Category > The Polite Power Rankings
Baseball season is coming into the home stretch, as many teams are contending for playoff spots while others are just looking forward to seeing their September callups perform. In Illinois, the three teams of local interest (Cubs, White Sox, and Cardinals) are all in the hunt, which should make for an interesting September. The Cardinals and Sox both made quite a bit of noise at the July 31 trading deadline, adding Matt Holliday and Jake Peavy (right), respectively, while the …
| Well, it's the Wednesday after the All-Star Game, perhaps the worst day of the year for a baseball fan. There are no games to distract you from the pundits acting like they know what's going to happen in the second half. Yeah, those guys suck. Oh, and here's what's going to happen in the second half.
It's been a little more than a month since our first baseball power rankings of the 2009 season. In that time, we've seen several teams nosedive (Royals, Mariners, Cardinals, Marlins) and plenty of teams climb the ranks (Yankees, Giants, Brewers). Number one is still reserved for the Dodgers, who have gone 19-13 since losing Manny Ramirez to suspension. Kevin Youkilis is no longer hitting .400, but .350 isn't too shabby. Someone finally caught Carl Crawford on the base paths — …
Welcome to Smile Politely's Power Rankings for baseball, where our resident baseball fans-slash-editors mull over the majors and report back. In February, the three of us — Joel, Seth, and Doug — were talking before one of our weekly editorial meetings about the possibility of authoring this very column you're now reading. We weren't convinced that had the brains to back up our opinions, so we decided to partake in a round of Hot Stove League speculation concerning the upcoming …
Heading into the home stretch, the guys from Pittsburgh are making clear that they’re ready to make a post-season run. Illinois grad Carey Davis, the Steelers’ first team fullback, could see increased action in the weeks ahead as the team tries to keep its backfield healthy by spreading the ball around. Former Illini standout Rashard Mendenhall, whose season ended with a shoulder injury in Week 4, will have to wait till next season to help out Pittsburgh’s …
A few years ago, there wasn’t a football fan in the land who wasn’t intimately familiar with the word “parity.” Everyone from John Madden and Chris Berman to the guy who worked at the sports paraphernalia store out at the mall was marveling at the sudden presence of parity everywhere they turned. The Titans beat the champion- to-be Colts? Parity! The Super Bowl-bound Bears get thumped by the Dolphins? Parity! Then, last year, the dominant Pats (and a few others) …
Tennessee vs. Detroit. Dallas vs. Seattle. These were the two daytime games on Thanksgiving this year, and both games were built to stink. Dallas vs. Seattle might be forgivable — when the schedule was being penned, nobody could’ve known Seattle would be this bad — but there’s simply no excuse for giving the perennially awful Lions such a marquee game. And the night game, Arizona vs. Philadelphia, which was the day’s only game with competitive promise, was on the NFL …
The good poet Robert Browning gave us these prescient words: “Jove strikes the Titans down not when they set about their mountain-piling, but when another rock would crown the work.” Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh. And maybe the Jets had a little more to do with the recent Titans-toppling event than Jove did. Blame whomever you’d like, but the fact of the matter is that the NFL’s last remaining undefeated team finally has one in the “L” column. And …
Déjà vu, huh? This time last year football fans were placing bets on whether the New England Patriots would go undefeated and whether the Miami Dolphins would go completely defeated. This year, the saga is replaying itself in the forms of the surprisingly dominant Tennessee Titans and the not-so-surprisingly atrocious Detroit Lions. But drama isn’t reserved for these extremes. In the middle of the pack we’re seeing perennial heavyweights like the Colts and Patriots ebb and flow, which keeps everybody …
“Football players, like prostitutes, are in the business of ruining their bodies for the pleasure of strangers,” says writer Merle Kessler. Well, consider me one of those strangers. We’ve hit that time of year — in real and fantasy football — when diehard fans feel compelled to devote, approximately, 14 straight hours every Sunday (including pre-, between- and post-game coverage) to watching the game. But it seems that every week, there are new teams worth keeping an eye on. Are …
Most Recent Sports Comments
This is a great list—thanks. I find the run between Hessel and Centennial to be incredibly boring, excepting the few blocks of nice homes, which I admit make for interesting scenery. Have you been to Homer Lake? They seem to have some great trails, though none are…
Thank you Bill for intelligent and compassionate remarks. I am a licensed TB trainer sick to death of pushing horses when it is unecssary or possibly a detriment for the horse. All race training has it’s risks…even when not racing. I always believed it wise to peak a horse…
Ron Zook is the state’s highest paid public employee. And they tie teacher tenure and salary to kiddie’s test scores.—->zook snickers all the way to the bank and pension office
Touche’
Dear Bill, The author would like to know if Zenyatta requires an airplane to fly between California race tracks to run against males? Apparently, there are some Grade I races not restricted to females run in said state… something about a handicap or a gold cup, or…
My prediction? Pain.
