A New Opportunity

I have been a little slow updating this and I apologize to loyal readers.  A few weeks ago, I accepted a position writing for KC Kingdom (kckingdom.com). It is a site dedicated to KC area sports, including the Royals, Chiefs, and Jayhawks - the topics I write the most about.   I was originally brought on a general staff writers, covering a multitude of topics, and I will still be doing that to a certain extent, but now I will be writing more about the Royals than anything else. 

I appreciate everyone who read my stuff on a regular basis.  It was because of your support that I have been given some opportunities to cultivate my writings skills to the point where I have been asked to write for bigger and bigger sites.  I ask that everyone follow me to KC Kingdom.  That site has a hard working staff that produces good work.  I appreciate your continued support and feel free to follow me on twitter for my posting updates.

I intend to to continue with Jaws Thoughts From The Recliner, when I have time to go see another movie.  I probably won't be posting much to this site, my original foray into the blogosphere.  There just won't be enough time.  If I have some random thoughts that don't fit into KC Kingdom's format, then I may pour those thoughts out here from time to time, but it won't be a regular thing.  Please continue to read  my stuff at kckingdom.com and jawsrecliner.com.

Thanks for reading...

Joel

Chiefs Ineptitude

I have been prepared to write this for a few weeks now but other things have pushed it to the back burner.  I am just going to knock this out and be done with the Chiefs for a couple of months.  This team has frustrated me to no end and I am ready for their season to be over.

The negatives on this team are seemingly infinite but there are four components that are the root cause to all else.  The first is ownership.  Long time legendary owner Lamar Hunt died in December, 2006.  In the six seasons since, Kansas City has won 4, 2, 4, 10, 7, and 2 games for a total of 29 wins against 65 losses (this doesn’t count the two more that are coming to end this season).  Clark Hunt has just run this franchise into the ground.  Even so, this organization has been going the wrong way for quite a while now.  The Chiefs only have four winning records in the last 15 seasons.  In that time, they have a record of 105-133 (44%).  They have won more than 9 only three times and more than 10 just once in the last decade and a half.  And there have been zero playoff wins.  While the Chiefs weren’t tearing up the league in Lamar Hunt’s final years, it is much worse now with the team only winning 31% of their games since his passing.  That is flat out not acceptable, especially when the team is reportedly well under the salary cap.  Where is that extra money going???

I think we can all agree Scot Pioli has been a total and utter failure ass the General Manager of the Chiefs.  I admit to being excited when he was hired but he hitched his horse to Matt Cassel as his guy at quarterback, his new Tom Brady.  The “Patriot Way” certainly works better if you have the real Tom Brady.  Pioli’s biggest failings stem from Cassel not being even close to Brady in talent and Pioli’s lack of admission of this simple fact.  Pioli has also failed twice in hiring head coaches. 

Pioli has also been a horrible talent evaluator and has not build up good NFL-talent level back-ups.  Injuries have crushed his teams.  Injuries are part of the game and that is why depth is so important.  The guys backing up the starters in a lot of the positions are not good players.  I am still befuddled by the fact KC entered the season with no one with experience at center on the roster to back up Rodney Hudson.  Ryan Lilja, who had never played center in the NFL has had to play center for most of the season.  He has struggled mightily at times just getting the ball snapped in a timely and accurate fashion.  I don’t blame him.  He was set up to fail.  As I watched the corps of wide receivers the Chiefs ran out onto the field against the Raiders, I am convinced Pioli isn’t even trying.  His eschewing Brandon Carr in the off season and offering a big contract to Stanford Routt, who couldn’t even last the season with this lackluster team, is proof enough of Pioli’s incompetence.  Of course, this is just highlighted by the quarterback position.

The next complete failure of this team is the Head Coach and his staff.  I know this stems from Pioli’s failure but these guys look like they have just given up.  The team doesn’t look disciplined or well drilled.  The offensive and defensive game plans look vanilla and uninspired.  This whole mess with Steve Breaston is just plain ridiculous.  He is by far the most accomplished wide receiver on the roster with Bowe hurt.  The fact he has not been active the last several weeks is just mind blowing.  Also, I have been disappointed in the lack of improvement from the defensive backs as a unit and individually.  I think we can all agree it is time for Crennel and his whole staff just to disappear, the sooner the better. 

Finally, the quarterback position has been awful.  I think Cassel and Brady Quinn would be serviceable back-ups but they are obviously not starting NFL quarterbacks.  You can’t really blame the players.  I think both of these guys are gutsy, tough guys who want to succeed but just aren’t starting caliber signal callers.  The fact that Pioli/Haley/Crennel couldn’t recognize this fact is why their teams have been so terrible.  There hasn’t even been an effort to upgrade the position in the present GM regime.  Every single person who knows anything about the game of football knows that it is very difficult to win consistently without good play from the quarterback position.  Teams have to always be thinking of the future of that position for their organization and the Chiefs just haven’t done that.

That is enough of the negative.  Those topics have been covered pretty well.  Heck, I called for Pioli and Crennel to be fired after the first loss to Oakland weeks ago.  It is only fair to mention some positives.  There have been a handful of good performances from this squad.

Derrick Johnson, Jamaal Charles, and Justin Houston all played very well.  These three guys have shown heart and toughness throughout the season.  I think rookie offensive linemen Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson appear to be legitimate NFL linemen.  They have had games in which they haven’t looked good but I see enough from them to feel good they can be part of the future.  I also saw some things from Dontari Poe that indicates he can develop into a good starting defensive tackle.  He seldom gets enough push to disrupt the pocket and needs to do a better job clogging the middle on runs but he has improved as the season has progress and with more experience, one can certainly see he could end up being very good.  Late in the season, I even saw some improvement from Tyson Jackson – finally.  It is probably too little, too late but it was nice to at last see him make some plays on the field.    I think the defensive line is unquestioningly better than it was a year ago but still has a long way to go to be a solid unit.

