I Just Read Richard Justice, And Boy, Does My Brain Hurt

It's been awhile since we've seem some real idiocy from Richard Justice, so I guess we were just do. Thus comes today's posting in which Justice remembers that he hasn't kissed up to Vince Young lately. So he comes out with why the Texans made the wrong decision by passing up on Young in the draft.

He doesn't talk about it as a football decision, he talks about it in terms of a business decision. Then he justifies his thinking by stating that Drayton McLane and Les Alexander would have dictated that Young be drafted. Only he's wrong in his thinking. He knows he's wrong, but Justice likes playing his readers for fools.

But remember this.

Can anybody ever tell me a time when Les Alexander dictated personnel decisions to his basketball people? You can fault Alexander for lots of things -- he did an awful job with Toyota Center and turned that place into a lifeless building -- but not for interfering with the basketball side of the equation. He lets his basketball people make the decisions, and he signs the checks. Like a good owner should. So it makes no sense that he would overrule his basketball people because he knows it makes no sense sticking them with a player that they don't want.

But if Justice writes that, the so-called logic of his post makes no sense.

And speaking of making no sense is Justice writing that Drayton would have ordered that Young be signed. One of the reasons the Astros have the worst farm system in baseball has been that Drayton won't pay for draft choices, and he would have had to pay for Vince Young. Drayton only pays for draft choices what Bud Selig tells him to pay, and Vince Young would have cost way more than what Selig would have said. So there's no way that Drayton would pay that cash for Young.

And don't give me this nonsense about Young being a local product. The Astros didn't draft Carl Crawford, a local product, because he wanted too much money. Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens came at huge discounts, and Drayton really didn't want to sign them but he got tricked into it

So sure. Some people are going to be stupid enough to believe Justice's crap. But anybody who follows Houston sports should know better.

Give Me My, Give Me My

Back during the summer, I spent some time with my youngest niece. And she wouldn't stop signing this song and it got stuck in my head. And I really hated this song. But...

If they would start playing the Eric Cartman version on the radio, I think I would find myself becoming a big fan.

Is A Houston Sports Radio Station About To Die

Here's an interesting item I just noticed on Twitter from 1560 The Game:

"1560TheGame Sports Radio will change forever soon. You heard it here first. We are thinking someone is dying."

These rumors have been going on forever. And the rumored Houston station for dying has been 790 The Sports Animal. Of course, this rumor has been around forever. So there's really no telling, however, if this is something that is going to happen soon, or is still far down the road.

But...

Like I said, this was just an interesting note that I came across on Twitter, and I thought I would share.

Meanwhile...Over At The Mothership

Today, over at the mothership, you can read my musings on the late, lamented Houston Gamblers of the old USFL.

I'll try to get back this afternoon with something substantive -- which would probably be a first for me.

Deadspin EPIC=FAIL

Hey Deadspin. It's one thing for you to get pissed because ESPN PR flacks spun you out of doing a story on Steve Philips fooling around with a young PA. It's another thing for you to declare open war with the intention of exposing the sexual shenanigans around ESPN and outing only a hack of radio guy in Erik Kuselias and a marketing person.

If that's seriously the best you can do, then I say EPIC=FAIL.

You used to be a great blog. Then Will Leitch found something better to do. Now the crap you produce is just as bad as the crap ESPN produces. I'm sure you're patting yourself on the back tonight. But you should be hiding in shame from your failure.

UH Media Day Tidbits

Over at the mothership right now, you can read my post on this weekend's upcoming Houston/SMU matchup. SMU sits in the spot the Cougars need to be, which is number one in C-USA West. Though 3-3 on the season, the Mustangs are 2-0 in conference, and they could easily be 5-1 on the season as they've lost two games in OT -- one, last week, on a blocked field goal in OT.

I got to hit the media luncheon yesterday for the first time since before the Texas Tech game. And not suprisingly, most of the media failed to attend. The Tech luncheon was packed with media and cameras. This week, not so much. I sure didn't Richard Justice sitting around and acting important this time out. And I had forgotten how much I missed watching Cougar head Kevin Sumlin make Mark Berman look like a fool.

Before Sumlin spoke, the SIDs let the swim coach speak. He was an interesting guy, and one of his swimmers has a great backstory I might have to look into at a later date.

Let's It Hold A Second Before Declaring the Texans Fixed

I've got a little request to make of the Chron. Can you please, after the Texans win a game, hold off on the Kubiak-really-is-a-genuis-and-he's-now-got-it-all-figured-out-and-the-team-is-trending-in-the-right-direction thing? Your writers pop up with this crap after every win. Then the next week the Texans go out and crap all over everything.

