Demons are really hard to kill. Ask anyone who has an addiction or depression.
I am one of those who actually believes San Diego State athletics has been cursed over the past several decades. I've seen too many weird things here that I can't logically explain, so I guess I turn to the supernatural.
The past six months or so have shown me, however, that the Aztecs are finally throwing off the shackles. What few big-money men we have shower the university with money so the ineffectual Chuck Long can be replaced as football coach by Brady Hoke, who merely goes out and hires two of the best coordinators in recent history and convinces Brian Sipe to leave his comfortable situation to coach the QBs. The women's basketball program goes worst to first in three years in the MWC and wins an NCAA Tournament game on its home floor.
The men's basketball team missed the Big Dance as part of the major conference takeover of the once thrilling event -- like I say, demons are hard to kill, but cruises to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Final Four and hosts one of the most exciting sporting events in the history of the city. The softball team goes to the NCAA regionals as an at-large participant, continuing a string of recent success.
Now, the baseball team has just been chosen to play in the NCAA regionals for the first time since 1991, an obscene drought considering the talent this area produces. The demons might have clung harder to the baseball program than anything, because there are some SDSU teams over those years that appeared to be good enough, but always fell short.
Even this year, the breaking of the drought was uncertain. The Aztecs were ranked for several weeks at one point, but went through a mid-season slump that knocked them all the way to a fourth place finish in the MWC. Then they reached the conference tournament, caught some breaks to reach the final without a loss and only had to beat sixth-seeded Utah once, and couldn't come through. It was the Utes who were hot at the right time.
With the demons hanging by a fingernail, the Aztecs woke up on Memorial Day unsure of whether they'd make the regionals even though their roster included the nation's best starting pitcher in Stephen Strasburg, the nation's best closer in Addison Reed, some good young position players and Hall of Fame manager Tony Gwynn. Thankfully, the NCAA selection committee -- no doubt with some convincing from ESPN -- gave the Aztecs one more chance and placed them in the regional at UC-Irvine beginning Friday. The Aztecs are seeded third of four teams and will play Virginia. The nationally top-ranked hosts will play defending champion Fresno State in the other game.
The demons have been flogged, stomped on and nearly put out of existence. Maybe that SDSU was put in by far the toughest of all the regionals shows some bad karma is still out there. If SDSU can put forth a good showing, the demon might finally be dead.
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I never figured this Padres team, really with few changes, would get back to .500 so quickly. It's amazing. The biggest turnaround has come from the starting pitching and the bullpen, both of which were getting ripped during the long road trips that marked the season's first two months. After some good home cooking, the Padres head out onto the road at Arizona and Colorado with signs that 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff and RF Brian Giles are finally warming up at the plate. It could be an interesting week.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Someone Finally Gets it With Stadium Plan
Entering the far turn with the lead in the race to develop a new football stadium in San Diego, Perry Dealy. And if that's not a brilliant last name for the kind of person needed to kick-start such a development in this town, nothing is.
Dealy is thinking big, which strikes me as being the right way to go if we're ever going to get a new facility for the Chargers, Aztecs, and Holiday and Poinsettia bowls. As a former president of Manchester Development, I'm sure this man is quite capable of thinking big.
His plan includes gobs of office space, hotel rooms and commercial development to go along with a stadium. I'm not sure about the office space, I think the vacancy rate in this town is rather high no matter what the economy is doing, but I always thought if the stadium was combined with a major retail and entertainment center, along with hotels and residential units, then this project could get off the ground.
The Chargers original proposal included a lot of those points, but it came at a time when the city of San Diego was incapable of making any moves. With the down economy, the city will not be able to play ball for at least another year, the better for Dealy to fine-tune his plans. But go big. There will be people who will be repulsed by the idea of a massive project but, in my mind, the bigger the plans the more capacity you can build into it to mitigate some issues, such as traffic. And, yes, the project needs to include a significant amount of public parkland.
My idea of a mitigant: I think The Q is kind of ugly plopped right there in the middle of Mission Valley. In a major redevelopment, you can build the stadium first (I envision the trolley line going through the stands where people can see it and riders can momentarily experience whatever event is taking place) and then surround the stadium with more attractive residential and hotel buildings -- not nearby, but lining the outside of the actual stadium building.
I know it's counter-intuitive to think big in this economy and against some of the opposition a stadium project has already encountered, but in this case, bigger might truly be better.
