MLB season opener, take three

You couldn't be more wrong B Shea. Do you even know what sport you were making predictions for? The tigers have played one game and already lead the league in blown saves and bullpen losses. The diamondbacks are indeed young, but how is that a good thing? None of their young offensive weapons can even be considered weapons yet and if your counting on Randy ( I kill white doves for fun ) Johnson to be your starter all year, your out of your mind. Look for Arizona to finish to finish 2nd to last in the NL West. Today your NL Central pick the cubs went eight innings without scoring a run. Unfortunatly they are not going to have the pleasure of facing Eric Gagne and his rediculous contract all year. Next, for the wildcard, Bobby Cox only gets the best out of his players, when he has good talent. Look for Atlanta to compete with Florida for last place. I also like how you refuse to guess the records of the teams because you know your not as smart as me. Finally, you spelled "Barry Bonds" wrong. It's Barry Bonds*. Get it right.

Opening day, take three has shown us really early what to expect all year. Awful announcing from Joe Morgan which is a new season given, Eric Gagne unable to through a pitch past anyone who is capable of swinging a bat, the Detroit Tigers bullpen which might loose more games than the entire Tampa bay ( ex devil ) Rays pitching staff, and Baltimore proving, even though they say their not, giving up on the season. Perhaps if they trade Brian Roberts before he gets caught with HGH again they could get someone, or anyone again. People in the DC area at least so far have the 2-0 Nationals and their new stadium to look forward to. My bold prediction of the Whitesox making the postseason is looking good even though they are 0-1. Their offense looked very alive tagging CC Sabathia for five earned over 5 1/3, and showed that Joe Borowski is going to get lit up all year by putting up one run off him over one inning. Finally, I wonder if Tom Gordon's ERA is going to hover around 135.00 all year. Personally, I am rooting for it. Expect all of these first day trends to continue into September.

B Shea's Bold Predictions

Now that the Wiz has given his bold predictions for the upcoming baseball season ( I still cant get over picking the White Sox for the wild card) its time to give mine.

American League
East- Boston Red Sox
I think the Sox so called pitching problems are a little bit overblown as they still have the best pitching in the American League. I think any team would take on these so called problems. Manny is primed for perhaps the best season of his career which is really saying something. I expect them to get off to a slow start because of the Japan trip but they should hang on for a division win. The Yankees will always be there because they have a monster offense but the people in the "Yankee Universe" think Phil Hughes is the second coming of Nolan Ryan. The Blue Jays are just always cursed by injuries on key players from some reason. The Rays are not that bad. They actually have pitching with Kazmir and Matt Garza. I would not be surprised if they challenge the Blue Jays for the third spot. Baltimore is for another day.

West- Seattle Mariners
The Mariners have the best pitching. Getting Bedard in the off season was brilliant move and hes going to be even better in that pitchers ball park. Felix Hernandez should be ready to fulfill his potential. JJ Putz is a top flight closer. That combination plus a good offense equals a division title. The Angels could contend but already too many injuries to their pitching staff and they will miss Orlando Cabrera more than they think. The Rangers can never pitch and the A's fans should enjoy these days they have in first place but it will be their only days in it.

Central- Detroit Tigers
The Tigers made the most noise in the off season by shelling out the big bucks for the D-Train and Miguel Cabrera. I really like their starters. Willis will have the common tough adjustment to the AL but they still have Verlander and Bonderman. Their bullpen has red flags everywhere and that will be their achilles heel come October. But an offense can just mash its way through a division and that's what I see this team doing. What a freighting middle of the order. 1 through 9 they are scary as well. I'm not sure how CC Sabathia can recover from throwing so many innings last year and we all saw what he was like the playoffs and its tough to recover from something that. Travis Hafner should bounce back and have a normal Hafner year and Grady Sizemore is one of the 10 best players in baseball. I don't see the White Sox competing at all. The Twins are in a rebuilding year and the Royals are continuing their 10 years rebuilding process.

Wild Card- Cleveland Indians
The Indians have a little more pitching than any other team competing for the Wild Card and that's why they will get it. Plus, they have Grady Sizemore.



National League
East- New York Mets
The addition of Santana should blind the New York media from last years historic collapse. But if they get off to a rough start, the media will be applying the pressure to this team. The Phillies don't have enough pitching after Cole Hamels but they will hit the ball all over the place with Howard, Rollins, and Utley. I like the Braves pitching staff plus a full year of Mark Teixeria will be big. The Marlins are starting from scratch again and the Nats have too many thugs.

West- Arizona Diamondbacks
They have great young players all over the field with Young, Drew, Tracy, and Jackson. The addition of Danny Haren along with Webb and a healthy Randy Johnson gives them a strong rotation. Last year they found ways to win one-run games and I see them doing that again. I'm interested to see how the Rockies react to being expected to win instead of just coming out of no where. Joe Torre was the Dodgers biggest addition in the off season but he should destroy their bullpen by July. Ive been waiting for the Padres to actually win something for awhile and I am tired of waiting. The Giants are just now ridding themselves of Barry Bonds and are starting over.

Central- Chicago Cubs
Carlos Zambrano is nice and fresh from being pulled in last years Game 1 of the ALDS and should have a big year. They have the best offense in the division with Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano. Kerry Wood gives them a fearless closer if he is used properly and can stay healthy. The rest of the division has zero pitching. The Reds have none, The entire Cardinal rotation is on the DL, all the Brewers have is Ben Sheets, all the Astros have is Oswalt, and the Pirates are the NL version of the Royals.

Wild Card- Atlanta Braves
I really like the Braves this season. I like their mix of young and veteran pitchers plus the full year of a middle of the order with Teixeria, Chipper, and Francoeur. Bobby Cox always gets the best out of his ball club and I expect no different this year.



