Good Afternoon....
After a relaxing weekend on the Maine coast with family and friends, it's time to bring on the Dallas-Miami finals....With Dirk Nowitzki and Lebron James at the top of their games it should be the supporting cast that decides who wins this series....Miami has gotten this far with its ability to focus on their rival's weaknesses....Dirk has seemingly been a one man team....Both teams have shown that they can overcome a large deficit late in the game....Dwayne Wade has been up and down but we all know if he goes off it will be that much tougher for the Mavs to win....Chris Bosh could be the key for Miami....Shawn Marion and Jason Terry will have to step up for Mark Cuban's Texas Twelve....And don't forget Jason Kidd....At 38 he will be the oldest guard to start a game in the NBA Finals....Gives all on the hardwood, he will have to turn back father time if Dallas wants to stay with the South Beach Trio....The coaching edge goes to the Mav's Rick Carlisle over the Heat's Eric Spoelstra but it seems that Miami is in the zone so we'll say Miami in five.
Drama in the big car races this weekend....JR Hildebrand makes a bad decision at the Indy 500 to pass on the outside in the 4th turn on the last lap and crashes allowing Dan Wheldon to come down the middle and capture the checkered flag....Only a $1.5M mistake....In the evening's Coca-Cola 600, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemingly on his way to victory lane runs out of gas, leaving Kevin Harvick to zip past him to win the NASCAR race disappointing Jr. Nation....Hildebrand and Earnhardt's cars have the National Guard as a sponsor and it would have been fitting for them to find victory on Memorial Day weekend....It was not to be.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have won seven straight to take the lead in the NL West....With Buster Posey out, the Giants reeling and Tulowitzki and the Rockies slumping this could be the D'Backs shot to put some distance between them, the defending champs and the Mile High nine....Justin Upton showing signs of being the stud that we all know he can be....Ian Kennedy (couldn't the Yankees use him now) throwing tonight as Arizona goes for number 8....Seattle Mariners have quietly put a 8-2 run together and pull to within 1 1/2 games in the AL West....Is Eric Bedard really back?....Jake Peavy looked impressive last night shutting down the hot BoSox bats....If Toronto can put some runners on base for Jose Bautista we might be looking at the first Triple Crown winner since Yaz in '67....My Fantasy Baseball bonehead move of the week bites me in the ass on Monday as I drop the two-start Bartolo Colon and he delivers his first shutout in five years.
Game 7 between Tampa Bay and Boston in the NHL's Conference Finals was an instant classic....With the Bruins having the Boston sport's spotlight on them only, they shine....What a game....NO PENALTIES!....Sixty minutes of rock 'em, sock 'em action-packed playoff action....Somebody had to lose but the Boston area is in Hockey Heaven....Stories of the Big, Bad Bruins, their '72 Cup win (the last time Boston won it) and that glorious day back in May of 1970 when Bobby Orr flew thru the air after scoring his famous overtime goal against the St. Louis Blues....Should be a terrific Finals.
As the NBA Finals tip off tonight it reminds me of 1979 when Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins shattered the backboard glass as he dunked over Bill Robinzine....He named it the....
"The Chocolate Thunder-Flying, Robinzine Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am Jam."..........talk to ya
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Gentlemen (and Ladies), Start Your Engines........Vol 8. (May 27, 2011)
Good Morning....
C'mon, what would Memorial Day weekend be without the Indianapolis 500?....Thats right, cookouts, baseball, apple pie, ice cream and the Indy 500....Danica Patrick is back for another try and another walk under the spotlight....Her chances are slim and none....OK, none but she intends to drive part-time for NASCAR in 2012 easing into full time status for 2013....She leads four women into this years Brickyard Classic....This is not your Daddy's Indy 500....Not one to follow Indy racing too closely I'm backing that crazy cat Helio Castoneves to pick up his fourth 500 win....I'm pulling for Simona de Silvestro out of the 23rd spot who despite seriously burning both her hands in a terrible crash last week came back to qualify....Ah, nothing like a fiesty woman.
In another NBA collapse, the Chicago Bulls are making tee times this morning after choking up in the last 4 minutes last night.....I don't want to hear about bad calls....Give the South Beach Trio credit....Not playing their best game they stormed down the stretch and showed D-Rose and the Bulls they are not ready for prime time....Tom Thibodeau deserves his Coach of the Year award and is their any doubt as to who is the best player in the game?....King James.
What a shame....Buster Posey steamrolled at home plate Wednesday night by the Marlin's Scott Cousins in a brutal collision....Broken leg and torn ligaments....ouch.....Talk shows and the internet have been lit up with opinions about changing the rules to protect the catcher....It's part of the game folks....Don't change anything....It's unfortunate but risks are what professional atheletes take....The play at the plate is part of the game....This makes the NL West a little more interesting....Where are you, Bengie Molina?
In an oddity to the MLB schedule, the Red Sox play back-to-back day games and deliver big time with 14 runs each day behind the sizzling Carl Crawford....8-9, 5 XBH, 5 RBI....Not bad for a #8 hitter....Watching the Bos-Det game in the slop yesterday and All-World Ellsbury scoring from first thru the puddles in the 8th got me to wondering what were the umpires thinking?....Do we need a player to get hurt due to weather conditions before they rethink this rain policy?....Anibal Sanchez throws a 5 hit complete game shutout over the grieving Giants.
Please have a safe and happy weekend....Save a thought for a departed GI.
"I have two weapons. My legs, my arms and my brains." - Michael Vick, Philly QB
....talk to ya
C'mon, what would Memorial Day weekend be without the Indianapolis 500?....Thats right, cookouts, baseball, apple pie, ice cream and the Indy 500....Danica Patrick is back for another try and another walk under the spotlight....Her chances are slim and none....OK, none but she intends to drive part-time for NASCAR in 2012 easing into full time status for 2013....She leads four women into this years Brickyard Classic....This is not your Daddy's Indy 500....Not one to follow Indy racing too closely I'm backing that crazy cat Helio Castoneves to pick up his fourth 500 win....I'm pulling for Simona de Silvestro out of the 23rd spot who despite seriously burning both her hands in a terrible crash last week came back to qualify....Ah, nothing like a fiesty woman.
