COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY - MIKE IN DA

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COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY

Written by: Mike in DA
Date posted: 4/4/2011

ADOLF HITLER REACTS TO 2009 BYU HOME LOSS TO TCU!






BEAUCOUP EMPTY SEATS FOR MLB!

 Watching several baseball games plus ESPN highlights from a bunch of others during the weekend, I noticed a lot of empty seats behind home plate whenever there was a camera shot from centerfield showing pitches being thrown toward home plate.

Usually when you watch an MLB game on TV, the expensive seats behind home plate are usually full and the crowd thins out as you look upward toward the cheaper and less-appealing seats in the ballpark.


But during the opening weekend of the season, the reverse was seen. Where the crowd once thinned out as you looked upward toward the cheaper seats, the opposite seemed to occurr. The crowds sit higher and farther, and then thin out as you move closer to the backstop.

On Thursday, ESPN televised three MLB openers from three of the top MLB cities: New York, St. Louis, and Los Angeles. All three broadcasts were unable to hide the obvious.

The first game was the Tigers at Yankees and it appeared to have more empty good/high-priced seats, including the second deck than occupied seats.


Next was the Padres-Cardinals game with many empty good seats behind the plate and along the foul lines toward first and third.


Lastly, there was the Giants-Dodgers rivalry opener with the World Champion G-men in town. I thought the empty seats in the first inning or two were due to the usual late-arriving L.A. crowd, but the late arrivers never arrived to fill the seats behind the backstop.


Believe what you see, not what you’re told. The total announced attendance at these games was 46, 48, and 56 thousand, respectively, but they didn’t come close to matching the picture. That is what I call “fantasy” baseball.

CALIPARI STILL HASN'T LEARNED!

It has become fashionable recently to say that John Calipari is a great coach who has had a checkered past even though he has never been associated directly with the actions that forced his previous teams to vacate their Final Four appearances. Really?

If that is the case, explain how come he has only six players on the team that he thinks are capable of playing more than a couple of minutes? Over the course of a season, a great coach would have found a way to work in some other players to keep his best players fresh.


How come he has not learned from experience? Three years ago, his Memphis team lost the championship game because they missed foul shots down the stretch. Calipari said that foul shooting ability was the last thing he cared about in terms of recruiting or coaching players. Well, on Saturday, Kentucky lost by one point and shot 4 for 12 from the foul line.

Case closed!

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CITY GAME?

Remember when college basketball used to be the “city game”. Teams from the big cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia) were always relevant to college basketball. That has not been the case recently.

Until St. John’s had a few nice wins in February, no team from NYC has mattered for a decade. UCLA has been the only team in LA of consequence recently and even UCLA has had some bad seasons. Villanova has had a couple of nice teams recently out of the Philly area, but the Big Five is hardly what it was. College basketball in Chicago is nothing to brag about.

Not only has there been a spreading of talent and a growing number of quality programs across the country, there has been a migration of college basketball from big city schools to “the hinterlands”.

Consider Purdue's predicament, which for years, under Gene Keady, fought and scrambled to catch up to Indiana in terms of recognition as the best college basketball program in the state. The  Indiana program has fallen on hard times in the last 6-8 years and Purdue overtook them. Now, the Boilermakers, led by Matt Painter, need to fight and scramble to catch up to Butler in terms of recognition as the best college basketball program in the state.


ODDS AND ENDS:

1. After John Mayberry Jr. hit a single in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Astros in the Phillies’ opening game, he received a shaving-cream pie to the face during the post-game interview. Hasn’t that been done to death yet? Let’s have a moratorium on that silliness?

2. The Cleveland Indians drew 41,721 to their opener vs. the White Sox despite cold weather and a team with little chance of making it to .500 for the year. The next day, the Indians drew 9,853 fans. That shows you the power of “Opening Day” in baseball and the genius of the Cleveland fans to recognize that the Indians are going to be as bad as the Astros this year.

