Moments after the Montreal Expos completed a four-game sweep of the Phillies yesterday with a 4-0 victory at Olympic Stadium, Larry Bowa's emotions finally boiled over into a tirade behind clubhouse doors that one veteran player described as an all-timer, one of the worst explosions he has ever seen from the manager. The clubhouse became an even uglier scene several minutes later when pitcher Brett Myers and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan became involved in a heated, obscenity-laden argument in which angry demands for more respect were made.
In the last ten games, the Phillies have lost nine. Four of them to the Brewers. THE BREWERS. This is an epic collapse, in the fine Phillie tradition (a la 1964). The good news is that everyone else has been just as bad. After going 1-9, the Phillies are still tied for the Wild Card lead. But the cushion is gone. It's time to right the ship or else they will spend the fall months tailgaiting.
They are the best team in the running, but for some reason, they just can't put it together. This big Larry Bowa blowup probably has a lot to do with the fact Bowa knows that if this team fails to make the playoffs, the blame is going to lie squarely at his feet. and he's responding the only way he knows how: with epic rage.
Their next 10 games inlcude seven against the Mets. They have got to win those games.
posted by Poseur 8/29/2003 01:12:00 PM email
Abar Rouse's recordings, made July 30 and 31, revealed that Bliss had tried to use players and an assistant coach in an attempt to portray slain player Patrick Dennehy as a drug dealer.
The tapes of conversations between Bliss, Rouse and players show Bliss thought the drug story would steer investigators away from allegations the coach had improperly paid for Dennehy's tuition, an NCAA violation.
When hired last week, Drew had announced he would not retain any of the assistants hired under Bliss.
Rouse's lawyer, Michael D. Pegues of Dallas, said his client was disappointed when he was asked this week to clean out his office and surrender his athletic department car.
"There were some bad things going on. He reported them, and he expected to be there," Pegues said.
Blow the whistle... get canned. Is Baylor trying to send a message to would-be do-gooders? I will give Baylor the benefit of the doubt on this one, as they fired every single assistant tied to Dave Bliss. So it's not like they singled out Rouse for punishment. He was part of a dirty staff, and though he finally came around to do the right thing, he certainly was complicit in some dirty dealings.
He'll find another job somewhere, hopefully. Contrition means forgiveness. Which is why Dave Bliss gets none.
posted by Poseur 8/29/2003 11:17:00 AM email
The Terps should have lost in regulation. Ralph Friedgen is a great coach, he's turned the program around and all that, but Jesus, it's called clock management. If you have the ball with 50 seconds left in the game, there is no reason the other team should get the ball back with 40 seconds left without spending a single timeout.
Respect the MAC. The best teams in the MAC, of which NIU is one, can play with anybody in the country. Are you paying attention in Iowa? And, if you didn't see it, the final interception was one of those all time crazy plays. Just unbelievable.
Meanwhile, BYU put the smack down on Georgia Tech . I'm not sure what AJ Suggs did, but he did something, and he lost his starting job. Playing a green QB on the road against a really tough defense is rarely a good idea, and BYU showed GT why last night.
And, if you've been following our gambling page, you would have known both upsets were coming.
posted by Poseur 8/29/2003 11:10:00 AM email
The enthusiastic fans watched the Expos win their fourth straight overall and eighth in a row at home. The Phillies have seen their wild-card lead dwindle as they've dropped five straight and are 1-8 on a 13-game road trip.
"This crowd was awesome tonight," Vitiello said. "I wish we could have this type of crowd here every night. It just fires us up, and we just want to go out there and give everything we've got." (Related item: Game report)
Montreal has drawn 63,115 in the first three games of the series.
"It's the noise," center fielder Brad Wilkerson said. "They give a lot of energy, and it's impressive to see them in the stands."
A team can't survive in Montreal? Bull. A team could do just fine if they just tried to put out a decent team. 20,000 fans came out to see a team which probably won't play in their town next year, a stirring rebuke to MLB and Bud Selig, the only people who make W look honest.
