Keeper League Corner - Rashard Mendenhall

There isn't much written specifically for keeper league players, so I thought I'd try some of my own. Most will be centered on players (probably players I have) that may or may not be keeper worthy even in 5 keeper leagues.

We get our first look at Rashard Mendenhall tonight. He has probably lost carries this year because of his fumbles in the preseason, which is a concern. Running backs can overcome dropping the ball but the stigma is a little more difficult to tackle. Even so, he got the opportunity to start tonight because of the injury to Willie Parker. Mendenhall got banged up and left the game on a cart, but even before wasn't having much success against a stout Ravens defense.

Long term look - he doesn't play on third downs. The elite backs (LT, AP, Westbrook, etc.) play every down. That's where they get their value. Especially in PPR leagues, receptions on third downs can mean lots of points. When Mendenhall was in for passes, he was not effective as a blocker, unable to stop even simple rushes up the middle. Many rookie RBs are probably not used to blocking, but some have been effective this year like Matt Forte and Steve Slaton.

Keeper? - No. Willie Parker has the lock on the spot, even if he struggles to stay healthy through the year. Mendenhall needs to play all three downs to be an elite back and recognize the full potential of the RB spot. He would also need to start and play a full game to have any sort of value. I've got him behind at least two other rookie RBs, Forte and Slaton, and most other RB that start. Take a wait and see approach, maybe his situation will change.

Since writing this, Mendenhall went down with a fractured shoulder and is out for the rest of the season. I'm keeping him in my IR spot and I'll reevaluate next fall before it's time to select keepers. If Parker leaves or gets hurt right before next season, Mendenhall would be a borderline keeper.

Hurricane Ike - Last Update ... probably

Well, since the last update I have regained electricity. Power came back last Wednesday (9/24) afternoon. That made for 12 days without power. Long time! Luckily, I didn't have to spend all of it here. I suppose I should appreciate the electricity, but I'm right back to taking it for granted.

As I write this, approximately 115,000 CenterPoint customers are without power. Some of those customers use wells for water. And without power, those wells don't run. Through this whole ordeal, I realized how terrible it would be without water. You can work around the lack of electricity, but without water you can't shower well or use the toilette.

I think I might sign up for the hurricane ride-out crew at work. They kept power through the whole ordeal, so they could watch TV and use the internet. They had to be at the plant for 5 days, but I think they were released to take a look at their homes. Really, I'd just have to get everything set at home as best I could. Make sure everything was put up and away from the windows. The ride-out crew gets paid to be there! A bunch, I hear!

As someone put it, why would I want to stay here, when I could be somewhere else, watch the coverage on TV and drink cold beer. Oh well, I guess you learn.

Hurricane Ike Update #5

I survived! The power went out shortly after my last update at 8PM. That was a bummer, made for a long night of waiting for the hurricane and then watching the hurricane. Here's a rundown of the events from that night. I was able to find a cd player that also had an FM tuner on it. That's where most of my information has been coming from for the past 4 days.