That’s about it.  I can’t think of a single position other than those above in which I wasn’t disappointed.  Lack of improvement or plain lack of talent seemed to be the theme under the present regime.  What is sad for Chiefs fans is that is going to take time to right this ship.  It really bugs me that Kansas City stills employs Pioli and Crennel.  Hunt needs to be proactive and just let these guys go.  The longer he delays, the more he alienates fans.  The fans of this once proud franchise deserve better and they deserve it sooner rather than later.  Hunt needs to fire these guys and shoot for the moon with his next hire and that person needs to shoot for the moon when hiring a new head coach.  It has been a long season, a long six years, and it has stretched into a long 15 years.  It is time for Clark Hunt to give a little back to the city of Kansas City and give us a winner.

Catch movie and TV reviews at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com  and follow me on twitter @jawsrecliner.  Thanks for reading.

An Empty Glass

I was all prepared to write up an article about how the Kansas City Royals made out at the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville this week.  I was ready to praise Dayton Moore for pulling off exactly the right move and I was equally prepared to blast the sometimes panicky General Manager for giving up too much for too little.  This article is going to unfold much differently than I had planned.

Let me start off with saying it was really nice to actually be in the discussions during the Hot Stove season.  Year after year, I watch the pinnacle of the Hot Stove season with interest only as a fan in general.  The Royals seldom participate in this annual extravaganza in any tangible manner.   Not so this year as rumor after rumor shot through the world wide web, keeping me checking my twitter page for days.  The rumor mill had been churning out possibilities for weeks leading up to the Winter Meetings and everyone knew the Royals were ready to make a big splash.  MLB Network and ESPN talking heads were all reporting that Kansas City was going to be a big player during these Winter Meetings because of their dearth of starting pitching and their perceived plethora of young bats, including the top hitting prospect in all of baseball.  

The biggest fear for me was that General Manager Dayton Moore would trade a key piece of a below average offense to fill a spot in a horrible rotation.  Worse, that he would trade a guy who could possibly hit 30+ homeruns for several years for the services of a good pitcher for just two years.  I am not saying there isn’t a situation where that might not be a good thing but it has to be the right deal.  I am tired of the Royals always promising they will be better next year.  I want them to win this year.  When is the vaunted Process going to pay dividends?

As it turned out, all those exciting rumors amounted to nothing.  Whispers in the wind, if you will.  Despite reassurances from all the talking heads, the Royals talked a big game but, as usual, didn’t deliver.  They didn’t even add anyone via the Rule 5 draft.  The Winter Meetings as a whole turned out rather uneventful, for the Royals specifically and most teams in general, other than maybe the Giants and Red Sox.

So yesterday, the post meeting hangover set in.  Dayton Moore was flying home and it didn’t look like there was going to be any excitement.  Then – BANG.  Bob Dutton from the Kansas City Star dropped a bomb on all of us die hard Royals’ fans.  A few weeks ago, Royals’ owner David Glass talked to certain media members and declared that basically the Royals can’t be profitable if their payroll is over $70 million dollars a year and that he had subsidized MLB payroll out of his own pocket several times over the years.  Every person who could type and post on the internet, some of them very respected baseball people, disclaimed this statement as a blatant falsehood.  Even Forbes magazine provided numbers much differently.

Instead of a soft cap of $70 million to work with, the Royals, according to Dutton’s article yesterday afternoon, provided by Royals’ officials, the Royals’ breakeven point was closer to $60 million because the $70 million included the 40-man roster, draft signings, and international signings, and that Kansas City was already over budget for its payroll for 2013.  Twitter blew up.  Radios exploded.  There was cyber chaos everywhere in the Kansas City Metro area.  David Glass, whom many already believed was lying before, now jumped up into Richard M. Nixon and Pinocchio levels in the pantheon of liars.  No one I read or listened to believed these numbers were anywhere near accurate.

Then the “Oops, my bad.”  Dutton retracted his article.  Some Royals official had given him the wrong data or something.  Whatever, but the number is still supposedly $70 million for the 35-man roster.  While everyone has recovered and calmed down, no one is buying that figure either.  Glass and other club officials claim he has not pocketed a dime from the Royals.  Forbes reported otherwise, claiming Glass has reaped profit to the tune of approximately $100 million since 2000.  That is a big disparity.  Let’s not forget that Glass bought the Royals for less than $100 million and it is now valued, according to Forbes, at more than $350 million.  I dare say, Mr. Glass, that is a tidy profit. 

With all the money that is pouring into the coffers via television contracts, which will increase dramatically in 2014, and other league generated shared revenues, plus the increased revenue from rising attendance, I can see no reason the Royals can’t have a payroll of around $90 million this year and $110 million in 2014.  Guys a lot smarter than I (check out ranyontheroyals.com for a very good financial breakdown for the Royals) have done the math and I can see nothing to dispute their numbers.  It is time, Mr. Glass, to piss or get the hell off the pot.  Help us field a winning team or sell it and take your quarter of a billion dollar profit and return to Arkansas.  

I wish there was a way we could see exactly what the numbers are.  I wish the teams that are playing in county or state funded stadiums had to provide financial statements to the public.  There needs to be a show of good faith.  Right now, there is no faith in David Glass as owner of the Kansas City Royals.  Few people believe his statements about the financial situation.  We as fans are tired of the constant losing and penny pinching.  Either loosen the purse strings or you may witness an empty, cavernous stadium this summer.  Well, you won’t witness it.  You’ll be safely tucked away in Arkansas or in your bigger-than-Rhode Island compound in Wyoming or Montana or wherever the heck it is, counting your money like King Midas.

Glass has never had an accurate reading of the pulse of the KC fans and he better have a thick skin if he doesn’t provide extra dollars this off season.  It is getting harder and harder to be a Royals fan.  I am tired of the heart break.  I love baseball and I love the Royals but I am close to giving up.  It’s up to you, Mr. Glass.  At least show us some effort.  I am begging you.

Check out my list of all-time favorite TV dramas at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and thanks for reading.

