The End of ‘07

In the waning hours of 2007, I’d like to add a post about my undergrad alma mater’s two-sport athlete Adam Goslin. He caught some fame this year for being an openly gay player on the football and baseball teams of the Washington University (in St. Louis, get it straight) Bears. Goslin graduated in December of 2006, I believe, after a solid career with the Division III WU Bears.

From outsports.com:

Goslin, a 6-1, 205-pound defensive lineman, started opening up about his sexuality in January 2005 after his first football season, and it spread across campus, including to his football and baseball teammates.

“A lot were fascinated with the fact I was gay; they didn’t understand (that I was gay) though they didn’t object,” he said. “I think it was good that they saw how (well) I played my first (football) season (at Washington).

“It’s a little nerve-racking (coming out) because you never know how it’s going to go. You hear rumors about how athletes aren’t very supportive and are very homophobic. But, since I came out, I’ve never had one problem.

“I don’t really have worries since coming out; I’m happy with what I’m doing. I’m more worried about finding a job in athletics.”

Goslin is now a volunteer coach for the Bears, dreaming of landing his ultimate job: as commissioner for the Big Ten or Pacific-10 Conference. Or even the NFL.

And from ESPN.com:

“That’s one of the things that cracks me up when people talk about gay teammates,” [Scottie] Guthrie says. “How is it that the straight guys are the ones who feel threatened? I mean, what do they think is going to happen, the guy is going to rape them or something? If anything I think it’s the gay guy who would feel awkward in that situation.”

Good to see my old school in the news in such a positive light. The WU was always a pretty easy-going place about many social issues; most of the time the school was laissez-faire, low-beef. As long as we could get drunk and get on the good side of the biology grading curve, it was all good. Not that it’s the best or most fun place to be out and proud, or particularly exploratory, but there are strong enclaves of gay communities in and around the school.

In the Papers: StJ vs VT

NY Daily News

Bad Storm at Holiday Festival

It seemed strangely familiar, seeing all those empty seats at the Garden.

Other than family and friends, there wasn’t much interest in watching Virginia Tech defeat St. John’s, 54-48, Saturday in the final of the 70th annual Holiday Festival….

St. John’s used to own this tournament, winning 14 championships in 42 appearances. The Johnnies used to be a national power. But they played ugly basketball in this edition, missing their first 13 shots of the second half, then shooting blanks for another five-minute stretch. Combine that with 20 turnovers and it’s a recipe for disaster.

The Hokies didn’t play that much better.

But they won.

This is the fourth year of the Roberts era. Give Roberts a pass for the first two seasons, because he inherited a mess. But the Red Storm looks like it is still rebuilding, trying to reestablish some bedrock in its quest to become a postseason team - and that’s not good.

St. John’s is the premier program in this city. But the Red Storm is 6-5 and has not played a big-time schedule.

The Johnnies can’t afford to be average and the Garden can’t afford for them to be hit or miss. Just 10 days ago, Duke and Pitt played in this arena before a loud, sellout crowd in one of most exciting games of the young season. But there was no energy in the building this weekend. The Garden has to do something to recreate holiday magic if the Johnnies aren’t going to be a huge drawing card and it may be time to consider turning the Holiday Festival into a one-day showcase and to invite brand-name teams like North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and UCLA.

Yes, this St. John’s team has a fragile dynamic and point guard Eugene Lawrence is the only scholarship senior. And yes, Roberts is a decent man who does not want to rip his young players to the media for fear of damaging them psychologically. That’s admirable. But it’s time for everyone involved to look in the mirror and see what the frustrated crowd of 6,818 witnessed.

They are losing faith….

[Coach Roberts said:] “Young guys get tight. But we persevered. When they got us down eight, we fought right back. That’s why I’m so excited about this team.”

Roberts can only hope to spread that excitement before it’s too late.

NY Post

NY Post Festival Flop

Norm Roberts doesn’t have a choice. He has eight freshmen, one senior and a program that hasn’t learned to win.

