Before I start ranting on A-rod I want to bring your attention to something no one will because it seems to have gone by the wayside, but I was recetnley reminded of the worst baseball trade that has occurred in the last 5-10 years in the MLB. No it is not Kazmir for Zambrano as Scotty has not been all that wonderful in Tampa instead it was this deal that took place in 2005. The Rangers dealt Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez and Termel Sledge to the San Diego Padres for Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka and Billy Killian. The Rangers made the deal claiming they needed good pitching at the time but if they had taken the time to put the numbers next to each other, they would have seen Young, at the time, was already a better pitcher and then to add in their best hitting prospect Gonzalez simply because they had Teixeira in front of him in the depth chart makes this trade even more absurd. Young is a future Cy Young award winner, and Gonzalez is crushing balls out of Petco that would make it seem like its easy to hit homers out of the Pads new stadium, and all Texas got was a pitcher who would get injured for the entire next season and is currently meddling in Philadelphia and a reliever, who would have made this trade a little less horrific if he did not just get replaced by Eric "lights out" Gagne who has been nothing like the pitcher he was just a few years back. With Young and Gonzalez, I woud have considered the Rangers a sleeper playoff team, but this deal set them back a good four years, and reminded everyone Kevin Towers is that good at being a GM, or maybe that Jon Daniels is that bad.
Now I am starting this blog by reminding everyone what a prick Alex Rodriguez is. It is bad enough that he swats balls out of pitchers hands, or that he slides directly into second base-man sticking his arms out to make contact with the fielder, and it is bad that he thinks it is a smart baseball play by pretending to be John MacDonald by calling for the ball while running the base-paths, yet there are those fans who will say "well it is good to see he is doing whatever it takes to win the game for his team," and I am not going to deny that. It could be taken as Rodriguez wants to win that badly, and while I do not question his desire, what I do question is the way he conducts these horribly unsportsmanlike plays. Nothing made me angrier last night then when the YES camera crew got that shot of A-rod smirking as the whole stadium showered him with boo's and A-rod sucks chants. He relished in it all, and did not respond to yelling by both the Blue Jays shortstop Macdonald and manager John Gibbons. Rodriguez stood on third base and smikred in a way that made it so evident that he loved angerging the fans and the opposing team. Was it a smart baseball play, probably, but was it a dick move from an even bigger dick, absolutely. Way to go prick, and I will wait with much anticipation for July 16th, when the Blue Jays come to New York and plunk Rodriguez, because they will not forget about this.
As for his scandalous off-field activities, there have been so many websites and paparazzi-driven magazines claiming they have inside sources that Rodriguez is the king of strip clubs. Basically they are intervieiwing strippers who have seen him in their club or presumably seen him and it is all even worse for the New York Post because, while I am sure their photographer got a huge raise, their paper looks worse then those Us and Star magazines they sell while I am paying for my groceries. Just bad journalism, and if a player brings his A-game on the field, I do not care what he does off it, as long as it is legal.
And as I have said many times before, another thing getting no media attention is he took her to a different hotel then where the team is staying meaning either Rodriguez felt the need to be separated from his team for safety or he chose to stay at a different place then the rest of his team and I am just wondering with Clemens leaving for four of every fifth day and rodriguez staying in different hotels, who enjoys actually being around guys like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon among others. What did these guys do that makes Clemens and Rodriguez not want to be a part of the team. All I can say is that is one really intricate clubhouse.
As for my team, the Mets took Wednesday off, but they should be reporting for work Thursday against an up and coming superstar in Matt Cain.
NBA Playoffs are about to get extremely boring when Detorit wins game five in the Palace and closes the door on Lebron in game six. I will take Chauncey and Hamilton over Gibson and Hughes when the game is on the line.
NHL Playoffs- It is so sad Versus ruins these Stanley Cups now because no one saw what was another superb hockey game. The excitement of these NHL playoffs are second to none, and yet no one cares and its sad because as an avid hockey fan I miss the days when hockey games meant something. I am glad NBC has picked up games 3-7 meaning the Stanley Cup will be raised by the Ducks on national TV, but this league has a long way to go before being considered a top tier sport with baseball, basketball and football.
Tennis- Clay Courts 1- U.S. Men 0, pathetic, but it is not our surface and would you be legitmately shocked if Federer and Nadal did not reach the finals because I would.
Oter MLB news- I was never on the Brewers bandwagon and would like to take this time to remind people that with one legitmate power hitter and a J.J. Hardy who is hitting out of this world, I do not see this team holding up, especially because Chris Capuano looks hittable, Sheets looks only sub-par and it is Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush. I will take Zambrano, Hill, Lilly and Marquis every day of the week thank you and pair that with Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Soriano and you have a team, now if only Ryan Dempster could close.
- I think it is pathetic Torre has zero cahones and is protecting Clemens by not throwing him against the Sawx this weekend in Fenway. What it says is what we are all starting to realize and that is Torre views Clemens as his fourth best pitcher right now because he is unwilling to move either Pettite, Wang or Mussina (the three scheduled pitchers for the series) back a day or two. Furthermore Clemens knows this too because he has notoriously avoided Fenway since his 15-1 loss their in the 99 plaoffs as well as avoiding Shea in his career. If he wanted the ball and told Torre, "hey Joe I need the ball this weekend," he would have the ball, which says to me Clemens is not confident he could beat Boston. Ladies and Gentleman your 2007 New York Yankees.
