So two days after my U.S. Open predictions, some were better than others. Currently Rory Sabbatini is +2 on his third day of work, after hugging the cut line at +10 through the first two days.
Steve Stricker has not fared a lot better but with his putting skill, I expect him to make a move to maybe +6 or so today from his current eight over par.
Jim Furyk was an easy call to have some success on a course that calls for accuracy and determination. Adam Scott on the other hand was a total misstep, and even Scott was shocked he played so poorly. Just a few weeks removed from his 63 at the Memorial, he struggled mightily with Mickelson and Furyk in his group.
It was quite easy to call Sergio Garcia struggling as his putter usually betrays him when he needs it most. For the record he may be one of the most overrated golfers out there along with Stewart Cink who has never finished higher then third in a major championship which was back in 2001 at the U.S. Open at Southern Hills.
Interleague- Mets-Yanks was great, but I will say it again, the Yankees have a lot of difficulty with left-handed pitchers. Here a bunch of lefties that have done well against the Yankees.
Oliver Perez (2)
Jarrod Washburn
Horacio Ramirez
Erik Bedard
Adam Loewen
Scott Kazmir
With Damon, Abreu, Matsui, Cano all being lefties and Posada and Melky being historically better left-handed hitters, it is fair to say a Right-Handed Bat would be optimum. Josh Phelps has been a disaster in the field at first and with just 2 homeruns and 12 runs batted in this season, I, personally, am shocked Mark Teixeira is not in pinstripes yet.
A switch hitter who would add stability to the position and is only 27, I realize he is on the DL right now, but that might make him easier to get if you give up a pitching prospect or two. Matt Desalvo and Humberto Sanchez/Russ Ohlendorf might be enough and if Tyler Clippard continues to pitch well packaging him and one of the aformentioned pitchers might just intrigue Texas enough to deal their prized first-baseman.
The better interleague matchup last night though was on the west-coast where Derek Lowe outdueled Ervin Santana in a 2-1 ball-game at Chavez Ravine. Seeing the Dodger bullpen first-hand, let me be the first to say they make every game 6-7 innings with Billingsley, Broxton and Saito rarely going to blow a ball-game for LA. They have lost just once this season after leading games into the 7th inning.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
US OPEN PREDICS
I do believe that Tiger Woods will be in contention but I am not going to pick him to win. My gut is telling me to pick Rory Sabbatini and that is my man. My big sleeper pick is Steve Stricker who i believe is going to have a great tournament, and Sergio Garcia is not going to make the cut. Other than that, let the predictions go as they will. Any man bold enough to call out Tiger Woods is going to be in contention to win a US Open on a course this hard, but in the back of my mind Steve Stricker is one of the best putters in the PGA and that bodes well for the course with the hardest greens in the country. Look for Furyk and Adam Scott to make some noise as well.
The mets look awful. It is sad these days being a mets fan but people have been asking me if I am down on this team. Memo to all baseball fans (mostly yankee fans) it is June 14th!!!!! Their is over three months of baseball to be played, and the fact that both the hitting and pitching is struggling hand-in-hand is a good thing in the long run. It means that both will eventually pan out around the same time, while if one were still performing the other were not, they could potentially flip flop. Reyes and Beltran will come around, Delgado might not but that still means 25 home runs 95 rbi's and a .275 average which I will take when you consider Wright will hit 30 home runs with 100 rbi's and close to a .300 average.
Willie needs to get loduca back in that two spot as quickly as possible because:
a) putting him 6 is hurting his value
b) putting him 6 is hurting reyes' value
It worked last year, why mess with a good thing. Put Green 6 now, and then keep Valentin at the 7 spot with either Gomez, Ledee or Milledge in left when he returns. Or go back to an earlier post where I reccomend dealing a pitching prospect either Delios Guerra or Kevin Mulvey for Jorge Cantu. Mulvey has looked great though so we might need more the Cantu, but either way Valentin is 37.
