Author Archives: chappy81

About chappy81

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I'm a dude that just hit 30 years old. Pretty much like everything that is funny, insightful, and has to do with the Warriors, A's, and Raiders.
July 20, 2010

MLB Trade Deadline Actually Makes Sense

By chappy81

My favorite trade deadline in all of sports is baseball’s July deadline. Basketball might be a close second, but baseball is the most interesting for both teams involved in a trade. Pretty much anyone could go anywhere. In basketball, we only see trades that fit within contract constraints hence the creation of the ESPN trade machine. Basketball also has a lot of players that are disgruntled with their current team only to be shipped away for basically nothing, so the talent traded isn’t all that exciting except for the team that gets the big name player. In baseball, we at least see talent traded for talent. You’re either a team building for the future, and stocking the farm system with prospects or you are going to improve your team to compete for a championship that year by sacrificing your farm system. In short, you get trades that actually make sense for both clubs kind of like when your a kid trading baseball cards with a friend. Even if it’s a high risk high reward proposition for all teams involved. Sure we may not know who the AAA guys are that were in the trade off hand, but if you’re a fan of that crappy team that just gave away their star, you instantly have hope for the future, and want to see these guys called up as soon as possible. I doubt the A’s will be wheeling and dealing since they have little to offer other teams. Maybe we can get a couple of project guys for Sheets, but I’m not holding my breath at this point. Here’s a few guys that I think could make an impact on a contending team that sound like they are on the block.

Pitchers – Obviously Cliff Lee was by far the best pitcher on the market, and he was gone before we could even start the rumor mongering about him. After him there isn’t a whole lot of big names out there, but there’s a few impact players that could make a difference.

Dan Haren – It sounds like the D-Backs want more than a kings ransom of prospects for Haren, and it’s doubtful that teams are willing to give that much up to get him, but if someone can pull of a deal to grab him, he’s by far the best pitcher in the market. He usually doesn’t do as well in the 2nd half of the season, but it’s hard to say adding an ace of his status isn’t worth it for anyone seriously contending for a pennant. The Twins desperately need someone of his pedigree. He’s also not a short term fix since he’s locked up through 2012, so it’s a move that could yield more than one playoff run.

Roy Oswalt – It’s tough to see a lot of teams wanting to give up a ton of prospects, AND have to pay Oswalt $25M on top of that. Plus, he has a no trade clause that would make things even more tricky, but then again I’m sure you could persuade him to waive that clause if he has a chance at pitching some meaningful games. He made a trade demand, but made his small list of teams that he’d like to go to… Houston might have to send some cash in any deal made.

Joakim Soria – I think the Royals must be riding the short yellow bus thinking they are in the race, but somehow, in spite of their record each year, they seem to think they are. I don’t think they’ll trade away one of their only players worth having on the roster, unless they get some godfather offer from someone. They’d deal Soria five times before Grienke though, or he would be on the list as well.

Ted Lilly, Ricky Nolasco, Jake Westbrook, Edwin Jackson, Kevin Millwood, and Wandy Rodriguez – None of these starters are going to be an ace for teams, but they might be cheaper to get than the other guys mentioned above. I like Lilly and Nolasco the most of the bunch. I don’t see any of them really making a huge impact on teams unless a team like the Yankees needs to grab someone they know can hold down the fort while others get healthy from injuries.

Octavio Dotel, Jason Frasor, Kerry Wood, Brandon Lyon, Kevin Gregg, David Aardsma, and Aaron Heilman – These are all guys you could bolster that bullpen with. Everyone needs some reliable guys that they can call on in a sticky situation. Some of these guys might not be sexy names or guys you’d really be all that excited about if your team traded for them, but they will be invaluable in bridging that gap to the closer.

Hitters – There aren’t a ton of teams looking for hitters, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Giants, Angels, Padres, and possibly the Cardinals try to make a move that would improve their offenses.

Prince Fielder – It’s pretty unlikely any offer they will receive would match what they want for him. He’s as big a name as you could find on the trading block, but it sounds like there’s not many ways he’d actually be traded. It’s more likely he ends up being traded over the off season than the July deadline.

Jayson Werth – The Phillies haven’t given the five tool outfielder a new contract that he was asking for. If they keep playing mediocre ball, and fall behind the Mets and Braves further than they are, don’t be shocked if Werth is moved for the right price. I can’t think of many teams in the hunt that couldn’t use an upgrade in the outfield.

