The Hater on Maher

We can't stand the blowhard that is Bill "Glib" Maher because he's part of the problem, even though he's either too stupid to realize it or he sold he soul for the sake of his ego. Maher is just as bad as the Bill O'Reilly or Rush's of the world since he goes on TV and attacks people who he doesn't agree with - thus giving him blowhard status. Instead of dialogue it's all about Maher's 'correct' and extremely limited point of view. It's people like Maher that hurt his cause (either the Truth or liberal American point of views) without even realizing it.



Anyway, the Hater is right, this is almost too perfect to not be staged.

Mossberg is right, free the phone. It's crazy that we're held hostage by the contracts and 'rites' that the telecoms companies hold. It'd be one thing if AT&T was the one who invented and patent the iPhone for example, but they didn't. So what right should they have over the use of the iPhone (and Apple isn't innocent either here since Apple does attempt to limit users of Apple products to only Apple's software).

We know that our little blog has gone though a few tough months, but boy-oh-boy, what about Deadspin? It sucks now. The new format (well new in that it's a few months old) stuck a fork in the site for us. While the quality of posts have been so-so for a while, there would be a gem here and there. But with the new format making it nearly impossible to read, why even bother? The comments section is filled with all those people you hear old people bitching about when they say younger generations suck. Thankfully, The Big Lead has stepped it up, actually talking about you know, sports, without the "look at how funny we are at writing without actually trying to be funny! It's natural we swear!" style of writing. The rise and fall of Deadspin should be a book in about three years.

(We should note, we have been linked on Deadspin a few times and we are thankful for that).

Soulja Boy up in it (OH!)
Watch Me Crank It
Watch Me Roll
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy,
that Super Man Dat (OH!)
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )

For Shits, and Giggles!

Since everyone else does an NFL picks post and we’ve done it in the past… why figured, why not do a NFL picks post? And here we are. Sorry if you’re yawning already.

Vikings (+9.5) over COWBOYS
Adrian Peterson, aka the 2nd pick of next years fantasy drafts, may have had the best game I’ve ever seen an NFL running back have. My Lord this kid is good. I saw a highlight of him two weeks ago and was impressed, but after watching him for 60 minutes, I’m in love. The kid is going places.

On that note, are the Cowboys really the best team in the NFC? And why isn’t anyone else talking about the Vikings? They can run the ball and stop the ball. Yes, I know their QB is Tavaris Jackson, or at least I think it is, but they can control the line which is like 70% of an NFL game.

BILLS (+3) over Ravens
I don’t think the Bills are that good, but the Ravens can’t score points. I’ll take the three.

LIONS (-2) over Bucs
The Lions are the closest thing we have to a college team in the NFL right now. They sort of play defense, they can throw the ball, they won’t win on the road but they’ll play you tough, and they’re going to win most games at home. As for the Bucs… I have nothing good or bad to say about them.

DOLPHINS (+16.5) over Patriots
I know the Patriots are beating everyone by 20 points. But I’m going to take the Fins for one reason: they’re at home playing a divisional opponent. Even after the Pats win by 21 points, I’m not going to feel bad about picking this game.

Falcons (+9) over SAINTS
Wait the Saints win one game in Seattle and all of a sudden they’re giving 9 points? Too many points… yuck. Bad game. Don’t bet this game unless you know something I don’t.

GIANTS (-9) over Niners
Personally, I think the Giants stink. But apparently, the 49ers stink more. But seriously, how are the Giants this good?

REDSKINS (-9) over Cardinals
Redskins at home and the Cardinals are without a QB.

TEXANS (+1) over Titans
I’m assuming Vince Young isn’t playing. Note: The Texans aren’t that good, yet some how they’re going to be in this playoff race. The 2007 NFL Season! Where Bad means Good!

BENGALS (-6) over Jets
The Jets stink. The Bengals aren’t very good. I could see this being a big fantasy day for a few guys on the Bengals… if only because I can’t see the Jets scoring 20 points, so I’ll go with the Bengals.