World Series
Red Sox over Mets in 6

MLB season bold predictions

I like to pretend that Isiah Thomas doesn't coach the New York Knicks because if I didn't, the fact that he actually is an NBA coach might cross my brain and make me sick. I should own the Knicks because I have some ideas that will make them a great team. I would first sign Jackie Moon from the Flint Tropics to a 21 year deal, beating Magic Johnsons record setting contract of the 80's. I would next sign former New England Revolution goal keeper, Walter Zenga because he is the last known athlete I can think of who was a player/coach. But since I work for the Knicks I am going to make Zenga a player/assistant coach. For my next move I would hold a lottery pick from every inner city middle school in New York City. I will make every student put their name in a box or some sort of name collecting object, and I will draw a name, and the winner will be given ten million a year, for as long as they want, to coach the team. Finally, I would sign New York late night comedian Conan O'brien, so when the Knicks loose by twenty 3/7 days a week, the American public will at least have a reason to laugh. I would also make Isiah Thomas sit the bench in the D-league to think about what he has done.




American League:
East: Boston Redsox - Pitching arguablly is around as good as it was last season, but the difference is that the Yankees have became worse. Then when 57 of your games are against Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Baltimore, who needs pitching? Boston also has the best manager in this division. I'm not even going to mention Ortiz and Ramierez. Boston goes 100-62

Central: Cleveland Indians - Entire pitching staff is capable of pitching 500 ball. Add a great young line-up and your looking at a record of 93-69

West: Seattle Mariners - Adding the best thing to come out of Canada since Celion Dion, Erik Bedard will win eighteen games and Felix Hernandez will completly come out of his young shell and become a top pitcher in baseball. Look for seattle to have a typical west leading record of 84-78

Wild Card: Perhaps the boldest prediction of all, the Chicago Whitesox will win the wildcard. I refuse to believe that line-up, perhaps a bit on the older side, will be the worst offense in baseball again. I see them edging out the Tigers who continue to get weaker and weaker on the pitching side of the ball, along with a few injuries to their "great" offense throughout the year. Maybe 500 at best. Look for Joe Giradi to be fired around late August as the Yankees compete for 2nd place in the east against the Blue Jays. Look for Chicago to go 86- 74.

National League:
East: New York Mets - No way they collapse again. This year they have only gotten better, espically with the addition of Johan Santana. NYM will be 95-67

Central: Milwakee Brewers - Don't trade Prince Fielder. Play the game the way it is supposed to be played, using small ball, and continue to give out free prostate exams before games to fans and milwakee will make the playoffs. Plus the baseball gods hate the Cubs. Milwakee will be 89-72.

West: Colorado Rockies - Another bold prediction here because the Rockies will win by alot. The best offense by far in a beautiful Barry Bonds* less west, along with decent pitching will lead the Rockies to go 85-77.

Wildcard: Philadelphia Phillies - Utley, Rollins, and Howard is really enough said. A tough well coached team that gets to play Washington, Atlanta, and Florida 57 times will lead them to a 92-70.

World series will consist of Boston in five games over Philadelphia.

Why and What?

Two questions that I really want to know in the basketball world are- Why does Isiah Thomas still have a job? and What does he have on Knicks owner James Dolan where he is allowed to keep his job? The answer to the questions we will probably never know. The Knicks are just a total joke and a disgrace. I am by no means a Knick fan or an Isiah Thomas fan but as a basketball fan its awful to see what is happening in New York. By bringing in Donnie Walsh and taking away the basketball operations from Isiah will help but it is going to be awhile for the Knicks to be relevant again. Stephon Marbury is making a combined 42,046,875 for the next two years. Zach Randolph has 4 years left on his deal at huge money and Eddy Curry has 2 years left plus 2 player options at 10,500,423 and 11,276,863. I am willing to bet that he is going to exercise those options. The Knicks are in cap hell. It will be virtually impossible to move any of those three because if someone actually takes them then I want there to be some type of investigation. It just shows how much of a joke that Isiah Thomas really is at being a basketball executive. He was the owner of the CBA from 1998-2000 until he ran into the ground and the league was forced into bankruptcy. He's just a joke. I would much rather be a Heat fan. At least they have cap room plus there is hope of Wade/Beasley duo for the next 7 to 10 years.

Also even if he is strictly just a coach, he has shown that hes not a good coach at all. When he coached the Indiana Pacers, he lost to a very flawed Boston Celtics team in the first round of the 2003 playoffs. This year, the Knicks have just blatantly quit on Isaiah. Nate Robinson and Randolph are fighting on the bench, Randolph starts dribbling through his legs and then chucking up an air ball and Isiah does nothing, and all the 20 point blowouts they have been through this year. There's been no sign of this turning around either. I mean look at the above picture. It looks like he doesn't even want to be there. Isaiah's record with the Knicks is 41-71. He just has to go and hopefully never come back to the league in any capacity

Oh and I didn't even mention the $11 million he cost the Knicks with a sexual harassment lawsuit earlier this year.


Now moving on to much much much better things. Tonight at the Garden, my MVP choice, Kevin Garnett, takes on Gizards MVP choice, Chris Paul. The Hornets are the only team the Celtics haven't beaten yet this year. The Celtics let one slipped away from them last Saturday against the Hornets so I expect them to come with a lot of emotion.

The right to go the Elite Eight beings again tonight as well. Davidson is America's new team and Stephen Curry looks to continue to dominate the tournament. It is fantastic to watch the way that Curry plays. He is so smooth and he just flat out knows how to score. Another game I'm looking forward to seeing is the Stanford/Texas. These two teams are almost complete opposites. Stanford works through the post with the Lopez twins and Texas is more of a perimeter team with DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams. I'm interested to see which duo forces their will upon on the game.

