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October 12, 2011

When I’m Wrong I Say I’m Wrong….

By mceezy

A little while back I expressed my disdain over the Denver sentiment that Tim Tebow should be their starting quarterback. I understood their desire to see their entertaining young player make some plays on the field, but at the same time, I knew Kyle Orton was the safe bet to run the Broncos’ offense. This past weekend, since the 49ers were blowing out the Buccaneers, I caught a good majority of the Denver-San Diego game, and in the second half, it was clear that it was Tebow time. Down 16, Tebow made an immediate impact when called upon. All would agree that Tebow can make plays with his feet, but most would argue that that’s not a recipe for success in the NFL. I too knew Tebow could scramble with the best of em, but his arm actually impressed me in the extended time I got to see him play. After he scored a TD on his first drive with his legs, Tebow made an amazing throw on the two-point conversion attempt to Brandon Lloyd. Even though commentator Rich Gannon was able to pick Tebow’s fundamentals apart, I thought it was a perfect throw. Lloyd was nearly able to pull it in, and much credit has to be given to the defender for breaking it up. Even though Knowshon Moreno was primarily responsible for the Broncos’ next score, Timmy T led another solid drive downfield. Tebow also made some solid throws on the failed attempt to tie the game though time expired on Denver’s final drive. The bottom line is, Tim Tebow gives the Broncos just as much of a chance to win as Kyle Orton did, but brings a lot more potential for amazingness. So for that, I eat my words. I warned Denver fans to be careful what they wished for, but now I’m on board. It’s kind of like Occupy Wall Street. At first I was skeptical, but now that I see the possibilities, I’m on board. Consider me a part of Occupy Mile High.

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

October 11, 2011

Free Phoenix Jones, A Different Kind of Justice

By mceezy

I’ve never heard of this guy, or any of his cohorts, but apparently there’s a Kickass-esque band of superheroes fighting crime in Seattle. None of these superheroes have criminal justice degrees or any formal training as officers. Naturally, the police are threatened by the prospect of anyone doing a better job than they do, so it’s no surprise that Phoenix Jones was arrested for assault for pepper-spraying some people. Fortunately for him, the incident was captured on video. Unfortunately for him, the police appear to stubborn to accept what is shown in the video. Jones contends he was breaking up a fight. The police say the people were dancing. Typical. The video is a little shaky, but it looks more like a fight than dancing. Considering one guy was on the ground and people scattered as soon as Jones arrived on the scene. Why would people run away if they were just dancing? At the very least, the video clearly shows that Jones wasn’t just pepper-spraying people for no reason. He was the one being assaulted. God only knows what would have happened in the 20+ minutes it took police to show up.

Phoenix Jones Stops Assault from Ryan McNamee on Vimeo.

4 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in News

October 8, 2011

Doin Tributes: Al Davis

By mceezy

AL DAVIS MADE ME A RAIDERS FAN. Unlike Chappy, who’s been a lifelong Raiders fan, I grew up a San Francisco 49ers fan. Although our family roots are in Oakland, the Raiders moved to Los Angeles the year I was born, so the 49ers were my home team. Even when the Raiders moved back to the Bay Area in the mid-90s, I was still loyal to the Niners. It was somewhere around 1999 or 2000 that I got fed up. The York family seemed poised to run the franchise into the ground, and meanwhile, across the Bay, the Raiders were trying everything they could to build a winner. Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m far from a fairweather fan. But when a front office isn’t even concerned with the team on the field, and is more focused on the financial side of things, it gets a little frustrating. Being a Northern California sports fan means rarely landing that coveted free agent. They usually go somewhere else with more money. But Al Davis made the Raiders the exception. Perhaps they were often castoffs from other teams, but Al Davis went out and got big time football players for one reason, to just win baby. He was bringing in guys like Warren Sapp and Randy Moss. (Yes, I know they didn’t really work out). He’s faced more criticism than few other sports owners have, and has come under a lot of fire lately due to a string of coaching changes. To me, though, I saw an owner who cared enough to make a move when it needed to be made. As the primary face of the Raiders over the years, he probably had more haters out there than any owner, most of whom people didn’t even know existed. It was impossible to not know who Al Davis was. Especially now that he’s passed, we all know he hired the first black head coach, the first latino head coach, and the first woman CEO in sports. It was his commitment to winning though (I wouldn’t call it ‘excellence’), that made me a fan. Owners who care about winning more than the bottom line are becoming few and far between. His brash style alienated many, and I wouldn’t even say I was a fan of Al Davis. But, Al Davis made things happen. Al Davis MADE me a Raiders fan.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