ROYAL CANDIDATES

It is sign that the process is finally starting to show results.  Dayton Moore has verbally pounded us for six years, telling us to be patient.  If Royals stick to the process, eventually the process will net real results on the field.  Finally, we are seeing those results.  For the first time in many, many years, the Kansas City Royals have some actual, real, legitimate candidates for the Major League Baseball All Star game in Kaufman Stadium on July 10^th. 

The most deserving Royal, taking positions into account, in my opinion, is Mike Moustakas.  The 22-year old has been a consistent producer at the plate all season and his defense has been much better than anticipated.  Moose has 13 home runs, over 60 runs produced, and a .842 OPS.  Moustakas is in the top 5 among AL third basemen in numerous offensive categories.  The biggest problem for Moose is that there are two of the best offensive players in the American League playing third base.  Either Adrian Beltre or Miguel Cabrera will certainly be voted in as a starter and the other is certainly deserving of an all star roster spot.  Will Ron Washington choose to go with 3 players from the hot corner?  Royals fans have to hope so because that may be Moustakas’ only chance to make the team.

The second most deserving Royal is DH Billy Butler.  Unfortunately for Country Breakfast, David Ortiz is going to be the AL’s starting DH for the Midsummer Classic (on a side note, the Red Sox don’t deserve to send more players than Ortiz to the game).  On top of Ortiz being a lock, Chicago’s Adam Dunn has bounced back with 24 home runs in 2012 and could gain a manager’s selection and Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion has had a terrific year for the Blue Jays.  Either of the players could snag the back up DH spot on the All Star roster.  Butler has 15 dingers, nearly 60 runs produced, and he sports a .868 OPS.  Butler is deserving but may lose out to either Dunn or Encarnacion.

This leaves shortstop Alcides Escobar.  Escobar is a spectacular fielder and this year he has added a valuable bat to his repertoire.  He is hitting a surprising .315 with 12 steals.  He only has 2 home runs but add in 2 triples and 19 doubles to complete his All Star resume.  Outside Derek Jeter, no shortstop has had a better all around season than Escobar.  It is because of this lack of league wide position depth that leads me to believe Escobar may be able to sneak onto the roster. 

A case could also be made for Tim Collins but for the first time in a long, long time, Kansas City has legitimate choices at several positions.  Usually, teams who have to be represented by someone and have few candidates end up sending their best bullpen performer.  This is the position the Royals have been in for years.  Maybe this year, we will get to see more than one Royal in the All Star game.  It would be a great reward for all of us fans who have suffered through all the losing.  Hopefully on July 10^th, there will be couple of boys in blue representing the Royals in Kaufman Stadium.

Before closing out, it is an interesting note that Billy Butler has publicly mentioned his desire to participate in the Home Run Derby.  Because of the Yankees and Rangers filling out a majority of starting spots, there may be a trickle down effect for players like Moustakas, Butler, and Escobar.  This situation could curtail any chances they had at being selected.  A solution may be to reward Billy Butler with a spot in the Derby instead.  As a Royal fan, this would be a great reward to have our home town guy on the spotlight.  

Check out my movie and TV review blog at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and get twitter updates @jawsrecliner

Thank You, I'll Have Another

I am by no means a horse racing fan.  I enjoy a good horse racing movie just like the next guy.  I grew up on a farm and always had quite a few cattle around at all times but I was never much of a horseman.  I always preferred the 3-wheeler instead as my mode of transportation when herding the cattle from place to place.  

I just happened to be at my parents' house yesterday.  My mom likes to watch the Triple Crown races so the Preakness Stakes were on.  I had seen the replays of the Kentucky Derby and was impressed by the winner, I'll Have Another.  It was quite the story.  The horse was buried in 6th or 7th most of the race then charged by the pack, including the favored Bodemeister down the stretch.  Bodemeister obviously ran out of gas (oats?) at the end of the Derby.  Throw in a first time winning trainer and owner, plus a no-name jockey and the story almost becomes Hollywood worthy.

Going into the Preakness Stakes, Bodemeister was again the favorite but I'll Have Another really jumped up the boards at 3:1 odds.  Everyone was wondering if the first race was a fluke.

This race was very similar to the first.  Bodemeister ran ahead of the pack almost from the get go and he looked stronger than 2 weeks ago.  I'll Have Another was back a bit but not as buried as in the Derby.  With maybe 300 yards to go, it looked like Bodemeister was going to win the thing easily.  He had a good lead and was running strong.  If you watch the video, you can actually pinpoint the moment I'll Have Another kicked it into high gear.  He blew by the horse who was running second like that horse was running on a tread mill.  It was amazing how fast I'll Have Another closed the gap on Bodemeister.  As they drew even, you can actually see I'll Have Another lunging his nose further forward than his rival horse.  You read about horses having heart and you see it in the movies but I personally had never seen it in horse race - until yesterday.  I'll Have Another was like any human athlete who wanted it more than their opponent.  The effort that horse put forth and the speed in which it displayed those last 300 yards was very exciting to witness.

I've watched the videos of both races a few times now and they both impress me every time.  I have become a fan of I'll Have Another and I will be cheering him on to complete the elusive Triple Crown.

Check out my movie blog at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and get twitter updates @jawsrecliner

Kansas City Fool's Gold

When have we seen enough?  How many times can a pitcher utterly fail?  How many times will a team run a guy out and leave your team with little chance of winning?  I guess if you run a small market baseball team and drafted a guy first overall, the answer is indefinitely.

Luke Hochevar has over 600 career innings and over 100 career starts.  Not counting 4 appearances in 2007, Hochevar is in his fifth full season.  His lowest ERA is 4.68 and only once has his WHIP been below 1.427.  Because of a nice second half last season, he had a career low WHIP of 1.283.  It turned out to be fool’s gold.