Corey Hart – The more likely player to leave the Brew crew. He’s only moving if they get some pitching in return, it’s just a matter of what teams are willing to give up. The Giants sound intriguing possibly giving up Sanchez or Bumgarner, and Corey would provide Buster Posey some protection or vice versa.

David Dejesus – He’s in the same boat as Soria with a breakout season this year. It would be nice to see him in another uniform playing some meaningful games, but for some reason Kansas City’s front office always thinks it’s still in the race.

Adam Dunn – He’s the big guy that a lot of teams will look at as a rental with a solid track record of performing. I hope he doesn’t don the Angel red in place of injured Kendry Morales, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they did pull out a trade as an answer to division leading Rangers big move in acquiring Cliff Lee.

Everyone else on the Marlins, Blue Jays, Astros, Diamondbacks, Cubs, and Orioles – All of these teams have some interesting players that could help a team out. None are extremely exciting, but are guys that could mildly upgrade a position for a playoff bound team. Should be fun when it gets closer to the deadline!

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 18, 2010

The Old Lady Never Showed Her Teeth

By chappy81

This years British Open at St. Andrews was uneventful for the TV viewers. There was very little drama going into Sunday, and watching a two man race isn’t that much fun since it takes so long between golf shots. I was rooting for Paul Casey, but when I flipped on the TV Sunday morning it was pretty much already over. From what I understood it was pretty much over on the 8th hole today. At least with the US Open we had guys close at the top of the board, and choking was more a factor than good play, but nevertheless much more entertaining than the blowout at the old course. With most of the guys we want to see atop the leader board (Tiger, Phil, Daly) already far out of contention all we could hope for was some drama like an epic meltdown, mixed with one of the guys 7-10 strokes back playing out of their mind on Sunday, but that didn’t come close to happening. I’m happy for Louis Oosthuizen (this years champ), but it made me want to head out and enjoy the summer day instead of battling heavy eyelids. There wasn’t really anyone putting real pressure on him during the tourney after day two. I don’t want to discount what the guy did on the course, since he obviously dominated it. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if he had less favorable tee times during the first couple of days, and was stuck in the wind that eliminated a lot of the competition. He never really experienced the old lady showing her teeth as Tom Watson would say. I watched a lot on Saturday, but am glad I didn’t waste my day away on Sunday seeing who would win the battle for 2nd place. By the way congrats Lee Westwood on coming in 2nd, you are officially the best golfer to not win a major. Hopefully you don’t hang onto that title as long as Phil did. In my eyes the best part of the tourney was one shot. You’ve probably already seen on the highlights. Miguel Jimenez had an amazing double bogey save on the 17th. The hole was eating everyone alive all week long, and playing a half a stroke over par for the tourney. Although Jimenez couldn’t escape with a par, he did leave us with this creative gem. Thanks Miguel for giving me the off the weeezy shot that I will remember this years open by. Come to think of it, I’ll probably remember this shot more than the winner that everybody had a hard time pronouncing his name!

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 15, 2010

Warriors Have a New Savior?

By chappy81

I think I’ve been waiting to write this post since before we even started this blog. FINALLY it’s been reported that the Warriors have a new owner, and shockingly it’s not Oracle founding billionaire, Larry Ellison. Instead it’s Joseph Lacob who is currently a partial owner of the Boston Celtics that teamed up with Peter Gruber of the Mandalay Entertainment to outbid Larry Ellison to the tune of $450M. He will have to sell off his stake with the Celtics, but that’s a mere formality. It’s going to be approved by the league since Lacob already has a stake in another NBA franchise.

Aside from that magical 2007 season there wasn’t much to cheer about over the years. The Warriors made a habit out of trading away talent for poo poo platters, and suffered through watching disgruntled employees/players argue with management about any topic you could think of from winning to contracts to injuries. I’m truly glad the former owner Chris Cohan owed the IRS about $160M in unpaid taxes or this may never have happened! Alas, here we are about to finally begin a new era in the Bay Area. An era where the owner hopefully cares about the team winning! Lacob will have a very low bar to raise, and with a great fanbase already in place ready to praise his every move, I’m positive he can’t get as many things wrong as the previous regime. I’m somewhat sad that Ellison didn’t outbid Lacob, but in the end, as we saw with Prokhorov being a billionaire owner doesn’t mean guys will just flock to your team. I’m still shocked that Ellison didn’t oubid them, since he’s worth $28 billion, and reportedly there was a difference of $20-$50M differnce in the bids, which is less than a percent of his total worth. I guess it was rumored he did not want to overpay Cohan and reward him with a failure bonus. Either way I couldn’t be more extatic that this has all come to an fruition, and we actually have a future to look forward to.  

