The NFL Draft. Gambling at its finest. For every Peyton Manning(Pick 1, 1998), there is a Ryan Leaf(Pick 2, 1998). For every Edgerrin James (Pick 4, 1999), there is a Ki-jana Carter (Pick 1, 1995). Ask any NFL General Manager what the draft can do to make or break your career. After the Texans drafted Mario Williams over Reggie Bush and Vince Young in the 2006 draft, then-GM Charlie Casserly was literally run out of town, and resigned before the season had even started.
They say Matt Ryan is as close to a sure thing as you can get. Mel Kiper Jr Jr gave him his highest grade of the entire draft class, and Chris Berman already had 3 nicknames for Ryan before he had ever played a down, a draft-era record. In 1999, the first three picks were all quarterbacks. They were all considered to be can't-miss prospects. With the first pick, the Cleveland Browns took Tim Couch (Career Stats: 64 TD's 67 INT's 75.1 rating). After the Eagles took Donovan McNabb, who easily had the best career of any quarterback to come out of that draft, the Bengals took Akili Smith. Smith had 5 career touchdowns, and hasn't played a down since 2002.
So what makes Matt Ryan this "can't miss prospect"? Well, for starters, he's built like a quarterback. At 6'5", 218 lbs, he has the prototypical quarterback body. Although, he will have to bulk up a bit if he wants to say he's a 6'5", 240 lb quarterback with a laser rocket arm. Ryan became a full-time starter in his junior year at Boston College. Now maybe it's just me, but I'm curious about how 2 good years playing in the ACC can possibly equate to being a sure thing. That conference is nowhere near good enough to argue that Ryan can be a sure thing. Additionally, I'm sure we have some friends in College Park who would argue Ryan is overrated as well.
I'm not saying Matt Ryan won't have a fabulous NFL career, I honestly have no idea. But I'm a guy who has done no scouting, attended no pre-draft workouts, and conducted no Wonderlic tests on this year's draft class. And yet I know just as much about Matt Ryan's future as any NFL scout, General Manager, or coach around. The draft is the biggest gamble around, so as much of a "sure thing" as they say Matt Ryan is, ask Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, and Akili Smith what it means to be a "sure thing."
Speaking of gambling, I have a friend here that is the biggest gambler I've ever seen. In addition to being an absolutely outstanding poker player, he has put, by my count, at least 2000 dollars on sports this year. Yesterday, he was looking to make a big bet. He was feeling good, he said. So he asked me, if I was gonna make a big bet tonight, who would I take? After looking at the lines for last night's action, I told him to take the Lakers over the Nuggets. Sure, the Lakers were giving 4 and a half points, but the Nuggets have looked so bad, and the team is in such disarray, there was no way the Lakers were going to lose by more than 10.
At 9:00, I asked him what he had decided to do. He told me he had consulted with another friend from home, and he had also told him to take the Lakers. Saying that this kid was the worst sports gambler he had ever seen, he decided to take Denver. And he was confident enough to drop 200 on it. I told him this was the biggest sucker bet I've ever seen. Lo and behold, when the final buzzer sounded, the score was 107-101 Lakers, and my friend was $200 in the hole for the night.
I didn't see him for a little bit, and I figured he was just gonna crawl into bed and call it a night. But no, he had made a $300 deposit on Poker Stars. And yet, by around 3:00, that was gone, too. I've never seen someone lose that much money in so quick a time. He's got 5 classes today, but if I was a gambling man, I'd say he might just stay in bet all day. It's as sure a bet as the Lakers -4.5 over the Nuggets.
We're #1!!! We're #1!!!
This weekend, THE Quinnipiac University was involved in a #1, as well. No, we did not have a guy drafted #1, although this remains a mystery, as Quinnipiac University enjoyed yet another undefeated season in 2007. But rather, we had the Top Play on this morning's SportsCenter. Here's the play for those of you that didn't catch it (yes, I know I'm very clever). This makes the second time in 3 months QU has had the #1 play on SportsCenter.
You laughed. You scoffed at my decision to go here. "Corey," you said, "you're the biggest sports fan I know. How are you gonna go to school where there's no athletics whatsoever?" Well, to that I say... IN YO FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two top plays, how many of you can say that, huh? You can't touch this. You just wish your schools had half the athletic talent mine does. WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
(Ok, I'm done. Had to get that off my chest)
No ramblings this morning. I actually wrote this in class. Enjoy the shitty weather everybody.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Curses!
