MLB Recap 10/15/10

The MLB Postseason continues tonight after a questionably long break since the previous series…Fortunately that break has allowed me to calm down since the whole Instant Replay fiasco.

In the year of the pitcher, the excitement has all boiled down to Game 1 between the Phillies and Giants. Roy Halladay v. Tim Lincecum. I am not doubting that these two pitchers will pitch very well in Game 1, but I have to imagine that these two pitchers will not be able to replicate the amazing performances they had in the previous series. Halladay pitched a No Hitter (virtually a perfect game, if not for 1 walk) and Lincecum pitched a 2 Hitter. Impressive both of them. But you simply cannot expect that with this type of pressure and immense hype for the game that both pitchers will last 9 innings, outdueling one for the other in a 1-0 game. If it happens, then by all means enjoy the baseball and I will eat my words. But I have a hunch that at least one of them will be gone by the 6^th inning (maybe 7).

Since this does begin new series, I will honor the day with some predictions: Like I said in my first post, the Phillies simply must be considered as the front runner until someone makes a legitimate move for the World Series. The Giants will not be that team. As for the Rangers and Yankees, as much as it hurts me to believe that the Evil Empire will go all the way, the Rangers are too young to really progress anywhere deep into October.

Phillies in 5. Yankees in 6. World Series Rematch.

NBA Recap 10/13/10

The NBA has done something extremely interesting by playing a number of preseason games across seas – not only between NBA teams, but also against professional teams in Europe. Here are the good and bad sides of the issue:

The good side: This is great promotional advertising for a league that for all intents and purposes is 3^rd most popular in the United States, but gaining rapidly on soccer everywhere else in the world. Baseball doesn’t have this luxury, with exception to Latin America, and American football is essentially seen as barbaric in the eyes of the rest of the world. This is a great way for the NBA to get their name out to the rest of the world and put their label in peak position for merchandising (Re: incredibly successful NBA Store on 5^th Ave that has about 50% of its purchases made by international fans). Great work on behalf of Commissioner David Stern and a great move all around for basketball.

The bad side: If you are going to brag about your product and the strength of the NBA, you have to actually win the games you play against international teams. Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers made a presence in Spain but fell apart in the end and ended up losing to FC Barcelona. Hello!? These are our defending champions!? At least make the league look reasonably talented!! Granted, Kobe Bryant was nursing an injury and it was our preseason – but come on! Our B-Team was able to win the World Basketball Championship, our top collective team can take care of some Spaniards (considering we had their best player in Pau Gasol). Pitiful performance by the Lakers – absolutely demeaning to the whole league. Next year Stern better consider who he sends overseas (if anyone) that can actually show the league in a positive, talented light. 

NFL Recap 10/11/10

Well if this week in the NFL has proven anything, it’s that the experts know nothing. Top quarterbacks continue to be challenged, and after only 5 weeks, no team is undefeated. The Super Bowl Colts and Saints are both 3-2. The Oakland Raiders gave a pounding to San Diego. The Detroit Lions looked Super Bowl-caliber against Sam Bradford. Congrats by the way to the Detroit Lions, who now don’t have any pressure to win a game until next season, because let’s face it, this is only their 3^rd win in the last 3 seasons. They are definitely not going to be doing this more anytime soon.

The real intrigue, though, is with Monday Night Football. The Jets have an opportunity to prove that their Week 1 loss truly was a fluke (and that they may in fact run the table), while Brett Favre has about one or two more games before he realizes that the comeback this time around was probably a terrible idea. Put in a little Randy Moss who torched the Jets already once this season and we’re looking at a pretty nice matchup.

Prediction:

The Jets are favored in the spread (-4.5) with due reason. Favre has more interceptions this season than he did all of last season. Yet this is Brett Favre on Monday Night Football (Re: MNF after his father died – 4TDs, 400YDs). Count on him to make it interesting.

Vikings beat the spread (and possibly some last minute Favre heroics for the game). 

Miscellaneous Recap 10/9/10

This week in miscellanea brings the College Football BCS rant:

How many games must Boise State win before they are taken seriously!? Time and again they have proven themselves worthy of being in the conversation, and yet they are never given a shot at the championship title (yet the last 2 BCS Bowl Games they were in they won).

The biggest mistake that the BCS did last year was taking the two undefeated teams (Re: Boise State and TCU) and pitting them against each other while the one-loss teams battled it out for the other BCS games. They needed to break that up! Had each one of those teams played one of the major conferences in the bowl games, they both would have won and shut every single doubter up. No they have to begin from square one again.