NBA MVP (Most Valuable Paul)

Lebron, Kobe, Garnett, & Chris Paul. Four names that sound very good together. I can not begin to fathom how you can say Garnett should win the MVP. The award is supposed to go to the best player of the season. The reason why the national media has dismissed Garnett as a potential MVP canidate is because he simply doesn't deserve it. It's not to take away from his great season, but how can a guy who has statistically dropped in almost every offensive and defensive catagory win the MVP? People lie but numbers don't. Garnett dropped in free throw %, both offensive and defensive rebounding, assists, blocks, points, and three point percentage. Also, when Garnett is having an off night, there are these people named Paul Pierce and Ray Allen who on any given night can drop thirty. Finally, it is rediculous to say that Garnett makes Doc Rivers better. The difference between this year and last is Doc can actually coach as opposed to being a teacher. Garnett makes Doc's winning percentage better, not him personally better.

Next is Lebron James who is putting up monster numbers. I enjoy Danny Ferry refusing to find someone decent to play with Lebron because the mere fact of Lebron being in a duo makes me scared. Ben Wallace and Delonte West simply won't cut it. Lebron won't win the MVP though because of his teams slightly better than average season in the weak eastern conference. Of all potential candiates, he has the worst team.

Kobe Bryant has always been a perenial MVP caliber player but this year, he has one fatal flaw which i believe will keep him from winning the MVP. He leads the NBA in technicall fouls. The greater Kobe becomes, the larger his ego becomes. I also disagree with his desision to not get surgury on his broken pinky finger. His selfish act will cost this team down the road.

This leaves us with Chris Paul. For us that don't know who he is, he is a point guard for the New Orleans Hornets. You can argue Garnett makes his teammates better, but Paul brings out the best in his teammates. Who was David West a year ago? Apparently Peja Stojakovic and Bonzi Wells are still in the NBA and having great years. The most impressive thing that Paul has done though however is that with 12 games to go, the Hornets have the best record in the west. He meets every qualification for MVP. When the game is on the line he finds a way to win, and not by taking a contested three pointer, but by finding the wide open David West for the easy game winning bucket. Can you say that Lebron James or Kobe Bryant. Has Garnett even been on the floor when the game was on the line? In the words of Teddy Sarandis, "Mark it down" Paul wins the MVP for the 2007-2008 NBA season.



I also want to continue to brag about being right about West Virginia basketball and their complete season long inability to close out games that they should have won. At least West Virginia football can look forward to blowing the last game of the year and failing to make the BCS championship game.

NBA MVP

With about 11 games left in the NBA regular season, the hot new topic to talk about is the MVP race. Their are 4 candidates for this award. They are LeBron James,Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Kevin Garnett. They have all put up tremendous seasons and are all in the thick of the playoffs. LeBron has put up fantastic, never before seen numbers in this day and age. He’s averaging 30 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds. Plus he has been carrying the Cavs all year because Danny Ferry has yet to provide him with any help at all. Kobe is having another Kobe year scoring wise averaging 28 points while also getting 6 boards with 5 assists. I was amazed that the Lakers kept winning long enough where they could trade a bag ofbasketballs and Kwaime Brown for Pau Gasol and Kobe was the main reason for that. But can the MVP be a guy that ripped his teammates before the season? Chris Paul is having one of the best seasons a point guard has ever had. For him to average 21 a game along with 11 assists while still shooting 49% is amazing. Paul in my opinion is the best point guard in the league. It is either him or Derron Williams. I put them ahead of Steve Nash because Nash really doesn't play the defense that these 2 guys do. Paul has taken the Hornets and brought them from nowhere to be leading the Western Conference for most of the year. All this brings me to KG. From some reason, the national media thinks that KG is no longer in the MVP race. I may be a little biased being a Celtic fan. KG has taken a team that would have been a first round exit in the playoffs and has transformed them into the best record in basketball. No other player could have done what he’s been doing. He has revived basketball in Boston and has gotten Paul Pierce to play his best basketball in career. I don't think Tim Duncan could have done that. While Duncan is one of the greatest players of his generation and maybe of all time, he doesn't have the passing ability that KG has. He also doesn't bring the emotional intensity that KG brings every game. KG makes everyone better. He’s made Big Baby better, Leon Powe better, Rondo better, and Doc Rivers better. Plus add on to the fact that he has made the Celtics the best defensive team in the league.

The way the NBA MVP has been determined in the past few years, the player that's won it has usually been the best player on the team with the best record. Duncan, Nash, and Nowitzki. Now if that is the case again the all signs point to KG of Chris Paul winning. If the voters take a page of the MLB MVP then it will just go to the guy with the best numbers (see Alex Rodriguez). If that's the case then it will be LeBron or Kobe. I have a feeling that it’s going to be either Kobe or LeBron. People say Kobe should get it because of his past. That makes no sense. The MVP award is for a season and not a career. Defining what MVP means in any sport is really tough. Sometimes it’s the guy with the best numbers or the best player on the best team. My pick is KG because he’s just been a monster all year and has made the Celtics the first topic on sports radio in Boston ahead of the Red Sox which is a accomplishment in itself.

Is it still "Madness" if your winning...

Brendon Moss looked good in his first game of the year, but lets not be calling him a key part of the team just yet. I'm still not convinced there is enough room in Boston for two Moss's and if their indeed isn't enough room for two of them, I wouldn't mind Randy playing over JD Drew. Dice-K settled down nice and I am certain his sixty pitch first two innings was a fluke. I get tired throwing the ball around after walking down a flight of stairs, let alone an unnessasary eighteen hour flight. As for the NFL, if the Broncos buy Brandon Marshall's story of falling throw a TV they should loose a draft pick. Obviously teams protect the integrity of their players but this injury is actually going to hurt the Broncos. There has to be some sort of investigation here because it is not fair to the rest of the hardworking members of the NFLPA to be working their tails off while he gets paid to fall threw TV's. Finally, I don't think Chad Johnson would still be a Future "H.O.F. ???" if he joined the AFL. Why doesn't he just get a DUI or commit some form of domestic violence like the rest of his Cinncinati Bengals teammates.




