Jared Lorenzen is not fat, he’s big-boned. He’s also my favorite third-string quarterback of all time, slightly edging out Ashaan Woodfin (what a cool name!) and Scott Frost.

The Giants cut Lorenzen yesterday, which is a bummer. But his time with Big Blue will be remembered fondly.

Having said that, I didn’t love the headline, “Giants trim fat, waive quarterback Lorenzen”, but I found the opening line interesting: “Jared Lorenzen, the portly backup quarterback who had almost as many nicknames as NFL snaps in four years with the Giants, was among five players waived by the team yesterday.”

That made me wonder, how many snaps did Lorenzen really have? And more importantly, how many nicknames did he have?

I’ll start with the nicknames:

And for the record, if the Giants cut Zak DeOssie, I’m becoming a Jets fan.

Just kidding, I could never do that to Eli. And the Jets suck.

Share/Save

This will be the first of a bi/tri- weekly baseball posting that I’ll be making. I hope to regal you with a witty and/or insightful look at the game. I’m not exactly sure how its going to be structured, so I plan to make it up as I go along.

As Jose alluded to, Joe Posnanski wrote about the amount of depth needed to make a run to the World Series. Posnanski uses win shares to demonstrate that a team reaching the World Series, the level that the Mets would ultimately like to being performing at, has to have, at minimum, nine players playing at what he classifies as an above average level (at least 12 win shares, which can loosely be described as an OPS+ above 100 with solid defense and everyday performance, or for pitchers, an ERA+ of above 100 with approximately 30 starts). Posnanski notes that you ultimately would like 10 or 11 players performing at this level and four players performing at an all star level (20 – 30 win shares), but that if you only have nine you need to have at least one, if not more, players performing at an MVP level (30 – 40 win shares, see: A-Rod 2007) or All Time level (40+ win share, see Albert Pujols 2004). Ultimately, the fewer above average players you have, the more MVP/All Time performances you need. As it stands at present the Mets do not appear to fulfill any of these requirements and their lack of success should have been predicted.

Unfortunately I am unable to provide a list of expected win shares for the New York Mets this year, but if we look at what we could reasonably expect from the Mets coming in to the season, there are only six players who should have been expected to perform at an above-average level, based upon OPS+. While this does not take in to account defense, other than Reyes, Beltran and Wright, the Mets are not significantly making up for their lack of offense, with their defensive acumen.

David Wright - 2007 OPS+ 150 2008 OPS+ 124
Jose Reyes - 2007 OPS+ 103 2008 OPS+ 128
Carlos Beltran - 2007 OPS+ 126 2008 OPS+ 128 (Career 117)
Ryan Church - 2007 OPS+ 114 2008 OPS+ 134
Carlos Delgado 2007 OPS+ 103 2008 OPS+ 92
Moises Alou 2007 OPS+ 138 (over 87 games) 2008 OPS+ 73
Johan Santana 2007 ERA+ 130 2008 ERA+ 134
John Maine 2007 ERA+ 109 2008 ERA+ 107
Pedro Martinez 2007 ERA+ 166 (over 28 innings) 2008 ERA+ 66
Oliver Perez 2007 ERA+ 120 2008 ERA+ 80
Billy Wagner 2007 ERA+ 162 (11 win shares) 2008 ERA+ 200
Aaron Heilman 2007 ERA+ 140 2008 ERA+ 79

Luis Castillo 2007 ERA+ 93 2008 OPS+ 91
Brian Scheider 2007 ERA+ 77 2008 OPS+ 73

What does this show us. First, that it is very difficult for relief pitchers to get 12 win shares. In 2004 Mariano Rivera had 17 win shares and had an ERA+ of 231. While Billy Wagner is an important piece for the Mets, his excellent performance is undermined by the fact that he does not contribute enough innings. Second of all, that while the Mets have a number of players not performing up to their 2007 level (Delgdo, Pedro, Alou, Perez and Heilman), there was no reason to expect them to live up these norms. Pedro has been injury prone for years, Delgado’s performance has been declining for the past four years, Alou is injury prone and declining, Perez is possibly the most erratic player in major league baseball, Heilman is like any other relief pitcher not named Rivera, up-and-down. Given that the Mets gave up the majority of their farm team to acquire Santana, they could not afford to have so many erratic and injury prone players. Third of all, while the Mets have two of the best young players in the game, they do not have enough stars to overcome their lack of depth. While David Wright has not performed to his ’07 level, and Reyes’ worth to his team is more than his bat (his defense and base running are both outstanding), Beltran is somewhat overrated, and Santana is likely not the pitcher he once was in Minnesota.