8:30 - Power went out
10:00 - CenterPoint reports 315,000 customers w/o power - I wasn't alone
10:45 - The rain started at my place, but there were no sustained winds
11:00 - 425,000 w/o power
- Christian's tailgate was still open, and said they'd be open until 12AM. Maybe this is the place Anderson Cooper was talking about
12AM - No sustained winds yet. Rain wasn't too bad.
12:30 - 725,000 customers without power. They said that the outage area was pretty much south of north beltway 8 and east of west beltway 8 toward the coast, if that makes any sense
- The Galveston police department is getting calls to rescue people, but isn't sending anyone out. They apparently quit at 8:30ish.
- It's getting warm, without the air conditioner, but I did manage to sleep from 11PM to 12AM
1AM - Sustained winds out of N, NE. Some rain. Reported gusts of 45 mph
1:15AM - Wind picked up, but rain still isn't bad
- Heard bang that sounded like a tin roof
- Not sure what the wind speed is, but its blowing pretty hard and sustained
- Area across 23rd still have power
1:30AM - 1 million customers w/o power - "transformers popping all over downtown"
- W. Heights reporting 45mph winds, steady
3AM - lots of wind, some water, basically what you'd expect a hurricane to be
- power out across the street. Can't see any working lights.
3:30AM - 1.3 mil. w/o power.
4:15AM - Hellacious wind. "Hurricane" wind. Rain is harder. Won't go outside. Our 3-story brick-front townhouse is shaking in the wind.
- Probably on west or south-west side of eyewall at this point
4:45AM - Winds died down a little. Not quite so ferocious. Still raining some
- Rain/wind very constant. Rain blows N to S. Not much rain hitting the ground.
- Reports that Clear Lake at Hwy 146 has an 11ft storm surge
5AM - Nearly everyone agrees that back end of the storm has been worse than the front.
- 2 mil w/o power. Downtown and Med Center all that's left (served by underground lines)
5:15AM - Kemah Boardwalk is under 6ft of water
- phone system and 911 down
- nearly all overhead power customers are w/o power
5:30AM - Driving rain, everything is wet. Pieces of leaves stuck to the sides of the houses. "Typical" tropical storm
5:30 - 8:30AM - Slept

Still no power. 50-some hours and counting. We maintained enough water pressure to flush the toilets, which was good. In terms of importance; Water/Sewer >> Power. I'd kept the bathtub full so I could flush if we did lose power, but Galveston lost both, and probably won't get those services back for a while. Sunday morning, the shower didn't work so well, but by Monday morning, it was back to normal (and even hot - must be a gas powered water heater).

Sunday afternoon I hooked my 19" TV up to my vehicle through an AC/DC converter. I was able to watch the Saints/Redskins game and root on both Drew Brees and Clinton Portis. That was a good way to spend my time, I was tired of trying to read a magazine.

Most stations aren't open because the pumps don't have power. I noticed very long gas lines around 3:30PM on Sunday. This has continued as of Tuesday afternoon. Gas stations maintain lines until they run out of gas. From what I have noticed, about 25-50 cars will be in line at a time and the stations run out of gas once a day. They should have heeded the interstate signs: "Storm forming in Gulf. Keep your gas tanks full."

The power has been coming back, more quickly than I would have anticipated. CenterPoint is going to throw a bunch of people at it, borrowing workers from all over the US and Canada. Most of the easy fixes have already been done.

Well, that's most of it. There's probably more to it but I'll leave it at that. Here's a sad picture.

NFL Week Two (After 12pm Games)

After watching the first wave of games from Week Two in the NFL, a few things came to mind that I wanted to write about.

1st and 10 (Feel like im John Clayton)

I would like to designate myself as a future NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber. I used to never understand why it was necessary to have every game at my finger tips but this was when I wasn't as big of NFL fan and my Chicago Bears were on TV every Sunday in Cedar Rapids. Now that I am in Ames, the coverage is split between Chicago, Detroit, GB and Minnesota. It would be nice to watch the Bears games in their entirety. Also, there are so many good games in the NFL week in and week out I don't really want to be stuck with KC vs OAK again when Minn vs Ind was on CBS as well.

2nd and 13 (Bears Offense)

The NFL is starting to become really, really fun for me to watch. I used to favor college heavily over pro football and I still do to a certain extent. College games can get ugly really quick. NFL games are close week in and week out. Any team truly can beat any other team. Fantasy Football is awesome and has really sparked my interest in NFL again. I had never understood how people loved the NFL so much but I am beginning to understand the obsession.

3rd and 4 (Matt Forte)

I hate to root for the Packers and by no means am I but being forced to watch them play and having Aaron Rodgers on my team has forced me to pay attention. Rodgers is really good. I have thought he was going to be good for awhile. He was able to sit on the bench and learn for several years and whoa! The Packers were smart and lucky that Favre stayed around for so long but they made the right call this year. By no means does two weeks make a season, but Rodgers is very mobile in the pocket which allows him to find open receivers. He looks through his progressions unlike many other young quarterbacks. I think there is something to be said for how the Packers groomed Rodgers and I think other franchises should take note.

