Wimbledon Elite Eight Tomorrow

Well the women are down to the top 4 seeds. Not exactly the four best looking women in the tournament, but in fact the four best. It's like the Women's College Basketball Tournament, the top seeds never lose. Venus is playing as well as Serena and while Venus is taking on #1 Safina, I think if one of them fall it will be Serena to Dementieva, who is quietly playing absurdly good tennis. That said, it is probably Venus-Serena, take your pick. Probably will also win doubles so we can hear all about that accomplishment.

On the men's side we have a pretty intriguing "Elite 8." Murray, the most likely candidate to be able to beat Federer, will walk past Ferrero and take on the winner of the Lleyton Hewitt - Andy Roddick winner. Can't recall Hewitt playing so well outside Australia in forever, hopefully Roddick can get it done though, in my opinion Roddick has been the second best player in this tournament and for some reason I could see him doing the miraculous and winning this whole thing...not only is his serve on fire, he has added a nice little slicing backhand and is moving about as well as you could expect, even handling that low shot moving toward the net better than I have ever seen...will not be an easy road though...but maybe with a few serves like this..

On the other side Federer should have no problems with Karlovic and will take on the Haas-Djokovic winner. While I have not yet seen Djokovic in this tournament, he has been walking through, that said this seems like the most likely of the top remaining seeds to fall as Haas has an absolute monster serve and is playing good tennis.

Again, most of the juice in this tournament was taken out when Rafa withdrew. The bottom line is Federer is looking almost unbeatable right now. And if Haas upsets Djokovic he may just walk to the finals and probably will be well on his way to securing his spot as the all-time greatest with even less of an argument to be made against that stance.

NV Blues Summer Update

NV Blues Baseball has a little something we like to call a winning streak going. It has been a while since we last updated, but the Blues are a strong 5-2 heading into the July 4th weekend break.
A strong offensive showing was held last night as all Blues were in full Mash mode. My roomate and fellow pewch man Timke went absolutely nuts recording a double, a 3-run bomb, and a grand slam.

Is this NV Blues team legit? You decide for yourself. When you got a stacked middle fo the order Timke, Millman, Ickowski batting 4,5,6 what do you expect? The pitcher for the Yardbirds had no choice but to pitch to Timke even after his torrid hitting because sitting behind him were two absolute lumberjacks in millman and icky primed to smack the ball around.

Millman and Icky did there own mashing recording some doubles and RBI's themselves. Enjoy our video clip of one of the best baseball games of all time if you want to see a close reenactment of last night. Ken Griffy Jr. for Super Nintendo ........

(sega genesis, when I was dead broke I couldn't picture this).

Mo vs K-rod

After Sunday night of watching HBO shows TrueBlood and the series premiere of Hung (jury's out, will give it another shot) I decided to flip on the end of the Mets Yankees game. Pretty interesting situation took place.

The Yanks brought in Mo with 2 outs in the eighth while the Mets were threatening. Mo ended up getting the backwards K and getting out the inning. Score is 3-2 Yanks.

Enter K-Rod to pitch the top of the ninth. The Yanks with 2 outs have runners on 1st and 2nd with Jeter due up and Mariano Rivera on deck. Conventional wisdom is that you need to walk Jeter to get to MO. The Yankees had a token pitch hitter on the on deck circle, but the whole world knows there is no way they are going to pull Rivera and lose him for the ninth (and it is situations like this why NL ball is great, you need to actually use your head as a manager as opposed to just sending up juiced up monsters and saying hit it hard).

What the Mets did next was strange. Idiotic really. They threw a first pitch strike to Jeter....? Ultimately they ended up throwing two more pitches (outside balls) and finally gave the intentional walk to Jeter. The look Jeter gave to K-rod when he pitched to him at first was priceless. He smiled and then looked over the Mo in the dugout like "are you serious here?" Up comes Career 0-2 hitter Mariano with the bases loaded.

Mo actually looks pretty good at the plate and draws a 2-0 count to start. After a good battle he draws a 3-2 count where Krod actually looks scared to just get one over the plate, overthrows, and ends up walking Mariano for his first ever RBI. It was a pretty cool situation where you hardly see two of the best closers in the game square off against each other. Yanks go on to win. Mariano picks up his 500th save, blah blah.

Some Weekend Notes

Meet the Mets, Meet the Mets, Step right up and beat the Mets.

-The Yankees are about to sweep the Mets tonight...while they have been able to hang in the race despite all of the injuries suffered (mainly thanks to the Phils terrible run of late)...they have actually fallen behind the Giants and Rockies in the Wild Card Race...and are just a half game up on the Marlins...The lineup they put out there is embarrassing...

-Off the upset of Spain, the US has finally reached a FIFA finals in the Confederations Cup, at 2 o'clock today they'll probably be beaten by the Brazilians, will be quite the story if they do manage the upset however. Spain, by the way, is about to suffer another defeat to South Africa, so I wonder if the soccer buffs think that tarnishes what a huge deal it was for the U.S. to beat them. Either way, if they somehow beat Brazil it won't matter.

-Filly sensation Rachel Alexandra, winner of The Preakness ran at Belmont in the Mother Goose Stakes, beating the other two horses by 19 1/4 lengths, setting a stakes record time in the process. This horse is unreal, she turned for the backstretch and was hand ridden just leaving the other horses to appear running in place. Many are calling for her to square off with Zanyatta..in what would be a showdown of arguably the two greatest female horses of the 21st century. Not too likely to happen, but would be a great thing for horse racing. Either way, I hope Rachel Alexandra finds her way up from Blemont to Saratoga so I can have an excuse to make a trip up there.

-Pretty stale Wimbledon without Rafa. An intriguing run being made by Lleyton Hewitt, who finds himself in the Round of 16. The most exciting thing about this tournament is that it is setting up to be Andy Roddick's best chance to win this whole thing. Making it difficult for him will be the likelihood of having to get through Andy Murray and then Federer. Quietly though Djokabitch is playing the best tennis he has in recent memory...hopefully they get a final 4 of Roddick v. Murray and Djokavic v. Federer...that is probably the only way to really get some juice back in this tournament.

-The Women's Tournament is actually shaping up with a lot of intriguing matchups. The U.S. has actually gotten a teenager into the round of 16 as Melanie Oudin defeated former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic and will now face the 11 seed Radwanska. Would be a huge upset that would set up a matchup with the winner of a very good Venus Williams / Ana Ivanovic match.

