Brotherhood of the traveling golden thong

The Counselor is IN:

Baseball players are very superstitious. If they do something special and they happen get out of a slump, then they attribute the luck to what they did. Jason Giambi has attributed breaking slumps to his golden thong underwear. The New York Daily News has the story.

"The Yankee slugger revealed Friday he slips on a gold lamé thong with a flame-line waistband when he's trying to get out of a hitting slump - and he's shared it with his teammates." (Daily)

"'It works every time,' Giambi told the Daily News after his secret was outed on Portfolio.com." (Daily)

If that was not strange enough, he has talked up his thong underwear to his teammates. Some of them not only bought into it but borrowed his underwear to help them out of their own slumps. There is nothing like shared underwear to break one out of the slump.

"Derek Jeter agreed that Giambi's thong works, although 'it's so uncomfortable running around the bases'." (Daily)

"'I had it over my shorts and stuff,' he said. 'I was 0-for-32 and I hit a homer on the first pitch. That's the only time I've ever worn it'." (Daily)

"Johnny Damon also admitted donning the golden panties 'probably three times'." (Daily)

"I may need to wear it again soon', said Damon, who is batting a mediocre .255." (Daily)

"What is the secret of Giambi's golden thong?" (Daily)

"'You're not worrying about your hands or your balance at the plate,' Damon said. You're worried about the uncomfortable feeling you're receiving'." (Daily)

The New York Daily News wanted to help out all of the Yankees. They delivered 26 pairs of golden thongs to the Yankees. This way each team member and the manager can have their own.

As my father says, "Baseball players are not the men they used to be." After this story, I am inclined to agree.

The Counselor is OUT:

The Balk -5-18-08

The Counselor is IN:

Here is another issue of The Balk.

* Over a week ago, Mariner's Richie Sexson charged the mound and attacked Texas Ranger's Kason Gabbard for a pitch that was over the plate. Sexson thought was too close with other players getting hit in this game. Sexson was suspended 5 games for this incident. When I saw the highlights (or lowlights), I remembered the faithful day in 1993 when Robin Ventura charged the mound against another Texas Ranger, Nolan Ryan. The 46 year old Nolan put Ventura in a headlock, punched him in the head 6 times, and bloodied up Ventura. As a Texas Ranger Fan, that was our brightest moment (how sad is that). Nolan is now the President of the Rangers. I wonder if he will pull Gabbard aside and teach him how to use the headlock and how to bloody the nose of the next person that charges the mound.

* Players that might be available free agents in your league.

1. OF Coco Crisp- Red Sox. He is batting .315 with 2 homers, 10 RBIs, and 6 SB in 92 at bats. He would be a source of good batting average and some cheap Stolen Bases.
2. OF Ryan Sweeney- A's. He is batting .298 with 1 homer, 19 RBI's, and 3 Stolen Bases. 23 year old Sweeney has a lot of upside. If you are in a keeper league, he deserves a look.
3. 3B Ramon Vazquez- Rangers. Ramon is batting .338 with 2 homers, 7 RBIs and no stolen bases. His value may really be in the multitude of positions that he may qualify at in your league. He has played 2 games at 2nd, 9 at Short Stop, and 16 at third base. Blaylock is expected to play 1st base for a while when he comes back from injury so Vazquez should continue to get a lot of playing time.
4. Pitcher Jose Contreras- White Sox. He has an ERA of 3.35, a WHIP of 1.19, and 4 wins. Jose killed me last year in my league but he appears to be back to his former self. He is not a bad pick up for an injury and may continue to pitch like this for the rest of the year.
5. Pitcher Tim Redding- Nationals. He has an ERA of 3.55, WHIP of 1.12, and 5 wins. I was surprised to find Redding available in my mix league.

* Interleague play has begun. Remember to update your lineup where needed to most benefit from the Interleague play. Many DHs will be sitting down. Players like Big Pappy should play enough in the NL to start qualifying for 1st base in some leagues.