So in the public eye the St. John’s coach must remain as upbeat as a jazz musician. He must believe his best recruiting class will grow up in a hurry.

But if some serious doubt isn’t creeping into Roberts’ mind, and the heads of his young players, then St. John’s will be in worse trouble than a Wall Street investor with a portfolio of mortgages gone bad.

Last night, the Red Storm went bust on offense in a 54-48 loss to Virginia Tech in the championship game of the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

They began the second half without scoring a point for the first 10:48, missing their first 13 shots. They missed 38 of 53 shots (28 percent). They had more turnovers (20) than baskets (15).

Yet Roberts seems to truly believe that this team has a chance to succeed in Big East play, which begins Wednesday at Syracuse.

“I am not discouraged at all,” Roberts said. “They tried hard. (It was the) first time playing in the Garden. Our freshmen played like freshmen. I am not going to get down on this team. They are young.”

The Red Storm (6-5) had a chance to win only because Virginia Tech (8-5) was almost as inept on offense. The Hokies, who also had seven freshmen playing in the Garden for the first time, had more turnovers (20) than baskets (18), too….

This was once the premier holiday college basketball tournament in America. North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA all have played here. But the proliferation of tournaments and the decline of St. John’s, which essentially gets to pick the field, have diminished the Holiday Festival.

St. John’s, Virginia Tech, and consolation game foes Marist and Hofstra never will be mistaken for a Final Four.

“This tournament has good teams,” Roberts said. “That is what we do. We don’t make it so that there are easy teams when you walk in here.”

Only after the formal postgame interview session did Roberts express some emotion that such a loss irked him. It might have been the most hopeful sign of the day for the future of St. John’s.

“I’m not OK with any loss,” Roberts said. “I want to win every game. But if we win a game, it’s not like we’ve arrived. And if we lose a game, it’s not like all is lost.”

All is not lost. But it will be if the Red Storm doesn’t grow up fast.

Game #11: St. John’s 48, Virginia Tech Hokies 54

Things I could have done waiting for St. John’s to score a field goal in the second half of yesterday’s loss to Virginia Tech (I believe it was a 10 minute drought, maybe more):

- watched paint dry
- cooled dough for ginger cookies
- played a half of soccer
- read a short Thomas Pynchon novel

Or as my visiting non-American friend said, “I could play for St. John’s. I’m tall, and I can airball and turn the ball over too.”

The loss was dispiriting; it was an ugly, ugly game, the kind that sets St. John’s basketball back at least 60 of the 100 years of the college’s basketball tradition. It looked like a tough game– bodies banging, shots blocked, hand-to-hand combat. But thinking of who the teams are– the Big East’s bottom feeder vs. the ACC’s bottom feeder, two teams with 6-8 freshmen apiece, two teams who couldn’t shoot with a camera– it wasn’t a tough game, it was an inept game. It was a dog of a game. You gotta crack 50, guys.

Virginia Tech won on the strength of free throws and AD Vassallo’s play, mainly. For them, they expect to play an extremely physical game, and that is not St. John’s style. What that style is, I am not sure; the coaching staff seems to want to react to the other team’s play rather than impose their own will or find ways of getting their talent the ball in areas where they can really make plays. You know, like good teams often do.

St. John’s second halves have all been underwhelming (more on that later this week), and this one, no different.Seeing St. John’s only up one (22-21) at the half indicated that Virginia Tech had them right where they needed them– in a low-scoring, unwatchable affair filled with rebounding and physical play designed to eliminate the talents of perimeter skill players.

With respect to yesterday’s Keys of the Game:

Stop Turning Over the Ball. Well, that’s what they did. They had one less turnover than Virginia Tech, but in a game like this, that part of the box score just means that both teams were loose with the basketball. In this case, it translated into a couple of fast break points for Virginia Tech, deflections and poor passes to players trying to get into shooting position, and an overall lack of offensive rhythm. DJ Kennedy was credited with 6 of the 19 turnovers, but no one was particularly crisp with the ball.

