Halt!

For all Chien-Ming Wang is,
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/albert_chen/04/15/wang0421/index.html) he is the Yankees ace.
What else do we want from him?
He has clearly shown this season that he can stop any losing streak. It's not his fault that every time he pitches we have lost the last 4 games.
He does what an ace is supposed to do. He takes the ball, throws his pitches and you know what, the results might not be sexy, but he is effective.
Wang, (6-0) has taken the burden of being the ace of the most famous team in sports and done the job. It might not be Beckett-eske but he gets the job done.
Wang-Jo-Mo is how the Yankees are going to win the Pennant.

Playoffs? You Kiddin' Me?

Well, Well, Well. Tonight is to be a Tony the Tiger great night of basketball.
3 elimination games.
I'm feeling an epic game by LeBron, somewhere along the lines of 38 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a close game that he'll take over.
The Boston 3 party will close out the Hawks who have put themselves in a Catch-22 for next season. If they struggle, they'll be blasted for not living up to their potential that was on display during games 3 and 4, and if they have a better season they really have no shot of winning the East because the C's have 3 more years of dominance.
T-Mac, who I like very much, has to have a big game tonight to force a game 7 back in Utah. He needs to play out of his mind these next 2 games. It's likely all the NBA eyes will be on him to see if he can get off the snide.

Kiefer Sutherland

Theres nothing better than at 7pm on the Versus Network when Jack Bauer himself states "This is a presentation of the National Hockey League".

There is nothing better than playoff hockey.

Fucking ESPN

I'm watching ESPN break down Tyler Hansbrough's jump from a frat balcony into a pool. Can we please give these college athletes their life back? And can we break down actual sport events instead of sports drama? I haven't learned anything about any sport from ESPN in the past 4 years. Can we debate why Joe Girardi would walk a slumping Travis Hafner to pitch to V-Mart, or do we have to listen to Jessica Simpson getting the train run on her by Tony Homo and the gang, and how it impacted Tony Homo in his mediocre passing game.

Yeah I said it. Fuck Tony Romo. Fuck ESPN. Can we please have another sporting news network grow some balls and take on ESPN straight up?

Clint Barmes

Look for this young stud to fill Tulowitzki's void with 20-20 numbers.

Bush and the G-Men

I've been noticing for awhile that when every Republican speaks about the Democratic Party they always say the Democrat party. It was once again put on display when the New York Football Giants visited the White House.
“We’re going to send Jessica Simpson to the Democrat National Convention."
That was straight off the MSNBC page dedicated to the story.
Why has no one called the GOP out on this?
I fear that this subtle but effective tactic will become the norm for GOPers and their media henchmen.
ps. For all of George W Bush's blunders as president, like starting an unnecessary war, tearing the constitution apart line by line and letting a major city sit under 4 feet of water, he has shown when sports teams come to visit why he was elected by so many dimwits. He's a pretty funny guy and knowledgeable sports fan.
Maybe he should be reading the NIE instead of listening to Joe Buck call the 'Boys-Giants game.
It's just a thought.

Ohlendorf for Heilman?

If you're Brian Cashman would you do it? The knock on Cashman has been his inability to secure long term starting pitching. Any team would have taken Pavano so we'll leave him out of this. But there's a plethora of other questionable acquisitions I'll spare you. Heilman is a pitcher that needs to start. He has a very good change up that keeps getting hit out of the park in the 8th inning for the metropolitans. He needs a change. Ohlendorf is being stretched out in the Yankee bullpen. Are they grooming him to be a starter? Are they interested in his stamina? He is still young. And he's 6'4, 240 lbs. He's got 20 strikeouts in 20 innings so far this year for the Yankees. Not bad. Heilman is a cheap option. He's a free agent at the end of 2008. Mets fans have had enough of Aaron Heilman. Seriously. Get him out.

I asked Shorty-Lowe if he'd trade 6 ice houses for Aaron Heilman. He said Heilman isn't worth $4.31. I think he forgot to factor in the $0.05 deposit per can. But he's only an econ major so what do you want from him. George W. Bush was an econ major. As was every president since JFK. I'm ending this conversation before I start going off on the current state of the economy.

Bottom line. Minaya should wine and dine Cashman and get us a reliever that has a different first name then James Shields' first cousin, whose batting stance is atrocious. (He plays CF for the worst team in baseball)

vote, invest, and blaze (stud valediction)
peace

Micah Owings stop hitting home runs.

Ok. so here I am fulfilling my destiny of becoming a blogger. Even though it's for this schwag website that gets no exposure what so ever. But maybe I can lose the nickname of "Skip Bayliss" so kindly provided by my admiring peers. Maybe they will see I'm not out of my mind when I say that Mike Pelfrey is a stud. I won't even talk about basketball because in 22 years I have never learned how to shoot a jumper. I'll leave all that talk to BK. When the Knicks win more than 30 games, then maybe I'll talk. For now, I'll tackle Fantasy Baseball and suggest players that you should or should not add, but should definitely be aware of. It's mostly all coming from a deep keeper league perspective.

3 Pitchers:
Dana Eveland
Greg Smith
Chad Gaudin

I'm sure you're all aware of the latter, but the other 2 young (studs) have tremendous minor league numbers, with about 400 innings work. Generally 500 is a benchmark you would like your minor league pitchers to gain before coming into the show. Both were acquired by Billy Beane's ridiculous quantitative brain coming over in the Danny Haren trade. We all know what has come out of Oakland in the past ten years, especially on the pitching side of things. These two young (studs) should post low whips (1.20-1.30) and should each win over 10 games.

