Archive for July, 2009

All of this grumbling about Lebron James leaving Cleveland after this season is starting to really get on my nerves.  Don’t get me wrong, King James can pretty much pick his destination whether it be New York, Miami, or Australia.  I just don’t see Lebron wanting to leave Cleveland unless they really do stupid things in the front office between now and the end of the season.

Bringing in Shaq is a good thing.  Do you think Danny Ferry acted without first calling James and asking him for his opinion?  Danny Ferry is one of the puppets who Lebron controls.  If a player were out there and Ferry were to sign him without first contacting James, he would have a reason to pack his bags at the end of the season.  Fortunately for Cavs fans, that doesn’t happen because James is basically the GM of this team.

Mike Brown won Coach of The Year.  Brown replaced Paul Silas.  Lebron didn’t like playing for Silas because he actually tried to coach the team.  E=MC2?  Catching on yet?  Danny Ferry replaced Jim Paxson because Paxson got fired.  He could not be puppeted out like Ferry.  Mike Brown was basically hand-picked by James to coach the team.  So now Lebron is not only the GM, but now he is the head coach and has a puppet for each hand.

Besides being the GM, Head Coach, and player, James also is basically playing in his backyard.  A home game for the Cavs is a home game for Akron.  Lebron’s mother can come up to watch.  Granted, if he went somewhere else it’s not like he couldn’t afford to relocate his mother to watch games.  However, an incredible amount of the people who own season tickets in Cleveland are people who were following James’ magical run at Akron SVSM.

We all know that Anderson Varajeo is not even close to earning the money thrown at him last week by the Cavs.  He runs a good pick-and-roll with Lebron, so GM James said, “Pay the man“.  Coach James said, “Pay the man“.  Oh, and teammate Lebron James said, “Pay the man“.  So guess what… the man got paid.

Anyone who thinks that Lebron James isn’t running every dimension of Cleveland Cavaliers basketball to some extent is naive and/or blind.  This all raises the point that there is absolutely no reason for James to go anywhere for any reason.  Lebron James will be in Cleveland as long as he has control of all of his toys and titles.  Mario Lemieux owns the Penguins.  Don’t be suprised is Lebron turns around and buys the Cavs someday.  Then he can be owner, GM, Coach, player, vendor, etc…

Congratulations to Prince Fielder!!!  The Brewer won a couple of contests.  The obvious win was Tuesday night at Home-Run Derby where Fielder did well and captured the title of Home-Run King 2009.  Those doughnuts on the bat will disappear from that picture if there is no meat in them.  An advertised vegetarian has a tendency to get skinnier.  Fielder doesn’t seem to have lost much weight since going “Vegan” last summer.  How many grams of fat are there in asparagus anyway?

Here are some stories from other great sites:

• PacMan Jonesin’ has the scoop on why Richard Jefferson left his own wedding and didn’t bother to tell anyone.
• My Sports Rumors caught the rookie players for the New York Knicks blogging vlogging from Vegas.
• Bootlegger Sports warns it is time to step-it-up, baseball fans.
• Josh Q. Public takes a look at the 2009 baseball season that is now halfway over.
• No Guts No Glory asks the question, “Hey Bud Selig, are you drunk?”
• Sports Rubbish reveals which athletes resemble characters from Harry Potter movies.
• PSAMP brings news of a Sidney Crosby wannabe.
• The Fifth Corner reminds us “Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up.”  A tribute to Jim Valvano.
• Detroit4lyfe says Derrick Mason has gone Barry Sanders on Baltimore’s Ravens.
• Babes Love Baseball writes about the Mets finding their savior, Jeff Francoeur.
• The Legend of Cecilio Guante praises Matt Cassel for “playing the system” so well in his new lucrative contract.
• Rootzoo takes a look at the All-time All-Star Game performers.
• Sharapova’s Thigh asks who throws a better middle-finger: Megan Fox or Mike Ditka?
• MoonDog Sports found that Senator Hatch wants the BCS investigated.

Is the young mistress / wife the new O J Simpson?  First Steve McNair’s 20 year-old mistress kills him and then herself.  Now yesterday, 37 year-old Arturo Gatti was strangled by his 23 year-old bride on their honeymoon.  Check out the video above, maybe one of the best fights I have ever seen in Ward vs Gatti.

