Are you kidding me?!

No shock there

Without steriods what would espn have, good god they might have to rely on GASP reporting on sports! Or maybe go 19 seconds with out some corprate sponsered gimmick like the "budwiser hot seat"

I'll second that god I hate espn.

by goalieguy on Apr 2, 2006 9:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

website

ESPN.com is now the crappiest unfriendly website in terms of other garbage and mass pop-ups. I usually go to Yahoo for boxscores and here for my minor league info

by jrose643 on Apr 2, 2006 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

they make you subscribe for every friggin' column. Ads, ads, and more ads...DHTML graphics pimping some dumb over-hyped box-office flop that pop-up over the articles they aren't deeming "insider"...or nonstop 30-days-in-advance constant reminders of some ESPN original movie that I wouldn't watch if I had insomnia. Bitter, why yes, I'd say so. Love Joe Morgan, Sutcliffe, and Baseball Tonight, but for God's sake please euthanize Jon Miller.

Not my typical post. Crappy day.

by JayhawkTom on Apr 2, 2006 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

::Raised Eyebrow::

LIKE Joe Morgan and (I wish I Knew Something About and Could Actually Be Objective About) Baseball . . . Tonight?

You are talking about the self-shilling Captain Obvious, right? The next original thought Morgan has will be his first.

And Ravetch, Kruk and Reynolds? Bleach!!! I'd rather listen to a San Francisco Gnat game . . . well, almost!

And THIS IS my typical post on this subject. Eastcoast Sports Programing Network is best used as a comical diversion from real sports sites.

John, as far as I'm concerned, you were always too good to be associated with that mess.

by hunteralan on Apr 3, 2006 1:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Buh?

I'm not getting the aforementioned DHTML graphics. It's actually quite tolerable, ad-wise, if you use Firefox and mercilessly adblock. However, the constant placing of EVERYTHING in Insider-only status proves ESPN.com is wrong for families and wrong for America.

by drjayphd on Apr 3, 2006 2:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ESPN

I hate the website mostly because it loads fickin' video when I open the page.

by ephinz on Apr 3, 2006 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

CC

Sabathia is hurt, sorry don't mean to hijack the thread but I don't want to start a new one. It looked like it may be an oblique. While not good, I hope it's not an arm injury.

On a side not, sorry indianfan, Danny Graves is on. Basically that means the White Soxs are going to run away with this one.

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 2, 2006 9:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He doesn't look good, but it's 3-3!

Hello Tyler,

Granted, Graves didn't look good, but the Indians are tied 3-3 after 3.5 innings. The White Sox are NOT running away with it. Plus, I don't think the Indians will leave him in too long; plus, with the rain delay, it's doubtful that Graves will return.

No, Sabathia has an abdominal strain - he probably will be placed on the DL and Fausto Carmona will be brought up. Hopefully, CC won't miss too much time and he will be effective when he returns.

By the way, personally, I think CC injured himself early in that inning - did you see how CC squirmed after Victor threw the ball back to him? It looked like he stumbled when he caught the ball. That's when I believe he injured himself, not later when Wedge, Soloff, Jon, Joe, and everyone else noticed it.

The "meatballs" that Sabathia threw to Anderson, Iguchi, and Thome in that inning seem to indicate that Sabathia was injured much earlier than anyone noticed. I even wondered what Sabathia was doing squirming on the mound early on in that inning. I was afraid he pulled something. Unfortunately, I was right. :-(

I hope he can return and have a great season; it looks like Carmona may get a chance to contribute right away - I hope he does very well.

Go Tribe! :-)

Take care and have a great day!

by indiansfan on Apr 2, 2006 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know

I just watched Graves pitch a lot for the Reds last year. Actually, he didn't look that bad. His pitches were moving a lot and I was fairly impressed. If he can get his location back, he could be of real benifit to you guys this season. I don't know if that'll happen, but his sinker was moving a lot and his curve had good bite.

About CC, you're probably right. I didn't notice it, but he looked good early, then seemed to lose it. He probably tweaked it earlier in the inning when you saw him stumble. Then it just got worse, until he couldn't throw the ball with any velocity.

