A sports brief: featuring football, basketball, baseball and some stress relief

Football
The Bears showed the NFL why they are force to be reckoned with on defense, and now the have an offense that can make you pay as well. The Bears seems like the most complete team in football. The Bears are in the top three teams in football and if they give Rex Grossman time to pass they are THE BEST team in the NFL. Indy makes a strong case to be the best team as well with the Great Peyton Manning at the Helm. He can run the 2 minute drill better than anyone in football in the REGULAR SEASON, we shall if ever gets over his playoff woes. The Pats are the last team that makes a legimate case as the best team in football. Tom Brady runs the best 2 minute drill in the Playoffs. Tom Brady just wins, he does it now by slinging the ball to all his no-name recievers. All three of this team have the potential to win it all.

College Football
The big story in was USC losing to Oregan State, which was great for College football but bad for ND. My reasoning for that statement is this, college football benefited because teams like West Virigina and Louisville have a chance to get in BCS title game with either Michigan or Ohio state. It is bad for ND because USC fell in the BCS which a win over them beccomes less prestigious.

Basketball
The NBA opened with Bulls playing the Heat. The Bulls dominated the HEAT and made the Heat look old. The Heat will not repeat as champions because they are old and Dwade is worn out from the World Championships summer league games. The Bulls made a huge statement that they are for real and they are contender to win the NBA finals. Ben Wallace made an immediate impact. I applaude John Paxson for the job he has done assmebling this team. They just signed Captain Kirk Heinrich to a new deal which was a very smart move. Keep up the good work!!!

Baseball
The free agent pool is getting bigger with Carlos Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Greg Maddox, Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver, and Barry Zito declaring free agency. Pitching will be overpaid because it is so hard to come by so expect guys like Suppan to ride Postseason succes to big money. the Yankees are already considering Suppan. This looks like another Jared Wright/ Carl Pavo signing to me. My advice don't DO IT!!
I did fail to mention the Biggest name and I biggest because of the steriods he took Barry BONDS. All owners should make a deal or pact not to sign this guy and let the homerun record remain with Hank Aaron. I know some team will sign him and he will play next year; maybe his knee will blow out or something. Gary Sheffield is going to be traded as soon as his option is being picked up to either to the Cubs or Phillies. I know from the Cubs they want Wuertz and someone else, take them. We will take Sheffield's 40 hrs and 100 RBI's next year in left.

Later

The Hot stove is starting to heat up already??

With the ST. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series, that officially ends the 2006 season. Congrats to La Russa in company on winning the World Series with good fundamental baseball. Right that down Lou Pinella winning means Fundamental baseball.

Now that the season is over, the HOT STOVE starts with deals and free agent fillings.
It seems like a day doesn't go bye without word out of the New York Yankees organization. This time is comes from the always disgruntled Gary Sheffield who is whining because the Yankees picked up his 13 million dollar option. Gary Sheffield signing was a business move to trade him. Sheffield is a baby and should shut up and take his money. He is a cancer when he is not happy, I pity the team that trades for him. If someone trades for him and does not give him a longer deal, he will ruin that team and wouldn't you know the Cubs are looking at him.

Free agency began recently and some big names have declared all ready. Jason Schmidt and Soraino are the biggest thus far with Barry Zito to join them. The Big Chicago name is Kerry Wood, who filed as well. Kerry had promise with 20 k game, but the Cubs should let you go. Go to San Diego and pitch in their huge ball park. If Kerry can ever get to together I wish him well but I don't think it is going to happen in Chicago. We all knew this would come after he went down the first time. Goodbye K kid! Another former Cub Gary Matthew Jr. who had a breakout year last year, is also a free agent. The Texas Rangers hope to resign him. Gary made some of the greatest catches ever this year in Centerfield for the Rangers. They need to resign him and Carlos Lee. Carlos Lee is going to be another free agent name out there very soon. I want the CUBS to sign Soriano and Schmidt to give us a chance to win because the Cardinals have shown that it doesn't matter how many games you win to get in the playoffs, just as long as you get into the playoffs.

Comments, Length and Tigers ..OH MY

It has been sometime since my last blog. I have received some comments about length, spelling, and grammer. I thank those for commenting. I will try to do better on these things in the future. In my defense, this is not for the common sports fan and if you compare my length to Tuesday Morning Quaterback and Bill Simmons articles on ESPN.com. You will see that my length is not as long as most people think it is.

Now on to sports,
Football:
Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis is complaining about ND falling out of the TOP 10 when they won their game last week. The teams that passed Notre Dame were Florida and Tennessee. Florida did not play last week and ate cheese burgers according to Weis and Tennessee won a game simliar to ND. Weis is NOT valid in being upset because ND played UCLA a very average team while Florida has beaten a tough LSU team and plays the "tough" SEC schedule. Tennessee beat a tough Alabama team who has a winning record. If Weis wants to complain, ND should first play somebody good besides USC and Michigan every year.(Ps I am a ND FAN)

The Arizona Cardinals are now the "WORST TEAM" in football, they lost to the winless Raiders. The Raiders got killed by the 49ers who are not very good themselves. The owner of the Cardinals should have called Dennis Green on that phone Quarterbacks talk on after a TD, and FIRED HIM on the spot. The Cardinals are what we thought they were....the WORST TEAM in football.

Tony Romo got the nod at halftime on MNF, what did he proceed to do, he through three picks. Was this the right move to bench Bledsoe and go to Romo?YES!! Bledsoe was a statue in the pocket and was making bad decisions in the red zone. Tony Romo will make rookie mistakes because essentially he is a rookie but he is mobile and gives them a better chance to win. Tony Romo thinks he is like Brett Favre. We shall see how that pans out.

Brett Favre had another great game against another bad team, maybe Brett should ask to play bad teams every week. It is not Brett's fault, his team is young and inexperienced. If the Packers are bad, Detriot and Miami are much worse. Brett should see if they can schedule the Raiders, Cardinals, 49ers, and Houston, next season along with Miami and Detriot. If that happens the Packers will go 6-10 next year!!

Baseball:
I don't think anyone believes AROD will remain in New York, no matter who tells us he is staying. EVERYONE still believes he will be traded.

Lastly Joe Morgan is a Hypocrite because he stated that Kenny Rogers needs to thrown out of the game because of the Pine-tar on his hand. Joe Morgan was outraged at the fact that Kenny "cheated" in game 2 of the World Series. Joe called Kenny's actions disrespectful to the game of baseball. Joe Morgan is the biggest BARRY BONDS supporter in all of sportscasting. If Joe Morgan has respect for the game, call out Barry Bonds for being a "cheater". That is why Joe is Hypocrite.

The Bears are blue about BROWN

Everyone thinks the Brian Urlacher is the heart of the Bears defense, he might be but most people can make a case for Mike Brown. Mike Brown is the hard hitting safety who has a nose for the End Zone. The Bears got some bad news on Mike Brown. Mike is done for the year with a achilles/foot injury. The common sports fan would think nothing of it, but true intelligent Bears fan knows that Bears defense just got significantly weaker. Mike Brown see the whole fields, makes sure that no one get past him on defense. Mike Brown was the co-captain of the defense. If the ball is fumbled, he finds a way to retieve and make the opposing team pay with 6 pts. The Bears pass defense will suffer and everyone in the league knows it. The rest of the NFL is already looking how to attack the whole that Brown leaves on the Bears defense. With Brown out they must put someone on defense to "fill" his whole. The list of possibilites is 4 deep with all decent players. It could be Chris Harris former starting safety, Brian McGowen harding hitting but still injured safety, or Todd Johnson who poped the ball out against the Cardinals. Either choice will be a step down from Brown. it also hurts Daniel Manning who was being coached by Brown on the field. This has been third year Brown has been placed on injuried reserve, it makes Brown and the rest of the football world wonder if the Bears will cut Brown after this season. My thoughts are that the Bears should retain Brown for the duration of his contract because of his impact on the defense. I know money comes into the issue but still I believe Brown is a curcial piece in the Bears future success just like Urlacher. The Bears suffered their first lost against the Cardinals............ It was Mike Brown.