My suggestion, how about waiting until the Texans win two or three games in a row before starting the corner-is-turned discussion?

Yes, the Texans looked good on Sunday -- I was really surprised. It looked like Kubiak pulled his head out of his ass and finally realized that when the best player on your team is Andre Johnson, then you get him the damn ball. And good work, as always, from Owen Daniels.

But one game does not a trend make.

Sure they put up 21 points in the second half on the Cardinals two weeks ago. But two weeks ago, the Cardinals did to the Texans what the Texans did to the Raiders: the Cardinals started playing it safe -- remember how ineffective that damn vaunted offense was in the second half of the Raiders game? And if the Raiders were a good team that hadn't quit in the first half, then maybe they could have done to the Texans in the second half what the Texans did to the Cardinals.

(Oh, and can one of the coaches have a talk with Matt Schaub and tell him that if he's going to keep insisting on throwing that ball in the flat that he at least put a little something on the football instead of a leaving a little floater just hanging there and waiting to be intercepted?)

So let's have the Texans break the pattern and actually win an even-numbered game before declaring the ship is righted. Or better yet, let's have them go out and beat a good team like the Colts (who should account for losses four and five on the team's schedule) and the Patriots (with the Tom Brady rules that are now applied, the Texans are already down about five touchdowns and the game's not even due to be played until December).

A Balk Is A Balk Is A Balk

So I'm unemployed again, and I'm home watching the Yankees/Angels playoff game on Fox. The Angels have a runner on first, and Andy "Balk on Every Throw To First" Pettitte is pitching. Tim McCarver and Joe Buck are going on about how just about every left handed pitcher in baseball balks when he throws to first base.

But that's not what's bugging me at the moment. What's bugging me is that they start going on about how, since the umpire at first has been watching Pettitte for years, he's not going to call the balk on Pettitte since he "knows" from experience that Pettitte is not balking. Yet they go on that if it were a rookie pitcher, a balk would be called every time Pettitte threw over to first.

So Pettitte is getting the reputation call on the balk. Just like Greg Maddux got the reputation strike zone, just like Derek Jeter doesn't have to get near stepping on second base to make the first part of the 4-6-3 double play, and just like if Albert Pujols doesn't swing at a pitch, it must be a ball.

The reputation call is one thing that has the made the NBA almost unwatchable. No superstar ever gets called for a key foul or fouls out, nor does a superstar ever travel. My god, Michael Jordan used to take five or six steps between dribbles, and if charging was called by the rule book then Kobe Bryan would foul out in the first period every game.

If it's a balk. It's a balk. It doesn't matter who it is. That's supposed to be the point of these rules, that they're enforced, and that they're enforced the same way for everybody. If the ump would call a rookie for the balk on the throw to first, then it's a balk when Pettitte does it. I don't blame Greg Maddux for pitching to his strike zone -- he knew what the umps were doing, and he took advantage of it -- I blame the umpires for not calling the strike zone.

All that I'm asking is for the umpire to call the rule book the same way for everybody. McCarver and Buck didn't say that Pettitte wasn't balking, they just said the ump wouldn't call him for it. And that's wrong. A balk, is a balk, is a balk. Whether or not you are a New York Yankee.

A Challenge To UH Football Fans

Here's my contibution to the mothership for today. It's my weekly Monday UH game recap, but since the mothership wants less recap since it's generally published two days after the game, it's more me calling out the UH fan base for not having sold out this weekend's game already.

Pregame: Texans v. Bengals

I've got no real great thoughts or predictions about the soon to kickoff Texans/Bengals game. I will say this, I hope that the Bengals' Cedric Benson has a huge game against the Texans because it would be a great case of karma.

The Texans refused to sign this guy in the offseason because of the so-called "character" issue. But he's been a perfect citizen in Cincinnati, and the so-called "character" guys on the Texans have been crap. Seriously, is Chris Brown really that much better of an option than Benson. Maybe Benson should have made a stop with the Broncos.

And I've got to confess, I've got Chris Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, and Andre Caldwell on my primary fantasy team, so the better they do, the better my chances of a win. But that's selfishness on my part, even though, if I win the league, I win money, and we all know that I need money. But otherwise, at this moment, I just don't give a damn (I do reserve the option to bitch about the Texans after the game, however).

