Oh no he didn't...

Eddie House is filthy:



I love everything about Eddie, his swagger, his hustle, his socks and especially his threes. He is one of the biggest sleepers coming off the bench in the NBA.

On a lighter note...

I don't know how many of you watch the show Community, but the show is really made by four characters: Chevy Chase, Danny Pudi, Ken Jeong and Donald Glover. Glover is a pretty hilarious guy, he writes for 30 Rock and is the co-creator of www.derrickcomedy.com. Anyways, I thought I'd cheer up your day a little with this hilarious clip (NSFW):

I am Tiger Woods from TWoods

Chris Henry 1983-2009

From a story that at fist seemed like another Tiger Woods drama unfolding has taken a turn for the worse. Bengals wide receiver, Chris Henry, sustained injuries during an alleged domestic dispute with his fiancee. The dispute began at his home, roughly a half-mile from the site of the incident and ended with him falling out of a moving pickup truck. His fiancee was behind the wheel. There have been no arrests or reports of who the woman is, only speculation.

Often in the headlines for troublesome behavior, Henry was not the epitome of model athlete, but still a hell of a receiver and my condolences go out to his friends and family. He was 26.

Lotsa Big Moves

Taking some time off between the start of the winter meetings and now probably wasn't the best of ideas, so I guess I got some catching up to do.

First and definitely the biggest transaction of the meetings is the three-way trade of two Cy Young winners. The Phillies got Roy Halladay, the Mariners got Cliff Lee and the Jays got dick. I shouldn't be so hostile to those three prospects and J.A. Happ, but you have to feel bad for them. Halladay clearly wanted a ring and they weren't going to provide it, so maybe this is the best they were going to get for him. I really think the Phillies got hte best out of this deal, trading away Cliff Lee after possibly his best two seasons and using him to his utmost potential last season. But they are looking at a lot of money being shelled out ot him, they're already talking extension and big money.

Division rival of the Mariners have made some moves as well, adding World Series MVP Hideki "I still use a translator even though I've been playing in the US for almost 8 years" Matsui. He'll be a real valuable DH or potential extra outfielder, depending on what happens with the slowly decaying Vladimir Guerrero. They also lost John Lackey.

Speaking of John Lackey...WELCOME TO BOSTON! I remember hearing rumors at the beginning of the off season that he wanted Burnett-esque salary numbers, which ain't gonna happen brotha. Instead the Sox locked him up for 5 years for $82 mill, which is too much if you ask me. And he's most likely going to be number three in the rotation. Unreal pitching staff. Also the Sox add two-time Gold Glove winner and All-Star outfielder Mike Cameron. Does this mean the end of the greedy ass, boot-licking Jason Bay? One would hope. Cameron as already been approached by Theo Epstein and Terry Francona on his ability to play the corner in the outfield, which he hasn't played since 2005. Judging by the acquisitions, I think it can be said that the towel has not been thrown in on the 2010 season. Dan Shaughnessy thinks otherwise. Of course he does, he is always the first writer to step in and bash a Boston team or athlete.

Winter meetings hath returned

The buzz of the free agent market always reaches it's peak somewhere at the beginning of December, but not we can actually start throwing around some of the big names and type A free agents. It's a few hours into the first day and there already some big moves. A three team deal that is:

The Yankees receive center fielder Curtis Granderson...[with a] $25.75MM guaranteed over the next three years. The Diamondbacks receive a pair of starting pitchers: Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. The Tigers receive four players: starter Max Scherzer, relievers Daniel Schlereth and Phil Coke and center fielder Austin Jackson. The Tigers get five years of Scherzer, six of Schlereth, five of Coke, and six of Jackson, potentially 22 years of control in total.


By the looks of it, the Tigers really got the best end of this deal. Scherzer is supposed to be the next big thing, if he can get his act together and become the starter everyone expected him to be. And Austin Jackson is nothing to sneeze at, he quick and a puts the ball in play. Although he does strikeout quite a bit. With some work he could be another Granderson.

One big deal so far and more to come. Here's a list of free agents with age and type:

Catchers
Eliezer Alfonzo (31)
Brad Ausmus (41)
Paul Bako (38)
Rod Barajas (34) - Type B, offered arb
Josh Bard (32)
Michael Barrett (33)
Ramon Castro (34)
Robinzon Diaz (26)
Toby Hall (34)
Jason Kendall (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Bengie Molina (35) - Type A, not offered arb
Jose Molina (35)
Miguel Olivo (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Mike Redmond (39)
Yorvit Torrealba (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Matt Treanor (34)
Javier Valentin (34)

First basemen
Rich Aurilia (38)
Jeff Bailey (31)
Hank Blalock (29)
Russell Branyan (34)
Miguel Cairo (36)
Frank Catalanotto (36)
Tony Clark (38)
Carlos Delgado (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Nomar Garciaparra (36)
Ross Gload (34)
Eric Hinske (32)
Nick Johnson (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Adam LaRoche (30) - Type B, not offered arb
Doug Mientkiewicz (36)
Kevin Millar (38)
Fernando Tatis (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Chad Tracy (30)
Daryle Ward (35)
Dmitri Young (36)

Second basemen
Ronnie Belliard (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Jamey Carroll (36)
Craig Counsell (39)
Mark DeRosa (35) - Type B, offered arb
Nick Green (31)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Orlando Hudson (32) - Type A, not offered arb
Adam Kennedy (34)
Felipe Lopez (30) - Type B, not offered arb
Mark Loretta (38)
Pablo Ozuna (35)
Juan Uribe (31)

Shortstops
Eric Bruntlett (32)
Orlando Cabrera (35) - Type A, can't be offered arb
Craig Counsell (39)
Bobby Crosby (30)
Chris Gomez (39)
Nick Green (31)
Khalil Greene (30)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Miguel Tejada (36) - Type A, not offered arb

Third basemen
Rich Aurilia (38)
Brian Barden (29)
Adrian Beltre (31) - Type B, offered arb
Aaron Boone (37)
Craig Counsell (39)
Joe Crede (32)
Bobby Crosby (30)
Mark DeRosa (35) - Type B, offered arb
Pedro Feliz (35)
Chone Figgins (32) - Type A, offered arb
Nomar Garciaparra (36)
Troy Glaus (33) - Type B, not offered arb
Adam Kennedy (34)
Mark Loretta (38)
Melvin Mora (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Pablo Ozuna (35)
Robb Quinlan (33)
Miguel Tejada (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Juan Uribe (31)

Left fielders
Garret Anderson (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Marlon Anderson (36)
Jason Bay (31) - Type A, offered arb
Emil Brown (35)
Marlon Byrd (32) - Type B, offered arb
Johnny Damon (36) - Type A, not offered arb
David Dellucci (36)
Cliff Floyd (37)
Joey Gathright (28)
Matt Holliday (30) - Type A, offered arb
Reed Johnson (33)
Laynce Nix (29)
Greg Norton (37)
Wily Mo Pena (28)
Dave Roberts (38)
Gary Sheffield (41)
Fernando Tatis (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Marcus Thames (33)
Randy Winn (36) - Type B, not offered arb

Center fielders
Rick Ankiel (30)
Rocco Baldelli (28)
Marlon Byrd (32) - Type B, offered arb
Mike Cameron (37) - Type B, not offered arb
Endy Chavez (32)
Coco Crisp (30)
Darin Erstad (36)
Jeff Fiorentino (27)
Ryan Freel (34)
Joey Gathright (28)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Reed Johnson (33)
Corey Patterson (30)
Scott Podsednik (34)

Right fielders
Jermaine Dye (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Brian Giles (39) - Type B, not offered arb
Vladimir Guerrero (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Joey Gathright (28)
Eric Hinske (32)
Geoff Jenkins (35)
Austin Kearns (30)
Jason Michaels (34)
Xavier Nady (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Randy Winn (36) - Type B, not offered arb

Designated hitters
Hank Blalock (29)
Jason Giambi (39)
Vladimir Guerrero (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Aubrey Huff (33)
Hideki Matsui (36)
Gary Sheffield (41)
Matt Stairs (42)
Mike Sweeney (36)
Jim Thome (39)

Starting pitchers
Brandon Backe (32)
Cha Seung Baek (30)
Miguel Batista (39)
Erik Bedard (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Kris Benson (34)
Paul Byrd (39)
Daniel Cabrera (29)
Aroldis Chapman (22)
Bartolo Colon (37)
Jose Contreras (38)
Doug Davis (34) - Type B, not offered arb
Lenny DiNardo (30)
Justin Duchscherer (32) - Type B, offered arb
Adam Eaton (32)
Shawn Estes (37)
Josh Fogg (33)
Jon Garland (30) - Type B, not offered arb
Tom Glavine (44)
Mike Hampton (37)
Rich Harden (28) - Type B, not offered arb
Mark Hendrickson (36)
Livan Hernandez (35)
Rich Hill (30)
Shawn Hill (29)
Jason Jennings (31)
Jason Johnson (36)
Randy Johnson (46) - Type B, not offered arb
John Lackey (31) - Type A, offered arb
Braden Looper (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Rodrigo Lopez (34)
Noah Lowry (29)
Jason Marquis (31) - Type B, offered arb
Pedro Martinez (38)
Eric Milton (34)
Mark Mulder (32)
Brett Myers (29)
Vicente Padilla (32) - Type B, not offered arb
Odalis Perez (33)
Andy Pettitte (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Joel Pineiro (31) - Type B, offered arb
Sidney Ponson (33)
Mark Prior (28)
Horacio Ramirez (30)
Jason Schmidt (37)
Ben Sheets (31)
John Smoltz (43)
Brett Tomko (37)
Jarrod Washburn (35)
Todd Wellemeyer (31)
Kip Wells (33)
Randy Wolf (33) - Type A, not offered arb

Closers
Mike Gonzalez (32) - Type A, offered arb
Kevin Gregg (32) - Type A, not offered arb
Fernando Rodney (33) - Type B, offered arb
Jose Valverde (32) - Type A, offered arb

Right-handed relievers
Luis Ayala (32)
Danys Baez (32)
Joaquin Benoit (32)
Chad Bradford (35)
Doug Brocail (43) - Type B, not offered arb
Kiko Calero (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Chad Cordero (28)
Elmer Dessens (38)
R.A. Dickey (35)
Brendan Donnelly (38)
Octavio Dotel (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Kelvim Escobar (33)
Eric Gagne (34)
Geoff Geary (33)
Dan Giese (33)
Edgar Gonzalez (27)
Tom Gordon (42)
LaTroy Hawkins (37) - Type A, not offered arb
Matt Herges (40)
Bob Howry (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Jason Isringhausen (37)
Jorge Julio (31)
Shane Loux (30)
Brandon Lyon (30) - Type B, offered arb
Gary Majewski (30)
Guillermo Mota (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Joe Nelson (35)
Chan Ho Park (37) - Type B, not offered arb
Tomo Ohka (34)
Tony Pena Jr. (29)
Joel Peralta (34)
Troy Percival (40)
J.J. Putz (33)
Juan Rincon (31)
Saul Rivera (32)
Duaner Sanchez (30)
Rudy Seanez (41)
Justin Speier (36)
Russ Springer (41) - Type B, not offered arb
Julian Tavarez (37)
Luis Vizcaino (35)
Tyler Walker (34)
David Weathers (40) - Type B, not offered arb
Jeff Weaver (33)
Jamey Wright (35)
Tyler Yates (32)

Left-handed relievers
Joe Beimel (32) - Type B, not offered arb
Bruce Chen (33)
Alan Embree (40)
Scott Eyre (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Casey Fossum (32)
Eddie Guardado (39)
Mark Hendrickson (36)
Ron Mahay (39)
Will Ohman (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Darren Oliver (39) - Type A, not offered arb
Horacio Ramirez (30)
Glendon Rusch (35)
Scott Schoeneweis (36)
Brian Shouse (41) - Type B, offered arb
Ken Takahashi (41)
Jack Taschner (32)
Ron Villone (40)
Jamie Walker (38)

*Thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for the list*

Sox essentialy trade SS with Jays

The Red Sox hunt for a shortstop has come to stop when they signed 34-year-old Marco Scutaro. This coming after the Red Sox released Alex Gonzalez and the Jays picked him up. Scutaro accepted a two-year contract with an option for a third. No longer does Pedroia play the left side of the infield. Whats great about this deal is Marco is the definition of utility player, you throw the guy a glove he'll play the position. If Jose Iglesias pans out to be a shortstop in two year, then Marco can easily move anywhere in the field or even play off the bench.

2008 stats (a career year): .282/.379/.409, 12 HRs, 60 RBIs, 35 doubles.

Tiger "I'm not out of the" Woods

Is it just me or has this whole Tiger Woods scandal gotten out of hand? Sure, the man smashed some random biddies on the side, he's a scum bag nobody's perfect. Sorry Nike, your golden boy has a few skid marks. This guy probably never touched a girl until he started making his steady bank roll. Then POW! All of the female attention one man can handle. So what does he do? Wifes up the first one that come around, shit I'd do the same. Now he realizes, "Geez I can do this with other women?!? Let's do it!" It sucks that he has a family and two children, but he is human and doesn't die when exposed to kyrptonite (Mistress pictures after the jump).

He's still in the thick of it all. After beating around the bush with the media he issued a vague apology on his official website:

I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.

Let the man deal with his golf-club-wielding-wife and get back to being one of the most dominant athletes on the planet.

For now enjoy Chappelle's imitation of Tiger Woods becoming 100% black.

Scary Moment

Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard throws a hissy fit after getting beat by Ilya Kovalchuk and decides to take it out on his goalie Tomas Vokun by bashing his brains in. What boggles my mind about this is not only does he smash Vokun's dome with a stick, he proceeds to continue to break his stick on the post, acknowledges his actions and skates off. What a little bitch. Vokun was hospitalized and suffered an ear laceration.

Big Changes in the World of College Football

Charlie Weis, head coach of Notre Dame/ex-patriot coach/man who strikingly resembles a pair or one of those Russian doll thiningies, got the boot.

Weis was let go by Notre Dame with six years left on his contract. He finished 6-6 this season and 35-27 in five seasons, among the worst of any Fighting Irish coach. "For many of you who may have thought that was a foregone conclusion, I would say to you that the decision was harder than you might have thought, principally because of the man it involved," athletic director Jack Swarbrick said.

For those who didn't see this coming, shame on you. Notre Dame, a once prestigious and bowl contending team, is now losing to teams like Navy and UConn. Not to bash any of those teams, but this team is just pathetic now. When they are winning they blow it and when they lose, they looooooose. So, see ya later King of the FUPAs. Hello Rob Ianello, Notre Dame assistant head coach who will take over until a new head coach is fired.

In similar news, long time coach and one of my all-time favorite CFB head coach, Bobby Bowden is stepping down.

Florida State's Bobby Bowden announced today that he will coach the Seminoles in a bowl game before retiring. He'll leave as the second-winningest coach in major college history behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.

It's always sad to see someone who has been so influential to a sport take his bow and leave. But it's even more sad to see him go out in a blip rather than a blaze of glory. Everything can't be like the movies though, so when a man of his caliber says it's time to go then enough's enough. The man has 388 wins, give him some love.

Rant: Number 1,523,874 of why I hate Favre and those who run the NFL

Last year, the Patriots were absolutely ripped the fuck off of a playoff spot thanks to the dumbasses that run the television time slots for the NFL. Here's how it went down: Patriots and Bills were supposed to play at 1, the same time as the Jets-Dolphins game. But, some asshole rescheduled the Phins game to 4:15, so it could be a prime-time game and nationally broadcast. And the playoffs, broke down as so, Patriots had to win and the Dolphins had to lose in order for the Pats to clinch. Fast-forward, Patriots win. Eric Mangini sees this and being the bitter dick he is, barley even tries at the end of the game. Favre, on the potentially winning drive lofts a ball in the air, loses, so he can back to dicking around with the media in the off season as he loves to do. An 11-5 team doesn't clinch, while the Chargers go on to play in the post season with an 8-8 record... awesome.

Back to the point of this post, well I was extremely excited to watch the Patriots-Dolphins game this weekend (being a displaced fan I only get some many games I can watch in the comfort of my own home). SO MUCH FOR THAT LUXURY! The game has been moved to 1 from the Sunday Night game for fucking Favre and the Cardinals. The goddamned battle of the corpse QB's replaces a game with divisional importance and a significantly higher fan base. The reasoning, "[to] ensure quality matchups in all NFL Sunday time slots." Fuck that.

Bud Adams is a bitch

If you missed it last weekend, Tennessee Titians owner flipped the double bird to Buffualo Bills fans as the Titians trounced the Bills 41-17 (video after the jump). Commissioner Goodell issued a fine of $250,000 for the obscene act. Now in better spirits, due to the Titians winning streak of 4 and probably lots of encouragement from his PR department, apologized to the bitter Bills fans with this ad:Personally I hate the act of flipping people off, it's spineless and petty. It really angers me. I mean did you really have to hang over the railing just to say "Fuck you" to all of those fans who are already struggling through a terrible season and haven't won the Superbowl since the merger. Come on man, grow a pair.

I am not a machine, I am Albert

I don't want to sound redundant, but this decision is equally if not more obvious than the Mauer pick for MVP. If you haven't already heard Albert Pujols has been crowned NL MVP in a unanimous decision, blowing Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Howard out of the water who came in second and third respectively. This season Pujols topped almost every batting category in the league, homers (47), runs (124), slugging percentage (.658) and intentional walks (44), and topped the NL in on-base percentage (.443). And third in BA (.327) and RBIs (135). At what point do we tear the skin off of Pujols and find some type of titanium alloy. The man played with FIVE, count 'em FIVE, bone spurs in his right elbow, nutty. I was listening to some sports radio and they were comparing him to great hitters such as Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn, which is kind of scary but is true. In the eight out of the nine seasons he's been in the league, he has placed in the top 4 for MVP voting, winning it 3 times. He's incredible, who can forget when he knocked the "I" out of "Big Mac Land" this year. Unreal.

AL MVP Crowned

If you didn't see this coming, I'll let you borrow my glasses (that sounded a lot more creative in my head and now just seems dumb). Joe Mauer won AL MVP in a landslide today, receiving 27 out of a possible 28 1st-place votes. Mauer, beat out teammates and World Series Champs, Mark Texieria and Derek Jeter, in that respective order. His numbers this season were staggering, .365 BA (winning yet another batting title, #3) only 65 strikeouts with over 600 plate appearances, oh and he had a career best 28 HR and 96 RBI. Not to mention he piggybacked the Twins to the playoffs, stealing the AL Central from the White Sox by batting .378 after Morneau's season was cut short with a back injury. Pretty sure this guy is going to start turning water into wine and dating supermodels, wait he already does.

FYI: The only other player to receive a 1st-place vote was Miguel Cabrera, whatever this writer was smoking I want some. Unless it's PCP, I already kicked that habit.

Kobe's pretty good...

As much as I hate to make this comparison, but you see any similarites between the two here? Actually, one is better than the other I'm just too ashamed to admit it. You be the judge:

Kobe, November 22nd vs. Thunder


Larry Bird, 1986 vs. the Rockets


Yeah, Kobe's nice, sucks to say.

Thanks to Boston Barstool for the videos.

It's finally over

I doubted this happening within the first decade of the Girardi era, but lo and behold I am wrong yet again. The Yankees pulled it out, with dazzling pitching and clutch offense. Looks like Macy's has a lot of t-shirts to donate to a third-world country and hopefully Phillies fans won't be burning down any of the downtown stores, with this blunder. As much as it pains me to say, it was a great season for the Yankees a hell of a way to kick off the inaugural season for the new stadium. If I were to guess I had to give the World Series MVP to Hideki Matsui, who was a beast in this series and especially in this game with 6 RBIs. The thing is nobody stood out like they did on the Phillies I and the rest of the baseball watching world can easily say if the Phillies won the series then Chase Utley would be the MVP hands down. But for now, it's just an educated guess.

You may wondering why did I not make a prediction for this game? Honestly, it was painful enough for me to watch this series let alone put in my input. So, for the greater good of my adoring fans and the rest of the world I kept my thoughts to myself. Let's hope Jon Sterling passed out after making the final call of the Yankees season.

*UPDATE: Hideki Matsui did win MVP...booyah*

And then there were 4

Tonight is the kick off the LCSes (weather pending). With a new series unfolding means more predictions, oh boy! I was 2 for 4 on my last round, getting one right for each league. Not so good. Hopefully it'll be better this time around. The NLCS starts tonight at 8:07, we have a match up of the young-guns: Hamels v Kershaw. Should be a great game to watch. Enough with my droning here's the deal:

NLCS-Phillies and Dodgers: I really like Cliff Lee in the post-season, he's been down right unbelievable for the Phils this season. I think he's a lock for game 3, he does need some rest and if Happ/Pedro can hold their own for game 2 then I'm leaning towards the Phillies. Plus their bats are really live in the late innings, Houston Street was responsible for two losses in the NLDS. Three through 5 in the Phillies line-up is pretty mean looking. However, George Sherill has only 2 earned runs, since being traded to the Dodgers from the Orioles on July 30th. Don't think there will be any late game heroics. Dodgers bats, however, have been not too great. Most games have been put onto the bullpens shoulders, with little to no runs. These games were against to Cy Young candidates though. Vicente Padilla was great in his last start, going 7 innings with only 4 hits. I still think the Phillies are going to take the series, Dodgers wont go down with out a fight though.

Phillies in 6.

ALCS- Angels and Yankees: Ok, so everyoen has been saying this and I think I'm starting to believe it more and more, that this is the Yankees year. After not making the postseason last year, they bounced back by spending a ton of money and possibly buying the World Series. They are sticking to a three man rotation of CC, Burnett and Pettitte. All three have been pretty nasty, three earned runs over 19 innings between the three of them. Granted it was against the Twins who were exhausted from trying to clinch the AL Central, but they still looked great. And since when is A-Rod clutch in October? I guess this whole hoopla of him and cheating has fueled him to actually play ball when it matters. 2 HRs, 6 RBIs and .455 average so far. Weird. The Angels look really good too, Lackey pitched over 7 innings of shut-out ball and their pen was up to snuff. They didn't run like they were expected to, but there's nothing stopping them against New York. The Yankees look almost too good this year.

Yankees in 5.

2009 World Series: Phillies/Yankees.

The time has come....

After an amazing game last night, the AL Central has finally been decided and the playoff picture is complete. Here's how the match ups look for the LDSes and some predictions.

NL:
Rockies/Phillies: Philly in 3. Let's face it, they look good and Colorado lost their ace Jorge De La Rosa to a groin injury. They may take one, but Philly will prevail. That is if their bullpen can hold it together.

Cardinals/Dodgers: Cards in 4. I'm really looking at the pitching in this match up because their offense is pretty evenly matched. But Cardinals pitching is just phenomenal, two Cy Young candidates? And we all know how the Dodgers love to choke in October.

AL:
Red Sox/Angels: Red Sox in 5. This series will come to the bitter end, judging by the Red Sox pitching the first two game will decide this series. Lester and Beckett pitching away, then the shakiest part of the rotation, who have not been impressive whatsoever. The Angels are going to run all over the place, but in the end J-Bay and the firey Sox offense will prevail.

Yankees/ Minnesota: New York in 3. As much I would hate to see the Metrodome's last game go down in a loss, but it's inevitable. The Twins pitching is exhausted, their offense is beat and they arrived in New York at 3 in the morning. They had to use their best pitcher just to make the postseason. Sorry Twins fans, it was a great run and an instant classic, but it's New York's year.

AL Central heating up

One might say it's already hot, but today is D-Day for both of these teams, it's win or go home (or into a one game playoff). I don't know whether to call this a Twins resurgence or a Tigers collapse. Seeing as how the Tigers were up 7 games at one point, I'm going to pin this on the Tigers. Last night, all Detroit had to do was beat struggling Freddy Garcia and the White Sox, instead they get spanked. While the Twin go on to beat one of the top Cy Young candidates in dramatic fashion, thanks to Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young.
Currently the Tigers are up 3-0 on the Sox, while the Twins are just under way. If they both win/lose, it comes down to a single game play off to be played in the Metrodome on October 6th. Anyways this falls, what a great way for the final season of the Metrodome to be finished.

Mike Blowers...is....god?

Working in radio play-by-play I often hear predictions from broadcasters such as, "This is the game that he'll really turn it around," or "Tonight I think *insert team name here* can really bring the whole season together with this win." But rarely do I hear an announcer predict some thing this audacious... and get it right. Mariners do a pregame segment called "Pick to Click" where they make predictions and here's how it went: Matt Tuiasosopo will hit his first career home run during his second at-bat in the 5th inning, on a 3-1 fastball, to left-centerfield, second deck. Well, you can figure out the rest with me having to explain it. Both the prediction and the play-by-play call here:

Yankee Bowl

There are times for desperation, but this may hit an all time low for Yankee Stadium (speaking like the true Yankee historian that I am not), but after the ridiculousness that is known as the new Yankee stadium ticket prices, the front office has decided to sell the rights of the stadium to NCAA for one of the many pointless bowl games. How pointless do you ask? It will be the be the ferocious match up between a fourth place Big East team against a seventh place Big 12 team in 2012. WHOA!! When do those tickets go on sale?! I'm going right now to buy a tent to wait for them. At least it makes sense having a Big East team playing somewhere remotely near the schools' location, so they may have some people coming to the game. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg expects over 40,000 fans and roughly $47 million to the city, "Nobody stages big events like the Big Apple. We've got the experience, we've got the resources, and we've got the spirit. It's a win for the fans of both teams playing, and it's a win for New York." With this we have two of the evils in the world of sports combining, the greed of New York teams and the awful BCS system that dishes out terrible bowl games. Whoopee.

Marquez v. Mayweather

I don't claim to be a boxing expert by any means. I absolutely love the earlier era of boxing, meaning the 50's-80's, guys like Sonny Liston, Joe Fraizer, George Foreman and one of my top 5 favorite athletes Muhammad "Don't call me Cassius" Ali. I can watch old fights from those guys forever( possibly the fight of the century, the Thrilla in Manilla). Over the past half-century, boxing has become somewhat of a back burner sport to American main stream sports: football, baseball, basketball, etc. Even more so recently with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), boxing has been on the steady decline.

As an above average sports fan I can't name a single heavy-weight boxer, but there are old timers that remember exactly where they were when Ali took down Liston within the first minute with his infamous lightning punch. Sure, I know Manny Pacquaio Floyd Mayweather and many other light-weight stature boxers. All I am trying to say is where will boxing be in 15-20 years? Hopefully, back at the top.

Anyways now that I've gotten that rant off my chest, I want to discuss and give my predictions for the big fight that is coming up in less than 48 hours: Juan Manuel Marquez v. Floyd Mayweather. I'll set the scene a little bit for those who don't know about these guys.
This is Marquez's first fight as a Welterweight. However, this is Mayweather's first fight since his second "retirement," after beating Oscar De La Hoya to retain the WBC Welterweight belt. He remained retired for roughly 16 months, until the announcing of this fight. Marquez has been beaten only 4 times in 55 fights, while Mayweather is still undefeated in 39 bouts.

PREDICTION: Marquez in 12.

With my little knowledge of boxing and the fundamentals, I'm going to have to go with the man with all of the training. Mayweather is suffering with some personal issues, his uncle and trainer had a recent run in with the law, that can take a toll on anyone's mental state. I do believe it will be a close fight, lasting all 12 rounds, landing in the hands of the judges in the end. How can I not pick the guy who drinks his own urine? That right there is the definition of though.

*For more on the ESPN did a great piece on the fight and broke it down. HERE*

Is Shawne Merriman gonna have to choke a bitch?

By no means am I misogynist or do I call women bitches, but I thought this title is hilarious referencing this infamous skit, where the normally mild-mannered Wayne Brady terrorizes Dave Chappelle and say the all too quoted line, "Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?" to one of his prostitutes. Any ways, Shawne "Lights Out" Merriman is in the news again, this time it's off the field shenanigans. Tila Nguyen,better known as Teila Tequila an MTV reality-show/internet celebrity, is accusing Merriman of physically assaulting her.

Merriman was arrested early Sunday after Tequila accused him of choking and throwing her while she was at his suburban San Diego home. Tequila signed a citizen's arrest warrant accusing Merriman of battery and false imprisonment.

Merriman and his attorneys are claiming that his actions were in defense of Mrs. Nguyen, stating that he was preventing her from leaving her home because she was intoxicated. Needless to say, I don't think it would be that hard to restrain a girl who you have 177 pounds on without choking her (Nguyen: 93 lbs., Merriman: 270, enough said). This sounds like a lot of he said, she said stories with two celebrities thrown in the mix.

Merriman is generally know for his on field antics such as convulsing after every tackle or hard hit he delivers. I don't know if this is a celebration or a side effect of steroid use. Merriman missed the 2008-09 season due to a torn ligament in his knee and reconstructive surgery, he has 39.5 sacks through 3 seasons as well as reaching the Pro Bowl all 3 years.

Please Shut up Curt

As tragic as the passing of beloved senator Ted Kennedy is, the less and less I want to hear about it. OK I grew up in Massachusetts, I kind of like the guy, he's done nothing wrong to me (besides getting away with murder). Good, he was New Englander and supported New England sports, as for his politics I haven't the slight clue what his views were. But, yes it is tragic when a popular public figure passes in a legitimate manner.

Now, who will fill his spot? Possibly a long-time politician, maybe someone who understands what he people want and knows how to reach them? No, how about a once (big emphasis on the once) adored Red Sox pitcher. The infamously, republican, out-spoken, author of 38pitches.com; Curt Schilling is considering filling in that spot.

From 38 pitches.com:
"While my family is obviously the priority, and 38 Studios is a priority, I do have some interest in the possibility. That being said, to get to there from where I am today, many many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen."

I've said it once I'll say it until he stops, Please Curt just shut up, please.

Tazawa v. Burnett (David/Goliath)

Let's do a blind match up between these two pitchers:
Pitcher A- He has pitched 7 season with over 10 wins and flirting with 20 in one. A playoff veteran that no longer comprehends the concept of pressure.

Pitcher B- A 23 year old righty, thrown into a rotation in desperate need of a solid number 3 and got taken deep, as a relief pitcher, to lose his first outing in a major league uniform.

Got the connection yet?? Good, now let's cut to the chase... he's currently shutting out the juggernauts known as the New York Yankees. While his counterpart, Burnett is getting knocked around like a drunk Phillies fan in a parking lot (too soon?). 7 earned, 6 hits through 2. Don't get me wrong the kid is getting hit pretty hard, several off the monster, but he's getting out of sticky situations. His splitter is falling off the table and his curveball just made A-Rod buckle at the knees and bail out of the box in two consecutive pitches. Both dropped in for strikes. And just K'ed him on a pitch that bent from his eyes to his knees...unbelievable. 4 nasty curves in a row.

As for Goliath? There's a reason why a multi-million dollar stud is looking this bad. Me thinks Jorge Posada and him aren't clicking in the way a pitcher and catcher should. In Burnett's last outing he and Posada had a slight disagreement, that led to him balking in a run and losing 3-0. This is looking very similar to that, he's checking runners that A: Don't need to be checked and B: Are on second base and have stolen third only 2 or 3 times in their career. Needless to say his missing spots and hanging his breaking stuff, so maybe the Sox will try to get their revenge from last night's pummeling.

Tomorrow's probables: Beckett v. Sabathia on ESPN primetime. Should be a goody.

EXTRA NOTE: My man, pots and pans, the Mayor AKA Sean Casey has faith in his boys.

Hiatus

I just got back from a week long trip to visit my sister, brother-in-law and nephew in the UK, that is without a computer or internet access. That's my excuse, not the typical laziness problem. Apparently I missed out on a boat-load of news in the world of sports. Here's a little recap of what I missed/you should have seen in the past week and my reaction...

•Michael Vick signs with the Philadelphia Eagles: Donvan didn't seems too thrilled about this transaction, but he said he knew it was going to happen in a recent press conference. In my opinion let's just leave the guy alone and let him play football. His incident was off not football-related he served his punishment (for the most part) and now he's ready to get on the field, get off his back. Well he's not going to be seeing much playing time...unless it's lined up in receiver slot. Could be interesting.

•Tiger's gone timid: I really despise superstar athletes and Tiger is no exception here, he's childish, he complains and he's hotheaded. Tiger was in the lead at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational after three rounds, then shits the bed and ends up losing to some Japanse guy Y.E. Yang. Good, great, grand, wonderful.

•Stephen Strasburg is finally a National: That does it, I've lost all faith in the Washington Nationals. They folded like a fat guy in a lawn chair under the pressure of Scott Boras and have set a record for a rookie contract. $15.1 mill guaranteed over 4 years, absurd. Don't get me wrong I think this will be great for the franchise hopefully bringing them out of the dumps and the kid is something special. But the kid has never faced a major league hitter, let's just see what happens in his minors stint.

•Brett Favre is going to Minnesota: Whoopee. WCCO-TV of Minnesota reports he's on a plane now to St. Paul, so he can miss more of preseason and all of training camp, the bum. Couldn't care less.

•Usain Bolt breaks World Record: OK, I might have to rescind my prior hatred for superstar athletes because I absolutely love this kid and love to watch him run (in the completely heterosexual manner). Bolt ran the 100 in 9.58 seconds and just spanked the rest of the field, link to video. Maybe it's because he dominated in Bejing and had enough time to slap his chest before crossing the finish line. If you don't remember this cost him the record, he claims, "People have said to me 9.60 but I can't really comment. I wasn't worried about the world record. I didn't know it was a record until I finished my victory lap. My one aim was to be Olympic champion." Nuff said, he's the man, let's just pray he's clean.

Update from work

*Note: Not an image from today's game*

Today I'm doing a day game, pretty much a regular Sunday for me. Marlins are in Philly, it's the corpse versus the hot handed Josh Johnson (10-2 with a sub-3 era) and something strange occurred in the top of the 7th innning. Wes Helms was batting, after a close pitch was called a ball, Ed Rapuano, the home plate umpire, called time and proceeded to eject Shane Victorino all the way out in center field. Now one thing that really annoys me is arguing balls and strikes. It's one thing id the umpire is inconsistent, but there are players that complain at EVERY PITCH, its absurd. I'm getting off topic, so besides how much I loathe the Phillies and Philly fans I really dislike Shane Victorino. There are actually few player on that roster I like, but it was great to see Victorino come sprinting in then , in attempt to get to Rapuano shoved his own teammate, catcher Paul Balko. This ejection is completely unruly and should be reviewed by the Umpires Association. But it was great to see 40,000 plus Phillies fans bitch about their all-star center fielder.

Fantasy Impact: Expect Victorino to be suspend for a game of two.
Real Baseball Impact: Werth filled in for Victorino and booted a single with the bases loaded, allowing 3 runs to score. Turning what should have been one run to three, blowing the doors off this game. Put it in the books Philly, clean sweep. And now are 4 games out in the NL East.

All Hands on Deck!

Training camp is finally here, that means the baseball season is over the July hump of unimportant games and the standings actually mean something. This means we can talk about actual football and not Favre or T.O. or Vick. THANK GOD. Today the Colts, Seahawks, Giants and Panthers all checked into to their respective camps and are getting things rolling. Lets see what going on around camps that are of interest:

- To start let's check the status of the first-rounders and their contracts. Looks like Matthew Stafford getting paid his money, but is it worth starting him over Dante Culpepper? Honestly, I think the Lions shoudl get at least one win under their belt before they go about putting all the pressure on the young QB out of Georgia. Matt Ryan, handled the pressure extremely well and pulled the Falcons into the playoffs. But the pressure of an unheard of 0-16 season may be a little bit too much. So I say bench him until at least one W.

-In more Quarterback news, looks like new head coach Eric Mangini intends on picking one starting QB and sticking with him. Noooo way, so it won't switch week-to-week! Well whether it's going to be Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn, they'll still look like shit with their new uniforms.

- Beanie Wells is injured. This seems to be a common trait with the rookie out of Ohio State. Thats not all of the news out of Cardinals training camp because, oh wait, he just agreed to a 5 year deal. Why does Ohio State produce players that are expected to be so great and just ride the pine due to injury? Greg Oden anybody? I watched this kid play a lot last year, as much as I could handle watching Ohio State struggle with their QB issues. And he is something special, but 30 TDs, over 3,000 yards in three years....oh yeah and no fumbles. Wow, that is pretty impressive. The Cards are going to need him, with the release of Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower as their number one.

A sad day on the homefront

This is not sports-related at all, but a tragic weekend in the Miller-Roberts household. On Wednesday, Dax, our family's cat for 13 years died. I remember picking him up from the pound roughly 13 years ago along with Larry, our other cat (whole other story). Dax put up with a lot of shit from our family, which definitely made him last for so long. This cat was a trooper, he survived a fall onto our spiked fence where he literally was gutted. After the surgery and getting stitched back up, we never got around to removing the stitches removed (thanks to the vet charging a ridiculous amount for the procedure). Dax did amazing things, he ran through his nine lives and then some. Surviving a week on his own, killing squirrels and neighborhood cats that crossed his path and finally diabetes.

This may seem like we treated this cat like garbage, I don't mean for it to sound like that at all. in fact the opposite. My mother treated Dax like an angel, even if he was acting like a whiny punk. Clawing her and begging for food all the time, even with a full dish of food. Hopping into her lap while she was making food. She paid attention to him and loved him. My father, a whole different story, which we won't get into.

Dax was an amazing cat and will be sincerely missed.

RIP

Not such a huge bang

The one weekend I decide to take for myself, is of course the biggest day for MLB during the "down months." This day I ofically deemed the "Hunt for Blue Doc-tober," in light of the Roy Halladay banter (Yes, I know I'm a huge loser). Anyways, thanks to ESPN text message update alerts, it was like I never left my computer lets run over some of the winners and losers of the 2009 MLB trade deadline frenzy.

WINNERS:

Boston Red Sox- Either they have some criminal master mind in the front office calling all the shots or Theo Epstein is the best thing for the team since...well ever . Trading away several young prospects, mainly Justin Masterson (who will, mark my words, be an 18 game winner with time). But in return they picked up Victor Martinez, an important gap is filled with a big bat in the middle of the line-up and a catcher that can throw the ball to second without me cringing every time I watch. Also the Sox picked up Casey Kotchman for Adam LaRoche, straight up. I mean they are pretty much interchangeable hitters, but a drastic improvement in the field, not that I see the mighty Casey starting anytime soon, with the plethora of first basemen the Sox have on their roster.

Chicago White Sox- Wow, Peavy?? Pretty nice, lets just set up his locker and get his jersey ready...oh wait, he's injured?!? What the hell San Diego?! You told me he's good to go for a start next week!! This, of course, is an imaginary conversation that Sox GM Ken Williams has with the Padres. But this is actually huge for the Sox, they need that end of the season boost if they are going to hang with the Red hot Tigers into the fall.

Philadelphia Phillies- Cliff Lee's resurgence from last year has been remarkable, from pitching in AAA ball all they way to 20 wins and a Cy Young. But the real story now is how is going to survive in the NL East? The Phillies fought hard for Halladay but in the end didn't want to give up too much potential for possibly another World Series. Seems kind of silly no? Well they held to their young talent and got a Cy Young winner, who will most likely propel them deep into the Fall. This is especially true if Pedro Martinez comes back strong and if he keeps pitching well in his rehab assignment. Nice job Philly.

Florida Marlins- I'm really going out on a limb here in putting my faith into Nick Johnson, who I despise, but respect in a sense. He is an amazingly patient hitter and sees a ton of pitches and he is having a career season, on pace to hit more than 10 more RBIs and is flirting with batting .300. "OK," you may say, "He seems like a pretty mediocre player, why all the love?" Well I call this the Nationals effect, anyone who can put up big numbers on such a crappy team gets my respect (I put Ryan Zimmerman way up on my third basemen list for this reason). This trade may work out real well for the Marlin or just may crash and burn.

LOSER(S):

Cleveland Indians- If you've read the winners you'll understand why I don't have to justify this.

Pittsburgh Pirates- I mean cooooooome ooooonnnnn. First off, you are on pace to have the longest string of losing seasons, 17. Not just in baseball, mind you, but in all of sports. Then you go off and trade the potential face of the franchise, Nate McLouth, for prospects. Then you think "Ok we can build up from here." Then POOF it's gone in a heartbeat, all of it. Sanchez, Wilson, Morgan and list goes on and on. My theory on the Buccos: The antitrust laws and anti monopolization laws created in the late 19th century are reflected to sports as well, if you have two championship caliber sports teams, the other two have to be mediocre and if you only have one other it has to be the laughing stock of the league. But hey, thanks for J Bay.

He's gonna do what??

So, here's how it's going to go: I'll have posts about normal boring everyday blogger posts i.e. "Halladay still not traded", "When will Favre keel over and die?" so on and so forth, but as mentioned in prior post, working in live games blah-blah-bah, I'll be giving you updates from games you probably won't give two shits about.

But hey, here's a little sample that'll most likely get you're teeth grinding or bring a smile to your face. Tonight, as Alexei "The Cuban Missile" Ramirez was in the process of turning a 6-4-3 double play and tweaked what looked like could have been his ankle and removed from the game in the top of the 7th. You may not care, but this is a guy who is owned in pretty much every fantasy league and is the future face of the Chicago White Sox.

Generally, I'll give you a little preface of the game I'm doing for the night, such as starting pitchers, potential line-ups, etc. Tonight, kind of spur of the moment so bear with me.

Slow start...

I've been meaning to sit down and start a whole new blog, ever since I graduated and had some time on my hands. Well...it's been over a month of sitting around and speculating about said blog and it's finally come! I wrote an old blog (Huw's on First?!), which failed due to lack of interest (both audience and myself), but now I'll be trying to update the blog periodically.

Let me give you a little rundown of myself that can't be explained in the little side box. As you may have read in my sidebar I work in sports, at Sirius XM radio specifically. What do I do? Funny you should ask, I work in live play-by-play for all major sports. That means roughly getting paid to watch games. A dream come true, no? There are other duties I have at work, but I don't want to bore you with all of the details. Lets just say that if you are a Sirius XM subscriber and something is wrong with the game you're listening to, well, I'm the guy to blame.

What is this blog all about you may or may not ask. Well, I am a huge sports fan, I really enjoy baseball and excuse me if I rabble on and on about it. BUT, I will be discussing things beyond sports, such as memories, funny things and anything I can think about that may bore you to tears.

Are you going to have a hometown preference Huw? Glad you asked that. Yes, yes I will be biased, just enough to push peoples' buttons, though. On a serious note, I am Boston sports fan (A "Homer" as one of my roommate loves to call me) and will be floating around the subject probably more than the normal human being, but I won't be discussing things like the Pittsburgh Pirates 18th round draft choice and his potential impact on the franchise in 6 years. TO THE POINT: I will discuss the pressing issues in the world of sports, with out being on my knees for major market teams i.e. ESPN.

WITH OUT FURTHER ADO THE FIRST POST!!! HORRAY!