Ahh it feels good to be back. Sorry to everyone out there who have been having withdraws from my amazing sports blog but as we all know life gets in the way of itself sometimes and caused my brief hiatus. See, that's why you love this blog...because it's about sports but I know big words like hiatus.
Back to sports, hella has gone on in the past few weeks since my last post, The NBA Draft has come and gone, Stephen Strasburg and Ubaldo Jimenez have both heated up and subsequently cooled off, more NBA trades, more idiot athletes getting themselves in trouble with the law and in less than two days the Free Agency period starts for the NBA. Oh what an exciting time in sports!
First I'd like to start with the NBA Draft. While this draft seemed a little lackluster there was some good talent taken that will help to shape the upcoming NBA season. John Wall went first to the Washington Wizards who also picked up Kirk Heinrich from the Chicago Bulls in an attempt by the Bulls to shed as many contractual obligations as possible in order to lure free agents to the Windy City. Who knows if this will pay off however with the Miami Heat doing the same and actually doing a better job of it. Chicago has enough cap space to offer max contracts to two players while Miami has enough to sign on three potential players. Back to free agency in a moment though. It's hard to get excited about picks 2-4 as they all went according to what most of thought. Sacramento however was able to pick up center Demarcus Couzins, who has the potential to be one of the most dominant big men in the league in his rookie season. Couple him with Tyreke Evans, 2009 Rookie of the Year, and a possible skilled veteran through free agency and the Kings actually become relevant again. Can we expect a big enough drop off from the other Pacific Division teams for the Kings to get in though? Will Couzins be able to control his temper and his weight enough to be effective? Will Geoff Petrie leave the Kings organization as has been rumored by some? Only time will tell, but from a ridiculously hot day in late June, the Kings are definitely looking better than they did this time last year.
On to Free Agency! So at 12:01 A.M. this Thursday teams will be able to legally start courting potential free agents to come and play for them. At this point before fere agency starts many teams still feel they're in the hunt for some of the future all-stars available. Now while I could wax poetic about which teams are pursuing which players if you have any interest in sports you probably know as much as I know already, so I would like to look at it from a different approach. What are the teams that gutted their benches going to do when and if thy don't land those free agents? There are only so many and if two or three of them all end up going to the same time are we going to be left with one or two mega teams and a bunch of other shitty teams? Will parity in the league be at an all-time low? Imagine if Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all go to the Miami Heat and Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer/Amare Stoudamire go to the Bulls, now we have at least 5 or 6 other teams who have been playing horrible basketball for the past 4 or 5 years while maneuvering themselves into position to get these free agents without any stars. So what, are they going to wait for another 4 or 5 years til these players are back on the market? Will these mega-teams steamroll the rest of the league? To me this kind of free agency sounds exciting because we all love winners. When the Patriots were winning games during their (almost) perfect season it was a very exciting time for the NFL, I would love seeing an NBA team go 75-7 or even better than that. But if one or two teams dominate that much it is going to suck having to watch the rest of the league. The playoffs will be a joke and it will hurt the NBA more and more over the next few years. But like I said, it will be exciting to see those few mega-teams if it happens, lets just hope it doesn't water down the rest of the league so much the NBA sucks even worse.
To baseball. My San Francisco Giants have been sucking recently but a lot of other teams have as well, so I guess all things considered it could be worse. What I want to focus on however is something I have written about before and that is pitching. Ubaldo Jimenez, who just a little bit ago was the darling of the league. With an earned run average of just over 1, he was on pace to go 15-1 before the All-Star Break, which in recent times is fairly unheard of. Since then he has gotten a no-decision and a win, but his era has gone from 1.13 all the way up to a 1.86. Still leading the major leagues, but he is starting to show signs he isn't invincible. Strasburg has lost his first game now and has been less dominant, he is on a shitty Nationals team though so it's no surprise that he isn't winning every start. There has been talk too wondering whether or not he should be on the All-Star team, and I say no. No way does he deserve a spot. Rookies, especially rookies who haven't even been playing the whole year shouldn't be on the team unless they are blow you away amazing and while Strasburg is good he has amassed a total of 5 professional starts (and only 2 wins) and that is nowhere near All-Star caliber.
Oh and a quick nod to the Men's USA Soccer team, good job making it as far as you did. I don't think a lot of people expected you to make it so far and really compete against a superior team in Ghana. But thank God I don't have to listen to those Vuvuzelas anymore. Thinking about it though...it would be kinda cool to get one of those to distract the opposing pitcher at my softball games...
And one last bit, for my hockey team I am going to follow from now on...The Toronto Maple Leafs.
Another last place team for me to love. Great.
