It's the first day of classes, and I always start off telling my students that they can A out of the class (leave when they have an A for the class - even if it's a couple of days early), but no student who has ever tried to "A out" has actually achieved it - at least of thoese students telling me that they're going to do it. Usually, I tell them that they're eligible to make it happen, and then, it happens, but alas...
In real life, Lebron James predicted that they Heat would win 8 championships, but unfortunately, they lost the first one last night to the Mavericks: 105-95. Thus, just like a guy who once missed 9 of the first 11 classes, neither one did what was predicted.
Nobody predicted that the Indians would be in first place as they've been for the early part of this season. It just happened. While they phoned in the past few weeks, a period that ended with a Yankee sweep (after the Yankees had their hats handed to them by the Red Sox the previous 3 games), they have been largely overachieving, and for that, Cleveland shouldn't be throwing themselves into Lake Erie just yet.
My yearly preview of choice (Athalon) expressed their season in terms of good news and bad news. The good was that they "aren't likely to finish in 4th place once again." However, the bad news was that they "appear headed for last place in the American League Central - one spot below the seemingly always rebuilding Royals. The Indians are too young and have too many questions to be considered anything but a doormat."
Despite being 1-9 in their last 10, they are still 34-29 (33-20 was just a crazy start). They're still in first as the Tigers lost yesterday, too. And while they have one more game against the Yankees, this one is against AJ Burnett, who quite frankly has been lousy as of late, so if the Tribe can just jump all over him quickly with an Asdrubal Cabrerra punch, we can see good things.
But that said, doing something like Fausto Carmona plunking Mark Teixera after all of the Red Sox pitchers used the Yankees for target practice (and the Big Papi plunk back) isn't going to reverse the course of this sinking ship. What is going to help is having Shin Soo Choo hit something other than the bottle. The Indians also need Carlos Santana making hits again.
Justin Masterson had aspirations and hopes, and he can still restore them as can Josh Tomlin and Mitch Talbot. And while we believe in Fausto Carmona less than Zach Greinke (the name says it all - who did he sell his soul to in order to move out from under the weight of that Big Papi home run on July 31, 2006?), we have to believe that there is potential for him to be better than the worst of the regular Indians pitchers at this point.
So for Manny Acta to do nothing right now when it comes to defending his team against the Yankees is just wrong. Bill Veeck put it best: "Hating the Yankees isn't part of my act. It is one of those exquisite times when life and art are in perfect conjunction." We agree, and for the fact that they're a halfass mirage of what they used to be (something the Red Sox have been making quite clear in all of their games together this year except one), it's time to stop pretending that this longball and Jeter's quest for 3,000 is making them contenders. The gig is over, and it was nice while it lasted, but now that a way over-performing Bartolo Colon is out, how long can Granderson and Teixera achieve all for the nothing on that roster?
But in the end, it's about wanting to be winners if the option is there. If you're going to contend in September instead of pretend in May, then rise up and want it.
If not, go home. Besides, the Cuyahoga Valley is pretty this time of year.
Showing posts with label Manny Acta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manny Acta. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Shin Soo Choo
So OK, you're Manny Acta and your Indians are literally kicking everyone's butt in the American League (the League of Champions). You're gunning for the former manager of your team's new team in the World Series because you've literally pulled a red hot start of the season out of nowhere and surprised the entire baseball world (if you don't know, you're obviously not following the standings). You're off to the best start in baseball (20-8), and you have to deal with one of your stars / idiots getting a DUI (over 2x the legal limit) in the midst of your best season since Ricky Vaughn, Jake Taylor, Willie Mays Hayes, Roger Dorn, and Pedro Cerrano.
This isn't some schlub that decided to put the key in the ignition after having a few too many - this was a star on the South Korean team when they won the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games, which got the whole team dismissed from having to serve in compulsory military service (taking up a gun for the country in Korea is pretty much a necessity with Kim Jong-Il being their neighbor to the north). This is a guy that the team counts on for offensive production while ensuring that their fans (the few who show up for games) can have his likeness on a bobblehead.
