The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[udosuk]

The "Oliver" you were thinking was probably "Darren Oliver", who pitched 6 shutout innings in relief in game 3 (where the Mets went down 5-0). Here is a page with a pretty good summary of the whole series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_National_League_Championship_Series

In fact if you're willing to delve into history a bit and click into the links at the bottom of that page, you can check on almost all the past WSs, LCSs and LDSs... Some are more detailed (the recent ones) and some are not...

I think the Tigers are both the sentimental and practical favourite here, but I wouldn't write off the Cards completely just yet (especially after your "kiss of death" , and given how things have gone unexpectedly lately)... However I predicted 10 days ago on a Tigers 4-3 Cards result and I don't wanna change now... If I'm Tony La Russa (Cards manager) I'd start Weaver in game 1 and Carpenter in game 2 (both on 3 days' rest), and hope for giving Suppan 2 starts (games 3 & 7)... I'm sure he'd like some rain in Detroit the next 2 days (employing a professional rainmaker? )...

More when the series starts tonight (your time)...

PS (added after WS game 1):
Okay Hud, your "kiss of death" is pretty powerful... I actually liked the Cards to get the early lead so that the series would not be a blowout (remember I predicted the Tigers to win in 7?)... Another stellar performance from a Cards rookie pitcher... And it seems their major sluggers are getting back in form while the Tigers' bats had cooled down during the long rest... However, unless Jeff Suppan could somehow pitch twice in the series I'm still sticking with the Tigers...

[Hud]

Udosuk, you made my day about the celery eating. I just got finished eating a couple stalks of it with supper. There are actually few veggies we don't eat, but at least we didn't get caught by the spinach E-Coli since that's the one we don't eat.

Did you hear that the Suns signed Boris Diaw to a 5 year contract for $45 million? I heard that he may or may not have gotten that much in free agency, but he's a perfect fit on the Suns' Team so they pulled the trigger.

Thank's for the clarification on Darren Oliver. I thought I might be imagining things. The last I checked, it was 2-0 advantage Tigers. If they lose this game, I might pull the plug on them.

Took the day off from the house repaneling/painting. I did end up picking around 100 pecans off my tree in the front yard.

[udosuk]

Don't worry, the Tigers held on with another gem from Kenny Rogers... But a lot of fuss was about what the material was on his hand... No matter what it is I'm sure many other pitchers use it frequently anyway...

[udosuk]

Well done to the St Louis Cardinals, the new Major League Baseball Champion... Hud, I guess maybe you're travelling or just busy playing golf... Hope we have more opportunity to chat in the future...

[Hud]

Udosuk, all I can say right now is "you da man". Your predictions have been right on target. I kept waiting for the Tigers to loosen up their bats, but it simply didn't happen. Their pitchers also acted like they had never fielded their position either. At least it didn't cost me any $ lol.

I've been lurking a little, but also busy replacing the wood paneling on 2 side of the house. It's masonry up to about 8 feet, but wood on the gables(?).

Basketball season starts pretty soon, and that should give us more opportunities to chew the fat. Amare Stoudemire is really becoming a distraction for the Suns, and they had a little chat with him about his progress. It looks like he's going to be the sixth man for a while when the season starts. He expressed a wish that he be able to take "days off" now and then and D'Antoni really got PO'ed over that.

[udosuk]

I didn't get it right... But I guess I'm not as surprised by a Cards victory than most people...

I for one would like to see the Cards win a title for their consistency in the last decade...

Guess my Sept wishes were more powerful than my Oct ones... The way the Tigers're playing, even if games 6 & 7 were played out I think the Cards would win them anyway... The long rest really did the Tigers in (I won't mention your "kiss of death" )...

Come to think of it, of the 7 playoff series this year, 6 of them are won by the teams without home-advantage (and many of them huge upsets)... The only "upset" most expected before postseason started, was the Dodgers-Mets one which didn't happen... So I guess many people had got it all wrong... One of the ESPN "analyser" predicted the Mets to beat LA 3-2 and the Yankees, Twins, Padres to win easily, and in the LCSs predicted the A's & Mets to win convincingly, and then the Tigers to win the WS in 5... I wonder if he'd be able to keep his job now...

I'll keep an eye on the NBA too... Obviously your team is the Suns and I decide to commit wholeheartedly to the Rockets as "my team"... Let's see which one between our teams will perform better...

[Hud]

A guy named Paul Coro wrote an article in today's Arizona Republic where he ranked all the teams in each division (east and west).