* Be on the look out for minor league call ups. Some of the studs of Double and Triple A will soon be in the Majors. A few have already started showing up on the 25 man rosters. Some of these players will be high reward free agency pick ups. With the high reward possibilities, there is also high risk especially with pitchers.

The Counselor is OUT:

The Balk- (Weekly Fantasy Baseball Thoughts)

The Counselor is IN:

We are now about a month and a half into the Major League Baseball season. I will start to give my thoughts in my weekly column, Balk. I forgot to take my foot off the rubber before coming up with that name. .

* Most slow starting stars have started performing.

1. C.C. Sabathia is starting to pitch like the A.L. stud we thought he was. He has his ERA below 6.00. 5.xx is nothing to brag about unless it was close to infinity like Sabathia’s was.
2. David Ortiz is finally hitting the ball and hitting it well. He is now up to a .240 BA and 7 home runs. Considering that Big Pappy was below .095 batting average a few weeks ago, he is red hot.
3. Albert Pujols is smoking hot with a .348 batting average and 8 homers and 2 stolen bases. His slow start did not last long.

My main fantasy team has moved from second to last to second place in the last month. Things can change very quickly early in the fantasy season.

* It is time to start tweaking your team. Find those weak links and check out the free agents. You can start looking at potential trades with other teams in your league.

* Paying attention to your team and their needs now can pay off at the end of the season. Many owners lose track of their team and miss injuries and key free agent pickups.

* Texas Rangers Starting Pitching has been good (except for Jennings). This was not expected with from this team (in any season). We will see how they pitch in Texas heat of July, August, and September. Their hitting has also been solid.

* The Rays are at the top of the American League East. A month and a half in and they are better than the Yankees or Red Sox. This will be the story of the year if they can maintain it through September.

* Interleague play is about to start up. I always enjoy the competition between the leagues. You do have to be careful with your DH players in the American League during the play.

* News Flash- Home runs are down this year. They were down last year from the year before and are on pace to be several hundred less this year. On a related note, the average size of baseball caps for players are also down. Hmmmn. I wonder how that happens?

The Counselor is OUT:

Keep your day job Tony

The Counselor is IN:

Tony Romo, the quarterback of my beloved Dallas Cowboys, led the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field during yesterday's Cubs game. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a Tony Romo fan. I think he is very funny off the field along with being a really good on the field leader. I may be the only Cowboy fan that does not mind his relationship with Jessica Simpson. But I have to admit that Tony can not sing. See for yourself below. He does have a lot of guts to try to sing in front of Millions of viewers on WGN. I sure would not try it.




The Counselor is OUT:

NFL Rookie Max salary

The Counselor is IN:

Another NFL Draft has come and gone. There are several more rich young men from huge contracts of the first round picks. The majority of the money is given out to the top of the draft. The number 1 over all pick, OT Jake Long, is now the highest paid offensive lineman and he has not even stepped on the field for practice yet. Teams can not trade out of the top slot because no team wants the expense of the number one pick. This is crazy money for these players.

I believe that a Rookie contracts should be limited in some form of a Rookie Maximum cap. The top picks should get paid much better than a seventh round pick but should not be the highest paid player at that position. This would also help player to get signed and into camp. NFL Commissioner Roger S. Goodell agreed with this idea last week on Mike and Mike in the Morning. I know that the NBA has a similar cap with their rookies.

National Football League Players' Association leader Gene Upshaw does not agree. Below are his comments on this idea.

Every spring, the buzz from general managers is, 'We need to fix rookie compensation.' We addressed this issue by limiting rookie pool growth and fixing the maximum number of years a rookie could sign. The length of contracts severely limits players’ ability to move money into future years. What the media doesn’t report is that the rookie pool is part of the overall salary cap, and a player is only a rookie for one season. Clubs want the players to pay for mistakes teams make in drafting. We’ll never agree to a rookie wage scale in such a short-career sport. (NFL)

If there was a fix to the rookie compensation, then the teams would need to pay their veterans more. The overall salary cap would remain the same but teams could afford to compensate their own players better. This may actually help players to remain with one team longer.