The yankees look hot, but something tells me that a subway series is just the cure to wake a met team that looks like they are just going through the motions right now. Clippard Glavine saturday, you have to give the Mets the advantage and el duque against his former club sunday night and going against Wang, that will be a great ESPN Sunday night baseball game.
Enjoy the weekend, here is to not at all caring about the NBA Finals, and yes I was wrong with my Cavaliers pick, but then again I saved myself because I claimed Cleveland needed to win for Lebron to be THE NEXT MJ and he is not there yet, on his way, maybe, but not there yet
The mets look awful. It is sad these days being a mets fan but people have been asking me if I am down on this team. Memo to all baseball fans (mostly yankee fans) it is June 14th!!!!! Their is over three months of baseball to be played, and the fact that both the hitting and pitching is struggling hand-in-hand is a good thing in the long run. It means that both will eventually pan out around the same time, while if one were still performing the other were not, they could potentially flip flop. Reyes and Beltran will come around, Delgado might not but that still means 25 home runs 95 rbi's and a .275 average which I will take when you consider Wright will hit 30 home runs with 100 rbi's and close to a .300 average.
Willie needs to get loduca back in that two spot as quickly as possible because:
a) putting him 6 is hurting his value
b) putting him 6 is hurting reyes' value
It worked last year, why mess with a good thing. Put Green 6 now, and then keep Valentin at the 7 spot with either Gomez, Ledee or Milledge in left when he returns. Or go back to an earlier post where I reccomend dealing a pitching prospect either Delios Guerra or Kevin Mulvey for Jorge Cantu. Mulvey has looked great though so we might need more the Cantu, but either way Valentin is 37.
The yankees look hot, but something tells me that a subway series is just the cure to wake a met team that looks like they are just going through the motions right now. Clippard Glavine saturday, you have to give the Mets the advantage and el duque against his former club sunday night and going against Wang, that will be a great ESPN Sunday night baseball game.
Enjoy the weekend, here is to not at all caring about the NBA Finals, and yes I was wrong with my Cavaliers pick, but then again I saved myself because I claimed Cleveland needed to win for Lebron to be THE NEXT MJ and he is not there yet, on his way, maybe, but not there yet
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Randy for Randy
(This could potentially used on MSG.com)
Randy Moss WAS a superstar.
He was the next Jerry Rice with 4.4 speed, and set the NFL rookie record for touchdowns in a season with 17. He is the only receiver in NFL history to average a touchdown and 100 yards per game for an entire season and along with Rice, is the only receiver in NFL history to catch 17 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons.
Yet all it took to acquire him, nine years later, was a fourth round draft pick that the New England Patriots did not own when the 2007 NFL Draft began. Consider this: Wes Welker, a glorified special teams player and “Belichick styled” slot receiver was acquired for a 2nd and 7th round pick earlier in the off-season.
The question that all NFL fans want to know is can Randy Moss become, well, Randy Moss?
The answer is that it does not matter.
Moss was slated to make 9.75 million dollars this year as a Raider, but will only make three million as a Patriot, while Welker will earn three times that this season.
Signing Moss to a one-year contract ensures that if he decides to moon the Gillette Stadium faithful, or re-create a New England styled “Randy Ratio,” he need only ask Doug Gabriel, his good friend, what will happen to him.
The worst-case scenario is that Moss cannot co-exist with Bill Belichick and Brady and walks away with his three million dollars (1/3 of what he would have made in Oakland). Best-case scenario? He falls in rank with the other Patriots and emerges as his old-self leading “Brady’s Bunch” to the post-season.
To call that a win-win for Robert Kraft and the Patriots organization would be quite an understatement.
Randy Moss WAS a superstar.
He was the next Jerry Rice with 4.4 speed, and set the NFL rookie record for touchdowns in a season with 17. He is the only receiver in NFL history to average a touchdown and 100 yards per game for an entire season and along with Rice, is the only receiver in NFL history to catch 17 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons.