- Want to hand out my all under-rated awards for this year:
C- Russell Martin (4 HR 36 RBI .303 AVG 32R 53H 8SB)
He is right up there with Posada and Victor but because he has 3-4 less home-runs he is flying under the radar to everyone east of Las Vegas. A great hitter, with good speed and the power will come
honorable mention (Kenji Jojhima)
1b- Justin Morneau (16HR 44 RBI .294 AVG 39R 58H 0SB)
Having an MVP like season after not deserving it last year, second in home runs to Fielder and should be right there with Guerrero and Rodriguez for midway MVP candidate
honorable mention (Carlos Pena)
2b- B.J. Upton (8HR 29 RBI .325 AVG 30R 55H 10SB)
He has done it all for the Rays who have so much young talent but between Dukes, Young and Upton, BJ has the most potential in my mind
honorable mention (Aaron Hill)
3b- Mike Lowell (10HR 41 RBI .330 AVG 28R 61H 2SB)
He has reinvented himself in Fenway and while last year he was a doubles machine he has extended his power to leaving the ballpark. While power was supposed to be a glaring weaknees for this Red Sox team at 1st and 3rd, both Lowell and Youk have combined for 18 dingers and 71 runs batted in.
honorable mention (Mark Reynolds in limited action)
SS- Johnny Peralta (10HR 33RBI .287 AVG 30R 52H 2SB)
You hear so much about the 5 or 6 grea NL SS and Jeter in the american league, but after an off year last seaosn, many people wrote off Peralta as a one-hit wonder, but check again and you will see the making of a top flight middle infielder with some pop in his bat
honorable mention (Carlos Guillen)
OF's- Alexis Rios, Eric Byrnes and Jeff Francouer
All three of these guys make the list for different reasons. Rios had a great seaosn last year and is having an even btter one this year mashing 12 homers out of the leadoff spot for the Blue Jays. Just like Rios, Byrnes has been asked to lead off quite a bit for the Diamond backs and he has performed well with 8 long balls and a + .300 avg as well. Francouer has been labeled a free swinger, and while he has not shedded that title, he has been free swinging to the beat of 7 homers 38 rbi's a .292 avg and the most 2 out-rbi's in the league, meaning he can hit in the clutch because he swings so well.
honorable mention (Mike Cuddyer, Aaron Rowand and Curits Granderson)
SP- Tom Gorzelanny (6-3 2.39 ERA 1.26 WHIP 43K)
the hard throwing south paw has established himself as the best young pitcher in the Pirates staff and has made his mark early for a team that has been rebuilding for years. He is the type of pitcher to build around.
honorable mention (John Lackey)
RP- Jeremy Accardo (5 SV 1.16 ERA .90 WHIP 24K 6BB)
I saw this guy throw two years ago as a member of the Giants and fellin love with his stuff. Then last year he was the man traded to Toronto for Shea Hillenbrand who had irked the Blue Jays organization, but I followed his career all the way until BJ Ryan got hurt and I assumed he would be the one to pick up the pieces, but he is a closer who should make J.P. Riccardi wilt at the fact he made Ryan the highest paid closer in baseball
honorable mention ("the Norfolk Express" Heath Bell, now of the San Diego Padres)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
It has been awhile since I last wrote but I choose to avoid the NBA suspensions simply because I was to angered by the whole situation even rant about the NBA. So many things wrong with it so many things ti believe yet Bill Simmons in his column and the Dan Patrick podcast from his show yesterday with David Stern said it all. If you did not listen, Patrick had Stern on the ropes from the outset, and while the commish quarreled with Patrick for the first 12 minutes of the interview he finally admits the rule is bad it shouldbe changed bu he must enforce it and then is left speechless when Patrick explains that what he finds unfair is that the dirty team is getting benefited and why should that be when he is the commissioner of the DAMN LEAGUE!!!!
The hayday of the NBA was the mid-80's to the late 90's, the face of the league was MJ, and it has been a shock to me that the NBA is going downhill when they have talents like Lebron, Kobe and Shaq who give the league a new identity, and then a situation like the Horry hip-check on Nash (IN GARBAGE TIME) and then I remember that the reason the league is on a sharp decline is because no one plays defense. This, in my mind, stems from the fact that players are instructed by these NBA rules to not be allowed to play with chips on their shoulder and have removed a lot of the competitive edge by enforcing and restricting many aspects of the game that made the NBA more competitive. By eliminating fights, you take away the one real oppurutnity to see who cares and with the new technical foul ruling, players have to shut up and walk away, when all they want to do is argue the call and show passion for the game they play. It is a disgrace and Stern is trying to be a Roger Goodell only the NBA commish will not have 41 of its players on the cover of USA today being arrested anytime soon so why make these changes. Makes no sense to me.
