The long anticipated ramblings

It’s been a while since my last post, so let us start by saying I am very excited for the baseball season. I can’t believe it’s already here. I am not going to come out with my full baseball preview just yet, but let me say that I think the Red Sox, the White Sox, and the Cardinals have the best shot at winning the World Series. The Blue Jays and the Brewers look like intriguing teams….
Onto the NBA, with the All Star weekend finished the playoff picture is coming into focus. The pistons look like they are going to run away with the east, but for some reason they remind me of the Colts in football, hot start then cool off a bit and then stumble in the playoffs. If that were to happen I think the Heat will go on a run and reach the NBA finals. Out of the west I like the Suns. They are rolling right now and they don’t have Amare back yet. When he gets back they will be even so much better. Of course the Mavs and the Spurs are still in the west but right now they are on course to play each other in the second round and the winner will lose to the suns in the conference finals. My first half MVP is Elton Brand (25.5PPG 10.3RPG 2.6BPG) while leading the surprising Clippers to second place in the Pacific. Honorable mention goes to LeBron James. My Rookie of the Year is Chris Paul (16.3PPG 7.7APG 2.2SPG) while leading the NOK Hornets to a 31-25 record…
Onto the NFL. This past weekend was the NFL Combine. We saw some athletes increase their standings and some decrease. I think the athlete that screwed himself over the most was Vince Young. He apparently scored a 6 on his Wonderlic test, his agent claims he scored a 16. Either was he did not make himself appealing to NFL teams. To put this into perspective Matt Leinhart scored a 35 while Jay Cutler scored a 29, both are respectable scores. According to an anonymous scout when asked if Young was still a top 5 pick he answered "Sure … as a wide receiver, though." This isn’t a good thing for Vince Young and this only furthers my opinion that Vince Young will be an overrated QB in the NFL. We see this happen in every sport. A guy getting hot late in his last season, raising his stock and then a team wasting a pick on said player…
Final Thoughts…. Just wanted to mention the Olympics, I take pride in being one of the few who actually watched the Olympics because I care about my country. There are too many people in the US that doesn’t care about it, and all they care about it themselves. It’s upsetting when I read the ratings each week and see that American Idol is getting more viewers than the Olympics. Americans need to take a long hard look at themselves and learn to care about something other than themselves. The IOC needs to come up with some new and more exciting games so Americans can watch. No one in American wants to watch curling, or skeleton. They should have more skiing and snowboarding events because young Americans like those, and that is where they are losing viewers.
Next on Sportspop… we’ll take a more in depth look at the upcoming baseball season. As well as looking into the stretch run of the NBA.

Super Bowl Commercials

top 5
5. Budwiser Streaker
4. Touch football game
3. Fixing the Roof
2. Career Builder Donkeys in the office
1. Magic Fridge

JJ Redick

First off a few quick words on the Super Bowl. I was rooting for the Seahawks, I had money on them as well, but let me say this; the refs didn’t blow the game, sure they made some bad calls but championship teams know how to overcome those mistakes. As a game it was lousy. Poorly played by both teams and I didn’t even see an MVP but I guess Ward had to get it. The commercials of the Super Bowl were sub-par as well. The best commercial was the magic fridge. But on to one of the best college basketball games I have ever seen. The Duke-UNC game last night was incredible. We saw a young UNC team overcome a 17 point 2nd half deficit to take the lead only to have their youth and inexperience catch up with them. In this game a guy name JJ Redick absolutely blew up he was held to only 13 first half points, but exploded for 25 including that behind the back step back three to put Duke up 7 late in the game. We are watching arguably the best shooter in college basketball ever. Let me just say here that I HATE Duke, I am a huge UNC fan but I love watching JJ play. He can fill up the nets like no one I have ever seen. With all that said he is still too short to play the 2 in the NBA, and I don’t know if he can play the 1, but the scouts all say he will be an awesome pro so I agree with them. I can see how they say that. He gets his shot off no matter who guards him; he also has the ability to drive to the hole where he is automatic from the line. I am very excited to watch JJ play for the rest of the season, as well as seeing him cut down the nets, because Duke is the best team in college ball this year and then watch him continue his legacy in the NBA.

