[New (Old) Game!] Around the Arena - New Game signups under way!

It's time for a little Out of Bounds and baseball.

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The Yankees made it official - Joba Chamberlain won't be a starter...for now.

Yankees pitching coach Eiland has been quoted as saying, "He's in the bullpen, and he's there to stay, period."

Where does this leave the Yankees and Chamberlain?

 

As far as the Yankees go, I think it laves them in good shape. They have their five starters set, and they have a guy in the bullpen that can come out and make emergency starts if someone gets hurt. That's something that can be a big help to a team. There are times when a pitcher needs an extra day, or few days. Usually, you can schedule around it, but sometimes they're going to miss a game, and when that happens, its a huge help to have a guy in the bullpen that can be an effective starting pitcher.

As far as Chamberlain, maybe this will wake him up the fact that he is a better relief pitcher then starter. In his two years as a primary relief pitcher he's had ERAs of 0.38 and 2.60. The second year he also made 12 starts, which I'm sure inflated that number. His one year as a starter, a 4.75 ERA. A whole two runs higher. Its not a horrible ERA for a fifth starter, but its not great. He is a much more effective relief pitcher then he is starter. As a reliever, he can be dominate. As a starter, he's right around average, maybe a bit below. I realize that being a relief pitcher isn't the sexy position, not the way a starter is. But, Mariano Rivera is near the end of his career, and the NY Yankees closer is a high profile position. Make the commitment now, learn how to be that dominate reliever, learn from the best how to close games. You'll on average have a longer career, and there's just as much potential for a being a star, maybe even more. I mean, who's more profile, the team's fourth pitcher, or the closer? The closer, by far.

 

I really don't care what happens with the Yankees. They don't exactly rely on Chamberlain for their success so to me (and probably for them as well) it really doesn't matter what happens with him. He doesn't win that many games for it to matter.

 

This move doesn't hurt the Yanks for now. They have a solid starting rotation that should serve them well. Joba is going to be a solid arm for relief and if the Yanks are smart they'll start preparing him to take Rivera's role as the closer. Joba has the control and speed to be a killer in the 9th inning when it comes to saves. However for this to happen the Yanks have to commit to him being a relief pitcher. Very rarely do you see a pitcher like John Smoltz who seems to switch between starter and closer without missing a beat. I don't think Joba is going to be able to switch back and forth like Smoltz.

The Yankees have to make a decision soon. They can't leave Joba in limbo as to what his future role is. Until a decision is made Joba can't grow into a new role and will continue to get his chain yanked by Yankee leadership.

 

Sorry for the long delay from Tony Reali, but it's time to see how our panelists did in the Out of Bounds segment.

Darth Dark Helmet: Yep, I'd say the Yankees are in good shape for now (+ 1). His ERA was a little high for quality starts (4.75, not 3.0), but still, better off than most clubs (+ 1). I agree, if Chamberlain stays as a reliever, it'd be good for his career and profile (+ 1).

RX_Sith: I don't like the Yankees much either, but it is our topic of discussion. You didn't address either question very well. *mutes RX_Sith* (- 1).

Jedi_Johnson: They do have a pretty solid rotation, and they would be smart to prepare Chamberlain for Riviera's role (+ 1). I like the contrast between John Smoltz and Joba (+ 1). I agree, the Yankees need to have a solid plan for Joba (definite starter, definite closer, or a trade), and the quicker this comes about, the better for both him and the Yankees.


DDK: + 3
RX_Sith: -1
J_J: + 2

Total Scores:
DDK: 15
J_J: 14
RX_Sith: 5


Sorry, RX_Sith. Wanna make a funny face for the cameras? Thanks for playing!


It's almost time for a showdown! Topics will be up either tonight or tomorrow morning. Keep reading Arena fans. You know you can't wait to see whether Darth Darth Helmet or Jedi_Johnson pulls it out!

 

Alright, time to talk a little NBA.

[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Kenyon_Martin_takes_a_free_throw.jpg]

Kenyon Martin isn't a big fan of April Fool's Jokes when they involve his Range Rover, former ball boys, and buttered popcorn. Did the Nugget's power forward completely overreact, or is he on to something here?