As a Red Sox fan, I'd like to consider myself a relative expert on curses and jinxes. I'm a strong believer in the superstitious side of sports. By my count, I've broken up at least three no-hitters by simply saying out loud, "Hey, he has a no hitter going." I watched Clay Buchholz's no hitter with my father and the two of us barely made eye contact from the sixth inning on. Later in September, the Red Sox were up 8-3 after 7 to the Yankees when I got a call from my grandfather asking if I was happy with the way this game turned out. I told him, and I quote, "Grandpa, please don't do that. Not for this game." After the inevitable 9-8 Yankee victory, I emailed him to inform him of his injustices. Eventually, he was forgiven, but he knows what he did.
Crystal Springs employee Ryan "Ricky" Ross was in left field for the flukiest no-hitter ever thrown, mine last summer. After every out from about the 4th inning on, Ross proceeded to yell how many outs I had left after every out. It took every ounce of counter-jinxing I had in my body to keep the no-no alive. (The game before, Ben Penn also threw a no-hitter. The rumor that this league was filled with 15 and 16 year olds remains unconfirmed. In other news, Bears baseball improved to 1-9 after a win against perennial cellar-dweller Woodbridge.)
Baseball's longest running cursed team, the Chicago Cubs, won their 10,000th game in franchise history on Wednesday. Win #1? A 47-1 drubbing of the St. Louis Unions in 1870 when the club was known as the Chicago White Stockings. Julio Franco led the way that game, going 12-15 with a pre-modern day record 18 RBI.
On Saturday, the next chapter of one of the most publicized curses around will begin. The Madden Curse is so widely recognized ESPN.com took my idea to write this blog on it by running an article on it on Wednesday. The book closed on 2007 cover boy Shawn Alexander, after he was released by the Seahawks earlier this week. His fate was better than the man who graced the 2004 cover, though, who currently takes up residence in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
My unsolicited guess on this year's cover? Let's just say I'd stay away from Adrian Peterson in your fantasy drafts this season.
Addendum: As I was about to put this up, I was informed that Brett Favre would be on this year's cover. As someone whose career has been filled with tragedy after tragedy off the field, here's hoping Favre's first year of retirement will be one where he can stay out of the news.
To Kill a Mock Draft Board
Seriously, dude? ESPN's new draft "expert" Todd McShay, or as I like to call him, Mel Kiper, Jr. Jr, released his final mock draft earlier this week. The difference between this and other mock dratfs I've seen. It contains 252 picks. That's right, McShay's draft covers all 7 rounds. Congratulations to Danny Lansanah (LB, UCONN), this year's mock Mr. Irrelevant. Now, I've been told by many people to get a life. And with good reason. I can tell you that Pierre, South Dakota is the only state capital whose letters are not contained in any of the letters of its state. I can also tell you that there is only one word in the English language that uses all 5 vowels, and the letter y, in order (facetiously). But it is this loser's opinion that Todd McShay could stand to take Mrs. McShay to a movie once in a while.
Does anyone even watch the 7th round of the draft anyway? I love the ads that ESPN is running about late-round draft picks that panned out. Brian Westbrook, Tom Brady, Marion Barber III... all taken on the second day of the draft. Well, I'll tell you what, ESPN. When you start actually showing second day picks as they happen, instead of just looking at them 5 at a time while you talk about the first round for hours, I'll believe you guys take the second day seriously.
Ramblings
Phenom Justin Masterson made his Red Sox debut Thursday afternoon. Because Masterson's name can't cleverly be made into an erection pun like the Sox closer, I'll just say I was very excited. He didn't disappoint, throwing 6 innings of one run baseball. But in pre-reverse the curse fashion, the Red Sox bullpen blew a 2-run lead in the 7th. The Red Sox already have 4 blown saves in the young season, although none of them come from Papelboner... Dustin Pedroia's 1-5 game on Thursday tied my best Beat the Streak run at 5. I haven't yet allowed myself to realize I'm not even 1/10 of the way to a million dollars... One streak that was broken on Wednesday was my 4 day, unleavened bread streak. Although it wasn't bread that did me in (the baked ziti from North Haven's Primo's Pizza is to die for), I'm hoping I'm not struck down before the week is up. I'll have to atone on Yom Kippur.
Crystal Springs employee Ryan "Ricky" Ross was in left field for the flukiest no-hitter ever thrown, mine last summer. After every out from about the 4th inning on, Ross proceeded to yell how many outs I had left after every out. It took every ounce of counter-jinxing I had in my body to keep the no-no alive. (The game before, Ben Penn also threw a no-hitter. The rumor that this league was filled with 15 and 16 year olds remains unconfirmed. In other news, Bears baseball improved to 1-9 after a win against perennial cellar-dweller Woodbridge.)