Now that the first weekend is over for the NCAA men's basketball tournament it is time for everyone to brag about their "Cinderella's" and pretend they have watched college hoops all year long. I went 3/5 picking upsets ten seeded or higher hitting Villanova over Clemson, Kansas State over USC, and Davidson over my personal least favorite team, Gonzaga. Villanova was really a no brainer because of the decent non-conference scedule they played, along with the good games they played in the Big East. When you play Clemson who is known for playing an awful non-conference scedule along with shooting in the bottom 3% in free throw shooting in the NCAA, picking anyone else is probably a smart idea. Kansas State was simple. Who has the better freshman? Beasley, end of disscusion... Finally, my boys from Davidson. I couldn't be happier of a team which showed sweet 16 capability in the beginning of the year. Stephen Curry is playing in this tournament like a combination of Pistol Pete and Christian Laettner. Gonzaga which average defense and good offense was no second half match. Georgetown which plays average offense and Great defense was especally no second half match. So how do you beat this team. Next is Wisconsin who plays below average offense with great defense. If Davidson comes out flat for the third straight time, and falls behind by double digits, beating Wisconsin will be tough. Unfortunatly for Wisconsin there style of play sets up the upset perfectly. A team which averages a slow and consistant 55 points a game against a team that can score ten in under two minutes. I look for Curry to draw the double team all game setting up role players such as Jason Richards, Thomas Sander, and Andrew Lovedale to more than likely all go into double digits. Bold prediction, Davidson 71 - Wisconsin 57...

As for the other sweet 16 matchups I like UNC and Tennessee to come out of the east, Kansas to play Davidson in the midwest, Michigan State and Texas to take the South, and UCLA to take the West. I think West Virginia and Xavier will end up in a tie and who ever has the most remaining starters in overtime will have the pleasure of being sent home by UCLA.

Opening Day

This morning marked the official beginning of a new Red Sox season. The Sox won in 10 innings 6-5 in a really fun game to watch. Usually the first game of the season is boring or a blowout. This game had a comeback from both sides, a base running blunder, and candidate for catch of the year. Dice- K started in his homeland and really struggled in the early going. In the first two innings Dice-K struggled with his control and threw about 60 pitches. In innings 3-5, Dice-K calmed down and pitched really well. I really don't think that Dice-K's season will be Jekel and Hyde like all year. He had a lot of pressure on him and looked really nervous on the mound. To pitch the first game of the year, in your homeland where your looked at as a national hero, has to be very nerve racking.

Brandon Moss was a late addition to the line up as J.D. Drew was scratched with a back injury. Moss had a RBI single and in the 9th tied the game off Houston Street by hitting his first career home run. Moss is a good young player that could provide great depth to this team because he can multiple positions. Manny Ramirez was the real star of the game by hitting a pair of 2 run doubles. Manny then continued to see how long he can stay at the plate and watch the ball before he starts running to be safe at second. I know its just Manny being Manny but I hope that in a huge game he doesn't get gunned down at second. But as long as he keeps hitting like he is, I'll have to give him a free pass.

I'm looking forward to getting up at 5:50 am for the second game of the season and how Jon Lester performs. Also lets all hope that bullpen fares a little better. Jonathan Papelbon didn't look too smooth but I'm not that all concerned considering that spring training was cut short a little early and the time difference but still the Sox got lucky that Emil Brown can't run the bases.


Some strange NFL news real quick. Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall severed an artery, a nerve, and a vein on his arm. Reports say that the injury is serious and he could take a while to recover. His excuse was that he slipped on a McDonald's bag and fell on to a TV. I know fast food is sometimes bad for health but I never knew it could sever an artery. Just another ridiculous story told by a athlete explaining an injury. Also, am I the only one that wants Chad Johnson in the arena league?

Crazy Talk

Wizo, you must be out of your mind. All year Rondo has been knocking down the 15 foot jumper on a consistent basis. Trust me, I have been watching every game while you've been out there in Michigan. When he is open and has his feet set, that's when he buries that shot. Their not running plays for him where he comes off screens. As long as he open and can knock down that shot on a consistent basis and keep the defense honest, then I want him shooting that when he has the chance. The other night against the Spurs, you can see that his teammates have confidence in him to shoot that jumper. During the comeback, Pierce drove the lane and kicked it too him with no hesitation and Rondo buried it. Rondo is an extremely confident kid and his teammates have confidence in him and if he's open I want Rondo taking that shot. He is shooting at 48 % for the season for a reason and its not on all lay ups and floaters.

The Celts travel to Dallas tonight and look to complete the Texas Triangle sweep. The Mavs haven't beaten a team over 500 since they got Jason Kidd and they really need the game to keep up with the pace of the west. Ray Allen returns tonight from his foot injury. This should be yet another great game with a lot of intensity but I expect the Celts to pull it out.


So far for the NCAA tournament, I am 6-1 with Stanford beating Cornell at the half. My only loss was Kent State getting blown out by UNLV. Kent State had 10 points at the half. That's it. 10 points. How in the world were they an 9 seed? Unbelievable.There is another great slate of games coming up later today. Notre Dame is playing, West Virginia vs Arizona, as well as UCLA but there is one game that I really want to watch. I cant wait for the USC/Kansas State game later on today. Beasley vs Mayo. That could be one of the more entertaining games of the entire tournament. It really should be a classic. I have USC winning that game and then I have them making a run to the Elite Eight. I cant wait.

When everything works...

Contragulations to the coaching staff of the Boston Redsox winning that quick battle with the front office over pay dillemas.

One of the NBA's worst teams last year is currently 54-13 and well on pace to surpass the 97-98 San Antonio Spurs for the best season turn around from a year ago. The record is a difference of 36 wins and boston is currently at 30 with 15 games to go.

