So the 2011 NBA Draft is even worse than the 2010?  My love for NCAA Hoops has waned this past season because of the lack of star players and monster squads.  Is a wave of mediocrity about to crash on the NBA in 3-5 years when the drafted ballers of June and last June are merely “nice” players?  The rumblings of 7 straight Heat rings may come to fruition.  Fuck me.  Please Mavs, delay the Miami dynasty for at least one spring.

Sheesh … gone are the days of PGs that roll into the Association with solid decision making.  Am I saying the sky is falling?  Watching Westbrook and Rose shoot their teams in the foot numerous times in the conference finals was brutal to take in.  Maybe Kyrie Irving and John Wall will learn from the playoffs (from their couches) and work on cutting back on the turnovers a wee bit.

I tip my cap to LeBron.  Prince James stepped his game up these playoffs and is lookin like the great player the prophecies have said all along.  But I must say, it is nice that he can kick back a couple quarters while D-Wade can make teams look foolish the way he does.  If Dirk steals the ring from Miami, it will be legendary.

Shifting gears.

I laugh at the premature Buster Posey rule chatter.  Anytime a rising star gets hurt there’s gotta be a mob-of-bleeding-hearts or story-seeking-media-types that begin pounding the table for protecting players.  Flag football, tee-ball, bumper-bowling, skee-ball, Wii Sports … these are all for those table-pounders … now go eat some ice cream and take your Pomeranian for a walk.  Buster Posey may have assisted in ousting my squad (the fightins) out of the 2010 NLCS, but I got nothing but respect for the kid and certainly don’t wanna see him go down.  I’m sure he’d stand up and say it’s all part of the game.  On an obnoxious funny note … Buster still has more range than Derek Jeter … heyo!!!

It’s almost June and the Cleveland Indians are still the best team in the AL.  WTF!?!?  Did anyone see this coming?  I’m not hatin … I’m lovin this.  Also lovin the O’s are at .500 in the AL East.  My guess is the Yanks and O’s will be swapping spots in the standings this time in 2012 (the prophecies see the Yanks falling after this summer, don’t hate me, hate the Mayans).

Another gear shift.

The rumblings are beginning.  NFL fans are not happy with the possibility of a delayed season.  See, with June comes the early drippings of hardcore fantasy football nerds salivating over NFL preview magazines.  Then July is here and the moderate NFL fan begins drooling over training camp and the Mort & Adam bus tour.  August means any dude with an interest in violence, sports, cheerleaders, beer, tailgating, MNF, wings, skipping church … will be scouring the internet and boob tube for serious gridiron action/anything.  And  I love Drew Brees calling out the owners for possibly striking the iron while it’s hot (when former union leader gene Upshaw passed away) and trying to do a large money grab.  If one week is missed, especially when week 1 has Giants vs Redskins & Cowboys vs Jets on 9/11 … the owners are gonna look like the front row fans of a Gallagher show … instead of fruit and vegetables it’s gonna be a shit show.  Don’t F with NFL fans of the Northeast.

While on the rumblings roll … I’m hearing more and more that the BCS may break away and create it’s own elite division.  Yeah, this makes perfect sense.  Seriously, it does.  The BCS presidents do not wanna give up their precious bowl system so creating a division of super conferences to avoid the Boise State monkey wrench is the inevitable.  All those mid-major conferences will go into limbo and may get combined with the upper echelon of FCS conferences, creating the largest division of NCAA football … and likely the best playoff system.  Money talks and bowl games have the biggest mouths.

Gear shift, buckle up fucko!

I’m sorry to say this, but … FUCK GOLF.  Tiger is done.  After over a decade of watching Tiger beat bitches up, I can’t draw myself to sit in front of the TV for several hours over a couple days to watch a few Euros and random Americans battle over a major.  Nope.  Not doin no more.  Out.  Of course, if Eldrick is in the final Sunday pairing at the US Open with Phil … I’m front and center like a schoolboy with a crush on his teacher.  #hypocrite-i-am

Yeah, another gear shift, go F urself …

Being a Phillies fan, I have begun an assault on Phillies blogs to let the Fightins nation know we still need a righty-bat with solid OBP skills.  Philly has a team that can run the regular season schedule and strangle the NL East flag.  But good lefty-pitching in the playoffs will handcuff the Phillies lineup.  I don’t wanna go thru another 2010 postseason.  Phillies own the Reds, but SF is trouble and I’m sure we’ll have to go thru them again, even if Posey is not around.  So sometime in July, maybe even early August, GM Amaro better grab some baller-righty-dude to ensure I get plenty of sleep in September.

Okay Reali … what are my fucking fuckups?

Enter Fictional Tony Reali (actually me, just being imaginative, cuz .. I’m like that when I pound a couple handful of IPAs … and no i don’t got big hands, but i used to wait tables back in the day … so i got skillz)

Reali: Doesn’t Rajon Rondo count as a solid young PG?

