tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73517995335218535142024-03-08T10:41:04.943-05:00Addicted to KrakWelcome to 'Addicted to Krak'. This website is dedicated to sports blogs and updates 24/7. Thank you and enjoy your new 'addiction'. *****************************************************************************************************krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-10648842318986179962012-10-30T19:30:00.001-04:002012-10-30T19:30:13.651-04:00The At Bat Never Heard 'Round the WorldDon't tell Chicago Cubs fans this, but every World Series really is special to its fans. Yes, 2010 will go down in Giants fans' memory banks as the one that wiped away all the demons of missed opportunities from the past, just as 2004 erased a legendary "curse" from the minds and hearts of Red Sox fans. But, ask a Red Sox fan if that meant they weren't rooting just as hard for their boys in 2007. Trust me, they were. 2012 didn't wipe away 56 years of futility for the Giants, as 2010 did. But we rooted just as hard, and the feeling at the end was just as magical. And in the end, I will wind up spending just as much money on 2012 World Series Merchandise as I did in 2010.
The 2002 Giants probably had the best collection of talent of any Giants team in my lifetime. But ultimately, that team fell 5 outs short. The 2010 "torture" team will always be the one I thought I was destined never to see - the first World Series Championship in my lifetime. The 2012 team will be known for its magical run - losing the first two games at home to Cincinnati in the Division Series, only to win all three games on the road in Cincinnati to advance to the NLCS. Then this version of the cardiac kids fell behind 3 games to 1 to the defending World Series Champion Cardinals, only to roar back and win 3 straight again to advance to the World Series. Along the way, all these Giants did was win 3 in a row in Cincinnati - which hadn't been done by a Reds opponent at all in 2012. They managed to not hold a lead at all in the series, until Scott Rolen booted a ball in the 10th inning of game 3. And then the Giants would never trail again in the series. Then the Giants promptly went out and got dismantled by the Cardinals, en route to a 3-1 series deficit. And then decided to pull the same Houdini act, by outscoring the most prolific offense in the National League 20-1 over the next three games and advance to the World Series.
Once the Giants advanced to the World Series, they were given basically no chance to win. 22 of 27 ESPN "experts" picked the Tigers to win it all. None of the 22 even said the series would go 7 games. Phrases like "Fielder and Cabrera will be too much" and "Verlander will dominate" ruled the headlines. And so, naturally, the Giants went out and swept the Tigers by a combined score of 16-6. Whoops, that wasn't in the script.
All those things you could have read in any article about the 2012 postseason. Some people were even generous enough to break down the World Series and give keys to why the Giants won it all. Pablo Sandoval's 3-HR game in game 1 being a huge catalyst for this team. This team's incredible defense throughout the World Series. The Blanco-Scutaro-Posey relay in game 2. One analyst was even astute enough to talk up the importance of the bottom of the eighth inning in game 4, with a runner on first base and Cabrera-Fielder-Young due up for the Tigers. And to that point, the only thing Cabrera and Young had done was combine for 2 HRs and all 3 RBIs that night - and Jeremy Affeldt promptly whiffed all 3 in succession. But nobody, not one living soul, pointed to a huge at bat in game 2, that affected game 4, and won the Giants the World Series in 4 games, rather than letting the Tigers even catch a scent of momentum.
In the top of the ninth in game 2, with the Giants leading 2-0, Omar Infante strolled to the plate. For most people, this at bat won't even register as a footnote in this World Series. Miguel Cabrera waited as the tying run in the on deck circle. I remember thinking to myself, "just get Infante out. I do not want to deal with Miggy as the tying run." And Sergio Romo easily granted my wish, and induced Infante into a weak foul pop-up, which Brandon Belt snagged. Game over. Giants up 2 games to 0. Cabrera left in the on-deck circle. But how does that affect game 4, you ask? In the bottom of the 10th inning of game 4, Miguel Cabrera did get to mosey on up to home plate with 2 outs, as the tying run. And after 6 straight sliders (Romo's bread and butter pitch) and a 2-2 count on the best hitter in baseball, Romo threw an 89-mph fastball right down the middle. And the bat never left Cabrera's shoulders. Strike three. Game over. World Series over. The Giants are champs. And the only reason that was made possible was because Cabrera had never faced Romo before. He hadn't seen him in live action. Therefore, all Cabrera had was "the book on Romo." And the book told him slider, slider, slider. So when he saw a pitch starting out over the heart of the plate, naturally, Cabrera would assume it would break down and away for ball 3. "Lay off it", he probably told himself. Only, it wasn't a slider. It never broke. It was a fastball. A fastball he'd never seen from Romo. Because he'd never faced Romo. Because Romo got Omar Infante to pop out to end game 2 on a slider, with Cabrera in the on deck circle. See, I was worried about Cabrera coming up as the tying run in game 2. The fact that he didn't meant that when he came up as the tying run in game 4, would result in......
THE GIANTS WIN THE SERIES! THE GIANTS WIN THE SERIES! THE GIANTS WIN THE SERIES!
krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-42741825434920931212011-10-11T10:28:00.000-04:002011-10-11T10:29:34.946-04:00Excerpt 2- The Last 27 OutsBy the late spring of 1982, my family had moved to Boca Raton, Florida. By now, I was a fully entrenched Bay Area sports fanatic. Florida did not boast a Major League Baseball franchise at that time. The majority of South Floridians, being transplants, came all set with their own favorite sports teams in tow. Florida was a booming marketplace in the 1980s. Families wanted to raise their children in a nice, warm climate, with good school systems, and brand new stucco homes. It wasn't enough to live in the suburbs anymore. You had to live in "subdivisions" within the suburbs. When my family moved to Boca Raton, we didn't just live in Boca Raton. In fact, we technically lived outside of the "Boca Raton City Limits". To this day, I have no idea what that means. What I do know, is that we lived in a development called "Loggers' Run". And within Loggers' Run, we lived in a subdivision called "Indian Head". This was how living in South Florida was in the 1980s. And the allure of these new developments popping up along the coast in Florida, drew many young families there. Most of them came from New Jersey or New York, and brought with them their love of the Yankees or Mets. Those who came from the New England area loved their Red Sox. And those who may have ventured from the Midwest lived and died with their Cubs. There may have been a rare occasion that a native Floridian actually did exist. And, since the Atlanta Braves were the closest geographical team, and their Spring Training site at that time was just a few miles north, in West Palm Beach, there were a few Braves fans as well. It wasn't so bad being the only Giants fan in town. What did get under my skin though, was always having to explain myself. Even as a young child. I remember going to the grocery store with my mother one day when I was 7, wearing a Giants t-shirt, just before the start of the football season. That led to a pretty heated exchange between the checkout clerk and I.<br /> "Alright. A Giants fan!" the teenage clerk exclaimed. "You think we're gonna be pretty good this year?"<br /> "We're ok. But the Braves and Dodgers are better than us this year," I sounded rather dejected as I answered.<br /> Clearly this confused the clerk, as he looked at me like I was a trigonometry question he hadn't prepared for. "The Braves and Dodgers?" he asked, rather curtly. "What do they have to do with how the Giants will play this season? All we have to worry about is if the NFL is going to play or be on strike this season."<br /> "I think my son was talking about......" my mother tried to interject before I put the clerk in his place. She didn't succeed. <br /> "Oh, those Giants?" I turned up an eyebrow at him. "I hate those Giants. The 49'ers kicked their butt last year. I was talking about the baseball Giants......duh." I huffed loudly, as the elderly woman behind us at the checkout line wasn't sure whether to be shocked at my behavior or chuckle at my boldness.<br /> "What Giants baseball team?" the clerk again looked as confused as he most certainly did on every high school math test he ever took. <br /> "Mom, can we just go? This guy doesn't know anything !" My mother paid the clerk, apologized for my "rude" behavior and scurried me out of the local Publix as fast as I'd ever seen her move. I heard some laughter in the background as we left. I was proud of myself. My mother......not so much. <br />This was common for me though. Everyone in Florida equates the "Giants" with football, as they are New York's team, and as such, they have a very large following in Florida. Baseball's version of the Giants plays in San Francisco. They are not very well known in Florida. The clerk not even knowing that they were a baseball team would not be the last person that wouldn't know there was a professional baseball team named the Giants. But even after I explained who the Giants were and that they did in fact play baseball - and quite well by comparison, I still had to explain why I was a fan of them.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-71442648006289146892011-10-06T17:31:00.002-04:002011-10-06T17:35:50.609-04:00First Excerpt from 'The Last 27 Outs'Prologue<br />For thirty-five years, the list echoed in my head over and over. Reds, Reds, Yankees, Yankees, Pirates, Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals, Orioles, Tigers, Royals, Mets, Twins, Dodgers, A’s, Reds, Twins, Blue Jays, Blue Jays, Braves, Yankees, Marlins, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Angels, Marlins, Red Sox, White Sox, Cardinals, Red Sox, Phillies, Yankees. The list was stuck in my head like a bad song that resonates at the worst possible times. That was the list of teams that had gotten the last 27 outs of the baseball season each year in my lifetime. The San Francisco Giants were nowhere to be found on that list.<br />I had witnessed dynasties. I had witnessed epic World Series comebacks. I had witnessed teams end the longest of World Championship droughts. And I had witnessed teams that were still in their infancy win it all. The one thing I had not witnessed was my beloved San Francisco Giants record the last out on the last day of the Major League Baseball season. <br />After the Giants knocked off the Phillies in the 2010 National League Championship Series, I sent a text message to my brother (a life-long Yankees fan) expressing my excitement and anticipation. “I just want 4 more wins so I can finally buy that elusive ‘San Francisco Giants - World Champions’ shirt.” Almost as if to rub in the success that he has gotten to bear witness to in his 33 years, he replied smugly, “I can loan you one. I have 27 to pick from.” <br />It wasn’t as though I had never witnessed one of my beloved teams hoisting a championship trophy in my lifetime. The 49’ers had reeled in 5 Super Bowl Championships, and one of the longest running and most successful dynasties of the Super Bowl Era. The Pittsburgh Penguins had won back to back Stanley Cups in 1991-1992, and then added another in 2009. And technically, the Golden State Warriors won an NBA Championship in my lifetime – though I was about 5 months old, and a little too young to appreciate it. But the team that I was the closest to in my heart, the team that I wanted to see win it more than anything, the team that would send me to tears on so many occasions, both as a child and as an adult, had never been able to reach the pinnacle. They had opportunities. This wasn’t a downtrodden franchise. Sure, they had a bad run of things there in the early to mid – 1980s. But this was a proud and storied franchise. This was a franchise that boasts the most career victories of any professional team in any professional sport. More than those vaunted Yankees. And their career winning percentage as a team – second all time, to those damn Yankees. And it wasn’t as though they’d never won a World Series, either. They’d won 5 of them. Of course, they all came when they were the New York Giants, and hadn’t won one since 1954. In my lifetime, the Giants had made the post-season six times (1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003). They made it to a one-game play-in for a Wild Card spot in 1998. But they lost to the Cubs. And they were tied on the final day of the regular season in 1993 with the Atlanta Braves. The Braves beat the Rockies on the final day of the season. The Giants lost to the Dodgers. The Giants won 103 games in 1993. Following the strike of 1994, Major League Baseball installed the Wild Card into the playoffs. The Giants would have been the Wild Card team in the National League in 1993. In 1997, the Giants won their first division title in eight years. Major League baseball’s rules were such that they had to go on the road for the first two games of the playoffs to play at the Florida Marlins. The Marlins were the Wild Card team. The Marlins won both games in the bottom of the ninth inning – utilizing the home field advantage Major League Baseball had given them. The Marlins won game 3 in San Francisco and the Giants were eliminated. Before the 1998 season began, Major League Baseball determined that this was an unfair advantage being given to the Wild Card teams, and amended the rules so that the Wild Card team would now have to play the first two games of the playoffs on the road. But the damage was already done.<br />I had seen enough near-misses, bad timing, random freak events and heartache to make me wonder if the stars would ever align for me to witness a Giants championship in my lifetime.<br /><br />-1-<br /> “Beth, you and Mark need to get David over here right away. The most fascinating thing is happening at my house right now,” my grandmother – a very demure woman for most of the 36 years I have known her – exclaimed, in almost a demanding tone. <br /> “Ma, he’s got some friends over and they are playing in the backyard. What is so important that he needs to be interrupted?” my mother asked, shrugging off the demands of her own mother, never even putting down the knife she was using to chop up the carrots for that night’s beef stew. The phone perched between her shoulder and left ear, head cocked to the side so the beige cord could reach from the phone that was attached to the wretched flower wallpapered wall in the kitchen, all the way over to the cutting board, next to the sink. She peaked out the kitchen window long enough to see that my friends and I were playing a game of tag in the backyard of 4-11 Summit Ave. My friends and I were enjoying a cloud-free summer day, and my mother wasn’t in the mood to start an argument with her 4-year old son on the whim of her mother. That is, until she heard….<br /> “Willie Mays and his agent are here for my open house.”<br /> As those words echoed in my mother’s head, suddenly telling me that my friends had to go home so that we could go to grandma’s house seemed worth the fight. My father grabbed my one-year old brother while my mother shooed the children out of our backyard. Within 10 minutes of hearing “Willie Mays and his agent are here”, my parents had ushered several young children off our property, grabbed the diaper bag for little Jason, and loaded my brother and I into their green and brown wood-paneled station wagon for the 12 ½ to 15 minute ride (depending on traffic) over to where the ‘rich people lived’ – the side of town that my grandparents resided in. <br /> Willie Mays was a hero to so many during his playing days. He spent almost his entire career with the Giants – both in New York and San Francisco. He was traded back to New York, to play for the Mets, in 1972. After he retired in 1973, he remained with the Mets organization, as their hitting instructor, until after the 1979 season. Willie had been in the market for a rather large home in the Northern New Jersey area, and as fate would have it, my grandparents were looking to sell their rather large Northern New Jersey Estate, and retire to Delray Beach, Florida. (Willie would not wind up buying my grandparents’ house.)<br /> My grandfather was an entrepreneur of sorts, eventually buying a food services company, Alan Foods, and growing that business so successfully, that he was able to build he and my grandmother one of the larger homes in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Not only was the 4,500 – square foot house more than spacious enough for the two of them after their three children moved out, got married and had children of their own, but the pool that they had built in their backyard next to their lighted tennis court was the size of most community swimming pools. And that is exactly what it became. Over the years, my grandparents had a circle of very close friends. Seven couples, all around the same age made up what my grandmother affectionately coined “The Mishpucha”. And as The Mishpucha was comprised of people all roughly the same age, so were their children and grandchildren. And as the families grew, the Aronowitz Pool quickly became the weekend hang out spot for everyone. But, as my grandparents were entering the twilight of their lives, and my grandmother’s particular disdain for cold weather increased, they felt it was time for a change. They had found a beautiful three-bedroom condo right on a golf course in Palm Greens, a retirement community in Delray Beach, Florida. With their large estate with all of its amenities on the market, Mays thought that this would be an ideal living situation, with an easy commute to Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York.<br /> As we pulled into my grandparents’ long, circular, cement-paved driveway, my father’s face lit up when he saw Willie and what appeared to be his agent standing outside on the cobblestone walkway leading up to the front door, talking to my grandfather. My father was a life-long Yankees fan, and always argued that had it not been for injuries and alcohol abuse, that Mickey Mantle was the better player. That didn’t seem to matter on this day, though. Willie Mays was still Willie Mays, after all. My mother would re-tell the story years later to friends at some random holiday party that my father had one foot out the car door before he even put it in park. I’ve always assumed this was a slight embellishment, as he did have his 4-year old and 1-year old sons in the backseat. Nevertheless, he did have a speed walker’s pace as he made his way from the car, up the cobblestone walkway, with his hand out to shake Willie’s, even as he was still about 10 yards away. Meanwhile, my poor mother was left to tend to her boys, struggling to grab the diaper bag, Jason and hold my hand, so I didn’t go running up to this unsuspecting celebrity of a man. I was known to walk up to anyone – friends, family, friends of family, random strangers, and just start spouting out random things. A couple years later, I would be visiting my grandfather in the hospital, and a very nice nurse started asking me questions about him. Among them, she asked me what my grandfather did for a living. I was trying to tell her that he didn’t work because he was retired, but instead, I said, “he doesn’t work anymore because he’s retarted.” While this sent the entire hospital room into hilarious laughter, my mother did not want me to scare off Willie with one of my 4-year old rants.