In another NBA collapse, the Chicago Bulls are making tee times this morning after choking up in the last 4 minutes last night.....I don't want to hear about bad calls....Give the South Beach Trio credit....Not playing their best game they stormed down the stretch and showed D-Rose and the Bulls they are not ready for prime time....Tom Thibodeau deserves his Coach of the Year award and is their any doubt as to who is the best player in the game?....King James.
What a shame....Buster Posey steamrolled at home plate Wednesday night by the Marlin's Scott Cousins in a brutal collision....Broken leg and torn ligaments....ouch.....Talk shows and the internet have been lit up with opinions about changing the rules to protect the catcher....It's part of the game folks....Don't change anything....It's unfortunate but risks are what professional atheletes take....The play at the plate is part of the game....This makes the NL West a little more interesting....Where are you, Bengie Molina?
In an oddity to the MLB schedule, the Red Sox play back-to-back day games and deliver big time with 14 runs each day behind the sizzling Carl Crawford....8-9, 5 XBH, 5 RBI....Not bad for a #8 hitter....Watching the Bos-Det game in the slop yesterday and All-World Ellsbury scoring from first thru the puddles in the 8th got me to wondering what were the umpires thinking?....Do we need a player to get hurt due to weather conditions before they rethink this rain policy?....Anibal Sanchez throws a 5 hit complete game shutout over the grieving Giants.
Please have a safe and happy weekend....Save a thought for a departed GI.
"I have two weapons. My legs, my arms and my brains." - Michael Vick, Philly QB
....talk to ya
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Can't Drive Fifty-Five and One Finger Salutes......Vol. 7 (May 26, 2011)
Good Morning....In this age of instant news and constant surveillance we have these items....
Kyle Busch - apologizes for his "lack of judgement" after he was cited for careless and reckless driving plus speeding going 128mph in a 45mph zone in his 2012 yellow Lexus LFA near his hometown in Mooresville, NC....Busch's defense was that it was no big deal and he was "test driving a new sports car and I got carried away"....I know it's unreasonable to expect a NASCAR stud to follow the same speed limits as us normal beings but that was arrogance....
Andre Ethier - distracted by a photographer snapping photos during his batting practice, shows his displeasure by giving the double barrel salute as he looks straight into the lens....While frustrated by the clicking during his hitting that was just plain stupid....
Joakim Noah - heckled by a fan behind his bench during the playoffs, Noah replies with a gay slur....Caught on camera the NBA responds with a $50,000 fine (Kobe was hit with $100k)....Gotta let security handle the fool because that was politically incorrect....
Charles Barkley - raising his middle fingers in unison responding to a Miami crowd serenading him with a loud chorus of "Barkley Sucks!" during a TNT telecast....Right on brother!....
back to the action....
Experience pays off as the Thunder wilt late yet again and Dallas prevails moving on to face the South Beach Trio....A gritty performance by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a wide open third period forces a game 7 against the Bruins....Hmmm, another game 7 for Bruin fans, Friday in Beantown, add lots of alcohol and you have the makings of an electric atmosphere in Boston tomorrow night.
Journeyman infielder Wilson Valdez moves to the mound from 2nd base in the 19th inning and retires the Reds facing four batters to earn the win as the Phillies score in the bottom of the 19th putting an end to the six plus hour game....Always a pleasure to wipe the sleep from your eyes only to have the first thing you see is your Fantasy catcher in two leagues, Buster Posey, getting steamrolled and helped off the field in obvious pain....Shades of Ray Fosse....Carl Crawford is smacking the piss out of the ball....
from the "there's no cryin' in baseball" files....
"What we have here is failure to communicate" - from the classic movie "Cool Hand Luke"......Brian Fuentes throws his manager, Bob Geren, under the bus to the media for not "communicating" but Huston Street backs his ass up with this statement about Geren.... "he was my least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27"....The knife and the twist....
A shout out to all GI's for all you do as this Memorial Day weekend approaches with a special holler to my youngest son Bryan, sweltering in the 100 degree heat as he grinds out basic training at Camp Air Force down in San Antonio....Hang in there, kid....
NFL lockout continues as both sides get ready for arguments before the court June 3rd....I hope they all remember what MLB went thru back in 1994....Too much money to not come to an agreement....Remember Fantasy Football is big business, NFL non-playing employees need paychecks and Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Las Vegas....And the lawyers get richer....
Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's hit record 25 years ago....When Mickey Mantle heard the news he said "If I'd hit that many singles, I'd wore a dress"........talk to ya
Kyle Busch - apologizes for his "lack of judgement" after he was cited for careless and reckless driving plus speeding going 128mph in a 45mph zone in his 2012 yellow Lexus LFA near his hometown in Mooresville, NC....Busch's defense was that it was no big deal and he was "test driving a new sports car and I got carried away"....I know it's unreasonable to expect a NASCAR stud to follow the same speed limits as us normal beings but that was arrogance....
Andre Ethier - distracted by a photographer snapping photos during his batting practice, shows his displeasure by giving the double barrel salute as he looks straight into the lens....While frustrated by the clicking during his hitting that was just plain stupid....
Joakim Noah - heckled by a fan behind his bench during the playoffs, Noah replies with a gay slur....Caught on camera the NBA responds with a $50,000 fine (Kobe was hit with $100k)....Gotta let security handle the fool because that was politically incorrect....
Charles Barkley - raising his middle fingers in unison responding to a Miami crowd serenading him with a loud chorus of "Barkley Sucks!" during a TNT telecast....Right on brother!....
back to the action....