Are You Kidding Me?

"The only bad thing about it is young kids, whose minds are easily warped, are going to think, 'Ohhh, I am going to go out there and do it' instead of the team concept first,"

"It's remarkable, the execution and the efficiency, but we've got a lot of guys in this league, if they took 70 shots, they'd score a lot of points,"

How can Vince Carter say anything? This is the same Vince Carter that sabotaged his Toronto Raptors so he can get traded to a new team. This is the same Vince Carter that when he went down with injury his team performed better. This is the same Vince Carter who never met a shot he didn't like. This is the same Vince Carter that went to his meaningless college graduation ceremony on the same day of game 7 of the Eastern Conference Championship, a game they went on to lose. How does he have any right to say that The Mamba, I love that name, isn't a team player. His comments may be agreed upon by the majority of sports fans and players, but he has no place saying it. When I was watching PTI yesterday and I heard about it, I just laughed. That was the only reaction I can have to that. haha Vince you crack me up.

Mamba

Let me start this article off by stating that I am a Kobe fan. I love watching him play and while I was home this weekend I was ecstatic to hear that he had dropped 81. This guy dropped 62 a few weeks ago and then took himself out, and I am glad he didn't follow that precedent last night. What The Mamba did on Sunday night is far greater than what Wilt did in 1962. Kobe did it in a league where defense comes first and where teams as a whole sometimes struggle to score 81. Wilt was also a beast for his time, no one on the Knicks had the size to take him out of the game. People in today's game are supposed to be able to stop guys like The Ocho, but Kobe is the best player in the NBA right now. No question about it. Now that Kobe has scored 81 and realizes what it might feel like to drop a century on someone he will go for it. Kobe will drop 100 on someone this year and Phil can't stop him. Now I started this article off by saying I'm a huge Kobe fan, and let me say that while he did drive Shaq and Phil out of town he is still the best player in the game. He may be a ball hog, but wouldn't Shaq do the same if he were the one stuck on the Lakers with Kobe in Miami. It's easy to pass to guys like Wade, Walker, and White Chocolate. Who does Mamba have? Odem, that's it. So don't go saying that Shaq is the better teammate, and Shaq is better at the game than Kobe. Sure Kobe robbed us of the greatest duo since Starsky and Hutch, but wouldn't you do the same thing if you were trying to leave a legacy for this fine game? Because we all know that every sports writer would question his ability to win a championship without Shaq no matter how many they won together. And let me be the first to point out that Shaq has won the same amount of rings without Kobe as Kobe has without Shaq, zero, zilch, nada. And I will also like to add that Kobe will win multiple championships without Shaq, while Shaq will win none without Kobe. Kobe is having one of the greatest scoring burst in NBA history, just enjoy it, and enjoy the Lakers come payoff time.
coming later in the week, my take on the Championship sunday in football, and Superbowl predictions

