Talking Thoughts

It’s time to pen a few of the impervious thoughts racing around in my head. I’ll begin with the good:
Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor’s profound performance last Saturday earned him the Big 10 Offensive Player of Week. The honor marks the first time since Beanie Wells in November 2008 a Buckeye has been awarded the accolade. Pryor’s six touchdown passes against Eastern Michigan gave him the weekly honor, something no other Buckeyes quarterback has ever received. Of course, who else would the Big 10 choose than the player who commandeered an 83 point slashing of an opponent? Ohio State’s 83 points was the highest total put up by the scarlet and gray since 1950—and the team the Buckeyes faced that day was Iowa. OSU pens up conference play against Illinois this Saturday.
It smells like Guillen spirit on the South Side (that’s a Nirvana reference for the musically-deficient readers) The colorful Chicago coach is set to return to the Whitesox for the 2011 season. This is a good thing for the Sox, and for baseball. Ozzie Guillen could be described as basically any “o” adjective in the dictionary. He’s outrageous, outlandish, obnoxious and outspoken. Ozzie’s over-the-top style of managing is also outstanding. He isn’t just a passionate observer of the game, like most of today’s skippers. Nope, Ozzie goes out of his way to be stubborn. Guillen over-manages at times, sitting his more talented players in place of experienced veterans. His crazy antics have often gotten Guillen into truckloads of trouble, unnecessarily. But still, the Venezuelan native has a tremendous heart when it comes to winning baseball games. Guillen is a two time World Series champion manager, including just five seasons ago with the pale hoes. That same 2005 season, he was dubbed the AL Manager of the Year. The Sox have a winning record since Guillen took over the team in 2004. The Whitesox will not be competing in the post-season under Guillen in 2010. Ozzie wasn’t the best manager in his division (Ron Gardenhire deserves that honor). But would Whitesox fans really want to see the offensive heart of the team leave? Certainly, the coach is culpable for a lousy season, but Ozzie knows the x’s and o’s of managing. I would trust him with my team. You might not like his demeanor, but you can appreciate his spirit.
I’m happy for Roy Halladay. Halladay has been one of the hottest hurlers this decade and has finally punched his ticket to the playoffs with the Phillies. If anyone deserves a World Series ring, it’s this CY Young pitcher. However, I do not care to see Philadelphia win the World Series….which leads me to
And now for the bad:
The Phillies are clearly the team to beat. Any club anticipating a World Series championship will likely go through the city of brotherly love. And with the NL earning home-field advantage, that’s a scary thought for this Yankees fan.
I’ve learned through the years not to lose sleep at night over my team losing. So when the Cowboys dropped their first two games, I didn’t cry or pout. I did, however, lose hope in them. Dallas damaged their colossal aspirations and are in a dire position despite winning their first game last Sunday. The Cowboys are not a great team. They will not win the NFC East in stomping style, like most analysts predicted in the preseason. Tony Romo continues to prove he’s a mediocre, mistake-prone thrower. The offensive line is unraveling and porous in pressure situations. Special teams is terrifyingly tainted and the defense is inconsistent at best. But the most harmful impairment are the glaring penalties. In the NFL, you cannot win games when you have flags called against you. Just ask the Packers , who last night suffered a woeful loss to the Bears because they were whistled one too many times. Dallas is the same way. The ‘Boys lost in week one when Alex Baron was tagged with a hold call at the end of the game. That type of carelessness is costly in the NFL. The Cowboys will not be competitive if they continue to be crippled with detrimental calls.
A.J. Burnett. Really, what else is there to say? Maybe I could ask why this guy is even given the ball in the first place. Awful A.J. has done zippo for the Bombers and deserves every rip against him. Burnett is a pitiful 1-7 with an inexcusable near 7.0 ERA since August. The Yankees’ lefty took the mound last night and was smacked around in a 7-5 loss to the Bluejays. His former team battered him for seven runs in just under three frames. If Joe Girardi kept Burnett out of the post-season rotation (assuming the Yankees do in fact clinch) I would not complain. Burnett has allowed a first-inning run in 21 of his 32 starts this season. Who is to say he won’t do the same in division series, where runs are at a premium and one run often is the difference between a win and a loss? You could argue Burnett is only partially to blame for last night’s loss because the inept offense was fanned nine times. I beg to differ. The Yankees still put up five runs. If it weren’t for Burnett’s second shortest outing of the season, they wouldn’t have had to dig out of such a large hole in the first place. Pitching counts in baseball because it sets the tone for the offense. I can see why the Yankees are underperforming at the plate. Why should they try when their pitcher is pounded in every one of his starts? And even with a legitimate lead, an incompetent bullpen isn’t going to cut it.

Parting Points: Check out the new Gin Blossoms album out today. It sounds great.