Hays's comments in Italics:
Gotta write this quick, because unlike in sunny LA, golfing is cheap, accessible, and pleasant. And I have an 11 o’clock tee-time. So here goes. Yes, I do believe I can argue sports with you all day Mr. Fantasy Sports Guru. Unfortunately, I have never placed higher than 2nd in a fantasy league of any sort (except one time I did win a family pool for the NCAA bracket, although I think my mom chose her teams based on mascot cuteness.) So my responses to individual athletes might be more from a fan perspective than a fantasy owner, but anymore, aren’t those perspectives one in the same?
I will respond to your 8 topics, all of which start with “Hays probably thinks…” I want to point out that in every sports related argument I’ve ever had with Bobby Yan, we typically end up on the same side of the coin. But for the sake of proving sheer dominance, I will argue every one of these as if I agree completely. I will try to keep it brief, but Bobby Yan needs to be put in his place!
1. Hays probably thinks the St. Louis Cardinals are gonna win the NL Central. Problem is, they're a Chris Carpenter injury away from having weak pitching, a closer who's due to give up a lot of runs and blow a lot of saves very soon and a lineup that is 7 scrubs, the pitcher, + a machine. Not very balanced.
This is one of the major problems in the game today. Every GM, owner, hot dog vendor, and rabid fan believes that teams need to be chalked full of fantasy names. The fact of the matter is that it is a smarter business and baseball move for smaller market teams to work with what they’ve got. Do you remember when the Cards won the Series in ’06 against a much better Tigers team after they had beaten a much better Mets? I do. I was at Game One in Detroit when Anthony Reyes silenced the mighty Motown bats (is Detroit called Motown?) That was all the momentum they needed to become the “worst” World Series winner in recent memory. Who cares? They still won it all.
I do think the Cards will win the Central this year because they have 10 up-and-comers that rotate in 6 spots, a God (Pujols), a Machine (Molina) and one of the best rotations in the league. Walt Jocketty put together a perpetual winner when he stole La Russa and Duncan from the A’s. Those guys can win consistently with a Triple-A club. And if you throw Pujols, Molina, Carp, and Wainwright into the mix, they can probably win with a solid college club. Bank it, the Cards will be playing a playoff series in October. Regardless of Carp’s health
2. Hays probably thinks Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in the league. Beg to differ. Before last year's renaissance season, "Doc" wasn't taking his medication and had ERA's well above 3, w/ a low K rate that got him only 130 or so punchouts. Although he's a Taurus like me, he's getting older and will only deteriorate. Hays can get his jollies from watching Halladay all day, I'll take Tim Lincecum.
Were you watching Baseball Tonight when writing this? Big deal, Halladay lost and Lincecum won. You can show me stat lines all you want, but the fact remains, Hallady has consistently won in the toughest division in sports. Period. Lincecum wins with a crappy team, and when he’s on, he dominates. But he’s not pitching against the Red Sox and Yankees. If Halladay switched to the NL, he would be would be top 2 with Lincecum easily. But comparing the two is like comparing Tiger to Nicklaus (a bit of a stretch, but it holds.)
I will say Lincecum is a better fantasy pick now, but wait till Halladay gets to the NL. Then reconsider.
3. Hays probably thinks the Dos Equis guy is more interesting than Chuck Norris. False. Chuck Norris has been around longer, been more of a legend, and roundhouse kicks more people in the face than the Dos Equis guy.
Chuck Norris is an example of a phenomenon that didn’t make sense, got old, then came back because it actually did make perfect sense. Dos Equis guy? New one to me. Maybe you are on to something here. But I think the cooler part of Chuck Norris’ career is the fact that he is a legendary infomercial star. People bought anything he was selling, and he sold some good stuff. But the Dos Equis guy is clearly better. He’s an up-and-comer like Lincecum.
4. Hays probably thinks the Cubs are overrated and are dead in the water with Milton Bradley. For once, Hays is right about that.
Here’s where I will disagree with you. I actually think the Cubbies are gonna be the only thing standing in the way of a postseason birth. The reason? Aramis Ramirez, D. Lee, Soriano, Soto et al. When those guys are healthy and clicking, no pitching staff in the majors can hold them down. Milton Bradley? Bad pick-up. Horrendous actually. But Lou Pineilla is a guy that won’t take his crap, but he won’t make it a club issue either. Pineilla has matured tremendously as a manager since setting foot in Chicago, and I will never count a team out that has a solid core and a few enigmas. But I sure hope they pull the ole Cubby Collapse. Thought it was coming a few weeks ago, but it didn’t. So who knows with them?
