Steve Kerr named as GM of the Suns
From the AP:
URGENT
Source: Suns to hire Kerr as general manager
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX (AP) — Steve Kerr will be named general manager of the Phoenix Suns, a person with knowledge of the hiring said Friday.
Kerr can’t officially take the job until he completes his obligations as an analyst for TNT during the NBA playoffs. He is expected to be introduced at a news conference next week, said a person close to the situation who asked not to be identified because the official announcement had not been made.
Kerr is a close friend of Suns owner Robert Sarver and owns a small piece of the team. He would replace Mike D’Antoni, who held the titles of general manager and head coach. The move will allow D’Antoni to concentrate on coaching.
Wow. How’d you like that gig? It’s like being handed the keys to a Porsche and then being told “Just don’t crash it.”
I’m not sure what the right thing for Kerr to do here is. Do you just press “cruise” here, enjoy the ride and collect a fat paycheck, or do you say, “screw it, I’m amassing a team consisting of Kobe, Nash, KG, Boris Diaw and Raja Bell?” Either way, I still say Kerr’s got the easiest job in the NBA right now.
I do like Kerr. I liked his columns on Yahoo! and I liked his color work as an analyst.
I also like this. Ooh, and how about a John Paxson vs. Steve Kerr showdown in the Finals someday? I get excited thinking about that, even though I suddenly feel old.
The Beecher softball team leaves Friday morning to compete in the Class A state tournament.
The seniors on the team have won 136 games in their four years. Three players are getting Division I scholarships (think about that) and a fourth may eventually get one.
One area coach told me if they don’t win state, he’ll eat his hat. As much as I’d like to see him do that, I don’t think he’ll need to bring any ranch dressing to East Peoria this weekend.
Here’s a look at the tournament.
And now, for my latest Cubs rant. (Hey, why break tradition?)
Remember when I linked Baseball Prospectus’ website, which said the Cubs should be in first place? Guess what; they should still be in first place. It’s true. In all three of BP’s kooky ratings system for adjusted wins (W3 and L3, for example, are “Pythagenport wins and losses, based on AEQR and AEQRA,” whatever the hell that means), the Cubs lead the NL Central. I wonder if AEQRA takes into consideration the fact that we have Mark DeRosa.
But hey, Barry Rozner still thinks the Cubs are winning the division. After all, according to him, there’s an MLB “rule” that says:
Each division must have a team finish in first place, even if a given division is so bad as to give off a whiff of cow chips when the teams possess the playing field in the late afternoon, if temperatures are in the 90s and there’s a soft breeze out of the west.
Whatever, dude. Was that supposed to be funny? Does he really think the Cubs will win the division? Is he just being a smart-ass? I don’t know. I just want this season to be over. After getting worked by Byung-Hyun Kim and Sergio Mitre over the last two days, I’m spent.
Here are some things to browse while you’re waiting (still) for news on Tank Johnson’s suspension.
Memorial Day is this weekend. You know what that means: Food, beer, racing, horseshoes, poker and no work the next day. (I do work Monday, however. I’m heading to Paxton for a softball game. I certainly don’t mind it though. I rather enjoy watching the Beecher locomotive roll on.) Anyway, when you consider everything Memorial Day has to offer, it adds up to be the 8th-best drinking day of the year.
It’s always the same thing when a new manager takes over the Cubs. The giddy new skipper smiles at the press conference, proudly wearing his new Cubbie uniform like some sort of trophy. He vows that he will turn around the team’s fortunes, praises the front office, makes great proclamations about expectations and changing the attitude and culture of the Cubs, and he kisses the plump, juicy butt of the tortured yet joyously and blindly optimistic fanbase.
Then, the season begins.
Lou Piniella, like Dusty Baker, Don Baylor, Jim Riggleman and so many others, has learned that is not all popsicles and rainbows in Wrigleyville. (Well, OK, wrong choice of a metaphor. Yikes.)
Anyway, let’s take a look at the evolution of Lou Pinella quotes since taking over as Cubs’ manager in mid-October. It’s like reading how Jack’s mind slips further into insanity in The Shining. He’s all happy at first, thinking it’s going to be this well-paying vacation with no bumps along the way. The next thing you know, he’s chewing up pain pills like Smarties and chasing people with a croquet mallet while screaming “Come out and take your medicine!” Yeah, that’s Lou by August.
Found while surfing the web at home and trying to ignore The Backyardigans … Don McKee of The Philadelphia Inquirer has cooked up a scenario that would send Donovan McNabb to the Bears for Lance Briggs.
