With the A’s sputtering over the last couple weeks, I’ve wondered why they haven’t called up their big hitting prospects Michael Taylor and Chris Carter to inject some power and life into the lineup, alas, I keep hearing wait until June. Same goes for fantasy enthusiasts wondering why the hell Strasburg isn’t called up to the MLB yet, since he’s been dominating the lower levels, and has looked ready since the first pitch he threw in AA ball. Maybe you’re wondering when your Pirates prospect Pedro Alvarez is getting called to the show. The answer keeps being June. Why June? Simply put, money. I’m not buying the argument that the Nats are bringing Strasburg along slowly; it’s a big load of BS. What teams are truly concerned about, is their bottom line, and if these players make an impact and never go back down to the minors they will have to pay them. Teams don’t want their “top prospects” being good enough to earn the “Super 2” status. What is the difference between being a super 2 and a normal player you may wonder? The ESPN’s and MLBTV’s of the world have failed to clarify it for me, so I had to do a little research to find what it truly means, and now that we have a blog I figured I should clear it up for our readers as well. Continue reading
I have to say that Mikhail has grown on me. I didn’t know a whole lot about him when he bought the Nets, but over the past few weeks he’s shown me his great personality that many spoke of when they dubbed him the Russian Mark Cuban. He might not be the best speaker, but maybe now that he’s around Jay-Z more he can pick up some cool slang terms, and will make them sound funny in his accent. If I were an NJ fan, I’m sure I’d be in love with the guy. I WANT to know what his secrets are, and that’s probably the way he wants it…
If he really wants to be a winner, here’s a little scenario that would make them an instant contender. Phil Jackson is reportedly supposed to take a paycut next year, and it made me wonder if the billionaire can do the impossible. Lure Lebron, and pay Phil whatever he wants next season to come to NJ. It’s a slightly far fetched idea at the moment, but we know Lebron wants to be a global icon, maybe not in Russia, but that does make him global. And we also know that Phil isn’t taking a discount for coaching, especially if he wins back to back championships this year, shouldn’t that mean he gets a raise instead of a pay cut? I know I wouldn’t take a pay cut!
Ladies and gentlemen, if I were to ask you who the MVP of the 2010 NBA Playoffs would be heading into the Conference Finals, who would you assume?
Kobe Bryant? Good choice, he’s definitely in the discussion, but no.
LeBron James? Numbers wise, perhaps, but he won’t be getting any more numbers anytime soon now will he?
Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade? You kidding me –
People, the answer is RAJON RONDO. Yes, I didn’t stutter. Rajon Rondo. The BEST point guard in the NBA now. He’s moved up big-time. Move over Deron Williams, move over Chris Paul, move over Steve Nash. Rondo is top dog.
It’s amazing how the point guard nobody wanted two years ago is now the man in Boston. When the Celtics won it all in 2008, Rondo’s job was to not mess up. Now Rondo carries this team on his wide-set shoulders, and because of him, and the newly re-established defensive team prowess, the Celtics strike fear into their opponents. If the Lakers win tonight, I can’t help but think they’ll be paying attention to Boston in their rear-view mirror, because they must know they’ll be in for a real fight. Things ’bout to get physical real soon for them.
But back to Rondo, because he’s quickly developed into one of my favorite players in the league, if not the favorite behind Stephen Curry. No one controls a team like Rondo, and all of a sudden he’s hitting free-throws and jump shots. If you think about it, those two things were the only holes in his game, and it seems he’s got them plugged now. What that means is, he’s essentially perfect on the floor. He’s unguardable, and he’s a defensive menace, as he led the league in steals this season.
Lastly, Rondo is doing this during money time. You create your legacy during the post-season, and right now he’s finally garnering a lot of the attention he deserves. I was a Rondo critic, but now he’s turned me. As Magic Johnson’s been saying during this post-season, there’s no longer a “Big Three” in Boston. It’s now the “Big One, and the Little Three.” The Celtics leave their future in good hands once Pierce, Garnett and Allen retire. Very good, huge hands.
Well, another rigged NBA Lottery is in the books. To no one’s surprise, two East Coast franchises leapfrogged the likes of Minnesota, Sacramento, and Golden State. Fans across those three cities are moaning and groaning while Wizards and Sixers fans are wondering how they got such good luck. Fortunately, the two best rookies from last year’s draft ended up in Northern California despite David Stern’s best (or worst, depending on how you look at) efforts. No need to worry Kings and Warriors fans. The two best players came at picks number 4 and 7…. No reason to think they can’t come at the 5th and 6th position. Let’s break down how this year’s draft is going to pan out….