***Edit***
As Millman eluded to in his comment, the Spain / S Africa match had a wild finish in which there was goal after goal, with Spain finally winning 3-2 in the extra frame. And of course, US dropped the 0-2 halftime lead.

Melanie Oudin just dropped the first set to Radwanska after going up an early break, she got broken right back..after some gutsy holds she had a double fault and missed a couple gimmies to fall 4-6. 2-2 in the second set at this point. I got up to watch her match and I must say, her game is more impressive than I anticipated. While I'd be curious to see how she looks against some of the bigger hitters (Radwanska is not a big hitter) she actually has a pretty good serve and a big backhand..both of which are not very consistent it appears..she also has flashed some good range. Also found out she has a twin sister. Looks like they just switched over to Fed-Soderling, which I obviously won't argue with but I was enjoying watching the young American compete. Oh and here's Mel in action:


*Oudin just lost...dropped the second set 5-7, dropping her last set at love. So the question becomes, is Oudin just a flash in the pan or is she a good young prospect? Personally, I walked away from this match a lot more impressed than I expected. Even when she lost her last serve at love, it wasn't from packing it in, losing some long volleys to Radwanska. Ultimately, she proved just like most American tennis players - not nearly as consistent as the Europeans..which I think comes down to training. Bottom line is the Europeans receive superior training..it's like olympic gymnastics..I dare say however that we have not heard the last of Melanie Oudin and that she is going to become a very good female tennis player. Her upside is probably top-20 or so, she doesn't possess the potential to be a top player, but if she improves her consistency I can see her winning some tournaments and maybe even a major.
Now please Andy Roddick, get it done one-time.

Round 1 v. Round 2

It's always interesting to see how some of the very best college basketball players in the country fall to round 2, behind some guys who really weren't that good. I'm going to take out Blake Griffin from this just to make it a little more fair, but really, which is the better college team, round 1 or round 2?

Round 1:
C: Hasheem Thabeet / BJ Mullens
PF: Jordan Hill / Tyler Hansbrough
SF: Terrence Williams / Earl Clark
SG: James Harden / Demar Derozan
PG: Tyreke Evans / Johnny Flynn / Steph Curry / Ty Lawson

Round 2:
C: Dejuan Blair / Goran Suton
PF: Jeff Pendergraph / Dante Cunningham
SF: Sam Young / Dejuan Summers
SG: Jodie Meeks / Marcus Thornton
PG: Nick Calathes / Patrick Mills / Jack McClinton


Is there not a case to be made for Round 2? Probably would actually start Cunningham over Pendergraph...and probably should have gotten Darth Vaden on the squad..Most of you would probably start Patty Mills over Calathes too I'm sure...I think Round 2 competes at worst though.

Adding in the undrafted FA team:
C: John Bryant / Luke Nevill
PF: Jeff Adrien / Josh Heytvelt
SF: Paul Harris / Alex Ruoff / Leo Lyons
SG: Dionte Christmas / Jerrel McNeal / Dar Tucker
PG: Curtis Jerrells / Tyrese Rice / Jeremy Pargo

This team would compete.

NBA Draft 2009: Pewch

Clips - Blake Griffin - Yep.
Memphis - Hasheem Thabeet - Yep.
OKC - James Harden - Think they should've went Rubio but I can't blame them for not giving up on Westbrook yet given their investment I suppose.
Sactown - Tyreke Evans - Not stunned, but a little surprised they didn't go Rubio at this point...think it was a mistake but not as bad as if they took Flynn or Curry like many believed.
Minn - Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio - Stunned they haven't traded one, I thought that was a lock and was hoping it would be Rubio to the Knicks.
GS - Steph Curry - Thanks GS, you took the only guy who would have fit our team despite his similarities to your best player, Monta Ellis. Does this mean Monta will be moved?
Knicks - Jordan Hill - Pewch. Pewch. Pewch. He stinks. Literally outperformed by 6-6 Dejaun Blair in every category and that was while playing in the soft Pac-10 where Jeff Pendergraph was an absolute monster. Just an outright terrible pick. And I love how everyone says "Has only played 7 years" like it's a good thing...that's so ridiculous. I'll take the guy who had a ball in his hand out the womb before the guy who just put down the power ranger action figures and picked up a basketball a few years ago.
Toronto - Derozan - He sucks.
Milwaukee - Brandon Jennings - Milwaukee sucks.
NJ - Terrence Williams - Didn't mind the pick.
Charlotte - Gerald Henderson - He is terrible.
Indiana - Tyler Hansbrough - Now here's a shocker, Larry Bird took the white guy?
Phoenix - Earl Clark - Like this pick, could see Earl Clark being a less efficient, lesser passing version of Boris Diaw..talented athlete with some length, more useful player than some of the guys who went ahead of.
Detroit - Austin Daye - Kid has such an ability to score but is softer than the softest Euro ever, really weird to see Detroit take him. Was the thinking that he and Tayshaun Prince might be able to get on the court at the same time and only count as one player?
Bulls - James Johnson - Bulls war room, "Uhh all these guys suck, who does yahoo sports have as the highest rated kid over 6'7 left? James Johnson? That's our guy."
Sixers - Jrue Holliday - Like the pick, though his freshmen numbers were terrible and he probably will always suck, anytime you find a kid with PG skills and an ability to defend in the mid-first it's a decent risk.
Minn - Ty Lawson - OK, they shipped him to Denver which you had to know was coming, still, what the hell is going on in Minnesota? Thought they might take a flyer on BJ Mullens here.
Atlanta - Jeff Teague - He's terrible.
Jazz - Eric Maynor - I like Maynor, not sure he will translate but if not he'll be one hell of a Euro league player.
Hornets - Darren Collison - Another PG who can defend and is a very efficient shooter. Collison is small but he's going to be one of those guys who sticks around the league for 15 years like Lindsey Hunter, book it.
Portland - Victor Claver - Hmm.
Kings - Omar Casspi - Hmmmm.
Mavs - BJ Mullens - Ha, softy is the opposite of Erik Dampier. I'm a little surprised at how late they got him though. Every year we see some team reaching on some ridiculously bad 7' stiff, whether it's Spencer Hawes, Kosto Koufas, Chris Kaman, the list goes on...Now Mullens was supposedly such a stud headed to college, and for as much as i ripped him he actually improved as the year went on..I don't like Mullens but thought for sure someone would've taken him earlier and a flyter on him at 24 isn't a bad pick.
OKC - Some guy who apparently was discovered while playing Mikael Pietrus in a pick-up game. Now a first-rounder. This years draft class...
Bulls - Taj Gibson - Nice selection here as he can defend and block shots, really not sure why Gibson wasn't looked at as more useful than a ton of the guys who went earlier...for a year so weak on big men I'm shocked he wasn't top-15.
Grizz - Demarre Carroll - Must be planning on running the full-court press? Carroll reminds me of Renaldo Balkman, which isn't really a bad thing.
Minn - Wayne Ellington - I actually like Ellington and think that his game will translate beautifully to the NBA, unlike Rashad McCants who I think the T'Wolves were hoping to get here.
Knicks - Toney Douglass - Sickened. Appalled. Douglass will do nothing in the NBA, he's a PG version of Lavar Postell. Really was praying for Calathes here who would have been a perfect fit for the D'Anotni system..also would've loved a flyer on Blair or Sam Young...hell Dejaun Summers would've been a better option.
Cavs - Someone terrible. Why wouldn't they take a guy like Blair or Young here when they clearly have one year left? They even brought in Big Aristotle, come on, take a guy who might produce next season.