I live near DC, so I'll be honest, I want the Expos to move here. But I don't believe for a second that Montreal's problems have anything to do with the city of Montreal. It has everything to do with terrible mismanagement of the franchise.
posted by Poseur 8/28/2003 01:38:00 PM email
Are you kidding me?
NATIONAL W L Pct GB
Philadelphia 70 62 .530 -
Florida 70 62 .530 -
St. Louis 69 63 .523 1
Montreal 70 64 .522 1
Chicago Cubs 68 63 .519 1.5
Arizona 69 64 .519 1.5
Los Angeles 67 64 .511 2.5
7 teams, all within 2.5 games. That's just obscene. Does anybody want to win this thing?
And is the wild card really all that great?
Seriously, without the wild card, we'd have a division race in each AL division and the NL Central. The wild card adds something to the NL race, but can anyone honestly say that any of these teams deserves the postseason? It seems more like who wants it the least. Each team is bumbling and stumbling towards the finish line, and if they get hot in October, they could win the World Series. How do you think that makes the fans of the Braves and Giants fell, whose teams have been consistently excellent over 162 games?
posted by Poseur 8/28/2003 01:03:00 PM email
''I've seen some of the guys and they still can't believe Miami will be up here playing Tech,'' Corey said. ``What I've been telling people is I'll be pulling for whoever is on offense. A lot of the guys don't know Brock, so it's not a big deal to them. To them, it's about the best team in the country coming here to play.''
Brock Berlin calls Shreveport ''paradise,'' and said the reality of the situation began closing in this week. ''It's all starting to hit me. I'm going back home,'' he said. ``But this is pretty much a business trip. We're there for one thing -- to win a football game.''
Coker said he would address the homecoming issue with Berlin. ''It really doesn't matter for our team if we're playing in Louisiana or in New York,'' the coach said, ``because it's a very, very important game for us. He's got to take [the emotion part] out of his mind.''
Miami is going to mop the field with La Tech, no disrespect to the Bulldogs, who actually have a pretty good offense. But you just don't want to be the first team to play the Canes after a heartbreaking Fiesta Bowl loss. And Brock Berlin is going to want to impress his hometown fans.
Berlin was the center of one of the most intense recruiting war in recent years. He's a product of Evangel High, a veritable football factory. He could have gone anywhere in the country, and, well, seeing as he went to Miami (via Florida, long story), he kinda did. Now it's time for him to shine. Really, as a guy who follows recruiting as well as college football, I can't wait to see what Berlin can do with the starting job.
posted by Poseur 8/28/2003 12:26:00 PM email
Bird said he came into the job with an open mind but didn't like what he's seen since.
"The last week or so, we've had a lot of conversations," he said. "We didn't like how last year ended, especially in the playoffs and at the end of the season when we ended up (14-19).
"Our major concern was to get off to a good start and hopefully have a good year. But after we talked more and more about it, we thought if things got off to a rocky start then we'd have to go the other way. Bringing in a new coach in midseason would be very difficult on the team.
"Today we decided to let Isiah go. It's a tough decision, but a decision we had to make."
Bird's next decision is who will lead a mixture of veterans and young players into camp Oct. 1. It shouldn't be a difficult one.
A contract agreement with Carlisle, 42, could come as early as today. Obviously, he's my first choice," Bird said.
From the outcry, you would have though Isiah Thomas was Phil Jackson or something. Yes, Thomas has had three straight winning seasons, his win totals are (in order): 41, 42, 48. Whoop dee doo. He's never guided one of the most talented teams in the weaker conference past the first round. Had he won 48 games with the Wizards, he should get a raise. With the Pacers, he earned his pink slip.
I can't in any way get upset about this firing. Had Bird kept Thomas, I wouldn't complain either, but so far, Thomas has shown he is, at best, a decent coach. At worst, he is a terrible squanderer of talent.
Not only has the NCAA lifted its rules on transferring players for Baylor, the Big 12 has followed suit. This means any player on Baylor can transfer to any school in the nation and play this year. Even a conference foe.
