Johan Santana to the Mets...UGH

Life as a Philadelphia Phillies fan can be summarized by the events of the past two days: the Phillies signed Pedro Feliz; the Mets traded for Johan Santana. Feliz is a marginal third baseman who can play decent defense, hit .250, and have adequate (20-22 homers in each of his last 4 years) power that is offset by the big whole in his bat that leads to lots of strikeouts. Some of those strikeouts next year will be due to the Mets new hero, Santana, who is probably the best pitcher in baseball and right in the middle of his prime.

I am baffled by the Yankees and Red Sox unwillingness to go the last mile to land Santana. When a superstar is traded, the team making the acquisition almost always gets the better of the deal. Had the Red Sox traded for the lefty with the unhittable change-up, they would have been lots of distance between themselves, the Yankees, and the rest of the American League. The Yankees lost an opportunity to get back to even against the hated Sox. And, unfortunately, the biggest losers other than the Yanks and Sox in my opinion are the Philadelphia Phillies, who go from the favorite in the NL East to a pretty big underdog if Santana and Pedro Martinez et al stay healthy.

Speaking of trading superstar pitchers, Eric Bedard of the Orioles is about to get traded also. Why is it that the Phillies, who put more than 3 million fannies in the seats last year, are never in the running to get these studs when history shows that the prospects that they cost never add up to the star of the trade? Why? Why? Why?

When you think about a key series in September and Santana, Pedro, and Maine lined up to face Hamels, Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick, don't you think Eric Bedard would be a nice equalizer in that equation?

It's going to be a long season when things start going against you before pitchers and catchers report....

My poker results from last night, a very Stitzer web site, UConn hoops (ugh!), T.O. is a little light in the wallet, and a Duke/UNC tidbit

To see how I did in my poker game last night, click here to read the account from Ray Wright at his KingPrussiaPoker blog. As you may imagine, I am referred to as BD in his account. By the way, I think I deserve more airplay in his summary!

Either Stitzer is behind this web site, or as soon as he finds out about it, it will move to the top of his "favorites" list.

I hate, and I mean hate, to give any credit to Jim Calhoun, but UConn's winning its last two games without leading scorer Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins, on the road against Top-10 Indiana and home against pressing Louisville, is remarkable. This team has improved by leaps and bounds over last year, and will present some problems on the first weekend of the tournament.

An arbitrator ruled in favor of the Eagles in their efforts to reclaim a pro-rated portion of T.O.'s signing bonus from the little crybaby. Not only is it great to see T.O. lose money which will give him something else to cry about other than the media's unfair treatment of his quarterback, but the Eagles actually benefit by getting that money added onto their salary cap for next year.

Here is an article from Al Featherston that speculates that Duke and North Carolina may be playing this season not only for the right to play the regionals in Charlotte but also to play the first two rounds in Raleigh. Featherston speculates that the committee may well separate the two teams in the first two rounds as it did two years ago despite the fact that they could play in the same location in Rounds 1 & 2.

Phillies Sign Pedro Feliz, Duke Dynasty Article

The Phillies, who were planning to platoon Wes Helms and Greg Dobbs at 3rd base this season (like last year save light hitting Abraham Nunez in the mix), signed veteran Pedro Feliz to the mix today by signing the Dominican 3rd baseman to a two year deal. Feliz has hit 20+ homers each of the past four years, so he can provide a bit more pop to a position in which the Phils were dead last in slugging in the majors last year. The downside is that Feliz has struck out 100+ times in two of the last three seasons and does not hit for much average (expect .250). Plus I am not sure he is all that much better than Wes Helms, who I am guessing there is no room for now. So it's almost paying double for a marginally better player (unless you can find someone to take Helms' salary).

Overall, this to me is just another really questionable move by a GM that has made more shaky moves than good ones since he took over for Ed Wade.