October 4, 2011

What Would Stern Do? – MLB Edition

By mceezy

Uh oh, the Yankees are on the brink of elimination tonight. To make matters worse, they’re sending AJ Burnett to the mound. Fortunately Major League Baseball is the least corrupt of the professional sports leagues. I can’t help but wonder, though, if NBA Commissioner David Stern was running MLB. First, they wouldn’t even be in this predicament in the first place. Why? Because the Red Sox would be in the playoffs right now. Remember that wild, amazing 162nd night of baseball we all had last Wednesday night? It never would’ve happened in the NBA since Stern would have made sure all the dollar signs associated with the Red Sox got in rather than the one dollar sign next to the Tampa Bay Rays. However, put in the position MLB is now, with the Yankees on the brink of elimination, and I know the NBA front office would be going crazy. We’d be in store for some of the worst umpiring ever witnessed tonight (we still may be). Here are some measures I would put in place tonight if I were David Stern (besides jumping in front of a train for the greater good of humanity)….

  • AJ Burnet suspended for insert prior incident here – This is quite simple. Dig up some prior incident on Burnett’s criminal record – surely he has one – and have someone close to the situation go public with it. There has to be an ex-girlfriend out there who can re-hash an old domestic altercation. Suspend Burnett, force the Yankees to start someone else, thus improving their chances of winning.
  • Exercise the Bartman Clause – Ever think back to the Bartman incident and think, “Hey, that would have been an out if it were the other team.”? Be it financial or something else, find a way to entice Detroit fans to reach over the wall. If they snag a ball out of play off a Tiger’s bat, then it’s an out. If a Yankee player hits it, give him a do over. This would really give New York a fair unfair advantage.
  • Humidor in the Yankee clubhouse – Oh man, this one makes David Stern drool! Unfortunately for him, it’d be impossible to make each team play with two different balls. Otherwise, he’d have done it in a heartbeat. In baseball, it can be pulled off. If I am Tigers player, I’m making sure to grab a ball while I’m at bat, and also grab one in the field, and then run scientific tests on it afterward. No big league player is going to do that though, so this move could be easily pulled off undetected.
  • Call more fouls – I know there’s no fouls in baseball (aside from foul balls), but one thing the NBA is really good at is star treatment. Fouls on Lebron James aren’t fouls on Lou Amundson. Let’s do the same thing in Major League Baseball. It’s true that supertstars already get special treatment. Look no further than Derek Jeter’s final at-bat last night in the 9th inning. Valvered threw a pitch for a ball that would have undoubtedly been called strike three against 99% of player. But let’s take it a step further. Let’s penalize other players for imeding the stars’ performance. Remember when A’s pitcher Dallas Braden told Alex Rodriguez to stay the f*** off his mound? Toss him! It’s the postseason now. The stakes are higher. If Porcello comes inside on Cano, throw him out of the game! There’s a good chance you can get Leyland out of there too.

