We've all been guilty of laziness. ALL OF US! At one time or another we've been lazy at something. Putting off writing our tax returns, not vacuuming the kitchen, not taking care of pets...all of us.
One of the most respected baseball writers, Ken Rosenthal, admitted to this in an article "celebrating" the 10-year anniversary of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa homerun chase. Now Rosenthal did not come out to tell people he was lazy. He said he "wrote what he knew" about andro, the supplement McGwire admitted to using. A little research and a few phone calls would have given him and hundreds of writers the understanding of what Big Mac was using - or claims he was using that season. But he and thousands of journalists will not go the extra mile to research.
That is why we sometimes cannot trust what we read in the news or watch on television. Journalists will go half-assed - something I learned when I was a journalism student. That is pretty sad considering that both Canada and the United States are about to head into an election and the average person may be learning nothing but half-truths or, much worse, lies.
I don't want to make this out like Rosenthal completely #### up because he was only 1 of many, many more journalists who covered a story in which any negative press at that time could have had serious ramifications to the game of baseball. Remember that time frame; the state of the game was just climbing out of the depths of hell that was the strike back in 1994-95. It needed the home run chase badly and any headline linking these guys to drugs could have crippled the game for years. So I bet that even if Rosenthal and his collegues had the opportunity to blow this steroid story 10 years ago people would have been all over them for it - even if it was the right thing to do.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
I admire Rosenthal for coming out and admitting his mistake because a ton of people would not have done so, like Keith Olbermann.
MVP
The AL MVP, in my opinion, is Kevin Youkilis. Out of the box, yes. But with Ortiz, Drew, Lowell and Casey out with injuries for a decent amount of time plus the Manny deal, it has been Youkilis who has been the constant force in that lineup (as has Dustin Pedroia to some extent as well).
No team in the Central has been able to beat East teams except Cleveland, who has no candidate. Carlos Quentin was in it until his injury.
The NL MVP should be Manny Ramirez, but I'd give it to Albert Pujols. If not him it would be either Ryan Braun or David Wright. Pujols is carrying that Cards team to at least stay in contention. Although Lance Berkman has helped the Astros get back into the mix, the Cards have been there the entire year.
The AL Cy Young has to go to Cliff Lee. The only guy who'd have an shot at him is Roy Halladay and that's too long of a shot. It's Lee's award to lose. He has been the best pitcher all year.
At this time, the NL Cy Young winner is Tim Lincicum. The award is not wrapped up for him just yet, but going 16-3 for a bad Giants team is pretty darn impressive. He is also leading the league in ERA and strikeouts at this present time.
Manager of the year in the AL is Joe Madden. Honorable mentions to Joe Madden and Cito Gaston for an incredible job. In the NL it's Lou Pinella. He's done the best job this year, hasn't he? Although Joe Torre, Jerry Manuel, Cecil Cooper and Ned Yost would have something to say about that.
I'll leave rookie of the year out for the time being.
Final note: Love him or hate him, Curt Schilling is still the best sound bite in baseball today. Unless Tommy Lasorda decides to come out of retirement to coach the Washington Nationals Schill won't be touched. He is better than Ozzie Guillen. And this paragraph just kills some of you bloggers. Oh well, not my problem.
Supposedly the evening NFC Championship was a ratings success. Apparently a lot of people tuned in to watch the New York Giants seal the victory over the Green Bay Packers in their 1700th attempt to end the game victorious.
Problem is, I bet people just had their TV set on and was doing something else, because few people, if any, showed any guts to tell us how things went down in that game.
Brett Favre choked again. The legend and Two-Time MVP (his co-MVP is fraudulent and a slap in the face to Barry Sanders' amazing season), proved he couldn't carry the load the way he use to back in the 1990's. Don't take that as a sign that he should retire. Not once have I ever said he should retire. But, as usual, nobody call him out for that interception that ended Green Bay's season. Nobody called him out for allowing New York to have numerous chances to win the game. Nobody said he was outplayed by Eli Manning - because he was.
Did you watch the game?
Or do you have to be Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, or Terrell Owens to draw attention to themselves and be ridiculed for it. So much for throwing snowballs and "having a great time". We watched Favre do what he has done several times in playoff games and that's crumble down the stretch. Excessive celebrating with officials is "having fun" yet anyone else gets fined for that.