Maybe one of the main reasons that so many people hate Duke is that they have been so good for so long. Joe Lunardi of espn.com talks about the Duke dynasty of the past 20+ years, and compares it to the UCLA dynasty when they won 10 titles in 12 years. The debate, he argues, is closer than you might think. Click here to read the article.

Big Win for Duke

Duke went on the road and got a big 'W' last night with a 93-84 win over the Terps. It was (I think) only the third time in the last eight meetings that Duke has beaten Maryland, who always gives a great effort against the Dukies. In addition, the Devils had to come from behind, trailing (by 9) for the first time all season. A fantastic first half by Gerald Henderson kept them in the game, and then DeMarcus Nelson and Nolan Smith took over in the second half. Everybody continues to harp on Duke's lack of post presence (Osby and Gist combined for 46 & 20) as a fatal flaw, but they keep winning despite of this weakness (against teams such as Marquette, Wisconsin, Maryland, Clemson, etc.). They are winning by spacing the floor, playing pressure defense that leads to turnovers (Maryland had 22 last night) and having lots of weapons that can hurt you. Yes, a post player like Patrick Patterson would be nice (are you enjoying Kentucky's .500 season Patrick), but this Duke team can compete with any team in the country.

As for Nolan Smith, I cannot remember the last time I saw a player improve this much DURING a season. In my opinion, he has become a more consistent asset at the point than Greg Paulus (although Paulus has a knack for a big play or shot at a big time). His defense for a freshman is very strong, and his outside stroke and decision making are getting better by leaps and bounds on the offensive end.

And Nelson is clearly a first-team ACC performer at this point in the season. Probably not a lot of people predicted this at the beginning of the year, but DeMarcus has really stepped up the consistency and level of his play.

Duke and North Carolina continue to separate themselves from the ACC, making it a two team race less than half way through the conference schedule. After UNC disposes of BC on Thursday in the Hill (Chapel, not Chestnut), everybody in the conference behind the two Giants will be at least two games behind UNC, three behind Duke. Should make for a great atmosphere in the Dean Dome when these two meet for the first time next Wednesday (2/6).

Back later with more banter....

College Hoops Tidbits

When I asked my four-year old who his favorite two teams are, he gave the obvious and correct answer: Duke and whoever is playing North Carolina!" So it was with great joy that we watched events unfold as Maryland upset the Tar Hells 82-80 (in Chapel Hill no less), followed by Duke handling a very good Clemson team 93-80 on Saturday.

What does this mean for the Tar Heels? Nothing. They will be just fine. They will still probably win the ACC this year, get a #1 seed and probably get the North Carolina home cooking all the way to the Final 4. But what does it say about the Terps? A lot. Maryland is now 4-3 in its last 7 games against the #1 team in America. All the while, they have really struggled since winning the National Championship six seasons ago. People point to what a great coach Gary Williams is to get all those victories against top teams and rightfully so. But I think the flip side is also important: Maryland has too much talent to be as inconsistent as they have been, and they should never, ever lose home games to teams like Ohio and American, which they have done already this season. Despite the fact that Maryland fans hate Duke so much they can taste it, Duke fans would like to see Maryland do well. It is good for the league, and makes things a lot more interesting in the ACC. Hopefully this win will get the Terps playing more consistent hoops, because even with that win on Saturday, if yesterday were Selection Sunday, I think the Terps are still on the outside looking in.

As requested, Marc Rudofker gave me some quick thoughts on the Villanova Hoops squad. Please note, he sent me these before 'Nova's impressive victory on the road in the Carrier Dome this weekend:

Despite struggling for most of the game vs an underrated DePaul team (line was an absurd 10 points) Nova gained a great deal and snagged a win to boot. What you have to understand about Nova is that they are still trying to figure out what kind of team they will be. After getting crushed on the boards against Cincy, Jay Wright vowed never to play small again. So against Depaul, he played often with one guard along with Stokes, Clark, Cunningham and Pena. Result, they outrebounded DePaul 43-20. Again, this is a work in progress and until Jay figures this out, they will have many ups and downs. In the interim, here is what you need to know and what to look for:

- Pena is emerging as a force and gives Nova a genuine post presence for the first time since Malik Allen
- Reynolds is finding his rookie form
- Stokes beginning to show some of the life that made him a MCD AA
- The Big Fella, Cas Drummond, dressed and played 3 minutes vs DePaul. He recovery from a stress fracture in his ankle is a key story as we head into February.

