Archive for March, 2009

This video is hilarious.  Paul Pierece coming out of the game after a great game goes and high fives the guys on the bench.  Five for Scalabrini, Five for Big Baby Davis, Five for the Injured Ticket, etc.  Then he goes through the first row of fans and skips right by a kid in a Lebron James shirt. 

Maybe the kid should have filled his hands with some baby powder and reminded Pierce who the “King” is.

 Hat Tip Goes To : Both Teams Played Hard

Thanks for checking in, here is what caught me eye this week.

Nerd Wants $1 Million from Airlines for Lost X-Box…. Travelin’ Light
When The Bulls Were Dominant… Zoner
Sports
A Great Story About Two-Sport Athletes… Josh Q. Public
A Hot Chick Post You Can’t Ignore… NESW Sports
A Curling Shot You Have To See… Total Pro Sports
Anthony Reyes : Destination Indians Rotation … Deep Left Field
Problems Caused by The Salary Cap … Sports Rubbish
2010 NCAA Football Recruits … Rivals.com

Enjoy the hard work of my colleagues!

Bonus: Mark Shapiro will bring in someone for the playoff push. That someone is going to be Roy Halladay. Another long reach here, but the Blue Jays are going to be unloading salary when they are eliminated by the break this year. Cleveland will look to add one more big arm for the push!

For the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out why the 2008-2009 Pittsburgh Penguins can be so hot for a couple of weeks and then can’t do anything right for the next couple of weeks.  I understand that this years team is young, they need to mature and get used to playing such a long and trying season.  I also understand that adding Bill Guerin into the mix will help these younger players.  Look at all of that talent though.  Goodness, between Malkin, Crosby, and Sykora, we are looking at potentially 120 goals and over  300 points. 

In fairness, injuries to Crosby and Malkin have slowed the team at times but scoring goals usually isn’t the problem, giving them up is.  Mario Lemieux should have went goalee and defenseman shopping before the trade deadline.  I have seen the Pens give up four in a period a couple of times this year.  How many hockey games can you lose 6-5 before you figure out that you need something sturdier between the pipes?  Put a cardboard cutout of Tom Barasso in the crease, it may slow things down.

Will the Penguins make the playoffs?  I sure hope so.  They seem to be on another upswing and if they can make it last, they can stay qualified for playoff hockey.  If they start to lose again, see the enclosed video clip.

A good luck wish to my hometown girls basketball team.  This team is amazing in the sense that it starts three freshmen, a sophomore, and a senior.  Fresh off a big victory over rival McDonald, Lowellville is headed to Massilon, Ohio to potentially take the next step.  The village is obviously excited, not only about this weeks big game, but a future of talented teams for the next few years.  The 8th grade basketball team is coming off of their second consecutive undefeated season, and when that talent gets lumped into the equation, look out!  Lowellville could post a sports dynasty unknown to a village since the great football teams of the 1960’s.

Coaches Tony Matisi and Doug Pollock are enjoying the run.  These two men are respected by the players and parents of the community and their record speaks for itself.  Despite the fact that Matisi roots for Michigan, and Pollock, Notre Dame, these two guys are good people.  The support they have received for over ten years now is a testament to both, their popularity, and methods.  Congratulations to both of you and continued success for years!

It has been documented in The Vindicator that Matisi doesn’t have to push these girls to put forth their best effort.  The girls are pushing each other to be better players and have the right attitude.  The names Moore and Hvisdak hold places in Lowellville sports history.  John Hvisdak was a great athlete, graduating in 1986, his wife Lori (Rotunno) Hvisdak also was a good basketball player.  Ralph Moore was an imposing linebacker, playing until 1987.  Lori (Bisconti) Carlson graduated in 1984 and also had a great deal of success with sports.  None of the above listed parents ever experienced the successes of their daughters, the three successful freshmen. 

The very best of luck to this team this week and well into the future!

It really has not happened yet. A team has yet to lose one of their best players to injury as a result of playing in The World Baseball Classic. It is going to happen one of these years and it will change the format of this international tournament.

The first place you are going to see a difference is in player contracts. When a free agent comes to a team, you are going to start noticing lingo stating that a said player must not play in these types of tournaments. I’m sure Donald Fehr and the gang will fight this, but simply put, if I am paying someone $10 million per year, I should be allowed to say whether or not that player can participate in such events. It is already in contracts that players can’t water ski, ride a motorcycle, chop wood, etc.

This tournament hurt almost every pitcher who participated in 2006. It will be interesting to see of this trend continues. In my opinion, it is important for a pitcher to go to spring training and slowly build stamina over 40 days to endure the rigors of an entire MLB season. Historically, pitchers who get hurt in the Spring, rarely have a complete and/or productive season. By pushing a pitcher like Roy Oswalt to throw an extra twenty pitches against Venezuela, you are not doing the Astros any favors.

