MLB's non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone (4:00 PM eastern today), but that doesn't mean the trading is over. In order to be eligible for the postseason, you have to be on a team by September 1, meaning players can still get traded to playoff contenders through waivers up through August 31. Usually the waiver deadline is more active then the non waiver deadline because a lot of teams that are the fence today (Toronto, Cleveland, St. Louis) about whether to go for a playoff push or reload will have a better idea where they stand 30 days from now. But I'm just rating what teams have done up until today.
3 best:
Los Angeles Dodgers. After going through an offensive drought in June when MVP candidate Matt Kemp was on the DL, they now look like one of the NL's best teams as they ransacked two struggling NL East team's getting power hitting SS Hanley Ramirez and LHP Randy Choate from the Miami Marlins last week, and late this morning trading for Phillies CF Shane Victorino, as well as strengthening the bullpen with the aquisistion of Mariners closer Brandon League. They could have gotten Carlos Lee to get more production at 1b, or Ryan Dempster to get the starting rotation another pitcher, but all in all, they did great
Chicago Cubs. It's too bad the Braves pulled their first offer for Ryan Dempster because they could have gotten Braves prospect Wilson Delgado, but that didn't stop them for dealing with each other. The Braves got Cubs starter Paul Maholm & outfielder Reed Johnson and the Cubs strengthen their minor league team with pitchers Jaye Chapman & Arolydis Vizcaino. Cubs are still trying to shed salary/dead weight under the Jed Hoyer/Theo Epstein reign, and this trade and Ryan Dempster to Texas was a start. Outfielder Alfonso Soriano will definitely clear waivers and I'd look for him to possibly get traded in August.
New York Yankees. Not that they needed to do anything, because they have the 3rd best record in baseball and largest division lead in baseball, but they had 2 holes to fill: An OF to replace Brett Gardner, and a corner infielder. The OF they turned into future hall of famer Ichiro Suzuki and the corner infield spot turned into Pittsburgh Pirates 1b/3b Casey McGhee. He's not great, but he'll fill in the next couple of days at 1b for Mark Teixeira, and then he'll platoon with Eric Chavez the remainder of the month and then a couple weeks into September at 3b to fill in for Alex Rodriguez. Once Rodriguez comes back, he'll give the Yankees a decent bat off the bench.
Honorable mentions: Detroit Tigers who fleeced the Marlins for Annibal Sanchez & Omar Infante, and the Phillies who desperately needed to dump salary before the start of next year.
3 worst:
Florida Marlins. After being cheap the first 19 years of their existance (the 2 years after they won the WS [97 & 03] they dismantled the team the following winter) they actually spend like a big market team last winter moving into a new park in downtown Milwaukee. Spending big money for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen & pitcher Mark Buehrle, Mets SS Jose Reyes, and San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell, and the result has been disasterous this year: they had the worst record in the June & April, but looked like a World Series contender like most people pegged them in May. To help right the ship after they fell flat in June, they traded for Houston Astros 1b Carlos Lee (after he first declined a trade to the Dodgers). When that fell, the started their annual firesale last week; they got fleeced in that Tigers trade, and 3 weeks after trading for Lee, desperately wanted to get rid of him which failed to happen.
Toronto Blue Jays. Their stuck in that neutral posistion; 9 back of the Yankees in the division (who they won't catch) but only 4.5 back of the second wild card spot (but have to jump 5 times) so that might not be possible either, but the trades they made, made absolutely no sense. They got rid of 2 of their 3 LF's (the other one is playing RF while that starter is out with a wrist injury) and got like 6 relief pitchers who pretty much grow on trees. Last year they made a questionable trade of Edwin Jackson, but a couple hours later traded him to St Louis for Colby Rasmus which has turned out great, so was hoping the Blue Jays GM would pull something like that out of his hat, but did nothing Tuesday. I hope he doesn't wake up Wednesday morning, and look at the transaction page and think "oh crap, what the hell did I do Monday night??"
Oakland A's. They have a tight budget and their leading the wildcard, but they needed to get a SS/middle infield type player. They also have a lot of walk off wins (12- leads baseball), 1 run wins, and the pitchers have carried the team in July. A lot of the offensive guys have been having career years, and not sure they hold up for another 9 weeks
Incomplete:
Los Angeles Angels. Traded for Zach Greinke, the best pitcher on the trade market. However, this is a guy with known psychological problems, and I don't think pitching in a big market is going to help him very much. In 1.5 season in Milwaukee, he lost a grand total of 0 home games...so far in an Angels uniform he's made 1 home start and has 1 loss, meaning he has more home losses then he did in Milwaukee and he's only had 1 start.
Washington Nationals. Nitpicking at best with baseball's best record, but Stephen Strasburg is going to be shut down at some point this year, so they should've gone out an gotten a SP to fill in for him when he does get shut down. Luckily, there will be SP's on the waiver wire availble in August for them to pick up.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
ESPN Streak for the cash
Will never win (though I did finish in the top 20 in November 2010 though), SFTC as it's known is a game on ESPN where you pick different sports (anything from baseball to soccer. Mainly concentratest on the main 4 sports, but plenty of soccer, college sports and have even seen cycling and darts). The sports can range from anything from "who will win this game" to "how many goals will be scored" to "who will record more points." The person with the longest winning streak and most wins in any month win I think $2500, though if the longest streak reaches past 27 they can take home a lot of money (if June's winner passes W27, that person will take home $250,000). Picking games on SFTC you'd watch sports and events you really wouldn't pick otherwise. Only thing is you can only pick one game at a time, you can't pick again until your first choice ends, so you have to pick wisely...carefully, but wisely. Here's a sample for Wednesday:
"Finnish league (Lahti @ Inter Turko): How many goals will be scored: 2 or 3 vs. any other number?"
"French open 2nd round (Brian Baker vs. Gilles Simon): What will be the match result: Simon wins 3-0 vs. any other result?"
"NBA draft lottery: Which team will win the lottery: Wizards or Bobcats vs. Any other team?"
"Who will win this matchup: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels?"
"MLB: Will the Yankees hit a home run between the 3rd through 6th inning? Yes vs. no?"
Only time you even care about a Finnish league soccer game is when you pick one of the 2 teams. Some of my predictions for Wednesday:
I like 2 or 3 in the Finnish soccer game. Turku has scored 20 goals in 9 games, more than 1 goal per game while Lahti has scored 9 in 10 matches, just below 1 per game. Combined they've scored 29 goals in 19 matches. Banking on a 1-1 draw/2-1 win.
Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Indians. Indians have lost 4 of 5 since sweeping the Tigers last week, and this is the final game of a 3 city 9 game road trip for the Royals where their 4-4 heading into the last game.
Spain: wins by 2+ over South Korea. Spain is prepping for the Euro championships over the summer while South Korea is testing for the 2014 World Cup.
New Jersey Devils over the LA Kings. Devils have 4 lines, all who can score, who will test King's goalie Jonathan Quick and the King's 9-0 road record in this year's playoffs.
Paul Pierce: field goals made or tie over Heat: winning margin. Since Pierce has the tie option, as long as the Heat lose, Pierce pickers win, even if Pierce makes 0 field goals. Celtics need to win otherwise that series is pretty much over.