Baseball's longest running cursed team, the Chicago Cubs, won their 10,000th game in franchise history on Wednesday. Win #1? A 47-1 drubbing of the St. Louis Unions in 1870 when the club was known as the Chicago White Stockings. Julio Franco led the way that game, going 12-15 with a pre-modern day record 18 RBI.
On Saturday, the next chapter of one of the most publicized curses around will begin. The Madden Curse is so widely recognized ESPN.com took my idea to write this blog on it by running an article on it on Wednesday. The book closed on 2007 cover boy Shawn Alexander, after he was released by the Seahawks earlier this week. His fate was better than the man who graced the 2004 cover, though, who currently takes up residence in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
My unsolicited guess on this year's cover? Let's just say I'd stay away from Adrian Peterson in your fantasy drafts this season.
Addendum: As I was about to put this up, I was informed that Brett Favre would be on this year's cover. As someone whose career has been filled with tragedy after tragedy off the field, here's hoping Favre's first year of retirement will be one where he can stay out of the news.
To Kill a Mock Draft Board
Seriously, dude? ESPN's new draft "expert" Todd McShay, or as I like to call him, Mel Kiper, Jr. Jr, released his final mock draft earlier this week. The difference between this and other mock dratfs I've seen. It contains 252 picks. That's right, McShay's draft covers all 7 rounds. Congratulations to Danny Lansanah (LB, UCONN), this year's mock Mr. Irrelevant. Now, I've been told by many people to get a life. And with good reason. I can tell you that Pierre, South Dakota is the only state capital whose letters are not contained in any of the letters of its state. I can also tell you that there is only one word in the English language that uses all 5 vowels, and the letter y, in order (facetiously). But it is this loser's opinion that Todd McShay could stand to take Mrs. McShay to a movie once in a while.
Does anyone even watch the 7th round of the draft anyway? I love the ads that ESPN is running about late-round draft picks that panned out. Brian Westbrook, Tom Brady, Marion Barber III... all taken on the second day of the draft. Well, I'll tell you what, ESPN. When you start actually showing second day picks as they happen, instead of just looking at them 5 at a time while you talk about the first round for hours, I'll believe you guys take the second day seriously.
Ramblings
Phenom Justin Masterson made his Red Sox debut Thursday afternoon. Because Masterson's name can't cleverly be made into an erection pun like the Sox closer, I'll just say I was very excited. He didn't disappoint, throwing 6 innings of one run baseball. But in pre-reverse the curse fashion, the Red Sox bullpen blew a 2-run lead in the 7th. The Red Sox already have 4 blown saves in the young season, although none of them come from Papelboner... Dustin Pedroia's 1-5 game on Thursday tied my best Beat the Streak run at 5. I haven't yet allowed myself to realize I'm not even 1/10 of the way to a million dollars... One streak that was broken on Wednesday was my 4 day, unleavened bread streak. Although it wasn't bread that did me in (the baked ziti from North Haven's Primo's Pizza is to die for), I'm hoping I'm not struck down before the week is up. I'll have to atone on Yom Kippur.
Monday, April 21, 2008
I'm Back Baby
It took a lot to get me back on the blog. My apologies in advance. I have four papers to do in 2 weeks, and I'm not making any progress anywhere. But that's neither here nor there. See, I have a bone to pick with one Hank Steinbrenner. Hank, as a loyal citizen of Red Sox Nation (which happens to be alive and well even if you don't think it exists), keep talking. You are out of your mind, and it's great to watch you self-destruct 20 games into the season. Absolutely fantastic. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the current Yankee talking head fired the opening salvo in this year's installment of the 30 year "Steinbrenner vs. rest of Yankee management" war.
Here's the quote... "I want him [Joba Chamberlain] as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now," Steinbrenner told The New York Times. "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."
Listen, Henry... Let me tell you a little something about baseball, since it's clear you are waaaaaaaaaaaay over your head here. When you find a guy with a 100 MPH fastball, that's exactly what you do. Put him at the back end of the bullpen, and let him air it out. See, starters can't maintain 100% velocity over 7 innings, Hank. It's just not happening. So Joba's 98-99 MPH fastball will drop to 94-95. Still an above average fastball, but no different than at least half of current starters in the league.
Here's another thing about Major League hitters you seem to be forgetting, Hank. They make adjustments. By the 2nd or 3rd time through the order, they will be much better prepared to handle Joba's stuff. The reason Joba's slider is so unhittable now is because hitters just don't see enough of it. All of his pitches become infinitely more hittable if you put him in the rotation now.