Yet all it took to acquire him, nine years later, was a fourth round draft pick that the New England Patriots did not own when the 2007 NFL Draft began. Consider this: Wes Welker, a glorified special teams player and “Belichick styled” slot receiver was acquired for a 2nd and 7th round pick earlier in the off-season.
The question that all NFL fans want to know is can Randy Moss become, well, Randy Moss?
The answer is that it does not matter.
Moss was slated to make 9.75 million dollars this year as a Raider, but will only make three million as a Patriot, while Welker will earn three times that this season.
Signing Moss to a one-year contract ensures that if he decides to moon the Gillette Stadium faithful, or re-create a New England styled “Randy Ratio,” he need only ask Doug Gabriel, his good friend, what will happen to him.
The worst-case scenario is that Moss cannot co-exist with Bill Belichick and Brady and walks away with his three million dollars (1/3 of what he would have made in Oakland). Best-case scenario? He falls in rank with the other Patriots and emerges as his old-self leading “Brady’s Bunch” to the post-season.
To call that a win-win for Robert Kraft and the Patriots organization would be quite an understatement.
Monday, June 4, 2007
My apology
I would like to take this time to remind everyone that my predictions mean nothing and are almost always wrong. Hence when I predicted Detroit to win both games 5 and then game 6, if you were smart you would have realized I am an idiot and said, this guy knows nothing, Cleveland is going to the finals, but just so you all understand what my thinking was; Detroit had been in seven 3-2 deficits in the NBA playoffs since the 2003 season and had been 6-1 in those series with the one loss coming last year against the Heat. Last season they had been down 3-2 to an identical Lebron team and came back and won game 6 in the Quicken Loans arena before taking game 7 at the palace, but there was one problem. The Cavaliers this year were NOT identical to last year's team. A small point guard who had been one of my favorite college players the year before for Rick Barnes decided to show up for work and took all the offensive pressure off the King. Yes, Daniel Gibson, the Texas Longhorn point guard was truly sensational for the Cavs, and every time you expected him to cool off, he came back for more and hit every single big shot a second round rookie is supposed to miss, let alone get, in game 6 of the conference finals. It was not simply that he was making big three after big three but that he kept getting the oppurtunities and stepped up and made every one. He had one thing going for him, and that was that while the Cavaliers were busy getting taken by the Pistons in last year's playoffs, Gibson was busy trying to prove himself to NBA scouts who knocked him for his size and inability to be a true NBA Point Guard. Not having been around for last year's demise allowed him to come into this game with a free spirit and he came through in as impressive of a performance, to me, as Lebron's game five 48 point showcase.
NBA FINALS PREVIEW:(note this might be on the MSG.Com website)
Destiny or Dynasty?
Julian Gompertz was a witness. I saw Lebron’s game five and Daniel Gibson’s game six and one question remains: Destiny or Dynasty? I want to believe that Lebron can will Cleveland past San Antonio but it is difficult to pick the Cavaliers this year. The Spurs will counter Lebron James with Bruce Bowen who will get under his skin with his dirty play. The Cavaliers have no answer, on the other-hand, for Tim Duncan who is going to terrorize Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao in the paint. Tony Parker is going to drive on Eric Snow, or Gibson, and Manu Ginobili and Michael Finley will get open looks outside when Mike Brown double-teams Duncan. The Spurs have handled Carmelo, AI, Nash, Amare, Boozer, and Deron. Now comes their greatest task yet. Stopping the future of the NBA. Cleveland is playing with house money while San Antonio is exactly where we presumed they would be, once Dallas was dispatched in round one, yet after all of that, I am still going to pick the Cleveland Cavaliers to win this series in six games because if Lebron James is going to be the next Michael Jordan, this is where it truly begins.
