Category Archives: Sports

May 19, 2011

May The Worst Team Lose

By mceezy

Last year I wrote a pissed-off mock draft after the NBA Lottery was drawn. This year I just turned my TV off and left my house. Not surprisingly, neither the Warriors nor Kings moved up, but that’s nothing new. And fortunately, the talent this year is so dreadful, that it’s not like I feel like they’ll be missing out on anyone. But it just never ceases to amaze me how the NBA Lottery can defy mathematics nearly every year. I really thought Stern was going to throw the Kings a bone this year, but I should have known better. The Lottery left me scratching my head though, and wondering two things: One, what were the odds of winning for the team that won the lottery each year? and Two, how many times in the last 15 years or so has a Northern California team moved up into the top three? The only time that comes to mind was 2002 when the Warriors got Mike Dunleavy at #3. (I have since gone back and discovered that they tied Chicago for the worst record in the league that year, but Houston got the #1 pick to take Yao, so the W’s actually moved DOWN). With all this curiosity in mind, I’ve decided to go back year by year and see who got the #1 pick, and how amazing it was that they got there….

2011 – Cleveland. They finished with the second-worst record, but won the lottery with a pick that had less than a 3% chance.

2010 – Washington. Tied for 4th worst record

2009 – Clippers. Tied for 2nd worst record

2008 – Chicago. Jumped 8 other worse teams to land hometown star Derrick Rose.

2007 – Portland. Jumped 6 worse teams to assume the Greg Oden burden.

2006 – Toronto.  5th worst record

2005 – Milwaukee. 6th worst record

2004 /2003 – Orlando and Cleveland actually had the worst records in those years.

2002 – Houston. 5th worst record

2001 – Washington. 3rd worst record in a terrible draft

2000 – New Jersey. 7th worst record

1999 – Chicago. 3rd worst record.

1998 -Clippers. 3rd worst record.

1997 – San Antonio. 3rd worst record.

6 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Sports

May 19, 2011

Rainouts Aren’t Always Bad

By chappy81

There’s been a ton of rain outs in the MLB this year. Too bad the pros aren’t allowed to have fun like these college kids during rain outs. They can’t afford to get injured. I think I posted a video like the one below last year with two teams having a talent show trying to one up the other team. This one was a lot more friendly. A few of the skits were a little lame, but all in all it looks like a good way to spend a rainy day…

18 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

May 19, 2011

Can Jaime McCourt Save the Dodgers From Frank?

By chappy81

Surprise, I actually took this picture...

For some strange reason Frank McCourt has been trying to sell to the fans that he actually cares about the team. He’s been making appearances on local TV as well as radio shows. The callers have been funny as they tell him how much they dislike him, and all the questions on his moves being for the “best interest of the team” usually net a comical response from Frank. I understand the team has gotten to the playoffs 3 of 4 years under his rule, but the players that got them there were in LA before he took over, so I’m not sure why he keeps playing that card. He overpaid for Manny, but that’s the only guy I can think of that he really brought in. It’s painfully obvious to a non-financial guru like myself that he has been in over his head since he bought the team, and NOTHING he does will ever get the fans to trust him again.

As a Warriors fan, I know about battling an owner, and I battled with deciding what degree of support to give the Warriors for years under Cohan rule. It’s almost impossible to abandon your team, but once fans start the revolution there’s no going back. Just like the Warriors fans did with Cohan over his final couple years, Dodgers fans are starting to do the same. I guess it helps that both owners were on the verge of being broke. I feel like it’s way past the tipping point when fans pleading with anyone and everyone that will listen to buy their beloved team. Some Dodgers fans have even started sites like this one, which is begging Mark Cuban to buy this team. I’m sure Cuban is probably into the idea, and has been in the running for purchasing a few baseball teams, so if you can get one at a discount why not try. Maybe he’ll wait till after the Mavs are done with their season.