Chiefs (+3) over RAIDERS
You’re guess is as good as mine… but the Chiefs are in first place in the AFC West! The Chiefs!

SEAHAWKS (-8) over Rams
The last few minutes against the Saints last week, the Seahawks ran the worst late game drill ever. Hasselbeck was throwing the ball up for grabs. They weren’t rushing to the line, using time outs, calling weird plays. It was easily the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen in my life, which was topped off by them going for it on 4th down losing by 10 points instead of kicking the field goal. Yet, a week later I’m taking them against the Rams. My Lord the NFL stinks.

Bears (+5) over EAGLES
The Eagles almost lost to the Jets. Andy Reid will throw the ball. Meanwhile, the Bears don’t have anyone who can play safety. So you know what… this game could go either way. Maybe I still think the 2006 Bears will sort of show up one of these weeks, you know the team which was good for a bomb, a return by Hester, and the D making five or six plays. Right now, they’ve got the bombs, they’ve got the returns from Hester, but the D has done shit. I’d love to see Andy Reid tell McNabb to put the ball up in the air 45 or 50 times.

Steelers (-3.5) over BRONCOS
This is more a “what happened to the Broncos” pick than a “wow, the Steelers look great” pick.

Indians over RED SOX
The Baseball Gods hate TV ratings. I know Paul Byrd just got busted for HGH, but you know what, the Red Sox break hearts. This is what they do best. 2004 was the exception to the rule. And now, as a country is forced to suffer though millions and millions of white people wearing faux worn Boston hats, to go along the green and pink hats, every white male who has strong allegiances to a baseball team and every minority is rooting for the Indians today. Sure it’s only 40% of America, but we’re vocals.

JAGUARS (+3) over Colts
I’ll take the home dog in divisional games almost every time. And this is another one of those times. And can we just make it official: Peyton Manning is the best QB in NFL history.

SEASON: 45 - 44
This is using ESPN's pick 'em game, which is totally flawed. But it's all we've got right now (and by the way, that puts us in the 83 percentile).

Sqeezin' Red Sox Style

CC Sabathia had a walks per nine innings of 1.38 -walking 37 batters in the entire 2007 regular season – and posted an impressive 5.65 strike out to walk ratio. Sabathia’s season high for walks in a game was three, which he only did twice.

This year Fausto Carmona had a walks per nine innings average of 2.55 – he walked 61 batters this year – posting a K/BB ratio of 2.25. Carmona was more up and down with his control, he walked four batters or more four times this year.

I’m currently watching Game Two of the ALCS and maybe it’s me, but there seems to be an awful lot of balls. The 3rd inning isn’t even over and Carmona has already walked four batters. Last night, Sabathia walked five batters – two more than he had in any game this season. In Game One of the ALDS against the Yankees, Sabathia walked six batters. (It should be noted that in Game Two of the ALDS, Carmona walked two batters).

My point in all this is that it has long been speculated (by whom other than fans, I’m not sure) that the Red Sox and Yankees have smaller strike zones. And in watching these games, it appears that this is true. If batters on the Red Sox or Yankees don’t swing, rarely is the pitch called a strike.

Now, you could argue that the Red Sox and Yankees preach this approach and look for and sign players who have good eyes. The Red Sox, after all, lead the majors in walks this year and the Yankees were 4th. The Oakland A’s, another team that preaches patience at the plate, were second in walks in the majors.

There is no doubt that the Yankees and Red Sox have players who have fantastic batting eyes. But why does it seem that pitchers like Sabathia, who have such great control in 34 starts in the regular season, become Daniel Cabrera against the Red Sox and Yankees (then again maybe Cabrera leads the league in walks because he gets squeezed in 20% of his starts?). Seems to me that opposing pitchers have a teacup-sized strike zone against Boston and New York – and this goes a long way to their success (or in the Yankees' case - only in the regular season).

We’ll be looking for some data or evidence to back up our hypothesis.