This idea makes too much sense to me. It would be smart utilization of limited resources and cap money. I would think more union members would want to help their compensation rather than a few rookies.

The Counselor is OUT:

Accusations against Clemens continues to mount

The Counselor is IN:

First were accusations that Roger Clemens used steroids. He testified before Congress stating that he did not use steroids. This was contrary to Brian McNamee testimony that Roger did use. Roger is facing a lawsuit for defamation of character from McNamee.

The latest twist on the scandal has Roger having a ten year affair with a country music star, Mindy McCready. The accusations have Roger starting the affair when Mindy was 15 years old. MSNBC has the story. “'I cannot refute anything in the story,' McCready told the newspaper in a story posted on its Web site Monday night."

Roger is the best pitcher of my generation. He should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. These accusations could not only damage his reputation and affect the lawsuit against him, but they could potentially keep him out of the Hall of Fame. We know that off the field issues can keep you out of the Hall. If any evidence of this comes out, this could ruin Clemens.

Beyond all of that, if these accusations are true, then Roger will be going to jail for a long time. He will have violated a teenage girl. Sex offenders are not treated very nicely in prison. Roger may in for a nightmare of legal issues.

It is very sad to see your heroes fall.

The Counselor is OUT:

Live NFL Draft- Round 1 Commentary

Here is my running commentary of the first round. I will blog as far into the first round as my time allows.

1) Miami Dolphins- OL, Jake Long, Virginia, 6'7", 335 lbs. Long is a stud Left Tackle that the Dolphins can build around. We have known about this pick since Tuesday. This is a classic Bill Parcells pick. This should shore up the offensive line immediately. A bunch of teams were hoping Long would slip a bit. This is a great pick for the Dolphins. Boomer called him the Pancake Blocker.

2) St. Louis Rams- DE, Chris Long, Virginia, 6'4", 266 lbs. Long , the son of the great Howie Long, is a QB sacking machine. He has a motor that will not quit. He brings enthusiasm to the field even during practice. The Rams had a hard time getting to the opposing QBs last year. Long will start right away and should continue to be a sacking machine for St. Louis.

3) Atlanta Falcons- QB Matt Ryan, Boston College 6’5”, 224 lbs. He is a very accurate passer that has a bunch of intangibles. More importantly, he is the new face of the Falcons. This is important since Michael Vick was the previous face. Many feel that he is the only franchise QB in this year’s draft and next year’s draft.

4) Oakland Raiders- RB Darrin McFadden, Arkansas, 6’2”, 210 lbs. McFadden has homerun hitting speed. Al Davis loves fast guys. McFadden’s explosiveness should be a good compliment to the other running backs for the Raiders, who lacked speed at Running back last year. There are questions if he can be an every down player or if he will do better with 15 carries a game.

5) Kansas City Chiefs- DT Glenn Dorsey, LSU, 6’1.5”, 313 lbs. Many people feel that Dorsey is the best player in the draft including Mel Kiper. He will shore up the run defense for the Chiefs. This is a bit of a surprise pick just because they need pass rushers and Offensive lineman. It appears that Dorsey was too good to pass on. This should be a great pick at number five but it does not address their key needs. They do have a bunch of picks to address those needs.

6) New York Jets- DE Vernon Gholston, Ohio State, 6‘3”, 260 lbs. He is an intense pass rusher that will be converted to an OLB in the 3-4. He had great stats but appears to take downs off. He did not play football until his sophomore year of high school. He should be a great addition to the Jets.

7) New England Patriots- traded to the New Orleans Saints: The Saints trade 1st and 3rd for the Patriots’ 1^st and 5^th picks.

7) New Orleans Saints – DT Sedrick Ellis, USC, 6’1”, 307 lbs. He is a force in the middle. He is an impact defensive tackle. He is the man that the Saints wanted badly to stop the run. Ellis was clearly the second best DT in the draft just slightly behind Dorsey.

8) Baltimore Ravens- traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags traded their 1st, and two 3rds, and 4^th round picks for the Raven’s 1^st round pick.