Me: Of course he does fuckstick, I was thinkin more of the younger slashers that just entered the league and that are more scorers than PGs.

Reali: Why do you keep referring to prophecies when you’re an agnostic?

Me: Maybe I’m more antagonistic than agnostic … bring something strong or go back to your corner and eat cannolis Reali … and tuck ur shirt in you Crisco-finger-dippin-guido!

Reali: Relax.  And explain why you said “Fightins nation”.

Me: [shaking head] I might as well eat a pint of stale chow-dah and call myself a sawx fan … I will now gouge my eyes with the broken pint glass I just smashed against the fuckin wall.

dismissed

2010 Final Standings

Minnesota Twins

LEFT FIELD D. Young
CENTER FIELD D. Span
RIGHT FIELD M. Cuddyer
SHORTSTOP A. Casilla
3RD BASE D. Valencia
2ND BASE T. Nishioka
1ST BASE J. Morneau
DH J. Kubel
CATCHER J. Mauer

ROTATION
1. C. Pavano
2. F. Liriano
3. N. Blackburn
4. S. Baker
5. B. Duensing

BULLPEN
J. Nathan (CL)
M. Capps
J. Mijares
J. Manship
G. Perkins
D. Hughes
K. Slowey

Chicago White Sox

LEFT FIELD J. Pierre
CENTER FIELD A. Rios
RIGHT FIELD C. Quentin
SHORTSTOP A. Ramirez
3RD BASE B. Morel
2ND BASE G. Beckham
1ST BASE P. Konerko
DH A. Dunn
CATCHER A. Pierzynski

ROTATION
1. M. Buehrle
2. E. Jackson
3. J. Danks
4. G. Floyd
5. J. Peavy

BULLPEN
M. Thornton (CL)
C. Sale
J. Crain
W. Ohman
S. Santos
T. Pena
P. Humber

Detroit Tigers

LEFT FIELD R. Raburn
CENTER FIELD A. Jackson
RIGHT FIELD M. Ordonez
SHORTSTOP J. Peralta
3RD BASE B. Inge
2ND BASE W. Rhymes
1ST BASE M. Cabrera
DH V. Martinez
CATCHER A. Avila

ROTATION
1. J. Verlander
2. M. Scherzer
3. R. Porcello
4. B. Penny
5. P. Coke

BULLPEN
J. Valverde (CL)
J. Benoit
R. Perry
B. Thomas
D. Schlereth
B. Villarreal
E. Gonzalez
J. Zumaya

Cleveland Indians

LEFT FIELD A. Kearns
CENTER FIELD G. Sizemore
RIGHT FIELD S. Choo
SHORTSTOP A. Cabrera
3RD BASE J. Hannahan
2ND BASE O. Cabrera
1ST BASE M. LaPorta
DH T. Hafner
CATCHER C. Santana

ROTATION
1. F. Carmona
2. C. Carrasco
3. J. Masterson
4. J. Tomlin
5. M. Talbot

BULLPEN
C. Perez (CL)
R. Perez
C. Durbin
T. Sipp
V. Pestano
F. Herrmann
J. Germano
J. Smith

Kansas City Royals

LEFT FIELD A. Gordon
CENTER FIELD M. Cabrera
RIGHT FIELD J. Francoeur
SHORTSTOP A. Escobar
3RD BASE M. Aviles
2ND BASE C. Getz
1ST BASE K. Ka’aihue
DH B. Butler
CATCHER M. Treanor

ROTATION
1. L. Hochevar
2. J. Francis
3. K. Davies
4. B. Chen
5. V. Mazzaro

BULLPEN
J. Soria (CL)
R. Tejeda
S. O’Sullivan
T. Collins
J. Jeffress
A. Crow
K. Texeira
N. Adcock

2011 Outlook

Twins-

The Twinkies are coming off yet another division title and another October epic fail aka getting owned by the Yankees. Minnesota might be the most overrated franchise in all of sports. How many times can a team get their asses handed to them in the first round of the playoffs and still be considered a good team? Well, in Minnesota’s case it’s 5 of the last years. Since ’03 they have won 2 out of 15 playoff games, having been swept 3 times. The Yanks ousted them in 4 of those 5 years.

So whats in store for them in 2011? Same shit, different year. I don’t see them making the playoffs, but if they do a first round loss will be a given. Morneau and Mauer are 2 of the best hitters/players in baseball…when healthy. Morneau was concussed last year and missed over half the season. He is expected to start opening day, but don’t expect a whole lot from him, at least over an extended period of time i.e. the season. I would go as far as to say the guy’s career is in jeopardy. And as long Mauer is at catcher expect him to miss 30+ games. Don’t expect the same success from Pavano either. In his 12 year career he and his stache have only had back to back 10+ win seasons once. On the bright side though, the Twins get back closer, Joe Nathan, who missed all of last year.