4th and 1(Bears Playcalling)

I couldn't watch the Bears game today which is probably a good thing at the end. Up 17-3 they lost 20-17. I was watching the game on Stat Tracker and they had a drive starting with a little over three minutes left in the 4th quarter. First down resulted in a 9 yard gain from Forte for 2nd and 1. Second down was "Orton incomplete to the left". Ok, maybe they wanted to trick them. Third Down, "Orton incomplete to the right". WTF! The Bears aren't the Colts. Fourth Down, Jason McKie up the middle for no gain. I don't see the reasoning at all by not giving Forte another effort during that sequence. They needed just 20 more yards for a game tying(sp?) field goal. Not happy with this playcalling-would have liked to have seen it live.

Hurricane Ike Update #4

No rain yet at 8PM, but the winds have picked up. The winds are from the north at 10 mph with gusts up to 39 mph. Here's where I'm watching the wind speeds. The winds were stronger when I went outside an hour and a half ago. Everyone thought that the rain and some wind would be here around noon today. It appears that the hurricane is tightening, which means a stronger storm for a shorter period of time.

Waiting for this thing to hit has been brutal. The news just runs on a cycle, giving us the same stuff all the time. Everyone is posted up on Galveston Island, but I'd like to see what's going on closer to Houston. The strangest thing is that there is a bunch of flooding both on the island and in town, and it hasn't rained at all yet. The storm surge is flowing from the gulf, up the bay, up the ship channel and into the bayous.

We've just had our fifth and sixth power blips. I'm not sure if the next one will be the last one. It isn't enough to kill my clock, but the lights go out, the AC trips and the tv cuts out. I've heard parts of town have reported power outages, so maybe the blips are coming from load dropping off the grid.

I'll write shorter posts more frequently so I don't get cut off. The power blips probably aren't good for my TV, so I think I'll be moving it into the closet here shortly. I'm hoping to keep power for a while, because I don't think I have a battery powered radio. Oops.

Satellite Image of Ike

Hurricane Ike Update #3

This is getting serious ... Anderson Cooper is here! Ahhhh!!! And I thought it was bad when Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel was in Galveston! Cooper keeps asking everyone where he should broadcast from tomorrow night. No one wants to tell him he should be right in the middle of it, but he's looking for the good stuff. Some tie-him-to-a-pole-type stuff. He's getting cavalier, he didn't get to New Orleans until after the actual storm. Having somebody out there in the middle of it gives some perspective, but I don't need every major news anchor out there in a slicker in the middle of the hurricane.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Back to the hurricane at hand. The "new" news: apparently, one of the weather services is telling people that if they stay on Galveston Island, it means "certain death." Hardcore! That sounds a little far-fetched for me. The storm of 1900 killed 8000 of roughly 100,000 people living on the island and that was in
View Larger Map'>wooden structures. I haven't taken the time to get any numbers on the 1900 storm, but I'd think that the storm surge in 1900 would have been worse then than after construction of the 16 foot storm wall. In any case, it appears that this hurricane will come "straight up the gut" as we have been saying.



I guess what this means, the winds and the storm surge could be worse. The storm surge isn't nearly as bad on the "left" side of the storm, so if it moved just east of Galveston Bay, Houston would get the wind, but not the surge. It sure looks like downtown Houston, of which I'll call myself a part, will be getting some serious winds. 80+ for sure. Sustained for hours. Should be intense.

Earlier in the day, I missed a couple things. There is a small community called Bayou Vista, TX that started taking on water as early as 4PM this afternoon. The local news showed video of cars driving through a foot or more of water. I didn't find a pictures of this on the internet, so I've included a map. As you can see, it's on the mainland side of the bay, right before the bridge to Galveston Island. Oh, this flooding occurred 36 hours before the eye of the storm was to hit landfall.



Another unsettling thing I saw while driving about, was the boarding up of houses and businesses. A couple homes were boarded up and the funeral home (I'll have to post a picture!) was boarded up all the way around. Hopefully they don't know something I don't. Like I said earlier, the worst we have is eastern exposure on the windows, which is probably bad news if the hurricane comes in directly south of us.