All in all it’s been a wacky year for the Dodgers. Aside from Kemp and Ethier there haven’t been a ton of bright spots for them, until today. Ethier might have even made a salute to the owners during batting practice yesterday. Jaime McCourt decided to sound off for the first time in awhile. Today she requested that the Supreme Court look into a forced sale of the team to prevent the MLB from seizing the club. It’s not a shocking move by any means, but it is a huge step to getting the Dodgers back to their normal selves. It would be great to see more talk about their on-field product instead of what Frank messed up on in the news headlines. The MLB looks like it’s almost assured to seize the team, so if Jaime can get the court on her side which she’s been trying to do for months, it will speed up the process of getting a new owner in there that would be a relief to all Dodgers fans. I highly doubt anyone wants the league running their team, unless you’re the Hornets and are being saved.

Obviously Jaime has been against the big Fox television deal that Frank keeps insisting will save this team financially. I have one reason to side with Jaime, and that reason is you’re never in a good position when you’re broke. It sounds like $3B would be a huge TV contract and would relive some debt for the short term, but I’m almost positive they could do better than the deal offered. Fox probably smells blood and wants to take advantage. Here’s a good quote from Jaime that really shows the differences between the two sides as in I don’t think Frank really has the best interests of the team in mind.

“As I’ve said all along, my goal is to resolve this situation for my family in a way that also advances the best interests of the Dodgers fans, players and franchise. This motion will hopefully provide some momentum in the right direction.”

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

May 16, 2011

Stern’s Letter To Sacramento

By mceezy

As much as I wanted to talk about how much I love Derrick Rose and the Bulls right now, I’m sure you’re all aware already of how Chicago fared against Miami last night. What you may not have seen in your usual news outlets is a letter written to Sacramento from NBA Commissioner David Stern. I usually will take the first opportunity I can to jump all over Stern, but this letter impressed me…. the first time I read it, at least. He talks about how support from everyone from Mayor Kevin Johnson, to other state politicians, to local businesses, to of course the fans, was “a phenomenon unlike any other (he) has seen in almost three decades as NBA commissioner.” Just when Sacramento seemed all but certainly to be the next Seattle, too many people stepped up to say, NOT SO FAST. Even Seattle fans, who are forced to endure the Oklahoma City franchise’s run deep into the NBA playoffs, lent their support to the cause. Anyone with any knowledge whatsoever of the situation who didn’t think a month ago that the team was moving for sure is lying. I sure did.

Though as nice as the concept of the letter is, a second read opened my eyes to how – well, “Stern” this letter really is. No matter how much the commissioner tries to sugar-coat it, the message, I believe, is simple. “You better pony up for a new arena. You need it. It’s in your best interests.”

TO READ THE LETTER, CLICK HERE

3 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

May 16, 2011

Memphis vs. OKC: Their Futures

By chappy81

The theme of the NBA playoffs seems to be the youth movement. Aside from the Mavs, all three teams left are fairly young, and look like they’ll be around for years to come, which had me thinking more about the future than this year. Today I was looking at the Memphis and OKC rosters for the next few years, and there was one thing that stood out to me, how can they keep these cores together? There’s a couple of reasons I think a team like Memphis has a better chance than OKC at sustaining success for the next six years like say Miami and Chicago probably will too. The reason I decided to compare Memphis and OKC is because they are both small market teams that are very young.