Championship Weekend

Many people are talking as if the Patriots dynasty is over just because they didn’t win the Super Bowl. Let’s just state here that just because you don’t win the Super Bowl it doesn’t stop your dynasty. The Patriots dynasty is not over. They will still be a contender next year. On to the rest of the Playoffs…
In a surprising victory over the Colts, the Steelers became the first #6 seed to reach a championship game. They shut down a Colts offense that everyone slurped all year, but couldn’t get it done in the Playoffs, again. I don’t understand why the entire NFL and fans reel like Peyton Manning needs to win a Super Bowl and not only that, they feel bad when he looses. Why? They don’t care when other QB’s don’t win the big game. Peyton needs to show up in big games when the pressure is on. But back to the Steelers, they almost blew that game but thanks to our good friend, Mike Vanderjerk, they held on for a 3 point victory to travel to Mile High Stadium to face a very very good Bronco team. The Broncos were not able to run the ball against the Pats, 96 yards on the ground, but they were able to force the defending champs into 5 turnovers. The Steelers are an easy team to beat. You just have to line up and punch them in the mouth and the Broncos can easily do that, and I think they move onto the Super Bowl in easy fashion. The Broncos win 30-17
In the NFC we see a match up of a very good Carolina team going into Seattle to face the Seahawks. Carolina, like the Steelers have won 2 road games in successive weeks to make the Championship game, is coming off a dominating performance of the Bears. They went into a very hostel place; a place where I thought no one could win in Jan. and won. The Seahawks looked shaky coming off their bye week and they hung on for a victory over a team, Washington that looked emotionally drained after playing 6 consecutive must win games. Now I mentioned in my Playoff preview that I didn’t like Carolina, but they have showed tremendous heart and desire these past 2 games to reach the NFC championship game. They have also won 4 straight road playoff games. They look as good on the road as they do at home, the road doesn’t faze them like most teams in the NFL. Also John Fox is a fantastic coach, and I’m not taking anything away from Holmgren, but John Fox has only lost 1 playoff game in his career as a head coach and that was Super Bowl 38 against the Patriots. I’m giving the coaching edge to the Panthers, as well as the defensive edge. I think Carolina wins in a semi-defensive struggle 24-13.
Back to Peyton Manning, did anyone see how uncomfortable he looked in the pocket? He was moving around like he was on Dancing with the Stars, and he probably would have won had he been on the show. He was overthrowing receivers, he was missing open receivers, and he was missing the people who were blitzing on Pitt. Now I don’t want to take anything away from Manning because he records speak for themselves, but the record that I think speaks volumes is his 3-6 record in the playoffs. He has made the second most starts in NFL history without reaching the Super Bowl. We all have to remember that this was the year the Colts were supposed to go all the way. The Patriots were weaker than the past, the Colts defense was finally Super Bowl caliber, they had home field advantage on their carpeted dome stadium, and the Super Bowl was in the Dome. They wouldn’t have to deal with the cold of Foxboro or anywhere else, but once again Peyton laid an egg when the stage was magnified, and once the Patriots lost on Saturday night the Colts had to feel a sense of relief and perhaps felt like this was actually their year. I’m not saying that contributed to the loss, but its interesting.
Just want to say a few quick notes on the start of the new season of 24. I personally am a huge fan of the show, lots of excitement and I love the fact that its real time. The show picked up with Jack still in hiding and under an alias because of the whole Chinese problem from the end of last season, and if you haven’t seen the show, stops reading now, he has to come out of hiding because President Palmer was assassinated and Michele and Tony were blown up, Chloe was also attacked, but she survived and got in touch with Jack. The show starts off very strong and I am looking forward to see how they develop the story lines with President Logan and his wife and with the terrorist with nerve gas. Jack is also “back” working for CTU. The season begins with lots of promise, and I think it will be one of the best.

cool site

my freind Evan D sent me this link to an amazing site check it out http://www.prosportsdaily.com/ it has all the sports articles from every news paper

Playoff Preview

This weekend closed a wonderful year of regular season football. You had the teams that everyone picked to do well, and a few surprises, which are always fun. First off I want to congratulate Doug Flutie on that beautiful drop kick extra point. Now for my preview I am picking the teams I think will win the games, nothing to do with spreads. Onto the NFC…
The ‘Skins, Bucs game should be an exciting one. You have two very good defenses facing each other; you also have two Super Bowl winning coaches in Gruden and Gibbs. You also have two offenses that rely a lot on the running game. You have two QB’s who can manage a game and won’t lose a game for you, but they probably won’t win a game for you either. The ‘Skins are coming in on a five game winning streak. They have played very well in must win games. That’s why I like the ‘Skins to upset the Bucs in this game.
In the other Wild Card match up we see the Panthers travel to Giants stadium to face the NYG. The Giants are the NFC East division winners, and the Panthers got in with one of the two Wildcard spots. The Panthers have had an up and down season, but I think they will exploit the Giants’ defense, and have the ability to shut down Tiki. They also have a team that has been to a Super Bowl before and that goes a long way.
I have two upsets in the Wildcard weekend so that means I have the ‘Skins traveling to Seattle to face the Seahawks, and I have the Panthers traveling to Chicago to face the Bears.
In the ‘Skins ‘Hawks game we have a team that hasn’t one a playoff game in almost 20 years, but that same team has the NFL’s leading rusher, and a defense that can cause a lot takeaways. That will be too much for the ‘Skins so I have the ‘Hawks advancing.
In the other Divisional match up I have two very physical defenses. We also have two very good coaches, this game will come down to the weather and we all know how bad the weather is in Chicago in Jan. I have the Bears squeaking by the Panthers to advance to the NFC championship game to face the ‘Hawks.