Finally, another subject. It is Kyle Farnswort. Just as I, and many other predicted, when you play on a baseball team with 25 guys in the clubhouse, there are going to be differing "opinions" about certain aspects of the way each organization handles its players and the Yankees enabling Roger Clemens to go fishing for four days and show up every fifth day does not seem to be a problem for the most important Yankees who were asked by Torre what their stance was before the deal, but the fact that someone does have an issue with it, enter Farnsworth, will only create more tension in the clubhouse no matter how you paint it. Farnsworth made the judgement call to air his "true opinion" on a Chicago sports radio station before admitting he would be irked with Clemens' special treatment before the Yankees loss today. Kyle, word to the wise, seeing as your a below average reliever who does not know what to do with a 98 MPH Fastball (hint: THROW IT MORE OFTEN) I would reccomend not airing your true feelings, but since he did, he opened the door for the inevitable "well even with Roger the yankees are losing and the clubhouse chemistry is certainly a key reason for it. My prediction is you hear something along those lines from the mouth of Steve Phillips in July on a baseball tonight segment.
Patterson to UK- good for gillespie, for anyone thinking Duke needed him, just remember they got three top 20 recruits. UF though could have used him to continue in its quest for a three-peat which has about a 1.8% Chance of occuring
Mets comeback win- As a Met fan I cannot believe I missed the end of the game live, but the ending was sensational. If the Mets can win a Major League game starting Endy Chavez, Ruben Gotay, Julio Franco, David Newhan and Ramon Castro, I am sold on this team's chances in the post-season. As Howie and Tom would say it on the FAN, "put it in the books."
NBA predictions- My dallas over chicago pick failed me, my new pick is SA over DET, yes I know real original, back for more over the weekend as my new MSG gig has me working long hours but is great fun
The hayday of the NBA was the mid-80's to the late 90's, the face of the league was MJ, and it has been a shock to me that the NBA is going downhill when they have talents like Lebron, Kobe and Shaq who give the league a new identity, and then a situation like the Horry hip-check on Nash (IN GARBAGE TIME) and then I remember that the reason the league is on a sharp decline is because no one plays defense. This, in my mind, stems from the fact that players are instructed by these NBA rules to not be allowed to play with chips on their shoulder and have removed a lot of the competitive edge by enforcing and restricting many aspects of the game that made the NBA more competitive. By eliminating fights, you take away the one real oppurutnity to see who cares and with the new technical foul ruling, players have to shut up and walk away, when all they want to do is argue the call and show passion for the game they play. It is a disgrace and Stern is trying to be a Roger Goodell only the NBA commish will not have 41 of its players on the cover of USA today being arrested anytime soon so why make these changes. Makes no sense to me.
Finally, another subject. It is Kyle Farnswort. Just as I, and many other predicted, when you play on a baseball team with 25 guys in the clubhouse, there are going to be differing "opinions" about certain aspects of the way each organization handles its players and the Yankees enabling Roger Clemens to go fishing for four days and show up every fifth day does not seem to be a problem for the most important Yankees who were asked by Torre what their stance was before the deal, but the fact that someone does have an issue with it, enter Farnsworth, will only create more tension in the clubhouse no matter how you paint it. Farnsworth made the judgement call to air his "true opinion" on a Chicago sports radio station before admitting he would be irked with Clemens' special treatment before the Yankees loss today. Kyle, word to the wise, seeing as your a below average reliever who does not know what to do with a 98 MPH Fastball (hint: THROW IT MORE OFTEN) I would reccomend not airing your true feelings, but since he did, he opened the door for the inevitable "well even with Roger the yankees are losing and the clubhouse chemistry is certainly a key reason for it. My prediction is you hear something along those lines from the mouth of Steve Phillips in July on a baseball tonight segment.
Patterson to UK- good for gillespie, for anyone thinking Duke needed him, just remember they got three top 20 recruits. UF though could have used him to continue in its quest for a three-peat which has about a 1.8% Chance of occuring
Mets comeback win- As a Met fan I cannot believe I missed the end of the game live, but the ending was sensational. If the Mets can win a Major League game starting Endy Chavez, Ruben Gotay, Julio Franco, David Newhan and Ramon Castro, I am sold on this team's chances in the post-season. As Howie and Tom would say it on the FAN, "put it in the books."
NBA predictions- My dallas over chicago pick failed me, my new pick is SA over DET, yes I know real original, back for more over the weekend as my new MSG gig has me working long hours but is great fun
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
CLEMENS!!
Ok, so now that the final exams are over and summer has officially began, I can give you my take (Which means zilch) on the Clemens contract.