I love watching these games. It is like a mini all-star game for most teams. Cuba and the Asians have their own talent pool. The Domenicans, Americans, Venezuelans, Canadians, and Puerto Ricans, are loaded with contracted major league talent. The players like to skip school to play in it, the fans love it, but somewhere mid to upper management cringes and loathes what this tournament can potentially ruin for a whole team with one injury. It hasn’t happened yet, but when it does, look for the new format called The World Amateur Baseball Challenge.

The Cleveland Indians just spent plenty to sign Mark DeRosa to be their new third baseman. DeRosa banged a two-out two-run triple in the fourth inning last night putting the USA back in the game. If DeRosa pulls his groin sliding and misses 3-6 weeks, how happy is GM Mark Shapiro with the tournament? Thank goodness that did not happen, but wait for it, it’s going to.

My good friends at Total Pro Sports dug up this footage of TO being the idiot we all think he is.  This footage doesnt even include end zone celebrations or running to the star when with the Forty-Niners.  I have never been much of a fan of Mr. Owens.  Had the Saints acquired him instead of the Buffalo Bills, I probably would have switched teams.  I pretty much had him penciled in to the NFL graveyard – Oakland.  Why Buffalo would want this idiot running loose through beautiful Orchard Park is beyond me. 

Hat Tip Goes To: Total Pro Sports

Funny footage of Lebron James taking his place on the Cavs bench and letting a little gas slip upon arrival.  Watching the thing in slow motion at the end of the video is more enjoyable, as you can see Anderson Varejao, aka Sideshow Bob, duck for cover. 

Hat Tip Goes To:  Epic Carnival

There are many differences seeing the Cavs play in Cleveland last night as compared to twenty years ago.  The obvious changes are in place, changes like player and coaching differnces.  Add a marquee name like Lebron James into the mix and it seems everything factors differently.

The first difference I can point out is the venue.  Cleveland now plays its home games at Quicken Loans Arena.  The scoreboard is huge!  The lights change frequently, there is music playing even while the game is going on.  Twenty years ago, Richfield Coloseum was home to the Cavs.  It was little bigger, but less flashy.  It was where a purist would rather had seen the Cavs play.  The scoreboard there was about a third of the size compared to the electricity eater at the Q.

The prices of everything have risen.  This is a given.  Despite the fact that people are paying much more for food and drink, there is so much more to choose from.  Last night in the Club Lounge, you could choose from several beers, mixed drinks, wine, whiskey, or water.  An unreal display of beverages!  At Richfield, the most you could do was select between a Budweiser or a Miller High Life.  There was no Quaker Steak and Lube, Pizza Hut, Specialized Deli Kiosks, or many other choices.  The biggest decision was whether to have a regular hot dog or a footlong for the extra buck.

The most disturbing thing that has changed, to me,  is activity during the timeouts.  When the play on the court stops, five other things start immediately.  The girls danced at both venues, but in Richfield, I believe the Cavs dancers only showed up at halftime and maybe between quarters wearing the same outfit for , get this, the whole game!  Last night at the Cleveland – Milwaukee game, the dancers were there every single time play stopped in a different skimpy outfit.  Clowns and dogs are throwing up shots backwards from half court.  People are doing layups at both ends of the court, stacking Timwe Warner Boxes to win a prize package.  A timeout announcer is urging people to make noise while some old school steel garbage can shoots plastic Taco Bell balls into screaming fans.  Boobie Gibson is on the scoreboard playing a small Casio synthesizer while two fans try to name the tune he is playing.  Last nights choice was Heart And Soul, the contestants incorrectly guessed Chopsticks.  Too much going on at once!  You don’t see all of this on television.  I popped my friend Dave a short elbow to point out to him that the entire Cavs bench other than Coach Mike Brown and the two starters I could see, were watching the festivities at this three ring circus called an NBA timeout.  Z, JJ Hickson, and Wally Szerbiak were zoned on watching Boobie do Billy Joel instead of paying attention.  The entire assistant coaching staff was staring at the closest cheerleader.  The rest of the bench was pretty well split between the animals at half court, the Time Warner challenge, and the dancers.  Delonte West was just staring into the crowd that whole timeout like Rocky looking for Adrian. 

The differences were obvious.  The game has turned into a spectacle, an E ticket ride at Disneyland, every timeout.  20 years ago, the game was still the spectacle and you didn’t need the smoke, mirrors, and dry ice to make a fan happy.  Hopefully we can see a bit of a reverse trend over the next 20 years to put the focus back on the game.

1. The Texas player is flagged for roughing the kicker.
2. The Stanford punter is flagged for rouging the defender.
3. Nothing, contact with the ball was probably made so there is no foul.

I encourage you to leave a comment as to what you think the result was.  There is no right answer, but it can be fun to discuss.