In the NFC Championship game the Bears will cause enough points on defense to allow Rex Grossman the freedom of playing with a lead and the Bears will advance to the Super Bowl.

AFC
In the first match up on Wildcard weekend we have the Jaguars traveling to New England to face the two time defending Super Bowl champs who are playing on a roll despite their setback at home on Sunday. The Jags will be boosted with the return of Byron, but that won’t be enough to derail the Pats from facing the Broncos in the second round because..
I have the Steelers going into Cincy and beating the Bengals. The Steelers are too physical on D and will stop Carson Palmer who has had an MVP type season, (although my MVP goes to Tom Brady, but more on that in a later column), and the Steelers will ride The Bus for one more Playoff win.
In the first divisional playoff game we have the Pats going into Denver and looking to avenge their early season defeat, and I think they do it. They are playing with a much healthier team, their front seven on D has been playing excellent ball lately, and last I checked they still have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The combination of those two, plus Belichick doesn’t lose to a QB two times in the same season equals a win for the Pats.
In the second Divisional Playoff game we have the Steelers going into Indy to try and grab a win, but that won’t happen. Just because they have played bi-polar football the last three weeks doesn’t mean anything. The Colts will come out and dominate from start to finish in a huge win for Dungy and the rest of the city who lost a son.
But unfortunately for the Colts they have to face the Pats the following week in the AFC championship game, and I know everyone will be picking the Colts in this game, but I will stick with my Pats. They have picked against the Pats the last two years against the Colts and the Pats came out on top, so why should I believe anything different this year. Sure the Colts D is better than years past, and sure they will still be playing with extra emotion because of the loss of Dungy’s son, but the Pats know how to win in January. And so do Brady and Belichick. In fact the two of them have never lost a playoff game when they have been together. So look for the Pats to move on to face the Bears in Super Bowl XL.

In a rematch of Super Bowl XX, 20 years ago for those of you who don’t know Roman Numerals. The Pats will be seeking their NFL record third straight super bowl victory. They will face a stingy Bears defense, but they will also face Rex Grossman. Bill Belichick will have a field day drawing up defenses against him. The Pats will get at least one score on defense and one more on special teams plus one more on offense and that will allow the Pats to win their third Super Bowl in a row, and their first by more than three points.
Enjoy the playoffs and just to put it out there, I’ve got USC over Texas 48-34 in the Rose Bowl for USC’s record third straight national title.

Back To Their Winning Ways!

Raise your hand if you want to play the Patriots in the playoffs…I’m waiting…..still waiting… yea that’s what I thought no one does. Not after the Pats won their 6th of 7 to push their record to 10-5. Not after the way they dominated both sides of the ball last night in the final MNF game on ABC. The Patriots demoralized the Jets with two touchdowns by Vrabel and by ball control; they controlled the ball for 43+ minutes of the game. They also didn’t allow a first down in the first half and by the time the Jets got a first down it was with less then 6 minutes left in the 3rd and the Jets trailing 28-7. The Patriots also continued to move up in the defensive rankings, with their dominant performance last night they moved up to 4th in the league in rushing yards allowed, they were 27th back when they were 4-4. They also moved up to 17th in the league in PPG; they now allow only 20.6 points a game, up from 30th in the league when they were 4-4. So I ask you again who wants to play the Patriots. Not even the Colts. They see the Patriots in their rearview mirror and all of a sudden the monkey on Manning’s back, which he thought he got rid of this past November, is looming large. A few weeks ago when I mentioned how the Patriots were going to make a run in the playoffs everyone laughed at me, but now I’m waiting for that AFC championship game when the Pats go into Indy, most likely as ‘dogs, and win that game and go on to win their 3rd Super Bowl in a row and show everyone once again that it’s not how you start a season, but how you finish and the Patriots are the best finishers in this decade.

