Justin Upton's torrid start. Ken Kendrick's dress code. The latest Cardinals draft rumors. Tiger's gaffe.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
Normally I'm watching ESPN and the MLB Network; today I'm glued to CNN. Normally I'm following the twitter accounts of Pro Football Talk and Sports Illustrated. Today it's the Boston Globe.
The bombing took place while we were on the air Monday, and ever since I have found my interest in anything outside the horror in Boston to be waning.
We'll return to our regular scheduled programming soon; likely as early as Tuesday's Burns and Gambo show when I'm sure we'll be much more focused on our usual topics. But I did want to share with you one of the items I read yesterday that really stuck with me. Can't explain why.
I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."
But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.
So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."
A struggling organization fires a popular leader and replaces him with the handpicked, my-guy-replacement that is short on experience or proven success but is long on front office endorsements.
The stories of Lindsey Hunter and A.J. Hinch are similar, but with one distinct difference. And it's that difference that gives the Suns the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of their next door neighbors.
With Hinch, the D-backs had made it clear: he was the manager, not the interim guy. It was decision that even at the time made a debatable hire even more dubious. Nothing about Hinch ever felt right. From his lack of experience to the absence of a buy-in from the players or fans, Hinch was a stranger in a strange land.
I'm sure this sounds awfully familiar for Suns fans. And after reading Gambo's blog, the similarities are striking.
The difference is that the Suns are not tied to Hunter the way the D-backs were to Hinch. They have a choice to make and an opportunity to recognize what the D-backs could not.
For the haters, it has done nothing but strengthen their position. For the true believers, an unavoidably uncomfortable pall has been cast on the first week of the season.
Have you seen the start Justin Upton is off to?
It's a silly question; like asking if you've seen the Peterbilt truck parked in your living room. Kinda hard to miss.
After a 4-for-4 night on Monday, Upton is now batting .423 with six homers in seven games and a robust OPS of 1.641. It won't last, of course, but that's not the point. In the rush to declare a winner of the trade, it's real easy to point to the Braves. I'm pretty sure even Karl Rove would approve.
Or is it that simple?
After all, I could easily counter with a reminder that the D-backs have won five of seven to start the year. Or point out that entering Tuesday, the D-backs are tied for first in hits in all of major league baseball, 5th in runs scored, 6th in batting average and 9th in OPS.
They rank ahead of Atlanta in all of those categories.
I'd be a fool to use those stats as proof of a win for Kevin Towers and Gibby-Ball without the requisite reminder that we're one week into the season. It's early; an argument that applies equally to Upton and the D-backs.
In reality, nothing has changed. If you hated the deal, you still hate the deal. If you loved it, you still love it. Nothing has happened yet to swing the argument. That, of course, will change depending on who cools off first.
As long as the D-backs keep hitting and, more importantly, keep winning, the team and its fans can tolerate Upton's hot start.
These days, it's a real challenge being a Suns fan.
The mere act of watching a game can be tough to stomach. Ten losses of 25 points or more, including seven under interim coach Lindsay Hunter. The season has been reduced to a giant calendar with each game representing another opportunity to cross a day off with a black sharpie. It can't end soon enough.
The challenge comes in assessing what's next -- and what we, as fans, want.
If the goal is to lose games and amass draft picks, the current regime has been exceptional at it. Lance Blanks has assembled one of the worst teams in the rich history of this organization and Hunter has doubled the number of blowout losses incurred by his predecessor Alvin Gentry. Between the timely "resting" of Goran Dragic and the injury to Marcin Gortat, the Suns have virtually assured themselves of a top-five pick and a decent shot at a top-three selection.
Some of the radicals have suggested that if the Suns were to follow up this masterpiece of awfulness with an encore, it would be even more helpful. I guess this Andrew Wiggins kid is that good.
Perhaps. But for that core group of fans who still care -- the ones who were upset that Dragic didn't play at home in front of paying customers who expect more -- questions remain. What exactly has Hunter done to validate being handed the job permanently? What key decisions has Blanks made that empower him with the trust that he'll get the next one right? How can you sell either one of them as saviors to your fans?
These are the questions that Lon Babby, armed with a contract extension, has to wrestle with.
The guess here is that if the Lon, Lance, Lindsay trifecta remains intact, some fans will be outraged, an even smaller group will rejoice in the abyss and most will simply shrug their shoulders and react with indifference.
Remember last season, when the Arizona Cardinals were scuffling with injuries at the running back position? Struggling with poor performance at the left tackle position? Do you remember what the Cardinals did about it?
If you can't, it's okay. Because they didn't do anything about it. Like the poets in Springsteen's "Jungleland", they just stood back and let it all be.
When viewed through that prism, the Carson Palmer trade requires no thought. The Cardinals had a chance to upgrade the position and they did. Why wouldn't they make this deal?
I argued a week ago that it all depended on how much money they paid him. Ten million is more coin than I would have expected or maybe even wanted them to spend, but what do I care. Ain't my money.
My co-host John Gambadoro argues that Palmer is just another stop-gap, band-aid guy for an organization whose history is littered with them. Perhaps. But he's better than what they had. A position that says much more about Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley, Brian Hoyer and Drew Stanton than it does about Palmer, but that's irrelevant.
