March 1

It's been about three weeks since my last post, but I'm back and hopefully I'll have more time to write now. I'm going to devote some time on football because of certain trade rumors that have been floating around. The Denver Broncos attempted to trade Jay Cutler and bring in Matt Cassell in some sort of three team deal that never got done. I have a few questions for the new coach and Mr. Pat Bowlen. Why on earth would you trade your best player, a top 5 quarterback in the NFL, for the most ridiculously over-rated player in NFL history? Matt Cassell had a decent year last year, but there's a perfectly good explanation for that: it's the Patriots! That offensive line is a beast, Tom Brady almost never gets sacked, and he's not a mobile quarterback. The routes the receivers run are hard for defenses to pick up on, and they have no running game so the quarterback does everything and he has about 8 guys to throw to every play. The defense can't keep up! Not only that, but now Cutler feels he isn't appreciated by the team, so you'd better get on your knees and beg him for forgiveness or he'll take off as soon as his contract is up, and you'll be out 1 hall-of-fame caliber quarterback. Matt Cassell hadn't started a game since high school before last season, and there's a reason for it! So Mr. McDaniels, realize the kid's not that good. I know you had a great bonding experience in New England, but this fool is not worth trading your best player for. And even if he was any good, you don't trade your young super-star, who has had 2 good years in a row for an unproven system quarterback who, with an O-line like Denver has, would throw about 30 picks next year. The offense is fine, and if it ain't broke don't fix it! The only thing that offense needs is a solid center and a couple reliable guards. The defense is really where they should focus, it's the laughing stock of the league. However, I do have to give McDaniels credit for shoring up that defense. The Broncos have already signed some big-time free agents in the first day the market opened. Linebacker Andra Davis was a huge signing, that linebacker core needs serious help, and defensive tackle Darrell Reid will provide some much-needed strength up front. But the biggest player they've signed is Brian Dawkins. This team needed a safety, they have ever since the great Steve Atwater departed many years ago, and they got the best one available. They also signed 2 good running backs, another position that needed some help, and a couple wide-outs. I hope McDaniels can pull the defense together and get this team back to the playoffs, but with what we've seen so far it's a toss up. He's made some brilliant moves and one extremely ignorant attempt at a move, so I'm not sure what to think. In any case, next year will certainly be an interesting one.

February 11

Spring training is just around the corner. Can you feel the excitement in the air? The start of baseball season is one of the best feelings ever. It's like when you see that really cute girl in your class for the first time. Your eyes meet and you look away really fast with that fluttery feeling in your stomach. Then you try to be casual, looking at her intermittently throughout the class. It's an invigorating feeling. Of course, then you realize she just thinks your creepy and weird so you get all dejected, that's more like the end of the season. With this new season on the way, you hear a lot of early pre-season picks, and they're always the same, but never 100 percent accurate. In the AL, you'll hear Yankees in the East, Twins or Tigers in the Central, Angels in the West, and Boston as the Wild card. In the NL you'll hear Phillies in the East, Cubs in the Central, Dodgers in the West, and Mets as the Wild Card. Probably Yankees/Red Sox-Phillies/Cubs World Series predictions will be prevalent. These are all fine, but last years pre-season picks were usually Sox/Tigers-Cubs/Mets, and obviously those were very wrong. So this season, I'm going to give my top NL and AL dark horse picks.

NL - Cincinnati Reds

The Reds are a very strong team going into this year. Their lineup is very well balanced between power (Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Edwin Encarnacion, and Ramon Hernandez) and speed (Willy Taveras, Brandon Phillips and Chris Dickerson). With the lineup being stacked from top to bottom, the only question is pitching, and that question has been answered. Aaron Harang was a Cy Young candidate just a few years ago, but faltered last year, going 6-17 with a 4.78 ERA. We know the kind of pitcher he can be, and last years poor performance could have been due to injury and over use, he should bounce back this season. Then there's Bronson Arroyo, another veteran player who has a lot of talent, but stumbled a little last year. After thase two, come two dazzling second-year arms: Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto. In his rookie year last year, Volquez went 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strike outs. Cueto pitched well for a rookie last year. His velocity is off the charts and coming into his sophomore season, he should build up his accuracy. Finally, a great closer is important to a good team. The Reds have that in Francisco Cordero. Cordero takes this team to the next level with his ability to shut down teams in the ninth inning. This is the best team no one's talking about.