The Bears biggest rival the Packers have some issues of their own. I'm taling about issues on the field which are numerous. I am talking about off the field issues and that means Koren Robinson. Robinson was suspended for a year by getting a DUI charge. Brett Favre sounded off to the media about how Robinson should be premitted to atleast come to the stadium and see his teammates. Brett Favre being a former substance abuser should know all about getting over an addiction. Brett should have kept mouth shut, i mean the guy hasn't been on the team long and he has a problem. He needs to be checked to rehab and think about football later on. Poor Brett should be worried about the recievers he has as opposed to ones that will cut at the end of the year. And I thought the Bears were in trouble at they are 6-0...

LAter

The White Sox's 2007 plan, my football top 5 and blog comments?

So I have been giving the Cubs plans for 2007 aka my ideas, so now i will give you my thoughts on the 2007 Soxs. The Soxs who did not return to the playoffs to defend their World Series Title, however not uncommon because it is very hard to repeat in baseball, the last team to do it was those Yankees of the late 90's. So the Soxs must try to get back to the playoffs at first and the World Series second. So let's the address the issue that prevented the Sox from making the playoffs last year. First issue the Sox's rotation, they were overworked last year and they suffered from tired arms. That however does not mean there needs to be changes on the rotation, Freddy Garica is either in the last year of a deal or is a free agent, either way do not bring him back. He peaked when they won the World Series and he says he pitches harder against "good teams". That is why he stinks against the Royals. They also need to move Javier Vasquez because he is not a good AL pitcher in the NL he would be awesome but not in the AL. They would McCarthy into the rotation to fill one spot and they need another starter, probably some B level starter that they will sign cheap. Their Bullpen needs to get restructured because they were also bad in the regular season save for Bobby Jenks. His era was a little high for a closer but he was the only saving grace. Their lineup has only two weaknessess shortstop and centerfield. Brian Anderson needs to be traded because you cannot develop a centerfielder on a contending team, trade him and get a veteran centerfielder. Juan Uribe is very streaky as a hitter and has had some recent problems with the law. The Soxs need to address those issues and they will have improved there team. Will make the playoffs then? Depends on how the they play the Tigers and the Twins!

More football talk
So now everyone has their top 5 ranking of football teams aka the power rankings so I will give you my power rankings and a little reason why they are ranked that high.

#5 The Patriots- Some how this team wins, no matter who they have on offense and defense they find a way to win. Tom Brady is a good quarterback and becomes better when the game is on the line.

#4 The Colts- The only reason the Colts are 5-0 is because of Peyton Manning and his receivers.The team is still one sided and more based on Peyton without the Edge. Who regrets Edge leaving more Peyton or Edge? My guess is the Edge because his 1-5 and Peyton is 5-0.

#3 The Saints- The Saints are a fairy tale in the NFL and all of sports. They are 5-1 with a big wins against the Falcons, Cards, and most recently the Eagles. Everyone talks about Reggie Bush and is impact, without the DEUCE and DREW Brees this team is not 5-1. I also failed to mention but the man behind the players Sean Payton who is getting the most out of his players and his system.

#2 The San Diego Chargers- This has not lost a beat after they let Brees go and went to Rivers. Rivers, LT, and Gates are fueling offense which is running on all cyclinders.If they don't go to "Martyball" again they will be the Best team in AFC and get home field throughout the playoffs. Shawn Merriman is one of the best linebackers in football and their defense is very stout. Tough team to beat and should go deep in the playoffs.

#1 The Chicago Bears- Yes I know I am homer by making this my number 1 team, but I WILL not get off the Bears bandwagon after one bad game. They did win despite 6 turnovers which has to stand for something in Pro-sports. Their Defense lead by MVP Brian Urlacher willed that team to a win!

Bone-head move off the Week, the Packer signed Koren Robinson and he was suspended for a year on a DUI conviction. That's how it has gone for the Packers this year...

Comments we got our first comment and now anyone can comment because I edited the setting some lets get some feedback or comments. Thanks everyone who reads this!
That's it for now

NLDS, Baseball wish list and Manager Merry-go-round

The Cardinals a meet who should have not even made the playoffs esepcially with their bad bullpen and horrible starters save for Carpenter have just taken a 3-2 series lead over the Mets. The Mets who are the World Series pick for most people, including mine are losing to the hapless Cardinals. The glaring weakness on both teams was starting pitching, well the Cardinals seems to have found there's. Carptener, Suppan, Weaver, doesn't strike fear into people but they don't need to, they just need to get you outs. Weaver has shown the stuff that got him a huge deal with Detriot, Suppan has shown that three years ago when he won 15 with Pittsburg it was not a fluke. Tony La Russa my hat is off to you for managing your team and especially your bench and bullpen. A good read, three nights in August a must read for a baseball fans! From one good manager to another, and in the same division no less, Lou Piniella is now the Cubs new skipper.

Lou Piniella denied the rumors that he wants AROD and the Yankees are denying that AROD is available. However sources close to Lou say he wants AROD and source near the Yankees say they want quality starting pitching for AROD. The Cubs as we know do not hve quality starting pitching, well they could send Mark Prior to the Yankees but the Yankees are already have an injuried riddled over payed rotation. The Cubs are gonna make free agent moves such as getting Schmidt, Soranio, and Carlos Lee. They need two of those players to be decent if not compete, the won't get any of them because they are the CUBS! Big Lou welcome to the North Side where promises are made and that's IT! Another winning manager Ken Macha was fired the other day by the A's. I have to question this only in the fact that he got the A's over the first round hump which had haunted them the last like 6 odd seasons. Ken Macha won with a Moneyball team. They just signed Ken to a three deal, two season's ago, so he will get 2 million for his last year. I guess you can make the case that anyone can win with Oakland, Art Howe did it and look where it got him. It got him a huge deal with the Mets, and he was HORRIBLE in New York. Art Howe is now out of baseball. Ken Macha will get another job with some team, I'm sure. His record is too good not to get another job. The Nationals need a manager, if Joe Girardi does not take the job, Ken Macha would be a candiate for it. For the A's Billy Beane, he will hire some obsecure coach for the A's organization or will he? A wierd idea would be Dusty Baker who is a west coast native and needs a job. Another thing, he managed Barry Bonds in San Fran, Barry could be the DH for a year and hit the historic homerun as an A's ? i doubt it... but it is a novel idea don't you think?
I can't wait for the hot stove season!

Let it looks like Cards vs Tigers and I give it to the Tigers in 6 games!