When push comes to shove, Boise will eventually have to be given a shot by pure reason that they simply have won so many games in a row. And when they do, the BCS will finally have to get off their high horse and realize College Football isn't an old mens club anymore.

MLB Recap 10/8/10

It's the year of the pitcher and the opening games of the postseason saw a No Hitter and a CG Shutout (2 hits) by two of the top pitchers in the league. It would be nice to be able to devote this week's MLB blog to that, but something more pressing has come up:

INSTANT REPLAY MUST BE ENFORCED IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

I'm not exactly sure if I've made myself clear yet, so let me say it again: there is NO reason why instant replay should not be used in baseball. Lets break this down so that the close-minded, ignoramus, formerly well-respected baseball elite can understand why this is the most ridiculous conversation that has gone on too long.

1. "It slows down the game" - Really!? Checking if a call is correct or not slows down the slowest game in sports!? Why don't you actually force the pitcher to throw the ball in a timely manner instead of waiting 30-45 seconds in between pitches? Or maybe you would actually be cutting down the time instead of seeing overweight managers struggling to walk up the steps out of the dugout to go argue with the umpire?? The real problem with this argument is that you are basing instant replay off of professional football, which is possibly the worst instant replay system in existence.

NFL Replay: Play happens. All 10 people piled up involved in the play pull themselves off the ground. They stand around as the ball is placed in its new location and some signal is made. Play clock starts. Coaches sit around in the booth and look at the replay. They know a wrong call was made. We see the replay for the first time and know immediately that the wrong call was made. Coach waits and then throws dramatic red flag onto the field. Referee gets a little signal and thinks to himself, "Oh my f-ing god!? Does someone think I got something wrong!?" He runs over to the red flag and asks the coach, "What could you possibly believe I just got wrong!?" Coach explains it was the play that just happened because those are the rules of instant replay. Referee announces to the crowd that the coach has apparently challenged the ruling on the field of the previous play as if we're blind 5-year-olds who know nothing about the game, didn't already see the wrong call on the big screen, and were blind to the fact that none of the players are moving around and there's a red flag on the field. Referee then runs to the opposite end of the field to a little booth. He has to talk to some guy in a different booth who likely has already seen the replay like 7 times and knows it's the wrong call that he would like to see video evidence of the previous play. Then he talks to the guys at Buffalo Wild Wings. After the second commercial break, he comes back onto the field to tell everyone he screwed up. Referee then discusses with the other referees where the ball should be placed and how much time is on the clock. They set the ball. Another commercial break. Play clock resumes. Next play. Time elapsed: ....sorry I fell asleep.

Lets compare this to tennis replay: Play ends. Player thinks it actually hit the line. He says so. Awesome graphic comes up on the big screen simulating the previous play. The crowd is uproarious with technology. It hits the line! Round of applause. Play resumes.

Amazing! I don't even care to discuss other arguments that baseball elite may have. They aren't justified. I'm not saying scrutinize every ball and strike. But foul balls, running the bases, close plays at first - these are simple things. At most they involve 1 or 2 people and sometimes not even that. There are no difficult camera angles necessary to see if a ball slipped out of someone's hands before his knee hits the ground and 27 people are hitting him at one time. And you don't need the umpire running into the dugout. Take a page out of Hockey (yes, I just gave props to the NHL) and have a third party in a booth that just looks at it immediately and says - hey bro, got that one wrong. End of story. Ultimately the concept of instant replay is simple: it's supposed to be INSTANT. If we as the viewer on television know within 10 seconds that the play was wrong or not, the players and umpires can figure it out too in a timely manner. End of story.

NBA Recap 10/6/10

The NBA preseason has officially begun and the Heat already have to face injury problems. Talk about poetic justice. Nothing would be better than seeing Wade have to face a season ending or straining injury, making LeTraitor have to carry the team by himself. Where have we seen this before!? Expect the Heat to still carry the highest regular season win percentage, then blow it in the playoffs with LeTraitor at the helm. He went to someone else's team because he couldn't win a championship by leading, and now he has to do it again! Don't expect a Heat presence in June....

In other basketball news, the NBA ran some preseason games in London. While the concept itself is good, who in the world wants to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves play basketball!? And considering the Lakers played them without Kobe Bryant contributing at all (3 mins, 0-3 shooting), they might as well have sent the L.A. B-Team Clippers to London. All in all, I see it as a slap in the face to Europeans: We know you're interested in the NBA so we're gonna go ahead and send you our JV squads. Just warming up for your Olympics...