Dwayne Wade with more points and assists than Rajon Rondo. Will be close because Rondo will have about 3 times as many assists than Wade will have while Wade won't outscore Rondo by that much. Wade will outscore him, and points are woth more than assists. If each have 8 (Rondo 6 assists and 2 basket's that only equals 12) while Wade has 2 assists and 8 basket's that's 18.
Yankees with a home run in the 3rd through 6th inning. Angels starter Ervin Santana has given up 13 home runs in 10 starts this year including 2 when he faced the Yankees in New York earlier in the year.
"Finnish league (Lahti @ Inter Turko): How many goals will be scored: 2 or 3 vs. any other number?"
"French open 2nd round (Brian Baker vs. Gilles Simon): What will be the match result: Simon wins 3-0 vs. any other result?"
"NBA draft lottery: Which team will win the lottery: Wizards or Bobcats vs. Any other team?"
"Who will win this matchup: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels?"
"MLB: Will the Yankees hit a home run between the 3rd through 6th inning? Yes vs. no?"
Only time you even care about a Finnish league soccer game is when you pick one of the 2 teams. Some of my predictions for Wednesday:
I like 2 or 3 in the Finnish soccer game. Turku has scored 20 goals in 9 games, more than 1 goal per game while Lahti has scored 9 in 10 matches, just below 1 per game. Combined they've scored 29 goals in 19 matches. Banking on a 1-1 draw/2-1 win.
Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Indians. Indians have lost 4 of 5 since sweeping the Tigers last week, and this is the final game of a 3 city 9 game road trip for the Royals where their 4-4 heading into the last game.
Spain: wins by 2+ over South Korea. Spain is prepping for the Euro championships over the summer while South Korea is testing for the 2014 World Cup.
New Jersey Devils over the LA Kings. Devils have 4 lines, all who can score, who will test King's goalie Jonathan Quick and the King's 9-0 road record in this year's playoffs.
Paul Pierce: field goals made or tie over Heat: winning margin. Since Pierce has the tie option, as long as the Heat lose, Pierce pickers win, even if Pierce makes 0 field goals. Celtics need to win otherwise that series is pretty much over.
Dwayne Wade with more points and assists than Rajon Rondo. Will be close because Rondo will have about 3 times as many assists than Wade will have while Wade won't outscore Rondo by that much. Wade will outscore him, and points are woth more than assists. If each have 8 (Rondo 6 assists and 2 basket's that only equals 12) while Wade has 2 assists and 8 basket's that's 18.
Yankees with a home run in the 3rd through 6th inning. Angels starter Ervin Santana has given up 13 home runs in 10 starts this year including 2 when he faced the Yankees in New York earlier in the year.
Max answer's PTI questions
PTI is a show on ESPN usually involving Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon who debate the day's sports and entertainment headlines. I'll pretend the question's are aimed at me
First Word:
1) Any hope for Celtics
I thought they (Celtics) would actually win the series, and the 14 point game 1 loss Monday night which actually wasn't even that close is a concern. Celtics had a tough 7 series last round against Philadelphia and losing game 1, on the road, with a short turnaround (48 hours) isn't all that surprising. I still think the Celtics win the series, but if they lose game 2, this could be a short series won by Miami in 4 or 5 games.
2) Did "Nasty" Speech Turn Game?
Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs who have won 18 straight games dating back more than a month and a half, in the huddle at the end of the 3rd quarter with his teams trailing by 9, used words like "gain confidence" "every round gets harder" and "get nasty" caused a 25 point turnaround 2/3 of the way through the quarter and finally a 12 point turnaround as the Spurs won by 3.
3) Legit Rant or Sour Grapes?
A terrible call. Red Sox player Mike Aviles strikes out, but the umps say he fouled the ball. He ended up getting on a base to start a 3 run rally and the Sox ended up winning by 3. Replays show not only did the catcher catch the ball so even if he did tip it (which he didn't) he still should've been called out because catching a foul tip 3rd strike is a strikeout, and as I said Aviles didn't even tip the ball, he swung right through it. I think if the umpire told LeLand he missed the call he would've been less angry.
4) Should Giants Give Bonds A Job?
The guy put people in the seats when he was playing, but in the clubhouse he was a real a-hole to put it nicely. They don't owe him anything, Bonds probably wouldn't pay attention to people asking for advice he only cares about himself.
Headlines:
1) Gasol Wants To Play For Bulls?
Just because he wants to play there doesn't mean he's going to end up playing there. Whatever happens to Dwight Howard will decide where Gasol ends up. If the Magic do decide to trade him, the Lakers are a presumed favorited destination, and even though they'd have to give up Andruw Bynum, Gasol can become expandable. Bulls will probably have to part with Taj Gibson who played very well this year.
2) Is 8 Week Suspension Fair?
What a weird story. Marlins pitcher Juan Carlos Oviedo had been using a fake name "Leo Nunez" since he turned professional in 2000. He was arrested last Semptember, deported back to his native Dominican Republic and cleared up his visa with US official last week and is availble to rejoin the Marlins. The 8 week suspension is confusing. The Marlins knew what was up, they actually gave him an extension in the off season when it wasn't even known he would pitch again, so 1 would assume if he does get suspended it would actually be by his own team. So, Oviedo gets suspended for arouund 50 games + or - a few games for using a made up name, but Manny Ramirez only gets suspended 50 games for testing postitive for illegal drugs.......twice! I don't get it.
3) Schwartz Upset About Arrest?
These guys aren't in college or high school. You can't coddle pro athlete's 24/365 like you have to do in high school and even college. What these players want to do is their choice, you just wish they would make better decisions (5 Detroit Lions players have been arrested so far this off season).
Mail Time:
1) More impressive: Sale, Dunn or Konerko?
Gotta be Konerko. Hitting over .400 in the month of May and after getting drilled in the head 2 weeks ago he's 15-28 after sitting out 2 games with the injury. Max Scherzer of Detroit also struck out 15 hitters a week ago and did it in less innings than Sale did, while Adam Dunn's 11 homers this year are more than he had all of last year.
2) More credit: Frazier, Moyer or Ballpark?
These new ballparks are a joke. I think it's harder to hit a home run in a little league stadium now a days then it is to hit one at stadiums such as Great American Ballpark, Yankee Stadium or Citizens Bank Park. It was an outside pitch that Frazier flicked at, broke his bat and somehow went out of the stadium. That's a pop fly to 3rd base at your local little league park.
3) Franchitti An All-Time Great Now?
I can make 250 left turns too, am I an all-time great?
4) Better Catch?
The nominees were a centerfielder who lept over the fence and caught a ball on the other side of the fence, and a bunt pop up to the catcher who dropped it, and the pitcher made a diving, bare-handed play for the catch. Statistically speaking, it's the CF, just because you can see people make diving catchers, bare-handed plays, and miscues in every game, so combining all 3 isn't all that surprising. However, the ball the CF shouldn't have even counted as an out it should've been a home run. Unlike plays where you catch the ball in play and THAN fall over the wall, this guy fell over the wall and THAN caught it. So to me, it's a wash.