1. Washington Wizards – John Wall – Part of me thinks that the late Abe Pollin made this happen from up above. The other part of me thinks Stern did this from down below. At any rate, the Wizards will win the John Wall sweepstakes, but it’s not going to change their fortunes. This franchise has found a way to lose under any circumstance. They had a solid core with Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler and still managed to be a lottery team. This year, they’ll try to ease Wall along, if only to keep Arenas happy. John Wall will go on to have an Antonio Daniels like career and the Wizards will be back in Secaucus next year….and the year after that….and the year after that.
2. Philadelphia Sixers – Evan Turner – Evan Turner is the consensus #2 pick, but his game is strikingly similar to Andre Iguodala. He’ll also fight for playing time on the wing with Thaddeus Young. In the end, the Sixers will keep Turner on the court to try and prove that they drafted better than last year with Jrue Holiday, and they’ll miss the playoffs once again. I’m setting the over/under on Evan Turner’s rookie season right at, let’s say, Corey Brewer.
3. New Jersey Nets – Derrick Favors – The Nets have a solid 1-2 in Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. Therefore, they look to the wing and select Derrick Favors. Problem is, no one’s really sure that Favors really likes playing basketball. Prediction: Favors and Terrence Williams still make little to no impact on the Nets in 2010-11.
We’re only one game into each series. Technically, game one isn’t even over in Los Angeles, but watching Jason Richardson and Louis Amundson fight with each other for a rebound en route to a 26 point deficit five minutes into the fourth doesn’t really spark much optimism. The Lakers are headed to dominant defeat of the Suns in the opening game of the Western Conference Finals, and we all know what happened in the first game of the Boston-Orlando series. The Conference Finals look like nothing more than a formality at this point. Sure, a lot of people are convinced that the Magic made proper adjustments in the second half against the Celtics and appear poised to strike back in game two, but I’m not convinced. Granted, I didn’t catch game one due to my watching the Amgen Tour of California ride down the Auburn streets that I used to stomp on in my younger days, but it’s clear the Magic just can’t match up with a more driven Celtics team. Everyone thinks the Magic will adjust their game plan, but what’s to say the Celtics won’t. The Big Three know that the window is closing; meanwhile, Rajon Rondo is busy establishing himself as one of the premier players in the league. I’ll be the first to admit I was a huge Rondo doubter coming out of Kentucky. I thought he’d be nothing more than a role player at best. But four years later, I’m ready to give the kid his due. I’m sorry, but 29, 18, and 13 in any game, let alone a pivotal postseason game, is enough to convince me that he’s for real. I was all but ready to post about Rondo last Sunday had it not been for Dallas Braden’s perfect game. As stacked as the Magic are, they simply won’t be able to outlast the Celtics this time.
Back to the West Coast, it seemed like Phoenix would at least be able to hang with the Lake Show. After watching this debacle tonight, I’m not so sure. The Suns have the same problem they seem to have every year. They’re talented, they can run, and they have plenty of firepower, but they just don’t have the drive and competitiveness. The Lakers are simply to big and even too fast. There’s no debating that Amare Stoudamire is a beast down low, but no combination of Suns can stop the trio of Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. It might be a different game in Phoenix, but they’ll likely be down 0-2, so they’ll be lucky to head back to Southern California with anything better than a 3-1 deficit. Thus, it seems pretty much inevitable that we’re going to see a Boston-LA rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals. Boston got the best of LA last time, but the Lakers are clearly better. Can we really say the same about the Celtics? I’m not so sure.
We’ve made it well known that we are fans of big fans of Conan O’Brien, and he IS the comedic voice of our generation. I will watch him whether it’s on youtube or TBS. I feel like he’s sincere in his approach to comedy, and really understands the younger generation. Some late night hosts, put off the vibe that they truly do view their show as a job and only worry about plugging the sponsors and the network. Conan on the other hand, feels like he’s actually having fun doing his job. I think that is what has drawn me to the guy over the past decade plus. I really wish I had known about his comedy tour before I saw the youtube clip below from his trip to Google’s headquarters, because I definitely would’ve tried to go. I guess I’ll have to follow his twitter account a little closer now.
Anyways, if you enjoy Conan, and are missing him in his absence from late night TV, here’s a great hour long video that is well worth a watch. He has some great insights into being a celebrity, and the crazy people he runs across that think they know him. He even busts out his best Ludacris impersonation. There’s also a portion where Andy Richter is with him on stage, and I have to say some of the employee questions were pretty good. The best part about this whole appearance may not have been his comedy, but when he described his falling out with NBC (around 15 minute mark he gets into it). He continues to talk about the breakup sporadically throughout the rest of the hour.