Pena, Grant, Fisher and Stokes are important but they are Freshman. Watching them grow is half the fun. To expect big things this years is probably unrealistic, but an 8/9 seed in the NCAA tourney is certainly doable.

And the two teams nobody is still talking about: the Drake Bulldogs, 7-0 in the Missouri Valley after beating previously fellow unbeaten Illinois St. The Bulldogs keep winning despite the absence of their leading scorer, and they finally snuck into the Top 25 this week probably for the first time in about 30 years. It would be amazing if the Bulldogs can keep it up Tuesday in a battle of Kyle Korver's little brothers when they visit Omaha and the Blue Jays of Creighton.

Second, Cleveland St is also 7-0 in league play after knocking off Butler and Valpo last week. Not too shabby. The Vikings have not played games this meaningful since Mouse McFadden ran the point over 20 years ago (certainly not when Rollie Massimino was there!) It would be great if the Horizon League could sneak two team into the field this year....

And oh year, the Giants and Patriots won to advance to the Super Bowl. We will be back with more postings this week (some may be short and sweet) so check back often....

Week 20 Win or Die Picks

Based on the picks for this week, we will have either 4 or 5 entries still alive heading into the Super Bowl, depending on who wins the NFC game this weekend. I will be back later with my commentary on the games this weekend.

Pick Breakdown:

Green Bay 4
New England 1
NY Giants 3
San Diego 1

Individual Picks:

Chris Nangle 1 San Diego
David Louis Stitzer NY Giants
Ed Ramirez 2 Green Bay
Gary Jonas 1 NY Giants
Gregg 2 Green Bay
How Gldbrg..NOW BYRON Green Bay
Pierre Brown 1 Green Bay
Stuart Erickson 2 New England
Todd & Regan 4 NY Giants

Some Great College Hoops

Duke 70, Florida State 57. The Devils had a great first twelve minutes, enjoying a 16-0 run and jumping out to a 30-13 lead against the Seminoles. But people that have followed this rivalry knew that Florida State, who has played Duke exceedingly tough recently, would make a run. And they did. The lead was 12 at the half, and then Florida State stormed all the way back with great defense, tremendous toughness, and heart to actually take the lead at 54-53 with under 5 to play. And this is when playing Pitt a month ago in the Garden came in handy. It seems that Duke got out toughed in New York City, and it was happening again last night. But Duke is growing and getting better. And they punched back. Hard. Duke closed the game on a 16-2 run to win a game that was truly much closer than the score would indicate. The late game heroics were led by Freshman Kyle Single, who hit a monster, monster three to give Duke the lead again. And then Greg Paulus, who has been simply terrible for the first 35 minutes, just took over down the stretch with a steal, two lay-ups, and one sucker punch to the chin (he is getting more under the skin of his opponents than ever, like Bobby Hurley used to do). John Scheyer was sensational all night long, not only scoring but also doing a lot of little things to help his team. And Gerald Henderson played a consistently solid game. I would rather see Henderson play consistently than make a spectacular play of two and then disappear. The Devils move to 2-0 in the conference and did not lose any ground to....

North Carolina 83, Georgia Tech 82. For the second time in three ACC contests, North Carolina got away with their life, winning by a point when Georgia Tech missed two shots at the win on the game's final possession. Does not matter how good you are (unless you play in a crappy conference like Conference USA, Memphis), it is not easy to go on the road and win in conference play (KU will likely have its hands full with a Missouri team that lost last night to Iowa State this weekend. Just watch). Bottom line is that championship teams find a way to win these games, and UNC has done just that twice in a row. Tyler Hansbrough is so tough that, even if you do not like him cause you are a Duke fan, you have to admire this kid's game, and most specifically, his competitiveness and toughness. He is just a fantastic college player. And anyone that thinks he will not be a good pro because he is not tall enough is dead wrong. This kid will be drafted later than he should, and some team will be very, very happy they got him. UNC will be a very tough out in the ACC and, more importantly, in March.