The maturation process of a Quarterback

Week 6 in the NFL was a tale of many quarterbacks. The struggling veterans, to promising rookies, all taking part in week 6 of the NFL. The best game other than the MNF game, was the Saints vs the Eagles featuring two quarterbacks, Donovan McNabb for the Eagles and Drew Brees of the Saints. This game was a tale of two different Quarterbacks, Donovan was coming an injuried/TO filled season. This year, he was having by far the best statsical year of any Quarterback in football, when he ran into Drew Brees and the Saints. The Saints were having a year than only happens in the movie or in fairy- tales. One year removed from Katrina with a new coach, a sugerically repaired Quarterback in Drew Brees, and a bunch of old and new players which includes Reggie Bush, has given New Orleans something to cheer for again. Drew Brees led his Saints to a game winning field goal over the Eagles. McNabb still had an impressive game should win Comeback player of the year if not MVP. Drew Brees also can make a case for MVP with a team that NO ONE thought would go anywhere this year, I would not want to play the Saints at home. Drew Brees is my boy, I loved Drew in College at Purdue, his senior year they played Kansas State in Rose Bowl that year. Drew Brees was picked by San Diego in the second round after they traded out of the first pick in the draft. San Diego took LT with the first round pick that year. Drew Brees had an adverse time in San Diego, he was annointed the man and then he struggled. San Diego who had made a MISTAKE in picking Ryan THEIF (Leaf), thought they had missed it with Drew. They went out and drafted ELI Manning and traded him to the Giants for Philip Rivers. Rivers would have been the started had he not helded out. I HATE people that hold out, feel lucky you got drafted and take the money. Rivers got what he deserved he lost the starting job to Brees. Brees seized his chance finally and took the Chargers to the playoffs and made the Pro-bowl. By the way (BTW) the Pro- Bowl should be an honorary title the GAME SUCKS!! Nobody really plays and you risk people getting hurt..DUMB!! DUMB! Anyways Back to Brees, The next year they almost made the playoffs with the tuffest schedule in football, but the most important thing Brees got hurt! The Chargers let Drew Brees walk because of shoulder surgery and turned it over to Philip Rivers. The story works out for both teams, because Drew Brees is healthy and leading the SAINTS, while Rivers is leading the Chargers who are the best team in the AFC... YES I KNOW the COLTS are 5-0 but they are not a complete team. PEYTON is carrying them.

Rookie Quarterbacks were also in action thsi weekend was Vince Young, remember him he was the hero of the Rose Bowl with Texas. Vince with some help from Travis Henry 130 yards on the ground beat a confusing Washington Redskins team. Vince looks ready to make the Titans more competitive this year, they are still long way off from being good and so is Vince. Vince needs to pass better otherwise he will be another Michael Vick, who I am sorry will never will the big game, not running the option offense. Another rookie Quarterback was Bruce Gradkowski, the guy who replaced Chris Simms after he had his spleen busted by the Carolina Panthers. BTW how does Tim Rattay feel, the veteran who was not the starter after Simms went down, they went to rookie instead... OUCH!!! Bruce Gradkowski will be a name people will have to remember because he looks good and beat a good Bengals team. On that side Carson Palmer is not the same as last year when he was SECOND best best only to PETYON. Carson knee's I bet is not the same or does not feel the same. IT doesn't help that Chad Johnson has disappeared, well he is doing ESPN commericals and Chris Henry is always in trouble. The only receiver is TJ whoisyourmomma that Carson can throw the ball toward. Did Carson come back early like Dante or is he just not that same? Who knows? Only Carson has the answers. Congrats to the Lions for winning a game, they will not go 0-16, nobody in Detriot cares because of the Tigers. I'm hoping they win the World Series and the City burns down! Maybe they can rebuild it better and get rid all of the slime. The Raiders are the only hope to 0-16.. THEY GOT A CHANCE!!
Enough football for now.. Later

MNF- the lowest low and the HIGHEST HIGH for a BEARS FAN

I suffered through the Cade Mc CLOWN and the QUINN eras. I thought REX was the next best thing! Rex proceeded to get hurt and the next season he got hurt and then guess what, he got hurt again. This season was different, Rex was putting all the injury talk to rest and making a case for MVP until tonight. ........................

The best game of the week had to wait until Monday night: Bears vs Cardinals. Now this game featured the "Best team in the NFL" and a 1-4 team with a GREAT College quarterback in Matt Leinhart. Well the Cardinals forgot that they were 1-4 in first half and Matt Leinhart forgot he was not at USC. Matt Leinhart played masterful with little or no running game from the EDGE, but he did have great catches from one of his young talented receivers Anguan Boldin. On the other side of the coin, The Bears Quarterback, Rex Grossman, who is still young by NFL game standards being his full first heathly season. Rex HAD the WORST night any quarterback can have 14/37 passing with 4 interceptions and two fumbles. REX had six turnovers ... SIX TURNOVERS!!! Now with a stat line that you would have thought the Bears would have lost but they DID NOT!! The reason BEING the defense lead by the MVP of the league BRIAN URLACHER, he was a force on the football field, rallying the defense and heeding orders from Lovie Smith to get the ball and score. Did Lovie make some questionable calls, ofcourse he did the on side kick which I predicted and the block punt attempt which was a bad officating call. Was Lovie not the only one making questionable calls, Ron Turner was making questionable play calling by going to the air so many times, I thought the Bears were a running team. Granted we could not run when were down 20 points but still should have tried it a little more. So how did the Bears win?? The Defense and Urlacher

The stat line of URLACHER was 19 tackles 11 solo and one forced fumble. This was a man on a mission and his mission was not to let his TEAM lose. The order came from Lovie Smith, get the ball and score to his DEFENSE!!! Who tells their defense this??? WE DO!! The defense responded with a forced fumble by Mark Anderson- who? rookie real good- Mike Brown scores , Urlacher strips the Edge and Peanut Tillman returns it to the house and lastly Devin Hester- he took an 82 yard punt return to the house to take the lead for good. You notice their was no offensive touchdown, because regardless of how bad the Bears offense the DEFENSE was going to find a way to win. If the Bears go anywhere it will be because of the DEFENSE, Rex will be a difference maker but Defense's win championships!

Now the Cardinals did have some positives, they played great on monday night, Leinhart will be a star in this league just like in college, Boldin is a great wide reciever. Those are things they need to build on. Dennis Green needs to be retained because it is not entirely his fault. On to the negatives Edge carried it for 56 on 36 carries, that is the worse yards per carry ratio ever. That is a knock on Edge and the offensive line. He knew that when he took the money to sign with the Cardinals. Their o-line is not good on the run! Dennis Green was beyond angry at the post game interview, they knew what the Bears were in the third pre-season game. What were they?? Not a good team?? Beatable, everyone is beatable. The cardinals are just not good. They need to change their attitudes and who knows if they ever will. Maybe after that they can win games should be 3-3, they are not they are 1-5.

Are the Bears a team of Destiny?.... I don't know.. Was this a good thing?.... Yes it was, we believe we are NOT invinicble but we also know that we can comeback.....Are they a good team?... Yeah they are my main reason for this is because good teams find a way to win bad games!! New England the meter of success lately, they always found ways to win, Are the Bears on the same path?? I don't know............. but we could be on our way... 6-0!! GO BEARS!!!

Big LOU almost a done deal

So I know today is sunday and football dominates the collective sports audience, everygame has not been played so i will not discuss football today, plus my football pool picks are not fairing well, so you will have to wait for all my football banter till tomorrow, don't hold your breath... YEA RIGHT! Anyways Lou Pinella will be installed as the Cubs Manager before the World Series. All source seems to confirm this rumor, so that Lou Pinella will follow Dusty Baker as the manager of the Cubs. Dusty and Lou are two polar opposities in how the manage the team and the game. Lou is not afraid to have a tirade on the field or in his press conference. He attacked Rob Dibble his closer on the 1990 Reds after blowing a save. Dusty would not publicly "call out" a player or his team. He was a player's manager and the players let him down. They had no fire to win. Lou bring that to the Cubs a fire to win and he will speak his mind and tell you how bad you were and why you are losing. Lou has managed a World Series Winner in 1990 Reds, he managed the Yankees years ago, He turned around the Seattle team and had them win 100 plus games. Lou did not fair well in Tampa Bay but that franchise is horrible!! Lou is now a WIN now guy, so my question is are the Cubs the right team to win now? NO!!!!! They are not, with their current team and front office they will not win now. Lou is making a huge mistake unless he is the first of many free agent aquistions. I think Zito or Schmidt as I have said earlier need to in Chicago, also another Bat, and one other starter of B quality. I have another Crazy AROD trade idea, let's assume the Yankees convince Arod it is time to move and the CUBS want him. Jim Hendry submits this deal to Brian Cashman, The Cubs will trade Angel Guzman, Jerome Williams, and Cezar Isturis for Arod and some player to be named later, the Yankees will also pay 20 million on Arod's contract. 20 million is nothing for the Yankees and I think the Cubs would be letting Cashman off easy. The Yankees could play Isturis as third and use Guzman and Williams in their rotation/bullpen/ or even in their farm system. The Cubs rid themselves of prospects and one major leaguer for AROD. That is probably the best deal they will get. The Cubs might have to through in Rich Hill or Sean Marshall instead of Williams or Guzman. The main thing is the Cubs trade young CHEAP pitching for AROD. It works out well for both teams. Maybe this will happen, I doubt it!!
another crazy theory....
Football to come