At least Tom Brady clutched up when he had to.
We talked about Green Bay's defense and running game being the reason why they could get to the Super Bowl. The running game stopped and their team became pass-oriented in the second half. Big mistake - but they had to do it since the running game was shut down, right? So they had to start gunslinging. And they lost because of it. Had Peyton Manning did what Favre did in overtime you'd be crushing him right now. But Favre slides under the radar again. Total hypocrisy.
OTHER BULLCRAP
- If I haven't done enough to ruffle a few feathers (not that I'm trying to), this might do the trick. A writer on Fox Sports decided to be cute with a blog post and certainly got some attention:
"I believe there should be rules for booing. One, you never boo amateur athletes on the team you support. Two, you boo professionals on the team you support only for a visible lack of effort. Booing because they screw up is for sub-morons"
- If I find out an amateur had beat his girlfriend, played while academically ineligible or started a fight on the playing surface would you like me to applaud? You didn't think of all the angles, which makes me wonder who the real sub-#### really is. You get your ticket punched and as long as you obey the stadium rules you can boo whoever you want. You can boo an amateur athlete who has 3 kids with 3 different women. Or I can just ask him politely to wrap up. An amateur athlete will be ragged on if they absolutely deserve it.
"I don’t believe all Patriots fans are worthless cobags; I believe most Patriots fans are worthless cobags"
- This coming from a guy who wanted Green Bay to badly make the Super Bowl? For what? So that New England could slap them around with their junk? I've been to Buffalo games and find New England fans to be a LOT better than other fans I have encountered over the years. Whatever, I shouldn't bother critiquing this ####. I will move on.
- The Miami Heat find ways to lose and they are suddenly doing it with flare. It's as if they script this. Put them on the clock for a nice draft position.
- Sidney Crosby is out 6-8 weeks and nobody noticed. I guess they are the same people who watch Packer games.
- Roger Clemens gets an invite to Houston's pitching camp. Maybe he can get back into pitching shape on Houston's clock so he can bolt for New York like he did last year. Very smooth.
- Golf season begins this week. Different year, same old storyline. Let's see what Tiger does this season.
- The New England Patriots will complete the perfect season. The venting is over, and so is this incredible post.
Lenny Dykstra David Segui Larry Bigbie Brian Roberts Jack Cust Tim Laker Josias Manzanillo Todd Hundley Mark Carreon Hal Morris Matt Franco Rondell White Roger Clemens Andy Pettitte Chuck Knoblauch Jason Grimsley Gregg Zaun David Justice F.P. Santangelo Glenallen Hill Mo Vaughn Denny Neagle Ron Villone Ryan Franklin Chris Donnels Todd Williams Phil Hiatt Todd Pratt Kevin Young Mike Lansing Cody McKay Kent Mercker Adam Piatt Miguel Tejada Jason Christiansen Mike Stanton Stephen Randolph Jerry Hairston Paul Lo Duca Adam Riggs Bart Miadich Fernando Vina Kevin Brown Eric Gagne Mike Bell Matt Herges Gary Bennett, Jr. Jim Parque Brendan Donnelly Chad Allen Jeff Williams Howie Clark Nook Logan Scott Schoeneweis Jeremy Giambi Jason Giambi Aaron Boone Bret Boone Mark McGwire Jose Canseco Ozzie Canseco Juan Gonzalez Rafael Palmiero Rick Ankiel Troy Glaus Jose Guillen Jeff Bagwell Brady Anderson Manny Alexander Rafael Bettencourt Albert Belle Ken Caminitti
If I have forgotten any names add to the list. Some were added and I have only skimmed the entire report. Any mistakes please point them out.
The Mitchell Report is out and the list was slightly better than what I was expecting. The expectations were very slim heading into today. Now, certain names are not part of this list (See the New York Met clubhouse section in the report - 23 names are sealed), but if we combine all the names of the past and present we are looking at a total around 110 players - give or take a few. We are talking about a list as big as 4+ 25-man rosters. Sounds like it falls short of 50% which is the number Caminitti claimed prior to his death.