In the Missouri Valley Conference, who thought the huge match-up this weekend would not involve Southern Illinios. Or Creighton. Or Bradley. No, instead the joint will be jumping in Des Moines on Saturday when the Redbirds of Illinois St (6-0 in the conference) come calling on the Drake Bulldogs (6-0 in MVC play). Drake was able to win on the road last night against always tough Bradley, despite playing without the leading scorer ion the conference, guard Josh Young. I guess Dr. Tom Davis' son actually learned how to coach from the old man.

Villanova looked like it was going to lose to the mighty Depaul Blue Demons for the second time in about two weeks but used a 15-0 second half spurt to salvage a regular season split with the boys from Chicago. Villanova is not looking great right now, and we need Rudofker to give us some insight on this squad as the head into the heart of conference play.

Back Friday with some discussion on the NFL Championship games this weekend.

Stitzer's Take: Book Review: "Nixon and Kissinger" by Robert Dallek

If you are looking for Win or Die Picks, they are listed in the post immediately below this one. As for this post, it is Mr. Stitzer's review of a book on Kissinger & Nixon that he just completed...as you would expect if you know Stitzer, it is a nice review of a book that many of us would not choose to read but that represents an important part in US history. Of course, Stitzer does not miss an opportunity to Hillary bash when he gets the chance! Enjoy...
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Having read Dallek’s last book, “JFK: an Unfinished Life,” and having thoroughly enjoyed both the writing style and the content, Dallek’s latest book quickly caught my eye. What appealed to me most was the title. I have refrained from reading a full blown biography on Nixon, as I have no desire to read hundreds of pages of Watergate minutia. And while the last few chapters of this book are rife with Watergate details, they are presented in context as to how the domestic nightmare of Watergate affected foreign policy. As each year passes us by, it is easier and easier to forget that Nixon’s 5.5 years in the White House were filled with foreign policy triumphs, disasters, questionable decisions, ridiculous decisions, and groundbreaking ventures. Nixon’s equal partner in USA foreign Policy was Henry Kissinger – a name that is probably unknown to most Americans born after 1975.

Dallek does a nice job on 2 chapters dedicated to the early lives and careers of RN & HK – not too in-depth, but enough to get a feel for who they were as people; what their strengths were & what their weaknesses were. Without giving away too much, what struck me right off the bat was how this was a marriage made in heaven & hell at the same time. From almost day 1 of his administration, RN made it clear to newly appointed National Security Council Chief Henry Kissinger “Foreign Policy will not come from State but from NSC – the White House will control it.” RN was a paranoid control freak – what President in their right mind would in essence turn his Secretary of State into a figurehead? The purpose of having an NSC is to have a balance against a State Department that could potentially run rampant. One of Ford’s first decisions was to name an NSC director as a counterweight against the Secretary of State he inherited – Kissinger (appointed to this position by RN early in his second term).

Dallek covers the ironies that RN, a GOP Congressman, Senator, VP, & ultimately President, who advanced his career by red-baiting Liberal and not-so-Liberal Democratic opponents into submission, did more than any post-WWII Prez to put the USA on friendly terms with the USSR & China (also not lost on Dallek were his observations, that as usual, the Conservatives stuck to their beliefs by condemning Nixon for this, and the Liberals, who care more about their party than their country, did not give RN credit, despite this policy of détente being in line with their core beliefs).