Where to start?? Tigers 06 = 05 White Soxs

In 2003, that was the last year the Yankees made it to the World Series beating the Red Soxs with a walkoff homerun to beat the Red Soxs. The Yankees would lose to the Marlins led by Josh Beckett's Arm. That very same year the Detriot Tigers had to make a late push... to avoid begin the worst team ever. The Tigers record was 43-119. That was three years ago... We FLASH forward to the present...ZOOM>>> Today, the Tigers came full circle. The Tigers completed the sweep of the Oaklands A's in grand fashion. Magglio Ordonez their big free agent catch in 2004, hit the game winning walk home run in the bottom of the ninth against Huston Street. This was a different team from three years ago, with rookies and free agents added but the biggest addition was not Pudge, Kenny Rogers, or Magglio it was Jim Leyland! The smoking in the dugout, wearing his emotions on a sleeve Jim Leyland. He helped the MArlins with the 1997 World Series, so he know how to win. This year in Mo-town, Leyland had the king Midias Touch in that everything he touched turned to GOLD. Speaking to Nate Robertson in game 1, pulling Zumaya in Division Series and going to Todd Jones, playing weak hitting Gomez, It did not matter for Jim Leyland, he was golden. We will see if his touch continues and hopefully works out better than King Midas's did. This year Tigers will gain alot of comparison to last year White Soxs, in that they both led the league in wins most of the season. Both teams struggled down the stretch until ultimately making the playoffs, and lastly both had great starting pitching that carried them. If your a GM and you are reading this maybe you should take notes GREAT Starting PITCHING= GREAT results. Brian Cashman (Yankees GM) write that down. There was another series that was played today the NLDS, featuring the Cards and Mets. Now everyone including me did not think the Cards were gonna make it past the first round because of their lateseason collaspe. WELL EVERYONE including me was wrong, Tonight they took a 2-1 lead in the series. The Cards won last night behind their ACE Chris Carpenter, everyone knew that he would win a game in this series if not two. NO ONE except maybe Tony La Russa thought Jeff Suppan would pitch a playoff MasterPiece! I say MasterPiece because he held down the best 3-4-5 hitters in the NL if not all of baseball. He did for 8.0 inning allowing no runs and 3 hits. 3 hits, in a whole game, if you allow that in a innning against the Mets your doing a great job, but a whole game was well lack of a better term a MASTERPIECE. On the other side of the coin, Steve Traschel was HORRIBLE, 1 inning 5 Earned Runs, a very bad stat line. If your aCubs fam you remember him, he lost 20 games for the Cubs some years ago. He also throws the slowest game in baseball, well tonight was a quick night for him. Another Remember me, Scott Spiezo, remember him, he played for the 2002 Angels. The Angels won the 2002 World Series. He has been clutch driving in runs and picking up the slack of the injuried Scott Rolen for the Cardinals. A postseason of veterans making returns to the limelight, K. Rogers, Suppan, Todd Jones, Speizo. PHEW that what makes October great! One more baseball story, another stupid move by the CUBS- Lou Pinella could be named as the newest Cubs Manager by the World Series... YIKES!!! DON'T DO IT!!! Write that down Jim Hendry!

Moving on College Football
Upset Saturday.. Iowa loses Indiana- this was not college basketball it was college football and Iowa was the better team on paper. They just let Indiana hang around and they ultimately beat them. Georgia lost to Vandy- Vandy is not good at football and didn't even have a winnng record and they gave Iowa it's second lost hurting it's BCS hopes. Florida who was ranked number 2, lost to former number 2 Auburn. Auburn had been knocked off last week by Arkansas. Auburn fell from 2 to 11, well they beat Florida who was ranked number 2. How far will they fall? Other big news in college football Brian Brahm returned from a thumb injury to barely beat Cincy. Heisman hopefully Adrian Peterson broke his Collarbone on a touchdown run against ISU. As of right now, I do not know if Chris took the field in this one. USC defeated ASU, Michigan beat Penn State and OSU beat down MSU. Sadly sports has another violent story. In south Florida, Miami played Florida international. Some how a huge brawl took place on the field with players hitting each other with helmets, spking each other in the head, an injuried Miami player came out on crutches and used his crutches as a weapon. The final score of this one was 35-0 Miami but that will not be the story because of the stupidity of the players on both teams.
It seems everytime you look some player or team is doing something stupid, Steven Jackson.. I WILL not start on this guy. He needs help! He was worse than Ron Artest in that brawl and now a shooting into the air at a strip club.

That's all for now
LAter

A death strikes the Yankees...We remember Cory Lidle

I might hate the Yankees and everythign about them. My hatred is put on hold for today because just released on Espn Cory Lide was killed in a plane crash that he was flying. He had just recently bought a plane and got his pilot's license this last offseaon. He had only had his license for 7 months. It crashed into an apartment in Manhattan. He was the only person in the plane.

Cory Lidle began his career with the NY Mets, bounced around from NY Mets to Tampa Bay, To OakLand, to Toronto, to the Reds, to the Phillies via trade and ultimately to the Yankees via trade. He was 34 years old.

Cory was part of the trade that brought himself and Bobby Abreu to the Yankees. He spent 9 years in the league and did pitch for the Yankees in the postseason out of the Bullpen.

Our thoughts and Prayers go out to his family.

Remember Me??

So I know I wouldn't talk about my day in blogs but I have to mention this, I was out running by the river where I resident right now in Graduate School. I was running by some woods/bushes and I look to my right and see the ROTC people having a war game with their fake M16's in the bushes. I was like huh?? As I kept running and didn't ask questions; only in Macomb.

So two stories that I am tired of hearing about in Sports are the fate of Joe Torre/ AROD and the TO soap Opera in Dallas. Thank the baseball God's that Joe Torre is staying because now he can take the blame for the eventually playoff loss next year. As AROD until he gets traded, his story in NY will never die and when he gets traded it will continue... Is there no baseball god?? TO's story will end when Dallas realizes they made a mistake and runs him out. No team then would take a chance on him again.

Remember Nate Robertson?? Ofcourse you do now, He just won the first game of the ALCS for the Tigers. If you were an Indians fan, you would remember that a few years back, the Indians just shipped him out of town for some reason and never looked back. At the time he had like 10 wins and would 15 that year. I wonder if the Indians are regretting that move now. Nate did his job tonight, he wasn't over powering but he gave the ball to the flamer throwers aka the bullpen with a lead and they never looked back. Remember Frank Thomas?? If you were a Sox's fan, you know who that was, he was and after this season still proved that he is the Big HURT! The White Sox's ran him out of town and A's were waiting with open arms. He did not fair tonight but I have a feeling he will hit well in this series just like the last. Remember Sean Casey, the Red who was traded to the Pirates and got hurt when a Cub ran into at first. He then was rescued from his personal hell in the NL and brought to Tigers. He injuried himself by tearing his calf, it was sick. You could see on the replay, how it popped.. IT made my calves tighten up..or maybe it was my run today..Either way that looked like it hurt ALOT!!!