It'll probably a be a couple weeks before he's back, because they treat obliques carefully because their so important to all baseball players. Don't want this to be a reoccuring injury throughout the year.

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 2, 2006 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Graves looked good

Pitches moving, keeping stuff down, and despite getting some borderline calls go against him, he hung in there.

But no matter how good Graves looked pitching, he's getting no props for the hair. That's one ugly two-toned rodent hanging out of his hat.

by limozeen on Apr 2, 2006 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

FEAR THE MULLET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 2, 2006 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

DL

Sabathia is headed to the DL according to ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2395523

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 3, 2006 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed!

Hello Tyler and limozeen,

Yes, I think the Indians will be cautious with CC's abdominal muscle; it will probably be at least 2-3 weeks before he is back - chances are, Carmona will probably get a few starts before he is sent back. Hopefully, he does very well. :-)

As for Graves, yes, I think he got squeezed also. He didn't look bad, but he needs much better command. Also, his lack of velocity seems to indicate that he will need excellent command to get outs - otherwise, he might get hit hard. If he can get the weak groundball outs, that would help. Hopefully, that will happen very soon. :-)

Speaking of questionable calls, I didn't think that called third strike in Sizemore's first AB was a strike - it looked like it wrapped around the plate. Didn't even look that close to the inside corner to me. I think that was a generous call for Buehrle.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and have a great day!

by indiansfan on Apr 2, 2006 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Totally inside. Bad call.

But it didn't matter.

by The Colonel on Apr 3, 2006 3:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, but I hope it doesn't start a bad trend!

Hello Colonel,

No, in the long run, it didn't matter, but I hope it doesn't start a trend of bad calls every game, especially regarding the strike zone, because chances are, they will start affecting the outcome.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and have a great day!

by indiansfan on Apr 3, 2006 7:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I fell asleep...

before Fernando Cabrera took the mound last night. I see he gave up 6 earned. Did he look awful or what? Very curious.

Thank You

by El Diablo on Apr 3, 2006 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

FCab

Dunno if it was due to the moisture or not, but he had no control at all.

by The Rocc on Apr 3, 2006 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His command was very erratic!

Hello El Diablo and The Rocc,

I'm not so sure it was the rain because when Cabrera took the mound after the lengthy rain delay, the rain had totally stopped, from what I seen.

It didn't start up again until after Cabrera had faced a few hitters. He was already in trouble by that point because his command of the fastball was marginal and he had no command of his slider - he kept throwing it in the dirt, way outside, that none of the White Sox hitters would chase (though one or two almost did, believe it or not.)

Why I also don't think it was the rain is because many of Cabrera's ST appearances also looked as bad - in one of them, he didn't even get one out and walked 3 batters, I believe.

Bullpen Coach Luis Isaac and Pitching Coach Carl Willis said that he was moving his head during his delivery, which he didn't do last year.

I presume he corrected it in his final ST appearance because Cabrera's line was this:

1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K - more like what he did last year.

I'm beginning to think that the World Baseball Classic was not a good idea for Cabrera, even though he gained valuable experience as a closer, as he could have probably gained that closer experience with the Indians at some point in the future, and just dealt with it then.

I have a feeling that if Cabrera had been in ST camp the entire month, he probably would not be having the command problems he is experiencing now.

Someone mentioned that Cabrera is a warm-weather pitcher and should not have been put in that situation. I can see the point, but Cabrera needs to get used to the colder weather (though 50s in Chicago in early April is not bad,) plus I think Wedge was forced to use most of his bullpen because of CC's injury. He might have avoided Cabrera if CC had gone 6-7 IP as most expected him to.

That's the weakness of not including a Jason Davis in your bullpen - being a long reliever/spot starter, he could have gone 4-6 IP and saved the bullpen. Graves, Cabrera, and Betancourt could go 2 IP a piece, but that still takes 3 pitchers to get through the game. Thank goodness for the off-day.