I’ll start with the Grizzlies, since it’s a team that for some reason has grown on me a lot over the season. What made Memphis successful this season? Their size and scrappiness on defense. Their size with Marc Gasol and Z-Bo is tough to match for any team. Z-Bo already got his extension, and obviously Gasol is going to be making more than $3M next year and every year after that, so Gasol is priority #1 for them this off-season. They have a bargain PG in Conley locked up for five years, who seems to be slowly getting better even though barely anyone had faith in him (myself included). They will also have Rudy Gay back in the lineup next year. He’s been labeled over rated, but if you saw him play much this year you’d know that isn’t the case, and he might even be worth his huge contract when it’s all said and done. The media talk about Gay has bugged me, because everyone seems to think he is Joe Johnson part II, when a) he’s five years younger than Joe, and b) he gets more steals, rebounds, and blocks than Joe (ie. plays defense). Am I the only one that thinks it’s obsured that people think they need to trade Rudy Gay? After Gay played with team USA on the gold medal run this year, he seemed to get it, which is a time when normally players seem to figure it out (mid-20’s) or be destined to never figure it out. Unfortunately for us (and him), he broke his arm during the last month of the regular season, so he wasn’t around this year in the playoffs, and now he should be traded!?! Really!?! My question for those people calling for them to trade Gay is, are you really putting a lot of stock in OJ (I play no defense and am a little crazy) Mayo. That’s what you’d be replacing Gay with in the long term if they’re building from in house talent. Tony Allen and OJ Mayo both feel like 6th men types to me, and you can find them elsewhere if you need to. Tony Allen is a shut down defensive guy, but is limited in offense. OJ is great when asked to help out the offense, but doesn’t play defense as we saw Harden torching him over and over. Gay plays both ways, and no, I’m not sure on his sexual prefrences, but I do know he works as hard on defense as his offense. He also made a few game winners this year if you didn’t remember, don’t you think he would’ve helped in that triple OT game when they needed a clutch bucket from anyone badly? I do, and think this is a team that hasn’t reached it’s full potential as Gay, Conley, and Gasol will all improve. As I said in the past, Memphis has a bright future for at least the next five years.

The curious case of OKC. They currently have a roster that has ALL their big names at or under the age of 22, which seems great on the outside looking in. It’s amazing to me that everyone thinks that everything will be great for them for the next decade when there will be a ton of franchise changing decisions on the horizon. It’s a team that has dealt with little as far as basketball careers go, since almost all of the important players except Perkins and Durant are still on their rookie contracts. What I understand about this team is this, Durant works harder than anyone on the team, he’s their best player, it rubs off on everyone else, etc., but does it rub others the wrong way on how he’s mister perfect? I’m asking Westbrook this question as I go along, because he’s the main player that you have to question within this team. Forget all the ill-advised shots he took against the Grizzlies, the real question becomes does he want to be Robin or does he want to be Derrick Rose (aka Superman) on his OWN team?

It's all fun and games till someone wants more out of the relationship than the other one does.

Does Westbrook have the Scottie Pippen and Lebron gene that says “I’m okay being the sidekick”? From what I’ve observed, I feel like Westbrook has more of an alpha type personality than Durant as far as being demonstrative on and off the court. At times we saw him ignore Durant during the game, which begs the question if we have to pick one, who is it? If you didn’t pick Durant your fooling yourself. Yes, I understand that the way this team was built was genius, and the envy of the league at the moment, but how sustainable is this team? They picked Ibaka, Harden, Maynor, and Westbrook all in the top five, and all of them are going to be asking for their paydays once they are done playing for these very friendly rookie contracts they are currently in. I think Ibaka just started playing hoops last week and is getting better by the game, so aren’t he and Westbrook going to command top dollar? Would they stay to play with Durant for the sake of winning or do either of them think they can do it on their own elsewhere? That might not even be the biggest question for them moving forward. Money is a funny thing that can lure anyone away from anywhere, and I’m sure Ibaka has some homies that need help in the Congo. Westbrook was born and raised in LA, and doesn’t it seem likely with his alpha type character he’d want to try to spread his wings on his own to see if he can lead a team like Derrick Rose is? I’m not saying that this team is going to get blown up for sure, but you have to wonder in a small market like thiers how big is that window. You’d think with them all being so young it would be a decade long window, but at the moment I just don’t see it being anywhere near that long. The Heat and Grizzlies both have their cores locked up for a lot longer than the Thunder do. The 2012-13 season might be their last hurrah as a group together, and if that’s the case, Miami and Memphis will still have their cores locked up for three more years after that. All I’m saying is that this groups window might only be three years, and I’m praying I’m right since I’d love to see Durant getting frustrated and leaving so his paychecks aren’t signed by Clay Bennett anymore…

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

May 12, 2011

Can the Sharks Actually Come Through?