The overall findings of Mitchell's report leave baseball fans uncertain. We still scratch our heads with more questions than ever before. Information can do that to a person. Because there are a guys - a LOT of guys - who bulked up during an off-season who is not on that list and the bulk is at least 20 pounds.
I'm not here to speculate who was left off the list since we have about 20 years worth of steroid use prevalent in the game. What I can say is there are a lot of disappointed fans of Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux has never looked better than he has today.
Football Playoffs
- I can't decide if Buffalo is average or if they are really bad. I have decided that the AFC East is NOT the worst division in Football. It's better than the NFC South and maybe the NFC West. That aside, Buffalo hanging in there could be a reflection of the poor play of Miami and the New York Jets. But here is how I see the AFC playing out:
New England Indy Pittsburgh SD Jacksonville Cleveland
- The way it stands today is the way I see it going after week 17 is complete. Here is the NFC:
Dallas GB Seattle TB NYG NO
- Yes, the Saints will somehow slide into the playoffs. I think they will run the table and get it done. They play 3 average teams (Zona, Philly, Chicago). First two games at home. I think they can do it.
Playoff predictions:
AFC: Cleveland upsets Pittsburgh, Jacksonville upsets San Diego, then both get blown by New England and Indy respectively. Patriots edge the Colts in one of the greatest showdowns in history.
NFC: Seattle avenges last year's lost to New Orleans and TB handles NYG. Dallas disposes Tampa and Seattle upsets Green Bay - the way they should have in 2003. Dallas beats Seattle to get thrashed by New England.
- Alex Rodriguez is apologetic after finalizing a 10 year-275 million dollar contract. Save the apologies, shut your mouth, hit 50 bombs and bat .190 in the playoffs. You do all that and avoid the strip clubs or busty blonds you should be ok.
This is all I've got tonight. Bring me names if I missed some.
America's hat is oblivious to the big matchup in College Football. Except for me, who has the channel on ABC watching Ohio State just punch a TD in to make the score currently at 7-3. But as all eyes are on that game, us Canadians are looking at hockey. So overall we aren't having a stellar day. :)
Neither is Barry Bonds...
- And after 4 years Barry has been indicted for tax evasion and perjury. Even if you believe there is no chance Barry can escape what is coming to you, we all should know better. I keep going over the charges in my head and I am still not convinced the feds "have him". Bonds' defense will find a way to exploit the lack of credibility the crown witnesses will be. The investigators will do their thing on the stand, but will anyone roll over Bonds knowing they could find themselves stuck with perjury charges themselves? You think you can get a guy convicted because several junkies say he did it? Doubt it.
Knowing what we know now, my prediction is hell be guilty of tax evasion and not guilty for perjury. He'll spend a couple or more months in jail and then he'll wait and see if he reaches the hall of fame on the first ballot. I would not be surprised if Barry is held out in his first year of eligibility.
- So Alex Rodriguez opts to leave his agent, Scott Boras, out of the negotiation process with the New York Yankees. He did not go Kenny Rogers and fire the guy during this process, he just got someone else to speak to the Yankees. That is a total joke. If you think Boras deserved it then you have no clue about commitment and loyalty.
When you sign with an agent to represent you, they are the ones you ask to negotiate your deals. If you don't want him or her to represent you then fire them. What Rodriguez did to Boras was a slap in the face. Yet nobody wants to talk about that because of their despise of Boras. Fair enough, but what A-Rod did was another example of his putrid selfishness. Who was there for Alex when things were tough in New York? Boras! Who defended A-Rod when people were all over him for poor play, playoff chokes, defensive blunders, stripper boning and little league acts on the field? Boras! So for A-Rod to turn his back on his agent at any time is ridiculous. He made his bed with Boras and this decision to leave him out of the latest deal shows how A-Rod has no guts - further explains why he may never win a World Series.
- Make no mistake about it: the success of the Green Bay Packers has been their improved defense this season, followed by their quarterback minimizing mistakes. To say the Packers are where they are because of Brett Favre is a slap in the face to the defense that has shut teams down and to the receivers who are vastly underrated. People want to whine about Brady winning the MVP because he has better weapons than Favre is a cop-out. Brady has better numbers, at this point in time, than anyone in NFL history.