In the NLCS
Keith Law of Espn picks the Mets and picks them to Win the World Series. Keith is right the Mets will win the NLCS and that is it. The METS do not have the pitching like their NY counterpart the Yankees, to win the World Series. The A's and the Tigers have better rotations and the winner will come out of the AL, just like last year.

That's it for today
Later

What a weekend in Sports and my blueprint for the Cubs 2007

The weekend in sports were one to remember, the Playoffs in baseball, college football, and the NFL. I will begin with baseball, now the NL or AL Lite as it is called in some circles aka ME, the Padres staved off elmination for a day before losing to the Cardinals. The Cardinals who are not even the one of four best teams make the NLCS. I think the Cardinals always own the Padres and they will be exposed for the frauds they are. Carpetner and Albert the great are putting on a show and a two man show would work in basketball but not in baseball. They might steal a game because of Carpertners brillance as a pitcher, but they will not out slug the Mets who are the cream of the NL. Their previous opponents,the West teams showed that the division was the weakest division in baseball once again by winning only one game in the playoffs. Moving on to the the CLass of baseball, the AL, where the YANKEES, yes the YANKEES everyone World Series Winner this year, the 200 million juggernaunt, 26 World Series championships, LOST!!!!! They ran into the Detriot Tigers who lost the division by a game to Twins. They were swept by the Royals at home in the last three games of the regular season. They stole Game 2 in the Bronx with amazing pitching. The Yankees were still confident going into Detriot with Kenny Rogers on the hill, and he goes out and pitches 7 2/3inngs of brillant basebase ball. Kenny Rogers beat Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson who has not been the same since he moved to the AL. Could it be that he faces nine hitters instead of 8 hitters? He did pitch in the AL but that was when he still had overpowering stuff. His health and stuff has all caught up with him and he is not the same. The tigers behind Bonderman beat Jared Wright and the Yankees to move onto the ALCS. Now Jared Wright, is a horrible injury prone pitcher who Leo Mazzone turned into a major league pitcher again in Atlanta. The Yankees then went out and got him and Carl Pavano after one good year each. Now they are taking up money and roster space because they SUCK!! Wright could maybe pitch in the NL but not in the AL and not in playoff deciding game. If I were the Yankees I would have marched the ice cream eater according to Arthur Rhodes, Cory Lidle out there. Jared Wright was good in 1997 when he pitched for the Indians in the World Series that was 9 years ago. Shifting the blame to AROD, the man who takes all the blame in NY besides Joe Torre, was bad in the playoffs once again. AROD needs to be traded and get out NY he will never have the New York attitude or what New York wants, just get out. Arod I think will be moved and should be moved along with some other Yankees. Now the teams that Advanced to the ALDS the Tigers and A's, which nobody predicted except themselves. So we have the A's and Tigers, I think the A's have the MVP of the league in the Big SKirt- I mean Big Hurt and will win in 6 games. I have been wrong on all my picks so take them with a grain of salt. I'll come back to Arod in a bit....

College Football...
Notre Dame moved back into the Top 10 with a win over Stanford. Auburn went down to the Razorbacks, Florida beat LSU and Michigan beat Michigan State. The game that I sat down to watch was the ISU vs Nebraska game. I watched in the hope that my brother well not really but u get the idea, Chris, would see his first action in D1 college football. I watched the game with fixed eyes and baited breath waiting for his chance to play. He did not see the field but i did see him on the sidelines, catching him yelling at the refs, his belly, and his tat's. I saw him 5 to 6 times on TV. Moving on the game, the Cornhuskers were clearly the better team, the refs did not help ISU, when they botched a TD call in the 2nd half. They took two TD's away from Isu and that was the difference- I don't count the BS Tv at the end of the game. The announcer kept trying to keep the game interesting but it was rather uninteresting. I hope to go to the last ISU home game on Nov18th, to hopefully see Chris take the field!

On to the NFL,
The Bears had their homecoming as Richard Dent called it. The Bears dominated the game on all phases and would have had a shut out if Cedric Benson had not laid it on the ground. Rex Grossman will win COMEBACK player of the YEAR in football. 10 passing Td's this year for Rex, all bear QB's had 11 last year. I did love how Alex Brown made a move on another big man after his INT. I did like the running attack also almost 200 yards on the ground with TJ and Cedric running the ball better. I love watching Sports shows and hearing how they could win 15 games or even 16. I will not go that far as of yet. I think 8-0 is a definate possiblity. Everyone is gonna talk big about the Cardinals now because of Matt Leinhart performance this weekend. Matt Leinhart will have a horrible game against the Bears. The Chiefs D is not the Bears and the Card O-Line sucks and will get carved up by the Bears. I will just say that in my pool, I was awesome this weekend, winning 11 games thus far with the MNF game tonight. Other games of importance the TO Reunion game, I picked Dallas but I hoped Philly would win. TO deserves to lose and he is starting his usally stuff again in Big D, calling out Bledsoe. He was sooo bad this weekend, TONY ROMO needs to start. Tony Romo will start by the end of this year because Bledsoe is so bad and is a sack waiting to happen. He is not very mobile in the pocket. The positive of this game, Donovan McNabb made the most of the spotlight, by passing for TD's and over 300 yards, Lito Sheppard came up huge for their defense. McNabb now can focus on the rest of his season and getting the Eagles to the playoffs without his best reciever in Dante Stalworth. He also has shed the demons from last season and he is healthy again. The other big story was the 49ers beat the Raiders, no I'm Kidding... It was the Steelers losing to Chargers and going 1-3 this season. The defending champs have been bad because of the play on offense namely Big Ben. Now he says it is not the accident or the surgery. I beg to differ, he has not been the same since then and has been just plain bad. Now the only game the Steelers won was Quarterbacked by Charlie Batch. You all remember him, he couldn't make it as the Lions starter a few years ago. That how bad it is in Pittsburgh. On the other side of the ball the Chargers let go of Drew Brees a probowl Qb in favor of Philip Rivers a sketchy move in my eyes. Rivers was good at NCST but that was years ago, he had not played in a meaningful game in a while. Needless too say I was wrong, he played well and San Diego has a 3-1 record to prove it. It helps when you have LT, Gates, and Shawn Merriaman on your team. Finally How does Matt Millen still have a job?? He is has been the worse football excutive the last five years. Bad drafts picks, bad coaching moves, and they have not sniffed the playoffs since RW. MC Quarters hit Stony Case. They have had a coaching scandal when they hired Mooch, they drafted troublesome recievers and a bad QB in Joey Harrington who is now in Miami. Now they had a new coach in Rod Marinelli, new QB in Jon Kitna, and brought in Mike Martz to run the offense. What did they get in return thus far:,a guarantee from Roy Williams for 40 pts; they scored 7 and a lost, cutting of Charles Rogers, benching of Mike Williams, and lastly an 0-5 record. Yet last offseason Matt Millen got an extension, life isn't fair!!!

More baseball....
So everyone has been talking about the changes the Yankees are going to undergo, wild theories such as fire Joe Torre- bring in BIG lou, trade AROD, trade Jeter, and anything else you can think of. Well I am not a Yankee fan, so I will give my thoughts on a franchise in the opposite position of the Yankees in which they did not win 97 games, the CUBS.
So they have fired their manager, Dusty Baker, and the team president resigned in Andy Mc FAIL. Now we need a new manager and some free agent additions here is my thoughts:

Manager: Either Joe Torre if available or Joe Giradi, a former Cub who is beloved by management and did a great job with the kids in Florida, could develop Cubs young kids such as Murton and Cedeno. NO BIG LOU!!!

Pitching: Let Wood go, buy him out and let him be someone else's burden. His arm is always gonna have promise...Promise it will need surgery by June...

