My Interview With Hugo From Bluebird Banter!!

So a couple of years ago, my buddy, the CEO of Bloganomics, aka, Jason Mazzei told me to check out a website called Bluebird Banter. I said "You got it J-swayze!" and over I went, and I immediately fell in love with the site.

It is full of Blue Jays info, enough to make a guy sound as nerdy as Screech Powers on Science Fair day. I decided to reach out to the boys that run the site to see if  I could get a quick interview, and low and behold, Hugo, from the site got back to me, and together, we gave birth to this beauty of an interview.

My Hero!

G - I have been a fan of your site for along time, it is often where I go to scoop all my friends on Jays news, how did the whole thing get started?

H - Well, I wasn't around for the very beginning, so I can't speak to that.  I got involved almost a year after the site's creation. I was a regular poster on the site and one day the then-site manager asked me if I would help out running the site.  It was quite small then.  

Thanks to the great work of my co-bloggers, the great commenters we have on the site, and SB Nation's incredible platform, we have grown and now have hundreds of thousands of visits each month.  Our goal is to create a place where fans can come and have fun and intelligent conversations about the Jays, both in the heat of the moment (in our gamethreads), and after cooler heads have prevailed. 

I noticed you like to use Star Wars References in a lot of your posts, I also love to use Star Wars references. Tell me the nerdiest Star Wars sentence you have ever said. Mine was "We need to send Cecil back to the Taschi Station to get a new arm!!"

We have a pretty strong nerd representation among the site's bloggers.  Star Wars is us at our most mainstream, though to quote it fondly we all have to pretend Episodes I-III never happened.  I still like to yell "It's a trap!" in my best Admiral Ackbar whenever there's a pitchout.

What a line! I love the Admiral!

Through 16 games this year, we have seen two TOTALLY different teams. Which one do you think is for real? The one that got out to the hot start, or the one that is currently ice cold?

Good question.  I am very confident that guys like Adam Lind and Travis Snider are going to hit, and Aaron Hill has been seeing the ball better lately.  The starting pitching is still a work in progress, but I think having Brandon Morrow back is going to help a lot, and there are some good arms in the minors that can help out too.  

The Boston series was just plain ugly, but no one's as bad as they look after a bad series (particularly one in Fenway).  I'm hoping the coming homestand will help.  Over the long haul of the season, I don't think the Jays have the hitters to keep up with New York or Boston, but I do think the Jays are a good team that is only improving.

Kyle Drabek will be the key to a Wildcard birth this year.

What do you see as the biggest problem with this team right now? As well, what is their biggest positive they have going for them?

I don't know if I'd call it a "problem," but the Jays have a fairly big hole at the moment at third base and DH.  Edwin Encarnacion seems to have lost Farrell's faith at third, and Jason Nix and John McDonald aren't anything but adequate short-term fill-ins.  It seems overly simplistic, but going up and down the lineup, the biggest problem right now is that a lot of the Jays players just aren't hitting at the moment.  I expect that to change for most of them, but I also think a couple of players just don't really have roles on this team, let alone going forward.  

The biggest positive the Jays have is an abundance of young talent and a GM with a long-term vision.  The Jays have holes at DH and 3rd base at the moment, and David Cooper, Eric Thames, and Brett Lawrie are tearing up AAA and could fill those spots.  Granted, it is a hitter's environment down there, but all of those players were very well-regarded prospects (Lawrie and Cooper were mid-first-rounders, Thames slipped only because of injury concerns) so there's reason to believe that each can contribute at the major-league level.

Lawrie would probably be up already if he weren't adjusting to learning a brand-new position in Las Vegas.  Pitching-wise, the Jays are in even better shape organizationally.  And of course with the way the Jays have worked the free agent compensation system, the June draft should be yet another big infusion of talent into the Jays' system.

The ace of the staff, Ricky Romero has looked great thus far, too bad the bats can't follow his lead.

I have this team winning the Wildcard, with 94 ish wins. I think with Morrow getting back into the rotation, along with the return of Frank Francisco should right the ship. As far as the bats go, get rid of Rivera now, bring up Lawrie, let him play third, Nix to the bench, or DH (I like him over Encarnacion right now.) and let's call it a Wildcard. Am I crazy, or are you with me?

I think Morrow and Francisco will help quite a bit.  While I think the pitching staff is suffering substantially from the loss of Shaun MarcumLawrie for Shaun.  I'd love to see Lawrie in the majors, too, but it's clear from the number of errors he's had in AAA that he's still learning the ropes at third and I think it's too much to expect him to try to adjust to major-league pitching and to learn to play third on the job.  

