Chiefs Should Clean House Right Now

I am not a big fan of firing coaches that have been in their current position for less than two years.  I think under normal circumstances, coaches need at least that much time to put their own stamp on their team.  Occasionally though, a situation arises where an organization should extricate itself from a bad decision as soon as it becomes obvious that a coach is a wrong fit.  The Kansas City Chiefs are at that point right now.

Romeo Crennel should never have been named head coach in the first place.  After Todd Haley was deservedly axed a little less than a year ago, Romeo was named the interim coach, then the Chiefs turned things around a little bit and won two of their last three games, including the season finale at Denver.  Everyone had the warm and fuzzies for Romeo.  In a very predictable move, Kansas City removed the interim title and bestowed a more permanent one.  There is a chance that no other name coach even wanted the job.  We found out the general perspective of things in KC when Peyton Manning refused to even visit this past off season. 

So yes, now is the time to right that wrong and show Mr. Crennel the door.  Thank you, sir.  You are a nice guy and a decent coordinator but you are no head coach.  This leads me to my point.  The Chiefs should just start cleaning house right now.

Firing Crennel should be the first move, followed immediately by the firing of General Manager Scot Pioli.  Todd Haley and Crennel were both Pioli’s hires and they have been disasters for this franchise.  Pioli has also done a poor job drafting, retaining, and acquiring the necessary players to provide this team the depth of talent to survive a physically grueling schedule.  Most of all, Pioli should be fired for his perennially blindness in the matter of Matt Cassel.

Matt Cassel is a tough guy.  He works hard.  He gives it his all.  Whatever cliché you want to insert for a scrappy, talentless player can be inserted here. The fact is, he is no better than a good back-up.  If you need a guy to step in for a few games when your starting QB gets knocked out (not Brady Quinn), Matt Cassel would be a great option.  However, it is obvious to everyone with even an iota of football knowledge that Cassel is not a championship caliber quarterback in the NFL.

Pioli has also proved that the vaunted “Patriot Way” works a lot better if you have Tom Brady as your quarterback and Bill Belichick as your coach.  Matt Cassel, Todd Haley, and Romeo Crennel are not even close.  It is easy to look good when Tom Brady is the face of your organization.  Forget the “Patriot Way.”  Let’s just move on.  Now!

If I were Clark Hunt, I would call Bill Cowher today.  Offer him the GM and the head coaching positions.  Ask him what his number is.  How big of a check do you need to take over this franchise, Mr. Cowher?  If he says not for all the gold in Fort Knox, so be it.  Go to the next guy.  If you have to bring Marty Schottenheimer in to run the asylum on an interim basis so you have time to find the right people not named Cowher to run your franchise – do it.  It is time to break out the wrecking ball and pulverize this thing. 

The Chiefs were picked by most of the talking heads to challenge for the AFC West in 2012.  Even now, those talking heads, local and national, are befuddled because this team should have several more wins.  There is talent on this team.  The depth just isn’t all that great.  The lack of wins falls on Crennel’s shoulders and the lack of depth falls on Pioli’s head.  He learned nothing from last season and went to battle with basically the same guys.  The fact that Ryan Lilja, a fine left guard, has been the center (a position he has never played) for the past several games and can’t get the ball to the QB on a regular basis, is a problem.  GET A CENTER IN HERE.  Find one somewhere.  Pioli cannot do his job.  Find someone who can. 

The time is now to make these changes.  There is no point in waiting.  Chief fans have suffered through this present, incompetent regime long enough.  Pioli has had his chances and failed he has miserably.  Today is the day to start anew. 

I would like to thank all of my loyal readers and followers.  Between my two blog sits, jawssportsandstuff.blogspot.com and jawsrecliner.blogspot.com, I have passed the 5000 viewer mark in less than 20 months.  While not every hit is a loyal reader, I know many of you out there read my stuff on a regular basis and I appreciate your support.  Thanks for reading.

2012-2013 Kansas Basketball Preview

I originally planned to make my predictions for the Big XII 2012-2013 basketball season but after doing some research, I decided it was just too tough and would serve no point.  Other than predicting Texas Tech and TCU as the worst two schools, nothing else is very predictable.  Even choosing Kansas to win their 9^th straight conference title, while easy to do considering their recent history, may not be as clear as it seems.  The conference will have eight very competitive teams this season and I can see almost all of them capable of winning the championship if things fell their way.

