Kentucky Derby

There are about three things that happen to me year after year without fail: My birthday comes and goes, my mom still loves me and I pick the wrong horse in the Kentucky Derby. I am willing to go out on the limb and say the first Saturday in May is my favorite day of the year. From drinking Mint Juleps to listening to My Old Kentucky Home all the way to picking the wrong horse. Its all tradition. This year I am looking forward to the "Village People" singing a rendition of their song "Macho macho man" but changing the lyrics for the horse "mucho macho man". That kind of thing will never lead to that horse winning the race so don't pick him. I'm not sure if I have ever picked the winner though, my mind tells me I picked Barbaro but I can't remember that far back. I do remember in 2009 i felt the fire i went with Fresian Fire... He got 19th place. In 2008 I went with Colonel John who got 5th place. And last year I felt awesome with my pick of "Awesome Act" who finished 19th. Needless to say in 2011 I have no idea why all my friends have been texting me all week asking who I'm going to bet on and telling me they need my pick. Well here you go here is my assessment of the 2011 Kentucky Derby. In a field of no great horses post position is huge. posts 17-20 have won twice in the past 33 races one of those being Big Brown and there is no horse that good in this field so eliminate all the horses who drew 17-20 post positions. The best post position is 5-10 and have accounted for 16 of 33 of the past winners. Then there is post 15 and 16 who have accounted for 6 of the past 33. I was all set to pick Archarcharch until hours of research went to waste when a little ball with the number 1 revealed he will not win the kentucky derby this year. So with all that being said.. I have zero idea who is going to win this year, but I am looking forward to drinking Mint juleps, Reciting the wrong lyrics to my old kentucky home even though NBC provides the lyrics and cheering for whoever I pick. I'm debating between Midnight Interlude, Uncle Mo and Soldat. Cheers to hopefully being in Kentucky and picking the winner in 2012.

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.

Opening Day

Unlike my partner Chem, today has been the best day in a while for me because of Opening Day for baseball. America's sport is back and there's already been some good games today. That being said, I feel like I learned everything I needed to know about the team I picked to win the NL Central. The Brewers are good just like I thought, but the iffy part of their team is definitely late inning pitching, and today was no different. Play a great game and Axford blows it with a 3 run homer in the 9th. I'm not going back on my prediction, but it's going to be a struggle for the Brew Crew if they can't close out games.

In the NL East, the Braves came out strong today. Reminded me exactly of the Braves from last year: get a few runs, and let your pitching do the job. Everyone is absolutely sweating the Phillies starters, but when I look at the Braves, they're pretty damn good also. Derek Lowe is an ageless wonder, and the forgotten monster piece of the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox. Guy's just purely a winner. Did everyone forget about Tim Hudson? He is the opposite of Heidi Montag: came out way better after surgery. The list goes on. Besides Clayton Kershaw, Tommy Hanson is the best young starter in the NL. If the Braves get any production at all out of Jair Jurjjens, which I believe they will, they are an unstoppable force. But the difference between the fightin Phils and the Braves comes with the lineup.

The Braves are rock solid top to bottom. Subtract Omar Infante and add Dan Uggla. I say you come out on top of that one. Jason Heyward is everything you could wish for as an organization; I would build my team around that kid. Martin Prado is coming off a career year, and will have another big one. And the factor everyone forgets about.... Chipper Jones. Is it just me or is the most publicity Chipper has ever gotten been for the time he cheated on his wife with a Hooters waitress? Chip is a career .306 switch hitter in his 18th MLB season, and has hit 436 home runs. If he played for any other organization, people would be gargling him the same way they do Derek Jeter, who's only .08 career average points ahead of him. Chipper comes to work every day, puts on his hard hat, and gets the job done.

When going position for position, the Braves are better than the Phillies at almost every single spot. Yes Ryan Howard hits for a ton of power, but his batting average has been consistently dropping each year. You can't tell me he has as much incentive this year as he did last when he set the standard for the Pujols deal. Utley may never be healthy again, and I have absolutely no idea what to expect from Jimmy Rollins. I will legitimately take Chipper Jones over Placido Polanco 365 out of 365 days a year. The Braves play good ball and are gonna surprise the hell out of Halladay, Oswalt, and Lee. Oh yeah I forgot about Jim Carey, oh wait that's Cole Hamels. Maybe if he finds the mask he'll have a chance to pitch like he did two years ago in the World Series.

Here's a little reminder of what's coming from the future NL East champs. Might have to get back on that 14 year division title run again.

P.S.- Will Ted Turner please buy the Braves back so America can watch every game on TBS instead of by default having to watch the awful Cubs on WGN???

The Great Debate

Should college athletes get paid? After watching Real Sports tonight with my used to be man Bryant Gumble, I have put an exclamation point on my NO when it comes to college athletes getting paid. Why?