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Next day update: both the mayor's office and Chargers have come out against the plan, basically citing an unworkable density. The devil is in the details, of course, and I'm sure there's specifics in Dealy's plan I wouldn't support myself. However, Dealy might have provided a road map out of the current stalemate in regards to a new stadium. If the mayor's office and Chargers can think big, they might get a project rolling.
Dealy is thinking big, which strikes me as being the right way to go if we're ever going to get a new facility for the Chargers, Aztecs, and Holiday and Poinsettia bowls. As a former president of Manchester Development, I'm sure this man is quite capable of thinking big.
His plan includes gobs of office space, hotel rooms and commercial development to go along with a stadium. I'm not sure about the office space, I think the vacancy rate in this town is rather high no matter what the economy is doing, but I always thought if the stadium was combined with a major retail and entertainment center, along with hotels and residential units, then this project could get off the ground.
The Chargers original proposal included a lot of those points, but it came at a time when the city of San Diego was incapable of making any moves. With the down economy, the city will not be able to play ball for at least another year, the better for Dealy to fine-tune his plans. But go big. There will be people who will be repulsed by the idea of a massive project but, in my mind, the bigger the plans the more capacity you can build into it to mitigate some issues, such as traffic. And, yes, the project needs to include a significant amount of public parkland.
My idea of a mitigant: I think The Q is kind of ugly plopped right there in the middle of Mission Valley. In a major redevelopment, you can build the stadium first (I envision the trolley line going through the stands where people can see it and riders can momentarily experience whatever event is taking place) and then surround the stadium with more attractive residential and hotel buildings -- not nearby, but lining the outside of the actual stadium building.
I know it's counter-intuitive to think big in this economy and against some of the opposition a stadium project has already encountered, but in this case, bigger might truly be better.
---
Next day update: both the mayor's office and Chargers have come out against the plan, basically citing an unworkable density. The devil is in the details, of course, and I'm sure there's specifics in Dealy's plan I wouldn't support myself. However, Dealy might have provided a road map out of the current stalemate in regards to a new stadium. If the mayor's office and Chargers can think big, they might get a project rolling.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Padres Judgment Week Unimpressive
So in my last post I decided it was best to hold off on the doom and gloom surrounding the Padres, because the National League West other than the Dodgers didn't seem too lively. I was half-right. The division indeed stinks, as evidenced by the Friars at least splitting in its homestand with the Rockies and Diamondbacks. However, they then went to Houston and were swept in three by the Astros.
In the week in which I suggested the Padres could reasonably be judged, they won two games and lost five.
That's not good. Sure, they might compete for third place in the division -- San Francisco appears to have the best pitching outside LA -- but they'll be 20 games under .500 as they go.
My biggest problem with this team right now is the lack of hitting. We all knew they wouldn't be able to pitch, having just two quality starters and a bullpen thrown together at the last minute. That part was obvious. But even though the lineup looked pretty good in April, this team just doesn't hit well at all, especially with Brian Giles and Kevin Kouzmanoff off to such slow starts.
What do I do if I'm Jeff Moorad and seeing 2009 getting away from me? Two words: youth movement.
The worst part of the Padres struggle is we're not watching a bunch of kids trying to get used to major league ball and jelling with each other. This is a hodge-podge team of some veterans, some youngsters and far too many journeymen brought in to plug gaps. There are few people like Chase Headley to give us hope for coming seasons. That has to change right now.
1. As bad as P Josh Geer was Sunday, he has to stay in the rotation to give him the experience he needs so he can be more consistant. Heck, he was pretty good in his previous outing. That's youth for you.
2. I give Kyle Blanks a week of left field at AAA Portland and then promote him. Headley and Kouz then platoon at third base until one of them really claims the position. Blanks is hitting .290 with 7 HR and 20 RBI.
3. Promote P Mike Ekstrom, a reliever who has had a fabulous start to the season in Portland.
4. Assuming the front office doesn't know anything I don't, I think you have to give Giles until June to straighten things out at the plate. He's too experienced to not figure it out if still capable. If the front office does know something I don't, then make the move now.
5. Set up a frequent flyers account with Alaska Airlines. While Blanks and Ekstrom appear to be the only Beavers right now ready to come up, there are others down there who are on the radar screen and need to be promoted as soon as it makes sense. Some names: pitchers Josh Banks, Wade LeBlanc and Cesar Ramos; and outfielders Emil Brown, Will Venable and Chad Huffman. Banks and Brown have big league experience and Huffman is considered a top prospect who is new to AAA and might not be ready until August.