The reasons the Celtics have been so good is obvious with the big three. Kendrick Perkins has proved he is a great Center to have down low. But then their is starting point guard Rajon Rondo. He keeps on impressing everyone who watches basketball while slowly killing me inside everytime he takes a jumpshot. He has proven he can take it to the hoop, which i am a big fan of, and he has proven he can pass with the best of them. Recently he has began to take this 8-12 foot floater which seems to work as well. But it is his jump shot which doesn't seem to be getting any better. This team is unbelievable this year, and even better against good teams, but once the playoffs start, your going to need production from every player. If Rondo can't find a groove, and continue to shoot, I think it's going to be tough to beat teams like Detroit, Cleveland, and Orlando in a seven game series. To get the Eastern Conference crown Rondo needs to continue what he does that works and find alternives to his jump shot, especially his 15-20 foot baseline jumpshot which is about as successful as Rick Patino, walking through those doors. The pg spot isn't in bad shape however anymore thanks to the addition of Sam (alienface) Cassell. The one spot on the Celtics that was weak was the backup point guard spot and Cassell fills it. I just pray to my God, and I hope everyone else prays to their God that Eddie House and especially Tony Allen, never dribble the ball again all year.

Japan It Is

It appears that everything is resolved as the Red Sox coaches and staff will be paid their 40,000 dollars and the Sox will open up in Japan. Congratulations for the Red Sox to stand up for coaches every where and really put them in them forefront. I would expect that coaches in every sport from now on will be recognized for what they do. Not just head coaches but the assistant coaches, the scouts and the trainers. They really spend more time on a game then the players. Its about time they get recognized.

Celtics and Sox

Last night was another great game for the Celtics as they stomped out the Houston Rockets and ended their 22 game win streak. Tony Allen and James Posey did a fantastic job on Tracy McGrady and held him to 8 points. Leon Powe came off the bench and did a great job finishing around the basket and racking up 21 points. KG and Paul Pierce were their usual brilliant selves as they had 22 and 20 respectively. KG added 11 boards and really put the exclamation point on the night with a sick nasty dunk.

The only thing that could really upstage the Celtics at this point is the Red Sox possibly not going to Japan to open up the season. Apparently the Red Sox were lied to because they were supposed to have the coaches and staff receive 40,000 dollars for making the trip to Japan. The coaches have yet to get that money. I applaud the players for standing up for their coaches. The coaches are just as important as the players and with out them maybe the Sox wouldn't have won the World Series. Just today the players have voted to not play today's spring training and not go to Japan and play those games. If the Sox don't go then that will be a huge embarrassment for the MLB. First all the steroid stuff and now them not paying the coaches to sit in a plane for 17 hours. And if anyone says that the 40,000 dollars doesn't matter for coaches is crazy because most coaches only make about 30,000 and that extra 40,000 means a lot to them. Hopefully this situation is resolved and either the coaches get paid and the Sox go to Japan or they don't go at all and play in the United States.

The Evolution of Rajon Rondo

Last night we continued to see Rajon Rondo grow right before our eyes. In the first 5 minutes of last nights game against the Spurs, Tony Parker made Rondo look like a rookie again. Parker was blowing by him for lay ups and making Rondo take bad shots on offense. Then Rondo came back in the second quarter and really changed the game. He had about 3 little floaters and along with Sam Cassell and Paul Pierce brought the Celtics back from down 22 to only down 10 at the half. Rondo continued his great play in the second half with the highlight being the sick spin move he pulled on Mr. Eva Longoria in the 3rd. Rondo then capped off his night by ripping down a big rebound with the Celtics leading and then knocking down huge free throws with 16.6 seconds left. That also shows how much he has improved his overall game. All year hes been knocking down that mid range shot and then he stepped up and silenced some doubters on if he cant shoot free throws. Rondo finished the game with 20 points on 9-18 shooting and 6 rebounds.

Also Sam I Am showed why the Celtics went out and got him. He came off the bench and really kept the team in the game by working his classic mid range game. Then he lived up to his reputation as a crunch time player. With the Celts down 1, Cassell buried a 3 on some great ball movement to put the Green up by 2. Overall it was a huge road win against one of the best teams in the NBA. It was a playoff atmosphere and it was good to see a young player like Rondo thrive in that environment.

Tonight is another big game for the Celtics as they take on the streaking Houston Rockets and look the end the streak. As we all know the Rockets have won 22 straight games, that's good for second all time in the NBA. Look for the Celtics to work KG early and often. It should be another great game and if it has half the excitement as last nights game did then it should be another thriller.

March, Beginning of April Madness...

My boy Lendell White's three misdemenors is nothing in comparison to teammate, Adam (pacman) Jones' who seems to get cited for an offense everytime he leaves his home, or stripclub, whatever the difference is...



However it is tournament time and i guess the best way to start is to mention all the upsets, excluding nines over eights... in the East bracket all i had was St. Joes over Oklahoma. With no clear cut scorer and a non-impressive resume` it's hard to see OU getting out of the first round. If they do pull it out however they will be crushed by a Rick Pitino led Lousiville squad. From the Midwest i like Villanova over Clemson. Clemson being in the bottom 5% in the country in free throw shooting, is going to kill them. Not to mention that crushing loss to UNC in the ACC championship. I also like Kansas St. over Southern California. This matchup is going to come down to whomever's superstar 19 year old can play better and 9/10 times it is going to be Kansas St's Michael Beasley. For a 3rd upset in this section, i have Davidson over Gonzaga. Gonzaga earning a seven seed made me cringe inside. They play in an awful divison, and had no real wins. The commitee for some reason loves this tiny school though, from Spokenne Washington. To keep the upsets going however, I have Davidson in the elite eight loosing to Kansas. In the south my upset is Saint Mary's over Miami. I also have Pittsburg upsetting number one seeded memphis. For the West we got Baylor who will make a splash by going to the sweet sixteen as an eleven seed.

As for the championship i have Kansas 79 Texas 73...

As do most real college basketball fans however, i'll suffer the loss of my bracket to finally see a 16 upset a 1... My guess will be the 20 loss, once 4-19 Coppin St. club. Even though they have to get past Mt. St. Mary's for the play-in game, Coppin St. seems to be hot enough to compete with UNC. As for the 15 seed's, don't be two surprised if the university of Maryland Baltimore County beats Georgetown. The America East conference has been known to pull out huge upsets. ( Vermont over #3 Syracuse ) ...