Mike and Mike and Mike and Mike made a great point that the only people who should have any say regarding the Nolan Ryan esque "leave of absence" between starts are Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Those two guys are the Yankees, and if they have no issue with Clemens coming and going as he did last season, then it should not matter what the other 23 guys in the clubhouse think. That being said, and since it is my blog, let me be the first to tell you that regardless of whether or not David Wells was drunk or taking a shit when he made his Clemens comment, he was totaly on the ball, for once. If you are part of a TEAM, what kind of message are you sending when you tell your "family" during the season that I miss my family and I need to leave you guys for them. Do I understand Clemens' predicament of wanting to both pitch and"retire", absolutely, but if you want to pitch and and want to be with your family then head back to the Houston Astros, take the hometown deal and you can be right near your family's home and your son coming up in the minor leagues. As a fan of the baseball team who has one of the best clubhouses in baseball, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/sports/baseball/09mets.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=login)
having 25 guys who are friendly with each other makes a hell of a differece, especially when you take a team like the Yankees who had all that locker room trouble last year with A-Rod and players being thrown under the bus. Do I think this will be an issue in the near future. No, but if the Yankees begin to struggle, you better believe the New York media will begin asking players if they think the fact that Clemens is not around is the catalyst for the current struggle. What is not being talked about though is the excess stress Clemens will put on the already overused bullpen, as Clemens will rarely go more then six innings a start. Forget the Yankee mantra that they will not succumb to agents like Boars, the Hendricks Brothers just wiped Brian Cashman,GW alum Randy Levene and George clean and proved that, yes, despearate times call for despearate measures and if your client needs to be a Yankee, demand much more money than originally thought. Picture this, The Hendricks brothers have admitted that last year when they contacted the Yankees, they mentioned his vacation clause and the Yankees balked because they were currently 18-11 and in 1st place of the AL East. The Brothers Hendrick said, fine then he will not become a Yankee and moved along, but what a shock. Now they were 12-15 before their weekend series against Texas and in last place of the AL East, and realized things were looking awful because the Red Sox pitching staff is the elite 1-5 in baseball and that lineup, with Ramirez back on track, is in a groove. The Yankees should never succumb to a player's needs and furthermore for almost 26 million dollars, when considering the pro rated money and 40% luxury tax, shouldn't Clemens be around to help the development of young pitchers like Phillip Hughes, ("TOUTED AS THE NEXT CLEMENS") Matt Desalvo, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner. If I am one of those guys and Roger Clemens is sitting in the dugout, I would bee-line straight towards him to do anything I can to learn from one of the five greatest pitchers of all time. Clemens should stay with the team, progress the youth and help fix a clubhouse that's public image has been awful in the past months.
NBA- My Bulls pick to the finals looks downright awful right now. We all underestimated the impact of a reinvigorated Chris Webber, and with a team as veteraned as they are, I think most people just overlooked them, called them old, and did not think Flip Saunders had the coaching ability to put them in position run through the Eastern COnference the way they are. Kudos to that whole team, and Joe Dumars, for steamrolling the pathetic Eastern Conference. Chicago, meanwhile, is not an interior team and when you rely on your 3 big guns Hinrich, Gordon and Deng to make shots, they cannot go a combined 8-29 from the field, which is what happened in game two. The Pistons took the second game by 21, and Rasheed Wallace played 18 minutes before fouling out. That gives you an idea of how much better the Pistons are playign than the Bulls. In the other series, Lebron is quietly becoming a playoff star as he is two games away from a conference final showdown against the Pistons and if he finds a way to beat them team who currently has not lost a playoff game, you better believe the MJ comparisons will begin. The Warriors WILL WIN TONIGHT, THAT IS A JULIAN STEFAN GOMPERTZ GURANTEE!!! and the Suns will win this series. I find it funny that multiple writers have lauded the effort of MIke D'Antoni for placing Kurt Thomas on Tim Duncan, and while I did not watch the game it would seem to me that he did nothing that Boris Diaw did not do, as Duncan ran off 29 points and 11 rebounds in a losing efffort. My new gameplan for D'antoni....DO NOT PULL AN AVERY JOHNSON AND MESS WITH A GOOD THING. Go with what won you the series against the Lakers meaning throw out Nash, Bell, Marion, Diaw and Stoudemire and do not think twice about it. Let Duncan put up his 30 and 10, but make sure Parker, Finley and Ginoboli all score under 15 points a game and the series is over. Easier said and done but that is the only way to beat a defensive minded, veteraned Spurs team, and while on the subject...I have never personaly admitted this, but Tim Duncan is extremely underrated. They beat an exposive Nuggets team in round one, and besides Duncan, this team has no legitimate number two scorer. Parker is a solid point guard who is efficient in the lane, but he is far from a good shooter and Ginoboli and Finley have been inconsistent as well. Duncan continualy carries this team to the playoffs year after year and quietly was one of five players to average 20 and 10.
NHL- Anaheim and Buffalo lost in the Conference Finals last season and expect both of them to get to the Stanley Cup this year, with Anaheim as my pick to win it all. As for the Rangers things look good right off the bat as it appears Brandan Shannahan will return for one more season.
NFL- After hearing about Brady Quinn's lame ducks in his first mini-camp as a Brown, you have to wonder if Quinn really was closer ranking wise on most teams' boards to the second round QBS (Stanton, Edwards, Kolb, Beck) than to Jamarcus Russell. The argument he is a winner would work except he really did not beat a stellar opponent other than Penn State when they were a top 20 team, but even the Nittany Lions fell off taking away some of the lsuter from that thrashing in South Bend.
more on the way in the coming days...