West East
1. San Antonio 1. Detroit
2. Phoenix 2. Cleveland
3. Dallas 3. New Jersey
4. Denver 4. Miami
5. LA Clippers 5. Chicago
6. Houston 6. Washington
7. New Orleans 7. Orlando
8. LA Lakers 8.Indiana

I cut it off at 8 due to laziness. He went on to say that Houston moved up due to the acquisition of Kirk Snyder, Bonzi Wells, and Shane Battier. He said he would have ranked them higher if they weren't in such a brutal division. A big if is if Tracy McGrady's back holds up. I suppose the same could be said for Steve Nash. I was surprised to see the Lakers ranked so far down. Kobe Bryant insists that he'll play against the Suns tonight. The media is making a big deal about a possible Bryant/Bell confrontation, but I think it'll be business as usual when the ball drops. The Suns don't play Houston til late November. By then, all the new players should have settled in on both teams.

By the way, I can't see New Jersey ranked above Miami in the east.

[udosuk]

Who need Kobe Bryant when you have Lamar Odom? Once again, the Suns were hopelessly out-rebounded and out-muscled... Whoever in their organization that thought they could win without Amare playing substantially got to get fired...

And the Bulls crushed the "defending champ" by 42... I don't know if these results reflect the true power levels of the teams involved, but they're surely much to my excitement (sorry Hud but have to admit I'm more leaned to the Lakers' side than to your Suns)...

It seems the trend of "upsetting" from MLB would continue in NBA, so all the "expert predictions" would go hopelessly wrong... Now I hope all the so call "experts" would write off my Rockets completely and predict they would lose all 82 games...

[Hud]

Ouch, another typical Suns Game. You're right that Lamar Odom has their number. I hope the game serves as a wakeup call and they try to play a little defense, and take better care of the ball. 21 turnovers was one shy of their worst from last season. I wonder why Amare played only 2 minutes in the second half? I didn't watch the game, but I saw this enough last season. There's talk that Jalen Rose is trying to hool up with a team in order to have a shot at a ring. I don't like that, but it worked for someone on the Heat whose name escapes me. (Alonzo Mourning)

Speaking of the Heat, maybe last night shows why the Nets are ranked higher than they are?

[udosuk]

Alright, the Suns rebounded by beating the Clippers. The Rockets lost to the Jazz badly. The Pistons lost to the Bucks badly. And the Spurs beat the Mavs today. The unhappy face of Mark Cuban was prominently shown on TV.

Perhaps I better switch to the Knicks (coached by my favourite Isiah Thomas now), who defeated the Griz in 3OT...

[Hud]

The Knicks can spend money almost like the Yankees, but lately, their moves haven't worked very well. They're kinda like my O's in that respect. Yao had a nice game to start the season. I guess Bonzi Wells is injured since I didn't see him in the box score.

There was an interesting article in this morning's paper here. There's a young (26 years old) pitcher in Japan named Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is tearing up the Japan League. Apparently, he can go to whatever team in the US that pays his parent team the highest posting fee and they come to an agreement with him and his agent, Scott Boros. Several years ago, Ichiro Suzuki (the paper simply referred to him as Ichiro so spelling is suspect) commanded a $13.1 million posting fee from the Seattle Mariners. Matsuzaka is expected to command a much higher posting fee and salary. I suspect the Yankees will end up with him, but the Mets, BoSox, Cubs and Rangers are in the running. The guy sounds phenomenal.

[udosuk]

I'm glad you mentioned Daisuke... He's a very popular player for anyone who follows Asian baseball and I think he's even more popular than Ichiro (most in Japan use this name instead of the full name Ichiro Suzuki) and Hideki Matsui (whom Japanese fans simply call him "Godzilla")...

I suggest you to read this article to learn a bit about him... In the 1998 Koshien Tournament (the national high school baseball tournament in Japan that's corresponding to the NCAA tournament in USA) he threw 250 pitches in 17 innings to win the quarterfinal, earned a save in the semifinal and then threw a no-hitter in the final, all in a span of 3 days. He's also the MVP of the World Baseball Classic in March and helped the Japs win the title... It's no surprise many teams will fight for him... No doubt the Yankees want him much because I think they're out this season mainly due to the lack of a 2nd ace beside Wang...

Speaking of Japanese players, I wonder what happened to Yuta Tabuse, the former Suns Japanese import... The Suns keep saying they want a backup PG for Nash but I guess an Asian PG is not fast enough for their offense...

Added on Sunday (Sat night US time):
Yao had a monster game tonight (36 pts, 12/16 FG, 12/12 FT) and the Rockets thrashed the Mavs by 31...