Big Finish:
1) Dolphins a good choice?
I'd think hard knocks would want a team where there's more than 1 or 2 known players. Even die hard football fans probably have a tough time figuting out who the Dolphins starting QB was, yet alone 5 players not named Reggie Bush.
2) Tied Connors for Slams Wins?
Roger Federer, one of the greatest tennis players.....ever.
3) Talking Comeback?
Dominek Hasek him, the 47 year old goalie is talking about a potential comeback to the NHL. He last suited up in an NHL uniform in game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals against Pittsburgh and hasn't played since game 4 of the 2008 1st round series against Nashville. Really, who's in the market for a 47 year old goaltender who hasn't played in the league in 4 years?
4) Wants to Buy Padres?
Michael Jordan bought the Bobcats................and has done horribly. Magic Johnson just recently purchased the Dodgers who have the majors best record and largest division lead at this point. I guess now's the time for famous celebrities to buy sports franchise and Phil Mickelson looks like he wants in.
5) 8th in a row for Angels?
No. Yankees are just as hot as the Angels are (last night's walk off Angels win ended the Yankees 5 game winning streak) and Petittite has been pitching great since coming back from retirement. Pettitte cools down the Halo's tonight, for 1 game at least.
First Word:
1) Any hope for Celtics
I thought they (Celtics) would actually win the series, and the 14 point game 1 loss Monday night which actually wasn't even that close is a concern. Celtics had a tough 7 series last round against Philadelphia and losing game 1, on the road, with a short turnaround (48 hours) isn't all that surprising. I still think the Celtics win the series, but if they lose game 2, this could be a short series won by Miami in 4 or 5 games.
2) Did "Nasty" Speech Turn Game?
Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs who have won 18 straight games dating back more than a month and a half, in the huddle at the end of the 3rd quarter with his teams trailing by 9, used words like "gain confidence" "every round gets harder" and "get nasty" caused a 25 point turnaround 2/3 of the way through the quarter and finally a 12 point turnaround as the Spurs won by 3.
3) Legit Rant or Sour Grapes?
A terrible call. Red Sox player Mike Aviles strikes out, but the umps say he fouled the ball. He ended up getting on a base to start a 3 run rally and the Sox ended up winning by 3. Replays show not only did the catcher catch the ball so even if he did tip it (which he didn't) he still should've been called out because catching a foul tip 3rd strike is a strikeout, and as I said Aviles didn't even tip the ball, he swung right through it. I think if the umpire told LeLand he missed the call he would've been less angry.
4) Should Giants Give Bonds A Job?
The guy put people in the seats when he was playing, but in the clubhouse he was a real a-hole to put it nicely. They don't owe him anything, Bonds probably wouldn't pay attention to people asking for advice he only cares about himself.
Headlines:
1) Gasol Wants To Play For Bulls?
Just because he wants to play there doesn't mean he's going to end up playing there. Whatever happens to Dwight Howard will decide where Gasol ends up. If the Magic do decide to trade him, the Lakers are a presumed favorited destination, and even though they'd have to give up Andruw Bynum, Gasol can become expandable. Bulls will probably have to part with Taj Gibson who played very well this year.
2) Is 8 Week Suspension Fair?
What a weird story. Marlins pitcher Juan Carlos Oviedo had been using a fake name "Leo Nunez" since he turned professional in 2000. He was arrested last Semptember, deported back to his native Dominican Republic and cleared up his visa with US official last week and is availble to rejoin the Marlins. The 8 week suspension is confusing. The Marlins knew what was up, they actually gave him an extension in the off season when it wasn't even known he would pitch again, so 1 would assume if he does get suspended it would actually be by his own team. So, Oviedo gets suspended for arouund 50 games + or - a few games for using a made up name, but Manny Ramirez only gets suspended 50 games for testing postitive for illegal drugs.......twice! I don't get it.
3) Schwartz Upset About Arrest?
These guys aren't in college or high school. You can't coddle pro athlete's 24/365 like you have to do in high school and even college. What these players want to do is their choice, you just wish they would make better decisions (5 Detroit Lions players have been arrested so far this off season).
Mail Time:
1) More impressive: Sale, Dunn or Konerko?
Gotta be Konerko. Hitting over .400 in the month of May and after getting drilled in the head 2 weeks ago he's 15-28 after sitting out 2 games with the injury. Max Scherzer of Detroit also struck out 15 hitters a week ago and did it in less innings than Sale did, while Adam Dunn's 11 homers this year are more than he had all of last year.
2) More credit: Frazier, Moyer or Ballpark?
These new ballparks are a joke. I think it's harder to hit a home run in a little league stadium now a days then it is to hit one at stadiums such as Great American Ballpark, Yankee Stadium or Citizens Bank Park. It was an outside pitch that Frazier flicked at, broke his bat and somehow went out of the stadium. That's a pop fly to 3rd base at your local little league park.
3) Franchitti An All-Time Great Now?
I can make 250 left turns too, am I an all-time great?
4) Better Catch?
The nominees were a centerfielder who lept over the fence and caught a ball on the other side of the fence, and a bunt pop up to the catcher who dropped it, and the pitcher made a diving, bare-handed play for the catch. Statistically speaking, it's the CF, just because you can see people make diving catchers, bare-handed plays, and miscues in every game, so combining all 3 isn't all that surprising. However, the ball the CF shouldn't have even counted as an out it should've been a home run. Unlike plays where you catch the ball in play and THAN fall over the wall, this guy fell over the wall and THAN caught it. So to me, it's a wash.
Big Finish:
1) Dolphins a good choice?
I'd think hard knocks would want a team where there's more than 1 or 2 known players. Even die hard football fans probably have a tough time figuting out who the Dolphins starting QB was, yet alone 5 players not named Reggie Bush.
2) Tied Connors for Slams Wins?
Roger Federer, one of the greatest tennis players.....ever.
3) Talking Comeback?
Dominek Hasek him, the 47 year old goalie is talking about a potential comeback to the NHL. He last suited up in an NHL uniform in game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals against Pittsburgh and hasn't played since game 4 of the 2008 1st round series against Nashville. Really, who's in the market for a 47 year old goaltender who hasn't played in the league in 4 years?
4) Wants to Buy Padres?
Michael Jordan bought the Bobcats................and has done horribly. Magic Johnson just recently purchased the Dodgers who have the majors best record and largest division lead at this point. I guess now's the time for famous celebrities to buy sports franchise and Phil Mickelson looks like he wants in.
5) 8th in a row for Angels?
No. Yankees are just as hot as the Angels are (last night's walk off Angels win ended the Yankees 5 game winning streak) and Petittite has been pitching great since coming back from retirement. Pettitte cools down the Halo's tonight, for 1 game at least.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Max answer's PTI questions
PTI is a show on ESPN usually involving Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon who debate the day's sports and entertainment headlines. I'll pretend the question's are aimed at me (this is from Monday 4/30's show).
The first word:
1) Is one game enough?
I don't even think Rondo intentionally bumped the referee anyways, so I wouldn't have given him more than 2 regardless. But since the Celtics had already lost game 1 to the Atlanta Hawks the NBA can't have the Celtics down 0-3 in the series by the time Rondo comes back, so 1 game was pretty much by default. Ironically, they lose game 1 with him most of the game, and they win game 2 without him, go figure.