Up Next...The Man of La Mancha on Vinyl...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
My Almost Perfect Day In Sports
Every now and then all the sports related events in my life happen to occur on the same day, and sometimes they happen in a positive way. Today the Boston Celtics beat the Lakers, which doesn't make me happy because I like the Celtics, it makes me happy because I hate the Lakers. My softball team also played today and we won 12-5, which were helped by my two hits, two RBI's and run scored! Boo. Yah.
The only thing that kept today from being perfect were my S.F. Giants blowing their game in the ninth inning by giving up three runs. Guillermo Mota, you can go suck a lemon.
Alas, I try to focus on the positive things in life so that will be the last mention of the Giants game. First up, game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics played a team game to win game 4, getting a huge boost from their bench. With Glenn "Big Baby" Davis, who after an and-1 play started to drool a little bit while he was yelling in excitement, and Nate Robinson providing 30 points off the bench, gave the Celtics the win.
The Celtics bench outplayed the Lakers bench by leaps and bounds. They outscored them 36-18 and just had far more passion. Which I really think is the biggest difference between these teams. Between the first teams and the bench, and that is passion. The Celtics players, everyone from the future hall of famers to the ultimate bench warmer, Brain Scalabrene, were passionate and excited for the whole thing. When you looked at the Lakers, Kobe Bryant is the only one who really looks like he cares. Pau Gasol has his moments but for as good as he is he can't carry that team.
I'm excited for Game 5, I want the Celtics to win this series. But please announcers and sports writers, stop calling every game in the series critical or crucial, like the other games aren't. They're all critical, they're all crucial, every game means something. It's not like Phil Jackson (the Lakers coach) tells his guys, "Hey everyone, this is game 2, not a biggie, if you want to mail it in tonight that's cool. Not critical." He doesn't say that because he knows and we know that every game is critical, you don't have to tell us like it's some kind of revelation and your astute prowess at realizing this is God's greatest gift to mankind.
On to the softball game. Coming into tonight's game we were in 3rd place and tonight beat the 2nd place team. We came out in the first inning scoring three runs and kept them scoreless through the first 4 innings. We were able to score more and more and by the last inning we were up 12-1. We did give up four more runs in the last inning but still came away with an impressive win. I'm very excited for next week.
Next Up...A high school graduation, work and a season premier of True Blood.
The only thing that kept today from being perfect were my S.F. Giants blowing their game in the ninth inning by giving up three runs. Guillermo Mota, you can go suck a lemon.
Alas, I try to focus on the positive things in life so that will be the last mention of the Giants game. First up, game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics played a team game to win game 4, getting a huge boost from their bench. With Glenn "Big Baby" Davis, who after an and-1 play started to drool a little bit while he was yelling in excitement, and Nate Robinson providing 30 points off the bench, gave the Celtics the win.
The Celtics bench outplayed the Lakers bench by leaps and bounds. They outscored them 36-18 and just had far more passion. Which I really think is the biggest difference between these teams. Between the first teams and the bench, and that is passion. The Celtics players, everyone from the future hall of famers to the ultimate bench warmer, Brain Scalabrene, were passionate and excited for the whole thing. When you looked at the Lakers, Kobe Bryant is the only one who really looks like he cares. Pau Gasol has his moments but for as good as he is he can't carry that team.
I'm excited for Game 5, I want the Celtics to win this series. But please announcers and sports writers, stop calling every game in the series critical or crucial, like the other games aren't. They're all critical, they're all crucial, every game means something. It's not like Phil Jackson (the Lakers coach) tells his guys, "Hey everyone, this is game 2, not a biggie, if you want to mail it in tonight that's cool. Not critical." He doesn't say that because he knows and we know that every game is critical, you don't have to tell us like it's some kind of revelation and your astute prowess at realizing this is God's greatest gift to mankind.
On to the softball game. Coming into tonight's game we were in 3rd place and tonight beat the 2nd place team. We came out in the first inning scoring three runs and kept them scoreless through the first 4 innings. We were able to score more and more and by the last inning we were up 12-1. We did give up four more runs in the last inning but still came away with an impressive win. I'm very excited for next week.
Next Up...A high school graduation, work and a season premier of True Blood.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
My 2 Year Suspension
I don't claim to know a lot about college football, in fact the only time I really pay attention is the months leading up to the NFL draft. The only reason for that is so that I can get excited about who my team (the 49ers) are going to pick. There are times though when I venture out of my safety zone (the NFL) and wander into unknown waters (College football), this is one of those times.
The USC Football program will receive a two year postseason ban, a reduction in scholarships and a forfeiture of wins from at least the 2004 season. This ban from bowl games and reduction in scholarships stems from how the team handled now New Orleans Saint, Reggie Bush. Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy award winner, and his parents allegedly received benefits from the team including free rent for Bush during his time at USC.