Experience pays off as the Thunder wilt late yet again and Dallas prevails moving on to face the South Beach Trio....A gritty performance by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a wide open third period forces a game 7 against the Bruins....Hmmm, another game 7 for Bruin fans, Friday in Beantown, add lots of alcohol and you have the makings of an electric atmosphere in Boston tomorrow night.
Journeyman infielder Wilson Valdez moves to the mound from 2nd base in the 19th inning and retires the Reds facing four batters to earn the win as the Phillies score in the bottom of the 19th putting an end to the six plus hour game....Always a pleasure to wipe the sleep from your eyes only to have the first thing you see is your Fantasy catcher in two leagues, Buster Posey, getting steamrolled and helped off the field in obvious pain....Shades of Ray Fosse....Carl Crawford is smacking the piss out of the ball....
from the "there's no cryin' in baseball" files....
"What we have here is failure to communicate" - from the classic movie "Cool Hand Luke"......Brian Fuentes throws his manager, Bob Geren, under the bus to the media for not "communicating" but Huston Street backs his ass up with this statement about Geren.... "he was my least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27"....The knife and the twist....
A shout out to all GI's for all you do as this Memorial Day weekend approaches with a special holler to my youngest son Bryan, sweltering in the 100 degree heat as he grinds out basic training at Camp Air Force down in San Antonio....Hang in there, kid....
NFL lockout continues as both sides get ready for arguments before the court June 3rd....I hope they all remember what MLB went thru back in 1994....Too much money to not come to an agreement....Remember Fantasy Football is big business, NFL non-playing employees need paychecks and Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Las Vegas....And the lawyers get richer....
Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's hit record 25 years ago....When Mickey Mantle heard the news he said "If I'd hit that many singles, I'd wore a dress"........talk to ya
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Is Tiger out of the Woods?......Vol 6. (May 25, 2011)
Good Morning....The Prima Donna (Woods) holds a press conference yesterday so he can show off his booted foot and look for some sympathy....He is just setting it up so when he fails at the US Open he can blame his injuries....Count me as one who has doubts as to whether he'll ever win a major again....The Golden Bear rules....Speaking of golf, ya gotta catch the winning goal in the Canucks-Sharks game last night....In the second overtime a Vancouver defenseman tried to throw the puck deep in the San Jose zone but the puck hit the glass and bounced backwards (just like some of my golf shots that hit trees)....Almost everyone, including the goalie, looked for the puck behind the net except for Kevin Bieksa who realized the puck was going backwards towards the blue line and slapped it behind the unsuspecting Shark goalie....What a way to lose the Conference finals.
D-Wade doesn't have his best game but with The King leading the way the Heat slap the Bulls in overtime to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their series....James, Wade and Bosh one game away from the NBA finals....I've just become a big Dallas Maverick fan....Kobe Bryant is "surprised" that Mike Brown will be named the next Laker coach....Guess he didn't get the memo.
Yankees rally in the ninth with a couple of seeing eye singles and sloppy right field play to defeat the Jays....Carlos Quentin jacks three big flys in Arlington as the White Sox defeat Texas despite a 3 hour Tornado delay....Strange moments in the delay as the fans were removed from the stands and located to concourses, dugouts and service corridors as hail flooded the field and funnel clouds danced all over Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Arkansas....Watched yesterday live as twisters touched down in Oklahoma....Storm chasers must be short some change upstairs as I watched one car chasing the storms drive into one as debris flew across the road and telephone poles shimmied along the highway....One pole actually flew over the car....Wizard of Oz like, man....scary.
Three home run games are becoming commonplace in the major leagues with five in the last two weeks....And they say that pitching is dominating hitting....Whats up with Albert Pujols?....off year, contract year....Look for a big second half....With Adrian Gonzalez tearing up the American League as advertised, Padre fans are clamoring for Anthony Rizzo (one of the three top prospects the Red Sox gave up) to be promoted....Rizzo is rippin' it for AAA Tuscon....So far San Diego has resisted but its only a matter of time before Rizzo, Casey Kelly and Raymond Fuentes pay dividends.
Did you catch the David Ortiz skit on MLB Fan Cave?....funny....Ortiz roams the streets of New York looking for love from Yankee fans as only Big Papi can do (http://www.mlbfancave.com/). Mike O'Hara, who is watching all MLB games from the cave this season after winning a contest, gets a supporting nomination....What about Lenny Dykstra trying to break Dwight Gooden out of Celebrity Rehab....Yes, that Lenny Dykstra who was just bailed out by Charlie Sheen....Nails showed up at Celeb Rehab (due to air in the fall or winter of 2011) with two big dudes and tried to talk the Doctor out of his appearance....Gooden shooed him away....Hope its on tape.....Kirk Gibson (Diamondback manager) taking batting practice with his team the other day trips and falls over first base, causing three of his players to immediately run into the clubhouse to grab some tape and draw a body outline past first base with a "23" in the middle....good stuff.
Shaq, one more year?....talk to ya....
D-Wade doesn't have his best game but with The King leading the way the Heat slap the Bulls in overtime to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their series....James, Wade and Bosh one game away from the NBA finals....I've just become a big Dallas Maverick fan....Kobe Bryant is "surprised" that Mike Brown will be named the next Laker coach....Guess he didn't get the memo.
Yankees rally in the ninth with a couple of seeing eye singles and sloppy right field play to defeat the Jays....Carlos Quentin jacks three big flys in Arlington as the White Sox defeat Texas despite a 3 hour Tornado delay....Strange moments in the delay as the fans were removed from the stands and located to concourses, dugouts and service corridors as hail flooded the field and funnel clouds danced all over Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Arkansas....Watched yesterday live as twisters touched down in Oklahoma....Storm chasers must be short some change upstairs as I watched one car chasing the storms drive into one as debris flew across the road and telephone poles shimmied along the highway....One pole actually flew over the car....Wizard of Oz like, man....scary.
Three home run games are becoming commonplace in the major leagues with five in the last two weeks....And they say that pitching is dominating hitting....Whats up with Albert Pujols?....off year, contract year....Look for a big second half....With Adrian Gonzalez tearing up the American League as advertised, Padre fans are clamoring for Anthony Rizzo (one of the three top prospects the Red Sox gave up) to be promoted....Rizzo is rippin' it for AAA Tuscon....So far San Diego has resisted but its only a matter of time before Rizzo, Casey Kelly and Raymond Fuentes pay dividends.
Did you catch the David Ortiz skit on MLB Fan Cave?....funny....Ortiz roams the streets of New York looking for love from Yankee fans as only Big Papi can do (http://www.mlbfancave.com/). Mike O'Hara, who is watching all MLB games from the cave this season after winning a contest, gets a supporting nomination....What about Lenny Dykstra trying to break Dwight Gooden out of Celebrity Rehab....Yes, that Lenny Dykstra who was just bailed out by Charlie Sheen....Nails showed up at Celeb Rehab (due to air in the fall or winter of 2011) with two big dudes and tried to talk the Doctor out of his appearance....Gooden shooed him away....Hope its on tape.....Kirk Gibson (Diamondback manager) taking batting practice with his team the other day trips and falls over first base, causing three of his players to immediately run into the clubhouse to grab some tape and draw a body outline past first base with a "23" in the middle....good stuff.
Shaq, one more year?....talk to ya....
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Millar Gets an Intentional Talk.......Vol 5. (May 24, 2011)
Good Morning....Have you tuned into the new show "Intentional Talk" on the MLB Network?....Very entertaining hour hosted by Chris Rose and his sidekick Kevin Millar....The chemistry between the two is spot on featuring comments on games the night before, that afternoon, Kevin's highlights, Kevin's "not so" hightlights and player interviews....Chris is the perfect host....Millar is a natural before the camera and being a new retiree he has a connection with active ballplayers that shines through during interviews, revealing real personalities....Insightful and lots of laughs....5pm eastern time Mon - Fri, I highly recommend.....MLB Network also has Hazel Mae...............
What happened to the Thunder??....Game is in hand but James Harden fouls out with 4 1/2 minutes left, Dirk goes all Jordan on the Thunder, Mavs outscore them 17-2 down the stretch and force overtime....Ya knew the outcome after that....Dallas up 3-1....Slight blemish on Nowitzki, he missed a free throw....Bruins defeat Tampa to take a 3-2 series lead despite a big difference in shots on net favoring the Lightning....Back and forth, up and down, good playoff game....Tim Thomas makes the big save late in the game stopping Downie with a (Reebok) stick stop as the puck was going into the net....Something about that Tyler Seguin kid.
Josh Hamilton homers on his first pitch back....Nelson Cruz also homers in his first game off the DL but Chase Utley goes hitless....Fat man Colon gets whacked around by the Blue Jays....Cleveland, with the best record in baseball, pull out another late one over the red hot Red Sox behind the smoking Asdrubal Cabrera who had 8 hits, 3 homers and 7 rbi betwen Sunday and Monday....Fred Wilpon, owner of the Mets and Madoff "victim", says that David Wright is a "Good man. Good player. But not a great player", Carlos Beltran is "65-70 percent of what he use to be" and his current contract was given out by some "schmuck" in the front office based on one playoff series....He also throws Jose Reyes under the bus saying "he wants Crawford money and he's not gonna get it"....Sounds like the truth to me.
Gotta touch on the Lance Armstrong brouha....Lance, just come clean....Too much smoke not to be true.
Charles Barkley may call the Heat the "whiny bunch" but I have to give that title to the Boston Celtics....If you saw "The Association" on the NBA channel, a five piece series covering the C's, the team lost it's mojo when they traded Perkins....Hanging heads and tears were bountiful as their anchor was cast off during a West coast trip....Danny Ainge has done a great job but he was wrong on this one....Danny has to trade that loose cannon Rajon Rondo, save cap space, take his lumps this year and sign Dwight Howard and/or Chris Paul and/or Deron Williams for the 2012-2013 season.
US Open is coming up and Tiger Woods is going to play....I thought he was hurt?....Oh, he used the injury to bail out of a bad round a couple weeks ago but the Prima Donna is still throwing his hat in the Open ring....Guess his "injury" wasn't that bad....Still arrogant, his 1 1/2 year train wreck still in progress, I say "play"....Play bad.
Why do I have a bad feeling about the NFL lockout....Can both sides be that stupid?.....Yes....When some players don't get their game checks and the high vig loan payments come due, someone will cross and the owners will win.
A moment on the Joplin tornado....Having been through a big one years back in Wichita Falls, Texas I can vouch for the intensity of the damage having seen two by fours slice through cement, drapes on the outside of houses with the roof put back down, engines sucked out of autos, paint stripped off vehicles, one side of the street fine, the other destroyed and cars tossed like paper dolls....Really have to see the damage first hand to get the full experience....Thoughts go out to the people of Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas and the rest of tornado alley.
Mother Nature Gone Wild....talk to ya
What happened to the Thunder??....Game is in hand but James Harden fouls out with 4 1/2 minutes left, Dirk goes all Jordan on the Thunder, Mavs outscore them 17-2 down the stretch and force overtime....Ya knew the outcome after that....Dallas up 3-1....Slight blemish on Nowitzki, he missed a free throw....Bruins defeat Tampa to take a 3-2 series lead despite a big difference in shots on net favoring the Lightning....Back and forth, up and down, good playoff game....Tim Thomas makes the big save late in the game stopping Downie with a (Reebok) stick stop as the puck was going into the net....Something about that Tyler Seguin kid.
Josh Hamilton homers on his first pitch back....Nelson Cruz also homers in his first game off the DL but Chase Utley goes hitless....Fat man Colon gets whacked around by the Blue Jays....Cleveland, with the best record in baseball, pull out another late one over the red hot Red Sox behind the smoking Asdrubal Cabrera who had 8 hits, 3 homers and 7 rbi betwen Sunday and Monday....Fred Wilpon, owner of the Mets and Madoff "victim", says that David Wright is a "Good man. Good player. But not a great player", Carlos Beltran is "65-70 percent of what he use to be" and his current contract was given out by some "schmuck" in the front office based on one playoff series....He also throws Jose Reyes under the bus saying "he wants Crawford money and he's not gonna get it"....Sounds like the truth to me.
Gotta touch on the Lance Armstrong brouha....Lance, just come clean....Too much smoke not to be true.
Charles Barkley may call the Heat the "whiny bunch" but I have to give that title to the Boston Celtics....If you saw "The Association" on the NBA channel, a five piece series covering the C's, the team lost it's mojo when they traded Perkins....Hanging heads and tears were bountiful as their anchor was cast off during a West coast trip....Danny Ainge has done a great job but he was wrong on this one....Danny has to trade that loose cannon Rajon Rondo, save cap space, take his lumps this year and sign Dwight Howard and/or Chris Paul and/or Deron Williams for the 2012-2013 season.
US Open is coming up and Tiger Woods is going to play....I thought he was hurt?....Oh, he used the injury to bail out of a bad round a couple weeks ago but the Prima Donna is still throwing his hat in the Open ring....Guess his "injury" wasn't that bad....Still arrogant, his 1 1/2 year train wreck still in progress, I say "play"....Play bad.
Why do I have a bad feeling about the NFL lockout....Can both sides be that stupid?.....Yes....When some players don't get their game checks and the high vig loan payments come due, someone will cross and the owners will win.
A moment on the Joplin tornado....Having been through a big one years back in Wichita Falls, Texas I can vouch for the intensity of the damage having seen two by fours slice through cement, drapes on the outside of houses with the roof put back down, engines sucked out of autos, paint stripped off vehicles, one side of the street fine, the other destroyed and cars tossed like paper dolls....Really have to see the damage first hand to get the full experience....Thoughts go out to the people of Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas and the rest of tornado alley.
Mother Nature Gone Wild....talk to ya
Monday, May 23, 2011
Skull and Bones........Vol. 4 (May 23, 2011)
Good Morning....My horse (Astrology) ran a good race Saturday but Shackleford ran better to capture the Preakness Stakes as Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom ran out of room....Astrology ran third, I had $20 across the board, good enough for a $20 profit....The Preakness is 1/16 shorter the the Derby and it made all the difference....Can't see any way that Animal Kingdom doesn't win the Belmont in three weeks.
Dirk Nowitzki has been a stud during the NBA playoffs and Derrick Rose is super but Oklahoma City and Miami is the matchup I want to see....Durant and Westbrook vs. James and Wade....Must see TV....Chris Bosh had a game last night but that won't happen with Kendrick "The Enforcer" Perkins in the middle....Vancouver has just about wiped up San Jose and Boston should have done the same with Tampa Bay but with deja vu written all over it the Bruins blow a 3-0 lead in game 4 and let the Lightning back in the series....If the Bruins pull this out it will have been despite Claude Julien (more ice and power play time for Seguin, maybe)....He's gotta go....Simon Gagne, Philly last year, Tampa this year, winning goal Saturday....hmmmmmmm.
Watched a great documentary this weekend on HBO about the 1968 Harvard-Yale football game....With the late, great Don Gillis on play by play it tells the story of one of the great comebacks, surrounded by the political and social issues of the day....The Vietnam war was a big backdrop and the lives of the Harvard and Yale students so different....Brian Dowling had not lost a game since 7th grade....Calvin Hill went on to be the #1 pick of the Dallas Cowboys....Yale was ranked #16 going into the game, both teams were undefeated, but Yale was the heavy favorite....The story is well told by the players involved....Fascinating to listen to the Yale linebacker who almost gleefully admits to a couple of chippy, uncalled for penalties in the 4th quarter that doomed Yale....Automobiles of the day, the crowd ringing the field and a coach smoking a cigarette on the sideline....Different times....Good story.
Some fantasy baseball owners are very happy today as Chase Utley makes his 2011 debut and Josh Hamilton returns from his shoulder injury....Ya know what sucks about being at the top of the standings, everyone steals the two-start pitchers, leaving thin pickings....This week I'm rolling the dice with the fat man, Bartolo Colon....He of the super-secret stem-cell blood transferring surgery, non-surgery, whatever thats got him throwing 97 mph in the 8th inning....After the disaster of a week that I had with Dice-K "the japanese enigma" it's all looking up....MLB network had the #1 greatest game last night ('75 World Series Game 6 Reds-Sox) and Joe Morgan came up to bat....It got me to thinking how much I miss him on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball....NOT!....Dan Shulman and Bobby Valentine are doing a fine job though the bar wasn't set that high by Mr. Obvious....I don't know who to send this to but....Thank You.
The golf gods made it all good as David Toms wins the Colonial....It wasn't easy and I thought he might fall apart there but he hung on and those two beauty 62's in the first two rounds didn't go to waste....Tough loss last week as he missed a short putt in the playoff with his family looking on but he went to Texas and I guess sometimes good guys do finish first.
Wonder what O.J. had for breakfast this morning....talk to ya.
Dirk Nowitzki has been a stud during the NBA playoffs and Derrick Rose is super but Oklahoma City and Miami is the matchup I want to see....Durant and Westbrook vs. James and Wade....Must see TV....Chris Bosh had a game last night but that won't happen with Kendrick "The Enforcer" Perkins in the middle....Vancouver has just about wiped up San Jose and Boston should have done the same with Tampa Bay but with deja vu written all over it the Bruins blow a 3-0 lead in game 4 and let the Lightning back in the series....If the Bruins pull this out it will have been despite Claude Julien (more ice and power play time for Seguin, maybe)....He's gotta go....Simon Gagne, Philly last year, Tampa this year, winning goal Saturday....hmmmmmmm.
Watched a great documentary this weekend on HBO about the 1968 Harvard-Yale football game....With the late, great Don Gillis on play by play it tells the story of one of the great comebacks, surrounded by the political and social issues of the day....The Vietnam war was a big backdrop and the lives of the Harvard and Yale students so different....Brian Dowling had not lost a game since 7th grade....Calvin Hill went on to be the #1 pick of the Dallas Cowboys....Yale was ranked #16 going into the game, both teams were undefeated, but Yale was the heavy favorite....The story is well told by the players involved....Fascinating to listen to the Yale linebacker who almost gleefully admits to a couple of chippy, uncalled for penalties in the 4th quarter that doomed Yale....Automobiles of the day, the crowd ringing the field and a coach smoking a cigarette on the sideline....Different times....Good story.
Some fantasy baseball owners are very happy today as Chase Utley makes his 2011 debut and Josh Hamilton returns from his shoulder injury....Ya know what sucks about being at the top of the standings, everyone steals the two-start pitchers, leaving thin pickings....This week I'm rolling the dice with the fat man, Bartolo Colon....He of the super-secret stem-cell blood transferring surgery, non-surgery, whatever thats got him throwing 97 mph in the 8th inning....After the disaster of a week that I had with Dice-K "the japanese enigma" it's all looking up....MLB network had the #1 greatest game last night ('75 World Series Game 6 Reds-Sox) and Joe Morgan came up to bat....It got me to thinking how much I miss him on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball....NOT!....Dan Shulman and Bobby Valentine are doing a fine job though the bar wasn't set that high by Mr. Obvious....I don't know who to send this to but....Thank You.
The golf gods made it all good as David Toms wins the Colonial....It wasn't easy and I thought he might fall apart there but he hung on and those two beauty 62's in the first two rounds didn't go to waste....Tough loss last week as he missed a short putt in the playoff with his family looking on but he went to Texas and I guess sometimes good guys do finish first.
Wonder what O.J. had for breakfast this morning....talk to ya.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Girls Gone Wild, Wild West......Vol. 3 (May 20, 2011)
Good Morning....They say that Vancouver is quite the city....I believe.... Yesterday I threw a dig at Ben Eager of the San Jose Sharks who took a couple of not so bright penalties Weds. night....Little did I know that during one of his timeouts that a cute Vancouver lass sitting next to the penalty box decided to show some wild, wild west hospitality and flash a couple of her assets to the dumbfounded Shark....Canada broadcast it live but Versus in the US missed it....I'm going straight to YouTube when I'm done here.
Tomorrow is the Preakness Stakes in Maryland with Kentucky Derby winner #11 Animal Kingdom vying for the second jewel of the Triple Crown....Have to agree with my associate Dr. Thoroughbred Murr' who vows to never bet the chalk....I'm going against the grain and going inside and take #1 Astrology with Mike Smith aboard, morning odds 15-1....Dr. Thoroughbred advises "take someone thats at least 20-1"....Sentimental pick is #9 Mucho Macho Man with Kathy Rivas (Massachusetts girl) training.
Oklahoma City steals one in Dallas with Russell Westbrook on the bench for the entire 4th quarter....James Harden had the hot hand and kudos to coach Scott Brooks for sticking with him....Series tied 1-1....Bruins bring their lunch pails, score early, sprinkle in a dash of Tyler Seguin and a lot of smothering defense on their way to victory and a 2-1 series lead....Despite back-to-back homers (Boesch and Cabrera) in the 8th inning the Tigers squander a gutsy Verlander performance thru dismal conditions (again) in Boston as the Red Sox rally (again) in the bottom of the ninth on a bases loaded base hit by Carl Crawford (again)....Looks like Cinco Ocho (Papelbon) has his swagger back....Sign of the Apocalypse: Sox ink Millwood to a minor league contract....Hide the women and children and bolt the door....With Josh Beckett leaving early due to "tightness" and Lackey and the Japanese Enigma on the DL the Sox brass sign an inning eater with lots and lots of losses....Such is the depth of Major League pitching when all you can come up with is a Kevin Millwood....How about Jason Giambi going yard three, i say 3, times last night for Colorado....Good for him....Has quietly slipped into Rockieland and become a key bench player....Ah Roger, if you had just taken a page out of the Giambi steroid playbook and humbly apologized you wouldn't be paying lawyers large you stupid, obnoxious, arrogant, lying fool.
So Jamie McCourt wants the court to force her ex-husband to sell the Dodgers because he has run the team into the ground since their divorce....She wants to "resolve this situation for my family in a way that also advances the best interests of the Dodgers fans, players and franchise"....please....To try and paint yourself as a savior of the LA team when you and your hubby spent big Dodger dollars on a number of properties and a lavish lifestyle is hypocritical at best....Laughable to us....See the picture of her on CBSSportsline?....Has "bitch" all over it....Thank God Frankie boy didn't get his paws on the Red Sox.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cries to the Sporting News that he feels "slighted" and "overlooked" because there are five statues in front of the Staple Center and none of them are him....Poor Lew....Magic, Jerry West, long time legendary announcer Chick Hearn, Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya are the five....Oscar must have paid someone....Is Jabbar all right?....In Boston there's talk about a statue for the great Bill Russell AFTER 40 years....Of course Russell is finally warming up to the idea, but still....Kareem STFU....Imagine me asking Mama if I can have a statue in front of the Castle seeing as I am the King....Wouldn't go over too well.
Gotta give Bill O'Reilly credit for having Jon Stewart on his program but ya gotta give the decision to Jarring Jon after his beatdown on the debate of having Common at the White House....Good television.....I like Donald Trump....I do....But after his fake run for the presidency to draw higher ratings for Celebrity Apprentice, the birth certificate rant and Obama retaliating by skewering The Donald at the correspondents dinner with the hairmeister in the room I'm left with this line....
"I just heard that Donald Trump was running as a Republican....I thought he was running as a joke". - Seth Myers
talk to ya......
Tomorrow is the Preakness Stakes in Maryland with Kentucky Derby winner #11 Animal Kingdom vying for the second jewel of the Triple Crown....Have to agree with my associate Dr. Thoroughbred Murr' who vows to never bet the chalk....I'm going against the grain and going inside and take #1 Astrology with Mike Smith aboard, morning odds 15-1....Dr. Thoroughbred advises "take someone thats at least 20-1"....Sentimental pick is #9 Mucho Macho Man with Kathy Rivas (Massachusetts girl) training.
Oklahoma City steals one in Dallas with Russell Westbrook on the bench for the entire 4th quarter....James Harden had the hot hand and kudos to coach Scott Brooks for sticking with him....Series tied 1-1....Bruins bring their lunch pails, score early, sprinkle in a dash of Tyler Seguin and a lot of smothering defense on their way to victory and a 2-1 series lead....Despite back-to-back homers (Boesch and Cabrera) in the 8th inning the Tigers squander a gutsy Verlander performance thru dismal conditions (again) in Boston as the Red Sox rally (again) in the bottom of the ninth on a bases loaded base hit by Carl Crawford (again)....Looks like Cinco Ocho (Papelbon) has his swagger back....Sign of the Apocalypse: Sox ink Millwood to a minor league contract....Hide the women and children and bolt the door....With Josh Beckett leaving early due to "tightness" and Lackey and the Japanese Enigma on the DL the Sox brass sign an inning eater with lots and lots of losses....Such is the depth of Major League pitching when all you can come up with is a Kevin Millwood....How about Jason Giambi going yard three, i say 3, times last night for Colorado....Good for him....Has quietly slipped into Rockieland and become a key bench player....Ah Roger, if you had just taken a page out of the Giambi steroid playbook and humbly apologized you wouldn't be paying lawyers large you stupid, obnoxious, arrogant, lying fool.
So Jamie McCourt wants the court to force her ex-husband to sell the Dodgers because he has run the team into the ground since their divorce....She wants to "resolve this situation for my family in a way that also advances the best interests of the Dodgers fans, players and franchise"....please....To try and paint yourself as a savior of the LA team when you and your hubby spent big Dodger dollars on a number of properties and a lavish lifestyle is hypocritical at best....Laughable to us....See the picture of her on CBSSportsline?....Has "bitch" all over it....Thank God Frankie boy didn't get his paws on the Red Sox.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cries to the Sporting News that he feels "slighted" and "overlooked" because there are five statues in front of the Staple Center and none of them are him....Poor Lew....Magic, Jerry West, long time legendary announcer Chick Hearn, Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya are the five....Oscar must have paid someone....Is Jabbar all right?....In Boston there's talk about a statue for the great Bill Russell AFTER 40 years....Of course Russell is finally warming up to the idea, but still....Kareem STFU....Imagine me asking Mama if I can have a statue in front of the Castle seeing as I am the King....Wouldn't go over too well.
Gotta give Bill O'Reilly credit for having Jon Stewart on his program but ya gotta give the decision to Jarring Jon after his beatdown on the debate of having Common at the White House....Good television.....I like Donald Trump....I do....But after his fake run for the presidency to draw higher ratings for Celebrity Apprentice, the birth certificate rant and Obama retaliating by skewering The Donald at the correspondents dinner with the hairmeister in the room I'm left with this line....
"I just heard that Donald Trump was running as a Republican....I thought he was running as a joke". - Seth Myers
talk to ya......
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
SportsCenter Does A Hasslehoff........Vol. 2 (May 19, 2011)
Good Morning....I'm listening to ESPN last night and I think I hear David Hasslehoff's voice....Sure enough, Hasslehoff is commenting on Dirk Nowitzki's habit of humming (this is getting strange) a Hasslehoff tune while he is at the free throw line....A surreal moment....I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
Bulls/Heat come out of a timeout with 4 and change left and Lebron takes over....Series tied 1-1....But that was a Ding-Deng of a shot to end the 1st quarter.
Hoo-ray for Cavalier fans as 14 year old Nick Gilbert, son of owner Dan, selects the #1 pick in the NBA draft giving Cleveland #1 and #4....don't f#!& it up.
Do you have that gut feeling about Eric Hosmer like I do?....Bryce Harper is tearing up Single-A....From the where are they now? dept....Wily Mo Pena is playing for AAA Reno (Arizona) hitting .383 with a .444 OBP and a 1.226 OPS....Throw in 14 HRS and 39 RBI and what do you have?....A right handed slugger who can't hit in the major leagues....ba-dum....The networks might have ended a couple of legendary soap operas, "One Life To Live" and "All My Children", but we still have our never ending soap "The New York Yankees"....Posada did this, Jeter did that, A-Rod said what?....And someone's dog got run over....Next week: wife swapping....Paul Simon did a show over the weekend in New York and dedicated his classic "Slip Slidin' Away" to Joe Giradi....too funny.
Let me get this straight....Royals pitcher Davies gets hurt and has to leave the game....Vin Mazzaro jumps in, gives up 10 runs in the 4th and Royals send him back out in the 5th for more punishment because they're running out of hurlers....Sets some kind of Major League bad record and Kansas City demotes him to Triple A....Taking one for the team and still getting your ass kicked (twice)....Doesn't seem right....On the lighter side, who was the rookie pitcher the Kansas City veterans had wear a Justin Bieber backpack on his way to the bullpen last night?....Now thats hazing!
Nasty weather at Fenway last night....Downpours, puddles, dense fog and chilly temps....Great date night....Red Sox pull it out in the bottom of the 8th on a clutch double from Saltalamacchia....Just rolls off the tongue.
Guess my hope that the Bruins and Jumbo Joe Thornton meet up in the Stanley Cup finals won't be happening....The B's have got their hands full of the aptly named Lightning and Vancouver has too much firepower for the toothless Sharks....Who is this Ben Eager?....What, is he the Ron Artest of the NHL?....Four penalties, of which two were just plain stupid....Then with his team down 7-2 and three minutes left he scores a goal and celebrates like he won the Cup with some trash talk thrown in....I think there is a seat in the press box with his name on it.