While Willie Randolph took the fall for the disappointment of this team, Omar Minya is the architect of this .500 $138 million roster and thus the real reason for its lack of success. With only six guys on the team that could reasonably expected to produce 12 win shares, the decision by many pundits to pick the team to win the NL East, and to reach the World Series was particularly unrealistic and unreasonable.

Share/Save

The part of the NBA season I look forward to more than anything aside from the draft lottery is the actual draft itself. For a fan of a perpetual lottery team, this is a time of excitement. Hope springs eternal, and teams are one Dwayne Wade or Dirk Nowitzki away from being a contender. What I’m going to do here is break down the NBA Draft (just the 1st 10 picks, because after that it’s really a crap shoot). Ill take a look at what Chad Ford has in his MOCK DRAFT 6.0!!! and throw in my own $.02 no doubt.

1. Chicago Bulls. Ford’s Pick: Derrick Rose. My Pick: Derrick Rose

This one should be a no-brainer. Anyone who watched the NCAA tournament this year, or any Memphis games during the year for that matter, knows that this guy deserves to be the #1 pick. The guy does it all, and he does it all well. He can take over a game with his scoring, passing, and defense… and has got to be the pick here. Plus, Hinrich could probably fetch them something pretty nice in a trade, making this Bulls team potentially quite dangerous.

2. Miami Heat. Ford’s Pick: Michael Beasley. My Pick: Michael Beasley

Again, this one seems to be pretty much a slam-dunk. Adding the most prolific scorer in the draft makes the Heat another contender to be pretty scary in years to come. Next year’s nucleus would feature Wade, Marion, and Beasley, which aint too bad. In the next two years they will have oodles of cash to spend too, and if they play their cards right, they shouldn’t spend too much time in the lottery.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves. Ford’s Pick: O.J. Mayo. My Pick: Jerryd Bayless

This is some personal bias coming through for sure. The thing is, I just don’t know what to make of O.J. I watched him in several games this year. Sometimes he looked very good, and other times he kind of just disappeared. Bayless just looks legit to me. Plus, practically every highly touted guard from Arizona in recent memory has turned out to be darned good- Arenas, Bibby, Jason Terry, Damon Stoudamire, Richard Jefferson, Sean Elliot, and Steve Kerr… So I’ll take my chances with Bayless.

4. Seattle (OK City??) Supersonics. Ford’s Pick: Russell Westbrook. My Pick: Eric Gordon

I really like Westbrook, the thing is I like Gordon more. Earlier in the college season I had a little bit of a Man-chubby for Gordon, but once all the turmoil hit at Indiana, he fell off a bit. Regardless, the guy can downright light it up. Pairing him with Durant for the next 10-12 years is a scary, scary proposition, and I don’t see how they could pass that up.

5. Memphis Grizzlies. Ford’s Pick: Eric Gordon. My Pick: Kevin Love.

I think Russell Westbrook would be the best available player here, but while the Grizzlies need to sure up just about every single position, PG is one where they should be ok- with Mike Conley, Javaris Crittenton, and Kyle Lowry already on the roster. So, by default, I think Kevin Love is the pick here. He is a solid player, with “good fundamentals”, but I wonder if he’ll ever be a star. I do, however, think you can pencil him in for 14 points, 12 boards a game… which aint too shabby.

6. New York Knickerbockers. Ford’s Pick: Danilo Gallinari. My Pick: Russell Westbrook

OK. I admit it. Seeing this prediction from Ford, is the sole reason I am writing this preview right now. I will be happy if the Knicks pick ANYONE BUT GALLINARI. ANYONE. Hell, they can pick Channing Frye again, and I’d be alright with it. There are so many reasons why i hope he is not the pick. Forget the fact that he’s white (which is an automatic minus 5 on a 10 point scale), but he’s foreign. The last foreign player the Knicks selected with their first round pick? Frederick Weiss. Enough said. And the bottom line is, in NY, the fans will not like this pick. At all. They will eat him alive. If the NY fans don’t like you from the get-go… there’s a darned good chance you will not succeed. Imagine starting your Knicks career with the entire Madison Square Garden crowd booing you. Welcome to America, Welcome to NY… bad choice. Secondly, just from a basketball standpoint, this makes no sense. This guy is a SF. The entire Knicks roster, for better or for worse, is made of 3’s. Their last 3 picks have been 3’s - Balkman, Lee, and Wilson Chandler (even though Lee is more of a 4, he gets some time at 3). Q plays the 3, Malik Rose can play the 3, even Jamal Crawford plays some 3 when they go small with little Nate, and Steph in the backcourt. Now, not to say the Knicks shouldn’t take good players wherever they can get them, but SF is the position they need least. Then factor in that the guy is a complete ? from Italy, and 19 years old, I say please no. I would love Bayless here. If not him, Westbrook, or Gordon- gotta figure one of those guys will be available. ANYONE BUT GALLINARI.

