JJHardy7

the reason i said this is that if i was a top recruit, would you rather play in a conference that features road games at Southern Miss, Tulane, SMU or one with Alabama, Tennessee, or Florida. The pairings this year shows that the CUSA brings Memphis down. Granted they should of won it all last year and had a great team this year, and I should of said that Memphis could not form a dynasty, which Cal can do in Kentucky. It's a moot point now, but I think Cal would've been fine at Memphis. He essentially already had a dynasty while he was there. The problem IMO is that he was the dynasty. Cal seemed to be able to recruit very well and had an amazing class heading to Memphis. He'll go after the one and done guys whereas some coaches won't do that (at least going into the season). If Memphis offered the same amount (I read this at a few sites like bleachereport), I think this could be a bad move. Kentucky fans are pretty crazy. Cal owned Memphis and could have a bad season or two. Now at Kentucky he'll need to win next year. The Kentucky fans I know have changed their minds on this hire. They loved it at first, but now think it's too much money. If I were coach Cal and Memphis offered the same amount, I'd stay at Memphis. Memphis is really screwed now. They will most likely lose quite a few recruits for next year and Cal didn't want to go to the Big East so they're stuck in a mid major conference. I also read (on the Memphis Fox News site and a friend of mine said the same was mentioned on some big college basketball message board) that Cal was offered more money to go to Arizona, but turned it down.

What are the admissions standards for Kentucky versus Memphis? It seemed Memphis was the type of school that grades, high school transcipts, etc. didn't matter as much as basketball ability. Is there enough of a difference to matter at Kentucky? The graduation rates are higher in Memphis than in Louisville or Kentucky for the basketball teams.

Money: If he stays will get paid well If he goes will get paid insanely well Advantage Kentucky That's a huge advantage. He was going to leave Memphis at some point and time since they can't pay him like an elite coach. I think many of us would have a hard time passing up doubling our pay. It's not all about money, but that's a huge pay raise. Championship Potential: If he stays...remains a top 10 program, usually, and gets to occaisonal final fours with a chance to play for a championship If he goes...takes Kentucky back to top 10 program, annually, and gets to occaisonal final fours with a chance to play for a championship Advantage: Slight edge to Memphis since they already are at that level. I don't know about this one. Going after one and done guys is pretty risky. I think it also could hurt the ranking of Memphis long-term due to their conference. If you put up those type of wins (or close to it) in the SEC, you'll be a number 1 seed every year. Competition Level: If he stays he continues to schedule great competition early in the season and then play a softer conference schedule. If he goes the plays a softer nonconference schedule and a more difficult conference schedule Advantage: Push, slight edge to Memphis because of flexibility There's no way Memphis has a competition level advantage. The SEC was down this year, but Conference USA is a mid-major. Kentucky will most likely play Louisville every year and we'll see if they renew their contract with UNC. The competition level at Kentucky will be much higher than Memphis. I don't blame Calipari for leaving. People down here are pretty excited about this, but if I'm Calipari I don't know if I'd personally go here. Memphis fans knew he'd leave eventually. The one thing you don't bring up RyDogg is the insane pressure Calipari now has. The way they talk down here, you'd think Kentucky went the past two years without winning a game. There also predicting a final four NEXT YEAR at Kentucky. Calipari may have an ego, but I would guess many athletes and coaches also have an ego. If they're going to double your pay as an athlete or a coach, my guess is most of those guys leave for the money. Again, I personally wouldn't want all the pressure and in Memphis they will have bad years. He was going after one and done guys. This can be pretty dangerous in terms of violations and all that. I've heard stories about his recruiting 'strategy' and it is a risk if he does that at Kentucky. I don't know if any of it is true. The one major issue I have with this is Calipari himself. Memphis fans have told me he did not want anything to do with going to the Big East so they could win their conference every year. Now that it looks like he's gone that may have been a huge mistake. They may not have won as many games in the Big East, but they'd have bigger pockets to pay Calipari or to recruit the next coach. It will be very interesting to see what type of coach they bring in (assuming Calipari is gone).