White Sox-

If Ozzie doesn’t piss too many people off during the season, Chicago will compete with Detroit for the division. The White Sox will mash with Konerko, Quentin, and new acquisition Dunner. Without ever hitting it over the creep line, Juan Pierre will be on base every AB and wreaking havoc on the bases. Even though Pierre looks 16 and makes Eckstein seem like a clean-up hitter, he still mobs. As for their pitching, if Peavy can ever get healthy they will have one of the best staffs in baseball.

Tigers-

The Tigers will have success as long as Cabrera stays off the sauce, which might be a lot to ask for. When he’s on the field the guy drops 500 foot bombs at will, but when he’s off the field he likes to pound 5ths like Gatorade and smack his girl up when she acts a fool. Although Austin Jackson led the league in K’s, is coming off a solid rookie season and will need to avoid a sophomore slump if Detroit want to contend for the division. Look for new addition, Victor Martinez, to provide another solid bat in the lineup and become a leader in the clubhouse.

Native Americans-

Unfortunately for Cleveland fans they have yet another shitty sports franchise. There is no reason to think this year will be any different the squad. The only player who is worth mentioning is Shin-Soo Choo who is a 30/30 guy and one of the best all around players in baseball. Grady and his ladies are back, but he is coming off micro-fracture and nowhere near the player he was.

Royals-

Big surprise here, the Royals will suck ass yet again. This is usually the case when you have management that doesn’t spend money. They lost their best player from last year in Greinke, and are likely to trade their current best player, Soria, sometime during the year. They do have the best farm system in baseball though, which means nothing because they won’t pay any of them.

W       L

Chicago             89     73

Detroit                80     82

Minnesota         75     87

Cleveland          67     95

Kansas City     61    101

NEW YORK (AP)—A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that the New York Yankees are close to acquiring pitcher Kerry Wood from the Cleveland Indians

The Yankees likely would send Cleveland a player to be named, the person said, speaking Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been finalized.

Kerry Wood. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Are the Yankees shitting me? They already have one worthless setup man in Joba, now they are adding someone who gets hit even harder then him. Having watched way to many Indians games this year I can tell you this. This is the worst addition to a playoff team in the history of baseball.

Wood’s stats are terrible 1-4, 8 saves, 3 Blown Saves, 6.30 Era, 1.60 Whip, he goes on the DL every other week and if you have the lead he will let the tying run on base every time.

So Yankee fans have fun watching what will be a firework display out of the pen the rest of the year (Except Rivera) and tell me come playoff time how Lance Berkman is working out for ya.

No one ever said covering baseball is easy, especially when it’s bad baseball. Making it even more daunting is when you cover bad baseball, and you have to live in Cleveland.

God bless Bruce Drennan and his honesty. I mean, Peralta, really? Give credit where credit is due, but 0 for 5!!! La Porta getting all spun around? That CANNOT be a triple!!!! Just think about what happens when the pitching goes south??

This guy has it right, the Tribe stink, STINK!!

Some things never change:

Let’s look at this scenario. You’re a young kid who after 5 years of coming up and down from the minors finally make it into the show and become  an every day starter. You have a great year, hitting over .300 and hitting 20 homers and with repeat of the year before could be looking at making some serious money in a multi year deal or hitting free agency. But here is the catch. You are not sure if you will be able to play for the next 2 years. Why? Because the country you were born in forces their citizens to serve a mandatory 2 years in the army before you turn 30, and low and behold you are 28. Now you are stuck with the decision to either throw away 2 years of your prime or never go back to your home country again. And there is also a weird 3rd option in which you are literally playing baseball for your freedom. Welcome to the big decision that Cleveland outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has to make over the next year.

Choo who is from South Korea (I thought South Korea was the good Korea) is stuck with an extremely difficult choice. Do you go into the army for 2 years and pretty much end you career in America or do you turn your back on your country and never allowed to return. Either choice will be a regretful one. But he does have some hope. There actually is a 3rd choice he could make, one in which his baseball skills and that of his fellow South Korean National team would be the deciding factor. If he were to participate in the upcoming 2010 Asian games and his South Korean team were to win his military obligations would be waved and he could continue his baseball dreams in America. But do you risk your livelihood on a game in which you have no control of the other 8 players actions on your team. Your pitcher has a bad game, Boom your in the army. Your defenders make some errors, Boom your in the army. The other teams pitcher is in the zone and you can’t score any runs, Boom army. Every single pitch in the game will have a major impact on your life and you could be helpless to do anything about it. Not to mention the amount of extra pressure you and your teammates will face knowing what a mistake will do.

So what choice do you make?

I know if it was me I would lose some years of my life just thinking about what option to choose and still wouldn’t be 100% on the choice I made. Man I’m glad I live in America.