Next up: Make a pitch to Kevin Pritchard to be our GM, and fire lame duck coach Don Nelson. I don’t hate Nellie or anything, but we all know how he rolls in his last year of a contract. If you forgot, just ask any Dallas fan!

10 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 13, 2010

Oh My… Point Taken!

By chappy81

I’m not the biggest Dan Le Batard fan, but Dyslecix sent this clip out in the e-mail chain today, and I found this pretty damn funny. I like how he threw in a picture of Terrance farting on Phillip, and the real King (of burgers) was pretty solid as well. He even threw in a little spoof of the double rainbow clip that MCeezy put up over the weekend! All this added up to one hilarious 3 1/2 minutes, which is about as long as Lebron’s special should’ve been! The best part about all this, was that Dan is a Miami native, so he’s making fun of his own team!

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comedy, Random, Sports

July 12, 2010

Mid-Season MLB Awards

By chappy81

It’s amazing the ebbs and flows I go through with baseball season, and it’s pretty consistent nearly every year. For the first month and a half I can’t get enough, I watch every pitch I can even for games that I don’t really care about (like NL games), and then I’ll realize how many games they still have to play, and only check box scores for a month or so. Now that Lebronapalooza is over, and we’ve hit the All-Star break, I’m back to full force on baseball. Now it’s about time to break down who the first half award winners are, well, the award winners in my book that is.

AL MVP – Miguel Cabrera (.346/.423/.651, 22 HR, 77 RBI)

Not a tough choice at the midpoint. Miggy has come out focused from his alcohol rehab program this offseason, and leads in two of the three triple crown categories. If you can make a case for Morneau, Cano, Hamilton, or Youkilis there might be some room for debate, but in my eyes this isn’t really a close vote if there was a vote held now.

NL MVP- Albert Pujols, by default (.308/.416/.576, 21 HR, 64 RBI)

I can’t really say I’m even sold on my selection, but Albert has to win by default. He’s in the running every year, and has finished in the top five 11 times. I’m sure he’s going to go through a stretch where teams will opt to not pitch to him because he’s on fire. I’ve seen a few lists that have David Wright as the next in line under Albert, but I think that’s the New York hype machine pumping up their golden boy even though he’s having a good year, I don’t think it’s an MVP season. Adrian Gonzalez has put up some big numbers despite having nobody around him for protection. Joey Votto and Scott Rolen are also nice choices, and are surprisingly keeping Cincy relevant. I also really like Carlos Gonzalez to make a push for MVP, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him in the discussions at seasons end.

AL Cy Young – Jon Lester (11-3, 120 IP, 2.78 ERA, 124K, 1.09 WHIP)

David Price had the lead for much of the year, but Lester now leads him in K’s, innings pitched, and has a  lower WHIP which I always find more impressive than win totals, so I gave Lester the nod. Cliff Lee’s six complete games is amazing for this point in the season, so he has to be thrown into the top three as well. Pettite is an intreguing candidate, but I like a Cy Young to have lots of K’s…

NL Cy Young – Josh Johnson (9-3, 122 IP, 1.70 ERA, 123K, 0.96 WHIP)

Most people have been picking Ubaldo Jimenez, but I actually have Halladay and Wainwright ahead of Ubaldo at the moment. I’ve never been an advocate of looking at a pitchers record and weighing it like some do with the award. Josh is tops in the league in ERA and WHIP, and opponents BA is a ridiculous .203. This is a WIDE open race, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone that I didn’t even mention winning this award.

AL Rookie of the half – Brennan Boesch (12 HR’s, 48 RBI, .345 BA)

Austin Jackson (Brennan’s teammate) and Neftali Feliz have been subperb rookies this year, but Brennan has been that much better than them. I didn’t really even know who he was before the year started, but have a feeling we will be hearing about him a lot in years to come as he’s a 6’6” 25 year old with tons of potential.

NL Rookie of the half – Jaime Garcia (8-4, 2.17 ERA, 99 2/3 IP, 80 K’s, 1.25 WHIP)

It was a tough call between Jaime and Heyward. I was pretty close to picking Heyward, but since he hasn’t played over the last month I DQ’d him for the moment. It’s going to be a tight race at the end of the season, but if Jason puts up the same numbers he did in the first half, I’m sure he’ll get the award. Tyler Colvin, Gaby Sanchez, and Mike Leake are also playing good enough to garner some attention as well.