THANK YOU BREN-NAN...

Final Four picks

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. The Falcons really are a joke, and it makes sense that the Falcons and Raiders are making a deal for a out of control hot head conerback. While the Raiders are the biggest joke in the AFC, the Falcons are the joke of the NFC. At least the Falcons are trying turn themselves around by getting basically starting over from scratch. They will most likely take Boston College quaterback Matt Ryan with the third pick in the draft and he is a good player to have to be the face of your franchise. Yes, they have very little talent to put around him and they will probably have another terrible record but at least they are trying. All the Raiders do is sign players to way to over priced contracts. While their franchise quaterback is somewhere weighing about 290.



Now on to the best time of the year, March Madness. I just filled out my bracket and I'll give you my upset special for round 1 and my Final Four picks. My upset special is Davidson over Gonzaga. Davidson guard Stephen Curry (son of former NBA player Dell Curry) is a flat out scoring machine. He is averaging 25.1 ppg and he is only a sophomore! He is one of the best scorers to come into college basketball in awhile. As for my Final Four, i have Kansas, UNC, UCLA, and Texas. This was one of the toughest brackets to fill out in awhile. All four number 1 seeds have a legit chance to make to the Final Four, but i picked Texas over Memphis in the Elite 8 because I don't trust Memphis in a close game because they are one of the worst teams in the nation at shooting free throws.




Big game tonight for the Celtics. The Celts travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs. The first time these two teams played the Celtics won without KG and Kendrick Perkins with Big Baby and Leon Powe doing a solid job on Tim Duncan. KG and Perk are back for this game but the status on Ray Allen is unknown. It should be one of the best games of the year and I can't wait to watch it.


Other Boston sports news is that Dice-K will pitch on opening day in native land of Japan. And here's some news for you Wizard, ya by Lendale White has received 3 misdemeanor citations. A great start for your Tennessee Titans.

Want to hear a joke? The Atlanta Falcons

Can't argue with Tyler Hansbrough becomming the future player of the year. He steps up when he needs to and unlike Michael Beasley's Kansas St. team, He actually wins big games. Hansbrough does everything right and plays the game the way it should be played. As for Notre Dame, it's hard to see a team like them win. When they are on, they have one of the best offensive's in the country but there lack of a consistant defense, especially as of late and there awful non-conference scedule is going to kill them. Maybe a sweet 16 at best.





As for the joke, the Atlanta Falcons. Just saying it makes me laugh. Today there have been reports of the Falcons trading their best defensive player and argually one of the best cover corners in football, DeAngelo Hall to another joke team, the Oakland raiders for a mere second round draft pick. I can understand a bad team trying to get rid of big contracts and rebuild through the draft but DeAngelo Hall was a first round pick (8th overall) in 2004. He's not even in his prime yet and the Falcons are already giving up on an established pro. This team now has no face and no stars to build around. Michael Vick is a tremendous athlete but even he can't win games from prison. They Falcons also lost a guarenteed 1,000 rushing yards as well this offseason by getting rid of Warrick Dunn. Another missed face of the franchise, Alge Crumpler signed with Tennessee this offseason. Who is going to lead the Falcons next year? Bobby Petrino didn't abandon the Falcons last year, he clearly took a promotion by going back to the NCAA at Arkansas. As for the Oakland Raiders, congradulations on building your already decent defense, while the future of your team looks like Jared from subway, before he lost all his weight.

National Player of the Year and Farewell to Big Doug

Wiz, for you to say that the Houston Rockets 20 game win streak as been overlooked is insane. They have been the lead on Sportscenter almost every night, ESPN has them ranked number 3 on their power rankings behind the Celtics and Lakers and ahead of teams like Pistons, Spurs, and Hornets, and I have heard more about Luis Scola then I've wanted too. But doesn't anyone seriously think they can win a championship? Or how about a first round series? Tracy McGrady has the history of never winning a first round series. This stretch they have been on has been tremendous but I can see then getting exposed very quickly in a 7 game series. Can Mutombo keep playing like he has? Can T-Mac finally carry his team past the first round? No matter what I still don't see them doing any damage in the playoffs.



The National Player of the Year debate has been very hot lately. Tyler Hansbrough of UNC and freshman sensation Micheal Beasley of Kansas State are the top two candidates. I think Hansbrough should win. Hansbrough has been the face of the best team in college basketball and has played like an absolute beast all year. His numbers are very comparable to Beasley's. Hansbrough averages 23.1 ppg and 10.5 rpg while Beasley's putting up 26.5 ppg and 12.5 rpg. Some say that Beasley should win because his numbers are better than Kevin Durant's, last years player of the year. But their was no one else to win it last year and it was obvious that Durnat was going to win. Hansbrough is on the leader of the best team in basketball and provides all the intangibles for a championship team. While Beasley is is the clear cut choice for number 1 pick in the 2008 draft. My choice is Hansbrough for player of the year.


Yesterday the Red Sox made a roster move by releasing Doug Mirabelli. Mirabelli is best known for being Tim Wakefeild's personal catcher and he really didn't have many moments in the sun for the Sox but his best and perhaps only one was his mad dash from the airport to make to the first Red Sox/Yankees game in 2006. After being reacquired by the Sox from San Deigo, Mirabelli got picked up by a limo and with a police escort and changed into uniform to make it in time for first pitch. That's it. That's what we will probably always remember of Doug Mirabelli's time in Boston.


Last night I picked Notre Dame and said that Luke Harangody was going to have a huge game. Well, its not the first time that I have been horribly wrong and it certainly will not be the last. Of course, I expect the Irish to make a deep NCAA tourney run. Do not be surprised if they do.

twenty rockets in flight...