The Boston Red Sox 2006 AD (After Damon)

After having some time to think and clear my head after hearing the horrible news and seeing Damon with no beard or long hair, it got me thinking about how we can be a better team without him. The red sox now need to replace a leadoff man and a CF to go along with needing to find a shortstop, more relief help, and another starter perhaps. I suggested in my column from yesterday that the Sox trade with TB for Lugo and Gathright. I still think they should do this. You trade Marte, Clement and Bronson, and perhaps Mota for Lugo and Gathright. We get rid of a prospect, who could be amazing (key word being "could") and some mediocre pitchers plus a good reliever for two speedy guys who can both leadoff and play good defense. We also have the situation with Wells, we can now trade him to SD, they just got rid of Eaton, for some relief help. And then we go out and give Kevin Millwood 5 years for 55mil, pretty much the money they were going to spend on Damon. These moves seem obvious, but that's because they are. All these moves can be done and should be done. The next thing we need to do is convince Manny that he needs to stay. Give him whatever he wants. Again that is easier said than done, but again Manny wants to be traded every off-season. If we can do these moves our lineup will be:

Lugo SS
Loretta 2B
Papi DH
Manny LF
Nixon RF
JV C
Lowell 3B
Yuk 1B
Gathright CF
our starters will be:
Schill
Beckett
Millwood
Wake
Paps
Bullpen will be:
Timlin
Foulke
Hanson
Delcarmen
Dinardo
Pitcher from SD

I think this team is far superior than the Yankees in terms of pitching, and hitting we aren't too shabby.
we also have to remember that Damon is a .334 hitter in Fenway, with only a .298 avg on the road, his OBP is .391 in Fenway while .342 away, and OPS is .832 at Fenway while .780 away. All those away numbers are good, but not 13 mil good.

Bye Bye Jesus

When I first heard the news about Damon leaving the Sox I was pissed. I was even more pissed to hear he went to the hated Yankees. This is a guy who 7 months ago said this...
"I want to stay here, but I may walk and go home. I might shut it down in a couple of years.
"There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they are going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need.
"I'd like to finish my career here [Boston]. I'm not sure they'll let me do it, if they offer me [only] two or three years [on a contract]. I want at least four or five. "
now this guy is with the Evil Empire.
The worst part about this isn't that Damon left us, it's that he leaves us without a perennial leadoff hitter. He left us without the quote in clubhouse. He left us without Jesus. There are potential replacements for both which I will get to later, but the reason why IM pissed the most is because now I have to out up with the Yankee fans. Prime example, I was sitting in class today and this kid, who 2 years ago was trying to argue that Chad Pennington is a better QB than Brady, so keep that in mind, and he walks in saying "give the Yankees the world series title" and I was thinking this guy has no idea what he was talking about, yes this does cripple the Sox, but it doesn't give the Yankees an huge edge over us. He went on to cite a fan poll on ESPN.com that stated over 65% of people now say the Yankees will win the division. Anyway on to the potential replacements, the Globe lists about 15 possible replacements, I think the best possible replacements could be via trade.
the first of which is Torii Hunter. He would easily replace Damon's defense, but that would still leave us without a leadoff man. The next of which is Joey Gathright, he is speedy enough to cover center field at Fenway and he can bat leadoff, and while we are dealing with TB we can maybe pry Julio Lugo out of them as well, who can also bat leadoff. Personally I like Hunter just as much as the next fan, but I think a deal with TB for both Lugo and Gathright for Marte and perhaps Bronson or Clement.
anyway mark down December 20th as the new night for the last supper.