3. Once again, why were there three people in the NCAA booth doing the game for CBS? Doing a college basketball game with two announcers is plenty with one exception: If CBS could bring Al McGuire back from the dead to do games as the second analyst. McGuire offered only a few comments during any game and they were always insightful and usually humorous. Until McGuire is available again, CBS should stick to two hoop talkers.

CRIER’S CORNER



BASKETBALL ACTION


Yesterday’s Record ATS: 1-3
L - UTAH (+6) over SACRAMENTO*
L - CLEVELAND at NEW YORK* (TOTAL UNDER 217)
L - CHARLOTTE* (-8) over WASHINGTON
W - PORTLAND* (-4.5) over DALLAS


Cumulative Season Record ATS (excludes “pushes”): 592-360


Today’s Action (for reading purposes only):


The NBA is dark today.


COLLEGE HOOPS

NCAA FINAL (at Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX)

CONNECTICUT (-3.5) over BUTLER

Butler’s chances will hinge on their ability to keep UConn’s scary transition game led by the remarkable Kemba Walker to a minimum. Even though Houston in no way resembles Indianapolis in terms of being a Bulldog comfort zone, we would normally lean to the vaudeville act of Howard and Mack, taking tangible points.


However, everyone loves Butler. And what’s not to love? Without a strong rooting interest, it would be a little weird if you weren’t pulling for the mid-major team looking to write one of the greatest chapters in college basketball history. You want to cheer for the team with the better story. It’s more fun. It’s more interesting. If you don’t want to root against Butler, I understand. Follow your heart. But if you want to win, follow the Crier.


After two years of Butler runs, it’s easy to fall into the trap. It’s easy to hear people throw around the phrase “team of destiny” enough that it resembles logic, but that is ridiculous. This is not written in the stars. These things do not just happen. Players and coaches make them happen. And if any player is going to make it happen in the biggest game of his life, it will be Kemba Walker.


In any other final, his name would dominate every discussion, ready to join the pantheon of Danny Manning, Pervis Ellison, and Carmelo Anthony, players who willed their teams to a title.


Connecticut wasn’t supposed to be here either, but it is the favorite, and thus, the villain. The Huskies play in the Big East. Their coach already has two titles. That story’s just not as good.


But for our purposes, who cares? Ride with Connecticut one more time, as we try to improve on our 30-12 ATS record during the tourney. CONNECTICUT, 67-64

BASEBALL


Yesterday’s Record ATS: 2-1 (+.9 units)
W - CINCINNATI REDS* (-130) over MILWAUKEE BREWERS
W - LA DODGERS* (-140) over SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
L - NEW YORK YANKEES* (-155) over DETROIT TIGERS


Cumulative Season Record ATS (excludes “pushes”): 7-4 (+4.4 units)


Today’s Action (for reading purposes only):

TEXAS RANGERS (Holland) -155 over SEATTLE MARINERS (Bedard)

The Mariners have gotten off to a better start than anyone could have predicted, as they took two out of three from the Athletics on the road. Unfortunately for Seattle, the good times will likely end today as they will run into the buzz saw that is the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are red hot to start the season, as they just swept the American League World Series favorite Red Sox in demonstrative fashion. Texas exploded for 11 home runs in the three-game game set vs. the Sox, only one less than the total number of runs the Mariners have scored in their first series. The Mariners send Erik Bedard to the mound, as they try again to get any sort of value out of him since acquiring him in the blockbuster trade with Baltimore a few years back. While Bedard looked solid in spring, this Rangers lineup has numerous weapons to combat him. Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, and Michael Young all excel vs. lefthanders. Even lefty Josh Hamilton can hold his own as he holds a .281 career batting average vs. southpaws. Derek Holland has had a few stints in the majors for the Rangers over the last few years, but they have seen enough improvement in him to give him a spot in the rotation following the departure of fellow lefty Cliff Lee. Holland is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in six career games vs. the Mariners. Luckily for Holland, with the Rangers offense and solid bullpen, he won’t have to pitch like Lee to get a win tonight.





MIKE IN DA

HMW