We rarely cover much fantasy sports here at Doin Work, even though all of us are in multiple fantasy leagues playing nearly every sport, including golf and hockey! Sure we do our mock drafts, and some awards when the season is over, but no up to the minute fantasy news. One reason might be because our friends over at The Fantasy Geek, are on top of all the important relevant news, that we figured we should just go to their site instead of doing the research ourselves! Plus, if it were me writing our fantasy stuff, I’d just rant about my teams, and everyone can agree, your team is VERY important to you, but everyone else you talk to could really care less about it. Maybe this is why a win in fantasy is only mildly satisfying, because you feel like your team should win every week, and losses are completely devastating because of that same reason. They’ve had a few podcasts, and I was a guest on the 4/24 episode as a caller. Yesterday they had a great podcast on just about everything from the NBA Playoffs, to what prospects you might want to think about picking up, since they might be getting called up to the big leagues sooner than later. If you are in seach of some help in your fantasy league, you should check out their podcasts and website to help build yourself a winning team!
I may not be the biggest fan of the NBA these days, but the history is, well, amazing. You’re bound to see some classic buzzer beaters that you may or may not remember. Of course there’s plenty of Jordan included, but it’s shots like Dana Barros’s that stand out in my memory. The catch and shoot inbounds play will forever be cemented in my history. The Chuck Person game winner in Sacramento also stands out. I was chosen to shoot two free throws to win free bottles of water for my whole section. Unfortunately, I failed to deliver in front of a capacity crowd, but nonetheless, I’ll never forget that buzzer beater.
You may have read my post last week that former MLB outfielder, Eric Byrnes, decided to take up softball and join the Dutch Goose team. Looks like he might not be able to hit major league pitching anymore, but he sure can wail on a slow pitch softball, and he should, the guy is only 34! The details were foggy about his abrupt departure from Seattle, and some thought he disobeyed the managers order to bunt, and took off after the game on his bike avoiding meeting with the owner and media. He cleared his name up on ESPN First Take yesterday in case you care, here’s the clip. He pretty much wanted to make it clear that anytime you avoid the media, you let them assume the worst! Anyways, it must be nice to be young and rich, so you can golf and play softball! I’m pretty sure we will see him behind a sportscasting desk before you know it.
So I was thinking about this a little bit more and thought it makes a whole lot of sense. Sure, there are about a half-dozen teams that will offer James the max salary, probably something close to 30M/yr for 6 years. But is that enough to get Lebron? I don’t think it is, because he can get a team to the Eastern Conference Finals 5 years in a row whether you have a supporting cast in place already or if you build one around him progressively. He proved that in Cleveland, and he’ll do it anywhere in the East. I think ownership will have to be included to really lure Lebron, and of course it will be another first in the NBA (if it’s legal in the NBA… is it?).
Anyways, here’s my theory: Let’s say the Bulls and Jerry Reinsdorf are desperate to get back to where they were in the 90’s with Jordan. And let’s say that the Bulls are worth, oh, about $600M estimated (quick search found this value as of 2008). And let’s say the value of ANY franchise, even the Bulls, will grow at least 50% over his 6 year contract. That’s a net worth of $900M after 6 years. And let’s say the Bulls gave Lebron a 10% stake in the team to lure him in, just enough to get his attention but not too much to where you as the owner still have total control. With the proper valuation figures in place for the negotiation(not just my mba-quality guestimation), Lebron’s net worth can possibly grow an extra $60M in year 1 to $90M in year 6. So, along with the contract value approaching $180-200M over 6 years, he would in fact be netting closer to $275-300M over that time frame, or an average net-worth of $45-50M a year on the higher end of my valuation theory.
Same should be said about the Knicks, whose value was actually a little bit more in 2008. They would easily grow 50% over 6 years in their market after a string of playoff appearances, and you could argue they might actually grow way more than 50%. Those higher end figures could be more on the lower end at that point.
Anyways, again I don’t think it’s legal for a player to own a team while he’s playing, but if it is, and you want the greatest player of his generation for his entire prime and possibly more, this is what I would do if I was an owner.
I’ve really been trying to get into the NBA playoffs this year, and have enjoyed some of the games/series. This past round however should be called The NBA, Where Blowouts Happen. There’s been an amazing lack of drama that the NBA thrives on, which has had me hitting the snooze button on lots of games. And by snooze, I mean, change the channel for 10-15 minutes, and check back. Once I check back, and see its still a blowout, I’ll jump back to baseball or golf and not look back. It’s sad the playoffs have been losing out in the channel surfing rotation, because most years it doesn’t. It’s going to be tough, but Im going to try to pull together a few things that are intriguing me in the 2010 Playoffs. Continue reading
It’s been a few weeks since we had our last power rankings up, and the landscape has changed a little now that we are about 1/5th of the way through the season. There were a few teams that fell out of the rankings, and some that moved up from the first power rankings we did. I’m really pumped that I haven’t had to put the Angels on the list. I think as long as Fuentes stays their closer that will help keep them off the list. Anyways, here’s how the top 16 shaking out.