Football Picks

Home Teams in CAPS

PATS (-4.5) over Tb
Couple of stats for you to sit on... Brady 14-0 in cold weather games, Tampa is 2-21 lifetime when the mercury hits below 40. Plus you've got Chris Simms Vs. Bill, yea I'll take the Pats too.
kc(+3) over NYG
Kc needs the win for the playoffs, the G-men, not so much. Quick thought on Eli...
He's looked good at times, but I'm sick of all the Giant fans talking about this guy like he is a Hall Of Famer if he retires tomorrow. He has 9 redzone INT's on the season, and did you see him try and hand the game over to the Eagles last week? With even a semicompotant QB, the Eagles would have won.
DEN(-9) over Bills
The Bills can't stop the run, Denver can run the ball on anyone. The Bills have allowed 30+ PPG in their current losing streak, Den knows how to score points. Yea I got the broncos too.
Pitt(-3) over MINN
The Steelers are too physical for the Vike's run defense. The Steeler backs will run all over them. The Vike's haven't beaten anyone good on their 6 game win streak. Pitt will be to tough to handle.
Sd (+7.5) over INDY (upset special)
This game is a tough one. one team (SD) is fighting for their playoff lives and another loss puts them on a golf course come Jan. The other (INDY) is looking to go undefeated, and with a win this week will get them to 14-0, but my gut tells me that LDT will have a huge all around game (another passing TD perhaps?) and SD will win in a close one.
JAX(-15.5) over Sf.
Nothing to write here
Sea(-7) over TENN
Tenn wants Bush, Sea wants home field throughout the playoffs. Sea wins.
Arizona (-1.5) over Houston.
Since no one will be watching this game I'll take the time to talk about the comeback of Grant Hill. This is the ultimate team guy, and he can't buy a break. He is always injured. If it isn't his ankle its his hernia, or his knee, it's sad. This guy was Lebron James before we ever knew who LBJ was. He was supposed to be as great as Magic. Its upsetting to see what happened to his career. Wednesday night he made a triumphant return, in MSG none-the-less, and played a good game (7 points in 23 min.) it's good to have him back and I wish him nothing but success.
Miami(-9) over NYJ
the Jets blew their chances at the number one pick, Reggie Bush, so now they hope to lose the rest of their games so they can maybe get Matt. Miami has won three in a row and look like the token "come out of nowhere and shock the NFL by making the SB" team next yr.
NO(+9) over Car
I don't like Carolina. They are not showing me anything this year, but everyone slurps them all day long I don't get it.
Dallas (+3) over WASH
Dallas need a win for a chance to tie the G-men for first in the NFC east. Plus they want to avenge that embarrassing MNF loss to the 'Skins.
Cincy(-8) over DET.
Cincy good, Det. Bad.
Cleveland (+3) over OAK
I like Crenel, probably has something to do with the fact that he used to coach the Pats.
Phily (+3.5) over STL.
Philly is playing with a little heart, while STL is playing with a Harvard grad at QB.
CHI (-3) over Atl
Chicago is looking to re-establish themselves as a team to beat in the NFC.
BAL (-3.5) over Gb
who cares?

24 reasons why Manny MUST Stay!!

24. He is funny to watch in the field. He can make even the most routine play look exciting.
23. He wears ski hats during the summer. Everyone remembers him sliding into the wall to make a catch and his hat flying off to reveal a ski hat.
22. "Manny Being Manny". Those are the best T-shirts.
21. He is a 9 time All-Star.
20. He is a 7 time Silver Slugger.
19. He will never win a gold glove and we love that about him.
18. He hits HR's. That's all he does. He may complain off the field, but he always produces on it.
17. He wears the Oakley sunglasses with the MP3's in them during games.
16. Is there anyone you would rather have up with the bases loaded?
15. We won't get equal value. Trading Manny for anyone other than Pujols is like trading Pamela Anderson for that token girl in any Adam Sandler movie. She is a good actress, she may even be a little cute, and by the end of the movie you may even find her hot, but she doesn't have Pamela's "assets".
14. We wouldn't have a site http://www.keepmanny.com/ with over 65,000 people saying things they would do to keep Manny.
13. "Manny Being Manny" did I mention I love that slogan?
12. If we trade Manny who can we blame when things start to go sour? It's like when you always tell your teacher that your dog ate your homework, but then your teacher found out your dog is dead. You can't use the excuse anymore.
11. No one will pitch to PAPI, thus causing us to trade Manny and PAPI. (Figuratively, of course)
Quick Side note.

