well, well, well

Boy Norv Turner and those Bolts sure made me eat my words. Congratulations on winning four straight and capitalizing on one of the biggest regular season collapses in history. (hint for Denver: you might want to address some issues on defense. Granted you were devastated by injury at running back but more than likely that won't happen again and not being able to stop the run or pass doesn't give you a good chance to win games.) Norv may have been able to save his job with their victory on Sunday that secured the AFC west title. I say may because we'll see what happens when Peyton Manning and company roll into town with a healthy Bob Sanders. If this is the case bye bye Chargers. You and your 31st ranked pass defense don't stand an effing chance. If Bob Sanders doesn't play then I see the Chargers being able to score enough to keep it close but still inevitably falling. My picks for the weekend, Colts, Falcons, Dolphins (deep down I want to say Baltimore but I can't stand to watch them play and I think Flacco doesn't have a playoff road win in him yet), and Eagles advance.

Why Chargers fans should blame A.J. Smith

I didn't hear much talk about the Chargers vs Colts game last night but there was something I noticed at the end of the game that I feel is worth discussing. The Chargers lost 23-20 on a last second field goal that was the result of a well-orchestrated drive led by Peyton Manning. I believe that's his 35th career game-winning drive (including OT) if I'm not mistaken. This crucial loss dropped the Chargers to 4-7 and severly damaged what playoff hopes they have remaining. But it's not so much that they lost, but how they lost. The Chargers were driving with about a minute and half left. A false start had backed them up to 2nd and 15. This penalty proved to be too much to overcome as they were stopped a couple yards shy of the 1st down after their 3rd down play, resulting in something like a 4th and 2 with, say, 1:27 remaining. Norv Turner, being the genius that he is, calls timeout with between 30-35 seconds left on the playclock. They were lining up for the game-tying field goal so why wouldn't you want to leave Peyton Manning as much time as possible? Kaeding drills the field goal and as I previously mentioned Manning methodically drove the Colts down the field and spiked the ball with 2 seconds left to give Vinatieri a chance to win the game. 2 seconds that should have never been there. Nice work Norv. Congratulations for continuing to suck. Which leads me to my points. If I were a Chargers fan I would be livid with A.J. Smith. Remember it was A.J. Smith who forced Marty Schottenheimer out after a 14-2 regular season but lost a divisional game at home to the Patriots. I understand wanting to let Marty go. Apparently you had some issues with him over personnel and Marty didn't win in the playoffs. That's always been the knock on Marty. But if you're going to fire him don't replace him with someone who sucks and has always sucked and therefore will continue to suck aka Norv Turner. At least Marty got your tatented squad to the playoffs. That's better than being 4-7 and barely still mathematically alive right?

Alas...my return is almost near

Here I am returning to a cherished, creative outlet of mine after a dormant period because I feel compelled to write about my upcoming move. (sidenote: I couldn't give you an exact reason why it's been so long since i've posted but I'll give you this, I've been busy. You may think it's impossible for someone who works part-time as a pizza delivery man to be 'busy' but I assure you it is not.) Anyway, two weeks from today I am returning to Seattle. One on hand, I am excited as hell to be moving back and I'm coming down the final days I'll be spending here in the mundane town of Nampa, ID. On the other hand, I'm nervous as fuck because I do not have a job and our economy is seemingly looming towards another great depression so finding one will be a challenge. Life is full of risks, some greater than others, and this move is certainly seems to be a risky one. But this is what I thrive on. The pressure of having your back against the wall seems to always have brought out the best in me. We shall see in this case. I'm remaining as positive as i can and I can find confidence in the fact that, hell, I moved to this city once w/o a job and now that I've got some experience, why can't I do it again?

Redemption

I had the pleasure of attending the San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks game at Qwest field last Sunday and being a life-long, die-hard Niner fan I was elated with the outcome of the game. Anytime you beat the defending division champs in their own house there's good reason to be pleased but at the same time I'm not going to put too much stock in the victory because we beat a Seahawks team that has been completely decimated by injuries at the wide receiver position. It was so bad that it was obvious that Hasselback had developed no rythym with his current receivers therefore making it very difficult for the offense to produce. Also it's still very early in the season and it's clear the Seahawks are not running on all cylinders yet. Nonetheless, I'm happy my Niners didn't fall to 0-2 and with the Lions coming to the bay next Sunday I'd say we have a good shot at going to 2-1, and that's just fine with me. Another couple things I'd like to point out: JT O'Sullivan, thank you very much for becoming the first 49er QB to throw for over 300 yards in a game in over four years. And Joe Nedney, you've been solid since you've been in San Fran and even though you hooked the game-winning kick at the end of regulation you got another chance in overtime....and you nailed it. Thanks for redeeming yourself.

