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5 days ago
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Into the new year
By: Clay
Last year Sports Jerks performed like we had borrowed some PED's from Ryan Braun. Then September came and we let Caleb Hanie run the blog. Big mistake.
I can't promise 2012 will be any better but I sure can say that it wont be any worse. I have some new cards to post, takes on the baseball offseason, Pujols, the Bears, the Blackhawks and of course UFC.
So here's to Clay Guida and Chael Sonnen title shots, the Cubs continued rebuilding, the Pujols effect on STL, a successful Bears draft and a Blackhawks Stanley Cup. .
Last year Sports Jerks performed like we had borrowed some PED's from Ryan Braun. Then September came and we let Caleb Hanie run the blog. Big mistake.
I can't promise 2012 will be any better but I sure can say that it wont be any worse. I have some new cards to post, takes on the baseball offseason, Pujols, the Bears, the Blackhawks and of course UFC.
So here's to Clay Guida and Chael Sonnen title shots, the Cubs continued rebuilding, the Pujols effect on STL, a successful Bears draft and a Blackhawks Stanley Cup. .
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Mortal Kombat: Cubs Edition
By: Dustin
This may be a bit dorky, and it definitely exposes my affinity for the occasional shitty movies, but yesterday's announcement of Jim Hendry's firing reminds me of the ending of Mortal Kombat.
In case you haven't seen this cinematic masterpiece -- and I fully admit to having seen it dozens of times -- the whole gang is excited at the conclusion of the film. Why not? Liu Kang has just finished defeating the evil Shang Tsung, apparently saving the world as we know it and definitely saving the soul of his deceased brother and thousands of other unfortunate folks who died at the hands of the Outworld sorcerer.
Just as Liu Kang returns home with new friends Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Rayden, the sky darkens and an enormous Shao Kahn towers over them . . . making them aware that they very well might still be fucked.
So, in case you aren't too good with analogies, Liu Kang and his buddies represent the Cubs, while Shao Kahn represents . . . reality.
And the reality is this: the Cubs organization is a damn mess. It's not all Hendry's fault, either. A lot of it is -- and that's why he's officially out on his ass -- but if the Ricketts ownership is smart, it isn't close to done with this organizational retooling.
I'm not going to get into the horrible contracts Hendry has handed out in much the same fashion that older folks hand out that shitty orange- and black-wrapped peanut butter candy at Halloween; you can read that stuff everywhere. If you follow the team at all, you don't need to be reminded of the money spent on the likes of Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley.
The Cubs' problems run a lot deeper than just the decision making at the big-league level. This is an organization that seems to be coming up really short in the whole scouting and development process. If you look at who the Cubs have drafted during Hendry's tenure, which has been long enough for more than a few top draft picks to make it to the show, you'll likely come to the conclusion that Chicago's drafts have been wildly unsuccessful.
With injuries, a regular being dealt at what I consider to be a terribly mismanaged trade deadline, and a certain bat-shit crazy pitcher losing his marbles (again), you are now seeing just how little talent the Cubs had down on the farm at the beginning of the season. I know you may like the way kids like Darwin Barney and Tony Campana play . . . but if these are the best guys you have to call up, you've got some issues. Plus, most of the young pitchers to make their way to the majors have been less than impressive.
So talent evaluation at draft time and the lower-level development process seem to be lacking. Sure, Hendry oversees all of this stuff and he is ultimately responsible for hiring these people who, like him, don't seem to be all that great at their jobs, but they get paid and should be accountable like anybody else.
This team is going to spend some money this offseason. I'm sure some fans will insist the team's problems can be fixed in one winter, as long as a capable general manager is in place. It could happen, but don't hold your breath. It's not like Hendry wasn't allowed to throw money at the club's problems. He made plenty of good acquisitions, too, and it never really got this franchise over the hump. You have to be able to bring along some home-grown talent to succeed, unless you have the astronomical payroll that only a few clubs are afforded.
Because of that, I firmly believe this: until the new GM and the relatively new ownership weeds through the losers throughout the organization, a lot of the Cubs' problems will persist. Shao Kahn is still standing over you guys, laughing his ass off. You'd better hope Liu Kang and his buddies are up for a much larger fight.
This may be a bit dorky, and it definitely exposes my affinity for the occasional shitty movies, but yesterday's announcement of Jim Hendry's firing reminds me of the ending of Mortal Kombat.
In case you haven't seen this cinematic masterpiece -- and I fully admit to having seen it dozens of times -- the whole gang is excited at the conclusion of the film. Why not? Liu Kang has just finished defeating the evil Shang Tsung, apparently saving the world as we know it and definitely saving the soul of his deceased brother and thousands of other unfortunate folks who died at the hands of the Outworld sorcerer.
Just as Liu Kang returns home with new friends Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Rayden, the sky darkens and an enormous Shao Kahn towers over them . . . making them aware that they very well might still be fucked.
So, in case you aren't too good with analogies, Liu Kang and his buddies represent the Cubs, while Shao Kahn represents . . . reality.
