Friday, December 2, 2011

So, what have I missed -- sports

Hey, what do you know, the Red Sox signed Bobby Valentine to be their new skipper! Wow! Who could have seen that coming? Oh yeah, me! Way back after Francona stepped down, I was one of the first voices to suggest Bobby V for the job.

Of the crop of available hires, Valentine's the best for the job. I think he'll be a good change from Tito's laid back style, so I'm a bit more optimistic about the upcoming season.

Maybe this Cherrington guy isn't such a doofus after all.

The bloom is off the rose with the Bucs. Lumbering to a 4-7 record, everyone could see what I and others thought, that last season was an outlier. The Bucs cannot beat anyone with a winning record. But they can beat teams with a losing record. So I guess that's something.

I got my facepalm moment last week, when St. Pete Times sport reporter John Romano lamented that the Bucs coaches seemed to think they were above reproach from the media. Romano couldn't figure out where such hubris came from. Really, John?! The local sports media has shown about as much critical diligence in their reporting on the Bucs as Times political reporters have shown towards the Obama administration.

Which is to say, they've been wearing rose-colored glasses with lenses as thick as coke bottle bottoms!

Don't know what's up with my Bolts, but they've got me shaking my head. Mired with an 11-11 record, this team has way too much talent to be so freekin' skitzo in their play. I don't know if this is specific to Tampa or what, but with each coaching change, this team takes off for a year then melts down. I don't get why they won't stay bought in to any specific coaching philosophy, but there's a small window for St. Louis, Lecavalier, and these guys to get to the Cup again before age begins to wear them down. I'm dying for some more Stanley Cup games here, so these dudes need to get their game on now.

My alma mater's team, USF Bulls, have stumbled to a very disappointing finish to their season. Starting off a nifty 4-0, the wheels came off quickly and they lost last night's season ender to West Virginia 30-27. Their season record of 5-7 is bad, but their conference record of 1-6 is frightening. With the state of Florida football in flux, the Bulls could have been in a position to make a big push in recruiting to get some of the top tier talent that usually ends up at the Big 3 - UF, FSU, and Miami. But this season's debacle isn't going to help them out much.

*sigh*

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