If anyone is wondering, our 2nd (what's it called if it's twice in one year?) official CPC Hurricane Party occurred at Onion Creek in the Heights neighborhood and was delightful and breezy. I had Red Stripes because they were an affordable $2 each! We didn't have any hurricane parties for two summers and now have had two in one summer, wonder when the next one will be?

I'm off to find Anderson Cooper!

Hurricane Ike Update #2

I've seen some places near me that have boarded up. That makes me a little worried. The forcasts are for possibly 96mph wind where we are at. Our place doesn't have any southern exposed windows, but the windows to my bedroom and the doors to the other room face the east, which is probably the second most vulnerable. At this point, its probably too late to think about boarding up. I've got a closet that I might put my TV in to keep it safer.

It seems people are taking this seriously. The grocery store parking lot was completely full and there were quite a few people out driving around. Most people must be off work, and a lot are buying supplies.

The evacuation is going well, but the roads are starting to back up. I get why they want to stagger the evacuations, but it doesn't seem like they did a very good job. The toll roads are free, and too many people are excited to use them. The south beltway is getting backed up even though 610 looks good. The picture below must be old because I-45 over the bridge from Galveston is stop and go, and they said it would take better than 2 hours to get from Galveston to downtown (usually an hour or better drive).

Ike Traffic 2PM Thur

Preparations:

Doing laundry - hey got to have clean undies

Cleaned bathroom - something that had to be done

Clean dishes

Grocery Store - (water, beer, canned goods)

Start filling cooler with ice

Vacuum room

Clean out pantry - (smells like something died)

Lift weights

Find somewhere with drink specials for tonight

The "preparations" I've listed look a little goofy, but if I were to watch the hurricane coverage for another 48 hours until the storm passed, I'd go crazy. The weathermen would fly away if they flapped their arms any harder. And there's only so many times you can hear that mobile homes will be destroyed.

Hurricanes Ike! Update #1

Neither of the previous two summers have been like this one. Before July, I was largely ignorant of our work's hurricane policy. Hurricane supplies, evacutations, missed work hadn't really entered my mind. We've been kept home from work once and now we've been sent home for two days for Ike. This seems like it will be the real deal. Here's a few highlights from the hurricane preparedness so far.


The hurricane track






This is the second time this summer that we've been within the 3-day track. To me, that means you need to be getting ready. Hurricane warnings are new to me. What's different about this storm is that it's very large. I would think it would be unusual for hurricane warnings to be in effect outside the projected landfall area. The storm is about 500 miles across.

We were told to go home from work this morning at 8:30 after Harris County called for a mandatory evacuation of some areas. Many people who work at the plant live in Clear Lake, La Porte, Baytown, and other areas along the bay.

Zones 1 and 2 are under mandatory evacuation

The reason for the evacuation of these areas is the storm surge. If Ike hits southwest of Houston, as is planned, Galveston Bay will be on the "dirty" side of the hurricane. The winds might not be as high as near the eye, but the storm surge is worse.

The mandatory evacuation was called for Zones A and B for 12PM, but it looks like people have already started leaving. Unfortunately, they waited to call for the evacuation of Galveston Island until later this morning, so I-45 northbound between Galveston and Beltway 8 is getting very bad, but still moving. I-45 through downtown is bad but still moving. I-10 west by the beltway is also bad in a small stretch.

I'll give more updates as I see fit.

Democratic National Convention - the speeches

The four days of the DNC will bring many speeches. I listened to a couple last night and read another just now. The response is overwhelmingly positive at the convention, as can be expected. The Republicans are trying to jump on anything they can, which is expected. Generally, I lean left, but there are some items which I've got problems with.


Bill Clinton's speech was good. Really, really good. Clinton is probably the best orator of our time. Instead of delivering the speech to the camera, which I find odd and annoying, he spoke to the crowd assembled. It's a lot like American Idol, most people who perform or speak before a live crowd and television would benefit by forgetting about the camera. A transfixed stare into the camera is disconcerting. Take care of the people who are actually standing in front of you, and it will translate just fine to television.


