games back of the Braves.  Natitude was back!

But since then we've played our worst baseball of the year.  After this weekend's sweep to the Dodgers the Nats are now 2 and 8 in our last 10 games. Whatever good mojo the Nationals had has been eviscerated.  The Nats are now in 3rd place, half a game behind the Phillies for second in the East, and seven games behind the Braves AND the second wild-card spot.

It's hard to understand how a team that has Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Ian Desmond, and Ryan Zimmerman can be this mediocre, and unable to build up ANY momentum over the course of 100 games.

Injuries is part of the story, especially for the lack of momentum that has kept this squad from ripping off a few 5 or 6-game win streaks.  Two weeks ago the 7 out 10 streak coincided with Harper then Wilson Ramos coming off the disabled list. 

But what gives now?  The big 3 pitchers have been great (despite today's stinker from ZNN), and even Dan Haren (on the hill tomorrow looking to end a 3-game losing streak!) has pitched better since coming off the DL.

It's not news that the offense has been horrible, frustrating, depressing, you name it. Saturday night's game was indicative of one of the biggest issues: driving in runs. The Nats had 12 hits but only scored one run, driven in by pinch hitter Roger Bernadina.  Against the Dodgers the Nats batted .077 with runners in scoring position.  

When a team with so many good players underachieves, who is to blame?  Is it Davey Johnson, his line ups, the way he uses the bull pen?  Is it hitting coach Rick Eckstein?  The Nats rank near to bottom of almost every offensive category.

Is it underachievers like Denard Span or Jayson Werth, who had a great second half last year but is currently making almost $500,000 per RBI this season and is hitting less than .200 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs?

I'll offer two things that could help a now healthy squad play better, maybe catch the Braves, and/or secure one of the two wild card spots.  I'm not going to touch the pitching, which outside of 2 or 3 bad outings from Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano has been generally great.

One is a simple line up change.  I'd go back to the future, and move Werth and Harper back to the top of the order, Zimmerman, then my big move of Desmond at clean up, followed by LaRoche, Rendon, Ramos, and Span (who has played great defense but is simply not getting on base enough).

Werth seems to stink everywhere else, and excelled at lead off last year. The second slot is the new third; you want to put you best hitter there since that spot gets about 15-20 more plate appearances than the 3 hole does a year.

Desmond often rises to the occasion with runners on base, and moving him up two places gets him a few more - important - at bats.  He's a free swinger but drives in runs.  

Two, fire Rick Eckstein for a number of reasons. One is admittedly cosmetic. Do something to get the team's attention/make them feel guilty/light a fire/insert sports cliche here. 

But others are valid.  The team is not hitting, and more importantly their approach to pitchers seems odd and confusing.  

Hitters guess and look for one pitch when they should be aggressive, take pitches when they should be expanding the zone looking for a pitch to drive.  

Or they frequently expand the zone at the wrong times, swinging at first pitches when it's actually time to work the count.  At bats look discombobulated; case in point was Harper Saturday night. He struck out LOOKING, taking all three strikes, when the situation called for looking for a pitch to drive no matter where it was (like Joe DiMaggio** or Tony Gwynn).  As much as I pick on Werth - ask Evan - we can not ignore that Harper has been swinging at too many bad pitches and taking too many 2-strike ones since he came off the DL; his pitch recognition - or approach - needs some improvement.

You can't fire the players so sadly have to fire the hitting coach. Bring in Frank Robinson, or Mrs. Robinson (the nation(als) turn their lonely eyes to you**) but do something.

These changes would work, or are at least worth trying, and I hope the Nats do something soon. It's past time to get hot. Going to last year's line up with Desmond at clean up and Eckstein at home could very well work.

GO NATS!