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

October 1, 2011

Best Baseball Teams On Film

By mceezy

On the heels of one hell of an introduction to the MLB Postseason, a lot of us have received the shot in the arm we needed to get captivated by baseball in the form of a dramatic 162nd day of the regular season. Even though the A’s failed to qualify for the postseason for the fifth straight year, my season isn’t quite over yet. Today I’ll finally be heading out to the theater to check out the new Billy Beane flick, “Moneyball.” I’m really curious, and in some ways scared, to see how I feel about it. The movie looks great on paper. A-List actors, well-respected writers, and a critically acclaimed director make it an immediate favorite to win the World Series of baseball movies. Even the reviews are pretty much nothing but solid. I’ve even heard the word OSCAR tossed around. But I’m scared to get my hopes up to high for a movie I’m about to see, let alone one about my beloved A’s.  I’ve found over the years, that the way I feel about the team is reflective of the way I feel about the movie, and vice versa. So, I’m especially curious to see how I digest Moneyball, which documents the 2002 season, which will forever be etched in stone in my memory. I went to somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 games that year, including the historic 20th win in a row, as well as the game 2 victory over Boston in the ALDS (Dyslecix and I left the Coliseum with little doubt that this series was a wrap). For that reason, I expect plenty of goosebumps as some of Hollywood’s finest reenact some of my most memorable A’s moments. Every clip of the movie I’ve watched so far has looked pretty bad. I didn’t see The Social Network or Capote, so I don’t really know what to expect when it comes to screenplay and directing. All I can hope for is that the movie doesn’t change the way I feel about the A’s. If anything, I’m worried it’ll make me long for the good ol’ days when my team was a winner. We’ll know, though, if that happens, then the movie was a success. In the meantime, I’m going to take a look at other famous movies about a particular MLB Baseball team and see how it helped form opinion – either about the team or the movie….

Minnesota Twins: Little Big League – I’ve always been neutral on the Twins. On the one hand, they’re a fellow low-budget, moneyball-type team. On the other team, they seem to pop up against the A’s in the playoffs every few years. I love this movie though, for two reasons. The fella who plays Lou is Timothy Busfield, who’s from Sacramento. Even more impressive is that Billy Heywood is played by Luke Edwards. Many of us remember him as the little brother of Fred Savage in the classic Nintendo film, The Wizard. Few of us remember him as the title role in the based-on-a-true-story, I Know My First Name Is Steven.

Chicago Cubs: Rookie Of The Year – The only way you don’t love this movie is if you’re over 30. Otherwise, you dreamed of breaking your arm and magically being able to throw 105 mph. This movie always reminds of a relaxing weekend day, probably because that’s always when it’s on TV. It’s also probably because it’s about the Cubs, so all of the game footage is during the day. People often fail to make the connection between Henry Rowengartner and Kevin from American Pie, but overall, he was good in this movie – except when he struck a guy out and said, “Kewl!” The Cubs have been scouring the Little Leagues ever since, and have yet to find a pitcher as good as Rowengartner.

Cleveland Indians: Major League I & II – I probably would have liked the Indians no matter what, since my best childhood friend’s cousin was the manager of the team from 1991-1999. Even if that weren’t the case, I’d always be a closet Indian fan thanks to the Major League movies. Know what else? I probably would have never picked them to go to the World Series this year either if it weren’t for these movies.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Sandlot – I’m pulling this one out of my ass here. I’ve seen most of the Sandlot a thousand times, but mostly on TV, and therefore rarely in its entirety. So, if I’m wrong about the kid ending up on the Dodgers, please forgive me. But if it’s true, it’s only fitting that one of that classic group of kids ended up on a good team. I liked the Sandlot gang and I like the Dodgers (with the exception of 1988)

New York Yankees: *61, Pride Of The Yankees, The Scout – For all the movies about the Yankees, I don’t think I’ve seen any of them. That’s pretty reflective of real-life, where I have a vague grasp of Yankees history, but haven’t really made the effort to get to know all the facts.

Anaheim Angels of California: Angels In The Outfield – Don’t like the Angels. Never saw the movie. Looks like a pretty star-studded cast with Danny Glover, Tony Danza, Christopher Lloyd, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Adrien Brody, and Matthew McConaughey. I’m still not gonna go and watch it though. My life seems to be better without the Angels around.

Boston Red Sox: Fever Pitch – I gave this movie a chance, because I thought it would at least be entertaining. Negative feelings about Boston aside, this movie was so bad, so bad, so bad. If this movie was about my favorite team I would stop liking them. I’m trying to picture the Oakland version of this movie, but all that comes to mind is Poetic Justice…

Detroit Tigers: For The Love Of The Game – I’ve never seen this, but it stars Kevin Costner, so perhaps I’m better off steering clear. I know of one friend who swears this is a great movie, but she’s a Red Sox fan, so perhaps I’m better off steering clear.

San Francisco Giants: A League Of Their Own – Tom Hanks plays Bruce Bochy in this touching film about a bunch of women who came together to build a winner. Geena Davis stars as Buster Posey, and Madonna shines as pitcher Matt Cain. Lori Petty scored a breakthrough performance in her role as Tim Lincecum. But perhaps the star of the show was Rosie O’Donnell as Pablo Sandoval. The physical resemblence is out of this world.