So what do they do to make ammends? First, there is the "heartfelt" apology to all of his team:
"I am hopeful that this incident will not be a distraction to the Indians organization while we remain focused on continuing to play winning baseball."
But is this enough? We have to face the fact that he's the 6th Major Leaguer since January 1st to have a DUI (the Braves already have one of those to deal with from Derek Lowe, who just compounds that team's off the field problems), and that's saying something.
We have to wonder what it takes for athletes to realize that they're our idols, sure, but we're not bending over backwards to please them.
But alas, the world just isn't that smart right now. Take the case of the Texas cheerleader that the Supreme Court wouldn't hear (how it got past the school's problem solving capabilities is beyond me, but alas...). The cheerleader in question was 16 years old and had been assaulted by Rakheem Bolton, a basketball player who took a misdemeanor for his rape of her (I'm sure the anger management classes helped), and she was now being asked to cheer him by name as he stood on the foul line. She made a moral case of not cheering him because of the things that he had done to her, and the school told her to cheer or that she was finished with participating on the squad. In the end, she was kicked off the team and filed a lawsuit against the school, which she lost in federal court on the grounds that she was a mouthpiece for the school as a cheerleader and was cheering him for the school - not herself.
Were there ways to deal with this? Yes. Tell her to go to the bathroom if she wants to "sit the play out." Create a level of solidarity with the gals on the team. After all, this should be women defending women's sexual dignity (even as a man, I know what this dignity SHOULD mean). But no... everything's dumber in Texas (and Colorado - gotta love what passes for terms of endearment from former CU President Elizabeth Hoffman).
And was there ways to make Shin act like a responsible adult? This would have meant that Bud Selig took action on Miguel Cabrera, Adam Kennedy, Derek Lowe, Austin Kearns, or Coco Crisp. If there's no precedent, there can't be future punishment.
With management like Bud, do you ever wonder how there was a steroids era in baseball?
This isn't some schlub that decided to put the key in the ignition after having a few too many - this was a star on the South Korean team when they won the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games, which got the whole team dismissed from having to serve in compulsory military service (taking up a gun for the country in Korea is pretty much a necessity with Kim Jong-Il being their neighbor to the north). This is a guy that the team counts on for offensive production while ensuring that their fans (the few who show up for games) can have his likeness on a bobblehead.
So what do they do to make ammends? First, there is the "heartfelt" apology to all of his team:
"I am hopeful that this incident will not be a distraction to the Indians organization while we remain focused on continuing to play winning baseball."
But is this enough? We have to face the fact that he's the 6th Major Leaguer since January 1st to have a DUI (the Braves already have one of those to deal with from Derek Lowe, who just compounds that team's off the field problems), and that's saying something.
We have to wonder what it takes for athletes to realize that they're our idols, sure, but we're not bending over backwards to please them.
But alas, the world just isn't that smart right now. Take the case of the Texas cheerleader that the Supreme Court wouldn't hear (how it got past the school's problem solving capabilities is beyond me, but alas...). The cheerleader in question was 16 years old and had been assaulted by Rakheem Bolton, a basketball player who took a misdemeanor for his rape of her (I'm sure the anger management classes helped), and she was now being asked to cheer him by name as he stood on the foul line. She made a moral case of not cheering him because of the things that he had done to her, and the school told her to cheer or that she was finished with participating on the squad. In the end, she was kicked off the team and filed a lawsuit against the school, which she lost in federal court on the grounds that she was a mouthpiece for the school as a cheerleader and was cheering him for the school - not herself.
Were there ways to deal with this? Yes. Tell her to go to the bathroom if she wants to "sit the play out." Create a level of solidarity with the gals on the team. After all, this should be women defending women's sexual dignity (even as a man, I know what this dignity SHOULD mean). But no... everything's dumber in Texas (and Colorado - gotta love what passes for terms of endearment from former CU President Elizabeth Hoffman).
And was there ways to make Shin act like a responsible adult? This would have meant that Bud Selig took action on Miguel Cabrera, Adam Kennedy, Derek Lowe, Austin Kearns, or Coco Crisp. If there's no precedent, there can't be future punishment.
With management like Bud, do you ever wonder how there was a steroids era in baseball?
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