I thought they were #2 most of the season. KenPom had them at like 4th. I believe they were #1 for a stretch right towards the end of the season/before conference tourneys. The Big 10 may not have the 'elite' teams this year (minus MSU), but from top to bottom they were pretty strong. Louisville may have won the regular season title but they only played Villanova, Pitt, Uconn, Syracuse, Marquette 1 time each, but they get S. Florida 2x? For the great teams at the top there are some dreadful teams at the bottom, S. Florida, DePaul, St. Johns, Rutgers. Looking at the Strenght of Schedule for the RPI stuff the Big East teams don't rank much better than the Big 10 Teams because the B10 teams play most of the teams 2x. That's the good and the bad of the Big East. I agree it's too big, but I also think they need to fix their schedule issues. Take a look at Louisville's schedule and also where the games were played. They lucked out in a big way this year. I'm not a huge Big East fan due to the points you have above. They have some pretty bad teams in that conference. I'm not saying their tops teams are bad. I am saying their records are a bit inflated based on the bottom portion of their schedule. You can add 'dreadful' to Georgetown and Notre Dame at times this year. If they went down to 10 teams, that conference would be stacked...and it wouldn't be as good RPI wise because they would beat each other up in terms of record. None of the Final 4 teams even made it to their own respective conference tournament final. (Although, if UNC had Lawson, it would have obviously been a different story) Nonetheless, that's got to be pretty rare. I don't know how rare it is, but I do know that no team that has lost its first conference tourney game has ever won the championship. I'd have to look it up, but did any of the final four teams lose their first game? I know MSU lost to Ohio State (IIRC), but I think the other three all won their first tourney game.

Where did you get this from? RPI indexes. It's been on ESPN and such the past few weeks. I did a quick search: http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html Looks like they've slipped to #2 in this particular ranking.

Having 4 Big East teams in the Elite Eight and 2 in the Final Four validates the idea that the Big East was a superior conference this season. Doesn't rooting for all the other teams to lose sort of undermine the success Marquette had? I think that could be an 'excuse' for losing or justifying a season. Marquette had a good team regardless of the conference they were in. I guess it's more SEC related. Down here during football you're either A) happy because your team is awesome or B) are happy because your team is playing 'the best teams in the country'. There was a little office debate last week with an exec and another guy. SEC guy goes on and on about how the Big Ten stinks and the SEC is king and such. Well, in bowl games since 2000 the Big Ten has a winning record against the SEC. SEC guy went on to mention that Auburn and Georgia are better than the Big Ten (they have winning records in bowl games against the Big Ten). It was sad. There are a number of reasons -- This is directed at you FTJ...it'd be different if it was a mid-major team. The Big Ten was the highest rated conference (at least towards the end of the year...not sure if they still are) for basketball this year. People are familiar with that conference. It's not a bad thing that a team from a conference moves on, but in SEC country there are excuses. LSU is good because they played UNC close or so they say. Whatever SEC team is doing the best is supported by all fans from the conference. I'm not saying this is the case here, but I work with guys that went to SEC schools and their second favorite team is whoever is the best team besides their school. I guess I'm more indifferent with certain teams from conferences of teams I like. I personally have the feeling I'd have rather seen MSU lose because I think they might get crushed (I hope I'm wrong because I can't stand UConn).

If Counsell needs surgery, do we need to get Hall some time at shortstop this week? I would assume that if Hardy came out of a game, Billy would make more sense than McGehee at short to finish the game. Who is the backup at 2b (if Counsell is on the DL)? McGehee?

Way to represent the Big Ten, MSU. I can't stand Izzo and Suton might be my least favorite player on a Big Ten roster but it's nice to have a team in the Final Four. I never understanding this reasoning. It's not directed at you homer. The SEC fans are the worst when it comes to this. A team could have a crappy year, but since Team A and Team B did well SEC fan seems content. I really support Marquette the most in terms of basketball, but I was hoping all the big east rivals of theirs would lose right away. A guy I work with who graduated from Ohio State agrees more with my logic. He says during football season he makes it a point to cheer for two teams. Ohio State and whoever Michigan is playing.