Instead, I decided to just focus on Kansas.  I will give reasons why it is quite possible for them to continue their remarkable streak and reasons why it is not a sure thing for them to repeat as conference regular season champs again.

This will be a very athletic Kansas team but it will be very young.  KU does have strong, experienced seniors in place in Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford, Jeff Withey, and Kevin Young but after those four, there is very little collegiate experience.  These four seniors will get a lot of playing time but most are new to their currant roles.  Only Releford will be filling a role he has enjoyed in the past.  Johnson and Withey are now the team leaders, the players opponents will focus on.  They do not have Tyshawn Taylor or Thomas Robinson to draw attention.  These two men will have to step forward and prove they are the next stars in KU’s long history.  Young will be relied on to bring energy and play more minutes than last year.  Only Releford seems to have the same role – that of the steady glue guy. 

Justin Wesley does have a bit of experience but I really doubt he will be able to make the rotation.  Nadir Tharpe played sparingly as a freshman, and while he looked lost much of the time, he appeared to take a step in the right direction toward the end of the season.  He has to earn Coach Bill Self’s trust to be the back-up point guard.

The Jayhawks are loaded with talented freshman.  Academic redshirts Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor have seen the court in games but do enjoy spending a year in the system.  There is chance McLemore will start at the third guard position and Traylor will be counted on to offer depth along the front line.  Perry Ellis and Andrew White III will both see plenty of action and should offer some offensive punch to the line-up.  There is a good chance Ellis will start at the four.  I am not sure where Anrio Adams will fit in.  He is probably more of the prototypical Self guard than Tharpe, with the size and skills to play either guard position.  My guess is that he will either earn a rotation spot, which will be a big bonus, or he will have to bide his time, learn, improve, then contribute in future seasons. 

Finally, KU has two big guys vying for minutes in back-ups roles, Landon Lucas and Zach Peters.  I am not sure which one will earn the rotation minutes but I think Peters is more of a project therefore Lucas should get more playing time.  If these two guys both make big leaps in improvement, they may be they keys to just how good KU can be.  Self likes to play an aggressive, physical style of basketball and the more fouls he can give, the harder his troops can go at it.

If I were to project Self’s 9-man rotation, really two deeper than last season’s, I would guess the four seniors are locked down, plus Ellis, McLemore, White, and either Tharpe or Adams, and one out of the threesome of Traylor, Lucas, and Peters.  Whatever three are left out shows just how deep this version is.  Any of three players that be remaining should be able to push those ahead of him on the depth chart and could earn more playing time as the season goes along.  With this depth, it will be a more prototypical Self team and their should be plenty of competition for playing time. 

This team will have its share of weaknesses.  While Withey alters a lot of shots, he is often out of position when it comes to rebounding.  The guards and whatever other frontline player may be in the game are going to have to crash the boards hard.  I can easily see this team struggling to hold their own.  I am worried Ellis will get out manned against bigger, more physical forwards.  I am not sold on Johnson as the primary ball handler.  I have seen little in his career that leads me to think he can handle those duties for more than thirty minutes each game.  Releford has never been know for his ball handling skills and I don’t know how strong McLemore and White III are with the ball in their hands.  Self likes a multitude of guys capable of bringing the ball up and I just don’t see much here.  Tharpe and Adams could see their minutes increase if KU struggles getting the ball up the floor.

While KU does have its core of seniors, they are really going to count on most of the rest of the minutes coming from freshmen.  Traditionally, freshmen have underperformed under Self.  The Jayhawks really need three or four of these youngsters to excel early and often for KU to successfully defend its title streak.  I am also worried that KU’s excellent coaching staff will miss Danny Manning and his work with the big guys.  Will the KU big guys be able to continue to excel in footwork and moves around the basket since Manning took the Tulsa head coaching post?  I think his leaving will have an affect on this program.  If any staff can minimize the possible damage of Manning’s absence, it is this one.

Kansas certainly has to be considered the favorite to win the Big XII but it is not a sure thing.  The seniors will have to seamlessly step into the new, enhanced, leadership roles, and the young guys will need to mature quickly.  If KU can overcome possible deficiencies on the boards and with ball handling, there is no reason this squad can’t enjoy the same successes past teams have earned.  If this team is a deep as it looks on paper, it will be a very hard team to beat.

