A FEW MO' THINGS, 7/18/12

-No Joey, no Jay, no problem.  The blueprint for winning games while the team's best player is on the mend: don't allow the other team to score.  The Reds have to still be considered the favorite in the NL Central because of the continued excellence of the starting pitching.  As he's done so often this season, Johnny Cueto came up big after a Reds loss, the bullpen was money down the stretch, and Reds pitchers sidestepped trouble all night.

How many times this season has a team left 12 men on base while being shutout?

How many times have the Reds scored without the aid of a hit?

And how many times have you watched Ryan Ludwick and thought "man, am I glad the Reds signed that guy?"

Long game.  Hot night.  Important win.

-Worth pointing out however, that Johnny Cueto cruised through the first ten D-Back hitters he faced, until Willie Bloomquist broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the fourth. 

Will Willie Bloomquist ever cease wreaking havoc against the team he helped lead to the NL Central title?  Will the curse ever be lifted?  Will there ever be a time where the Reds admit their folly in not bringing him back? 

I hope so, but I doubt it.

-I wish I could tell you I was interested in the new Pete Rose reality show.  I'm not.  I wish I could tell you that it will help his chances with Major League Baseball.  It won't.  I wish I could tell you that it didn't reek of a desperate cash grab.  It does.

I'm not a reality show guy, unless those reality shows are Hard Knocks or The Franchise, so it's not like I'll be avoiding it specifically because it stars The Hit King, but if Pete Rose still clings to the dream of being inducted in the Hall (something I desperately want for this city), shouldn't he be involving himself in the kind projects other, you know, Hall of Famers would be involving themselves in?

Somehow, I can't imagine guys like Ripken, Morgan, and Seaver going the way of the Kardashians, Octomom, or the Desperate Housewives.

-As a longtime, long-suffering, pain-enduring Knicks fan, I very rarely defend the decision-making of one of the worst-run franchises in sports.

But I will today.  Just a little bit.

I will always look back on Linsanity with fondness, the same I do junior high school summer crushes.  Both were fun, new, exciting, and neither were destined to last.

I would've liked it if Jeremy Lin was still with the Knicks.  But a team that has often been so fiscally irresponsible finally showed some restraint.  Potentially destroying their cap situation, blowing well past the luxury tax threshold, all for a guy who has a whopping 26 games of NBA experience was a gamble, and one I can understand the Knicks not making.

I think Jeremy Lin will have a quality NBA career, but there's still massive holes in his game.  He's turnover prone, bad with his left hand, too much of a risk-taker defensively, and as phenomenal was he was carrying a deeply flawed Knicks team this winter, there was not much to suggest that he can make his teammates better.  The offense in the midst of Linsanity fit his skills to a tee.  Both the coach and the philosophy have since changed. 

He's still a massive uncertainty.  He's yet to play in a postseason game.  His best performances were while players will still working back into shape post-lockout.  And there were major questions about his inability to get along with the Knicks stars.

I obviously wouldn't have been dead-set against Lin returning to the Knicks, but what he would've cost combined with the financial ramifications of matching the Houston offer would've made bringing him back not worth the long-term risks for such a limited short-term reward.

And either way, no one in the East is beating Miami, anyway.

I loved Linsanity and how it energized as fan base that was bleeding for the Knicks to be relevant.  But it always seemed to have an expiration date, and while that date came earlier than expected, I give the Knicks credit for finally being prudent in making what had to be such an agonizing decision.

-Short and sweet today.  Back on the radio tomorrow at 3:04 on ESPN1530.  Maybe we'll be allowed to have weekly chats again at some point.  Here's a picture of a pathetic person....