Second Round Thoughts:
Houston gets an absolute chucker in Jermaine Taylor..
Portland takes Dante Cunningham who is basically a poor mans Lamarcus Aldridge or a Channing Frye with more toughness and defense
Spurs are always good because their management is so sharp: They pick up Dejaun Blair and Jack McClinton in Round2. They always do a job of finding guys who can fill a need and fill a specific role very well..McClinton adds some shooting and explosive scoring to the mix and Blair is going to give you some hard fouls and rebounding for 20 minutes a night at worst.
T'Wolves add Calathes which was a good value pick and also sad to see as he is now buried and not on a team that really suits him well anyway. Then that Russian was probably the pewchest man in the draft.

Draft Day 2009

Can we also touch on me calling in sick today and my boss not believing it at all? I say "I think I came down with a stomach bug, don't think I'll be able to make it in today." "Silence" "Uhh, I guess I'll see you on Monday?" "You work Sunday" "OK, I'll see you Sunday then I guess?" Click.
Anyway, a couple just guesses on the draft tonight:
Jordan Hill shouldn't be a top-10 pick, he's terrible. Can't believe he's supposedly a lock to do so, I'd like to say I think NBA GMs will prove their worth and we'll see him fall, but I can't claim total confidence there. Injury and height concerns considered, I'd still take Dejuan Blair before Jordan Hill and it's not even close. I'd also take Tyler Hansbrough before Hill (though Blair first). Honestly I like Taj Gibson more than Hill...and Pendergraph, Adrien and Brockman are all equally as intriguing to me.

Will Rubio slide? Such a tough thing to figure, he's just 18, has been playing professionally since 14, has a decent sized-buyout (though he believes he can come up with a good chunk of it) ...can't really shoot yet and athletically isn't all-world. He also supposedly got outplayed by Jennings in their only meeting in Europe...doubtful he gets past the T'Wolves and Sac-Town probably would jump all over him at 4 if he made it there...but it's not completely inconceivable that NBA Execs decide the buyout and risk of a young PG isn't worth it...especially in a draft loaded with PGs. That said, I think it's unlikely and would be a regretful decision.

Francesa said he hears the Knicks love Tyreke Evans but doubt he'll be there, also like Curry a lot but he supposedly won't be there (apparently Steph's workout with the Knicks was all-world and he was draining every three from anywhere)...Francesa then had some very disheartening information that the pecking order then went Jordan Hill, Gerald Henderson. Personally I'm going to make a prediction that the Knicks pull yet another surprising pick and take Ty Lawson. I just have a gut feeling that everything the Knicks have said to date is a big smokescreen and if Rubio and Curry are off the board I think the best option to run a D'Antoni offense is Ty Lawson. A prolific, ultra-efficient college point guard, Lawson gets the ball up the floor as fast as anyone I've ever seen...He's not real tall, but neither is J-Flynn and while he isn't the athlete Flynn is his speed and ability to prevent turnovers while scoring efficiently makes him a strong fit, I think the only thing potentially holding the Knicks back from this would be if they don't think Lawson's 3-point shooting in college will transfer to the pros.

J-Flynn slides: Sorry, I just see it happening. All this talk that he may go as high as four and such. As much as I like Flynn, it's hard to really argue him as having played better than about any of the other PGs talked about. At 5-11, not being a great shooter, his athleticism and passing ability should save him from sliding too far, but I think the top-10 will be Flynn-less.

Brandon Jennings: Where will he go? No clue.

Nick Calathes may be the best PG in the draft for the record.

Honestly I was going to pick 5 guys I thought would be drafted higher than expected and 5 I thought would go lower, but this draft is such a crap shoot, here's a stab at it for the hell of it, with where I'm seeing them often drafted in parenthesis:

Higher:
Ty Lawson (15-17)
Dejuan Blair (15-19)
BJ Mullens (15)

Lower:
J-Flynn (6-9)
Budinger (18-22)
James Johnson (9-11) - Could he be one of those that slip all the way out of the 1st round?

I have a bit of an opinion on a bunch of other guys but most of which are placed at such different spots in various mock drafts that it's hard to really say where they are expected to go. Something tells me we'll probably see more international players drafted earlier than most mock drafts are projecting, and a couple of the guys like Derozan, Holliday, Teague, Maynor, Jennings and Henderson will find themselves waiting a lot longer than anticipated.

Final Note - I think Curtis Jerells goes way higher than anticipated and finds himself in round 1, unexpected by all the analysts as they call him a major reach. Of course many mock drafts have him undrafted so I may just be crazy.

Do You Believe in Miracles?? YES

Okay...sorry to go all Al Michaels circa 1980 on you all, but there was a pretty signifcant upset today in quiet the famous sport...outside of this country of course. I am ashamed and though this blog has stooped to many lows (Spelling Bee and Hockey articles to be exact) I am prepared to dig even deeper here.

The United States Soccer team has defeated Spain. Lets first talk about how they managed to get to this semi-final game. The US needed to beat Egypt by a score of 3-0, and have Italy lose to Brazil by atleast 3 to make up for goal differential. Italy was a complete no show after presumably chomping mass amounts of spaghetti and canolis and happened to lose to Brazil by the margin of 3, and wouldn't you know the United States stomped three goals past Egypt. This was the strongest United States whooping of Egypt since Brendan Fraiser did some serious ass kicking in the Mummy, the Mummy Returns, and whatever the hell the third movie in the Mummy trilogy was called that somehow had a strong Chinese influence if I recall the previews.