Meanwhile the Suns went 1-3 with another loss in LA (to the Clippers)... Nash led their scoring with 28... I think they're in big trouble if Nash scores more than everybody else... When you have guys like Barbosa or Bell as the 2nd go-to man beside Marion this is what happens... And they once again got bullied on the board (41-54)... Also their FT attempts were less than a half to the Clips (21-45)... Rather than thinking the refs helped the home team I would say it's that their big men (if they had any) weren't pounding inside the paint and drawing fouls enough... When Kurt Thomas is their center it's well expected...

I don't think the Suns would go far in the postseason (if they ever get into it) if they keep their lineup to this size... There is this Chinese 7-footer called Yi Jian Lian who can run the floor as fast as a PG and shoot the 3s well, who is available in the draft next season... I think he would fit into the Suns offense well... But I doubt if the Suns would be able to take him... I would be cheering for the Suns if they do...

Added on Monday (Sunday night US time):
The Rockets crashed down to the Hornets the next night... Yao got into foul trouble and the Rockets were in trouble... Okay, perhaps they need Yi as their backup 7-footer (Mutombo is a bit too old) as well... Looks like T-Mac & Bonzi Wells need some more time to get back to their best forms...

[Hud]

I just noticed that you added a bit to your last post that ties into what I wanted to talk about. I noticed that Yao had a great game against a very good Mav team. That has to bode well for the Rockets. It looks like it'll take a little while for both the Suns and Rockets to incorporate all the new players they have. I feel that the Utah Jazz always play well early in seasons since they usually have a pretty set lineup. I'm not sure if that's the case this year, but it was in the past. Yi Jian Lian, sounds too good to be true, but after Yao's showing the last several years, he'll be highly coveted I think. I wonder if he'd be more apt to go to the Rockets due to the comfort level of having a countryman on the same team? I also think that would enter into Daisuke's decision making? That would make going to the Yankees a little more desirable, but that city can and does tear great players down (ask ARod). It also elevates great players to levels they would never have reached with other teams. Sorry for not changing paragraphs, but I just got whipped on the golf course by a 75 year old man (again). Tomorrow, it's back to painting my 33 year old house.

[udosuk]

Hud, I don't play golf, but it feels like more a skill-based game rather than a muscle sport. So I wouldn't feel too bad losing to a 75-year-old, just like you shouldn't feel bad losing to an old bloke in chess.

I wonder being with a country man plays much to these sports star's mind when joining a team. The most likely dominating factor is like always, $$$...

Yao and the Rockets won today (against the Griz). It's not a coincidence that the 2 teams that beat them so far were the Jazz & the Hornets, the 2 remaining undefeated teams in the league (the 76ers lost today to leave no unbeaten team in the East). I wonder who'd have guessed before the season that the Jazz, Hornets & 76ers would be the 3 teams to remain unbeaten the longest... I like the Hornets with Chris Paul & Stojakovic, but I've been hating the Jazz since the days of the "Mailman" Karl Malone (and his formidable elbows/knees)...

Do you know that Rafer Alston, the Rockets starting PG, was a streetball legend ("Skip 2 My Lou")? Perhaps you're more inclined to the "Harlem Globetrotters" in your days but streetball and the "And 1 tour" are more popular among young people these days (I could smell a bit of generation gap here )... But you probably won't like this guy when you learn that he was previously arrested and convicted of raping his former girlfriend. Amazingly, his sentence was only a 1-year anger-management course. Hail the American legal system (lol)...

Good luck painting your house...

[Hud]

Chris Paul was a guest today on The Jim Rome Show on radio. I didn't realize that he was a second year player. He gave props to Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson (I believe he's the other new guy) for the great start this season. He said that most of the players have bought homes in Oklahoma since the New Orleans area is still pretty much a disaster area. I think they will divide the games between the 2 areas, but I'm not sure.

I'm not very concerned about slow starts as long as they don't get out of control. They're probably jumping out of 2 story buildings in Dallas with their 0-3 start this season. The Suns have a couple more games coming up that they could well lose. I wonder how Amare will do tonight in a starting role against Duncan? I still think the Suns biggest problem is team defense. I don't know if Jalen Rose is known for D.

It's funny but I've never heard of street ball (Skip 2 My Lou). I guess it is a generation gap lol. For some stupid reason, I was just thinking about "cat gut" awhile ago. I haven't heard that term for 50 years, but it used to be synonymous with guitar strings. I haven't heard of Rafer Alston but I hope he got a bum rap on the rape charge. So many of these cases are "he said/she said". Maybe that explains the wrist slap.