SportsJustice

April 01, 2011

Astros have a tough Opening Day, but tomorrow will be better

The thing I love most about baseball is that a team can suffer the most gut-wrenching, soul-draining defeat, and it really means virtually nothing. As The Earl of Baltimore once said to a well-meaning reporter, ''Christ, this ain't football, son. We do this everyday.''

Once when the O's got off to a bad start, I asked John Lowenstein if he had something profound to say.

''You never worry about anything until August,'' he said.

And then?

''By then, it's too late to worry.''

Brandon Lyon had a bad day at the office, and he'll have a few more this season. He'll also be really good far more often than he's bad, and if closer is the biggest problem the Astros have in 2011, they're going to have a great, great season.

I trust Brandon Lyon. I trust Brad Mills to set exactly the right tone in getting the boys to look forward instead of back.

I don't know if this is a good team or not. I think the Astros are going to be near the bottom of the National League in most offensive categories. There's just not enough power and probably too many strikeouts.

But we've known all those things for weeks. These Astros are built on a decent rotation and a bullpen that appears to have depth and power. There's also chemistry and effort and taking care of the details. Those things are very, very important, and the Astros have all of them.

Yes, I saw all the predictions about them losing 98 games, but this essentially is the same group that played very well the last three months of last season. I believe energy counts, and when you put young guys like Brett Wallace and Chris Johnson out there, you can't begin to know how they're going to evolve as players.

Allowing a 4-0 lead to turn into a 5-4 loss is a tough way to spend Opening Day, but it only counts as one game.

Besides, a bad baseball game is way better than a good football game. Baseball is the best sport on earth, the sport in which things happen so fast that it's almost impossible to keep up with them all.

So Brandon Lyon had a bad day. Given the way he pitched last season, he had one coming. Tomorrow will be better.

Posted by Richard at 03:15 PM in Astros | Comments (3)
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March 29, 2011

As attendance at Minute Maid Park spirals downward, the Astros are hoping bobbleheads and tote bags will bring you to the ballpark

I wonder what they talk about in those marketing meetings at Minute Maid Park when they discuss how to get fans to come back to Minute Maid Park. Do they really think it's about tote bags and hats and bobbleheads? Do they think we're that stupid?

I guess they do. Why else would Drayton McLane raise ticket prices after a season in which they Astros drew the fewest fans ever to Minute Maid Park, the fewest since 1997.

Attendance has declined for four straight seasons, and it seems almost certain to go down again this season after the Astros did nothing to improve the team. Since 2006, attendance has fallen almost 30 percent.

Last season, the Astros drew eight of the 20 smallest-crowds in the history of Minute Maid Park. In the last two years, they've drawn 10 of their 20 smallest-crowds. To get fans excited this off-season, Drayton announced he would sell the team. While a overwhelming majority of fans seem happy to have someone else in charge, it's not quite enough to put fannies back in the seats.

The odd thing is, I know Drayton is a competitive person. There's just no way he enjoys sitting there amid all those empty seats, and there's no way he enjoys having an irrelevant franchise.

For about a decade, the Astros were widely considered a very smart, very efficient team. That seems like about a century ago, doesn't it? Drayton was happy to see Gerry Hunsicker go after the 2004 season, and since that day, the Astros seem to have earned a PhD in stupidity.

From Andy Pettitte and Jason Jennings to Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada, they've made mistake after mistake. Even moves that didn't seem like mistakes—for instance giving Cecil Cooper a chance to manage—have turned out disastrously.

I've heard Drayton would like to stay on through the end of this season before turning things over to a new owner. MLB officials say Jim Crane is the clear frontrunner to get the team, but with Drayton you just never know.

Meanwhile, the club is nowhere. Las Vegas has the victory total at around 71.5. Sports Illustrated predicts 98 losses.

If they're right, the stadium will be embarrassingly empty. This seems likely to be the sixth straight season out of the playoffs, and the Astros could have three straight losing seasons for the first time since the mid-'60s.

