Reactions to the Tiger's Trades and Off-Season Activity

This past week, Tigers’ GM Dave Dombrowski has shown that he neither fears change, nor losing seasons.  In the interest of trimming the Tigers’ expenses, he’s traded Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, failed to retain Placido Polanco and Brandon Lyon, and said that we’ll probably lose Fernando Rodney as well.  This may sound like terrible news, but there’s an upside to everything.  So fear not Tigers fans, I’m going to show you that for every negative that has come out of the Winter Meetings for the Tigers (i.e. every single one of these deals), there is a positive aspect that you may not have considered:


Con:  Curtis Granderson, a fan favorite in Detroit, has been traded off to the Evil Empire.  It’s going to be horribly depressing to see Grandy in those ugly Yankee pinstripes next year.  I mean, how can you not like the guy?  He’s one of the most intelligent players in all of baseball (both of his parents were teachers), he’s a natural leader in the clubhouse, and he’s a stand up member of the Detroit community (he runs sports clinics for inner-city kids in his free time).  And if you’ve ever heard him talking to the media you know he’s one of the nicest and most humble guys around.  On the field he’s known for hitting clutch home runs and making superhuman diving catches.  He’s a great all-around player and it’s a damn shame he’s being traded, especially since many of the New York sports writers are already bitching about how the Yankees don’t need him. 
Pro:  The only upside to this trade is no longer having to watch Granderson strike out against left-handed pitchers.  This was always a problem, especially late in games.  All the opposing team had to do was call up the bullpen for a lefty and it was a guaranteed out most of the time.  So, no longer will you have to restrain yourself from throwing the remote at the TV when there’s two men on in the eighth with one out and Granderson whiffs on four southpaw pitches.  Seriously though, Curtis, you need to work on that in the off season or the crazed horde of jackals that is the New York sports media will be calling for you to get sent down to the Charleston River Dogs (what the hell’s a River Dog, by the way?)


Con:  In another brilliant move the Tigers declined to re-sign Placido Polanco and he’s now headed back to Philadelphia.  I know it would’ve been expensive to keep him, but he’s worth every penny.  The guy went all of 2007 without committing an error, he’s won two Gold Gloves, and he’s one of the few players we could rely on in the clutch last year, bringing in 72 runs all by his lonesome.  That’s almost 10% of the Tigers’ anemic offensive output last year.  Placido is going to be nearly impossible to replace in the short run.   
Pro:  You’ll no longer have to stare in horror at the man’s giant goddamn head.  Seriously, that thing is enormous!  It’s like a f***ing moon, with its own geography of hills and valleys.  With his batting helmet off, he looks like some sort of comic book super villain.  I don’t think I would be all that surprised if someday, after a strikeout, his bulbous cranium started pulsating and he lit the umpire on fire with his mind. 

Con:  Further proof of Detroit’s financial woes can be seen in their failing to re-sign Brandon Lyon, who was one of the few bright spots in the bullpen last season.  Making matters even worse, Dombrowski has commented that re-signing Fernado Rodney would be a “long shot” at this point.  This just seems to be putting our already shaky bullpen in a situation where they have the power to cause f***ups of epic proportions. 
Pro:  Get ready for Pitching Prospect Musical Chairs, everybody!  With the possibility of an abysmal bullpen comes the opportunity for a different bright-eyed youngster to try his hand at The Show every night.  Imagine the possibilities!  Will this eager young lad’s arm give out after a month?  Or will he simply suffer a mental breakdown before a live TV audience?  Maybe he’ll fuck up in some way that you never even thought possible!  The possibilities are endless and the chances for exciting wild pitches are numerous. 




Con:  With the departure of Edwin Jackson, the Tigers starting pitching could be less than great next year.  We’ll still have Verlander and Porcello, hopefully, but the rest of our possible starters don’t give me much hope.  Willis would probably have trouble hitting the strike zone if he were throwing underhand in the Beer Leagues, Galarraga seems to take perverse pleasure in blowing games with multiple-run innings, and Bonderman can’t seem to stay healthy (probably due to the massive amount of tobacco he chews and always being pissed off).  Robertson only started a few games last season and wasn’t all that impressive.  The prospect of Bonine and Miner getting more starts doesn’t make me all that excited either. 
Pro:  Free seat upgrade!  All you have to do is go to Comerica on a night that Verlander or Porcello aren’t pitching and wait until the third inning.  Whatever sorry excuse for a starter we’ve put in that night will probably have been torn a new asshole by now so people will be leaving in droves.  That $5 obstructed view Skyline seat that you bought has now been upgraded to a $70 On-Deck Circle seat!  Who cares if you’re watching the Tigers go down in flames, you’re sitting in the lap of luxury like a stone cold playa’.  Maybe you’ll even get on TV!  So put your feet up, take a long pull off of your $8 Bud Light, and be happy that at least you don’t have to be out on the field getting lit up by the f***ing Royals. 