2) What does comeback mean?
This was a choke if I've ever seen. The Grizzlies were up by 24 points with 8:00 minutes left in the 4th quarter and preceded to get outscored 28-3 the remainder of the game including a 26-1 stretch to lose the game by 1. It doesn't mean much, I still think this is going 7 games, and if Memphis can win a game in LA this week, they take the home court advantage back in the series.
3) Did schedule lead to injury?
I've said this before playing 66 games in 120 days can cause injury. And because of this shortened truncated schedule, the Bulls can kiss the championship goodbye due to Rose's ACL tear.
4) Should RG3 be upset?
So, the Redskins trade 3 draft picks to St. Louis to trade up to pick Griffen at #2 and then in the 4th round they draft an equally capable QB out of college in Michigan state's Kirk Cousins, and the fact they have a backup capable of winning games in Rex Grossman, what the hell is that franchise doing? Griffen should still win the starting job, but will be tougher.
5) Impressed by debut?
He's 19 years old, but already Bryce Harper has already made noise for the Nationals. In his first game on Saturday he fired a strike from LF to home plate, that, if the catcher held onto the ball would have ended up winning them the game instead of losing the game. Tuesday night he started the game-winning rally in the 9th with a leadoff double down 1.
Headlines:
1) Nike Rep Blames Adidas Shoes?
What a stupid statement, like the shoes you wear causes injury. Next time a star player with Nike shoes Adidas should pipe "wouldn't have happened wearing Adidas."
2) Any chance for Knicks Tonight?
The only chance for the Knicks was to lose by less than 30 like they did Saturday, and probably less than 20 as well. With Amar'e Stoudamire out for likely the series by punching a fire extinguisher case after game 2's 10 point loss, the Knicks have no chance to win this series.
Mailtime:
1) Interference on OT goal?
There's always a lot of traffic in front of the goalie on goals, Brodeur was outside the crease and may or may not have initiated contact to begin with
2) Did Mavs blow best chance?
First games in a 7 game series aren't that importnant, but on the road when you lead for most of the game was dissapointing, but would be more dissapointing if they lost this at home.
3) Does New Logo makes Nets Hip?
This makes the Nets hip?? Looks like a logo a team from the 1930's would use.
4) Should Ump Tackle streaker?
They should worry about action on the field, but when a streaker runs past them and theirs no security in sight, I see no problem with the ump tackling him.
Big Finish:
1) More Impressive: Spurs or Lakers?
Andrew Bynum with a triple double and the Nuggets were playing better then the Jazz the Spurs opponent.
2) Still hasn't homered?
It's April 30, who cares? Maybe if at June 30 Pujols has less then 10 home runs, people can start to worry. He's still getting used to AL pitching spending his entire career in the NL.
3) Good fit with Raiders?
If Matt Leinhardt likes holding a clipboard I guess, but he probably won't even play.
4) Not ready to retire yet?
He may not be ready, but not a lot of teams are going to pick up Donovan McNabb, yet alone start him, so he may not have a choice
5) Who yah got tonight?
Pacers don't fall behind 0-2 at home, they win.
The first word:
1) Is one game enough?
I don't even think Rondo intentionally bumped the referee anyways, so I wouldn't have given him more than 2 regardless. But since the Celtics had already lost game 1 to the Atlanta Hawks the NBA can't have the Celtics down 0-3 in the series by the time Rondo comes back, so 1 game was pretty much by default. Ironically, they lose game 1 with him most of the game, and they win game 2 without him, go figure.
2) What does comeback mean?
This was a choke if I've ever seen. The Grizzlies were up by 24 points with 8:00 minutes left in the 4th quarter and preceded to get outscored 28-3 the remainder of the game including a 26-1 stretch to lose the game by 1. It doesn't mean much, I still think this is going 7 games, and if Memphis can win a game in LA this week, they take the home court advantage back in the series.
3) Did schedule lead to injury?
I've said this before playing 66 games in 120 days can cause injury. And because of this shortened truncated schedule, the Bulls can kiss the championship goodbye due to Rose's ACL tear.
4) Should RG3 be upset?
So, the Redskins trade 3 draft picks to St. Louis to trade up to pick Griffen at #2 and then in the 4th round they draft an equally capable QB out of college in Michigan state's Kirk Cousins, and the fact they have a backup capable of winning games in Rex Grossman, what the hell is that franchise doing? Griffen should still win the starting job, but will be tougher.
5) Impressed by debut?
He's 19 years old, but already Bryce Harper has already made noise for the Nationals. In his first game on Saturday he fired a strike from LF to home plate, that, if the catcher held onto the ball would have ended up winning them the game instead of losing the game. Tuesday night he started the game-winning rally in the 9th with a leadoff double down 1.
Headlines:
1) Nike Rep Blames Adidas Shoes?
What a stupid statement, like the shoes you wear causes injury. Next time a star player with Nike shoes Adidas should pipe "wouldn't have happened wearing Adidas."
2) Any chance for Knicks Tonight?
The only chance for the Knicks was to lose by less than 30 like they did Saturday, and probably less than 20 as well. With Amar'e Stoudamire out for likely the series by punching a fire extinguisher case after game 2's 10 point loss, the Knicks have no chance to win this series.
Mailtime:
1) Interference on OT goal?
There's always a lot of traffic in front of the goalie on goals, Brodeur was outside the crease and may or may not have initiated contact to begin with
2) Did Mavs blow best chance?
First games in a 7 game series aren't that importnant, but on the road when you lead for most of the game was dissapointing, but would be more dissapointing if they lost this at home.
3) Does New Logo makes Nets Hip?
This makes the Nets hip?? Looks like a logo a team from the 1930's would use.4) Should Ump Tackle streaker?
They should worry about action on the field, but when a streaker runs past them and theirs no security in sight, I see no problem with the ump tackling him.
Big Finish:
1) More Impressive: Spurs or Lakers?
Andrew Bynum with a triple double and the Nuggets were playing better then the Jazz the Spurs opponent.
2) Still hasn't homered?
It's April 30, who cares? Maybe if at June 30 Pujols has less then 10 home runs, people can start to worry. He's still getting used to AL pitching spending his entire career in the NL.
3) Good fit with Raiders?
If Matt Leinhardt likes holding a clipboard I guess, but he probably won't even play.
4) Not ready to retire yet?
He may not be ready, but not a lot of teams are going to pick up Donovan McNabb, yet alone start him, so he may not have a choice
5) Who yah got tonight?
Pacers don't fall behind 0-2 at home, they win.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Max answer's PTI questions
PTI is a show on ESPN usually involving Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon who debate the day's sports and entertainment headlines. I'll pretend the question's are aimed at me.
The First Word (note, this is from Wednesday's show [4/18/12]):
1) Worthy of lengthy suspension?
Absolutely. As of the show airing it was indefinitely and now it's 25 games meaning if the Coyotes were to win the Stanley cup, it would continue into next year. It's not the first time Rafi Torress has been in trouble from the NHL disiplinary office and even though Marian Hossa who Torres launched off his feet to crush, got released from the hospital with no apparant injury. I would've suspended him for even longer.