WTF Wonderlich???

I'm completely speechless.

In line at the movies

I don't have a lot to say except I was quite stunned at this gentleman's choice of shirt on his apparent date at the movie theater. This made me laugh out loud pretty good but simultaneously I couldn't help but wonder why the hell any woman would go out in public with a man wearing this shirt. Man I love Nampa, Idaho.

I Told You So

Finally...

I don't have a whole lot of time but here goes. Rumor has it Brett Favre has just been traded to the Jets for a draft pick. HOORAY!!! Hopefully his situation will die down A LOT so I can return to watching ESPN without shitting my pants, (see previous post.) Good for the Jets. Assuming Favre has another productive season their excuse for missing the playoffs can't be 'poor quarterback play.' And sorry Chad Pennington but you suck, and, Kellen Clemons, no offense, but you're just not experienced enough yet. There is one thing I'd like to point out though and I think the Jets should have given this more thought, Brett Favre is on the cover of Madden '09. For those of you not familiar with the 'Madden curse' it basically means Favre is doomed for an injury that will cause him to miss several games and, possibly, the entire season (hopefully.) Nice try Jets but you're not above evil, proven curses. (Hell maybe he'll follow Vick's path and suffer a season-ending injury and then in a year or two go to prison. I know that's awful to say but I loathe the man that much.) One more thing, I sure hope that the two inevitable, upcoming games between the Jets and Patriots are not televised on my TV on Sundays this fall. Instead of beer I'll need to pound an entire bottle of pepto bismol to prevent myself from projectile vomiting, out of pure hatred, all over the /couch/floor/plate of nachos/TV and anything else in the room. Gross. I'm outta here.

Brett Favre & the Packers give me diarrhea

I am so sick to death of every single time I get the opportunity to turn on ESPN (that's rare these days) it seems the only thing they are covering is the drama between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This saga has gone on far too long and it's beginning to make me hate to watch ESPN, and that is extremely tough to do. Frankly, I'm not the least bit surprised that Favre decided to return to football. He had a very productive season last year even though it was his typical force-a-throw-into-coverage-because-im-trying-do-everything-myself decision that cost the Packers the NFC championship game last season. Still, the Packers are a young team with lots of talent surrounding their aging 'gunslinger.' So when I saw that Favre, after seemingly debating the decision for the last 4 or 5 years, announced his retirement I thought to myself, "He'll be back." Little did I know the mess his decision would cause.

After watching a portion of coach Mike McCarthy's press conference earlier today my suspicioun regarding the situation has grown stronger. Why would the Packers not want their franchise QB back? And now, all of sudden, why does Favre not 'feel comfortable' or whatever it is with returning to the team as their quarterback. There's something they're not telling the media. But my point is, I don't care anymore. I can't stand to watch anymore cheesehead reporters salivate at each and every press conference, or watch anymore footage of the Packers GM, president, head coach, and ,of course, Favre as ESPN updates the story with no new relevant information, or watch the NFL live crew debate this soap opera any longer. That even includes Wendy Nix updates from cheese poop for brains head land. See look, you guys make me dislike Wendy Nix. That sucks. I wish and hope that this all ends soon. It seems Favre is going to be traded and it can't come soon enough. Get this shit off of my TV please.

On a related side note, I turned on NFL network the other day as I was gobbling down my home-made roast beef sandwich and to my delight they were showing a replay of the Packer/49er playoff game from 1999. And it was at the last drive!!! You know where T.O. (even though I hate his guts now) finally caught a pass from Young to beat those despised Packers. I smiled through my roast beef filled teeth as the camera flashed to Favre's face after that play. What a disgusted frown he had. I have the same look on my ugly mug from when I see him on TV and it will stay there until ESPN calms down. That will be probably be never. Great, I'm stuck with a monster face for the rest of my life.