Spain had won a record 35 matches tying Brazils streak as well as 17 consecutive international matches (or something like that, once again its Soccer I have no clue). The United States took down Spain by a score of 2-0 behind some strong goals by Altidore and Dempsey (and if those aren't household names for you then get with the times).

This is almost as significant as the United States taking down the Soviet Union in Salt Lake City, but I don't think there is a Cold War that is going on right now, and people somewhat care about Hockey (hardly). I just hope we can get a Disney Movie out of this and have Kurt Russel reprise his role as Herb Brooks except coach of the United States Soccer team and then hopefully halfway through the move turn into his role in Death Proof and run everyone over with his car.

The End. Soccer is great.

Couple Trades Leading Up to Draft Night

The Washington Wizards are close to a deal that would send the No. 5 pick in Thursday's draft, Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas and Darius Songaila to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

The deal would give the Timberwolves the 5,6,18 and 28 picks in the first round of the draft this year. New GM David Kahn certainly must be exciting the 7 or 8 people out there rooting on the T'Wolves, after dealing with Kevin McHale for about 15 years too long, he finally ended that relationship and now is looking to wheel and deal - rumor has it the Wolves are not yet done and may be looking to trade up again. Speculation is they want Tyreke Evans..and would be interested in Curry, Flynn or Thabeet as well. NBA Draft Net has them taking Curry and Jordan Hill. The Evans thing seems like a smokescreen to me. While Minnesota is now clearly shorter on guards than big men, I think Thabeet would be the type of center necessary next to Jefferson and Love, the Wolves two best players. Clearly they will need to add a guard or two, but does Sebastian Telfair finally get a legitimate shot at running a NBA club? All I know is this is a team in serious need of a shot-blocker and a scoring guard. I'm not exactly sure how they'll make it out of the draft with both, but if so this team may be finally headed in the right direction.

As for the Wizards: I like both Foye and Miller. Miller can stroke it from deep and rebounds very well for his position, coming off an injury-filled season, he should be able to bounce back and give the Wiz some additional outside shooting. Foye can also allow Gil to play his true position as a flat-out scorer off the ball. It has undoubtedly created a bit of a log-jam with Foye, Gil, Miller, Butler, Jamison, Nick Young and company..so perhaps the Wiz are not done dealing themselves. What this deal perhaps best indicates is that the Wiz didn't like what they felt they'd be looking at at 5 and must feel Thabeet will be off the board, as he would seemingly be an absolute no-brainer for them.

Meanwhile the Spurs acquired Richard Jefferson from the Bucks for Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas. They also sent Oberto to Detroit for Amir Johnson who was also packaged with Bowen and Thomas to the Bucks. Clear salary cap move for the Bucks here and another shrewd move by the Spurs. As the biggest Richard Jefferson hater you will find, he is a very nice fit in San An. Meanwhile the Bucks save money but it's hard to believe they will use it wisely, if at all - this is one of the league's absolute worst franchises and they should be dreadful again next year and for years to come. With the 10th pick, they are unlikely to get an impact player, and I think Joe Alexander would rather win the dunk contest than a NBA game.

Update on the NBA Draft Net mock, they seem to have basically reordered the top:

Clips - Griffin (obviously)
Memphis - Thabeet (interesting debate as to what they'll do here, I think this is what they'll do)
OKC - Harden (team has to be praying Thabeet drops to them, otherwise they have an incredibly tough decision, as someone who never liked Westbrook I think Rubio makes the most sense and is the best fit here - perfect compliment to an absolute stud in Durant)
Sactown - Rubio (Would be thrilled with Rubio I'm sure, and have the unfortunate luxury of basically being able to go Best Player Available regardless of position, this team is beyond-belief bad)
Minn - Curry
Minn - Jordan Hill (lol, this makes no sense and would be such a bad move, why is Jordan Hill considered a top-10 lock????)
Golden St - Jennings (no clue what GS should or will do, absolutely no clue)
Knicks - Evans (can't argue with it, I love Evans's upside and versatility...ah fuck it, who I am kidding, SET THE GARDEN ON FIRE DONNIE, GIVE US FLYNN...seriously has anyone considered the garden crowd and how they will be chanting for Johnny Flynn all night? Since St. John's has been terrible since Erik Barkley left, Syracuse has stolen most of the New York college hoops fan base..fans are going to be demanding J-Flynn and I can't lie, I hope they get him, the Knicks need a NY point guard to get excited about, after the Starbury debacle, only Flynn turning into a stud can alleviate the pain)
Toronto - Derozan (don't like him)
Milwaukee - Flynn (or can they get an impact guy at 10 after all?)
New Jersey - Gerald Henderson (another underwhelming Dukie, perfect fit in Jersey)
Charlotte - Hansbrough (seems about right for him...the late 1st round stuff was ridiculous and most of you know what I call Hansfa...uhh Hansbrough...too productive not to take a flyer on before the likes of James Johnson, BJ Mullens and Victor Claver start flying off the board.
Indiana - Earl Clark (Enigma)

NBA Draft Thursday

http://www.nbadraft.net/2009mock_draft

Wish I could copy and paste the mock draft, but the formatting gets all screwed up. Some of the interesting points:

Rubio 2 to Memphis.
Thabeet drops to 6 to Minnesota.
Harden's workout numbers apparently now have him going 3 to Oklahoma City (doesn't make sense to me, that team needs Thabeet).
Steph Curry off the board before the Knicks to Kings, also seems stupid to pair him with Kevin Martin, talk about a frail backcourt.
Knicks take Tyreke Evans - would like it.
Hansbrough up to 12 to Charlotte.
Flynn to Suns would be fun.
Budinger was once being projected top-10 is now 22 to Dallas (finally realized he isnt a top-10 player?).
After Rubio there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in the foreign players this year.

Discuss.

Classic Phil

Well Lefty turned in a classic performance storming back in the final round to challenge the top spot only to fall at the end. A couple late bogey's did him in and he failed in his bid to win the Open.

Tiger himself made a bit of a run, but was relatively quiet all week in what can be described as a lackluster performance. Perhaps the Mulldog was onto something when he predicted a Tiger no show this weekend.

