We are getting close to kickoff. As we look forward to another year of SEC football I am getting ready to do some college football writing for Vigilante Sports. I happen to be a person who thinks that in college football there is one conference that is very special, and that is the South Eastern Conference. Football in the south is just different than elsewhere. I am from the north, but lived in Atlanta for two years. That is when I experienced college football as God meant it to be. Full disclosure, I am a Bulldog fan. That said, I am really excited about all the match ups in the SEC. Both the east and the west are really looking to be exciting this year. In the East Steve Spurrier is excited about his chances, even against the likes of Florida, Georgia and Tennesse. In the West we have the return of Nick Saban to the college game and I am really looking forward to seeing him play Tommy Tuberville this fall. I always love to see the Dawgs go to Knoxville, that game is arguably the most exciting of the year.

In the near future I will be posting predictions and other goodies, stay tuned and GO DAWGS!

Watching the Mariner’s beat the Oakland A’s yesterday was one of the best baseball experiences of the year for me. It was turn back the clock day at Safeco and after a scorcher on Saturday the weather was more in line with traditional Seattle weather� cool, cloudy and perfect for baseball. The game was a high scoring, back and forth affair that ended with JJ coming in to finish the final three A’s batters with eight pitches. There were all sorts of great parts to the game. One was watching Ichiro hit his 1500th career hit. Another was watching Houston Street get punished for walking Vidro. There were also some parts to the game that were not fun to watch. Raul continued to demonstrate that he was not born to play defense. Washburn struggled the whole day, getting hit hard starting in the first; he was not fooling anyone. Here is a little quote from ESPN:

Washburn allowed baserunners in four of his five innings and also hit a batter. He threw 90 pitches and failed to get one groundout. Washburn is a mediocre pitcher who is dependent on defense and luck. It should never be a surprise when he gets lit up. That he is the No. 2 pitcher in Seattle’s rotation is a testament to the staff’s weakness.

This brings us to the point of this post. I think that as the Mariner’s make a run at the Angels for The AL West John Mclaren needs to light a fire. I get the impression from the team that the M’s clubhouse is place for team building and a place where the team can all feel safe and secure that despite their performance on the field, they need not worry because their job is safe; a great example of unconditional love. My opinion is that it is time for some tough love. I am of the opinion that a little competition may be just what the doctor ordered.

Earlier this year Hargrove sat Big Sexy (Richie Sexson) after he refused to get a hit, this is the type of move I think Big Mac needs to make. I understand that he may be nervous with the Angels coming to town and want to ride the winning vibe after taking three out of four from the A’s, but I say this is the perfect time. Put the team on notice that their position is not a given and that production matters. I would love to see some people have to fight a bit for their jobs. Some of those people would be: Ibanez, Guillen, Washburn, Weaver, Ramirez and Sexson. I know these are some of the big boys on our team, but I think it would do them some good. I would love to see a hungry Adam Jones come up and play a little left field and see how Raul reacts. I would love to see Feierabend brought back up to take Ramirez’s place in the rotation for a week and see how that shakes things up. How about letting Big Ben play first for the Angel’s series? It is time to move. Although the M’s won yesterday is was not because they dominated, they didn’t. The team looked downright defeated after Swisher came in and cleared the bases with a double to give the A’s the lead. The spark came after Big Sexy was thrown out and Broussard came in to replace him. Big Ben went yard to set things right and the Mariner’s rolled.

We are a streaky team, everyone knows this. I say we play to it. We don’t win because of the production of our big names, save for Ichiro of course, but rather because the guys feed off of each other. This is one reason why retaining Ichiro was so essential to the long term viability of the club. He sparks the momentum, but one man does not a team make. Ichiro needs guy behind him that are going to bring him around to score. I think the upcoming series with Anaheim is going to be a pivotal point in our season. We are on the brink and a strong series could really make the difference for the rest of the season, we need this. Play to win Mac, get these guys going!

