Growing up in Crystal Lake, Illinois, I always thought that we were the good guys and the Lake County kids were the cake eaters. I later learned that McHenry, further into the country from Crystal Lake, thought the same about us. I suspect kids in Johnsburg think the same thing about McHenry.
Cake eating is in the eye of the beholder. But it lends itself to a certain type of villain.
The Dodgers struck again last night, trading for Tyler Glasnow to add another injury-plagued ace to the deck. In the coming days, there appears to be a pretty good chance they add Yoshinobu Yamamoto, too, because if you were Yoshinobu Yamamoto, why would you not want to play for the Dodgers? They had the late Kobe Bryant pitch Shohei Ohtani on coming to Los Angeles. First off, that’s a hilarious way to make fun of the Angels claiming LA, but secondly, there is very little the Los Angeles Dodgers can’t do. They just conquered death.
It’s funny to watch people react to this, because you can almost visibly see the strain as they try to stop themselves from yelling, “THIS IS BAD FOR COMPETITIVE BALANCE,” as though the Dodgers have won anything more than 40% of a title over the last thirty years (Joe Kelly’s counts as a full championship, though). Still, if the Dodgers do win, they will be a villain. And if they’re going to be a villain, they’re going to be a villain like Duke. A little too pretty–boy. A little too moneyed. A little too arrogant and stuck-up. The Dodgers are going to be cake eaters, the enemies of the common man. Not like the Yankees of the late 90s, mean and vile and wanting to be hated, but like today’s version of Duke, with a lot of guys you…uh, well, you kind of like them.
I think Freddie Freeman will cross the hater Rubicon first.
Honestly, I’m kind of ready to hate Freddie Freeman.
I’ve heard nothing but the best things about that guy.
Game of the NITe of the Weekend
The Game of the NITe of the Wekeend is…*drum roll*…SMU at Florida State. No, neither team is in a great NIT position right now. But each is close, and each has the look, which is to say: Even I, trying to pay attention to NIT-caliber teams, have not noticed either of these guys at all.
Runners up:
- LSU vs. Texas: Don’t count the Longhorns out!!!
- Plenty of others, but I mostly wanted to call attention to the possibility Rodney Terry’s Texas Longhorns could make this year’s NIT. Would be preeeeetty funny.
The Two Types of Friday News Dumps
Late today, word came out that the NCAA and the attorneys general suing the NCAA over this two-time transfer business had reached a little agreement. The NCAA stood down. Maybe the NCAA delayed this announcement, or the submission of court documents, but it’s easy to see this all taking all week, and it’s easy to see it making sense as a big game of chicken.
Late today (around 7 PM Eastern), word came out from Michigan, in the form of a statement, that Juwan Howard has been cleared both medically and disciplinarily to return to head coaching. There is no chance this coincidentally took until 7 PM on a Friday during Christmastime.
The Deal With St. Thomas
As someone who once lived in Minneapolis and worked a white-collar job while there, I think I must tell you what St. Thomas is, since St. Thomas nearly beat Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles last night:
They used to be part of this little D-III conference called the MIAC, but they kept getting bigger and bigger, and eventually they looked around and said, “Hey, we could be a Division I school, and we’d probably do pretty well.” They’re still non-scholarship in football, but it seems like a lot of Twin Cities kids want to go there for school, because a lot of Twin Cities kids want to stay in the Twin Cities, and it seems like a lot of them end up working pretty comfortable jobs after college. It’s not a Silicon Valley pipeline or anything like that, and I don’t know if it has the donor base to become a huge power player in football, but basketball might really work out for these guys. I think geography’s less important in basketball too.
I Missed the Sens’ Trip to Texas, The Return of Sean Dyche, and Other Weekend Happenings
The Sens are in Dallas tonight, and I am on a plane to Chicago for a baptism (flying straight back tomorrow night; apologies to friends I didn’t tell of my presence). The Sens and I are ships passing in the NITe. They go to Las Vegas on Sunday, and I definitely won’t be there. I only go to Las Vegas every few years. Mostly for the NIT Final Four.
Other thoughts, and things happening this weekend:
- Burnley plays Everton tomorrow in the Sean Dyche Bowl. It’s at Turf Moor. It’s Sean Dyche’s first time back at Turf Moor. Everton’s already out of the relegation zone, because Sean Dyche rocks. Burnley needs to do something good.
- Texas is in the national championship in women’s volleyball. That’s on Sunday. No idea what time, but I believe in you to figure it out, and I believe in me to figure it out too. They’re playing Nebraska. Would be a real power move to beat the state that loves volleyball more than anything else, especially now that it’s admitting that this year for the first time.
- I like Coby White a lot. Great smile. Has always had a great smile. Also, he played for an honorable version of UNC. We shouldn’t forget that. Roy Williams’s UNC deserves our respect. May it rest in peace.
- I don’t think Jed Hoyer’s a bad PBO, and I think impatience can be forgiven but those saying, “Yeah, Hoyer’s probably doing the smart thing, I’m just impatient so he should stop doing the smart thing,” are disingenuous weirdos who should take their blogger jobs more seriously. In related news, a very good way to get me to support an opinion is to get someone annoying to support the opposite opinion.
- I’m worried about the Bucs. Worried on the Packers’ behalf. I still kinda love Baker Mayfield.
- Two great matchups in Texas’s 6A state championships (I’m not going to explain why they have two, but I should try to find someone to confirm my impression on that so I can share the interesting explanation with you all): Duncanville vs. North Shore; then DeSoto vs. Summer Creek. I think Summer Creek’s a pretty big underdog. I would estimate that we are two falls away from having a statistical model for Texas high school football.
JOHNSSSBURRGGAHHHHHHHHHHH