Wright At Them? St. John’s played with intensity and went at the Hokies, but couldn’t put the ball in the ocean if they tried. The leading scorer was Anthony Mason Jr, who shot 4-12 (2-2 from the free throw line, 2-3 from beyond the arc) for 12 points, with 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers in his first start of the season. Larry Wright, by the way, did not get the start, and only played 14 minutes off of the bench. He hit 1 three point shot (out of 5 attempts, 7 FgAttempted overall) but his drives generated points, as he went 4-4 from the free-throw line.

Defend the Interior? Virginia Tech didn’t shoot well (36.7%) but St. John’s shot 28%. Burrell blocked 3 shots, had 6 rebounds, and took a couple of charges, good work for the freshman. Jasiulionis and Coker had 2 fouls apiece, and Coker had 5 rebounds. Of course, Diakate of VT blocked 7 shots.

But those keys don’t cover the main problem– the players have to make their shots. Or be put in position to make shots. A couple of suggestions would be that basic basketball play, the screen. Mason Jr. shot his makes off-balance and challenged. Give these guys clean looks. Lawrence played tough, Wright injured his knee driving inside, Burrell battled, as Art Howe would say. But St. John’s has to have some scheme to get guys open besides “take your man off the dribble.” That works for the Memphis Tigers but not for the Red Storm’s talent.

At the very least, this team needs to run hard up the court after makes and misses and put pressure on VaTech’s defense. Something. A team can’t saunter into its half court sets when the half court sets either don’t work or lead to shot clock violations, as the Red Storm’s do.

On the positive side, Jasiulionis has scored 12 and 6 points in the last couple of games, and has been able to stay on the court for longer stretches. On the negative side, DJ Kennedy scored once in 2 games, and the rumor mill is talking about transfers from a centerpiece freshman and a sophomore (which are likely not true, but will affect the perception of the team and recruiting).

2007-08 Big East conference season starts on Wednesday for the Red Storm, and this team is not ready. One announcer (Bucky Walters I believe), making a remark about the supposedly tough defense noted how those were actually scholarship players out there.

Game #11: St. John’s vs Virginia Tech Hokies Preview

The championship round of the Aeropostale Holiday Classic tips off after the consolation game; start time should be between 3:30 and 3:45 pm ET.

Virginia Tech’s starting five:

PG Malcolm Delaney FR 8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.1 to/g

G/F Deron Washington SR 13.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.2 to/g, 2.8 fouls/g

G/F AD Vassallo JR 15.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.8 to/g

F Chieck Diakate JR 1.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.3 blk/g

F Jeff Allen FR 13.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.0 to/g 1.8 stl/g, 1.0 blk/g, 3.1 fouls/g

Jeff Allen is a freshman who has been playing great minutes for the Hokies, pulling down 8.5 rebounds/ contest. Malcolm Delaney received his first start of the season but has played more minutes than his co-freshman point guard, Hank Thorns. Delaney also gets to the line with great frequency. Deron Washington is famed for his filthy filthy dunks, and he gets to the line even more often than Delaney. AD Vassallo has the inside-outside game that can give teams like St. John’s fits. Diakate, much like our Tomas Jasiulionis, plays limited minutes but blocks or alters quite a few shots.

The team plays slow but deliberate; even though they do not have efficient scorers, their offense and defense, overall, is pretty sharp. Deron Washington likes to try and take players off of the dribble; Anthony Mason Jr and DJ Kennedy will have the task of slowing him down. Virginia Tech plays no one over 6’9”, so St. John’s won’t have to worry about their shots block, they’ll have to worry about getting good, clean looks at the basket. The team has a solid shot in this game against the 7-5 Hokies.

Keys to the Game:

Stop Turning Over the Ball. Really. St. John’s loves playing ugly, but last night’s game looked like handball. Play quick but careful, control the dribble. Make the passes and keep the ball moving.