Prior needs to be healthy before he throws on Pitch, but do not give up just yet. No Bs out of the Cubs front office, if he is hurt let him rest and get healthy.

Give Zambrano a new deal and keep him. If they let him go they are stupid because Texas or someone deseperate for pitching will drive the price way up. Get Zambrano help in the rotation whether it is a Barry Zito or Jason Schmidt. Get another frontline starter and a "b" class starter to add to the rotation. We can't win with all the kids in our rotation, Hill showed he can stay and maybe Marshall.

Bullpen: We need a closer, Dempster is not the answer out there!! Get someone who throws hard and strikes people out. Might have to over pay- No L. Hawkins

The Lineup- Well if Pierre leaves then they need a leadoff man, if he stays he better play in the first half like he can. They need another bat to protect lee and carry them if he gets hurt or if he is not ready when the season starts. Aramis could leave if he does we need another bat. Aramis needs to play better in the first half as well. A Carlos Lee would be a good bat to add or a Sorano..Maybe an AROD?? He could play in Chicago it is not like NY. We do have a media but not like NY, he could play short again, he could be the support guy to D-Lee who is the Cubs face now. I know it won't happen but who knows, Can't I have a crazy theory?? We might need to send the kids back down.

That is my" blue print"
See ya
LAter on

A revelation!!

So I am admitt I was a skeptic before this NFL season started, The Bears had not done much to wow me. They did sign Brian Griese that was a plus in my eyes because of the history of Rex Grossman. I thought the signing of Ricky Manning Jr was a stretch. The draft I was fuming about, we did not take one offensive player!!! Our achilles heel the year before was our offense, we did not pass well at all. So what did we do in the draft, we traded out of the first round and took a DII All American with our first pick!! Come ON!!!! Thank GOD I am not running the team right now, Rex Grossman has been the comeback player of the year and the MVP of the league. Desmond Clark has made the Tight end a good pass catcher again. The last pass catching Tight end that comes to mind before this season was Keith Jennings. The was in The Wide Receivers decided to come to play especially Benard Berrian, who is the breakout player of the year. The Bears found somebody to line up alongside Moose finally! Now what the Bears need to do is GIVE LOVIE a new deal! He is the lowest paid coach in the NFL north and the longest tenured. Lovie has brought his cover 2 and install it along with Ron Turner's offense and the Bears are the Best team in the NFL. I applaud the Bears Front Office!!

I spoke about class acts and I failed to mention the starter of the Twins today. Brad Radke was pitching with a Torn Labrum and a broken socket in his arm today. He took less money to stay in Minnesota and played his whole career with them. He is a rarity that show loyality to a small market team. He could have take the his spot on the DL and just faded away into retirement, he decided to gut it out for his team, he help with their climb back into contention and ultimately to the playoffs. It is sad that his career will end with being swept out of the playoffs by the A's. Brad Radke you are a class act and tough competitor and get my applause and good luck with retirement.

The Class Acts in Baseball

Now in my blog yesterday, i focused on the negatives of Sports athletes. Tonight showcased one of the class acts in baseball, Tom Glavine. Tom Glavine is one of the greats of the Braves pitching staff in the 90's when there pitching was so good but was never enough. The Braves of 90's only won one World Series in 1995 defeating the Cleveland Indians 4-2 in the series. Tonight he pitched for the NY Mets hoping to return to World Series. He pitched as the Glavine of old moving the ball around and shutting down the Dodgers for 6 innings. Glavine is like his former teammate Greg Maddox, who will pitch for the Dodgers in LA. They both pitched for the Braves in 90's and they both wll be members of 300 win club. Greg Maddox was lastest addition to the 300 win club and Tom Glavine will be the last. Will 290 regular season wins, he the closest person to 300 wins, that has an realistic shot of making it. Tom Glavine has never been in an overpowering pitcher, just hit his spots and got people out. The fact that Glavine and Maddox have never had over powering stuff makes their accomplishments even more special because they pitched during the steriod era. You have to tip your hat, stand and clap when these guys leave a game a especially a playoff game. This could bethe last time we two guys of this stature pitching in the playoffs. Now on to the games that were played, Mets defeated the Dodgers in game 2 of their series. Tom Glavine was masterful in first postseason start as a Met, they would go on to win this game 4-1. The other series in saw the Cardinals defeat the Padres again goign to 8-0 against the Padres in the playoffs. Jeff Weaver went 5 scoreless innings, JEFF WEAVER, the guy the Angels released because he was so BAD. Weaver had not won a playoff game since today. The Padres should be ashamed of themselves by the way they have hit. The Cardinal bullpen was supposed to be bad, and they were lights out against the Padres. The Great Albert Pujols beat them again with another RBI hit. The Cardinals will sweep this series in game three. Moving over to the divison who will produce the World Series Winner, as We know the Twins lost game 2 yesterday. The other Al Central team the Tigers defeated the Yankees at the stadium in a nailing biting game. Jason Verlander pitched a great game goign 5 and 2/3 inngs giving up three runs. The Yankees thought they would be going back to Detroit up two games, when Carlos Guillen tied the game. The Tigers would scratch across another run. The Tigers then would turn it over to their bullpen which was flamethrowing. Joel Zumaya hit 103 mph on the gun and fanned Arod, Shef, and the Giambino- i hate that nickname! The Tigers go home with the momentum and will face a wounded Randy Johnson. He has a herinated disk in his back and has not faired well this year. The Tigers could steal this series much to the dismay of all Yankee and White Sox's Fans. Espn has had major league players on Baseball tonight and by far the best guy on the show is Veron Wells. Gary Matthews seems to be a good analyst also but Eric Brynes is nuts and was very erratic on the air. I don't know why ESPN is doing that but whatever works. Eric Brynes was better than Brett Boone who did the Yankees Red Sox Series in 2002 and he was so bad they need to beg him to speak, when he did it was one word answers with no live or insight. I wish they would bring back Al Leiter who has awesome in the postseason showing grips on pitches and explaining why pitches were thrown. Get anyone out there to take the place of JOE i SUCK!! He is horrible, Fox has him calling baseball and football games now give me a break! Get the guy who does his voice on the holiday inn commericals to do games! Well thank god I am not working for any company yet, otherwise I would have gotten fired for talking like that. Jason Whitlock of ESPN Page 2 got fired for just that. CAN I HAVE HIS JOB??? Also Harold Renyolds got fired for giving somebody a hug and it was viewed as sexual. Come ON, did he grab her butt when he hugged her, I don't know but that's life. Everything has to be PC Now.

Moving on to the NFL,
the TO circus needs to end and hopefully after this weekend, will not hear anything else about him. I want Brian Dawkins to blow him up and get it over with. I am done with this story. This week promises to an interesting week of football. The battle of California supermacy between two of the worst teams in football the Raiders and 49ers. I think the 49ers will beat the Raiders who like the Lions will make two teams still winless. The Team most likely to stay undefeated will be the Bears because they have the easiest schedule of the undefeated teams. They have the Bills, Cardinals, 49ers, and Dolphins in consecutives games. The only team that maybe make me nervous as a Bears fan is the Bills because after a huge win against the SeaHawks they can ill afford a let down. The other big game will be for defending Champs Steelers agaist the San Diego Super Chargers, now MartyBall may have lost them the game last week, need to a win more than ever to regain their swagger. Look for the game to be won in the trenches with whoever wins that battle wins the game. Now on to the psycho's for Albert Haynesoworth WILL NOT FACE Criminal Charges!! ARE you kidding me?? This guy need help, for whatever reason he tired to stomp a players head in. The brotherhood of football, should get this guy out. Alrighty enough for night
Later on