2012 Royal Wrap-Up

Another extremely disappointing baseball season is now behind us and I have some post season thoughts I would like to share.

I have always been a Kevin Seitzer fan.  I was happy when he was hired and for a certain kind of team, he is a terrific hitting coach.  If you have a young, untalented team with no power, Seitzer’s philosophy of middle-to-opposite field hitting is a sound hitting theory.  When you have a team of young, talented guys with very nice power upsides, it’s not that great.  Under Seitzer, Kansas City has been in the top four in the AL in batting average the last three years.  They have also been in the top half in doubles the last 3 years (top three in 2011 and 2012).  Unfortunately, the Royals have also been toward the bottom of the AL in runs scored (except for 2011 when they finished 6^th) and home runs.  Seitzer had success with guys like Escobar and Getz, and he deserves some credit for turning Alex Gordon in the right direction.  He had a lot less success with guys with bigger swings, like Hosmer, Moustakas, and Franceour.  I don’t count Billy Butler because I have a feeling Country Breakfast is pretty much his own hitting instructor.  I like Seitzer but I agree the Royals need to go a different direction with the personnel on this team.

On October 3^rd, Rany Jazayerli broke down the Royals long history of avoiding walks on offense on his excellent blog http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/.  I could not agree with him any more that this is a problem that needs to be fixed organizationally. 

Billy Butler should now be considered one of the top right handed hitters in the AL right now.  His .313/.373/.510 averages slash line is outstanding and he threw in 29 HR and 107 RBI just for kicks.  He is now truly a middle of the line-up hitter in a potentially potent line-up.  Butler is just 26 years old with a .300 career average, and already has over 3500 AB, over 100 HR, over 200 doubles, and almost 500 RBI.  His best years are quite possibly still ahead of him.

The Royals are filled with exciting, under-30, budding stars.  None are more exciting to watch than Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar.  Both were much better than expected on offense and both are as fun to watch on defense as any players at their positions in all of baseball.  Both are signed long term so I am thrilled at the prospect of watching them on a daily basis for many years to come.

Speaking of terrific defensive play, Alex Gordon has solidified himself as maybe the best defensive left fielder in all of baseball.  This link, http://www.royalsreview.com/2012/10/4/3452656/the-most-valuable-royal, provides some sources if anyone watching didn’t believe what their eyes were telling you.  Also, Mike Moustakas is a MUCH better defensive player than anyone thought he would be.  He has good hands and a rifle for an arm. 

If the Royals are going to contend soon, youngsters Hosmer and Moustakas MUST take big steps forward in 2013.  A lot of the immediate future of the Kansas City Royals is tied up with these two guys. 

Do you know what team holds the record for most strikeouts from a bullpen in a season?  Well, it is the 2012 Kansas City Royals with 535.  What an impressive effort by a very young group of relief pitchers. 

I will disbelieve any thought that the Royals are serious about winning if they do not cut Luke Hochevar.  He is awful and has been for many years now.  I cannot bear the thought of him in a Royals uniform next season.

It will be a very interesting off season this year as we will see just how hard the Royals pursue starting pitching.  Free agent aces will seldom, if ever, sign with small market teams.  Those small market teams just can’t afford to compete with the big boys in offering big, long contracts to pitchers.  Small market teams just cannot take the same chances on these contracts as the Yankees, or Red Sox, or Dodgers can.  It is a fact.  That doesn’t mean Kansas City can’t make serious runs at pitchers who would slot in as number two or three starters.  If they could somehow add two number 2 starters, I would be ecstatic. 

Finally, Royals fans took a bit of grief nationally for relentlessly riding Robinson Cano during the All-Star festivities.  I had absolutely zero problems with the fans for letting Cano know they were displeased with him for not picking Billy Butler for the Home Run Derby.  Cano twice stated he would, then didn’t.  He should be accountable for lying to fans.  In a great story, these same fans, on the last day of the season, robustly cheered rival Miguel Cabrera when he officially won the first Triple Crown in 45 years.  Royals fans cheered the Detroit Tiger long and loud enough that Miggy gave them a curtain call in appreciation, also recognizing the tribute the Royals players and staff also paid him by their applause as well.  Cabrera was sincerely appreciative of the ovation.  It was a touching moment all around.  Royals’ owner, discount king David Glass, should need little more proof how hungry local fans are for something to cheer about.  Kansas City was a great baseball town at one time, before David Glass squeezed out all hope.  These fans deserve better. 

