Best Gameday Experience (Finally)- Frank's Take

I've taken in a host of sporting events in my life. In fact, I've seen a decent variety of sporting events, ranging from my favorite sport, baseball, to swim meets and professional indoor lacrosse.

Although I'm very partial to my Philadelphia Phillies games, especially as of late with the tailgating and everything involved, my best experiences actually lie elsewhere.
It's gotta be Wisconsin football games.

It's hard to describe with words, really, the feel of Wisconsin gameday. I just have snapshots in my mind of the excitement that came with it.

It's great walking down Dayton Street toward the stone gate leading to Camp Randall with a never-ending sea of red. Passing houses with beer pong conducted on porches, in yard, crammed into car-parks and alleyways only builds the excitement.

Once inside the stadium, despite the inherent pain of finding and keeping a seat, the sight-lines from the student section are some of the best in college. The list of during-the-game-traditions that every student follows is amazing. Between singing "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations acapella ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mP6Y8kXp7I&feature=related ), clapping sideways along with the opposing team's fight song, and the different hand signals and chants that people come up with for the star tailback of the day (because there's ALWAYS a star tailback at Wisconsin), it seems overwhelming but becomes second nature.

And, of course, there's the Jump Around, the most tiring but mindlessly joyous tradition you'll find anywhere.

I think my favorite part of the experience was the entire post-game. The 5th Quarter is legendary. Essentially, the band goes onto the field following the end of the game's fourth quarter and crazily play for another 15 minute quarter. "Hey Baby," "Tequila," and, of course, "Swingtown" are all in the repertoire for the remaining fans in the stadium to do pseudo-choreographed dances to.

If you haven't seen one, treat yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHjkUgVdqQ

Finally, the game ends with what is my absolute favorite part (maybe because I graduated and finished with it), the singing of our alma mater, "Varsity." Everyone drapes arms across each others' shoulders and sings out, swaying side to side. It's the one song I'll ever sing at the top of my lungs when I'm outside of my car. And it's beautiful.

There's so much more that goes into it. You just have to be there. Get to a game, sit in or near the student section, preferably in a game around the middle of October when it starts getting a little a chilly, then you'll see that when you say "Wisconsin," you've said it all.

New Topic: Best Gameday Experience

This came to me today as a topic that stats don't really apply to and Joe liked the idea. Basically, we're answering which gameday experience that we have had in our lives is the best. I'm talking atmosphere, fans, memories, smells, whatever, the whole deal.

Let's see what we come up with.

Next year's MLB surprise: the Kansas City Royals

While the Baltimore Orioles are an intriguing choice for surprising team next year, the Kansas City Royals will have a Tampa Bay Rays-like turn-around next season and the 5+ years after that. Being such a bad team for so many years has allowed Dayton Moore and the KC front office to completely re-stock the farm system to the point where they will be able to continually push quality players year after year to create, finally, a quality team in Kansas City.

Starting with Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Alex Gordon, the Royals are already starting to churn out these top-notch players. Gordon, the much hyped second overall draft pick, has finally broken out, with a .297 batting average and an .858 OPS this season. Hosmer and Moustakas, who will be relied on to man the infield corners for the next decade, are breaking into the big leagues this season, with Hosmer starting out hot and coming back down to earth as the season's gone on, and Moustakas plain struggling through the entire season. But with time and experience, these two are bound to become longtime stars for Kansas City. Outfielder Wil Myers is another top prospect, although he and SS Christian Colon are seen as being a few years away from contributing at the Major League level. But within the next few years, expect a talented and exciting core of position players to lead the Royals back from obscurity.

But where the Royals are really going to be a powerhouse is on the mound. The way the Rays have churned out pitcher after pitcher is the blueprint the Royals will inevitably follow, with guys like Danny Duffy, Mike Montgomery, John Lamb, and Chris Dwyer on their way to stardom. Joakim Soria and Aaron Crow are a dominant tandem at the back of the bullpen already.

The best part about all of this is the fact that the Royals play in one of the weakest divisions in all of baseball. As talented as the Orioles are, with the Red Sox and Yankees playing in their division, they are going to have to be unbelievably good to contend, whereas 90 or so wins for the Royals could mean a potential playoff spot. With all this talent as a result of years of ineptitude starting to develop, the Kansas City Royals are bound to be serious contenders within the next few years, as I could see a jump to .500 next year before the subsequent jump to contention in the years after that.

Best Worst MLB Team- Frank's Take

Now, I'm going to preface this by saying that in no way do I believe that the team I've chosen will win the division. They'll contend, they'll look real good right up to the playoffs, but they won't win the division, straight-up.

But a Wild Card is always possible, right Tampa Bay?

I'm talking about Tampa Bay's AL East Division-mates the Baltimore Orioles.

I know that the Orioles were one of the sexier picks at the beginning of this season to be a playoff team. With Derek Lee, Vlad Guerrero, and Mark Reynolds added to a solid core, how could they not be?