He looked to have finally turned a corner last season.  In the second half, he turned in a respectable 3.52 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, and 7.7 K/9ip.  Expectations were high in 2012 for the former number one overall draft pick.  Fantasy experts were listing him as a big sleeper and the Royals were looking for him to prove that their infinite patience in him was justified.  Many, including myself, really thought maybe the light bulb had finally clicked on.  Unfortunately, it had not.

In six starts, Hochevar has only thrown 28 innings and is supporting a downright ugly 9.00 ERA.  In the past, he has shown a penchant for looking brilliant for 3, 4 , sometimes 5 innings then he just loses it completely, allowing fists full of runs.  This year, those innings have been early in the game, crippling the bullpen.  He hasn’t been walking an inordinate number of batters but has been getting hammered.  He has allowed 39 hits in 28 innings.  He is pounding the middle of the strike zone, never an ideal place to be against major league batters.  Check out this graph of his pitch location from texasleaguers.com.

Note the cluster of strikes in what is the general wheelhouse of most big leagues.  Throwing strikes is great but you can’t just throw it down the middle.  If a guy hasn’t learned this little tidbit after 600 innings, I doubt he will ever will.

So, what should the Royals do with this albatross?  Kansas City suffers from a horrible lack of even mediocre depth in their rotation.  Now, with Jonathan Sanchez (another apparent mistake and another article all together) on the DL, it appears the Royals won’t be able to do anything with Hochevar until Sanchez returns, and even then it is doubtful KC can come up with another starter.  Fourteen months ago, the Royals had 5 top pitching prospects but only Danny Duffy has really started to pitch to his potential.  There is no immediate help in the minors.  I would suggest that as soon as Sanchez comes back, they should send Aaron Crow to AAA and begin to stretch him out a bit.  Let him rejoin the club when he as built up some stamina and push Hochevar to the pen.  Hochevar has shown superlative stuff in the past, albeit in small doses.  He wouldn’t be the first pitcher ever to go to the bullpen and discover how to pitch.  Maybe he can learn to at least be a decent contributor to the team.

Who knows if the Royals will do anything in the near future.  Maybe Hochevar can turn it around in his next few starts.  Again, anyone, including Dayton Moore, who believes that will happen, is just fooling himself.  I don’t think I would ever trust him to be a reliable cog for my team again.  Considering the Royals ran Kyle Davies out to the mound for several years doesn’t lead me to believe they will do anything with Hochevar either.  If nothing else, the Royals have proved to be slow learners themselves. 

My thanks to baseball-reference.com and texasleaguers.com for their stats and pitch data.

The Crazy College Football Rumor Mill

Here in the great Midwest, crazy rumors have been circulating.  Over the past few days, the unsubstantiated gossip was gaining momentum.  What was the wacky hearsay - that Clemson and Florida State were leaving the ACC to join the Big XII. 

Now while I love the Big XII, I have a really, really hard time believing these two schools EVER seriously considered jumping conference ships.  While the rumor mill was churning out tidbits of speculation at its maximum capacity, I heard plenty of arguments from numerous talking head "experts" about why or why not these rumors could be true.  The two that grabbed my attention the most were both against the move.  Geographically, it just doesn't make sense.  I'm just not sure what the benefits would be for Clemson and Florida St. other than opening up Texas a little more for recruiting purposes.  The other reason, while not very glamorous, is that the ACC is a much better academic conference.  According to the U.S. and World New Report list of best academic schools, the ACC's average ranking for its members is 43rd and the Big XII is 106th (I think).  That is a HUGE difference.  While some may scoff that conference realignment has nothing to do with what happens in the classroom, I think this is short sighted.  Some conferences do stress academics more than others.  The ACC is one that does.  West Virginia was supposedly spurned by the ACC for this reason but the Big XII couldn't snap the Mountaineers up more quickly. 

Now with the ACC's new ESPN contract signed, sealed, and delivered, I hope these ridiculous rumors will disappear quickly.  It is amazing what can be expounded on the internet and how quickly it can spread.  While I would be interested to know if there was even a tiny bit of truth to this story, we will probably never know and I for one could live without knowing or hearing about it again.  I just wondered when the next crazy rumor will start making its rounds.

Check out small market baseball news at bigbrotherbaseballproject.blogspot.com and get movie and TV reviews at jawsrecliner,blogspot.com and follow me on twitter @jawsrecliner

Missed Opportunities for the Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks had a terrific season.  I think they were ranked high in the preseason polls and picked to win the Big XII due more to their reputations and history rather than true talent.  Yet, the Jayhawks played to their ranking and preseason predictions.  They won their 8^th straight conference title and were ranked in the top 10 for most of the season.  They earned a number 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  While these accomplishments don’t seem like a surprise, I have to honestly admit they really exceeded my true expectations.

KU featured a fine starting five and a very thin bench.  When the season started, Tyshawn Taylor had more career minutes played than all of his teammates combined at Kansas.  Jayhawk fans are used to a solid rotation of 8 or 9 almost every season.  This team played its bench only when it was necessary.  Yet, they found a way to succeed and play to the seemingly unrealistic preseason predictions.  Mirroring the toughness of their head coach, Bill Self, Kansas fought and scraped their way to success.  Few games were easy or runaways and the Jayhawks seemed to be playing from behind much of the season.  They found a way to win game after game. 

The NCAA Tournament followed the established pattern for the Jayhawks.  They didn’t play well in the first halves and those kids were able to turn things around in the second halves, making furious comebacks in several postseason games.  Even in the championship game, the Jayhawks struggled early and found themselves digging themselves out of a hole late.

Kentucky is a fine team.  There has been little doubt the Wildcats were the best team throughout a down year in college basketball.  They were young but talented and athletic.  Coach John Calipari got them to buy into his system and to play defense, a deathly combination for the opposition.