And the reality is this: the Cubs organization is a damn mess. It's not all Hendry's fault, either. A lot of it is -- and that's why he's officially out on his ass -- but if the Ricketts ownership is smart, it isn't close to done with this organizational retooling.
I'm not going to get into the horrible contracts Hendry has handed out in much the same fashion that older folks hand out that shitty orange- and black-wrapped peanut butter candy at Halloween; you can read that stuff everywhere. If you follow the team at all, you don't need to be reminded of the money spent on the likes of Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley.
The Cubs' problems run a lot deeper than just the decision making at the big-league level. This is an organization that seems to be coming up really short in the whole scouting and development process. If you look at who the Cubs have drafted during Hendry's tenure, which has been long enough for more than a few top draft picks to make it to the show, you'll likely come to the conclusion that Chicago's drafts have been wildly unsuccessful.
With injuries, a regular being dealt at what I consider to be a terribly mismanaged trade deadline, and a certain bat-shit crazy pitcher losing his marbles (again), you are now seeing just how little talent the Cubs had down on the farm at the beginning of the season. I know you may like the way kids like Darwin Barney and Tony Campana play . . . but if these are the best guys you have to call up, you've got some issues. Plus, most of the young pitchers to make their way to the majors have been less than impressive.
So talent evaluation at draft time and the lower-level development process seem to be lacking. Sure, Hendry oversees all of this stuff and he is ultimately responsible for hiring these people who, like him, don't seem to be all that great at their jobs, but they get paid and should be accountable like anybody else.
This team is going to spend some money this offseason. I'm sure some fans will insist the team's problems can be fixed in one winter, as long as a capable general manager is in place. It could happen, but don't hold your breath. It's not like Hendry wasn't allowed to throw money at the club's problems. He made plenty of good acquisitions, too, and it never really got this franchise over the hump. You have to be able to bring along some home-grown talent to succeed, unless you have the astronomical payroll that only a few clubs are afforded.
Because of that, I firmly believe this: until the new GM and the relatively new ownership weeds through the losers throughout the organization, a lot of the Cubs' problems will persist. Shao Kahn is still standing over you guys, laughing his ass off. You'd better hope Liu Kang and his buddies are up for a much larger fight.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
UFC Schedule for coming months
By: Clay
By the way, yesterday's "Sniffle Sniffle" was our 500th post. I will celebrate by giving my self a good ol' reach around while I flog my dolphin. Check out what's coming from the UFC this Fall. HUGE cards.
By the way, yesterday's "Sniffle Sniffle" was our 500th post. I will celebrate by giving my self a good ol' reach around while I flog my dolphin. Check out what's coming from the UFC this Fall. HUGE cards.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Sniffle Sniffle
By: Clay
Hey Cubs fans, let's learn from this. We fall in love with players too quickly, as does our management and front office.
We placed Zambrano on a pedestal after the 2006 season when he posted monster stats, finished 5th in the Cy Young voting, won a Silver Slugger and became an All-Star for the second time. Big Z's 2006 stats look like this: 16-7, 214 IP, 3.41 ERA, 210 k's. Following the 2007 season, Z received a nice fat contract and hasn't done shit since. But we thought he was worth it because of what he did that season. Now, we couldn't get rid of him quick enough. We always excused his behavior by saying, "Oh, he's just a competitor. He wants to win". Well, I don't believe that's all. This guy has got some serious problems that aren't gonna be resolved by suspensions or trades. He needs some mental help and he needs it as a clause in a contract for any future employment. Or maybe just a prescription for Lexapro.
Apparently the current Cubs roster, the clubhouse is more relaxed and free of tension. So I doubt they would want to welcome him back if he does return. One option that could work is to trade Zambrano to San Francisco for Barry Zito. The Giants would also have to send about $46MM to help cover Zito since he is under contract through 2013. And I CLEARLY remember Cubs fans, including myself, hoping that Zito would sign with the Cubs after the 2006 season. At this point both guys are back end of the rotation guys.
They are a few other scenarios that could work out and you can read them here(http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/08/unloading-carlos-zambrano.html).
As much as I would like to win with Zambrano, it just can't happen. The Cubs had a window of opportunity to with with the core group of Z, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome from 2003 to 2008. The window has closed on these guys. Some have moved on, other remain because of unmovable contracts and poor performance. We have to move on from these guys. Let's build around Starlin Castro, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol and Matt Garza before it's too late. We can't keep this bad contract shit up and we sure as hell don't want to be the Yankees by keeping guys around years after they should have retired (Posada, Jeter, Rivera...).
I don't really now what to say. Same Old Shit. From me. From the Cubs players. From the front office. From the Fans. I don't know why we bitch about it. Apparently we like the misery because we aure as hell aren't doing anything about it.
We choked in 2003, underperformed in 2004, had the league MVP in Derrek Lee in 2005(I will NEVER let that go), and then laid too big, stinking piles of shit in the 2007 and 2008 playoffs...with basically the same core group. See? There i go feeling sorry for myself. Thank Science it's football season. I'm in the mood to watch the Bears O-line give up a handful of sacks each game and see some kickoffs go out of the endzone. Well looky there, more things to bitch about.
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