Mike and Mike and Mike and Mike made a great point that the only people who should have any say regarding the Nolan Ryan esque "leave of absence" between starts are Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Those two guys are the Yankees, and if they have no issue with Clemens coming and going as he did last season, then it should not matter what the other 23 guys in the clubhouse think. That being said, and since it is my blog, let me be the first to tell you that regardless of whether or not David Wells was drunk or taking a shit when he made his Clemens comment, he was totaly on the ball, for once. If you are part of a TEAM, what kind of message are you sending when you tell your "family" during the season that I miss my family and I need to leave you guys for them. Do I understand Clemens' predicament of wanting to both pitch and"retire", absolutely, but if you want to pitch and and want to be with your family then head back to the Houston Astros, take the hometown deal and you can be right near your family's home and your son coming up in the minor leagues. As a fan of the baseball team who has one of the best clubhouses in baseball, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/sports/baseball/09mets.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=login)
having 25 guys who are friendly with each other makes a hell of a differece, especially when you take a team like the Yankees who had all that locker room trouble last year with A-Rod and players being thrown under the bus. Do I think this will be an issue in the near future. No, but if the Yankees begin to struggle, you better believe the New York media will begin asking players if they think the fact that Clemens is not around is the catalyst for the current struggle. What is not being talked about though is the excess stress Clemens will put on the already overused bullpen, as Clemens will rarely go more then six innings a start. Forget the Yankee mantra that they will not succumb to agents like Boars, the Hendricks Brothers just wiped Brian Cashman,GW alum Randy Levene and George clean and proved that, yes, despearate times call for despearate measures and if your client needs to be a Yankee, demand much more money than originally thought. Picture this, The Hendricks brothers have admitted that last year when they contacted the Yankees, they mentioned his vacation clause and the Yankees balked because they were currently 18-11 and in 1st place of the AL East. The Brothers Hendrick said, fine then he will not become a Yankee and moved along, but what a shock. Now they were 12-15 before their weekend series against Texas and in last place of the AL East, and realized things were looking awful because the Red Sox pitching staff is the elite 1-5 in baseball and that lineup, with Ramirez back on track, is in a groove. The Yankees should never succumb to a player's needs and furthermore for almost 26 million dollars, when considering the pro rated money and 40% luxury tax, shouldn't Clemens be around to help the development of young pitchers like Phillip Hughes, ("TOUTED AS THE NEXT CLEMENS") Matt Desalvo, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner. If I am one of those guys and Roger Clemens is sitting in the dugout, I would bee-line straight towards him to do anything I can to learn from one of the five greatest pitchers of all time. Clemens should stay with the team, progress the youth and help fix a clubhouse that's public image has been awful in the past months.
NBA- My Bulls pick to the finals looks downright awful right now. We all underestimated the impact of a reinvigorated Chris Webber, and with a team as veteraned as they are, I think most people just overlooked them, called them old, and did not think Flip Saunders had the coaching ability to put them in position run through the Eastern COnference the way they are. Kudos to that whole team, and Joe Dumars, for steamrolling the pathetic Eastern Conference. Chicago, meanwhile, is not an interior team and when you rely on your 3 big guns Hinrich, Gordon and Deng to make shots, they cannot go a combined 8-29 from the field, which is what happened in game two. The Pistons took the second game by 21, and Rasheed Wallace played 18 minutes before fouling out. That gives you an idea of how much better the Pistons are playign than the Bulls. In the other series, Lebron is quietly becoming a playoff star as he is two games away from a conference final showdown against the Pistons and if he finds a way to beat them team who currently has not lost a playoff game, you better believe the MJ comparisons will begin. The Warriors WILL WIN TONIGHT, THAT IS A JULIAN STEFAN GOMPERTZ GURANTEE!!! and the Suns will win this series. I find it funny that multiple writers have lauded the effort of MIke D'Antoni for placing Kurt Thomas on Tim Duncan, and while I did not watch the game it would seem to me that he did nothing that Boris Diaw did not do, as Duncan ran off 29 points and 11 rebounds in a losing efffort. My new gameplan for D'antoni....DO NOT PULL AN AVERY JOHNSON AND MESS WITH A GOOD THING. Go with what won you the series against the Lakers meaning throw out Nash, Bell, Marion, Diaw and Stoudemire and do not think twice about it. Let Duncan put up his 30 and 10, but make sure Parker, Finley and Ginoboli all score under 15 points a game and the series is over. Easier said and done but that is the only way to beat a defensive minded, veteraned Spurs team, and while on the subject...I have never personaly admitted this, but Tim Duncan is extremely underrated. They beat an exposive Nuggets team in round one, and besides Duncan, this team has no legitimate number two scorer. Parker is a solid point guard who is efficient in the lane, but he is far from a good shooter and Ginoboli and Finley have been inconsistent as well. Duncan continualy carries this team to the playoffs year after year and quietly was one of five players to average 20 and 10.
NHL- Anaheim and Buffalo lost in the Conference Finals last season and expect both of them to get to the Stanley Cup this year, with Anaheim as my pick to win it all. As for the Rangers things look good right off the bat as it appears Brandan Shannahan will return for one more season.
NFL- After hearing about Brady Quinn's lame ducks in his first mini-camp as a Brown, you have to wonder if Quinn really was closer ranking wise on most teams' boards to the second round QBS (Stanton, Edwards, Kolb, Beck) than to Jamarcus Russell. The argument he is a winner would work except he really did not beat a stellar opponent other than Penn State when they were a top 20 team, but even the Nittany Lions fell off taking away some of the lsuter from that thrashing in South Bend.
more on the way in the coming days...