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-35035701257878358322010-04-22T12:00:00.003-04:002010-04-22T12:35:59.108-04:00NHL needs a Moniker....and some American FansDavid Stern has such a strangle hold over what goes on in the NBA, that some have joked that the NBA stands for the No Balls Association. The NFL has curtailed all celebrations, leading to it being known as the No Fun League. Now that the NCAA has banned any self-expression whatsoever, one clever sportswriter nicknamed it the No Creative Athletes Allowed. While <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MLB's</span> moniker has nothing to do with its initials, Bud Selig's autobiography would be titled "No balls, One strike."<br /><br />Meanwhile, the NHL really has no moniker....or fans south of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Leamington</span>, Ontario. And that really is a shame. The NHL playoffs began 8 days ago. And barely anyone noticed. And that is a travesty. I am a baseball guy. I am a self-proclaimed baseball geek. I grew up loving and playing baseball. When I was old enough, I literally tattooed baseball on my body. That said, there is no greater playoff system than the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">NHL's</span>. It is two months of grueling, hard hitting, intense, edge-of-your-seat, non-stop action fun. Overtime playoff hockey is the single most intense and white knuckle action in all of sports. Sure, the NFL used to be "sudden death" too. But when you have to bring on your 5'6", 125 lb kicker to ice the game, is it really sudden death? The NHL playoffs in overtime - well, there truly is nothing like it in all of sports.<br /><br />Last Sunday Night, while most of the eastern seaboard slept, the Colorado Avalanche and the San Jose Sharks were locked up in an absolute classic. After 60 minutes of regulation, neither team had scored a goal. But it wasn't a boring 0-0 game. Some good fights, and San Jose had peppered Colorado goaltender, Craig Anderson with 50 shots. Colorado, by contrast, had only mustered 15 shots on goal against Sharks <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">netminder</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Evgeni</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nabakov</span>. Less than a minute into overtime, the Sharks were simply trying to clear the puck behind their own goal to set up a rush up ice. San Jose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">defenseman</span> Dan Boyle hit the puck seemingly to go behind the net to his fellow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">defenseman</span> and they would begin to set up their offensive play. Unfortunately, he hit the puck off the heel of his stick, and the puck, rather than sliding behind the net, slid right through the goal mouth and past an unsuspecting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Nabakov</span>. Goal Colorado. Game over. Just like that. Faster than a Mike Tyson fight. And not one Colorado player was even in the picture when it happened. The camera crew had to pan down ice just to see the shocked players celebrating. And then pan back to the San Jose goal to see the crushed Sharks. And that is playoff hockey in overtime.<br /><br />Some overtimes last forever....and ever....and ever. In 2000, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the first two games of their series with the heavily favored Philadelphia <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Flyers</span> in Philadelphia. The series shifted back to Pittsburgh for game 3. The game kept going and going and going. Even the energizer bunny fell asleep. In the 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">th</span> overtime (that would be the 8<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">th</span> period - more than 140 game minutes later) the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Flyers</span> scored the winning goal. And used that momentum to not lose another game in the series against Pittsburgh.<br /><br />In the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, the Red Wings and Penguins played a classic 3-overtime game. Before the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">third</span> overtime began, NBC analyst Pierre <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Maguire</span> interviewed then-Penguins forward Petr <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Sykora</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Sykora</span> informed him that the Penguins ran out of food in their locker room and had ordered a Pizza. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Maguire</span> joked, "from Little Caesar's?" (Red Wings owner Mike <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Ilitch</span> also owns Little Caesar's Pizza). "No", <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Sykora</span> said, "we made sure to order from Domino's." <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Sykora</span> also told <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Maguire</span> that this was just the energy he needed and he would be scoring the game winning goal in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">third</span> overtime. Less than 5 minutes into the third overtime, the Penguins won. On a goal by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Sykora</span>.<br /><br />That's playoff hockey. And this year's playoffs have been spectacular thus far. Not that anyone has noticed. ALL eight first round series' were tied 1-1 after they each had played 2 games. And, the first 8 games of this year's playoffs were ALL decided by one goal (with three of the games going to overtime). That, my friends, is an edge of your seat thrill ride.<br /><br />The playoffs resume tonight, with defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh looking to advance to the second round. These playoffs have been tremendous thus far. I highly encourage everyone to watch and be captivated by them. Well, the 40% of America that gets the versus channel, anyway.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-76107100754781807172010-04-09T11:39:00.003-04:002010-04-09T12:21:58.587-04:00Braves Caught in Unfair ScheduleBefore we get to today's blog, a few notes about the competitive imbalance whining that people love to moan about in baseball and some observations from baseball's first few days. Three games into the 2010 season and 29 of the 30 teams already have at least one loss. Which means, for those of you scoring at home, 29 of the 30 teams also have at least one victory. And the lone remaining undefeated team is not the New York Yankees or Boston Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Sox</span> or Philadelphia <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Phillies</span> or any of the usual suspects. And the lone remaining <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">winless</span> team is not the Washington Nationals or New York <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Mets</span> or Kansas City Royals. It is a team that should be a pretty good team this year, that has a payroll north of $80 million.<br /><br />Other early notes-<br /><br />The Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sox</span> better find some consistent offense and soon, otherwise, not only will the Rays blow by them, but the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Sox</span> will find themselves in a battle for 3rd place with Baltimore.<br /><br />The White <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Sox</span> have really good pitching.......and no offense. Maybe it's just a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sox</span> thing.<br /><br />Jon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Rauch</span> seems to be sliding into that closer's role in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Minnesota</span> without a hitch - 2 for 2 in saves, on the road, in Anaheim. Joe who?<br /><br />The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Phillies</span> are good. Really, really good. But.....<br /><br />I still think the Cardinals are better.<br /><br />The Dodgers look very disjointed out of the gate. Most people knew they would struggle stopping other teams from scoring, but if they can't get consistent offense, it could be a very long season in Southern California.<br /><br />Personally, I am over the moon that the last remaining unbeaten team is San Francisco. And the fact that they did it not only with outstanding pitching....but that they also found what appears to be a pulse on offense. I don't know if it will last (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Renteria</span> is allegedly 34 years old, Molina looks like he weighs 300 lbs and I still don't trust Aubrey Huff), but if they keep scoring 4 or more runs a game, they are going to be very tough to beat.<br />---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />The Atlanta Braves finished their game with the Chicago Cubs a little after 10pm last night. If they showered, dressed and hustled to the airport for their charter flight, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">after</span> passing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">TSA</span> inspection, maybe, and I mean maybe, they took off by 11:30 pm. The flight from Atlanta to San Francisco is approximately 5 1/2 hours. That's 5am eastern time / 2am pacific time. By the time they get their bags and get to the hotel, it would have been after 6am eastern time / 3am pacific time. They play the Giants today, in the Giants home opener at 4:35 eastern time / 1:35 pacific time. This means the Braves would have to be at the field <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">by</span> 10:30 am pacific time. Even as the world's biggest Giants fan, I see a major problem with this. The Giants got to rest comfortably yesterday, after finishing their series in Houston on Wednesday, and having yesterday off to rest.<br /><br />I am not 100% sure, nor am I going to sift through the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">MLB</span> Constitution, but I am pretty sure there is a rule against exactly what the Braves are being asked to do. It is my understanding that barring playing a make up game of some sort, a team can not play a night game in one city and then turn around and play a day game in another city. Let alone 3,000 miles away. It is my belief that if the Giants were <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">adamant</span> that they wanted their home opener to be a day game, that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">MLB</span> should have had the Braves and Cubs play a day game in Atlanta yesterday so that the Braves could have gotten on an early flight to San Francisco. Otherwise, they should have scheduled the Giants home opener as a night game to give the Braves players a chance to rest today. In either case, the Braves are being asked to do something that is unfair and I'm pretty sure against <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">MLB</span> regulations. I am assuming the Braves and/or the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">MLBPA</span> would have to have approved something like this. And if so, kudos to the Braves for agreeing to this. But it's still not really fair to the players.<br /><br />Oh, and as long as we are discussing this weekend's Braves-Giants series, be sure to tune in Sunday for what promises to be a really fun showdown. The Giants will send their ace, Tim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Lincecum</span> to the hill (he of back to back Cy Young awards, all 5'9", 150 lbs soaking wet of him) to face the Braves' newest phenom hitter, Jason <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Heyward</span> (the man who went deep on his first <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">MLB</span> at bat, and 6'7" 270 lbs). That will be a fun battle to watch.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-87446552662774974412010-04-08T11:57:00.002-04:002010-04-08T12:38:02.097-04:00NBA & NCAA make dollars....but no sense.Ohio St guard Evan Turner and Kentucky guard John Wall both announced they will be forgoing the remainder of their college careers to enter this summer's NBA Draft. Both Turner and Wall project to be top-5 picks - possibly even going 1-2 in the draft. There is no doubt that both of these players have massive NBA potential, and should make their new teams better. All this, and yet I see no problem with Turner going pro....and a huge problem with Wall's ability to go pro. I have nothing against John Wall. I've never met him. He seems like a good enough kid, and he should make a very good NBA player. As a matter of fact, he should be fighting for NBA Rookie of the Year right now. <br /><br />After the 2004 NBA Draft, the NBA decided to force high school basketball players to attend college for at least 1 year before being allowed to turn pro. The logic that David Stern used was that the 18-year old kids were not ready for the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">rigors</span> of the NBA lifestyle and it gave them another year to mature. So, in one year - of not attending classes (because exactly what incentive do they have to attend classes if they are going to be bolting after one year?), not really being a college student, other than wearing the school name on their jersey twice a week, they are supposed to magically be more mature a year later? Really?<br /><br />Let's say I graduate high school and I know that the profession I will be going into doesn't require college. Sure, going to college and getting a degree would hone my skills, but it is not required.....am I now forced to at least "experience the college lifestyle" for a year before going into that profession? Um, no. College is not for everyone. Athletes are in a unique position to get to use their skills to get a college degree. If they so choose. By telling them they have to attend college for one year, they are experiencing nothing. They are not true student-athletes. They are merely athletes who may or may not be getting paid by the university in order to get the University more money - from boosters, TV deals and going far in the NCAA tournament so that the coach can then go out and recruit the next batch of 17 & 18-year <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">olds</span> who plan on spending exactly one year at the University. How exactly does this help that child grow up?<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MLB</span> has a rule.....you enter the draft directly out of high school or you attend college for at least three years before you can re-enter the draft. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NFL's</span> rule is simple - you can not enter the NFL draft until you are three years removed from high school. I like Major League Baseball's rule better, but I am good with both. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">MLB</span> has their rule, mainly because 99% of players spend a couple seasons in the minors seasoning anyway. But I am good with both leagues' rules because it forces the student to commit to at least three years of college study before he can turn pro. So at least in theory, they have to somewhat care about classwork, or risk being suspended during their season. <br /><br />Additionally, these universities are committing scholarships to students who plan on spending no more than one year at their institution. Meanwhile, the marginal player who will commit to spending all 4 years in school, and maybe even attend a class or two, now must live on a partial scholarship or no scholarship at all. Essentially, we have turned the NCAA into the hired gun league. 4, count them, 4 freshmen from this year's Kentucky basketball team are turning pro. Honestly, what was the point? Kentucky had a great team. Unfortunately, they could not have played in the NBA though, because they wouldn't have fit under the salary cap (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ok</span>, obviously, the last part is said tongue-in-cheek, but you get the point). <br /><br />Ask Kobe or Dwight Howard or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">LeBron</span> if they've had trouble adjusting to the NBA lifestyle. In 2004, Howard was selected first overall instead of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">UConn</span> Center <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Emeka</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Okefor</span>. At the time, the pick was widely criticized- because <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Okefor</span> had college seasoning, while Howard was coming straight out of high school. Any questions now?<br /><br />The NCAA did not like seeing George Mason get to the Final Four. They did not like seeing their product "watered down" because their best talent was jumping right to the NBA. So, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">they</span> needed to create a way to have the best players show up for at least a year. And from that standpoint, it worked - Derek Rose, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Tyreke</span> Evans, John Wall, Xavier Henry and the like, have all shown up for one year, made their teams better, and excited college crowds. To the benefit of............the NCAA. Derek Rose allegedly didn't even take his own <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">SATs</span>. He allegedly paid another student to take them for him so that he could get into Memphis and play basketball for one year. So really, what's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">the</span> point? Rose should have had the ability to say, you know what, my one <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">discernible</span> skill in this world is that I can see things on a basketball court that less than 1% of 1% of the rest of the population can see. I can run the point better than 99.99999% of people can. And therefore, I don't need to take an SAT in order to earn millions. But David Stern and the NCAA said he did. And the sad thing is, he probably never even took those <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">SATs</span>.<br /><br />David Stern is one of the biggest scam artists in all of sports. His drafts are rigged, as are his playoffs. He is the architect of two very juicy conspiracy theories - that he forced Michael Jordan into <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">retirement</span> for two years as a way of suspending him for his gambling problem without actually suspending him; and sending one of his top officials - Gary <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Bettman</span> - to go run the NHL into the ground, right as the NHL was about to pass the NBA in American popularity. He runs these scams and we let him get away with it. And now he is forcing 18 year old kids to go to college for one year, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">and probably</span> receiving a healthy kick back from the NCAA for his cooperation.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-16610893465544811042010-04-06T11:47:00.004-04:002010-04-06T12:48:16.374-04:00I want my Opening Day backImagine the following scenario....