2-10.
I hope Timbo is wrong, but I fear 2-10 is a good prediction. I miss the early 1990s, when the program was still good. Then it got Zooked and Teppered. The best part of these routs, though, is listening to the post-game call-in show, when everyone will…
It’s about time that horseracing fans begin to have some consideration for the animals they claim to enjoy watching. On several occasions Zenyatta’s connections have said that they felt that Zenyatta becomes seriously dehydrated every time she is shipped. In order to prevent injury they have decided…
Most Recent Comments
take two seconds to do this. this dude works hard.
What I also like about the Hessel to Centennial run is that I can easily make it a 10 miler (if I run to Hessel and back when I’m done and add an extra loop at Centennial) and still be at most two miles from home. I’ve…
I’m not sure the graphic is for State St. I drive down it daily and there is no parking on the far west side where the bike lines are. Looks to me that parking will only be allowed on the east side of the street, two car…
This is a great list—thanks. I find the run between Hessel and Centennial to be incredibly boring, excepting the few blocks of nice homes, which I admit make for interesting scenery. Have you been to Homer Lake? They seem to have some great trails, though none are…
Angela, I believe they played at C-U Pride Fest, and they were fantastic.
to you. http://www.theonion.com/articles/free-condom-harsh-reminder-of-sexless-existence,1377/
Speaking of regular commutes getting safer- White Street now open over the great divide east First Street. Woo Hoo!
I’m not sure that’s what Fred is saying. But the response of “You should just be happy to have a job!“ is a far too common excuse for employers’ bad treatment of workers. It’s also way too common in C-U.
My regular commute to work just got a whole lot safer!
@Fred While I agree that if your employer is treating you badly (e.g. shitty shifts, not honoring break/meal times, or just generally being an asshole) you should look for something else. However, as we all will experience at some point or another, we sometimes have to take…
I was very excited to see this lane put in place. This area is one of my regular, and sometimes scary, routes.
Not that they aren’t great mash-ups, but I’ve seen them twice in concert and was just frankly kind of bored. Probably won’t be going tonight. Maybe I just don’t like fun.
I’d love to see DESAFINADO performing there!They play Brazilian music…Bossa Nova. Great band! www.desafinado-music.com Angela
“The state’s attorney should be sending out subpoenas to bike club members”.....IF a plea bargain isn’t reached first. One dollar says no trial will take place and a plea aggreement will happen. If it is taken to trial, then this article by Annie Weisner may have been…
You can probably tuck in thinly sliced Romas. But for anything juicier like cherries, brandywines, etc., I would go with Pepin’s method of combining them with bread chunks. Zucchini contains a lot of water, too, so you’re probably best to use it solo or with onions. Saute…
UPDATE: He got a lawyer and pled not guilty. The case is next up for trial or for pretrial (can’t tell) on October 18, 2010 at 1:30pm in Courtroom L. Assuming it is up for trial, the States Atty should be sending out subpoenas to bike club…
Any tips for incorporating tomatoes or squash?
You mean, once they’ve paid $140 worth of nickels and dimes in one calendar year the CPL issues them a waiver? I’ll bet you’d get little argument from the CPL.
Neat article, neat guy. In central IL however, there is little difference between Lincoln and Rambo (the C02 you just inhaled was ACTUALLY in Lincoln’s lungs once - seriously, i had a nice Urbana resident tell me once the old tree in her front yard was gnarled…
Hello my dear do not full prey to those hoodlums at they that call them self money lender they are all scam , all they want is your money and you well not hear from them again they have done it to me twice before I met…
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What I also like about the Hessel to Centennial run is that I can easily make it a 10 miler (if I run to Hessel and back when I’m done and add an extra loop at Centennial) and still be at most two miles from home. I’ve…