Well, we saw how not.

But I think that they'll be one of the hotter teams next season.

It starts with Buck Showalter. I considered choosing the Florida Marlins, but their managerial situation is all kinds of messed up. Jack McKeon doesn't know how to manage young players anymore. Hanley Ramirez was already a problem child and Jack playing infield in as punishment for getting blown out doesn't necessarily dampen the temper Ramirez seems to always have burning.

Showalter is solid. I think he's overrated because he worked for a certain network for a long time and seems to get a lot of "Look how good he is, we were right to have him as an analyst" type talk. But e's a solid manager and he deals with young players very well.

And that's something Baltimore has a decent amount of. The majority of their starting lineup is 28 or under this season. Adam Jones (finally) caught fire this season, and is numbers only project to go up. He'll easily finish this season with 30 homers and close to 100 RBI to match the fact that he's one of the rangiest centerfielders in the AL, if not the MLB.

Along with him, J.J. Hardy seems to have regained, or at least is somewhere around, his '07-'08 status as a shortstop with some contact and more pop. I'd almost say he's a Comeback Player of the Year, and he looks to continue playing well instead of burning out again.

Mark Reynolds is a question mark, whether he plays third or first. He's signed through 2012 and is doing what Reynolds do: hit home runs and strike out all the other times. He's taking up a chunk of cash while doing so. The thing is, I think that, though Chris Davis is struggling this season, he can become the ballplayer Texas once wanted him to be. His swing looks fine and he's gaining confidence by the day with Derek Lee not blocking his playing time. Additionally, the Orioles have Josh Bell and Blake Davis as interesting prospect options at third. Both are solid defensively and can hit a little (and by little, I mean above the .220 avg. Reynolds will finish the season with). With the cream of the third base potential free agent crop being Aramis Ramirez followed distantly by Casey Blake, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez, the market is weak for teams looking to improve dramatically there. Reynolds being traded for what the Orioles will desperately need to contend next year, bullpen and back-end starting pitching help, Baltimore will dramatically increase their stock.

Their starting pitching will be fine. Mostly, injuries have kept what should be a maturing and dynamic staff from winning. The bullpen will definitely need some tweaking, but Kevin Gregg is a great pitcher and can be built around.

Brian Roberts is getting older, sure, but Robert Andino is looking like a slick little replacement. And, though Vlad is only signed for this year, I can see Baltimore signing him back as an affective DH. The guy is hitting .300 until he dies. That's just how he operates.

Overall, I definitely see the Orioles contending next year. They had some problems this year, some guys had some down years, but if they stay healthy, the adjustments made this year and the natural growth of their young core of players will produce a winner.

And by winner, I mean 2nd or (more likely) 3rd place in the AL East. But that's exciting, isn't it?

3rd Topic: Best Worst MLB Team

Back to baseball.

Which team currently (or thereabouts) in last place has the best chance of being a contender next season?

Here's a hint: It's not nor ever will be Houston.

The REAL Best Free Agent Signing.

With respect to Frank, as good a signing as Joseph to the Texans was, the Eagles bringing in Nnamdi Asomugha (as well as an entire boatload of other talent) has to be looked on as the marquee move of the off-season. The Eagles figured out a way to add an incredible amount of talent, while still leaving themselves room under the cap to restructure the contracts of Mike Vick and Desean Jackson. On that note, this post will be more of an Eagles post rather than a Nnamdi post.

Their first brilliant move was maximizing Kevin Kolb's value and not only getting a pick back, but buying low on a great talent in CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. With Nnamdi, Asante Samuel, and Rodgers-Cromartie in the secondary, opposing quarterbacks are seemingly in for a rough season. If Rodgers-Cromartie can ever re-discover his form of two seasons ago, that threesome becomes even better.

With all the attention on the Jets and Texans for Nnamdi, the Eagles came out of nowhere to land the best free agent on the market. This should not have been so under the radar, considering the Eagles great cap situation. But the reason it's the best move is because I believe it will have the biggest impact on the season. Nnamdi brings the Eagles from a contender to co-favorite in the NFC (still unsure if they unseat the defending champion Packers as pre-season favorite in the NFC).

The Eagles also bought low on talented players such as Vince Young and Ronnie Brown, holding out hope that their low salaries will make good seasons even more valuable to the team. With all these solid smaller moves, it is the big one that has Philadelphia dreaming big this season.

Best 2011 Free Agent Signing

It's gotta be Johnathan Joseph. Santonio Holmes is a great signing and possibly the best but he stuck with a team and I wanted a sexier pick (I.E. someone that has changed teams). So Johnatha Joseph it is.

The Texans offense is fine. They're not lights-out like they should be, but they're good enough to get a playoff spot comfortably, if not win the division, considering Peyton's looking a little gimpy these days.

