Baseball

Last year saw the defending champ put together one of the most impressive seasons we've seen in the history of our young league, 12-2 and the title belt.  He wasn't shy about the title either bantering all year long, running his mouth like his lips don't fit.  He wasn't any different this offseason getting more outspoken in emails and trying to stall the league draft for days.  Why?  Because he's the defending league champion and some owners are quietly talking behind his back about how it's quickly gone to his head.  Others outside the league have also noticed the change and have started calling him Lane Kifflin.  Regardless of how others feel about him, he is the champion until January this year and has a chance to repeat.. maybe.

Continue reading "College Fantasy Football Preview ..."

Amare Stoudemire had a difficult year with eye injuries. During training camp he suffered an inadvertent elbow from teammate Boris Diaw that partially tore the iris in his right eye. This injury forced him to miss most of training camp and he started the season wearing protective eyewear. It was obvious from the beginning that Amare was uncomfortable in the goggles and frequently put them up on his head while shooting free throws and in between plays.

Continue reading "Amare Stoudemire has been cleared for exercise"

The Chicago Blackhawks resumed their winning ways last night, defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1 in Atlanta.  The win ran the Hawks record on their current eight game road trip to 5-2.  Patrick Sharp ended his gola scoring drought by rifling in his 23rd goal on the power play in the second period.  Johnathan Towes scored off a rebound on the power play and Dave Bolland added an empty net short handed goal to ice the win for the Hawks.  Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 24th of the season for the Thrashers.

Continue reading "Blackhawks Trip up Thrasher 3-1, February 11, 2009"

  

Last night, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 to win the World Series in five games (4-1).  This is the second World Championship for the Phils…they previously won in 1980…28 years ago.  This will be remembered as one of the weirdest finishes in a Series with an unprecedented suspension of a game due to inclement weather.  The game was concluded 48 hours later…in hindsight…it was worth the wait! 

Continue reading "Finally"

NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers, it got me thinking whether Philadelphia is a Football town or a Baseball town?  On Thursday evening on Fox, the Phillies will host the L.A. Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS.  I’m not a big fan of baseball, but I do like the Phillies (Mets, and Yankees as well).  I watch about a handful of games a year including the playoffs.  I was never really into baseball…I just don’t get the fascination?  I find it slow, dull, and extremely boring…unless you’re at the ballpark…then it’s a whole different story!  When you’re actually at the game, it’s exciting and much more “family friendly” than football. 

Continue reading "Philly Is Still A Football Town"

ew the modern athlete as arrogant, Babe Ruth may have actually invented athletic braggadocio.  Baseball had never seen anything like Ruth.  He shattered nearly every record the game had ever known.  In the third game of the ’32 Series, Ruth allegedly ‘called his shot’ by pointing to the centerfield bleachers.  The very next pitch he slugged clean over the centerfield fence.

Continue reading "October Moments To Remember (in 750 words or less)"

In my current quest to work as little as possible while also attending premier sporting events throughout Florida, I decided to withdraw a small portion of my dwindling bank account and scalp a ticket to the Monday night Red Sox-Rays game.  Despite having lived in Tampa, I had never been to Tropicana Field.  But let’s be honest, prior to this season, there was never really a good reason to go.  Since their inception, the Rays have never finished in anything other than last place in their division.

Continue reading "Rays Fans Are Baby Taunters!"

better idea, give the umpires glasses or fire them all and hire people that can do the job better. Baseball has been around for what, 130 years? This problem hasnt been this bad for 130 years, or even five years. It seems like in the last year or two, umpires have gone blind. Fix that problem before you go to the video tape folks.

Continue reading "Gardenhire Suspended"

The sunshine state has long been a hotbed for college football.  With an abundance of high school talent leaving for college every year, Florida schools have their pick of the litter of some of the nation’s best athletes.  For as long as anyone can remember, at least one of the big three (Florida, Florida State and Miami) has been a factor in the national championship picture.  In the past ten years, all three of these schools have won national titles: Florida State in 1999, Miami in 2001 and Florida in 2006.  During that same time period, however, these three schools have traversed dramatically different paths to arrive at their current circumstance.  Furthermore, in a state where most believed that no other schools could compete in either recruiting or ranking, the Universities of Central and South Florida have both become presences in their own right.

Continue reading "College Football in Florida: A Ten ..."

up.  One problem… there’s not four outfield positions in baseball.

Major League Baseball originally established the designated hitter in 1973 to cure then struggling American League offenses.  The ‘position’ has been in existence ever since.  Has it made a difference?  Of course.  The top five hitting teams in the majors this year are all in the American League.  A.L. teams have consistently had higher team batting averages ever since the DH’s inception.  But has it dramatically changed the game?  Probably not.  No true designated hitter has ever won the Most Valuable Player award, although David Ortiz recently came close.  And the position has prolonged the careers of Hall of Fame caliber athletes, allowing fans to see more of Bernie Williams, George Brett, Edgar Martinez and Paul Molitor.

Continue reading "A Case for the Designated Hitter"

Hello, my name is Christopher and I'm a Red Sox fan. Which makes what I'm about to say so difficult.

I could not have written this five years ago. In October 2003, we Sox faithful had once again suffered another devastating defeat to our arch-rival and overall evil-doers, the New York Yankees. This time, the blow came from the bat of Aaron Boone in the American League Championship Series. Game Seven, extra innings, another loss to the Yankees, could things get any worse? Numbness ensued. Another crushing loss meant yet another year of ribbing from Yankee fans everywhere who were, and had always been, our daddies. However, five years, two World Series titles and one Ruthian exorcism later, Red Sox fans can put all that behind them and openly talk about the past, for it is now the Yankees who haven't won in ages.

Continue reading "A Tribute to the Evil Emperor"

Unless, of course, Mario and I were the only two in the stands aware that Major League Baseball still keeps stats like complete games. Or do they?

With modern athletes in better shape than their predecessors, pitchers should have the stamina to go the distance. With the Marlins up 3-1 going into the ninth and the Diamondbacks still reeling from Nolasco's impressive performance, Gregg shut them down in order. That's like Gregg getting to go home with the girl that Nolasco bought drinks for all night long. From this fan's perspective, seeing a CG on the back of Nolasco's baseball card would have been much more impressive, and entertaining, than any S under Gregg's.

Continue reading "The Lost Art of the Complete Game ..."

Jeff Christensen believes the quarterback position is broken. 

And he’s just the guy to fix it. 

“Kids today,” says the founder of Throw It Deep Passing Academy, “and when I say kids I mean 19, 20, 21 years old. They think because they throw a pretty spiral they’ve done something. It’s mind-boggling.” 

Continue reading "THINK FIRST, THEN THROW IT DEEP"

Somebody answer these two mind-boggling questions for me.  How does Julio Lugo get 36 million dollars over four years from the Boston Red Sox?  And why was Theo always drooling over him?  If he continues to get paid for the current brutal baseball clinic he’s been putting on, then that drool is going to turn into spit. 

Continue reading "Lugo: One Shortstop Who Has Been Here Way Too Long"

If your going to wait nearly 5 months for opening day, and have to get up at 6am to watch Dice K turn into Nuke LaLoosh, you better win the game. Well, thanks to the Manny/Moss combo, the Boston Red sox eked out a 6-5 win over the Oakland Athletics. 

Continue reading "Breakfast With The Bo Sox"

I'm not one to get carried away with facts and figures. But believe it or not, Manny arrived at camp on time (fact) and he showed up looking to be in great shape (figure). I love Manny Ramirez for many reasons, aside from that dreadlock tangled mane thing that he somehow stuffs under his hat.  But other than that, there's nothing else about Manny Ramirez that bothers me or ever has.

Continue reading "Manny May Be Out in Left Field...But ..."

Like the rest of Red Sox Nation, I really like what I saw in Jacoby Ellsbury's play last season and think he's the one to roam Fenway's center stage in 2008. But was it enough to turn Coco Crisp into Coco Crust?  I'm not sure about that yet.  Jacoby's a speedster with pretty good defensive skills, a so so arm, and an exciting bat, but did we see enough to anoint him to your everyday center fielder?

Continue reading "Coco vs Ellsbury: The Center Fielders of Attention"

If there's one thing I know about Curt Schilling, it's the fact that he's consistent.  No, I'm not talking about the fact that he's won at least 15 games 8 times in his career. Or the fact that he's walked 50 or fewer batters in 19 of his 21 seasons.  What I'm talking about is the fact that since he's been a member of the Red Sox, he's rolled into spring training with more than a few extra Schillings...and we're not talking about British pounds here!

Continue reading "Spring Training is Spring Gaining for Schilling"

Roger Clemens continues to profess his innocence that he has never used steroids. He has been on 60 minutes and now has had a press conference and released a tape with his former trainer to prove what he has said. Now I'm really torn on this one for a number of different reasons. I've always been a big fan of Roger Clemens but it seems there could be a lot of evidence that he has used them. The worse part about this whole story is no matter what Roger Clemens does he is always and forever going to be associated with steroids even if he is not guilty of it. It seems as a society we all rush to judge someone before we know the whole story. Even if Clemens is found to have never used them their still will be the cloud over his head. How much will it effect his hall-of-fame election is another story. He may not get in for awhile.

Continue reading "Can We Really Trust What Roger Clemens Is Saying?"

Well this should not come as much of a surprise that Jose Canseco has signed a deal to finish his new book on steroids in baseball and according to him and his agent many more names will be dropped in his book that was left off the Mitchell report. Now I'm not one to say Jose always speaks the truth, but so far everything he has said has been right on. Now according to him A-Rod and Ivan Rodriguez were left off that list and should be included plus a few others which of course will be mention in his book.

Continue reading "Juiced 2 The Sequel!"

While attending college at the University of Tampa, I noticed the awesome fact that the area is rich in professional sports! The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are relatively close to each other and easily accessible. The closest NBA was the Orlando Magic, but I got to catch a pre-season game at the Ice Palace one year. I felt really spoiled since I grew up in a place where everything was much more spread out and harder to get tickets for. To make things even better – there was plenty of golf and tennis around. I only wish the USF Bulls were as good as they are now when I was there. I didn’t complain though, I was able to go to the games free since my school didn’t have football. (They did at one time; John Matuszak is a U Tampa alum!)

Continue reading "Something's wrong with Tropicana Field?"