Stories from other great sites:

• Bugs & Cranks points out that the average Yankee makes more money than an All-Star.
• Josh Q. Public takes a look at 2004 Padres draft pick Matt Bush to see what he is up to.
• PSAMP finds Steeler player Lawrence Timmons unable to remember his coach’s name. (Hint – It’s Mike Tomlin.)
• Major League Jerk comments on the cheap shot that Henderson gave Bisping when the outcome of the fight was clearly decided.
• Hugging Harold Reynolds talks about the real Rock & Wrestling Connection, and it isn’t Roddy Piper and Cyndi Lauper.
• Babes Love Baseball proves that a vote of confidence means nothing in this day and age as Manny Acta gets canned.

The Mahoning Valley Thunder traveled West in hopes of ending their losing streak to take on the Peoria Pirates.  The team was optimistic about their chances in Illinois, but the way this year has gone, optimism is a tough sell.  Mahoning Valley trailed 49-7 at halftime and ended up losing 76-34.  Two offensive mistakes in the first quarter, a fumble in the end zone recovered for a touchdown, and a 31-yard interception return created a hole too big for the Thunder to pull out of.

The Thunder played a much more respectable second half, as each team scored 27 points.  For Peoria, Brando scored three defensive touchdowns in the game on interception returns of 31 and 45 yards and recovered the fumble in the end zone for another.

For Mahoning Valley, Brad Roach started the game and went 4-7 with 2 INT’s.  Tom Zetts was inserted for the Thunder and went 19-36 for 256 yards and two TD’s.  Zetts also was picked off three times. 

I am sure the abscence of Quorey Payne in this game hurt Mahoning Valley’s chances.  CJ Brewer did his absolute best to pick up the slack finishing the game with 10 catches for 187 yards and a TD.  Brewer also added three rushing touchdowns for the Thunder.

New kicker, YSU’s Brian Palmer, was 5-6 in PAT’s, a glaring improvement over the shoddy kicking the Thunder had become accustomed to in games past. 

For the Thunder it is the 13th consecutive loss this season.

The Batavia Muckdogs got the best of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers Saturday night in Batavia, winning the game 5-4.  As a result of the loss, the Scrappers five game winning streak comes to an end.  Batavia pushed all five of their runs across the plate in the bottom of the third and held on for the victory.

The Scrappers got on the board first in the top of the third inning on a Jordan Henry RBI single to make it 1-0.  Brett Brach, the Mahoning Valley starter,  then had a nightmare of an inning in the bottom of the third as the Muckdogs offense exploded for five runs.  The five runs given up by the Scrappers were the most scored in an inning this season against them.

The Scrappers tried to fight back, scoring two runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Jason Smit and a throwing error to cut the lead to 5-3 in favor of Batavia.  Smit added an RBI double in the seventh, his third hit of the game, driving home another Scrapper run and slicing the lead to 5-4.  Unfortunately, Mahoning Valley could not tie the game in their final two at-bats, and ultimately came out with a loss.

The Scrappers wrap up the short road trip with a 5:05 game in Batavia before returning home to the friendly confines of Eastwood Field.

Smit-O-Meter:  3-5, 2 RBI, currently batting .333

Every once in the while, I am lucky enough to meet an athlete who is talented, charismatic, and a joy to talk with.  Jason Smit is all of the above.  He is a ball of energy who somehow ended up in America playing baseball for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  We talked for a half-hour about baseball, Travis Fryman, and the differences between the United States and his home country, Australia. 

Paneech:  Talk to me about what it meant to be drafted at the age of 16 and having to leave home.

Smit:  Well, I was sixteen, I was at the Major League Baseball Academy.  A few scouts at the camp were interested in me and talked with me about signing.  It ended up narrowing down to three teams – Cleveland, The Rockies, and Atlanta too.  I liked Cleveland because they have a lot to do with player development, so I chose Cleveland and I am very grateful for that.  I was seventeen when I first came over here, which was pretty hard.  I had been away from my family before, but not for this period of time.  Well, I left, I remember it was the fifteenth of February and I ended up going home somewhere in October.  It was difficult, I didn’t get to see my family.  You know, some of these guys can pick up the phone and call their parents, call their mates and stuff like that, but for me it’s different.  The twelve hour difference, when I’m awake they are sleeping.  At the end of the day I am doing what I love and I’m loving every minute of it.