The rumor is that Jason Davis may be up for now as the Indians have another off-day on Thursday and Sabathia's spot won't come up for a while. At that point, if Sabathia isn't ready (which is certainly possible,) it's rumored that Fausto Carmona will come up to be the 5th starter until CC returns.

Hopefully, Davis and Carmona do well and I hope CC returns healthy and ready to go, as well as deliver his best season yet. Hopefully. :-)

Take care and have a great day!

by indiansfan on Apr 3, 2006 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

great,

so didnt look like an arm injury, what happenned?

by TexasHeat on Apr 2, 2006 9:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm no doctor

But he grabbed high on his ribcage the inning before, so at least it dint look arm or shoulder related.

by goalieguy on Apr 2, 2006 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Reminded me of...

those bits on SNL with the SuperFans where Chris Farley would feign a heart attack and after pounding his upper chest repeatedly he would proclaim he just got a piece of "SAWSEDGE" stuck. Maybe Ceece was just reachin' for something he snarfed in pregame..

by JayhawkTom on Apr 2, 2006 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know

He threw a fastball, but it wasn't fast. V-mart immediately came out. CC was grabbing his side I thought, but could be wrong. The trainer, and Wedge came out. He threw two practice pitches and he didn't have any velocity and looked VERY tenative when throwing them. ESPN hasn't reported what the problem is yet. It looked like a side injury but could be wrong.

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 2, 2006 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with oblique or rib injury

It looked like an instant sting and the streching he was doing seemed like it was his right side. If it was an arm they would not have let him take two warmup pitches.

He looked great until right then though his velocity was down from where it was earlier. He should be fine.

You bring the juice. I'll bring the ginick, Pam Minick!

by Shamus on Apr 2, 2006 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Injury

ESPNnews said that it was an injury to his abs. So it's probably the oblique, but it could also be a ribcage strain too. At least it's not an arm injury.

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 2, 2006 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

strained abdominal muscle

from what I hear...CC seems to always be straining some muscle or another.

by acr on Apr 2, 2006 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

CC

adominal muscle and CC dont really belong in the same sentence.

by npurcell on Apr 2, 2006 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey

Fat people have feelings, their just deeper-my uncle

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 2, 2006 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ESPN

Steroids, or Joe Morgan blathering on about the Big Red Machine. Yeah, we GET IT. You played for Cincinnati in the 70s, stop talking about it already.

And I don't usually plug my own site, but since this post is about how bad ESPN is, check out my blog...

ESPN Sucks

by BenB on Apr 2, 2006 9:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Morgan

I usually hate Morgan, but he wasn't that bad at the beginning of this game - he at least seemed to acknowledge that the Chi Sox got by on the longball last year.

Obviously steroids couldn't have been avoided - they needed to talk about them at some point. I don't know why it's such a big deal that they talked about them - what with Selig announcing the investigation and all.

Really, even though I'll likely be complaining about ESPN's broadcasts within a week, I haven't heard anything especially horrible today.

by sasquatch83 on Apr 2, 2006 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Standards

"I haven't heard anything especially horrible today."
It's all relative. ESPN has dropped most people's expectations so low, that anything that isn't blatanly hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-two-by-four bad actually seems ok.

by CrimsonLiederhosen on Apr 2, 2006 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yup

Can't really disagree with that statement - but Morgan hasn't said anything about smallball, Moneyball, or "doing things the right way," at least not offensively so.

So I'll save my complaining for when he starts pronouncing players' names wrong, deriding statistics like they're witchcraft, and touts bunting and productive outs.

I did nearly choke on my take-out Indian food when Miller mentioned Morgan's Emmy nomination though.

And honestly, Jon Miller isn't horrible, just kind of bland.

by sasquatch83 on Apr 2, 2006 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see the rain as a sign

God will not allow ESPN to talk about Barry/steroids/investigation anymore and he will rain out every game til they stop. Someone needs to get on the horn and tell the Disney Sports network that.

You bring the juice. I'll bring the ginick, Pam Minick!

by Shamus on Apr 2, 2006 9:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

ESPN

Joe Morgan and Jon Miller blabbing on about "clutch hits" and "productive outs."

