Sports Saturday

First I’d like to start off by celebrating myself for completing my first 10 mile (or so) run outdoors. I’d done it once before on the treadmill, but this was quite a different experience. A perfect day to go running: cool temperature, not many people on the lake shore, lots of sun. My midway point was the end of Navy Pier – which is a great view of Chicago's skyline that looks even better when you’ve had to work to get there.

Running is so new to me and something that I’ve never felt like I could do before. I don’t think I’d ever run more than a couple miles in one sitting before this year, but it’s amazing what you can do if you have some determination and free time to devote to something.

Lots of knee and lower back pain though. I definitely will be out of commission for tomorrow – but I feel much less wiped than after I did the first 10-miler. Also, I think I’m attending a friend’s fitness workshop thing Sunday, so if you see me this weekend, just assume that I’m in a lot of physical pain.

Now, to the sports!

Ah, Opening Day, a tradition unlike any other...

It’s especially great if you’re from Cincinnati, for we were the inaugurators of professional baseball. In 1882, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, made up entirely of paid athletes went undefeated, and from then on America was hooked on pro baseball.

And how does America show thanks for the Queen City’s contribution to our culture? By continuing to allow the Cincinnati Reds to host the first game of the year (well, the first Opening Day game – I’m not counting the bullshit Red Sox–Yankees orgy that took place the Sunday before), and broadcasting it on national television. It’s really the least they can do.

So there I was, a member of the Cincinnati Diaspora living in Chicago on Opening Day of baseball season. If the Reds aren’t playing the Cubs, usually the only way to see a game is to go to a bar… and I’m poor. On occasion there is a nationally broadcast game, but those are rare and don't really happen until midsummer. But no matter what, like clockwork, the Reds will be on TV on Opening Day, so I made myself a large plate of spaghetti, settled into my couch’s ass-groove, and started to take in the first few innings – feeling the renewing life forces of spring flow through me. Then, just as Aaron Harang readied himself to throw yet another hanging curve over the plate.

“A tradition unlike any other… the Masters.”

All of a sudden, I’m not in Great American Ballpark anymore. I’ve been transported to some strange world where baseball is played not in a ballpark, but in a press room. And the players are not so much ballplayers as they are news reporters and a single, very downtrodden-looking man at a podium.

That’s right. They cut the Reds Opening Day broadcast for a press conference with Tiger Woods. No golf would be played at the Masters until Thursday, yet so important this press conference was, on Opening Day (a Monday) no baseball could be found anywhere on ESPN until it was over.

Well, I assumed with a press conference this important that Tiger Woods might be admitting that he used HGH or something. But, no. “Tiger, why didn’t you come back to golf sooner?” “Tiger, will Elin be joining you at the Masters?” “Tiger, how have the other golfers behaved towards you since you’ve been back?”

Ok, it’s time for the High Horse Blog to take a stand. It was one thing when the news media was blatantly destroying a man’s life to jack some television ratings – it’s another when it interferes with me watching the Reds. This is all that can and should be said about the whole thing: almost every married couple has some kind of problem at some point with fidelity. The percentages get even higher when one spouse lives in a separate residence for much of the year. If you cheated on your significant other, it would probably be a bad thing to do, but you wouldn’t expect it to mean anything to anyone other than your significant other, your families, and maybe some close friends.

If every athlete that had cheated on their spouse came out of the woodwork, and was tarred and feathered in the same way that Tiger Woods was, nearly all of sports would completely crumble. Except for Tim Tebow – that all-American goody-two-shoes – we should at the very least not be surprised at marital infidelity.

But either way, it’s just plain rude the way that the media, sponsored corporations, and fans have broken down Tiger. It’s not like this guy was a politician campaigning on “family values” and then was caught cheating. All he did was hit golf balls. For all I care, Tiger Woods could be into mutant lesbian bondage porn (I think that exists) and as long as it doesn’t affect his golf swing, we shouldn’t bat an eye. His kind of celebrity is different than that of, say, the Kardashians, whose fame stems from asking the public to care about them. Tiger never asked us to care, we just did.

So it’s good to see that he’s doing well at the Masters. I hope he wins, frankly, and we can get this whole stupid episode behind us. Tiger will continue his march towards Nicklaus’s 18 major victories, and probably will face sexual relapse within the next two years. Oh well. As long as I’m not friends with Elin, and as long as his exploits don’t get in the way of my Reds again, I’m over it.

Speaking of the Reds, opening week thoughts:

The Reds are a very fortunate 2-2. Neither their defeats nor their victories have looked very pretty. Johnny Gomes's walk-off homer on Thursday was the only thing that saved a brilliant day by Bronson Arroyo, and prior to the Stubbs Slam Friday, the Reds offense was looking absolutely anemic. As usual, the Reds offense has been playing only to the level of its competition - they seem to only get runs when the other team has already scored a few, and if Reds pitching is good, their batting usually is not.

This is not the way to win games. The bats really need to come around for Brandon Phillips and especially Jay Bruce. Right now, it's strikeout after strikeout in the heart of our order. Bruce is really trying to muscle things rather than try for good contact. Phillips, I think, is being affected by that 4-spot in the lineup. He's perfectly designed to be a 2-spot hitter, by batting him cleanup, it's forcing him to try to become a home run hitter, which he can't sustain for a season.

Think about this order:
Stubbs
Phillips
Votto
Bruce
Cabrera
Rolen
Gomes
Hernandez
Pitcher

That's a pretty potent team with good power and run-scoring potential all throughout. The key to making it happen is having Jay Bruce mature as a hitter.

By the way, so far, Drew Stubbs and Orlando Cabrera have looked great this year. They are having real quality at-bats, making it tough for pitchers even when the end result is not a hit. Stubbs's power is nice, but much more important to the team is having someone who has the potential to get hits in the leadoff spot. If we can get some early scoring opportunities, I think it would help pick up the pitchers, who at moment probably feel like they have to go out and pitch a perfect game every time to even have a chance.

Speaking of pitching, I'm starting to worry about Aaron Harang. He looked real poor in the opener - he's pitching today so I'll get a good chance to take a look at him. He keeps saying that he's retooling his mechanics, but I think he might just be washed up (Oh! Don't say it!). Cueto and Bailey were shaky, but I don't think their outings tell you much in terms of trends. And how about Bronson! A dandy of a game Thursday, and even after being injured, he'll be ready to go Tuesday. It's rare to have the type of Iron Man pitcher like Bronson, but it's an asset. No matter what, you can count on about 13-15 wins, a lot of innings, and no health problems. Hat's off to you Bronson.





And a quick and final addendum about the bullpen: Asides from Ondrusek's debacle on Wednesday, and, of course, Masset's shelling on Opening Day, it's looked pretty solid. A good mix of pitchers - a few power arms, a few crafty guys, some wily veterans, and (though he gave me a heart attack last night) a proven closer. I'm not too worried about it.

Allright, hat's off. Tomorrow is politics Sunday and we've got a Supreme Court to discuss.