Pinkel Shows NFL How It's Done

March 16, 2008: A domestic disturbance at Gateway Apartments in Columbia, Missouri escalates when it’s revealed that the man involved has a loaded 9-millimeter Ruger handgun beneath the front seat of his car. The man is identified as Marquis Booker, a reserve linebacker for the Missouri Tigers football team.


Acting swiftly, Coach Gary Pinkel dismisses Booker from the team just two days after the incident.

April 30, 2009: Blaine Dalton, freshman quarterback for the Missouri Tigers football team is charged with possession of drugs and possession of alcohol by a minor. Eventually the charges were dismissed.

Coach Pinkel suspends Dalton after the incident, but reinstates him under the condition that Dalton clean up his act.

August 28, 2009: Dalton is arrested for driving while intoxicated and possession of alcohol by a minor. This time, Pinkel is not as forgiving as he kicks Dalton off the team later that day.




The NFL could learn a lesson from Gary Pinkel. Pinkel stopped problems before they became hazardous to others and showed the type of justice that has evaded NFL players several different times. Too often players are being scrutinized for misbehaviors that only harm them selves while some players have gotten away with murder. Not that I condone actions on either side of the spectrum, but the NFL needs to start handing out the proper punishment and showing a zero tolerance policy like Coach Pinkel when it comes to the safety of other players and everyday citizens and maybe giving the offending player a wake-up call before it’s too late.

Take the case of St. Louis Rams defensive end, Leonard Little. Little was a third round draft pick by the Rams in the 1998 NFL Draft. On October 20th of the same year, Little was driving home intoxicated after celebrating his birthday in St. Louis. With a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 (more than double the legal limit), Little crashed into driver Susan Gutweiler, killing her. Little was charged with involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 90 days in jail and 1000 hours of community service.



The NFL found this so outrageous that they suspended Little for eight games. He has since gone on to have a fairly complete career.

A similar case has come up more recently. On March 14th of this year, Cleveland Browns wide receiver, Donte Stallworth struck and killed pedestrian, Mario Reyes while driving intoxicated in Miami, Florida. Stallworth was four points over the legal alcohol limit and was driving 50 miles per hour in a 40mph zone. Stallworth was charged with involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 30 days of prison, two years of house arrest, 1,000 hours of community service, eight years probation, and his Florida driver’s license was revoked for a lifetime. Stallworth only served 24 days of his 30 day prison sentence.




Again, the NFL was angry. So angry that Stallworth was suspended for a whole season. He is scheduled to be reinstated upon the completion of Super Bowl XLIV.

While Stallworth is in the limelight still because his incident is much more recent, Little’s manslaughter is vastly overlooked. The fact that both of these men are allowed to continue to play professional football is beyond me.

What’s even worse is the coverage and scrutiny the estranged Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick, receives for his involvement in an underground dog fighting ring. Vick was suspended from the NFL for two years and was only reinstated conditionally this year and will miss the first few games at which point, Commissioner Roger Goodell will make a decision whether or not to fully reinstate Vick.




Which of the two offenses are worse: Manslaughter or killing dogs? Neither one is condonable, but one is clearly worse than the other. The life of an NFL player is a special one and is one that should not be taken for granted. What Vick did was awful, but not so awful that he should not be allowed to show that he is a changed man and have a chance to win his life back.

In the case of Stallworth and Little, justice may have never been served. Little continues to play in the NFL and Stallworth will surely be fully reinstated sometime next year. These two playing football will not make up for the two families that lost loved ones because of these players mistakes. Little apparently never learned his lesson as in 2004 he was once again arrested for driving under the influence.

I applaud Coach Gary Pinkel for showing all football coaches at both the college and professional level how to handle their players: With very little lee-way. Marquis Booker threatened to put lives in danger so Pinkel dismissed him. Dalton was given a second chance to prove himself, screwed up and Pinkel dismissed him. End of story. That’s it. No more football for you. Pinkel did not hesitate and gave these two players the wake up call they needed.
If the NFL is smart, they will instate a similar policy: The Pinkel Policy. When a player screws up, the repercussions meet the level of the offense.