USC was sanctioned in 2001 and if this punishment holds it could result in USC becoming a repeat offender since both of these infractions occurred within 5 years of each other. All of this could result in lost T.V. coverage, a reduction in scholarships, recruiting restrictions and probation. Meaning that a lot of kids coming out of high school with no hopes of going to college without those scholarships won't be able to now because of Reggie Bush and the USC staff.
Now lets think for a moment where Reggie Bush and then head coach of the Trojans, Pete Carroll are now. Well Bush is making millions as a utility back and special teams player on the Saints. He has had pretty much one good game his entire career when it has counted. Carroll has just taken over the Seattle Seahawks with so much power there he decides who gets hired to sell hot dogs.
Both of these men, along with many other are responsible for the mess going down in southern California right now and except for the fact that Bush could get his Heisman trophy taken away, nothing will happen to them. They both benefited from the wrongdoings they committed and now other people are paying the consequences.
I've never been a Reggie Bush fan and I don't like the Seahawks so Carroll was never much a draw for me, even now. This whole situation is pretty shitty for those left at USC and those who want to go there. Maybe Bush and Carroll will do the right thing and help out their old school, but more than likely they won't say or do a thing.
I guess sometimes I'm happy I go to Sacramento State, at least there our football team is so shitty we never have to worry about things like this happening. We just have to deal with President Gonzalez...on second thought maybe dealing with Bush and Carroll wouldn't be so bad...
Next Up...To Kill A Mockingbird or Snuff
The USC Football program will receive a two year postseason ban, a reduction in scholarships and a forfeiture of wins from at least the 2004 season. This ban from bowl games and reduction in scholarships stems from how the team handled now New Orleans Saint, Reggie Bush. Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy award winner, and his parents allegedly received benefits from the team including free rent for Bush during his time at USC.
USC was sanctioned in 2001 and if this punishment holds it could result in USC becoming a repeat offender since both of these infractions occurred within 5 years of each other. All of this could result in lost T.V. coverage, a reduction in scholarships, recruiting restrictions and probation. Meaning that a lot of kids coming out of high school with no hopes of going to college without those scholarships won't be able to now because of Reggie Bush and the USC staff.
Now lets think for a moment where Reggie Bush and then head coach of the Trojans, Pete Carroll are now. Well Bush is making millions as a utility back and special teams player on the Saints. He has had pretty much one good game his entire career when it has counted. Carroll has just taken over the Seattle Seahawks with so much power there he decides who gets hired to sell hot dogs.
Both of these men, along with many other are responsible for the mess going down in southern California right now and except for the fact that Bush could get his Heisman trophy taken away, nothing will happen to them. They both benefited from the wrongdoings they committed and now other people are paying the consequences.
I've never been a Reggie Bush fan and I don't like the Seahawks so Carroll was never much a draw for me, even now. This whole situation is pretty shitty for those left at USC and those who want to go there. Maybe Bush and Carroll will do the right thing and help out their old school, but more than likely they won't say or do a thing.
I guess sometimes I'm happy I go to Sacramento State, at least there our football team is so shitty we never have to worry about things like this happening. We just have to deal with President Gonzalez...on second thought maybe dealing with Bush and Carroll wouldn't be so bad...
Next Up...To Kill A Mockingbird or Snuff
My first post about hockey
The 2010 hockey season has come and gone and the Chicago Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup winners. Hooray. Life = changed.
Ok, so I think it's obvious I still don't have a lot invested in America's fourth most popular sport but since a good friend of mine is a big Philadelphia Flyers fan I feel compelled to at least mention the last game of the their series today. The Flyers lost it in overtime by the score of 4-3. Tragic really, when you get so close to winning it all and falling just short, I almost feel like I would rather my team not even make the championship round just to spare the pain of possibly losing it. I have been fortunate enough then that all my favorite teams haven't been anywhere close to the playoffs since the Kings made it in 04, to lose in the first round.
Back to hockey though. Like I said in an earlier post I am interested in becoming a bigger fan of the sport but felt that the Stanley Cup was a bad time to pick a team to root for. I don't want to be a bandwagon fan but it seems like it would be hard to avoid jumping on some bandwagon at this point. There are no professional teams in Sacramento, San Jose is the closest and I'm not overly anxious to start supporting the Sharks. I hate any professional franchise from L.A. so the Kings are out of the question. The Mighty Ducks are out too because their baseball brother, the Angels beat my Giants in the 02 world series, so they can go to hell.
