Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Galloway isn’t practicing, so what?!

Scott Brannelly — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:30:27 +0000

I’m finding it very humorous that there are reports every day about Joey Galloway and when he’ll be able to practice. This is when the football reports drive me crazy, people are so starved for football news that they report on a guy not being at practice when he really shouldn’t be. Does anyone really expect an older receiver who has had problems with his wheels to practice or play any significant time in these preseason games? This is a “track speed” receiver who is getting on in years and is the only real threat on the outside on this team. Not even Jon Gruden is dumb enough to risk hurting this guy too soon. All this seems to be common sense to me yet not a day passes that I don’t see someone writing about Joey Galloway not practicing. If he did, I would worry. If he played in any preseason games I would worry. He might play a little in one of them just to get back on the field but I seriously don’t think this guy will practice or play until the season starts. I also fully expect him to play in the regular season opener, regardless of any of the reports trying to create some drama. I liken this procedure to that of Walter Jones in Seattle. Every year he doesn’t seem to even report to camp until right before the start of the regular season. I think guys like Galloway, Brooks and even Ronde Barber should be on the same level. There is a such thing as seniority, tenure and taking care of the elderly. Can’t wait to read tomorrow’s headlines about Galloway still not at practice.

The Rays have been blessed and WILL make the playoffs!

Scott Brannelly — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:43:48 +0000

There are numerous reasons to think the Rays will or won’t make the playoffs. We know them all down here. I have watched and been a fan of this team since it’s inception and I, along with everyone else here, have been waiting for that breakout year like the Bucs or the Lightning had. The Rays compare more to the Bucs for me as I believe this is the first of many years of relevance. The Lightning had a more of a flash and dash type of thing and have struggled to remain a power since their Stanley Cup victory. The Bucs have been up and down since their Super Bowl run yet were “almost” there many times before. It’s hard to predict what the Rays will be. Here are some reasons to think they won’t make the playoffs.

The Pink Sox will make a run as they’ve been there before and have the firepower to overcome mediocre pitching.
The Rays have yet to really slump yet this year. Aside from the losing streak going into the all-star break, they haven’t stumbled over themselves too much.
Injuries have started to hit at the wrong time. Crawford, Longoria and Percival are down and the only one of those three I would really count on contributing down the stretch would be Longo.
They have the toughest schedule in baseball in September with a horrific 9 game road trip going to Toronto, Boston and New York. They follow that up with Boston and Minnesota at home. Pretty scary!

Now for some reasons to think they will make the big show.

They seem to win games that make no sense. They win with timely hits, quality pitching and great defense. Not that that doesn’t make sense but there are no guys putting up superstar like numbers and it’s a different guy every night getting it done. We’ve had clutch hits from reserve players like Aybar, Gross and Riggans. How can you count on that?
They are winning without Longoria, Crawford and Percival. In this same note they’re winning while not getting the production they thought they would from guys like Upton, Crawford and Pena. Pena and Upton have been better lately along with Floyd and Hinske and you could argue that they all might get hot down the stretch. It also appears that Kazmir may be shaking off his recent struggles so that helps.
They have a large enough lead at this point that they should at least get a wild card.

Let’s throw all that crap aside now and point out the number one reason that we should know that the Rays will make it to the playoffs. Skip Bayless has jumped off the bandwagon. That’s right, with this genius finally jumping off the Rays train we can all rest comfortably. This is the guy who picks against everything sane and goes with the most outrageous predictions he can find. I find Bayless entertaining and I’m sure part of his agenda is meant to be over the top, but if he picks against you then you are destined for great things. I will now prematurely congratulate the Rays on their playoff birth based on this alone!

Reyes signs with Mets.

Scott Brannelly — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:34:09 +0000

In the middle of my chaotic day today I saw that Al Reyes signed with the Mets today. I personally don’t think that he has much left in the tank and it could get pretty interesting if the Mets use him as a temporary closer while Billy Wagner is out. If he goes out and throws those 85 MPH balloons he was throwing here we could be looking at another Mets collapse. I hope not because I would love to see the Mets in the series against the Rays (all wishful thinking!) but it’s starting to look a little bleak in New York. I saw thatBrian Stokes made a start for them and when he was recalled they had to send down Ruddy Lugo. Their bullpen is starting to sound a little too much like the infamous ‘07 Rays bullpen filled with the games destroyers of Lugo, Stokes and Reyes. Now Reyes wasn’t bad until the second half last year and he could be serviceable, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I wonder what The Mets Police think about all this?

I don’t care if BJ makes that play!