Remember the night Jeff Kent hit that home run in the NLCS? Remember the 18-inning game against the Braves? Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?

Smallest crowds at Minute Maid Park

Attendance	Date	Opponent
18,196	8/4/04	Atlanta
18,594	4/8/03	Cincinnati
20,370	5/3/10	Arizona
20,794	4/9/03	Cincinnati
20,842	4/10/03	Cincinnati
21,019	5/6/10	Arizona
21,030	5/5/10	Arizona
21,035	4/28/10	Cincinatti
21,082	4/2/03	Colorado
21,171	4/3/03	Colorado
21,493	4/29/10	Cincinnati
21,528	4/4/02	Milwaukee
21,599	4/7/10	San Francisco
21,771	8/27/02	San Diego
21,802	4/22/10	Florida
21,814	6/3/10	Washington
22,032	6/3/09	Colorado
22,392	9/9/09	Atlanta
22,441	5/21/03	St. Louis

Astros attendance
2006 -- 3.022 million
2007 -- 3.02 million
2008 -- 2.779 million
2009 -- 2.521 million
2010 -- 2.331 million

Posted by Richard at 06:24 PM in Astros | Comments (94)
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March 28, 2011

Expect a terrific show: Texas A&M and Baylor women play for Final Four berth

If you care about sports, these are the games you absolutely, positively love. Baylor's top-seeded women's basketball team has beaten Texas A&M three times this season by a total of 15 points. In other words, these two teams are about as even as two teams could be.

These are fabulous teams. First, there's Brittney Griner. She's the best women's college basketball player on earth. As A&M coach Gary Blair said, ''Her impact on the game is comparable to Wilt Chamberlain's.'' She's the kind of talent we may never see again.

But Baylor coach Kim Mulkey has surrounded her with a fabulouosly talented team. Guard Odyssey Sims may be the best freshman in the country, but Baylor has speed and scoring ability up and down its bench. In the end, though, everything Baylor does begins with Brittney Griner.

A&M's Danielle Adams will start the game on Griner. A&M coach Gary Blair will bring extra defenders at times, but Baylor's perimeter game is so good, he can't worry only about Griner.

Blair said he'll need at least 20 minutes from his freshman post player Karla Gilbert. If A&M can neutralize Griner, the Aggies have a chance. With Sydney Carter and Sydney Colson and Adrienne Pratcher, A&M can more than hold its own with Baylor.

If this fourth game is like the previous three, it'll be close the entire way, and if it's exactly like the previous three, Baylor will pull away at the end and go back to the Final Four for a second straight year.

As is usually the case with women's basketball, there's a respect factor. NCAA officials closed off the upper bowl for the first two games of this round, leaving the American Airlines Center with a capacity of 10,100. It's difficult to imagine these two teams not drawing more than that, but with women's basketball, it's impossible to know.

People like me who watch a lot of women's basketball have come to love the sport. Yes, it's played below the rim, but it's also more about fundamentals, about cutting and screening and passing.

And when there's so much on the line, when there's two very good teams playing a rivalry, I would think people will want to watch. Trust me on this one: If they start watching, if they care about A&M or Baylor, they'll keep watching. It'll be a terrific show.

Posted by Richard at 10:17 PM in NCAA Tournament | Comments (8)
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Since this is Drayton's last rodeo, let's send him out in style

If you think the Astros are going to be better off without Drayton McLane, well, let's just say I thought you were smarter than that. The thing about a new owner is you just don't know what you're going to get. Sure, Drayton has done a lot of dumb things through the years, but the Astros still went to the playoffs six times, so he must have been doing something right.

If Jim Crane gets the club, there's a real good chance he's going to have a long, tough learning curve. He'll probably announce he's going to leave the important decisions to the baseball professionals, and two hours later, he'll make three trades, fire two people and sign a free agent. Believe me, I've covered a lot of ownership changes, and there's a pattern to these things.

Owning a sports franchise is unique. One reason it's unique is that smart decisions sometimes turn out all wrong. And people from the business world don't get it, and they convince themselves they could do better. After all, it's just baseball, and who hasn't played baseball?