Miscellaneous Recap 10/1/10

This week in sports brings us the Ryder Cup - the most pretentious of all sports competitions. This makes Wimbeldon look like trailer park badminton. Anyways, the Americans are kicking European butt, I think...? Who decided this absurd scoring system! U.S. dominating in foursome going 2 Up, while Paris Hilton had a threesome with Kevin Federline and Lady Gaga's meat dress while drinking 7 Up. And what a great venue - Wales in October. Flood much? Either way, I look forward to finding any excuse for rooting on my Americans. USA! USA!

MLB Recap 10/1/10

The Reds made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years - congrats to them! (I'm from Ohio - something good had to come to us after LeTraitor left us...). Everyone has been talking Giants v. Padres and Yanks v. Rays. Truth be told, I'm not convinced any of this matters until someone actually takes down the Phillies. For a team that has done so well in the playoffs these past few years, how are they not talked about more!? Anyways, to round out the playoff structure, I say the Giants and Braves round out the NL, while the Rays jump out of their slump to take the AL East (especially after the Yanks struggled in their last outing against the Red Sox - the Sox may be out of the playoffs, but they will take any opportunity to ruin Yankee momentum).

NBA Recap 10/1/10

Let's establish something right from the start: There are other talented teams in the league aside from the Miami Heat. The Celtics will still contend in the East, the Bulls are looking stronger, and the Magic always seem to outperform what people think they should because, lets face it, Stan van Gundy looks like a disheveled Michael Moore. Let's not forget that LeTraitor still has to prove himself in the playoffs as well...not to mention the Lake Show on the other side of the country. Kobe is arguably the best in the league, Pau Gasol can take down Chris "I look like a Raptor" Bosh, and Ron Artest can defend the last of the "Miami Heat Elite." Why won't SportsCenter cover any other team...this is getting redundant. But here's to a new upcoming season!

NFL Recap 10/1/10

Cleveland and Buffalo have joined the Lions in the ranks of the hopeless. The Chiefs have left those ranks. Ta freakin' da. Jets fans are more obnoxious than ever, and aside from a surprising debacle on behalf of everyone on the Packers who isn't Aaron Rodgers, pretty much order is in place. Give it another 3 weeks and we'll see where everyone is. Too many story lines now to really call out, but in a few weeks most will fall to the wayside (like the Houston Texans being Super Bowl worthy). Stay tuned when something really interesting actually happens, like the Lions winning a 2nd game this year, but actually being given credit for it.

Sports Recap 10/1/10

NBA:


Let's establish something right from the start: There are other talented teams in the league aside from the Miami Heat. The Celtics will still contend in the East, the Bulls are looking stronger, and the Magic always seem to outperform what people think they should because, lets face it, Stan van Gundy looks like a disheveled Michael Moore. Let's not forget that LeTraitor still has to prove himself in the playoffs as well...not to mention the Lake Show on the other side of the country. Kobe is arguably the best in the league, Pau Gasol can take down Chris "I look like a Raptor" Bosh, and Ron Artest can defend the last of the "Miami Heat Elite." Why won't SportsCenter cover any other team...this is getting redundant. But here's to a new upcoming season!

MLB:


The Reds made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years - congrats to them! (I'm from Ohio - something good had to come to us after LeTraitor left us...). Everyone has been talking Giants v. Padres and Yanks v. Rays. Truth be told, I'm not convinced any of this matters until someone actually takes down the Phillies. For a team that has done so well in the playoffs these past few years, how are they not talked about more!? Anyways, to round out the playoff structure, I say the Giants and Braves round out the NL, while the Rays jump out of their slump to take the AL East (especially after the Yanks struggled in their last outing against the Red Sox - the Sox may be out of the playoffs, but they will take any opportunity to ruin Yankee momentum).

NFL:


Cleveland and Buffalo have joined the Lions in the ranks of the hopeless. The Chiefs have left those ranks. Ta freakin' da. Jets fans are more obnoxious than ever, and aside from a surprising debacle on behalf of everyone on the Packers who isn't Aaron Rodgers, pretty much order is in place. Give it another 3 weeks and we'll see where everyone is. Too many story lines now to really call out, but in a few weeks most will fall to the wayside (like the Houston Texans being Super Bowl worthy). Stay tuned when something really interesting actually happens, like the Lions winning a 2nd game this year, but actually being given credit for it.

Other:


This week in sports brings us the Ryder Cup - the most pretentious of all sports competitions. This makes Wimbeldon look like trailer park badminton. Anyways, the Americans are kicking European butt, I think...? Who decided this absurd scoring system! U.S. dominating in foursome going 2 Up, while Paris Hilton had a threesome with Kevin Federline and Lady Gaga's meat dress while drinking 7 Up. And what a great venue - Wales in October. Flood much? Either way, I look forward to finding any excuse for rooting on my Americans. USA! USA!