Cougar Football Thoughts

My thoughts regarding today's UH/Tulane football game can be found over here at the mothership. I think the UH should win this game. I think the UH should win easily. I also thought that regarding UTEP. Let's just hope the result is different this time out.

It's Not Like Jose Cruz Was Fired

I know that I haven't been around much lately. So allow me to share today's entry for the mothership. Let's just say that I don't agree with the prevailing opinion that Jose Cruz is getting the shaft.

Hmmm...I Wonder

Just a quick thought....

While sitting in the Toyota Center press room last night, waiting to film this thing, I noticed that the Rockets have three cubicles set aside for writers from the Chron. And I've got to ask: does the Chron even have that many writers left?

Like I said, just a thought.

Some Things That Have Been Bugging Me This Week

Just because I didn't blog this week doesn't mean that there weren't things out there that weren't bugging me. It just means that I couldn't find the time to write about them. So I thought I would use this time to try and catch up on some of them. So...

1. What is with the love fest with Brian Moehler? The guy hasn't had a really good baseball season since the turn of the century. Yet despite a bloated payroll wasted on the bloated likes of Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman, the Astros wasted money by picking up Moehler's option for the 2010 season, an option which guaranteed him in a big increase.

Richard Justice, by way of Brian McTaggart on Twitter (who I usually like), defends this move by glorifying Moehler's ability to toss the occasional quality start, and he excuses Moehler's crappy 2009 stats (8-12, 5.47 ERA) by stating that if you toss out Moehler's first four starts where he was bombed like he was a battleship at Pearl Harbor then Moehler's record was actually 8-8 with a 4.25 ERA.

Now I don't know about you, but those still read like very crappy stats to me. That still looks like a guy who was getting his ass kicked every game. After all, you look at that ERA, and he was giving up over four runs a game, and when you have a crappy offense, four runs a game equates to a loss. Yet the Astros decided to waste over three million dollars in order to reward this guy for being utter crap.

Then again, Drayton seems to have this thing for signing crappy guys to excessive contracts, see, Matsui, Kaz; Lee, Carlos; Williams, Woody; Backe, Brandon; Hampton, Mike; Blum, Geoff; Villarreal, Oscar.

And good on Charlie Pallilo for calling this out as the monumentally stupid act that it is.

2. Jesus Ortiz had a piece on Phil Garner earlier in the week. And in it, he called Garner the guy who led the Astros out of mediocrity. I think Ortiz needs a new dictionary. The Astros were in the playoffs as division winners in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001. The team finished in second place in 2002 and 2003, falling out of wild card contention only at the very end of each season. Garner took over a team in 2004 that had a starting rotation of Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, and Roy Oswalt. Brad Lidge was still an effective closer. Jeff Kent was killing the ball at second. Craig Biggio was bitching about having to play in the outfield. Lance Berkman was around to slug the ball. Jeff Bagwell could no longer field, but he could still hit. Morgan Ensberg was still actually able to hit. Carlos Beltran had just joined the team in center field.

Where's the mediocrity? Disappointing maybe, since the team was supposed to be better than it's record. But mediocre? No. I understand that the guy has to fluff everybody he writes about -- except for Gerry Hunsicker -- but would a little accuracy hurt?

3. And Justice is back on the Jim Fregosi bandwagon, and he says about Fregosi much the same thing that he said when Cecil Cooper was hired as manager. Knowing the strategy of baseball is overrated. What's important is communication, getting the trust of the players, and getting effort from the players. And as support, he cites the likes of Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, and Mike Scioscia. Which leads me to wonder, once again, how Justice became known as somone who knows about baseball?

Justice wrote all of this about Cooper back when he was hired. And what did we learn? That knowing a little something about basic strategy is kind of important. It's kind of important to know what order your hitters are hitting in, and it's kind of important to have an idea on when to advance a runner, or to think it might not be a good idea to bat Miguel Tejada in a slot where he has the chance to ground into a lot of double plays. Yet Cooper did this time, and time again.

And Cooper was supposed to be a big instinct guy. And he was supposed to be able to communicate with his players. And none of that happened. But based on what was written about guys questioning his moves and strategy during the games, then maybe none of his communication issues would have mattered if the players would have trusted him to make the right moves during the game.

For instance, nowhere does Justice mention a manager like Tony La Russa. La Russa's only one of the best managers currently working, and the guy knows strategy. That's how he is always able to keep a roster that is racked by injuries competitive. I don't think he's all that liked in the clubhouse, but his moves can be trusted, especially when it comes to pitchers. And I don't think the ability of Bobby Cox or Mike Scioscia to communicate with players would be a big deal if they couldn't pull off the basic strategy of baseball. And these guys don't make stupid mistakes. They don't leave you questioning their moves.