By chappy81

I don’t follow hockey aside from the Sharks, and by saying I follow them, that mostly entails looking at where they are in the standings every once in awhile. Once the playoffs roll around I usually start watching some of their games, and this year hasn’t been any different. I mean you gotta take a break from the NBA playoffs every now and then! I think the real reason I don’t get entirely into hockey is because nearly every year I watch the Sharks just to be disappointed with their playoff performance. They usually have a pretty high seed, and a solid team, but never make it over the hump. It must be the same kind of feeling that Mavs fans have as they are great through the regular season only to suck and collapse in the playoffs. I thought maybe this year would be different, kinda like I think every year will be different for them, but looking at it a little before the game 7 tonight, I don’t seem to have much faith in them. They had a 3-0 series lead on the Red Wings, and are faced to play a game 7 tonight at home in HP Pavilion, which doesn’t feel like much of an advantage. The Sharks are on the verge of being the fourth NHL team to lose a series after going up 3-0. I’m tentatively excited about the game if the SJ star (Marleau) can get his act together, because he’s been non-existent this series. Even his former teammate and my favorite player in video games when I was younger Jeremy Roenick, even called him out.  The whole team has lacked energy in the losses, and it’s probably fair to blame their captain, so I agree with Roenick that Marleau needs to stop being so gutless. I feel like they’ve already booked their off-season plane tickets like Andrew Bynum did. Hopefully they win tonight, but I feel like there’s a much better chance they’ll lose…

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

May 11, 2011

RGBNFP Of The Day: Robert “Tractor” Traylor

By mceezy

That’s ‘Random Gone But Not Forgotten Player’ of the Day for those playing at home. And for those who missed the news, former University of Michigan Star, Robert “Tractor” Traylor died today, presumably of a heart attack. I’d love to recap his NBA career, but I’m not sure he really had one. I remember he was part of a draft day trade. Who was involved with that? Hmm, I’d better check. Oh, that’s RIGHT…. the Dallas Mavericks traded him to Milwaukee for Dirk Nowitzki!!! What a devastating move that was for the Bucks.

Anyway, the point of this isn’t to talk about what a disappointment Traylor was in the NBA. The reality is Traylor was THE MAN in college. It should surprise no one just by looking at him that he was a beast. But, the guy had some electric dunks in his day. When the And1 Tour was on ESPN, that big dude named Cadillac or something like that always reminded me of Traylor. RIP Big Man….

2 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Random Forgotten Player, Sports

May 11, 2011

Kobe’s Post Game Interviews

By chappy81

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

May 6, 2011

Let’s See How Far We’ve Come

By mceezy

So I heard that song while doing a little grocery shopping at my local Nugget Market. It always takes me back to my time working for the Sacramento River Cats. It’s probably the only place I ever heard that song, but for some reason they put it on every single promo dvd that I was forced to see thousands of times. Anyway, switching the big league baseball, we’re basically a month into the season, so it’s time to see where we’re at it… who’s overachieving, who’s underachieving, and most importantly, will it continue?

The first guy that jumps out at me is Lance Berkman. I never doubted the guy’s credentials, but it seemed like he was on the decline the last two years. He got off to a slow start last year in Houston, and then after being traded to the Yankees, he never got it going, and quickly became an afterthough. He was far from the most attractive free agent out there, but St Louis was quick to snatch him up. I believe the A’s made a phone call that was never returned, if I remember correctly. (sounds about right). Through 10 games, Berkman has 10 home runs and 32 rbi. In his 39 games as a Yankee, he had just 1 home run and 9 rbi. WILL IT CONTINUE? I doubt it, but NOT because Berkman will fall off, rather as a result of Pujols catching fire and carrying the team for a while, and then Holliday, and maybe Berkman again. The point is, there’s not enough RBI to go around for any of these guys – even Pujols – to have a monster season.