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Trade update: as poorly as P Luke Gregerson has worked out for the Padres, SS Khalil Greene is at .235 with just 2 HR and 11 RBI, though he seems to have cut down a little on his strikeouts. He also missed time with a sore arm.
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Baseball's fickle fortunes are well on display all over San Diego, where north of Petco Park, the USD Toreros are just 28-25 after losing two of three games at home to San Francisco this past weekend. They will not participate in the WCC Tournament championship series, which will be between Gonzaga and Loyola-Marymount.
The Toreros led the league in team batting, slugging percentage and a bunch of other offensive statistics, but were undone by a pitching staff with an ERA over 5.00 and gave up more walks than all but one team. They also had the league's worst fielding percentage.
After scrapping so hard to get his once-bare bones program into the NCAA Regionals on a regular basis, I bet Coach Rich Hill is re-energized by this setback of a season and will get back to rebuilding right away. The Toreros finish at top-ranked UC Irvine Tuesday, so figure Hill to be ready for the job ahead first thing Wednesday.
In the week in which I suggested the Padres could reasonably be judged, they won two games and lost five.
That's not good. Sure, they might compete for third place in the division -- San Francisco appears to have the best pitching outside LA -- but they'll be 20 games under .500 as they go.
My biggest problem with this team right now is the lack of hitting. We all knew they wouldn't be able to pitch, having just two quality starters and a bullpen thrown together at the last minute. That part was obvious. But even though the lineup looked pretty good in April, this team just doesn't hit well at all, especially with Brian Giles and Kevin Kouzmanoff off to such slow starts.
What do I do if I'm Jeff Moorad and seeing 2009 getting away from me? Two words: youth movement.
The worst part of the Padres struggle is we're not watching a bunch of kids trying to get used to major league ball and jelling with each other. This is a hodge-podge team of some veterans, some youngsters and far too many journeymen brought in to plug gaps. There are few people like Chase Headley to give us hope for coming seasons. That has to change right now.
1. As bad as P Josh Geer was Sunday, he has to stay in the rotation to give him the experience he needs so he can be more consistant. Heck, he was pretty good in his previous outing. That's youth for you.
2. I give Kyle Blanks a week of left field at AAA Portland and then promote him. Headley and Kouz then platoon at third base until one of them really claims the position. Blanks is hitting .290 with 7 HR and 20 RBI.
3. Promote P Mike Ekstrom, a reliever who has had a fabulous start to the season in Portland.
4. Assuming the front office doesn't know anything I don't, I think you have to give Giles until June to straighten things out at the plate. He's too experienced to not figure it out if still capable. If the front office does know something I don't, then make the move now.
5. Set up a frequent flyers account with Alaska Airlines. While Blanks and Ekstrom appear to be the only Beavers right now ready to come up, there are others down there who are on the radar screen and need to be promoted as soon as it makes sense. Some names: pitchers Josh Banks, Wade LeBlanc and Cesar Ramos; and outfielders Emil Brown, Will Venable and Chad Huffman. Banks and Brown have big league experience and Huffman is considered a top prospect who is new to AAA and might not be ready until August.
---
Trade update: as poorly as P Luke Gregerson has worked out for the Padres, SS Khalil Greene is at .235 with just 2 HR and 11 RBI, though he seems to have cut down a little on his strikeouts. He also missed time with a sore arm.
---
Baseball's fickle fortunes are well on display all over San Diego, where north of Petco Park, the USD Toreros are just 28-25 after losing two of three games at home to San Francisco this past weekend. They will not participate in the WCC Tournament championship series, which will be between Gonzaga and Loyola-Marymount.
The Toreros led the league in team batting, slugging percentage and a bunch of other offensive statistics, but were undone by a pitching staff with an ERA over 5.00 and gave up more walks than all but one team. They also had the league's worst fielding percentage.
After scrapping so hard to get his once-bare bones program into the NCAA Regionals on a regular basis, I bet Coach Rich Hill is re-energized by this setback of a season and will get back to rebuilding right away. The Toreros finish at top-ranked UC Irvine Tuesday, so figure Hill to be ready for the job ahead first thing Wednesday.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Padres Relative Standing Remains Unclear
By the tone of newspaper columns the past couple days, you'd think the Padres season was over right now, here in the first full week of May. There's some truth to what's written. The Dodgers are clearly better and, unless injuries happen, will likely win the National League West by a comfortable margin. If that's all you care about, strictly winning the division, then it's time to put up those remaining Padres tickets on Stub Hub.