Why Dave Matthews Band fans suck at life

I was fortunate enough to fit a trip to Colorado in my unemployed life a couple of weekends ago. This included a Rockies game, a viewing of 'The Dark Knight', a night of binge drinking in Fort Collins, and a trip to the 2-day Mile High Music Festival, headlined by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Dave Matthews Band. I'm going to get right to the point. Everything leading up to Sunday night's DMB set went excellent, except for the fact while I was watching the Roots and Pinback I could see, up on the jumbotron, John Mayer singing like his usual feminine self with his shirt off. This prompted some boos from my friends and I but this was the only negative thing that happened in four days before DMB performed, so I can't complain too much especially since I expected this sort of behavior from that douche bag. After watching the acts I previously mentioned I promptly used the over-flowed, disgusting honeybuckets one more time and purchased a new $8 beer and began to head towards the main stage to join the rest of the group who I had originally set up camp with at about one o'clock that afternoon. After about 10 mins of walking and working my way through thousands of people I approach the 'row' where I needed to be. As I'm about five or six people away from our blanket I encounter the three meanest women at the whole festival. The first one in my way is blond and probably weighs just over a hundred pounds. She puts her arms on the chair in front of her creating a roadblock and tells me to go around, she can't let anyone through. I said, "you don't understand, my buddies are on the blanket right over there." I even pointed them out to her. She responds with, "Sorry, it's not my problem." This began to irritate me and I said, "really?" She comes back, "really what?" I, happy that she fell for my trap, said, "really, you're this big of a bitch right now? My friends are right there and you're not going to let me through?" Once again, "not my problem. let it go and go around." Needless to say I was beginning to get pretty upset. This also prompted her other skinny, helpless, and no less bitchy friend to come over and get in my face and justify them not letting people through because they had been waiting 'all day' for Dave Matthews. Whoop dee fuckin do. I told her "Good for you. You must have a real cool life." I tried to push my way through but to no avail; these jerks weren't budging. Then out of the blue their hog of a friend comes over and gets uncomfortably close to my grill and she scared the bejesus out of me. Imagine Jabba the Hut with bigger and saggier tits with a cowboy hat on. She screams, in a Xerxes from 300 voice, "There's no room. Go away." Now I'm really pissed off with this group. Meanwhile Rob and Jeanie and the rest of my friends have been observing this whole situation and watched it unfold. I decide to just go for it and plow through the row of chairs and people in front of them. I don't give a shit who or what I step on because I'm so furious at these three women. I get my final say in as I pass by the trio of Satan's offspring. Something like, 'I hope you die in a fire that starts on your tits." I don't even remember what they said in response and I don't care because after all that mess, I made it. Once I returned I began to calm down and I thought to myself about what just happened. The whole encounter just did not sit right with me. The fact that three people can stand in an open-seating venue and turn person after person away because they've been there waiting for the headling act 'all day.' The audacity and the nerve that takes. What the f*ck gives them the right? Especially when it's one person who is trying to join up with his friends? I don't get it. Throughout the course of the show I noticed several other people become upset with others who were trying to get closer to the stage, but nothing to the extent of the situation I had to deal with earlier. Frankly, I don't understand what all the hype is about. I think DMB is compiled of arrogant, cocky, egotistical and overrated musicians who drag out their 'jam sessions' to the extent that it becomes annoying and unbearable to listen to. But then again, maybe that's why they attract the fans that they do. I sure as hell learned my math lesson for the day that night. DMB super extended set + brutally mannered DMB fans = no fun for me. F*ck 'em I'm out.

Welcome to "The Show"

Us Mariner fans have had very few bright spots to talk about as we approach the all-star break in this very forgettable 2008 season. Well we had one last Saturday. For those of you who didn't watch the M's 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers last Saturday you missed out on something special; so special this rarely happens to rookies.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jeff Clement; the catching phenom from USC the Seattle Mariners selected with the third overall pick in the 2005 draft. He actually made his major league debut last Sept but only registered 16 at-bats in 9 games. So far this year the numbers suggest he has been struggling as his batting average is a mere .185. I've watched him quite a bit so far this year and I'll tell you that number is deceiving. I can recall numerous occasions where's hit some balls very hard but right at the defense. He's been waiting for his 'break-out' game so to speak. He may have just had that game on Saturday. With runners on first and second and the Mariners already trailing 2-0, Placido Polanco singled into left field. Dane Sardinha was waved home by the third base coach as Raul Ibanez came up firing. By some unexplainable miracle his throw was online and almost in time to get Sardinha. It was only a perfectly executed block of the plate by Clement that prevented the Tigers from extending their lead. Later in the game Clement came to bat against Detroit starter, Armando Galarraga, who was still working on his shutout. Clement promptly spoiled his shutout attempt by connecting with a down-and-in fastball that was his third home run of the season. In the eighth inning Clement came to bat with the tying run on second, this time against reliever Fernando Rodney, with the M's still down 2-1. This time he hit a mistake change-up that drifted down and in, a very bad place to miss to a lefthander with power, 395 feet into the right field stands for his second homer of the game and one that propelled the M's into the lead. Morrow closed the ninth for his 7th save. Clement's final line; 2-4, 2 home runs, 2 runs, 3 RBI in a 3-2 win. He was the Mariners' offense that night. He also was greeted with his first major league curtain call and his first shaving-cream-pie-to-the-face during a postgame interview.