The next thing that jumps out at me is the fact that Alfonso Soriano leads the Major Leagues in home runs, with 11 through 29 games. If he can manage to stay on the field for an entire season… I WON’T say he’s on pace for 59 home runs! But I WILL say it’s not too far-fetched that he could flirt with his career high, his lone year in Washington where he hit 46 bombs. WILL IT CONTINUE? I don’t know, you kinda learn to bet against anything going right for the Cubs. It’s hard to imagine Soriano staying focused, or healthy, or both, for an entire season. What he may be able to do is build up some value to become a trade deadline asset.

Jered Weaver could win 30 games! Okay, it’s highly unlikely, but when you win your first six starts, one can’t help but think about a guy racking up 30 of em. He finally lost a game this week, blemishing his record to the tune of a 6-1 mark. Still, all he has to do is win just 24 out of his remaining 27 starts. WILL IT HAPPEN? F*** no, but as long as you play for my favorite team’s archenemy, anything’s possible. I’ll say this much, if he did win 30, I guarantee four of them would have been against the A’s.

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

May 5, 2011

Playoffs Getting Interesting…

By chappy81

It’s been a entertaining NBA playoffs thus far. Teams that we thought were favorites aren’t turning out to be the powerhouses that we originally thought they were. Like I said back on 4/20, there’s a changing of the eras in the NBA. I didn’t think it would be this year, but thought it was on the horizon. More and more it’s looking like this year is the year of change. Another good thing is I don’t think any of these series are rigged so far. Well done Stern, usually we can tell!

Mavs 2, Lakers 0 –  As they say once the home team loses the series really starts. I think someone forgot to tell the Lakers that the series started after game 1. Last night’s Lakers game was disturbing to the fans down here in LA, much to my enjoyment. It’s fitting that this is the first year I was somewhat rooting for them because I didn’t want any of the Eastern Conference teams to win it all. I can’t believe I admitted that, but yes, I was rooting for the Lakers a little. I am enjoying that some Lakers fans said they would win the series in 3 games against this soft Mavs team. Obviously, that can’t happen, but it was an indication of how they overlooked Mavs in general. Maybe the players were listening to the radio shows and got full of themselves or maybe this team is just plain dysfunctional. I won’t call this series done, because the Mavs have a long history of choking in the playoffs when the pressure is at it’s highest. The pressure of closing the Lakers out is going to be big, and close to the pressure of closing the Heat out in the Finals four years ago. That Mavs team was much different though, they have only two players from that finals roster, and were much softer without Chandler. This version of the Mavs feels a lot better, but I won’t believe it until they close out this series. Either way, the winner will lose next round to one of the young guns in the changing of the guards.

Memphis 1, Seattle 1 – Everyone thought the young team that would make an impact out West was going to be the Supersonics when it’s really been the Grizzlies who have shocked the world. I didn’t pick the Grizz to win that first series against the Spurs, especially without Gay in the lineup, but did think they were a good team all the way back in November when I regretted leaving them off my playoff predictions. Both franchises have figured out how to build a contender, and they have one glaring thing in common, size. Size matters in the NBA, just ask Steve Nash. It was always the Lakers biggest advantage for the last three years, and what do teams have to do to knock them off? Get bigger. Memphis did that through free agency and trades (Gasol, Z-Bo). Seattle did the same (Perkins, Ibaka), and now both teams look like they could beat anyone with solid role guys and their stars knowing exactly what is needed of them to be successful. I’m going to say whoever wins this series will be representing the west in the finals. I’m rooting for it to be Memphis, because I still have a hard time rooting for Sam Presti to succeed on any front.