It seems amazing that only 35 years ago, that we had a Secretary of State that pretty much acted without Presidential directives to fly around the world and try to institute US Policy. As 1973 turned to 1974, and RN was subject to violent mood swings due to Watergate, HK was a one man band putting out fires in the Middle East, trying to ensure that N. Vietnam and the Viet Cong and Saigon honored the false peace, advancing relations with China, promoting SALT talks and summits with the Soviets, and attempting to keep a lid on US actions in Chile (some really good stuff in this book on Chile – do want to spoil it for you). HK’s successes conjured mixed emotions from RN – he was proud of what his administration was accomplishing, but his ego could not overcome that HK was receiving more praise from the Media (had RN listened to HIMSELF he would have understood that the Liberal Media was of course praising one of their own – a Harvard elitist – rather than the a GOP President).

Ultimately, Watergate brought the whole House of Cards down – and rightfully so. You had a President caught on tape directing the CIA to impede an FBI investigation and threatening to use the IRS to as a weapon to attack his enemies (at least Slick Willie was smart enough to not be caught on tape when he DID direct the IRS to attack his enemies). Dallek demonstrates that RN was so insecure & paranoid that he could not help himself by giving the OK for CREEP (committee to re-elect the president) to commit crimes to ensure a landslide victory in an election he was going to win anyway. RN’s justification that the Democrats stole the 1960 elections and wiretapped his 1968 campaign HQ does not hold water. The President cannot be an obstructor of justice (something we should all think about as the 2008 election approaches and one of the leading candidates committed acts that would have impeached a President 35 years ago – and the ultimate irony is that this 2008 candidate was a congressional assistant to the Rodino, the author of the articles of Nixon’s impeachment). The other argument that does not hold water is that RN was protecting those loyal to him. Presidents cannot afford to protect criminals, especially those undertaking illegal actions that were approved by the President.

The highlight of the book is Dallek’s writing. It is as if you are reading a really good fiction book. Unfortunately, especially as it related to Vietnam, this is anything but fiction.

Week 19 Win or Die Picks

We are starting the week with 17 picks remaining. Nobody picked the New England/Jacksonville game, and either 5 or 6 picked every other game. We will have at most 14 entries left after this week, as at least 3 will be knocked out. The only question that remains is which ones will survive. After last week, Stitzer decided to prognosticate who all the entries would pick. Out of the 16 entries that are not his, and he was a meager 9-7 on those picks. I guess the point is that this pool is still anythiing but predictable. Hopefully he is better at picking the games on the field.

Pick Breakdown:

Dallas 3
Green Bay 6
Indianapolis 5
NY Giants 2
San Diego 1

Individual Picks:

Chris Nangle 1 Green Bay
D Froney 1 Indianapolis
Dan/Steve Gold 6 Indianapolis
David Louis Stitzer Green Bay
Ed Ramirez 2 Green Bay
Eric Meyers 3 Indianapolis
Gary Jonas 1 Green Bay
Gregg 2 NY Giants
How Gldbrg..NOW BYRON NY Giants
Joe Pucillo 2 Dallas
M Lacrnza..NOW BYRON Dallas
May Lee 6 Indianapolis
Pierre Brown 1 Green Bay
Ray Attiyah 1 Dallas
Stuart Erickson 2 Green Bay
Todd & Regan 4 San Diego
WJO 4 Indianapolis

Columbia Professors Are Morons, Duke/Temple, UNC escape, Eric Gordon, Missouri Valley, Where Have You Gone?, Joe Gibbs, and Baseball Hall of Fame

On a non-sports note: did I read correctly that the liberal professors at Columbia University feel the need to send a delegation to Iran to apologize to their genocidal, insane president at how he was treated by the University's President on his visit in the fall. As John McEnroe would say, "you can't be serious!" What a bunch of weasels. It is behavior like this that threatens to force me to become a full-fledged Republican. YUCK!