Athletes will always make mistakes because they are human. But how can we expect them to behave better when the precedent set for the ultimate offense is a slap on the wrist followed by large paychecks? Nobody is above the law, including athletes. Gary Pinkel realizes this. It’s time for the NFL to realize it too.

Sports Munchies 9-2-09

1. The latest Cardinals news.

2. Chase Daniel

3. Grab Bag

Dear Dave, It's Just Business

When Chris Duncan was traded on July 22^nd this year for Julio Lugo, I didn’t think much of it. It was definitely a “my trash for your garbage” type trade with the Boston Red Sox. Duncan was quickly becoming a problem amongst fans and was bringing down team morale with each start while the Red Sox were simply looking to dump Lugo after signing him to an outrageous contract for a player clearly on the down side of his career. It was a good move for each team. Boston could forget about Lugo and Duncan could get out of the scrutiny he received for being the pitching coach’s son.

I expected Dave Duncan to be a little angry after Chris was traded. How often do you get a chance to be on the same Major League team as your son? How often do you get to work with someone that close to you on a level like that? In 2006 and 2007 it was fun to see. But by the time 2009 arrived, the novelty of that act had worn off with fans.

I did not expect a “cleaning house” trade like this to create such a stir. Duncan is still angry, to the point that he no longer talks to the media and is still threatening to not return next year. While I applaud Duncan for being protective of his son, he comes off as ignorant and blind in this situation.

For those who did not see the story printed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Strauss, you can find a link to it here. After reading the article, I have found several problems with Dave Duncan’s thinking and would like to propose a few arguments in the hopes of getting him to stay.

NOTE: Anything written in italics is the property of the Post-Dispatch and is in no way the property of fromoutofrightfield.blogspot.com.

“He is angry—publicly so at a St. Louis media he believes stoked last month’s trade of his outfielder son Chris to the Boston Red Sox.”

The media’s job is to tell the general public what the situation is. In the case of the Chris Duncan trade, the media simply stated Duncan’s numbers for the year (which by this point don’t need to be repeated) and openly stated that this was probably best for both Chris and the Cardinals. Only a few media personalities were malicious, and those guys are usually the ones who don’t like anybody.

Quote Tony LaRussa: “I know when it comes down to making a decision, Dave has tremendous personal and professional interest invested in the guys here and the guys here next year. He values them deeply.”

If this is the case then Dave Duncan should have no problem signing a new contract. Both Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are vying for the 2009 N.L. Cy Young Award and Joel Pineiro is the best groundball pitcher in the game (not to mention the most efficient). The closing situation is close to being filled for the next two years with Ryan Franklin close to signing a new two year contract extension. Kyle Lohse is locked up for three more years and there’s a chance that John Smoltz could be back next year. All of these guys have combined to create one of, if not the best pitching staffs in the Majors this year. This is Duncan’s baby, why would he want to walk away from something that he has taken so much time to build up?

“Chris was not shown respect,” Duncan said. “The stuff he dealt with, the stuff he heard and was subjected to…I don’t know of any player in this town who went through what he experienced in the time I’ve been here.”

In a way, I agree with Duncan on this. The treatment of his son was not fair; it very rarely is when you are the coach’s son. But Chris was definitely not the first person to deal with scrutiny from the fans and the media and was certainly not the first person to deal with it while Duncan has been here. It wasn’t that long ago that Jason Isringhausen dealt with this. Last year, Isringhausen had a strong April followed by a horrible May which saw him blow six save opportunities in a row until he was finally pulled from the closer’s role. Before that, fans would boo him constantly along with the media questioning his health. Sounds awfully familiar to what happened to Chris doesn’t it? Izzy was lucky as LaRussa pulled him out of the game before it was too late. Chris had been hurt for two years but was still playing every day, thus hurting his credentials as a Major Leaguer.

Quote LaRussa: “For two years he played hurt when he probably shouldn’t have played. To me, he’s a hero for how he hung in there; but he’s treated like he’s responsible for anything that went wrong.”