I hate Time Warner Cable. The on demand never works, and the Tivo is screwed up. Every other day I'm on the phone with them. I'm not sure how TWC get away with having a monopoly in the city.

10. It would leave us without that character in the clubhouse.
9. He always knows how to take a day off at the most inopportune time.
8. "Manny Being Manny" he even said that about himself.
7. He is a guy who can carry you on his back for a month while the rest of the team is struggling.
6. He can't have any weird nicknames like "Jeter swallows" or "Gay-Rod".
5. He always has crazy hair.
4. I wouldn't have an article to write on him.
3. Without him we wouldn't have the token "he didn't run to first on a groundout in TB when we are winning 17-1" play.
2. The Red Sox would not be as fun to watch.
And finally.....
1. "Manny Being Manny" without him it would be "Nixon Being Nixon". Yea I like the first one better too.

coming soon my picks for football this weekend.

Trouble in Wade county

An unfortunate tragedy in the porno world occurred yesterday; Ron Jeremy stepped down as the coach of the Miami Heat. This story shocked the core of the porno world.. http://www.slamonline.com/links/seperated.jpg
Now back to being serious. Stan Van Gundy resigned yesterday as coach of the Heat, and of course Pat Riley is now taking over. Does this shock anyone? Of course not, Riley has been trying to get rid of Stan since the off-season. Stan Wasn't the one who blew up a team that was 1 win away from the NBA finals with an injured Shaq, and a hurt Wade. Why bring in Antoine "all I do is shoot and miss 3's" Walker, and Jason "I try to play point, but I can't" Williams. Those moves were Riley's moves. He wanted to bring those guys in. It made no sense then, it still makes no sense as they are 11-10, and it cost a man his job.

a few quick words on the MNF game....
I hope Vick is not seriously hurt. I enjoy watchin the man play football. Does this mean I think they will make the playoffs? No I do not, but I enjoy watchin him play.

My Brother's Ramblings

A quick introduction before we get to my recap of the week that was in sports. I’m Josh; Eli’s older and sometime wiser, always funnier, brother. Since this my first venture to online blogging, I will make some general sports/ESPN comments before we get to the good stuff. It’s sorta like the first few seasons of the Simpsons, which had great social commentary. But as the seasons became decades, the ideas started to run dry. First there were 70% good shows. Then 50 then 20 and finally about 1 really good episode a year if you clip all the good lines together. That analogy works for me except that I will be going strong well into my thirties.

A condolence to the Pryor family. Richard was a legend and his work in Superman 3 will never be forgotten.

How amazing is the map of the US that ESPN.com has that shows the state-by-state breakdown of the online polls. It shows us a few things. First, there are only 5 people in the following states; Alaska, Montana, North and South Dakota (combined), Idaho, and Wyoming. I mean even Rhode Island has more people voting. Second, fans will vote for their teams no matter how obvious the truth is. (This especially applies to the Boston fans, however the Pats WILL repeat as Super Bowl Champs…..more on this latter).

Let’s start with the Heisman. Just one comment. Whoever, didn’t vote for Reggie Bush (at all) should have their voting rights suspended. Apparently he was only listed on 99% of the ballots. That means someone (probably from Texas) voted for Vince Young for first place, Brady Quinn for second place and probably Matt Leinart for third, just to make sure Reggie Bush wouldn’t get his vote. This should be illegal. If the Texas fans, and to a lesser extent the ND fans, wanted to vote for their QB (or both) that still leaves Bush for number 3. How does he not get the nod? Beats me.

On to baseball. I had the great honor to meet, in my opinion, the hosts of one of the best sports shows on TV or Radio. Mike and Mike from ESPN radio. I asked Mike Golic, “Why would either team (Texas and Washington) make the Soriano trade?” His answer, “I don’t know either.” I just wanted to put that in my blog.