Scott Brannelly — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:20:51 +0000

F*#K BJ Upton! I don’t care if BJ would have made that play, we all know he would have. HE took himself out of that ball game and Garza should whoop his ass for it. I’m extremely proud of Papa Joe right now as he is taking a stance against the super ass known as BJ Upton. I know I’ve been sick of watching him for a while and I dogged Maddon and company for not doing something about it sooner. I’m proud of Joe for doing something about it now. With all the talk around the deadline about “team chemistry” and the main reason behind no one wanting Barry Bonds here being the solid clubhouse atmosphere I would personally love to see a backdoor clubhouse ass-whoopin’ given to Upton’s punk ass! He struts around as if he’s the greatest player in the game and isn’t putting up the numbers or the effort to do so. I agree with all the BJ defenders in saying that he would’ve made that play in CF that Ruggiano botched, but I’m still happy to see his ass riding the pine. I fully expect Joe Maddon to sit his ass tomorrow also and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the “why are they singling me out?” rhetoric out of the punk asses mouth now too. It’s you and your attitude BJ, nothing else, so shut up before you start!

Let’s get it straight on BJ Upton.

Scott Brannelly — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:06:03 +0000

I seem to have hit a nerve with my recent rant on BJ Upton. I find this funny because I rip everyone and people only seem to care about a select few when I do. That makes me laugh. Anyway, the biggest problem I have with Upton, isn’t Upton. You follow? As I pointed out before, Upton is a new wave athlete like pretty much everyone else and it’s got to be difficult for someone like Joe Maddon, who’s been around the game for so long, to deal with these guys. There still has to be an accountability factor involved with everything you preach. To Maddon and Upton’s credit, there has been a benching and public discussion of what I bitched about before and it was handled well by both of them. I give credit to both of them for this. What I have a problem with now is the defense being brought up about Upton and his play. Maddon obviously saw it and finally did something, so my bitching wasn’t unforeseen. I have read some stuff from some other sites that point out Upton’s OBP and his K’s going down and what not, but that is pointing out the problem more than defending him. Again, the problem is with Upton’s attitude and the management of his performance, not his actual performance. First, if you’re going to rip guys like Aki for not running balls out, you have to do it to Upton too. Props Joe Maddon, you finally did it. Now, if a guy is going to have a high OBP, lots of stolen bases and a seeming unwillingness to swing with runners on base, should he be batting third? No, how bout leadoff? Upton is our best LEADOFF hitter and is batting second now (after batting third most of the year) and it took way too long for a change to be made. I piss people off for ripping guys and being too negative, but I’m trying to see things in the big picture. Isn’t the goal to put guys in the best position possible for them to succeed? They are STILL winning in spite of this. Let me stay on Upton now. Upton has the talent to be one of the best players in the game and this is what makes me so upset. Let’s try to compare like this. I like Longoria because he’s trying to maximize his talent. He strikes out too much and can look like a little leaguer at the plate sometimes, but he’s playing the game to his strength. Upton isn’t. We saw the type of power and run producing ability Upton has last year, yet he seems to worry more about getting on base more than driving in runs. Why? This is my biggest problem with him. I call him a punk because people I know that spend time around him say he is, beside the fact that he whines when an umpire calls strikes on him (which what makes me want to fight someone like Kevin Youklis). I am frustrated because he hasn’t improved on what he did last year. He was counted on to be a run producing number three hitter and has evolved into a leadoff hitter (and isn’t batting leadoff Maddon!). Try to understand what I’m saying here within my endless thoughts being poured out, I don’t hate Upton, I hate that he’s not becoming what he should be. He should be evolving into someone like Hanley Ramirez and he’s not. Back to slurping down Captain Morgan now!

Scott Brannelly

Football is back and I don’t care!

Scott Brannelly — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:35:57 +0000

I’m watching the Bucs pre-season game vs. the Dolphins as I type this and I find myself wondering, why the hell am I watching this crap? I am as excited as the next person that football is back, but these games are very hard to watch. It’s not because of the game being so bad, it’s because of the over-hyped analysis of the game. It’s because of the coaching calls we never see in the regular season. Teams like the Bucs go for it on fourth down and call all types of crazy plays in the pre-season. I’m not dogging the calls, I’m dogging the lack of balls to call these plays in the regular season. I can’t stand the announcers saying that this undrafted free-agent who just ran for 6 yards is going to be a part of the team’s future. Shut up! Stop pretending that these games mean anything. It makes me happy as hell that they don;t televise spring training games. I’ll keep watching too for some reason. Watching the veterans sit while the rookies and no names kill themselves trying to get noticed and don’t. Listening to the idiotic announcers blow everything out of proportion. Watching Gruden make his fake stupid faces. I’m torturing myself for no reason at all. I actually had some people call me and ask “what are you doing for the game tonight?” and my reply was “I’m gonna watch the Rays like I always do, why?”. I didn’t think that they actually wanted to hang out for a pre-season football game. I guess this is why baseball has always been my first love. It’s a daily part of my life while football is a once a week party. I love REGULAR SEASON FOOTBALL, not the crap they put on the WB on Saturday night with bad announcers and horrible camera work. Thank god the Rays game is on soon and I don’t have to torture myself anymore. I’m done now, c’mon Rays!