There is no doubt Kentucky was more talented and athletic, player for player, than Kansas.  The Wildcats dominated the first half and it was all the Jayhawks could do not to be blown out and embarrassed.  KU popped out of the locker room after the half just as they did several other games.  Kansas made a couple of shots and made a couple of defensive stops.  In my opinion, the key play of the game was when Jeff Withey failed to get an easy dunk through the cords early in the second half.  KU had cut into the lead and their fans were just starting to feel the momentum swing.  If that dunk goes down, who knows if the outcome would have been different.  So much happened after that play.  Immediately though, UK scored a basket and snuffed the Jayhawks’ growing momentum.  I want to make it clear that I am not blaming Withey for this loss.  Without him, KU would never have been even close to the championship game.  It just happened to be his missed dunk that I felt was the key.

From that point, KU ever so slowly scraped their way back into the game but never really gained that feeling of momentum.  The Wildcats seemed to be on the verge of allowing the Jayhawks back into the game mentally but with that failed dunk, Kansas seemed to lose a little something.  They eventually cut their deficit to 5 points but never closer.  UK kept them at arms length and eventually outlasted the comeback.

But that missed dunk wasn’t the only missed opportunity for the Jayhawks.  KU missed 3 dunks and 13 lay-ups through the course of the game.  The fantastic Anthony Davis had a lot to do with Kansas’ tightness around the rim.  Still, KU only lost by 8 points.  If KU had cashed in on just a few of those missed chances, things could have been much different.  Make the dunks (the highest percentage shot possible) and just a couple of the missed bunnies, then maybe there would have been a different result in the outcome.

It is futile to play the “what if” game.  It serves no purpose and it does take away from a great performance by the Wildcats.  I mention these key blown opportunities because it shows that the game wasn’t that far from having a different result. 

I heard a talking head yesterday speaking about how this only proves that Kentucky is the best program and how John Calipari is by far the best coach in college basketball.  All of his arguments sounded pre-written.  I think if KU would have won, this guy would have just replaced Kentucky with Kansas and John Calipari with Bill Self.  His arguments would have held weight for whichever school and coach, depending on who won the game.  He went on and on about now it wasn’t even close to which school and coach was best.  He said no one could argue the point anymore.  My point is that the discussion is still closer than this guy wanted to admit.  Three dunks and a couple of lay ups and who knows.  Kentucky had a fine season and played a heck of a championship game and they deserved the title but KU wasn’t that far behind.

Bill Self proved that he must be counted among the game’s finest coaches.  He has shown in the past that he is a top notch recruiter and has been able to get top players to adhere to his system.  He proved this season he could coach a team with less talent but with huge hearts and still win.  Coach Self and this team should be very proud of their season and the final results.  I know the fans are.  The worst thing is that we now have to wait seven months for the next edition of the Kansas Jayhawks.

Read my movie and TV reviews at jawsrecliner.com.  Catch up on small market baseball news at bigbrotherbaseballproject.com.  Get twitter updates @jawsrecliner

Signings for the Future

The Royals’ General Manage Dayton Moore seems to be taking a page out of John Hart’s General Managing handbook.  Hart, of course, was the GM for the Cleveland Indians in the 1990’s.  Hart found himself loaded with a stable of young stud players such as Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Jim Thome, Omar Vizuel, and Albert Belle, just to name a few.  Hart aggressively signed his young players to early, long term contracts, locking them up and buying out their arbitration years.  The Indians were very successful and these players made the Indians an AL powerhouse in the 90’s.

Dayton Moore has spent much of this spring locking up some of his younger players to long term contracts.  Moore started off by signing 21-year old catching phenom Salavador Perez to a club friendly, 5 years, $7 million deal, plus club options for 3 more years and up to nearly $20 million more.  The Royals are forecasting Perez to be an above average MLB catcher and were willing to buy out his arbitration years at slightly below market value.  If Perez proves to be a catching stud muffin, the Royals will be able to lock him up for 3 more years at below market value.  Of course, Perez promptly went down with a torn meniscus, which will set back his development 3 months.  Still, Moore’s thinking was sound.

Next, the Royals bought shortstop Alcides Escobar out of his arbitration years with a 4-year, $10 million signing.  In addition, the Royals hold two options years for an extra combined $11.75 million.  Escobar may never be a great hitter but he is so incredible with his glove.  The Royals have NEVER had a shortstop with the defensive skills of Escobar.  I love watching this dude with the leather.  He makes the routine plays and he makes the fantastic plays.  His range is terrific in every direction and he has a rocket launcher for an arm.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Escobar eventually develops into a guy who can consistently hit around .275 with 10-12 home runs.  He has the speed to swipe 25-30 bases a year as well.  Make no mistake though; this contract for his defense.  The Royals again guaranteed long term money in exchange for locking up a top notch defensive player through the arbitration years and if Escobar can improve his overall hitting, Kansas City will have a terrific shortstop below market value through 2017.

This last week, Moore finally locked down Alex Gordon.  Gordon was drafted second overall in 2005 and was immediately (unfairly) crowned the savior of the organization.  After ripping through minor league pitching, Alex Gordon struggled in the majors with both poor performances and injuries.  At times, he looked like a colossal bust.  In 2011, he finally broke out, hitting .303 with 23 homers and 87 RBI and winning a Gold Glove in left field.  Gordon finally showed the talent that made him a top two draft pick.  Moore signed Gordon to a 4-year, $37.5 million deal, with a player option for a 5^th year for an additional $12.5 million.  This signing was as much of a public relations coup as anything else.  Fans wanted Alex Gordon signed long term.  The Royals went out on a limb with Gordon because he has only had one very good year.  Now he is locked up for 4 years. If he performs as he did in 2011, this contract pays Gordon fair market value.  If Gordon falters, Moore and the Royals may regret this deal.

What is important to the long suffering fans of the Royals, who have watched the team ship off their best players year after year with poor returns, is that Kansas City is putting forth the effort and money to lock these players up long term.  Another star, Billy Butler, was extended in 2011 and he is locked up through 2014, with a club option for 2015.  Young stars like Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakus have just finished their rookie seasons and are under team control for 5 years.  Dayton Moore has a core set of players he can build upon.  By signing these longer contracts, he is trying to fray the costs down the road.  It will be difficult for Kansas City to ever have a $100 million payroll, so taking a few chances on some players now can only be a good thing.  Even if some of these players do not pan out completely, these contracts are not going to be crippling.  The Royals want to try to keep some long term cash in reserve in case Hosmer and Moustakus turn into the players the organization hope they can.  I am sure Moore is making an effort to lock up Hosmer as well, but signing a guy of that caliber of talent will not be easy. 