3 Hitters:
Clint Barmes
-Potential (emphasis on potential) 20/20 2b for the Rockies. Posting a high OPS so far.

Matt Laporta
-Hasn't had enough minor league at bats to see if the power will sustain, but the average certainly does. So far in 202 at bats he's hit 19 hrs, with a .300 average, .380 obp, and a .670 slug. Be aware he hasn't even seen AAA yet.

Wladimir Balentien
-Just got called up by Seattle. Signed when he was 14 or 15. Ridiculous. If he gets 400 at bats he could probably hit 20 homeruns and steal 10-15 bags. Just check his minor league stats to really see how consistent a player this kids been. Would like to see his average and OBP about 20 points higher each, but that could happen in the big leagues. Tricky how baseball works.

These names should all be familiar with you by now if you want to call yourself a fantasy player. I have Clint Barmes in my keeper league, basically to get some work in for Cano while he's struggling, and also because he has SS elgibility and I had Rollins go down. Keppinger has done a nice job filling in for Rollins, but Barmes provides a little more pop and SB then Keppinger. Keppinger is a high OPS guy, but Barmes has maintained his OPS so far this year. Rollins is back sooner or later but I haven't suffered that much. This is where these young guys come in handy, especially when they are hot.

vote, invest, and blaze.
peace.

Game 5

I didn't get a sense of what transpired in game 5 but hearing Jon Paxson speak about the "team" made me think that Kobe is on his way to having the same success MJ had. Kobe and Pau as the leaders. Lamar and Bynum as role players with Walton, Vujicic and Fisher as the shooters. Even though Kobe might not have the relationship with the entire team that MJ had with his team, Rony Turiaf seems to interact with Kobe well and he might not like D-Fish but he's won with him and to Kobe that is probably enough.

Games 3 and 4

Boom. I just saw what separates MJ from every other player that ever played. MJ's game tying shot was a higher degree of difficulty than the Game 1 shot. From the 3 minute highlight reel I saw of Game 4 it looked like MJ got his guys fired up and wouldn't let them loose. That is what great players do, they instill fear in their teammates so that they don't mess up. Not only will they have the internal disappointment but they'll have to look MJ in the face and explain why they didn't win.

Game 1 & 2

I know I can't get a full grasp of what went on during Games 1 and 2 of the 1991 Finals by watching a 24 minute recap of it but, I can't help but notice the difference between the stars of then and the stars of now.
Maybe it has something to do with the constant media attention. How bad would MJ have been ripped on 1st and 10 by Skip Bayless for missing the game winning shot at the end of Game 1.
Magic's post-game interview was awesome. You could clearly hear the respect he had for Michael. I don't think you'd hear LB J or Kobe talking about each other like that.
"It was his game tonite and he took it over."

ESPN

Just a reminder, from 1:00 until 2:30 this afternoon NBA Finals Films. It's going to show the first Bulls 3-peat. Should be good TV.

TNT Halftime

The more I hear Kenny Smith talk the more impressed I am. Even if he doesn't get the Knicks GM job he will be an assest to some team someday. His breakdown of Sam Cassell's first-half was very well done. The two mid-range jumpers that he hit were from nearly the exact same spot. Well done Jet.

Celts-Hawks

So, here we are. Somewhere we thought we'd never be. Boston and Atlanta tied at 2. WOW. I can't put my finger on what it is about Dick Stockton.
9:38- Leon Powe and Sam Cassell just left the game. I don't think the applause was for Sam, Dick. I don't think Boston is in love with Sam I Am as much as they thought they would be.

NBA Playoffs

I've been infatuated with the NBA this season. The first Finals I remember watching were in 1994, with my hometown Knicks facing Hakeem's Rockets. This was the Finals that was interrupted by the O.J. chase.
I've been a fan of the NBA ever since.
I watched the second 3-peat, the emergence of the Kobe-Shaq dynasty and the Tim Duncan dynasty. I remember disliking the Lakers so much because of, what seemed to me watching on TV, a clear discrepancy on the foul line. It seemed every time the Blazers or the Kings got close to beating them, the refs would start to call fouls on whomever was guarding Shaq, be it Brian Grant, Rasheed Wallace, C-Webb or Vlade Divac. I'm sure the stats don't back me up or that even in some games the Blazers had more free throw attempts than the Lakers.
But I digress.
I look back on those days of the NBA on NBC and can't help but think the announcers were better back then. Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Tom Hammond, Steve "Snapper" Jones, Doug Collins, Isiah Thomas, Bill Walton, Matt Guokas and the Czar, Mike Fratello.
Now I can only claim to be fans of Mike Breen, Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, Doug Collins, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy.
Marv somewhere along the line jumped the shark. I think the Czar blew a gasket during his most recent stint coaching in the NBA.
TNT broadcasting pairs are so all over the place. Doug Collins is the best and really the only TNT guy I will listen too. Reggie Miller has his moments and his chemistry with Marv is great at times, but his voice. I can't believe this has never been mentioned. I think Dick Stockton is asleep for half the game, and he relies way too much on telling the viewer where the last guy who scored went to college and how long he's been in the NBA.
I beg TNT to not invite Coach Dunleavy back for the second round. I know he coaches and can get access to the coaches and players because they have respect for him but what does he really know about the Hawks or Raptors? He just finished an 82 game struggle with the Clippers, how much does he know about the players and their styles. Maybe he's coached 1 or 2 players somewhere along the line, but I would rather an NBA writer like Mike Wilbon sit with Matt Devlin. What is the worst that could happen. Devlin and Dunleavy have no history together and neither would Wilbon, but at least we know he watches more than 1 team.