Cmon, Hank, you had to have been watching in 1996. Remember that set-up guy your daddy's team had that season? Ask your manager, he was catching him. He's the same guy who's closing games now. You know, the best closer ever. In 96, the combination of Mariano Rivera-John Wetteland combined to save 43 games in 1996. The ability to shorten games to 7 innings is invaluable. I could go on and on, Hank, but I think you get the picture. Don't be a dope.
A Sporting Saturday
Passover. Great timing, Hebrew calendar people. Saturday was the most exciting all-around days of sports I've seen in a real long time. The day started at 1, with a trip to Grandma's to watch Game 5 of the Flyers-Caps series with my uncles, one a huge Caps fan, the other a former NHL employee and current writer (more on him later). The Caps, on the brink of elimination, forced tonight's Game 6 with a 3-2 victory. Meanwhile, the Wizards were playing the Cavs in Game 1 of their series. Unfortunately, since I was watching the hockey game, I missed Bron Bron's spectacular dunk, one that would have made a certain friend of mine blogging under the name Lil' Crumbs fall out of his chair and start convulsing on the floor.
It takes a lot to get me to watch an NBA game from start to finish. But Saturday's Suns-Spurs game was positively outstanding. How bout Tim Duncan? Hits his first 3 of the year in an absolutely huge spot. And Steve Nash is even more unbelievable. This guy is the best passer in the league, and he still has the ability to score at will.
After dinner, it was back to the ice to watch the tail end of Game 6 of the Canadiens-Bruins series. With the score 3-2 Canadiens with 8 minutes to go in the 3rd period, the Bruins scored 2 goals in a row to make it 4-3 with 4:15 to go. The Canadiens came back with a goal 11 seconds later to tie it at 4, and the Bruins scored the final goal with 2 minutes left in regulation to force a Game 7. Just a scintillating flurry of goals, and great to watch, too. I'm telling you guys, hockey is back, and it's just begging for people to watch.
My Saturday sports watching doesn't even include the Red Sox come from behind 5-3 victory against Texas, which I didn't see because my grandmother didn't order the MLB Extra Innings package. What a bitch.
Ramblings
After tonight's post, I promise I'll be back on my Tuesday-Friday schedule, starting again on Friday... My aforementioned uncle also writes a hockey blog every morning for the New York Times, I enjoy it and recommend it, but the again, he is my uncle. But I think it's funny, you might like it, too... The NFL bothers me. They shorten the time between First Round Picks from 15 minutes to 10. Good move. But, this year they're starting the draft at 3 PM instead of noon. Terrible move. The first round still isn't gonna end till 7. I don't get it.
Here's the quote... "I want him [Joba Chamberlain] as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now," Steinbrenner told The New York Times. "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."
Listen, Henry... Let me tell you a little something about baseball, since it's clear you are waaaaaaaaaaaay over your head here. When you find a guy with a 100 MPH fastball, that's exactly what you do. Put him at the back end of the bullpen, and let him air it out. See, starters can't maintain 100% velocity over 7 innings, Hank. It's just not happening. So Joba's 98-99 MPH fastball will drop to 94-95. Still an above average fastball, but no different than at least half of current starters in the league.
Here's another thing about Major League hitters you seem to be forgetting, Hank. They make adjustments. By the 2nd or 3rd time through the order, they will be much better prepared to handle Joba's stuff. The reason Joba's slider is so unhittable now is because hitters just don't see enough of it. All of his pitches become infinitely more hittable if you put him in the rotation now.
Cmon, Hank, you had to have been watching in 1996. Remember that set-up guy your daddy's team had that season? Ask your manager, he was catching him. He's the same guy who's closing games now. You know, the best closer ever. In 96, the combination of Mariano Rivera-John Wetteland combined to save 43 games in 1996. The ability to shorten games to 7 innings is invaluable. I could go on and on, Hank, but I think you get the picture. Don't be a dope.
A Sporting Saturday
Passover. Great timing, Hebrew calendar people. Saturday was the most exciting all-around days of sports I've seen in a real long time. The day started at 1, with a trip to Grandma's to watch Game 5 of the Flyers-Caps series with my uncles, one a huge Caps fan, the other a former NHL employee and current writer (more on him later). The Caps, on the brink of elimination, forced tonight's Game 6 with a 3-2 victory. Meanwhile, the Wizards were playing the Cavs in Game 1 of their series. Unfortunately, since I was watching the hockey game, I missed Bron Bron's spectacular dunk, one that would have made a certain friend of mine blogging under the name Lil' Crumbs fall out of his chair and start convulsing on the floor.
It takes a lot to get me to watch an NBA game from start to finish. But Saturday's Suns-Spurs game was positively outstanding. How bout Tim Duncan? Hits his first 3 of the year in an absolutely huge spot. And Steve Nash is even more unbelievable. This guy is the best passer in the league, and he still has the ability to score at will.