<br />It's the first Monday in April. You call in sick to work. You go grab your son/daughter after letting them take a half day from school. You arrive at the ballpark about an hour and a half before the game to watch a little batting practice. Your child gets some autographs from the players and chows down on his/her hot dog. The sun beats down on both of your faces as you sit and admire for the next 3 hours. On your way out of the stadium, you buy both of you team hats. You walk out to your car and drive home. Both of you smiling, laughing and reminiscing about what you just witnessed. After you get home, you pop on the TV to watch some of the late afternoon games. After a little dinner, you go outside and have a catch. After that, you come back in for the night games. You let your child stay up just a little later than usual, to watch some of the night games with you. After all, it's opening day. A brief interlude - to flip over and see how the NCAA <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Championship</span> game is going - then back to baseball. Finally, after a day of baseball, shared with your child, you crash. Your team is 1-0 (or 0-1). As a matter of fact, 15 teams are 1-0, and the other 15 are 0-1. When the day started, all 30 teams were 0-0. And now, every team has 161 games left.<br /><br />THAT would be a perfect day. And it could happen. I know this, because it used to happen. Just like that. Baseball had an Opening Day that everyone looked forward to. It wasn't a game that day....it was an event. It was an all day spectacle. The tradition was so rich that it could not be matched by any other sport. The first pitch of the season was always thrown out in Cincinnati. That's where the season began. Period. After the Reds game got underway, then and only then, could every other game get going. It's different in the other three major teams sports, because no other sport has ever been able to match the traditions of baseball - particularly on Opening Day. Football has had Monday Night Football for over 40 years now, so even on Opening Sunday, fans already know that 2 teams won't be a part of it (and now there are two Monday Night games on Opening weekend, so now 4 teams don't play on Opening Sunday). And the fanfare just isn't the same for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NFL's</span> opening weekend. And as far as the NHL and NBA are concerned, they have zero tradition when it comes to their opening games. A few teams start on one night, a few more another night, and by the time everybody has played one game, some teams have played 2 or 3 games. Not exactly awe inspiring tradition. But baseball had that. They had it. And they blew it.<br /><br />The Opening Night Sunday Night game, the night before the season starts, began a few years ago. It is nothing more than a TV, dollar-grabbing sham. There is no other good reason for it. It negates everything that made the first Monday in April so special to so many. Sure, your team might be having it's Opening Day (at home or on the road - I sat on my couch yesterday and watched the Giants Opening Day in Houston, just as happily as if I was at the ballpark) on Monday. But, some of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">the</span> luster is gone, because two teams have already played. There is now an Opening Night and then a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">subsequent</span> Opening Day. And it makes no sense.<br /><br />Baseball has a unique opportunity to create an unofficial holiday. If all 30 teams played their opening game on the first Monday in April, it would create massive buzz around the country. 15 cities opening their seasons at home on Monday......and then the other 15 cities opening their seasons at home that Friday (it could be done, trust me).<br /><br />Baseball's popularity took a hit after <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">the</span> strike of 1994. After it rebuilt it's popularity, it took another hit this decade with the steroids scandal. Of course, the dirty little secret that seems to elude the Commissioner's office, the fans and the media is that it was because of these bulked up hitters and massive home runs that the game even got it's popularity back in the first place following the strike of '94. But now, if baseball wants to reclaim it's rightful spot as this country's National Pastime and the popularity it once had, it needs to not go for the money grab, and go for some good, old fashioned traditionalism. Bring back Opening Day. Scrap the Sunday Night Opening Night crap.<br /><br />I want to wake up on April 4, 2011, with all 30 teams 0-0. All 30 teams with statistically the same chance of winning their divisions....just for that one day. If my hometown team is home that day, I want to take the day off of work, take my son out of school early and drive down to the ballpark with him - and throngs of other parents and children - and take in the spectacle that is Opening Day. I want 15 cities to get to experience this next April 4. And quite frankly, there is no good reason for it not to happen.<br /><br />Oh, and happy belated Opening Day to the Orioles and Rays. While all 28 other teams have already played, you two get to open the season today. That's just wrong.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-68695484691880765892010-04-03T18:08:00.003-04:002010-04-03T19:02:32.443-04:00We're Gonna Party Like it's 1987....Part IIYesterday, I previewed and predicted the 2010 American League, and determined the AL Champions in 2010 would be the Minnesota Twins. Today, we'll tackle the National League. Unlike the American League - where only 4 or 5 teams have a legitimate shot of winning the AL Pennant - the National League is a toss up. So many teams are good in some areas and have gaping holes elsewhere, that unless you are a fan of the Nationals (who actually have the foundation to be good in a year or two), <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mets</span>, Pirates or Padres....your team begins the 2010 season with a very reasonable chance of playing for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NL</span> Pennant. That leaves twelve teams.....TWELVE TEAMS.....that could be left standing at the end of October. Let's rank them (in my humble opinion, of course)<br /><br />12. Chicago Cubs<br />Always an intriguing team. They got rid of a clubhouse cancer in Milton Bradley. Their lineup is good enough to compete. But their pitching is razor thin and their bullpen is full of question marks. They'll <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">outslug</span> teams and win enough to hang around until August, but unless they acquire some pitching or find some down on the farm, they will be waiting till next year.....again.<br /><br />11. Florida Marlins<br />I like this team a lot this year. I flip flopped on the Fish several times....having them finishing as high as winning the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NL</span> East, all the way down to 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">th</span> place. Ultimately, I think they will finish right where they did last year...3rd place in the East, a few games over .500 and a few games out of the playoffs. Too many bullpen questions, not enough starting pitching after Johnson and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nolasco</span>.....and they couldn't move <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Uggla</span> for the pitching they wanted. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Uggla</span> was a great story 2 years ago. Now, he's just another guy who can hit 30 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">HRs</span>, but only hit .250, never do it when it matters and is a liability defensively.<br /><br />10. Arizona Diamondbacks<br />Young. Talented. Deep. Good pitching. Enough bullpen. But alas, too young, strikes out too much as a team, in a division with better pitching and more experience. With the right <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">offseason</span> though, could be the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">NL's</span> version of the Orioles in 2011 - one of the favorites to win the pennant. In 2010, though, they will fall a little short though.<br /><br />9. Houston <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Astros</span><br />Could surprise some people this year. I like their young pitching behind <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Oswalt</span> and Brett Myers. They should settle on a closer (personally, I favor Lyon) and their offense is vastly underrated with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Berkman</span>, Lee, Pence and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Bourn</span> anchoring a lineup that will score more this year than last. I don't think they have enough to make the playoffs, but they have enough to scare some teams.<br /><br />8. Milwaukee Brewers<br />Offense. Offense. Offense. This team can score. This team will score. A lot. And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Yovani</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Gallardo</span> is a legit ace. But they have serious bullpen issues, and no contender in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">NL</span> has worse pitching, and ultimately that will be this team's downfall. They may be the most fun team to watch this year, and if you own a fantasy baseball team, you should own most of their offensive players, but they'll be watching the playoffs from their couches.<br /><br />7. Los Angeles Dodgers<br />6. Atlanta Braves<br />I think both of these teams are very good. The interesting thing is if you combined these two teams, you'd have your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">NL</span> Pennant winner - the Dodgers offense with the Braves pitching. The Dodgers lack of pitching comes in the wrong division and will land them behind the Rockies and Giants this year. I really wanted to pick the Braves to win the East, but they have too many offensive question marks, and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Phillies</span> are just too good.<br /><br />5. Cincinnati Reds (sleeper team)<br />I love love love the Reds this year. Maybe it's a Cincinnati thing. I picked the Bengals to be sleeper NFL team and win the AFC North. I was right on that call. I don't think the Reds can knock off the Cardinals in the Central, but they're going to come close. I think Drew <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Stubbs</span> is the real deal in CF, and if he is, than they're up the middle is as solid - offensively and defensively as any in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">NL</span> - with Hernandez (catcher), Cabrera (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ss</span>), Phillips (2B) and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Stubbs</span> (CF). Homer Bailey is poised to breakout as a pitcher and along with Arroyo, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Harang</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Cueto</span> and Cuban Stud Chapman - this rotation is solid top to bottom. They will just barely miss the playoffs.<br /><br />Playoff teams.....<br />4. Colorado Rockies<br />Solid team top to bottom. Good pitching. Very good offense. Good bullpen. Good team speed. Good team defense. Slow starts have kept them from winning the division twice in the last three years. They are good enough to win the division but will likely take home the wild card yet again. Never fear, Rockies fans, that path should lead the Rockies right back to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">NLCS</span> in 2010.<br /><br />3. San Francisco Giants<br />You have to spend money to make money. The Giants nearly had a flawless <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">offseason</span>. They avoided a nasty arbitration with ace Tim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Lincecum</span> and locked him up for 2 years. They locked up Matt Cain and Brian Wilson for 3 years. They locked up Freddy Sanchez for 2 more years. They signed free agent Mark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">DeRosa</span> to help the middle of their lineup. They are not rushing future stud Buster <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Posey</span> - he will be up in June or July. All this, and somehow they pinched pennies and opted for cheaper Aubrey Huff over more expensive, but ultimately much better options in Adam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">LaRoche</span> (who wanted to play in San Francisco) and Jermaine Dye. They still have pitching to burn - with more on the way. But their penny wise, will prove pound foolish in the playoffs.<br /><br />2. Philadelphia <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Phillies</span><br />The two-time defending <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">NL</span> champs, who are widely favored to get back to the World Series for a third straight year. Yes, they still have the most talent in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">NL</span>. But the injury bug is biting this team to early and too often already. I don't like the omen that sets for the season. Losing three pitchers - a starter, solid left handed reliever and your closer - all before the season starts, does not give me a good feeling for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Phitin</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Phils</span>. They still have too much offense and with the addition of Roy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Halladay</span>, too much pitching to be caught in the east.....and they are almost good enough to 3peat as the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">NL</span> Champs. If it wasn't for........<br /><br />1. St. Louis Cardinals<br />Yes, they have a gaping hole at 3B, unless David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Freese</span> proves up to the challenge. But, what happens last year in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">NLDS</span> if Matt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">Holliday</span> actually catches that ball in game 1 with 2 outs in the 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">th</span> inning? Do they go on to beat the Dodgers and play the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Phillies</span> for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">NL</span> Pennant? And if so, didn't they match up perfectly against the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Phillies</span> last year with Carpenter and Wainwright in games 1 & 2? I say yes. Brad Penny LOVES pitching in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">NL</span>. He pitched great for San Francisco down the stretch last year after being discarded by Boston. And who is better at getting the most out of pitchers than Dave Duncan? And, for you fantasy guys, you want this year's Joel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Pineiro</span>? Rich Hill. He'll win the #5 job eventually and win 10-12 games and have an ERA under 4. And....they have the best player in baseball. That's enough for me.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">NL</span> East<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">Phillies</span><br />Braves<br />Marlins<br />Nationals<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Mets</span><br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">NL</span> Central<br />Cardinals<br />Reds<br />Brewers<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">Astros</span><br />Cubs<br />Pirates<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">NL</span> West<br />Giants<br />*Rockies<br />Dodgers<br />D-Backs<br />Padres<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">NLDS</span><br />Rockies over <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_56">Phillies</span><br />Cardinals over Giants<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_57">NLCS</span><br />Cardinals over Rockies<br /><br />World Series<br />Cardinals over Twins in 6<br /><br />MVP - Albert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_58">Pujols</span><br />CY Young - Matt Cain<br />ROY - Jason <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_59">Heyward</span><br /><br />In 1987, Kirby Puckett's extra inning HR in game 6 sent the series to a 7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_60">th</span> game, which the Twins ultimately won over the Cardinals. Jack Buck's famous call - "and we'll see ya tomorrow night." This time, with Puckett and Buck looking on from the heavens, there will be no tomorrow night. Cards in 6.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-17264616959143104222010-04-02T11:30:00.003-04:002010-04-02T12:01:48.529-04:00We're gonna party like it's 1987The New Movie "Hot Tub Time Machine" takes 4 friends back in time to 1986. This year's baseball season, or at least the end of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">October</span> to early November is going to look an awful lot like 1987.<br /><br />In 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series despite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Byun</span> Hung Kim's best efforts to thwart it. And they did it by beating the best closer ever in the bottom of the ninth in game 7. In 2002, the Angels bested the San Francisco Giants despite the Giants being 8 outs away from winning the World Series, with a 5-run lead, and Dusty Baker turning the ball over to -statistically speaking - the best bullpen in baseball that year. In 2003, the Florida Marlins closer situation was so shaky that they had to go get a closer mid-season and do a bullpen by committee with Braden <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Looper</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ugueth</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Urbina</span> for the stretch run and the playoffs. The end result? A World Series victory over the Yankees. Last year, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Phillies</span> had a litany of bullpen issues - including a closer controversy heading into the playoffs. They wound up winning the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">NL</span> pennant and playing for a World Championship. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins had (at least by some experts' accounts) the 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">nd</span> best closer in baseball. And how did that work out? Joe Nathan cost the Twins a shot at beating the Yankees in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ALDS</span> (note Yankee fans - I did not say he cost them the series - I said he cost them a shot at the series). The Yankees swept the Twins - in part because Nathan blew two saves in that series.<br /><br />What does all this mean? It means that the most overrated, overblown story of the 2010 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">offseason</span> has been the injury to Joe Nathan. The Twins somehow went from the clear cut favorite to win the AL Central and challenge the Yankees for the AL pennant to somehow being in a dogfight to even win the AL Central. All because they lost Joe Nathan? I don't think so. I still say, despite the setback because of the Nathan injury, they had quietly the best off season in the American League. They signed a veteran hitter in Jim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Thome</span>. They signed a gritty, hard nosed player that no one wanted in Orlando Hudson (and don't think that motivation is underrated). Francisco <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Liriano</span> looks all the way back from surgery and has the bite on his slider he had in 2007. And they locked up Joe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Mauer</span> long term, so that distraction is gone. The other contenders in the American League just didn't match the actual benefits that the Twins added.