I will be down at the Wachovia Center tonight as Duke will battle the hometown Owls. Duke will need to compensate for the loss of their only big man, as Brian Zoubek broke his foot for the second time in a matter of months and will be lost indefinitely (I cannot see him getting back and being effective this season). Duke's rotation, thought to be 11 deep at the beginning of the year, is now down to 8, 9 if you still hold out hope that David McClure can start logging meaningful minutes. And with no post presence, Duke will need to push pace and attack on both sides of the court even more than they have been early on this season.

The hoops game between UNC and Clemson on Sunday night showed that Clemson is a really good team that is unlikely to have a collapse similar to last year, when they missed the NCAA Tournament after starting the season 17-0. If they could have made a free throw here or there, they would have finished off the upset over the #1 team in the land. On the other hand, Carolina got little (compared to what they are used to) from Player of the Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson still struggled to hit jumpers consistently, and yet they still found a way to win on the road, in a very tough place to play, against a very good team. That is the mark of a team that has a very good chance to cut down the nets in April.

Speaking of Player of the Year candidates, Eric Gordon was unstoppable last night in the house next to the Big House. This kid is clearly one and done, and will be effective next year in the NBA. The only mystery is how brutal the Illinois fans will be when he visits Champaign later this season.

The conference that seems to me to have fallen the most over the past couple years is the Missouri Valley. This conference got I think 6 teams in the dance two years ago, and I would not be surprised if they were a one-bid league this year. The best team in this conference in the early going has been Drake, which has not played this well since the second best player from Overbrook high school, Lewis "Black Magic" Lloyd, ended up in Des Moines in the late '70s and early '80s. (I assume you know who Overbrook's best player was...) Besides Drake, Illinois State and Indiana State also sit atop the standings, with favorites Southern Illinois, Creighton, and Bradley all struggling mightily.

Joe Gibbs retired from the Redskins yesterday. This guy may not be able to draw up the X's and O's as well as he once did, but you would be hard pressed to find a better leader of men than Gibbs. After the Sean Taylor tragedy, and after Gibbs himself helped cost the 'Skins a game by calling back to back timeouts, he kept his team together and led them to four straight wins to close the year and make the playoffs. It was a remarkable feat, and Redskin fans will surely miss their idol, especially if Dan Snyder does not hire a strong personality, enabling Snyder to get more involved in football operations again.

Baseball had its Hall of Fame elections yesterday. Goose Gossage finally got a well deserved invitation to Cooperstown. I am still not sure why Jim Rice cannot find his way to the Hall. I am normally much tougher on criteria for enshrinement than most media members that vote (I typically would vote for 1-3 people while these media types often vote for 8-10), but to me Rice is a no brainer. I guess the media is still pissed that he was not the easiest to get along with in his playing days. Ridiculous.

My buddy Uncle Charley is obsessed with Kansas Head Football Coach Mark Mangino and chimed in that he "didn't know Tyvek made coaching pullovers", and when studying the Virginia Tech roster before they played, he noted Macho Harris and said "Mmmmm....Nacho Harris."

Week 18 Win or Die Picks

At least 2 people will bow out this week as we have people on both sides of the Seattle/Washington and Jacksonville/Pittsburgh games.

Pick Breakdown:

Jacksonville 1
Pittsburgh 1
San Diego 10
Seattle 6
Tampa Bay 1
Washington 1

Individual picks:

Angel Tampa Bay
Chris Nangle 1 Seattle
CP 2 Pittsburgh
D Froney 1 San Diego
Dan/Steve Gold 6 Seattle
David Louis Stitzer San Diego
Ed Ramirez 2 San Diego
Eric Meyers 3 San Diego
Gary Jonas 1 San Diego
Gregg 2 Seattle
How Goldberg…NOW BYRON Jacksonville
Joe Pucillo 2 San Diego
M Lacerenza…NOW BYRON San Diego
May Lee 6 Seattle
Pierre Brown 1 San Diego
Ray Attiyah 1 San Diego
Steven Immergut 1 Washington
Stuart Erickson 2 San Diego
Todd & Regan 4 Seattle
WJO 4 Seattle