After dinner, it was back to the ice to watch the tail end of Game 6 of the Canadiens-Bruins series. With the score 3-2 Canadiens with 8 minutes to go in the 3rd period, the Bruins scored 2 goals in a row to make it 4-3 with 4:15 to go. The Canadiens came back with a goal 11 seconds later to tie it at 4, and the Bruins scored the final goal with 2 minutes left in regulation to force a Game 7. Just a scintillating flurry of goals, and great to watch, too. I'm telling you guys, hockey is back, and it's just begging for people to watch.
My Saturday sports watching doesn't even include the Red Sox come from behind 5-3 victory against Texas, which I didn't see because my grandmother didn't order the MLB Extra Innings package. What a bitch.
Ramblings
After tonight's post, I promise I'll be back on my Tuesday-Friday schedule, starting again on Friday... My aforementioned uncle also writes a hockey blog every morning for the New York Times, I enjoy it and recommend it, but the again, he is my uncle. But I think it's funny, you might like it, too... The NFL bothers me. They shorten the time between First Round Picks from 15 minutes to 10. Good move. But, this year they're starting the draft at 3 PM instead of noon. Terrible move. The first round still isn't gonna end till 7. I don't get it.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
A Final Four to Remember
Sunday morning, I awoke to find that many of ESPN's writers were upset. They were calling this year's Final Four the most boring in recent memory. First of all, when a team goes down 28 in the first half only to march all the way back to cut it to a four point lead, I don't know what else you're looking for in a game. Nevertheless, if you were bored to tears by the semifinal games, last night's championship had to have been the pick-me-up you so dearly needed. I'm not gonna go into great detail about the game, I'm sure you all watched it, but here are some of my thoughts during and immediately after the game.
Here's what Billy Packer said about 7 minutes into the game after a Joey Dorsey foul: "Here's the key to this game, Memphis is deep enough that they can afford to get into foul trouble, but Kansas cannot." Hold your horses, Billy. Isn't Kansas supposed to be the deepest team in the country? Don't they have four legitimate big men in Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun (that name even sounds awesome when you're typing it), and even freshman Cole Aldrich? That statement left me relatively confused.
There is a 75% chance that Derrick Rose is the number 1 pick in the draft come June. We saw this two years ago with Ty Thomas. A guy has an incredible March, and his draft stock skyrockets. Granted, Rose was probably already the consensus #2 pick, but now I see no reason why he can't be the next Dwyane Wade, which means anybody but the Heat should take him #1.
Speaking of Rose, we really saw everything we needed to know about him last night. But before I get there, let me just talk about his "stomach virus" he encountered over the weekend. CDR said that Rose's stomach hurt because he eats "Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast, and Twizzlers and Honey Buns for dinner." If that's the case, this kid's got a weak stomach. I'll tell you this much, I wouldn't be the man I am today if I got a stomach ache every time I had Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast. Honestly, that's a disappointment.
It was clear by the end of the game that Memphis goes as Rose goes. He was cold in the first half, and the Tigers were down 5 at the break. Rose came out strong in the second half though, at one point scoring 13 consecutive Memphis points. Consequently, the Tigers held the lead for much of the second half. But what was the Achilles Heel for the Tigers all season finally caught up to them in the waning minutes, as CDR and Rose went 1-4 from the line with 30 seconds to go, opening the door for a Mario "Superintendent" Chalmers 3 to tie the game. The rest, as they say, is history.
Congrats to Dan Weiser, who takes home a well-earned 60 dollars for his victory in the bracket pool.
An Early Look Back
Week 1 of the baseball season has passed, so let's take a gander at how my preseason picks are looking 7 games in.
Red Sox(3-4)- Everyone is giving this team the benefit of the doubt because they've been on the road for three weeks. Well fair enough, but I can't complain with any aspect of this team except the bullpen. That's scary to me, because when I'm looking forward to the return of a 42 year old Mike Timlin to improve the relief, things could be better.
Tigers (0-6) Next question.
Angels(5-3)- John Lackey went down in Spring Training, and I'm a big fan of his because he once threw a perfect game against me in MVP Baseball 2005. And this was before he was even a household name. Now that he is, the sky is the limit for Lackey. Anyway, it's gonna take a big effort from the Angels young pitching to make up for Lackey's loss, but last night's walk-off grand slam from Torii Hunter helps, too.
Yankees (4-3)- We knew they were gonna score runs, and when Hideki Matsui is batting 8th in your lineup, it's pretty clear things will be ok in the Bronx offensively.
Braves (3-4)- Bullshit. That's all I have to say. I made this pick thinking I was so smart and then the next day Buster Olney takes the Braves to win the division, followed by Jayson Stark picking the Braves to win it all!!!! That was disappointing. I still like them to surprise some people, although I guess it's not much of a surprise anymore
Cubs (4-3)- Kosuke Fukodome has looked outstanding for the Cubs, and Kerry Wood has bounced back from a shaky first outing.
Dodgers (4-3)- The top four teams in the NL West are gonna just beat up on each other... and the Giants. It's anyone's guess who'll come out on top.
Mets (2-3) They've been troubled by rain outs, and the loss of Pedro. But they couldn't be expecting more than 20 starts from him anyway. No need to panic yet.
Ramblings
Things are starting to look dire in the meal plan situation, I'm down to 120 bucks left with still a month left to go in the year, I have no idea what I'm gonna do. Stay tuned, this could get ugly... I've officially made the decision to watch any and all Yankee games on mute, after color guy Kenny Singleton called a bases loaded, no out jam a "snakes on a plane situation"... Who's coming home for Passover? We can all go to Wendy's that Saturday and order, well, nothing... After Hank Blalock decided not to get a hit, my streak is back up to 3, with Manny as today's pick. He's a career .556 hitter against Kenny Rogers, so hopefully he can come through today... From now on, I'll have a new blog up on Tuesday and Friday mornings, cause I don't feel like inundating your Facebook inboxes with my notification.
Here's what Billy Packer said about 7 minutes into the game after a Joey Dorsey foul: "Here's the key to this game, Memphis is deep enough that they can afford to get into foul trouble, but Kansas cannot." Hold your horses, Billy. Isn't Kansas supposed to be the deepest team in the country? Don't they have four legitimate big men in Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun (that name even sounds awesome when you're typing it), and even freshman Cole Aldrich? That statement left me relatively confused.
There is a 75% chance that Derrick Rose is the number 1 pick in the draft come June. We saw this two years ago with Ty Thomas. A guy has an incredible March, and his draft stock skyrockets. Granted, Rose was probably already the consensus #2 pick, but now I see no reason why he can't be the next Dwyane Wade, which means anybody but the Heat should take him #1.
Speaking of Rose, we really saw everything we needed to know about him last night. But before I get there, let me just talk about his "stomach virus" he encountered over the weekend. CDR said that Rose's stomach hurt because he eats "Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast, and Twizzlers and Honey Buns for dinner." If that's the case, this kid's got a weak stomach. I'll tell you this much, I wouldn't be the man I am today if I got a stomach ache every time I had Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast. Honestly, that's a disappointment.
It was clear by the end of the game that Memphis goes as Rose goes. He was cold in the first half, and the Tigers were down 5 at the break. Rose came out strong in the second half though, at one point scoring 13 consecutive Memphis points. Consequently, the Tigers held the lead for much of the second half. But what was the Achilles Heel for the Tigers all season finally caught up to them in the waning minutes, as CDR and Rose went 1-4 from the line with 30 seconds to go, opening the door for a Mario "Superintendent" Chalmers 3 to tie the game. The rest, as they say, is history.
Congrats to Dan Weiser, who takes home a well-earned 60 dollars for his victory in the bracket pool.
An Early Look Back
Week 1 of the baseball season has passed, so let's take a gander at how my preseason picks are looking 7 games in.
Red Sox(3-4)- Everyone is giving this team the benefit of the doubt because they've been on the road for three weeks. Well fair enough, but I can't complain with any aspect of this team except the bullpen. That's scary to me, because when I'm looking forward to the return of a 42 year old Mike Timlin to improve the relief, things could be better.
Tigers (0-6) Next question.
Angels(5-3)- John Lackey went down in Spring Training, and I'm a big fan of his because he once threw a perfect game against me in MVP Baseball 2005. And this was before he was even a household name. Now that he is, the sky is the limit for Lackey. Anyway, it's gonna take a big effort from the Angels young pitching to make up for Lackey's loss, but last night's walk-off grand slam from Torii Hunter helps, too.
Yankees (4-3)- We knew they were gonna score runs, and when Hideki Matsui is batting 8th in your lineup, it's pretty clear things will be ok in the Bronx offensively.
Braves (3-4)- Bullshit. That's all I have to say. I made this pick thinking I was so smart and then the next day Buster Olney takes the Braves to win the division, followed by Jayson Stark picking the Braves to win it all!!!! That was disappointing. I still like them to surprise some people, although I guess it's not much of a surprise anymore
Cubs (4-3)- Kosuke Fukodome has looked outstanding for the Cubs, and Kerry Wood has bounced back from a shaky first outing.
Dodgers (4-3)- The top four teams in the NL West are gonna just beat up on each other... and the Giants. It's anyone's guess who'll come out on top.
Mets (2-3) They've been troubled by rain outs, and the loss of Pedro. But they couldn't be expecting more than 20 starts from him anyway. No need to panic yet.
Ramblings
Things are starting to look dire in the meal plan situation, I'm down to 120 bucks left with still a month left to go in the year, I have no idea what I'm gonna do. Stay tuned, this could get ugly... I've officially made the decision to watch any and all Yankee games on mute, after color guy Kenny Singleton called a bases loaded, no out jam a "snakes on a plane situation"... Who's coming home for Passover? We can all go to Wendy's that Saturday and order, well, nothing... After Hank Blalock decided not to get a hit, my streak is back up to 3, with Manny as today's pick. He's a career .556 hitter against Kenny Rogers, so hopefully he can come through today... From now on, I'll have a new blog up on Tuesday and Friday mornings, cause I don't feel like inundating your Facebook inboxes with my notification.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Virtual Bracketology
My mom accused me recently of having "too much free time." Well, I've never been one to consider having too much free time to be a problem. But what is a problem is that I really only go to four websites with this free time. Facebook, ESPN, Addicting games (I'm a huge fan), and Yahoo fantasy. ESPN has a great feature, where they create a video game simulation of big games that happen to be going on. This week, I came across the ESPN March Madness 08 simulation of the Final Four.
This thing is great. It gives you a written version of the highlights of the "game" right up to Kevin Love's turn-around jump hook over Joey Dorsey with 4.8 seconds remaining in the semifinal. Now why is that such good news? March Madness 08 has a championship game final score of UCLA 66-UNC 64, which means 144 bracket points and a victory for me.
And you know what? I now feel infinitely more confident in my picks. And this was before I came across another ESPN promotion, Accuscore. Using a system of computers much more complicated than I could even begin to imagine, Accuscore plays each game at least 10,000 times, and calculates the likelihood of each team winning. Accuscore has UCLA beating Memphis by an average score of 69.8-69.1, and UNC beating Kansas by an average score of 81.1-80.1. This is all very good news for yours truly. Although I'm sure I've now put the mega-jinx on it all. But by this time Monday, we'll know for sure.
The Aubrey Huff Show
The paid attendance for Wednesday's Orioles-Rays game in Baltimore was 10,505. After seeing the highlights, saying that 5,000 actually showed up is probably a stretch. Oriole DH Aubrey Huff's line in that game... 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, enough to make even the smallest home crowd make some serious noise, right? Well, if you're talking about the boo birds and cat calls, then you've got the right idea.
See, apparently Aubrey thought that the fine people of the Greater Baltimore Area would take kindly to the fact that he called their city a "horseshit town" on Sirius Radio's Bubba the Love Sponge Program in November. Always important to endear yourself to the hometown crowd. He might be the most hated player in his own park since Fenway mercilessly booed Carl Everett for his ongoing controversy with Boston management and media. Everett also unleashed this gem in 2001. "[Dinosaurs] didn't exist. God created the sun, the stars, the heavens and the earth, and then made Adam and Eve. The Bible never says anything about dinosaurs. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them. Someone actually saw Adam and Eve. No one ever saw a Tyrannosaurus rex." Yikes! But as "Jurassic Carl" said himself, "I'm crazy, but I'm fun crazy."
Anyway, the pleasantries Huff shared for Baltimore may have been the least interesting part of his radio appearance. Apparently, he's also Major League Baseball's modern day Wilt Chamberlain, and it has nothing to do with his abilities as an athlete.
Producer: "...Who in here knows exactly how many women they've slept with?
Bubba: "Aubrey!"
Aubrey: "I couldn't even begin to tell ya. I couldn't even give ya a ballpark. I know I'm over..."
Bubba: "Five hundred?"
Aubrey: "No, no! I'd say between 2 and 300.
And who would have thought that there were any similarities between Huff and Trevir Nath...
Bubba: "Now Aubrey, do you jack off a lot on the road, like when you're not with your wife."
Huff: "It's all I do. It's all I do. You guys have no idea how much downtime there is in baseball. You wake up from a hangover about 1 o'clock."
Producer shouts: "In the afternoon?"
Huff: "Oh, yeah! Lemme tell you this. When you are hung over, how horny are you? I'm horny, when I'm hungover, I'm horny. So I'm just gonna beat off. And that's all I do."
On a related note, the Orioles are going off at 200-1 to win the World Series, by far the longest odds in baseball.