John Lucas III is the first Bear to take advantage of this rule, and will play for Oklahoma State next season. There's seven players left on the Baylor basketball team. Do the right thing, kids. I want them holding open try-outs by November.
In case you have forgotten:
Dave Bliss is a scumbag. We wish him nothing but the worst.
posted by Poseur 8/26/2003 04:23:00 PM email
Smith's cut actual made national news, I just mention it to wonder: Who on earth is surprised by this move in the least? Doug Pederson is an excellent backup and had exactly zero chance of losing his job. Craig Nall is younger than Smith and just put up terrific numbers in Europe, meaning he's probably a better longterm risk. And that Favre guy is pretty good.
I couldn't understand why Smith signed up with the Packers in the first place. He had less than a 5% chance of making the team against that competition. The Packers need another QB like I need a hole in my head.
Three weeks ago, it looked like catcher Jason Kendall and outfielder Brian Giles were going home. It looked like they would be trading a combined 13 losing seasons with the Pirates -- eight for Kendall, five for Giles -- and going back to their roots in San Diego. They would be leaving one losing team for another, but at least they would be going home.
Of course, the trade to the San Diego Padres didn't happen. It was tabled until the offseason and, as often is the case, might never come to fruition.
This was an actual article printed in today's Pittsburgh Tribune. I think it's time for them to look for a new columnist. Because by the time the paper hit the streets, the Pirates were putting the finishing touches on a trade:
Brian Giles to the Padres for LHP Oliver Perez, OF Jason Bay and a PTBNL.
Now, there is some crack reporting. Doesn't their sports staff know the true deadline in August 31st? Teams can still make waiver moves in August, and Giles was already through waivers. Couldn't wait until next week to run the fluff piece?
Bay is a serious prospect, he's been tearing up AAA at a 303/410/541 clip. He appears ready for the next step. I'm not high on Perez, but he's already had a cup of coffee in the bigs. And other people who pay more attention to the minors than I love the guy. So I'll defer.
This is a good deal for both teams. Believe it or not, the Pads are close to competing, they are loaded with young pitchers and corner infielders. Giles gives them a legit centerpiece player. And it gets the Pirates some good prospects and gets them off the hook for Giles' contract. Both teams should make out, though I think the Pirates got the better of it, since they don't have to get better elsewhere to make the deal worthwhile.
Bad news in New York. In our recently unveiled BCR QB ratings, Pennington was the most effective passer last year. So his loss, on top of seemingly the entire receiving corps, is huge. I like Testeverte, he's never been as bad as his detractors have suggested, but he's simply not good enough to take this team to the playoffs.
The Jets got burned in the offseason, and now in the preseason as well. It looks like a long year for Jets fans.
posted by Poseur 8/25/2003 12:52:00 PM email
His angry and hysterical protest against disqualification in the World Track and Field Championships 100-metre quarter-final on Sunday was pathetic. And heartfelt. It was selfish. And heartfelt. It was disruptive to his fellow competitors, disrespectful to the officials and demeaning to the sport. And yes, it was heartfelt.
Here before us was a man without recourse. At once he knew, yet couldn't believe or accept that he was done, that two years of training had been all for nothing. He was out there on the Stade de France track, all alone in front of 50,000 spectators, many who thought they saw what he hoped he saw on the screen, that he hadn't jumped the gun. He said he didn't understand the rule. And he was clearly encouraged by the support of a crowd that perhaps didn't know the rule. They were thrilled by the effect they were having on him; one fuelled the other and a full-blown controversy was under way.
Hey, do what you can, right? It was really a pathetic display, Drummond acted like a five-year old (no offense to any five year olds reading this page). Then again, he had no real recourse, and if it wasn't for his childish antics, would any of us even know the Track and Field world championships are going on?
When I think Little League World Series, I think of some Far East team bashing the American team's brains in. We've gotten away from that in recent years, and it's good to move away from controversy and focus on what makes the LLWS so cool: Japan kicking the crap out of us again.