Hats off to Lucas Glover (who?) who took home the top spot after a previous best of a 20th place finish at a major tournament before (2007 Masters). Maybe it was because Tiger wasn't truly contending all weekend, or because the majority of guys at the top of the leader board were no namers, or because it rained all weekend and I had no clue what round anyone was playing or if I was watching live coverage....but it seemed to be a fairly disappointing Major in my eyes at least.

Props must go out to David Duval who resurfaced after about 10 years of anonymity to make a strong showing.

6/19/2009: The Saddest day of millman's life.

After a fellow pewch revolution member tipped me off, and I was later able to confirm the news online. As the headline reads, today Friday June 19th marks the end of an era. It is all but official. My favorite Quarterback of all time, John Paul Losman appears to be headed out of the league and to the UFL to reunite with Jim Fassel (talk about a couple rejects flocking together).

I have touched on this earlier so won't pain you with my thoughts on JP other than the fact that this man is a NFL caliber backup quarterback at the very least. Extremely shocked he cannot find a roster spot on ANYONE's bench. I only hope to got he leads the Las Vegas squad to some serious UFL titles, comes back and takes the NFL by storm and finally hits his potential as a35 year old man.

Huck it. Chuck it. JP. Touchdown!!!(Best play ever added by the fact we had the MAN Gus Johnson calling the play)

Mulldog edit* Was anyone else watching / listening to Mike and Mike this morning? Mike Golic and Chad Ocho Cinco got into a bit of a twitter battle after Golic made a comment about how Ocho is always a problem like the rest of the Bungles. Well Chad tweeted him to shreds, I don't have an exact transcript but I think he challenged him to a fight; said he was going to go to the station and steal his (expletive) show; claimed Golic put back all the weight he lost (Nutrisystem commercial anyone?)...and then claimed he was going to bristol after camp, "they gettin disrespectful out there, child please." 8-5.

**Additional edit, Twitter is pewch. The day the Milldog and Mulldog start tweeting I hope you all boycott our blog.

Michael Kay is a Douchebag

Did anyone catch his home run call Wednesday night? You would've thought they just hit a walk-off in game 7 of the world series. Instead, Johnny Damon simply brought them to within 3-2 of the lowly Nationals in the bottom of the 9th...in June. Pewch.

And right now he is going on and on about what a great thing the Yankees are doing by offering a free ticket to any fan with a ticket to today's game - used or unused. Now I'm not going to knock the Yanks for this, but they are offering a bleachers, or other scrub, cheap ticket to a "non-premium" game...I mean, they delayed this game what 5 hours? How about the guy/gal who paid those ridiculous prices for really good seats that couldn't sit around for 5 hours; now they get to go sit with their backs against the wall in the left field corner to watch the Yanks pound the pulp out of Horacio Ramirez and the Royals on a 105 degree day in mid-August? Sure they didn't have to do this, but do we really have to hear about what a great deed the organization is doing when clearly they fucked over tons of fans by delaying a game for 5 hours...would they even do this if they were still selling games out? ...not to mention the simple fact of the ticket price debacle which is Yankee Stadium.

By the way, Mulldog might be front page on the local newspaper with a story tomorrow.

Not This Year For Tiger

The image every golf fan hopes to witness Sunday <------ (unless you're like me and root for Tiger to miss the cut every event)


Tiger will not win the US Open this year. I know the course sets up for him and he is playing great golf, I just really don't think he will get it done. Call it a gut feel, I guess.

Hard to believe that it was 7 years ago when the US Open was brought to a public golf course for the first time ever, and Bethpage Black was put on the map. The legendary public golf course located on New York's Long Island, has five courses, color-coded to level of difficulty with Black obviously being the toughest. A great idea, the golfing world got what they wanted as the gallery was incredibly vibrant, cheering on Phil Mickelson as if it was his home course as he gave Tiger all he could handle, but ended up in second, three shots behind Tiger. It was one of the better golf tournaments I can remember watching, between the difficulty of the course, the public aspect and the fans cheering on the underdog, it gave golf the excitement of Happy Gilmore teeing off, while maintaining the class and appreciation of the sport found in The Legend of Bagger Vance. Needless to say, I'm excited about this weekends tournament.

One thing we have heard a lot about and will continue to hear is how Mickelson will be able to maintain his necessary focus with people wishing his wife well (she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and he has missed a lot of time and will continue to, by the way expect to see a lot of pink on your tv screens). I really don't agree with this analysis. People will be wishing her well, surely, but that doesn't mean it has to affect him while his taking his shot. The gallery will quiet and he'll focus in...it's not as if the golf fans will be chanting "BREAST lump" in the middle of his backswing.

The Contenders:
Tiger Woods - Obviously the heavy favorite here, Tiger isn't even 2:1 to win this...that is simply astonishing. The length of the course, the famed first-ever 300 yard par-3 we saw in 2002, will be accompanied by I believe four 500 yard par-4's, obviously sets up well for Tiger...there really isn't much reason to think he won't win this thing I guess, but I promise - The Tiger Woods Show that is any event he's involved in will be talking about how he doesn't get it done this year. Bottom line, Tiger is pewch. I can't stand him and his stupid comments, his love of fishing, his ridiculous house, his wife. He's boring. The coverage of his every move is also boring and exhausting, and it surprises me how many people love the man. He's pewch people:

Phil Mickelson - Will be the far and away fan favorite and is going to win this thing, riding an emotional wave and playing inspired golf. If Lefty is swinging the big stick well not even Tiger can keep up.

Geoff Ogilvy - My boy. Think his game gives him the best shot of anyone not named Phil or Tiger to win this thing.

Paul Casey - Shot well in this tournament last year and is playing the best golf of his career with a pair of wins over in Europe this year as well as his first on the PGA Tour, Casey has propelled all the way up to #3 in the world. Should be in the mix.

Sergio Garcia - Unfortunately, I don't think anyone believes he can truly win this thing. That said, I'll be rooting for him to do well, he's playing good golf but this course may end up being a nightmare for him.

Jim Furyk - Also have to consider him...while the distance of the course hurts him, he can make up for some of that with his incredible mid-range game, cutting some strokes in areas where others will get hurt. Ultimately though the course is just too long for him, can't see him winning.

Henrik Stenson - Great Euro golfer who I believe was my most wagered on golfer when I used to bet golf. Another Euro whose game doesn't set up for the course I feel. Might hang around but ultimately shouldn't contend.

Steve Stricker - Playing very well and has contended at the Open before, I'd give him a puncher's chance here.