AL - Kansas City Royals

Laugh if you'd like but these guys are for real. They start with a great pitching staff that has the ability to win a lot of games. Gil Meche is The ace of the team. His ERA last year was under 4 and he won 14 games on a rebuilding team. With another year of experience under this team's belt, Meche is capable of an 18-20 win season. After Meche comes Zach Greinke. Greinke had a phenomenal year last year, with 13 wins and a 3.47 ERA in his fifth season with the Royals. Obviously, he and Meche could be one of the better one two punches in the game. It doesn't get any easier after that. Brian Bannister started last season, his second full season in the majors, going 7-6 with a 4.47 ERA. Although he ended up with a 9-16 record and a 5.76 ERA, he shows a lot of promise. If he can get back to where he was the first three games of last season (3-0, 0.86 ERA) he could become the best 3 starter in the league. Then there's Joakim Soria, one of the best closers in the game. He save 42 out of 45 games last year. That's about as close to a guarantee as you can get. Not only do the Royals have a great pitching staff, their lineup is mouth-watering. Kansas City is loaded up on young talent. Third baseman Alex Gordon is one of the most talked about young players in baseball. Short stop Mike Aviles hit .325 with 10 homers and 51 RBI in just over 100 games in his rookie season last year. Billy Butler has the potential to be one of the premier power hitters in baseball. Veteran catcher Miguel Olivo had 41 RBI in just 84 games last season and after a slow start to the year last year, Right Fielder Jose Guillen hit .345 in the month of June with 7 homers and 25 RBI. They picked up two key free agents in the off season in power hitting first baseman Mike Jacobs, and the speedy leadoff man Coco Crisp. Not to mention David DeJesus, the most under rated outfielder in baseball. He is a career .287 hitter and had the best average with runners in scoring position last year. If my team was in the AL Central, I'd be worried about these guys.

February 8

Well, big news today, A-Rod apparently tested positive for steroids back in 2003. The test was done during a series that would eventually help the MLB decide to mandate random drug testing. of course, the study participants were supposed to remain anonymous, and the samples were supposed to be destroyed 60 days after testing, but that clearly didn't happen. Then, with the Barry Bonds case, lawyers seized the samples and results of the tests. Come to find out, 104 players tested positive that year. That's five percent of the league on performance enhancing drugs. I am outraged by that statistic. Five percent of the league is cheating, it's ridiculous. Thank goodness they got it all straightened out now with the random testing. That is probably the only good thing Bud Selig has done in his career as commissioner. Drug testing should go a step further to Olympic standards however. Their policy is to store the samples and retest them for substances that there are no tests for at that current time. That way, when a new test comes out for a banned substance, you can go back and test the samples to be sure the players were clean at the time. The MLB is doing a good job cracking down, and hopefully they continue to progress and make baseball clean again.

One small note to finish, LeBron James' triple double has been taken away due to a statistical error. It seems like a silly thing to do. A historic triple double taken away for one missed rebound. I think you let this one slide if you're a stat checker. So much for the first 50 point triple double in 35 years, you'll get 'em next time kid.

February 6

I missed two days, sorry, I'll have to start setting aside some "blog-writing time". So looks like the Raiders found a new coach, I'm betting on him being around for 5 games, maybe 6. If you heard his interview you may have noticed him saying the Raiders will be a playoff team, and that the Raiders of old are back. I guess I missed the memo, did they go get new players or are they just the same? And can anyone name more than three guys on the team? Sorry to burst your bubble Mr. Cable, but the Raiders are going no where but down, I'm predicting a solid 2 wins this season.

Now that football season is finally over, we can focus on more important things, oh wait, the pro bowl still airs on national television? I wonder why that is? I think the last thing anyone wants to see is more football. I'm sure the players don't want to play another game either. The season is over and this game means nothing; it's just a nice vacation to Hawaii for all of the elite players from this season. What would happen if the game wasn't in Hawaii I wonder. Well, we'll soon find out with the pro bowl being moved next year (supposedly) to the site where the Super Bowl will take place. Sure, next year it's in Miami, nothing wrong with that, but guess where it is the year after that. That's right, good old Indianapolis. This is a terrible idea, I'd rather the pro bowl just be done away with then see this game moved to Indy. What players want to take their family on a nice vacation to the middle of no where. I see that the NFL wants the game to seem relevant by moving it to the weekend before the super bowl, but let's face it, the game will never be relevant. There's no way to make it relevant. I guess if you give the winning conference's players a big time bonus check they'd actually care, but besides that, the pro bowl will never mean anything. I think it's unnecessary and it ought to be eradicated due to the fact that no one watches it and no one cares, especially the players.

