Angels Acquire Lefty for the Pen

Like he could do any worse.

The Angels did acquire a lefty for the bullpen, Jason Christiansen, who likely will not factor much as the club limps down the September stretch. At least the Angels have given a nod to their history by giving fans optimism in August, only to fall out of first place by September.

And it does not look to get any easier.

The blame has to go on General Manager Bill Stoneman. The Angels are loaded with minor league talent, but will not use any of it to acquire players that the club desperately needs. The Angels management has been arrogant to a fault in refusing to bring in a left-handed reliever until yesterday. The everyday lineup is absolutely pathetic. The Angels start a second baseman in center field, a bench jockey at third base, and platoon a bench player and untested rookie at designated hitter. That is fine if you are building for the future, but it will not win a division title. And even if the club does slither into the playoffs, it will suffer the same fate as it did last season.

It is funny. Baseball pundits always mention that the Angels could use a right-handed power hitter and third baseman; maybe even a right-handed power hitting third baseman. But where you could find one of those?

Oh yeah, the Angels let Troy Glaus move to Arizona in the offseason, easily the biggest error of the past couple of years (barely above K-Rod's inability to catch a ball thrown by the catcher). The Angels reasoned that they did not want to spend the money on an injury-prone third baseman. Dallas McPherson, Troy's replacement, had arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur and clean out the joint in his left hip. McPherson is expected to be on crutches for up to 10 weeks before beginning rehab.

Talk about your all-time backfires. The injury-prone Glaus has played in 123 games this season and has belted 30 home runs, including one last night. Think Vladimir Guerrero would like the protection in the lineup?

Oh well, at least Matt Leinart backs at least one winning team.

Martz's Inconsistency is Consistent

St. Louis returned to normal on Monday night. No, it was not the return of "The Greatest Show on Turf." Those days are long gone. Instead it was the return of the inconsistent St. Louis team that look like the reincarnate of the AAFC Cleveland Browns one week, and an incompetent Mike Martz-coached team the next. St. Louis tantalized its fans on Monday as it pasted the Lions, 37-13, as Martz showed those fans in Missouri what his team was capable of.

The victory came one week after the Chargers drubbed St. Louis in an exhibition game.

"Coach talked about making a statement on Monday night," running back Steven Jackson said.

That statement screamed that Martz is still just as in over his head today as he was when he and John Shaw pushed Dick Vermeil into retirement five years ago. Martz was so perturbed and panicked at St. Louis' drubbing in San Diego that he turned off the air conditioning in the team's indoor practice facility, ordered extra wind sprints before and after practice, along with tackling drills for the first-team defense.

It obviously provided a one-game stopgap for St. Louis's problems. Of course, most coaches would rather save such drastic measures for--you know--the regular season of the playoffs. But leave it to Martz to show what is really important.

"Coach kind of challenged us this week to come out against Detroit, and play well, and we did that on both sides of the ball," said Torry Holt.

It still does not address the bigger issue that Martz commonly uses these tactics that work for one week, but then fall upon deaf ears the next. Martz has badgered and bullied his teams in the past, yet it cannot seem to ever find any consistency. This victory on Monday only illustrates that point. Fans in Missouri should ask Martz to "Show me the consistency." Sadly he will not. Instead, St. Louis will only be reliable in fueling its fans hopes up, only to dash them into the FieldTurf in the wake of another mediocre season.

But Martz is the genius.

ROSTER UPDATE

St. Louis has released kicker Remy Hamilton, reliving itself of the only redeeming part of the franchise.

Boom! I'm Not a Hall of Fame Coach!

Most sports critics and football fans see the nomination of John Madden for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as an automatic selection, stemming from his broadcasting career and popular video game. Madden is worthy of enshrinement if there is a wing of the Hall dedicated to broadcasting or selling out his image. Even Krusty the Klown would be embarrassed by all of the products that the former Raiders coach has pitched over the years, from hardware to jock itch. But does Madden deserve to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame based on his coaching credentials? The answer may surprise you.

Madden inherited a strong club that had won 25 games during the last two seasons of the John Rauch era in 1969. Madden averaged 11 wins during his 10 seasons as coach of the Raiders, astounding in an era when the NFL played a 14-game schedule. The Raiders were always in the thick of the playoffs, but always fell short. Critics chastise coaches such as Marty Schottenheimer for performing well in the regular season, but failing in the playoffs. Madden made a career out of it. Maybe there will be a Schotty Cruiser in the future.

The Raiders reached seven AFC Championship Games during the Madden decade of limitation, losing six of those games to coaches such as Hank Stram, Chuck Noll, and Don Shula--coaches who deserve to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Should Madden be enshrined next to the coaches that he could not beat in the playoffs? Probably not.

Madden also cannot hold a whistle to two other Hall of Fame coaches that roamed the sidelines for ten years, Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh. Lombardi won five titles, Walsh won three as each rebuilt morbid franchises from the ground up and made them into winners. The Raiders won the AFL title and reached the championship game in the two years before Madden became coach. The Packers were 1-10-1 in 1958 (a year before Lombardi) and the 49ers 2-14 in 1978 (a year before Walsh) and neither coach had the advantage of free agency to rebuild their respective programs. Lombardi and Walsh were architects and innovators. Madden was an automatic pilot.

Raiders fans (the half dozen of them that can think) will likely point to recent Hall of Fame inductee George Allen and his inability to win a Super Bowl, a point that cannot be disputed. However, Allen rejuvenated two separate franchises and coached longer. Yet, Allen probably did not deserve his enshrinement, either. You cannot put Madden into the Pro Football Hall of Fame because the voters made a mistake with Allen.

Madden was really an old-school version of George Seifert. Madden was a successful assistant coach that did a credible job of maintaining a franchise as a head coach. Madden never really elevated his team, save one Super Bowl year, and ended up getting out of coaching when the team built by Rauch and Al Davis started to crumble. Hopefully the voting committee will not be swayed by Madden's whoring out of his image as a commentator, celebrity figure, and product endorser to see that his teams underachieved under his leadership.

The final verdict, Madden does not belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.