And loved this shot that Phil Rogers at the Tribune took at Schilling:

Curt Schilling moves ahead of Daisuke Matsuzaka in the Red Sox rotation-commentary both on how badly Schilling wanted the Fenway Park stage again and how Matsuzaka has disappointed.

Is there any doubt that Schilling refers to himself in the third person when the reporters aren’t around? I hope he breaks a leg on Saturday.

Why the NFL Stinks Right Now

We were speaking with D the other day when he asked about the demise of VFLOAB. I told him that we hadn’t had much free time (true, neglecting to tell him that writing in 90 degree weather has never been our cup of tea). But I casually mentioned that a post ripping the NFL was due up sooner rather than later. D responded “What?!?! This year has been great!” and for a few hours I thought maybe I was missing something. Even my defense and reasoning as to why the NFL sucked was half assed and half hearted.

But in reading Simmons’ picks today, I was reminded why the NFL sucks this year – EVERYONE IN THE NFL STINKS! Okay, the New England Patriots look really, really good. And the Colts have Peyton Manning… but after that? Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?…

Looking at Simmons’ power poll he has Tennessee and Jacksonville ranked fifth and sixth respectively and you know what… I didn’t jump out of my chair thinking that Bill had lost it. In fact, I shrugged and said to myself, “He’s probably right.” And that’s it.

I mean seriously, as Bill would go on to point out:
“(Intriguing subplot for this game: If the Bengals lose, I'm moving them into the Bruce Coslet Division of next week's Power Poll, only I'm keeping the Chiefs in there no matter what happens because they stink. If Cleveland loses at home to Miami and the Jets lose at home to Philly, unless Atlanta can somehow win on Monday night, that means an astonishing 11 teams will appear in the Coslet Division for Week 7. In other words, more than one-third of the league would fall into the "completely sucks" category. Amazing. But please, let's expand and add a 33rd team. That's a great idea.)”

That’s right 11 teams (according to Simmons) in the NFL out right stink. In baseball I count 8 or 9 teams that flat out stink (depending on where you stand with Houston (and the entire National League)). In the NFL? You have St. Louis, Miami, New Orleans, Kansas City, San Francisco, Minnesota, Atlanta, Buffalo, New York Jets – 9 right there; and I’ll add Cleveland, Houston, Oakland, and Carolina to that list. Now we’re up to 13… and Simmons has Denver in the stink area and Cincinnati not far behind and I’ll be honest with you, Philly and Detroit (a healthy Bears D destroys that Lions team two weeks ago) aren’t far off either. All told, we may have 17 teams that aren’t good! Seventeen teams! That’s over half the league! And let’s not forget Arizona and the New York Giants who might not be that good… it’s just that they’re not that bad.

It’s sad to say, but the NFL today isn’t about being good, it’s about not being as bad. This is why no one should have been surprised when the Packers started 4-0 or the Redskins suddenly are 3-1… or that Tennessee with no wide receivers and average running backs are arguably the 5th best team in the NFL!

(In fact, look at the number of teams who have a good shot at the playoffs and shit receivers: Tennessee, Jacksonville, San Diego, Seattle, and the Chicago Bears. Amazing).

As I have pointed out in passing, the way the NFL does it’s scheduling, where all the 4th place teams play all the other 4th place teams, suddenly getting ‘good’ in the NFL isn’t all that difficult. If you’re slightly better than those other 4th place teams, suddenly you’ve got 4 wins. If you can find five more wins in your remaining 12 games (not that difficult considering divisional games and home field advantage)… you are a playoff team. Look at the Jets last year. They played the 4th place schedule, made the playoffs, and now, suck with a 2nd place schedule, they’re staring a 6-10 season in the face. Meanwhile, the Redskins, Houston, Oakland, Tampa Bay, and Arizona, all facing 4th place schedules, suddenly look like playoff teams.