Comeback player – Alex Rios (.305/.361/.518, 15 HR, 49 RBI, 23 SB)

As recently as last year I ripped Rios and his former teammate Vernon Wells for having two of the worst contracts in all of baseball. They must’ve read my post and gotten pissed because both are having big seasons. Rios has reformed himself into that potential we always knew he always had, and is on the hottest team in the league right now. If he can keep it up, the Sox could be a lot to deal with in the playoffs, and has made the AL Central more interesting than most would’ve thought a couple months into the season.

13 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 9, 2010

Power Shift in the AL West

By chappy81

Looks like we're moving again kids!

Well, I just posted about David Lee’s jump to the Warriors, so I may as well dedicate today as Lee day, and talk about the Rangers acquisition of Cliff Lee. The Rangers are already 5 1/2 games up on the competition in the standings, and the Angels continue to slide, losing four in a row, and seven of their last ten without their main man Kendry. The power in the west shifted even more today, as Texas acquired Cliff Lee from Seattle for Justin Smoak (2008 first round pick), and four other minor leaguers. The Cliff Lee sweepstakes took a surprising turn when pretty much everyone had him going to the Yankees earlier today. He instead will be heading to Texas in a deal that had to make Nolan Ryan crack a smile. It’s a good move to do it now, so they can get an extra three or four starts out of him instead of waiting all the way to the trade deadline. As a rabid A’s fan, I’m not completely against making our current division leader better, because if there was a team I wanted to win outside of the A’s, it would be the Rangers. Maybe that’s why I picked them in our predictions at the beginning of the year. Their biggest weakness was pitching, and now they have a true ace of their staff that they’ve been missing for so many years. If they get back Rich Harden from the DL after the all-star break, and he is what he used to be with Oakland, they’d have a very solid top of the rotation with Lee, Harden, and Colby Lewis. They might get rocked here and there in the home run friendly confides of Arlington during the dog days of August, but all of these guys know how to pitch when healthy. Does this make the Rangers a contender to win it all? Most would say no, and I’d agree with that, but the way their offense is set up they can beat good pitching, and now acquired one of the best pitchers in the game that will surely give them a win every fifth night. As long as Ron Washington is there, I’ll be rooting for that club to do well, and with some pitching to back up that great offense this deal couldn’t have worked out better for them. Side note, it also feels good to be a Vlad supporter again after he spent so many years on the Angels.

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 9, 2010

Dubs Always Keeping it Interesting…

By chappy81

I wonder if Spike is making a movie of David Lee's free agency experience?!?

Lost in the Lebronapalooza last night was a trade the Warriors made to acquire David Lee. It hasn’t gone through yet, but is supposed to later today. I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t really watched Lee play a whole lot. He was on the Knicks after all, and the Warriors have been more relevant in recent years than them somehow. We gave up Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azabuike, and Ronny Turiaf to get him. I think the Knicks got one hell of a deal on this sign and trade. It might be the first good deal they’ve made in awhile. I have very mixed emotions on the move since the Warriors always trade away their young potential guys, so we have to watch them flourish with their new team. I was VERY sad to see that the prospective new owners weren’t involved at all in this decision. It’s a tough one to swallow since Randolph is only 21, and although he’s turnover prone, gets overly emotional, and disappears at times, he is a fan favorite with limitless potential that anyone who watches him play can see. Plus he was only making $2M, Klenna was making about $3M, and Turiaf was only making about $4M. All are good players to give up that were very cheap to keep, and now we are left with a gaping hole at the 3, since Maggette already was shipped away now we gave up Buike. Are we going to roll with Reggie Williams at the 3? Maybe, and I was pretty high on him last year, but not really in the starting lineup. I was thinking he’d be a solid back up to Buike. It’s probably a fitting way to end the Cohan era, one more guy we lose that will possibly be a mega star in the league given away for a big contract that isn’t coming off the books for awhile that may or may not work out. Most of the players on the Warriors seemed shocked by the trade, but gave us the ol’ quote that “this is a business”. I hope this move wasn’t to try and raise the value of the team, because I don’t see it making the franchise worth more. Since last year was a lost season due to the record number of injuries they suffered, and since they are one of the youngest teams in the league it might have been made hastily. I personally wanted to see this team together for all of next year, and wanted to figure out what this squad had playing with a remotely healthy group for a whole year before we blew them up. We don’t even know what our big guys can and can’t do since they never really played together for an extended period of time, and weren’t healthy for 90% of the season last year. Our PF and C for the last two months were from the D-Leagues, so who even knows if they are good or not the way they were constructed. Continue reading

