Life in this great city.....

"There's a shootout on the plantation, so hard to understand....why some people got to hurt somebody? The firewater's not the villain..." Leon Russell

Ahhh, nothing like waking up on a Sunday morning only to look at the local paper and read that yet another Indiana Pacer was involved in yet another "incident". Luckily no one was killed, but there was at least one injury, and a complete shootout in downtown Indianapolis. There have been over 100 homicides in the city this year, so far. How safe is the city? Not very. Athletes are easily recognized in the community, as this is Indianapolis, not LA or New York. I don't really care about the actual story, you know.... night clubs, guns, cars, intimidation, assault, court, ect. I am much more troubled by our society as a whole. We live our lives out everyday as if this isn't really happening a few miles away from us (or next door for that matter). It has been well documented that the athletes, who are payed handsomely to play their respective sports in this city, have had numerous "incidents" over the past couple of years. The Pacer players aren't the only people in Naptown getting in trouble, that is for sure, but what in the hell is going on here? Children being murdered....BY THEIR PARENTS, people being shot in broad daylight, assault rifle gun fights in the middle of downtown, and hundreds of more violent crimes occuring all over the county. Why? Is it the lack of police in the streets? The economy? How about parenting? Who knows, but something has to give, or we may not have enough players field a team (mediocre, I might add) at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Is two really better than one?

On Monday I had to trek up to my favorite local watering hole in order to watch the Hoosiers play basketball (I will thank Comcast/Brighthouse/insert cable company for being assholes). While there, I struck a conversation with a regular that I know. He happens to work in the open wheel motorsports world, which I just happen to enjoy very much. We were discussing some of the off season events and news, and he explained to me that Champ Car and Indy Racing League were both going to conduct a test a Homestead Miami Speedway later in the week for Firestone/Bridgestone (IRL runs Firestone tires, and Champ Car runs Bridgestone, but they are the same company). I found this a little hard to believe as the two series do NOT get along. Champ Car supporters blame Tony George for the down fall of American Open Wheel Racing, as he started his own league in 1996. Since then, and actually starting before that, AOWR was in a decline, but nothing like it has been since the "split" of CART. Well, I asked a few of the journalists, via email, if they were aware of this test. I got no positive responses to this. Well, I was told correct as Robin Miller wrote this little tidbit today on Speed's Website,

"12 years and several failed attempts by different individuals, the two
major open wheel racing series in this country finally got back together.
But it was only for a one-day tire test at Homestead, Fla. Last Tuesday,
the PKV team from Champ Car shared the track with the Indy Racing League's Andretti-Green stable for a Bridgestone/Firestone test. Oriol Servia and AGR
teammates Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick ran together on the 2.3-mile,
11-turn road course inside Homestead-Miami Speedway. No official times were
released but witnesses said Servia's Panoz/Cosworth was about three seconds
a lap quicker than AGR's Dallara/Honda, mainly because of the long
straightaway. No media was allowed because, supposedly, neither sanctioning
body wanted people to read too much into this brief unification."

Really, they didn't want people to read too much into it? Why would that be? Maybe somebody would actually ask them( again!) to explain all of this to the actual fans that pay money to watch there cars race. Maybe there sponsors wouldn't want to have any exposure for all that money that they pay for the teams to participate. Couldn't be any of those reasons, obviously. So what the hell is going on? I can only reason to believe that Firestone/Bridgestone wanted this test to cut their own costs and probably did a very good job of convincing both sides that this IS how it was going to go down. I am not going to lie, I love the Indy Car Series, for there is one word in that sequence that I can't part with, "INDY". The Indianapolis 500 is coined "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing", and I believe it to be. I would like nothing more than there to be 40 cars trying to get into the field of 33, but it won't happen until there is one series, and even then I doubt that it would make it to 40 cars entered. It has been discussed a million times, that the payout needs to be greater and one series needs to be in place. Champ Car is essentially non-existent in the Midwest, and actually America for most of the year. So, for a test to take place with both series at one track it is NEWS. I am sorry that the pompous asses that run both series don't want to actually do their job, and answer tough questions, but is it really about them? The fans (and sponsors) deserve to have the answers presented to them, otherwise Napcar will continue to dominate with their brand of sub par entertainment, which is the sad state that this whole thing is in.

Who's your Tiger, NOW?

If you haven't heard, the Tigers made a huge trade last eve that included Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and four other players. What they got in return is one of the most prolific, talented, and youngest players in the National League, Miguel Cabrera. Dontrel Willis is also on his way, via Mexico, to Motown. This is by far the biggest trade that has been (will be?) made this off season by any club. It remains to be seen what all of this will mean for others, such as my favorite Tiger, Brandon Inge. I envision the starting line up looking something like this:

1. Granderson, CF

2. Polanco, 2B

3. Sheffield, DH

4. Ordonez, RF

5. Cabrera, 3B

6. Guillen, 1B

7. Renteria, SS

8. Rodriguez, C

9. Jones/Thames, LF

The rotation has to look something like: Verlander, Bonderman, Willis, Rogers, Robertson.

The only problem with that is it goes righty, righty, lefty, lefty, lefty; so I suspect that this will not be the rotation order, but stand back and LOOK AT THAT!

This has to be the most potent line up in the Majors, no questions asked. P.E.R.I.O.D.

OK then, what about Inge. I hate to say it but he is probably gone. He is making north of 4 million, and that is rich for a back up, even if he can play numerous positions. This saddens me as he lived through the deplorable years and has improved his defense ten fold, but his bat has never contacted the ball on a consistent basis and this could be the final factor. The Tigers could always put Cabrera in left field, and this may be what they are looking at. They traded this off season to acquire Jacque Jones, but I have no doubt that this was there way of planning ahead, and I don't believe that anybody could have thought that they would be able to acquire a "hall of famer" as Mr. Ozzie Guillen put it. It is also important to look past this year, as Sheffield is in the final year of his contract and Cabrera would probably be excellently suited (255 pounds last year!) for the DH role, which would make Inge more valuable in the future seasons. What I am trying to say is I don't want Inge to leave. Inge got shafted for the Gold Glove this year and is a fan favorite. Cabrera struggled at the hot corner last year and the Tigers defense suffered through some rough spots in the field last year, mainly at short and on the mound. If they can keep Inge through this year, Cabrera can keep the weight off (he is said to be dropping daily, and getting stronger), and Sheffield doesn't come back, then it would be win-win as far as I am concerned.

On to Mr. Willis, he had a pretty down year and had declined the year before, BUT he is only 25 years old and has never been injured. I think that this year could be one of growth for him. Think about this, all of the young pitchers that the Tigers have had the past two seasons beam about what a great mentor the Gambler has been to them. Now we have the D-Train, a young lefty who has had no one of KR's stature and knowledge, to lead him in the right direction (as long as it isn't assaulting anyone). This could be crucial for the D-Train as he is going to have other young talent around him. He will not be the "ace", although he could certainly challenge Verlander and Bonderman for top honors.

Is it OK to be giddy and sad at the same time? I will write something about the departed, as we all felt (I can only assume, I guess) that Miller and Maybin were the future, but I guess the future is now.

I think this picture, that I took this year when the Tigers beat the Mets, says it ALL.