2) How impressive is feat?
Jamie Moyer just became the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league game with a 5-3 win over San Diego on Tuesday night. That's a great feat in it's own right, but I think the biggest feat is that he has 232 career wins after the age of 30! That's a lot more than pitchers have in their entire career. That and the fact he was almost out of the league makes 232 career wins after age 30 more impessive then becoming oldest pitcher to ever win a game. With the style Moyer pitches he can probably last a couple more seasons.
3) is Carmelo this year's Dirk?
No, because the Knicks aren't even that good. Sure, the Mavs may have gotten a bit lucky last year winning the championship, but at least they were a legit championship contender finishing 3rd in the West. The Knicks won't be finishing higher than 7th in the East, and will be a complete surprise if they even make it past the second round. Chances are they won't even get past round 1, yet alone win the championship
4) Does NBA have a tanking problem?
If the NBA actually drafted in the order teams finished (worst record drafts 1st, second worst second, etc), then I'd agree. Golden State is tanking however in order to keep their draft pick. If Golden state finishes outside the top 7 their 1st round pick goes to Utah. Charlotte, however is just bad. When your best player wouldn't come off the bench for some of the good teams, your team was doomed from the get-go.
5) Blocking player's transfer?
Next time a coach wants to leave a school for greener pastures and more money, the players should block the move.
Report Card:
1) Grading Philly Daily News Backpage?
A. It's not this from the NY Post Saturday: https://twitter.com/#!/maxl100/status/193769353030799361/photo/1 but the Philly Daily news labeled Sidney Crosby a "cowardly Penguin."
2) Grading Spurs win?
B+. Last week with Kobe Bryant, the Spurs let Andruw Bynum get 30 rebounds in a home loss to the Lakers. This time in LA without Kobe, the Spurs handed the Lakers their worst home loss in 4 or 5 years.
3) Grading Throwbacks?
F. Uniforms looked mustard color. Horrible design by the Steelers
4) Grading Ultimate Frisbee Catch?
C. There's an ultimate frisbee league, and you actually got the jumping, 1 handed catch on video??
Big Finish:
1) Will Attend Fenway Ceramony?
Good, Terry Francona should attend it. He was contemplating not attending, but wanted to do it for the fans. Him, along with Bill Buckner got one of the biggest ovations at Friday's ceramony for Fenway's 100 year anniversary.
2) Entire Starting 5 Going Pro?
Not surprising, everyone saw that coming. Now let's see if the coach joins them.
3) Pistons Led Cavs 100-50?
2 bad teams, but this is what happens when 1 bad team is actually trying to win games (the Detroit Pistons) and 1 bad team that just wants the season to end and is sitting everyone relevent (Cleveland Caviliers).
4) 12 Wins For Redskins?
What does Alex Trabek, the host of jeopardy, know about football??
5) Will Canucks Be Swept?
Even on Wednesday I would've said no. The games have been close; 3 previous games were all tied or 1 goal games in the 3rd period. President trophy teams don't get swept in the first round. They may still lose, and probably will, but because they won Wednesday night, they probably stretch this to 6 games.
The First Word (note, this is from Wednesday's show [4/18/12]):
1) Worthy of lengthy suspension?
Absolutely. As of the show airing it was indefinitely and now it's 25 games meaning if the Coyotes were to win the Stanley cup, it would continue into next year. It's not the first time Rafi Torress has been in trouble from the NHL disiplinary office and even though Marian Hossa who Torres launched off his feet to crush, got released from the hospital with no apparant injury. I would've suspended him for even longer.
2) How impressive is feat?
Jamie Moyer just became the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league game with a 5-3 win over San Diego on Tuesday night. That's a great feat in it's own right, but I think the biggest feat is that he has 232 career wins after the age of 30! That's a lot more than pitchers have in their entire career. That and the fact he was almost out of the league makes 232 career wins after age 30 more impessive then becoming oldest pitcher to ever win a game. With the style Moyer pitches he can probably last a couple more seasons.
3) is Carmelo this year's Dirk?
No, because the Knicks aren't even that good. Sure, the Mavs may have gotten a bit lucky last year winning the championship, but at least they were a legit championship contender finishing 3rd in the West. The Knicks won't be finishing higher than 7th in the East, and will be a complete surprise if they even make it past the second round. Chances are they won't even get past round 1, yet alone win the championship
4) Does NBA have a tanking problem?
If the NBA actually drafted in the order teams finished (worst record drafts 1st, second worst second, etc), then I'd agree. Golden State is tanking however in order to keep their draft pick. If Golden state finishes outside the top 7 their 1st round pick goes to Utah. Charlotte, however is just bad. When your best player wouldn't come off the bench for some of the good teams, your team was doomed from the get-go.
5) Blocking player's transfer?
Next time a coach wants to leave a school for greener pastures and more money, the players should block the move.
Report Card:
1) Grading Philly Daily News Backpage?
A. It's not this from the NY Post Saturday: https://twitter.com/#!/maxl100/status/193769353030799361/photo/1 but the Philly Daily news labeled Sidney Crosby a "cowardly Penguin."
2) Grading Spurs win?
B+. Last week with Kobe Bryant, the Spurs let Andruw Bynum get 30 rebounds in a home loss to the Lakers. This time in LA without Kobe, the Spurs handed the Lakers their worst home loss in 4 or 5 years.
3) Grading Throwbacks?
F. Uniforms looked mustard color. Horrible design by the Steelers
4) Grading Ultimate Frisbee Catch?
C. There's an ultimate frisbee league, and you actually got the jumping, 1 handed catch on video??
Big Finish:
1) Will Attend Fenway Ceramony?
Good, Terry Francona should attend it. He was contemplating not attending, but wanted to do it for the fans. Him, along with Bill Buckner got one of the biggest ovations at Friday's ceramony for Fenway's 100 year anniversary.
2) Entire Starting 5 Going Pro?
Not surprising, everyone saw that coming. Now let's see if the coach joins them.
3) Pistons Led Cavs 100-50?
2 bad teams, but this is what happens when 1 bad team is actually trying to win games (the Detroit Pistons) and 1 bad team that just wants the season to end and is sitting everyone relevent (Cleveland Caviliers).
4) 12 Wins For Redskins?
What does Alex Trabek, the host of jeopardy, know about football??
5) Will Canucks Be Swept?
Even on Wednesday I would've said no. The games have been close; 3 previous games were all tied or 1 goal games in the 3rd period. President trophy teams don't get swept in the first round. They may still lose, and probably will, but because they won Wednesday night, they probably stretch this to 6 games.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
MLB predictions
Aside from a couple games over in Japan last week, and the opening game in North America last night, today is the opener for most teams, so seems like a good time for my predictions
AL East:
1) Yankees
2) Sox
3) Blue Jays
4) Rays
5) Orioles
Yankees are the Yankees, their old but they'll be fine. Sox have a new manager, GM, but are Yankees light and want to rebound from last year's 3rd place finish. They'll be without a closer as they traded their closer last year to Philadelphia, and the one they traded for Andrew Bailey is out until at least July. Blue Jays and Rays could be flip flopped, both are young, both could surprise and challenge for the playoffs, but both play in the wrong division. The Orioles are a shoe-in for last.