* One other thing I've been cranky about has been the generally lousy music the Nats play but that has gotten a little better. Positive developments include LaRoche using Steve Earle's 'Copperhead Road' as his walk up song; LCD Soundsystem's 'Daft Punk Is Playing At My House' and Stevie Wonder's 'You Haven't Done Nothing' making appearances lately, and Chuck Brown's 'Bustin' Loose' is heard after most homers (but there is still too much modern shlock country, too much AC/DC).
* One ray of hope. Line up change or no line up change, Harper is capable of getting red hot and carrying a team as he did in May and September last season. The big 3 should continue to be awesome. And we play the Braves head to head alot; if we sweep those games we're in!

Letter to the Nationals

We closed up summer today by going to the Nationals game, an excellent 7-2 win, against the Dodgers.  It's been a good summer for us at Nats Park; I think the Nats are 12-3 with a Manuel in the building. And we've witnesses some exciting games, including the epic win over the Phillies that ended with the Z-man's walk off, two-out, full-count, bases-loaded grand slam.

The half-smokes have been consistently good this year, too. 

But some things at Nats Park have gotten worse to the point of unbearable.  It culminated today with a video honoring convalescing troops to Toby Keith's jingoistic and stupid 'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.'  Perhaps Obama's recent caving in to the Rs fooled executives at Nats Park into thinking George Bush was still president and invading the wrong countries.  'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue' is so 2003.


Anyway, that video prompted me to send the following email to the Nationals.  Let me know what you think.


*************


To whom it may concern:


I like the way the Nats honor veterans convalescing in area hospitals, but did you really have to play that horrible, jingoistic Toby Keith song today on Labor Day?  Honoring our troops is one thing, but that song is offensive and Keith is a right-wing nut. 

We love going to the games, usually 15 or so every season, but is seems that at times the franchise seems more like a Virginia team playing in the suburbs rather than a DC team playing in the District (whose government and taxpayers helped pay for your stadium, I might add).  As a District resident, I urge you to play less bad country music. Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn is one thing, but I think most fans don't like the 'wash my truck' song played during the seventh inning stretch, for instance.  What's wrong with simply playing Take Me Out to the Ball Game? 

On the other hand, playing Bustin' Loose after a home run is fantastic. I'd play that song instead of AC/DC when the Nats take the field.  DC has such a great musical legacy, from Duke Ellington to Marvin Gaye to Chuck Brown to Minor Threat/Fugazi to Patsy Cline to the Bad Brains to Shirley Horn to Seldom Scene - why play AC/DC or ugly Americans like Toby Keith?

Playing local music would help bond and brand the team to the region and to the District (at a time when baseball is working to increase appeal to African-Americans) AND get rid of some of the bad music currently played at Nats Park - win win!

Thank you for your consideration.  One more thing - resign Livo!

Athan Manuel
Tenleytown
Washington, DC

Sports Rap

In homage to my brother, the original host of WXYC's 'Sports Rap' show, here are some quick thoughts in response to items in the Sunday sports pages:

• Carolina was lucky to win against UConn yesterday. The game was decided when a UConn offensive lineman was called for holding in their own end zone with about a minute left, giving the Heels two points and a 12-10 win. I know that's the rule, but what a tough and weird way to lose. I guess you have to make that call if you are the referee - otherwise guys would hold all the time rather than give up a safety - but for that play to decide the game?
• Staying in the ACC, is there anything worse for a coach than to have a last name that rhymes with 'go'? Easy for the fans to come up with a derisive cheer when that's the case, as Al Groh has learned in Charlottesville.
• Interesting that both UConn and Serena Williams lost games, set and a match due to a penalty, on the same day. In Serena's case arguing a foot fault, then another point for arguing the call. In each contest a referee's call determined the final score.
• You often hear, especially in basketball, of a referee swallowing his or her whistle late in the game. But that did not happen in Hartford or Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
• As fans of this blog know, I'm not a big fan of anything Duke or Yankees related. That said, I have an appreciation for Greg Paulus playing quarterback at Syracuse and Derek Jeter's accomplishments for the Yankees. Paulus is not intimidated by the real possibility of failure, a fear that paralyzes most people. Got to give him credit for giving it a shot and earning the starting job. He's also lucky he doesn't have to suit up against Ty Lawson. I have nothing to add to the justified praise Jeter has earned throughout his career, and frankly can only offer cliches. But he plays the right way, with a balance of skill and humility we'd like to see in ever person we know, let alone ball player. This may seem sacrilegious, but Jeter would have made a great Tar Heel.
• Hard to believe no Yankees player has 3,000 hits. Obviously, Lou Gehrig would have, and Babe Ruth lots a few seasons pitching with the Red Sox, Joe DiMaggio spend 3 seasons in the Army, and Mickey Mantle lost games to injury. But still hard to believe.
• Both area baseball teams obviously stink, but it's interesting to look at the O's roster and see more hope than on the Nats'. With Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, Brian Matusz, Brad Bergeson, and Chris Tillman the Orioles have a roster full of legitimate, big-league talent. Our home town Nats counter with Ryan Zimmerman, Jesus Flores, Nyjer Morgan (who is actually NOT that young), Elijah Dukes, John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann, maybe Steven Strasburg. On talent, you'd have to favor the Os. But one thing in the Nationals favor - Washington does not have to go through the Yankees, Red Sox and young Rays to get to the playoffs.
• Finally, I watched part of Greece's game in the European Championships today via ESPN360, and the viewing quality was pretty good. I had never watched a game that way. Greece's loss should not hurt their chances of moving up to the final round (they play three rounds; today's game was in round two), especially if they defeat France (led by Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf, and Boris Diaw) on Tuesday. Greece had been averaging 89 points a game prior to their 65-68 loss to Russia, and shot it badly against their fellow Orthodox foes.

Some oil drilling, but mainly Base and Basket ball blogging

Been way too busy defending the existing moratorium on off shore drilling to blog much - actually at all - in the last few weeks.  I think the drilling ban will survive, mainly due to the personal interest and involvement in maintaining the moratorium by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and to a lesser extend the great messaging from Barack Obama and T. Boone Pickens.  If we make it to August 1st - the day Congress goes on recess - without a vote I think we'll survive. 

My hope is that between the Olympics, the Democrat and Republican conventions, and the end of the summer driving season, the hysteria fueling calls for more drilling will subside.

Now, on to the blog!  I've missed quite a few blog opportunities in the last two weeks, including:

BASEBALL

• the All-Star game, which I thought was a great game to watch.  Lots of action, defense, plays at the plate, etc. I'm glad I stayed up and watched the entire game.
• For me, the three most interesting stories of the first half had to be: Chicago, where the Cubs and White Sox lead their division - the Cubs stayed on top despite lots of injuries, and Guillen has the ChiSox playing over their heads; the Rays, who are coming of age sooner than anyone expected, and are a fun bunch to watch; and finally Josh Hamilton, a pretty powerful story of redemption and taking advantage of second chances.  What a phenomenal display at the Home Run Derby, and pretty inspirational too.
• Evan recently asked "how much worse can the Nats get?"  I wish I knew.  That line up, even with Zimmerman back, is Double A quality.  With a little more hitting our home town team could be decent; four of the Nats starters have ERAs below 4.25. 
• The bull pen has been almost as bad as the hitting; short term things will get worse with Rauch traded to Arizona.
• Long term, the Nats could be good in two years.   They have Lannan and Bergman as starters, with decent arms at Triple A and Double A, and Milledge (CF), Dukes (RF), Flores (C), and Zimmerman (3B) are all under 23.  Add the second baseman they acquired from Arizona in the Rauch trade, and the Nats could be solid up the middle.  Let's hope these guys develop into legit major leaguers, Stan Kasten fires Bowden, and hires a GM who can lure one or two power hitters here as free agents.

