Archive for June, 2009

Coach Brennan Booth loves the game of football.  He has A1 league coaching experience but someday would like to head back to coaching high school ball.  If the opportunity presents itself, Booth, like many Thunder players, has expressed an interest to jump to A1 Arena League if and when the opportunity may present itself.

The Thunder named Booth interim Head Coach when the fired Mike Hold four weeks ago.  Unfortunately, Booth couldn’t create enough magic in that short of a time to retain the Head Coaching duties and Chris MacKeown was brought on to replace Booth as a permanent move.  Booth made enough of a positive impression with management to retain a coaching spot as Thunder Defensive Coordinator.  Former Tennessee QB Andy Kelly, who served as Offensive Coordinator under Booth was the odd man out and released by Thunder management.

Coach Booth keeps busy saying,  “I like to get a good workout in.  It’s a good way to rid aggression between practice and films “.  Booth also said he catches episodes of Rescue Me and The First 48 when he has a chance.  He has a special way with the players, and more importantly, their respect. 

Coach Booth roots for teams all over the place because he has been so many different places.  He said he is a huge Phillies fan and was proud when they won the World Series last year.  He also roots for the Atlanta Hawks, as he call Duluth, Georgia home for now.

I liked the way Coach Booth presented himself to the public.  He gave me his cell number and told me if there was ever a question or something I needed to call him, and he meant it.  After my initial meeting, I figured I would have to reintroduce myself several times, but the second time I met the guy, he walked up to me, shook my hand, and asked me how the website was going.

Class act, hope he stays with the Thunder at any capacity.

The New York Yankees got past Cleveland, 5-2, on a good pitching performance from Joba Chamberlain.  The sluggish Indians offense could only muster four hits against Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera, who pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save.

Half of Cleveland’s runs were scored on a Victor Martinez homer.  Martinez was doubtful to even play as he has a bruised right knee and sat yesterday.  He managed to DH and zinged Chamberlain’s only big mistake out of the park.

This is the last game between the two teams for this regular season.  The Yankees set a record for going 18 straight games without an error.  An unnanounced promotion, Alfred Hitchcock night, took place in right field as birds flooded Progressive Field.  Oddly enough, two years ago in the AL playoffs, you might recall Chamberlain being swarmed by bugs.  Joba sure knows how to cater to the Cleveland wildlife.

The Yankees got a two-RBI double from Nick Swisher and A-Rod had an RBI single.  Cleveland pitching gave up 11 walks, so the Yankees always had runners on throughout the game. 

For Cleveland, Shin Soo Choo stole a couple of bases.  Rafael Betancout joins Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner on the DL.  The Indians also released Davis Dellucci before the game. 

Cleveland failed to advance to the NBA Finals, losing to Orlando, 4-2.  The Magic, on paper, have a stronger team.  If you lined up all the players for The Cavs and Magic up at a playground and had Van Gundy and Brown pick teams for a game, the results would prove which team had superior talent.  Obviously Mike Brown would pick Lebron first.  Van Gundy would probably take Dwight Howard second.  The next three picks would all be Magic players too. 

Lebron James tried to be a one man gang when he had to.  Unfortunately for Cavs fans, Delonte West couldn’t hit an outside shot the whole series.  Mo Williams wasn’t the guy Cavs fans fell in love with this year.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas looked tired and old.  Anderson Varajeo and Ben Wallace should never be looked at as offensive threats. 

All during the regular season, teams would do their best to take the lane away from Lebron forcing him to kick the ball out to a wide open Williams or West who made teams pay.  The single biggest malfunction in the Orlando series was that nobody was able to shoot from the outside with wide open, or at least, great looks.  These are shots your perimeter players have to make, and no one stepped up.  Not Wally, not Sasha, not Delonte and not Mo.

With that being said, the Cavs could only take away the three-pointer to leave Dwight Howard open, or doubleteam Howard and get their eyes knocked out from three.  Let Rafer Alston shoot the threes.  Rafer Alston owned us and outplayed anyone in Cleveland’s backcourt every game.

People are pointing fingers at Mike Brown, the 2009 NBA Coach of The Year.  I don’t see how he can blamed for riding the horse that got him there.  The mismatches and lack of a second scorer killed the Cavs, and what could Brown do?  Too many weapons, too many ways, and not enough responses.

Was Lebron a bad sport?  Go through life winning everything everytime you play.  Have a season like Cleveland did, losing only 20 games all year, but six to Orlando.  The competitor in him hasn’t had much practice at losing when he was supposed to win, so he was ultra-frustrated and disappointed with the results.  He made good yesterday by talking to the media, congratulating Orlando, and wearing a Yankees hat, bringing me to the next item.

Is Lebron leaving?  No.  The Cavs are going to offer him an extension this summer which he will sign.  Before he signs, look for changes.  Remember, Lebron kind of handpicked Mike Brown, most of his teammates, and the city is in love with the guy.  The Cavs can also offer him an extra year that no one else can because he is currently plaing for them.

What needs to happen?  Nice knowing you Zydrunas and Ben, time to move on.  Ilgauskas drives me nuts.  When you are over 7′, hit the boards on offense instead of waiting outside the arc to shoot a three. Ben Wallace was the scrappiest rebounder in the league a few years ago and was never a threat to score anywhere he played.  However, he is not the same as he was when he played for Detroit.  He would get 20 rebounds in a big game, no questions asked.  Having both he and Anderson Varajeo on the court makes the Cavs better defensively, but cripples the offense.

The Cavs need to get that #2 guy, whoever he is.  Someone who can light it up on offense to take the burden away from Delonte and Mo.  Lebron’s gonna get his, no matter what.  I did a story about why the Cavs would do better against Boston than they would against Orlando, I feel vindicated for writing it, but wish I could tell you how wrong I was.

Mixed emotions in Cleveland and Pittsburgh sports this week.  The Pens have dug themselves a 2-0 hole against a strong Red Wings team.  The Cavs are out (more on that later).  The Pirates can’t score runs in close games.  The Indians, however, took 2 of 3 from the New York Yankees.  Carl Pavano has done well this season, maybe causing New York brass to scratch their heads and wonder why they didn’t keep him.  Here are some great stories from other sites.

• PSAMP looks closely at a questionable play involving Marian Hossa that may swing the series against the Pens and toward the Wings.
• Chicago’s MMA recently spoke with UFC great Rich Franklin on his thoughts of UFC 99 and his upcoming bout with Wanderlei Silva.
• Mike & Mike throw out the first pitch at the Indians game.  You will be suprised at who has a better arm according to NESW Sports.
• Fansided takes a humorous look at 100 things David Stern would rather be doing that watching the NBA Finals with no Lebron James.
• Sharapova’s Thigh goes deep inside the numbers of the 25-inning game between Texas and BC this past weekend.
• My Friend Mookie at A Stern Warning poses the question Is Lebron A Bad Sport? because of his early exit and lack of displayable sportsmanship.
• The Seminoles found the end zone 5 times and blew the Buckeyes out, in a baseball game… presented by The Legend of Cecilio Guante.
• Zoner Sports throws Hal McRae’s temper tantrum into the ongoing argument of the greatest managerial meltdowns.
• Josh Q. Public pays homage to Carl Crawford as he continues to tear up all pitching!
• The Viking Age found video footage of Brad Childress wearing a wig to lighten the mood at Viking practice.
• Sports Rubbish found a great story about how two Alabama golfers got holes-in-one out of order.  Great piece to read!
• The World of Isaac provides even more visual evidence of why we should all hate soccer here in the states.

Check out all of these great stories!