Again, the Brett Favre fan club has an overflow of fans who reside in the "impartial" world of the media. And Favre only wishes he was as selfish as A-Rod.
- You may think Chad Johnson is selfish, I'll call him an above average wide receiver. He is exactly what you want out of your teams #2 wide receiver - because that's what he is. If he has aspirations of becoming a #1 someday he'll need to stop dropping passes and make plays that elite receivers make. He may think he is the best, but he's outside the top 10 until he proves otherwise ie. catch the balls elite receivers catch.
- The NHL....Uh, nevermind eh!
- Can Michigan stop dropping passes?
- Did you see the play in the Cleveland game? I saw that with the sound down and I want to confirm that the play was done by Lebron, right? He is the one that purposely tossed the ball out of bounds only to jump for it and passes it out to the open man, right?
Tomorrow night I will be in Buffalo for the Sunday Night game. Glad I don't have to watch NBC pregame and feel bad for Bob Costas with that sad-sack crew he has to carry. Pretty bad when I pray for Cris Collinsworth to talk over everyone. Or hope that Al Michaels just cuts in and takes over. Regardless...
Reading several other bloggers talk about Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken brought back memories of these two great baseball players who will be enshrined into Cooperstown tomorrow. When I was younger I would watch the inductees of great baseball players who I could only read about or watch at the tail end of their careers. Nowadays I can see ballplayers get in that I can at least say I saw in their prime.
No more evident is the 1991 All-Star festivities when my brother and I got to watch the Home Run Derby at Toronto's Skydome. Cal Ripken went off in the competition and belted 12 bombs to win convincingly. He was in the midst of one of his finest seasons of his great career that year. He went on to hit 34 bombs and win both the All-Star Game MVP and season MVP honours.
Staying with Ripken here, I remember going to a game in 1993 and the Blue Jays had recently re-acquired Tony Fernandez to replace #### Schofield. All game my old man was talking about how Cal Ripsh!t couldn't hold a candle to Tony at defense. Now, I agree that Fernandez was better defensively but I didn't think Cal was that bad. Well, he had a tough game that night and the Jays came back and won. I'm almost 100% sure that it was the same night Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics died. I may be mixing two nights up but I believe it occurred on the same night. What I do remember of that night was my dad finding a questionable alleyway to park the car for free. He got away with it, surprisingly.
He broke the consecutive game streak of Lou Gehrig on my birthday. He also ended his game streak in Toronto, which I was shocked that he decided to end the streak near the end of that particular season.
His great play, determination and hard work made him a popular player during his time. So popular that regardless of how good or bad his season was going he would find his way into the All-Star game. Near the end of his career there were a few All-Star games he should not have been to, but that is something out of Cal's control. Yet the year he was having a forgettable season he wins the All-Star game MVP (2001). Funny how things work out sometimes.
He made his move to third base gracefully and it helped his team become better as they nearly got to the World Series in 1997. But I will always remember him as a shortstop.
...
It would have been great to watch Tony Gwynn play live and in person but I got to watch a lot of film on him. My dad would tell me to watch Gwynn swing the bat carefully and see how he handled the bat on every pitch and every swing. He is the one that sent me to San Diego in late-1997 to attend the San Diego School of Baseball to meet Tony Gwynn.
I was in his last group as he was about to go watch Tony Jr. play in a basketball tournament later that afternoon. He got us to hit whiffle balls off a tee and the catch was we had to hit the whiffle back toward the pitcher. At first Tony was all over me as I wanted to pull the thing out of the park. Earlier in the day Dave Engle, former Minnesota Twin, was all over me for the same thing. So I worked my tail off to show Mr. Gwynn that I could do it. So he would walk by each set-up asking us to hit him with the whiffle ball. He would stand about 20-30 feet in front of us and we weren't too successful. On my last swing, however, I got him in the thigh. Then he stepped up to a tee himself and proceeded to stripe the whiffle ball up the middle effortlessly. Incredible hitter. His autograph remains on my shelf to this day.
That baseball experience was great as I also met Alan Trammell, Bob Cluck, Matt Clement and a host of other ex-ballplayers and coaches.