<br /><br />The Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Sox</span> have the best pitching in the AL. But their offense looks mediocre, at best.<br />The Angels lost Jon Lackey, Vlad Guerrero and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Chone</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Figgins</span>. They are still the best team out west. Only because the AL West suddenly looks like the NFC West - where just finishing over .500 should win you the division.<br />The Tigers have to have a good April, otherwise whispers will start about them trimming even more payroll by trying to unload Miguel Cabrera.<br />The Rays have a ton of talent, but their pitching is thin and young. Can it hold up during a playoff run?<br />The Orioles. Yeah, I said it. This team is going to be good. REAL good. Unfortunately, it's going to be in 2011. If they can add just one more young bat to Adam Jones, Nick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Markakis</span>, Matt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Weiters</span> and still an under-30 Brian Roberts, this lineup will be deadly. And, they have some AMAZING young pitching - particularly Brian <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Matusz</span> and Chris Tillman.<br />And the Yankees.....the team that had a "great" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">offseason</span>.......if you were building a fantasy baseball team. Yankee fans will soon learn what Tiger fans already know. Curtis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Granderson</span> look great on paper....and lousy in CF. He also has a career batting average of .210 against lefties. So how does this make the Yankees better against <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">LHP</span>? It doesn't. And Javier Vazquez failed before in NY. I don't see him as a good fit in the rotation. Some people just can't pitch in NY, despite great success elsewhere (see Rogers, Kenny). The Yankees lineup still makes them the beasts of the East. But they are a year older, they lost two very good clubhouse guys in Damon and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Matsui</span> (the World Series MVP, by the way). They would win my fantasy baseball league. But I don't see them winning the AL this year.<br /><br />Tomorrow- a full National League Preview.<br /><br />2010 AL Predictions-<br />AL East<br />Yankees<br />Rays<br />Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Sox</span><br />Orioles<br />Blue Jays<br /><br />AL Central<br />Twins<br />*Tigers<br />White Sox<br />Indians<br />Royals<br /><br />AL West<br />Angels<br />Rangers<br />Mariners<br />A's<br /><br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">ALDS</span><br />Yankees over Tigers<br />Twins over Angels<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">ALCS</span><br />Twins over Yankees<br /><br />MVP - Justin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Morneau</span><br />CY Young - Jon Lester<br />ROY - Brian <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Matusz</span>krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-27693481983956287402009-11-09T11:45:00.002-05:002009-11-09T12:17:17.477-05:00This man needs a job....The baseball <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">off-season</span> is officially underway, what with trades already happening, players re-signing with their teams, a confessed steroid user exercising his $20 million player option rather than test the free agent market, after tanking on yet another team, following a 50-game suspension. It's just Manny being Manny, and it's just another off season in Major League Baseball. The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">countdown</span> to pitchers and catcher reporting has begun (95 days, if you're counting at home). And it's also time to sort out new managers. Some teams are set with their skippers, while others will start scouring the available managers to lead their clubs into battle in 2010. <br /><br />The Cleveland Indians have already made their selection. They interviewed several candidates. They looked at very qualified assistant coaches (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mattingly</span>, Don) as well as plenty of re-treads (Hurdle, Clint). In the end, they settled on Manny <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Acta</span>. He seems like a really nice guy, too. But what pedigree does he bring with him? His .385 winning percentage in 410 games managing the Washington Nationals? His propensity for finishing in last place? I'm curious as to the qualifications that Indians' GM Mark Shapiro was looking for in his next field boss. <br /><br />There was another candidate that Shapiro and the Indians interviewed and tossed aside. He's currently employed part time by ESPN, and he's managed before. He's managed successfully, as a matter of fact. And he might very well be the smartest man in baseball who is not employed by a Major League Baseball team at the current time. He is the only man who, in 2000, said <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Ichiro</span> could not only play baseball with Major League players here in America, but that he would excel at it. Other scouts, managers and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">GMs</span> scoffed at the notion. They said <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Ichiro</span> was too slight. That his game was great in Japan but would not translate well over here. All <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Ichiro</span> has done since joining the Seattle Mariners is have 200 or more hits in every season he's played, break the single season hits record (262), win the rookie of the year, an AL MVP trophy, lead the league in batting average twice, stolen bases once and be an All Star selection every single year he's played. The same man who was the only man to predict <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ichiro</span> could do these things was also asked prior to game one of the 2009 World Series two questions. The first question was - who will win the World Series? He answered - The Yankees, in 6 games. The second question was - Who will be the X-factor in the World Series? He answered - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Hideki</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Matsui</span>. The Yankees won in 6 games, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Matsui</span> was named MVP of the Series.<br /><br />This man has managed two <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">MLB</span> teams in his career. In his first full season managing the Texas Rangers, he improved them by 25 wins over the previous season. He took a 62-99 team and turned them into an 85-77 team. Six years later, he was fired. He was fired mid season, with the Rangers 45-41. His replacement led the team to a 32-44 record the rest of the way. A few years later, after managing the New York <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Mets</span>' triple-A team to an astounding 82-59 record, he was promoted to manage the big club. As manager of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Mets</span>, he led them to 5 consecutive seasons of over .500 baseball. He led them to back to back playoff appearances (the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Mets</span> would kill for such success these days) in 1999 and 2000. And he led them to their first World Series berth in 14 years in 2000. Since he was fired after the 2002 season, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Mets</span> have made the playoffs only once.<br /><br />Yes, this man has his quirks. He was once ejected from a game. He proceeded to go into the clubhouse, put on funny glasses and nose and return to the dugout, "incognito". The umpires noticed the obvious, over-the-top costume and ejected him.....again. But his quirks and his quick temper do not take away from his genius. He was a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">transcendent</span> figure while managing in Japan these past 5 seasons. He led his team to the championship over there. And, when the Chiba Lotte Marines' management decided they wanted to fire him after the 2009 season, the fans signed a petition in an attempt to keep him - all the fans. How beloved a man must he be to get fans to sign a petition to keep him - a manager, not a player? When Joe Torre and the Yankees parted ways after the 2007 season, there was no petition to keep Joe. And he led the Yankees to 13 consecutive playoff appearances and 4 World titles. After Joe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Girardi</span> botched the 2008 season so badly that the Yankees missed the playoffs, there was still no petition to bring the real Joe back to the Bronx. So, imagine how popular this man must have been to garner such respect and admiration of an entire fan base.<br /><br />I implore some GM, some owner, someone in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">MLB</span> with a brain - hire this man. He will do wonderful things for your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">ballclub</span>. If I had Brian <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Sabean's</span> number on speed dial, I would be calling him right now, telling him to dump Bruce <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Bochy</span> and hire this man.<br /><br />Please, somebody hire Bobby Valentine.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-6281762250798149982009-10-05T11:45:00.002-04:002009-10-05T12:05:58.561-04:00Boycotting the Hype and HyperboleIn case you missed it, there is a pretty big event happening in Minnesota tonight. After 162 games, the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers are tied for the AL Central Division title. They will meet in a one-game playoff to determine the winner of the division and the right to go to the 2009 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ALDS</span> against the New York Yankees. The Twins will host the Tigers in what could be their final game at the Hubert H. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Humphrey</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Metrodome</span>. This will be the 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">th</span> time in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">MLB</span> history that two teams had to play on the day after the regular season ended in a one game playoff. Wait a second, what's that? The game is not being played the day after the regular season? It's being played TWO days later? I'm confused. Did Detroit need a travel day to get from Detroit to Minneapolis? This is unprecedented. No, obviously that's not the case. What happened here was that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">NFL's</span> 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">th</span> game of the regular season took precedent over a one-game playoff to determine a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">MLB</span> division champ. <br /><br />Now, don't get me wrong. The NFL was well within their rights to not move tonight's Media Hype Bowl. The game as it read on the schedule was Green Bay at Minnesota, Monday, October 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">th</span> at 8:30 pm. So the NFL has first rights of refusal here. And that's exactly what they used. They trumped a one game playoff for their precious media darling game. A game that will be watched by what is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">being</span> estimated as the most televisions ever for a regular season game. Can't move that. Too much revenue to be made tonight. Or could they? Anyone who follows the NFL at all knows that the Packers and the Vikings both reside in the NFC North. That means that they play each other twice each season. Once in Minnesota and once in Green Bay. They actually could have spiced up Media Hype Bowl by moving the game to Green Bay tonight and creating an even bigger stir for Ryan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Longwell's</span> homecoming (that is who this is all about right? The ex- Green Bay Packer, turned Minnesota Vikings kicker, right?). But the NFL said no. They said no to flip-flopping the home games for the two teams (which I find quite ironic, considering the fact that this game is all about the biggest flip-flopper this side of John Kerry). And they naturally said no to moving the game to Sunday Night or Tuesday Night, for revenue issues. <br /><br />So, now, the Tigers and Twins can take in the football game Monday Night and wait until Tuesday to play their one game playoff. Of course, this creates problem number 2, and a potential controversy. The Tigers/Twins winner will play the New York Yankees. The Yankees owned the best record in baseball this year. That gives them the privilege of deciding if they want the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ALDS</span> to begin on Wednesday or Thursday (theoretically, to better help them set their pitching rotation). Never, in the over 100 years of baseball has a team not had a day off before starting the playoffs. If the Yankees so choose, they can force the Tigers or Twins into this scenario, while a team that didn't even win their division - the Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Sox</span> - gets an extra day of rest while travelling out west. Somehow, that doesn't seem right. <br /><br />So, while I am only one person, and I am quite certain that the NFL won't miss me all that much tonight, I am boycotting tonight's Packers-Vikings game. There are fantasy football implications for me (go Percy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Harvin</span>). But I am sure I can find something else on to kill <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">those</span> three hours. Oh look, the Rangers and Devils are playing tonight on versus. I think I'll tune into that rivalry game instead.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-81937635477731192642009-09-29T10:34:00.002-04:002009-09-29T11:11:44.553-04:00Heaven on Earth.....For a dayI woke up this morning a little before 7am to take my son to school. The weather was a nice 80 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky. The high today is supposed to touch 90 degrees, with only a slight chance of rain. Yet, today, just for today, I with I would have woken up to 48 degrees and cloudy with a 50% chance of rain. Today's high in Detroit is only 58 degrees, and there is a good chance of rain, with basically no chance of sunshine. None whatsoever. Yet, today, I wish I was there instead of here. At approximately 12:05 today in downtown Detroit, the Tigers and Twins will square off in a double header - this is the latest point in the season that two teams this close in the standings are playing a double header against each other. And I wish I was there.<br /><br />Sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MLB</span> did away with scheduled double headers. Teams wanted to make sure they got the revenue from all 81 home games, and didn't want to give up the revenue from a game to schedule a double header. Even today's double header between the Twins and Tigers is a day-night double header. This way, the Tigers can still get two games' revenues today. The sad thing is, a lot of baseball's great traditions went by the wayside because of revenue. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">MLB</span> refuses to have even one World Series game played during the day. A day game in the World Series would lead to fathers taking the day off of work- or at least taking a half day. They could rush over to school to pick up their sons (or daughters) and get home to watch the World Series. Maybe then, our kids would be more into baseball. <br /><br />Double headers are also a thing of the past. A 12:00 or 1:00 start - 18 innings of baseball. For baseball fans, that is a day of pure heaven. And now, those days are gone. And even though there will be a 3 or 4 hour break between games today, it's still the perfect day to be in Detroit. Two teams, separated by 2 games for one playoff spot. Two games, 18 (or more) innings. By 10:00 tonight, the lead could be 4 games. Or the two teams could be tied. Or the Tigers could still have a two game lead, with 2 fewer games remaining in the season. Those are the only three possible outcomes (barring another rain out). Today in Detroit is the perfect day to play <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hookey</span>. Take the day off of work. Keep your kids out of school. Go to the ballpark. Watch 21-year old sensation Rick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Porcello</span> in game one. Then go across the street and grab a burger. Relax for a couple hours and walk back across the street to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Comerica</span> Park for the nightcap. Tigers' Ace, Justin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Verlander</span> will take the mound against Joe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Mauer</span> and the Twins. Will the Twins be going for the tying game in game 2 or will Detroit look to all but end Minnesota's season when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Verlander</span> takes the hill? Nobody knows. But one thing is for sure. This Florida boy would love to bundle up me and my 5-year old son for the next 11 hours and watch two teams battle head to head in a classic day-night double header.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-2106259096794011612009-09-25T13:29:00.002-04:002009-09-25T13:49:14.456-04:00Thoughts on September's Final Weekend.....I got my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MLB</span> Network back last night.....just in time to watch Brian Wilson torment and torture me one more time. With the Giants one strike away from pulling within 3 games of Wild Card leading Colorado, Wilson served up a 2-run home run to Jeff Baker. It was Baker's 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> home run of the season. The 26<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> home run of his 5 year major league career. I was crushed. I posted some very nasty words about Mr. Wilson on my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">facebook</span> page. And apparently, he is not that well known to the non-San Francisco Giants fans, as I had several replies asking why I was mad at the Beach Boys. As I try to gather myself from yet another crushing Giants defeat, I offer up some of what I expect to happen on this, the final weekend in September.....<br /><br /><ul><li>The Colorado Rockies finish with St. Louis, Milwaukee and the LA Dodgers. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves (only 3 1/2 games back now) finish with 7 of their last 10 games against Washington. By the end of the weekend, the Rockies and the rest of the world will be watching the Braves make a serious run at the Wild Card.</li><li>The New York Yankees will clinch the division against the hated Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sox</span>. This will lead to a lot of premature celebration on the Yankees part.</li><li>South Carolina will wake up Sunday Morning and be ranked anywhere from 15-18 in the AP College poll. They will get this ranking largely due to a win over an extremely overrated Ole Miss team. And then nobody will be able to comprehend how South Carolina struggles the rest of the season.</li><li>The Florida Gators will struggle for the first half against Kentucky, before pulling away in the 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">nd</span> half. This will lead voters to start doubting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Tebow</span> and the Gators. This will be a mistake.