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 7, 2010

Rumors, Signings, and the Upcoming Lockout

By chappy81

Didn’t pay much attention to the NBA free agency bonanza over the three day weekend (or sports for that matter), but caught up the last couple days on the rumor mill, and it sounds like all the rumors that were swirling on Friday, sound just about the same as they do today. Maybe there’s a little more of the I think so and so is leaning towards staying/going here, but nobody’s opinion is truly relevant, since nobody knows what factors are in play for these guys in making their final decisions so rumors will continue. There was one big commitment over the weekend with Amare Stoudemire agreeing to a five year $100M contract with the Knicks. I think it’s good for the guy, he wasn’t going to get a max deal in Phoenix, so why not go where someone that is willing to dish out the cash! He might not be exactly what they were hoping for, and as MCeezy said, they still aren’t relevant without another big player, but he is as worthy as anyone for a max offer. He’ll probably hold his fantasy value rejoining the anti-defensive D’antoni coached team. They might actually come out of this free agency period a winner depending on what else they get. I’m not going to say I think this was the greatest signing, but it’s far from a bad one as some would have you believe. If he somehow recruits another superstar, then he would be an all-time Knicks without even stepping on the court. It was much better than signing Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay to the “max” deals. I’m starting to wonder where Boozer will land since there are really no rumors about him. I do like the ring of Boozer’s Vodka if he ends up on the Nets. D-Wade and Chris Bosh are going to team up in Miami, just as I predicted. It’s tough to tell how much of a supporting cast they can have with only four players (Chalmers and Beasley) on the roster, but if they really don’t care about the money that much, maybe they’ll be able to bring in another big name.

I found the rumor of Carmelo waiting it out until next year’s free agency to go join Amare in New York as a laughable scenario. Does Melo even really have a choice on waiting it out with the lockout scheduled for next year? He could’ve been part of this free agent frenzy, but chose to take the extra year and some extra cash instead of opening up his 2010 summer. The Baltimore native has lived the rough life, so I don’t see him passing up any guaranteed money. Could he really pass on an extension that would guarantee him close to $20M per year for the next three? I’ll say no. The way money is flying around this summer is going to get even crazier after Lebron makes his choice tomorrow. You may think it already has with contracts like Amir Johnson (5 years $34M), Darko Milicic (4 years $20M), Drew Gooden (4 years $39M), but this summer there will be even more of those unfathomable numbers for guys that are at best bench players, especially if all these big free agents end up staying put. There’s a lot of teams waaay under the cap that were hoping to lure a Lebron or Wade to their city, but all these potential suitors forgot one thing, what if they don’t want to leave and want the extra $20-30M guaranteed that these guys can have tacked onto the last year of their contract in their current cities. So in essence, some teams will be overpaying for guys this summer that aren’t going to change a franchise into an instant contender. I’m thinking Richard Jefferson, Luis Scola, Raymond Felton, and Ray Allen will all eventually get some ridiculous money thrown their way from teams that are desperate to make a splash. They are good, but should only be additions to an already good team not THE addition that makes them a team. Continue reading

17 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

July 1, 2010

Warriors Are Still For Sale…

By chappy81

I’ve had numerous friends over the past month or so ask me about the Warriors sale, and what I thought their plans were going to be for the upcoming free agent bonanza that started today. The answer keeps being “not a whole lot” for both questions. I wanted to get up a post on something related to the sale for awhile now, and haven’t had anything really worthy of reporting to our awesome readers. Unfortunately, the sale process has been about as fast moving as the whole Cohan era, and nothing is going to happen sooner than expected. We originally thought there was a chance that we’d have a new owner in place by July, but now it sounds like we are going to have to wait at least until mid to late August to find out who will try to bring us out of our 15 year misery. As far as the free agency thing goes, we are pretty much going to avoid any possible moves that would make the team better in an effort to end the Cohan era in rightfully disappointing fashion. I guess I didn’t really expect them to do much since most of their money is tied up, but they do have a nice bargaining chip in Monta Ellis to obtain a player that wants to play alongside Curry. I actually don’t care what they do until they have a new owner that WILL clean house. I prey that new owner doesn’t trade away my mancrush, Curry. My dream scenario that I doubt would ever happen, but may as well throw it out there is; Ellis, Biendris (throw in a first round pick) for Gasol and Gay (if Gay goes for the sign and trade since he’s a restricted free agent). This will never happen, and at this point the fans are the only true asset to this franchise, and if possible, Cohan would’ve traded us for cash to the Lakers long ago.