Paneech:  Tell me what it is like living with a host family and how you like the family you are with.

Smit:  It’s been neat to have a host family.  I’m very grateful, I’ve got two very nice host parents, they’re very good people, they open their house to us.  It’s actually me and [Chun] Chen rooming together.  It’s basically like living at home, it’s a home feeling and like having a mom and a dad – they look after you and they supply stuff for you.  Me and Chen have been together for a few years now, we had two years at instructional ball.  I know Chen pretty well, he is not bad when it comes to English, when there is a little joking on he is quite a character.

Paneech:  Growing up in Australia, there is Rugby, Cricket, Aussie Football, how did you take such a liking to baseball?

Smit:  Well, T-Ball is pretty big for youngsters there.  As soon as you hit twelve, it’s that conversion to pee wee baseball.  I was playing Australian Rules Football at that time too, which I loved playing.  I went from T-Ball to peewees and really enjoyed myself.  That next year, I made the Colt World Series, and that was the stage where I was like, ok, hold on, I’m not bad at this, I wanna try to keep going with this.

Paneech:  I know there are some cultural differences betwen here and home.  Have you taken a liking to things you see on American television?

Smit:  To be honest, it’s pretty much all the same.  We get the same soap operas and stuff like that.  I’ll watch anything on TV, I’m a big Sportscenter fan.  Back home there is Sportscenter, but there is no baseball on it whatsoever.  There’s sports, I’ll watch anything, I’m not too picky.

Paneech:  How about music, what do you listen to?

Smit: I like Kings of Leon, I like a lot of rock bands, I’ll listen to some rap here and there.  I will not listen to country at all.

Paneech:  Have you found a favorite restaurant to go eat at yet?

Smit:  Station Square definitely.  My host family is very good friends with the owner, but so far it’s been the winner, their chicken parmesian was pretty good.

Paneech:   Who is your favorite athlete of all-times?

Smit:  That’s a tough one.  I didn’t grow up watching baseball, so I can’t say it would be a baseball player.  It would be an AFL (Australian Rules FB) player that you guys don’t know.  Nick DelSanto, he’s a footballer I liked watching him and the way he plays.

Paneech:  You get teased by your fellow Scrappers about the accent and being from Australia, does it anger you or have you been able to deal with it?

Smit:  Not at all, at the end of the day I know they are all joking around and having a crack at me.  Right now, I’m the only Australian on the team so I do cop it pretty bad.  I kind of get back at them pretty good too, so it’s not too bad.

Paneech:  Have you taken a liking to any of the current Cleveland Indians?

Smit:  I really like watching Asdrubal Cabrera a lot.  I love the way he plays and how smooth he is, his hands.  he is one of those guys you want to watch.

Paneech:  Tell me about your shoulder injury and conversion to outfielder.

Smit:  Well it was actually in Spring training last year. I was playing second base, came across behind the pitcher’s mound and tried to throw to home plate,  and my shoulder pretty much popped out, and I did some damage to my labrum in the back and I was rehabbing for a long time, about four or five months.  Thanks to the guys here, I came back really strong, mayber even stronger.  Last year at the end of the year, I went to the outfield and proved I could play the outfield and proved that I was strong enough which was a good thing.  In Spring trining, I got outfield work, I think they are pretty happy with the way it’s going.

Paneech:  Has your family talked about coming here to catch a few games?

Smit:  It’s difficult, dad is an engineer, he’s pretty busy at work.  We have spoken about it, but the thing is if you are coming here, you have to come for at least a couple of weeks.  The flight is expensive and stuff like that.  I mean, they definitely will, within the next year, will come and see me wherever I go and catch a few games, it should be good.  I’ve got an older brother, 22 years-old, his name is Rene.  He’s actually a very smart guy.  He’s a software engineer, he’s in his last year at University, he’s like my dad, very smart guy.

Paneech:  You guys finally get a day off on July 12th.  What will you do all day?

Smit:  I’m definitely going to have a little sleep, catch up on some sleep, go watch a movie, go out to lunch, and actually get a good dinner for once.  It’s pretty hard playing at 7:00, I’m looking forward to it.

Paneech:  What is it like playing for Travis Fryman?