Speaking of gimpy, Joseph sort of has that reputation, missing 12 games in the past two seasons. But he's a solid cover guy when healthy, and, by all reports, it looks like he'll stay that way. The Texans gave up 33 passing touchdowns last season, and ranked dead last in passing touchdowns against per game with 2.1. The Texans also ranked 21st in the NFL in passing attempts against. Joseph could easily shave that total down just with his presence.

Additionally, though detractors say he's small (5'11), he amassed 70 total tackles in 2009 when he played 16 games. He plays a lot bigger than he is, bottomline.

So Joseph is the biggest signing because he could make teams have to try to get through Houston's big line instead of just drop passes in overhead. Becaue of Joseph, Houston is playoff-bound.

Second Topic Ever: NFL Free Agency

Everyone else is doing it so why can't we, too?
So who is the absolute best free agency signing in he NFL right now? Let's see what our two, intrepid bloggers think.

Most Overrated Trade Target of 2011

As much as Ryan Ludwick is underwhelming, I have to disagree with Frank in that I'm not sure many teams actually thinks he's good, which makes him, well, less overrated. In fact, I believe the most overrated player on the market is none other than Mariners lefty Erik Bedard. Now, you may look at his 3.00 ERA and 8.5 k's per 9 and say "come on, Joe, how can you say that?" The reason I say it is because if any team thinks they're getting that pitcher, they are going to be in for a rude awakening when Bedard hits the DL as soon as the pennant race heats up.

When healthy, there are not many more talented pitchers than Bedard, and often at the deadline, teams look for players to put them over the top. It's for this reason that I could see the Yankees, Red Sox, or Tigers blink and trade a prospect or two to Seattle for Bedard, who if healthy, would put any of those teams over the top. But it would be irresponsible for any team to expect anything from Bedard due to his propensity for injury.

Since the beginning of the 2006 season, Bedard has pitched 632 innings of 3.34 ERA ball, with 9.1 K/9 (639 K's) and a 131 ERA+ (which puts him 31% better than the league average pitcher over that time span). But also since the beginning of the 2006 season, Bedard has suffered from a strained oblique, a torn labrum, and a strained groin, before having to miss the entire 2010 season due to a shoulder injury.

As the Red Sox are most rumored to be interested in Bedard, it would greatly behoove the Mariners to unload him to the Northeast, but as teams with both eyes on a World Series championship may see Bedard as a difference maker, he is very unlikely to make such a difference, as he could fall down the stairs, or get hit by a line drive, or simply have his left arm fall off. As such, Erik Bedard is the most overrated trade target this summer.

First Topic: Overrated Player

First, I had this post in mind back when I assumed Colby Rasmus would be traded to a team that was looking for a win-now, immediate-impact, let's-set-the-world-on-fire ballplayer. But after seeing the trade that had him ending up in Toronto, I was fine with that. Rasmus still has a high ceiling and going to a team like Toronto (13 games out of first with outfielders the likes of Corey Patterson and Rajai Davis to support Jose Bautista makes sense. He'll become a pretty good player there I think and I like the move Toronto made (though they sure as hell need to find someone for third base. I think I Don't Know might be available.)

So after all that, I need to throw in my guy, the most overrated name I've been hearing in connection with the trade deadline, the guy that teams are "reportedly inquiring about" as so many reporters have typed 50,000 times in the past two weeks.

It's Ryan Ludwick. Obviously, that's an older picture of him, but whatever, you don't need to know what he's been doing in San Diego because it largely doesn't matter. A lot of teams have been linked to him (Atlanta, Cincy, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston sometimes) but the truth is that he isn't the dynamic player he was a few years ago or even last year.

His stats have fallen and are getting worse by the day. As I write this, he stands at .238, 11 and 62. The 62 RBI is great, of course, and 11 homers isn't bad and seemingly could double into his total from two years ago, but the fact is, teams seem to think that they're dealing with the .299, 37, 113 Ludwick of 2008, probably from when that picture was taken.

The truth is, Ludwick is down and getting to be out. You could argue his homer total is down because he plays at the Yellowstone-sized Petco Park, but his home run totals are nearly identical in games away from Petco as they are for games in Petco. Additionally, his home run totals have fallen pretty steadily over the years, starting with his breakout 37 in 2008, to 22 in 2009, to 17 in 2010. His OPS has too, going .966, .775, .743 respectively, with this year standing at .675.

On top of everything, he is getting ice-cold at a time when teams are thinking of picking him up for pennant run. His average is .165 in the past 21 games and he's hit a grand total of 3 home runs since May ended. And though Ludwick's glove isn't bad, he's still a left fielder and teams don't exactly trade to fortify their outfield defense around this time (see Matt Holliday, 2009).

So there it is, your most overrated player at 2011's deadline: Ryan Ludwick. I like the guy, but as scouts say, "He got old quick."

FIRST TOPIC EVER

Here we go.

With the MLB trade deadline coming up and rumors flying, make the case for the most overrated player being talked about or actually traded at the deadline.