Coming to you from high atop Capitol Hill, here in Seattle is our newest contributor to Vigilante Sports, Jared Stoneberg. A man with a strong affinity for SEC football (I think I just threw up in mouth a little), newly into fantasy baseball, and likes to sit in section 192 and watch a plain ole baseball game. He’s a mercenary fan waiting to throw his fandom behind any team (or more specifically player) who can get his fantasy team out of last place.

He’ll be bringing the the witty repartee (nod to Jay Soderberg) to Vigilante Sports concerning those pay-to-play universities down south and the hometown Mariners. So say hello and give him a warm welcome.

Lance Briggs is still a baby, but at least he’ll be a baby in a Chicago Bears uniform this football season. Briggs who was tagged as a franchise player in March vowed to never play for the Bears again. He demanded that the Bears either remove the tag, or trade him. What a punk. Of course, I do think that Briggs is the best linebacker on the Bears, but I think that might be for a different discussion.

Briggs signed a 1 year contract valued at $7.2 million dollars on Wednesday. The deal is that the Bears cannot tag Briggs as a franchise player next year. This is good for Briggs in a couple of ways.

1. Well, he’s getting paid the average of the top 5 players at his position ($7.2 million) this year.
2. He is a free agent after this season free to sign with whomever he choses for however much they’re willing to pay him.

Is it good for the Bears?

1. They knew what they were going to pay him, it’s pretty simple math, and Jerry Angelo seems sharp enough to tackle averaging 5 numbers (even if they’re 5 large numbers)
2. They get their best linebacker in camp, on time.

Now, here’s the dilemma. What happens when Lance Briggs continues to show that he is indeed the best linebacker on the Bears? The Bears will either need to pay him (Briggs rejected a 6 year, $33 million dollar contract last spring) after this year, or let him walk.

The Bears obviously are a team with the talent to get to the Super Bowl… they did last year. Let’s pretend here and say that the Bears rampage through the weak NFC and make it again to the Super Bowl (actually that doesn’t take too much pretending), and win the Super Bowl (I told you there’d be pretending). Do they let him walk? or are they obligated (by the request of their fans - we’re still pretending) to sign Briggs to see what kind of dynasty the Bears could put together? I’m not sure about any of that, and it’s all pretty far-fetched knowing the recent history of Super Bowl losers (yep, still hurts to write that).

I’m just glad they got him signed… Now all we have to worry about is Rex.

The Bears have locked both of their starting cornerbacks up for a long time. Tuesday the Bears signed Charles “Peanut” Tillman to a contract through 2013. Nathan Vasher signed a 5 year contract extension earlier in the summer.

Peanut has definitely been burned on big plays, but he is a solid corner, and he definitely makes it more fun to follow the Bears. I hope that he will get more and more national press because this guy is hilarious. He’s never met a microphone that he doesn’t like. Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo know that the defense needs to stay intact to even try to bring this team back to the Super Bowl in 2007. Signing these 2 guys is a major step in that direction.

How appropriate. The Giants are a team that is going nowhere. They have a juiced-up old man swatting balls out of the park, and can’t string a couple of wins together. Today Bonds went deep on the first pitch he saw, and then barely hit number 753 into the basket. The Giants couldn’t take the lead. Bonds’ second homer brought them within 1, but Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry shut the door the rest of the way.

Obviously the Giants home attendance will be sky high until Bonds connects with 756. So they keep trotting him out there. This guy is old, can barely play in the field, and has to sit at least one game a week so his body doesn’t totally fall apart. I would have to think that’s more than a little distracting for his teammates (not that Barry is concerned about that).

What I care about is that the Cubs just took 3 out of 4 from the impotent Giants to go 6 games over .500. Next up for the Cubs are the Arizona Diamondbacks who are 23-27 on the road.