And Joe Torre would be a disaster in Houston because he, like Cecil Cooper, is known for overusing and abusing his relief pitchers. But it's one thing to do that with clubs like the Yankees and Dodgers who have the money to spend on seventh-inning pitchers and set-up guys. Before getting to the Yankees, Torre was a rather mediocre manager. But give him ample resources, a stocked farm system, and lots of talent, and he wins.

So maybe the Astros, lacking in talent, should forget about guys who use their instincts and don't bother with strategy. Maybe they should actually get somebody who understands on-base percentage and knows that batting Miguel Tejada third is not a good idea for a guy who grounds into double plays on a lofty basis, or that batting the useless Kaz Matsui second is not a good idea.

Good News/Bad News

I've got some good news. And I've got some bad news.

The good news is that the temp attorney gig I've been working the past two weeks has been extended for about three more weeks. That's good because my banking account was really lacking in funds in a somewhat major way. It's also good because this hopefully means that I'm getting into the temp agency rotation -- they know I do good work and keep the law firms happy which means they'll start putting me up for more openings. And hopefully, once I'm in an agency rotation, I'll be in the rotation for all agencies. My immediate goal is to work through October and hopefully try to line up something in November.

The bad news? Well, I don't have permanent employment, and it's not looking like that's going to happen any time soon. And the light blogging will probably continue as well because I just haven't been in the mood open upon getting home lately. I'll try to do things over the weekend, like now, but who knows. I do hope that you'll stick around though.

Thanks for everything.

[UPDATE] Some Thoughts On The Soon To Start Cougar Game

The Cougars will be kicking off in about half an hour, and truthfully...today I think they're going to lose. It's not because Mississippi State is in the SEC because the Bulldogs are a rather mediocre SEC school. It's just that Mississippi State does that one thing that the Cougars are rather mediocre at. Mississippi State has a punishing running game.

You can read some information on the Bulldogs and running back Anthony Dixon here at the mothership which should give you some idea of why Cougar fans should be worried. That said, I think the Coogs can score on Mississippi State, but I just don't think the defense will be able to stop Dixon. I hope I'm wrong, but this was the one game I was really worried about with the Cougars in their season hopes.

The Cougars got off to a really good start. And it was nice to see them ranked. But I think the team is 3-2 going into next weekend's game at Tulane. And it's my hope that the Coogs will be able to find a way to refocus and get through the Conference USA schedule in an easy matter -- in C-USA play, there problem games should be Tulsa, Southern Mississippi and UCF. So let's hope they don't have any more UTEP-type trip ups.

UPDATE at 2:49.

Boy was I wrong. The Cougars didn't completely stop Anthony Dixon. But they found a way to force four Mississippi State turnovers, and they converted two of those turnovers into TDs. Cougars got the 31-24 win despite Keenum throwing two INT, one of which was returned for a TD.

Forty Years Ago Today

Wow. I just realized that it was forty years ago today that...Monty Python first went on the air. Yes, October 5, 1969 was the day of the first broadcast of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Amazing. The material on that show is still as fresh and funny and original today as it was when it was first broadcast.

Good Morning Good Morning

I want to apologize again for the lack of blogging recently -- especially compared with what was I doing. I just stare at a computer all day during this temp job, then I get home and have to write my stuff for the mothership, so I'm just not up to doing a lot here. The sad news is that this temp job is supposed to end this week sometime, so who knows what is going to happen afterwards. I'm hoping for some more employment somewhere.

Anyway, here's a little something to wake everybody up and get the week off to a good start -- I hope. The Beatles and "Good Morning Good Morning."

Astros=EPIC FAIL

Let's just give a bit EPIC FAIL to the Astros. Not only did the Astros get swept to end the season. The Astros got swept by the New York Mets, one of the few things in the National League to have a worse record than the Astros. So it's nice to see that the Astros kept playing and didn't quit. And let's give a thanks to the Pittsburgh Pirates, that one team that was able to keep the 74-88 Astros from finishing in last place of the NL Central.

And let's give one more EPIC FAIL to the Miguel Tejada Project. Tommy Manzella was kept on the bench after he came up from the minors because Ed Wade thought that it was more important that Tejada try and get 200 hits and earn a free agent contract for next year than it was to see if Manzella might be worthy of being a starting shortstop in the majors next season. But the quest for the mythical 200 hits FAILED as Tejada choked in the clutch and finished with 199 hits.