HELLENIC HOOPS

• For a while, this blog was not the ONLY spot for Greek basketball news.  The biggest splash was made by Josh Childress' decision to spur the Hawks and the NBA and sign with Olympiacos.  The signing put Hellenic hoops in the sports pages and on ESPN for two or three straight days.  In the course of the Childress coverage the Greek basketball league was acknowledged to be one of the top leagues in Europe, and Athens came out looking good too.  Though Olympiacos plays in Pireas not Athens, at one point Childress was quoted as saying he was unsure whether to go through with the deal - worth $21 million after taxes - until he visited and liked Athens.
• The oddest part of the coverage - at least for me - was the coverage itself.  Who knows who Josh Childress is? Greek hoop fans are pretty knowledgeable about the NBA, but I bet you would be hard pressed to find a more anonymous NBA player - in the US or Greece - than Josh Childress.   Despite that anonymity, the coverage of the signing was extensive.  
• Of course, most of that was due to the prospect that a weak dollar may lead to a larger exodus of NBA talent to Europe and a handful of players with similar talent, sixth men such as Carlos Delfino, Bostan Nachbar, etc., have signed with European teams.  But none of the players going from the NBA to Europe were front line players, so why make a big deal about it? I know I'd take $21 million to move to Greece.
• The Childress signing was not the only Hellenic hoops news to make it into the sport pages.  For the two days prior to the signing, Greeks hoops made into the American press for qualifying for the Olympics and then being placed in the same group as team USA.  
• Greece was one of three squads to qualify, along with Germany and Croatia, after playing in the Olympic tournament in Athens the week of July 14th.  Teams that did not qualify from their continents were invited to the tournament, with the top three making it to Beijing.   Greece routed Lebanon, Brazil and Puerto Rico in the tourney.
• Greece, the reigning world silver medalists, are grouped with the US, Spain (the world champs), China, Angola and Germany.  Greece, Spain and the US are three of the four best teams on the planet, so it will be a tough group.
• I remember watching the US play Greece - in the 2004 Athens Olympics - in the PIRG conference room. Although I was the only Greek-American in the office, I'm pretty sure I was the only person rooting for the US.  No big whoop; I always root for the US when they play Greece, and that team had fellow Tar Heel Larry Brown on the bench.  In addition, that team featured guys I like such as Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Shawn Marion.  But no one, at PIRG or anywhere else, liked that team.  I think that team was hamstrung by a roster with no outside shooters, and by bad/anti-American officiating.  Ironic that refs called lots of fouls on Tim Duncan, a classy player and great ambassador for American hoops, as opposed to 'less savory' players like Carmelo Anthony and Iverson.
• Childress, the qualifying tournament, and the announcement of the Olympic groups kept Hellenic hoops in the media four straight days.
• Finally, as most of you know, I rooted for Greece to defeat the US in the 2006 world championships, and will do the same in the Olympics due to Mike Krzyzewski and his right-wing running buddy Jerry Colangelo (BTW, Colangelo in Greek roughly translates into 'colon/butt angel').  Without a doubt, I am a Tar Heel first, so even when coaching the American team playing the American game, I can not root for a Dukie.  Having the motherland as a rooting option makes it a no brainer.
• That said, I think the US will win the gold medal.  I can't see a team with Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and LaBron James losing, even WITH Krzyzewski on the bench.  
• However, the one thing that should give the US pause is our lack of size.  Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard are the only big men on the roster, and they're skinny big men at that.  The international game is more physical than the NBA version, so watch if the US gets pushed around much on the boards.  If that happens, even with a team of all-star wings, the US could lose a game in the medal round.  Finally, watch the US at the point.  Krzyzewski should play Chris Paul more at the point; if he stubbornly sticks with a rapidly aging Jason Kidd the U.S. could stumble.  But both of those are ifs, and I expect the US to win our first gold medal in hoops since the 2000 Vince Carter Olympics [greatest dunk of ALL TIME! If you disagree, check out KG's reaction].
• I'm kind of conflicted about the Olympics.  I genuinely get hyped up for watching the summer games, but am not enthusiastic about China hosting.  I've said it before, but nothing can be more cynical than going from the cradle of democracy and individual rights to a totalitarian/hyper-capitalist state in four years.  