I seem to recall a third baseman that played here recently that was scrutinized by LaRussa for playing through pain and not telling anyone about it. Remember Scott Rolen? In 2005, Rolen was tackled by first baseman Hee-Seop Choi while trying to run out a groundball. Rolen hurt his shoulder and required surgery and he was never quite the same player. In the 2006 playoffs, Rolen’s shoulder began causing him great pain but he still continued to play through it. Instead of confronting Rolen about his pain, LaRussa simply took him out of the starting lineup and chastised Rolen for hurting the team by playing through pain. Rolen eventually asked for a trade at the end of the 2007 season. What’s different about Rolen’s situation and Duncan’s? Nothing. Both guys were clearly hurt and were struggling. While I admire any athlete that tries to play through pain and earn their large paycheck, if you are hurt to the point that you can’t perform you should say something. The team is better off and will most likely praise you for having the guts to admit that you’re not 100%. (NOTE: This is not the case for J.D. Drew. Just because you cut your fingernail too short doesn’t mean you can’t play.)

In response to Chris Duncan refusing to see a surgeon after a trip to Houston: “At some point the club should protect those who don’t protect themselves. Chris didn’t protect himself. And no one else protected him either.”

Chris is a grown man and should not have to be told what to do. If anything, this was the perfect time for Dave Duncan to be a dad and advise Chris to go see the surgeon. Instead of pointing fingers at the Cardinal organization, shouldn’t Duncan be looking at himself in this case too? If anything, his words of advice would mean more to Chris than any of his teammates or even LaRussa, especially when Chris was struggling the way he was.

“So somebody wanted to get him out of the organization, and they’ve accomplished what they wanted to accomplish.”

This could not be further from the truth. Reports were that Chris Duncan was one of the most liked guys in the clubhouse as well as in the front office. In my personal experiences at batting practice, whenever I called out his name, Chris would at the very least turn around quickly, smile and wave. He was cordial and never appeared to dog it out on the playing field. These are hardly credentials for someone to have a vendetta against him. The move was purely in the best interest of the team and of Chris. He needed a fresh start and the Cardinals needed some fresh air. Do you need more proof that this was the right move for the Cardinals? The team is 26-9 since the trade, as opposed to just five games over .500 with Chris in the lineup.

Dave Duncan is a great father and I find it honorable that he stands up for his son. Any man willing to do that is worthy of praise and I hope someday I am able to stand up for a son of my own. But in this case, Duncan needs to settle down, breathe and look at the facts. Chris was struggling and needed a change of scenery, so that is what he got. The Cardinals needed an extra bat to protect Pujols, so they made room in left field to acquire Matt Holliday.

In baseball, players are traded, demoted, promoted and moved every day. When it happens, it’s nothing personal. It’s just business.

Friday Wrap-Up

As the weekend draws near and the week that was comes to a close, we take a look back at the three things we learned in St. Louis and three things to look for in the coming days ahead.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1. ADAM WAINWRIGHT IS THE REAL DEAL

When Wainwright faced off against Wandy Rodriguez of the Houston Astros on Tuesday, I honestly expected them to lose. Rodriguez is a great up and coming pitcher and the Cardinal offense has been sluggish. The combination of those two things usually spells defeats for St. Louis, no matter who is on the mound. But the one run the Cards scored on an Albert Pujols double in the first inning proved to be enough for Wainwright, who pitched around trouble in the first and sparked the team to victory by striking out Jason Michaels with the tying run at third in the top of the 8th. He followed this by doing his best Chris Carpenter impression. By pitching eight innings or shutout ball, Wainwright passed Bob Gibson for second on the list of most consecutive starts of at least six innings pitched while giving up two runs or less. It was Wainwright’s 12th consecutive start to meet these standards. Who’s in first? John Tudor with 15 consecutive. That is some great company to be keeping.

2. THE OFFENSE STILL HAS SOME ISSUES

At the beginning of the week I wrote that the Cardinals needed to start scoring at home. While they did take two of three from the Astros, they did it with pitching and not offense. The Cards mustered a total of seven runs in three games against Houston, which is hardly pouring it on. Granted they did face Wandy Rodriguez, Roy Oswalt and Brian Moehler (who isn’t that great but for some reason makes the Cardinals look like they were all just called up from Triple A Memphis), but I’m still concerned as they have been slowly getting more and more sluggish all month. So far in August, the Cardinals have scored a total of 102 runs, which is slightly better than how they did in the month of May when they only scored 99. This fact has been overshadowed by tremendous pitching as the Cards have only given up 72 runs total. Over the last week, St. Louis is batting .256 as a team with five home runs and 19 RBIs. While these stats are alarming, there is some good news. The Washington Nationals are in town this weekend, which will be a good opportunity for everybody to get hot again.