It is a delicate balance for small markets teams to lock up cash for long periods of time and to be competitive.  Teams like the Royals have a hard time convincing stars to sign with their team and coming up with enough money.  Small market teams have to develop their own players and find a way to keep them long term.  Two decades ago, John Hart made up the blueprints; Dayton Moore is trying to copy his results.  Hopefully, he can add a World Series Championship that eluded Hart and the Indians.

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KC's Eternally Springing Hope

At one point, the Kansas City Royals was baseball’s model expansion franchise.  They won their first division title in their eighth year in 1976.  From 1976-1981, the Royals won 5 divisional titles in six years (in the strike split 1981 season, KC won one half of the season and the A’s won the other half – the A’s won a divisional playoff series).  The Royals played in their first World Series in 1980, their 12^th season, and won in 1985.  From 1976-1985, Kansas City was one of the winningest teams in baseball.

There is a perception that the Royals have been terrible since 1985.  That’s not quite true.  From 1986-1994, Kansas City finished over .500 in 6 of those nine seasons, never winning fewer than 72 games.  Since 1995 however, the Royals have been one of the worst franchises in baseball, only finishing above .500 one time (2003).  This time period coincides directly with the time frame in which the Glass family took over the franchise.  They have treated it like their own personal giant, box, discount, retail outlet.  They throw a shoddy product out for consumption and laugh all the way to the bank.  I will never be convinced the Glass family has ever lost so much as a penny on the Kansas City Royals.

In 2006, the Glasses finally did something right.  They hired the hot commodity general manager candidate, Dayton Moore.  Moore was a childhood Royals fan and cut his teeth in the Braves organization.  Moore took the job with the caveat that he would get extended funds to correctly develop and build success from within.  The Royals increased the scouting development and budget and expanded their almost non-existent presence in Latin America.  Money was freed up for draft picks.  The foundation was finally being laid. 

It has been a painful process because, as the minor leagues have set a strong foundation, the structure at the top has been a flimsy, straw shack.  As successful as Moore has been in building up the minor league system, the product he has fielded on the major league level has not been good.  He tried to get things done by bringing in Gil Meche (who was a good signing until Trey Hillman destroyed his arm) and he brought in the only run producer Moore could convince (bribe) to sign in KC, Jose Guillen.  Guillen actually produced some much needed power in his 2-plus seasons but he carried so much baggage, it was hardly noticeable.  Moore also made some inexplicable trades to acquire Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs, and had some head scratching signings like Scott Podsednik and Jason Kendall.  None of these grasped straws worked out.

Finally, the 2011 season arrives.  Moore went out on a limb again and pulled Jeff Franceour and Melky Cabrera off the scrap heap.  Each showed why they had been top prospects earlier in their careers, producing good numbers all season.  Alex Gordon looked to have finally lived up to his promise.  Billy Butler, after a somewhat slow first half, recovered to be his steady self.  Best of all, we finally started to see some of the fruits of the vaunted “Process”.  Some of the top prospects from their highly praised minor league system began to make their way to Kansas City.  Several pitchers, namely Aaron Crow, Greg Holland, Louis Coleman, Danny Duffy, and Tim Collins appeared early and all made some sort of splash.  Top hitters Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakus made the jump.  Salvador Perez and Johnny Giavotella join in.  This is a huge infusion of youth.  Not all of these kids were successful right away.  Moustakus and Giavotella both struggled, although Moose hit very well over the last six weeks.  Duffy struggled with his control nearly every outing.  All showed hints of great promise but when this many kids make their debut in one season, failure and growing pains are part of the deal.

So what does this mean for the 2012 campaign?  In my opinion, the Royals failed to improve their rotation enough to challenge the Tigers.  It is not realistic to expect every one of those rookies from 2011 to take a big step forward.  There are still going to be some serious growing pains.  My guess is that this team will be extremely streaky throughout the year as these young players grow and adjust. 

Those things aside, I think the AL Central is going to be weak this season.  Other than the Tigers, the other four teams are in some degree of rebuilding.  I like what the Royals are doing the most.  I like their young players better than any other teams’.  Of course, I am a serious “homer”.  I can see this club approaching 80 wins, which is probably good for second place.  It is also possible for everything to fall apart because this is after all, the Royals. Twenty-five years of failure can drain optimism out of a person.

The funny thing is, I think the Royals are going to approach .500.  I think there will be more good than bad from these young fellows.  The fact that over 60 players were in Surprise, Arizona working out, hitting, fielding, and throwing three weeks early is a really positive thing.  These young Royals are actually used to winning.  In each of the past four seasons, the Royals have had the team with the highest winning percentage in all of the minor leagues in their organization.  These young Turks have come up through the system together, winning games.  No one has ever been able to prove the value of chemistry on winning baseball games but I can’t think it hurts.  This team has great camaraderie.  They know each; they get along; the have fun together.  They are hungry to give us long suffering Royals fans something to cheer about.  I am going to watch this bunch and I have every confidence that, despite growing pains, this team is going to win some games.  They are going to be fun to watch.  They are going to give us some reason to actually believe success for our team is getting very close.  If we get some miracle growth and development from the rotation, maybe the Royals can be the talk of baseball in September.  Maybe it is safe to dream once again…

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The End of a Rivalry

If a rivalry has to end, I guess it should end like this one.  This Saturday, Missouri will visit Phog Allen Fieldhouse for the last time, at least for the immediate future.  The atmosphere in the Phog should be spectacular from start to finish and it should be a fitting end to the 104-year old hoops rivalry.