Just thinking back on the experience with Gwynn, my group played a Japanese All-Star team a couple days later in a game where we had a pitching machine - throwing nothing but sinister curve balls. At 15 I never saw a curve that good. But thanks to Tony's session earlier in the camp, I was able to wait a split-second longer on that curve rather than try to pull it. Even my brother conceded that the machine was throwing some excellent deuces that day.
Speaking of my brother, he decided to make a tape full of top hitters during the playoffs in 1996. Tony Gwynn made a lot of his highlights to go along with an epic Rickey Henderson home run moment that overshadowed all the hitters. Gwynn had the most recorded highlights on that tape. It even featured Jeff Kent in a Cleveland Indians uniform! Yes, he played for Cleveland.
I watched Tony's 3000th hits in both english and french. I saw the highlight on a french channel since the game took place in Montreal. He can say he got the hit against a team that now does not exist. But the two things that stick out the most about him were 1) He wasn't so physically gifted when I met him so I was a bit surprised of how good he was and 2) He was the one guy Ted Williams thought could make a serious run at .400.
Taking my dad's advice, he was one of the first non-Blue Jay players I sought to watch every time I had the opportunity.
Two great players who seemed like decent guys will be officially enshrined tomorrow. Can't ask for anything better out of this year's class.
It's the beginning of a new week with the beginning of a new blog, new shows for the week, new blog show from Frank and every second that we live is new. Pretty cheesy but who cares? Let's get this post rocking and rolling...
- The Detroit Pistons prided themselves on playing their best basketball when their backs are against the wall. Really? Where's the proof? How close to the wall were you when you beat the Lakers in 5 games in 2004? Where was the Game 7 victory when your backs were against the wall in 2005? What about 2006? What the hell was 2007? Basically, the Pistons are full of #### when they say they play their best when their backs are against the wall. They disproved everyone that thought they were the runaway favourite to win the East Conference. They let one stud and a bench player kill them. They were given every opportunity to exploit the massive holes on the Cleveland Cavaliers team and they decided they wanted to play the "light switch" game, where they could turn it on and off whenever they felt like it. That is the wrong way to play the game and they simply got burned. Now Cleveland can walk into the NBA Finals where they should get their brains beaten.
- Yes, San Antonio should win their 4th title since 1999 after they dispose Cleveland in no more than 5 games. If it takes 6, call LeBron the Playoff MVP (or finals MVP, whatever you want). There are no enough seat belts on LeBron's back to carry them to a championship. Besides, watching Cleveland win would be a problem.
Why? Because the West is the dominating conference and they produce the best teams in the NBA today. The East is struggling and to see a team considered very weak for NBA Finals standards win this year's championship would not sit well with most people including me. The Spurs have been better, have played better and have played better teams from day one in this season.
- How many times will you continue to let things slide, NHL? How many hits to the head will you let Chris Pronger commit before you finally give him a severe penalty? Give him a suspension for the rest of the Stanley Cup finals and send a message to the rest of the league that this will not be tolerated. Will you get flack for the ruling? Yes, but what is the difference to you? You get flack anyway for your poor rating, poor decisions and poor product exposure and how you've handled the product. There is nothing to lose for making the proper decision for not only this series but for the future of the NHL where there will eventually be a casualty for a blow to the head that you didn't fix because of weak suspensions like this. As the saying goes, "No Guts, No Glory".
- Jason Giambi may be done for the season. Is that because he is legitimately injured or is he ducking the drug testing? Regardless, the Yankees had their chance of voiding the contract and should have done so. They would need to use that money to pay Roger Clemens who has hurt his groin. Apparently it was a pitching injury but supposedly he was in Alex Rodriguez and A-Rod turned at the wrong time. That was probably caused by Andy Pettitte walking in.
- AL MVP and NL MVP so far: Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Reyes. Any problems with that?
- Back to Stray-Rod, to blow his marriage and family on a stripper is ridiculous. There is nothing intelligent about that decision. You don't make your child grow up resenting you because you couldn't stop yourself from ####ing a stripper. Could you blame that child for growing up angry?
