What the Hell is Going On With Dempster?

By Brady Stiff

Chicks dig the long ball...
Not sure though about guys
who give up a lot of longballs.

Last night, there weren't enough TV's in my house to keep up with all that was going on.  The NFL Draft, NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, both baseball teams playing...too much.

I did, however, turn the Cubs game off before Ryan Dempster even recorded an out in the bottom of the first.  A leadoff double (on the first pitch), a four pitch walk, a hit by pitch, and a grand slam (on an 0-2 pitch, by the way), was more than enough for me to see.  Click.  Final score?  Diamondbacks 11, Cubs 2.  Oh, Dempster gave up seven runs and recorded one out, for an ERA of 189.0.

What is up with Ryan Dempster?  The Cubs' Opening Day starter has just one win on the season.  He's got a league-high 9.58 ERA and has given up a league-high nine home runs.

Despite the numbers, I don't think Dempster has pitched all that terribly this season.  Going back to 2010, it's been the big inning that's gotten him in trouble.  He's allowed at least four earned runs in every start he's made this year.  Ryan Dempster is not a bad pitcher.  He just needs to stay out of the big inning.

In the big picture, though, it should worry the Cubs, as Gordon Wittenmeyer writes in today's Sun-Times.  If Dempster is going to continue to be bad, that leaves the Cubs with two legitimate starters: Matt Garza and Carlos Zambrano.  Those guys have two wins between the two of them...Zambrano has both.  The Cubs have also won every game that Zambrano's started except for one.  Matt Garza leads the NL in strikeouts, but he also has given up a ton of hits.

Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner are on the DL with arm injuries, and Wells isn't expected back for another week or two.  Casey Coleman and James Russell have been starting in their places.  Coleman has been average, but James Russell has been awful.  I sort of feel bad for the guy, but I really have to put the blame on the Cubs for failing to have someone else ready to go at the minor league level.  I understand that they were put in a tough spot with two starters going down at the same time, but you'd think that after 2-3 weeks, they'd be able to find someone that's better than James Russell.

We all knew that coming into this season, the Cubs would need a big effort from the starting rotation.  It's true with any team, but with the Cubs lack of production in the middle of their order, the starting rotation's performance is magnified.  The Cubs are dead last in the majors with just six quality starts, when last year they  were first in the NL, second in all of MLB.  Sure some of that has to do with the injuries, but still, a number that low?  Terrible.

The Boys in Blue have now lost four in a row, and they look to turn it around tonight in Arizona when Carlos Zambrano goes against Armando Gallaraga.

....And Now a Rant

By Brady Stiff

Derrick Rose will lead the Bulls against
Kirk Hinrich and the Hawks in the
second round of the NBA Playoffs

This time of year is very exciting in the world of sports, especially in Chicago.  Both baseball teams are...well...hanging around, the Bulls have a real shot to win the title, the Blackhawks finally did make the playoffs, and the Bears will add some new faces over the next few days.

Now that hockey season is over here in the Windy City, the focus turns to Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.  This playoff run is going to be a lot of fun, mainly because of Rose.  He'll be the MVP, and he may be the best point guard in the league.

That being said, here's five reasons why I can't stand the NBA...

1.  Illegal Defense
Look, defense is already nearly non-existent in the NBA.  Shouldn't the NBA encourage defense by making any form of defense legal?  Besides, can anyone tell me what the hell makes defense illegal?

2.  Music During Game Action
You know your on-court product is bad if you have to play music while the ball is in play.  Shouldn't the "best basketball players in the world" be enough entertainment?

3.  Flat-Out Bad Basketball
Cleveland won just 19 games.  Minnesota won just 17 games.  I know, I know.  There are bad teams in every sport, no matter where you go.  But, bad basketball is no fun to watch.

4.  Old Men
I really have no desire to watch anyone over the age of 30 play basketball.  Kurt Thomas and Shaquille O'Neal are great novelties, but when their combined age is 77, that becomes an issue.

5.  Officiating
Yes, I ref high school basketball here in Illinois.  Part of this is up to the players.  But at the same time, it's the league's issue.  I can't believe that the number of technical fouls a player can get before he gets suspended is 16 (or whatever it is).  Over an 82 game season, I would set it at five.  After five T's, the player is suspended for one game without pay.  After another technical foul, it's two games without pay.  And so on.  Take away guys' money, and they'll straighten up.

I also can't stand when defenders just wrap a guy up who has just beaten them to prevent an easy layup.  At every other level it's an intentional foul, which would give the ball back to the offense after free throws.  But now, in the NBA, players can afford to play lazy defense because they can just wrap the guy up.

Welcome....

By Brady Stiff

Welcome to The Sideline Report. It's the official show blog of our radio show, On The Sidelines.

First, a shameless plug. On The Sidelines can be heard onChicagolandsportsradio.com. It's the same place that Jarrett Payton, the son of the late, great, Walter Payton has a show. Our show is on Wednesday from 4-6 PM Central, and on Sundays from 10 AM-Noon Central. Brady Stiff, Joe Puschautz, and Dan Krueger are your hosts.

Here, we'll share our thoughts about what's going on in the world of sports when we're not on the air. From baseball, to hockey, to horse racing (Brady's specialty). We may not be experts, per se, but we try to have some idea of what we talk about.

We're on Facebook and Twitter, and we have a website as well.

Pull up a chair, have a read, take a listen...