First off, maybe I stretched a bit when I made the Ultimate Warrior analogy in my last entry. Maybe I did it just because I felt like showing a Youtube clip of an old Ultimate Warrior match. Whatever. I stand by my decision.
Anyway, the Bulls loss last night wasn’t even the worst loss a Chicago team suffered yesterday. The Cubs blowing a 5-1 lead in spectacular fashion was much worse, although the Bulls’ defeat obviously had a much bigger impact on the team.
After the Cubs loss, I had numerous friends call me and begin to complain. I don’t understand this. This is normal for the Cubs. I’m simply stumped as to how anything can surprise Cubs fans anymore, or at least get them riled up enough to complain anyway. We’ve been absolutely clubbed with these types of losses over the last couple of years.
I compiled the Top 10 losses of 2006-07 to see where yesterday’s game would rank. I didn’t really spend a lot of time on it; I simply browsed box scores available on baseball-reference.com, but going through some of these games is like listening to a Lifehouse CD. You just don’t think it could get any more painful, but the deeper you go, the worse the crap gets.
The Bulls are the Ultimate Warrior of the NBA. Yeah, I said it. The Ultimate Warrior, as we all know, was the coolest human being (was he even human?) that ever walked the earth. That is, anyway, how I felt for the better part of my life from ages 8-12. He would let some poor sap like Ravishing Rick Rude get the upper hand in the Cage of Death or whatever, then when all hope was lost, he would shake the ropes like either a maniac or some weird, ‘roided-out savant, which would set Gorilla Monsoon into some overexcited state of ecstasy, shouting something like “He gets energy from the ropes!! That’s where he gets his power!! He feeds off the ropes!!” The Warrior would then become invincible and destroy whatever unfortunate jabroni happened to be in the ring with him. This is how it always played out. Looking back at it now, it seems ridiculous, but in my childhood, this was serious stuff.
Now, I am using that same suspension of disbelief with the Bulls. Down 3-0, it appeared that all hope was lost. They were up against the ropes … the ropes! They get their power from the ropes!! That’s where they get their energy!! Ridiculous you say? I say, ask Rick Rude if he thinks it’s ridiculous.
I have to be in the office tomorrow night, so I can’t watch the game, but I am so wearing yellow armbands to work.
With all that has happened over the past few years, I think a lot of people have forgotten exactly how awesome a 20-year-old Kerry Wood was in 1998. It’s hard to believe that the game celebrated its ninth anniversary last Sunday. Here’s a montage of his 20-strikeout game on May 6, 1998. Many refer to it as being the greatest game ever pitched and it’s hard to disagree. He was just a Kevin Orie non-made play on a grounder to third and a hit-by-pitch to ball-magnet Craig Biggio from throwing a perfect game.
Here’s the box score. An interesting note on that: The attendance was just under 16,000, well under half of the number that attend an average game at Wrigley nowadays.
As I die-hard fan, there’s a myriad of emotions while watching that clip. For starters, it’s alarming how young Wood looks, just few scant months before life begins beating the crap out of him. You can’t help but feel sad while watching that clip. There was such promise there that was never and will never be fulfilled, typical for our lonely little franchise. While watching those nasty curveballs, you can almost see his elbow getting ripped to shreds and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. I get chills every time I see that clip, but I also get depressed. Still, it’s necessary I think to watch it just to remember.
P.S. Is it OK that I kind of miss Chip Caray? He got a little too excited at times, but when a big moment was happening (and in 1998, there were a few of those), you could count on him to provide a good call. Plus, he and Steve Stone had a great rapport.
Here’s a look at the other guys the Bears drafted/signed as undrafted free agents.
OK, so I was wrong; the Bears never had a shot at Calvin Johnson. I should just stop writing about what the Bears should do. Seriously. Instead of the Benson-Bradley picks in 2005, I argued that the Bears should have taken Mike Williams and J.J. Arrington. I argued the Bears should have tried harder to sign Kurt Warner or Brad Johnson rather than wait it out for Rex Grossman. I mocked the Devin “Anytime” Hester pick. So I’m going to shut up. So what if Jerry Angelo has repeatedly publicly stated that he reached for several of his picks? Two years ago, that would have driven my bonkers. Now? If he says the players fit the system and they were worth reaching for, by God, I’ll buy it, Scouts Inc. be darned.
Here’s a look at the Bears’ first day at the draft (I’ll look at the second-day picks later, along with the undrafted free-agents.)