</li><li>The Miami Hurricanes will go into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Blacksburg</span> and beat Virginia Tech, vaulting them into the National Championship conversation. It will also give the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Hokies</span> their second loss of the season (both to top-10 ranked teams). They will then be ranked below South Carolina. That is a joke.</li><li>Texas will finally make a statement...against <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">UTEP</span>. So, really????</li><li>Houston will be shown that is not a true contender when Texas Tech beats them this weekend on their own home turf.</li><li>Penn State will avenge last season's loss to Iowa.....and it won't be close. But nobody will really notice because, yes, the Big 10 really is that bad.</li><li>Brett <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Favre</span> will try to make too many plays in his home opener to impress his new fan base. And it will cost the Vikings the game.</li><li>The Cincinnati Bengals will prove that they are for real (they should be 2-0 as it is) when they get their signature win by beating the Pittsburgh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Steelers</span>.</li><li>The Detroit Lions will snap their 19-game losing streak, by beating the Washington Redskins 20-17.</li><li>The Miami Dolphins will continue to prove that they were the beneficiaries of an overly easy schedule last year, that led them to their 11-5 record, as they fall to 0-3.</li><li>The San Francisco Giants will find yet another way to tease me, then crush me this weekend....like only they can do (well them and high school girls from 1989-1992).</li></ul><p>Have a great weekend everyone!</p>krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-9124760561964903282009-09-23T17:41:00.002-04:002009-09-23T18:07:11.679-04:00A Plea to the Detroit TigersTo: Mike <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ilitch</span><br />CC: Dave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dombrowski</span>, Jim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Leyland</span>, Miguel Cabrera, Curtis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Granderson</span>, Brandon Inge, Justin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Verlander</span>, Edwin Jackson, Rick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Porcello</span>, Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney<br />Re: Please save baseball from the impending apocalypse<br /><br />Dear Detroit Tigers,<br /><br />Last night at approximately 11:35pm eastern time, I pronounced the San Francisco Giants playoff hopes dead. When your 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">nd</span> best pitcher is on the mound with a 3-0 lead (2 of the runs driven in by the pitcher, himself), and less than 45 minutes later you're losing 9-4....your playoff hopes are basically DOA. The Giants were largely considered the team that could make the baseball playoffs fun again - with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Lincecum</span> and Cain and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Kung</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Fu</span> Panda and a bunch of blue collar guys that were scrappy enough to cheer for. They're out. Now, you guys claim the throne of America's team. Why? Here's why: If the Twins overtake you guys for the AL Central crown, they will get thumped by the Yankees in round one. It won't be pretty. The Royals would put up a better fight. At least in that case, Zack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Greinke</span> could keep the Royals in a game. If the Twins face the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers will put up 30-35 runs in a boring 3-game sweep. And then, since the Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Sox</span> have the Angels number in the post season for reasons that nobody can figure out, we will be headed for yet another Yankees-Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Sox</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">ALCS</span>, that quite frankly bores the hell out of 90% of America. If you live or lived in the northeast at some point in your life, you love it. If not, you're tired of it. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">ESPN's</span> Jim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Caple</span> even wrote about it. The Yankees-Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Sox</span> "rivalry" is a media-hyped illusion. Would it be a highly rated <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">ALCS</span> from a TV standpoint? Of course. So would the Yankees vs. the Tacoma <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Rainiers</span>. New York is the biggest TV market in the US. People either watch the Yankees to see them win or to see them lose. But, you, the Detroit Tigers can save us from all the hyperbole and over-hyped media love a Yankees-Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Sox</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">ALCS</span> would bring with it. How? Simple - win the AL Central and beat the Yankees in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">ALDS</span>.<br /><br />But we went 1-5 against the Yankees in the regular season, you say. No worries. In 1997 and 2003, the Giants went 5-1 against the Marlins in the regular season both years (and in 2003, the Giants had the best record in baseball). The Marlins promptly ended their season in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">NLDS</span> both years. So, you have history on your side. You also haven't played the Yankees since July. Your offense is better now than it was then. Their pitching is wearing down. Andy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Pettitte's</span> arm looks more tired than Brett <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Favre's</span>. CC <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Sabathia</span> has a career ERA of 3.62 in the regular season and 7.92 in the post season. In other words, he's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">eminently</span> beatable. And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">AJ</span> Burnett is the New York Yankees version of Nuke <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Lalouche</span>. He has a million dollar arm and a 5 cent head. He's also never pitched in the post season. And we all know Alex Rodriguez just lives for the post season. And you guys have beaten the Yankees in this situation before. Remember 2006? You weren't supposed to beat the Yankees then. And after dropping game 1, you guys dropped them faster than Mike Tyson dropped Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Spinks</span>. Justin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Verlander</span> is good enough to shut down the Yankees offense. Edwin Jackson has nasty stuff and Rick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Porcello</span> is just young enough and just dumb enough to not understand the gravity of the situation - think Josh Beckett in Yankee Stadium in game 6 of the 2003 World Series.<br /><br />You guys can do it. You can save baseball. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Granderson</span> and Cabrera and Inge and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Ordonez</span>. It's up to you guys to save baseball. Save us from the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">hyperbole</span>. Save us from the media hype. Save us from an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">ALCS</span> that nobody wants. Save baseball. Don't make me write a letter to the Angels. I'm still bitter from 2002.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Krakower</span>.....and the rest of baseball fans outside of New York and Bostonkrak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-51632939205171496712009-09-21T12:41:00.002-04:002009-09-21T13:03:20.422-04:00Owner of a Lonely Heart...The Dallas Cowboys opened their new $1.2 Billion Dollar "palace" last night. The .2 part of that represents $200,000,000. The Florida Marlins ENTIRE FRANCHISE isn't worth the .2 portion of the Cowboys new home stadium. Jerry Jones, Owner of the Cowboys, has been mocked, ridiculed and publicly berated for his state of the art video board that hangs above the field. Mind you, it is well within the height requirements that the NFL dictates. But the media would have you believe that every time a punter punts a ball, it will hit this "monstrosity", causing a do-over and thus lengthening the game. Some reporters even joke that the game will now take 5 hours and punts will be the most exciting thing to watch during Cowboys home games. The following is an excerpt of an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">article</span> written on Friday, on ESPN.com - <em>"And you know what? I am genuinely excited for every single punt at New Cowboys Stadium. Oh, like you'll be turning the channel? Come on! This is gonna be great. Hit the scoreboard! Hit it! Hit it! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">YESSSS</span>! I can't remember the last time I was this excited for something this stupid, and when the old farts in the media get riled up on Monday because five punts hit the scoreboard and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">somebody's</span> wedge guy pulled a hamstring sprinting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">downfield</span> for the fourth time in three minutes, even better." </em><br />Guess what? Exactly ZERO punts hit the scoreboard last night. None were even close. Jones, amid tremendous pressure and ridicule, chose not to raise the scoreboard. It would have cost him a little less than $2 million to do it (in other words 1/100 of the .2 portion of the stadium cost). So, clearly, he has the money to do it. He left it there, out of principal and because the height that it is at right now is the optimum viewing level for fans. And that is why Jones gets it. He is an owner who 100% gets the purpose of his job. Owners like Jones, Daniel Snyder, Mark Cuban, and yes, even George <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Steinbrenner</span> get it. They all get mocked publicly for their behavior and their lavish spending. But ask any fan of any of those teams, and the answer will all be the same - their owner is trying to put a winning product on the field at any cost. Why do we mock that?<br /><br />Why isn't there more public outcry for owners like Donald Sterling and Jeffrey Loria and Bob Nutting? These are owners who take fans' money and revenue sharing money from TV and other owners and then do not put it back into their teams- but rather pocket the profits. They don't care whether their team wins or loses. All they care about is a quick buck. <br /><br />But owners like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Steinbrenner</span>, Cuban, Snyder and Jones - they all reinvest that money into their teams. Yes, they are multi-billionaires and have the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">wherewithal</span> to do this, but the fact remains, they choose to do it. They are just as much fans as they are owners. They live and breathe their teams, just as we fans do. They care whether their team wins or loses. And that, in this day and age is noble. I would much rather throw my support behind an owner I know invests his money, his heart and his soul into his team, than an owner who is using his team as a tax shelter, while pocketing the profits.<br /><br />Think about it, if I gave you $1 billion and told you to buy a sports franchise. First, you'd pick your favorite team, so you could run it your way. Then you would do anything and everything you could to make that team a winner. And that's all these guys have done. They are just like you and me......you know, with a couple extra billion in their pockets.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-7260603055945932892009-09-17T12:31:00.002-04:002009-09-17T13:04:33.051-04:00Giant Heartache.....againI sat down on my couch and flipped my TV to ESPN for the Rockies-Giants game. The Giants had won the first two games of the series to pull within 2 1/2 games of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">NL</span> Wild Card leading Rockies. The Giants had Matt Cain on the mound and the home crowd behind them (which has led the Giants to the best home record in the National League in 2009). A win would give the Giants all the momentum heading into the final 16 games of the season. A loss would knock the Giants 3 1/2 games back, and not having the Rockies on their schedule the final 2 1/2 weeks would make it highly improbable that the Giants could catch them. Essentially, this was the Giants biggest game since 2003. <br /><br />I remember all the Giants big games. I can remember them with vivid detail. I remember the 1987 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NLCS</span> vs. St. Louis. I remember being up 3 games to 2 and losing game 6 to force game 7 in St. Louis. I remember the Cardinals winning game 7, 1-0, on a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">measly</span> sacrifice fly. I remember 1989, the famous Earthquake World Series. And I remember the A's beating the Giants in 4 straight. I remember watching game 4 from my bed. Seeing the A's win 13-7 and Dennis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Eckersely</span> throwing his glove in the air after Brett Butler grounded out to end the World Series. I remember 1993, when a 103-win Giants team lost to the LA Dodgers on the last game of the season 12-3, because the Giants decided that rookie sensation Salomon Torres was the right choice to start such a pivotal game. The Braves won 104 games that season. The Giants went home. I remember 1997 and Devon White's grand slam. I remember 1998 and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Neifi</span> Perez's home run in the bottom of the ninth off Robb <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nen</span> to force a one-game playoff for the Giants vs. the Cubs. Which, of course, the Cubs won. I remember 2000, and the 10-inning game that gave the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Mets</span> the momentum that carried them to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">NLDS</span> win over the Giants. I remember the 2002 World Series when Dusty handed Russ Ortiz the game ball with 8 outs to go before the Giants would win their first World Championship in San Francisco. Their first in my lifetime. Their first since 1954. And then the Angels stormed back for 6 runs and beat the Giants 6-5. Then beat them 4-1 in game 7. I remember 2003. Jose Cruz's dropped fly ball in extra innings. Jeff <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Conine's</span> throw. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">JT</span> Snow crashing into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Pudge</span> at the plate. And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Pudge</span> holding onto the ball, defiantly. I remember all these moments as if they happened yesterday. The Giants always break my heart. And yet, I keep running back to them for more. Like a spouse who keeps taking their spouse back that cheats on them, saying, "this time it will be different. This time, she/he won't cheat on me." And they cheat. And the Giants break my heart.<br /><br />The Giants have been a marginally good (and I'm being kind) team since 2003. And my heartbreak usually happens in June or July when I realize this. Not September or October. But this year, the Giants have put something special together. Their 1-2 punch of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Lincecum</span> and Cain is as good as their is in baseball (only Wainwright-Carpenter in St Louis compares). Barry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Zito</span> has found himself as a pitcher. Brad Penny looks re-born in San <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Francisco</span>. And add to that Jonathan Sanchez threw the team's first no hitter since 1975 and something special was going on by the bay. They needed some more offense. But in the first two games against Colorado, they scored 19 runs and looked like a team on a mission to make the playoffs....and with their pitching staff, make some noise in the playoffs. So, the stage was set for the Giants to sweep the Rockies and carry that momentum into the playoffs. And then a funny thing happened, the game started.<br /><br />Cain was not sharp. He gave up 2 home runs and left the game with the Giants trailing 4-0. The Giants bullpen held the Rockies in check for the final three innings, but the Giants' bats were completely <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">overmatched</span> against Rockies' pitchers, Jorge <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">de</span> la Rosa. For 8 innings, he completely shut them down, limiting them to just three hits. When the Giants did rally in the 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">th</span> inning - putting runners on 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">nd</span> and 3rd with nobody out, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">de</span> la Rosa <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">proceeded</span> to strike out the next three hitters. And then Rockies' manager Jim Tracy made a questionable move. With <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">de</span> la Rosa in total control of the Giants, he lifted him for a reliever after 8 innings. The Giants bats came alive against Rockies' interim closer Franklyn Morales. Freddy Sanchez led off the ninth with a l<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ine</span> drive single. Pablo Sandoval followed with a sharp single. Then <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Bengie</span> Molina ripped a single that scored Sanchez. 4-1. Still nobody out. The Giants have life. Tracy lifted Morales for another reliever, Rafael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Betencourt</span>. He induced Juan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Uribe</span> into what appeared to be a rally-killing double play. Only, Troy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Tulowitzki's</span> throw whizzed past Garrett Atkins head at second base. 4-2. Giants now with 1st and 3rd and still nobody out and Mr. Clutch strolling to the plate. The Giants pinch run speedy Eugenio Velez at 1st base and he promptly steals 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">nd</span>. 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">nd</span> and 3rd, nobody out. Edgar <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Renteria</span>, who won the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins with a hit, and who two weeks earlier hit a game winning grand slam off of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Betancourt</span> just needs a single to tie the game. Or a fly ball to the outfield to move the runners up. Or a ground ball to the right side. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Renteria</span> promptly pops out to 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">nd</span>. But that's only 1 out. A single still ties it. Pinch hitter Randy Winn grounds out to first. But the runners move up. 4-3. Runner on third, two outs. Nate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Schierholtz</span> coming up. Strike one. Strike two. Strike three (granted their were three balls thrown too, and he swung at ball four, but you get the point). <br /><br />I slumped down into my couch cushions. It was 1:36 am and the Giants had done it to me again. And you know what, when they take the field this weekend in Los Angeles, I will still root like hell for them. And I will root like hell the rest of the season. Because that's what we fans do. We root and we root for our teams. They may break our heart like a cheating spouse, but we keep coming back for more.