It's over. It's finally over. And please let me never see Tejada in a Houston Astros again.

Some Pregrame Thoughts On Today's Texans/Raiders Game

I have no great thoughts regarding today's Texans/Raiders game. The Raiders are an awful football team, and the Texans, even the Texans that lost to Jacksonville should easily be able to handle the Raiders.

But...

Damn. This game just gives me a bad feeling. Perhaps I'm remembering too much of last year's game in which the Texans should have easily been able to handle the Raiders and got their asses beat. I'm also remembering the first Monday night game of this season when the Raiders dominated the San Diego Chargers for most of the game only to lose it at the very end. Maybe it's also that the Raiders have a good running game -- and we all know how the Texans are a when they are faced with a good running team. Then again, JeMarcus Russell has to be one of the worst starting quarterbacks to ever play in pro football -- then again, he had a good game against the Texans last season.

The Texans should win this game. I think the Texans should win this game. But I'm worried.

This is the Texans we're talking about, after all. And Gary Kubiak is still the head coach. Which means never take any Texans game for granted.

Why John McClain? Why? A Letter To The Chronicle

Dear Houston Chronicle:

I read this item from John McClain in your online sports section the other day. But I believe that is has been misplaced. Sure, McClain is supposed to be your Houston Texans/NFL football reporter, but I didn't find much football info in this post.

What I did find was a lot of self-serving information about this asshole taking time off, during football season when he should be working and covering the football team, to go film a fucking movie. And what I did find was a lot of worthless, self-serving information about meeting Diane Lane and about what a great actor Mr. McClain is supposed to be. So it seems obvious that this post should have been in your online entertainment section -- actually, since I haven't seen McClain write any legitimate football/Texans information in about 10 years, I've got to wonder why you post his stuff on the sports site anyway?

As a matter of fact, editors, I've got a question regarding Mr. McClain. Since you seem to be having budgetary problems, and since you dumped most of your writing staff earlier this year, I can't help but wonder: why in the hell did you let this prick keep his job in the first place? He seems to have other ways of making a living, so why didn't you keep somebody who actually wanted to work for the Chronicle and write about football?

Seriously, there wasn't anybody around the offices who actually wanted to write about the Texans and the NFL so the only option was to keep this fool? I just can't believe it. Does he have photos of you guys screwing people -- oh wait, you guys screw over people in public every day, so maybe that's not it. So, why? Why? Why did you keep this guy?

Signed,

A Fed Reader Who Really Wants Some Legit Information On The Houston Texans.

Some Post-Game Thoughts On That Painful Cougar Loss

Wow. That was painful.

I thought the Cougars might struggle against UTEP. But did I see the team getting it's ass handed to it? No. I thought the team would struggle to score, and that UTEP would keep the score close. I thought the team might struggle in the first half, and then, like the Cougars have done the past couple of seasons, I thought the team would come out on fire in the second half. No way did I think that the score would be 17-17 at the half with a 58-41 final score, only to have the Cougars be the team with 41 points.

I thought the Cougars would struggle to go undefeated this season. But I thought the potential losses would be against Mississippi State next week. Or against Tulsa. Or against Southern Mississippi or UCF. But I didn't think the first loss would be to UTEP.

The Cougars can kiss a ranking in the Top 25 goodbye. But worse, the team is now 0-1 in Conference USA. And even worse, based on this game with UTEP, it appears that Gary Kubiak and Frank Bush took over the Cougars because some of the offensive calls made absolutely no sense, and the Cougar run defense looked mysteriously like the Texans run defense, i.e., non-existent.

Oh well. I've got some thinking to do because I've got a mothership post about this to write. I just wish that I was going to be able attend the media luncheon this week. I'm sure there's going to be some good stuff come out from there.

A Few Pregame Thoughts On Tonight's UH/UTEP Game

I wasn't able to attend the UH media luncheon this week, so I don't know how many members of the Houston media decided that the team was relevant again and showed up for the free lunch, but judging by the large number of media who suddenly discovered the team for the Tech game, I'm guessing that there were a lot of them there chowing down on the free food and asking dumb questions -- you'd be amazed at some of the questions these titans of media ask.

More importantly, though, I wasn't able to gauge the players and see how they were reacting after the win. The team had two weeks after Oklahoma State, and they also had the chance to watch the Texas Tech defense shut down UT for a half in order to get their minds properly set.