Wright At Them. Larry Wright played 18 minutes last night. But he started off aggressive, looking for his drive and his shot, and making passes. More of that will breed success. Anthony Mason Jr must continue his aggressive play—hopefully playing on back to back nights won’t affect his game. And Rob Thomas must capture the aggressiveness he had in Hawaii. In general, St. John’s must take the fight to the Hokies, and take it up hard, not settling for three-pointers. And no matter what lineup is in the game, maintain the intensity, go at them with the killer instinct and relentlessness.

Defend the Interior. The forwards need to anticipate better, and the guards need to watch for penetration. Washington, in particular is talented but over-aggressive. The team might wish to play zone; AD Vassallo takes the majority of the three-point shots. But don’t try to take the flop against Washington when he has a head of steam. Witness Greg Paulus being put into the YouTube annals:

Don’t be that guy, Red Storm. Don’t be that guy.

Game #10: St. John’s 62, Marist Red Foxes 59

An ugly win is still a win, right? St. john’s eked out a win against Marist that shouldn’t have been so close. The Storm had a seven point lead going into halftime; so of course, the Red Foxes cam out on fire and the coaches had no answer for them. The team played well with Malik Boothe on the court, even though he had no assists. Jasiulionis was the star as it were—scoring a career-high 12 points, pulling down 5 sloppy rebounds, only fouling once and hitting his first career three-pointer.

Which immediately made me ask, why isn’t he taking an outside shot a game? Why is Tomas so afraid to shoot? He’s not a good scorer inside, so take a shot when left wide open to keep the defenses honest.

Mason and Kennedy were excellent with their passing, especially off the drive. The ball movement was solid, and I could even see what Coach Roberts is aiming for—drive and kick offense. He’ll need a better penetrating point guard, however—Boothe hasn’t shown an ability to break down his man and Geno just isn’t quick enough.

As for Geno, he got away with some fouls and made some solid plays down the stretch. But Marist’s back up point guard Jay Gavin shot his way into a competitive game; his ability to get off shots is an indictment of the defensive pressure on him. The game should never have been that close; Anthony Mason was slick getting into the lane all evening and nailing off-balance jumpers; he had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block with his dad watching.

Reviewing the Keys to the Game:

This is MY MOTHERF**KIN’ HOUSE! St. John’s got their turnovers, but turned the ball right back. Marist played scrappy enough that it was hard for St. John’s to get into a good flow, especially in the second half. The team played good defense and pressured the Marist guards, but didn’t make any runs to put the game out of reach. Maybe St. john’s is just a really good MAAC team, and not Big East worthy…

We Love What You’ve Done With Your Game. Anthony Mason Jr. was still awesome and effective. But he didn’t get the start; Coach Roberts addressed his status after the game:

“I don’t know if Mase will stay as the sixth man as of right now. He is comfortable with that right now. Mason knows he will get his minutes and get out there playing quite a bit.”

Larry, DJ, Justin: Welcome Home. Kennedy made plays, and the team hounded McCroskey into foul trouble. But Justin had a pedestrian 10 point, 7 rebound, 2 assist effort on 9 shots (no free throw attempts), while Wright had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and only played 18 minutes, though his playing time is all on Coach Norm Roberts. St. John’s fans might have thought Larry was the truth but now, I’m beginning to wonder…

A tough Virginia Tech team is next at 3:30 (approximately) ET.

On William Rhoden’s “Fire Isiah” Piece in the New York Times

If you haven’t seen this prize of an article by NY Times sports writer William Rhoden from December 24th/ Christmas Eve, let me resurrect it for you from the tombs of the internet:

Our writer in the rich seats reflects on the Fire Isiah shouts that have become commonplace at Knicks games in the Garden, quickly noting the lack of on court success but also noting that those failures haven’t hurt the bottom line at all. The Knickerbocker franchise is still #1 in value according to Forbes, the same magazine that listed Kevin McHale as the best GM, (based on “winning improvement” from previous GM and ability to keep the payroll from ballooning as indexed to the rest of the league; obviously, they work on some different metrics than the viewing public). And the fans are still buying the seats, even if they don’t necessarily show up.