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-10575710567695898732009-09-15T19:13:00.002-04:002009-09-15T19:41:00.138-04:00Shhhhh.....Don't tell anyone, but Hockey is back....If a professional sporting event takes place, but ESPN refuses to report it, did it actually happen? An NHL hockey game was played last night. Did you know this? It's true. I promise. While most of America was either watching the Bills and Raiders choke away sure victories in the closing moments of their respective Monday Night Football games; or watching Dirty Dancing on a continuous loop in honor of Patrick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Swayze</span>; or watching Tim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Lincecum</span> pitch the Giants back into the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">NL</span> Wild Card Race; or watching Racist <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kanye</span> West read the half-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">assed</span> apology that his publicist wrote, on the Jay Leno show, an NHL Hockey game, was in fact played. Fans showed up (approximately 4,000 of them). The Islanders and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Canucks</span> showed up. And Vancouver won 2-1. All this did happen last night. But did you know about it? And tonight, 6 more NHL <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">pre</span>-season games are being played, including the Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Oh, but it's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">pre</span>-season, you say. <br /><br />I am pretty sure, in fact, I am 100% certain, that in roughly a month, ESPN will show highlights of NBA <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">pre</span>-season games. And in August, they showed highlights (and even televised) NFL <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">pre</span>-season games. And in March, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">MLB</span> Spring Training is front and center on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Sportscenter</span>. So what gives with hockey? Does ESPN and Fox Sports and any other Sports Channel you can find this side of the NHL Network and VS. just ignore hockey? It would appear so. But don't hold the networks solely accountable for keeping hockey out of your homes. <br /><br />When the NHL came back from its year-long hiatus (you call it a lock out, I call it a hiatus), Gary <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Bettman</span> quite arrogantly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">shunned</span> ESPN and FOX, opting instead for an exclusive deal with VS. and NBC. Three out of five American homes don't even get the VS. channel.....and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals games are contractually obligated to be broadcast exclusively on VS. Let me say that another way - 60% of Americans <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">canNOT</span> watch 2 of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">NHL's</span> Championship games....the most important games of the season. That's a problem. <br /><br />When the hiatus ended in 2005, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Bettman</span> and his henchmen (he calls them Marketing gurus) traveled around to the 30 teams to speak to their front offices and fans. It was a decent gesture of goodwill. He was trying to reach out to the communities to assure them the game was headed in the right direction. Somebody should have prepped him. Or written out his answers for him. Or he should have sent Bozo the Clown in his place. All would have been more appealing options. I was working in the Front Office of the Phoenix Coyotes at the time (I'll wait to continue until you stop laughing. No seriously, stop laughing and keep reading. They really do play hockey in the desert. It's true. Nobody goes to the games. And nobody knows or cares about Wayne Gretzky - the team's part owner and head coach, and the greatest player of all time - but it's a real team. I swear.) Anyway, when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Bettman</span> addressed the front office and Coyotes season ticket holders (all 12 of them), one of the astute season ticket holders asked <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Bettman</span> why he left the deal with ESPN and opted for VS. instead. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Bettman's</span> reply is one I will never forget. And I will never forget it for it's ignorance and arrogance. Four years later, I still shake my head over it. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Bettman</span> replied <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">condescendingly</span>, "We got a better deal from VS. [which was known as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">OLN</span> in 2005 - the Outdoor Life Network]. It's an up and coming sports channel that will utilize the NHL as it's anchor to attract even more sports programming. I don't mind that they actually show Bull Riding and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">canoing</span> now. I mean, look at ESPN. In the 1970s when they first started out, they were airing some pretty bad stuff, too." <br /><br />Four years later, 60% of American homes still do not get VS. and it's not like ESPN has missed a beat without having hockey. It remains the most arrogant thing I have ever heard a sports commissioner say. And it has crushed his sport and rendered it essentially anonymous in the United States. The sport has grown by leaps and bounds on the ice. But for every one step forward on the ice, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Bettman</span> makes sure that the sport takes two steps back off the ice. <br /><br />Six games are being played tonight....including one at storied Madison Square Garden in New York, between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. And in just a few minutes, the Pittsburgh Penguins will take the ice for the first time since they won the dramatic game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit, 3 months and 3 days ago. But will anybody who isn't at these Arenas even notice?krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-73763454460564617332009-09-14T12:16:00.002-04:002009-09-14T12:51:02.862-04:00Fantasy vs. RealityArizona led San Francisco 16-13 with less than 8:00 left. The 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ers</span> had the ball at the Cardinals 3 yard line and lined up for a 3rd and goal. Shaun Hill dropped back, looked left into the end zone.....Isaac Bruce, covered......Josh Morgan, covered. He spun and looked right.....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Arnaz</span> Battle, covered. The Cardinal defenders were bearing down on him. Quickly, he checked down to Frank Gore, who had spun wide open in the flat. Caught at the 2 yard line....the 1......touchdown, San Francisco!!!! The 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ers</span> would win the game 20-16. A road win against not only the defending division champs, but the defending conference champions, to open the season. I jumped up and down on my couch and pumped my fists. I let off a Ric Flair-like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">whooooooo</span>! Then, all of a sudden, I slumped back onto the couch and my jubilation was tempered just a bit. Wait a second, I thought, as I scrambled through about a dozen printed sheets on my coffee table. "Oh crap!" One of my opponents I was playing against in fantasy football has Gore on his team, and now Gore has 2 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">TDs</span> today, putting me in a big hole. That thought quickly exited my head and all I cared about was the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ers</span> being 1-0 and that hopefully <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">LaDanian</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Tomlinson</span> would do enough on Monday Night to give that particular fantasy team a win. But the thought did enter my head. Even if just for a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">fleeting</span> moment. Was I wrong to have that thought? Or is that the new natural reaction in 2009 - be happy for your favorite team, but temper the enthusiasm until you find out if your opponent in fantasy football has the player who just scored the winning TD? Is a Bengals fan (all 10 of them, shouldn't be too hard to find them and ask) that has Brandon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Stokley</span> on his fantasy team, happy today? Let's examine....<br /><br />I have been a 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">ers</span> fan for over 30 years. I have celebrated their triumphs and agonized over there defeats. I will never forget Joe Montana's 88-yard drive to win Super Bowl XXIII or the dismantling of the Dolphins (in Super Bowl XIX), the Broncos (in Super Bowl XXIV) and the Chargers (in Super Bowl XXIX). All told, I have watched the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ers</span> win 5 Super Bowls. I have watched great playoff comebacks and wretched playoff defeats. Like most fans, I use we and our when describing them. So, their losses become part of me, as do their victories. In over 30 years of rooting for them and about 20 years of sports gambling, I have one steadfast rule (you listening, Pete Rose?) I have never gambled against the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">ers</span>. I have never gambled against any of my favorite teams, for that matter. On occasion, if I feel really confident, I will wager on them, but never against them. That is basically rule #2 in the true sports fans handbook (rule #1, Yankees fans, Gators fans, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Notre</span> Dame fans, post-2004 Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Sox</span> fans, Cowboys fans and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Lakers</span> fans is never abandon your true team to jump on someone <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">else's</span> bandwagon). This of course leads to a very dicey question - isn't having a fantasy team a form of gambling? So, in effect, wasn't I - who was playing against Frank Gore yesterday - wagering against the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">ers</span> in some form? Not exactly. I wanted the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">ers</span> to score. And, once I thought about it, I didn't care that it was Gore who scored. I just would have preferred that someone else scored the TD (like Josh Morgan, for example. 3 catches for 38 yards. Bust out year, my butt!). It's not like I was rooting for Arizona to stop Gore from scoring. But just that little twinge gave me pause and made me ask myself which is more important - the team I have rooted for, cried over, cheered mercilessly for, for over 30 years.....or my wallet? Because remember, winning a fantasy league doesn't just give you bragging rights over your friends, but it usually fattens your wallet pretty well. Fantasy Sports, football in particular has become a big business. <br /><br />When I was in college, me and some buddies started a fantasy league. Really, it was just for fun. We all threw in $20. There were 10 teams and the winner won the $200. Not exactly high finance. Now, league entry fees can be upwards of $200 or more, with payouts well into the thousands of dollars. So, really, there actually is a dilemma for fans. My heart and soul or my wallet? It's not like if the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">ers</span> win the Super Bowl, I'm getting a ring or big fat bonus check from the organization for being a super fan. Actually, what I'd probably get is some lost income - since I'd wind up spending hundreds of dollars on Super Bowl Championship memorabilia and shirts. But if my fantasy team wins it all, I'm going to have quite a bit of extra money in my pocket. Money to hopefully spend on the 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">ers</span> if they ever win another Super Bowl. <br /><br />There is not a right or wrong answer here. Traditionalists will say that you have to root for your team no matter what...and that fantasy sports is a dumb idea anyway. Some of the younger generation (the post-2004 Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Sox</span> fans and post-1996 Gators fans) will say root for your fantasy team and then just pick a team that makes it to their sports' championship game to root for. Me? I'm a traditionalist. But I'm a traditionalist who could always use a little extra money. So, for now, for the rest of the 2009 NFL season, I say, Go <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Niners</span>! And Go Hebrew <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Oilers</span>! And Go Heartbreak Kids! And Go Holy Shirts and Pants! And Go.....wait, I can't really tell you the name of my 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">th</span> fantasy football team. It's just wrong. Just know that I am rooting really REALLY hard for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">LaDanian</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Tomlinson</span> tonight. And I don't even like the Raiders, so tonight, there won't be a conflict of interest.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-91287162750721030032009-09-11T12:36:00.004-04:002009-09-11T13:21:23.738-04:00Defending the Indefensible...Imagine yourself having just graduated from college. You've been offered a very lucrative job. It's been your life-long dream to work in this industry. It's what you went to college for. You are about to realize all of your dreams. The only downside is, you have to move 1,000 miles away from where you went to college and roughly 900 miles away from where you grew up. But this is your dream, so you do it. And you wind up doing it very well. Over the next 8 years, you win awards at your job. You are one of the best employees at what you do. During those 8 years, you get married, have kids and begin raising your family in your new environment. And you like it. You are living the fairy tale you always wanted to. Then, one day, out of the blue, your boss calls you into his office and tells you that you've been transferred to another branch, but this one is 3,000 miles away. You were never consulted on this. They didn't ask you if you'd be willing to go. And now, you have to go home and tell your family that either daddy is moving, or the entire family is being uprooted or you have to quit your job. Oh, and you have 5 days to move out there or forfeit your salary. You'd be pretty pissed, wouldn't you? Then why, for the love of God, is Richard Seymour being treated like garbage for having a natural human reaction? The preceding paragraph is exactly what just happened to Seymour when the Patriots traded him to the Raiders this week.<br /><br />When a player gets traded from one team to another, we tend to only look at the ramifications it will have on that player or the team that traded for him or traded him away. We never take into account the human side of the equation. We only look at the teams involved in the trade, not the cities. We never think of the families. The collateral damage, if you will. When athletes sign free agent contracts, they get to take all of these things into account before signing with a team and a city. But when they are traded, most of them (the ones who don't have no-trade clauses in their contracts) just have to go. They have to leave their families behind or uproot them. And we, as fans, just take this for granted, because most of the time, the athlete does so with nary a peep. And we as fans gripe when a player like Seymour resists, because, well its his job to go....and he makes millions of dollars to do it. But those millions don't make it any easier to have to tell your wife and kids that your new office is 3,000 miles away. And there are other factors that most fans don't see or just turn a blind eye towards. Seymour is not the first athlete to resist a trade, after all.<br /><br />Terrell Owens once got the NFL to void a trade on a technicality because he didn't want to play in Baltimore. Alonzo Mourning essentially held two NBA franchises hostage because he didn't want to play in Toronto. And Charles Johnson once forced the Colorado Rockies to pay him a $1 million trade fee to accept a trade from the Marlins to the Rockies. Why? Because Johnson would be forced to move from Florida (where there is no state income tax) to Colorado (where they have one of the highest state income taxes). I still consider that to be one of the shrewdest trade negotiation ploys a player has ever used. The point is, players, despite their salaries, still have some of the same worries and concerns that we do. We just tend to scoff at them because of what they do for a living and how much money they make.<br /><br />Seymour was blindsided by the announcement of his trade to the Raiders. If he doesn't report to the Raiders in 5 days, he will be suspended for the season and lose over $3.6 million in salary. It's an expensive statement to make. But it appears as though it's one Seymour might be willing to make.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-60294001030149613382009-09-10T14:49:00.002-04:002009-09-10T15:09:45.941-04:00What were the qualifications?Last night, I took a stroll through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MLB</span>.com and stumbled upon the ballot for the 2009 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">MLB</span> Man of the Year Award. Apparently, each team gets to nominate one player for the award, and then fans vote on the award. Players like Mike Lowell, Roy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Halladay</span>, Barry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Zito</span>, Albert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Pujols</span> and Ted Lilly are up for the award. All these players are great humanitarians and do wonders for their local communities. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees nominated.....wait for it........wait for it........Alex Rodriguez. No, I'm not kidding. The quarter of a billion dollar man is the Yankees choice for Man of the Year. The man who took Performance Enhancing drugs, then lied about it (seemingly multiple times) is the Yankees choice. The Yankees nominated an adulterer who tried to throw his own cousin under the bus as their best humanitarian. Really? This is your choice, Yankees? Not Derek <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Jeter</span>? What- was he too obvious a choice? What about Mark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Texiera</span>? Jorge <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Posada</span>? Mariano Rivera? What exactly were the qualifications that made <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ARod</span> your candidate? I really want to know.