This should go well

February 18th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

As R is a White Sox fan, and I am a Cubs fan, we politely agree to disagree about Chicago baseball lore. To him, the White Sox are a first love passed down by family. To me, the Cubs are the purest expression of baseball we have left, a nostalgic treat for someone who usually eschews nostalgia and an unhealthy obsession passed down by WGN. In Iowa, no one can hear you cheer — but we love the Cubs all the same.

There is one thing we do agree on: Ozzie Guillen is out his damn mind. Thankfully, Ozzie has decided to be free to be Ozzie this year. This is going to be awesome:

In fact, he has put the stadium operations people on notice, saying they might want to rethink the plan that calls for his postgame news conferences to air on the U.S. Cellular Field video screen.

“I know there are kids there,” he said.

Guillen promises to be “back to [being] Ozzie.” That means his language won’t be fit for children and that his commentary about his players will be pointed.

“Last year I hated to walk back to the tunnel and see [reporters],” Guillen said. “I ran out of bullets because I was honest. Sometimes during games I was asking the coaches what to say. This year I’m going to know what I’m going to say because I’m back to being Ozzie.”

Having lost their two gritty, grindy top-of-the-lineup-but-why? white guys in the offseason, the White Sox will need Ozzie to make up the grit deficit. Everybody, get ready to bunt!

Case of the Mondays: I love interleague play

May 21st, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

(Before he begins, PostmanE would like to apologize for being so late to the punch today. He went for a brief swim in the backyard pool with a cinderblock tied to his ankle, and has since been dealing with his disappointed father. Back now, though.)

Ah, yes, Monday morning. The morning after a three-day stint of drinking and watching baseball and taunting friends. That is what interleague play is all about: Cubs and Sox fans packed into a Wrigleyville bar shoulder to shoulder, alternating chants, downing expensive Old Styles and stumbling home in the middle of the day. (And then napping and then getting back out there, of course.)

Sorry, but I can’t get with the purists who decry interleague play as a violation of tradition. It is, above all things, fun. I know it’s fun for the fans, I get the impression it is fun for the managers, and even the players, or most of them, seem to enjoy it. Without interleague play, who gets bragging rights? Who gets to call himself the best manager in the city? (This weekend in Chicago, with his sneaky little Derrek Lee pinch-hit, that was clearly Lou Piniella.) Without interleague play, how can you switch from radio station to radio station, just to see the different ways the team’s announcers are calling the game? It’s fun, damnit. Isn’t that baseball’s oldest, and finest, tradition?

NBA: Sorry, but with the travel and the weekend-long focus on baseball, the NBA went quietly by. That might have to do with the fact that the Spurs had such a quick turnaround from the series with the Suns, but all the same, they had no problem dispensing with the Jazz in typically efficient fashion. If Deron Williams is going to be the Jazz’ leading scorer all series, that will no go well for the Fightin’ Mormons. Also, the return of Big Shot Rob and his evil calm feels like some sort of Darth Vader re-entrance. (”They complained … like I can get in their heads and play Nintendo with their minds and bodies and get them to walk out onto the court,” Horry said [of Stoudamire and Diaw’s suspensions].) Poor Jazz.

Preakness: Some horse other than Street Sense won, which continues to prove just how hard it is to win a Triple Crown. It also proves how hard it is to win money at horse-racing. Stupid off-track betting; I could have had ten more Old Styles!

Um, the White Sox may in fact stoop to this level

October 11th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

Well, hopefully not. But here’s the latest out of the South Side. All home night games will start at 7:11 next season!!!!

Weekend Fun: Set head dials to “explode”

September 15th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

It’s enough to make taligating seem like an afterthought.

Seven games, 14 ranked teams, eight Heisman trophy candidates, a bajillion fans - that’s this weekend in college football, a slate of intensity that I don’t know I’ve ever experienced before. I’m sacrficing for this weekend. Not only might I not tailgate, but I decided not to travel to Notre Dame for the Michigan-Notre Dame game too. This might be the greatest college football weekend of my lifetime, and I plan not to waste it, sir.

Of course, you’re not properly prepared for the weekend unless you’ve read Pat Forde’s rundown of the games and, as I’m still getting my head around it all, I’ll just let him handle the introductions. But I will say this: Texas Tech, Oregon, Miami, Florida, USC, Michigan, LSU. Got that?

Even though I won’t be paying attention to it, you might: Starting tonight at 9, R’s White Sox look to get back their two game deficit from the Twins and make this a real, live baseball race. C’mon - you know it, I know it - the Tigers are collapsing like PostmanE at 7 p.m. on a tailgate day. Let’s end this cruel charade, eh?