The fan in the story is even satisfied with the losing effort—the Knicks made it close at the end. Our illustrious Times writer happens upon Chris Rock and Spike Lee (who’s been out of the country) who feel Isiah shouldn’t be fired, because the players (Isiah picked) are all from losing traditions. They then happen upon the Reverend Al Sharpton (does this sound like a Chaucer tale yet? Everything except the farting), who says some ridiculous foolishness and the question is asked: should Isiah go?

Rock: “I’m not calling for anybody to lose their job, especially around Christmas.”

Sharpton: “Let me ask you this: The Secretary General of the U.N. was sitting near me. Do we fire him because we don’t have world peace? I mean, come on.”

Spike Lee: Isiah stays.

“But, that’s a certain New Yorker,” Lee cautioned. “Sharpton, Spike Lee and Chris Rock. That might not help Isiah.”

You know what New Yorker that is, Spike? The kind of New Yorker who has been following this goddamned debacle. The kind of New Yorker who, whether black or white or Asian or something else, knows that the Secretary General’s job is a hell of a lot harder than being coach and GM of a basketball team, and that Sec’y General’s job is NOT world peace, it’s to manage the United Nations, whose goal is to uphold human rights, establish social justice, and some malarkey about saving future generations from the scourge of war (people, y’all should get on that one, really).

Everyone knows Al Sharpton just speaks to be heard. In all the yapping, Sharpton can hit some good points—putting the pressure on Don Imus being the most recent—but too often, the man thinks of himself as the “controversial” arbiter on every issue when really, he’s a flashpoint and often feels like a bottleneck black folks’ progress. These guys are likely buddies with Isiah, one of the NBA’s all-time great players, and won’t throw him underthe bus in the New York Times. But damn. That is no rationale for keeping the man. And Sharpton’s rationale is the most ridiculous of them all—acting indignant that the fans would call for Isiah’s job.

Certainly, the Fire Isiah chants are both warranted and unseemly. The team’s performance has been awful. But the fans in Madison Square Garden have been eager to “fire” people—I participated in at least one Fi-re Lay-den chant a few years ago. It had a real nice ring to it. It’s very New York, those chants—overdemanding, rushing to judgment, putting the pressure on, noxiously in-one’s-face. But the unbelievable lack of action as the Knicks remain a bizarre joke is ridiculous.

One thing I have to say about the losers who post in the blogosphere, the malcontents who shirk work and spend their days on message boards, and the jackoffs who pore over the boxscores—we care. We look at the day top day results. We’re the fans on the ground. We feel we have something to lose by watching this heinous product. We nearly live and die with this. If we didn’t we wouldn’t:

- Purchase expensive sports packages from our cable companies.
- Buy replica jerseys with money that could be better invested, and will never make us look like our favorite athletes.
- Spread the name of the team and the league to friends and children by word-of-mouth.
The fans really deserve better than a heaping pile of disinterested basketball. Unfortunately, we don’t have any say in Isiah’s tenure as coach or GM, his owner does, and his owner doesn’t care.

Maybe we should focus more on the work of the “Sell the Knicks” people. Next walkout is December 30th.

Game #10: St. John’s vs Marist Red Foxes

I now have DirecTV. The majesty and breadth of which allows this humble blogger to watch the St. John’s Red Storm suck it up visually, and not just over online radio. Tonight’s last game before conference season starts (St. John’s has one more non-conference game at Duke in February) is the annual Aeropostale Holiday Festival. The 2-day tournament tends not to attract big luminaries and this year is no different. The bracket:

1st - Virginia Tech vs. Hofstra (6:30 ET)

2nd - St. John’s vs. Marist Red Foxes (8:30 ET)

Marist is 6-5 so far, having lost to Miami (FL) and Niagara like St. John’s. Marist has also lost to Temple, Houston, and U Mass; they’ve beaten Colgate, Bucknell, Richmond, Canisius, Wright State, and Delaware. They play at a slow pace (64.1 possessions/ 40 minutes according to kenpom.com), and they are:

- led by former St. Raymond’s (Bronx, CHSAA team) Louie McCroskey, who was known for his ferocious defense and mediocre offense. He’s still shooting poorly from the free throw line (15-23 for 65%) but 13-27 48% from beyond the arc. He’s 6’5”, 208, rebounds well, and takes a plurality of the shots when he’s on the floor.
- They also have point guard David Devezin who is a solid assist man.
- Spongy Benjamin has “Spongy” as his first name, but he’s solid on the offensive and defensive glass, standing at 6’7”, 228.
- Ben Farmer is 6’5”, 193, and along with SpongeBob Benjamin, will block a few shots. He has also taken 50 three-pointers in the team’s 11 games, hitting 22 (44%)
- Ryan Stilphen is hitting 45% (14-31) of his free throws, 54% of his shits (34-63), and 3-8 three-pointers. I don’t get that stat line either.
- Freshman Jay Gavin comes off the bench looking to shoot. He’s a better free throw shooter, at 69%, but his guarded shots are like a hustler on the first, they need work (thanks to G-Dep for that line): 15-36 (42%) from inside the arc, 15-41 (36%) outside the arc.

As a team, the Red Foxes are shooting 61% from the free throw line. I didn’t mis-type that 6.

Keys to The Game:

This is MY MOTHERF**KIN’ HOUSE! The supposedly World’s Greatest Arena is home to St. John’s, though Duke has a home game there every year, and though Pittsburgh gets a huge contingent to the games at MSG, and though Syracuse brands itself as New York’s College Team… well, Madison Square Garden gets FIVE St. John’s conference home games and this Holiday Tournament. Take THAT, Syracuse. The number of games has gone down because the Red Storm simply does not draw well at the Garden; empty seats abound, the opposing team’s fans are well-heard on the broadcasts. Winning wipes the scum off of such ignominy, but St. John’s would have to win, first.

That digression is there to support the need of St. John’s to take this mediocre tournament and run with it. A 5-4 record against mediocre competition is not beneficial to putting the Red Storm back on the map. And it’s not the wins—it’s also the excitement, the passion, the look of being a home team in a major market. St. John’s’ players also have a stake—DJ Kennedy, like many others came for the opportunity to play in the big market on the big stage. St. John’s has to play with the airs of a squad that can’t believe that someone would come into their house and try to win games. McCroskey, especially, is bound to try and take over the game. The Johnnies have to play sharp, swipe at the ball (Marist is especially susceptible to turnovers) and defend the house.

We Love What You’ve Done With Your Game. Anthony Mason Jr. was awesome and effective. He’ll likely get the first start of his injury plagued season tonight, and he needs to continue to look for his slashing drives tonight, and get to the line. His defense on McCroskey will be key; his performance in the Rainbow Classic, especially against Bobby Nash of Hawai’i, was encouraging. Rob Thomas has been an absolute beast in his limited minutes, pulling down rebounds and scoring at a heavy clip—Coach Roberts needs to keep Dele Coker’s time to a cameo and let Thomas get 15 minutes of playing time.

Larry, DJ, Justin: Welcome Home. Dear Larry Wright: you’re a really good shooter, shoot the ball. In lieu of an actual shooting performance that is not in the first minute or the last 3 minutes of the game, I will look to Kennedy to make plays, steal the ball from McCroskey and Stilphen, and take smart shots, and for Burrell to rebound like a beast against Marist’s small-ish front line. He needs to look for his offensive rebounding chances, also.

I think it’ll be hard for St. John’s to lose this game; though Marist spreads the floor and takes a lot of outside shots, they don’t have the offensive beast that Niagara has. St. John’s should taste victory tonight.

EDIT: Dick “Hoops” Weiss makes mention of the Holiday Festival:

Now if [Seton] Hall, which drew a healthy crowd of 9,800 to the game, can improve on their field goal defense, it should be a fun season. We guarantee one thing - and this may be a sign of the times - there were more people at the Prudential Center in Newark than there will be at the Holiday Festival tonight at the Garden.