The Terrible Titans, the Cincy Criminals, and Dallas Downers

Football is a violent sport, we all know this but now the NFL seems like a place for crimnals. The reason football players commit alot of crimes is because they can get away with them. The reason being football players get special treatment well actually all sports athletes do. The lineman for Titans Albert Haynesworth is a psycho!! You heard me say it, the guy stepped on another players head with his spikes and the guy wasn't wearing his helmet. This Haynesworth should be in JAIL, but because he is a football player even if he gets jail time, he will be able to serve it when he wants and get off early. This guy has a history of hitting people in the face, he kicked his own teammate in theface during training camp. This guy was wearing his helmet. From one nut to another, Koren Robinson of the Packers is going to jail for his second DUI conviction but he can serve his time, after this season and get half off his sentence with a work release! I mean this guy could kill someone while driving drunk and he gonna get off EARLY!! Now moving on to the biggest circus/ psycho in football; TO makes me sick and I think all his actions are all for SHOW!! He is a great player on the field but he causes so many problems off the field and with his team that he is not worth the risk. YES, I loved the end zone dances but being deactivated and the whole sucide thing not good! He also has the circus with Eagles, Ravens, and 49ers. In case people do not know before he got traded to the Eagles, he was traded to Ravens but he did not report and would not report. So the league pretty much got him what he wanted and he was sent to the Eagles. TO can only behave for so long and soon he will ruin Dallas! Remember Randy Moss he seems like a model citizen compared to TO right now, he has been rather quiet. He just thinks his team doesn't care and everyone tends to agree with him. THE RAIDERS SUCK!!!! The Cincy Criminals are a team who should be destined for the AFC title game if not the SUPERBOWL, but all there off the field problems with Chris Henry and Odel Thurman. Odel Thurman who is out for the year got arrested for a DUI, while Chris Henry was so Drunk he puked out the back window!! Eventually Henry got suspended by his team but he has been arrested three times before that. It is sad that these players are giving a much improved team such a bad name!! One thing that I will never forget was about Jamal Lewis a few years back maybe even three years ago. He was arrested for soliciting drugs. He was sentenced in the offseason and he was moved from one prison to another in order to partake in training camp.

The series by ESPN Playmakers was show that was about football, it displayed the true side of football players in all aspects on and off the field. The NFL used its influence and had the show cancelled because it was unrealistic aka IT WAS TOO REALISTIC!!

Now moving on to the positives in Football.. My favorite team the Bears welcome in the Buffalo Bills and Richard Dent on Comcast sports calls this game a "HomeComing". I think this game is gonna be no slouch. The Bills beat the Vikings last week, if you remember the Vikings have been the closest game the Bears have played this year. I think the Bears will win but they welcome back former coach Dick Jauron. Dick has done a good job in Buffalo thus far. I think Buffalo's defense will be alright but they will let up the big play. The Bears thus far have capitalized on the big play all year with Rex going deep to either Moose or Berrian. I think defense will shut down the Bills running game. This puts the ball in JP Losman's hands. Losman will be forced to go to the air and the Bears hawking ability will force a turnover and take it to the House!! So my prediction on this game is a Bears Win 21-6. The Bills will muster two field goals but nobody scores TDs at solider field against the BEARS. (Selective memory on the Steve Smith playoff game last year and John Kitna's TD this year)

Hockey opened tonight and my thoughts were who cares!! NHL should just be shown in Canada and be done with it. Most american's do not care. If they did the strike two years ago deterred alot of fans from watching the games. I do love Berry Mulhuse with his mullet and his purple suit jacket tonight on sports center.

Rumors out of College Football..........A certain ISU linebacker could make his debut this weekend in Ames against the Corn huskers. He is my best friend, but it has yet to be determined, so key your fingers crossed. Injuries to players higher up on the chart, went down on the 10/4/06. I will give an update later this week.

A little baseball because I am tired of it already today... Mets win on crazy plays and steal game 1 without El Dugue who tore his calf, John Mayne started game 1. The Yankee game was rained out, the series will go longer for Tigers because of the rain delay, it will be over friday, Yankees winning in 3. I will say this it is kind of low that the MLB did not inform the Tigers the game was cancelled and Jason Verlander went out to warmup. This seems a bit fishy to me but proves that MLB favors the Yankees and East Coast Bias that all sports have. You should think about it sometime, who sports and sports center favor the east coast. Anyways, The Twins lost again to A's and look to be about done but the A's have not made it out of the first round in forever. Even when they were up two games to one on the Yankees they lost three straight, so there is still hope in Minnesota.
Well that's it for now
Later
BYE!

SPORTS BLOGGING

Monday, October 02, 2006
SPORTS BLOGGING
So I am changing the format of this site. This site is now going to be Sports Orientated, no more sissy blogs about how I am feeling and how my love life was going. Just sports and maybe some life experiences!!! The suburbs of chicago is where i am from. I am a diehard Bears Fan, a converated Cubs Fan but I am do not Hate the White Soxs. My format change was inspired by Bill Simmons book Now I Can Die in Peace. I recomend that sports fan read it.
My first topic of choice is the Bears, as we know the Bears are now 4-0 after Beating up on Seattle Seahawks who were the supposely the cream of the NFC crop. The Seahawks were dealt a blow by losing the reigning MVP Shaun Alexander, however can he make 31 point difference? I do not think so. The Bears finally get some major media coverage by playing NBC and they took full advantage of it. Everyone knows that the Bears had a great defense but Rex Grossman shined on the national spotlight going 7 of 31 passes for 232 yards with 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 100.5 passer rating. He hit moose and Bernard Berrian who SI called the Bears Potential breakout player. The debate today on most sports shows if not all was "Are the Bears the BEST TEAM in the NFL"? The answer is YES! Now I know I am homer for saying yes but I will give a few reasons why I believe they are. The Defense! The Defense has not allowed a regular season TD in 8 home games, this excluded the Steve Smith onslaught last year in the playoffs. The defense causes turnovers, Tommie Harris had the crucial strip in the vikings game, Ricky Manning JR two picks of pro-bowler Matt Hasselback are just two have caused or recover turnovers. The next reason is the Offense, last year the Bears were a running with Thomas Jones being the workhorse of the Bears, now the Bears appear to have balance led by a healthy Rex Grossman who looks like the 1st round pick the Bears invested in him. Defense believes in the offense and the final reason is special teams, Devin Hester is a TD return waiting to happen on Special teams. Steve Young AGREED WITH ME on Monday night count-down.
I can see how people view Indy as the best team because they are also 4-0 but Indy's defense will not be there when it counts and their running game has just started to get on track. Peyton Manning is a great QB and is best at running the two minute drill, so most people believe with him at the helm they are the best team. Indy will be a great regualar season team but the playoffs will exploit their weekends and another AFC contender such as the Ravens, Bengals, and Pats will exploit it. I am not saying that Bears will win the Super Bowl but I am saying after 4-0 games they are the best team in the NFL.
Moving on to Baseball the playoffs are upon us with the regular season just ending, but yet another steriod scandal has put the never ending cloud of doubt on two great pitchers, one being the Rocket Roger Clemens. In the affavidat that was blackout, naming the players that the Grim reaper-Jason Grimsely gave to the FBI has named Roger Clemens as a user of banned substances. I can see the arguement in that the Rocket was at the twlight of his career when the Duke-Dan Duquette let him leave Boston. He then shows in Tornoto and goes on to win two cy young awards. As the story goes he then goes to the Yankees and helps them win the World Series against the METS, then ultimately retires and unretires 2 times. He is 40 something and has the lowest era in baseball. Granted it is in the AL-lite division the NL but still it raises some questions. This is striking Barry Bonds has been an amazing in 40's and everyone questions him and all his records. I hate the race card being played on Barry but he brings it out by being an asshole. Could it be the Roger is beloved and Barry is so hated? We may never know.
The playoffs will feature the Twins vs A's which will be the best series in the playoffs. I think the best pitcher in baseball Johan Santana vs the MVP candiate Frank Thomas. The Twins and the A's are the scariest teams in the playoffs and it is sad they have to play in first round. It means we will see the yankees make the ALDS again which I hate but it is true. Detroit will win as main games as the lions have won this year which is zero. I will discuss the NL playoffs tomorrow.
Lastly tonight: some house cleaning is being down around Baseball: Boston fired pitching and hitting coaches. The Giants parted way with Felipe Alou, Cubs with Dusty Baker, and the Nats with Frank Robinson. Three great africian managers will be lookig for new jobs. Tomorrow will be about possible replacement in Chicago because I have no info on the other two. Feedback welcome!!
Thanks