Let’s be fair here, no one’s really paying attention to this: Ah, another PGA Tour event, another likely missed cut for Michelle Wie. Keeping the moralizing to a minimum…fighting off urges to make psuedo-sexist comments…must…be…strong…

Highlight of the Weekend: Excuse me, the Magnificent Seven? Don’t they mean eight? Clearly ESPN - and everyone outside of Bloomington’s 3-square mile radius - has forgotten about the major tilt going down in central Indiana tomorrow. Hoosiers, Salukis, 4 p.m. Two of the country’s most storied…most plucky…ok, most laughable programs square off in a battle to see who’s the tallest midget. We’ve got Indiana (our Indiana) taking this one, and winning one for the Hepper. Get well, Coach.

Oh, and yeah, we’ll probably be tailgating, but we’ll be watching the Magnificent Eight, too, hopefully in some sort of hyperbolic chamber that will prevent our brains from oozing out our ears. If we can hold off early-onset dementia, we’ll see you Monday. Peace.

Weekend Fun: Full Pigskin Jacket

September 1st, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

In case you were worried, let me assuage your ponderings: Indiana is not - repeat, is not - a football state.

Our squad, IU, is perenially terrible; the small schools - Indiana State, Ball State, etc. - give suck a new perspective. Hell, even the state’s best (Purdon’t) are terrifically average by anyone else’s standards.

Thus, with the exception of tailgating, we’re a bit more excited about non-Indiana area football this weekend. The first glorious college football Saturday is here, complete with College Gameday, hungover roommates, a late tailgate, and loads and loads of exciting games.

Ranking-wise, the most exciting should be Cal vs. Tennessee, on ESPN at 5:30, but the Notre Dame-Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt-Michigan, and USC-Arkansas things should be relatively interesting, if not disasterously entertaining. Then again, as we’re tailgating from 12-6 on Saturday afternoon, the margin of football watched here might be pretty slim. Still, it’s comforting to know the games are out there, huh?

If college football isn’t your thing - in other words, if you’re a robot - solid baseball races still abound. The White Sox will look to hold on against the Royals as the Twins and Tigers test their mettle against the Yankees and Angels, respectively. Just for kicks, the Cubs are playing too, and are actually up 6-0 on the Giants right now. Whoaaa.

Also, if you’re masochistic, you could tune into USA Basketball as they complete their only slightly dissapointing FIBA World Basketball Championships. After the loss last night, it’d be nice to see Coach K, you know, try something different, if not for the purposes of the win, then at least to see where we need to go from here.

Scattered NFL exhibitions are around this weekend, too, but come on. It’s the first weekend of college football. Get to a campus - even if it’s one without a football team; hey, just like IU! - get a grill, get some beer and some tequila or whatever else floats your boat, and break off a piece of that pigskin. And we’ll see you there.

And your bizarre, yet somewhat fitting story from the All-Star Game goes to…..

July 12th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

JOEY CORA and CARLOS ZAMBRANO!

We’ll let the Chicago Tribune take over for a bit here:

The team’s only All-Star, pitcher Carlos Zambrano, was hit above the right elbow with a fungo bat during pregame practice Tuesday by White Sox coach Joey Cora. Neither Zambrano nor Cora was available for comment afterward. Cora said through a Sox spokesman that Zambrano was doing an interview with a Venezuelan journalist behind the batting cage and Cora hit struck with a backswing while he was hitting ground balls to infielders. X-rays taken at PNC Park were negative.

The article later indicated that Zambrano’s ‘elbow tendon contusion’ as they are calling it, was the reason he didn’t see any action in the All-Star Game, as he was slated to pitch the fourth and fifth inning.

We’re at a loss for why Cubs fans seem to hate A.J. Pierzynski so much. (OK, actually we’re not, but follow us here.)

Wasn’t it Cora who got involved in the brawl and may or may not have used his teeth as a weapon? And now, he goes ahead and injures the only Cubs starter of any value?

It’s time to reevaluate your hating priorities, Cubs fans.

Tadahito Iguchi needs your help

June 29th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Not a huge fan of the White Sox, am I, but I kinda enjoy Tadahito. Thus, I’ll give him an entirely inconsequential and ultimately fruitless blog shoutout.

Hey, All-Star voters. Tada needs you.

He’s currently around 150,000 votes behind Robinson Cano, who’s injured, for a starting spot on the AL East All-Star team. The final voting ends in a week, so Tada has some ground to make up here.

Can he do it? I don’t know. Certainly, his votes won’t be boosted any from this blog post.

Nonetheless, he’s better than Cano. And we believe in the power of the internet. Get it done!

Case of the Mondays : Without that movie, what would they say?

June 26th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

Bend it like Beckham! Beckham bends in lone goal for England! Bend! Bend! Bend!

Yep, this phraseology was all over the place yesterday on the Web and on TV. Despite puking all over the pitch, Beckham bent (we just had to) in a free kick just inside the left post which lead to a 1-0 win for England over Ecuador.

In other World Cup news, the referee of the Portugal-Netherlands game went a bit loco, issuing 16 yellow cards and four reds during the match. Hey, yet another sports match in which people will blame their squad’s loss on poor officiating instead of not getting the job done. Portugal won the match 1-0.