Ramblings
After watching my Quinnipiac Bobcats lose to Yale 19-13 Wednesday afternoon, I've made it my goal to get in some form of shape and attempt my comeback. Call it a pipe dream (and I'm sure you will), but I saw no reason why I couldn't at least just be a bench player for this team. They really aren't any good at all... I'm back watching the NHL, and I'm back on the Washington Capitals bandwagon. Those of you in Maryland should really take a good look at these guys. Root for some playoff hockey in the Metro Area... My Beat the Streak hitting streak was up to 3 when I decided to get cute on Wednesday by picking Hank Blalock, who promptly went 0-3. Thursday wasn't much better, as perennial pretty boy Derek Jeter went hitless as well. I'm starting to realize this might be harder than it looks.
This thing is great. It gives you a written version of the highlights of the "game" right up to Kevin Love's turn-around jump hook over Joey Dorsey with 4.8 seconds remaining in the semifinal. Now why is that such good news? March Madness 08 has a championship game final score of UCLA 66-UNC 64, which means 144 bracket points and a victory for me.
And you know what? I now feel infinitely more confident in my picks. And this was before I came across another ESPN promotion, Accuscore. Using a system of computers much more complicated than I could even begin to imagine, Accuscore plays each game at least 10,000 times, and calculates the likelihood of each team winning. Accuscore has UCLA beating Memphis by an average score of 69.8-69.1, and UNC beating Kansas by an average score of 81.1-80.1. This is all very good news for yours truly. Although I'm sure I've now put the mega-jinx on it all. But by this time Monday, we'll know for sure.
The Aubrey Huff Show
The paid attendance for Wednesday's Orioles-Rays game in Baltimore was 10,505. After seeing the highlights, saying that 5,000 actually showed up is probably a stretch. Oriole DH Aubrey Huff's line in that game... 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, enough to make even the smallest home crowd make some serious noise, right? Well, if you're talking about the boo birds and cat calls, then you've got the right idea.
See, apparently Aubrey thought that the fine people of the Greater Baltimore Area would take kindly to the fact that he called their city a "horseshit town" on Sirius Radio's Bubba the Love Sponge Program in November. Always important to endear yourself to the hometown crowd. He might be the most hated player in his own park since Fenway mercilessly booed Carl Everett for his ongoing controversy with Boston management and media. Everett also unleashed this gem in 2001. "[Dinosaurs] didn't exist. God created the sun, the stars, the heavens and the earth, and then made Adam and Eve. The Bible never says anything about dinosaurs. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them. Someone actually saw Adam and Eve. No one ever saw a Tyrannosaurus rex." Yikes! But as "Jurassic Carl" said himself, "I'm crazy, but I'm fun crazy."
Anyway, the pleasantries Huff shared for Baltimore may have been the least interesting part of his radio appearance. Apparently, he's also Major League Baseball's modern day Wilt Chamberlain, and it has nothing to do with his abilities as an athlete.
Producer: "...Who in here knows exactly how many women they've slept with?
Bubba: "Aubrey!"
Aubrey: "I couldn't even begin to tell ya. I couldn't even give ya a ballpark. I know I'm over..."
Bubba: "Five hundred?"
Aubrey: "No, no! I'd say between 2 and 300.
And who would have thought that there were any similarities between Huff and Trevir Nath...
Bubba: "Now Aubrey, do you jack off a lot on the road, like when you're not with your wife."
Huff: "It's all I do. It's all I do. You guys have no idea how much downtime there is in baseball. You wake up from a hangover about 1 o'clock."
Producer shouts: "In the afternoon?"
Huff: "Oh, yeah! Lemme tell you this. When you are hung over, how horny are you? I'm horny, when I'm hungover, I'm horny. So I'm just gonna beat off. And that's all I do."
On a related note, the Orioles are going off at 200-1 to win the World Series, by far the longest odds in baseball.
Ramblings
After watching my Quinnipiac Bobcats lose to Yale 19-13 Wednesday afternoon, I've made it my goal to get in some form of shape and attempt my comeback. Call it a pipe dream (and I'm sure you will), but I saw no reason why I couldn't at least just be a bench player for this team. They really aren't any good at all... I'm back watching the NHL, and I'm back on the Washington Capitals bandwagon. Those of you in Maryland should really take a good look at these guys. Root for some playoff hockey in the Metro Area... My Beat the Streak hitting streak was up to 3 when I decided to get cute on Wednesday by picking Hank Blalock, who promptly went 0-3. Thursday wasn't much better, as perennial pretty boy Derek Jeter went hitless as well. I'm starting to realize this might be harder than it looks.
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