Monthly Archives: January 2010

January 3, 2010

The Duke Finally Speaks Out on His Depression

By chappy81

I had so many questions when Justin Duchscherer, the Athletics two-time all-star, decided to shut it down last August for the season. He seemed like he was on the road back to joining the A’s with a quality outing in Sacramento I figured he’d rejoin the team soon. Then out of nowhere he shut it down and cited emotional distress, aka depression. I was pretty curious what actually happened with him, since there were never reports on what it was truly about. The only updates A’s fans got were the ol, he’s making progress, he’s entered a program to treat his condition, etc. The A’s Drumbeat reports that the media phone interview with Duchscherer shed some light on his abrupt leave of absence from the organization. They said he was “paralyzed” when he got off a plane for a rehab start in Sacramento. It was the first time he’d ever felt that way in his life. He was diagnosed by the medical staff, and they found there were some off-field issues that had caused him to feel the way he did. In particular, he had never completely gotten over his divorce from a couple of years ago.

I think I can safely say for all of A’s fans, that we are glad he’s got his head right, because he is one of those guys that we need on this team. Duke has always been a fighter and we know he can make it through whatever is plaguing him. He’s never been a complainer or hard to please. They’ve moved him from a starter, to the bullpen, to long reliever, back to starter and he never complained (not to the media at least). He’s the whatever I can do for the team kind of guy, which was why the leave of absence last year was so strange!

Awe, Duke said he missed working with Kurt...

Awe, Duke said he missed working with Kurt...

It was good to see that we agreed to a new contract for him, and based on the interview this IS our best move we’ve made this off-season. He sounds like the anti-Favre as he wants to help the young guys and mentor them. He want’s to teach them how to pitch well when they don’t have their best stuff, and we know he will. Thanks for keeping it classy Duke, we are rooting for you this year. You are already my #1 feel good story in 2010!

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January 3, 2010

Gilbert is One Hell of a Prankster!

By chappy81

One of my favorite players in the NBA, Gilbert Arenas, has been all over the news because he pulled a gun on his teammate, Jarvis Critteron reportedly over a gambling debt. I dunno if I believe that story, but something obviously went down considering they met with police today. I find it comical that Gilbert would be THAT angry over a gambling debt when he’s in his third year of a $111 million dollar contract! BUT, a ridiculous amount of athlete’s live outside their means, and Gilbert could be no different. Who knows, maybe he lost a few pay checks to Critteron playing cards, and pulled a gun on him to get his money back. Sounds very plausible. I’m thinking he has more common sense than that. Gil hasn’t been nearly as active on his blog as he used to be in the past, and has been far less of a showman this season on the court. I’m sure being on a losing team has something to do with it, but he was more outgoing a couple of years ago to the media. I guess I buy the most recent story that he was pulling a prank on Critteron. Since he spoke to police, they allowed him to clear it up. Honestly, it’s not a big deal to me if he didn’t have them loaded, and used them as a joke. Also, a side thought on DC, I hear it’s pretty ghetto around there, so maybe guys do need some guns around to protect those Bentley’s when they leave the arena. Either way, I love some of the reactions that players around the league had!

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January 1, 2010

Sounds Like Stephen Jackson is Having Plenty of Fun in Charlotte

By chappy81

From the Charlotte Observer Coach Larry Brown approached Stephen Jackson in the locker room, after media was let in, to talk about attitude. Sounds like Brown wants Jackson listening more receptively. As Brown is fond of saying to players, “it’s not criticism, it’s coaching.” Jackson is shooting the ball a lot, but not at a high percentage, while turning it over some. Apparently coach Brown feels he is a player that needs some coaching at this time.

I guess there’s something pent up inside me that is still bitter on the Stephen Jackson fiasco that led to his departure from the Warriors. I’m still happy we got rid of him, and love what team we gave him to (a non-winning team, opposite of his trade request). I’m loving the fact that he’s already causing problems in Charlotte, and he hasn’t even been there for a year. I guess I understand why he’s a fun guy to follow now that he’s not on my team. Shooting too much, and having a poor attitude, are they really surprised!?! It sounds exactly like what he was doing when he dumped the “Captain” tag in Oakland. He did those same things for the Warriors, but you couldn’t tell as much since they are arguably the fastest team in the league, and many others had the opportunity to make up for his off nights. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they are finding out that he is at the center of his own world, and being on a non-contender will only make him pout about even calls more (causing technicals), and dominate the stat sheet in missed threes and turnovers. Moving to the slowest paced team in the league has made his sometimes ugly stat lines un-miss able. At least it’s given the local beat writers a fresh topic to complain about. Good luck Jack, I’ll continue to follow your awful time in Charlotte from a distance with a smile!

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January 1, 2010

Pac-10 Sucks It Up For The Holiday Season

By chappy81

Oregon capped off a crappy bowl season for the Pac-10. The Ducks were smothered 26-17 by team sweater-vest tonight in the Rose Bowl. It wasn’t all that great of a game, just like many of the other games that Pac-10 teams decided to NOT show up for. As a whole they went 2-5, and the only teams that seemed to actually want to play were USC and UCLA. I guess there’s something in the water in Socal, like salt, but something went wrong for everybody else. Arizona, Oregon State, Oregon, Cal, and Stanford all seemed to forget how to play. I was especially disappointed in the Arizona performance, and was glad I only caught a quarter of the game. They must have been thinking about their New Years Eve plans more than the game. Personally I thought we’d do a lot better, but I guess it proves that the Pac-10 isn’t as strong as I thought. I truly thought Stanford, Oregon, and Oregon State would pull out wins. I guess if there was a playoff setup we wouldn’t have made it anywhere… Anyways, now we can move to a new decade. One that will hopefully be a stronger one for the Pac-10!

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