AL Central:
1) Tigers
2) Indiana
3) Royals
4) Twins
5) White Sox
Tigers won the division in a landslide last year as they were the only team that finished at or above .500 last year, and they just got better with the addition of Prince Fielder. Since going into the 2010 All Star game 15-1, Ubaldo Jiminez is a pedestrian 14-20 since and in order to catch the Tigers, Jiminez needs to get back to his first half form from 2010. Last place finishes and high draft picks seem to have paid off the Royals with the likes of Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordan in the big leagues. Season ending injury to closer Joakim Soria will hurt. Twins got bit by the injury bug last year, and if they can stay healthy they may pass the Royals. White Sox are rebuilding, but can still finish as high as 2nd just because 2-5 are so jumbled.
AL West:
1) Angels
2) Rangers
3) Mariners
4) A's
Angels added C.J. Wilson from Texas and Albert Pujols from St. Louis, while Texas replaces Wilson with Japanese import Yu Darvish. Both the Mariners and A's will be horrible offensive teams; Mariners made better moves over the winter so they get the higher spot. This will be the final year with only 4 teams in the AL West as the Houston Astros move from the NL Central to the AL West next year
NL East:
1) Phillies
2) Nats
3) Braves
4) Marlins
5) Mets
Phillies have to survive until June when they'll get their big hitters Ryan Howard and Chase Utley back in the lineup. Nats phenom Bryce Harper should be in the major leagues sometime around June 10, if the Nats can hang around until then they'll have a great team. Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzales the 2 ace pitchers are 22 and 24 respectively and Harper is 21, they'll be good for a while with Harper and Strasburg anchoring the team. This is the final year for Chipper Jones, who hopes he has a better October then last year; Braves were up 11.5 on August 30 and missed the playoffs. The Marlins have a new name, new park and new faces, but in order to even be successful they have to have Josh Johnson pitch a whole season which hasn't happened in 4 years. Mets are still recovering from Bernie Madoff, don't have enough to challenge with the other 4.
NL Central:
1) Brewers
2) Reds
3) Cardinals
4) Pirates
5) Cubs
6) Astros
The Brewers don't have a great bullpen, but they have a great offense and a pretty good rotation. I think that's enough to get them past the Reds. Reds have a terrible bullpen, ok rotation, but great offense, how will they handle expectations? Cardinals are the reigning World Series Champs, but will be hard pressed to get back there without Pujols. Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1993, that should change this year, but still not enough to compete. Theo Epstein, new president of the Cubs will have a tough year, that team needs a complete makeover. They were able to get rid of Carlos Zambrano, but they still have a couple other bad contracts to get rid of. The Astros are awful and will be shocking if they didn't get to 100 losses.
NL West:
1) Giants
2) D'Backs
3) Rockies
4) Dodgers
5) Padres
If the Giants can actually score some runs with Tim Lincecum on the mount this year, they should win the division with that great rotation. D'Backs were the division winners last year, but came as a surprise, not sold on them this year. Troy Tulowitski and Carlos Gonzales are great players for the Rockies, but they need some pitching to win which they don't have much of this year. Magic Johnson just purchased the Dodgers, so hopefully he can turn them around. Matt Kemp needs to compete for a triple crown to give them a chance. Padres may not have a player hit 20 home runs this year and traded away their best player
Wildcards:
Red Sox and Rangers in the AL, D'Backs and Reds in the NL. Red Sox and D'Backs get eliminated in that Wildcard series.
Division series:
AL: Yankees over Rangers and Angels over Tigers
NL: Phillies over Giants and Reds over Brewers
Championship series:
AL: Angels over Yankees
NL: Phillies over Reds
World Series:
Angels over Phillies in 6 games.
AL East:
1) Yankees
2) Sox
3) Blue Jays
4) Rays
5) Orioles
Yankees are the Yankees, their old but they'll be fine. Sox have a new manager, GM, but are Yankees light and want to rebound from last year's 3rd place finish. They'll be without a closer as they traded their closer last year to Philadelphia, and the one they traded for Andrew Bailey is out until at least July. Blue Jays and Rays could be flip flopped, both are young, both could surprise and challenge for the playoffs, but both play in the wrong division. The Orioles are a shoe-in for last.
AL Central:
1) Tigers
2) Indiana
3) Royals
4) Twins
5) White Sox
Tigers won the division in a landslide last year as they were the only team that finished at or above .500 last year, and they just got better with the addition of Prince Fielder. Since going into the 2010 All Star game 15-1, Ubaldo Jiminez is a pedestrian 14-20 since and in order to catch the Tigers, Jiminez needs to get back to his first half form from 2010. Last place finishes and high draft picks seem to have paid off the Royals with the likes of Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordan in the big leagues. Season ending injury to closer Joakim Soria will hurt. Twins got bit by the injury bug last year, and if they can stay healthy they may pass the Royals. White Sox are rebuilding, but can still finish as high as 2nd just because 2-5 are so jumbled.
AL West:
1) Angels
2) Rangers
3) Mariners
4) A's
Angels added C.J. Wilson from Texas and Albert Pujols from St. Louis, while Texas replaces Wilson with Japanese import Yu Darvish. Both the Mariners and A's will be horrible offensive teams; Mariners made better moves over the winter so they get the higher spot. This will be the final year with only 4 teams in the AL West as the Houston Astros move from the NL Central to the AL West next year
NL East:
1) Phillies
2) Nats
3) Braves
4) Marlins
5) Mets
Phillies have to survive until June when they'll get their big hitters Ryan Howard and Chase Utley back in the lineup. Nats phenom Bryce Harper should be in the major leagues sometime around June 10, if the Nats can hang around until then they'll have a great team. Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzales the 2 ace pitchers are 22 and 24 respectively and Harper is 21, they'll be good for a while with Harper and Strasburg anchoring the team. This is the final year for Chipper Jones, who hopes he has a better October then last year; Braves were up 11.5 on August 30 and missed the playoffs. The Marlins have a new name, new park and new faces, but in order to even be successful they have to have Josh Johnson pitch a whole season which hasn't happened in 4 years. Mets are still recovering from Bernie Madoff, don't have enough to challenge with the other 4.
NL Central:
1) Brewers
2) Reds
3) Cardinals
4) Pirates
5) Cubs
6) Astros
The Brewers don't have a great bullpen, but they have a great offense and a pretty good rotation. I think that's enough to get them past the Reds. Reds have a terrible bullpen, ok rotation, but great offense, how will they handle expectations? Cardinals are the reigning World Series Champs, but will be hard pressed to get back there without Pujols. Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1993, that should change this year, but still not enough to compete. Theo Epstein, new president of the Cubs will have a tough year, that team needs a complete makeover. They were able to get rid of Carlos Zambrano, but they still have a couple other bad contracts to get rid of. The Astros are awful and will be shocking if they didn't get to 100 losses.
