Sigh.
Anyway, I’m looking for writeups for the SEC Previews site. Smitty’s UT preview is now up. I’ll do Alabama, of course, and Georgia is spoken for. Email me if you’re interested.
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The losing won’t drive me away, the unhappy fans won’t either… but if I have to listen to too much football talk I’ll be running away from Bravesjournal screaming. I really don’t like football.
Hate to break the news to you, Charles…
And nice writeup, Smitty.
Was curious to see how the Rockytops viewed their squad this year because—I’m with you—with UTs’ new offense & staff, it’s a very tough call. I know they have talent; I just have no idea what they’ll look like on one side of the ball.
Small Reminder: Richt is 4-3 vs. Tennessee. He’s lost 3 of 4 now, but neither record exactly constitutes ownership.
How about random music talk, Charles?
I recommend the new album by Architects, Vice. Chunky and delicious. When it comes to unpretentious American (as opposed to overexposed NME-driven British) punk/post-punk revue, they’re not quite as good as The Cops, or quite as aggressively single-minded as Time Again, but plenty enjoyable.
In fact, I think I’m gonna go listen to it again right now.
Who claimed UGA? I sure hope it was ububba.
I’ll take Vanderbilt, I guess. Is there anyone here who would even read it?
PS: Smitty, no mention of the G-Gun? Is Clawson doing away with that? Surely not.
Vanderbilt has a football team?
Stu,
Nope, somebody beat me to it, which is probably just as well. (However, I am wearing my GEORGIA FOOTBALL t-shirt to Shea tonight.)
More non-Brave talk from the forum of a crappy-&-getting-crappier ballclub…
Three current faves:
Beck: “Modern Guilt.” Tuneful & hopelessly addictive mix of styles—rock, breaks, pop, etc.—with ace production from DangerMouse. The guy’s a marvel.
Tricky: “Knowle West Boy.” Wow, soulful. A big move up from the cannabis-fueled trip hop of the late-’90s. Horns, beats over 70-BPM, songs, surprising.
Steve Bug: “Bugnology 3.” A tasty mix-comp of German techno, minimal and otherwise. It probably sounds like clicky wallpaper to non-club types, but what can I say? I like that stuff, even when I’m sober.
Congratulations, bwarrend! You’re the first person ever to make that joke (after 3 pm Central on August 20, 2008)!
I’m on board with the JC program. Yes, in any given year, a team with resources can spend its way to the cusp of contention, and a few career seasons can put it over the top. What’s more likely, though, is that you’ll end up with too many bloated contracts and a mishmash of players at divergent stages of their careers, many possessing greater fame than potential.
Look at the Rays. An everyday lineup of players in their prime or just entering it. A rotation that’s young but experienced, having completed their apprenticeships at about the same time. A professional bench and bullpen. We can do that, too — and have the resources to keep such a team together (which the Rays might not be able to do).
This team isn’t just bad, it’s stale. All good things must come to an end. I say we blow up the mother——.
It’s quite possible that McCann, Escobar & Jurrjens are the only current players who will contribute largely to the next good/great Braves team.
Yep, looks good to me.
Wow, everybody sure has soured on Escobar quickly. (Though I see that Ububba has now edited Escobar in.)
Look, I disagree with JC on this one. I don’t think that the advantages of tearing down the team (cost savings, prospects) outweigh the disadvantages (a dispirited fanbase and the drop in attendance that would go along with it, the simple fact that it’s easier to go from 80 wins to a championship than from 70 wins, that I will feel duty-bound to write up a team that loses a whole bunch of games and will start drinking). As I’ve said before, this isn’t football, where the salary cap and draft system reward the worst teams to such a degree that they can very quickly rise to championship level. This is baseball — and the simple fact is that for the last fifteen years it’s been dominated by a relative few franchises, that it’s much, much easier to reload than to rebuild.
I should add that the cost savings, of course (and as JC would point out if it came up) would not help the team at all; it would just be channelled back into the corporation. It’s not like if Wren saved $30 million next year that Liberty would put it in an account for him to use later.
I’m all for keeping Escobar — sorry if that wasn’t clear. We can certainly use the best defensive player in the game!
As far as reloading goes, we’ve been reloading for years. And yet there’s not one player on the active roster who has been imported from another organization and contributed as a playoff-level performer. That’s the best argument for rebuilding I can make.
I like Esco. I think he’ll be the SS for a while. And KJ’s gotta improve, but quick; still, I could see him getting moved.
Off to Shea…
Escobar is very good defensively and is probably better offensively than he has shown this year due to that shoulder injury. And he’s cheap. Unless you’ve got a shortstop that will hit a lot better and still play good defense, I don’t know why you’d want to move him.
I don’t see any need to do a full rebuilding. It might make sense to trade a few pieces like Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur if you could get back starting pitching, but the Braves will have plenty of money to shore up the rotation and outfield via free agency. Why would you throw away any chance of competing next year? It’s not like the Mets and Phillies are teams that are going to win 100 games every year. The division will be within reach with a few prudent moves and some luck.
god, this is depressing. somehow macs video choice fits right in. nothing goes with depression like a good dose of quasi-psychedelic gibberish.
Good news on Glavine not needing Tommy John surgery, I guess. I don’t see that he is worth bringing back next year unless he’ll take a steep home town discount. Hopefully Tommy will quit while he’s ahead and start preparing his Cooperstown induction speech.
I have been in a psychedlic mood lately. If the Braves don’t stop playing quite so badly soon, you may see “Incense and Peppermints”.
cool…………i actually saw the Strawberry Alarm Clock play once upon a time.(between Chuck Berry and CCR ) i’m just not a Moody Blues fan. i loved the Airplane video the other day. that was a nice, tortured rendition of that song, and check out the people standing behind the band. i’d bet my stainless steel baitbucket that its Alan Ginsburgs’ first and only appearance on a baseball blog.
As Skip would say, you can now go walk your dog. Game over.
So, is this a new low point?
the daily low point.
Mets commentators making fun of Braves fans now… nice
#21
As long as you promise to patronize our sponsors, that is.
#25,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and be sure to drop us a line and tell us you dogs name
McCann is the slowest guy I’ve ever seen. I think the Falcons offensive linemen can outrun him…
Is 27 posts a record low for a game thread?
Edit: Looks like 20 a couple days ago. Still…very depressing
Recrap is up.
Normally I’d say something hilarious here like “Vanderbilt is the Braves of the SEC”, only there is no SEC team in any sport that is as noncompetitive as the Braves are.
How about “The Braves keep pitchers healthy like Alabama keeps non-starting seniors on scholarship”
or
“The Braves keep players off the DL like Alabama keeps players off the police blotter”