Nike Pro Combat Close Up Part 5: Personal Favorites

Both the Florida State Seminoles and the Missouri Tigers have way outside the box Pro Combat uniforms, and I think they are the best of the group. 

Missouri Tigers
Traditional Road Uniforms:

Nike Pro Combat Road Uniforms (View Full Size)

 I always liked the traditional Mizzou uniforms. Their striping is done in a different but cool way. I thought that if they went to black pants with maybe a yellow stripe instead of all whites that they would look even better. Not only did Nike add the black pants, but they added some other cool touches as well. According to Nike, these Mizzou uni's are in "Beast Mode." If I'm not mistaken, that's from the cartoon Transformers: Beast Wars. Not sure why they're using that but it's cool with me.

The helmet is mainly what does it for me. Black on Black on Black. Easy to see from the stands? No way. But really cool. You never see anything like this with uniform design. The numbers on the uniform remain black but have a slick leather look to them. The same goes for the stripes on the black pants.

 

In college football today, white everything seems to be the most popular. The Mizzou Tigers flipped that upside down by putting black, black, and more black on their jersey's and I think they look really cool. 



Florida State Seminoles
Traditional Home Uniform:

Nike Pro Combat Home Uniforms (View Full Size) 

Who needs Gold? I don't even know how to describe these, they're are so good. Look for yourself.

I was always a big fan of the Nole's spear head helmet, but turning it black just took it to a whole new level. Awesome.

 

Final Judgment: In this case, I have to say screw tradition. These are so well done that it would be a shame for the Seminoles to not roll out in these next season. I can't even imagine how cool it would be if they made them black on black with gold and red accents/feathers. I often think black on black is just a lame plot to fire up a team but those would be seriously intimidating. Two thumbs up.

Check our poll to vote for your favorite Nike Pro Combat Uni's!

Nike Pro Combat Close-Up Part 4

Florida Gators
Traditional Home Uniform:

Nike Pro Combat Home Uniform (View Full Size)

 The Gators have two primary home uniforms, blue on white as seen above and blue on blue. Nike decided to upgrade the blue on blue uni's. For the Pro Combat's, the traditional striping on the shoulders and pants has been removed and replaced with a small orange stripe (shoulders), and a HUGE white stripe surrounded by a small orange stripe (pants). The chest numbers are very much the same and the Gator logo has been moved from the chest to the pants.

 The helmet is major change from the traditional orange helmet with script "gators" written across it. The middle stripe has been changed from blue and white to blue and orange. This is a modernized version of the helmet worn in 1966, which has been used as a throwback.

 

Final Judgement: The blue on blue works well for Florida and I like the modernized-throwback helmet. What I don't understand is the giant white stripe on the pants. Combined with the white stripe on the lower-back, it looks like the Gators are running downfield wearing ass-less chaps. Just because Tim Tebow might wear them in his spare time does not mean that they should be put on a pair of football pants.

LSU Tigers

Traditional Road Uniforms:

Nike Pro Combat Road Uniform (View Full Size)

  A major color change here for the LSU Tiger's. Instead of wearing a goldenrod color, they're wearing a true gold color. This makes sense because their colors are purple and gold, but now they just look like Washington, which is strange. Instead of a vertical stripe, the shoulders now have a horizontal stripe, the stripe on the pants is more stylized and an L can be seen right above it. The pants have also been changed from colored to white. The helmets remain the same design, but are now true gold and have a single purple stripe instead of purple and white stripes.

 

Final Judgment: The true gold color is an homage to the LSU teams of the 1940's, so it's understandable why they did this, but I don't like it. This uniform says Washington to most if not all football fans in today's world. I also think that they would be better off with the traditional colored pants. I do however really like the styling of the stripes on the pants, pretty cool. Instead of having a block of white, Florida should have done something similar to this. For LSU and Nike, not bad but not great.