Oakland Athletics: Moneyball – TO BE DETERMINED…..

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Movies, Sports

September 27, 2011

Romo The Scapegoat

By mceezy

I must admit, I didn’t catch much sports this weekend. Why? If I may quote the movie Grandma’s Boy, “maybe it’s cause I was with THREE chicks!” I missed the majority of sports this weekend while road-tripping 1,000 miles through Northern California, Nevada, and Oregon. After I returned, I was able to catch the Monday Night Football matchup between the Redskins and Cowboys. Despite a Cowboys win, Tony Romo has come under fire for everything from poor decision making to yelling at teammates, from not caring to wearing his hat backwards. The Cowboys are 2-1 after wins over the 49ers and Redskins, so why is Tony Romo taking so much heat the day after? The first thing I can defend is yelling at his center after his FOURTH bad snap of the game. If Tom Brady did that, he’d be called a leader. Romo, though, is a bad teammate. If my coworkers weren’t 40 and 50-something women, I’d be doing the same thing. He also makes bad decisions. True, that’s been his MO, but THEY WON THE GAME. He doesn’t care. Well, if he didn’t care, he wouldn’t be yelling at his teammate for making crucial mental errors. Lastly, he wears his hat backwards. If I had the time and resources, I’d list every other QB who’s been spotted donning a backwards cap. Since I can’t, I’ll simply suggest that maybe he’s trying to observe the game better. After all, how can you see the entire field with a hat bill obstructing your view? I’d be the first in line to harp on the Cowboys, but what about all the other QB’s who have a sub-.500 record? Michael Vick complained that he’s being targeted and he’s catching less heat than Romo. Who’s talking about Donovan McNabb or Matt Cassell? Nobody. I’m not sure when Tony Romo became the most ridiculed QB in the NFL, but can’t we at least wait until Dallas isn’t playing well???

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

September 19, 2011

Moneyball Movie Premiere Recap

By mceezy

Unfortunately my invitation got lost in the mail somewhere, surely, so I wasn’t in attendance for the movie premiere of “Moneyball” in Oakland tonight. Therefore, I couldn’t really recap it any better than the San Francisco Chronicle. Here’s some highlights…

Brad Pitt, Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin were among those on the red carpet at the Paramount Theater in Oakland on Monday evening as “Moneyball,” the movie based on A’s general manager Billy Beane and the 2002 Oakland team, made its national premiere.

“It’s very cool,” Pitt said as he paused on the carpet to speak to two Bay Area papers. “We’ve been gearing up for this viewing for a long time. This is a special screening for us.

“The people of Oakland gave such a great response. They stayed up with us for hours on end to tape the baseball scenes and never lost energy. We see a lot of fans from the ’02 season. It’s just special.”

Having played Beane in a movie, Pitt disclosed that he now follows Oakland, and he said, “I feel a bit romantic about the A’s.”

Another of the major actors, Chris Pratt, has a less than storied baseball background. Pratt, who plays first baseman Scott Hatteberg, said he has not hit a home run at any level, including T-ball, and in the movie, Pratt, a right-handed hitter, must bat lefty. Through the magic of cinema, his homer gives the A’s their record 20th consecutive victory.

Pratt nails Hatteberg’s preparations at the plate, and he accurately captures Hatteberg’s joyous trip around the bases on the game-winning homer.

“None of it was spontaneous,” Pratt said. “That was the one physicality that I really spent a ton of time trying to mimic exactly.”

High-powered baseball agent Scott Boras walked the red carpet, and though he’s called a bad name in “Moneyball,” he described the movie as “great for baseball.”

*Other observations from the Moneyball premiere: Jonah Hill is HELLA skinny. Philip Seymour Hoffman looks like Sandy Lyle again.