We get it, you don't like Billy Beane and statistical research.

by limozeen on Apr 2, 2006 9:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

CC...

looked huge. That man needs to relax with the fast food...

by SenorGato88 on Apr 2, 2006 10:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What I learned during the rain delay:

That Rob Schnieder sure can rake. I'm guessing roids.

by The Colonel on Apr 3, 2006 2:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

barry seemed normal...

Not sure if it was an ESPN ploy or not, but didn't Barry seem almost "normal" in those segments.

While I still am not a Barry fan, it does make me wonder how much of this "bad person" label is media driven.

3Rivers, United League of Moderate Gamers | Writer, Minor Details | Writer, Independent Thinking

by rockies73 on Apr 3, 2006 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Posing

You're kidding right? The media may overreact to what players do, but they're still esponsible for their actions.

by CrimsonLiederhosen on Apr 3, 2006 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes I'm kidding.

It's amazing to me how ESPN is talking out of both sides of its mouth on this Barry issue.

He's the devil on SportsCenter, but then they advertise his new show on the bottom line.

3Rivers, United League of Moderate Gamers | Writer, Minor Details | Writer, Independent Thinking

by rockies73 on Apr 3, 2006 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Morgan expected, but Miller

The inability of Joe Morgan to be objective and add something to a baseball game is well documented.

I was very dissapointed in how badly Miller sounded during the game. He was so interested in praising his cohorts and using too many adjectives that he lost his train of thought.

3Rivers, United League of Moderate Gamers | Writer, Minor Details | Writer, Independent Thinking

by rockies73 on Apr 3, 2006 9:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

One thing I thought

He called C.C. Sabathia "extraordinary" (I think that's what it was)

I thought that was an interesting choice of words, and apparently Miller did too - he said it three or four times.

I just remember hearing and thinking

"I've heard people say that C.C. is fat, has potential, is consistent, and throws good gas, but extraordinary? Isn't that reserved for guys like Pedro or Roger?"

Now that I think about it, that may not have been a word selection that was left to Miller. But who knows...

by sasquatch83 on Apr 3, 2006 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well when, everyone's a star...

While CC is not extraordinary in the "real world." But when Miller is is calling everyone else a stud he might have to be.

I just got sick of the flower talk. How many times do we have to hear that Peter Gammons is a Hall of Famer? Why does baseball need TWO on field reporters that add NOTHING to the game.

And not to mention that he tripped over so many words and got lost in his adjectives. But, then that would support your thought that it wasn't his "choice" to talk like that.

3Rivers, United League of Moderate Gamers | Writer, Minor Details | Writer, Independent Thinking

by rockies73 on Apr 3, 2006 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

here here!!!

When will espn & fox learn that gasp we actually watch the telecasts for the baseball games!! and not for the between inning interviews, or the dopes pitching their new shows & god knows not for interviewing the managers while the F@cking game is in progress!!!

Can we please go back to just broadcasting the games & not this other crap.

by goalieguy on Apr 3, 2006 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What hacked me off...

was during the 5th inning when every other sentence that Milled said was about the rules for making a game official. "Only two more outs and the games official...only one more out and the games official...hey, that ends the inning and makes this an official game." Hey jackass, we got it the first 32 times!

by andy 5 on Apr 3, 2006 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know - that was annoying!

Hello andy 5,

Yes, I know - those two (Miller and Morgan) are so annoying. I know I got annoyed with Miller's repeated "official game" rules and also when Morgan said in the 9th inning - "This is the guy the fans have been waiting for" - referring to Belliard first, I believe; then when Belliard kept the game going, then Morgan said, "No, this is the guy they've been waiting for" - referring to Boone.

Honestly, how did these two become the feature broadcasters on ESPN? I think any other two from their other baseball telecasts can do better than these two. They're always talking too, and usually, the information they're giving is not worthwhile to the game itself - they always go off on some tangent that provides little, if any, value to the game.

Maybe some day, those two will get replaced, but probably not for a while. :-(

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and have a great day!

by indiansfan on Apr 3, 2006 11:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs