Rangers in for a San Francisco Treat

The Fall Classic is finally here!

And neither of the teams we expected to be in it, actually are. They proved themselves though. They took down some pretty big power houses in Phillies and the Yankees.

Well I’m glad we are talking about a fresh batch of teams. This is the Texas Rangers first World Series appearance and the San Francisco Giants haven’t been since 2002, but were beat by the Angeles.

We can sit here and talk about the what each team has done all season and the great stories, but lets get down to business.

I’m predicting the Texas Rangers take the series in 5 possibly 6 games, but most likely 5 games.

For a couple reasons. Good pitching and Timely hitting.

Yes, The Giants’ pitching has gotten them this far, but look who they faced. A young Atlanta Braves team and a Slumping Phillies team.

I feel that the Rangers have enough veterans like Vladimir Guerrero and Michael Young to put up enough runs and be aggressive enough with the Giants’ pitching. Oh yea, not to mention they have Josh Hamilton who hit .350 in the ALCS and probably would have hit higher if the Yankees didn’t walk him EIGHT TIMES!

But I think a lot of people are overlooking the Rangers’ pitching. Yes, it’s not the Giants’ or Phillies rotation. But hell, it gets the job done. They are a bunch of scrappy guys. Leading the staff is Cliff Lee. He did great last year in the post season, (including the World series) as a member of the Phillies; and he has done well again this post season.

The next two in the rotation aren’t headliners but they have done the job when counted on, C.J Wilson and Colby Lewis.
Lewis threw 8 innings against the Yankees in the ALCS game 6 only allowing one measly (bad call) run.

Well, there you have it. Rangers in 6, hoping for 5. With Josh Hamilton hitting at least three home-runs and winning the MVP award to cap off a wonderful season and fairytale story.

New Nike and Lebron Commercial

Oh yes, on opening day for the NBA what everyone is talking about (besides the Lakers here in Southern California, but the new Nike Commercial.
As if we didn’t talk about Lebron James enough this off season, let’s talk about him again.
[To understand what I will talk about, make sure that you have seen the new commercial first.]
Well, well, well; Lebron has done it again. Sparked up the criticism he will here throughout the year. (Don’t worry though; he’s been taking mental notes on those who took shots at him.)
I’m not taking a shot at Lebron, and I’m not taking a shot at Nike. I’m just trying to figure out if it was the right time for a Lebron commercial.
Yes, let’s start by saying that the commercial is promoting his new shoe. Or is it???
It would be nice if the commercial ACTUALLY SHOWED THE SHOE LONGER THAN A SECOND.
So that’s why I don’t think that the commercial was entirely about his shoe.
Over the summer Lebron pissed off a lot of people. Including an entire city, maybe even state.
“The Decision” maybe could have gone a little bit better. But despite the hour long decision Lebron did what he did and now it is over with.
I think it will all blow over after he wins a championship this year. But Nike is losing a lot of money with people not buy as much Lebron apparel, so they quickly had to help Lebron’s Image.
It’s one thing when Tiger and Nike made a commercial trying to clean up Tiger’s image and get him in the right direction again, but this is a different issue.
Lebron James didn’t do anything wrong. He had the choice to go wherever he wanted. He chose the place that would be successful for him to win a championship. He didn’t do anything morally wrong.
But it’s all about marketing. Lebron’s commercial needed to go out at the beginning of the season because come play-off time, he’ll be the whole focus all over again.
Nike timed their commercial right, but let’s see how many people hate on the commercial and hate Lebron more. Maybe they should just see the sales of his shoes.
By the way, Did anyone catch the Charles Barkley diss in the commercial? Or was it a not a knock on Sir Charles?
In the commercial Lebron says: “I am not a role model… right chuck?”
Barkley had a Nike commercial in the ‘90s saying that he was not a role model, he was a rough on the courts.
Also Barkley took shots towards Lebron for his decision, and the hour long show to make his decision. But again, we know that Lebron is taking mental notes.
With that being said, let the NBA season begin.

Dark Horse Candidate???

Will Boise State finally get a chance to play in a Bowl Championship Series?
No doubt college football fans could argue that Boise State is a damn good football program.
Good recruiting, great coaching, cool blue turf field and good athletic team!
But why haven’t they earned the respect they deserve?
Finally this year they were ranked pretty high for a team in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
Why no love for the WAC teams?
Well compared to SEC, Big 12, Pac 10, Big East etc. the WAC doesn’t even compare.
But Boise State is good!!!!!!!!
But are they good just because they are in a weak conference?
Boise State emerged as a David and Goliath story in 2006/2007 season when they beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
An overtime win, ending with a trick play. The game put Boise State on the map.
Since then college fans and analyst have been keeping an eye on them.
Looking for revenge from the 2008/2009 one point loss to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl, the Broncos faced off against TCU once again in the fiesta Bowl. This time with a different outcome as Boise again played the role of David with another underdog bowl win.
Boise State is on a 30 game winning streak; of regular season games. The longest active winning streak in Division I college football.
Still with little respect from the big boys they continue to win. To open the 2010/2011 season they faced off against Virginia Tech, which would be a big regular season game. The Broncos won again 33 to 30.
Now that Alabama has surprisingly fallen off of the number one spot in the BCS rankings, Boise is left in the second seat.
They have the resume, but the only thing that is holding them back is their strength of their schedule.
The new number one team Ohio State, fell off to Wisconsin Saturday Oct 16.
Now that Boise is number two will they finally get their chance to play in a BCS title game?
Finally they are getting some recognition.
College football fans would love to see Boise State get a shot at the BCS title. Let’s see what they can do against a real number one team.

MLB 2010 play offs

PLAY OFFS???

October is here and play offs are back.
Unfortunately I wasn't correct on all my picks from the beginning of the season. But I got about half of the teams in the play offs. Not bad, I guess. But now the schedule is set.

Rays and Rangers: Although the Rangers just won game one, I'm still taking the Rays.
(Gut feeling)

Yankees and Twins: I had the Twins to go to the World Series from the beginning of the year. (Check the April blog for proof.) and I still have them going to the World Series. Yes. I'm going against the best team in the play offs. But the Yankees only have CC Sabathia to pitch. Andy Petite has been hurt all year and although he has an incredible post season resume, I don't think he can come back that quick.

Reds and Phillies:It's going to be tough to beat philly. They're pitching AND they're hitting. It's the most complete of all the teams. I would like to see Dusty Baker take the Reds to the 'ship.

Giants and Braves: I don't even want to watch this series. because of these two teams the Padres did not get in the play offs. I hate the rival Giants. If i had to choose a team I would want to see Bobby Cox go out with a bang. Great manager finally calling a quits, might as well go out on top.

Phillies and Twins in the World Series. (again like I called in April.)

Almost Perfect!

A perfect game was thrown to the eye of the Tigers.
As later reply would show, indeed a perfect game was thrown.
Young 28 year old, Armando Galarraga, had 26 of the first outs of the game June 2 before Jason Donald came up to bat.
With all of Detroit fans on their feet they cheered as the last out was recorded for the third and final out, soon to be crushed by first base umpire, Jim Joyce, called Donald safe.
Everyone stunned, because Galarraga beat Donald to the bag.
The Tiger’s manager Jim Leyland came out to argue in a hurry. He gave his two cents in but Joyce still felt he had made the right call.
After the game Joyce saw the replay and realized he was wrong. He told 97.1 the ticket, Detroit’s sports radio, “… I took a perfect game away from that kid. ”
He said during the game he felt that he was correct, but after seeing reply he admitted he missed the call.
Joyce found Galarraga after the game and apologized. He told him he was sorry. Galarraga said that no one is perfect and admired Joyce for coming and finding him. He said that Joyce had tears in his eyes.
Major League Baseball asked Joyce if he wanted to work the following day. Joyce said yes and would take all the heat for his mistake.
The following day Chevrolet presented Galarraga with a brand new Corvette for his performance.
(I would have rather taken the perfect game.)
Joyce was the home plate umpire the next game and guess who presented the Tiger’s line-up card? None other than Galarraga. It was a good way for everyone to move on. Again Joyce had tears from the integrity of the pitcher.
It was one of the worst calls ever made, and that’s how Galarraga’s game will be remembered, but that’s what keeps baseball human.
None of this non sense reply. The game would take too long and it would change the game. You lose some you win some. That’s the point of the game.

Worth the Hype?

A year ago my brother showed me Bryce Harper on You Tube. I thought to myself, “Damn, that’s a hell of a ball player.” He was 16 years old at the time. He is now 17 years young and he was drafted number one in the 2010 MLB draft!
#1 and 17 years old. A risk?
Yes, huge risk. But he’s legit.
Harper crushed junior college pitching at 17 years old.
His hands are the fastest I’ve ever seen and has tremendous power.
We’ll have to wait and see, but he is the best player in draft.
Harper left High School early to finish his GED and to be eligible for this years’ draft.
What do you guys think? Phenom or flop?

Say Good Bye to the 'Kid'

Finally it has come to the day where my favorite player has retired.
Ken Griffey JR retired June 2, 2010 and it was effective immediately.
Ken “the Kid” Griffey JR will go into the hall of fame in five years without a doubt. I will try to attend in Cooperstown, New York.
He will go down as one of the best center fielders to ever play the game.
His smile was just as Hall of fame as his numbers.
He played the game and had fun. He ran into walls, made diving plays and Hit home runs with his beautiful swing but all while smiling and enjoying the game.
That is how I wanted to play the game. I talked trash but it was all in fun, because I could joke about myself as well. When I struggled at times my dad would remind me to have fun playing baseball and not make it a job.
Griffey did just that, played and had fun with the game.
He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners where he won 10 gold gloves and racked up 7 Silver Slugger Awards!
His next move was to the Cincinnati Reds. Although most of his years were spent dealing with injuries.
I feel like he moved away and I didn’t even get a chance to say good bye.
I was planning to see him when he came to Sand Diego as Mariner this year but his retirement came too soon.
I will always remember Griffey as the dynamic outfielder making plays that dropped your jaw and made hitters slam their helmets.
Farewell to the Kid.

Pad Squad

Alright, so I will blog about the Padres by popular demand.
I'm getting a whole bunch of text messages and requests for a Padre Blog.
So here it goes...
My First Place San Diego Padres are surprising everyone this year, especially the National League West. I was asked a couple of days ago, if they would be able to keep it up. I responded with, "Sure, why not. They haven't even started to play well."
The Padres have been playing descent. I'm not going to sit here and say that they are the team to beat in the National League, (maybe not even the West division). But I will say that we are playing well enough to win.
Timely hitting, good pitching and playing "small ball" the right way.
Hitting is contagious; any baseball fan will tell you that. Runs usually come in bunches. But for the Padres it doest really happen like that. They're not the Yankees or Cardinals with stacked line-ups and are capable of putting 12 runs or so each game, with a ton of Home runs. The Padres are a scrappy bunch that move runners over and there will be a different hero each night.
Now the good pitching has to go with it. They don’t need a shut out performance every single night. Just give them a good solid 5 or 6 innings and keep the boys in the game.
I feel like the Padres are all roll players. Tony Gwynn JR, will hit lead off, then Will Venable takes that roll another night. The brothers Scot and Jerry Hairston do their thing when called on, weather it be stealing a base, pinch hitting or making a start in the outfield. Also Kyle Blanks filling in for Venable while he is hurt.
But the small ball is what is creating wins. Moving the guy over to the next base, bunting, Sac fly and base stealing. The Padres get in position to score and make things happen. They’re first in the National League with 25 stolen bases. They come up big with two out runs and they have done while just hitting a team .246 they are ranked 11th in the National League. Just wait until they get hot. They Padres always finish strong but they often start off slow out of the gates.
Look out for the San Diego Padres this year, they could be a Cinderella Team.

*NEW Nike Commercial

We're going to do something different because I want more people to get involved.

I want you guys to check out the new Nike commercial and post what you think. Do you like/hate, do you get it? Then i will post what I think as well as comment on the post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NTRvlrP2NU

PLAY BALL!!!

Alright, so baseball season has finally arrived.
Forget Christmas, to me, THIS is "... The most wonderful time of the year.."
I'll tell you my predictions on who who will win each division and and aslo the wild card.
Then I will tell you who is going to win the World Series!
But its early in the season so lets see who is going to have a chance to play in the play-offs.

I'll start with the American League:
In the East Division: We have the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. If baltimore and Toronto think they have a chance they can go live another dream. I'm sorry it's just too stacked. Im going to choose the Red Sox to win the Division by a game or two. It will be a neck and neck hunt for the whole season though. The Rays are for real, but they still aren't the Red Sox or Yankees.

Now in the Central Division: the Minnesota Twins hands down. Yes, they are missing one of the top closers Joe Nathan, but i think they have enough offense where that wont be a factor. BEsides i dont see Ozzie's 'Sox pullin' the division out, and Detroit is just too weak.

And in the West Division: As much I would like to see Seattle pull it out and win the division I just dont see them doing it. They have key players and if they get hurt that's it, they don't have much dept. Ichiro Sazuki will be amazing, along with Felix Hernandez, (IF HE STAYS HEALTHY). But i have to give the Division to the Angels! They are consistant and they are still a strong team despite losing Lackey.

Now for the National League.
We'll start again in the East Division. Of coarse i HAVE to go with the Phillies! They got even better then last year. They only added former CY YOUNG pitcher Roy Halladay. Thats the kicker, hands down Phillies win the division. Although, i do like the Braves to make some noise. Watch out for the 20 yr old youngster, Jason Heyward. He has incredible power, massive hands and they're quick too!

In the Central Division: I have to give it to the Cardinals. None of the other teams seem like they want it bad enough. Plus they have the MVP Pujols. And most likely going to win it again this year. It just seems like that division could be up for grabs if the Cubs or Brewers made a big time pick up.

Now for the West Division: which could be the toughest to choose. I didn't say because it was the best division just because anybody could really win it. I think the Giants could win the division if they can get another pitcher to show up besides Lincecum. He cant do it all. The Dodgers are basically the same team except they will have many for the full season this time, (missed games last season due to using band substances). But I'm going to have to give it to the Rockies! They're solid and Troy Tulowitzki who could give Pujols a run for the MVP voting. They're a team that hangs around and then at the end of the season ALWAYS heat up. (and a side bar, as a Padres fan, THEY WILL NOT FINISH IN LAST PLACE).

American League:
East: Red Sox
Central: Twins
West: Angels
Wild Card: Yankees

National League:
East: Phillies
Central: Cardinals
West: Rockies
Wild Card: Braves

World Series: Twins and Phillies. Phillies win it again.
MVP: Joe Mauer and Troy Tulowitzki (Not choosing the obvious winners)
CY Young: CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay
Rookie of the Year: Austin Jackson and Jason Heyward

MARCH MADNESS

Finally, what we have been waiting for, March Madness.
Were ANY team can win it all if they get on a good streak.
Tonight we'll see who get in that last seed, unfortunately they will play Duke ad be out round, (lets be serious).

This March Madness saddens me compared to the rest, for one reason: My North Carolina Tar Heels are not dancing. Coming off of Roy Williams' worst season as head coach since taking over the team in 2003. It breaks my heart, but they're young and we'll get them next year. Another team that surprisingly didn't make the tourney is UConn. What?! UConn AND UNC not in the brackets is unheard of! But the games must go on.

Now the top four seeded teams, lets talk about them. Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse.

Kansas - yea the number one seed overall. But again, everyone is out to beat you. I don't have a downside on Kansas. They have the easiest road to get to the finals, and I think they will make it to the championship. They started number one when the season began and only had two road losses. Not a bad season.

Kentucky - who is my favorite to win it all. Three young freshmen starting and getting the job done. All averaging roughly 17 points a game. The only downside is the are freshmen. You see all the time that teams with experience and have been there often come out on top. Hopefully the freshmen can stay focused and want it bad enough to go all the way.

Duke - as much as it kills me to say as a UNC fan AND a Duke Hater, i think they're going to do well in the tournament. I have them going to the final four and only getting beat out by my top pick Kentucky to advance to the championship. Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler should drive them all the way to the final four.

Syracuse - the only thing I can say is good luck. They'll probably get to the sweet 16. But i doubt they get any further then that. They have been inconsistent this year and they didn't finish very strong. For a number one seed they didn't finish strong, losing their final two. One to an unranked Louisville and the other in the Big East tournament, falling to Georgetown. They have been road warriors and have taken care of business but I just think there a lot more teams that want it, that much more.

Now for some sleepers. I debated this pick for a while. I am taking San Diego State over Tennessee. Do i think the Aztecs are going to run the bracket? No. But they're at least going to stir it up a little.

Another sleeper that I'm going to take is Notre Dame. They were on the bubble prior to the brackets, and ended up with a 6 seed. They finished off the season well. Beating a tough Pitt team and hung in with West Virginia losing by only a bucket. The Fighting Irish could make a splash. in my bracket i have them in the Elite 8. Only Losing to Duke to advance to the Final Four. But they'll have to get passed 3 seed Baylor, and 2 seed Villinova (that is if both of those teams advance.

So let me see what you guys think. Show me some of your brackets. Lets see where your heart sits compared to your research picks. I will post a link to one of my brackets. If you want to compete against my ballot check out the link!

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/51656?ng=1&b=er%20target=

Is the First amendment dead?

The media in today’s society, everything has to be politically correct.

If you slip one time in the newspaper, television or radio it could mean your job.
Harmless jokes and comments now days are taken out of context and often people take it way to serious.

Recently ESPN analyst and one of the hosts of Pardon the Interruption (PTI), Tony Kornheiser, was suspended from the show for making comments about a co-worker.

Kornheiser was talking about co-worker, Hannah Storm, and saying that her outfit was “horrifying.” Also he was joking around that she was too old to wear flashy clothing.
Although Kornheiser was trying to grab some laughs from his audience, ESPN did not find it funny and suspended him from the popular sports show PTI.

If anyone knows the talkshow host, they know that he says all kinds of funny things about people, ages, culture, outfits and most of all he laughs and jokes about himself.

When I heard the comment myself, I laughed, then found pictures of her outfit and laughed more.

But I feel as a journalist it is getting more difficult to voice opinion about individuals because some may get sensitive.

I feel like the first Amendment has somewhat gone out the window and we always need to be politically correct.

My personality is just like Kornheiser’s in the fact that I love to joke around and have a good time. Make people laugh by making fun of myself and others.

I do believe in the rule that everyone’s mother told them when they were young, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all,” but if things are said in all good fun then it shouldn’t be a big deal.

I’m sure if ESPN didn’t suspend Kornheiser for the comment then nothing would have happened. People would have laughed and the whole situation would have been overlooked, but ESPN drew attention to it.

I think if comments are racial or discriminating towards a person, and then yes, of coarse suspensions should be made, and maybe jobs should be lost.

But don’t make the writers bite their tongue because we will never know or hear the full potential of the stories, scoop and opinions.

Tiger Not Out of the Woods Yet

Tiger Woods finally spoke after 3 months of Silence.

3 long months of wondering.

Wondering when he will return to golf.

Wondering what will be his future with his wife, Elin.

Wondering if he was really going to sex rehab.

And wondering why he cheated.

During the three months we had may questions, and frankly we still have questions. For three months we had golf without Tiger, jokes about him and many females coming out to tell their story about the golfer.

During his speech, Tiger apologized numerous times. He said he was sorry for his actions and for letting down people that looked up to him.

How legit was his apology? He sounded sincere, and he looked dead into the camera when he said sorry. At one point it seemed like he was going to tear up. He stayed relaxed and went on with his apology. I do buy Tiger's apology to a point.

Any time I was in trouble, my Mom and Dad would say I have to be a man and own up to my mistakes, then tell them what I was going to do to fix them. Tiger did just that. He said he cheated, he had an many affairs and he hurt many people, especially his wife. He did man up to his mistakes and told us that he was in rehab to get help, and the following day he would return.

Although Elin wasn't present, (which surprised many, including myself), Tiger spoke a lot about her. He knows how much he hurt her and is now trying to do everything he can to save his marriage.

The part that I didn't like about his speech was that he was criticizing the media. It was not the media's fault that you got caught cheating. He explained that the media had been chasing his wife and daughter. Yes, the media is a hassle and a pain in the ass at times, but thats the fame life, and when you mess up this bad, the media will soak it up. The media is just doing their job.

Finally Tiger said that he will return to golf, and he's not ruling out playing this year.

We are a VERY forgiving country and I'm sure all this drama will come to an end and Tiger will go on to playing golf again. Eventually he will break the great Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships, (Tiger currently has 14). But it will all have to be in time.