5. Hays probably thinks Rick Reilly is god. Although Rick does show godly moments in certain articles, he pales in comparison to what Bobby Yan writes on Fantasy Sports Guru.
Reilly is like Carpenter. When he’s on, he writes some gems. But the thing about Reilly is that he has been overshadowed by a series of young, talented, motivated writers who are piggy-backing on a trend that he brought to the mainstream: human interest sports stories. With all the crap about steroids, drugs, guns, mega-salaries and everything bad about sports, Reilly’s style of writing refreshes the masses and reminds us why we all love sports. It gives people opportunities to make themselves the best they can be, and it entertains us while we’re at it.
But Reilly, he’s on another level. His best stories make Simmons’ writing seem amateur (although Simmons has a completely different style and different experiences.) He will be a legend in the sportswriting industry when all is said and done. Bobby Yan? The jury is still out on him. But he needs to stop watching so much John Kruk commentary…
6. Hays probably thinks USC Football will fall just short again this season and end up with one win. Instead, USC will prove that it didn't need Mark Sanchez, once and for all prove the Big Ten is a conference of the past by whipping Ohio State in Columbus, and go to the BCS Championship Game, if there is one after President Obama ripped it.
USC is like the Yankees, except they play in LA where girls are hot, laws are lax, and people just love to have fun. If I were one of the top 100 prospects in any collegiate sport coming out of high school, I would easily head to USC. So when the Trojans drop one next year to the likes of Oregon State, Stanford, or Cal, everyone in the country will be cheering. Except for those of you living the dream in LA. Personally, I’ll root for the underdog every time. Ohio State in Columbus, now that is a sports phenomenon. Woody Hayes put the program in the upper echelon, and Columbus, Ohio is not that cool of a place. Although Ohio is a hot spot for high school athletes, it still doesn’t make much sense to me why year in and year out they can recruit heavily wherever they want. I guess that goes to show how much of an impact smart leaders can have anywhere (sports, business, education.)
As far as the BCS, whatever Obama says will happen. So see ya championship. Hello playoffs. Hello Boise State being over-ranked and knocked off in the early rounds.
7. Hays probably thought Rod Blagojevich was a good governor.....Clear and convincing evidence, Hays.
All I know about Chicago politics is that Obama is the first black president. So something is going right up there in the Windy City. Blagojevich and the other governors who abused the system are a product of their own greed and the greed of those around them. Not of the system. Saying he was a bad or good governor doesn’t do justice to the mess that he created in Illinois. It is just time for the state and country to move past his tenure and focus on beefing up to kick Arnold’s ass.
8. Hays probably thought the new "Transformers" was a good movie. Uh, Hays, if you can tell me 3 things about the new Transfomers that was different from the last Transformers, I will buy you a drink, like Deron Williams supposedly did back in the day.
Haven’t seen the new Transformers. And I didn’t particularly like the first one. But I will say that Shia and Megan Fox make a nice combo because they are such an unbelievable couple. In reality though, a lot of hot girls go to guys that on the surface seem like complete dweebs. Shia is not a dweeb, but he is no Josh Duhamel or Tyrese Gibson.
The brilliant thing about the Transformers series is that they also piggy-backed on a phenomenon started by Spiderman, X-Men, Superman, Batman et al. Basically, the new wave of film-makers and writers remembered how cool comics, cartoons and actions figures were and they decided to cash in on the tremendous market that is our generation. Brilliant. Why not make 100+ mil with a used out concept? It is undoubtedly an entertaining movie if you take it for face value and don’t dissect “3 things about the new” one that is different for the last. The last one worked, so why change it? Same thing with the Cardinals. Why change what has won them a World Series and has captured millions of fans in the process? Change is good, but only if it’s necessary. At some point (Transformers 3, Cardinals in 2010) changing up a concept that works will be necessary. Good luck, and I hope these 8 things will humble you enough to admit your inferiority.
Thanks for the challenge my man. I just thought of one more thing about LA that I don’t like. It stole my friend Bobby Yan! Let me know if you would like me to further prove my dominance.
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