The content of Clinton's speech was good, as well. He drove home that he and Hillary are fully behind Barack Obama while seeming sincere. McCain and the Republicans were a target, but he wasn't chippy. Paralleling Clinton's quick rise to the presidency with Obama might win over some Democrats with questions about Obama's (lack of) experience.



While Obama will surely benefit from the whole-hearted endorsement by Clinton, the biggest result of the night might have been Bill Clinton's ascension to the Democratic Party patriarch. The ovation he received was surprising, especially since he had been campaigning for Hillary. Also, his events had begun to draw smaller crowds toward the end of the primary campaign. Just when it seemed as though interest in Bill Clinton had waned, he came roaring back.


Joe Biden is feisty. He showed some fire in his speech, unfortunately, he had to follow Clinton. It will be nice to have someone in the campaign who isn't quite so scripted. Ultimately, I can't remember him saying anything that I thought was too disagreeable.


Some are making a big deal about the stage set up for Obama's speech. Seeing the columns, I didn't immediately think of Romans and Greece or any of that, but apparently pundits did. Seeing it everyday, they must forget that Washington, D.C. is full of columns. Much more pretentious was Obama introducing Biden (after kicking off his campaign) in front of the old Illinois state capitol, the same place where Lincoln cut his political teeth. It is my assumption that Obama was trying to parallel his run with the significance of Lincoln's presidency. Indeed, Lincoln was rather green, having only served at the state level briefly and then nationally only briefly before becoming the president. Obama's analogy is a little much. While Obama's nomination has already been historic, it was what Lincoln did in office that was special, not how he got there.

Obama's speech was pretty decent. He offered some more details than I'd seen before in his speeches. I think he could have spoke more about expecting more out of Americans, but it was good he mentioned it. Republicans see Democrats as advocates of handouts and that's what sours a lot of people to the Democratic party. He reminds listeners that they are the party of Roosevelt, they are the party of Kennedy. Roosevelt helped thousands through the Depression with his alphebet soup, but he made them work for it. The WPA, CCC, TVA and others put Americans in direct employment by the government. Money wasn't handed out, it was earned and the government wasn't a charity. These projects (Hoover Dam, hydro electricity in Tennessee) benefited the nation. Kennedy told citizens to ask what they could do for the country. The space race leaned heavily on hard-working, intelligent Americans in pursuit of something worthwhile. Obama should suggest that America demand more of its citizens.

Overall, Obama's speech was good. All of the speeches at the convention were good, with Bill Clinton's being the only one I'd consider great. It would have been nice if everyone who spoke elevated beyond the politics of criticizing John McCain, but that's probably a naive thought. The convention was a good show, and one that apparently appealed to many Americans.

Houston Texans 2007 Season Wrap-Up

By almost any account, last year was the best season ever for the Texans. They finished with their best record ever, 8-8. After fourteen different weeks last year, they had their best ever record at that point in the season. (That might not make sense, take a look at the records spreadsheet.) Four weeks were spent over .500 in 2007, after only three weeks over .500 in the previous five years of Texans football. They spent 11 weeks at or above .500, after only 9 weeks at or above .500 in 2002-2006.

It was a banner year for the QBs as well. They set records in yardage, touchdowns, and rating. Individually, both QBs were at the top of Texans' records. Rosenfels threw the second most touchdowns in a season, despite only playing in nine games and throwing 240 attempts. He managed this by throwing at least one touchdown in every game in which he appeared. Schaub, was consistent, if not spectacular. His 87.2 passer rating set a record for Texans QBs, however, he only threw nine touchdowns in 289 attempts, a TD% of less than half of Rosenfels' record 6.3%. Schaub's Texans record 7.75 yards/attempt proved he was trying to move the ball vertically, which is a good sign.

The rushing "attack" was feeble last year, even by Texans standards. They managed only 12 touchdowns and 1586 yards on 3.8 yards/carry. Not very good at all.