What is so great about this final regular season match-up is that there is a lot riding on the outcome.  A Kansas win will guarantee the Jayhawks at least a share of the Big XII basketball championship for the eighth straight season.  A Missouri win will put the Tigers in a position to share the conference championship or to win it outright, in their last season.  If they beat the Jayhawks for the second time this season, they will be the number one seed in the Big XII tournament if they tie for the title.  On top of everything else, the winner has a great shot at being named a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Missouri would love to win the Big XII as a final raspberry as they exit the league and to knock off KU at the Phog, where KU has won something like 89 of their last 90 home games.  Nothing pleases the Tiger fans more than beating the Jayhawks, and vice versa.  Even though Kansas holds a gigantic advantage in the series, the rivalry certainly seems closer than the 171-95 head-to-head record would indicate.  As a Jayhawk fan, it seems like every time KU has been highly rated and played Missouri, especially in Columbia, the Tigers have ripped out our hearts.  Without looking up the results of every match-up, it seems to me that players like Steve Stipanovich, Jon Sundvold, Derrick Chevious, Doug Smith, Anthony Peeler, Linus Kleiza, and Marcus Denmon (plus many others) all played their very best against Kansas.  Anything can happen in this rivalry, including a massive melee in 1961 where punches were thrown and fans dove into the scrum.  Even the women’s teams have been known to mix it up at times. 

As fans of sports, rivalries such as these are what keep us going.  It gives us things to discuss and to look forward to.  We love these games.  We love to beat our rivals and we are loathe to lose to them.  There are few rivalries more passionate than this in all of sports.  The rivalry is bound in historic dimensions, going back to the 1850’s, when Jayhawkers from Kansas and bushwhackers from Missouri raided across the Missouri River to burn and pillage.  It is hard to compare to that.  Even their football programs, each historically mediocre at best, are nearly neck in neck, with the Tigers holding a slim lead in the series, 57-54-9, and even one of those wins is disputed by both schools. 

Now the rivalry is coming to an end.  Missouri has decided, with all of its higher educated wisdom, to abandon the Big XII for the proverbial greener grass of the SEC.  Only time will tell but it is my opinion that Missouri will quickly become a bottom half football program in the SEC, which is sad because the Tigers have worked hard to gain respectability on a yearly basis in the Big XII.  In basketball, Missouri could work up to a top half program but is all that worth throwing away so much history?  I certainly don’t think so. 

Regardless of my opinion on Missouri leaving the conference, I will miss the yearly match-ups.  Even if they powers that be eventually agree to a yearly renewal of this great rivalry, it will be watered down.  It won’t mean as much as the conference battles and if it is in neutral Kansas City, and not on the campuses, it will be diluted even more.  If those games are ever scheduled in the future, I am just having a hard time believing the games will be filled with the same passion. 

Of course, this may not be the last game between the teams this season.  They are the cream of the crop in the Big XII and could easily meet in the tournament championship game.  They will both be seeded one or two in the NCAA tournament; wouldn’t it be awesome if they met in the Final Four!

Regardless if they meet each other at some point in the post season or if they ever play each other again, this Saturday is going to be special.  I will cheer the Jayhawks on with all my heart.  I will yell and complain and verbally cajole my team on from opening tip to final buzzer.  I will groan and sulk at every call that goes against the Jayhawks.  I am going to revel in every moment.  I am going celebrate a victory or bemoan a loss but either way, it’s going to be a great day.  No matter how the game unfolds, it’s a great way to end a great rivalry.  My only regret is that it is over.

(Note - The final regular season game between these great rivals didn't disappoint.  KU came back from a 19 point, second half deficit to win in overtime, 87-86.  It was a fitting end to the 8th most played basketball series in college basketball history.  Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

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The Jayhawks' Down Year

I have always admired Bill Self and I consider him a great college basketball coach.  We all know he is a terrific recruiter and one of the best coaches roaming the sidelines.  Coach Self though, did suffer through one of his worst recruiting seasons of his career last year.  He got caught in late May waiting on a handful of young studs to make their decisions on which college they would attend and Self missed on most of them.  Self was forced to scrape together some leftovers and scraps just out fill out his roster.  Of the guys that chose KU, three were eventually deemed ineligible by the NCAA and one subsequently left the program.  Self was left with his most shallow bench, by far, for this team.

Self seems to have learned his lesson when it comes to waiting for young, flighty, self-absorbed children to make up their minds about where they want to play their one year of college ball.  Self has locked up most of his recruits for next season already and he won’t be relying on any late signers to make or break next year’s roster.  Most, if not all of the signed players, are good students and should not have any NCAA academic issues. 

Now, let’s return to the thought about Self being a great coach.  This version of the Jayhawks features one big, super-stud in Thomas Robinson.  T-Rob is a beast, a match-up problem for almost any college teams.  KU also relies on a flighty, inconsistent, often times, brilliant guard in Tyshawn Taylor.  Many fans have been quite harsh with Taylor, and sometimes he has earned this, but KU would not be anywhere near as good as they are without him.  While his uneven play will undoubtedly cost the Jayhawks a win or two, his athleticism and skills with certainly win the Jayhawks many more games than he will lose.  He has already done so.  I think fans need to accept Taylor for what he is and be glad he plays for us and not someone else.

Jeff Withey has been better than I ever thought he would be.  While he is not a perfect player, he offers so much that is positive to this team.  I think he has been the biggest key to the success of his team thus far, more than any other single player.  The starting line up is rounded out by a couple of players in Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford who have developed into decent role players.  While I think both are underachievers on the offensive end, both have been playing terrific defense and in Self’s system, this is as important as scoring points.  EJ especially needs to gain offensive confidence if the Jayhawks hope to go very deep into the NCAA tournament.