- The Los Angeles Lakers are thinking about taking a run at Marcus Camby. Why? So they can lose round 1 from the 6th spot rather than the 7th? Camby is not the answer to their problems. If Andrew Bynum is suppose to be their future big man then let him be your guy from now until you decide he cannot cut it. A championship-type run for the Lakers is 3 years away so you may as well build Bynum, get a point guard and may need to trade Lamar Odom as he may not fit into their future plans.
- The French Open is getting closer to becoming watchable as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are playing themselves closer to the finals. They are the two biggest reasons to watch Men's tennis, and are probably to two tennis players you want to watch the most. That is based on play and not on looks, because Maria Sharapova and Ava Ivanovic would obviously be the most watchable players from the male demographic between 16-96.
- When will the NFL season begin? Can't wait.
Bizarro Deeley-O this Thursday. Stay tuned. www.chevradioam.com is my show address. Cheers.
The hit song by Live will not be featured in this post but sports takes certainly will. As we approach June the playoff runs in the NBA and NHL will wind down and we will be looking forward to the NFL season a couple months away. But here are some points from this week I must hit before the night is over...
Baseball
- The father of Josh Hancock is suing those responsible for his son's death. Hopefully his own son can seek legal counsel because he will need it when his father is through with him. Let's run down the list here: speeding, drunk driving, driving with a cell phone (an offense in my parts), reckless driving and marijuana in the car. This kid lacks sel####iscipline.
When you are going to have a drink or two or seventeen you need to be responsible for your actions, regardless of how intoxicated you are. Is this the kind of behavior his father condoned during Josh's first 18 years of his life? If so, questionable parenting becomes an issue. We aren't here to speculate whether or not he was a good dad but to blame someone else for his death is absolutely absurd.
- The moment Jason Giambi began to speak earlier this week was his first mistake. If there was anyone who should have the gag order place on him it would be Giambi. I've never liked hypocrisy (even though we've all done it), but his comments obviously proved that he is a hypocrit. First his comments about Alex Rodriguez and now this. If the New York Yankees are serious about winning a championship in 2008 I would void his contract and use that money to get either Andruw Jones or Ichiro. It's not like Giambi can carry a team on his back anymore.
Couple of points with this situation: 1) The positive greenie test was an "F-U" message from the MLB. They are basically saying, "Screw with us and we'll let you pay for it". Seems like these positive tests are only leaked out when it is convenient for the MLB (like Barry's positive test). That shows the ballplayers need to stay quiet or they will go after you for something. Because the first positive test is suppose to be kept private. That's twice they've leaked out positive tests...2) How many positive tests of any kind have they kept or covered up in the past?...3) How can Giambi say those comments knowing that if anyone became a "whistle-blower" they would either be subjected to losing their job or even worse. Even if someone wanted to spill the beans on steroid use they do not want to risk their job or worse...4) People have suggested giving immunity to those who've used to entice them to come out and admit they used. Awarding someone who got away with something against the law is bullcrap. That still won't solve the ongoing problem with today's players. Having yesterday's stars come out only proves what we've speculated for some time.
- Anyone that feels Boston has taken the division need to remember 4 numbers: 1978. It's May 25th and it is a very long season. This division is not Boston's yet. Over the next 100 games Boston could go 59-41 while the Yankees go 69-31 and we have a tight race to the end. Funny, that scenario is conceiveable.
Basketball
- The playoffs have taken a turn for the worse for excitement. Sorry to say it, but it has. For those who's favourite teams are still in it I can imagine you disagree. However, from an overall fan perspective these two matchups do not have the steam it needs to have. In the East, the play has been tough to watch. We also know how Cleveland cannot matchup to at least 6 teams from the West, probably more. As much as we try to forget that it cannot be ignored. We've seen it for ourselves; Donyell Marshall not hitting an open shot (story of the Cavs this year), and Larry Hughes missing a jumper that should be knocked down routinely by high school and college players at any level from any province or state. That is your #2 team out of the East folks. Not good.
