Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Go Home Already: Make Room
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
So much for the "action" part of this post. The only professional sporting involving a team from the area last night was an exhibition basketball game; the Wizards won -- Gilbert Arenas had 24 and Antawn Jamison had 15 and 11 -- but c'mon, who really cares about an exhibition NBA game? Yes, although October may be one of the best months on the national sporting calendar, we in Washington are in a bit of a lull. The Redskins are pathetically struggling to make it through the easiest schedule stretch in NFL history at .500. The Capitals are on their first slump of the year, though it's still early. Our local college football teams, for the most part, are nothing to call home about, and hoops doesn't really kick in for another month or so. D.C. United is winding down a disappointing campaign, the Wizards are still in first gear, and the Nationals are stuck wondering how they can get their city to watch them on TV.
It leaves one feeling like the cabinet's bare. Not so, my friends! Just because there aren't any games of interest doesn't mean that there isn't anything worthy to absorb from the world of sports. Observe:
- Something to think about while you're watching the Redskins next weekend: Malcolm Gladwell gets a lot of grief for his tendency to stretch analogies a bit too far in his sports writing for the New Yorker, but this piece on football, dogfighting, and the willful destruction involved in both is an absolute must-read.
- More and more, Jim Zorn sounds like the kid who gets put in right field and prays to not have the ball hit to him: Zorn said he knew "most" of the fair catch rule, just not the part that mattered on Sunday.
- Federal Baseball notes the finalists for the semi-open Nationals managerial job: Current interim manager Jim Riggleman, Don Mattingly, Dave Duncan, Ned Yost, and Bobby Valentine. Mediocre candidates for a team striving for mediocrity, I suppose.
- You know, it's funny, "think nasty" are exactly the words I think about when asked to evaluate Rob Dibble's announcing prowess.
- To be fair, if it takes D.C. United as long to secure a new place to play around town as I imagine it will take a cash-strapped Baltimore to study, place, fund, build, and convince MLS to move the team, then this city probably don't deserve a professional soccer team.
- Oh, right, and Agent Zero was in a commercial with Rainn Wilson. Yeah, I'm still waiting for the punchline too.
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I'm no fan of diacritics, but Smörgåsbord really should be spelled with an o-diaresis and a-circle. It's particularly apropos because every time I went to Horn & Horn Smörgåsbord, I got o-diarrhea and my a-circle got sore from excessive wiping.
umlaut! it's an umlaut!
Gesundheit.
MTV already did this schtick in the 90's sans Arenas
"Mediocre candidates for a team striving for mediocrity, I suppose."
OK - a) that list is via Jim Bowden, so you can take that with a grain of salt. b) I would classify the intriguing Mattingly and Valentine (who had a lot of success with the Mets - and is considered their "reach" candidate) as above "mediocre". Bob Melvin is the apparent front runner for the Astros job, but his name could pop up in the Nats search as well.
i'd classify yost as above mediocre as well. he did a bang up job getting the brewers from a terrible team to the regular competitors they've been the last 3-4 years.
C'mon guys, really? Valentine is obviously the best manager of the bunch, but still, he hasn't had a major league job (at least, not in America) since 2002, and those Mets teams with which he won his one pennant had a lot of guys in their prime. Also, it's not like the Mets front office (unlike the Nats) wasn't splashing around a lot of cash at that time when he was in charge.
Ned Yost has a career managerial record of 457-502, which is about as middle of the road as you can get.
Mattingly, who would probably be the most "interesting" hire, is a Torre disciple and I would be shocked if he could be pulled away from L.A., where he's got a pretty sweet gig right now (and looks to be being groomed as Torre's potential successor). Duncan would help the pitching staff, but he has no managerial experience and is similarly tied to La Russa.
So our list consists of a guy who hasn't had a big league job in 7 years, another who has a .477 career record, two dudes with zero experience who are inherently tied up in the future decisions of their current bosses, and Riggleman.
Seems pretty mediocre to me.
Who, exactly, do you think they can get, Aaron? Remember - Acta was an intriguing hire. How did that work out? I don't mind grinders with .500 records, if they are going to be tough and help with the progress of a snakebitten team. Bob Melvin is in demand by clubs deemed in greater health than the Nats - his career record is 493-508, and he was fired in May!
.500 would not be (subjectively) mediocre in the next couple seasons, if they are developing a young and promising pitching staff. You have to learn to walk before you can run.
I'm not saying that they can get anyone else -- Melvin looks like the best realistic candidate -- but all I'm saying is that you're going to have a hard time convincing me that any of those guys I mentioned isn't a "mediocre" manager, regardless of what the situation is.
Also, I really don't think that using other team's interest in managers is a legit model for assessing their true attributes. In every major sport, coaching is an old boy's club, where even the worst coaches get third, fourth, and fifth chances; so saying that Bob Melvin might be a fantastic manager just because the Astros and others are willing to roll the dice with him again is misleading.
That said, I think you and I mostly agree in spirit. As long as they hire someone who can properly develop the young arms, fix the defensive fundamentals, keep the clubhouse together, and try to win 70-75 games -- then I'll be pleased.