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

September 15, 2011

Be Careful What You Wish For, Broncos Fans

By mceezy

I really don’t get the Coup d’eTebow going on out in Denver. Well, I do, but I don’t get how some fans can be so disillusioned to think that replacing Kyle Orton with Tim Tebow would turn the Broncos around. I wasn’t going to chime in when the fans were already chanting Te-bow in the season opener, but now I hear some wealthier fans are actually taking up billboards.  I don’t think the Broncos front office is trying to keep Tebow off the field. All the chatter at the beginning of training camp was that he would be the starter. Then he fell to number 2, then to 2B, next to Brady Quinn. Clearly Tebow played his way off the field. Surely the front office would LOVE to put their most marketable player out their on the field. Shoot, if he played even with Kyle Orton, they’d probably give him the nod. Obviously, playing Tebow is simply not a good football decision. It’d be like out here in Sacramento, if the NBA season ever starts, and the Kings weren’t playing Jimmer Fredette (which won’t happen). Fans would react the same, EXCEPT, they’d be smart enough NOT to call for him to play over Tyreke Evans. Fortunately in basketball it’s different and they can play together.

I got quite a heavy dose of Kyle Orton this past week, since the Broncos were opening the season against the Oakland Raiders. True, he can leave a little to be desired at times, but what I kept thinking to myself – especially in the second half, when the Te-Bow chants ridiculously started chiming on from the Mile High Crowd – was, would Tebow be making the plays that Orton isn’t? Not once did I say yes. The bad throws by Orton, I couldn’t see Tebow threading the needle any better. And even though Orton was sacked five times, Tebow, despite his well-documented scrambling skills, would not have evaded ANY of them. It’s not as though Orton was dancing around in the pocket getting chased down by 300 pounders. The Raiders defensive line (which I’m going to start calling the best in the NFL pretty soon) was simply bullrushing through the Broncos’ offensive line. Orton didn’t even have time to SEE them. What’s Tebow going to do in that situation?! I guess Denver fans want to find out. One day they probably will, and that’ll be the day the Tebow billboards will come down. Let’s just hope there’s a good-humored fan out there who’ll have the cash to replace it with a “IN with Quinn” billboard.

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

September 13, 2011

Doin NFL Week 1 Power Rankings

By mceezy

1. Green Bay Packers – They played on the biggest stage of Week One and arguably put on the greatest show. The defending champs opened the season with a win over one of their primary challengers. The throne is theirs until someone knocks them off.

2. Baltimore Ravens -Wow, I’m on board with the Ravens after watching their dismantling of the Steelers to kick off the NFL Sunday season. Lewis, Suggs, and Reed all look like they’re still the same age as they have been the last 8 years. Who’s gonna stop the Ravens in the AFC?

3. Philadelphia Eagles – It looked like they were going be an average team for the first 20 minutes or so of their game against the Rams, but in the second half particularly, the Eagles showed they should have no problem living up to expectations as an elite team in the NFL this year.

4. New England Patriots – I watched the game with a couple of New England natives, and at one point I actually said, “I feel like the Pats promised someone they’d keep the game close.” That’s what it felt like. Even when they weren’t dominating the scoreboard, they were in control of the Dolphins the entire game. As usual, that’s how they’ll look for thirteen or fourteen of their games this year.

5. San Diego Chargers – The Chargers, thanks to their schedule, have every opportunity to start no worse than 4-1. They weren’t particularly overpowering in their defeat of Minnesota, but they capitalized on Donovan McNabb’s existence.
6.Chicago Bears – No one gave them a chance to win the opener against Atlanta. So, even though it’s just one win, it’s a win over another NFC contender that may prove valuable when it comes to playoff seeding.

7. San Francisco 49ers – Jim Harbaugh notched his first win as an NFL head coach. I’m not sure where the credit should lie, since the Niners didn’t do any one thing special. But anytime you can get 2 returns for TDs from Ted Ginn, I’m sure you like your odds

8. Washington Redskins – Washington took advantage of an injury-riddled Giants team and an uninspired Eli Manning. Rex Grossman was the better QB on Sunday, and the Redskins notched a much needed division win.

9. New Orleans Saints – Brees and co. didn’t disappoint, but the ground game was pretty painful. Not sure if it had anything to do with Reggie Bush, but I expected bigger things from the trio of Thomas, Ingram, and Sproles. There’s no shame in losing to the defending Super Bowl champs though.