Cubs trade Rob Bowen and minor league left hander Jerry Blevins for Jason Kendall and cash considerations. Bowen was acquired in a trade earlier this year when the Cubs sent embattled catcher Michael Barrett to the Padres for Bowen. Blevins was the 17th round selection of the Cubs in the 2004 Amateur draft.

Jim Hendry came into the broadcast booth in the 6th inning of Monday’s game against the San Francisco Giants to announce the trade.

I think this move will help the Cubs immensely. Jason Kendall is on the tail end of his career, but he can hit, and he can get on base. The Cubs can always use help in that area. He’s a solid defensive catcher who can handle a pitching staff. Kendall is a 3 time All Star who has struggled this year. A return to the National League will probably serve Kendall very well.

Editor’s note: And now a break from my normal drivel. This is a post from my better half, Mollie. She is a blogger of a different variety (that is to say she talks about actual important things in life) over at One/Change. I couldn’t be happier to lend some of my blogspace to her. Quite frankly, her mere presence adds a level of sophistication and intelligence not seen in these parts for a long time. Be sure and give her a warm welcome.

Going to baseball games is one of my favorite things to do with Kendall. It enjoys the esteemed company of camping, long walks, and Saturday morning breakfast at El Greco.

Friday night we went to a game we have been looking forward to all season. It was our “living the high life” game. The Tigers were in town to play The Mariners and we got to watch the (whole) game from behind home plate. Incidentally, it happened to be Ichiro’s first game since signing his contract and the crowd was on fire (too bad Ichiro wasn’t…sorry buddy).

It was a good game, but The Mariners lost. The Tigers played a crisp game and The Mariners couldn’t keep up. Bottom of the 9th, the score was 6-3, players were one 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Ben Broussard came up to the plate to pinch hit for Jose Lopez. Kendall and I stood up, cheering The Mariners, cheering Broussard on, and hoping for a home run to tie up the game. We were joined by a few others, but not by all, and definitely not by the 65 year old lady behind us who began to hysterically scream at me to sit down. Fortunately, I didn’t hear her until her third attempt because, as she said, “the crowd was too loud”. That should have been her first clue that we were at a sporting event and not at home napping.

My thoughts on this are as follows: 1) if you pay so much for a seat that it keeps you from being able to enjoy the game because you want to get what you pay for, then either stay home or sit in the bleachers (which I love…so, on second thoughts, don’t sit there); 2) if you are more passionate about telling other people what to do than you are about the game…stay home; 3) next time I will spend less time getting into ridiculous arguments with the sour old bag behind me, and more time watching the game and cheering for the Mariners.

Thanks to the 2 different couples who came up to me afterward offering me encouragement in my struggle against people who just don’t get what going to a ballgame is all about.

By the way, I cut off my tussle just in time to see Broussard strike out.

I’m not sure how I feel about this yet? But I do know that Mark Cuban has a lot of money, and he likes to win.

Interestingly enough, those are 2 things that I want in the owner of my favorite baseball team. What I don’t want, is for the Cubs turn into National League version of the Yankees. Overspending for old stars, who are past their prime.

No matter what, when the Cubs are sold, the new owners need to trust baseball people to make baseball decisions. I’m not advocating blind trust in the baseball establishment, but I do want people evaluating and making baseball decisions to have some clue. I like what Jim Hendry has done. I hope that the new owners keep him around.

The Mariners did not let the unthinkable (losing their franchise player) happen. They locked up Ichiro for 5 years and will pay him $90 million. One thing we all know about Ichiro is that he remains healthy. He has played in 98.5% of the Mariners games since the start of the 2001 season.

Ichiro’s skills are without question. He’s a disciplined hitter who will most likely not lose his swing until after this contract is up. Mariner’s general manager Bill Bavasi said that he wanted Ichiro to head to the Hall of Fame wearing a Mariners cap. I think that bodes well for the Mariners.

I have to say, that as a frequent patron of the centerfield bleachers at Safeco Field, I’m glad that Ichiro will be around to dazzle us until 2012.