3. STEVE SPAGNUOLO IS CHANGING RAMS CULTURE

I know it’s only preseason still, but I am getting legitimately excited about Rams football. After a 24-21 victory against the Bengals last night, the Rams defense looks like a completely different unit than it did last year. On the Bengals first play, James Butler recorded a sack and James Laurinaitis recovered a fumbled snap to place the Rams at Cincinnati’s 20 yard line, which five plays later resulted in a Rams touchdown. The Rams defense created four turnovers last night (including a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by James Butler) while the offense played perfectly as far as holding on to the ball is concerned. Through three preseason games, the Rams are plus nine in turnovers. This team is still a ways away from being a true competitor, but Spagnuolo has these guys competing and going in the right direction (which is towards the opponent’s endzone).



WHAT TO LOOK FOR

1. SMOLTZ’S FIRST HOME START AS A CARDINAL

After a great Cardinal debut in San Diego last Sunday, John Smoltz will make his first Cardinal appearance at Busch Stadium tonight against the Washington Nationals. While another outing like the one he had against the Padres would be nice, everyone would settle for anything better than what Kyle Lohse has produced since April. Smoltz’s stats support Cardinal fan hopes that he should be able to deliver. At Busch Stadium II, Smoltz appeared in 20 games going 14-3 with 94 strikeouts while recording a 4.88 ERA. Smoltz has only had one start in Busch III, during which he went eight innings, striking out two and only allowing two runs on his way to earning the victory.

2. ALBERT PUJOLS’ 100TH RUN SCORED ON THE SEASON

Pujols scored his 99th run of the season against the Astros on Thursday. If, and when Albert scores his 100th run, it will be the eighth time in his nine year career that he will score 100 runs. The one year he missed the mark? 2007 when Albert scored 99.

3. THE BRAD PENNY AUCTION

Brad Penny was released by the Boston Red Sox this week to create room on the roster for Billy Wagner. While Penny started out with Boston okay, his second half has been forgettable. In his last five starts, Penny was 0-4 with an ERA of 9.11. While these numbers aren’t very attractive, Penny does have upside. Before going to Boston, Penny was a career National Leaguer spending time with the Marlins, where he won a World Series (2003), and time with the Dodgers, where in 2006 he was named the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game and made the All-Star Team again the very next year. For Penny’s career he is 101-83 with an ERA of 4.18. Just an idea, but why not take a chance with Penny? The Cardinals need a 5th starter and Penny has shown he can succeed in the National League. Plus, you have already found plenty of gold within Boston’s trash, why not take another chance? Adding Penny would only confirm the Cardinals have the best rotation in all of baseball. Just throwing that out there.

That’s it for the week. See all of you back on Monday.


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Baseball: A Game of Words

Last Tuesday, Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa were separated for a ball game for the first time in the legendary duo’s career. Duncan took a leave of absence sighting “personal reasons” for his decision to leave the ball club, yet another first for Duncan.

Just one day later Duncan rejoined the ball club. Upon his arrival he simply told the media that he is back and that he is not going to comment on the reasons he left the Cardinals for a night. He continually repeated himself, just stating that he was back and that was the end of the story, almost as though his absence on Monday night had never even happened.

While Duncan is allowed to keep his silence for personal reasons, he is a public figure and does have the responsibility of talking to the media because that is what public figures do. This normally wouldn’t be that big of a deal if it weren’t for the timing of Duncan’s personal leave. Last week, his son, Chris Duncan, was released from the Red Sox organization after hitting .188 for Triple A Pawtucket. It is speculated that Dave Duncan’s leave was to attend to his son for mental support, though this is all just hearsay.

His silence may also be from the way Duncan believes his son was treated in the media and this is a chance for Duncan to “get back” at St. Louis outlets, which have never been known for being overly tough on players.

Of course, this is all just speculation. But the timing of Duncan’s silence is rather unusual. He will talk eventually. He’s going to have to.