<br /><br />So, now Rodriguez gets his name on a ballot with a cancer survivor (Lowell) a well known humanitarian in his community (Dan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Haren</span>) and a man who married a woman with a 3-year old who had down syndrome and now donates time and money to that cause (Albert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Pujols</span>). What am I missing here? How does Rodriguez even belong in the same sentence as these guys when it comes to anything remotely charitable? And don't tell me about all the money he donated to the University of Miami - he did that for name recognition alone. If ever someone could be selfish while donating money, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ARod</span> managed to do it.<br /><br />My guess is, the qualifications the Yankees thought <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">MLB</span> and its fans were looking for were: overpaid, steroid using, lying, cheating, adulterer. Well, if those are the qualifications, then <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">ARod</span> wins. Hands down.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-599629173547847582009-09-08T16:08:00.002-04:002009-09-08T16:44:35.161-04:00Weekend Review....Jeter & College FootballThe 2009 College Football season kicked off this weekend. It began with a punch and ended with a fury. Here are some things we learned in week 1 of College Football....<br /><ul><li><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Pre</span>-season polls are <strong><em>still </em></strong>as useless as tits on a bull. They are prejudicial, subjective, based off of roughly zero facts in evidence and skew the NCAA landscape for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">the</span> entire season. Don't believe me? Just ask Missouri, Miami, Michigan and Cincinnati, who were all written off as non-factors before the weekend started. Ask Ohio State and Iowa, who were <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">severely</span> overrated until an Armed Forces School and a Directional school came within a whisker of beating them both.......on their own home turf, no less.</li><li><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">LeGarrette</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Blount</span> is nothing more than a thug and a punk. But then again, we knew that before Thursday Night's "punch heard round the world". This guy is going to be earning millions next season in the NFL while honest, hard working Americans struggle to scrape by. A true <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">testament</span> to the ass backwards society we live in.</li><li>Oklahoma will struggle against good teams without Sam Bradford. Then again so would Florida without <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Tebow</span>, Texas without McCoy, Ole Miss without Snead, etc... In other words, quit overreacting as though <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">OU</span> was overrated. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">BYU</span> is a good team and basically every other school in the country would struggle if their #1 QB went down, too.</li><li>Florida, Texas, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">UNC</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">USC</span> can all beat teams comprised of players who would be second string......in high school. Congrats, boys!</li><li>Alabama, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">BYU</span>, Boise State, Oklahoma St. can all beat ranked opponents and should be applauded for scheduling real out of conference games (therefore, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Oregon and Georgia deserve the same applause).</li><li>Rutgers is probably not going to be that sleeper team coming out of the Big East, as all the "experts" had predicted. </li><li>The Big East gets an automatic berth in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">BCS</span> game, while <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">BYU</span>, Boise State and Utah will have to go undefeated just to get consideration. Yup, that seems fair.</li><li>Miami and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">FSU</span> may not be all the way back just yet, but they provided us with the game of the weekend and showed the rest of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">ACC</span> that they both play offense this year. Here's hoping for a December rematch in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">ACC</span> Title game. Though, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">UNC</span>, Va Tech and Ga Tech might have something to say about it.</li><li>Missouri was picked to finish 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">th</span> in the Big 12 North behind Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. That seems a bit off now, doesn't it?</li><li>The SEC East just became a 1-horse race. But the SEC West, now that's going to be fun - Alabama, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">LSU</span> and Ole Miss are three teams all with a viable shot at Atlanta in December. </li></ul><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>In other weekend news, Derek <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Jeter</span> went 0-8 in the Yankees Double Header yesterday vs. Tampa Bay. Why is this news? Great question. Glad you asked. This is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Jeter's</span> 14<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">th</span> major league season. This was the <strong><em>first time in his career that he went <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">hitless</span> in both games of a double header. </em></strong>That is remarkable. So, that got me doing some research on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Jeter</span>. And I'll say it - when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Jeter</span> retires, he should go down as the second greatest player in New York Yankees history. That's right. I believe when the dust settles and people truly examine his numbers and take everything into account, he should be regarded higher that Mantle and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Dimaggio</span> and Gehrig and Berra and all of them, except Ruth. Consider the following - at some point over the next week or so, he will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">eclipse</span> Gehrig for the most hits in Yankee history. He already has more hits by a shortstop than any other player in Major League history. </p><p>When <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Jeter</span> steals his next base, he will join a very exclusive list in the 200/300/.300 club. He will join Willie Mays, Paul <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Molitor</span> and Roberto <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Alomar</span> as the only four players in history to hit 200 home runs, steal 300 bases and have a career batting average over .300. Babe Ruth can't make that claim, neither can Mantle, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Dimaggio</span>, Hank Aaron or even Barry Bonds. And, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Jeter</span> will have the highest batting average of the 4 players in the club. </p><p><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Jeter</span> should finish his career with over 3,000 hits and possibly even 3,500 hits. He won the 1996 Rookie of the Year. He is a 4-time World Series Champion. He is a 10-time All Star. He has won 3 gold gloves as well as the 2000 All Star Game and World Series MVP. The sad thing is, the writers who vote for the season MVP rely so heavily on numbers and not intangibles that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Jeter</span> has yet to win an AL MVP. That should change this year. But it appears he is behind teammate Mark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Texiera</span> (who was MIA in April) and Joe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Mauer</span> (who missed 3 weeks of the season and is playing on a team probably not headed for the post season). <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Jeter</span> deserves the MVP this year. He deserves his place in Yankee lore. </p><p>Sure, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Jeter's</span> number will be retired one day and he will be enshrined in both Cooperstown (though, apparently he won't be getting Jim Rice's vote) and Monument Park. But <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Jeter's</span> rightful place is next to Babe Ruth as one of the two greatest Yankees ever to don the Pinstripes.</p>krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-7788012347827696712009-09-06T14:33:00.005-04:002009-09-06T16:11:09.993-04:00Eagles will soar in '09By this time next Sunday, most of America will be sitting around their TV sets, flipping their remotes vigorously to catch every second of every NFL game on. Domino's and Papa Johns delivery drivers will be burning more fuel than Al Gore's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Lear</span> jet. Side note- seriously, if Oil companies wanted to make more money and NOT gauge the American Public, here is my suggestion, just raise gas prices on Sundays and Mondays during the NFL season (when I am certain more people order delivery than any other time of the year). This way, the big time corporations who pay for the gas <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">mileage</span> for their drivers get stuck paying the overpriced gas prices, and the rest of us can be sure that we only get gas on Tuesday - Saturday, when it is mandated that gas cannot be over $1.99 a gallon. This wouldn't work? Why not? Since President Obama is losing the Health Care debate worse than Charleston Southern lost last night, I think he should look into this idea. It's a winner.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ok</span>, back on point, this is the final Sunday of 2009 without NFL football. So, it appears to be the perfect time to unveil my 2009 NFL Predictions, division by division.<br /><br /><strong><em>AFC EAST</em></strong><br />Brady is back. The Dolphins have the toughest schedule in football and history is not on their side. The Bills did not improve by adding T.O. and Lynch is suspended for 4 games. The Jets are starting a rookie QB and his best Wide Receiver is a 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">nd</span> string running back. Meanwhile, the Patriots just swindled the Raiders into a 1st Rd pick in 2011 (and it's the Raiders, so let's be real, it's going to be a top-5 pick) for a defensive lineman whose contract is up after 2009. Sometimes, I think the Patriots use the Jedi mind trick on teams when talking trade with them.<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Patriots 11-5<br />Dolphins 8-8<br />Bills 7-9<br />Jets 6-10<br /><br /><strong><em>AFC NORTH</em></strong><br />It's always hard to repeat as Super Bowl Champion. Pittsburgh is going to have an even tougher time doing it in a very competitive division. Baltimore still has a fantastic defense, but questions still loom about their offense. The Browns can't make up their mind on their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">QBs</span>, and it's not like they are debating between Montana and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Marino</span>. Their defense still has <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">swiss</span> cheese-like holes in it. And they have RB issues. This is not a recipe for success on Lake Erie. Meanwhile, in the southern part of Ohio, a sleeper looms. A healthy Carson Palmer. A hungry and oddly overlooked receiving corps. A RB looking for a second chance. A vastly underrated defense. And a maligned head coach with something to prove. Hello 2009 Sleeper!!!<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Bengals 11-5<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Steelers</span> 10-6<br />Ravens 10-6<br />Browns 4-12<br /><br /><strong><em>AFC SOUTH</em></strong><br />Welcome to this season's most overrated division. The Texans are the chic pick to be this year's sleeper. Does anybody realize that Rex <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Grossman</span>, REX <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">GROSSMAN</span>, is a Matt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Schaub</span> injury away from being their QB. And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Schaub</span> gets injured every year. He already sustained an injury in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">pre</span>-season. The Jags are poised to rebound from their 5-11 season. They are? With what passing game? And what offensive line? The Titans had the league's best record last year. Yeah, and they lost their best defensive player, one of their Wide Receivers, Kerry Collins is another year older. Meanwhile, lying in wait is the team nobody seems to be talking about. This year, things return to their natural order in the south.<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Colts 12-4<br />Titans 9-7<br />Texans 8-8<br />Jaguars 7-9<br /><br /><strong><em>AFC WEST</em></strong><br />Does a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">pre</span>-season prediction even matter in this division. You could simulate this season 1,000 times and 999 of them, the same outcome will be reached - this division has only one team that will finish over .500 and make the playoffs. It's the same team every time. Try as you might to find a sleeper here and all you find is three teams just flat out sleeping. If San Diego doesn't go 6-0 in divisional play, they should all take handguns to a NYC night club.<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Chargers 13-3<br />Chiefs 7-9<br />Raiders 6-10<br />Broncos 5-11<br /><br />AFC PLAYOFF TEAMS: Chargers, Colts, Patriots, Bengals, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Steelers</span>, Ravens<br /><br /><strong><em>NFC EAST</em></strong><br />Probably the most intriguing division maybe in the history of the NFL. Ask 20 different NFL analysts, and you'll get legitimate arguments as to why all 4 teams can win the division and why all 4 teams can miss the playoffs. It's fantastic. It's the best division in football. All 4 teams can, and very well might, finish over .500. It's the anti-AFC West. I love the Redskins young and fast defense. But I hate their passing offense. I love the Giants rushing attack and their defense. But I hate their Wide <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Receivers</span>. Oh, and brother Manning is still less than 24 months removed from nearly being run out of town. Now he's a $100 million man. The Cowboys have the flash and the new stadium (with some low-hanging fruit). They also have a dandy running game. But not much else. And the Eagles have a chip on their shoulder. Don't underestimate that chip. Or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">McNabb</span>. Or Westbrook (if he's healthy). Or their receiving corps (man, is it fast). Or their pass rush.<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Eagles 12-4<br />Giants 10-6<br />Redskins 9-7<br />Cowboys 8-8<br /><br /><strong><em>NFC NORTH</em></strong><br />Brett <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Favre</span> used to play for the Packers. They hate the Vikings. The Vikings are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Favre's</span> new team. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Favre's</span> old team now has Aaron Rodgers, maybe the most talented QB in the division. But their biggest rivals are the Bears, who just traded for Jay Cutler, the QB that most people call the next Brett <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Favre</span>. The Packers have the best set of Wide Receivers in the division. The Vikings have the best running back. The Bears have the best defense (and their running back is pretty good, too). Oh yeah, the Lions play in this division, too, in case anyone forgot.<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Bears 11-5<br />Packers 10-6<br />Vikings 8-8<br />Lions 2-14<br /><br /><strong><em>NFC SOUTH</em></strong><br />The Saints play offense. They play it pretty well. As a matter of fact, I don't think anyone will score as many points as they will. All they need is something that resembles a defense to run away with what will be a very mediocre division. The Falcons, like the Dolphins in the AFC, will come back to Earth a bit - remember for all the hoopla, Matt Ryan only threw 16 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">TDs</span> last year. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Bucs</span> have a lot of question marks on both sides of the ball. And the Panthers play great defense and can run the ball down your throat. But do you trust Jake <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Delhomme</span> anymore? Me neither.<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />Saints 12-4<br />Panthers 9-7<br />Falcons 8-8<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Bucs</span> 6-10<br /><br /><strong><em>NFC WEST</em></strong><br />Talk about mediocre. At least the AFC West and NFC South have a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">bonafide</span> Super Bowl contender in it. What's that? The defending NFC Champions, who came within a whisker of winning last year's Super Bowl reside here? Crazy talk! What I see are three teams that are 8-8 caliber (though one of them will find a way to go 9-7 and win the division because the league mandates somebody has to) and one team that will be lucky to win any games this year. Seriously, other than divisional games, where are the Rams getting a win from? I'll wait. Yeah, exactly. They have a beat up offensive line. Their QB is already hurt. Their Wide Receivers are Donnie Avery and Laurent Robinson (no, that's not a punchline, it's the truth) and their defense will give up 30 points a game. Other than Steven Jackson, what's to like?<br /><br />Predicted order of finish:<br />49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">ers</span> 9-7<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Seahawks</span> 8-8<br />Cardinals 7-9<br />Rams 3-13<br /><br />NFC PLAYOFF TEAMS: Eagles, Saints, Bears, 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">ers</span>, Giants, Panthers<br /><br /><strong><em>POSTSEASON</em></strong><br /><strong><em>ROUND 1</em></strong><br />Patriots over Ravens<br />Bengals over <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Steelers</span><br />Bears over Panthers<br />Giants over 49<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">ers</span><br /><br /><strong><em>ROUND 2</em></strong><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Chargers</span> over Bengals<br />Colts over Patriots<br />Eagles over Giants<br />Bears over Saints<br /><br /><strong><em>CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND</em></strong><br />Colts over Chargers<br />Eagles over Bears<br /><br /><strong><em>SUPER BOWL <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">XLIV</span></em></strong><br />Eagles over Colts<br /><br />Of course, there is no chance any of this will prevail. I guess we'll just have to tune in each week to the best reality show on TV - NFL Sundays (and Mondays, and the occasional Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays).krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-88488323367288594072009-09-04T11:15:00.003-04:002009-09-04T12:14:35.694-04:00A Sad Day at Michigan and TrumbullWhen I turned on my computer this morning to ESPN.com, I saw a head line that brought a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">tear</span> to my eye. As I read the article, the tear slipped out of my eye and down my right cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb but the emotion, the sadness remained. The last time I remember shedding a tear and it having anything to do with sports was in 1993 (but that's a story for another time). This time, I wasn't shedding any tears for my team losing or even a player that I idolized passing away. This had nothing to do with a player. But this had everything to do with baseball.