Miami 2, Boston 0 – The team I picked to represent the East is looking about as good as it has all season. I thought that Boston was in trouble before this series started. Wade ALWAYS gives Boston fits, and that’s going back to when Wade was the only player worth anything in Miami. Last year I think he dropped close to 50 one playoff game in Boston to help the Heat avoid getting swept. Now that he has Lebron and Bosh who can also give Boston fits, he no longer has to put up 50 to will his team to a win. What’s even scarier about this Miami team is they look more comfortable playing together than they have all year. The Celtics on the other hand look a lot like the Lakers this postseason. They haven’t really looked good for more than one or two games the whole second season. They know it’s their last shot with their great coach, and might be pressing a little too hard or could just be old. Is it a lame duck coaching situation for Boston and LA that’s getting them down? Are they not playing as hard because they know there’s a new coach on the horizon after this season? Probably not, but I have to throw it out there. I guess this series hasn’t started yet since the home team hasn’t lost, but this video seems to sum up how high people are on the C’s right now…

Chicago 1, Atlanta 1 – Of the teams left in the playoffs, I’ve probably watched these two teams the least. I’m not sure why, but I was never totally sold on Chicago. Derrick Rose’s ankle is what this series hinges on, and personally I think getting the MVP is a jinx. No guard since Jordan has won a title the year they won the MVP. This day in age only big men that win the MVP get championships. Like I said before, I haven’t watched Chicago a lot, but is there anyway their defense is overrated a little? Indiana and Atlanta aren’t exactly offensive juggernauts ranking in the middle of the pack in the NBA, but are putting up over 90 in the playoffs where scoring is usually down against the unbreakable Thibodeau defense. Atlanta is the toughest team for me to figure out. They blow teams out, and get blown out just as much. You’re never really sure what you’re going to get from them. I can’t figure out why they went away from Jeff Teague, who was lighting Chicago up in game 2, but that happened, and they didn’t come close to winning. I actually like a lot of Atlanta’s players, but for some reason just can’t seem to talk myself into rooting for them. Don’t they feel like they are Mavs of the East? Good enough to be in the playoffs every year, but not good enough to go very far…

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

May 3, 2011

Elephants and Seals

By chappy81

This is our second installment of Elephants and Seals. And just like last time Chappy will be covering the A’s, and By will be covering the Giants.

San Francisco Giants (13-15) Oakland Athletics (15-14)

Three Up

Oakland A’s – They lost two of three in LA, but came on strong over the weekend to take 3 of 4 from Texas to bring themselves over .500.  Their bats seemed to wake up against what we all kinda knew was some weak starting pitching out in Texas. Kurt Suzuki hit two bombs after having his newly born daughter. Willingham hit a game tying homer, and Matsui hit a walkoff in yesterdays series winning game, so there’s some reason for optimism for the offense. Andrew Bailey is throwing again, and should be back sooner than later as he’s set to face some live hitting this week. That is a big relief because Fuentes is about as scary a ninth inning as you’ll get. He doesn’t throw hard, and puts guys on base giving A’s fans a heart attack every time he’s on the mound. Bailey we need you back! Coco Crisp’s bat is as lively as his hair these days, and when he’s on, he scores lots of runs. Oakland pitchers still lead the league in ERA at 2.76. They are did pretty good in April for their standards, because April is a month they almost always have a losing record in. You don’t win a division in April, but you can be far enough behind to lose it if you aren’t careful. I mean, we could be the Twins with only 9 wins.

San Francisco Giants – 1.  We won the 2010 World Series.  I know that was last season, and that historic event is a thing of the past, but when your beloved team plays as inconsistent as they have been, despite the talent and experience they possess, well then you got to hang your hat on something.  We’re only about 7% into the season, and if they don’t clean up their act by the 20% mark, I’ll throw this trump card away.  Which brings me to my next ”up” ~

2.  We’re only 7% into the season!  It’s still very early and the Giants are much below .500 ball thanks to  taking two out of three in five of the past seven series’.  They’ve been in a lot worse situations, and for them to be even despite not finding themselves is a good sign.