Hopefully this game boosts his confidence and acts as a turning point for him. Feel free to go on a hitting tear like we know you can for the rest of the season and prepare yourself to become a perennial figure at future all-star games. With that I leave him with this, "Welcome to the big leagues kid. You've earned it." You are the future of the franchise and hopefully your career includes many, many more special nights like this one.

The beginning of my NBA boycott...

"We made it," said the lying man as he flashed his sinister smile. "The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season." These are first two public comments made by the man who purchased the Seattle Supersonics in 2006, Clay Bennett, after the judge ruled in his favor and allowed him to opt out of the remaining two years of the lease the team had with KeyArena. Good for you buddy. In about two years you succeeded in stealing the oldest professional sports franchise the city of Seattle has ever known from them. Being a Sonics fan, this makes me sick to stomach. Let's see if I can put together an accurate timeline of the series of events that led to this.

First; purchase the team from Howard Schultz for $350 million. Second; hire a bad coach (Bob Hill) that will surely lead the team to a losing season and begin to alienate the fans. Third; during the off-season, propose new and ridiculously expensive arena for team that will obviously be rejected. Before the upcoming season trade the team's best player for underachieving 'veterans', rookies, and draft picks. Also make no attempt to re-sign the second best player on the team and lose him to free agency. To make the off-season even worse, you fire the bad coach and replace him with a worse one (P.J. Carlesimo, whose attire sometimes makes me want to go Latrell Sprewell on him.) Then you're left with a team of young players with little experience who are poorly coached. The result? A 20-62 record (worst in franchise's 41-year history) and very poor attendance. From what I can see this was a perfectly executed plan to alienate the fans and purposely lose money in order to move the team to your hometown of buttf#ck nowhere.

What makes me want to boycott the league altogether is this was seemingly met with no resistance by the NBA commissioner, David Stern. He apparently couldn't care less about the history of the team and how important it is to members of the Seattle community. It appears that all he cares about is where he can get more money and that disgusts me that the greedy, scumbag, arrogant pigs of the world have won this battle. I can't talk about this anymore because I'm getting nauseous. I just hope whatever new colors/logo you choose that they look good with your overalls.

The wonders of craigslist

After I graduated from college in the spring of 2005 I moved over to the Seattle area. Prior to the move I returned home to Nampa, Idaho to spend some time with my family before beginning my life in the 'real world.' I also gave my car to my youngest brother and took my grandma's '92 light blue Tauras sedan (blue rampage) since she was no longer able to drive. This car wasn't the greatest of rides but it was sufficient to get me to and from work and wherever else I needed to go. The car lasted the rest of the summer and into the fall with no problems. That same fall my roommate referred me to his company, Countrywide, and I accepted the position and started at the end of October. You know what this means? Car pool time. We would alternate days of driving to and from and work. Needless to day we were both pretty excited about spending half as much on gas and cutting down on the commute time as we could take advantage of the carpool lane.

Come Thanksgiving and things are going well. I have returned from training and I fly home to Idaho to spend the holiday at home. Friday after Thanksgiving I get a phone call from my roommate and the first thing he says is 'has bad news.' I try to remain calm and him to explain. Turns out my roommate, Dan is his name, had to go to work that day. When he went out to his car he realized he parked on a hill and wa low on gas so it wouldn't start. Fortunately he had my keys as he drove my car home from the airport. He preceeded to explain that on his way to work he noticed quite a bit of white smoke coming out from under the hood. He said he had to stop at the last light before the office and was completely engulfed in a cloud of white smoke. He managed to pull into the parking garage and got a ride from his parents after work. So I return to work on Monday and have my car towed to the shop where I learn that I have a busted head gasket. I'm no car expert but even I can understand that replacing this is going to cost more than the car is worth. Nice to know you blue rampage. Now I need to search for a new vehicle.