I don't know Jim Crane. I do know his guy George Postolos, who used to work for the Rockets. We went to lunch one time, and I'll admit to not understanding most of what he said. I had the feeling he was letting me know he was a lot smarter than me, and he probably is. If Pam Gardner gets thrown out on the street for this guy, I'm not sure that's trading up.

But we just don't know. Tampa Bay got lucky with new ownership. Boston got lucky. Baltimore got unlucky. The Dodgers got unlucky. So you never know.

If this is Drayton's last season, I say we send him out in style and let him know we appreciate those six playoff appearances. We could send Drayton a Whitman's Sampler or write a nice note, and I'm sure he'd appreciate it. But knowing Drayton, I know the thing he'd like more than anything else in the world.

Cash money. Lots of it. I have this picture in my mind of Drayton walking out the door with his pockets stuffed with cash. To do that, I encourage you to buy tickets and buy hot dogs and buy t-shirts. When in doubt, spend, spend, spend. Sure the club may not be very good, but this would be our way of thanking Drayton for 2004 and 2005 and all those other seasons.

Remember how much fun we had? If we're going to blame Drayton for all the bad stuff, then we have to give him credit for all the good, and there was plenty. Money is not always the root of all evil. Sometimes, it's the root of all happiness. Let's make Drayton happy. Let's send him out happy.

Posted by Richard at 04:04 PM in Astros | Comments (28)
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Everything you wanted to know about the Final Four and wanted to find out before the guy at the adjoining cubicle began flapping his gums

``I mean, I appreciate the job that you all do. Okay? The printed word is the most important thing that we have right now. We got all those fancy cameras back there, and we got all these machines there. But there's nothing better than in the morning picking up a newspaper and reading your stories. And, please, keep changing my quotes where I sound like I graduated in four years instead of six. I appreciate you all. Thank you.''

—Texas A&M women's coach Gary Blair

Shaka Smart? I'm glad you asked. He's 33 years old. He played at Kenyon College and still has the school record for assists (542) but was accepted at Harvard, Yale and Brown. His first job was Director of Basketball Operations at Dayton and bounced around as an assistant, including time at Clemson and Florida. He took over at VCU's head coach last season and is 55-20.

Kenyon College? OK, here goes. Their teams are known as the Lords and the Ladies, and frankly, I haven't heard that kind of language since the last time I dined with Scrunchie.

Kenyon has the best swimming program in Division III, winning 31 straight men's national championships from 1980 through 2010.

"These brothers, this unique group of young guys, have just given me a thrill beyond compare. Our march in the past nine games, I haven't experienced anything like it. Our resiliency ... these kids have done this, it seems, day after day, found answers to win."

—Jim Calhoun

If UConn or VCU wins the National Championship, it would be the third school to win after being unranked in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll that started for the 1997-98 season. However, Kentucky has the historical edge since 11 of the last 13 champions have been ranked in the Top 10 in the preseason poll.

Butler is the third team from a non-power conference to get to back-to-back Final Four since seeding began in 1979—the first since UNLV in 1990 and 1991.

Butler was 14-9 on February 3 and 6-5 in the Horizon League. The Bulldogs have won 13 in a row since. Their last nine victories have been decided by 30 points—six by three points or less, none by more than seven. Butler is the first team to play in consecutive Final Fours and not be seeded first or second.

Brad Stevens, 34, is the youngest coach to take teams to two Final Fours. He's 10-3 in the in the NCAA Tournament and 17-3 in March.

UConn is making its fourth Final Four appearance on the strength of a nine-game winning streak done over 19 days. UConn lost four of its last five regular-season games. Connecticut is 12-0 at neutral sites: 3-0 in Maui Invitational, 5-0 in Big East Tournament, 4-0 in NCAA Tournament.

Jim Calhoun is the third coach to get to the Final Four four times while winning at least two titles. Also on the list: Mike Krzyzewski (11 Final Fours, 4 titles) and Roy Williams (7 Final Fours, 2 titles).