<br /><br />It was late Spring, 1999. I was in my first season in the front office of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">the</span> Detroit Tigers. I was 24, very green and unbelievably wet behind the ears. I was still awe struck anytime I met a player or anyone famous that worked for the team at the time. So, when my boss asked if anyone wanted to help out the Tigers' radio guys during a game, I volunteered faster than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Usain</span> Bolt runs the 100 yard dash. An opportunity to work in the Press Box for a game with Jim Price and Ernie Harwell? Don't mind if I do! <br /><br />When I got up to the booth, Price, an ex big-league catcher, was less than friendly. He certainly has more charisma than Kirk Gibson, but then again, so does a sloth. But meeting Price and hanging around him was not the highlight of my night. Not even close. Shortly after I set up the radio booth with the requisite visiting team stats, an elderly gentleman walked into the room. He looked like a grandfather. He was unassuming and polite. He took off his cap, smiled and shook my hand as if it were <strong><em>me </em></strong>who was the celebrity in the room. "Hi, I'm Ernie Harwell. Pleasure to meet you." "Yeah, I know," I responded softly. "It's an honor, sir." He laughed, "You're honored to meet an old man? You need to get out more." And that's how the night went. While Price was busy sulking and being crotchety, Harwell and I exchanged barbs and laughed for 3 hours during a Tigers - White <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sox</span> game. It just as easily could have been me and my grandfather. It was that comfortable. A kid he'd never met before that night, some punk who sold tickets in the Tigers front office and was running stats for him that night, he opened up to; he chatted with, like we were old buddies that had known each other 20 years. When the game ended, Harwell and I left the booth, still laughing uncontrollably. He patted me on my back, shook my hand and off I went. Off I went, with a memory forever etched into my head of that night. An 81-year old hall of fame broadcaster treated me like family for three hours. Turns out, Harwell is just as famous for his treatment of others as he is for his work on the mic.<br /><br />Harwell has a very distinguishable voice. It's very soothing. He is one of the few broadcasters that you can listen to on the radio and fully enjoy the game. I know countless <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Detroiters</span> who will watch a Tigers game on mute and turn up their radio to hear Harwell call the game. He's iconic in that regard. He is also one of a very few broadcasters who work for a team (and not a national channel), but is known throughout the country. The other of course, is Vin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Scully</span> (who actually did broadcast nationally for a time when I was a kid). The rest of the great baseball voices have passed on - Harry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Caray</span>, Phil <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Rizzuto</span>, Jack Buck. Today's announcers don't get it. They try to make themselves a part of the game. That's not their job. Their job is to tell a story. They are there to describe the game to us and then stay out of the way and let us enjoy the game. But the arrogance of most of today's broadcasters gets in the way. The proverbial apple fell so far from Jack Buck's tree, that I often wonder if Joe Buck is adopted. I miss great announcing. I miss listening to a great voice tell a great story....without interjecting themselves into it. Harwell did that, masterfully.<br /><br />Ernie Harwell is a great man, with a great passion for the game, a great voice to tell the story and always told the story in a great way. And his love of people is what made him a great man. I believe that God put him in the spotlight to give him the ability to touch thousands of people...myself included. Ask anyone living in the Detroit area and they will tell you - Ernie Harwell is Detroit Baseball. He spent 31 years covering Tigers baseball at the Corner of Michigan and Trumbull. He spent another three seasons with the team at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Comerica</span> Park, before retiring. All told, he spent 42 years broadcasting. <br /><br />The tears I shed this morning were because <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">ESPN's</span> headline read: Hall of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Famer</span> Harwell has incurable cancer. He's 91 years old. He's led a great life. But it didn't make the news any less sad that a revered man like Harwell probably has a year or less to live and there's nothing he or the doctor's can do about it. <br /><br />Harwell is a one of a kind gentleman. The Tigers once tried to put him out to pasture, but the fans revolted, and in time, the Tigers wisely brought him back. And now cancer is trying to take his life. I don't know if all the fans' voices will make a difference this time. But if this disease was curable simply by all the lives that he touched all banding together, then Harwell would beat this thing without missing a beat. Sadly, that's not the case. And sometime in the not too distant future, I will probably open ESPN.com and shed some more tears for a great man.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-11261984221879396882009-09-02T17:58:00.004-04:002009-09-02T18:34:45.476-04:00A Trip Down Vegas Memory Lane...I left the shed next to my framer's house with my masterpiece in my right hand. A framed up 1,000 piece puzzle of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Las</span> Vegas Strip at night. And surrounding the puzzle was a $1 chip from every hotel on the strip. Anal and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">meticulous</span> that I am, I had to ensure that the chips were in the correct order in which they sit on the strip. As I hung the piece over my TV in the living room, I got nostalgic. My last trip to Vegas was in March, 2008. I need to make another trip and soon. And this piece hanging in my living room will be a constant reminder.<br /><br />My first trip to Vegas was for my 21st birthday. Maybe it was because it was preceded by a 3-day trip to the worst city on earth (Los Angeles), but the anticipation of landing at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">McCarren</span> Airport can not be overstated. Since, my 21st birthday, I have made the requisite Vegas trips (although, sadly, I have never attended a Las Vegas bachelor party....yet. There is hope finally building for my little brother, and I am certain that's where we're headed). I have done the boys trip. I have done the family trip (yes, with my then-2 year old son). I have done the couples trip. I have run the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">gamut</span>. And Vegas never disappoints. Even the trip on my 21st birthday when I was sick for a day and a half and lost a few hundred bucks (still, to this day, the only time I went to Vegas and came out a loser), we had a ton of fun.<br /><br />Each of my Vegas excursions has left me with an unforgettable moment or 10. My first trip was well, my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">first</span> trip. It was also the first time I ever realized that cocktail waitresses don't actually think you are as cute as they tell you that you are. This lesson has come in handy later in life in other establishments where women rely heavily on tips. That trip was also the trip where my underage brother won $1,000 at Keno. But since he was underage, I had to cash in his ticket. It was the only time that weekend I was actually ahead.<br /><br />Each trip since, I have actually left Vegas having won money. But the memories and the famous one-liners that come from a Vegas trip are what stick with you. I will keep the authors of the following quotes anonymous, but they are all a reminder of the fun we had each time we went to Vegas...<br /><br />"Pull your bets back, we're headed to Amen Corner." My 2003 trip. I won a lot of money that week. But one night, in a matter of about 2 hours, me and my buddies managed to lose about $300 each playing craps....and all because the 5 of us kept crapping out and losing everybody at the table money. We never quit, mind you. We just kept rolling 7s, killing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">everyone's</span> winnings at the table, and made jokes about it. Why didn't we just leave the table???<br /><br />"I thought you were up $1,800?"<br />"I was."<br />"So, how do you only have $800 left?"<br />"Strip club."<br />"Oh, you paid for a ----------"<br />"No."<br />"Then what did you get for $1,000?"<br />"We cuddled."<br /><br />"We're gonna go have a 3some now." <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Ok</span>, so obviously this didn't happen. But during my 2008 trip this line was uttered in an elevator by a girl who was with a woman and her husband, to a crowded elevator. The elevator's patrons stood silent in sheer shock at the comment. The husband was excited briefly, until he figured out that this wasn't actually going to happen.<br /><br />Obviously, there are tons of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">other</span> quotes and memories that stick in my head that I can't mention here. But, it just reminds me how much fun <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Las</span> Vegas really is and how badly I miss it.<br /><br />Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Orbitz</span> for flight costs from Ft. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Lauderdale</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Las</span> Vegas!krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351799533521853514.post-30940980929719723952009-09-01T11:38:00.003-04:002009-09-01T12:38:06.929-04:00Bulldogs and Cowboys and Hokies....oh my!The NCAA Football season begins in two days, and save for a couple of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">snoozers</span>, opening weekend this year kicks off with a bang. Much like the NFL, the NCAA has expanded its opening weekend from a one-day event on a Saturday, to a Thursday - Monday weekend long extravaganza. Now, Friday and Sunday don't offer much beyond seeing how real Ole Miss is this year, and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">the</span> battle for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">supremacy</span> in Colorado (yawn), but Thursday, Saturday and Monday are filled with intrigue.<br /><br /><strong><em>THURSDAY</em></strong><br />The college football season kicks off with the Ole Ball Coach, Steve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Spurrier</span> and his Gamecocks heading north to play NC State. Not a huge game, but a lot of people look at South <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Carolina</span> as a potential sleeper in the SEC East. If they struggle with NC State, don't look for them to be able to compete with the Gators and Bulldogs.<br /><br />Thursday does feature a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">matchup</span> of ranked teams. Oregon travels to Boise State in a very intriguing match up, as Boise State continues to try to prove that they, and other non-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">BCS</span> schools are just as worthy of a National Title shot. (Let's not forget, the only Division I school to go undefeated last year was not the Florida Gators, but rather the University of Utah) Beating a ranked Oregon team, out of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Pac</span>-10 would be just another step for schools like Boise State, Utah and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">BYU</span>. And speaking of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">BYU</span>...<br /><br /><strong><em>SATURDAY</em></strong><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">BYU</span> will get its shot in the spotlight on Saturday, as they take on defending Big 12 Champion and National Championship game loser, Oklahoma in a neutral-site game. The 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">th</span> ranked Cougars will try to stifle last year's best offense and Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford. If this game gets into the 30s or higher, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">OU</span> could make a mess of the Cougars.<br /><br />Two other games on Saturday feature ranked teams going head to head. A great SEC-Big 12 Battle in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Stillwater</span>, Oklahoma, as the Georgia Bulldogs head west to take on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Zac</span> Robinson, Dez Bryant and the Oklahoma State Cowboys....the trendy sleeper pick in the Big 12. Georgia's defense will have to try and find a way to slow down <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">OSU's</span> high powered offense. What makes <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">OSU</span> dangerous is their vastly underrated defense, which gave Big 12 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">QBs</span>, including Chase Daniel and Colt McCoy, fits last year.<br /><br />In the game of the weekend, 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">th</span> ranked Alabama plays 7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">th</span> ranked Virginia Tech in a battle of two teams who believe that they can get to the National Championship game. Both are veteran teams with veteran head coaches. But Va Tech has already been stung by injuries and I just don't think they are as good as their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">pre</span>-season ranking, and I believe they will have a hard time keeping up with the athleticism of the Crimson Tide. I think '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Bama</span> rolls the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Hokies</span>.<br /><br />Other games of note on Saturday: Baylor plays at Wake Forest. If you get a chance, watch this game and pay close attention to Baylor Sophomore QB Robert Griffin. It wasn't until the 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">th</span> game of the season that then-Freshman Griffin finally threw his first interception of the season, against Missouri. He is poised for a breakout season. He's probably still a year away, but I believe he will be in NYC for the Heisman presentation following the 2010 season. Also Saturday, Missouri and Illinois play their Arch Rivalry game in St. Louis. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Mizzou</span> is coming off its most successful back to back seasons in school history, with consecutive 10-win seasons and a top-5 and top-20 finish, respectively. But, Chase Daniel, Jeremy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Maclin</span> and John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Mackey</span> Award winner for best college Tight End, Chase <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Coffman</span> are all gone from the offense. Can Blaine <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Gabbart</span> (#4 High School QB in the country in 2007) take over the reigns along with outstanding RB Derrick Washington or is it back to the bottom of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">the</span> Big 12 for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Mizzou</span>? Another game of interest on Saturday is the Citadel at North Carolina. Why is this game one I will be paying attention to? Not because I think <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">UNC</span> can be upset (or even that the Citadel can come within 40 points of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">the</span> Tar Heels) but because <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">UNC</span> is my pick to win the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">ACC</span> and go undefeated this year, which means they are my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">dark horse</span> pick to compete for a National Championship. And Roy Williams and Tyler <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Hansborough</span> aren't even involved.<br /><br /><strong><em>UPSET ALERT</em></strong><br />I have two teams on upset alert on opening weekend. I don't think Wisconsin is going to be all that great this year and Northern Illinois is one of the better MAC teams. I think N. Illinois is going to give Wisconsin all they can handle and may even leave Madison with an upset win. And <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">FAU</span>, the boys from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Boca</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Raton</span>, Florida head into Big 12 country to take on the popular pick to win the Big 12 North, the 24<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">th</span> ranked Nebraska <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Cornhuskers</span>. It will be a sea of red up there in Lincoln, but the Huskers better be ready. Howard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">Schnellenberger</span> beat the 'Huskers for the 1983 National Championship (albeit with the Miami Hurricanes) so he'll know what to expect and have his boys ready for a fight.<br /><br /><strong><em>NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WATCH</em></strong><br />The top two teams in the country are also playing on Saturday.....well, sorta. The defending National Champion Gators and 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">nd</span> ranked Texas Longhorns get their first tests of the season (cough, cough). The Gators are 73-point favorites against Charleston Southern and Texas is "only" a 43-point favorite against Louisiana-Monroe. Apparently St. Mary's School for the Blind and the Little Sisters of the poor were already booked on Saturday. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">C'mon</span> fellas, man up and play some real teams.<br /><br /><strong><em>MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL</em></strong><br />The long weekend concludes with the much-ballyhooed Miami-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">FSU</span> rivalry on Monday Night Football. The 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">th</span> ranked Seminoles have the more veteran team and the more seasoned head coach (even if he has been much maligned lately). They also have the home field advantage this year. But the young Canes have the better athletes and if they can keep it close late, may have an opportunity for the upset. But if the Canes struggle early, look for their youth to show through and for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">FSU</span> to take advantage. The Canes will need to protect QB <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Jacory</span> Harris on offense while pressuring <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">FSU</span> QB Christian Ponder, in order to have a real chance.<br /><br />However the first weekend shakes out, it promises to be an entertaining weekend and an unpredictable season.krak1220http://www.blogger.com/profile/17680898395944696208noreply@blogger.com1