David Toms and Padraig Harrington - Couple guys would not surprise me at all if in contention come Sunday.

Rocko Mediate - Misses Cut.

Heath Slocum - Apparently old Heathcliff, former absolute scrub MLB reliever and somehow one-time all-star, has reinvented himself as a professional golfer.

Sammy Sosa was a juicer

Huge shout-out to the New York Times for breaking this story. They caught on slightly quicker on this than they did that Iraq actually didn't have Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Joe Buck flops. Darren McFadden wows.

Not sure if any of you happened to watch the first (and probably last) episode of Joe Buck Live on HBO last night. He rounded up a pretty good cast of guests (Brett Favre, Chad OchoCinco, Michael Irvin, David Wright, Paull Rudd, Artie Lang). Joe Buck is just flat out boring though. Imagine him calling a baseball or football game, and then just put him in a studio and you are getting the same thing. The man is completely uninteresting in my opinion.

However, this will ultimately be Joe Buck's last ever HBO show as Artie Lang literally stole and ruined the show in his ten minute segment. All he did is swear and cuss and make nasty comments. Joe Buck started to get pretty offended and it was obvious he was uncomfortable. Michael Irvin had a great comment when he described it was great to see some "white on white" crime. My question is who casted Artie Lang to be on this show and did not expect him to go off like this. The man's reputation clearly is what it is.

On another note, can't help but shred an Oakland Raider whenever I get a chance. Now granted I did not have the expectations that Darren McFadden would be a genius, let alone smart at all, but take a look at this excerpt from an SI interview. Riveting and very insightful information Darren. I like the part where you shared nothing the best.

SI:Do you care where on a plane you sit?
Darren McFadden:I don't usually care, but if it's a long flight, I wouldn't mind a row all to myself. SI:What's your favorite city to visit?
Darren McFadden:I don't have one -- we don't get to see too much of a city on road trips.
SI:What's your least-favorite city to visit?
Darren McFadden:I don't really have a least-favorite city.
SI:What's your least-favorite sports venue to visit as a fan or player?
Darren McFadden:I don't have one. As a player, I feel blessed to be playing in any arena.
SI:What's your favorite place to eat on the road?
Darren McFadden:It depends on where we are.

Pewch man of the weekend

Who was the Pewch-o of the weekend. The nominees are!!

1st Candidate: Marian Hossa: Detroit Red Wings. See the picture below of Hossa who had to watch his old team he turned his back on win the Stanley cup on his own home ice. Talk about a decision burning you in the end. It is ridiculous that he claims he does not regret his decision. Of course you do. You stay with Pitt and your jumping around with Crosby and his 12 year old pre-pubescent mustache right now.

2nd candidate: Louis Castillo. Louis you looked like the Millman in this weekends NV Blues game. How in the world you drop that pop fly to lose the game for your team, in the Subway Series no less. I don't know what is worse, that you dropped the fly ball, or that you inexplicably threw the ball to 2nd base instead of home after dropping it.

3rd Candidate: Random Laker Fan. Take a look at this joke. This cat is the definition of pewch. Not once after my team has won have I ever contemplated jumping on cars, Vandalizing shoe stores, police cars, and/or decided to throw rocks and bottles at police. Real class LA. Did anyone tell you that you beat the Orlando Magic. Big deal.

Mets Baseball

A-Rod is a hero, thank you Michael Kay.

Luis Castillo, thank you. I don't even care that the Yankees won, but for the Mets to lose like that, oh how sweet it is. I sent out about 15 text messages immediately following hounding Mets fans. I don't even recall Fredonia doing something this pewch. Hell, D'Youville would've locked that one up.

I have watched this clip 15-20 times, I don't think it will ever get old.

Fredonia Struggles to Cope with Loss of the Mulldog

Giving an otherwise limp, lifeless, small village in Western New York (AKA Pennsylvania, AKA Ohio, AKA Canada) five strong years of pewchness, I was forced into retirement after finally completing almost all of my courses. Leaving Fredonia I could almost feel the wind coming from the sails as I hit the thruway to travel across the state back to Eastern New York.

Now, roughly two months after my departure, in what could only be described as a frantic, last-ditch attempt to salvage the greatness of the Mulldog, SUNY Fredonia has done what they should have done over five years ago, and made the Mulldog the centerpiece to their website:
http://www.fredonia.edu/

That's right, finally after five years of rotating the ten minority students present on campus into every picture on the front page, Fredonia has decided to scrap such a technique in favor of the back of the Mulldog's head. Sitting front and center (where else?) the Mulldog is clearly engrossed in a riveting lecture on Descartes's theory of Difference. Shamelessly sporting an imposter "Fredonia Student-Athlete Day" shirt and the legendary crooked "*61" hat, the Mulldog is actively passing Critical Theory on his second vaunted attempt.

I'm not sure what type of royalties I am entitled to, but I'm pretty sure Fredonia should be paying for my summer internship, at least.

Lord Stanley's Cup is on the line...

Alright, I never anticipated this blog stooping to such low heights, but I am actually going to weigh in on Game 7 tonight. One quick note though, the NHL must have the worst marketing strategy of any major sport out there. Not only can they not find a major network to pick up Stanley Cup games (NBC does some I guess), but can you imagine game 7, the most important game in your league being played on Friday night??

All joking aside, this has been an entertaining series thus far. Game 6 was a thriller and now the Pens will look to avenge their Stanley cup loss last year to this same Detroit Dynasty. It won't be easy as they will have to roll into Hockey Town USA and steal a game 7. Though don't count this Pens team out just yet, we saw them roll in to a raucous Verizon Center and take a game 7 away from a strong Capitals team (by the way, call them fair-weather fans if you want, but the Capitals proved if you put a strong team on the ice, field, court etc. Washington fans will come in droves; I am talking to you Nationals and Wizards owners).

The Penguins will need to overcome history because home teams are a record 6-0 in Stanley Cup Finals dating back to 1939 when the best of seven format was first adopted. Not to mention the Wings are a robust 11-1 this playoffs at Joe Louis and have won 8 straight on home ice.

Though it may already be overstated at this point I feel I need to briefly touch upon the Hossa story who as you may or may not know jetted for Detroit after losing the series with Pittsburgh last season. Hossa, a veteran, wanted as close as a guarantee as he could get to win the Cup. It would be quite ironic to see his old team hoisting up the Cup on his new teams home ice. Where is the Loyalty?