Sunday, May 6, 2007
METS 2B HOLE
Being a Met fan, and having a blog, I will take the time now to speak about an issue that has come up in the wake of the recent batch of injuries that the New York Mets have encountered. With a Rangers 5-4 loss at the Garden today I can officially say it is truly baseball season, The transition period is tough but when both MSG team are done I am ready to go full speed ahead into the month of May in baseball. Now my take on the Jose Valentin injury and who I want to replace him:
Here is why I would like Jorge Cantu to be the new second baseman for the New York Metropolitans. Not only is he in the mold of a typical Omar player who has the potential to be a star but since the Devil Rays have a lot of money invested in Akinori Iwamura (or as he is referred to by my brother "letters from iwamura) at third, B.J. Upton is going to be their second baseman. They love Ben Zobrist at short and with Elijah Dukes, Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young and Carl Crawford as their OFs and DH, and the former met Ty Wiggington at first base, there is no room for cantu. It has been made clear, when he did not make the 25 man roster on opening day,that the rays do not believe cantu has a future in Tampa Bay and if the mets were to give up a mid AA prospect or low level AAA prospect, perhaps Willie Collazo or Jon Adkins I think they could pry Cantu. The Rays need all the pitching help they can get and I would even be willing to part with a guy like Jason Vargas, Kevin Mulvey or Deolis Guerra to get a guy with the "potential" of Cantu who is just 25. Remember while Cantu looked lost at the plate last year he had 14 homers with 62 rbi's compared to the 37 yr old valentin who had a great year hitting 18 homers and 62 rbi's. Cantu hit 28 homers and 117 rbi's the season before last and batted .286 as well ans you do not just hit 30 and 100 in a baseball season and fall off the map. The guy has talent and putting him in a lineup with reyes, Loduca, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Alou and Green would make the Mets the best hitting team in the league. Not to mention he only had 13 errors last year meaning he would not be a defensive liability.
If not Cantu then I think Mark Derosa might not be a bad attempt, although the Cubs did invest 13 million in him this summer. Derosa would fit because the club has Ryan Theriot who can play 2B or SS and also has Cezar Isturis who is a better fielder than Derosa as well. I would also consider Brandon Phillips since they need to find a place for Josh Hamilton everyday and would move Ryan Freel to second base keeping encarnacion at third and making Ken Griffey Jr. happy by moving him back to center field flanked by Adam Dunn and hamilton, but it might take a bit more to get Phillips. Expect the Mets to make a move because even if valentin was not hurt it is a position that the Mets have no good talent at in the minors and have aging hitters like Easley and Valentin on the team.
NBA- Spurs better not make the NBA Finals for the NBA's sake as they are that boring to watch, great execution and a big boost stealing one on the road at US Airways, Lebron was not superb but good enough against the Nets. I think Lebron is mature enough to win this series, but if J. Kidd is anything like he was in the first round, this is going at least six and potentially a game seven at the Quicken Loans. (By the way still the best stat line in the NBA playoffs this year, and yes better than Nash's 23 assists or Stoudemire's 27 points and 21 rebounds was Jason Kidd in game three of the first round at Continential: 16 points, 16 rebounds 19 assists) And imagine how much better the Lakers would have been in the next 4 years if they had dealt Bynum for Kidd. Bulls will rebound, but it might not matter as Detroit is hitting on all cylinders at the right time, kudos to flip for having them ready this year. GS will beat Utah in 5 games or less, not even a remote question in my mind and picture this: Golden State vs. San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals: We have already seen GS against another "run and gun" team in the Mavs so the Warriors vs. the Suns will be more of the same except Baron Davis will expose Steve Nash's defense but will not be able to handle him defensivley either potentially setting up the first time a PG gets 35 assists in a game. Warriors vs. Spurs would be opposites attracting, and it would answer the defining question of the NBA is it better to play a slow half court offense (see Spurs, Pistons, Bulls) or is it better to run and gun your way to victory: (Suns, Mavs, Warriors)
more coming this week, but nothign until thursday FINALS TIME!! enjoy the blog
Here is why I would like Jorge Cantu to be the new second baseman for the New York Metropolitans. Not only is he in the mold of a typical Omar player who has the potential to be a star but since the Devil Rays have a lot of money invested in Akinori Iwamura (or as he is referred to by my brother "letters from iwamura) at third, B.J. Upton is going to be their second baseman. They love Ben Zobrist at short and with Elijah Dukes, Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young and Carl Crawford as their OFs and DH, and the former met Ty Wiggington at first base, there is no room for cantu. It has been made clear, when he did not make the 25 man roster on opening day,that the rays do not believe cantu has a future in Tampa Bay and if the mets were to give up a mid AA prospect or low level AAA prospect, perhaps Willie Collazo or Jon Adkins I think they could pry Cantu. The Rays need all the pitching help they can get and I would even be willing to part with a guy like Jason Vargas, Kevin Mulvey or Deolis Guerra to get a guy with the "potential" of Cantu who is just 25. Remember while Cantu looked lost at the plate last year he had 14 homers with 62 rbi's compared to the 37 yr old valentin who had a great year hitting 18 homers and 62 rbi's. Cantu hit 28 homers and 117 rbi's the season before last and batted .286 as well ans you do not just hit 30 and 100 in a baseball season and fall off the map. The guy has talent and putting him in a lineup with reyes, Loduca, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Alou and Green would make the Mets the best hitting team in the league. Not to mention he only had 13 errors last year meaning he would not be a defensive liability.