As I explained before I work at the same office as my roommate so I'm not in dire straights. A couple months go by and I haven't found a deal I can afford yet. Then out of the blue one of Dan's buddies from high school stops by and mentions that his parents are looking to sell a gold '91 Acura Integra LS. I told him I was interested and later that week he drove the car over. We took it out for a spin. I noticed the car seemed to run fine and found out the asking price was very low, $800. When we returned to our apartment I decided to buy it. I gave him $800 cash and he signed the title. So begins my era with the golden goose.

Nearly two years go by before I upgrade and get a newer car. I stuck with an Acura because in that two years I didn't experience any car trouble even as I passed 210,000 miles. So now it was time to try and sell my car. I posted an add on craigslist on a Monday morning and put $1000 as my asking price. I got a couple calls from semi-interested buyers along with a couple of emails that morning. Then about noon a guy calls me who is really interested. It turns out he's willing to come out that afternoon. Since the car has been sitting in my driveway for about 5 months because I have a serious problem with procrastination I decide to go get it washed/vacuumed. I grab the keys out of the drawer and head outside to the vehicle. I unlock the door, climb in, and sit down. Not only do I notice some mold beginning to grow on the steering but to make things worse, the battery is completely dead. In a rush I go buy a new battery, install it, take the car to the gas station for a wash/vacuum and return home to find the paperwork before my potential buyer, Mike, arrives. I'm still searching for the title when he pulls up with his 'mechanic' friend. I hand over the keys and the two begin to inspect the golden goose. We take it for a drive around the block and when we get back Mike asks me if it's OK if him and his friend talk privately for a second. I say 'no problem' and begin to walk towards my front door and they walk across the street to converse. I notice when they're done as they head back towards me. We meet at the car and Mike asks if I would take $800 cash for it. I pretend to ponder his offer and after a few seconds agree to the deal. I invite them inside as I have to continue searching for the title. I offer them a seat in our living room and resume my search in my room. After a couple minutes I found what I was looking for and returned to see that Mike has the cash sitting on the coffee table. This time it was my turn to sign off on the title, which I did and after a quick, cash-counting job I handed over the keys, wished these gentlemen well, and sent them on their way. After I shut the door I turned around and thought to myself, "Wow, that was easy. What a wonder that craigslist things is."

NBA officials

The latest allegations unveiled by Tim "Lord, I was born a gamblin' man" Donaghy come at a very peculiar time. First, the NBA finals are in full swing and second, the officiating in the first two games has been under a great deal of scrutiny by the media, the fans, and even Phil Jackson. Donaghy's recent statements alleged that the NBA "played favorites" in hiring officials, favored star players in order to please fans and boost TV ratings, and most importantly, that NBA officials were encouraged by the league to favor particular teams on given nights in order to extend playoff series to seven games. Granted Donaghy is not the most credible of sources but there seems to be some evidence to support his accusations; most notably the disparity in free throw attempts from the Lakers-Kings series in 2002. Just think to yourself for a second, what if this is true? Would you be surprised?

I've never been a big supporter of the NBA because I've always been skeptical about the purity of the game. I've had to take a bunch of crap from my friends and colleagues over the years because of my conspiracy theorist ways but I've stuck to my guns. I've always had this feeling that something was up with the way that some of these games were officiated. As you can imagine I was delighted when I saw the "breaking news" flash across my television screen. As the report unfolded I was shocked initially but then I thought to myself, "finally." My only wish now is that these allegations can be supported with some evidence and more importantly by someone with an ounce of credibility left.

To take a detour for a second, I have always been a Sonics 'fan.' And by fan I mean someone who sometimes watches their games on TV and sometimes in person. Although I mainly go in person because I'm more interested in the team the Sonics are playing. Lately us Sonics folk have had to put up with a lot of BS from David Stern. Now there's a guy that I've never liked, trusted, or understood why he has the job he does. My observations of this douche in general and in the current Sonics situation leads me to believe he cares about four things: money, television ratings, the image of the players, and $$$. (I have this conspiracy theory that Stern is going to secretly profit from the Sonics relocation. Why else would he not seem to give a sh*t that a franchise is in the process of being stolen from a city? But that's another looming post pending the upcoming court hearing.) Here's my point, Donaghy's allegations state a couple of things, that games were altered by officials in order to please fans in the form of ratings and ticket sales, and that playoff games were fixed to extend series to seven games. Both of these things lead to what? see below....



lots and lots of $$$, dough, cash, mula, whatever you want to call it. dollar dollar bill y'all (thanks Wu-Tang)

I wasn't pleased when I saw Stern's response either. He (obviously) denied everything with the arrogant, sh*t-eating, smirk he usually has on his face. He preceeded to call Donaghy's allegations "baseless." I whole-heartedly disagree. How can they be "baseless" when the Lakers shot 27 foul shots in the FOURTH QUARTER alone and both Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard fouled out while Shaq did not? hmmmm....does someone want to see a game seven? This is one example of many that involve a huge discrepency in fouls between teams. How does one explain it when it happens in the playoffs? I'm not saying Donaghy's correct because he's had "honesty and credibility issues from the get-go." But there may be a at least a spark in these new statements. An investigation conducted by an outside party to determine where or noth there's any fire to go along with this smoke everyone thinks he's blowing need to happen. I hope to God there is some truth to this and it's uncovered by a reliable source. I can't wait for the moment when I get to see the look on Stern's face change. When he realizes his 'public image' has crumbled right before his very eyes. Where does one go at this point? Whom does one turn to when something like this happens? I'm sure he'll always be welcome at Roger Clemens' home.

Accountable and Seattle Baseball

accountable -
intransitive verb1: to furnish a justifying analysis or explanation — used with for - couldn't account for the loss.

The word of the day is accountable. I will touch more on this word later but first, let's talk Seattle baseball.

The Seattle Mariners fired their hitting coach, Jeff Pentland, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3433835, on Monday morning in the wake of another one-run defeat that cost the team another series. This one came against the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox, whom the Mariners had taken 2 of 3 from about two weeks ago. The Mariners rank either last or second to last (thanks Royals) in nearly every major offensive category which prompted the firing of their hitting coach. Clearly some changes needed to be made to the ballclub as they have lost nearly 2 out every 3 games they've played over the first two months of the season. Not going to cut it and I understand that. But is it really the hitting coaches' fault?

The general manager, Bill Bavasi, supported the change saying that a "different voice" might help some of the hitters turn things around and begin to produce offensively. He went on to say, "It's all about results," Bavasi said. "That's probably the biggest thing. We felt that this crew had underperformed for a long period of time. This isn't new."
Bavasi also added, "Jeff has an excellent and proven track record, and those of us who have worked with him are well aware he knows hitting," Bavasi said. "Unfortunately, we have consistently, and for an extended period, underperformed at the plate and we are hopeful that a different voice might help the situation."

Exactly. Ever since he became the GM in 2004 nearly every Mariners hitter HE has acquired has underperformed which begs the question, at what point should the GM be held accountable? More blame should be placed on the individual that continues to sign players who don't perform at the level that they're capable of, they're expected to, and at a level that deems them worthy of the contract they've signed (Richie Sexson is making 15.5 million dollars this year.) Also if you knew this wasn't a 'new' problem and 'this crew had underperformed for a long period of time' why haven't there been any major personnel changes? The only moves that have been made to the offense are the release of Brad Wilkerson (don't get me started on you Brad) and the call-up of Wladimir Balentien (we'll leave out Clement because he's been sent back down). If this group has been so poor for so long why are so many of them still on the team? and worse still playing?

Raul Ibazez understands the situation. "This team hasn't been performing at the level that we're capable of performing," outfielder Raul Ibanez said. "I hold myself accountable for my share of that load. It means it's time for all of us to pick it up. It's been time."

Raul also used the word of the day (Hooray!!!), accountable. Raul has been around the game for some time, (unfortunately his legs and arm are evidence of that) and he knows the offense needs to improve. He's been on some bad teams before (the Royals) and know the players need to be held accountable for their performance however superb or poor it is. I'm not sure the GM shares similar feelings. This move seems more like an attempt to temporarily divert some of the pressure away from himself. Whether or not that pressure is permanently diverted remains to be seen. That depends on the response the new hitting coach, Lee Elia, receives from the M's lackluster lineup. If things don't drastically improve maybe the team needs a 'new voice' at GM.