The bench is where Self’s recruiting shortcomings really rears its ugly head.  Self is basically stealing minutes of rest with just three players, none of which are really good enough to be playing regularly in a conference as good as the Big XII.  Conner Teahan is the most disappointing because he is supposed to be a three point specialist and he has struggled mightily most of the season.  Let’s face facts here – if Teahan isn’t hitting 3’s, he isn’t contributing much.  His defense is barely adequate and he often looks overmatched on both ends of the court.  He does hustle and rebound but most times, it is not enough.  Kevin Young and Justin Wesley are both just foul fodder.  There have been few seasons when either of these guys would have been good enough to see any court time at KU.  Again, they work hard but just fall short of being skilled enough to make much more than an occasional positive contribution.

This team reminds me a little of the 1987-1988 champions.  Each features one incredible player of the year candidate and not a whole lot else.  Each team had some big ups and downs throughout the season.  This biggest difference is that this squad has overachieved most of the season.  They have been a ranked team all year.  They still have a great chance to win another league championship.  I can not predict at this time how I think they will do in the NCAA tournament.  I can easily see this team losing in one of the first two rounds.  When a team is as shallow as this one is, a single game can easily be influenced heavily and negatively, by foul trouble or a slight injury.  If KU would lose early in the tourney this season, I would be disappointed but not overly surprised.  Self’s teams do have a history of early exits in the tournament.

On the other hand, we all know perfectly well that a single player can throw a team over his shoulder and carry them to the promise land.  We have seen it firsthand.  T-Rob could be this kind of player.  Robinson also has a very talented caddy in Taylor, who could easily go on a six-game hot streak and propel KU right into the Final Four and maybe even to a championship.  Coach Bill Self has a history here too.  We all know he has a championship under his belt as well as some of those early exits. 

I think if this turns out to be KU’s down year and Coach Self learns from his past mistakes in recruiting, as it appears he has, we as KU fans should feel very fortunate.  There are a lot of schools out there who love to be ranked in the top ten and be tied for first in their conference in a down season.  This may very well be Self’s greatest coaching job.  He has worked miracles with a team with very few BCS-type players.  As KU fans, we are definitively spoiled rotten.  I, for one, don’t mind.   I am looking forward to the last few weeks of the regular season and the tourney season.  I will cheer the Jayhawks on for however long they last in the post season and I will probably be disappointed and a little mad if, or when, we lose.  Yet, I wouldn’t want to follow any other team or coach.  Rock Chalk!

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Thoughts on Charlie Weis

Two different friends of mine, who don’t know each other, reacted to KU hiring Charlie Weis as the new Jayhawk football coach with the same exact word – underwhelming.  I was astonished at their reaction.  I mean, just who did they think Kansas was going to get for the job?  Let’s face this simple fact – the job of the football coach at the University of Kansas is not a plum job.  It isn’t even a stepping stone for later success at other schools with better programs.  Who was the last KU football coach who went on to another, better program, let alone had success?  I can’t think of a single one.  Not one. 

So, just who were my friends expecting KU to hire?  Why would any hot commodity young coach from a smaller school in a non-BCS conference come here?  Just how did the careers of Terry Allen and Turner Gill turn out?  Why would any coach want to come to a basketball school in a football conference?  Why would any big time coach come to Kansas to take over a team coming off a 2-10 season (and it wasn’t even THAT good, really)?  Just how enticing would it be to take over a team that is the reigning bottom dweller in a powerhouse conference, a school with exactly six seasons with more than eight victories (1899, 1905, 1908, 1968, 1995, and 2007)? 

The hiring of Charlie Weis is a home run hire for the Jayhawks.  Period.  Charlie Weiss is the biggest name KU fans could ever hope for.  He may be the biggest name hire for KU in their history, certainly in my lifetime.  Only two coaches since 1953 have had winning records at KU (Jack Mitchell and Mark Mangino, each just 2 games over .500) so I can’t imagine there were hordes of big time coaches trampling each other to take over the reins to this team.  Whether or not Weis is successful really isn’t an issue at this point and time.  This hire of Charlie Weis at this time was a terrific coup for Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger.

Charlie Weis has done a good job filling out his staff as well.  He kept the one guy he should have from the previous regime in Reggie Mitchell.  I love the hire of Tim Grunhard as the offensive line coach.  Grunhard had a successful pro career with the Chiefs and has been a successful high school coach.  This was a natural progression in his career and he knows what it takes to be successful as a player.  There are several coaches I just don’t know much about and there doesn’t seem to be much, if any, negative reactions to them.  I am going to assume they will do a better job than the previous coaches.

I do know about Dave Campo.  Again, I think this is a fantastic hire.  I don’t care he hasn’t coached at the college level for twenty-some years.  He was successful at the college level before having terrific success on the professional level.  He knows defense and he knows how to coach players.  That is all I want.  Many times last season, the defense simply looked uncoached and that is not acceptable.  I was also thrilled Weis brought back local boy, Clint Bowen, as the special teams coach.  KU special teams have been awful over the last two years and Bowen had great success with these units in the past.  Not only was it a good PR move, it was an astute football hire.

Now that this staff is in place, it will be a matter of time before we see if they can actually coach the players on campus.  Their job will be to bring players to fit their system and to coach them up.  Weis has already garnered three transfers with good reputations, if not some mixed on the field results.  I trust Weis knows what he is doing when it comes to recruiting and can get this program back on the right track.  Weis’ record at Notre Dame was 35-27.  He was fired by the Irish; if he puts up that record here in his first five years, he will be a god.  I know it is all relative but I would be thrilled with 35 wins in five seasons.

Don’t expect a huge improvement on the record next season.  I just am not sure how much talent he was to work with for 2012.  I just want see an improvement in play.  I want to see a team that looks like they have been coached.  It is a tough row to hoe to make big strides in the Big XII.  If KU wins four games and is competitive in their losses, this will be a huge step forward.  It will be going forward, not backward.  I will have faith Weis will get this program on the right track.

One more thing – now that Weis is going to return the names to the back of the jerseys, he now needs to return the Jayhawk to the helmets.

Thanks for reading.  Check out my movie and tv review blog at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and get twitter updates @jawsrecliner