This is just one example of the relationship between sports figures and the media. Players and coaches put up a stone wall and it’s up to the reporters to break down the façade brick by brick until the person either says something stupid or just gives up and starts talking.

However, staying silent is not the best way to do this. What is? Why, sports clichés of course. The simple phrases and mumbo jumbo that comes out of a player or a coach’s mouth to describe how a game went or how a player has struggled or been on fire are meant to make you sound like you’re saying something without saying anything at all. Tony LaRussa has become a master at this.


You can’t read or listen to a sports interview without hearing at least one cliché. But the trick is learning the subtext of what a player is actually saying when he tells a reporter these one-liners. For your education, I present several well known baseball phrases along with their actual meaning in the game of baseball, especially Cardinal baseball.


CLICHÉ: It’s a beautiful day for baseball.

MEANING: It’s sunny, but the temperature is 98 degrees with a humidity level of 200%. But the field looks terrific!



CLICHÉ: He’s got the batters eating out of his hand.

MEANING: The Cardinals are facing an unproven rookie who is most likely left-handed.



CLICHÉ: We’re going to play a hard nine.

MEANING: The Cardinals were down 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth, but somebody got hit with a pitch and Colby Rasmus walked so Albert Pujols hit a walk-off home run. Total hits on the night? One.



CLICHÉ: He really grinds out at-bats.

MEANING: He fouls off a lot of pitches and forces a full count before striking out. This most likely means Skip Schumaker.





CLICHÉ: He’s got good mechanics.

MEANING: He sucks.



CLICHÉ: He’s a gritty player.

MEANING: He sucks but he’s most likely short and tries really hard.






CLICHÉ: We got a real pitcher’s duel going on right now.

MEANING: This game is really, really boring.






CLICHÉ: This game is a real slugfest.

MEANING: Todd Wellemeyer is on the mound.





CLICHÉ: He’s trying to pitch out of a jam.

MEANING: Jason Isringhausen is trying to close out a game.





CLICHÉ: They are one strike away.

MEANING: Brad Lidge is on the mound about to give up a heartbreaking home run to Albert Pujols in the 2005 playoffs.




CLICHÉ: That’s a home run in any other ballpark.

MEANING: Somebody just flied out to the centerfield wall at Minute Maid Park over 420 feet away.





CLICHÉ: We’re happy to make it out of here with a victory.

MEANING: The bullpen made a laugher into a 1-run game.




CLICHÉ: It was a total team effort.

MEANING: Chris Carpenter pitched a shutout with someone other than Pujols or Holliday hitting a home run.



CLICHÉ: We’re going to savor this victory.

MEANING: I’m stopping by Taco Bell on the way home to get some nachos and then I’m going to bed because we play the same team at noon again tomorrow.


CLICHÉ: They caught us on an off-night.

MEANING: Neither Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright nor Joel Pineiro were on the mound tonight.


These are just a few. Feel free to add your favorites and say what they mean.

FORF'S 2010 NHL Predictions

Hey puckheads, it’s nearly close to being almost that time, and I’m sure somewhere in the world a pond is starting to freeze. If you’ve been following the fragments of hockey coverage going on in the major media outlets, you’ve seen the predictions for the upcoming NHL season. Well, it’s my turn, and since I’ve never been wrong with my predictions for FORF, these predictions should be no different.

First we’ll get the Eastern conference playoff contenders out of the way.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins: In America you’re innocent until proven guilty, in hockey you’re the Champs until someone dethrones you. Last year’s champs like a fine wine will only get better with age.

Washington Capitals: A strong playoff run last season leaves Alexander Ovechkin and Co hungry for a shot at dethroning Sid.

3. Boston Bruins: A team that may have been a surprise last year won’t be turning any heads this year, if only because all eyes will be on them from the start. Look for Tim Thomas to either build on his Vezina Trophy year or fall into obscurity, either way the Bruins who are deep in goaltending should have a strong year.

4. Philadelphia Flyers: Jeff Carter looks to build on his breakout season, and adding Chris Pronger to the mix sure doesn’t hurt them…Goaltending remains an issue for the Flyers, but they should stay a playoff team if all doesn’t go well for them.

5 . Ottawa Senators: Goaltending may be an issue, and the distractions Dany Heatley may cause could derail this club, but on paper this already was a high powered offense before the Sens picked up Alex Kovalev.

