SB Nation User Blog: gahnki

Teddy Ginn's Return TD vs KC

gahnki — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:21:51 -0000

The Coaches Poll

gahnki — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:01:12 -0000

	Team (first-place votes)	Record	Points	Final 2007 rankings
1.	Georgia (22)	11-2	1,438	3
2.	Southern California (14)	11-2	1,430	2
3.	Ohio State (14)	11-2	1,392	4
4.	Oklahoma (3)	11-3	1,329	8
5.	Florida (5)	9-4	1,293	16
6.	LSU (3)	12-2	1,163	1
7.	Missouri	12-2	1,143	5
8.	West Virginia	11-2	1,008	6
9.	Clemson	9-4	999	22
10.	Texas	10-3	979	10
11.	Auburn	9-4	888	14t
12.	Wisconsin	9-4	747	21
13.	Kansas	12-1	714	7
14.	Texas Tech	9-4	644	23
15.	Virginia Tech	11-3	568	9
16.	Arizona State	10-3	560	13
17.	Brigham Young	11-2	547	14t
18.	Tennessee	10-4	506	12
19.	Illinois	9-4	422	18
20.	Oregon	9-4	399	24
21.	South Florida	9-4	350	NR
22.	Penn State	9-4	313	25
23.	Wake Forest	9-4	203	NR
24.	Michigan	9-4	112	19
25.	Fresno State	9-4	91	NR

Others receiving votes
Alabama (7-6) 83; South Carolina (6-6) 64; Utah (9-4) 60; Florida State (7-6) 53; Rutgers (8-5) 53; Boston College (11-3) 47; California (7-6) 41; Pittsburgh (5-7) 34; Boise State (10-3) 25; Oregon State (9-4) 23; Nebraska (5-7) 17; Cincinnati (10-3) 13; Virginia (9-4) 12; Connecticut (9-4) 9; Michigan State (7-6) 9; Mississippi State (8-5) 6; Kentucky (8-5) 5; Notre Dame (3-9) 5; TCU (8-5) 5; Maryland (6-7) 4; North Carolina (4-8) 3; Texas A&M (7-6) 3; UCLA (6-7) 3; Central Florida (10-4) 2; Georgia Tech (7-6) 2; Louisville (6-6) 2; Arizona (5-7) 1; Colorado (6-7) 1; Oklahoma State (7-6) 1; Tulsa (10-4) 1.

The USA TODAY Board of Coaches is made up of 61 head coaches at Division I-A institutions. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. This season's board: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Mike Bellotti, Oregon; Bret Bielema, Wisconsin; Bobby Bowden, Florida State; Tommy Bowden, Clemson; Art Briles, Baylor; Mack Brown, Texas; Neil Callaway, Alabama-Birmingham; Gene Chizik, Iowa State; Mario Cristobal, Florida International; Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Butch Davis, North Carolina; Todd Dodge, North Texas; Randy Edsall, Connecticut; Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee; Jeff Genyk, Eastern Michigan; Turner Gill, Buffalo; Joe Glenn, Wyoming; Todd Graham, Tulsa; Jim Grobe, Wake Forest; Dan Hawkins, Colorado; Pat Hill, Fresno State; Butch Jones, Central Michigan; Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville; Mike Leach, Texas Tech; Jim Leavitt, South Florida; Rocky Long, New Mexico; Bill Lynch, Indiana; Doug Martin, Kent State; Urban Meyer, Florida; Les Miles, LSU; Shane Montgomery, Miami (Ohio); Hal Mumme, New Mexico State; Rick Neuheisel, UCLA; Tom O'Brien, North Carolina State; George O'Leary, Central Florida; Gary Patterson, TCU; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Boise State; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Mike Price, Texas-El Paso; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Rich Rodriguez, Michigan; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic; Mark Snyder, Marshall; Frank Solich, Ohio; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Jeff Tedford, California; Joe Tiller, Purdue; Bob Toledo, Tulane; Dick Tomey, San Jose State; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Auburn; Charlie Weis, Notre Dame; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Tyrone Willingham, Washington; Ron Zook, Illinois. The AFCA prohibits coaches from voting for schools on major NCAA probation.

Justin Boren- SN Article

gahnki — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:38:20 -0000

Justin Boren- SN Article

"I laugh at it," he says of the abuse he has received. "It never wore on me. Those guys are a bunch of idiots."