3.  Aaron Rowand is hitting .300 (o.k. .296) and Pablo Sandoval is hitting .313 with five dingers.  These are two players who contributed very little last season.  Aaron Rowand was considered a free agent bust, and Panda was looked at as a fluke.  The Giants are currently 11th in hitting in the N.L. but it’s neither of these two’s fault.  If they keep playing this well offensively, it will almost be like we picked up two solid free agents this year.

Three Down

Oakland A’s – Kevin Kouzmanoff is supposedly on the team more for his defense prowess, yet he’s already made 6 errors on the season. If his bat actually worked, I wouldn’t mind the errors as much, but this is getting ridiculous, and these errors are leading to runs almost every time he kicks an easy grounder. The team as a whole hasn’t been good defensively, but I doubt they will be tied for the lead the league in errors. The offense as a whole is offensive as they’re ranked 27th in the league in runs scored, don’t have a hitter over .300 in the lineup, and swing at way too many pitches early in the count. Pitchers that give up a few runs to us still are in the game in the 7th. Aside from Barton, I’m not sure anyone in the lineup knows how to work a count, unfortunately his working the count has resulted in a high amount of strikeouts. Pitchers are throwing 70 pitch complete games against us. Ok, not really, but you get the point. We have renamed the Oakland Coliseum to the Overstock.com Coliseum or O.co Coliseum. This is in the three down section, because it sounds lame.

1.  We won the 2010 World Series.  I know you’re asking, how can this be an ”up” and a ”down”?  It’s an ”up” from a fans’ perspective, especially someone like me who is grateful he witnessed a World Series championship during his lifetime.  It’s been a ”down” for the actual team.  I tried not to think it, but it’s becoming more and more apparent, the Giants have a World Series hangover.  They’re too busy making music videos with Keenan Cahill that they forgot there’s a season to play.  But then again, this is the reason why we fell in love with these guys, they’re a bunch of goofy clowns and miSFits.

2.  Missing Andres Torres has been a huge downer for the Giants.  He’s a great lead off man, and plays a fantastic center field.  The one thing that’s underrated about Torres is his defense.  Our outfield has been our week spot early on, especially when we threw Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff out there (wtf!) but with Ross back, and Torres on his way, I’ll stop holding my breath on every fly ball.

3.  Pitching and hitting.  If it’s not one, it’s the other.  This is reminiscent of years past with these Giants team.  They’re winning or losing games, 1-0 or 9-8.  Neither side can get it together consistently and act as a cohesive unit.  Like I mentioned earlier, we’re 11th in the N.L. in hitting.  I’m not concerned about average starts from Timmy, Jonathan Sanchez and Matty Cain, but Madison ”Mad Bum” Bumgarner has struggled big time.  Last season he was brilliant in the post season, we’ve only seen one glimpse of that pitcher since.  Could I actually be asking this, but are we missing Barry Zito?  If it’s come to this, then that’s a huge downer.

Next Up

Oakland A’s – Taking on the best team in baseball, Cleveland Indians at home. They found a little groove offensively against Texas, so hopefully that keeps up. I can’t wait for the day when I’m not shocked when they put up 4 runs in a game.

San Francisco Giants got to start doing their best Charlie Sheen impression, winning.  We got the Mets and Rockies next, very winnable series’.

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

April 28, 2011

Danilo Does What?

By chappy81

I was thoroughly confused when someone sent me a link to this clip above. It was funny, but didn’t make much sense. After checking out the Facebook site it all made sense when I watched Lebron take a sheet!

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Comedy, Sports

April 27, 2011

Warriors End Their Relationship With Smart

By chappy81

The Warriors announced today that they are parting ways with their coach Keith Smart. I wasn’t overly impressed with the job he did coaching, but didn’t feel he did enough to get let go, and wouldn’t have been upset to see him at the bench one more year. It’s probably for the better though. The new owners need to move as far as they possibly can from the old ownership, and so far they haven’t really done much maybe this is a sign of changes to come. I’m pretty realistic about my teams, and I didn’t think the W’s would make the playoffs this year as their roster was constructed at the beginning of the year, which I guess isn’t much of a bold prediction since they rarely do anything. Maybe if everything came together perfectly they would’ve had a shot to make the playoffs, but that didn’t happen, and management decided it was time for their first big change.