It’s sad ’cause it’s true.

Increased Met Ticket Prices Lead to Woeful Bricks

Seen on Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” section:

Hitting The Bricks

Hot Clicks reader CJ Maldonado sent us the following e-mail: “The Mets are selling personal bricks to be laid down at the ‘Hall of Fame’ walk at the new stadium. In response to the Mets collapse, increase in ticket prices, the fact that there will be less seats in the new stadium, my middle class income, and the rent I pay to live in a closet, this brick should be the first to be put down at the new stadium.

The brick:

Mets Offseason Update

Mets sign reliever Matt Wise. The 40 man roster stands at 36.

My favorite reliever Pedro Feliciano now has a child.

Mets are still in chats about Mighty Johan Santana, Eliminator of Batters, according to LaVelle Neal’s Star-Tribune blog.

The Mets are also in talks with former Twin Kyle Lohse (an “innings eater”):

It’s believed the Mets have made an offer to the 29-year-old for four years, but it’s not known if it is for the $10 million Per he is seeking….

Lohse was paid $4.2 million last year, when he worked for the Reds and Phillies and went a combined 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA. He was 3-0 with a 4.72 ERA in 13 games (11 starts) for the Phillies after being acquired at the deadline.

In the incredible boredom of the baseball off-season, Amazin’ Avenue has a complete set of projections for the next season vs. projected average production based on plausible starters using the CHONE system. The upshot:

Soup-to-nuts, the Mets are average or better at every position, and exceedingly better than average in center and at third, with shortstop having a decent shot at that group, too.

Soup-to-nuts, the Mets are average or better at every position, and exceedingly better than average in center and at third, with shortstop having a decent shot at that group, too.

A couple from the MetsGeek blog:

* Who Are These Mets? What defines the Mets’ organizational identity? Broken down into strengths: Major League Scouting (acquisition of players for overrated skills, and making good large and small signings), a Willingness to Spend Big, and Brand Image (credibility for the organization that was sorely lacking); and weaknesses: Loyalty to Veterans (trading for Luis Castillo and playing him over Ruben Gotay’s hot hitting streak featured here), Aggressiveness With Prospects (young players having to impress or sit), and Ignorance of Marginal Value.

* An analysis of the Matt Wise signing, with a link to the Brew Crew’s take on the trades (wherein the Mets dump some trash and the Brewers pick it up):

Let’s review the transactions here:

1. Brewers traded Johnny Estrada to the Mets instead of non-tendering him.
2. Brewers acquire Guillermo Mota in the deal, along with his $3.2MM salary for 2008. Mets fans rejoice.
3. Mets get a better catcher and non-tender Estrada. That’s what we probably would’ve done, so the Mets literally dumped Mota’s contract on us.
4. We have a roster crunch and have to non-tender Matt Wise. Mota may be the worst pitcher in the pen right now, so we basically kept Mota instead of Wise.
5. Mets sign Wise, probably for less than half of what the Brewers will pay Mota.

Short version: the Brewers traded Matt Wise for Guillermo Mota and took on an extra $1.5-2MM to do so.

The only way this is defensible to me AT ALL is if the Brewers know something about Mota or Wise that we don’t know. Maybe Mota is ready to bounce back (though he doesn’t have that lengthy of a good track record) and maybe Wise really is done after hitting Pedro Lopez in the face. I guess we’ll see. It’s also possible that, when Melvin traded for Mota, he couldn’t imagine that he’d be able to get three more superior relievers in Gagne, Riske, and Torres, and didn’t think Mota’s acquisition would mean we couldn’t keep Wise.

But, regardless of the thought process, this doesn’t make me happy. I wasn’t happy about losing Wise before, but losing Wise to the Mets is even more obnoxious.

