Tank, Piniella: Suspended!
The hammer came down today on Tank Johnson and Lou Piniella. Here's the scoop:
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Tank Johnson for 8 games. He's allowed to go to Training Camp and play in the preseason, but he's not allowed to participate in the day-to-day activities of the team during the first 8 weeks of the season -- though he can use the facilities at night (which in itself is funny.) He also can reduce his suspension to six games for "good behavior." That's great. If you can manage to NOT GET ARRESTED over the next four months, you can resume collecting your lofty paychecks from the Chicago Bears a few weeks early. That's a pretty tough order for a professional athlete, but I think Tank is up to the task. I do wish, however, that he was allowed to practice with the team during the suspension. I think taking part in practice would be good for him. The last thing you want is him hanging with his thug friends and getting high.
Speaking of getting high, that reminds me of Michael Vick. All of Tank's legal troubles started with him having cops over to house to quiet down some noisy pit bulls in his back yard. I'm not saying Tank fights his dogs, but the latest Sports Illustrated has a large article about Michael Vick's problems, and basically says dog fighting is not uncommon among pro football players. Dog fighting is pretty brutal, and anyone that has anything to do with it should fry. If Tank was ever involved in anything like that, his career will most definitely be over.
Over to the Cubs. Bud Selig handed Lou Piniella a four game suspension for his outburst on Saturday, and the Cubs are now 2-0 since Alan Trammell took over. Did Lou fire up the Cubs? Or are they simply responding to Piniella being up in the skybox? Buster Olney has an interesting article about how Lou might not be the best guy to manage a club in 2007. His fiery attitude and habit of calling out players for failure just doesn't jive with the coddled athletes in today's world. Or so they say.
As a fan, I love it. I want to see a manager get as pissed as me when a player gets picked off the basepaths. I want to see a manager call out a pitcher for throwing a 40-foot pitch on 3-0 with the bases loaded. I want to see a manager go out and defend his players when he thinks there was a bad call. But Buster has a point. Ask Cliff Floyd. He's a grown-ass man. He don't need no manager yellin at him. We'll see how it turns out. If they keep winning for Trammell and then go back to losing for Piniella, then it might be time to call a spade a spade.
That sucks because I like Lou. His in-game decisions and roster decisions are head-and-shoulders better than Dusty Baker. If you could somehow take Dusty's calm demeanor and combine it with Lou's baseball strategy, you'd have the perfect manager for a ballclub in 2007.
And how about Soriano tonight? Welcome to Chicago, Fonzie!