Oh, boy. Here we go.

If you're a Wolverines fan, Boren has breached a sacred trust.

"Let's just say it's a little unorthodox," says Dan Dierdorf, a former Michigan All-American lineman, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Bo Schembechler loyalist.

The trick, then, to understanding Boren's decision is to separate the young man from the institutions involved.

An epic video.

gahnki — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:35:21 -0000

An epic video.

Someone has an entertaining take on Carson Palmer.

gahnki — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:44:41 -0000

Someone has an entertaining take on Carson Palmer.

The Problem Starts with the First Pitch

gahnki — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:23:58 -0000

Before I share my thoughts I thought I'd show where I formed these thoughts in the first place. On Lookout Landing they did a fantastic look into the Mariners approach to first pitch strikes. In sharing the information on the Mariners they also posted all of the other major league teams numbers and rank. As I was reading this I noticed a trend that was forming under the Cleveland category.

The Indians swing at the first pitch 20.93% of the time. The lowest number in the majors. The major league average is just over 27% so that means the Indians don't swing at the first pitch slightly 6% more than the average major league team. That alone could be a trend that other teams use to help formulate ways to attack our hitters.

To show how important it is to gain the first pitch advantage Lookout Landing also showed the difference between a pitcher getting ahead with a first pitch strike and the batter gaining the early count advantage.

We all know by heart the pitching mantra of getting ahead in the count and the oft-repeated number of first pitch strikes thrown to hitters. You might even have an awareness of how beneficial it actually is for a pitcher to throw strike one as opposed to ball one. In case you didn't; the average hitter has a .737 OPS. If the count goes to 1-0, the average hitter now posts a .838 OPS. If the count goes to 0-1, the average hitter now posts just a .616 OPS. (Source: Baseball-Reference).

Lookout Landing also compiled the number strikes/balls that all of the teams swung at that were either a) missed b)fouled out c) hit into fair play.

Every time the Indians swing and miss on a first pitch they are swinging at a ball 50% of the time. That's seventh in the entire major leagues. The worst team at this is Anaheim with an extremely high 71.70% ball percentage. Each time they foul off a first pitch it is a ball 30.6% of the time. That's good for 6th in the majors.

Both of these numbers are pretty damn respectable so the trouble does not seem to be here. However, this next number is pretty embarrassing to see as a fan of this team. When the Indians do put the ball in play they are swinging at balls 33.50%. That is 25th in the majors and very troubling.

Lookout Landing went even deeper and showed the outcome of said balls hit in play. When the Tribe is hitting strikes into play their average is a scorching .351 and their slugging is a strong .580. When we put balls into plays, which happens a relatively large amount of the time, those numbers dip to a respective .288 and .394. For comparisons sake our team BA is .241 and the team SLG is .394.

Lookout Landing finishes up by showing that 43.4% of the Tribe's first pitches are thrown for strikes which ranks as 22nd in the major leagues.

So what does all that mean? I'm really not sure, but I think it shows that the Tribe is not doing a good job of making contact on the first pitch. When we do decide to swing we either foul the strikes out of play or just plain miss them. And when we do put the ball in play we aren't hitting anything well.

So..what do you think?

Kevin De La Cruz Nice Outing

gahnki — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:16:49 -0000

Kevin De La Cruz Nice Outing

Kevin De La Cruz had a nice outing yesterday for Lake County.

From Rotoworld:

De La Cruz, a lefty listed at 6-foot-5 and 187 pounds, is 4-2 with a 1.40 ERA, 39 H and 52/28 K/BB in 57 2/3 innings this season. He doesn't have a huge fastball, but he is in the low-90s regularly and he mixes in a pretty good changeup. He's emerging as one of the Indians' top pitching prospects.

AN chats with Billy Beane

gahnki — Mon, 26 May 2008 18:41:34 -0000

AN chats with Billy Beane

I found this interview pretty fascinating. I have little interest in the Athletics, but it was interesting to read Billy Beane's take on their rebuilding process.

Now if only we could get Mr. Shapiro Jay's email adress....

Lester throws a no-hitter.

gahnki — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:43:08 -0000

Lester throws a no-hitter.

At least Papelbon didn't have to pitch.

Barry Bonds is still out there. I'm just sayin'...

gahnki — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:10:28 -0000

Barry Bonds is still out there.

I'm just sayin'...