So California teams are pretty much out. I don't want to pick the Flyers or Blackhawks because they were both just in the championship round. The Penguins could be a good pick because of Sidney Crosby, I don't even follow the sport and I know how important of a player he is. Helping to revitalize the game and draw in new fans. But I'll probably pass on the Penguins too, which leaves another 20 some odd teams left.
I want a team with history, a non-expansion team for sure. Maybe the Detroit Red Wings? According to Wikipedia, they've been around since 1926, that's a pretty good amount of time. Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs? They've been around since 1917, is it time for me to like a team from a different country? One so foreign and strange to ours I wouldn't even recognize the names or traditions of the team?
Ok, lets stick with the different country team, but try a different team. Just checked the standing from this last season and Toronto was dead last in it's conference. I don't want to jump on a bandwagon but enough of my teams suck to include one more. The Montreal Canadiens? I'm thinking just maybe. Part of the original 6 teams that formed the NHL and they've won 24 Stanley Cups in their history. Not too bad. That does sort of liken them to the Yankees though...and I dislike the Yankees...or really just franchises that have pretty much always been good.
A tough decision indeed. More research is needed. If anyone reads this and has an opinion and would like to tell me why they think I should like their hockey team please leave comments doing so! There should also be a poll question as to which team I should like. So vote.
So for now I am undecided. An important decision awaits, and soon I will reveal the answer.
Up Next...My answer or is Tim Lincecum done for?
Ok, so I think it's obvious I still don't have a lot invested in America's fourth most popular sport but since a good friend of mine is a big Philadelphia Flyers fan I feel compelled to at least mention the last game of the their series today. The Flyers lost it in overtime by the score of 4-3. Tragic really, when you get so close to winning it all and falling just short, I almost feel like I would rather my team not even make the championship round just to spare the pain of possibly losing it. I have been fortunate enough then that all my favorite teams haven't been anywhere close to the playoffs since the Kings made it in 04, to lose in the first round.
Back to hockey though. Like I said in an earlier post I am interested in becoming a bigger fan of the sport but felt that the Stanley Cup was a bad time to pick a team to root for. I don't want to be a bandwagon fan but it seems like it would be hard to avoid jumping on some bandwagon at this point. There are no professional teams in Sacramento, San Jose is the closest and I'm not overly anxious to start supporting the Sharks. I hate any professional franchise from L.A. so the Kings are out of the question. The Mighty Ducks are out too because their baseball brother, the Angels beat my Giants in the 02 world series, so they can go to hell.
So California teams are pretty much out. I don't want to pick the Flyers or Blackhawks because they were both just in the championship round. The Penguins could be a good pick because of Sidney Crosby, I don't even follow the sport and I know how important of a player he is. Helping to revitalize the game and draw in new fans. But I'll probably pass on the Penguins too, which leaves another 20 some odd teams left.
I want a team with history, a non-expansion team for sure. Maybe the Detroit Red Wings? According to Wikipedia, they've been around since 1926, that's a pretty good amount of time. Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs? They've been around since 1917, is it time for me to like a team from a different country? One so foreign and strange to ours I wouldn't even recognize the names or traditions of the team?
Ok, lets stick with the different country team, but try a different team. Just checked the standing from this last season and Toronto was dead last in it's conference. I don't want to jump on a bandwagon but enough of my teams suck to include one more. The Montreal Canadiens? I'm thinking just maybe. Part of the original 6 teams that formed the NHL and they've won 24 Stanley Cups in their history. Not too bad. That does sort of liken them to the Yankees though...and I dislike the Yankees...or really just franchises that have pretty much always been good.
A tough decision indeed. More research is needed. If anyone reads this and has an opinion and would like to tell me why they think I should like their hockey team please leave comments doing so! There should also be a poll question as to which team I should like. So vote.
So for now I am undecided. An important decision awaits, and soon I will reveal the answer.
Up Next...My answer or is Tim Lincecum done for?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
My Jump on to the Strasburg Bandwagon
Ok so this space is supposed to be reserved for my ranting about how amazing Stephen Strasburg is but as I am writing this I am also watching the final moments of "Glee". I don't really share with a lot of people my love of this show and since no one is following this blog I'm not overly concerned with folks finding out here.
Just a few quick observations and then back to Strasburg and his 14 strike outs.
- Vocal Adrenaline, the opposing Glee club, sang Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. While I love Queen with an undying passion, I hate hearing covers of their songs. Literally nobody can hit notes the way Freddy Mercury did and when I hear other people try it just makes me angry and want to push somebody in the face.
- How soon are some of these kids going to look like they're in their 30s? Girls, and guys really, did not look like they do in this show when I was in high school. Not even a lot of the people I went to community college did.