Now, to the sale of the team. From what I’ve read, the nonbinding bid round is over. I wasn’t a fan of this non-binding bid thing, I mean, if I wanted to write $400M on a piece of paper with my name on it, and had sent it to them, that would’ve counted as a bid, which is why I think they had twenty or so bids during that first round. Now that we’ve passed the opening stages, the Warriors have opened up their books for the top four potential owners to look at, and evaluate. I believe all the groups have actually visited Roaracle and taken a tour the facilities. Now that the bidders have seen the books and facilities, they are now submitting binding bids. If there are two close to eachother, I’m sure Cohan will allow those two to punch it out, so he can get his top $ for the team. Here are the top four bidders in the mix, and I have to say I’m heavily rooting for the first two over the last two. Continue reading

12 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

June 30, 2010

Tiger Should’ve Listened to Eddie!

By chappy81

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about Tiger’s record divorce settlement that rewarded his now ex-wife Elin, around $750 million, and is the largest ever dolled out by any athlete. I have to say I think Tiger should’ve listened to Eddie. I don’t know a friend or college student that hasn’t watched Eddie Murphy’s bid at one of the best all time standup routines ever in Raw. His breakdown of marriage and divorce for celebrities is something every celebrity and superstar should learn from. Maybe Tiger was hitting the books too hard at Stanford to have time to watch something that would make him smile. Apparently that was his big loss. He was married in 2004 well after the Tiger slam, and he was on top of the world rolling in money and endorsements. Why wouldn’t he have gotten a prenup knowing his thirst for women was so strong?!? Oh well, live and learn I guess… I’m sure he’ll return to billionaire form before you know it. Now that he’s got a clear mind and conscious, maybe he will start dominating again on the course, and show us FU mode once again. One thing I’d like to see is D-Wade and Tiger throw a big singles party somewhere in Florida. Maybe even at that $80 million Jupiter house that Tiger refused to give to Elin in the settlement!

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Comedy, News, Sports

June 30, 2010

Two Teams that Caught Me Off Guard

By chappy81

Who says money buys you championships!?! Oh yeah, the Yankees, well, there’s two teams that I never would’ve thought would be in first at any point this season let alone in there at the end of June. The Padres and Reds are both in the bottom third of payrolls, and have been pleasant surprises. I doubt anyone outside of their own fan bases would’ve thought either team would be in the hunt when the season started. Okay, maybe a couple people picked the Reds, but were they really confident about those picks? I actually didn’t even expect either of them to be above .500 outside of April, which is why I’ve been so intrigued with their rises out of seemingly nowhere. Every year we have at least one team making the playoffs that didn’t make it the previous year. The way we are heading right now we could see five or six teams make it in that weren’t in the playoffs last year. I feel like we are all waiting for them to fade, and just like Tampa Bay in 2008 we will wait and assume that collapse is coming. Can they prove us all wrong? Maybe. Although I’m not an NL guy, I’ve come to appreciate these two teams for showing me that there are multiple ways to get it done without spending like a billionaire. They both have executed their respective game plans to perfection playing within their means, and sticking to what they are good at to get to the top of their divisions. Sadly only one of these teams will be able to improve at the trade deadline, and I’m preying that the other one doesn’t sell off their stock just to lower the amount going to the ex-wife. Continue reading

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

June 29, 2010

The Free Agent Summit…. YAWN

By chappy81

It’s been reported once again by ESPN that the free agent summit was in full effect. This time it reportedly has taken place over the past weekend with Lebron, D-Wade, and Bosh all connecting in Miami (to read the whole groundbreaking article click here). I guess this is news. I’m sure they got a lot accomplished. I mean, do these guys really even know what teams will offer them? They probably generally know about what each team can offer them, but won’t know officially until they go and visit the teams on or after July 1st. I find it funny that this whole meeting is being covered so heavily, it must be really slow in the sports world. I like what Chris Broussard and Marc Stein came up with as their conclusions in this article. They reported that Lebron is interested in joining Miami, and so is Chris Bosh, shocking I know. They also reported that Bosh and Lebron could go to Chicago… you don’t say, I haven’t even heard that scenario! Oh wait a minute, they also said that Lebron could stay in Cleveland. Wholly crap this is groundbreaking stuff guys! They also said that Wade has meeting scheduled with the Nets and Knicks, wholly crap, I think all the top free agents have meeting with those two teams! It sounds like they accomplished a lot over the weekend having this trio of stars meet up in Miami. I mean seriously, what could they have talked about. Hey guys, who wants to take less money so all three of us can play together? Nobody, okay, so which two of us get to play together? Oh, I guess we can’t really make that decision either without knowing what contracts these teams want to give us… Good talk guys hopefully one of you picks the same team as me! Honestly, why did they even need to meet up? Why not just jump on a conference call or skype it? This whole summit idea grinds my gears! Maybe not so much that the players met, but the fact that it has to dominate the newswires today.

