Reaching for Explanations

Now I'm even more confused than usual.

If I'm reading today's Trib hypothesis correctly, Chris Williams is bad at blocking because he has been practicing against Julius Peppers.  The key word being "because," in this case, since Dan Pompei is speculating that Peppers' success against Williams in Bourbonnais has made the young left tackle bad.

I'll give you a moment to recover.

This would seem to invert the commonly-held thought that practicing against more talented, harder-working players actually elevates a player's game.  You know -- the idea that is, in fact, the principle at the very foundation of practice.

It is possible that Williams is bad, but it is also possible that we have no idea how well Peppers has been practicing either, since both players represent variables.  But carrying this wacko thought to a practical end would result in teams lowering the competition level to keep from "ruining" players, and perhaps even desiring less talent.  How does this get printed without some editor looking after things?

Hilarious that Aramis Ramirez is commenting on the pie-in-the-sky possibility of Adam Dunn joining the Cubs next year.  It's the money still owed the lazy third-sacker that helps prevent such things, and Ramirez himself may be asked to man first next year if he keeps up the Roger Dorn act.  Problem with that is it keeps Tyler Colvin in the outfield, where his defensive problems are worrying the Cubs.

JJ Putz and Matt Thornton are believed to be structurally fit, but the same is not true of their team going into a series against Baltimore.  Another shot at Jeremy Guthrie for them tonight, if the vast umpiring conspiracy allows them the chance to compete (that being the dark cabal of Joe West, Mark Wegner, Billy Beane, sports-talk radio, Insane Clown Posse, the Russian mob, Zionist bankers, half the cast of "Glee," Ronnie Woo Woo and the Chicago River Alligator).