#1 Tampa Bay Rays (22-10) – Getting zero hits and zero runs in one game doesn’t lose you the top spot, especially when it was the first time they lost two straight on the road all season, and it took perfection to do it. The Rays worst starter ERA is Wade Price’s 3.18, and is the reason they are doing so well. We will see if they can hold up when they start playing in their division more. If the Yankees hadn’t mirrored their losses, I may have moved the Rays down a spot.
#2 New York Yankees (21-10) – They’ve only lost one out of ten series they’ve played in this season. Maybe if Brett Gardner played a little better they might be number one, haha, just kidding. I’m pretty shocked how good Gardner is doing, and if he keeps it up I’ll be mad I didn’t pick him up for the fantasy team. Swisher has been great lately too, which makes me somewhat root for them, because I love my former A’s players. They’ve lost a couple in a row, but there are no concerns in NY now that Texiera seems to finally be seeing the ball.
#3 Philadelphia Phillies (20-12) –After taking three of four from the Cards, and playing ten days in a row going 8-2 makes me think they must be the best team in the NL right now. Jason Werth wants that huge contract this winter hitting .329 with 26 RBI’s already! Their starting pitching is doing well as of late too only giving up 8 earned runs over their last six games.
#4 Minnesota Twins (21-11) – No Mauer, no problem. Wilson Ramos seems like he belongs as someone’s backstop in the league. He might be able to take up a few extra games behind the plate sliding Mauer to the DH more often, so he can stay a little fresher. I don’t see why not with the way Ramos burst onto the scene last week (10 hits in his first three games). The Twins pitching has been better than I expected. They are +48 in run differential, and have allowed the sixth fewest runs, a good recipe for success.
#5 San Diego Padres (19-12) – I along with everyone are wondering when will they fade? Not anytime soon, if their pitching keeps going the way it has. They are tied with the Giants for the fewest runs allowed (97). They don’t hit for average or power, but they do lead the league in stolen bases, and seem to push the right buttons in their small ball approach. When Adrian Gonzalez starts heating up, watch out NL West! Continue reading
The 209 hasn’t gotten this much love since Celly Cel’s 1998 heater, “The Bay”
Last week, Dallas Braden was only known outside of Northern California as the guy who called A-Roid out. The guy who has accomplished nothing in his major league career, but was blasting one of the game’s highest profile stars in the media. Many outside of the Bay Area simply shook their heads saying, “who is this guy to call out A-Rod?” But then, to the surprise of everyone, Braden comes out and throws just the 19th perfect game in the history of baseball, and the ultimate “what now” to Rodriguez. A-Rod’s last comments were that he didn’t want to extend Braden’s 15 minutes of fame. Well, Braden’s going to have more than 15 minutes now. He accomplished the rarest feat in all of sports, something A-Rod will never do. Sure, Rodriguez tied Frank Robinson on the all-time Home Run list, but you can win $2 on a lottery ticket 500 times and it doesn’t stack up to winning the jackpot. Here’s a rundown of all the publicity Dallas Braden is garnering now….
Normally I wouldn’t piggyback on Chappy’s post on the same subject, but today’s gem by Dallas Braden is just too significant on too many levels for me to pass up. The obvious part is that he dons the green and gold. I’ve been a lifelong A’s fan and this is the first perfect game by an Athletic in my lifetime. The only other one was Catfish Hunter’s in 1968. It also helps that Braden has been making a lot of noise in the media as a result of his encounter with Alex Rodriguez. While most baseball traditionalists agreed with Braden’s sentiments, many others were asking, “Who is Dallas Braden?” Even A-Rod dusted off Braden’s objections because he “only has a handful of wins.” I get that, but it doesn’t matter who you are at that point. I was hoping that Braden would have a good season to back up his comments a little bit, but I never could have begun to hope for this. I’m pretty sure everyone in baseball knows who he is now.
What many people don’t know – or at least didn’t before today – is Braden lost his mother to cancer in high school. So, to accomplish this feat on Mother’s Day is an amazing tribute. Though, while she wasn’t at the stadium to witness it today, his grandmother was, and he shared an emotional hug with her in front of the dugout after the game. He also had the support of his usual Stockton contingent, or section 209, which is also the area code of Stockton.
Dallas Braden was never supposed to be a factor in the big leagues. He was a 24th round draft pick of the A’s in 2004. I remember seeing his major league debut in 2007. I thought, who is this guy with the flat bill on his cap? He won his first decision, but finished the season with a 1-8 record. When I moved from the Bay Area to Sacramento in the middle of the season, Braden also was sent down to AAA-Sacramento. He wasn’t exactly dominant, but he did show signs of brilliance, in particular when he struck out 17 batters in a game late that season. Over the next season, he looked like he was going to be mired in the minor leagues for life, but he kept working, and there’s one thing you can say about Braden, he’s all business on the field. As a result, Braden has proved over the course of the last season and a half that he belongs. Today though, he proved more than that.
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Doin Work 