Smart did a few things that I questioned during the season, like keeping Biendris out there when he obviously didn’t have anything to contribute. Sure, we didn’t have a lot of options at center, and the team is paying Biens a ridiculous $9M per season, but Smart should’ve seen what we all saw, a player that just didn’t have the heart or desire to be out there more than ten minutes a game. His second mistake in my mind was playing Ellis way too many minutes. Sure he was out best player, but 80% of the time at the end of the game he’d be too tired to make an impact. His elevation wasn’t there because he played about 5 too many minutes, so we’d lose. I loved how Smart was a players coach, but maybe he was a little too much of a players coach. I mean, he let Acie Law talk himself into the lineup regularly. You just can’t let that happen! I wish Smart the best of luck, and hope he finds another home. He was our assistant from 03-09 and our head coach last year, which is actually a pretty long tenure in the Warriors organization.

I have no idea who they will end up with as their coach for next year, but I’m hoping it’s Rick Adelman or at least someone proven. I’d hate to give the job to someone that has no experience again. We are a very young team that needs someone that can keep their attention and respect. Not so sure Smart had that from them. He had their respect, but not so positive about their attention.

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

April 26, 2011

“Check”ing In On My Hockey Picks

By mceezy

Love that wordplay reference to my favorite move in hockey. Two weeks ago I weighed in my expert opinion on the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The logical thing would be to wait until tomorrow before revisiting my first round picks, but odds are hockey won’t even cross my mind for the next week at least. So, let’s get to it….

I went 3 for 4 in the West – or Campbell Conference, for the hockey purist. Even more impressive when you consider I picked the 1-4 seeds to advance. That’s really going out on a limb. I had the Canucks in 6, Sharks in 5, and Red Wings in 5. Instead, it was the Canucks in 7, Sharks in 6, and Red Wings in 4. The Orange County Ducks of Anaheim were the only higher seed to get bounced, losing to Nashville in 6.

In the East, I nailed the Capitals in 5. The Flyers took Game 7 instead of the Sabres, like I had so bravely predicted. Montreal will win tomorrow night as scheduled and the Penguins will take three extra games to dispose of Tampa rather than sweeping. I can’t wait to see how tomorrow unfolds so I can make my second round picks! Or can I…?

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April 24, 2011

Sunday NBA Easter Eggs

By mceezy

The second I saw the lineup for today’s NBA playoff games, I could tell I’d be watching a good share of basketball today. I see myself taking a break somewhere centered around the Hawks-Magic game, since that’s the least appealing game to me, but here’s a few quick notes on each game – what I’m expecting to see…

Miami vs. Philadelphia – Philly came out of the gates strong, appearing poised to extend the series at least one more game. As I’m writing this though, the Heat have put down a 22-2 run to move in front and take a 1 point lead into the half. I expect the game to continue this theme until the Heat eventually are on top when the final buzzer sounds.

Boston vs. New York – The Knicks have a lot of new players, and they seem eager to get their first offseason in the Big Apple started. I’d love to see the Knicks rally back from 0-3, but I just don’t see it happening. They know this isn’t their year, so why keep working when you can go on summer vacation? Boston sweeps in Madison Square Garden…. tough return to the postseason for NY fans.

Orlando vs. Atlanta – This series has seven games written all over it. The Magic will probably win today, making it a best of three series. If they don’t, it only means they’ll win the next two to tie the series at 3, and force game seven. IN Orlando. All I’m sayin is…. 7 games.

Lakers vs. Hornets – This is the game where the Lakers make it clear that game one was a fluke – if they haven’t already. Today they’ll go up 3-1, and after they close it out in 5, will get to sit back and watch the Mavericks – Blazers, which suddenly looks destined for seven games as well.

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