Bruce Bochy doesn’t like to mess around with his rotation, which is why his original plan for the NL Division Series -– Peavy, Bum and Three Days Of Rum –- was scrapped after meeting with general manager Brian Sabean.
Largely, as it turns out, because Sabean doesn’t day-drink. Or so he says.
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Across the decomposing bridge from here, Billy Beane, who is about to find what it’s like not to be an internet darling, was part of the A’s postseason-mortem, and said no fewer than five times that the A’s would not have made the playoffs without the Yoenis Cespedes-for-Jon Lester trade. He is awfully sensitive about it, even though it made sense at the time and still makes sense now.
Anyway, it shows that still and as ever, he does pay close attention to what is said about him –- at least the one Internet meme (the trade killed the A’s) that has chased him since the A’s faceplanted.
But he got this one part right without any dispute. When asked about how Tuesday’s tire fire would affect his legacy, he said, “My legacy (is) my kids. That's the only legacy I care about.”
I guess that means they probably hated the trade too.
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Rich Gannon isn’t lighting the Raiders’ pregame flame at any game soon – as in ever. Frankly, he’d probably be booked on suspicion of arson, and he’d be only one of about six million suspects, if it was possible to burn down the Coliseum without soaking it in solvents first.
Your highlights, from his SiriusXM NFL show:
“It's a product of their culture and the environment that has existed for years, because you let things go, you let things slide. You don't detail your work. You don't have the high degree of professionalism, and accountability in the building. And that's a problem. You don't have a player that's willing to stand up in front of his peers in the team meeting and say, ‘This is BS. We're not going to do this anymore.’ You don't have those players . . . You don't have those players.
“I lived it. I've been in the building for years, I know what's going on there. And that's the problem. You don't have enough badasses that are going to stand up and do something about it.
“They got this sign in front of the building that says: 'Commitment to excellence.' They ought to take it down. It's false advertising right now. There's no commitment to excellence. There's a commitment to mediocrity right now. And that's the problem. You need to change the culture and the environment. You need to bring in some people that are capable of rooting out the issues. And it takes people that know the history of why they have not won. You need to bring in some people that have been there and done it. Then maybe things will change.
“But it's not going to change when you keep replacing coaches, keep replacing quarterbacks and keep running different veteran free agents through the building. That's not how you rebuild an organization. And the thing that drives me crazy is that they spend millions and millions and millions of dollars on the payroll.
“There's people out in Oakland, in that building, players, coaches, front office, people in business, accounting: stealing! They ought to give the check back. The product on the field is terrible. And when you lose like that, how can you go to the bank and cash the check. You should be embarrassed. You're not winning because you players and coaches and people in the building that have become comfortable with the process of losing. It's okay to lose out there, it's okay. It's not a big deal.”
Other than that, he’s all in.
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New York Giants tight end Larry Donnell is probably one of those guys Gannon would excoriate if Gannon believed in fantasy football as a reflection of a man’s essential soul. According to The Record's Art Stapleton, Donnell, who caught seven balls for 54 yards and three scores in the Giants’ win over Washington last week, benched himself in fantasy football in favor of 49er tight end Vernon Davis.
His team lost by 15 pts.
“Would've won if I played me,” was his analysis.
That sound you hear is Gannon throwing up on his radio producer.
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Dave Lozo of Bleacher Report tells the story of New Jersey Devil (as in former Shark) Ryane Clowe, who is struggling with the dilemma of being a top-six forward who occasionally feels he has to fight despite having had four concussions last year.
“I want to say that I’m going to try to pick my spots,” Clowe told Lozo. “I’d like to say yes, but to be honest, when someone’s standing in front of me, I don’t recall ever saying no to a fight. Maybe sometimes that’s what I’ll have to get in my mind, that I have to say no, say ‘another time’ maybe. It’s hard when you’re out there. A lot of it depends on how the game’s going, if a guy’s trying to get momentum on his side, it’s probably a good time to say no. I haven’t sat down and thought about it. I try not to because I feel like it might affect my game.”
I think I’m sick to my stomach already.
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Melissa Joan Hart rolls that Tide big time. Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clarissa of Explains It All fame, went Twitter-nuts over the weekend and began following multiple Alabama committed recruits, including Florence linebacker Keaton Anderson, five-star quarterback Blake Barnett and even 2016 commit Shyheim Carter. She follows at least 10 Alabama recruits on Twitter, plus many former and current Alabama football players and coaches.
This is an outrage. If she was any kind of witch, she wouldn’t need to follow anyone. She’d already know. Fraud, I say! Mountebank!
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The NFL just signed its eight-year, $12 billion Sunday Ticket deal with Direct TV, and that’s the answer to your question about when Roger Goodell is going to be fired.
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And finally, the Giants are petitioning to go down 0-2 before the Nationals series begins, because, well, they’re good when the bear has gotten a full head of steam and is heading right for them.