Finally, one semi-political sports note: Lance Armstrong is a cheater.  There are so many cheaters in that sport that it seems incredibly unlikely that a guy rehabbing from cancer could be clean.  I used to give him the benefit of the doubt but am now convinced that everyone in that sport cheats.  And on top of that, Armstrong is shilling for John McCain.  Perhaps the only thing more cynical that going from Athens to Beijing in four years is my attitude towards a cancer survivor who used to dominate the Tour de France.

NBA Playoffs Blog

One way to treat (but not cure) my post Final Four blues is with a nice playoff run by the hometown Washington Wizards.  I'm so excited I'm going to do something I have never done - TiVO a Wizards game, today's first round game versus Cleveland that runs up against back-to-back kid soccer games.  

I blogged this a week or so ago, but I think the Wiz will go to the Eastern Conference finals. They match very well with Cleveland and Boston and will pull back-to-back upsets.  The Big Three for the Zards are healthy - at least Jamison and Arenas are - but I think it will be my man Brendan Haywood that puts Washington over the top in both series.

Haywood may have more trouble with Cleveland that with Boston. He is coming off his best season as a professional, and generally plays very well against Cav center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  But last year, Z dominated the first round sweep of the Wizards.  If Haywood rebounds he should out play Ilgauskas this year.

The Wizards have beaten the Celtics three times this season, and Haywood has been a big reason.  In each win, he has kept KG in check, even getting in his face a few times. For whatever reason, the Cs bring out the best in the Wizards.  As critical as Haywood will be, I think this will be Arenas' series. Look for Agent Zero to use this series to redeem a season lost to injury, AND to remind the rest of the league that he is one of the NBA's elite players.

Not much else happening in the East - the Pistons will march to the conference and NBA finals with only a few speed bumps against inferior competition.  The Wizards will probably be the most and probably the only intriguing story in the East.  

That is not the case in the West.

It's still hard to accept that the Spurs play the Suns in the first round! The Suns appear to have figured out the Shaq thing, going 15-5 in their last 20 games.  Stoudamire has really excelled with Shaq around, but I have trouble seeing the Spurs losing this series.  My bet is that Shaq and Duncan, and Nash and Parker, cancel each other out. It will come down to who plays better - Stoudamire or Ginobili.  As much as I like Stoudamire I have to go with Ginobili (one of the three most exciting players on the planet).

Though not as marque as the Suns-Spurs series, there are other great first round match ups.  I see the Jazz taking down the Rockets and Tracy McGrady.  My guess is that Jerry Sloan will figure out how to dismantle Houston in a seven-game series.

The Lakers will handle the Nuggets, but the other first round match up - between the Hornets and Mavs - is a toss up.  I'm still not a believer in the Hornets, though Dallas does not inspire much confidence either.  This series, like much of the playoffs actually, is full of talented players,  but many of whom do not have IT.   KG, McGrady, Pierce, Allen, Kidd, Nowitzki, are all veteran stars whose teams - for whatever reason - never seem to win the big game.  Calling them 'losers' is too harsh, but when in doubt pick against their teams.

Nats Notes

Nice win for the Nats last night, mainly because they finally got a big hit.  Hopefully, Nick Johnson's bases loaded double will ignite more clutch hitting from the Nats.   Zimmerman got two hits last night, and has hit in three straight so he may be getting his stroke back.  Let's hope that Kearns and Pena start hitting soon too.

Sean Hill got called up by Washington yesterday and makes his 2008 debut today against Florida.  He's got the stuff to be a number one starter if he stays healthy.

As bad as the Nats have played they are only 5 back with 145 games left to play!