Kobe Bryant dropped 61 at the garden on Tuesday night, with 3 assists and zero rebounds. Then on Wednesday, LeBron James one upped him by scoring a cool 52 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 11 assists. I've heard people say that Kobe's performance was more impressive, which I think is an outrageous thing to say. A 50 point triple double hasn't been recorded since Kareem did it in 1975, are you kidding me? LeBron's night was far better, not only did he score only 9 less points than Kobe, but he also had 10 more rebounds and 8 more assists. LeBron played a team centered game and he showed off his all around game, whereas Kobe only showed that he can put the ball through the hoop; 9 more points isn't that impressive. MJ scored 60 in the garden just last century, there hasn't been a 50 point triple double recorded anywhere in 35 years, now that is impressive, and anyone who says otherwise is a Lakers fan.

February 3

This'll be a quick one, let's talk Michael Phelps here. He got caught doing a stupid thing, he's a role model and he shouldn't have done it. However, I would like to point out that the guy manned up and took a little responsibility for his actions. We hear so many times these days, "I didn't do that" or "I didn't know what it was". For me, it was great to hear him stand up and take a little responsibility for his actions. I'm not saying it was a good idea or that he's just a kid, that's what kids will do, I'm saying that Phelps took it like a man. He didn't pull a Barry or Roger and claim that he didn't do it. He didn't avoid the topic like Mark McGuire. He stood up said, I made a stupid mistake, I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again. I think he deserves a break from all this criticism. But if he gets in trouble again, it won't be pretty.

February 2

I'd like to take the time to say happy groundhog day to everyone out there. As much as I love furry little rodents, I've gotta say, the holiday doesn't do much for me, and I'm pretty sure it's been about 50 years since the last time the weasel gave us an early spring. I guess I just don't understand Groundhog Day, good movie though. Anyway, I would also like to say congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers on their Super Bowl victory. Although they probably didn't deserve to win, what with two fourth-quarter personal fouls (plus one that should have been called on a celebration in the end zone), and a miracle run back with time running out in the first half, they still pulled it out, just like they've done all year. But the Cardinals played very well throughout the game, and especially in the second half. I would have almost argued for Larry Fitzgerald to be the MVP had Santonio Holmes not been the reason the Steelers pulled out that victory. Did you see that stat after the drive? In the winning drive, he had 4 catches for 74 yards and the touchdown, the man definitely deserved the MVP and Roethlisberger did not. I've heard about a dozen sports "experts" say Big Ben was most deserving. me a break, if Holmes hadn't been on this team, they wouldn't have won the game. What other Steeler wide out could have made the plays he did in that game? Yeah, think hard, because I bet you can't even name one besides Hines Ward. Look, Ben Roethlisberger is an incredible athlete and helped that team make it to the Super Bowl, but it was Santonio Holmes who won that game for them. When I saw the Fitzgerald touchdown catch, I thought it was all over. But Santonio Holmes stepped up and made the big catches and runs after the catches to take that team to victory.

On another note, let's take a look at the NBA. The Oklahoma City Thunder moved from Seattle at the end of last year for who knows what reason, and landed in the middle of nowhere. On top of all of that, they went through the first two months of the season with a pitiful 4-29 record. Ouch! However, since the start of the new year, they are 7-8, which, I realize, is still pretty poor, but it's not 4-29. I've been very impressed with this team of late. Ever since Russell Westbrook has been starting and both Nenad Kristic and Nick Collison have been healthy, this team has looked good. That's not to mention Jeff Green, another young star on this team. This team is very young, and still making childish mistakes, but give them a few years and they'll be a team to be reckoned with. Look at what they've already done. It only took them two months to turn into a .500 team; if they can continue to mature at that rate, they will be an elite team in two years.

February 1

Let's talk about the NBA all star game. Representing the East are Dwayne Wade, Allen Iverson, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Danny Granger, Devin Harris, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson. Representing the West are Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, Brandon Roy, Shaquille O'Neal, and David West. For probably the first time in my life, I'd say the fan voting was more or less accurate. Of course they'll have their slip ups, they're a collection of idiots, but for the most part, these are all all-star caliber players this year. The one guy I have to disagree with is AI. He is playing poorly this season, and he certainly is not deserving of an all-star slot. The spot should have gone to my biggest East snub, Ray Allen. This guy is having a great year, and his team is one of the best, if not the best, teams in the NBA. Then in the West you have David West. The guy is an extremely talented player on a very solid team but he surely doesn't have all-star numbers this year. His place should have been taken by Nene. This little known center from the Nuggets is having a monster year, and his numbers across the board are far better than West's. Nene leads the league in field goal percentage, and averages 15 points, 8 boards, and a block and a half per game. Those two guys are my biggest snubs, but other guys like Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo, and Deron Willims are all having fantastic years and should be recognized for it. Overall, I think the players who were chosen are more or less correct, and, although I am usually not a fan of fan voting, the idiots did an ok job this year.