The White Sox nine-game winning streak finally came to a close last night, as they lost in 13 innings to the Astros 10-9. (Note to self: Don’t leave the Cell in the top of the eight when the Sox are down seven runs. You will miss Iguchi’s three-run homer and grand slam that tied up the game to send it into extras. Whoops.)

If you’re looking for an update on the lingering story that is Jay Mariotti and Ozzie Guillen, get at it here. (Jay made himself the story again!)

And for the record, I am in fact sitting in my underwear as I blog. Take that, traditional and professional media.

Revisiting the Oswaldo Guillen Situation

June 22nd, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

So, this Ozzie Guillen f-word story (not the four letter one, the three letter one, silly) has become a big deal. (A bigger deal than even the mighty Ron Burgundy, in fact.) It’s all over ESPN, the radio, the blogosphere, you know; pretty much anywhere sports opinion disseminates from, you’ll find commentary on it.

Few quick things on it.

First, plain and simple, he shouldn’t have used that word. Even though he wasn’t targeting gay people, as he said, that word in today’s society has negative connotations. Sure, plenty of players and managers talk like this in the clubhouse, but to do it in front of a bunch of microphones, well that’s just plain stupid.

Second, as commenter Sam pointed out, as long as the White Sox are winning, Guillen’s outbursts will most likely continue to be tolerated by the club. It doesn’t seem like Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf came down on him too hard, only telling him he shouldn’t have used that word. The Chicago Sports Review has an excellent take on this situation, essentially saying he is ‘forfeiting his ability to ever manage a struggling baseball team’ because of his antics. I’m going to have to go ahead and agree with their take. If you have even a remote interest in this, I would suggest reading it. It’s one of the better written columns I’ve ever read, regardless of subject matter. (It makes mention of some scholarly book I’ve never heard of, but you don’t have to have read the said book to understand the concept the writer uses to illustrate his point in the column. Phew.)

And third, Mariotti still sucks. I’m glad Guillen is not backing down on that. But for as much as I applaud him for doing that, all he (and the entire White Sox organization, for that matter) are doing is fueling Mariotti’s ego, fame, fortune and essentially his ineptitude as a writer. Really, the best solution for Ozzie and the White Sox would be to just ignore Mariotti. Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson continues to bring up how he doesn’t like him. Everyone knows Reinsdorf and Mariotti have gotten into many feuds in the past. To continue to verbalize it only makes matters worse. Just ignore the dude.

Hell, we’re even contributing to his fame and fortune by posting about it right now. (Well, maybe.)

Oh, and if you need proof Mariotti is not good at what he does, here it is for you. (Again, I highly suggest you take a look at that.)

But all of this is neither here nor there. What’s really important is who would win in a fight between these two loudmouthed bravados. (This is an idea that’s been used on other sites and really since the dawn of mankind, or dinosaurkind, you choose. We’re not claiming to be revolutionaries or anything here with this idea.)

If we have 20 people vote on our poll, we’re claiming moral victory for ourselves. Get at it after the jump. (Height, weight, strengths and weaknesses included!)

CONTINUE READING THIS POST –>

Ozzie Guillen blows a gasket

June 15th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

I haven’t done a post about my White Sox in a long, long time, so hey, check this out. Last night the Sox got blanked by the Rangers, 8-0. (Nothing fun about that.)

A.J. Pierzynski was hit by a pitch in each of his first two at-bats. Fast forward to the seventh inning when rookie Sean Tracey was brought in to reportedly throw at Hank Blalock. He didn’t, instead getting him to groundout. Apparently, this was a mistake. A big, big mistake. And according to the AP/ESPN, here is what happened.

After getting the out, Tracey was removed from the game. Guillen slammed a water bottle to the ground when Blalock grounded out and the manager then brought Agustin Montero in to pitch. Guillen was then seen in the dugout barking at Tracey, who pulled the collar of his jersey over his head.Guillen didn’t address why he screamed at Tracey and had a different explanation why he took the rookie out of the game.”I tried to get Montero ready [to face Blalock] and wasn’t able to. It was a little late,” Guillen explained. “It was my mistake. I didn’t get him up quick enough. I didn’t want Tracey in that situation.”

Tracey refused comment.

A source told the Sun-Times that Tracey was informed he was being demoted to Triple-A after the game. “Ozzie went nuts,” one source told the newspaper.

So yeah, with Tracey refusing comment and what these sources had to say, it’s looks like Ozzie called little Seanie out for being a coward about the whole ordeal - which isn’t very nice. I mean, would you like it if someone threw a baseball at you? No, I don’t think you would. Sure, it’s part of the game and all, but he’s just a rookie. It’s not like he would have ever been asked to do this sort of thing in the minors or at any other point in his career.

Give him a break Ozzie, jeebuz.