An a related topic, I have a hard time listening and reading to all of the debate around the MVP.  Miguel Cabrera won the first Triple Crown since 1967.  There is a reason it hasn’t been done in 45 years.  Poo-poo the Triple Crown categories all you want.  It is still an amazing accomplishment for the offensive leader of a divisional winner and for there even to be an argument is just plain silly.  I love stats as much as anyone; I get in what ways Trout had a great, historic season, but SO DID MIGUEL CABRERA!!!  He has been one of the most consistent run producers in recent years and was a total team players, switching positions with little or no complaint (unlike a certain former Marlin), and playing better than expected.  Please put this argument to bed and just give Miggy the MVP trophy. 

Thanks for reading.

Just a Few Thoughts

Just a few thoughts on some sports related topics…

I am not taking a side, just making an observation.  The NFL needs to find some way to get the NFL officials signed and on the field.  I think football officials are poor in general but the replacement officials are a flat out embarrassment right now.  It looks like they just pulled some schmucks off the street and gave them striped shirts.  Some don’t even appear to know the rules or what they are looking for.  It is a travesty.  Even the announcers are having a tough time biting their tongues. 

I thought so before the draft and I think so now.  Robert Griffith III is going to be a superstar.  He is already one of my favorite players.  He is like a Michael Vick with a brain.  My goodness, he is fun to watch…

Salvador Perez may just be the Royals all around best player right now.  He now has nearly 400 career at bats.  He is hitting .318 with 14 home runs and 7 pick offs.  Pitchers love him and he looks like he knows what he is doing, both behind the plate and in the batter’s box.

The Kansas Jayhawks looked better yesterday against TCU than they did in their first two games despite the loss.  TCU was simply a bigger, faster, and better football team.  KU at least was competitive.

It appears as if the Kansas City Chiefs have joined the Royals as a snake bitten franchise.  Few of their moves seem to work out.  The Chiefs look awful right now and I blame Romeo Crennel.  KC was out-schemed, out-coached, out-prepared, and out-played today.   Crennel, like Todd Haley, was Scott Pioli’s choice for head coach.  The Chiefs seem reluctant to spend money to sign superstars or take chances by drafting quarterbacks high in the draft.  Kansas City fans deserve better. 

Speaking of rookie quarterbacks, Russel Wilson, Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden, and RGIII have made it look easy to be a rookie quarterback starting in the NFL thus far…

I am pulling for the Oakland A’s and Baltimore Orioles.  I love the underdogs.  These two teams are winning against teams much more willing to spend at will.  Quick – name ten players for each team!

Congratulations to the University of Louisiana-Monroe.  They marched into the home stadiums of two mighty SEC schools over the past two weeks.  They beat highly ranked and horribly overrated Arkansas in OT, then fell by a field goal to Auburn in OT.  The SEC is very good at the top, but their middle and lower tier teams are very mediocre. 

I was shocked to see all the empty seats in Doak Campbell Stadium Saturday.  Florida State is a very good football team and I couldn’t believe that place wasn’t packed, even for a cupcake non-conference game, oops, I mean conference game, against an awful Wake Forest team. 

I think KU should load up on bottom tier ACC teams for future non-con pigskin match-ups.  Rice and Northern Illinois would finish in the middle of the pack in that conference.  So would UL-Monroe.

After watching early season Chiefs and Jayhawk football games, I have but one question – Is it basketball season yet?

TIRED OF CHEATERS

Man, I am getting sick and tired of cheaters.  The latest player to draw a 50-game suspension from MLB is none other than the All Star MVP, the Giants' Melky Cabrera.  The Melkman was suspended today for testing positive for testosterone.  Cabrera did not even deny the results and will not fight the decision.  He did offer an apologize.  Well, forgive me if I do not accept.

