Week 4 - The EmTyler Strikes Back

In the Goulet Power Rankings last Thursday, I wrote that I saw the loss to Merry T's Moors coming from a mile away, but that it wasnt going to hurt any less.  Truth was, I was hoping to put the blog jinx on T's team and send them into a monumental tailspin.  Turns out, my Mark Baker All Stars wouldnt have been able to beat a little league team this week.  That said, by whoopin my butt, T who shall once again be yler gets not only his name back (until he loses it again), but his team will be refered to until further notice as the Merry Tyler's Moor Traveling All Stars and my team shall be simply Mark Baker's Hitless Bastards.  Now, Merry Tyler's Moor Traveling All Stars may be a bit controversial in the wake of the whole Donald Sterling hates black people saga, but the name has a long history rooted in Black Ball and, more importantly, The Bingo Long Traveling All Stars and Motor Kings.  For those of you who are uncultured and haven't seen the movie, which stars Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrizian), James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader himself) and Richard Pryor (one of the funniest comedians of all time), it is well worth checking out.

He hates all minorities, except the one hes dating?

As for Sterling, is there anything worse than a complete ass hDLe who can't be put on the DL or dropped from a team?  In this day and age there is no excuse for someone to think that skin color is even remotely important in determining the skills and worth of a person.  I enjoyed Matt Kemp's passive protest of changing his walk up music to Michael Jackson's "Black or White."  Not only is it poignant and fitting, but it's a damn good song.  The Clippers players did a decent job in their protest as they didnt really have much time to come up with something.  Unfortunately, they are either going to have to let it slide completely or they are going to have to ratchet their game up by about 323 levels and risk certain legal action against them by not honoring their contracts and boycotting playoff games.  The NBAPA will need to either let Sterling pass or try to deter players from signing with the Clip joint, thereby putting themselves at risk of legal action for collusion similar to what owners faced in the late 80s in baseball.  There is simply not much that the NBA can do to one of its owners.  Being a douche bag, racist, ass hole doesnt break any of the NBA rules.  If it did, there would be a lot of people who wouldnt be allowed to own a team or play in the games.  The only way, in this case, to enact change is to hurt the team in the pocket book, and that means not playing games.  Even that way, the way the league TV money is distributed makes it nearly impossible for teams to struggle financially to the point of hurting a multi billionaire like Donald Sterling.  Also, Sterling is a big enough d bag that he would refuse to sell the team simply out of principle.  His past record shows that he obviously doesnt care about wins and losses and he doesnt need the money.  As a sports fan, though not necessarily a basketball fan, it will be interesting to see how the league handles the situation (if they try to invoke some "for the good of the game" clause that could lead down a very steep and slippery slope) and how the players react to the league's decision to do something or not to do something.  It could set a dangerous precident either way for situations in any sports league in the future and it could become a major sticking point in the next CBA.



Take a bow Brandon.

Anyways, before we get on to the blood letting, there is 1 performance from this weekend that I want to point out.  During the afternoon slate of Saturday's games, Brandon Morrow did something not often seen in MLB.  He managed to not give up a single hit in 2 and 2/3 inning and was removed from the game.  "That doesnt sound too crazy," some random voice in my head says.  That is not the impressive part.  The impressive parts is that, despite the no hits, he gave up 4 runs.  In a true exhibition of wildness that would have made Rick Ankiel blush, Morrow walked 8 batters, including 4 in the 3rd inning, forcing home a run and was then lifted in favor of Chad Jenkins.  Jenkins promptly gave up a grand salami to AJ Pierzynski, plating 3 runs charged to Morrow.  Just to prove it wasnt a fluke, Jenkins gave up a homer to Wil Middlebrooks 5 pitches later. The awesomeness here obviously belongs to Morrow. who through only 26 strikes amongst his 65 pitches (40%!!!!).  To put that in terms we Cub fans can understand, Morrow made Carlos Marmol look like the epitome of control.  And for that, we salute him.