7. L.A. Clippers. Ford’s Pick: Jerryd Bayless. My Pick: O.J. Mayo.

This seems like a good fit for O.J. He’ll get to stay in L.A., which is nice, they need a PG, with Livingston’s status up in the air, and this could be a homerun for them. Look at it this way, if he pans out he’ll be huge in L.A. If not, he’s just another 1st round disappointment for the Clips. O.J. could very well be a star, I just don’t know if he’ll go the Stephon Marbury route- great stats, but every team he’s on wins as soon as he gets traded. We shall see. That being said, he’ll almost certainly be taken earlier than this.

8. Milwaukee Bucks. Ford’s Pick: Joe Alexander. My Pick: Joe Alexander.

I saw Alexander play twice in person this year and he’s impressive. I think he’d be a good fit on a team that could use some defense. The guy can put the ball in the hole too. Plus, while they have a lot of big men, they don’t have too many swing men, aside from Desmond Mason. Seems like a logical choice.

9. Charlotte Bobcats. Ford’s Pick: Kevin Love. My Pick: Brook Lopez.

Brook seems like a very Bobcatty pick. They seem to love to take low-risk, low-reward type guys, and Brooky fits that mold quite well. Like Love, I don’t really see him being a star, but I do think he will be productive in the NBA. Probably a threat for a double- double every night, and will be solid on the defensive end. With him and Okefor, the Bobcats would have a very nice defensive frontcourt.

10. New Brooklyn Nets. Ford’s Pick: Brook Lopez. My Pick: D.J. Augustine

I’m not sure which way I would go here if I were Jay-Z. I would probably lean towards Augustine because I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people and be a pretty solid NBA guard. However, it all depends on how they feel about Devin Harris. They also just drafted Marcus Williams two years ago, so if they do go with Augustine, it’s a clear sign that they are done with one, if not both of those players. Anthony Randolph could also be a choice here- giving them a couple of raw, athletic big men (with Sean Williams) to reek havoc in the paint.

… All this being said, I’m sure the Knicks will take Danilo Gallinari, and I will go to sleep crying on Thursday night. Either that, or they’ll trade Marcus Camby, and their pick for Antonio McDyess… oh wait… has that happened already??

Share/Save

Sung to the Tune of the GW Fight Song

Hail to the Buff,
Hail to the Blue,
The Hippo sucks, and so did you.
All our lives we’ve been sad to say,
Our mascot was shockingly gay.
By Little George we’re happy that today,
Our memory of you will surely fade away.
So hail to the Buff,
Hail to the Blue,
Soon we’ll forget about you.
You bet we’re finally rid of you.
Fight!!!

Really, we’ll miss Little George and whoever was in there. He always had a way of kind of creeping us out and making the other team’s fans laugh a little.

So who will replace Little George? Well none other than, um, new Little George! He’s the old Little George, but with a hip, modern, “jovial neighborhood bully” (???) attitude. If you ask me, he just kind of looks like a pissed off muppet. But the A-10 has worse mascots. The old “Spidey” was absolutely hilarious. The new Spidey kind of scares me, but not as much as the new big, blowup Spidey. Goooo Richmond! Though I suppose when your mascot has that many legs and is a step up from an ant (what a mascot that would be!) you don’t have much to work with. Which reminds me, I think GW should replace the Hippo and team up with the Crest mascot to promote good dental hygiene. Makes sense, right? A little? Not really? Well how much fucking sense does the Hippo make, huh!?!?!

Ahem. Anyway, I’ll wind this up by leaving you with some Little George highlights from years past. And if you’re wondering if we have any videos where Little George isn’t dancing, the answer is absolutely not.

Share/Save