So It Goes

The St Louis press has been harassing the Cardinals' organization over skipping uber-prospect Rick Porcello in the 2007 draft due to concerns about meeting his demands and signing an initial contract.

I have given this some thought over the years since, and formulated this comment to the story posted here:

stimpy66 wrote: June 18, 2009 7:22AM
Saying this leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth, but I have an argument to support NOT signing Porcello then. Coming after the MV3 years(the trading of prospects for higher priced veterans), and Pujols' & Carpenter's well-earned big contracts, the Cardinal management did not have the big dollars to sign an unproven prospect. They HAD to spend to rebuild the minors from the bottom up. They had to cap payroll increases because of the financial limitations of the market. They did not have any track record of success with identifying good talent that would blow out an elbow or shoulder before they made the bigs. They spent the cash for Portello to supply the minors with servicable supply of young, talented (but not superstar-level)athletic players that TLR could plug in as he wished. The success of that pipeline has supplied one possible superstar talent (Rasmus), and granted the club the ability to make high profile risks in this year's draft. Porcello did not blow out an elbow, Mark Mulder did. Danny Haren did not. Shift those around and the Cardinals dominate for a long time. So it goes. I think the depth of the minors allows the club to pay Pujols, Ludwick, Carpenter?, and upgrade the bench and bull pen with lower cost effective players. I think the Cards are set to be competitive - with a few years of being exceptional - for the length of Pujol's next contract. What more can you ask for in St. Louis?

Football

My fantasy football team logo

The Difference between Baseball & Football

Baseball will again be America's true pastime within the next 10 years! Yes. I stated it. I'm not the first one. I'll not be the last. But, I do not back off this statement. I do not hedge it. I will not give up this thought. And, I'll add an inflamitory kicker - Baseball is a better GAME than Football. Here is a fluid overview of my thoughts: 1. Football is reliant on Fantasy and Gambling to sustain its popularity, while Baseball has forcefully and vociferously opposed gambling at every opportunity since 1919. 2. Football wishes to erase its history, and no one thinks much (at all?) of the history of the NFL before the Super Bowl era. Baseball is history. The history of our country since the Civil War. The tie that binded us. The game that distracted us. And the game that is ours, and we revile any changes to it. Baseball is the game the started our "Spectator Sports Culture" (be it good, or bad). more to come

Goodbye

We have buried Grandma.
Wavel Collier Turner

She died at damn near 98 years of age.
Perhaps 3 years too long.
We do not begrudge her that.
We have all been blessed.

She was a good part of my upbringing,
and forever will be
Grandma.

Pearls from the Swine's Mouth

Hone your wit on the ones you love.
Sharpen your intellect on the disagreeable.
Have humor for every one.

Altman stays, Valley grows

I think the reason Creighton coach Dana Altman reneged on his agreement with the University of Arkansas to be their head coach was the contract Chris Lowry got at Southern Illinois. I think the showing of the Valley this year (the league was finally able to schedule a multitude of major programs) coupled with the return of a hot coach swayed him. The comments from Lowry, SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia, and even new Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard point to a belief and commitment to competing for a National Championship. I think this commitment to prominence is what lead Altman to swallow all his pride and return to Creighton. Years ago, he was the one coach who believed in this league. Soon he was joined by Mark Turgeon at Wichita State, and the program at SIU started by Bruce Weber. Now the Valley shows how good solid college basketball can be, no matter the liquidity of the budget for athletics. With this rise in the conference rankings, the major level commitment SIU & WSU have recently shown, and the Salukis proving that they can compete on an equal level with an elite team like Kansas, Dana Altman, I believe, thought about it, and realized he was closer to a Final Four with his program at Creighton, than he would be at Arkansas buried in the muck on an overblown conference like the SEC. If I read this correctly, he, I, and 16.000 fans per game at Qwest Center suddenly believe that might be right.

An Apology

I've been missing.


Dad died.
Barry Turner.
Maybe you've heard of him.
He was a good man.
He will be missed.

Love & Much Thanks,

The Turner Family