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June 25, 2010

Big Z Blowup

By chappy81

I always find crazy players the most fun to follow, especailly when they aren’t causing problems on my own team(s). Maybe that’s why I’ve followed guys like Milton, Artest, and SJax so closely over their career, because they will provide you some entertainment, and plenty of WTF moments if you watch them enough. Earlier today in a game that’s still going on, Big Z gave up four runs in the first, and was taken out of the game after getting in the face of one of my favorite guys in the league, Derrek Lee (If you’re curious why he’s one of my favorites read this post) and pretty much anyone else that was in the dugout. I’m with the annoucers on this, I’d love to see D Lee and Big Z in the octagon!  I had to get something Cubs related up for Dyslecix’s birthday today, too bad it ended up being a lowlight… Don’t be shocked if the video gets taken down… I’ve already talked about how the MLB copywright laws grind my gears…

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June 23, 2010

NBA Mock Draft Part II

By chappy81

So, MCeezy did a NBA mock draft right after the ping pong balls fell into place a month ago. He may have been less than impressed with the results for our beloved Kings and Warriors since we unsurprisingly fell spots instead of moved up, so we needed to put up another one after cooler heads prevailed. We traded off picks for this mock draft 2.0, and here’s what we came up with.

#1 Washington Wizards – John Wall, SG, Kentucky – No surprise here. Washington isn’t even trying to create any suspense with this pick. Check out Bullets Forever…. it’s like he’s a member of the team already. Not sure how he’ll fit with Arenas, but something tells me Washington management is saying, “Gilbert who?”

#2 Philadelphia 76ers – Derrick Favors, PF, Georgia Tech – Philly passes on Turner, mainly because they couldn’t find anyone to trade out of the spot. If they take Turner they pretty much have to trade him or AI. Not sure which they’d rather have, so they take Favors as the safer more sane big man on the board. He put up numbers with nobody around him, so we will see if he can do the same with nobody around him in the NBA.

#3 New Jersey Nets – Evan Turner, SG, Ohio State – If Chappy, er, the Sixers, decide to go with Favors, then Turner at the third spot is a no brainer. New Jersey is set at the PG and C spot, a luxury most teams would love to have, but they’re still in need of help. They dealt Chris Douglas-Roberts, who was looking like their third best player, for pennies on the dollar, so that leaves a sizeable gap out on the wing. (Sizeable Gap = not to be confused with Yi Jianlian)

#4 Minnesota Timberwolves – Wesley Johnson, SF, Syracuse – Honestly he doesn’t really excite me. I’ve had a few people tell me he’s going to be a great pro, but still find that hard to grasp. Sure he’s an NBA style athlete, but does that really make him worth the number four pick? I say yes, only because I’m channeling my inner David Kahn.

#5 Sacramento Kings – Greg Monroe, PF, Georgetown – Now that Yahoo is reporting it, everyone expects the Kings to go with Cousins at the fifth spot. But the Maloofs would never show their cards before the flop. As much of an upside as Cousins has, I still think Jason Thompson is the power forward of the future in Sacramento. Memories of Vlade Divac and Brad Miller dropping backdoor dimes are too much to ignore to pass up a guy like Monroe. Plus I predicted it in my knee-jerk mock back in May. I know they just got Dalembert, but the Lakers were dominating the boards with Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. Three bigs is the way to go these days.

#6 Golden State Warriors – Demarcus Cousins, PF, Kentucky – If he’s not in shape, he will surely get into shape soon running with the dubs. Needing size is an understatement for them, and if he’s available at six, why not take the 280 pound big man that probably only fell because he’s a headcase. I think the Warriors know plenty about having headcases on their teams (SJax). There is the possibility they might even trade the pick to save a few bucks like they did with their 2nd round pick ($2M in the bank for Cohan). I remember a guy named Charles Barkley that was overweight coming into the league, and he turned out pretty good!

#7 Detroit Pistons – Hassan Whiteside, C, Marshall – Let’s face it, the Pistons are not known for their drafting. Darko Milicic will forever be the Sam Bowie pick of the franchise… and last year’s selection of Austin Daye isn’t doing much to help their case. I know Detroit seems sold on Ed Davis, but I can’t help but think they’ll blow their load on Whiteside to hold down the paint. They’ve got plenty of perimeter scoring, so it seems inevitable they’ll look for a big man here.