Now on to other sport topics:
Donovan “Dons” true Colors
Kudos to the Orlando Magic for being smart enough, and kind enough, to rid themselves of Billy Donovan. Is it a PR nightmare? Yes. Is it false hope for a fan base that has been mired with mediocrity since the days of Shaquille O'Neal and Anfrnee Hardaway? Yes. But why hire a coach who will constantly be asked if he really wants to be in the NBA as coach of the Magic? An NBA coach must be a motivator and earn the respect of his players, and admitting you are not committed to the NBA is not the way to get players to want to play for you. Instead, Orlando will get a nice financial sum and then will sign Stan Van Gundy who will jumpstart all the offensive talent the Magic have. Donovan meanwhile will please the fans, the boosters, the incoming recruits and the current Gators. Yet with all five starters departing, the chances of a three-peat seem slim regardless of the talent in his recruiting class. The biggest loser in this scenario is Virginia Commonwealth Coach Anthony Grant who I believe would have led this talented roster to the tournament.
-A-Rod's homerun last night has "the potential" to be the defining moment of the season. Once again, during the worst of times for the Yankees they have managed to take 4-of-6 from Boston in the last two weeks winning the rubber game in the Bronx and in Fenway. They are seven back of the wildcard and there are grumblings an Abreu for Dye swap could be put in place during this four game seires starting tonight. Let me be the first to say this would be a brilliant move for the Bombers as the one thing they need is a Right-Handed bat in the middle of the line-up. Damon, Abreu, Matsui and Cano are all lefties and Posada and Cabrera are much better left-handed hitters then right handed hitters. The Yankees are the worst hitting team in baseball when they face a left handed pitcher and getting Dye, who looks better this season, could be just what they need to revive the suddenly cold bats.
-Meanwhile, The Red Sox are sitting pretty and are the best team in baseball. They have everything going on all cylinders and come playoff time it is going to be tough to beat Schilling and Beckett on the Road and Dice-k (In Fenway) and Wakefield. Schilling and Beckett both have World Series MVP awards, if you were wondering, and I would take those four over most four man rotations in baseball.
On the Rise- The Oakland Athletics who have won two straight. They have survived and stuck at .500 with more injuries then the Yankees. Street, Swisher, Chavez, Harden, Bradley, Duchscherer are either hurt or are just returning and they have been surviving on the arms of Danny Haren, Joe Blanton and Chad Gaudin. As always, Billy Beane squeezes the most out of this lackluster bunch and they will unfortunately miss the playoffs simply because Detroit, Cleveland and New York are that much better then the A's.
On the Decline- The Chicago White Sox who have dropped two straight and have an awful bullpen and starting rotation. Ozzie Guillen's idea of throwing six guys in the pen with live arms and 98 MPH fastballs was a disaster and two of those arms David Aardsma and Mike Mcdougal are in AAA as of this afternoon. The bats have gone cold and relying on an aging Jim Thome is not the solution. Jermaine Dye has not been the same, Konerko, Crede and Iguchi are all struggling and the rotation has no ace as their frontline guys in Buerhle and Contreras sport ERA's of 3.66 and 4.29 respectively. Javier Vasquez and John Garland have 3.9 ERA's and John Danks, while having potential, is 3-5 with a 4.34 ERA. This team is aging and has no sign of reviving themselves in the near future, and yes this will signal the end of Ozzie Guillen's tenure in Chi-city just two years removed from a World Series victory.
Hope to get my MSG blog started so for all those fans of the Colonial Wiz Kid, be prepared for a more proffessional and up to date blog on MSG.Com
NBA FINALS PREVIEW:(note this might be on the MSG.Com website)
Destiny or Dynasty?
Julian Gompertz was a witness. I saw Lebron’s game five and Daniel Gibson’s game six and one question remains: Destiny or Dynasty? I want to believe that Lebron can will Cleveland past San Antonio but it is difficult to pick the Cavaliers this year. The Spurs will counter Lebron James with Bruce Bowen who will get under his skin with his dirty play. The Cavaliers have no answer, on the other-hand, for Tim Duncan who is going to terrorize Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao in the paint. Tony Parker is going to drive on Eric Snow, or Gibson, and Manu Ginobili and Michael Finley will get open looks outside when Mike Brown double-teams Duncan. The Spurs have handled Carmelo, AI, Nash, Amare, Boozer, and Deron. Now comes their greatest task yet. Stopping the future of the NBA. Cleveland is playing with house money while San Antonio is exactly where we presumed they would be, once Dallas was dispatched in round one, yet after all of that, I am still going to pick the Cleveland Cavaliers to win this series in six games because if Lebron James is going to be the next Michael Jordan, this is where it truly begins.
Now on to other sport topics:
Donovan “Dons” true Colors
Kudos to the Orlando Magic for being smart enough, and kind enough, to rid themselves of Billy Donovan. Is it a PR nightmare? Yes. Is it false hope for a fan base that has been mired with mediocrity since the days of Shaquille O'Neal and Anfrnee Hardaway? Yes. But why hire a coach who will constantly be asked if he really wants to be in the NBA as coach of the Magic? An NBA coach must be a motivator and earn the respect of his players, and admitting you are not committed to the NBA is not the way to get players to want to play for you. Instead, Orlando will get a nice financial sum and then will sign Stan Van Gundy who will jumpstart all the offensive talent the Magic have. Donovan meanwhile will please the fans, the boosters, the incoming recruits and the current Gators. Yet with all five starters departing, the chances of a three-peat seem slim regardless of the talent in his recruiting class. The biggest loser in this scenario is Virginia Commonwealth Coach Anthony Grant who I believe would have led this talented roster to the tournament.
-A-Rod's homerun last night has "the potential" to be the defining moment of the season. Once again, during the worst of times for the Yankees they have managed to take 4-of-6 from Boston in the last two weeks winning the rubber game in the Bronx and in Fenway. They are seven back of the wildcard and there are grumblings an Abreu for Dye swap could be put in place during this four game seires starting tonight. Let me be the first to say this would be a brilliant move for the Bombers as the one thing they need is a Right-Handed bat in the middle of the line-up. Damon, Abreu, Matsui and Cano are all lefties and Posada and Cabrera are much better left-handed hitters then right handed hitters. The Yankees are the worst hitting team in baseball when they face a left handed pitcher and getting Dye, who looks better this season, could be just what they need to revive the suddenly cold bats.
-Meanwhile, The Red Sox are sitting pretty and are the best team in baseball. They have everything going on all cylinders and come playoff time it is going to be tough to beat Schilling and Beckett on the Road and Dice-k (In Fenway) and Wakefield. Schilling and Beckett both have World Series MVP awards, if you were wondering, and I would take those four over most four man rotations in baseball.
On the Rise- The Oakland Athletics who have won two straight. They have survived and stuck at .500 with more injuries then the Yankees. Street, Swisher, Chavez, Harden, Bradley, Duchscherer are either hurt or are just returning and they have been surviving on the arms of Danny Haren, Joe Blanton and Chad Gaudin. As always, Billy Beane squeezes the most out of this lackluster bunch and they will unfortunately miss the playoffs simply because Detroit, Cleveland and New York are that much better then the A's.
On the Decline- The Chicago White Sox who have dropped two straight and have an awful bullpen and starting rotation. Ozzie Guillen's idea of throwing six guys in the pen with live arms and 98 MPH fastballs was a disaster and two of those arms David Aardsma and Mike Mcdougal are in AAA as of this afternoon. The bats have gone cold and relying on an aging Jim Thome is not the solution. Jermaine Dye has not been the same, Konerko, Crede and Iguchi are all struggling and the rotation has no ace as their frontline guys in Buerhle and Contreras sport ERA's of 3.66 and 4.29 respectively. Javier Vasquez and John Garland have 3.9 ERA's and John Danks, while having potential, is 3-5 with a 4.34 ERA. This team is aging and has no sign of reviving themselves in the near future, and yes this will signal the end of Ozzie Guillen's tenure in Chi-city just two years removed from a World Series victory.