10. Atlanta Falcons – Maybe it was just one game, but the Falcons did NOT look good in their opener. The offense is supposed to be their strength, so 12 points isn’t going to cut it – especially when your defense is going to give up 30 points to the likes of the Bears.

11. Buffalo Bills – So far the Bills have one more win than a lot people predicted they would have. Beating the Chiefs is no accomplishment, but putting up 41 points on offense is more than enough to get recognized. Especially when you do it with guys like Fitzpatrick, Jackson, and Johnson.

12. Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals are only this high because most people picked them to be at the bottom of the league. I don’t think they’re going to be as bad as many predict though. Granted, their victory came at the expense of the Browns, so we won’t go pumping them up into the top ten just yet.

13. Detroit Lions – Matthew Stafford threw for 305 yards and 3 TDs leading the Lions to a week one win over a Tampa Bay team that was over .500 last year. The talent seems to finally be there in Detroit, but can they put it all together?

14. New York Giants – Expectations were fairly low after injuries ripped through the Giants roster in the preseason, but no one really expected them to lose to the Redskins. Lucky for them, the Cowboys couldn’t pull off the win against the Jets, so it won’t be too lonely at the bottom of the NFC East just yet.

15. New York Jets – Mark Sanchez doesn’t set the world on fire, but he seems to come through in the clutch more often than not, which is exactly the opposite of the guy he beat this weekend in Tony Romo. This didn’t look like the team that got to the AFC Championship game, but they didn’t look too bad either. 

16. Houston Texans – I’m not sure if the Texans won, or the Colts lost because they didn’t have their captain of the ship running the show, but they did win in convincing fashion. This could be their year to reign supreme in that division.

17. Miami Dolphins – Miami put up a respectable fight agains the Patriots Monday night, but they never really threatened to win the game. Not when you rely on Chad Henne to make throws, or Reggie Bush to be your primary back. He came out of the gates hard and then ran out of gas 4 min into the game! At one point, the Dolphins seemed like they were handcuffed – forced to throw exclusively at Brandon Marshall just to keep his evil personality from coming out.

18. Oakland Raiders – At the time Janikowski put his name in the NFL record books for his 63 yard field goal, it didn’t seem like that would be the difference in the game as the Raiders were dominating the Broncos. Still they have way too many penalties to consider them a contender just yet.

19. Jacksonville Jaguars – The Luke McCown era begins with a win, as the Save Jack Del Rio season gets underway. Home games against teams like the Titans are the ones the Jags will need to stay afloat this season.

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Hopes are high this season for the Bucs coming off an impressive 2010 campaign. Kicking off the year with a home loss to the Lions will kill all that noise real quick…

21. Minnesota Vikings – Oh man, are we witnessing one of the greatest, fastest falls from the elite ranks of an athlete this decade? Where does this rank on the Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Ken Griffey, or Tiger Woods scale? Donovan McNabb threw for 39 yards in his Vikings debut. His first pass was  an interception that led to a San Diego TD.

22. St Louis Rams – Expectations are fairly high for Sam Bradford and the Rams, but no one can overlook their ridiculous schedule. They put up a decent (albeit futile) fight against Philadelphia, but things don’t appear to be looking up, as Steven Jackson will miss at least the next week, and Bradford has a banged up right index finger.

23. Cleveland Browns – The loser of the Cleveland-Cincinnati matchup gets an automatic invite to the bottom three in the league. Add the fact that they lost at home. But they were able to move the ball a bit, and managed to put 17 points on the board.

24. Tennessee Titans – The wannabe highest paid player in football rushed for 24 yards on 9 carries, and so went the Titans offense. They struggled to move the ball in a 16-14 loss to Jacksonville

25. Pittsburgh Steelers – They sure didn’t look like a team ready to go to war in week 1. It was more like the U.S. (Baltimore) taking on some third world country  with rocks as weapons in a war. It looked over by halftime as mistake after mistake happened to them. Maybe they got them all out in this opener…

26. Arizona Cardinals – The Panthers gave them all they could handle, but Kolb looked really good in his first game as a red bird. He better be good if they are going to be in shootouts with against a QB making his first start. I have very little confidence in this team going forward, because they need to make some major adjustments on defense.