8) Jacksonville Jaguars- DE Derrick Harvey, Florida, 6’4”, 260 lbs. Harvey is clearly the next best DE on the board. The Jags really liked him and need a DE. This may be a bit of a reach but the Jags feel that he is worth it. The Jags used to have a dominating Defense and are hopeful that Harvey can help them get back to it.

9) Cincinnati Bengals- ILB Keith Rivers, USC, 6’3”, 237 lbs. This is a solid pick for the Bengals with solid character. He is the best true linebacker on the board. He will play well in their defense. He will not be a problem in that previously volatile (may be again is Ocho Cino plays) locker room.

10) New Orleans Saints- traded to New England Patriots: (see above)

10) New England Patriots- ILB Jerod Mayo, Tennessee, 6’2”, 235 lbs. He is another solid linebacker. The Patriots should be very happy to get younger at the LB position. Mayo should come in and produce for them right away. They get a good player and get more picks by trading back.

11) Buffalo Bills- CB Leodis McKelvin, Troy, 5’10.5”, 186 lbs. This is a bit of a surprise pick because I thought they would go WR. That said, this pick makes since for their needs. McKelvin has been list as the top CB by many of the experts. Many felt he would go in the top ten.

12) Denver Broncos- OT Ryan Clady, Boise State, 6’6”, 320 lbs. He should help the Broncos immediately at LT. Clady did not play against the most challenging of defenses in college but he should still transition nicely to the NFL. Many experts also believed he would go earlier than 12.

13) Carolina Panthers- RB Johnathan Stewart, 5’11”, 230 lbs. This is a surprise pick for the Panthers. I really thought they would look at their offensive line or even add a defensive player. Stewart will give the Panthers a tandem like most teams are going to. I really thought Mendenhall would go before Stewart. Very interesting pick.

14) Chicago Bears- OT Chris Williams, Vanderbuilt, 6’6”, 317 lbs. He will help this line that crumbled last year. This is a great pick for the Bears. They could have traded it for multiple picks but they did get a top level offensive lineman.

15) Detroit Lions- Traded to the Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs trade their 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th picks for the Lions 1^st and 3^rd picks.

15) Kansas City Chiefs- OT/OG Brandon Albert, 6’6.5”, 320 lbs. Albert was potentially the Chiefs pick at five until Dorsey fell to them. For them to go out and get him at 15 is a steal. Albert should have been taken earlier. This is a true steal for the Chiefs. They now have their LT for this season and the future.

16) Arizona Cardinals- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tenn State, 6’1.5”, 183 lbs. He is a potentially stud CB which has been a hot commodity of late. He fell a little lower than expected earlier in the week. He is not from a big time program but has shown himself well in the Senior Bowl. The Cardinals could have gone in several directions including RB. It is a good pick but it is not what I thought the Cardinals would do.

17) Kansas City Chiefs (from MIN)- traded to the Detroit Lions:

17) Detroit Lions- RT Gosder Cherilus, Boston College, 6’6.5”, 313 lbs. He is more of a RT and not a LT but should immediately help this porous line. It is a bit of reach pick since Cherilus was predicted to go in the last first or early second round.

18) Houston Texans- Traded to the Baltimore Ravens:

18) Baltimore Ravens- QB Joe Flacco, Delaware, 6’6”, 237 lbs. Mel stated that he has the strongest arm of any QB in this draft but is still able to move around in the pocket. It is said that he is a quick learner. This is the pick that the Ravens wanted. They traded down and then moved back up to ensure they would have their man.

19) Philadelphia Eagles- Traded to Carolina Panthers: The Panthers give the Eagles their 2^nd and 4^th from this year and next year’s 1^st pick for the Eagles’ 1^st round pick.

19) Carolina Panthers- OT Jeff Otah, Pittsburg, 6’6.5”, 341 lbs. He is a big boy that will help their running game. Boomer refers to him as a “mauler”. He is the last top level offensive lineman. He did not play football early in High school. He is still developing some of his skills but is quickly learning how to dominate on the O’ Line.