First off, all SEC football players and every big conference basketball players get paid enough under the table anyway. Secondly, there would be absolutely zero parity in sports. The teams that win and have the highest profit margin in sports would be able to pay the most, leaving the smaller teams literally hung out to dry. The only plausible way to make it work fairly would be to have profit sharing amongst every division 1 team in America in each sport, then divvy up that evenly amongst all players. Wow. That would be awful. No chance.

College athletes that are on full scholarship get a free education, free food, clothes if needed, travel if needed for holidays, books (which they sell back for cash), per diem on the road (which football players pocket because all team meals are paid for), and free housing. Most players end up with money in their pockets for food and housing. This is getting to be a joke.

College basketball is the worst. Are we really contemplating paying kids that go to college for one year, never step foot in a classroom, and leave to get paid the next year?

I'm sick of all the bs of the stories of people who never made it but come back and bitch. So now in retrospect you want to be paid when you're out on the street without a job, but during that time your education was paid for that would land you a job now you never thought about those consequences did you? Here's a plan: go to school, get your degree, so if sports don't workout for you you can actually get a job.

To add on, yeah the NCAA makes money; yes each college makes a ton of money off of sports, but most of that money goes back to the university or college to make that a better place for the students and prospective students who pay for your "education".

It's about time some of this responsibility comes down on coaches. Take Auburn for example: Do you think those coaches preach going to class every day? Is that why they have a 47 % graduation rate? Now take for example a BC, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke: above 95% graduation rate and they still compete. I don't care what type of kid you are, or what your background was, when you go to college to play a sport you know what you signed up for and that's to be a "STUDENT ATHLETE", and the coaches are supposed to preach that. Obviously that doesn't happen so they need to take some of that responsibility. You hear that John Calipari? You hear that Les Miles and Nick Saban? The NCAA should set a rule of loss of scholarships if graduation rate slips under a certain percent. Maybe that will force these coaches to actually do their jobs.

Barry Bonds and Bud Selig

So just when everyone was getting close to forgetting about the steroid era, or the greatest era in baseball, the Barry Bonds case has to be plastered all over every media outlet in the United States. This case is sort of unfair. Normally, a jury is sequestered so that they don't know information about a case. So this means that for the Bonds case it is already unfair because the jury knows, or thinks they know, everything about the case and have been flooded with information for the past 5 years. Fair and just trial? I think not. This case just brings me back to Bud Selig, and how he can sneak around with no blame for such a long time and now retire just in time to never be blamed for his huge hand in this era.

So after the 1994-1995 lockout in the MLB, America's past time had taken a huge hit in ratings, and was struggling from a marketing and revenue standpoint. Bring in Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Arguably the most exciting season in baseball in the past 20 years because of the home run chase and Marist's record being broken. Baseball had its flare back, and everyone in America was intrigued. More than half of the league was juicing, and Bud Selig and the MLB front offices knew everything about it. If you were Bud Selig would you start drug testing when you're sport was on top of the world? I sure wouldn't and he didn't. That's fine, but when the issue hit the media, Selig found a way to sneak out like he had no idea and turn everyone else into the bad guy. He watched this go on and let it go on, and when it hit the fan, he jumped ship to the other side. Selig is the one to blame, yet he threw the blame in every direction but his own.

Now he'll retire and every one will forget what a huge hand he had, yet I don't see him sitting in front of Congress and having a Grand Jury grilling him on the events that happened. Instead they are taking it out on the players who made Selig all the money; he might as well have just put the needle in himself. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy gets in the HOF, when all the players during his era will never have a chance to get in. Think about a principal of a school letting his entire school cheat to get higher scores on standardized tests, and the kids all being punished while the principal is getting a promotion and being praised for his job. Pretty much the same situation.

It's about time that the blame is taken away from all the players and put right where it belongs: on Bud Selig and the MLB front office. Let the players who sacrifice every day and put their bodies on the line off the hook; put the blame on the administration that did nothing to stop or help the problem that was small, but they let grow into one of the largest sports stories of the last decade.

Genius

So this is a two part post about geniuses. First off, I am a genius for picking Florida to win it all. Here's to all the haters who laughed at my pick. Florida can play. Parsons is a game-changer, and Tyrus is a freak athlete. They have great guard play with a really strong front line. Look for Florida to cut the nets down in Houston.

Secondly, Brad Stevens is a basketball genius. I'm sorry, but I'd take Stevens over Roy Williams, Bill Self, Jim Boehiem, or anyone else (excluding coach K). The guy knows how to win without talent. It's amazing where he has taken Butler the last two years, especially this year. This is what I think will happen: Stevens will stay at Butler as long as he pleases, and when Coach K retires, he gets the job at Duke and continues the Duke domination. Call me crazy, but if Coach K ever decided to leave for the Lakers, which I don't think is going to happen, Stevens will be at Cameron Indoor.