I like the Manny for Miggy trade talk. Now, Miggy says he doesn’t want to be traded. YOU KIDDIN ME? Of course he does. Who wouldn’t want to play for a World Series contender? A team with a devout following worldwide, that idolizes its players. A team that creates websites to keep players that want to leave. (Maybe that question should be left unanswered). But seriously, aside from the 2 G’s replacing the 2 N’s, it would be like Manny moving to short, playing great D, and being a real team leader. There would be negligible drop-off in offensive production and we can again claim we have a better shortstop than either one on the Yanks. Also, Miggy is 29 to Manny’s 33.

The Blue Jays and Mets are morons. Nothing else to add. Who gives a closer more money than career saves? Who gives a 47-year-old player anything other than a coaching job?

I don’t know what to think of JJ Redick. Another ‘Great White Hype’ or another ‘Great Duke Hype’?

Pats and Corey Dillon are finally getting better. As long as the defense holds up, there is a serious chance of, dare I say, three-peat. Brady is the number 2 QB in the league (Yes, Manning is better despite never winning the Big One) and can be a flamethrower when he wants to. Defense shut down a pathetic offense but it was good practice.

Seattle is making a serious threat to only be a 7-point underdog to Indy in the Super Bowl. They are crushing crappy teams but that’s what great teams do. (Except Indy let Jax get 15 points in the fourth). I mean look at the G-Men. Manning Jr. let the Eagles get back in the game when he threw 3 picks down the stretch in crunch time. Minnesota will make the playoffs and Dallas will drop out. Call me crazy, but I think Kansas City will get the last AFC playoff spot. Houston will win Reggie Bush except that Bush will then decide to go back to USC rather than take a beating because the O-Line sucks.

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed the show. Check back later in the week for mailbag comments.

Football Ramblings

A few quick hits about Sunday football...
you may think I'm biased, or that they haven't played anyone good, but the Patriots are starting to come around. They beat the teams they are supposed to beat and they are finally getting healthy. I'll give them a punchers chance to go past the first round of the playoffs and perhaps give Indy a run for their money....
speaking of Indy, they look incredible. We are watching the greatest combo (Manning and Harrison) since Starsky & Hutch. They can and will go undefeated...
the Chargers most likely blew their playoff hopes with a crushing loss to the 'fins, also can we please start callin LaDainian Tomlinson, LDT and not LT....
Big wins by both the G-men and Cincy. Kicking late FG's to win games was clutch....
And Jay Feeley finally getting one through the uprights. That has to boost his confidence...
I can't get a solid read on TB, they look good some weeks, but other weeks they look bad. I also will not take anything from their game yesterday because I think the panthers are a joke....
I feel bad for Jet fans and Packer fans. They both lost out on the Reggie Bush sweepstakes....
Kudos to the Texans, that is a franchise that knows how to lose football games so they can get Reggie Bush. I mean come on that last FG attempt that they missed wasn't even close. They clearly had no intentions of winning that game....
That's all for now. Check back soon for more.

Heisman

Ok as I sat in front of my TV for 55 min all I saw was nothing. Why does ESPN carry 55 min of nothing? They could just be like here's the Heisman winner. Don't have a 1 hour thing about nothing. We have all seen the highlights of Reggie, Vince, and Matt. Heck, we watched all their games this year. But don't make me waste an hour of time trying to watch the presentation. But, Reggie did deserve to win the Heisman and now we wait for some exciting times. The first of which is the Reggie Bush sweepstakes. We get to see the Jets and Texans lose their games to try and get the chance to draft the man. And the second event is the national title game. We finally got it right, and by we I mean the BCS. Wake up and make a playoff already.
more to come soon.

Miggy

The Latest rumors about Miggy on the trading block have got me all excited. The thought of having him play short for the Red Sox would be incredible. It would be even better if we don't have to give up Manny to get him. Think of the possible lineup if we keep Manny and resign Damon.
Damon CF
Loretta 2B
Papi DH
Manny LF
Miggy SS
JV C
Lowell 3B
Trot RF
Youk 1B

the sight of that makes me want baseball to start tomorrow.

Welcome

I would like to welcome everyone to my new blog. In this space you will hear me comment, make an opinion, vent, and gloat when it comes to Boston sports. I will also discuss pop culture. Enjoy.