If not Cantu then I think Mark Derosa might not be a bad attempt, although the Cubs did invest 13 million in him this summer. Derosa would fit because the club has Ryan Theriot who can play 2B or SS and also has Cezar Isturis who is a better fielder than Derosa as well. I would also consider Brandon Phillips since they need to find a place for Josh Hamilton everyday and would move Ryan Freel to second base keeping encarnacion at third and making Ken Griffey Jr. happy by moving him back to center field flanked by Adam Dunn and hamilton, but it might take a bit more to get Phillips. Expect the Mets to make a move because even if valentin was not hurt it is a position that the Mets have no good talent at in the minors and have aging hitters like Easley and Valentin on the team.
NBA- Spurs better not make the NBA Finals for the NBA's sake as they are that boring to watch, great execution and a big boost stealing one on the road at US Airways, Lebron was not superb but good enough against the Nets. I think Lebron is mature enough to win this series, but if J. Kidd is anything like he was in the first round, this is going at least six and potentially a game seven at the Quicken Loans. (By the way still the best stat line in the NBA playoffs this year, and yes better than Nash's 23 assists or Stoudemire's 27 points and 21 rebounds was Jason Kidd in game three of the first round at Continential: 16 points, 16 rebounds 19 assists) And imagine how much better the Lakers would have been in the next 4 years if they had dealt Bynum for Kidd. Bulls will rebound, but it might not matter as Detroit is hitting on all cylinders at the right time, kudos to flip for having them ready this year. GS will beat Utah in 5 games or less, not even a remote question in my mind and picture this: Golden State vs. San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals: We have already seen GS against another "run and gun" team in the Mavs so the Warriors vs. the Suns will be more of the same except Baron Davis will expose Steve Nash's defense but will not be able to handle him defensivley either potentially setting up the first time a PG gets 35 assists in a game. Warriors vs. Spurs would be opposites attracting, and it would answer the defining question of the NBA is it better to play a slow half court offense (see Spurs, Pistons, Bulls) or is it better to run and gun your way to victory: (Suns, Mavs, Warriors)
more coming this week, but nothign until thursday FINALS TIME!! enjoy the blog
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Kobe Bryant is the 2007 MVP far and away, and I have said it on air multiple times, I am now saying it in writing:
It is not nash, even though he had his best season in three years because his backup PG won 6th man and is extremely competent at running that offense.
It is not Nowitzki because he has talent everywhere around him in howard, terry, stackhouse, harris and has the NBA coach of the year from last season.
Not to meniton dirk is a subpar defender who gave up 33 pts to Stephen "the ticking timebomb" Jackson tonight
It is Kobe Bryant because he is flat-out the most talented player in the league. Without him the Lakers starting line-up would be:
PG- Smush "AWOL" Parker
SG- Sasha Vujajic/Jordan Farmar/ Aaron Mckie/Maurice Evans
SF- Luke Walton
PF- Lamar Odom
C- Kwame Brown
That team with Bynum, Cook and Radmanovic coming off the bench might win 25 games if Phil Jackson figured out how the Triangle Offense worked again. With Bryant in the line-up they won 42 games, gained the seven seed and had #24 single-handedly carry them to victory in game 3 with Bryant scoring 15 of his game high 45 points in the fourth quarter to seal a victory and give his team a chance to even the series. Unfortunately the playoffs do not count in MVP balloting so we can move to the regular season where 18 times Bryant tallied 40 or more points with eight of those games having 24 eclipse 50 points. Bryant single-handedly put his team in a dominant position to win all 18 games he scored 40+ and also had two regular season outings with 39 points. Thats means in Kobe=20 automatic victories which would be the difference between what the 7 seed lakers were this year and what they would have been without him. That to me is a player who is MOST VALUABLE TO HIS TEAM. He avaergaed 31.6 PPG and the next closest teammate to that number was the URI standout Lamar Odom averaging a whopping 15.9 PPG. Find me any other team where the differential between the top scorer and the number two man is larger? Still looking, because I can save you time by telling you that margin is not even in competition with any other team in the league.
Steve Nash had his best statistical season of the past three years scoring jus .3PPG elss but making up for it by setting or tieing career highs in APG with 11.6 FG% with a 53.2% mark and 3PT FG% at a 45.5% rate.
Dirk Nowitzki? His PPG total went down this season from 26.6 PPG last year to 24.4 PPG and his RPB were down as well, with his turnover per game ratio going up.
Neither is an MVP this season though, or neither is more deserving then Kobe Bryant
It is not nash, even though he had his best season in three years because his backup PG won 6th man and is extremely competent at running that offense.
It is not Nowitzki because he has talent everywhere around him in howard, terry, stackhouse, harris and has the NBA coach of the year from last season.