I've found the reason taser guns were invented....The Green Men....Tasers were made to take care of those two freakin' clowns in their green body suits obnoxiously annoying the Vancouver hockey crowd....But you know what would be better....Put their sorry asses out at center ice and have the announcer say "release the dogs"....That would be hilarious....As a matter of fact they should do that at all major sporting venues....A drunken moron stumbles on to the playing field and instead of chasing him, let him go....I can just hear the public address system announcing "Release The Dogs"!....talk to ya
Bulls/Heat come out of a timeout with 4 and change left and Lebron takes over....Series tied 1-1....But that was a Ding-Deng of a shot to end the 1st quarter.
Hoo-ray for Cavalier fans as 14 year old Nick Gilbert, son of owner Dan, selects the #1 pick in the NBA draft giving Cleveland #1 and #4....don't f#!& it up.
Do you have that gut feeling about Eric Hosmer like I do?....Bryce Harper is tearing up Single-A....From the where are they now? dept....Wily Mo Pena is playing for AAA Reno (Arizona) hitting .383 with a .444 OBP and a 1.226 OPS....Throw in 14 HRS and 39 RBI and what do you have?....A right handed slugger who can't hit in the major leagues....ba-dum....The networks might have ended a couple of legendary soap operas, "One Life To Live" and "All My Children", but we still have our never ending soap "The New York Yankees"....Posada did this, Jeter did that, A-Rod said what?....And someone's dog got run over....Next week: wife swapping....Paul Simon did a show over the weekend in New York and dedicated his classic "Slip Slidin' Away" to Joe Giradi....too funny.
Let me get this straight....Royals pitcher Davies gets hurt and has to leave the game....Vin Mazzaro jumps in, gives up 10 runs in the 4th and Royals send him back out in the 5th for more punishment because they're running out of hurlers....Sets some kind of Major League bad record and Kansas City demotes him to Triple A....Taking one for the team and still getting your ass kicked (twice)....Doesn't seem right....On the lighter side, who was the rookie pitcher the Kansas City veterans had wear a Justin Bieber backpack on his way to the bullpen last night?....Now thats hazing!
Nasty weather at Fenway last night....Downpours, puddles, dense fog and chilly temps....Great date night....Red Sox pull it out in the bottom of the 8th on a clutch double from Saltalamacchia....Just rolls off the tongue.
Guess my hope that the Bruins and Jumbo Joe Thornton meet up in the Stanley Cup finals won't be happening....The B's have got their hands full of the aptly named Lightning and Vancouver has too much firepower for the toothless Sharks....Who is this Ben Eager?....What, is he the Ron Artest of the NHL?....Four penalties, of which two were just plain stupid....Then with his team down 7-2 and three minutes left he scores a goal and celebrates like he won the Cup with some trash talk thrown in....I think there is a seat in the press box with his name on it.
I've found the reason taser guns were invented....The Green Men....Tasers were made to take care of those two freakin' clowns in their green body suits obnoxiously annoying the Vancouver hockey crowd....But you know what would be better....Put their sorry asses out at center ice and have the announcer say "release the dogs"....That would be hilarious....As a matter of fact they should do that at all major sporting venues....A drunken moron stumbles on to the playing field and instead of chasing him, let him go....I can just hear the public address system announcing "Release The Dogs"!....talk to ya
A Star Is Born....Vol. 1 (May 18, 2011)
My first attempt at blogging....What a game by Boston Bruin rookie Tyler Seguin last night....At least the second period, 2 goals and 2 assists....Where has he been?....Only Julien and Chiarelli have the answer....Tampa Bay has been impressive....Fast and quick, throwing behind the back passes and attacking the net....The difference between power plays is the Lightning zip around the offensive zone creating chances while the B's stand still and slap one-timers from the point....Make no mistake, Seguin had a great game last night but Tim Thomas was the #1 star....Boston would not be here without Timmy Terrific.
Nobody is happier about Doc Rivers throat surgery than Glen "Big Baby" Davis....Where is he gonna be playing next year?....A great show put on last night by Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant....Dirk went 24-24 from the free throw line (an NBA record)....I feel so bad for the Lakers and Celtics....NOT....Interesting to watch new blood such as Durant, Rose, Westbrook etc...Gotta pull for Perk and the Thunder....In the East I want Chicago....Lesser of two evils.
At this time I don't miss football....Come the end of July I'll be edgy if they haven't ended this mess....By early September if this disaster continues I'll be starting my descent into insanity....I love Baseball but Football is God....Ryan Mallett was the steal of the draft....Good luck Cam Newton.
Here come the Red Sox....Adrian Gonzalez is simply a monster....Time to move Carl Crawford up in the batting order there Terry....Lackey and Dice-K go on the DL back-to-back days with the same injury (right elbow)....hmmmmmm....Rain outs have Fantasy owners pulling their hair out....talk to ya.
Nobody is happier about Doc Rivers throat surgery than Glen "Big Baby" Davis....Where is he gonna be playing next year?....A great show put on last night by Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant....Dirk went 24-24 from the free throw line (an NBA record)....I feel so bad for the Lakers and Celtics....NOT....Interesting to watch new blood such as Durant, Rose, Westbrook etc...Gotta pull for Perk and the Thunder....In the East I want Chicago....Lesser of two evils.
At this time I don't miss football....Come the end of July I'll be edgy if they haven't ended this mess....By early September if this disaster continues I'll be starting my descent into insanity....I love Baseball but Football is God....Ryan Mallett was the steal of the draft....Good luck Cam Newton.
Here come the Red Sox....Adrian Gonzalez is simply a monster....Time to move Carl Crawford up in the batting order there Terry....Lackey and Dice-K go on the DL back-to-back days with the same injury (right elbow)....hmmmmmm....Rain outs have Fantasy owners pulling their hair out....talk to ya.
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