6. Montreal Canadians: A top line of Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, and Michael Cammalleri would make any defense wet themselves, but is this team a one line show? Look for Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn to have breakout years if this team is going to go anywhere. Finally this will be the year that Carey Price nuts up and becomes one of the elite backstoppers in the NHL.

7. New Jersey Devils: There has been a changing of the guard in East Rutherford as this team no longer needs Marty Brodeur to steal games for them. Zach Parise and Travis Zajac provide more firepower, and old dogs Patrick Elias and Brendan Shanahan don’t exactly need to learn new tricks to be successful in this league.

8. Tampa Bay Lightning: So the Barry Melrose experiment failed early, and may have left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths. And sure Steven Stamkos wasn’t the second coming of Pat Kane in his first year. But when you throw Vincent Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, an older and wiser Steven Stamkos, and a Ryan Malone out there, it can’t be all that bad can it? And word on the street is this Victor Hedman kid is for real. He won’t be winning Norris Trophies just yet, but the Bolts are very happy that he fell to the number 2 overall pick. Look for Antero Nittymaki to grab the starting reigns early in camp.

Eastern Conference Surprises:

Should my predictions be incorrect, I expect to replace one of these teams with the Carolina Hurricanes. Finally I’ll be on record when the Washington Capitals do reach their first Cup Final in the Alex Ovechkin era.

Now for the more interesting and more important Western Conference.

1. Calgary Flames: A Blueline with Dion Phaneuf and now Jay Bouwmeester is just scary, almost as scary as a top line of Jarome Iginla, Rene Bourque (who set a career high point total in only 58 games), and Ollie Jokinen.

2. San Jose Sharks: Sure they’ll win the division, two strong top defensive pairings and two outrageously skilled top forward lines will guarantee that. Oh and that Evgeni Nabokov isn’t too shabby either. The big question for the Sharks will be, can they finally go deep into the playoffs?

3. St. Louis Blues: Yes, you read this right, and yes the ranks are in order. Finally yes this does mean the Blues will win the Central Division. A perfect storm of goaltending, young guys hitting their stride and vets sinking into their new roles, combined with turmoil in the rest of the division doesn’t come around that often; Andy Murray won’t let this opportunity go to waste.

4. Detroit Red Wings: I struggled with putting the Dead Wings in the home ice advantage area, (you’ll see why), but when in doubt the Red Wings have shown that they deserve the benefit of that doubt. They sure aren’t getting any younger though and I don’t expect much of a playoff run for them.

5. Anaheim Ducks: Bobby Ryan’s only going to get better, Corey Perry showed last year why he was a first round pick in 2003, and Ryan Getzlaf may contend for the Art Ross and Hart Trophies in 2010. Great goaltending, solid D and good depth in the second and third lines make this an easy regular season for the formerly Mighty Ducks.

6. Columbus Blue Jackets: I really wanted to put them in the fourth spot, but they’re going to have to prove to me this season that they belong there. Steve Mason will one day be the best keeper in the league, but will it be next year? Rick Nash challenges Alex the Great for the Richard Trophy. Both are good news for Jackets fans.

7. Vancouver Canucks: They were a good team with a great goalie last year…not much will change, except they won’t challenge Calgary much for the Northwest Division lead.

8. Chicago Blackhawks: They won’t start the season well with all their distractions on and off the ice, but they’re just too good of a team to not make the playoffs. A late surge with the return of Marian Hossa will put them over the Minnesota Wild for the 8^th spot late in the season.

Western Conference Surprises.

Well one of them I’m staking my reputation on, the Blues’ Central Division Championship, the other I’m not counting on just yet; the Calgary Flames will give Canada it’s first Stanley Cup Parade since 1993.

8/26/09 Sports Munchies

In today's episode:

1. We do the usual Cardinals round-up for the week.

2. We discuss Chase Daniel's chances of making the Washington Redskins' Roster as the 3rd string quarterback and compare his plight to the plot of the Lion King.

3. We talk about what John Smoltz really means to the Cardinals.

SPECIAL GUEST: Future FORF college basketball analyst Ryan stops by to talk some baseball and talks about being the lone Liberal on the show.

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