27. Indianapolis Colts – Poor Indy. They’ve fallen so far in just one week of football. I’d like to see them go out and get someone not named Kerry Col lins. I feel like nobody in the locker room trusts the guy, and why should they?

28. Carolina Panthers – Wow, was Cam impressive. I couldn’t tell if it was terrible defense on Arizona’s part or if he was really tearing them up. Either way it looks like Carolina picked a heckuva player with the #1 pick this year. 

29. Seattle Seahawks – Losing to the 49ers in the fashion they did is reason for plenty of pessimism in Seattle. Despite lackluster performances from Alex Smith and Frank Gore, the Seahawks suffered a 33-17 defeat in San Francisco. At least none of their fans got shot.

30. Denver Broncos – They battled the Raiders, but never really looked like they could win the game. It was awesome to hear the crowd chant for Tebow at the end of the game. Maybe it was because they had no running game!?!

31. Dallas Cowboys – You didn’t think they’d be high on these rankings did you? Romo seems to do everything possible wrong in the moment. Maybe he tries too hard to make the big play, but he never makes the right one. They’ve got talent, but there’s many areas they need to improve on, like conditioning. They looked winded down the stretch this weekend.

32. Kansas City Chiefs – Yikes, losing by 36 to the Bills!?! If you thought they took a step in the right direction last season, then this must be three steps backwards. Getting blown out by those proportions and getting beat in every phase of the games lands you last in the ol power rankings!

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

September 7, 2011

Moscoso Def

By mceezy

You wanna dance? Guillermo Moscoso’ll make you dance. Well, half the time. Like Chappy and I determined earlier today, he’s either lights out, or gets lit up. Today he was on fire though. Neither of us caught the game, since it was a weekday day game, but we both certainly kept up on it. Oakland A’s pitcher, Guillermo Moscoso carried a perfect game into the 6th, and a no-hitter deep into the 8th. Apparently today’s start, coupled with his last start against Seattle, set an Oakland record with 30 consecutive batters retired. On paper, he didn’t appear to be particularly dominating. He struck out just four and had a ground ball to fly ball ratio of 3 : 19. But an outstanding performance is outstanding regardless of how it looks. And while the game itself doesn’t have much significance for the A’s for this season, Moscoso is looking more like yet another Oakland young player that, with a full season’s work, can help carry the team back into contention next year.

Highlights….

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_07_kcamlb_oakmlb_1&mode=video

 

3 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

September 6, 2011

Was Garrard The Face Of The Jaguars’ Franchise?

By mceezy

Perhaps it’s a sign of nothing else going on, but the top story out of the NFL today was the release of quarterback David Garrard by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Some are wondering how it will affect the Jags’ locker room. Others are wondering if it was poor timing, just five days before the regular season begins. I can’t speculate on how they’ll fare with Luke McCown under center, because quite frankly, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Luke McCown and Josh McCown, or even Cade McNown for that matter. The question I keep asking myself today is, is David Garrard the face of the franchise for Jacksonville. Your first instinct is probably to say, without a shadow of a doubt, NO. But when you dig a little deeper, you might realize that Garrard had a pretty good run with the Jags. They’ve really only had three quarterbacks in franchise history, and Garrard was the second longest tenured of the three. But that itself may be an indication that the longest tenured QB, Mark Brunell, may in fact be the answer to this question. There’s actually two other guys who you’d have to put ahead of Garrard as well, and there’ll be another in the next year or two. So forgive me when I say I never really considered Garrard to be the G.O.A.T. in Jacksonville, but it does make for a pretty fun poll…..