NL West:
1) Giants
2) D'Backs
3) Rockies
4) Dodgers
5) Padres
If the Giants can actually score some runs with Tim Lincecum on the mount this year, they should win the division with that great rotation. D'Backs were the division winners last year, but came as a surprise, not sold on them this year. Troy Tulowitski and Carlos Gonzales are great players for the Rockies, but they need some pitching to win which they don't have much of this year. Magic Johnson just purchased the Dodgers, so hopefully he can turn them around. Matt Kemp needs to compete for a triple crown to give them a chance. Padres may not have a player hit 20 home runs this year and traded away their best player
Wildcards:
Red Sox and Rangers in the AL, D'Backs and Reds in the NL. Red Sox and D'Backs get eliminated in that Wildcard series.
Division series:
AL: Yankees over Rangers and Angels over Tigers
NL: Phillies over Giants and Reds over Brewers
Championship series:
AL: Angels over Yankees
NL: Phillies over Reds
World Series:
Angels over Phillies in 6 games.
Max answer's PTI questions
PTI is a show on ESPN usually involving Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon who debate the day's sports and entertainment headlines. I'll pretend the question's are aimed at me.
The First Word:
1) Why did Kentucky win?
They won, because they were better, had better players, and made less mistakes then Kansas did. I can't count the number of times Kansas missed layups. Even though UK shot less than 27% in the 2nd half (26.9%), they were up 14 at half and held Kansas at bay. There were 2 key plays in the game:
1) Kansas had trimmed an 18 point deficit down to 14 at halftime. They scored first to begin the 2nd, forced a UK missed shot, had a run out on the subsequent rebound and missed a dunk that would have gotten it to 10.
2) Down 5 with 1:37 to go, Travis Relaford went for a steal, missed and got called for a reach-in foul. Anthony Davis made 1 of 2 free throws, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist blocked Tyshawn Taylor's layup at the other end and that was that. Kansas made it a competitive game after trailing by double digits most of the game, but the missed layups really hurt them, and was the main reason why they lost.
2) What's next for Calipari?
A very good question. Now that he's got Kentucky their first title since 1998, any time they don't win a championship will be a failure. Tubby Smith succeeded Rick Pitino at Kentucky, won the 98 title his first year, never back it back to the final 4 after that, and the UK fans ran him out of town. Every stop in college under Calipari has been a success: got UMass to #1 in the country and the 1996 final 4; and got Memphis to the 2008 championship game. However, he had a brief career in the NBA with the Nets where he had a disasterous 72-112 record in 2 and a quater seasons. With as many as 4 people leaving school (Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb and Terrance Jones) with a possibility of a 5th (Marquis Teague), he'd have to do a serious effort to reload. With John Wall already with the Washington Wizards (played for Calipari in 10 at Kentucky), if the Wizards win the lottery and draft Davis they would have two Calipari players on the roster, and with an interem coach he could bolt back to the NBA like Pete Carroll bolted back to the NFL after winning a championship at USC after having a medicore career in 2+ seasons with New England. Since the Wizards have an interem coach, Calipari would draw interest, but I think he enjoys his time in college, and the recruiting trail is next for him.
3) Best big man since Duncan?
Yes. There haven't even been that many other true "big" man to come through college since Duncan anyways. Kevin Love at UCLA and Joakim Noah at Florida would be the only ones in the running with Davis anyhow.
4) RG3 refuses to work out with Colts?
Well, when was this "workout" supposed to be anyways, because he was in Denver at the women's final four? It's non news worthy, the Colts have their sights set on Andrew Luck, and I think Robert Griffin wants to go to Washington more anyways; the offensive system works better for him then in Indianapolis anyways.
Headlines:
1) Will Tiger win the Masters?
I can never get into a golf tournament, even the Masters even on Sundays, even if it's close. Tiger won his last tournament, and plays well at Augusta, but you have better odds picking the field then picking 1 player, especially when the field has caught up to Tiger and has won the last 13 majors. I'd look for Angel Cabrera, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott or Rory McIlroy to challenge Tiger for the green jacket on Sunday
2) What's at stake for Griner?
Nothing, because she's a junior, so she'll be back next year along with the rest of the key contributors off of that team. Women's basketball isn't like men's basketball, most of these players stick around for all 4 years, only player I can ever remember leaving early was Candace Parker of Tennessee, and Griner has already said she'll be back for her senior year. Anyway, the team only has 3 seniors and 2 of them don't even play that much, so they have the ingredients ready to get back here next season. There's more pressure on Baylor as a team because basketball is a team sport: 39-0 heading in, and with a win would be the first team in basketball history to finish a season 40-0. They would be the 7th women's team to finish undefeated, but the highest previous total was 39-0. Indiana, the last men's team to finish undefeated, was 37-0. With teams only being allowed to play a maximum of 31 or 32 regular season games, it'd be pretty difficult to pass 40-0. Notre Dame was just in the championship game last year and Baylor couldn't even get to the final 4, so if ND starts out hot, that 39-0 record could be all for nothing. Note Baylor ended up pulling away the final 10 minutes to win 80-61; a lot closer then the score indicated
3) Claiborne's score leaked?
Who cares that Morris Claiborne the LSU CB scored a 4 on the wonderlic test? I don't even know what this test is.
Word:
1) __________ to give Votto Big Extension
Costly. The Reds own their own TV station (FS Ohio), but unlike other teams that own their own TV stations (Nationals, Orioles, Indians, Red Sox, Yankees, Mets), the Reds don't get as much profit as those previous 3 do. With Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols both gone from divisional rivals and out of the division, the Reds can compete for the next couple years. However, putting 22.5 million for 10 years to 1 player with not a high payroll team can cost them. Joey Votto is a great player, now probably the 2nd best offensive player in the division, but a 10 year extension for $225 million is big. Brandon Phillips, a key cog for the offense is probably gone after this season because the team will have no money to pay him. The Reds organization put all their eggs in 1 basket, I hope it works out for them and he doesn't get hurt like Joe Maeur did for the Twins.
2) Seahawks new uniforms are ______________________
Oregonian. Nike unveilved new uniforms for all 32 NFL teams. Nike is also in charged of handling the Oregon Duck uniforms, I don't think they've had the same pant/shirt combination in the last 3 seasons.
3) The Fray's national anthem was _____________
Not neccessary. I like a couple of The Fray's songs, but can people just sing the anthem and get on with the game?
4) Jets on "Hard Knocks" would be ________________
Media driven. They've already been on once. Get another team, but put a camera on linebacker Bart Scott though.
Big Finish:
1) 5 game suspension?
I'll take it. Ubaldo Jiminez hit his old teammate Troy Tulowitzski in the back over the weekend. 5 game for a pitcher is 1 start, not a big deal.
2) Back on the rise?
Los Angeles Clippers are on a 6 game winning streak, their best in 20 years. Their game against the Lakers tomorrow will go a long way to deciding who wins the Pacific division and avoids the Thunder in the second round (division winner would finish 3rd, second would finish either 4th or 5th and would play West #1 Oklahoma City in second round). Clippers currently trail by a game and a half and have a game in hand
3) Mood in Bulls Corner (Wilbon is a bulls fan)?