To me, Escobar has to stay at SS. That's his best value. The only real question is JJ and whether or not there are plans to extend him. Have we heard anything about the Brewers having negotiations with him? If we haven't, I have a feeling that JJ is traded or walks when the time comes.

Oh...and just one more thing: I really do think there's a good chance that decades could go by without making the playoffs: small market, lack of tradition, inability to produce another "wave" of players from the minors, etc., etc., etc. So should they just fold the team then? This is one problem I do have with some Brewers fans. We do something special and it's never enough. Come on... IMO that's just flat out wrong. There have been teams that have won the world series as a wild card. I think ideas like ripping on putting up a wild card banner are right in line with booing former Brewers players...both idea make zero sense IMO and give Brewers fans a bad name. I'll always look back at 2008 as a great year and the banner is a nice touch. I say we keep this going on put up some more...that is if we don't fold the team!

The established vets are still going to treat the games as meaningless tune-up chances where the most important thing is not to get injured. Exactly. TGJ and Lamb aren't established on this team so they should've shown more. We really don't even know if TGJ is 100% healthy. Lamb has looked old and was released last year. I think spring training does matter for every team. I just think it's a difference to what degree it matters. I have no problem with the Brewers taking the last few spots based on spring training performances. TGJ has been with the team long enough for the organization to know what he does and what he doesn't do. IMO he was going to have to show that he was better than Duffy to make the team and he didn't. I'm not a huge Lamb guy since from what I've seen here on this site states his defense is bad (I've never seen him nor do I claim at all to be an expert at defense projections...far from it). Baseball veterans do though have to show they belong when they're fighting for the last few spots...guys like JJ, Braun, Fielder, etc. don't have to.

I don't understand how the team did not examine him after he came back from the WBC. I'm usually not one to blame injuries or such on the team, but to me that is beyond stupid. I hope I don't come across as a jerk. I just don't see how the Brewers failed to examine Braun once he came back.

Is there a legitimate chance of the T-Rats selling out opening day? Right now, I am going with at least 2 friends, but the group could grow to as many as 7 people. I really don't want to buy tix ahead of time and end up with 3 or 4 extras. Thoughts? Can you redeem unused tickets? I get to maybe one T-Rats game a year (I went to 40+ a few seasons since I grew up minutes a way from the stadium...that and the tickets were $3 for grass seats), but I do know that for Nashville Sounds games there is 'never an unused ticket'. If you don't go, you can redeem it for any other game for a seat in the same price range.

I really, really disagree with this. He was going to pass it to Jerel, but then Jerel turned the other way at the last second. Hayward's momentum carried him forward, it's not a mental mistake in the least. It was comitting a turnover while trying to avoid throwing the ball away. Stuff like this happens, it just sucks that it happened when it did. Agreed. There are NBA players that this happens to also. It's not common, but it does happen.

PECTOTA doesnt regard either player favorably, but speed and defensive ability are more important in my book than the power of yet another solid block of stone. Granted McGehee brings better defense but the only way he gets to play is if Hall gets hurt or needs a day off, and if he does play he doesnt project offensively at all. Don't these two statements kind of hurt your point about defense? There's no way TGJ should be kept over Nelson. If it's about getting on base, Nelson once again is your guy. An OBP of .380 last year in AAA compared to TGJ's .328 in Nashville.

The fact that Jeter was playing short and hitting up in the order when he's by far the worst hitter in the line up (Jeter isn't a bad hitter, but if your choice was Rollins at short and Longoria at DH or Jeter at Short and Rollins at DH and you chose the 2nd maybe you are out of MLB for a reason) Agreed. I also think it might be the whole way this thing is setup. If Jeter was on the bench, maybe he just skips it. I think they should get a legit starting lineup and some legit backups (i.e. they are ok sitting on the pine and there are no requirements for playing time). They should also have a better 'insurance plan' for if/when a starter goes down. Say the SS gets hurt they should be able to bring in a guy the next round as long as said SS is out the rest of the tournament. Waiting between rounds is a joke and forces guys to play hurt. I know taking true backups might hurt the team's chances to win, but in my opinion it may give the team a better chance to win since they don't have to shuffle the lineup/worry about a team's wants or needs. A backup type could be a guy like the Muscle or Counsell. They really don't need all that much playing time, but should an injury happen or a PH be needed they could step up and not whine about not playing.