- Is it just me or are the producers of this show trying to milk every cent out of this that they can? A new soundtrack available to download after every episode? Releasing a DVD set after the first half of the season? And no doubt releasing a second DVD set with just the second half of the season and a third with the entire season. Whatever...I have the first...I'll buy the second...on to Strasburg.
First pick of the 2009 MLB draft, Stephen Strasburg made his major league debut tonight striking out 14 batters in 7 innings, including striking out the side in his last inning. In just 94 pitches Strasburg revitalized an entire city, gave hope to a terrible franchise and began what is more than likely going to be an amazing career.
Nationals' management is being ultra protective of their new pitching phenom by limiting his pitch count and his inning length. After the 6th inning Tuesday night the Nationals manager wavered on pulling Strasburg, he had thrown 81 pitches. They let him go and he struck out the side, probably a good choice.
So what does this mean? Will Strasburg win the Cy Young award the next 19 years in a row? Maybe not, but to me this is just further proof that after steroids have finally been drummed out of baseball on a wider scale, pitching has taken over. We have already seen two perfect games and a third that should've been perfect had Jim Joyce not blown the call. ( To his credit he did take the blame for missing the call and the worst commissioner in baseball's history Bud Selig just gave everyone another reason to hate him by not rescinding the blown call and giving Gallaraga the perfect game.)
At almost the 60 game mark of the season we still have no one at 20 home runs, one person at 50 or more RBI's and only two players batting over .350. While this could be a coincidence I believe that for the rest of this season and the next few years, pitchers will be the dominant force in baseball. With talents like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ubaldo Jimenez, Clay Bucholz, Roy Halladay and the previously mentioned Strasburg and Gallaraga, there are far more elite pitchers than there are elite batters.
While this may mean some lower scoring games, shutouts and defensive/pitching battles I welcome it. Of course I liked the days of Barry Bonds threatening to hit a home run every single time he came to the plate and even now the sight of Albert Pujols striking fear into pitchers with each of his at-bats. But I love this, seeing these young pitchers just utterly dominate opposing teams.
We'll see how it all works out though. Maybe Rachel and Finn stay together, maybe they don't. Maybe New Directions gets another shot at Regionals next year. Maybe Quinn gets pregnant again. And I think what we're all hoping for...Will Shuster and Emma getting back together!
Oh and maybe that Strasburg kid having a few more good starts...we'll see.
Next Up...to be determined...
Just a few quick observations and then back to Strasburg and his 14 strike outs.
- Vocal Adrenaline, the opposing Glee club, sang Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. While I love Queen with an undying passion, I hate hearing covers of their songs. Literally nobody can hit notes the way Freddy Mercury did and when I hear other people try it just makes me angry and want to push somebody in the face.
- How soon are some of these kids going to look like they're in their 30s? Girls, and guys really, did not look like they do in this show when I was in high school. Not even a lot of the people I went to community college did.
- Is it just me or are the producers of this show trying to milk every cent out of this that they can? A new soundtrack available to download after every episode? Releasing a DVD set after the first half of the season? And no doubt releasing a second DVD set with just the second half of the season and a third with the entire season. Whatever...I have the first...I'll buy the second...on to Strasburg.
First pick of the 2009 MLB draft, Stephen Strasburg made his major league debut tonight striking out 14 batters in 7 innings, including striking out the side in his last inning. In just 94 pitches Strasburg revitalized an entire city, gave hope to a terrible franchise and began what is more than likely going to be an amazing career.
Nationals' management is being ultra protective of their new pitching phenom by limiting his pitch count and his inning length. After the 6th inning Tuesday night the Nationals manager wavered on pulling Strasburg, he had thrown 81 pitches. They let him go and he struck out the side, probably a good choice.
So what does this mean? Will Strasburg win the Cy Young award the next 19 years in a row? Maybe not, but to me this is just further proof that after steroids have finally been drummed out of baseball on a wider scale, pitching has taken over. We have already seen two perfect games and a third that should've been perfect had Jim Joyce not blown the call. ( To his credit he did take the blame for missing the call and the worst commissioner in baseball's history Bud Selig just gave everyone another reason to hate him by not rescinding the blown call and giving Gallaraga the perfect game.)
At almost the 60 game mark of the season we still have no one at 20 home runs, one person at 50 or more RBI's and only two players batting over .350. While this could be a coincidence I believe that for the rest of this season and the next few years, pitchers will be the dominant force in baseball. With talents like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ubaldo Jimenez, Clay Bucholz, Roy Halladay and the previously mentioned Strasburg and Gallaraga, there are far more elite pitchers than there are elite batters.