However, if you're still interested in exciting major league baseball, stay tuned. While LA is the class of the division, I don't at this point see much difference between the Friars and Arizona, Colorado or San Francisco. We will learn more this week as the locals host the Rockies and Diamondbacks for a pair of games each. If they're swept, I'll be back with other ideas of how to spend the summer, like kayaking on Mission Bay, taking the canines to Dog Beach or saving up some extra dollars to bet on the horses in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. I'm betting that the Padres will at least split, particularly since pitchers Jake Peavy and Chris Young will get a shot at the Snakes.
While no one likes to suffer a four-game sweep, especially in LA -- where tweaking the early-leaving "fans" is a sport in itself --the fact remains that the Dodgers are off to a hot start, which says little about the way the Padres are playing even when it generates angry newspaper columns. When you run into good pitching and what turned out to be very strong unDodger-like defense, you're going to look bad. It's just how it is.
So let's move on to some other division opponents and host the apparently really bad Astros for the weekend and then we'll have a much better idea of how things are going to be this year.
For me, nothing has changed since my preseason assessment of the team. There's Peavy and Young and nothing else in the starting rotation and the bullpen beyond Heath Bell and Cla Meredith is a mess. Manager Buddy Black is desperate for RF Brian Giles to begin hitting.
My eyes, and I think yours, too, are on 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff and CF Jody Gerut. Kouz we know is a slow starter but usually warms up in May. If he still has only a couple home runs and a small number of RBIs at the end of the month, you might start looking at him as a bust. Right now, the only thing keeping him in the lineup is his surprisingly strong defense. If he remains cold, he might be traded for a pitcher, which would bring Chase Headley in from left and result in the promotion of slugger Kyle Banks from Portland, whose been practicing in the outfield. Gerut, mainly because of injuries, has never been a regular before, so he doesn't have Kouzmanoff's track record. Everyone thought after 2008 how nice it would be if he only had a chance. The shot he's getting might not be a long one.
The bottom-line is, sure, the Padres are on a bad streak right now but it was exacerbated by four road games against a strong team, and they've had a hot streak as well when they played good ball and were interesting to watch. I think we all know where the truth really sits, but if they can at least get back to the "interesting to watch" mode, the season will in no way be a total loss.
However, if you're still interested in exciting major league baseball, stay tuned. While LA is the class of the division, I don't at this point see much difference between the Friars and Arizona, Colorado or San Francisco. We will learn more this week as the locals host the Rockies and Diamondbacks for a pair of games each. If they're swept, I'll be back with other ideas of how to spend the summer, like kayaking on Mission Bay, taking the canines to Dog Beach or saving up some extra dollars to bet on the horses in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. I'm betting that the Padres will at least split, particularly since pitchers Jake Peavy and Chris Young will get a shot at the Snakes.
While no one likes to suffer a four-game sweep, especially in LA -- where tweaking the early-leaving "fans" is a sport in itself --the fact remains that the Dodgers are off to a hot start, which says little about the way the Padres are playing even when it generates angry newspaper columns. When you run into good pitching and what turned out to be very strong unDodger-like defense, you're going to look bad. It's just how it is.
So let's move on to some other division opponents and host the apparently really bad Astros for the weekend and then we'll have a much better idea of how things are going to be this year.
For me, nothing has changed since my preseason assessment of the team. There's Peavy and Young and nothing else in the starting rotation and the bullpen beyond Heath Bell and Cla Meredith is a mess. Manager Buddy Black is desperate for RF Brian Giles to begin hitting.
My eyes, and I think yours, too, are on 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff and CF Jody Gerut. Kouz we know is a slow starter but usually warms up in May. If he still has only a couple home runs and a small number of RBIs at the end of the month, you might start looking at him as a bust. Right now, the only thing keeping him in the lineup is his surprisingly strong defense. If he remains cold, he might be traded for a pitcher, which would bring Chase Headley in from left and result in the promotion of slugger Kyle Banks from Portland, whose been practicing in the outfield. Gerut, mainly because of injuries, has never been a regular before, so he doesn't have Kouzmanoff's track record. Everyone thought after 2008 how nice it would be if he only had a chance. The shot he's getting might not be a long one.
The bottom-line is, sure, the Padres are on a bad streak right now but it was exacerbated by four road games against a strong team, and they've had a hot streak as well when they played good ball and were interesting to watch. I think we all know where the truth really sits, but if they can at least get back to the "interesting to watch" mode, the season will in no way be a total loss.
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