Category: Sports

Dancing on the Packers Grave

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Queueing up for a flight through Chicago recently, I stood behind three well dressed Bear fans. It was a rather long queue – about 30 minutes. The fans reveled in last Sunday’s shutout and hatched plans to obtain tickets, flights and lodging for February 4, 2007 in Miami – site of the 2007 Super Bowl.

Hubris.

Perhaps premature….. They also mentioned that the Bears were the last team to shut out the Packers in 1991….

For many, Sundays are now wide open. One wonders if the Pack will fall to the depths of the Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg era?

Rethinking Moneyball

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Jeff Passan:

Another Jason Giambi.

Mark Teahen was called that once. During the preparation for the 2002 draft, the Oakland Athletics’ scouting director, Eric Kubota, said if there were someone in the class who could develop like Giambi – from a big, strong singles hitter into a powerful corner infielder – it was Teahen. And this is public knowledge only because the A’s opened their doors that year to author Michael Lewis, who chronicled Oakland’s methods in the seminal book “Moneyball.”

“I’d like to say I’m past all of it,” Teahen said, “but it’s always going to be with me. It’s always going to be with all of us.”

A Speedy Visit to the “Honda Powered” Indy 500

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I recently had an opportunity to briefly visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (home of the Memorial Day weekend Indy 500 [satellite view]) while the teams were practicing. A surprisingly large crowd was on hand to watch the drivers, mechanics and managers test their vehicles, systems and methods. Many, but not all teams had quite a number of computer operators keeping an eye on all aspects of their cars.

Silence.
There’s not much of that at the Speedway, but when it does occur – only a split second – it is jarring.

Danica Patrick easily grabbed most of the crowd’s attention. A group of fans and photographers never left her team’s side. More photos here.

You did read that right. Honda powers all of the cars in this year’s race. Evidently Honda has dominated recently and the teams coalesced on their engine this year.

Low Payroll and High Hopes for the Brewers

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Murray Chass likes the Brewers chances:

TOM HICKS and Mark Attanasio have conducted business deals with each other, but it is a deal Hicks did on his own for which Attanasio owes Hicks a large thank-you. Hicks, the Texas Rangers’ owner, fired Doug Melvin as his general manager in 2001, three and a half years after Hicks bought the team. Melvin became the general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers in September 2002 and was in that position when Attanasio bought the Brewers in January 2005.

While Hicks’s Rangers continue to flail and founder in a sea of uncertain leadership, Attanasio’s Brewers are headed in the right direction. After a franchise-record 12 consecutive losing seasons, the Brewers last year won as many games as they lost. This season, they won their first five games before losing three of four.

“We’re more settled and we have more stability than we’ve had in the past,” Melvin said. “We know our players better. Two, three years ago, we weren’t sure. I think we have a club that has a chance to grow on the fans. I feel we have enough experience to contend.”