It doesn't matter how many starting pitchers a team has, by the season end, no one ever has ample pitching. I think the Redsox are going to be fine because their lack of a 4th and 5th starter can be made up from one of the best offensives in baseball. And no, JD Drew is to being a big part of the red sox, as Billy Crystal is to be a big part of the yankees. Next to think that Durrant will make a successful "Dirk" like player, crashing the boards, you have to be out of your mind. I'm a man, clearly I am not much of one, but a man never the less, and I'm pretty sure i can bench more than Kevin Durrant. There's a reason why he only averages four rebounds a game and its not his position. Granted, he has done significantly better than i thought he would have, he will not become this phenom that everyone expects him to be. Finally, I like how your a West Virgina fan since the Gansey/Pittsnogle era. That's like saying, "I like college gamenight ever since Bob Knight became an analyst". West Virgina rolls over and dies at the end of the game at least once a week. Unless they end up getting mulitible mid-majors I don't see them escaping the second round.





Little does anyone outside the Houston/sports world, the NBA's own, Houston Rockets have won twenty straight games. "Experts" are going to say that this isn't a very impressive piece of work but I have to completly disagree. To begin, they have beat the west nine times and the remaining eleven have been against the east. This is a very even mixed scedule. Next, eight of their games have been against playoff teams. Keep in mind for the past nine games they haven't had all star Yao Ming who averaged 22 and 10 this season before getting hurt. They are getting this all done by using a "team" mentallity. Great Defense and team chemistry is winning these games over individual talent. Now where does this run rank with the two other teams, (Milwakee and LA Lakers) who have won 20+ games straight. It is by far the best stretch in NBA history. The 70-71 Milwakee Bucks won 20+ games in a row en route to an NBA title over the Baltimore Bullets. Obviously winning 20 straight is amazing but when you have Oscar Robinson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, two of the top 10 to ever play the game, i would expect nothing less than a title and maybe 20 straight along the way. Next is the 71-72 Lakers. They won an NBA record 32 straight games along with a championship later on that season. If anyone cares to think who was on that team, it was Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. They also had Gail Goodrich who led the team in points, and comming off the bench was potentional 2008 NBA coach of the year, Pat Riley. This leads me to my 07-08 rockets team. They are led by the ups and downs and injuries of Tracy McGrady and the 42 year old young, Dikembe Mutombo. This run is unbelievable for a team whose only potential hall of famer is Dikembe Mutombo. My final point to show just how good this run is, is that even after 20 straight wins, there still in 2nd in the west, and four games away from becomming a ninth seed and missing the playoffs. Call their scedule easy, and I'll keep calling them amazing. One of us is right, right?

Red Sox, Durant, and the Big East Tourney

With the Boston Red Sox set to begin their title defense in 12 days, I would to give my three keys to the Red Sox if they are going to compete for back to back titles.

1. Starting Pitching

Obviously it always comes down to starting pitching for every team and its the oldest cliche in the book but these things are cliches for a reason. Personally, I'm not too worried about Josh Beckett and his back pain. If opening day was somewhere in America, I think he would pitch but with the game being in Japan and the flight there being 17 hours, I'm glad hes not making the trip. With Curt Schilling out until about the All Star break (as much as I don't want to say it, I think he may be done) and Tim Wakefeild getting up there in the years (hes 41), the key to Red Sox staff this year is Jon Lester. Some say Dice-K but if you look at his numbers (15-12, 4.40 ERA) not bad for a first year rookie in the American League. Not to mention all the pressure from the Japanese media following him every step of the way. Do I think he'll have a second year in the A.L. like Beckett? No, that's unreasonable to ask but I think its reasonable to look for 16-18 wins and mid 3.00 ERA. I say Lester because it's time for him to finally step up. He needs to be last years Dice-K. I believe hes poised to do that. He gained a lot of confidence in that World Series clinching game last year. Earlier this spring training, Lester went toe to toe with Johan Santana going 4 innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 5. Even though it is only spring training, Lester extremely pitch efficient with no walks. If he can just throw strikes,and i know everyone says that, the Sox could have yet again one of the best rotations in baseball. As for the 5th spot in the rotation, it could be a two headed monster of Bartlo Colon and Clay Bucholz. Colon looked good today going 2 innings and giving up 1 run. Bucholz has had some trouble this spring training but he's looked good as of yet. If any of them struggle, there's been talk of trading Coco Crisp to the Cubs for Jason Marquis or maybe some other 5th starter.

2. Manny Delcarmen
Hyde Park's own Manny Delcarmen is a key for this team coming out of the bullpen to help fill the "Eric Gagne" role. Now by saying that I don't mean to pitch terrible and look like an ass on the mound, I mean to be the 8th inning power arm to complement Hideki Okajima. Okajim was phenomenal last year and surpassed any expectations last year. Delcarmen has to be that guy and he showed glimpses of that last year (K'ing Sammy Sosa with straight gas comes to mind) because Mike Timlin is too old and Julian Tavarez is too crazy.

3. J.D. Drew
Cause he has to at least hit better, right?





Now on to basketball. Watching the Celtics absolutely tool on the Sonics and rookie Kevin Durant last night got me thinking about Durant's season thus far. I am a big Kevin Durant fan. To be that size and have a handle and jumper like he has is something special. I haven't watched Durant a lot this year but I did see a lot of him last year at Texas. At Texas, he could score at will with a plethora of moves. He was able to post up the smaller guys and take the big guys off the dribble. Now that he's in the NBA, I don't think he is being used correctly. Granted that he has absolutely no help, he has put up impressive numbers (19.5 ppg) but he's been playing out of position all year. The Sonics have him playing shooting guard. With his unique skill set, I see him as a Dirk Nowitzki type where he can be one of the toughest match ups in the league. With him being a 3 or 4 and go down on the block more often he should be able to grab more than the 4 boards he grabbing now and he'll shoot at a higher percentage (he's at 40% right now). Of course, he'll need to put some weight on and get stronger in order to bang with the big guys in the paint. Plus with the Sonics headed for a high draft pick they should be able to draft him some help on the offensive end. Eric Gordon perhaps?



