The Ides of Nebraska

The Yard has always taken great pride in tackling the issues of the day. Distilling the topics out of the daily excretions is no easy feat and rarely fulfilled. Regardless, our cynical self was outraged by the slight leveled against our new city. This egregious action that draws our ire was brought on by no other than Yard icon and sports commentator of the day-Dan Patrick. We love Patrick. His humor, banter and sidekicks are good radio at many places that we travel. We were looking for information on stations carrying his signals in Nevada. One of the interns was tasked to go to the website and find the stations in Las Vegas. The index was listed by state and Mr. Patrick has some major following nationally based on the breadth of the list. To our shock and dismay, Nevada did not even have a listing in the rolodex of states. We scoffed at the notion that the intern proffered about Nevada not making the DP Web Site. How could that be? The Dan Patrick show is carried in Nevada on the Fox Sports affiliate. The issue was escalated to senior staff for further investigation. Upon deeper review of the Dan Patrick website, we found Las Vegas and Reno both listed as being located in Nebraska. This is not just a slight it is an outrage. We suspect a potential conspiracy. We have seen many Nebraska types frequenting the Las Vegas strip. With their clever tee shirts, Wrangler Jeans and waist lines, they have gotten our notice. These cornhuskers might have planted a mole in the DP Web Services department with some crafty geography. We hope it is not the Dan Patrick show coming up with their own geographical alignments and it was NE came before NV? It is a slight of geographic proportions. Anyone reading this except Dr. Jay aka Spuddy, would be outraged. Spuddy might be in on the fix as well. He is a Yard legend for winning the basketball pool but a cornhusker nonetheless. You should voice this opinion to the Dan Patrick Show and make sure your state is not similarly betrayed. Thank you for your prompt attention-www.danpatrick.com. In related news, the baseball meander that the Dodgers are navigating in the west was not unforeseen. Too many players signed to fat contracts by other teams traded to a new team run by management on fat salaries. Everyone is getting plump before a ticket is sold. The passion to compete is more ego driven and not an inner fire. After a particularly bad stretch, the alpha male getting paid $85,000 a game will get his head on straight and come up with a clutch hit. There has not a collective effort to succeed. There are just these bursts of pride for a game or two that peek at the potential but highlight the demise. It is the Guggenheim vortex of financial gain regardless of Dodger ruin. All of these big names and salaries are the cast that they need next year when they launch their new network with Time Warner. Fans hope to see Champions play Dodger baseball. Guggenheim is just filling in reality programming time without Kardashians. Don Mattingly is not the issue but he is probably not the answer either. The group he started with three seasons ago is far different than the team he is failing to manage today. Ned Colletti and Joe Torre had built the franchise back up even with the cash flow issues of McCourt. Donnie Baseball worked under Joe Torre during his three years apprenticeship. Mattingly was handed a young team that had been to the playoffs two of those years. The 2008 team lead by Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp and an emerging Clayton Kershaw won the city’s second playoff game in nineteen years. In 2013, Kershaw has emerged as a leader but he in the land of misfit children. He will be lucky to win ten games this year and he is going to be paid like the best in baseball. Kershaw is doing his part with a 2.03 ERA despite a 5-5 record in his sixteen starts. Billingsley and his $11 million salary are done for the season and most likely his Dodger career. Matt Kemp and his $20 million salary are on the DL for the 3rd or 4th time since signing to earn his financial largess. He had the longest active games played streak at that time. Not so much now. The Dodgers added three more $20 million a year players who were gleefully dumped on the Dodgers while other teams shed payroll. The Dodgers have $82.5 million dollar payroll of their $220 million annual payroll on the disabled list. The $82 million that is not playing is more payroll than ten team’s total payrolls. The salary math is even more ridiculous when computing the cost per win. All is not lost. No team is running away with the NL West but there will probably not be a Wild Card from the west either. It is win the NL West or go home. A sudden surge by the team is not inconceivable. The pieces exist today. It looks more like a Picasso than a Rembrandt but the pieces are on or near the canvas. The brush strokes are forced and erratic. The Dodgers longest winning streak all season is three games. That was first and last accomplished in the first week of the season. They have never strung more than two victories together since April 7. They have lost six in a row and eight in a row since their premature rally. The eight game skid started with Los Doyers losing two of three at homes to the Rockies. Their futile whine and cheese tour got swept for three by the Giants in SF. They hustled home to get swept by the D’Backs and losing to the woeful Marlins before rallying to win the last two. The Dodgers can beat the crap but not the cream in baseball. The Dodgers are tied for the league lead in errors. Kershaw has been the most victimized by the shoddy defense. The Houston Astro’s are trying to hold the Dodgers off for the error title. It is their only title hope this year with their $21 million team payroll. The Astro’s are a scrappy bunch while committing sixty errors in their first 77 games. The Dodgers are hanging tough with 56 in their 74. The Angels and Cubs are also in the mix for this title of fielding futility. The Dodgers will have a tough time catching the Astro’s for the error title. It is one race we will follow as the season progresses because the Dodgers might not be included in any other of the loftier races that will be occurring this fall. Deadlines: This will be the big free agent week in the NBA. It is always amazing how the NBA has this no tampering or discussions until 7/1/XX or any NBA free agent signing period. After the NBA Finals and 7/1, there is a litany of deals that are leaked to the news. None of these deals can be officially consummated until 7/1 but there is not even supposed to be a discussion going on at this time. Then suddenly, these complex deals involving millions of dollars and hundreds of terms and conditions are announced by 12:01 AM on 7/1. It is remarkable the hours these people work in the minutes before this important NBA deadline. Overtime: There has not been much for LA fan to root for since our last cell phone upgrade. The Lakers, Dodgers, Angels have been miserable. The Clippers were enchanting until game three of the first round. If I was Chris Paul, I would worry more about the owner than the axed coach. The Trojans and Bruins are middling in the income sports. UCLA baseball is a surprise and a wonder. They were the lowest hitting team in the College World Series in Las Vegas home state of Nebraska. They still have the lowest BA but they are 4-0 and in the finals. UCLA has never won a baseball title. The team is not exciting to watch if you want heat and homeruns. It is a fun team to want to watch if you want to watch how baseball is supposed to be played. Good pitching, sound defense, timely hitting with a rock star in the bullpen. The Dodger should pay attention to that model.