A Whole New Blue

A Whole New Blue

Its been an up and down season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, to say the least.

Coming into the season the Dodgers were a strong candidate to come out of the National League.  Than game 1 they shutout the World Champion San Francisco Giants, behind Kershaw’s complete game shutout and not to mention his homerun. Everything looked good…Well that is until the injury bug bit the Dodgers, and bit them hard.

            A wild night at Chavez Ravine, which resulted in a bench-clearing brawl with the Padres, saw the team lose their new $147M dollar starter Zack Greinke, and than it went downhill for the next two months.  With Hanley Ramirez still out due to a thumb injury in the World Baseball Classic, The Dodgers started to drop like flies.  Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford, Hanley (again), the team slipped to 30-42 a season worst 12 games under .500

            It was shaping out to be a very expensive and disappointing 2013 season.  Don Mattingly was almost out of a job.  That is until The Man, The Myth, and The Legend arrived from Triple A.  Yasiel Puig.  Before fans could even pronounce his name right, he had single handedly won 3 straight games for the Dodgers. He was the lead story on just about every sports outlet, he was throwing people out left and right, hitting grand slams, and go ahead singles, but most importantly he provided a much needed jump start to the Dodgers.  Their batteries were on empty, their bodies were ailing, and the team seemed lifeless, Puig not only jolted them, but he infused the team with the confidence, and cockiness that he portrays in his own personality. The team has taken on Puigs persona, and it has worked.

            On June 3^rd 2013 the Dodgers were re-invented, since that date they have gone 24-15 and have clawed all the way from last place to second place and a .500 record at the All Star Break. Along with Puig-Mania, the Dodgers were also able to get healthy, besides Matt Kemp (who cant seem to get healthy since last season) The Blue Crew has shown a real glimpse of what this team can be when they are healthy and clicking.

            With 68 games remaining and 2.5 games behind the Dbacks, the dirty work is done, they have climbed out of the abyss, now is the time to just go out and play baseball, win some games, stay healthy, and take the NL West.

            Anything less, is a disappointment and a lot of money spent for nothing.

Justin Domino

Love to Hate, Hate to Love

Top 10 Most Hated Athletes

1. Lebron James                           

2. Michael Vick

3. Tiger Woods

4. Alex Rodriguez

5. Terrell Owens

6. Kobe Bryant

7. Plaxico Burress

8. Ben Roethlisburger

9. Tom Brady

10. Tim Tebow

Being a professional athlete means getting praised, and getting criticized, while most are criticized for the on-field production, or lack there of, others are harped on for their actions out side of the playing field or court.

Players such as Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress, Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisburger and Kobe Bryant, caught a lot of un wanted attention for incidents that had nothing to do with their performance in their respected sports.

Mike Vick was already being hated on because of his race, and the position he plays, than it all got a little bit more serious.  A dog fighting ring, and a 2 year prison sentence later he is the most hated man in the NFL.  Plaxico Burress lost the spotlight because he wasn’t able to keep the safety on his pistol.  Than there is Big Ben Roethlisburger, who got a little rowdy in bathroom stalls.  And last there is Kobe Bryant, who almost fell from grace because of an alleged rape case.  These athletes all receive hate, not for their play, but for their conduct outside of the arena.

All the above mentioned players were able to regain there status on the field or court, but not in the public eye.  The next case; Tiger Woods still hasn’t recovered from his saga.  He wasn’t able to keep his wood in his golf bag, and lost his family, his marriage, and his golf game.

There is also hating going on for the performance in their sport.  Take Alex Rodriguez, now yes he did get into some trouble with the whole steroid thing, but I believe America has become numb to that whole story.  Nobody knows who did what anymore.  Before the steroid drama, he was regarded as the best thing in baseball, till the playoffs that is.  He received more hate and attention for his lackluster hitting in the biggest spots.  Than the steroid thing broke, and what a shock, he is hated even more. It is safe to believe we can put all of the steroid guys on this list of hatred in sports.

Lebron James is the new definition of hate in American Sports.  This last year has seen him go from the chosen one, to the most hated one.  Take your pick; leaving the Cavs stranded, hour long TV special to do it, joining his friends to create a “super team”, celebrating 7 championships before winning even 1 game together.  I think that pretty much says it all.