While this may mean some lower scoring games, shutouts and defensive/pitching battles I welcome it. Of course I liked the days of Barry Bonds threatening to hit a home run every single time he came to the plate and even now the sight of Albert Pujols striking fear into pitchers with each of his at-bats. But I love this, seeing these young pitchers just utterly dominate opposing teams.
We'll see how it all works out though. Maybe Rachel and Finn stay together, maybe they don't. Maybe New Directions gets another shot at Regionals next year. Maybe Quinn gets pregnant again. And I think what we're all hoping for...Will Shuster and Emma getting back together!
Oh and maybe that Strasburg kid having a few more good starts...we'll see.
Next Up...to be determined...
Monday, June 7, 2010
My MLB Draft (The Hunt for Bryce Harper)
So in all my rush to write about the NBA's looming free agency and draft I completely forgot that Major League Baseball has it's own draft this time of year. Of course this is the least heralded of drafts out of our major sports, but that shouldn't downplay the significance or importance, especially in this draft.
The Washington Nationals, who just last year selected college phenom Stephen Strasburg (who is on the eve of making his first major league start June 8) picked again this year and selected another extremely talented and young prospect. This person will take a little longer to get to the big leagues than Strasburg has partly because he is a position player, his skills are still a little raw, oh and because he's 17. Bryce Harper, who plays catcher for his community college baseball team graduated high school two years early and is now officially a Washington National. At least it will be official once he signs his contract.
The Nationals are more than likely going to be putting Harper in the outfield to accelerate the pace in which it takes him to make to the major leagues, as a catcher it would take more time. This really is pretty crazy when you think about it, when I was 17 I was still staring down another year and a half of high school and would've probably gotten out of breath just trying to run to first base. Harper will probably take anywhere from 3-5 years to actually make it to the Nationals, but even then he will be in his very early twenties and have a hopefully very long career ahead of him.
In other baseball news my S.F. Giants won today, beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-5. Barry Zito pitched into the 6th inning but reliever Sergio Romo got the win to move to 2-3 in his bullpen work. I won't go into too much detail about the game but the Giants have now won 9 of their last 13 games and Closer Brian Wilson recorded his 15th save in 17 chances.
Oh and the Oakland Athletics, with the 10th pick in the draft selected Michael Choice, outfielder from Texas/Arlington and the Giants picked Gary Brown, a centerfielder from Cal State - Fullerton. Neither choices were exactly front page news, but a couple years from now who knows?
Next Up...Game 3 of the NBA Finals
The Washington Nationals, who just last year selected college phenom Stephen Strasburg (who is on the eve of making his first major league start June 8) picked again this year and selected another extremely talented and young prospect. This person will take a little longer to get to the big leagues than Strasburg has partly because he is a position player, his skills are still a little raw, oh and because he's 17. Bryce Harper, who plays catcher for his community college baseball team graduated high school two years early and is now officially a Washington National. At least it will be official once he signs his contract.
The Nationals are more than likely going to be putting Harper in the outfield to accelerate the pace in which it takes him to make to the major leagues, as a catcher it would take more time. This really is pretty crazy when you think about it, when I was 17 I was still staring down another year and a half of high school and would've probably gotten out of breath just trying to run to first base. Harper will probably take anywhere from 3-5 years to actually make it to the Nationals, but even then he will be in his very early twenties and have a hopefully very long career ahead of him.
In other baseball news my S.F. Giants won today, beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-5. Barry Zito pitched into the 6th inning but reliever Sergio Romo got the win to move to 2-3 in his bullpen work. I won't go into too much detail about the game but the Giants have now won 9 of their last 13 games and Closer Brian Wilson recorded his 15th save in 17 chances.
Oh and the Oakland Athletics, with the 10th pick in the draft selected Michael Choice, outfielder from Texas/Arlington and the Giants picked Gary Brown, a centerfielder from Cal State - Fullerton. Neither choices were exactly front page news, but a couple years from now who knows?
Next Up...Game 3 of the NBA Finals
My NBA Free Agency (Pt. 1)
July 1st is quickly coming up and that means free agency for the NBA. For those not entirely sure of what that means it's kind of a big deal. Not always a big deal of course, but this year there are a lot of marquee players hitting the open market and a lot of teams have been slashing payroll in anticipation of it.
(Warning...Lebron James rant)
Even if you're not a fan of the NBA chances are you've heard of Lebron James. And for those who are fans of the NBA chances are you're pretty sick of him. He is a great player, he has done things few have done before him and will do things no one has ever done but that doesn't excuse the fact that he is an annoying, egotistical attention-whore. Time will tell if he really cares about winning championships (like every professional athlete ever always says but doesn't back up) or getting paid. Chances are he will stay with his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, because they can give him roughly $30 million more than any other team. That money doesn't guarantee that Cleveland will be a quality team though.
