It appears that the Billy Beane Player Emporium is still open for business as Beane just traded traded Nick Swisher to the White Sox for a bunch of prospects. The house-cleaning continues.
Goodbye Nick Swish
The A's So Far- Part III
Much like "the Sopranos," our week-long look at the A's this season concludes with a look at pitchers and outfielders, as well as some closing thoughts on the A's from Christy. FYI- there's nobody gets whacked in this write up
The A's So Far Part I
As the baseball season is now a quarter done, our occasional A's contributor, Christy of Athletics Nation, takes us through a team that somehow is managing to stay afloat despite the fact everyone on the team is on the DL except one of the ball girls and a coke vendor. Today, we'll go through the infield, and then we'll continue on with outfielders and pitchers
Around the Dial
You know, if last fall wasn't exactly a great time for Bay Area sports, this spring, especially this weekend, has to be considered a great moment. We listened to Gary Radnich this morning and he was complaining about not having anything to complain about.
Catching Up with the Internets
Let's catch everyone up in what's going on in the world of the sports blogs
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-The Sharks clinched a playoff spot with a win over the LA Kings, 3-1. Sure, it was pretty much a given but it's still nice to say. Patrick Marleau had two goals and one assist to lead the way.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-Cal took down #4 ranked UCLA in their quarterfinal match of the Pac 10 tournament. They had a big lead at halftime and blew the big lead but managed to hold on to force overtime. It sounds like a great game, actually, as UCLA fought their way back and then the teams traded leads up until the end. They now go to the quarterfinals and play #16 ranked Oregon. At 16-16, Cal has no way of making the Tourney unless they win the Pac 10 Tournament which seemed impossible before, but...
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-Both Brady Quinn and JaMarcus Russell are hanging at the NFL Combine, something that will make Raiders fans perk up their ears. We don't know what's more overrated, the Combine or Brady Quinn. Anyways, it appears that JaMarcus is b-i-g. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?
It's Got to Be the Morning After
There's a whole bunch of golf stuff out there which we are going to skip entirely as we hate golf.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-The Sharkies lost to the Dallas Stars, 4-3. It's the second consecutive loss against the Stars this week and who does the NHL scheduling anyways? It's also the Sharks third consecutive home loss. Their main culprit? Lousy power plays. So, does all this mean the Sharks need to bring in some more veteran guys?
It's Got to Be the Morning After
So imagine you have a job. And imagine you're really good at your job. You know it, your coworkers know it, and your bosses know it. Now imagine that there's a management position that opens up which would be a great promotion for you. So you apply for it. You think you would be great at the job, your coworkers think you would be great at the job and your friends think you would be great at the job. Now imagine that instead of you getting the job, the head of the company give it to some snot nosed punk straight out of school with no experience. Welcome to Rob Ryan's world
It's Got to Be the Morning After
So the Raiders hired somebody, baby-faced Lane Kiffin, a 31-year old coach with no head coaching experience. Nice. When we were 31, we could barely hold down a job, let alone coach a professional football team. Football Chris will give the analysis in a bit, but we heard Al was so into the idea of hiring somebody young that he posted a job listing in the local college paper. Have fun, Raiders fans.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
You heard it hear first-- it'll be an old school, Colts/Bears Superbowl
-The analysis of Mully's big trade is still going on but the new guys are ready to roll. We have to say one thing for this trade-- it's one of the few times the Warriors have ever made all the ESPN gabfests.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
You know, we're having trouble rooting for the Saints mainly because it gives an excuse for too many sportswriters and broadcasters to make lazy comparisons between the football team and the city. So everybody feels happy that New Orleans is doing so well and coming back when the reality is far different.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-Ray Ratto thinks Carole Migden's proposal to keep the 49ers in San Fran is a load of hooey.
-That new stadium, BTW, is polling at about 73% in favor down in Santa Clara.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-The Rai-duhs are going to take their time looking for a new coach which is code for "find somebody desperate enough to take the job." The Betting Fool wallows in the Raiders' misery.
Breaking Up is the New Black (and Orange)
On the other side of the Bay, one distraught A's fan posted a Zito tribute on YouTube to the tune of James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover":
Athletics Nation is taking a more masculine approach to its grieving, saying that Barry wasn't that good, anyway. Certainly not the best the A's have ever had. They're even giving away free tickets to FanFest, as they now have previous engagements.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-Baron Davis leads the way to another Warriors road win, this time against the Orlando Magic. Davis had thirty-eight points and nine assists as the Warriors held off a furious Magic rally to win.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-Sharks lose to the Dallas Stars 3-0. Not really a surprise considering the Stars were looking to open up a can of whoop-as and the Sharkies were coming off a four-game break. It's the Sharks second loss to the Stars and the third time they've been blanked in the past fourteen games.
It's Got to Be the Morning After
-And Stanford hires...Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh was an NFL QB, most famously with the Bears and the Colts. and was the coach of the University of San Diego, not exactly a DIvision 1A team. His record there, though, was 29-6 with 27 wins in his last 29 games which isn’t too shabby. But is it a reach? Or a gamble? And is it the right gamble?
Playoffs, Baby, Playoffs!!!!!!
Oakland finally snapped out of it and beat the Mariners 12-3 just as word filtered down the Angels lost 5-2. Your Magic Number? 0. As in "clinched." As in "playoffs!"
A's Brand Baseball: Servin' Up Summertime
Our friends and family tried to tell us, but we had to find out for ourselves anyway: July in an ivy-covered Northeastern college town is no place for a California boy. We mention this because that's where we were four summers ago, huddling by the air conditioner in a townie bar to escape the heat that had been trying to braise us, watching the A's play Cleveland on ESPN, when we discovered the best. Promotion. Ever: Mug Root Beer Float Day at the Oakland Coliseum. Mulder was pitching, but ESPN had video of Hudson and Zito scooping vanilla ice cream into Mug root beer.
Right On!
Back on Tuesday, Athletics Nation carried the third and final part of their interview with Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane, who is generally considered something of a genius in his field. Kos points out that he had this to say about the blogosphere, after discussing how fluid player deals and a managing a team's makeup can be:

