Random Thoughts - 6/25 - Indians come crashing down

And the beat goes on . . .

Shhhh, what’s that noise? . . . listen real close, you can hear it . . . it’s all the Indians bandwagons rolling out of town after the Tribe’s nine game winning streak came to a screeching halt this week . . . they now have a four game losing streak . . .

Like I said last week, the Indians have improved, but that nine game winning streak was an aberration because it came against inferior opponents . . .

When will the Indians front office come to the realization that Chi Chi Sabathia is NOT a number one starter . . . time after time this season, the "ace" has come up empty when he had to come across with a win . . .

Sabathia is not a pitcher – he is a thrower . . . he rears back and tries to pump the ball in there 100 mph . . . and once someone taps him for a home run, he becomes increasingly frustrated and loses his control . . . Sabathia has to learn to be a pitcher, not a thrower if he is ever going to live up to his potential . . .

The one current pitcher who comes to mind who transformed from a thrower to a pitcher is Pedro Martinez . . . back in the day, Pedro used to come with the gas . . . but now he has an entire repertoire of pitches . . .

Another pitcher who has come up empty when needed is the Small Unit - Randy Johnson . . . even though the Yankees came back to win the game 20-11, Johnson got shelled by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday . . .
After sweeping the Pirates and Cubs, the Yankees had an opportunity to make up even more ground as the lowly Devil Rays and Mets rolled into "The Stadium" . . . instead the Yankees have lost four of five . . . it just ain’t happening this year . . .

Did anyone see the great catch Nationals outfielder Ryan Church made on Wednesday in Pittsburgh? . . . Church, a former Mahoning Valley Scrapper, is my new "boy" . . .

Talking about the Steel City, the Pittsburgh Steeler games will not be the same anymore after longtime analyst Myron Cope announced his retirement this year . . . opposing fans, especially the Browns, detested Cope’s screeching rants about his beloved Black and Gold . . . but Cope was something special . . . whether you liked him or not, he was funny and entertaining . . .

What most people don’t know is that he was an accomplished sports journalist . . . before jumping into the broadcast booth, Cope was one of the premier writers for Sports Illustrated . . .

Guys like Cope do not come around everyday . . . I will miss hearing him . . . Yoi, it won’t be the same . . .

Tonight is the battle between Arturo "Thunder" Gatti and Floyd Mayweather Jr. . . . Mayweather is a heavy favorite to win the fight which will take place in Atlantic City . . . Gatti is most famous for his exciting bloodbath fights between Mickey Ward . . . Gatti was like Boom Boom Mancini - a brawler, not a boxer . . . but that has changed . . . in watching Gatti fight over the last year or so, I have noticed that he is now a boxer . . . his fights are not that exciting anymore, however he has learned how to fight with his brain instead of his face . . . I say Gatti pulls an upset tonight and beats Mayweather . . .

Whatever happened to "The Hawk" Aaron Pryor? . . .

I’ve been watching the College World Series this past week . . . there have been some very good games . . . the championship series begins tonight between Texas and Florida in a best of three . . . Hook ‘Em!!! . . .

I just love the Red Stripe beer commercials . . . Hooray Beer!!! . . .

Sunday, August 28th is the day . . . my annual fantasy football draft . . . did I tell you I have the first pick? . . .

I almost was correct about the Detroit Pistons . . . . when will teams learn never ever leave Robert Horry unguarded in the last 10 seconds of a big game . . . NEVER!!! . . .

I can’t believe how down the media were on the Spurs after losing game six . . . the national sports shows were like, "the Pistons will win game seven" . . . "Tim Duncan looks lethargic" . . . "the Spurs don’t have the momentum anymore" . . . blah blah blah . . .

The Spurs don’t have the momentum anymore????? . . . so, they lost game six – big deal!!! . . .

I took Maria Sharapova to win Wimbledon . . .

This is the best time of the year to just sit back and read all the pro, college, and fantasy football magazines . . .

Sometimes you have to rattle the cage when you are at work . . .

I bought that new men’s body spray, Tag . . . I haven’t had any women jumping on me like it shows in the commercial . . .

Well, until next time . . . the beat goes on . . .

Random Thoughts - 6/19

And the beat goes on . . .

The Cleveland Indians have been hot and it hasn’t taken the Cleveland media long to once again show its lack of class . . .

On June 4th the Tribe fired hitting coach Eddie Murray . . . since his departure the Indians have been swinging a hotter stick - and The Plain Dealer is making sure the public knows it . . . they now have a box inside the sports section showing the players batting average under Murray and since Murray was fired . . . yes the statistics have improved, however it has been only 15 days since Murray has been gone . . . are the Tribe hitters going to keep this up for the remainder of June, July, August, September, and of course October when the Tribe goes to the World Series? . . .

My only question is this – when the Indians bats begin to cool down, will The Plain Dealer run a special box showing the decrease in batting averages? . . . I highly doubt it . . .

Here is something else to chew on, bench coach Buddy Bell left around the same time as Murray to take over as manager of the Kansas City Royals . . . maybe the Indians are playing better ball now that Bell is gone . . .

Take it easy Tribe fans . . . the Indians have won eight in a row and are the hottest team in baseball . . . however, the majority of these wins have come against a weaker opponent such as San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies . . . starting Monday, the Indians begin playing teams a few levels higher, such as Boston, Detroit, New York, and Cincinnati, than the roadkill they have just splattered . . .

Back in May, the Yankees went on a hot streak however it was a bit deceiving as they piled on the wins against the likes of Seattle and Oakland . . .

Now don’t get your wigwam all upset Indians fans . . . I will say, the Tribe has improved since April . . .

By the way, whatever happened to Albert Belle? . . .

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers open its season on Tuesday night at Eastwood Field . . . the Scrappers are the defending New York-Penn League Champions . . .

One former Scrapper who is playing some good ball is Ryan Church . . . Church is now with the Washington Nationals . . .

Like I said last week, even if the Pistons go down 2-0 against the Spurs, they were still not out of the series . . .
Phil Jackson could spin it all he wants, the fact is that he rejoined the Lakers because of: 1) money; and 2) Jeanie Buss . . .

Why isn’t the NBA as exciting as it was during the 1980s and 90s? . . .

Michael Jackson is one lucky person . . . he was fortunate enough that the alleged victim’s family was not credible . . .

What are the odds of the NHL playing next year? . . .

John Madden hit for the cycle this week when it was announced he will be the analyst for Sunday Night football on NBC starting in 2006 . . . Madden has worked for CBS, FOX, ABC, and now NBC . . .

How many days until the start of the NFL? . . .

I rolled into the City of Brotherly Love this past week for a conference . . . nice city but poor service at restaurants . . . we waited, on average, of at least 25 minutes from the time we placed our order until we received our food . . .

The best service was at Pat’s Cheesesteaks . . . Pat’s has been in business since 1930 . . . in fact, the establishment appeared in Rocky . . . the scene - Rocky just signed to fight Apollo Creed . . . so Rocky meets Gozzo outside of Pat’s and Gozzo gives him $500 to use for training . . .

Looks like William Rehnquist is going to announce his retirement next week . . . the Washington Post has a story of the three possible replacements . . . Washington Post

Finally, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there and especially to my dad who is the best . . .

Until next time . . . the beat goes on . . .