Remember last season, when the Cardinals were scuffling with injuries at the running back position? Struggling with poor performance at the left tackle position? Do you remember what the Cardinals did about it?
If you can't, it's ok. Because they didn't do anything about it. Like the poets in Springsteen's "Jungleland", they just stood back and let it all be.
When viewed through that prism, the Carson Palmer trade requires no thought. The Cardinals had a chance to upgrade the position and they did. Why wouldn't they make this deal?
I argued a week ago that it all depended on how much money they paid him. Ten million is more coin than I would have expected or maybe even wanted but what do I care. Ain't my money.
My co-host John Gambadoro argues that Palmer is just another stop-gap, band-aid guy for an organization whose history is littered with them. Perhaps. But he's better than what they had. A position that says much more about Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley, Brian Hoyer and Drew Stanton than it does about Palmer, but that's irrelevant.
The word Derrick Hall used was ignored. Or was it invisible?
I can't quite remember. But the point the D-backs president was trying to make Monday was that his baseball team loves to be ignored; they thrive in an environment where they are given just a passing thought.
I agree that the expectations for 2013 are largely uninspiring. But no one is ignoring the Arizona Diamondbacks. Quite the opposite; I think all of baseball is paying quite a bit of attention to the D-backs.
They want to see if this grand experiment works.
Doug Franz calls it chemistry over calculators. Kevin Towers called it "playing to the scoreboard" in an interview with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
"What do I need to do right now to help my ballclub win? I think we were missing that the last two years," Towers said of the team's attitude."
NBC's Hardballtalk.com picked that up and ran with it Monday morning.
The 2013 D-backs are playing their season in a Petri dish. Every groundball that moves a runner, every hustle play, all of that much talked about (and in some circles mocked) grit will all be tallied at the end of the year to see if it is greater than they talent they gave up.
The D-backs have done nothing to run from this image. Just the opposite; they tout it. That seems to have sharpened the focus of their critics and, in some circles, the knives. In reading some -- not all but some -- of the national perspective on the D-backs, it seems the I-told-you-so column has already been written.
It's a long season and the narrative can change almost weekly. But one thing you can be sure of…baseball is not ignoring the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On a day where big money contracts were being passed out like fliers for strip clubs on the Las Vegas strip, Paul Goldschmidt's extension will hardly be the headliner.
Unless you're a D-backs fan.
Justin Verlander got $180 million (maybe more if it vests). Buster Posey got $167 million. Tony Romo got $108 million, including a reported $55 million in guaranteed money that caused Donovan McNabb to unintentionally break the Internet for about 15 minutes.
While Goldy getting paid $32.5 million isn't comparable, it is significant.
My friend Nick Piecoro at the Arizona Republic points out it's believed to be the most money a positional player has ever received with less than two years of major league service. Clearly the D-backs are impressed with his work ethic, with his potential and fear he may end up costing them more than that if left alone.
From where I sit it goes beyond that. I have a sense that, now that Justin Upton is gone, Goldschmidt is the most recognizable (popular?) player on the roster. The guy that -- when he comes up to bat -- you're most likely to tell your wife "Hey honey, can you hold on a sec? Goldy's up. I wanna see what he's going to do."
In an embarrassingly unscientific poll, I have decided that if you put 100 Diamondbacks fans in a room and told them to buy a jersey of one current D-backs player, Goldschmidt is the one they'd choose above the rest.
He's the closest thing they have to a Face Of The Franchise. And since the last FOTF had an entire section of the stadium named after him, giving Goldschmidt $32 million seems to be the reasonable, logical and subtle thing to do.
Two weeks ago, the talk of Carson Palmer to the Cardinals was an intriguing but distant possibility. Now, the story is taking on the tones of a fait accompli, with the league's own website predicting that it will happen.
It's all random, sports-talk-radio speculation until he actually gets cut by the Raiders. But assuming he does, is it worth it for the Cardinals to make a run at him?
Yes:
I do believe he's better than any quarterback they have on the roster now and is a clear upgrade. I do believe he's more of a sure thing than any of the shaky quarterbacks available in this draft. I do believe it's important to show your fans you are committed to improving your roster.
No:
I also believe in what my colleague John Gambadoro has said on our show: Palmer would be the latest in a long line of band-aid, keep-the-seat-warm quarterbacks for the Cardinals. I do believe he wouldn't represent enough of an upgrade to challenge the Seahawks and Niners.
The variable in all of this is the money.
There is no reason to get Carson Palmer if you have to overpay to do it. If you don't, there's no reason not to.
There are certain things that just make everything...better.
Bacon on your food. Gene Hackman in your movie. And the University of Arizona basketball team in your tournament.
We've all got our brackets and our office pools. Everybody watches March Madness with the dreams of winning some money or at least the hopes of witnessing a fleeting moment of history through a 15 seed like Florida Gulf Coast University winning or a top seed like Gonzaga losing.
But when the Wildcats make a run our tournament watching habits evolve into something else. We become more emotionally invested. If you went to U of A you love them. If you went to ASU, you love to hate them. If you went to neither, you now have a rooting interest in the closest thing we have to a "local" team. It makes it a far more personal experience.
The tournament is just better -- I can't really think of another word for it -- with U of A making a run.
