Best song lyric I heard today

From "Caves" by Jack's Mannequin:

Windows leading to the past
Think it's time I broke some glass
Get this history off my mind

Thinking about Ed Wade's biggest moves as Astros' GM

Richard Justice's latest column had me pondering Ed Wade's most high profile moves thus far as Astros' GM:

• Traded Brad Lidge for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and some minor leaguer named Costanzo (insert obligatory Seinfeld reference here) who was promptly shipped out in another Wade deal. While Bourn did play some solid defense in centerfield and showed good speed on the basepaths (when he was on base) his batting average was in the low .200s all season in 2008. Now, this spring he is looking up at the Mendoza line with a sparking .184 average. Read something recently where Wade could have traded Lidge last year to the Indians for Cliff Lee. You may have heard of him - he was 22-3 last season and won the Cy Young. Now in full disclosure, I supported Lidge getting traded. He needed a change of scenery but it sure seems like Wade could have gotten more return on that one.
  
• Miguel Tejada for Troy Patton, Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate and Costanzo. Great move - giving up two of our best young pitching prospects (Albers and Patton) for a guy who lied to Congress about steroid use. You could make the argument that this one has probably worked out about equal for both sides thus far. Albers and Scott were key contributors for the O's last season while Patton was injured all year. The Astros got more offense out of the SS position than they have since Dickie Thon was there 20+ years ago. This one falls into the "win now" category but given the Astros' outlook for this season, this one probably won't ultimately look good on the track record for Wade.
  
• Signing Kaz Matsui, or as my colleague who roots for the Mets appropriately labeled him, Kaz Matsucky. What was it last season - 3 trips to the DL? What is he batting this spring? .059? Don't most guys get sent to minor league camp if they are hitting like that four weeks into spring training?? Given the bargains out in the free agent market right now, I'm guessing the Astros could have gotten a starting pitcher or a couple of decent relievers for the $5 million they are paying Kaz this season.
  

Rants and Randomness - Sunday evening edition

• The Astros are 1-14-2 in spring training games this year. I'm sorry but one win in 17 games is just plain bad. I don't care if these are irrelevant games, it's freaking 1-14-2! Feels like a bad vibe before the regular season even gets started;
• Go do a search on Twitter for #batterylife. Lots of interesting discussion going on around notebook battery life as a result of this blog and now this article;
• Digging all the rain here in Austin these past few days although I am bummed that my daughter's softball games were canceled this weekend. I had a great time coaching first base at her tourney last weekend.
  
• Favorite new band - We Are Scientists. I really like bands that make songs that all don't sound the same. These guys are all over the place. Check out "Lethal Enforcer." Who does it sound like? I think blend of Roxy Music and Talk Talk.
• Will post a blog on ASU hoops in a day or two. Many thoughts on last night's Pac-10 tourney championship loss to USC, you can see some of them here on PFN. From a bigger picture standpoint, I hate that not having a Pac-10 hoops title is one more thing U of Tucson fans can hold over us. Much like how we hold it over them that they have never been to a Rose Bowl;
• Devils are sixth seed against eleventh seeded Temple. They are in the tourney with probably their best team since 1995 when they made the sweet 16. More on that later;
• It's not even worth ranting about the fact that Tucson made tourney with their 63 RPI and mediocre record;
  
• Rest in TV drama peace Bill Buchanan, it was nice knowing you. Given that we saw Jack crying over his dead body, I'm sure he won't come back to life like Tony Almeda did .... I think;
• Still the best season of '24' since season 3;
• About a quarter of the way through season 2 of Battlestar Galactica. Loving it more and more each episode;
• Another couple of signs my 8-year old daughter is quickly growing up too fast - rode her bike to school by herself last week and doesn't like when I ask her if she has to go "potty." Apparently I'm supposed to only say "bathroom" from now on.
  
• If you like Dr. Beardface' on Scrubs, then you'll love this well done montage;
• Trying to get into the World Baseball Classic but I just don't care yet.
  
• Happy 40th Anniversary mom and dad

Rants and randomness - Monday night edition

• Watched '24' tonight. This season continues to make up for the debacle that was season 6. Favorite line from tonight's show, "if you ever pull a gun on me again, you'd better be prepared to use it."
• Devils won their fourth in a row over Tucson City College in hoops. Great game, although the Devils almost blew it at the end. Big lead during second half evaporated quickly and Tucson eventually took the lead. Devils found a way to win. I've always been told by sportscasters and other industry watchers that "good teams find a way to win." Does that mean the Devils are now officially a "good team" or is Tucson just that bad of a team? I'm inclined to say it's a little of both.
  
• I'm still laughing at this excerpt from Jim Rome's radio show last Friday it's travel tips for Tucson citizens traveling up to Tempe for last night's ASU-Tucson game.
  

• I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" a few weeks ago. I thought it was a good movie, but I just don't get all the hype around it. Personally I liked "The Reader" better, although I was surprised to see Winslet beat out Streep for Best Actress. Also, thought Frank Langella (Frost-Nixon) or Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) should have won Best Actor.
• I have not talked to anyone who likes the new U2 song "Get on your boots"
• Favorite song in my ipod rotation these days is "Bixby Canyon Bridge" by Death Cab for Cutie
• Band I recently stumbled across that I really like is The Myriad. Check out "Perfect Obligation"
• They had chicken fried steak in our work cafeteria today. I passed.

"This is my office, not some misguided recreation room"

Catching up on Flight of the Conchords today. Saw the best one yet. If you haven't watched this show ever, start with this episode (season 2, episode 4.) The storyline in this one is Murray, who is the funniest character on the show in my opinion, decides he wants to be the band's friend as well as their manager.