Hate fuels sports it makes it more interesting, and controversial.  With that list of most hated guys in sports, each one of them strives off of it, and would love nothing more than to shut up the rest of the country.  The ones that can do it are the special ones.

J

Pros and Cons of NBA Lockout

Pros and Cons of NBA Lockout

With the Lockout gloom hanging over the NBA, lets poke a little fun at it.

Pro- Lebron James gets to sit back relax, and do nothing

Con- Just like in last years NBA Finals

Pro- The Lockout has lasted over 130 days. For most players that feels like a lifetime.

Con- For Kris Humphries it feels like 2 marriages.

Pro- Kobe has considered trying out for a team in Italy

Con- Dirk is considering trying out for the Geico Caveman commercials

Pro- Its just a matter of time before you see someone driving hard to the whole and trying to score.

Con- Especially if you work for Herman Cain.

Pro- With no games scheduled players don’t have to travel to 30 different cities.

Con- Unless they want to visit their kids.

Pro- For many teams the lockout has actually been a good thing.

Con- At 0-0 this is the best record the Clippers have had in 12 years.

Pro- The Toronto Raptors don’t have to play.

Con- The Toronto Raptors are still in the NBA.

BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS

J

Special Thanks to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Hey Albert

According to The Boston Herald, the Patriots have decided to cut Albert Haynesworth, after just 6 games with the team.  Albert has fallen pretty far from the guy that earned a 100 million dollar contract with the Washington Redskins.

Another case of a guy getting his bread, and than being content.  Albert could have been a big help to this Patriots defense, if he could have somehow channled the Albert Haynesworth that played for the Tennessee Titans a few years back.

I dont know if there is a team in the League that will give him another shot, but knowing the NFL more than likely he will get another chance and more than likely he will fail again.  He's lost his fire, and his belly shows it.

J

Lock Out Defense

                         

Lock Out Defense

The NBA lockout situation looks bleak, for all parties involved.  The owners haven’t got the Basketball Related Income (BRI) percentage they desire, and the same can be said for the players.  The last party that is taking the biggest hit is the fans.  Everyone gets to watch Derek Fisher, and David Stern accuse each other of lying, instead of watching players like Kobe, LeBron, and Durant battling it out on the hardwood.

The BRI is by far the biggest issue in this mess.  Under the last CBA the players were given a 57% share of basketball income.  They would like to stay at that percentage, but the owners have other ideas.  Each side has made some moves regarding the percentage, and various offers have been made and than rejected.

The latest is an offer by owners that would give the players 51% initially the players are not going to like it, but there is a little hitch in this deal, that the players might want to buckle down and take it.  The owners are saying that the 51% deal will expire Wednesday, and each deal after this one will be significantly worse for the players.

The players are obviously split when it comes to this lockout.  Some players some are ready to take it and others are ready to sit down and let this lockout run its course.  Some players are even requesting a decertification of the players union.  This is bad, bad, bad.  If that does happen, this lockout will not end any time soon.

The owners are split as well.  Big market owners such as Mark Cuban (Dallas) Jerry Buss (Lakers) and Mickey Arison (Heat) are ready to play ball.  They are not economically hurting.  Now owners such as Dan Gilbert (Cavs) and Michael Heisley (Grizzlies) want to restructure the entire league, because they “say” they are losing money.

Instead of all this he said, he said garbage that is getting air wave play all over the country, get in those meeting rooms, Players take the 51% because your not going to like the next offers, The owners can sit on this lockout as long as they want. The players need to get out on the court, so the owners have the leverage, take the best deal you can get guys, and this looks like its going to be the best one.

If the NBA misses this season, it will be a nightmare for the PR department.  The momentum the league gained last year with the Heat story, and the great playoff runs, will be lost and may take longer than they think to gain back.

Lets think about the people that truly pay your salaries, and fill your arenas…Get it right for the fans!

Please remember that BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS

J

Curse Busting

Curse Busters

Since 1918 The Boston Red Sox were cursed, whether it is because of the Great Bambino, or any other reason, the facts are they hadn’t won a World Series in 86 years. There is a team on the North Side of Chicago, which has a similar problem, only a little bit worse, is that even possible?

The Red Sox curse was standing strong until two men walked through the Fenway Park doors, Theo Epstein, and Terry Francona.   In 2002 Theo Epstein was given the reigns.  Two years later he hires Francona, and I think we know the rest of that story…They go on to win 2 World Series Titles, and who knows it could have been more, if not for the greatest September collapse in baseball history.

A terrible September later and Theo Epstein in now holding down the fort for the Chicago Cubs.  And we thought the Red Sox were cursed? We thought the Red Sox would never win? The Cubbies make The Red Sox curse busting look like a walk in the park.

The writings on the wall, the precedent has been set, however you want to put it, its there…Theo to the North Siders. The same North Siders that have not won anything in over 100 years!  Francona searching for a job, Look no further than the loveable losers.  I mean why not?

The Chicago Cubs job is by far the best job in baseball, why? Well the guys that finally win it for this city will go down as Gods in baseball history. They will never be forgotten, and it will probably be the most celebrated World Series Title of all time.  And on the contrary if they don’t win, it really doesn’t matter because it’s never been done there, they would just join the long list of guys that could not get it done for the Cubs.

Epstein and Francona know each other very well, they are comfortable with each other, and most importantly they have won together.  Its almost seems like a fairytale, If Epstein indeed decides to hire Francona, they will embark on a journey that can turn these two men into immortals. Now they might have a few kinks to work out, to make sure they are on the same page, but if they are able to work out the problems that may have festered towards the end of the Boston era, they should have no reason not to make this happen.

1918 vs 1908

Fenway Park vs Wrigley Field

Curse of Bambino vs Curse of Billy Goat

When there is losing going on, who you gonna call? The Curse Busters

J

Time To Realign

NCAA Realignment

Ok, this whole realignment talk is getting a bit out of control, Boise to the Big East??? They have this whole thing wrong, and yes its all money driven so it is going to be hard to fix, every school wants a piece of a very large pie. 

Let’s think hypothetically for a second, and pretend money isn’t the main factor in this saga.  There has been plenty talk of a 4 or 5 super-conference set up, I happen to favor the 5 conference way. You take all the major schools that are “football and basketball” schools and you divide them up regionally.

80 schools would make the cut for the Super-Conferences,  They would than form the Pac16, BIG16, SEC, ACC, and what is today the BigXII, for arguments sake were going to call that the MID16.

Here is how I would realign this mess we call the NCAA: (Bold represents newcomers to conference)

PAC16		BIG16		MID16		SEC		ACC
UCLA		Ohio St.		Oklahoma		Alabama		Duke
USC		Michigan		Oklahoma St.		LSU		North Carolina
Arizona		Michigan St.		Texas		Arkansas		N.C. St.
Arizona St.		Penn St.		Texas AM		Georgia		Wake Forest
Oregon		Wisconsin		Texas Tech		Kentucky		Virginia
Oregon St.		Illinois		TCU		Miss St.		Virginia Tech
Stanford		Indiana		Kansas		Ole Miss		Maryland
Cal		Purdue		Kansas St.		Auburn		Boston College
Washington		Minnesota		Mizzou		Tennesse		S. Carolina
Washington St.		Nebraska		Baylor		Vanderbilt		Pitt
Utah		Iowa		Colorado St.		Florida		Syracuse
Colorado		Northwestern		Houston		Florida St.		West Virginia
Boise St.		Notre Dame		Memphis		Miami		Uconn
BYU		Iowa St.		Rice		Louisville		St. Johns
Nevada		Cincinnati		New Mexico		Georgia Tech		Rutgers
UNLV		Wyoming		New Mexico St.		Clemson		Georgetown

 By doing it this way, we could than eliminate the BCS in football, and take the top 2 teams from each conference and put them in a 10 team playoff format.

If there is one thing that the NCAA does have right, it’s the NCAA Means Bball tourney, I wouldn’t dream of touching that, let the committees still pick the top 68 teams to play, rewarding the conference champs with #1 seeds, and than going about there selection the same way they have been doing it forever

We are a very long way away from fixing these problems, but the solutions they have been coming up with lately is just a hot mess. Can we please think about the sport of competition instead of dollar signs

J