In the West it has been a simple case of mismatching. I got a bit of flack on suggesting the re-seeding method, that way giving us the best case matchup in the Conference final. Instead we've seen a solid Utah Jazz team take the much easier route to the Conference final. Put it this way: If Phoenix played Golden State and lost, while Utah played San Antonio and won we would have at least respected both teams for ripping 4 of the best teams in the regular season. Even if one of those teams made it there would have been a bigger build-up for it. This conference final has very little build-up as is. The only thing they have going for them is recent history, as they along with the Los Angeles Lakers have represented the West in the NBA Finals every year since 1997 with the exception of last year. These are two good teams without question, but we've been cheated out of bigger excitement.
By the way, who's pumped for Detroit v. San Antonio Part II? Or Utah v. Cleveland? Anyone?
Football
- What a hell of a week for the NFL as we saw a bunch of things go down: Chris Henry, A.J. Nicholson, Justin Miller, the ongoing Mike Vick stuff, Clinton Portis...not a great week AT ALL.
Speaking of Portis, here is a great scenario for you: Say you have invited someone into your home and you decide to assault them physically. Shouldn't that be ok? Clinton Portis must think so because it is YOUR HOME. You can break the law but if you do so in your own home that is A-OK.
- Keyshawn Johnson retires and has nice statistics. Why is it that when I think of him as a New York Jet I think of an impact player, but as a Buc, Cowboy and Panther I think very good wide receiver? Good receiver to have when his mind is straight, can block on running plays but is he a Hall of Famer? Let's just say he is definitely not a first-ballot HOF.
Hockey
- Let's clear this up right now: This is NOT a Canada v. US matchup. The Ottawa Senators are playing for a Stanley Cup to bring back TO OTTAWA and NOT Canada. Anyone in Canada who believes this is a total whackjob. Then again, if they only like hockey and hate other sports or think hockey is the best sport ever has a terrible opinion. There are players from all over the world on both teams so this has nothing to do with countries but has more to do with the thill and the opportunity to play for the ultimate prize in hockey. One thing is certain: if Ottawa wins the Stanley Cup the Toronto Maple Leaf fans will be really ticked off. Therefore I'm cheering for Ottawa. I am expecting the series to have low scores and high scores. I'd bet on Anaheim to win but Ottawa would be a great story after all the meltdowns they have had in the past.
Sidenote: J.S. Giguere is playing for history by potentially winning his second Conn Smythe trophy. Dear Roberto Luongo: That is how you carry a team.
Cycling
- May be in worse shape than baseball right now when it comes to drugs. Could there be more coming out in the near future?
...
I will be participating this upcoming Wednesday on the "Fox Sports Blogger Show" with Frank Irizarry. MeanDovine has confirmed he will be on as well and I am looking forward to rapping with them on some sports topics. Frank told me it will be on at 11PM which is good as I get up at 6AM to prep for my show (CHEAP PLUG: Weekdays 9AM-Noon EST on www.chevradioam.com)
We just witnessed a very slow showing from the NBA trade deadline and the NHL trade deadline is beginning to heat up as it ends on February 27th.
MeanDovine reminded me about something I have discussed at length for quite a while in regards to the word team. A lot of weight of an athlete's career can be measured by the rings they have won. Seems rather unfair when you are only 1 of 25 or 52 or 12 guys on a team, depending on the sport. Does not having great teams tarnish your legacy as a great player? Was Tony Gwynn not as great for not winning a ring? No! An athlete can only do so much and Mean reminded me of that very same argument I have made for quite some time inside our blog-nation. The player in the discussion was Dwyane Wade, who has lost more than just Shaquille O'Neal prior to his return. That got me thinking...
- Last week when I was watching the Toronto Raptors play host the Cleveland Cavaliers I could not help noticing Lebron James getting stoned. There were several instances where he made an incredible pass to an open person and they would not hit their shot. He was cheated out of 3 or 4 assists in the last quarter alone simply because his teammates have not produced at a level that can help his team succeed. They are not an NBA Championship contender and that blame cannot be placed on the lack of leadership of Lebron James. If a professional basketball player cannot hit a jump shot or finish a layup then that blame cannot rest on the shoulders of James. In fact, the last basket of that game said it all: Lebron kicks it out to an open Sasha Pavlovic, WIDE OPEN, and misses terribly only to find Anderson Varejao make a spectacular dunk to win the game.