Smit:  Ah, I love it.  I’ve had him for a couple of years now, he’s one of, if not the best coach I have ever had the chance to play for.  I love the way he goes about the game.  He knows the right times to be hard, and he knows when to lay back and have some fun.  He’s done a hell of a job so far and he will go a long way with coaching, he’s a good guy.

So there you have it, Jason Smit, a good guy who is having fun doing what he loves.

Mahoning Valley Thunder Coach Chris MacKeown insists that Tom Zetts is now with the team because he is a player, not because he is a local guy to promote as a ticket selling scheme.  Zetts enjoyed a very successful career at Boardman High School and later with Youngstown State University.

As a member of the Penguins, Zetts recorded school bests for pass attempts (1,094), completions (654), touchdowns (51), yardage (7,643), 200-yard games (13) and completion percentage (59.8). His 8,277 total offensive yards are also tops in Penguins history.

Zetts spent the 2008 season with the Parma Panthers of the Italian-American Football League.  In his only season at the controls he guided his Italian Panthers team to the EFAF Cup Championship.  At season’s end, Zetts returned to the area and coached at Duquesne.

The Thunder contacted Zetts in the Spring to be a part of the team, but Zetts is very devoted to his job at Boardman High where he teaches a couple of levels of algebra.  His involvement in Spartans extra-curricular activities limited his time.  With three weeks left in the Thunder season, he wanted to take the time to see what he could do while still young and in good physical condition. 

Zetts told me he is thrilled to be a part of the Thunder and maybe getting the chance to play in front of family and friends.  Because of his familiarity with the area, a few of Zetts’ new co-workers have tried to make him tour guide for Youngstown nightlife and places to meet a pretty girl.  A chuckling Zetts replied that he is happy and that with a great girlfriend he doesn’t do too much solo nightlife activity.

Zetts said he didn’t hear much about the Steve McNair tragedy other than the fact that he was dead.  He was in San Diego enjoying a visit with his brother. 

Tom likes to watch Two And A Half Men and Sportscenter.  He is a Cleveland Browns and Cavaliers fan, but credits the emergence of cable television and TBS for his liking of the Atlanta Braves.

Zetts told me all of the places he has been, nobody has the selection of good pizza like Youngstown.  His favorite place is Belleria, but said he enjoys pizza from many places in the area.

Tom is a country music fan.  His favorite artist is Pat Green.

Zetts, like every other Thunder player likes video games.  He has a PS3 and is currently playing Call of Duty 4.  He also enjoys tinkering with some sports games.

Tom Zetts is a welcome addition to this team.  He knows his role and says he is not here to take Brad Roach’s job.  Coack MacKeown says that the person who plays will be the person who puts the team in the best position to win.  I like both Zetts and Roach and would not want to make that decision. 

Let the Roy Halladay bidding war begin!  I know two teams who won’t be submitting – Pittsburgh and Cleveland, who both gave up on their seasons a bit early.  My guess is that Halladay will end up with the Phillies or Mets.  Halladay will be strong for whoever scoops him up, I think he is the best pitcher in baseball.

Here are some stories from other great sites:

• NESW Sports has video of Serena Williams on David Letterman’s show discussing her grunts.
• Josh Q. Public takes a look at Seattle Mariner pitching sensation Felix Rodriguez.
• MoonDog Sports wrote a good piece on how the economy is forcing many high school athletes to pay if they want to play.
• Fantasy Pros 911 says that the roll that Scott Rolen is on is just about over.
• Fansided tries to speculate in his piece, What If The Greatest Rappers of All Time Were Sports Legends?
• PSAMP repots that LaMarr Woodley is Essence Magazine’s single man of the month.
• Not Qualified To Comment has a change of heart toward Carlos Boozer maybe becoming a Bull.
• Steady Burn finds Roger Goodell and Jim Mora climbing Mt. Rainier to raise money for charity.
• Hugging Harold Reynolds reports that Sonia Sotomayor has put David Cone on her character witness list.
• Bootlegger Sports says former San Diego State Football Coach Chuck Long might be your new hero because San Diego State just can’t get rid of him.
• Zoner Sports found video of Asians doing Christopher Walken impressions.

Kelly Pavlik was at the Mahoning Valley Scrappers game on Thursday night and revealed his plans for the future, as well as what he has been up to lately.  A swarm of fans greeted Pavlik to get autographed copies of his book written by David Lee Morgan, Jr. and Greg Gulas.  The book is for sale on the official Team Pavlik website.