As far as for the best conference tournament in college basketball, the Big East, I don't mean to toot my own horn but for those that know me know that I have been reppin West Virgina since the Gansey/Pittsnogle era. Earlier today, they pulled the upset by beating UCONN to advance to the semi finals in the Big East tourney with my boy Joe Alexander dropping 32. But like i said I don't mean to toot my own horn.
Right now the Pitt/L'ville game is on right now and its too late for me to pick that, I'm gonna pick tonight's Notre Dame/Marquette game on ESPN. Since the back courts of Tory Jackson and Kyle Mcalarney (ND) and Dominc James and Jerel Mcneal (Marq) kind of cancel each other, the question is who can stop Irish forward Luke Harangody? Answer= No one. I'm going with the Irish.

Joys of Spring Training

Hope you got all your fustration out Brian. I hope the whole "Spygate" thing goes away because this problem can not and will not get any better for the Patriots and will never make them come out on top. One remarkable fact about the spygate scandel is that bill belichick was fined an unprecedented $500,000.00. That's not even considering the fact that he also lost a first round draft pick which may not seem like much considering the Patriots have the 31st pick but in this day and age of parady in the NFL, it is painful to loose. The fact of the matter is, they were caught cheating and they got their punishment.




For my first career blog style entry I would love to say a few things about the best time of year. The time is Baseball's spring training. Football is done, basketball is on the back burner, hockey hasn't been relevant in 10 years, and I am pretty sure soccer isn't considered a sport in America anymore. This is the only time of year that great athletes like Ryan Howard, David Ortiz, and Billy Crystal can play in a fun atmosphere as rookies try to make the team and veterans try to keep there spot on the roster.

However the New York Yankees, probably in their jealousy of the Boston Redsox are trying to ruin something as fun and relaxing as baseball in March. It all began when Hank Steinbrenner beat the odds and actually got a job as part owner of the Yankees. When he said that there was no such thing as Redsox nation, I knew how awful he would end up being. His father, George Steinbrenner was a ruthless owner who would stop at nothing as well, but respected the game enough to know when he was beat. The season hasn't even started yet and the yankees are starting fights with a team who has never been over .500. They also signed an actor who hasn't had a good movie in twenty years. I guess none of this however won't be as embarrising as having the highest payroll in baseball, and not making the playoffs.

Despite all the negative the Yankees bring to baseball, the opening of the 2008 season sheds new light on a league that has been desimated by steroids. 2008 means a league without that cheater, Roger Clemens, and hopefully a league without Barry Bonds. The longer times goes on the more we can tend to forget about the 1990's, especially as the most prominate athletes from that era retire. The new season finally gives the fine people of Milwakee that rare opportunity to get tickets for the price of one prostate exam in a 39 foot medical van, the guarentee of the Cubs, not winning the world series, and the chance for millions of American's to love and hate every single player in the league, due to their prior fantasy numbers.

As spring training comes to end all we can do as fans is to hope that the injuries stop. It seems as if every team is suffering this spring season. However it's not all bad. The energy is great and all the stadiums are being filled. I just hope that the Devil Rays keep this energy all year so maybe they can win more than 11 games.

First Blog Entry/Thoughts on Spygate

I figure there is no better way to start this blog, then to rant about this whole Spygate issue surrounding the New England Patriots. Now let me start off by saying that I am a huge Pats fan. From day one when this story broke, ESPN has been over blowing the situation. If anyone thinks that what the Patriots did is cheating is an absolute fool. What they did is perfectly legal except from the spot on which they did it. Has anyone on ESPN bothered to mention that? Plus there is no way that you can possibly tape signals from the sideline in the first half, then go into halftime, watch the tape, and then figure out the defensive signals to use in the second half. There is just not enough time. Also when it came out that the Pats caught Mangini and the Jets taping signals the year before, why didn't any call them cheaters, maybe because they were in the middle of a 4-12 season while the Pats were rolling to 16-0. As all this stuff was unfolding, the Pats were stomping out every team that stood in their way and people like Steve Young was talking about how they are running up the score. He was talking about that after a game when Tom Brady threw 5 touchdowns and Young was all over Bill Belichick for leaving Brady in for too long. Now all that was coming from the guy who once threw 6 touchdowns in a 49-26 rout of the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.

For awhile the issue went away until Super Bowl week, when Philadelphia senator Arlen Specter brought up the issue of the Pats "cheating" and talk of someone video taping the St.Louis Rams walk through in before Super Bowl XXXVI. Specter seems to think that this can help a team win a game when former Rams coach Mike Martz has said that would not have helped that Pats at all. Not to mention that Specter is an Eagles fan and has said that if the Eagles had beaten that Patriots in Super Bowl XXIX, he would be conducting his little investigation. Then former Patriots employee Matt Walsh says hes got something that could hurt the Patriots. Now I'm convinced that hes got absolutely nothing that could hurt the Pats at all. He hasn't come out and said what he has and hes looking to get some sort of legal immunity that if hes proven to have lied, he doesn't have to go to jail. Which already should tell you that hes not sure of what hes got. I doubt hes got a tape of a walk through. If he has any type of tape, all it is is probably a tape of defensive signals. The Patriots have already admitted to doing that so that's not damaging at all.

All this nonsense will probably never end. The people that will keep it going are the people that don't know anything about sports and don't like the Patriots because Belichick doesn't give them a fancy quote and he doesn't play around and joke with the media. All the NFL people want it to go away because they know that taping other coaches is part of the culture of the game. Stealing signals will always be in sports. That's just the way it is. Unfortunately the Arlen Specters of the world will think that its cheating and wont let this issue die.

That's it for my first rant today. I'm sure their will be many more. That's the great thing about a blog, it allows me to vent all my frustrations in the world of sports. A hell of a time.