- Kobe Bryant has watched his Laker teammates go down with injuries: Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum, Kwame Brown, Lamar Odom and Vladimir Radmanovich. Presently, they are showing that they are simply just an ordinary team because the weight has been resting on the shoulders of Bryant who can only do so much. Score 25, score 35 score 45, if teammates are not there to support your team will not succeed. Now has Kobe had missed opportunities over the last few weeks? Absolutely. However, wouldn't a better team not put themselves into a situation where you have a coin-flip's chance to win on the final possession of the game?
- Moving on, the deadline was dead and one of the few reasons for that was Dwyane Wade's injury. I bet New Jersey wanted to wait it out as long as possible before dealing Jason Kidd and/or Vince Carter. They did and they may have dodged a bullet doing it due to Wade's injury. The Nets are not far away from the 8th and final playoff spot. Not only does Wade's injury hurt the Heat, the Orlando Magic are having a second half collapse at this point. If the Nets get in and potentially get Richard Jefferson back, why can't they knock off a Washington or Cleveland or even Toronto, which brings me to...
- Toronto's trade with Portland was an improvement because Fred Jones was not playing anyway, and Dixon would relieve a little bit of money for Toronto. However, the one position they are lacking in is Center. They needed to get a big man who could rebound, a Theo Ratliff-type player without the Theo Ratliff-type contract. That Cavs game proved that Toronto needs someone who is a capable rebounder or else Toronto will be bounced in round 1 of the playoffs. And the next time anyone makes an accusation that I am a hometown guy just point towards this blog.
Now, Bryan Colangelo has done a magnificant job with this team. His strategy of going after the European market and drafting Andrea Bargnani was a gem. Looking at the dynamics of their roster they were going to have a tough time trying to fulfill that center position without giving up a critical piece of the puzzle that has allowed them to be at this point as we speak.
- A couple of days after the big fight between the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators has put hockey right back where it was before: on the backburner of the sports pages and internet websites. We have a big brawl and it becomes the very first highlight we see on the computer and then all of a sudden it remembers that it's hockey and that is it. What does it say about the people of the US and the sport itself? Well it says the people will embrace it for what can be perceived as a negative part of the sport. The sport itself was not viewed by American sports fans it was the aftermath of a play gone bad-turned brawl. It simply means the sport still has a lot of catching up to do before it is really taken seriously.
- This is not a true preview of the 2007 baseball season but after the offseason acquisitions and the rosters each team currently has we can say it will be a wide-open dash towards the World Championship. It can be anyone's trophy this year once again. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are always strong but they are not necessarily the best team around. And Chicago spent a ton of money but even that won't give them the division title. It will be interesting and it will be a dog fight. And to be fair, my early prediction for the Toronto Blue Jays is 3rd place. Nice, cozy 3rd place.
- If Roger Clemens has not made up his mind about playing and isn't sure which team he'd play for, what is he doing at the Houston Astros training camp? Yes I know his kid is there and management won't say anything to him out of fear that he'd say screw you and sign elsewhere but isn't that brutal if he trains with the Astros and then decides to sign with New York? If I am Houston I'd be pretty p!ssed off about that. But not p!ssed enough to throw a broken bat at him.
- Last hockey comment and I am out: People saying that Sidney Crosby is the far away leader for the Hart Trophy has not done their research. Sid the Kid is playing phenomenal hockey but the leader right now is Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. Look at how far Jersey has come since November and look at how dominant Marty has been this season. Simply incredible. I am also not closing the book on Sid being the best NHL'er in the league either. With the additions of Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin he has really blossomed as a player. Put those two guys on Washington and Alexander Ovechkin is the best hockey player in the world without a shadow of a doubt. I admire hockey players who produce the most with the least and Ovechkin does that, and it also ties into the basketball discussion written above. In Canada, critics are still not prepared to appoint a non-Canadian as the best hockey player in the world.
...Hope the weekend went well. Hope you all can tune in to my show this week running live from 9AM-Noon at www.chevradioam.com. Cheers.
From Toronto, CANADA. On hiatus from sports talk show. Also the starting shortstop for the Lizzards. Honorary member of "The Clique" because I am a made guy. If I ever got to work for Fox Sports I'd put into my contract that I must put in no less than 60 hours of work per week.