Since the NCAA began tracking this stuff in 1983, Kemba Walker is the third player to average 25-5-5 in a single tournament. He's averaging 28.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 6.8 APG and was was named Most Outstanding Player Of The West Region. Freshman Jeremy Lamb has averaged 18.3 PPG and 3.3 RPG while shooting 59 percent from the field in the tournament. He's 11 for 15 from 3-point land.

Kentucky will be playing in its first Final Four since 1998, but its14th all-time (fourth-most all-time). John Calipari will be in his third Final Four with three different teams and joins Rick Pitino as the only men's head coaches to do so.

VCU is the third No. 11 seed to reach the Final Four. That's tied for the lowest seed ever. LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU are the only teams to make the Final Four seeded lower than eighth. No 11 seed has ever won a game in the Final Four.

''I'm incredibly proud of these guys. They carried their coach today in a big way. I was saying I got out-coached big time. But our assistants did a great job and our players did a great job, and they're just a special group."

—Brad Stevens

Posted by Richard at 12:16 PM in NCAA Tournament | Comments (13)
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March 26, 2011

Rockets have a huge game against the Heat, and isn't that why we love this stuff?

I'm pumped. It's a big game, a game that could go a long way toward deciding whether or not the Rockets make the playoffs. Those of you who've wondered why getting the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference is a big deal, this is the reason. Even if the Rockets get swept by the Spurs, it will have been a nice little ride. It's not the ride we were hoping for, but when you consider how this season has played out, it's a nice little consolation prize.

To get that eighth seed means the Rockets will have to finish fast, and in finishing fast, they'll give us all a lot of thrills along the way. That's the thing I never understood about some people calling the Buffalo Bills losers. Do you understand what a remarkable accomplishment it is to play in four straight Super Bowls? The Bills didn't win the Super Bowl, but think how many really big, really important games they won along the way. What a ride they gave their fans.

That's how it is with the Rockets. Winning is better than losing. Besides, there's so little to be gained by finishing ninth instead of eighth that it doesn't even make sense for them to get a lottery pick, as if it would magically rebuild the franchise.

The franchise is going to be rebuilt with one smart move after another, with an owner willing to spend and a general manager who has consistently made smart moves. The Rockets may not be a serious factor in the Western Conference until they get another franchise player or two, but they're still great fun to watch.

The Rockets have won 12 of 15 to draw within a game in the loss column of Memphis in the race for the final playoff berth. GM Daryl Morey said a victory in Miami on Sunday could mean a 25-percent swing in the team's playoff chances.

Let's face it, the Rockets are all we have. The Texans break our hearts regularly, and the Astros are a huge question mark. You take your thrills where you can find them. If you don't like watching Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin and Chuck Hayes and Courtney Lee play basketball, you probably just don't like peach cobbler.

Posted by Richard at 03:59 PM in Rockets | Comments (30)
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March 25, 2011

This should be one of the great baseball cities in the country

All the new owner has to do is show us he knows what he's doing. That he has a reasonable plan. That the Astros mean more to him than a column on a spreadsheet.

This should be a great baseball town, and the Astros have the revenues and the ballpark and the fan support to be one of the sport's cornerstone franchises. If the new owner doesn't know that when he signs the papers he'll find out. We should take a backseat to no one.

If you've been there on nights when the team is competitive and the place is full, it's one of the great experiences in life. Even the night Albert Pujols hit that home run is a special memory.

For about 15 minutes, the Astros had won the National League pennant. There were white towels being waved, and the place felt like it was shaking. If you were there, you'll remember the moment for the rest of your life.

Fans have gone away in recent years as the team has declined. If the Astros have a losing record this season, it'll be the first time they've had a losing record three years in a row since 1966-68.

The Astros made a lot of bad decisions to get to this point, but they've taken significant steps toward rebuilding. If the new owner has vision, if he sees the big picture, the Astros could be respectable next season and every season after that.

Posted by Richard at 04:58 PM in Astros | Comments (27)
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