Hope to get my MSG blog started so for all those fans of the Colonial Wiz Kid, be prepared for a more proffessional and up to date blog on MSG.Com
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Great day of sports
What a slate today. Stanley Cup Game 3, NBA Finals Game 6, Yanks-Sawx, Mets-D'Backs, Zambrano-Barrett, French Open, Memorial Golf and Nas...ok not Nascar
I would first like to place a link on the site:
Which reminds me, I am legally changing my way to Adam Scott.
Some quick hits: (but not towards Zambrano or Barrett)
- If you do not think what went down in Fenway last night was unintentional, you just do not know the sport. Scott Proctor is the only Yankee pitcher who is willing to take matters into his own hands, and while I do not believe he meant to hit Youklis up high, he wanted to hit him in retaliation for Javier Lopez' blatant hit on Robinson Cano. The Red Sox have hit over 20 more Yankee batters over the past five years that the Yankees have Red Sox, and Proctor has already proven this year (see his four game suspension against Seattle last month) he is going to protect his players and his team.
- As a fan of the Mets, I have never realized just how lucky I am to have a clubhouse of guys who love each other. The Mets shaved their heads last month in a sign of solidarity and coming togehter as a team and something like what transpired at Wrigley yesterday would never be seen in Queens. Unlike the other New York baseball team where their manager, rightfully, throws his star player under the bus, The Metropolitans have not had any "in-house" issues and a lot of it is a reflection of last year's manager of the year Will.....oh wait he did not win it last year? Oh my bad easy to forget at times.
-A team I wrote off before the year, the Minnesota Twins are back on track having won five straight and taking control of third place in the division. The superb play of Justin Morneau and Torri Hunter are making up for the fact that no one else in that line-up is a very good baseball player. Cuddyer and Castillo have been ok and Boof Bonser is becoming a very good major league pitcher, but this team is not one I thought would be hanging around and as usual Ron Gardenhire is doing a lot with very little, especially with his best pure hitter on the disabled list in Joe Mauer. Here is hoping they flop so my predictions have .093736% of credibility.
- Do not look now but the St. Louis Cardinals, my wild-card team, are in second place in the putrid NL Central. Yes it is the central where you could win the divison being five games under .500, but for all that team has gone through they are back and they are winning. How you ask? Albert Pujols. On a down year for the stud first-baseman he leads his team in hits, runs, BA, HR, RBI and Doubles. Gives you an idea of how badly that team needs another bat in the lineup. They are getting by with BRADEN LOOPER as the team ace this year as well. Kudos to Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan who have righted this ship in a major way.
I was wrong, and I do not admit it often, but I was not buying into the Diamondbacks this season, and while I believe they are at least a year away from seriously competing, they have the pieces in place to make a playoff run in a year or two. Chris Young, Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds are all potential starters under 25 years old and with Eric Byrnes and Orlando Hudson this team has a great nucleus of talent to build upon. Combine that with 2006 NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, a revitalized Randy Johnson, innings-eater Doug Davis and rookie Micah Owings. Watch out for Bob Melvin's club because they are not going away anytime soon.
That is all for today enjoy the sports weekend and back tomorrow or Monday
I would first like to place a link on the site:
Which reminds me, I am legally changing my way to Adam Scott.
Some quick hits: (but not towards Zambrano or Barrett)
- If you do not think what went down in Fenway last night was unintentional, you just do not know the sport. Scott Proctor is the only Yankee pitcher who is willing to take matters into his own hands, and while I do not believe he meant to hit Youklis up high, he wanted to hit him in retaliation for Javier Lopez' blatant hit on Robinson Cano. The Red Sox have hit over 20 more Yankee batters over the past five years that the Yankees have Red Sox, and Proctor has already proven this year (see his four game suspension against Seattle last month) he is going to protect his players and his team.