The record last year was something to be proud of, especially since they played playoff teams nine times. I don't see Schaub's TD% exploding this year, but if he stays healthy, he should get more attempts. 500 attempts at 3.2% would be 16 TD passes. That's ok, but not spectacular. 7.75 yards per attempt times 500 attempts would equal an impressive 3875 yards.

The Texans look like they will try running the ball more this year. More attempts, but I'm not sure where the yds/carry will end up. They should be on track for at least 1700 yards rushing. Rushing TDs are tougher to predict, but anything less than 13 would be an absolute dissapointment.

NL Central

So much is made of how crappy the NL Central is year in adn year out. I am here to set the record straight this year. Currently the Central has four out of six teams with winning records. The fourth place team, the Houston Astros, would be winning the West and woudl only be three games out of first in the East. In the Central? They are 12 games out. For anyone that is going to give the Cubs crap for playign in a bad division can you know what. Keep in mind that if the playoffs were based on record not division, the Central would have three teams out of four. This is even with them all beating each other up. All that I am saying is the Cubs schedule hasn't been as cake as thoguht. Their September schedule is brutal with only 9 home games and endign with four in NY and three in MIL.

Houston Landmark - The End of the Universe

Another Houston landmark to visit for your next trip to the Bayou City. The End of the Universe, identified by Lewis Black. Here's his comedy bit about it, for a refresher.




Lewis Black was so struck by this Houston landmark he chose to name his cd after it, and included a picture of it as his front cover.




This landmark is located at the corner of S. Shepherd and W. Gray. I've had the good fortune of travelling between the two on numerous occasions, having lived a mere two miles away. Traffic in the area has prevented me from stopping between the two Starbucks' and verifying that time does indeed stand still. I'll have to take Mr. Black's word for it.

I'm full of myself - more from Bleacher Report

Turns out I've already made the front page if you wait long enough.

On the NBA tab on the front page

And on the College Basketball tab.

NBA front page on Bleacher Report!

It didn't take long. I'm on the NBA front page for Bleacher Report. We'll really see how people receive my article. Next step will be the overall front page!

Athletes Don't Need to be Paid

Note: I've started posting on bleacherreport.com. Any sports stuff I write will appear on houstonramblins and bleacher report. The following article can also be found here.

Playing collegiate sports is mutually beneficial for both the players and the NCAA. The NCAA gets the better end of it, but its still a good deal for players of all skill levels.

OJ Mayo was the example used in Mr. Watkins' article. OJ Mayo went to one year of school at USC. He was not able to go directly to the NBA. That wasn't the NCAA or USC's fault, that is a NBA law. Formerly, kids with top-level talent would go directly to the NBA, but that's no longer an option. However, no one forced OJ Mayo to attend a university. If he didn't feel right about USC and Tim Floyd banking off his star talent, he could have chosen to wait out the required year by practicing his crossover and jump shot in a gym. But why would he want to do that? There are more than 3 dozen professional basketball leagues worldwide. He could get paid to play! Right out of high school! Sounds like we've got a solution.

That sucks, though, that he might have to go overseas to get his "fair market value." Nobody would be able to see him play. Nike wouldn't know whether to give him a contract. He wouldn't be playing against the best that he could be. Maybe he looks great, maybe he stinks it up. How would the NBA have graded him? Would he still go #5 in the draft after playing overseas for a year? Would anyone even know who OJ Mayo was? Therein lies the rub - OJ Mayo's payment at USC was the exposure afforded by major college basketball, ESPN, Los Angelos, the NCAA tournament, etc. OJ Mayo's future earnings will likely be higher because he attended college. Isn't that why most people go to school?

OJ Mayo and other lottery-type talent are one case. The "guys who are superstars in college but don't have the body type or athleticism to compete in the NBA" could play overseas after college. Paul Shirley carved out a decent career playing basketball professionally and no one would confuse him with a superstar.

The other 95% of college basketball players? Make sure to get your free diploma!

With all due respect to Mr. Watkins, there is a difference between playing collegiate basketball and working in a sweatshop. These kids aren't forced labor. If they need to help support their family, they can take a day job at McDonald's and work the night shift at Burger King. Nowhere is it written that one who has sports talent must be compensated for it.