Let's lead off with Darth Dark Helmet.

 

Oh wait, I'm supposed to be giving out game-bans for this, aren't I?

 

Eh, I think that we can do without those. It'll be the honor system; if you loose the showdown, you can't sign up for a new round on the same day.

 

This is a total over reaction. Have a sense of humor. Here's a quote attributed to Martin after the incident, directed at his team mates:

"That ain't no [expletive] joke. I'm going to find out who did it ... put my [expletive] hands on one of y'all. I'm going to put my hands on whoever did it. You better believe that. It's [expletive] personal. You better believe it."

And even better:

"How 'bout if I don't play in the playoffs until somebody tells me who did it."

I'm not the biggest fan of practical jokes, and this one does seem kind of lame, but there's no excuse to talk to your team mates that way. Your team mates. And over what? A bunch of pop corn in your car. You're telling them you're going to abandon them in the most important games they'll play all year. Because you got some butter on your seats. They didn't steal it, they didn't drop it off a cliff, or do something to it that's irreversible. They filled your car with pop corn. It might be a pain in the butt to clean up, but he's not going to be the one cleaning it, and I think he can afford the bill. At worst, this is an inconvenience. And no where near an offense worthy of the reaction.

 

Thanks, Darth Dark Helmet.


Let's hear from Jedi_Johnson.

 

To start off, I'll agree with DDH on the fact this is an over reaction. That being said his anger and upsetness over having something like done to his car is understandable. Martin just took it to a level too far.

Here's the thing this wasn't event teammates playing a joke. A former ballboy took Martin's keys from his locker to pull off this prank. In essence someone completely violated Martin's privacy and his locker. To quote the news:

Martin stormed in and out of the locker room several times, and a person close to him said his anger was not over the prank, but over the fact that someone could go into his pocket and take his keys during a game

The prank, thats fine, but taking things from a player's locker is unacceptable. Where was security and the Nuggets staff to ensure that nothing was taken from the locker rooms?

Martin's anger was over the top, but put yourself in his place. If someone had come into an area you consider secure and taken your car keys wouldn't you be upset? At least the kid is paying to fix the damage, but I doubt that will fix the problem of the safety of the locker room having been violated. I can't condone Kenyon Martin's reaction but I can understand it.

 

K-Mart definitely overreacted. I'd probably be upset if someone did that to my car, but he was way out of line.

Point to DDK.




Next topic in the showdown is the NCAA Tournament Final on Monday night.

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Butler University has become America's team during it's run through March Madness. Do the Bulldogs have a good shot at winning the national title over the Duke Blue Devils?

Jedi_Johnson is going to lead off on this one.


Both answers better be in by tip-off tomorrow.

 

Butler has a legitimate shot of taking the title Monday night. Here's some facts, first Butler is riding the nation's longest winning streak. The last time they lost it was 2009, December 22nd to be specific. Here's another reason, Butler has taken out some legitimate big name teams. They eliminated #1 seed Syracuse and #2 seed Kansas State and looked strong in both games. Both of those teams were solid in the regular season and considered legitimate threats to make it to the elite 8. Simply put Butler is not intimidated by 'big name' schools so I doubt they are scared of Coach K and Duke,.

Here's the biggest point though. There is no way that Duke is going to go 50% from 3 point land again. Duke put together their best game of the tourney to take out WVU. I don't see them doing back to back appearances at such a high level. Butler can defend the 3 point shot (just ask MSU) and will put up a great performance in Monday nights game.

 

How can they win? By playing their style of basketball. Butler is not your usual "Cinderella" teams making a deep run. They're not an inferior team that has gotten hot at the right time, draining threes at an impossible percentage. They're a good basketball team, that plays and wins with a strong, smothering, defense. In the final four game, their offense went eleven minutes in the second half with out hitting a FG, normally, that's a recipe for losing the game, but Butler didn't lose the lead they'd built. Their defense kept them in game, kept Michigan State out of the game. In the tournament, they've yet to allow a team to score more then 60 points. And for as good a Duke shot the ball yesterday, the majority of their points were scored by three players. The rest of the teams combined for 15 points. If one of those three goes cold, and the rest of the team can't step up, Butler will just smother Duke. Its cliche to say it, but defense can win championships. Your offense can have a bad day, shots might not fall as consistently, but if you go out and play tough, strong defense, you always have a chance.