Melky Cabrera had a terrific all around season for the Kansas City Royals in 2011.  He amassed 201 hits on his way to a .305 average, 18 HR, 20 SB, and 87 RBI.  He hustled and played with intensity.  While has wasn't a great defensive center fielder, he was more than adequate.  He turned down a 2-year, 11 million dollar contract extension from the Royals and they traded him to the Giants for the horrifically awful Jonathan Sanchez.  I thought it was a good trade at the time because the Royals had Lorenzo Cain knocking on the door to play center field and were in dire need of a starting pitcher.

The trade couldn't have been worse for the Royals.  Sanchez may have evolved into the worst starting pitcher in the majors and Cabrera has been MVP-like.  The Melkman leads the majors in hits and runs scored.  He is hitting .346 and has an OPS of over .900.  He won the MVP in the year's summer classic while his former hometown fans in Kansas City cheered him.

Today, I found out he is a dirty, rotten, PED-taking cheater.

This make me sad but worse, it makes me mad as hell!  I am sick and tired of cheating in baseball.  I am pissed off that players still are trying to cheapen the game I love.  How many more times are we, as fans, going to have to go through these trials and tribulations.  I am so disappointed in Melky Cabrera.  Sadly, I will never be a Melky fan again and I will never trust another number he posts, whether or not he ever tests positive for PEDs again.  I am glad he is no longer a Royal but his accomplishments and contributions from his lone season in Kansas City have been considerably diminished.

When will these players, making hundreds of thousands at the least, and many, many millions at the most, learn that we the fans will no longer endure cheaters.  While the testing seems to be helping to a certain extent, how many are still cheating and not getting caught?  There is no way know and that dims the game, in my opinion.  All I can do is hope no other players test positive, a faint hope indeed.  I am tired that the reputations of players I like and enjoy watching continue to tarnish the game by cheating.  I am ready for baseball to be cleaned up once and for all - I just don't think that will ever happen again.  I am sad...and pissed as hell about that.

All Star Ponderings

Keep in mind as you read this that I am a life long Royals fan.  I grew up in the heyday of the 70s and 80s.  I have suffered through some of the worst team managements in the history of sports.  Despite the last quarter of a century, I still love my team and the city and area it represents.  I want my team and Kansas City to be shown in the best light possible.

As far as the process of how the All Star teams are selected, I don’t have much issue in general.  I think more thought could be put into the whole process of picking the reserves, though.  There is too much chance for selfishness.  I will hold up Ron Washington as an example of this.  I like Washington.  It can be conceded he has been good in his tenure as manager of the Rangers.  I do have a problem though with his selection of Elvis Andrus to this team.  It is not that I think Andrus is undeserving.  It is the fact that Washington added Andrus as the seventh Ranger on the team (Yu Darvish was added as the 8^th Ranger later).  For the first time in many years, the Royals had more than one legitimate candidate for this exhibition.  With the game in Kansas City, Alcides Escobar should have been selected in addition to the Royals’ best player, Billy Butler.  Escobar, the leading hitting shortstop in the majors, would not have been a pity pick.  Escobar, and the hometown Royals, deserved more than just Butler, who will probably get one pinch hit at-bat.  The Royals fans deserved more and the Rangers were already over represented as it was.

Then there is the case of Robinson Cano.  Some writers have complained about the childishness of the Kansas City fans in their relentless booing of Cano and their glee in his utter failure during the Home Run Derby.  The fans were irritated because Cano failed to select Butler for the derby.  They booed him because he said he would select Butler.  I personally heard an interview with John Kruk and Cano and the Yankee said as much.  Then he did not pick Butler.  He has since told at least two different stories on why he didn’t.  The fans booed him because he flat out lied.  Period.  He lied and has made excuses.  The derby is supposedly strictly about the fans.  Cano and MLB have proved otherwise.  The fans booed as a way to show their displeasure and that is their absolute right.  Shame on those who fail to understand that.

The Royals fans showed their class by warmly welcoming former Royals, Carlos Beltran and Melky Cabrera.  The fans appreciated their efforts on behalf of the organization and are happy for their successes.  The Kansas City natives were very warm in their greeting of Chipper Jones, playing his first ands last game in Kaufman Stadium.  The fans aren’t classless, just frustrated at the lack of things to cheer about and the lack of respect shown them by those who made decisions concerning the All Star selections.   There should be some consideration to the home team every year when it comes to the rosters and derby.  It would cost the league nothing and would mean everything to the home fans.

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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.  

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