Rangers will Win 2008 World Series

The reason for this title is simply because Buck Showwalter got fired. If you have noticed the trend that after Buck manages a team, and he get fired they end up winning the World Series. Buck Managed the Yankees before they started their last string of World Series Championships ending in 2000,He managed the DBack in 2001 before Bob Brenly took over the next year and they defeated the Yankees in the World Series. I am ofcourse joking because unless the Rangers find some pitching they are gonna make the playoffs. Maybe they can pick up some National pitchers, the Nats released 5 pitchers yesterday, namedly Zach Day. Zach Day should have been traded by Jim Bowden during the deadline last year. Jom Bowden should be voted as worse GM last year next to Dave Little field, who always get hosed in his trades. Speaking GM's you see the smartest ones in this year's Postseason, Billy Beane, Brian Cashman, Terry Ryan, Omar Minya, and Ned Coletti. These Gm's made deals that got them into the playoffs in the recent past.

Brian Cashman of the Yankees did not panic and trade away the young kids for this future of the season, which is a first for the Yankees. He added Bobby Abreu, Greg Wilson, and Cory Lidle for the stretch run for relatively nothing at all. He did not trade away any prized prospects for these players. Cashman ran the team without the Boss making the big decisions for a bad aging superstar.

Billy Beane of the A's took a chance on aging veteran player in Frank Thomas, who made him look like a genius he out MVP type numbers in the regular Season. He also provided the power in Game 1 of the Division playoff against the Twins. Thomas batted 270 avg, 39hrs and 114 RBI's . Billy Beane genius goes beyond this season by trading away Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, for Kiko Calero and Danny Haren as the players involved in the deal. The A's look like they got better end of the deal with Hudson haveing a bad year, Mulder got hurt in his free agent year and seems to be chronically injured. He also did the smart thing in keeping Barry Zito, who outpitched Santana in Game 1. Zito will leave via free agency this offseason for huge money.

Terry Ryan of the Twins made some good moves by aquiring Joe Nathan Boof Bosner, Liriano, in the AJ Pierzynski deal, a few years back. His team has made the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years. He also got Brad Radke to resign with the Twins along with Johan Santana. He did have some errors in signing Rondell White and Tony Baustia. Being a small market team, they have to find cheaper sources of power as opposed to other teams.

Omar Miniya benefited the most from the Florida Marlins Fire sale getting La Duca, and Delgado from the Marlins. He is not afraid to spend the Mets money by getting Carlos Beltran to sign with the Mets, along with the recently injured Pedro Martinez. He is not afraid to get veterans such Mota, El Dugue who tore his calf yesterday, and Shawn Green.

The last Gm who I consider one of the best Gm's in this season Ned Coletti came into LA to fix the mess that Paul Deposta created before him. He went out and signed veteran players, such as Nomar, and Kenny Lofton. He gave Rafel Furcal a huge deal to be the leadoff man. In the middle of the season Ned went out and got Wilson Betemit, and Greg Maddox to help his team and propelled them to the playoff's in the Wild card spot.

These GM's did what it took to make the playoff, do they have enough to make the World Series, we shall see in the next few weeks. I mention Bob Brenly earlier who has been rumored to be interviewing for SF Giants job and rumors of a possible Jim Fergusi return has also been said. I stated the other day that the Mets will lose to the Dodgers and will all the injuries that have been happening to the Mets, I can see the Mets losing before the World Series now more than ever. The Astros also have extended Phi Garner till 2008. I think this is a bad move, Phil Garner teams thus far have dug huge holes in first half and needed a huge turn around in the second half to make the post season. I guess this leave the possiblity of the Cubs signing this idiot out of the question! Interesting observation that Steve Philips is calling the METS game for ESPN because he was a horrible GM for the METS. Btw I miss Bobby V on Baseball tonight!!!
Well I am done for now with Baseball, there will be more to come possibly today, and I will talk football about the MESS that is the TITANS and the QB situations around the league along with some key matchups
Later

Welcome to October!!

Welcome to October!!!
Welcome to October!!!The MLB playoff's are upon us. They kickoff today with all but the Mets and Dodgers playing today. The Twins and A's kick it off today at noon central time. I already spoke about the AL playoffs and how I see the Twins and A's being the best series. I will speak about the NL aka Al-lite league. The first series that is gonna be played today in the NL is the San Diego Padres vs the Cardinals. Last time this to met in the playoffs the Cardinals beat down the Padres. This year is a different story, the Padres are the superior team this year with the better rotation and better bullpen. The Cardinals limped their way into the playoffs and almost being over taken by the Astros. I give the Cardinals one game, because if they keep it close and the Albert the Great comes up, they will win. My prediction is Padres in 3 games. The Mets and the Dodgers is the best series in the NL. The Mets were dealt the blow of not having Pedro to pitch at all. Pedro might not ever pitch again because of a Torn Rotator cuff. The Mets were the pick to go to the World Series with Pedro, now they are in doubt. Their lineup is still the best in the NL with Delgado, Beltran, and Wright in the middle not to mention Reyes at the top. What was gonna be another strength the rotation is not a huge weakness, El Duque, Glavine, Traschel, does not scare anyone! The Dodgers are a team on a roll, over coming a huge deficit in the NL West to win the Wildcard. They are hot, they have good mix of veterans and young players. The rotation is better because of Lowe, Maddox, and Penny. I think Nomar will be key because he has swung the hot bat against the Mets. The Dodgers also have some guys who can produce runs with their legs such as Furcal and Lofton. I give the Series to the Dodgers in 5 games. I think it will be a good series with alot of close games but I think the Dodger Rotation overcomes the Mets Lineup. More baseball news, As everyone excepted the Marlins fired Joe Girardi after a great season as Marlins manager. The bridge between management and Joe was never strong. They did not agree on personel moves and ultimately it lead to Joe's termination. The move might prompt the Cubs to hire Girardi because of his Chicago ties to the Cubs. Freddi Gonzalez the Braves third base coach is most likely to succeed to Joe in Florida. He is a Miami guys and he has roots in the Marlins organization. A move that did suprise me was that President of Cubs Andy McPhail resigned from his position yesterday. This comes as a shock because he gave Jim Hendry the two year extension last offseason. His fate was supposed to be linked to Hendry's, now Hendry is on his own to try and put together a winner. Hendry has alot issues to address in the offseason such as the WHOLE TEAM!MNF- Packers vs EaglesEveryone thought it would be a blowout and it turned out to be one. The first half however the Eagles were in danger of losing the game. Which makes me believe that they are not the Best team in the NFC East. They cannot play a full game of good football, which is what you need to do to win it all in the NFL. The Eagles should have sat on the pass on Defense with Green being hurt, and ended this game earlier. The Packers are a young bad team with too many young players. Brett needs a running game otherwise they have to pass way to much. The Packers are in rebuilding mode. Brett was injuried late in the game, he came out. Aaron Rodgers came in only to show Packer fan that it is not getting any better when Brett retires any time soon. That's it for now