We've seen the last few seasons that the Cavaliers are not a championship caliber team. They lost in the conference finals last year (and it wasn't really that close of a series) and they lost in a quarterfinal round this year (again, not that close of a series). The Cav's brought in an aging Shaquille O'Neal and picked up Washington Wizard castoff Antawn Jamison to help push the team over the edge. It obviously didn't work. Shaq had moments of effectiveness in the playoffs but was overall a wash. Jamison has lost a step and didn't do much to contribute either. It almost seems like the rest of the Cav's just sort of wait for James to take over the game, win single-handedly and take them all out to dinner, but James either won't or can't do it. No one person is good enough to win an NBA championship which has been proven year after year (Shaq/Kobe, Duncan/Ginobli/Parker, Wade/Shaq, The Pistons whole team and Kobe/Gasol/Odom)
But getting back to Free Agency. This is a very exciting time of the year for many teams, the New Jersey Nets and their new mega-bajillion dollar owner who seems like a villain out of a Bond movie (but the kind you root for), the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls to name a few, all have enough space on their payroll to add 1 or possibly 2 superstar players. In addition to James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Amare Stoudamire, Joe Johnson and others are all up for grabs. The landscape of the NBA will more than likely change this off-season, but to what degree is the question.
My own favorite team, the Sacramento Kings also have some cap space, but seeing on how they reside in Sacramento (not the metropolitan center many think it is... ha ha) it isn't far-fetched to imagine none of the top-tier free agents coming to town. A boy can always hope, but I think the Kings stand a better chance of building their team through the draft and hopefully being able to get a veteran who still has some of his prime left. Even so, the Kings are looking at another lottery bound season. (I'll still root for them though, its not really that bad anymore anyway. Once you go through the pain of that '02 series against the Lakers, a series where I wanted to throw my television out the window and/or injure a small puppy a losing season doesn't have the same bite.)
So with the constant ESPN updates about what Lebron James said to his mailman and the NBA draft looming ahead (June 24th...exciting!) this post has come to an end. Part two will follow once more information becomes available...or I'm bored.
Next Up...Major League Baseball's draft or the S.F. Giants winning
(Warning...Lebron James rant)
Even if you're not a fan of the NBA chances are you've heard of Lebron James. And for those who are fans of the NBA chances are you're pretty sick of him. He is a great player, he has done things few have done before him and will do things no one has ever done but that doesn't excuse the fact that he is an annoying, egotistical attention-whore. Time will tell if he really cares about winning championships (like every professional athlete ever always says but doesn't back up) or getting paid. Chances are he will stay with his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, because they can give him roughly $30 million more than any other team. That money doesn't guarantee that Cleveland will be a quality team though.
We've seen the last few seasons that the Cavaliers are not a championship caliber team. They lost in the conference finals last year (and it wasn't really that close of a series) and they lost in a quarterfinal round this year (again, not that close of a series). The Cav's brought in an aging Shaquille O'Neal and picked up Washington Wizard castoff Antawn Jamison to help push the team over the edge. It obviously didn't work. Shaq had moments of effectiveness in the playoffs but was overall a wash. Jamison has lost a step and didn't do much to contribute either. It almost seems like the rest of the Cav's just sort of wait for James to take over the game, win single-handedly and take them all out to dinner, but James either won't or can't do it. No one person is good enough to win an NBA championship which has been proven year after year (Shaq/Kobe, Duncan/Ginobli/Parker, Wade/Shaq, The Pistons whole team and Kobe/Gasol/Odom)
But getting back to Free Agency. This is a very exciting time of the year for many teams, the New Jersey Nets and their new mega-bajillion dollar owner who seems like a villain out of a Bond movie (but the kind you root for), the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls to name a few, all have enough space on their payroll to add 1 or possibly 2 superstar players. In addition to James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Amare Stoudamire, Joe Johnson and others are all up for grabs. The landscape of the NBA will more than likely change this off-season, but to what degree is the question.
My own favorite team, the Sacramento Kings also have some cap space, but seeing on how they reside in Sacramento (not the metropolitan center many think it is... ha ha) it isn't far-fetched to imagine none of the top-tier free agents coming to town. A boy can always hope, but I think the Kings stand a better chance of building their team through the draft and hopefully being able to get a veteran who still has some of his prime left. Even so, the Kings are looking at another lottery bound season. (I'll still root for them though, its not really that bad anymore anyway. Once you go through the pain of that '02 series against the Lakers, a series where I wanted to throw my television out the window and/or injure a small puppy a losing season doesn't have the same bite.)