- As a fan of the Mets, I have never realized just how lucky I am to have a clubhouse of guys who love each other. The Mets shaved their heads last month in a sign of solidarity and coming togehter as a team and something like what transpired at Wrigley yesterday would never be seen in Queens. Unlike the other New York baseball team where their manager, rightfully, throws his star player under the bus, The Metropolitans have not had any "in-house" issues and a lot of it is a reflection of last year's manager of the year Will.....oh wait he did not win it last year? Oh my bad easy to forget at times.
-A team I wrote off before the year, the Minnesota Twins are back on track having won five straight and taking control of third place in the division. The superb play of Justin Morneau and Torri Hunter are making up for the fact that no one else in that line-up is a very good baseball player. Cuddyer and Castillo have been ok and Boof Bonser is becoming a very good major league pitcher, but this team is not one I thought would be hanging around and as usual Ron Gardenhire is doing a lot with very little, especially with his best pure hitter on the disabled list in Joe Mauer. Here is hoping they flop so my predictions have .093736% of credibility.
- Do not look now but the St. Louis Cardinals, my wild-card team, are in second place in the putrid NL Central. Yes it is the central where you could win the divison being five games under .500, but for all that team has gone through they are back and they are winning. How you ask? Albert Pujols. On a down year for the stud first-baseman he leads his team in hits, runs, BA, HR, RBI and Doubles. Gives you an idea of how badly that team needs another bat in the lineup. They are getting by with BRADEN LOOPER as the team ace this year as well. Kudos to Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan who have righted this ship in a major way.
I was wrong, and I do not admit it often, but I was not buying into the Diamondbacks this season, and while I believe they are at least a year away from seriously competing, they have the pieces in place to make a playoff run in a year or two. Chris Young, Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds are all potential starters under 25 years old and with Eric Byrnes and Orlando Hudson this team has a great nucleus of talent to build upon. Combine that with 2006 NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, a revitalized Randy Johnson, innings-eater Doug Davis and rookie Micah Owings. Watch out for Bob Melvin's club because they are not going away anytime soon.
That is all for today enjoy the sports weekend and back tomorrow or Monday
Friday, June 1, 2007
LEBRON
Listen closely my fellow sports fans, Lebron was simply dazzling last night. He had his way with the same team that dismantled the Magic and made the Bulls seem like an after thought, and he did it on the road, in a hostile environment, with no competent teammate and the killer instinct that has only been seen in players named Jordan and Magic. Yes, ladies and gentlemen Lebron was simply that good, but I have something else to relay to you. I did predict Detroit would win game five and they did not, but MAKE NO MISTAKE, Detroit WILL win game six. You can throw all the Lebron comments you want at me, his amazing performance, his will to not let the Cavs lose and I will simply say that, while Flip Saunders and Mike Brown are auditioning for most incompetent NBA coach in the league, Mike Brown is the champion. Eric Snow playing in crunch time? No set plays for Lebron? and my favorite, not having Lebron bring the ball up the court? Everyone and their mothers knew that in both overtime's Lebron would have the ball, so why not get it into his hands as soon as possible. And let us not forget, these Pistons have underachived and I am not going to count out Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed and Tayshaun in a must-win game. One of the things that went almost unnoticed was the ease in which Chauncey Billups hit those two Free Throws in overtime to tie the game at 100 with under five seconds left to send it to Double Overtime. In the end, the fact remains that this Detroit team is better than any at overcoming adversity and of course the silver lining is that this same team minus Ben Wallace and plus Chris Webber and Jason Maxiell was in the EXACT SAME POSITION and guess what transpired? The Pistons took game six in Cleveland and then came back to the palace to finish off the job. Is Lebron older and more mature? Yes. Did he learn from last year? Yes. But is his surrounding cast as incompetent as it was last year? Yes. Lebron can score 50 in game 6, but the fact remains that Detroit knows it is going to take another Herculean effort by Lebron to win game six at home, and I do not predict that happening.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Lot to cover
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)
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)
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
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