#8 Los Angele Clippers – Al-Farouq Aminu, SF, Wake Forrest – The Clippers seem pretty set at most positions, but they do have a hole at the SF spot. I guess picking Aminu means they won’t be going after Lebron, since they now have their newest franchise player.

#9 Utah Jazz – Epke Udoh, PF, Baylor – It’s no secret Utah is looking for a replacement for Boozer, who probably has his Salt Lake home on the market – if it isn’t sold already. Though they have Paul Millsap in tow, Epke Udoh seems too hard to pass up here. What they really need to find is a replacement for Kyle Korver – if they intend to let him walk.

#10 Indiana Pacers – Ed Davis, PF, North Carolina – Lots of potential with Davis. If there was a PG out there that was worth a pick this high, they probably would’ve taken him, but they have so many needs they may as well beef up since Murphy and Hibbert aren’t going to dominate the paint anytime ever.

#11 New Orleans Hornets – Paul George, SF, Fresno State – A lot of “credible sources” have George going to the Clippers. But, now that they’ve passed him up for Aminu, New Orleans has one glaring need, and that’s a slasher out on the wing. Whether or not Paul gets traded, they have plenty of capable PGs. Add to that Okafor, West, and Stojakovic, and there’s only one clear spot to fill.

#12 Memphis Grizzlies – Luke Babbit, SF, Nevada – The Grizz need some scoring. I’m not sure Babbit is the answer, since Hayward and Bradley are still on the board, but Luke has improved a ton over his two years in college. I don’t see why his work ethic wouldn’t translate into success in the NBA, so why not pair him with OJ on the wing.

#13 Toronto Raptors – Cole Alrich, C, Kansas – Aldrich is the guy nobody seeks, but can’t pass up. With Bosh’s departure a foregone conclusion, Toronto will need to get bigger down low. Since “Big Country” has already been taken, the Raptors will call on “Big Plain” out of Kansas to be their cornerstone down low.

#14 Houston Rockets – Gordon Hayward, SF, Butler – As By wrote, he could be the steal of the draft. I honestly don’t see him making quite as big of an impact, but still think he should be a solid player. I see him more as a JJ Reddick type, that comes off the bench to launch a few threes. It will be nice for Brooks to have someone to pass to other than Ariza.

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June 22, 2010

Maggette Shipped Out To the Bucks

By chappy81

Just days after the Warriors traded down in the second round to pick up an extra two million bucks, they decided today was the real day to make some money, errr, not spend some at least. Today they traded away one of Stephen Curry’s favorite teammates to Milwaukee, Corey Maggette. I’m not really thrilled or upset by the move, it’s just something that happened. I just hope one day Corey can achieve his real goal in life out in Milwaukee, and start talking to pigeons. The only reason I don’t like it, is because Curry openly said he leaned on Maggette during his rough first season that saw hundreds of injuries to the team, the Stephen Jackson trade demand fiasco, and Monta saying that they couldn’t play together. In the end, it’s probably better to get rid of a guy that’s very accustomed to losing everywhere he’s gone. I don’t hate Maggs like some Warriors fans do, because I never felt like he wasn’t playing hard (insert SJax comment), and he really only has one move (drive to the right and get a foul called or fling up a wild layup), but he gives you all the effort he has for better or worse.

The Warriors gave the Bucks the 44th pick in Thursdays draft along with Maggette for Charlie Bell and Dan Gradzuric (aka. poo poo platter). I see both of these new additions looking good in the new logoed jerseys, and can look forward to them jumping right into Nellie’s doghouse the same way Vlad Radmovic, Crawford, Harrington, and Randolph seemed to be able to find so easily. It’s not hard to see that this was yet another salary dump that the Warriors have made a habit out of making under it’s current apathetic regime. They will save about $15M contract wise not having to pay Maggette over the next three seasons. I’d probably care a little more, but my attention has been focused more on the painfully slow sale of the team. I can’t even really get excited about the draft since there are supposedly five impact players, and the Warriors are picking out of the lucky sixth spot. Maybe we should listen to By and just take Hayward twenty spots too early tomorrow. I don’t think I can get excited about anything dealing with the Warriors until I see we have a new owner in place though, and at this pace it could take longer than BP oil spill fiasco. All I know is, building for the future isn’t really the plan for the dubs no matter what the PR is pushing, it’s really a situation of who can we dump, and how much can we save so Chris Cohan can whittle down that debt he owes to the IRS…

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