Will Sid the Kid etch his name in the Cup tonight and really start to cement himself as the best in the game with a dominant performance? Or will it be Malkin (who is damn good, but wasn't hyped up by the NHL the way Sid was) who takes the reigns for this Pitt club.

I think Detroit is too good and too experienced to let this Penguins team come into Detroit and steal game 7. For what its worth I can see a 4-2 Detroit finish and back to back NHL champs.

Big Thursday in Sports

-Breeny, Van Gundy and Mark Jackson have stepped it up as a great announcing team. They are very critical of the officiating crew, and while it's with good reason at times it detracts from the game. That said, I like their style, maybe I'm biased as Jeff Van Gundy was my favorite coach and Mark Jackson is a NYC PG legend so of course I think he's the man (could we get Erik Barkley in the booth?). The way Mark Jackson enunciates his words is hilarious. Love when he uses cheesy puns. The only way this could be better would be if Hubie Brown and Gus Johnson were in the booth, not only is Gus the most exciting announcer in sports, he is also the coolest, as the first 30 seconds of this clip prove:

-The Lake Show got it done in overtime last night, thanks in large part to Dwight Howard clanking a pair of free throws with under a minute left that would've put the game away. I'll give Kobe credit, I thought he played a pretty terrible game for his standards again last night, but fouling Dwight there and not letting him get the dunk turned out to win the Lakers the game. I also must admit that I agree with Phil Jackson, who said in his press conference that Kobe ripping that one rebound away from Dwight Howard was the turning point. How did that happen? How good / strong is Kobe? How much of a bitch is Kobe?
Jameer messed up by not getting out on D Fish, but no one would've criticized his defense if D Fish wasn't so cold blooded, taking the game into his own hands and knocking down a long three with Nelson's hand in his face. A lot of players would've looked to get Kobe the ball there, especially at 0-5 from behind the line at that point in the game, D Fish continues to be one of the all-time role playing point guards.
What I really don't understand is why Jameer was on the floor in the first place. He made two plays down the stretch, one nice pass and then a standard dump-in to Dwight in the post. He looked lethargic out there and really provided the Magic with nothing, Stan Van's tossing Skip aside this series really doesn't make sense to me. Seems when Skip gets it going the Magic roll..but Jameer is giving them nothing and cutting into Skip's time and rhythm.
Rashard Lewis where were you?
Dwight Howard had some monster numbers: 16 pts, 21 boards, 9 blocks. 5-12, 6-14 FT, and 7 turnovers killed the Magic though.
A lot of praise is being heaped on Trevor Ariza and with good reason. Sure is one player I never wanted to see the Knicks get rid of (but hey at least we got Steve Francis out of it!) and watching him develop a shooting stroke (have you seen the pretty rotation on his three-balls? I'm officially a believer) tells me he is going to be a valuable player for years to come.
To borrow a horse racing term, the Lakers are just too classy for the Magic. The Magic play so sloppy..they commit untimely turnovers, clank free throws and have serious mental lapses on defense. Even Hedo admitted this after last night, calling the team stupid.
On the Gasol-Pietrus play - I don't love Gasol dunking it there, but he is right under the hoop, it is a little different then if he came dribbling up the court and ran in. Pietrus needs to keep his head there, if you want to foul him to send a message just give him a good clean, hard foul..don't just throw your forearms into his back. Now Stern is going to be forced to suspend him. Nothing better than watching a couple softy Euros mix it up though.

-On the baseball scene, the Yankees suffered another heart-breaking loss in what was the most entertaining baseball game year-to-date in my opinion. I'm not going to turn the loss into some sort of big deal that I'm sure the rest of the media will. If anything I think it was encouraging on some accounts..they finally got to the Sox bullpen and CC pitched great, Girardi just left him in too long. The big problem is that Aceves is the go-to guy to try and get them out of the jam there. I know he pitched the night before and was unavailable but if they are going to put Hughes in the pen, they should at least give him a chance to be the guy they go to when they need an out and can't go to Mo yet. I'm sure Girardi will be getting a lot of heat from the media and it's all well deserved in my eyes. Sox win 8 straight off Yanks to start the season for the first time since 1912.

Meanwhile, the Mets were busy dropping another heart-breaker to the Phils when Ibanez cracked a 3-run homer in the tenth. This is probably a more crushing loss than the Yanks as this Mets team has proven to be such a fragile bunch over the past few years.

Both the Mets and Yanks come into this first subway series at the new Yankee Stadium reeling...I don't want to play up the importance of this series but both teams will be looking to get some momentum back. I've already profiled the pitching matchups in a previous post, should be an exciting weekend in baseball though.

Steve Nash on Letterman

Steve Nash says he would love to play for the Knicks. Nash is a pretty funny guy though, I would like to clip the net-man for listing MJ as his first favorite player and Patrick Chewing second. Embarrassing. And he's a Magic fan? Terrible.

Happy Birthday John Bryant

WCC and Pewch Legend John Bryant celebrates his birthday today. And I say he celebrates his birthday today because we all know John Bryant was never born, he has always existed. Props to Curtis for sharing a "birthday" with this deity.

Stephen Strasburg, you're the next contestant on the price is right...

Being right around the corner from Nationals Park I feel compelled to touch on this Stephen Strasburg story. The Washington Nationals are terrible as expected. They invested some money this offseason on slugger Adam Dunn and I hate to say, but they actually have a solid nucleus of young positional players. Not that any of these guys are studs, but Lastings Milledge, Christian Guzman, Adam Dunn, Dukes, Zimmerman, etc...The Nationals actually don't put a poor product on the field.

The main problem is pitching. The staff is absolutely horrendous and they can't protect a lead, or get consistent starting outings from the pitching staff. The starting rotation for the Nats right now is John Lannan, Shairon Martis, Jordan Zimmermann, Ross Detwiler, and Craig Stammen (Scott Olsen and Kip Wells on the DL). A couple young arms in Lannan and Zimpeice, but not really a line-up that is going to win many series as evident in their 15-41 record (but hey, they are only 18 games back).

I have been to three Nats games this year, 2 against the bravos, and one against the cards. The only reason I went to those games is because I am a braves fan, and my buddy is a cards fan. I am convinced that no one goes to the stadium unless the opposing team interests you. The two braves games I went to I sat right behind the braves dugout for a combined price of $5 dollars for two nights. Night number one, no one was at the ballpark, slight rain delay, and by the time the game started we were able to sit down first row. I got some good reactions out of Timmy Hudson as I kept mentioning to him the peice he did with Eddie Perez. The 2nd night some drunk guy outside the stadium gave us lower level seats for free after he tried to scalp them for us for $40 bucks, we said no, and he said okay just take them. The guy was an expert salesmen.