 

(voice comes from off camera)

What the heck does longest winning streak in the country mean right now, anyway? Who has a winning streak? Let's see, this is what I could come up with:

Butler, 25 games
Duke, 9 games
Dayton, 5 games
Columbia, 1 game (not technically a streak)

Can you think of any other teams in the country who won their last 1 game? Let alone has a winning streak?

 

We don't need any off-camera cometary, thanks.


I actually agree with our off-camera panelist. Streaks don't really matter that much, and DDK made some a good point about Butler's D.

Point and game go to Darth Dark Helmet. Congrats! You've clinched a spot in the championship round!

Once you get your face time, we'll start the next round of sign ups.

 

When talking about surprise teams in the NBA, and GM of the year, the easy answer right now is the Oklahoma City Thunder. They've stepped out of mediocrity to make the playoffs for the first time since 04/05. But I would like to make a case for someone else. The Milwaukee Bucks were not expected to be contenders this year, or next year. The team had started to become punishment for players on other teams. "Play hard, or we'll trade you to the Bucks." For better then a decade it has been a team in disarray. They haven't sniffed .500 since 04/05, every time they seemed to be moving toward a good team, they'd fire their good head coach (Terry Porter in favor of Terry Stotts), or throw a lot of money at bad players (Dan Gadzuric is currently being paid 6.7 million to average 9 minutes a game over 26 games played this season, and I think he's under contract for one more year). But very quietly, John Hammond has turned this team into one of the top teams in the league. First he hired Scott Skiles, a tough coach, who preaches discipline and defense. And then he's been bringing in players who can play well in this system, players like Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova, drafting Brandon Jennings, a Rookie of the Year candidate. And his in-season moves have been spot on. First signing Jerry Stackhouse and then easily the trade of the year, picking on John Salmons from the Bulls. The team is 30-16 since the beginning of the year and 17-6 since the trade. They've been one of the hottest teams in the NBA in the second half, and for the first time in a long time, Bucks fans have a reason to get excited, to be optomistic about the future of the franchise. The recent loss of Andrew Bogut hurts their chances at making a deep run, but this team still has the potential to make a splash in the playoffs.

Let's face it, the Thunder are having a great season, but a team with Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook was always going to be great one day, it was just a matter of time. The Bucks are a true surprise, very few, if anyone picked them to even win 36-40 games this year, much less be in competition for the 5th seed. John Hammond has done an outstanding job in rebuilding this franchise from the ashes, and deserves real consideration for GM of the year, and the Bucks are the biggest surprise of the NBA this year.

 

No picture for the Bucks?



Alrighty folks, it's time for you to sign up for our second round of Around the Arena!

Who's going to be Woody Paige this time? Will we have a Jackie Mac?

Let's get to it!

1.
2.
3.
4.

 

1. MarcusP2
2.
3.
4.

I've always wondered how successfully I can talk about American sports.

 

Hopefully better than the last batch could talk about European sports.

Three more spots! Come and get 'em! Everyone's eligible to sign up, except for Darth Dark Helmet.

 

1. MarcusP2
2. Jedi_Johnson
3.
4.

What the hell, I'll give it another shot.

 

Glad to have ya back.

Two spots left! You know ya wanna play!

 

I'm incommunicado for a few days, and there are still two spots left? What's wrong with this picture?


I know that there are two more contestants out there, waiting to play!

 

1. MarcusP2
2. Jedi_Johnson
3. Trikes
4.

How I do heart this show... how can I resist? Oh, and DMC threatened to send me Duke championship memorabilia in the mail if I didn't.

 

McClain? You threated to send Duke championship memorabilia?

I'm so proud of you!