It’s complete and utter bullshit. And a really lame way for the NFL to create competition. Just imagine if next year the Red Sox, Indians, Yankees, and Angels faced each other 50 times, while the White Sox got to beat up on the Royals, Rangers, and Devil Rays (this assumes of course the White Sox make a few moves to not suck as much in 2008)? Wouldn’t the 2008 playoffs look something like the White Sox, Red Sox, Angels, and some one else (say the Blue Jays)?

In effect this is what the NFL has done with their schedule. They’ve rigged it so that bad teams face each other – thus a bad team that is slightly better will win those games. Meanwhile the good teams face each other – and the good teams that are slightly worse suddenly lose a few more games than normal. All of a sudden we have pretenders in the playoffs and fake competition and ‘races’.

At least the cream is able and usually does rise to the top (I’m looking at you 2001 Patriots and 2005 Steelers).

We wanted to wait a full month...

...But John Hollinger's preview of the New York Knicks is just too good to be true. My Lord this is too much fun to read. We here at VFLOAB are here to give you the best:

"More weirdness enveloped the team as the season went on. Steve Francis was ready to be bought out with an alleged bad knee, one that magically healed once Jamal Crawford was pronounced out for the season."

Honestly, we just like the idea of Steve Francis acting all pissy and faking injury, then hearing the news about Crawford, and suddenly he's running full speed throwing up threes from mid-court.

"Channing Frye regressed badly from a promising rookie season while his backup, David Lee, exploded onto the scene to be the Knicks' most effective player; yet Thomas never appeared to consider changing the lineup."

Classic Isiah there - you know what, I'll sit the better player.

"And behind the scenes, a sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas and the Knicks caused continued embarrassment that lasted through the offseason."

This case led me to asking my girlfriend one night if she ever worked for MSG. Thankfully the answer was no. Good times.

"But the one that took the cake was the contract extension team owner James Dolan proudly announced for Thomas -- a reward for leading the Knicks to a 28-35 record through 63 games. Apparently Dolan was beaming because New York momentarily had possession of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race; the fact that the Knicks were seven games under .500 with the league's highest payroll didn't appear to be on his radar."

For a second, imagine you root for the Knicks AND Notre Dame? You're locked into Isiah and Charlie Weis for at least three more years!

"Then there were the early-season buyouts for Maurice Taylor and Jalen Rose. Though neither player had value on the court, their expiring contracts could have been used to acquire Allen Iverson or Pau Gasol later in the year. Instead they were set free early on for reasons that never have been made clear."

What's great about the Rose deal is that this only gets better!

"So in the end Thomas never used Rose, after trading for him in the middle of 2005-06 and getting a first-round pick from the Raptors. Factoring in Rose's salary and the luxury tax, Thomas paid close to $30 million for the 21st pick in the first round; the going rate for picks in that range is $3 million. Leave it to the Knicks to pay 10 times the market value for an asset."

That's right, by buying out Rose a year ago, the Knicks paid $30 million dollars for the 21st pick in the draft AND weren't able to trade for two players who might actually have helped them! And even more frustrating is that we all missed the chance to see Marberry, Francis, AND Iverson on the same team and on the court at the same time (and let's not forget the black hole that his Eddy Curry). I just shed a tear thinking about that missed oppertunity.

"However, New York's wagon is still too full. By rule the Knicks can only keep 15 players, but they have 17 guaranteed contracts."

Seriously, how is this even possible? What in the world is Isiah doing - let alone thinking. Does he think that tomorrow David Stern is going to change the rules and allow all NBA teams not only to carry 17 guys but also play six players at the same time?

"Pardon me while I digress, but this [player's strengths replicate each other] is a major problem up and down the Knicks' roster. Isiah's eye for talent only seems to include three types of players -- shoot-first guards who don't defend, athletic small forwards who can't shoot, and huge, lumbering post players."

Ha! No one has better explained Isiah's reasoning better. I love what Hollinger wrote there - classic. Shoot first guards, athletic players who can't shoot, and post players who can't defend... ha.

Hollinger raps up the piece, sadly, in not nearly as an entertaining fasion, but hey, can't beat the beginning of this review of the Knicks. And with that, we can't wait for the NBA season.