That said, once he's got the basics, Butterfield is the one to teach him, so I'm hoping the team doesn't wait too long - I'd like to see him by the all-star break.  I'm not sure the Jays have the firepower to hang with the Yankees or the Sox over the long haul of a season, but Boston and Tampa's slow start have really given them an opening if they can take advantage of it.  So far they haven't, but the Jays have the pitching to rattle off a long hot streak and if the bats come around like they should, maybe just enough hitting to get the job done.   

Anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for having me, and let's go Jays!

There you have it! A big thank you to Hugo for doing this, and big thanks to all of you for reading (aka Mom).

******* In totally unrelated news, I have a bunch of  tickets I need to sell to the big G.G.L.A.D. foundation fundraiser that's going down next Saturday night. The money goes to my bestest pal, the Silkamatic 5000, aka Greg Dubetz. So if you want a ticket, email me and let me know: gettinergoin@yahoo.com (I know, it's almost time to ditch the high school email address.......almost.) *********

 Our shirt contest is still going on over at the Ol' Podcast party! All the details are right here: http://kyleandgary.podbean.com

If you want to join the blog party, feel free to do so by clicking on the beautiful piece of Man Meat here:

So, until next week,  Trojan Horse says " Go Jays Go!!" See ya'll next week.

The Laziest Blog I've Ever Written, AKA, My Weekly Thoughts!!

This is the laziest Blog I have ever written! I always said I would never do a "Here's a couple of things that I am thinking in the Sports World, and Out." type of blog, only because everyone does them, but now I know why people do them, they are real easy.

To prove how easy these are, I am going to time how long it takes me to write this.

Just check this out..... start the clock:

- Manny Ramirez is the greatest hitter of my generation! I don't care about the drugs, the guy was a character, an entertainer, and one hell of a great ball player. He will be missed. I really hope he gets some sort of job in the media, he would be awesome. Sort of like the Charles Barkley of Baseball.

You will be missed old friend!

- Rory Mcilroy had a great run at the Masters didn't he? Like he said, he "Did lead the Masters for 63 holes!" That's a pretty big deal, the kid will be fine. Here's a question that will make you think, who choked harder, Mcilroy, or the Blades? I'm taking the Blades.

(****This question will be given to the panel on this week's podcast.****)

It's alright kid! You'll get em next time!

Time Check!!!? 2 minutes and 37 seconds, not a bad start.

- Did you see how hot Jason Day's wife was? They kept showing her while he was trying to chase down Charl Schwartzel. Charl was leading the whole time, but they kept going to shots of Day's wife. I was wondering why they were doing this, until they showed Charl's wife, then it all made sense. The good news for her,  they can now afford to get all the surgeries that all the hot rich wives get. (I mean that in the nicest way possible, trust me, I know I could use a nip here, and a tuck there as well.)

NICE! It was weird how we never saw her body at all? But what a face!

- Does anybody else hate the new CBC Hockey Night In Canada Theme? Every year, I turn the TV up to full blast and get goose bumps when they play the whole "The following is a presentation of CBC sports!" In my head, I'm thinking "Ahhhh fuck yeah, here we go baby, playoff time bitches!!" Then those bagpipes hit, and I am thinking "What in the fuck is that!!! Really, are you serious right now??" and I change the channel to TSN to get my song, but it just isn't the same.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the pipes, especially when my man Count Cockula, aka Grant Mackay plays "If you want my body!" on them, but that new CBC song sucks man. Thanks CBC, for ruining my playoff high!

Count Cockula' at his former job on Sesame Street.

Time Check? 4 minutes and 15 seconds, nice pace.

- The Blue Jays will be fine. They had a couple really bad blow ups over the last week or so, but like my pappy always told me, "It's not a mistake, if you learn from it." Unfortunately that didn't work when I got busted stealing his liquor, but it is what it is. A wild card birth is still in the Jays future, trust me on that one.

- Finally, the Boston Bruins will win the Stanley Cup. Now I Know they lost game one last night thanks to a red hot Carey Price, but that will not last. He saw more rubber than a dead skunk on the Trans Canada Highway, and we have all seen this before, Price will start to lose his cool, and when all is said and done with this series, they Bruins will be victorious, 4 games to 2.

This is what we'll see come the second week in June!!

Final Time Check? 5 minutes and 54 seconds.

There we go, that's how do a lazy ass blog. I am trying to get another interview done with a pretty big name, but it might not happen, and prepping for the podcast usually takes up most of my time, so these lazy blogs might start showing up more and more, so I hope you enjoyed it.

Our shirt contest is still going on over at the Ol' Podcast party! All the details are right here: http://kyleandgary.podbean.com

If you want to join the blog party, feel free to do so by clicking on the beautiful piece of Man Meat here:

So, until next week,  Trojan Horse says "Damn Gary, you are lazy man!" See ya'll next week.