For the record, my projections have Mota pitching 68 innings with an ERA of 4.48, 25 walks and 48 strikeouts. Wise projects with an ERA of 4.56, 61 IP, 20 walks and 42 K’s. I would’ve thought Wise would come out a little better, but that’s a projection for Miller Park with the Brewers defense, so it’s probably almost identical if you neutralize everything. I’d certainly bet on Wise to have the better year. Either way, even if the results are similar, the Brewers are going to pay more for their middle reliever.

And The Mets Are Better Than Sex gives us an Anna Benson picture.

Of Interest: the Return of Eddie Sutton?

The return of Eddie Sutton:

San Francisco announced on Wednesday that Jessie Evans is stepping down as basketball coach and 71-year-old Sutton is taking over the Dons on an interim basis….

Sutton’s first game will be Friday night at Weber State.

“I love the game of basketball,” Sutton said. “There’s nobody that coached or it played it that loved it as much as I do. I missed coaching youngsters. I missed that. I want to gain, getting back on the court and having the opportunity to teach. That will be very pleasing to me.”

Gore-Mann told ESPN.com prior to a news conference Wednesday that Evans requested a leave of absence Wednesday morning. She said that the decision to take the season-long leave was solely Evans’ decision. But that contradicts what multiple sources told ESPN.com — that Evans was issued an ultimatum earlier in the day that he had to resign or would be fired. Gore-Mann said she wouldn’t discuss the particulars of why Evans took the leave and didn’t know if Evans would be the coach next season. Gore-Mann did confirm that Sutton was at the Long Beach State-San Francisco game last week in Long Beach, but that the school didn’t set up Sutton’s appearance. Gore-Mann said she had a short window to “bring in coach Sutton.”

Sutton retired as Oklahoma State’s coach after the 2005-06 season. He has 798 victories in 36 seasons as a Division I coach at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

When his victories at Tulsa Central High School and the College of Southern Idaho are included, Sutton won exactly 1,000 games before retiring from coaching in May 2006.

His retirement came about three months after a drunken driving accident caused him to miss the Cowboys’ final 10 games of the 2005-06 season. Sutton pleaded no contest to misdemeanor aggravated drunken driving and two other charges following the February 2006 car accident.

Sutton reached the Final Four with Arkansas in 1978 and with Oklahoma State in 1995 and 2004. He ranks fifth on the all-time list for victories among Division I coaches, trailing Texas Tech’s Bob Knight (896), Dean Smith (North Carolina, 879), Adolph Rupp (Kentucky, 876) and Jim Phelan (Mt. St. Mary’s, Md., 830).

Gore-Mann told ESPN.com earlier Wednesday that Sutton told her he didn’t want the full-time job.

“I’m physically in good health,” Sutton said, adding that his drinking problem is a thing of the past. “I feel very strong.”…

The coach said he’s never been on the San Francisco campus, so “This is the toughest challenge I’ve ever had.”

Gore-Mann added that she is working toward bringing in former South Florida coach Robert McCullum as an assistant for Sutton.

The AD tried to clear up why she said she didn’t know that Evans would be leaving until Wednesday morning yet Sutton said he talked to her a few days earlier about the possibility of the job becoming available. “When I was talking to coach Sutton before it was more long term, not short term,” Gore-Mann said.

As for whether or not Sutton could be a long-term solution, she said, “I would always consider him, but it would be what he would be ready to commit to.”

Remember, coaches– if you see an old hall of fame coach just taking in your game, hovering over your game, dripping pomade on your players like Riley on Van Gundy, it might be a sign that you’re about to get done. I wonder if Coach Cam Cameron is feeling that in Miami, with Parcells glowering from the press box…

On top of that, this seems a pretty unseemly way to get fired, mid season, and replaced by some old retired coach. How does Oklahoma State feel, having sent off their coach as a conquering hero (even if fading) and replacing him with his son and his whopping 6-5 record (losses against North Texas and Oral Roberts included), only to have the elder Sutton return to coaching in a small league with schools with delusions of their past grandeur (see: Bill Russell, KC Jones, and more)?