Photo Courtesy of Fred Trask

That said, I'm not too worried about tonight's game with UTEP. And that's because I just don't see head coach Kevin Sumlin let this team take tonight's game for granted. I wasn't around for Art Briles -- though I did try to get a press pass during his final year with the team -- but there was always this feeling that the team sometimes wasn't fully concentrating on this week's game and was looking ahead to the next opponent. Sumlin preaches at the media luncheon that the most opponent for the team is the team the Coogs are playing this week.

If you want to set Sumlin off in a press conference, then asking about the rankings and the team's place in the national consciousness. He says that only the media and the fans care about this, and that he and the team don't. Come the end of the season I think that if Sumlin were to be truly candid, he would admit that he did care, but his point is still a good one. Sumlin wants his guys concentrating only on the things that they can control. They can control their play during the game. They can control what they do on the playing field. So he just wants the players focusing on this. And so far, it seems this is what they're doing. And if you think about it, what Sumlin does is genius: if the players make each game the most important game they play, if they do their best each game, if they take care of what they can control and win the games, then the rankings should handle itself.

If the Cougars keep winning, they stay in the rankings, and possibly move up. If they lose, none of that matters. So concentrate only on what matters, which is the game.

That said, I think the Cougars not only have to win the game tonight, the Cougars have to win pretty decisively. The Longhorns destroyed UTEP last week, and if the Cougars want to keep a good spot in the rankings, they're going to have to do the same thing. The Cougars can't let happen tonight what happened with UTEP last season. UTEP came out and took a big lead. The Cougars got the win, but they shouldn't have had to struggle. And this year, the Cougars can't afford to struggle. And truthfully, I don't think Sumlin will let that happen.

Not Even In His Dreams Can Felipe Paulino Be Justin Verlander

Over at Chron.com, Jesus Ortiz is asking the important question about the Astros: will Felipe Paulino be the next Zack Greinke or Justin Verlander. No, Ortiz isn't asking the important questions about roster turnover, or if Miguel Tejada feels guilty for depriving Tommy Manzella from proving that he belongs in the majors, or what Ed Wade and Dave Clark are doing by sacrificing 2010 so that Geoff Blum and Miguel Tejada can work for contracts next season. He's asking about Felipe Paulino.

Well I have an answer. No.

Ortiz's conjecture is based upon Paulino throwing five good innings of baseball the other night. Five innings over which he held the Phillies to just one run. And he asks because Miguel Tejada makes the comparison, and says that Paulino is going to mature into a Verlander or a Greinke.

Now I happened to be at Justin Verlander's first start of the 2006 season -- he was just the number five guy in the Tigers rotation, and he was seen as a bit of an afterthought with the Tigers. I drove up to Arlington to watch the Rangers play the Detroit Tigers on the first Saturday of the 2006 season. And Verlander pitched a masterful game, going seven innings while giving up only two hits and striking out seven. And this was a Rangers team that featured Mark Teixeira at first base, Hank Blalock at third, Michael Young at short, and Ian Kinsler at second. This was a team that could hit as good as the Phillies can hit. And he dominated. Verlander was, in many ways, like Nolan Ryan that night. His fastball was a blur and his breaking pitches were wicked. And for most of his career, Verlander has been like this -- he had a disappointing 2008, but 2006, 2007, and 2009 were really good seasons. In other words, this guy has always lived up to his potential, and there's no reason to taint his name by associating it with Felipe Paulino.

Zack Greinke is a different, sadder case. With Greinke, it hasn't been a case of living up to his potential. With Greinke, it's been a case of diagnosing mental problems then learning how to treat and how to live with these problems -- social anxiety disorder and depression. When Greinke has been properly treated, he's been a great pitcher, one of the best in the game.

And interim Astros manager Dave Clark says that Paulino has the stuff to be a number two or three starter. If that's what the team thinks, then why in the hell is Ortiz saying he can bloom into Verlander and Greinke. These guys are staff aces. They always had the stuff to be a staff ace. They didn't have to mature into what they became because that's what they already were.

I guess that all in all, I'm just sick of the Chron trying to convince me that every mediocre Astro is the Second Coming.

An Angry Note To The Astros

Yes, I know, posting has been kind of non-existent over here lately. But I'm actually working this week, and probably next, so it's difficult finding the time. And I've still got to write my mothership posts -- they pay me, after all.

Anyway, speaking of the mothership, here's what I wrote for today. It's a little dig at the Astros for letting Miguel Tejada and Geoff Blum's efforts to get new contracts with different clubs next year being the primary factor in those guys playing nearly every day this past month instead of one of the young prospects called up from Round Rock.