So with the constant ESPN updates about what Lebron James said to his mailman and the NBA draft looming ahead (June 24th...exciting!) this post has come to an end. Part two will follow once more information becomes available...or I'm bored.
Next Up...Major League Baseball's draft or the S.F. Giants winning
My Introduction
I have been an avid sports fan since the 4th grade. I still remember sitting in my room and watching my first entire football game. I know it was the San Francisco 49ers playing, who knows if they won or lost or who they were even playing. The image still resides within me though and I am proud to say I've sat through many more 49ers games since then. But it was that first game that opened the door for me, I started watching baseball and basketball after that too and now I am even contemplating introducing myself to hockey. (I know, what am I thinking?)
Getting back to the beginning, it was hard for me to find time to watch sports as a child because there were only so many televisions in my house and nobody else in my family embraced sports with the same enthusiasm that I did. Enthusiasm being completely the wrong word to describe how the rest of my family felt about sports, something more along the lines of contempt would aptly cover it. Regardless, I traded favors (taking out the garbage, washing the dishes and such) to get more time in front of the boob tube to indulge in my new obsession. (There was a San Francisco Giants game once that went into the 12th inning and forced me to barter much of the rest of my television time for the week to my brother, it was well worth it though, they won in walk-off fashion. Exhilarating.)
Find time I did though and as I grew older useless sports trivia began filling up much of my brain. Every now and then I wonder how I can remember Garrison Hearst's 90+ yard run in overtime to win a game for the 49ers and his subsequent use of an oxygen mask on the sideline afterwards, but absolutely nothing I heard (I say heard, because I did not learn a single thing) in my Calculus class will stick. Eventually I realize how thankful I am for that though, this seemingly useless knowledge of sports I posses will do me much more good in my lifetime than being able to find the radius of a pie (I realize that find the radius of a pie isn't part of Calculus, but I'm just making the point that math is dumb). If I were to try and have a conversation with some of my guy friends we wouldn't talk about square roots and theorems, we'd talk about sports. Plain and simple.
So, the point of all of this? I love sports. Everything about them. The majesty, the history, the statistics and the unforgettable moments both good and bad (Game 4 of the Kings/Lakers Western Conference Finals in '02 = debilitating, the 24 point comeback by the 49ers over the N.Y. Giants in the Wild Card game of the '02 playoffs = amazing) This blog will chronicle my love of the games, cover 3 (possibly 4) major sports and give myself something to do over summer break. So read and enjoy. Oh and if you're a Lakers/Dodgers (I don't really hate any football teams though I dislike the Packers, Rams, Giants, Seahawks, Cardinals, oh and especially the Cowboys) you may not always love this blog.
Next up...Free Agency in the NBA
Getting back to the beginning, it was hard for me to find time to watch sports as a child because there were only so many televisions in my house and nobody else in my family embraced sports with the same enthusiasm that I did. Enthusiasm being completely the wrong word to describe how the rest of my family felt about sports, something more along the lines of contempt would aptly cover it. Regardless, I traded favors (taking out the garbage, washing the dishes and such) to get more time in front of the boob tube to indulge in my new obsession. (There was a San Francisco Giants game once that went into the 12th inning and forced me to barter much of the rest of my television time for the week to my brother, it was well worth it though, they won in walk-off fashion. Exhilarating.)
Find time I did though and as I grew older useless sports trivia began filling up much of my brain. Every now and then I wonder how I can remember Garrison Hearst's 90+ yard run in overtime to win a game for the 49ers and his subsequent use of an oxygen mask on the sideline afterwards, but absolutely nothing I heard (I say heard, because I did not learn a single thing) in my Calculus class will stick. Eventually I realize how thankful I am for that though, this seemingly useless knowledge of sports I posses will do me much more good in my lifetime than being able to find the radius of a pie (I realize that find the radius of a pie isn't part of Calculus, but I'm just making the point that math is dumb). If I were to try and have a conversation with some of my guy friends we wouldn't talk about square roots and theorems, we'd talk about sports. Plain and simple.
So, the point of all of this? I love sports. Everything about them. The majesty, the history, the statistics and the unforgettable moments both good and bad (Game 4 of the Kings/Lakers Western Conference Finals in '02 = debilitating, the 24 point comeback by the 49ers over the N.Y. Giants in the Wild Card game of the '02 playoffs = amazing) This blog will chronicle my love of the games, cover 3 (possibly 4) major sports and give myself something to do over summer break. So read and enjoy. Oh and if you're a Lakers/Dodgers (I don't really hate any football teams though I dislike the Packers, Rams, Giants, Seahawks, Cardinals, oh and especially the Cowboys) you may not always love this blog.
Next up...Free Agency in the NBA
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