Pavlik said that the Felix Sturm (32-4-1, 14 KO’s) fight is on the board, but not set in stone yet.  “That’s the talk.  A couple of weeks ago it was definitely Felix Sturm until he backed out.  Now that this Super Middleweight Tournament is going on Showtime, I think it’s pretty much a reality that the fight [Sturm] is going to happen.” 

It seems the holdup on making the fight with Sturm official is the proposed purse from HBO.  “Somebody better throw some more money out there.  He’s got the WBA world title, I’ve got two titles.”  HBO has offered the fighters roughly $1 million each.  “If we’ve got to split that, I wasn’t going to take a fight for that.”

Pavlik (35-1, 31 KO’s) said he has been keeping busy lately and has even started to get into shape.  “We are starting at about three days a week now, I run.  Then next week we start with the weightlifting and getting back into the boxing gym.  We’re not going to do it too hard now because we still have a long way.  When you do eight weeks of seven hours a day of training, you don’t want to go too long out. I keep myself in pretty good shape, three days a week I always work out whether it’s lifting weights, or my basketball court, we get some pickup games going – we’re out there for four hours a day playing against different teams that come in, so I’m always doing some kind of activities.”

Kelly stressed that he is very anxious to get back in the ring.  ” As soon as we find out the exact date of the fight, and the date can still change, know that I am definitely excited to get back in the ring.”

Pavlik commented on the internet and blogs.  ” They wrote me off before and look what happened, I’ve got two belts.”

When asked where the fight might take place, Pavlik answered, “AC [Atlantic City], Youngstown or Cleveland.  Sturm’s coming over from Germany, I don’t see it happening in Vegas because he fought [Oscar]DeLa Hoya there and he kind of got robbed on that fight.  AC is kind of my second home, so, they’re going to have to pick somewhere in the Midwest I guess.”

On a very busy night at Eastwood Field, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers completed a sweep of the Auburn Doubledays, winning 4-3 in 14 innings.  The four hour and twenty-four minute marathon was the longest in Niles since the Scrappers beat Staten Island, 3-2, on August 6 of 2005.

Kelly Pavlik was at the park signing copies of his book alongside authors David Lee Morgan, Jr. and Greg Gulas.  Pavlik also threw out the ceremonial first pitch (above).  The weather was perfect for the big crowd to enjoy “Buck Night”, as well as an appearance from the Cavs dancers.  There was something going on everywhere before the game started.

Once the game started, Auburn jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a Yan Gomes double.  In the top of the sixth, Auburn tacked on another run as Jimmy Gonzales drove in Welington Ramirez with a bases-loaded RBI single with one out.  Scrapper reliever Jose Urena pitched himself out of the bases-loaded one out jam to keep the score at 2-0 in favor of the Doubledays.

In the bottom of the sixth, Mahoning Valley got on the board as Jordan Henry singled and advanced to second on Lurvin Basabe’s walk.  Jason Smit found the hole between short and third scoring the speedy Henry cutting the lead to 2-1.  After Ben Carlson walked to load the bases, Chun Chen was hit by a pitch forcing in the tying run to knot the contest at two apiece.

In the tenth inning, Auburn got a run when Welington Ramirez singled home Brad Glenn.  The Scrappers tied the game in the bottom of the tenth as Ben Carlson led off with a single.  Carlson was then lifted for pinch runner Kyle Bellows, who stole second base.  Chen came through again with an RBI double that scored Bellows tying the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the 14th inning, Rafael Vera delivered with a two-out, two-strike RBI single that would score Chen lifting the Scrappers to their fourth straight victory.

After the game, Coach Travis Fryman commented  on the long game.  ” I don’t have a lot of answers for that ball game, I really don’t.  I thought it was a very poorly played game, but a very gutsy game.  Both teams played hard for 14 innings.  We had many opportunities to win that game and it should not have went 14 innings.”

Fryman was also very praiseworthy of his catcher, Chun Chen.  “Fourteen innings to catch, three steals, three or four hits, it was a very gutsy effort on his part.”

A new feature here will be the Smit-O-Meter, tracking the nightly efforts of Scrapper Jason Smit, one of the most charismatic athletes I have ever met.

The 7-9-09 Smit-O Meter:  3-7 with an RBI (10), currently batting .325.