Garnett post - response from blogger

I got this response from my email to the guy who wrote the Garnett post. He was appreciative of my support.

Hey Jeremy, thanks for the kind words, I appreciate the positivity after all of boston came raining down, but after truehoop linked i expected it, i realize i represent the minority voice by not supporting kg in this instance - which is why i feel it needed to be said, anyway, thanks again

*i'm a big supporter of the rockets as well, love yao and hated seeing him go down after the run ya'll made, hopefully this year everyone stays healthy

NBA 2008 Draft - Aftermath

With all the talk about Dorsey, everyone is missing the fact that the Rockets turned one draft pick into two players. This work assesses the relative value of the first 30 picks of the draft. Through a couple trades, the Rockets turned the 25th pick into the 28th and 33rd. They added roughly 50% more value to their draft for free. I'm liking the Daryl Morey era already.

The Rockets are really high on Joey Dorsey. Like really high. I have no idea why. But here's what they say.

Joey Dorsey
This guy likes Joey Dorsey. As you can see from my comment, I'm not so hot on him.

Shane Battier
Don't know whether the USA team would have picked him or not, but he won't be playing for the red, white and blue. This story points out that he was on the 2nd All-NBA defensive team, but was 3rd in the Defensive POY voting. The math doesn't work out on that, but it shows he's one of the best on the defensive end.

Carl Landry
The Rockets want to sign Landry. Last year was his rookie season, but he was a second round pick so there was no future years to the contract. This is another position I thought they were in good shape. The Rockets would like to see what's up with Landry's knee. Landry's agent doesn't seem like he wants to play along. Something is amiss.

Steve Novak
Novak has been resigned. Cheap, but this doesn't really help the Rockets. They like something about him, but if they don't play him ...

Brent Barry
The Rockets want to sign him. Don't know if this is just the family name that attracts them or what. He's a good player that can help a veteran team off the bench. He'd help during a postseason run. The Rockets need help elsewhere, and don't seem poised for such a postseason run. I have a hard time arguing this though. I Like a shooter who doesn't complain about playing. (Tough to complain about playing time when you're 30-something making 2 mil off the bench.) Seems though, that the Novak signing and Barry courting are redundant.


Russell Robinson
He's on the summer squad for the Rockets. It seems like this guy was at Kansas forever. He's got decent size for a point guard, is a good defender and takes care of the ball (4 assists/game, 2.1 A/T ratio). Robinson was overshadowed at KU by the 4 other Jayhawks that got drafted.

Seven Cubs in the All-Star game and more baseball..

Thrilled to see the red, white and blue well represented in the All-Star game for the first time in awhile gets me excited about what might become of the season. The Cubs players chosen for the most part were well deserving of their bid. Soriano has been hurt, but is one of the top three NL outfielders and Fukudome, struggling of late, has still had a decent season. I am happy for Geovany Soto, who is the hands down favorite to win the ROY, and glad to see that a player from the Cubs' farm system has panned out. Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood were well deserving of their All-Star bids and have really been the anchor to the team. What makes more sense to me though is that the team with the best record in the National League throughout the first half of the season is well represented. If the game truly means something and determines home-field advantage then the teams fighting toward winning the World Series should be well represented. The Tampa Rays are not well represented and should be. They are the story of the season and are just flat out good. There is talks they could get Matt Holliday....scary. Speaking of scary, Sabathia to the Brewers scares me. Milwaukee was on top of their game by getting him this early. He will make two starts before the All-Star break and then another two before the trading deadline. Having four more starts than other deadline pitchers means this trade will have more impact than any other. The Cubs are talking about dealing with the A's for Rich Harden. I have always been a fan of Rich Harden, but two things scare me;Hardens arm and Billy Beane's brain. There is no doubt the Cubs will have to pay the price for Harden. If he stays healthy it could be worth it, but Beane will take a good portion of the Cubs' future for an often injured arm. My prediction: I still believe the Cubs are deep enough to win the NL Central but I believe this move puts the Brewers as the favorites for the NL Wild Card with Sheets and Sabathia being the two best pitchers in the National League.

