John Lackey

I never really took it personally when Lackey left. Without a doubt, he was a tremendously important player in 2002, but he never really felt like an Angel. Orlando Cabrera possessed the qualities of leadership and team identity that Lackey never did despite coming up through Montreal's system and playing only 3 seasons with a Halo. I don't find much glee in Lackey's historically poor season despite his contribution to an epic Boston collapse, but I do think the results were predictable.

Jeff Weaver drew the ire of Angels fans during his brief stint with the team for his on-field histrionics and apparent lack of ability. Lackey possesses a similarly fragile psyche, one which seemed unlikely to make an effective transition to the deranged Boston sports environment. Indeed, after several months of poor pitching and persistent grumbling from the press, he blurted "everything in my life sucks right now." He finished the season with the worst ERA in Red Sox starting pitching history and is entering divorce proceedings with his wife. It also sounds like he's got a mouthful of marbles when he talks.

My suggestion for Lackey? I'm not sure if this is even possible, but he hasn't had a single positive experience in the last year, so perhaps it's worth a try. First, he needs to request a release from his contract. If this doesn't void the contract, then he should have it voided as well. He needs to fire his agent and start calling teams. He should pitch for one year at the major league minimum for any team not located in Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. I have no doubt that with the pressures of a huge contract and a rabid fan base removed, he will return to form and earn the top-tier pitcher label he lost this past season. I have to imagine he'd receive a universally positive welcome in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, or Houston.

If you don't like the way something's going, change it. I'm sure the Angels would be happy to have you again.

Refreshing

"How much more money do you need? I've never played this game for money. I play it for love and for championships."

"It's the way I was brought up. If $85 million is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of my family, then you're stupid."

"Loyalty is very important to me. The Angels drafted me. I want to stay here until I get a ring, or two, or three."

Torii, per the LA Times:

Right fielder Torii Hunter called Weaver's decision to ignore the lure of a richer payday "refreshing," saying the deal was smart for both sides.

After Lackey's insanity, and the continuing descent of professional sports into unsustainable fiscal irresponsibility, Jered Weaver has proven himself to be a tremendous athlete, teammate, and Angel. Thank you.

Fine. Dan Haren is good.

I don't know why, but when Dan Haren emerged as a top-tier pitcher with Oakland, I couldn't figure out why. For some reason, I had watched him pitch a few times a year and was never particularly impressed. It just didn't seem reasonable that some dude who had a 4.12 ERA in the first season I saw him could possible be anywhere near the 3.07 ERA pitcher I was seeing a year later.

Regardless, he went on to the National League and had two extremely impressive years paired with Brandon Webb as the 1-2 punch of the Arizona Diamondbacks. When he was traded to the Angels during a season where bad luck had forced his traditional stats into a steep decline, I praised the move as one which fundamentally strengthened the team without creating any new deficiencies. It was, and remains, Regains' best move as general manager.

Tonight, he pitched a 2-hit shutout, winning 1-0 over Justin Verlander. Verlander, competing for the AL Cy Young with Jered Weaver this season, was superb, but not good enough to earn the win, allowing a single run to the Angels on an Erick Aybar double. A good call by third base coach Dino Ebel sent Kendrick home when Detroit outfielder Magglio Ordonez sent the ball in to second base rather than home. With Haren allowing only 2 hits while striking out 9, a single run was all the Halos needed.

The Angels have, over the last few series, managed to put together a respectable record that has them, somehow, tied for first place in the division. Baseball's great curse, the neverending season, has already begun to warp my perceptions of the team. With the best 1-2 starters in the league and a thoroughly respectable 3-5, the Angels are unlikely to lose many games on account of their starting pitching. Meager offense notwithstanding, this Angels team is no fundamentally different than the 2009 division title club. Perhaps they'll make the playoffs after all.

To Riot and Stab in Vancouver

So I think it's pretty interesting to watch the world react to the post-Stanley Cup loss rioting in Vancouver. Vancouver, and Canada as a whole, has developed a bit of a reputation. While the gun-toting cowboys to the south struggle with national healthcare and start wars faster than they can announce them, gentle Canada remains quiet, focusing on logging, deer hunting, and whatever else Johnny Canuck supposedly does during his 11 months of winter.

To watch the city of Vancouver burn was unsettling. Countless Canucks fans poured through the street like a boozy syrup, smashing windows, flipping cars, and kicking assorted inanimate objects. Decidedly un-Canadian, people around the country are assigning blame for the insanity on myriad groups: the Canucks, the police, Canucks fans, Canucks "fans," alcohol, the city, the suburbs, the results of the game, and "hooligans," the mere mention of which brings to mind other tragedies.

But as I watched a video (hat tip to Copper and Blue, a superb Edmonton blog) of the riot, I noticed something remarkable. A couple guys were trying to defend the stores. It was mind-bogglingly stupid, to be sure, but noble nevertheless. While hundreds of complete idiots were mercilessly kicking a mailbox*, these two dudes were out there yelling "It's our city [you idiots!]" at the riotous mob. I honestly don't know whether this ever happens during LA's many sports-incited riots, but it seemed, to me, to be uniquely Canadian. Of course, one of the guys proceeded to get his head kicked in after stealing a signpost away from a vandal, but some other folks stepped into help him, which I thought was nice.

There's no real moral to this story. Idiots do as idiots please, so trying to figure out "why?" and "seriously, why?" is a fool's errand. Sports have always brought out the best and worst in people, and that's because the same animal instinct that makes us want to fight people at bars when their collars are popped is the same instinct that sports stoke and embolden. Getting rid of sports would just force us to find a new avenue to pursue that instinct, and overall violence would remain unchanged. But as you watch a game where men skating on sharpened blades repeatedly smash each other into solid walls in an effort to shove a hard rubber puck into a net, you can't help but wonder whether that violence gets commuted to the fans. Maybe it does, and maybe it doesn't.

I think it was a wonderful series, even if it was far more lopsided than the results might suggest. I think that the Bruins deserved the Cup, I think that Thomas will regress next season just as he did two seasons ago, I think that the violence in Vancouver was stupid, and I think that neither fanbase has a critical mass of people who've watched either team for more than 5 years. Nevertheless, I'm sure the residents of New England are thrilled, and it was nice to see a little emotion out of Canada.

*I can't figure out why anyone would kick a mailbox without some sort of severe complex regarding the postal system. I mean, if I'm rioting, I probably get a couple of my buddies to lift the thing and throw it somewhere. Kicking a metal box for the sake of kicking a metal box just seems stupid.

Adult League Hockey

Image credit: Dad. Game is versus the Caribou, and puck is just off my leg pad.

Much like everything else after graduating college, my hockey has become expensive, serious, and exhausting. 48 minute intramural games against relatively sedate, but skilled, fellow Northeastern students have turned into 60 minute league games against violent, hodgepodge groups of miscreants whose primary focus is injuring others without getting called for enough penalties to be forced out of a game. It's been an interesting transition, but I feel as though I'm slowly getting better, undoubtedly aided by the frequency with which I now play and my far superior equipment. Stepping into 2010 after learning to play in the '90s has been a delight for my knees, although the puck certainly finds holes in my pads and strikes exposed flesh more than probability seems to dictate.

I play in what's ironically called the "novice" league at a rink in El Segundo. In reality, novice league is a league for people who want to play on Friday nights. The advantages to playing on Fridays are numerous: no work the next day with late games, the ability to mesh one's post-game drinking with the established routine of the night, relieving stress through sport at the end of the week. Unfortunately, for the learners I encounter weekly at stick time, this league is a hilarious misrepresentation of the term "novice." Nobody in the league is truly a novice, and players typically hang around the league for over three years. How somebody can be a novice for three years is certainly an interesting question, and one best explained by the ratio of ringers to appropriately skilled players.

My team, the Ice Crue (undoubtedly named by some player following an in-game concussion and a post-game beer), started off the season 2-0 while combining to score 17 goals while allowing 3. We feasted on the two worst teams in the league. The league administrators rewarded us by removing our two best players, neither of whom was in our top 5 scorers at that point. This woud've been okay had the league followed through with the even-handed removal of all ringers from all teams, but all this action truly achieved was making the Ice Crue utterly uncompetitive.

We lost our next game 14-4, the next 4-1, and last night's game 4-0. After seeing a total of 32 shots in my first two games, I saw 118 in the next three.

Last night's game was a superb example of the inequity in the league. Both teams had 10 players a side, so there was no real advantage in conditioning. However, the first goal was scored by a player who, while falling down, put the puck into the high glove corner of the net on a one-time pass from the corner. The next goal was scored when a player skated from his net, got all the way to my blue line, cut over to his back hand and cut through three defenders, then came across the crease and put the puck off the corner pipe short-side above my blocker. This is not a novice procedure. Meanwhile, my team struggled to string together more than two passes in a row, and accumulated penalties with a confident resolve.

The previous game was similar, with our team managing to tie the game at 1-1 early but then falling to a team which actually utilizes a coach on the bench. Yes, they have former NHL player Daryl Evans standing on the bench for their "novice" league games. The entire team is ringers, and they will not lose a game this season.

It's frustrating, but also exhilaration. My first two games were marked with the peculiar feeling that there was nothing I could do which would allow my team to lose. Ken Dryden spoke of this feeling in The Game, and it's not particularly attractive. Certainly, winning games is delightful for everyone involved, but I felt no different than a backup goalie, a scratched player, or a spectator. My efforts were ultimately unimportant.

Obviously, this changed when we lost our best players. Suddenly, I became critical. Giving up a goal is no longer a mild inconvenience, but an enormous obstacle, and an obstacle which I am hopelessly unable to assist my teammates in overcoming. The 14-4 game was a transition, played with 5 total skaters for the Crue and countless acts of idiocy by the opposing team*. Now, the team has entered a phase where it must play perfect hockey to win. Whether this is possible remains to be seen.

For anyone interested, statistics are logged in this league and published online. You can find me here by looking for the Ice Crue. You'll find my league-leading 125 saves and mediocre .833 save percentage under the Goalie Leaders link.

*Ironically, the team was the Huskies.