Super Tuesday

A lot of stuff from the weekend to get to. As you can tell, weekend’s are my busiest time, so blog updates may not be regular on weekends. With that said, Buster Olney takes Tuesday’s off on his ESPN Blog, so let’s get to some links!

We will start in Boston, where Manny Ramirez came to the rescue again in the 9th inning after a lackluster start by Jon Lester. Every start Lester makes reminds me of milk. It has an expiration date, in Lester’s case the 5th inning. Sometimes it goes bad early, sometimes it goes a little past, but most of the time the expiration date is right on.

Curt Schilling doctor has been on the radio saying that Schilling is angry with the Red Sox and he wants to pitch for the Yankees next year. Schilling laughed off this talk on the radio this morning, but the one thing here is, would the

On the other side of the field, the Indians had flashbacks to last October, when they had the Sox on the ropes and let them off the hook. Joe Borowski is done. Let’s just put this in print. Finished. His velocity topped out at 82-83 last night, and if you don’t have good off-speed stuff, which Borowski doesn’t, he is going to get killed. I don’t understand why the Rafael brothers (Betancourt and Perez) weren’t given a shot at closing in the spring.

In Yankee-land, Alex Rodriguez, Robby Cano, and the Yankee bats awoke with 8 runs against the Rays, and because of a bullpen meltdown they needed every run. Watched a lot of this game, Ian Kennedy looked great and should have gotten the win. I hope Phil Hughes took something away from this game, and the lesson should be “trust your stuff, trust your defense, and throw strikes!” John Flaherty made a great point of that during the broadcast, and he is dead on. Jon Lester could benefit from that lesson as well.

In Texas the Angels and Ervin Santana beat the hapless Rangers, and Francisco Rodriguez got a save in his return to action, albeit with a little help from Chone Figgins.

Zack Greinke and the Kansas City Royals continue to kick ass and take names, the latest victim being the Mariners last night. The Royals 1-2-3 punch at the beginning of their rotation (Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, and Zack Grienke) are as good as anyone else’s in the league right now. Trey Hillman is already the front runner for manager of the year.

The Oakland A’s rebuilding plans are going well, as they have won 8 out of 10 games.

Takashi Saito blew a save last night at Chavez Ravine, and blew it big time. This wasted a rare productive night from Andruw Jones and added a little more pressure on Joe Torre, as the Dodgers are currently floundering in the West. Good things the NBA Playoffs start soon and the Dodgers will be on the back burner.

Randy Johnson had a typical return to action last night, struggling with his control through 5 innings, but not allowing any earned runs, but the Giants got to the bullpen and won. I think he will be fine, but it’s going to be tough to get 16 wins with a bullpen like that. Arizona has bullpen issues, no doubt about it. If you allow any runs to the Giants, you have issues, but I digress.

In the NBA Isiah’s final home game as Knicks Head Coach was last night, and they lost to a Celtics second squad. It’s good that this era is coming to a close, and Scott Layden should be the happiest of all, because Thomas actually makes Layden look like a competent GM by comparison.

The Golden State Warriors are not going to make the playoffs with 48 wins, and Baron Davis sat for the entire second half due to a coaches decision. I have no idea what Don Nelson was thinking here, but the Warriors were down at the half and came back to take the lead in the 4th before running out of gas. I wonder if this is the end of the Baron Davis era in Golden St, as he is a free agent at the end of the season, as is Montae Ellis. Who gets the max contract, the young up and comer or the older injury prone veteran? Going to be a crazy off season by the Bay for Chris Mullin.

In contrast the Atlanta Hawks clinched the sacrificial Celtics lamb, err, the 8th spot in the East last night with 37 wins. I would post a link, but does anyone really care about the Atlanta Hawks?

11 days until the NFL Draft, do you know what you’re team is doing? If you do let me know, because no one seems to have a clue about this.

Oh and Carmelo Anthony continues to make good decisions on and off the court. If you are keeping score at home he now has the no snitching video, the bitch slap in MSG, and yesterday’s early morning driving course under his belt.

One more interesting tidbit (I would normally talk about the NHL Playoffs but no Islanders=No Interest on my end), the former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, Howard Schultz, is now, at the 11th hour, suing Clay Bennett to get his team back and keep the Sonics in Seattle. David Stern stands behind Bennett, as they are Best Friends Forever, but if this thing continues to get uglier, how much longer will Stern be able to hang on to the commissioner job in the public opinion? This latest drama puts Stern in the same boat as Bud Selig and Gary Bettman in my boat,,,,

Tuesday

Well, Kansas proved that sport sim right (that has magically gone missing from ESPN), they won. Of course, Memphis also gave them another gift with the title, a house made of brick. Maybe they can build it in Oklahoma for Bill Self.

Roy Williams wearing the KU sweater last night, I bet that went over well in Chapel Hill.

Esteban Loiaza got hammered last night, oh and he pitched badly too. In other Dodger news Joe Torre is now basically screwing with Matt Kemp by jerking him around with the ineffective Juan Pierre. Good times!

Francisco Rodriguez blew a save last night and owes Torii Hunter dinner for bailing him out. K-Rod may be on the shelf for a while with sprained ankles, my fantasy team is real thrilled with that. Paging Troy Percival….

Red Sox Opening day is today and there is a huge mystery around who is throwing out the first pitch. Apparently, as I stated this morning on the Big Jab it is none other than the legend himself.

The Bucs and Cubbies played a wild one yesterday. The Bucs blew a chance to win it the 9th when with a runer on third and 1 out, Jose Bautista inexplicably layed down the worst bunt ever. From MLB.com
Jose Bautista followed and bunted the first pitch he saw down the first-base line. The idea was that, with the infield playing at double-play depth, a bunt toward second base should give Bixler time enough to sprint home from third.
“They didn’t put the sign on. That was something I decided to do,” said a still agitated Bautista afterward. “It was a good idea. The game’s on the line. We worked on the play several times in Spring Training, so I figured why not [try it]?”
That is, if it works correctly.
But Bixler never broke. And Bautista was easily tagged out.
In other words, Jose Bautista is a complete moron and should be publicly flogged for not trying to hit a flyball to win the game.

Going to settle and watch some baseball, god I love April!

Oh wait, the flags of Red Sox Nation, someone page Hank Steinbrenner!

Monday

A weekend of recaps….

A sports simulation company announced Friday they had Kansas winning the Final Four (that article has magically vanished from espn.com). They are halfway there as KU squares off against Memphis and John Calipari’s hair tonight. Thank god this game starts at 9pm, I didn’t want to get to bed before midnight.

The Rays and Jays dominated the Yankees and Red Sox this weekend, respectively. The Orioles are 4-1, the Tigers are 0-6, and the Mariners forgot to do something about their bullpen in the offseason. The American League is going to be wild this year.

In the “Matty Preferred Circuit”, or as some of you call it the National League, the St Louis Cardinals are 5-1, the D’Backs swept the Rockies, and the Mets gave Johan Santana no run support. Oh and the first inning and pregame show of yesterday’s Pads/Dodgers game was broadcast in spanish accidentally on Directv’s Extra Innings. That was interesting to say the least.

Warriors/Nuggets are still tied for the 8th seed in the NBA’s Western Conference after both lost yesterday. The Hornets nailed GSW, which is acceptable. The Nugs lost to Seattle/Oklahoma City, which is inexcusable for a team trying o clinch a playoff berth.

The NFL Draft is getting closer and closer, and still no word about who the consensus number one pick is going to be. Matt Ryan is the person I think it will be, if not him it will be Chis Long. The intriguing subplot to this draft is what will the Patriots do with pick no.7, trade it or keep it? The answer to that obviously is dependent on where Darren McFadden drops to.

The NHL FINALLY finished their season yesterday. My Islanders are not in the playoffs, but they are in the draft lottery , which will be on Versus(Directv Channel 604) tonight at 8pm (it will be better than listening to Clark Kellog , you know it and I know it). The Habs and Bruins will be meeting in the first round. Prediction for the Finals-Montreal-San Jose.

What do Jake Peavy, Kenny Rogers, and Poppy from “Seinfeld” have in common? I wouldn’t want any of them cooking me a meal…

In Fantasy Baseball news my pitching for both pay leagues is top-tier, my offense has yet to wake up though. By the way, could Jose Reyes steal a base at some point please?

In breaking news Pacman Jones is still suspended, Chad Johnson is still T-O Part Deux, and Bartolo Colon is still Sid Fernadez’s love child.

Oh and completely unrelated to sports in any way, the Season 4 premier for Doctor Who got over 10 million viewers for a 39.4% share in Great Britain, making it into the top 10 of all programs for the week. Oh, and it rocked!

Part 5

Channel 725-1

Jeremy Bonderman vs Zack Greinke

Nice day in Detroit, a little nippy at 48 degrees but very sunny. Alex Gordon steps in with 2 out and nobody on. He grounds out to first and is now 1-10 to start the season. BTW FSN Kansa City is the HD feed I am watching, the Kansas City Royals bring their HD cameras on the road, yet the Reds can’t even have an HD broadcast from their home stadium. Does anyone want to explain that one?

April 12th KC Royals promo, the first 2500 fans get a Billy Butler powder blue jersey. Never, ever underestimate the power of the powder blues.

Clete Thomas is leading off for the Tigers. Boy, that lineup looks a little different with Granderson on the DL, don’t ya think?

On 722-1 John Danks no-hitter is intact through 5.

725-1 Placido Polanco gets an infield single. Gary Sheffield is up. You know how sometimes you can just look at someone and tell what type of person they are? Look at Sheffield batting stance. It’s obnoxious and annoying, very much like Sheffield himself.

ChiSox are up 1-0 in the 6th on a homerun by Juan Uribe. The same thing happened yesterday when I disparaged Angel Pagan. The power of karma.

The Nationals are up 4-0 in the top of the first against Philly, with Ronnie Belliard getting the key 3 run double. The Nationals, 4 and 0? No way!

Greinke gets out of trouble and the Tigers still haven’t scored a run since Monday afternoon.

Casey Blake breaks up Danks no hitter in the bottom of the 6th. I can officially stop paying attention to this game now.

Billy Butler grounds out to Brandon Inge, who is playing third today. I assume Miggy Pop is in the DH slot today…

729-1 Angels/Twins. Rex Hudler with the call, Angels up 3-0. Gary Matthews, Jr hit his first homerun of the season, hopefully while not using HGH.

Tribe and ChiSox are tied up at 1.

Sheffield flies out to left on breaking ball up in the zone and Brandon Inge is stranded at third. Does anyone else think Sheff is slipping?

Santana is back in Minnesota! Well Ervin Santana, but still, I was telling the truth.

Nats are up 5-0 in Philly, if the Phillies get off to a bad start how long it be beforethe Charlie Manual getting fired rumors start? I am guessing tonight….

Back to the D, Alex Gordon is at the plate with a runner on first who is speaking with 1st base coach Rusty Kuntz. I am not going to give you a pronunciation on that, either. Gordon is now 2-11 to start the season, and both hits are homeruns. 2-0 Royals. Kansas City/Washington, the World Series on Fox. What a friggen promo that would be….

White Sox are up 2-1 and are pitching the 13 game Ozzie plan. If Ozzie gets fired, what happens to the Ozzie plan? By the way, I will be very interested to see how the Sox pen holds up in these late innings, you know the rebuilt pen that includes the declining Scott Linebrink and the injury prone Octavio Dotel? Jake Westbrook is done for the day, 7 1/3 IP 2 ER (both on solo HR’s), 1 walk 3 k’s and responsible for the runners on first and second.

Alex Gordon slapping a high-five in slow motion HD. Classic.

Part 4

Jake Westbrook’s perfect game was just ruined by a walk to Jim Thome. the no-hitter is still intact though as Paul Konerko lines out to center.

Danks gets through another inning, and we have Danks/Westbrook pitching duel heading into the 5th from Cleveland.

Westbrooks no-hitter is over thanks to AJ the Douche.

Carlos Quentin is batting for the ChiSox, I was surprised that the D’Backs dealt him this offseason, he was very highly thought of. While writing that he grounded out to third. Maybe that why they dealt him.

Joe Crede, the Human Trade Rumor, is now going to take a crack at breaking the scoreless tie. I will be leaving this game shortly to check out the Royals and Tigers. Crede strikes out and the score is still goose eggs.

Part 3

Hawk Harrelson first quotable “Westbrook is a guy that, as a hitter, you have to make him get it up”. Somewhere the makers of Levitra are scrambling to contact Westbrook’s agent.

The fat guy sitting on the first base side behind the hitters is a scary looking dude.

Westbrook did not allow a run in 18 spring training innings. Apparently he has added a change-up to his arsenal. Right now AJ “The Douche” Pierzynski is battling him, fouling off about 5 pitches before he grounds to short. Another quick 1,2,3 inning for Jake the Snake. I wonder if when a parent names there child Jake it’s because they want him affiliated with Jake Roberts and Jake Plummer?

John Danks gets a quick fly-out and then returns to the John Danks I know, the one who walks a batter on about 5 pitches. His goal this spring was to pitch to contact, which is an effective way of saying “he can’t strike out anyone”, in my opinion.

Nick Swisher saves a run and and an extra base hit crashing into the scoreboard. He looks a little sore, but he is staying in the game.

Danks gets an Asdrubal Cabrera ground-out and gets out of the inning unscathed. No K’s yet for anyone, either.

Hawk uses the “can of corn line” Over/under for times he uses that this season should be set at 300.

Juan Uribe is now the White Sox second baseman. This team won a World Series 3 years ago didn’t they?

Boy I never thought I would say this, but I am really excited for the Royals game….

Thursday Afternoon Channel Surfing, Part 2

Nick Swisher is still batting lead-off for the Pale Hose. The Tribe has Jake Westbrook on the mound today, and according to the Atlanta Braves, Westbrook is primed to have a big year. Apparently he has made some changes in his approach, we will see if this is your typical “he had a great offseason” type of stuff or if he really did make a change.

Swisher flies to center, Orlando Cabrera grounds to short. This of course brings Jim Thome to the plate, greeted by a short chorus of boos from the Cleveland faithful. Quick grounder to first and the Sox are down after a 5 pitch inning from Westbrook. Great work on that plate discipline Chicago!

John Danks (no relation to Chris Sedenka), outruns Grady “overrated” Sizemore to first on a drag bunt attempt. One pitch, one out. By the way did I mention this game is coming from Progressive Field (no longer Jacobs Field)?

I would like to commend CSN Chicago for actually making the HD look like HD today, opening day looked like a really sharp crayon drawing. Another quick inning, this time an 8 pitch inning, and we have no score from Cleveland.

Thursday Afternoon Channel Surfing

Indians/White Sox. I am watching on Directv Channel 722-1, and it’s the White Sox feed. This means Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson wil be doing the play by play. Apparently Sportstime Ohio won’t have HD on Directv until next week. Awesome times.

Channel Surfing Time Today

I will be running my channel surfing today starting at about noon. Games will include White Sox/Indians, KC going for the sweep in Detroit, and the Angels and Twins.

Wednesday Night Channel Surfing

An update on the Larry Bowa situation from last night, he was suspended today for 3 games. It was due to an argument with Ed Montague over his position in the third base coaching box.

Watching Mets/Marlins right now. Hanley Ramirez got thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double. Oliver Perez is the Mets third starter, not quite sure why as John Maine is healthy and alive. My guess is so that Randolph can go lefty (Johan), righty (Pedro when healthy), lefty (Perez), righty (Maine) and whoever does the 5th starter gig. Andrew Miller, half of the key to the Miggy/D-Train deal, is starting for the fish tonight. He is still struggling with pitch counts and screwing around the plate, throw a strike for god’s sake. Delgado (Carlos, not Roger) gets a RBI single to left ad the Mets are up 1-0. Oh and good news Mets fans, Angel Pagan is batting in the 6th spot tonight. I hope Moises Alou gets healthy quick..

In the Bronx the Jays are up 1-0, Paul O’Neill and Michael Kay are laughing hysterically, and Bobby Abreu was called out stealing second, although the replay showed he slid around the tag. Oh well.

Onto channel 736-1, Pirates at Braves. Braves are up 1-0 and are getting a good start so far from Jair (Jar Binks) Jurjenns. He could become a good one.

Back to channel 625, Ryan Church hits a two run homer, his first as a Met, 3-0 Mets in the 2nd. Ron Darling makes a great point that he feels Church getting off to a good start is key for the Mets offense. Oliver Perez strides to the plate, how the hell did he get so thin? Oh and Perez strikes out and can’t even get a bunt down. Sad. Holy crap Jose Reyes drew a walk, that wouldn’t have happened three years ago. Of course 3 years ago Reyes would be out with a sore hammy..

Channel 622, Robby Cano swings at a pitch in the dirt and the yanks go down in order against AJ “Contract Year” Burnett.

Channel 625, Jorge Cantu’s face still resembles the moon.

Channels 620-1, the Celtics are up on Jim O Brien and the Pacers 32-22 in the first quarter. If they win tonight it will be the Celts first 60 win season since 85-86.

622- Mike Mussina is pitching for the Yankees, that is a head scratcher. Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes? Mussina is one guy who really doesn’t get alot of heat, but he should, For 5 years he was the highest paid pitcher in baseball, and the only great clutch game he ever pitched (the almost perfect game doesn’t count) was in relief in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Oh and he now has served up a gopher ball to the anemic Vernon Wells, as Borat would say, “Nice!”, 3-0 Jays.

625-David Wright got thrown out at the plate, 1 out and Beltran on third.

736-1- Tom Gorzellaney walks a guy who is playing for Kelly Johnson tonight.

625-Angel Pagan has an rbi double and it’s 4-0 Metropolitans. Apparently Pagan isn’t completely awful. Oh and those stupid 2K commercials with Jose Reyes laughing at the clubhouse attendant need to go, immediately.

622- Jose Molina gets a base hit and was able to get to first without a throw from the outfield. If the Molina brothers raced the Blues Brothers in a relay race, who wins? Melky Cabrera swings at the first pitch and flies out to center. Good news Yanks fans, Johnny Damon has this year and next remaining on his contract. Boy I miss Jim Kaat in the booth for YES. Oh and Damon swings at a 3-1 pitch out of the zone and fouls out to the third baseman, inning over. Can someone start the countdown to the end of Damon’s contract?

Giusseppe Franco can go away at any time now. That fake hug with Nick Nolte is just awkward.

625- Hanley v Oliver. Ramirez is one of those players I will stop and watch hit, like Pujols, ARod, Ortiz, etc. Ramirez beats out a slow infield grounder, great hustle by Oliver Perez on that one.

622- Giambi with a putout to Mussina. There is 30 million dollars that won’t be on the Yanks payroll at this time next year.

626-Nats and Phils are scoreless in the bottom of the fifth. Tim Redding starting for anyone’s fantasy league tonight? Won’t be watching this game much, no HD. Booooooo!

622- AJ Burnett is hurt. He is continuing on though because it’s a contract year. Next year when he is starting for St Louis he will come out of the game as a precautionary measure. Mark my words.

Bathroom break, also found out that ESPNNEWS HD is now available on Directv

641-1- Angels Twins are scoreless. Joe Saunders for the Halos and Jesse Orosco for Minny. Actually it’s Nick Blackburn for Minny, but would you have been stunned if it really was Orosco? No, me neither.

625- Another homerun controversy, this time in Miami. Carlos Beltran had a homer overturned. This is the second one in two days that umps have gotten wrong (Varitek on Tuesday night was wrong too). Between these calls and the ChiSox/Tribe Opening Day, the umps are off to a rousing start.

Detroit really looked awful today. Very impressive start for the Royals, here is hoping the powder blues make a big time comeback this year….

622- AJ Burnett still holding the Yanks to nothing through 5. Yet another potent lineup that isn’t clicking yet. I see a pattern here…

I was going to watch 647-1, but then I realized I don’t care about the Cardinals at all. Rick Ankiel, hopefully without the help of HGH, gets a single to center. I wonder who gives Tony LaRussa a ride home after the game?

622- Oh look Latroy Hawkins is in the game and is wearing Paul O’Neill’s 21. What a bunch of crap that is. Yanks are down 4-0.

626- Nats are up 1-0 in the 9th. If they start this season 3-0 that would be the single most awesome thing ever.

620-1 Jermaine O’Neal is playing for the Pacers. Gilbert Arenas is playing for the Wizards. On the same night. Wonders never cease.

622- Johnny Damon pops up again. I think I know why the Red Sox let him go so easily. Jeter hits into a double play. Did I mention AJ Burnett is in a contract year?

626- The svelte Dmitri Young is coming to the plate to face JC Romero. The Phillies have one hit tonight. Although this game is not in HD, it’s the only one with any drama right now.

641-1 Minnesota and the Angels are scoreless. apparently the best sign in the crowd gets a 100 bucks worth of scratch off lottery tickets. Tonight the hot girls got the lottery tickets.

621- Knicks/Grizzlies. Maybe the worst NBA game ever.

626- Jon Rauch is closing again for the Nats. If Rauch does well, do the Nats trade Cordero? More importantly, can Rauch grow a goatee so he looks mean? Nats are 3-0 to start the season. Game, set, Nat!

That’s all for me tonight, not alot of stuff going on, but hopefuly the humor lightened you up. Until next time…