Bring the heat

Today Chandler Bess had her first softball practice. New team, new coach and it will be her last season in coach pitch. I'm really proud of how she has continued to improve each season. She seems more and more confident out on the field and genuinely looks like she is having fun out there. One of the coaches on her team this season was a coach on her team last season, Coach James.

I'm really glad Coach James was there tonight because he picked up on something when Chandler was hitting that I never would have. When Chandler started off, she was swinging and missing at everything which is not normal for her. After about 6 or 7 pitches, James told the coach to throw the ball harder. He told the coach who was pitching that he pitched to her last season and she likes it fast. Sure enough, she starting hitting line drives all over the field.

Sometimes it's the little things other people can pick up on that make all the difference. I wonder how this season would have progressed for Chandler at the plate had James not pointed out how to pitch to her? I'm sure it would have ultimately been fine but I'm really appreciative of the fact that Coach James was there tonight. In fact, I'm also really glad that there are good people like Coach James in our league who take the time to help coach my daughter and actually pay attention to the little things.

Why University of Tucson alums should be banned from the NBA (or any other professional sports league)

With the firing of head coach Terry Porter today after about 50 games, I embark on a long overdue rant on the Suns. Below is an excerpt from the Suns' 2008-09 media guide with some of my commentary in bold integrated into it:

"On June 30, 2004, Robert Sarver, a banking and real estate executive, AND a University of Tucson graduate, purchased the club from Jerry Colangelo after Colangelo set into motion a plan to ensure the team’s legacy by seeking out a new owner who shared his vision and commitment to both the game of basketball and community. That "commitment" was put into action when Sarver wanted to save a few million and chose not to re-sign Joe Johnson. An injured Johnson was unable to play in the conference finals against the Spurs that year and probably was the reason the Suns fell short in that series.

In the four seasons since Sarver, an Arizona native (did I mention that he graduated from Tucson), took ownership of the Suns, Phoenix has won 50 or more games each season and enjoyed the winningest four-year period in the franchise’s proud history (232 victories). Yes, the Suns did indeed win a lot of games during the regular season under the guidance of head coach Mike D'Antoni and thanks to a couple of MVP seasons from Steve Nash. The key thing is that under D'Antoni, the team was competitive, exciting to watch and was one of the top seeds in the Western Conference every season. The span includes two 60-plus win seasons (franchise-record tying 62 in 2004-05 and 61 in 2006-07) and three Pacific Division titles. Over the last four seasons, the Suns have complied (sic) a 232-96 (.707) regular season record, which trails only the Dallas Mavericks (236-92, .720) and San Antonio Spurs (236-92, .720) for the NBA’s best record in that stretch." So what was D'Antoni's reward for the team's best four year stretch ever? Sarver and fellow Tucson alum Steve Kerr pushed him out the door. Granted, D'Antoni was not officially fired but the Tucson Terrible Two made it clear he wasn't welcome back.

In addition to letting Joe Johnson leave, pushing D'Antoni out the door, Sarver also made it clear that he wanted to erase the Jerry Colangelo influence from the Suns franchise. Colangelo is the guy who most recently helped resurrect USA Basketball, you know, those guys who won gold medals this past summer in Beijing. His first step in scrubbing the franchise of Colangelo's influence was to nudge 2005 NBA Executive of the Year Bryan Colangelo to leave during the 2006 season for the Toronto Raptors:

From February 26, 2006 USA Today:

Bryan Colangelo's relationship with Sarver soured amid reports that the two men had been unable to come to terms on an extension of Colangelo's contract. Sarver said Colangelo had to go through an "adjustment" in dealing with a new boss who wasn't his father.

Brilliant move Wildcat, kick the reigning NBA Executive of the Year to the curb. Oh btw, Colangelo won the award again in 2007 with Toronto. Look, I know Sarver paid a few hundred million for the franchise and it's his team, he can do what he wants with it and hire who he wants to run it, but at some point, common sense should come into play.

Unfortunately Sarver brought his boy Kerr, who prior to joining the Suns as GM, had as much NBA front office experience as I do. That would be zilch in case anyone is keeping track. Now he did have a nice 15-year NBA career, which is 15 more years than I played in the NBA, but bringing in a rookie GM with no front office experience to call the shots for one of the best teams in the league? Really? Again, there's that lack of common sense thing again. Oh, and he let Kerr work from San Diego during his first year at the helm. Yeah, don't bother building chemistry with your coach or anything sensible like that.

Here are Kerr's moves during his tenure that have led to the Suns playing at the mediocre levels you see today.

• Shawn Marion for Shaq. Full disclosure here, I fully supported trading Marion. The guy was a malcontent and he didn't want to be in Phoenix anymore. However, I'm pretty sure he could have scored better than the Diesel and his overweight and overpaid self.
  
• Not supporting Mike D'Antoni and letting him go to New York. A team most league watchers feel is overachieving this season, largely due in part to D'Antoni's run and gun system.
  
• Terry Porter. Guy was fired today after four and half months. That one speaks for itself.
  
• Trading Boris Diaw and Raja Bell to Charlotte for Jason Richardson. Bell was the best defender the Suns had but apparently he didn't fit in Terry Porter's system which emphasized what? Oh yeah, defense. He's been such an upstanding citizen thus far for the Suns, he recently earned himself a day off.
  

Yes folks, life on Planet Orange kind of sucks right now. All of this drama with Porter getting canned and rumors of Amare Stoudamire and Shaq getting traded happened during what was supposed to be a great weekend for Suns fans in Phoenix as they hosted the NBA All-Star activities.

Fortunately, Phoenicians didn't have to travel far to watch good hometown hoops as the Sun Devils swept the SoCal schools this past weekend and are back in the Top 15. This of course means they will promptly lose and drop like a rock again.