More about Kevin Garnett -- make me gag

I left this comment on someone's blog a couple weeks ago. He'd written a pretty good little note saying 'no thanks' to Garnett's offer that "This is for everybody in 'Sota!" The comment section was FILLED with people, presumably all from Boston, calling the blogger dumb or worse.

Mike, I don't know how you'll find this amongst all the worked up Boston fans (I thought this was a Garnett dis piece?) but I feel you. Some athletes (of which Garnett is the most notable) somehow get a free pass. Where does heart show up on the box score? Or "backbone" or "motivation" or whatever else you want to call it. Duncan can unload for 40 points on a given night, Karl Malone was a big guy and a prolific scorer. LeBron made it to the NBA finals (and out of the first round each of the last three years) playing alongside Carrot Top and a guy named Boobie. Why couldn't Garnett do it? The NBA is a team sport but the only constant on that team for a decade was Garnett. Just like the only constant on the Celtics had been Pierce, and the Celtics stunk for most of the last decade!

As a Rockets fan, I understand that it isn't necessarily about the championships that Garnett didn't bring to Minn, its about getting out of the first round of the playoffs! If TMac ran off to join the Clippers or somebody and won a championship, the last thing I'd want to hear is "This is for you H-town (and Orlando, and Vancouver)." Allegiances are for a team, not a player.

I thought I was over hating on Garnett for a while until I came across this. Another gratuitous puff piece about how Garnett wanted a championship worse than any other athlete of all time ever. Seriously, what's the point of sticking with a team for a decade to leave and get a ring somewhere else? Shouldn't he have left in 2005 when he was tired of losing? Maybe the Wolves would have been competetive by now. Notice how the good people at Slate don't mention the profanity-laced rant Garnett went on during the press conference. That's a little tougher to love.

My Golfing Adventure

Having just started golfing last summer, I am already addicted. I think it is because of how competitive I am. I really wanted to get decent at golf to the point where I can play respectable with anyone. Not necessarily beat them, but not make a fool of myself. Just when I think I have it figured out, I shank one and just when I am ready to give up, I hit a beautiful shot. What I decided to do to keep track of my progress, is to try to start keeping my golf handicap. Although officially you must record 12 rounds I am going to do it longhand until then. The course I typically play is Airport National because of the cheap rates and relative ease in play. I have golfed at least 6 or 7 times this year for a total of at least 10 eighteen hole rounds. For 21 dollars I can golf unlimited holes at Airport, including a cart. I typically take advantage of it golfing at least 27 and occasionally 36 in a day. The course rating is pretty low, as is the slope rating. This makes it more important for a good score for my handicap. I am keeping track of my scores online at keepmygolfscore.com. I will start with the first 18 holes of my round today to start my golf handicap. The handicap is found by finding "adjusted differentials" for each round. The adjusted differential is found by (total score-course rating)/(slope rating)*113. The 10 lowest differentials are then added together, multiplied by .96 and divided by ten to find your handicap. The ten lowest differentials doesn't quite make sense to me for the fact that a bad round doesn't seem to hurt your handicap. Well, today I shot a 94 at Airport National, 48 on the front nine and 46 on the back nine. Par for the course is 63. This is my best 18 ever, even with a quintuple bogey 9 on the first hole. What I was pleased about was that I was very consistent the rest of the round, I socred all 4's-6's the rest of the round. I can't hit my driver so I was using a 6-iron to tee off the rest of the round. It makes for tough saves when you can't get that much distance on your tee shot, but I found that my irons are more consistent and so thats what I went with. So, for the moment you have all been waiting for.... My score (94)-course rating(58.5)/slope rating(80)*113=an adjusted differential of 50.14375. I will just multiply this by .96 to get my handicap of 48. That is incredibly high but, for an easy course you really have to score well. I will approach lowering my handicap 10 at a time. First, the goal is to get below 40. This is not terribly accurate right nwo because it is just one round, but as I log more rounds I should have a better idea of how I am doing.