Is this relevant news to the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers roster? No. Is it relevant news to diehard Brewers fans? I would think yes. I also assume that it is only us diehard fans who frequent TH's blog enough that he has been able to keep this part of his job all these years. *shrugs* Agreed. TH's tone just seems to be 'I didn't hear that before you...so why should anyone care?' The guy drives me nuts. He brags about how he's the 'minor league expert' and ranks the guys for publications and then gets upset that someone knew a minor league thing that he didn't. The bf.net nation knows a ton more than TH and his prospect polls are a joke. If the dude wants to brag about his minor league knowledge, he should be somewhat aware of the players in the minors. I'm also not knocking the bf.net minor league posters either. There is a ton of knowledge on that forum and IMO that forum would post the best prospect poll...TH is too busy looking at high draft picks and numbers and posting his 'knowledge'. Sorry if that's harsh, but TH doesn't know all that much about the minors IMO even though he's argued in his blog he does. Now if Miranda becomes a prospect I'm sure TH will say he found this transaction first http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Doug has always been willing to give a minor leaguer a chance to hook on elsewhere if the player had a better path to the majors and it didn't hurt the Brewers organization -too- much. I think this was one of those situations. Agreed. This is exactly the case. It'd be nice to have Lou back in the Brewers organization, but to be honest it wouldn't be fair at all to Lou. He wouldn't see the field much in AAA or AA and having Lou as a backup at either level hurts Lou and the Brewers since that would stunt his development. Let's not forget the Brewers also have Carlos Corporan who has put up better numbers than Lou has (at least at AA). I'm not sure about the defense between the two. Carlos would be a starter at AAA for some teams IMO and he's also two years younger than Lou. Lou's fate was 'sealed' with the Brewers when he got hurt last year and really never recovered. If the Brewers keep Vinny at AAA as a utility guy/backup catcher and have Lucroy and Corporan at AA (not sure where Carlos would be) there just isn't room for Lou. The only thing I could've hoped is we would get a low level prospect for him. Best of luck to Lou and let's not forget Lou hasn't gotten past AA yet.

I may seem harsh at times when it comes to the evaluation end of things, but MLB baseball isnt a place for charity cases and "giving a guy a chance", and giving a mlb roster spot to DeFelice and McGehee a roster spot screams out that philosophy. Imo, id much rather have the experienced players taking that spot. It just seems like you aren't viewing things for a level view. You have the option to keep either TGJ or Nelson. Why the heck would you need a defensive replacement for Braun, Cam, or Hart? If that's the case, we'll need a new manager. The battle IMO is for the 5th OF spot. We're not discussing who should start a ton of games between TGJ or Nelson. We're talking a handful of starts and mostly PH duty. I'd much rather have Nelson for that role than TGJ. Again, if we're discussing 4th OF or a starter I might be swayed by TGJ's defense over Nelson...that doesn't appear to be the debate though. It's not a charity...it's putting the best players on the team to fill roles. Nelson has done nothing to not make this team and might actually be the best hitter in the spring. I know spring isn't life or death in terms of MLB production, but Nelson is high above TGJ when it comes to hitting. It's not even that close. The best case scenario IMO is that TGJ clears waivers and heads back to Nashville. Nelson (despite what you think) would be picked up. I don't think he'd clear waivers (not saying that I'm sold that TGJ would either). TGJ's injury may make it more likely that he clears waivers. As far as the pitching (it is DiFelice not DeFelice by the way), I'm not too hung up on that. DiFelice has produced in AAA the past few years. I know this isn't a huge indicator, but he flat out doesn't walk guys. There are questions if he can get make it in the bigs, but I love the fact that he's not going to hurt the teams in terms of walking guys. And with McGehee he seems to be a better fit at this point and time than Lamb. Lamb has stunk. If it screams "giving a guy a chance", what is the slam dunk answer then? I think we need to take a step back and realize we're talking about two spots on the roster. Chances are there will be depth in AAA that is close to their talents and if one stinks we can make a move. I think DiFelice should make the team just so people start spelling his name right when bashing him http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Whoever thinks baseball isn't physically demanding should run as fast as he can and slide into a base, preferably home plate with a catcher wearing protective gear blocking it. Then swing a bat as hard as you can a few dozen times. Follow by running full tilt in the outfield and dive with your body in full extension before landing on the ground. Be sure and make a video, post it to youtube and have your nurse post the url here. I think the original poster said it wasn't AS physically demanding as other sports. Depending on how you look at it I'd agree with that statement. It very much so is physically demanding, but my guess is the NFL and NHL would be more so and maybe the NBA (depending on how you look at it). I think the way I look at it is a guy like say Cecil Fielder, Frank Thomas, list goes on etc. are bigger guys that by and large were/are out of shape, but still played at a high level. You just don't see as many overweight guys playing running back in the NFL or playing in the NBA or NHL (there are some linemen I'm sure in the NFL who are over weight). There are instances where a guy like say Braun, Weeks, or Hall is just as athletic as guys in the other sports. I hope that all made sense. And AKA Pete, if you're say David Ortiz you won't have to do any of things you mentioned except swing a bat, which I'll give you can take its toll and you do use a lot of energy and force. Again, I hope that all makes sense and by no way am I saying baseball is easy or lets players out of shape always perform well. I'm just saying there are guys (particularly 1B, DH, and some pitchers) who don't appear to be in elite shape.

Even if it isnt true and he was coming home from a strip club, he wasnt doing anything wrong. All I am saying is that nothing good ever happens after midnight, and that this is another example. I think that's just a blanket statement. It looks like the report I might here is false, but sometimes NBA teams fly home late after games. What are they supposed to do? Not drive home? Again, it looks like that story may not be true, but I don't think it's fair to say nothing good happens after midnight. To me, it's about the situation you put yourself in. If he was doing what is posted above this post, then I agree with you 100%. There's no need to be out past midnight causing trouble.

I thought I heard on ESPN radio that he was driving home from the airport and got hit from behind when driving home from said airport. If that's true, I really don't see Landry doing anything wrong here.

Yes, he hasn't lived up to his perceived potential, not all prospects do, but that doesn't always reflect on the prospect. Rather, sometimes the perceived potential can be flawed from the start, and we can perceive them in ways that are unfair to the player (giving the player shoes that he is never able to fill despite appearing to have the natural ability to do so). The problem I have with Weeks is in part of your post. What is perceived? He put up some pretty darn good numbers in the minors and has at periods in the bigs. Rickie may work hard and be loyal and all that, but to me he's more frustrating because I don't know if he'll ever reach his potential. He could easily be the best (or one of the best) hitting 2B in all of baseball. He only bats leadoff one time each game (he could other innings besides the beginning, but so do other players). I just think he hasn't been able to figure out major league pitching. Is that a talent thing? I'm not sure. I just believe that if Rickie ever figures it out he could be a stud. He has every physical tool you could ask for...he's just not consistent and makes the same mistakes over and over. Should he be cut? Of course not. I just think depending on what type of contract he wants when he's eligible it might be time to part ways if he wants to get paid for potential. If he wants to be paid for his MLB production, I say we extend him today and maybe get 'lucky' and like it as been said for what seems every off-season...maybe 'he puts it all together', 'figures it out', etc etc.

Well, Dillard would not be as critical to the bullpen now or in the future with both Morlan and Aguilar in the pipeline. So it affords them an opportunity to see if Dillard can start. They can always move him back. I guess I still don't see what it would have to do with it. Pena was the closer last year while Dillard was in the pen. I think Dillard starting speaks more about the lack of depth in Nashville should a starter be needed than it has anything to do with Morlan. Just my opinion. I think Dillard starting in Nashville might be a tip off that DiFelice is making the Brewers 25 man than anything else.

I think the move of Dillard to the rotation and Aguilar to Huntsville is a tipoff that they have a deal in place to keep Morlan and move him to Nashville to close. What would Dillard moving to a starter have to do with that?