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

August 31, 2011

A’s Get Robbed In Bugtown USA

By mceezy

I guess it doesn’t really matter, so I shouldn’t be crying over spilled milk, but the A’s got robbed in Cleveland tonight. For a while I thought the bugs were going to dictate the outcome of the game, and we’d be able to blame it on the insects, like the Yankees did in the playoffs a few years back. Instead, we can blame it on BRUCE DRECKMAN.  YOU blew a call tonight Dreckman, all because you wanted to go home. The A’s and Indians were deadlocked in a 3-3 tie in the 16th inning. A run hadn’t been scored in 10 innings, but it was just passed midnight in Cleveland, and you wanted to hit the hay. Well I’m not gonna stand for this. This aggression will not stand, man. Kurt Suzuki clearly made the tag on the ass no less than 6 inches ahead of the plate. I know the bugs must be a pain in the ass, but let’s at least let the players on the field determine the outcome of the game. This was the biggest blown call since Jim Joyce ruined Armando Galarraga’s career. There was only one out, so it’s not like the Indians probably wouldn’t have scored. But to send a team home on that play, is no doubt a low point in the season. It may not seem like a big deal now, but for all you fans of playoff teams, just hope that you don’t get dealt Bruce Dreckman for one of your series. His blown call will sail under the radar, but it won’t go without notice on Doin Work. F*** YOU BRUCE DRECKMAN.

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

August 30, 2011

I Wrote This Song In 2008…

By mceezy

First off, let me just say how hard it is to sit through an A’s game and a Giants game on TV in succession. Not a lot of offense. So excuse me for my lack of enthusiasm. But it’s times like these when it’s good to bring back a classic. I’m not sure exactly how old this song is, but 2008 sounds about right. I can never get enough of it. Now that the A’s have lost four in a row, including just three runs scored in their last 27 innings, I can only think of one guy who could help out team. I’m talkin bout George W. Smith. From city council. He ran in 93, out in Oakland. You probably didn’t hear about him…..

 

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August 29, 2011

If I Only Had A Tweet….

By mceezy

Sedale Thweet and the Designated Twitter

Clearly we’re all in full Summer swing each weekend as Doin Work seems to get laid off every Saturday and Sunday. But just because I spent my weekend bouncing between the pool, Hurricane Irene coverage, and beautiful Lake Clementine doesn’t mean I didn’t catch my share of sports this weekend. And what I didn’t catch over the weekend, I caught up on the radio during my morning and afternoon commute. Twice today, I started my thought with “If I had a Twitter, I’d tweet…..” Well I don’t have a twitter, but I do have a blog. So here are the tweets you would have seen if @The RealMCeezy existed…..

@Arian Foster: If it weren’t for Fantasy, no one would even KNOW you’re hurt. Be glad people know who you are!

@MichaelVick: Unless something CRAZY happened in the pen’, you just grabbed the biggest rebound in the history of human redemption.

@WilsonChandler: Bold move signing in China knowing you can’t come back if the lockout ends. But what does that say about the status of the lockout more importantly?

@JCrittendon: RUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!

@JoshWillingham: Thank the baseball gods you hit a two-run double of Boston pitching outfielder Darnell McDonald on Friday night.

@SFGiantsFans: I hear you griping about the offense on KNBR 680 and KHTK 1140. You’re forgetting they overachieved last year. Vegas didn’t pick them to repeat, so you shouldn’t either.

@PepsiRoyaners: Congratulations to my fantasy baseball team for clinching a playoff spot. We survived serious injuries to Buster Posey, David Wright, and Jimmy Rollins, but we stuck with our guns, i.e. Matt Kemp. We pulled the league’s best ERA on the strength of Matt Cain, Ricky Romero, Ervin Santana, and Jeremy Hellickson (plus Price, Carpenter, Harrison, and Danks). But, just like real baseball, if we can JUST all get healthy and hot at the right time……

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

August 25, 2011

You Don’t Want It With Yu

By mceezy

A couple weeks back I saw something about all the pitchers who will be free agents this offseason. On that list was Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish. You may have heard of Yu, but for me personally, it’s been a while since I’ve heard about him. Something tells me though, if he comes to the United States next year, we’ll be hearing A LOT about him. I’m sure he’ll get plenty of attention on Doin Work, since he’s half-Asian (other half is Iranian). Some will have their doubts about his potential for success, citing examples like Hideki Irabu or Dice-K. I, however, will NOT be among those doubters. The kid is straight NASTY. Check out this video clip. He looks to me like he’s pitching a wiffle ball. The movement is like no other pitcher currently in Major League Baseball. The closest comparison to his stuff I can think of is Tim Lincecum – except he’s not half-Asian. Oh wait that’s right, he IS! Imagine if next year, the two best pitchers in baseball are half-Asian, AND, the two best bloggers on the web are as well. Maybe the latter is a bit of a stretch….

3 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Sports