Tired, this is what happens when you play the equivlant of two college seasons in 1 season (66 games in about 125 days). Their still 2.5 up on Miami in the East, 9 up on Indiana in their division and have already clinched a playoff spot. Once Rose gets back for the playoffs, they'll be fine.
4) 4,000 fewer seats?
That means the Redskins have 4,000 less tickets to give away this year if they collapse down the stretch.
5) Will Yanks win this year?
6 times Kentucky has won a championship, the Yankees have won the World Series the following October. I say it ends this year, the AL is too strong, and the AL representative has lost in 4 of the last 6 World Series
The First Word:
1) Why did Kentucky win?
They won, because they were better, had better players, and made less mistakes then Kansas did. I can't count the number of times Kansas missed layups. Even though UK shot less than 27% in the 2nd half (26.9%), they were up 14 at half and held Kansas at bay. There were 2 key plays in the game:
1) Kansas had trimmed an 18 point deficit down to 14 at halftime. They scored first to begin the 2nd, forced a UK missed shot, had a run out on the subsequent rebound and missed a dunk that would have gotten it to 10.
2) Down 5 with 1:37 to go, Travis Relaford went for a steal, missed and got called for a reach-in foul. Anthony Davis made 1 of 2 free throws, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist blocked Tyshawn Taylor's layup at the other end and that was that. Kansas made it a competitive game after trailing by double digits most of the game, but the missed layups really hurt them, and was the main reason why they lost.
2) What's next for Calipari?
A very good question. Now that he's got Kentucky their first title since 1998, any time they don't win a championship will be a failure. Tubby Smith succeeded Rick Pitino at Kentucky, won the 98 title his first year, never back it back to the final 4 after that, and the UK fans ran him out of town. Every stop in college under Calipari has been a success: got UMass to #1 in the country and the 1996 final 4; and got Memphis to the 2008 championship game. However, he had a brief career in the NBA with the Nets where he had a disasterous 72-112 record in 2 and a quater seasons. With as many as 4 people leaving school (Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb and Terrance Jones) with a possibility of a 5th (Marquis Teague), he'd have to do a serious effort to reload. With John Wall already with the Washington Wizards (played for Calipari in 10 at Kentucky), if the Wizards win the lottery and draft Davis they would have two Calipari players on the roster, and with an interem coach he could bolt back to the NBA like Pete Carroll bolted back to the NFL after winning a championship at USC after having a medicore career in 2+ seasons with New England. Since the Wizards have an interem coach, Calipari would draw interest, but I think he enjoys his time in college, and the recruiting trail is next for him.
3) Best big man since Duncan?
Yes. There haven't even been that many other true "big" man to come through college since Duncan anyways. Kevin Love at UCLA and Joakim Noah at Florida would be the only ones in the running with Davis anyhow.
4) RG3 refuses to work out with Colts?
Well, when was this "workout" supposed to be anyways, because he was in Denver at the women's final four? It's non news worthy, the Colts have their sights set on Andrew Luck, and I think Robert Griffin wants to go to Washington more anyways; the offensive system works better for him then in Indianapolis anyways.
Headlines:
1) Will Tiger win the Masters?
I can never get into a golf tournament, even the Masters even on Sundays, even if it's close. Tiger won his last tournament, and plays well at Augusta, but you have better odds picking the field then picking 1 player, especially when the field has caught up to Tiger and has won the last 13 majors. I'd look for Angel Cabrera, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott or Rory McIlroy to challenge Tiger for the green jacket on Sunday
2) What's at stake for Griner?
Nothing, because she's a junior, so she'll be back next year along with the rest of the key contributors off of that team. Women's basketball isn't like men's basketball, most of these players stick around for all 4 years, only player I can ever remember leaving early was Candace Parker of Tennessee, and Griner has already said she'll be back for her senior year. Anyway, the team only has 3 seniors and 2 of them don't even play that much, so they have the ingredients ready to get back here next season. There's more pressure on Baylor as a team because basketball is a team sport: 39-0 heading in, and with a win would be the first team in basketball history to finish a season 40-0. They would be the 7th women's team to finish undefeated, but the highest previous total was 39-0. Indiana, the last men's team to finish undefeated, was 37-0. With teams only being allowed to play a maximum of 31 or 32 regular season games, it'd be pretty difficult to pass 40-0. Notre Dame was just in the championship game last year and Baylor couldn't even get to the final 4, so if ND starts out hot, that 39-0 record could be all for nothing. Note Baylor ended up pulling away the final 10 minutes to win 80-61; a lot closer then the score indicated
3) Claiborne's score leaked?
Who cares that Morris Claiborne the LSU CB scored a 4 on the wonderlic test? I don't even know what this test is.
Word:
1) __________ to give Votto Big Extension
Costly. The Reds own their own TV station (FS Ohio), but unlike other teams that own their own TV stations (Nationals, Orioles, Indians, Red Sox, Yankees, Mets), the Reds don't get as much profit as those previous 3 do. With Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols both gone from divisional rivals and out of the division, the Reds can compete for the next couple years. However, putting 22.5 million for 10 years to 1 player with not a high payroll team can cost them. Joey Votto is a great player, now probably the 2nd best offensive player in the division, but a 10 year extension for $225 million is big. Brandon Phillips, a key cog for the offense is probably gone after this season because the team will have no money to pay him. The Reds organization put all their eggs in 1 basket, I hope it works out for them and he doesn't get hurt like Joe Maeur did for the Twins.
2) Seahawks new uniforms are ______________________
Oregonian. Nike unveilved new uniforms for all 32 NFL teams. Nike is also in charged of handling the Oregon Duck uniforms, I don't think they've had the same pant/shirt combination in the last 3 seasons.
3) The Fray's national anthem was _____________
Not neccessary. I like a couple of The Fray's songs, but can people just sing the anthem and get on with the game?
4) Jets on "Hard Knocks" would be ________________
Media driven. They've already been on once. Get another team, but put a camera on linebacker Bart Scott though.
Big Finish:
1) 5 game suspension?
I'll take it. Ubaldo Jiminez hit his old teammate Troy Tulowitzski in the back over the weekend. 5 game for a pitcher is 1 start, not a big deal.
2) Back on the rise?
Los Angeles Clippers are on a 6 game winning streak, their best in 20 years. Their game against the Lakers tomorrow will go a long way to deciding who wins the Pacific division and avoids the Thunder in the second round (division winner would finish 3rd, second would finish either 4th or 5th and would play West #1 Oklahoma City in second round). Clippers currently trail by a game and a half and have a game in hand
3) Mood in Bulls Corner (Wilbon is a bulls fan)?
Tired, this is what happens when you play the equivlant of two college seasons in 1 season (66 games in about 125 days). Their still 2.5 up on Miami in the East, 9 up on Indiana in their division and have already clinched a playoff spot. Once Rose gets back for the playoffs, they'll be fine.
4) 4,000 fewer seats?
That means the Redskins have 4,000 less tickets to give away this year if they collapse down the stretch.
5) Will Yanks win this year?
6 times Kentucky has won a championship, the Yankees have won the World Series the following October. I say it ends this year, the AL is too strong, and the AL representative has lost in 4 of the last 6 World Series
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