Not to meniton dirk is a subpar defender who gave up 33 pts to Stephen "the ticking timebomb" Jackson tonight
It is Kobe Bryant because he is flat-out the most talented player in the league. Without him the Lakers starting line-up would be:
PG- Smush "AWOL" Parker
SG- Sasha Vujajic/Jordan Farmar/ Aaron Mckie/Maurice Evans
SF- Luke Walton
PF- Lamar Odom
C- Kwame Brown
That team with Bynum, Cook and Radmanovic coming off the bench might win 25 games if Phil Jackson figured out how the Triangle Offense worked again. With Bryant in the line-up they won 42 games, gained the seven seed and had #24 single-handedly carry them to victory in game 3 with Bryant scoring 15 of his game high 45 points in the fourth quarter to seal a victory and give his team a chance to even the series. Unfortunately the playoffs do not count in MVP balloting so we can move to the regular season where 18 times Bryant tallied 40 or more points with eight of those games having 24 eclipse 50 points. Bryant single-handedly put his team in a dominant position to win all 18 games he scored 40+ and also had two regular season outings with 39 points. Thats means in Kobe=20 automatic victories which would be the difference between what the 7 seed lakers were this year and what they would have been without him. That to me is a player who is MOST VALUABLE TO HIS TEAM. He avaergaed 31.6 PPG and the next closest teammate to that number was the URI standout Lamar Odom averaging a whopping 15.9 PPG. Find me any other team where the differential between the top scorer and the number two man is larger? Still looking, because I can save you time by telling you that margin is not even in competition with any other team in the league.
Steve Nash had his best statistical season of the past three years scoring jus .3PPG elss but making up for it by setting or tieing career highs in APG with 11.6 FG% with a 53.2% mark and 3PT FG% at a 45.5% rate.
Dirk Nowitzki? His PPG total went down this season from 26.6 PPG last year to 24.4 PPG and his RPB were down as well, with his turnover per game ratio going up.
Neither is an MVP this season though, or neither is more deserving then Kobe Bryant
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Not much to report:
NFL- Draft buzz is wearing off, but fantasy football buzz is getting ready to begin, UDFA's are getting signed, most notably Jared Zabransky and Darius Walker, and I am personally surprised that Dan Mozes the OL from West Virginia was undrafted. Multiple "draft experts" claimed he would be a late round steal, which goes to show that experts do not get access into war rooms and do not know all that teams are thinking during the draft.
MLB- The whole Torre getting fired thing is getting old. Here are the facts. Is he the same manager he was during the golden years, (96-01) not at all. I personally believe since the Yankees blew the 3-0 series tot eh Sawx, Torre has never been the same. He seems like he is out to prove to people he can still do his job when no one ever questioned him. It was why the media made such a big deal of the Boston massacre last year, but in honesty Torre has lost a step. Just this april, Torre made 97 pitching changes, the second most in the history of April. He does have an injury-depleted roster, but he still has a lot more talent than a 9-14 team. He needs to show more faith in players and not yank them early in the season and devestate their confidence. In any event when they get healthyt hey will challeng the Sawx, but it is going to be hard to top Boston this year because they have the best top three in the rotation of anyone in baseball.
NBA- Dirk Nowitzki had a great regular season but he has looked gawd awful during the post-season and has played like anything but an MVP. I personally believe the MVP award should take into account what you do into the post-season. It is irrelevant to me who does the best to get into the playoffs. Isn't the mantra "anybody can win in the regular season, it is who can get it done in the playoffs." If that were the case Steve Nash would have his third straight MVP awards to stand among the likes of Russell and Bird. Interesting to note that Jordan, Magic, Wilt, Kareem have never won more than two in a row.
NHL- Devils are on their way down, when Emery shutsout Brodeur, we know their time is over. Sharks Rangers was my pre-season Stanley Cup predictions with the Sharks winning, and after last night I realize how likely that could be. With Cheech an Thornton they are going to be a tough out.
NFL- Draft buzz is wearing off, but fantasy football buzz is getting ready to begin, UDFA's are getting signed, most notably Jared Zabransky and Darius Walker, and I am personally surprised that Dan Mozes the OL from West Virginia was undrafted. Multiple "draft experts" claimed he would be a late round steal, which goes to show that experts do not get access into war rooms and do not know all that teams are thinking during the draft.
MLB- The whole Torre getting fired thing is getting old. Here are the facts. Is he the same manager he was during the golden years, (96-01) not at all. I personally believe since the Yankees blew the 3-0 series tot eh Sawx, Torre has never been the same. He seems like he is out to prove to people he can still do his job when no one ever questioned him. It was why the media made such a big deal of the Boston massacre last year, but in honesty Torre has lost a step. Just this april, Torre made 97 pitching changes, the second most in the history of April. He does have an injury-depleted roster, but he still has a lot more talent than a 9-14 team. He needs to show more faith in players and not yank them early in the season and devestate their confidence. In any event when they get healthyt hey will challeng the Sawx, but it is going to be hard to top Boston this year because they have the best top three in the rotation of anyone in baseball.
NBA- Dirk Nowitzki had a great regular season but he has looked gawd awful during the post-season and has played like anything but an MVP. I personally believe the MVP award should take into account what you do into the post-season. It is irrelevant to me who does the best to get into the playoffs. Isn't the mantra "anybody can win in the regular season, it is who can get it done in the playoffs." If that were the case Steve Nash would have his third straight MVP awards to stand among the likes of Russell and Bird. Interesting to note that Jordan, Magic, Wilt, Kareem have never won more than two in a row.
NHL- Devils are on their way down, when Emery shutsout Brodeur, we know their time is over. Sharks Rangers was my pre-season Stanley Cup predictions with the Sharks winning, and after last night I realize how likely that could be. With Cheech an Thornton they are going to be a tough out.
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