Oscar Gamble Society

I realize that there’s little interest in this forum for the NBA, much less the draft - but I still offer two thoughts:

(1)  Consensus seems to be consternation that the Bucks selected Yi Jianlian with the #6 pick overall.  BSG points out that his first name is actually pronounced “E” - thereby making this pick E-6.  Pretty funny.  But I’m reading that Yi wanted to go somewhere that there’s a heavy Chinese population.  Um, I realize Milwaukee is Algonquin for “the good land” - but I don’t think it’s Chinese for “the good land”.  What are the odds this guy ever plays a game for the Bucks?  Actually, what are the odds this guy ever plays a game in the NBA - since nobody really knows how good he is?

(2)  Consensus seems to be that Danny Ainge got taken in his deal with Seattle - mostly cuz Ray Allen is too old.  I dunno… I like the deal.  I love Delonte West, but he’s no Chauncey Billups people.  Wally World was a bust.  Jeff Green may be a terrific pro, but I’m intrigued by Big Baby Davis.  I’m willing to wait and see how this one plays out.  I think it might not be such a bad deal, when history reviews it.

Thoughts?

One of my favorite things to do is to read pre-season predictions after the season is complete.  Even better is to see expert predictions regarding the draft. I picked up an old copy of The Sporting News. This used to be the gold standard periodical, but clearly no longer.  The issue had its ”expert” predict the 2007 NFL draft.  While he probably was dead-on with some of his predictions, I wouldn’t know for sure.  I went straight to his prediction regarding the Packers and his choice was Clark Harris, TE, Rutgers.  After reading that, I couldn’t in good conscience read any further.

In some respects, you have to give him credit, seeing as the Packers did indeed draft Clark Harris…… with the 261st pick in the 7th round.

I picked this up recently:  The Colorado Rockies have more wins against the AL East so far this year than the NY Yankees do.  Through June 26, the Rockies are (and will obviously end up) 9-6… and that’s after dropping a three-game series to Toronto to end their interleague play.  The Yankees are 8-16 and in the midst of a series with Baltimore - which normally would mean automatic wins… but these are not your father’s Yankees.  Well…. actually, if your dad was a fan in the late 60s or early 90s, I guess they *are* your father’s Yankees.

Ouch, babe.

Did you guys hear that Chris Benoit is dead?

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap–wrestlerdead&prov=ap&type=lgns

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Barry Zito and Mark Buehrle are two very good left-handed pitchers, and neither has reached the age of 30 yet.  Buehrle has a WS ring (and earned it), while Zito is still chasing that dream.  Fwiw, an informal poll of casual baseball fans asking which pitcher is better would probably have the majority pick Zito… but would they be right?  Take a look…

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I previously posted that Julian Tavarez and Roger Clemens had produced two very similar stat lines in their previous two starts (the first two of Clemens season).  Predictably, their performances have finally diverged.

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So, I haven’t really followed the rest of the league so much this year, because the Brewers have been so entertaining, and my Rotisserie team is god awful…. Anyway, I saw the first two games in person of the Giants/Brewers series.

 I am having a little trouble understanding the logic behind the construction of the Giants.  (more…)

During Saturday’s Giants-Sox game, I saw something I have NEVER seen before in baseball.  Ever.

No, I’m not talking about a perfect game.  Or an unassisted Triple play.  Or someone hitting for the cycle.  Or a 4 home run game.

What did I witness?  I saw Barry Bonds called out on strikes, without swinging the bat.  Once.

I’ve seen him not swing during an intentional walk, of course.  And during one of those ”unintentional” intentional walks. And I saw even him take strike 3 in game 2 of the 2000 playoffs against the Mets. But to not swing once at 3 straight strikes?

I’ve seen probably 3000 of his at-bats since I moved out here in ‘96 - and all I can say is WOW! 

Just wow.

That’s Tiger Woods’s record in Majors when trailing after the 3rd round. 

Fascinating stat concerning the world’s best golfer, isn’t it?

Funny - we always hear commentary from BSPN et all about how, on those rare days Tiger is not leading a tournament at the end of the 3rd round, they always say Tiger’s “lurking, only _ number of strokes behind” (to be fair, I’ve heard this for both majors and non-majors alike).

However, it’s clear that as far as Majors go, Tiger is a non-factor if trailing after 3.  At least to this point, anyway.

We’re so spoiled by his incredible talent, it’s hard to imagine him being bad at anything wrt golf, isn’t it?

Of course, on the flip side, he’s never lost a Major when leading after 3, either…

Yes, I’m fixating on Julian Tavarez… deal with it.  As I saw him dominate Barry Zito in his last start, it occurred to me that he’s faced a good amount of staff #1s in his 12 games this year.  I’ll leave it to you to determine which of this group you’d consider to be “aces”, but all are listed as the #1s on their team depth charts: Millwood, Halladay (twice), Wang, Santana, Haren, and Zito.  His team’s record against those guys?

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