20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers- CB Aqib Talib, Kansas, 6’1”, 195 lbs. Talib is a very talented CB that fell because of behavioral concerns and drug use. He is a great pick talent wise for the Bucs. We will have to see how his behavioral issues are in the NFL.

21) Washington Redskins- Traded to the Atlanta Falcons:

21) Atlanta Falcons: OT Sam Baker, USC, 6’5”, 314 lbs. The Falcons do need to address their offensive line. Baker is a bit of a reach at this point but the Falcons felt that he would not be there at the beginning of the second round. They need to protect QB Ryan that they just drafted. It is an interesting pick.

22) Dallas Cowboys (from CLE)- RB Felix Jones, Arkansas, 6’0”, 207 lbs. Okay, time for this Cowboy fan to rant about this pick. With the board falling well for the Cowboys where they could get either CB Jenkins or any WR at this spot, they reach to get Jones. Jones would have been there at 28 or maybe they could have traded up for him in the second round. RB was a need position for the Cowboys but CB is a greater one. Why not wait or consider Mendenhall if you are going RB at this position. I am sure that Jones will be a great edition to the Cowboys and will give them the speed they need as a change of pace back.

23) Pittsburgh Steelers- RB Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois, 5’10.5”, 215 lbs. This is picking the best player on the board. This will give the Steelers the 2 back system with Mendenhall being more of a between the tackles runner. This is a good pick.

24) Tennessee Titans- RB Chris Johnson, East Carolina, 5’10”, 201 lbs. This team needs WRs but they went and picked a fast RB. He is the fastest player in the draft. This is a reach pick and did not meet the needs of Vince Young. They will now have a thunder and lightning running combination of Johnson and White.

25) Seattle Seahawks- traded to the Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys trade their 1^st (28) 5^th, and 7^th round picks for the Seahawks 1^st.

25) Dallas Cowboys- CB Mike Jenkins, South Florida, 5’11”, 200 lbs. As a Cowboys fan, I screamed in joy with this pick. I wished they would have done pick in the other order but they did get Mike Jenkins at CB. This will help shore up that secondary that struggled in the regular season and was smoked in the playoffs by the Giants. This should instantly help the Cowboys. Henry should be playing safety on passing downs instead of Roy Williams.

26) Jacksonville Jaguars- traded to the Baltimore Ravens and then traded to the Houston Texans: See above trades

26) Houston Texans- OT Duane Brown, Virginia Tech, 6’4.5”, 302 lbs. Houston has needed a LT for a long time. This is about the right time for Brown to come out. This should have out the Texans who have struggled on the O’ Line.

27) San Diego Chargers- CB Antoine Cason, 6’0”, 191 lbs. This is a good pick for the Chargers. They can definitely use the help in the secondary. Cason was not the next best CB on my board but it is not really a stretch pick.

28) Dallas Cowboys- traded to the Seattle Seahawks: (see above)

28) Seattle Seahawks- DE Lawrence Jackson, USC, 6’5”, 270 lbs. I thought they would go and get either D.E. Merling, DT Balmer, or TE Davis or Keller. Jackson is a good De but I think Merling is better. I think Balmer would have been a much better pick.

29) San Francisco 49ers (from IND)- DT Kentwan Balmer, North Carolina, 6’4”. 295 lbs. This is a good defensive pick but this team does need some offensive help. He will help immediately in the 3-4 defense.

30) Green Bay Packers- traded to the New York Jets: Jets trade their 2^nd and 4^th pick for the Packers’ 1^st pick.

30) New York Jets- TE Dustin Keller, 6’2”, 251 lbs. Keller is a great receiving TE. He is a former WR. He should help this team by catching the ball over the middle. He can play like a WR but is still a big boy. He is not much of a blocker at this time.

31) New York Giants- Safety Kenny Phillips, 6’2”, 210 lbs. Kenny is the best safety on the board. This is a great pick for Giants. Phillips should develop into a top safety in the NFL.

The Counselor is OUT: