The Republic of Sport

Paula

Paula's Comments

Posted Wednesday October 21, 2009, About: Manny showers while Dodgers lose

Specifically, he's paid to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He gets paid whether he "hits the ball" or not - as was evidenced by a good bit of the season. It should be an issue that he wasn't on the field or in the dug out whether they won or lost. Maybe he should "hit the ball" in tennis or golf, where no one else is effected by his ridiculous attitude.

Posted Monday October 19, 2009, About: Mattingly interested in open manager jobs

Then just admit you hate the Yankees and don't attach some grand and noble reason for it. I hate the Patriots - always have - and I could probably list 10 or 15 reasons why, some of them also very noble & high minded, but the fact is I have no idea why I don't like them, I just don't. I can admit that they are a consistently solid and successful team and I don't feel the need to denigrate their success, but I still hate 'em.

Posted Monday October 19, 2009, About: Mattingly interested in open manager jobs

All these guys make too much money - whether it's NY or Cleveland - they're playing a GAME for crying out loud! But I do love how when the Yankees are down (like the previous 4 years) all the whiners are saying this proves money doesn't matter and you can't "buy a winner". Yet when the Yankees are winning, it's because they "bought" it. Pick a side, people!

Posted Wednesday October 07, 2009, About: Tigers victim of blown call?

Absolutely! It never should've come down to one call or one play - they blew it all on their own. The ump did suck though and it was especially obvious since TBS had the strike zone indicator up most of the time. Seemed like he was at about 50% (granted for both teams) but for a game this important - you'd hope for better.

Posted Tuesday October 06, 2009, About: Report: Cabrera taunted overweight boy

That Cabrera was allowed to play (and so WELL too) Saturday & Sunday after blowing a .25 and getting hauled off to the PD is just one more example of why the Tigers don't deserve and obviously don't want a division title. And I AM a Tigers fan! WTF, they start a AA pitcher on Saturday rather than Porcello on short rest (short as in 4 days) - SERIOUSLY??? They could've had it wrapped up on Sunday... And we won't even get into the Tigers' standard September CHOKE... But honestly, other than Cabrera - we're talking management decisions - I think the generally the Tigers players are all really committed and generally good role models. Every team's got one a-****. Hardly a condition of only the grimy "Mid-West".

Posted Monday February 09, 2009, About: Should Yankees dump A-Rod?

The difference between Pettite and Giambi and A-Rod is that Pettite and Giambi didn't go on national TV immediately before signing a ridiculous contract and tell everyone they never touched the stuff. Giambi was under contract to the Yankees long before anyone made noise about steriod testing, and HGH, while not kosher, wasn't tested for nor explicitly cited as "illegal" when Pettite did it. A-Rod knew full well about the positive test when he lied and then signed the contract. He also knew he was baseball's last hope of eradicating Bonds' questionable record and had incentives written into his contract accordingly. This is S.O.P. for A-Rod who has spent a great deal of his career with his foot in his mouth because he didn't think he would get caught, or anyone knew, etc., etc. Dump him, suck up the loss, and rebuild with new contract players and up and comers - try to recreate the magic of the late 90's.

Posted Tuesday April 29, 2008, About: Leyland won't move Sheffield down

Where should he "hit him"? He needs to hit the bench is what he needs to hit. If they walked him, that would be great! But the guy's basically a guaranteed K or double-play, PLUS he's an ass. Bench him - use Cabrera as a DH (since we paid for him and gotta use him somewhere...), put Guillen back at first and Inge at 3rd where he belongs. The 2nd highest payroll in baseball can't even get them to .500. It's time to get back to basics...

Posted Tuesday February 19, 2008, About: Why Pettitte is wary of Clemens

While not the sharpest tool in the shed, I think Giambi got it right when he did his mea culpas (unfortunately we discovered that without the drugs, the guy's got nothin'), and I think Pettitte saw that and followed suit. I mean what are they supposed to do? They did it, they got caught, they can't take it back, so really the only honorable thing to do is own up to it and make your apologies. The guy still wants to play so he can't pull a McGwire (which didn't work out well for him anyway). You gotta cut some slack somewhere - obviously if these guys were going to "fess up" before being caught - we wouldn't have had to go through this whole exercise to begin with...

Posted Monday February 18, 2008, About: Study: Jeter worst AL shortstop

You can't judge any player on one aspect of their game, and honestly that's the mistake GM's make a lot of times when they do trades. Just with the Yankees - have they won squat since replacing Tino Martinez w/Giambi? Is Giambi a better hitter? At the time, yes - but there was more to it than that, which Steinbrenner and Cashman should have learned then, but went on to make several similar trades over the past few (unsuccessful) years. Ball players aren't like vacuums - you can't line them up and compare their features. One guy might play great for Boston but suck in LA. Then there's the issue of chemistry - Bonds didn't seem to help the Giants out much with all of his "talent", and then let's bring A-Rod into the mix. Absolutely a fantastic all-around ball player - except nobody likes him and it's a TEAM sport. If it was all about statistics then all GM's would be accountants. There's obviously a lot more to it than that. (And I think I'm being VERY objective!)

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

Wow, go to lunch and 4 pages later... Very nice, 4192! We don't solve much but I always feel much better after a good rant! Thanks for listening!

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

4192 - I'm a lifelong Yankees fan and never a big Clemens fan, but I was impressed with how he turned his career around after Boston let him go. I was also very impressed with the success Andy Petitte had after befriending Clemens and "adopting his workout regimen" when Clemens came to the Yankees, as I honestly thought Petitte was done. I'm pretty naive and never thought twice about either until just recently, obviously. But when Petitte's name appeared w/Clemens in the Mitchell Report, that "workout regimen" quote was the first thing that came to mind.

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

Whalers - I think part of the problem is that we assume politicians are lying to us and are crooked as a dog leg, but some of us still hold on to the whole "athletes as role models" thing, despite constant evidence to the contrary. I think that's why this is such an emotional issue for a lot of people.

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

Beej: Absolutely, if nothing else comes out of the Bush administration, we will have to add about 100 pages to Webster's for the "Bushisms" - misremembered, strategery - it's all good!

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

McNamee's camp is undoubtedly spinning this for all that it's worth, but Bush has spent the past 8 years "helping out" his friends and former colleagues (and colleagues of friends...), so this wouldn't exactly be out of character. And the key word here is "preemptive". And who's not to say that few kind words from a former or current president couldn't change the course of an indictment - negating the need for a pardon? All I know is that I don't recall Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire hobnobbing with the Capitol Hill types when they were in DC...

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

AllStarz - I don't know if a pardon is likely or not - though with Bush it's certainly not out of the question. But I think the real issue, and why everyone is so hot, is that this has been shoved in our face on a daily basis for the past 4-5 years. The report finally comes out, which should be the sad end to it, but no, now apparently it's become an issue of possible Presidential importance. All to save one man's reputation. I'm waiting for Obama, Clinton and McCain to weigh in so I'll know how to vote in November...

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

Absolutely, Midtown. And honestly when you think about all of the names mentioned in the Mitchell Report, whether huge stars or utility players, all of these people's lives are now changed for the worse, and yet Clemens is the only one they got wrong? Seems pretty unlikely - apparently Clemens is just the only one who believes he's above the process.

Posted Friday February 15, 2008, About: Lawyer: Bush may pardon Clemens

This whole Clemens' escapade seemed more like an autograph signing than anything else. Two or three from what I read actually seemed to understand the point of the proceedings, the rest looked and sounded like myspace bloggers hoping to get on Clemens' "friends" list. Generally I hate this "race card" garbage, and I'm not a fan of Bonds, but you really have to wonder when they've hounded one to the point of indictment and Clemens looks like he could run for president in a couple of years with the connections he's made on the hill in the past few days. I totally get the need for these hearings - monopolies and anti-trust issues, etc. - but I don't think Congress actually understands why they are there (other than getting the aforementioned autograph...)

Posted Wednesday October 31, 2007, About: A-Rod's big ego doesn't worry Angels

4192jc: You're absolutely right, market does determine a player's worth, but more times than not, hype is what determines the market. That's what got A-Rod his first ridiculous contract and what got Giambi his contract before that. If we didn't buy into the hype, the market wouldn't either. And my point with Jordan, Shaq and Kobe was that even in a sport like basketball where one player CAN carry a team, in the end, you need still need more than the one to win it all. We don't know if anyone could've backed MJ up because he had Pippen. When he came back a few years later, granted he was older, etc., but he couldn't carry a team by himself.

Posted Wednesday October 31, 2007, About: A-Rod's big ego doesn't worry Angels

Yankee64: I couldn't agree more. Baseball is the ultimate "team sport" with each cog needing to perform well for a victory. If any one player does have more pull than the others, it would be the pitcher - without good pitching, the team dies (hence this year's Yankees WITH A-Rod.) That said, A-Rod's no different than a Manny, Vlad, Magglio, etc. He can make a contribution, but he's not the key to winning or losing and he shouldn't be paid like he is. Even Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Shaq and Kobe soon discovered they couldn't carry a team by themselves either. If the Angels do get him, I'd bet it would be contrary to Scosia's advice. I would see him going to the Cubs with his pal Piniella and their various dysfunctions. The Angels are too straight and without the drama A-Rod seems to require.

Posted Wednesday October 31, 2007, About: A-Rod's big ego doesn't worry Angels

NYState: Yeah, if his post season production looked ANYTHING like his regular season - which it doesn't and never has. He's the Donald Trump of baseball - no love of the game or the traditions, no concept of team, no understanding of diplomacy or couth - just me and my money and whereever that'll take me... Any team that pays $30 million for him after all of this is stupid. It's like those women who think they can change a guy. He is what he is. If you need a decent shortstop with some power, go for it. But he's not worth the superstar numbers he's asking - he just doesn't come through in the end and never has.

Posted Monday October 01, 2007, About: Tigers delay deciding Pudge's return

Apparently everyone CAN'T play 1st base - see Marcus "can hit only one pitch" Thames. Casey's leaving Detroit with a better than 290 batting average and numerous clutch hits, which is more than you can say for a good many in that line-up including Pudge (who I happen to like and hope they don't lose). Not to mention the amount of goodwill he's brought to the bench and club house, for which there is no monetary value - ask a team that doesn't have it. I hope the Tigers make some good moves this winter to counter these losses or it'll be a long year next year!