Keeping up with James McCluskey

Draft day is approaching and a lot of the eagles fans are anxious to see where the stars of yesterday are going to end up. Everyone knows a lot about Anthony Castonzo, a 1st round bonafide, and Mark Herzlich and his epic story but here's some more info on James. He was the eagles starting fullback and a team captain, and will make any NFL team smart enough to grab him a lucky group. Here are two links to James' recent interview and highlight tape.



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HERE COMES TIGER

Nothing better than masters Sunday... Here he comes!

Manny

Mannny manny manny, I could of kept typing his name because for the past 18 years he is one of about three people who'se first name is synonymous with a brand. Manny being Manny came to an end today the only suitable way, half on his own terms half question marks. As a Dodgers fan I credit Manny with giving me the two greatest seasons I have ever had as a Dodgers fan, he did the impossible. He gave the stadium electricity. Sure the stadium was electric when Gagne came in to close a game and Welcome to the Jungle was blasting. The stadium was great when Nomo pitched, and of course Fernando mania. But Manny was a position player. The dodgers were so desperate for someone like him they created "Mannywood" He gave Dodgers fans a glimpse of how the town is actually a baseball town sorry Lakers, and they just need a product to get behind. He will now forever linked to the steroids era for better or for worse. But I will always remember him as the guy who came out of Fenway's green monster, the guy who seemed to be actually having fun and for him saying at the Dodgers press conference"I'm backkkk" only because no other team would come close to paying him 25 million.

Great pick with Kaymer...

First Day of The Masters

So because all I do during the day is look for jobs, March and April are great months because of the big sporting events. Watching all the games during March Madness was awesome even though I had to watch a team from Connecticut win it all, and now the Masters is on for a long weekend. The first day is always interesting to see how the course is playing and to watch people trying to putt on greens that I would still hit over par on if I started on the edge of each one. Now we have a kid only a year younger than me winning coming in at -7 and should have even been lower. I think that people my age though are always going to expect something amazing out of Tiger. Even when he's playing as poorly as he has been its always a "Ok, this time he's gonna just bust out and dominate" thinking. Even though I'm rooting for Phil because he seems like a guy you would want to sit down and have a beer with.

P.S- I'm not a Red Sox fan (even more painful I'm a Cubs fan) but how many new and painful ways are they going to find to lose? Seriously thrown out at second rounding too far to lose the game?? Yes, I still think they will be a good team because it is such a long season but WOW they are finding every possible way to lose.

Jason Varitek is an idiot

How do you not know with the bases loaded if Youkilis touches the bag and then throws home that you have to tag the guy? Braincramp. Finding a way to lose. And as I'm writing this post: 3 run bomb for the Indians!!!! wow. Thank god I'm a redneck yankee and can pull for the Braves now...

Panic Time

I feel like an idiot for even posting this, because it's the first 5 games of the season. I'm panicking over the Red Sox right now. There has never been a team to start the year 0-4 and win a World Series. Although that's just a ridiculous stat and means nothing, I'm freaked. This is why I'm panicking.

Just when I thought that Josh Beckett was going to have a comeback year (as I think with A.J. Burnett), he had his typical start last night. Solid through 3, and when the 4th or 5th comes around, he gets absolutely crushed. Although every ace has looked sloppy minus Lincecum tonight, the Red Sox are struggling.

Carl Crawford is not going to be the hero. Yes every team wanted him and the Sox overpaid him, but he will never be the guy to win an MVP or win you the game. He will hit .300, get 50 stolen bases, and NEVER hit for power. Youk will get it going, but he struggled through spring training and will struggle for the month of April. Other than J.D. Drew's playoffs in 2007, he has been awful. Is Mike Cameron a plausible backup? I almost think they should give Kalish a shot or let Darnell McDonald play. Hell if the Giants can win a World Series with a career minor leaguer like Torres, why can't the Sox win with McDonald?

This is the thing that really gets me: every team that wins a championship in any sport has role players. Will big egos play a role or will they all try to do it themselves all year? Hopefully the Sox will finally get a win and allow me to stop pulling all my hair out.

Hey, hopefully the Sox will be just like the Miami Heat and everybody doubt until it comes around to playoff time.

Greatest Pitching Duo/Trio Ever?

So add on to the last post. Pitching Duos. Everybody is just all over the Phillies staff right now calling it possibly the greatest ever. That's giving a lot of credit to Oswalt and Hamels. This got me thinking about great staffs.

The Diamondbacks staff in 2001 was awesome. Schilling and Randy Johnson co-MVP's. Sick. Obviously I'm biased and think that Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe in 2004 was unreal too, but they doesn't even come close to the Braves staff in 90s. Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz, and either Avery or Millwood. Can you tell me honestly that the Phils staff right now is even close to this? That's 3 HOFer's on one staff. It's not even a question which staff is better. Add on the fact that they pitched during the Steroid Era and didn't juice like Petite and Clemens.  Plus, give me a commercial better than this one. There isn't one out there.

Greatest Baseball Player Ever?

I've been thinking a lot about who the greatest baseball player in my lifetime has been. And it may piss a lot of people off, but Barry Bonds is top 3 in my list. The one player almost everybody forgets about is Ken Griffey Jr. If Griffey did not get hurt, he would have murdered Hank Aaron's home run record. The difference between him and Bonds? There would be no asterisk in the record book. Griffey was everybody's childhood hero. He was the first guy to have his own baseball shoes named after him. He also had the greatest sports video game ever named after him. Also had some pretty incredible commercials.

What else do you need to know? Here's a few numbers to prove this point: ROY, 13 time all-star, 10 time Gold Glove winner, 7 time Silver Slugger Award winner, Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Career .284 hitter with 630 HR's, 2,781 hits, 1836 RBI's. Guy was an absolute legend. Without injury, greatest baseball player to ever play the game.

Urban Meyer

Wooah. Wait.... I thought Urban Meyer was retiring from Florida so that he could spend more time with his family. Isn't that why he said he quit? So am I just imagining or did I see him on College Football Live today? Oh and he's going around to every team's spring practice? That's quite a busy schedule for a guy who is with his family all the time.

Masters Week

It's Master's Week. Is anyone as excited as I am? If you don't like the Masters, GTFO. Sure the US Open is great, and it's fun to watch guys play in brutal weather in Scotland, but there is just nothing even close to the Masters. It's on another level, and American or not, the players understand that. 

That being said, I am actually one of those people that still believes in Tiger. I'm waiting for him to burst on the scene, and I'm thinking this is the perfect week for it. Yeah ESPN follows every hole he plays even at the smaller tournaments, but this is his chance: the entire world will be watching to give it the big FU and say "I'm back". Isn't it still funny that Vegas has Tiger as an 8-1 shot to win the Masters when he hasn't proved any readiness yet to do so? I love how odds trust the man just like I do. 

Although I've said all of this, I'm picking Martin Kaymer and his 15-1 odds to win it. Love the guy's game. 

don't hype a college game

I've been scratching my head trying to figure out how a team can play that bad? Was Butler watching Jim Calhoun's pregame speech and fell asleep? Jim Calhoun won't be advising Disney on movie lines anytime soon "Let's make sure we go out and get 'em." wow Jim wow. All the players appeared bored but then the speech ended and was followed by ONE UCONN player clapping. The game was so boring not even buffalo wild wings could save it. The truth is, this is what we are going to have as long as kids keep leaving for the NBA early. The final 4 should have featured Kevin Love on UCLA, Derek Rose on Memphis, Eric Gordon playing for Indiana but these players are playing in the NBA All star game. Every game in the tournament was low quality but this game is getting written and trashed on because its the only game that had "expectations" and featured alone. The future of NCAA FINALS are going to be two teams that feature 2 upperclassmen whose future in the NBA is as a role players until there is a rule change in regards to the NBA DRAFT.

national championship game

Just as I predicted a month ago.. tonight for the national championship Butler will play Uconn. Ok maybe i had both teams losing before the sweet 16, But this game seems fitting now. Kentucky came into saturday's game with what seemed like absolutely no game plan on either side but especially offensively. They were like an NBA team playing totally 1 on 1 basketball praying outside shots with hands in their face fell through the hoop and they panicked when Harrelson was in foul trouble. Calipari will never win a championship, On the other hand tonight is the complete opposite of Coach Cal, a coach named Brad Stevens who does his homework, has a game plan and the team executes it to perfection. Butler will make Uconn's defense look bad because that's what they are a bad defensive basketball team. Butler is built as a defensive basketball team, so expect Butler to contain if possible Kemba Walker. Kentucky gave him way to much credit which led to easy baskets. Butler plays better team defense and will shut down Kemba. I see the game being close Butler maybe even trailing but expect around 12-15 minutes left in the second half kyle marshall will come in be the offensive rebounding machine he is and take the lead for good as Butler wins by 6-9 points.

too long a layoff

Does anyone else feel the 6 days between the Elite 8 and Final 4 ruined the momentum? Maybe in other years the layoff builds hype, maybe in other years there would have been a player like Jimmer or Kyle Singler to read about in the layoff. But this year every single article written is about Shaka Smart with a little sprinkle of Brad Stevens who is suddenly boring to write about or give any credit as the best coach out there. This is his second final 4, compare that with Calipari who is coaching his first "official" final 4 game today. But with no stars and yes I am saying Kemba Walker is not a star and with nobody who actually watches college basketball alive in their office pool this year's final four has lost all momentum from a great first two weeks. But then again I will probably be proven wrong once tip comes and my juices start flowing again.

And the Giants win!!! Oh wait April Fools

A great way to start April Fool's day: Talk about the Giants relevance in this years World Series hunt. Get used to it Giants fans: a one run loss. Let's be honest, last year was an absolute joke that you won. If I woke up today and saw that you won the World Series as a funny on the front of the sports page for April Fools' Day, I wouldn't even buy it. Your best offensive weapon was... wait... drumroll please... Cody Ross!! And second place Aubrey Huff!! Wow, hell of an offensive lineup. This picture reminds me of the way you're season's going to go compared to last year.

Let's take a look at this year: yes Lincecum and Cain are back. Baumgartner is ok, and who knows what Zito is gonna do. the Red Sox trash Ramirez and Javier Lopez are decent in the bullpen, and Brian Wilson is an aminal. So that bodes well for an even decent offense. But, you have one of the worst offensive lineups in Major League baseball. Tonight's game is what you're entire season will be in a nutshell. You're starting pitcher gives up zero earned runs and you lose.

Instead of whining and trying to tell me that last year wasn't the luckiest thing since the Rockies made the World Series, just enjoy what was the luckiest season in the history of Major League Baseball. Take it. You won the World Series. We all get it. But to think you have a chance to repeat? You have to be from another planet.

The only foreseeable chance you have to repeat is if you get Brooks Conrad to start for every team you play against all year. Luckily for the Conrad, the Braves fans aren't as relentless as the Red Sox on Buckner; just think, the Giants could be just like the Mets in 86, and nobody remember that they won, just remember Brooks Conrad and how the Braves lost.