Scott Brannelly

Rays grab Bradford, Crawford back in lineup.

Scott Brannelly — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:25:30 +0000

A couple of Rays notes for the day. The snagged reliever Chad Bradford off of waivers from the Orioles and will be sending the infamous “player to be named later”. Bradford is a capable reliever who I can’t stand watching, but is effective. He is one of the few submarine style pitchers left in the game and is a groundball machine. I would expect to see him in those situations that require a double play ball and against tough right handed hitters. He’s having a good season to the tune of a 3-3 record with a 2.45 ERA. We can only speculate on who’s going to be the odd man out and I would have to guess Al Reyes. Rays Index thinks Jason Hammel may be gone (who they don’t seem to be a big fan of) but I gotta think that Hammel serves more of a purpose than Reyes and there isn’t anyone to really take his long relief spot. After watching the 85 mph balloons Reyes has been throwing lately I gotta think he’s on the way to the DL at least. In other news The Heater is also reporting that Carl Crawford will be back in the lineup tonight. He’s been having some leg problems and has not been nearly as aggressive on the basepaths. This is probably something that will linger for the rest of the year so I’m not gonna get too excited either way. It’s not looking as good for Jason Bartlett tonight though as he’s out of the lineup. His finger is probably still too swollen to throw so it may be another day or two before he’s back. I would assume when he’s back in the lineup then Rocco will be activated and Zobrist will be optioned. Back to work again.

Scott Brannelly

Source: The Heater

Favre drama is over, well sort of…

Scott Brannelly — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:17:37 +0000

The Brett Favre to the Bucs drama is over now but Brett Favre is a never ending soap opera all by himself anyway so it’s never really over. I’ve been reading other blogs, listening to the radio and watching all this crap on TV and I come away extremely amused. I’m glad he didn’t come here even though the circus with Favre, Gruden and Garcia would’ve been awesome. There are so many people out there that are upset about this it kills me. I get into trades, free agency and the draft like anyone else but this whole thing was a disaster from the get go. I have no real opinion on this because it was such a mess you know the end would be as screwed up as the beginning. I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. I have to say, besides encouraging you to read all the regulars on this, to check out two sites mainly. First is The Pewter Plank who did an interview with Bruce Allen. Anytime this guy speaks he’s lying. I can’t imagine how hard it is for guys like Jeff Garcia to show up to work everyday and deal with guys like Gruden and Allen whose (if the ol’ saying is true) pants would always be on fire. I’ve worked for and with people like this my whole life and I always find myself wanting to filter some of their teeth out of their mouth with a hammer. These guys have a future in politics with amount of bs that flows continuously from their lips. Check out the interview and see what I’m talking about (they did a good interview with a bad guy). The other site you should check is The Mets Police (who has quickly become one of my favorites). They put the whole thing into a perspective that I find to be the most realistic and funniest out there. Thank god it’s over for now and we can look forward to the bad preseason games, fake position battles and over-hyping of WR’s and QB’s like every other year.

Scott Brannelly

Gomes is gone, yay!!!!!!

Scott Brannelly — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:17:49 +0000

I know there are a lot of Jonny Gomes fans out there and I have been driving you all crazy with my rants and complete disgust of this guy. Well it’s all over. Gomes was optioned to AAA Durham today in a move that brings back Ben Zobrist to fill the backup SS need. I haven’t had much time to post over the last few days, but I think we all knew I would be excited about this. I now say farewell to the strikeout machine and good riddance. I have had no love for this guy and am still confused as to what made him so popular here with the fans. I will now stop cold calling today and do a little celebrating. Which reminds me, if you need some Insurance of any kind in any state, pop on over to www.insuranceoptionsdirect.com and I’d be happy to help.

Scott Brannelly

Source: The Heater

Nevermind, damn!

Scott Brannelly — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:03:48 +0000

The Jason Bay deal turns out to be false. No Bay, Gomes still here, shit! My day just went from bad to worse, I’m going to punch some walls.