Back to the point of this peice, the Washington Nationals made a huge potential boost to their future and pitching staff by selecting Stephen Strasburg number one overall in this years MLB draft. The stats as mulldog eluded to are unreal on paper. 13-1 record, 1.32 ERA, 65 hits allowed, 16 earned runs, 19 walks and 195 strike outs. There is never a sure thing, especially in the MLB draft which is so hit and miss. Thought scouts have never been so in love, and hyped up someone as much as this kid. The main problem comes in signing this pitcher to a deal. For those of you who weren't aware, last year the Nats picked pitcher Aaron Crow with the 9th overall pick. In a similar situation they failed to sign Crow, who decided to play a year in an independent minor league for the year, re-entering the draft, and being selected this year 12th overall by Kansas City (Tough draw for Crow, nationals then KC....aich). If the Nats aren't carefull they will wind up in a similar situation

As if things weren't going to be hard enough to convince this prospect to sign with the Nationals, the front office has the unfortunate task of dealing with agent Scott Boras. Boras has mentioned that Strasburg will command somewhere in the ballpark of $50M. That is obviously a huge overestimate as the previous highest deal for a Pitcher was $10.5 for Mark Prior back in the day. Ultimately I think this comes down to what Strasburg wants to do. I think that come the end of the signing period he will be looking close to a $15M deal in the face (maybe $20M) but I have a hard time thinking they are going to shell out any more for a guy who has never thrown a major league inning let alone did not even play in one of the best college conferences.

I have heard a rumor that he could test the market out in Japan, sort of what NBA players are doing with Europe. If he could get a crazy Japanese team to put up $30-40 mill for this guy it might be to hard to pass up. The Japanese team would be banking him having a great year and then having MLB teams get into a bidding war as they did with Dice K just to post the rights to attempt to deal with him. Though Strasburg would be at the mercy of signing only with the team that had his rights, it would most likely be a big market team like the Sox or Yankees who can spend that type of money.

Nats front office members better hope they find a way to sign this kid for the mere chance that is adds some buzz around the Potomac, because right now, the only way I am getting dragged to the game is if I have free tickets or a good team is in town.

Beautiful Tuesday for Sports Fans

While Yankees fans may be bummed about getting shut out by Beckett and the Red Sox, the Mets squeaked out a 6-5 win over the Phils (BCA predictions 2-0). More importantly, hockey fans got their game 7, with a 2-1 Penguins win and suddenly the Magic have a pulse after setting a record in NBA Finals history for field goal percentage and hung on to beat the Lakers by 108-104.

Another victory was the Washington Nationals going ahead and selecting Stephen Straburg, arguably the greatest pitcher in college baseball history (in case you are unaware Strasburg went 13–1 with a 1.32 ERA, 65 hits allowed, 16 earned runs, 19 walks and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings pitched with San Diego St this year), with the first overall pick in the MLB draft despite the fact that they are going to have a hell of a time signing him. I'll let Millman discuss this further...

Hockey highlights made it look like a great game, that's all I have on that..

I'm not sure what to make of the Magic shooting 62.5% and only winning by 4.
Again, with all this talk about Kobe being this great "closer" he played poorly down the stretch last night. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom could have scored every time they touched the ball, but Kobe refused to give it up. He is a great player, but his selfishness can get in the way of his greatness at times, and it has this series. The Lakers are fortunate to be up 2-1 right now.
Props to Stan Van Gully on working the Skip/Jameer platoon like it should be, 37/11 minutes played respectively...and Skip responded playing an efficient game, 8-12 from the field, scoring 20 points.
Does anyone get better looks from deep than Rashard Lewis (thanks in part to his height / shooting style)?
Luke Walton is scared to shoot the ball.
Mickael Pietrus hit one of the toughest lay-ups I've ever seen and a fade-away jumper I'm not sure MJ would've hit. Who did he sell his soul to before these playoffs? I've always liked his defense, but offensively he is playing like a man possessed (though that put-back to put the Magic up 101-99 with 2 minutes left should have been an offensive goaltend, it's OK though, makes up for all the superstar calls Kobe got - like the bailout reach-in on Pietrus when they had him doubled and that inexcusable foul on Dwight when he easily stuffed Bryant).

Baseball's First Big Week in NY

(< The house that Ruth laughs at)

As the high school year nears close and summer approaches, this week should be the biggest to date in all of baseball, especially in New York.

With the Yanks playing their best baseball of the year and now with a one game lead on Boston, they will head to Fenway Park tonight for a three game series, before heading back home to host the first inter-league subway series with the sputtering Mets. Meanwhile, as the Yanks and Sox square off, the Mets will be hosting the Phillies (leading the Mets by 3 games for the division lead) in a big-time NL East match-up, before the teams exchange opponents as the Sox head to Philly. Big week in the Northeast and the eastern divisions in each league, should be the week that officially marks a shifting of people going into full-blown baseball mode with basketball and hockey coming to a close and the football season still off in the distance.

The atmosphere should be pretty electric as this is the first chance for New York fans to mix it up in the new ballparks, and at least it will be played at Yankee stadium where there is sure to be plenty of home runs to cheer about.

Speaking of the Yankees playing their best baseball of late, it appears they may be getting another boost as Phil Hughes came out of the bullpen throwing 95 for a flawless inning that included a strikeout last night. Hughes could end up becoming the bridge to Mariano that the Yankees needed...and if Joba pitches like he has recently and Wang gets it together, this team is probably the best in baseball.

Since I have only been half paying attention to baseball while the NBA drags out the playoffs..here are the pitching match-ups and some half-assed predictions as the divisional rivals square off Tuesday-Thursday:

6/9: Burnett / Beckett - This game will feature two hard throwing right-handers with a history of pitching well against these perennially dominant offenses. Both of them struggled at times this year with command, but are coming off consecutive strong outings, has all the makings of a pitcher's duel.
Prediction: Burnett's control gets him in trouble, Sox win 5-2.

Santana / Happ
Prediction: Happ runs out of magic, Mets 7-2.

6/10: Wang / Wakefield - Wang still hasn't put it all together but he pitched three scoreless out the pen and while he gave up a bunch of runs last outing had 5 k's to 1 bb.
Prediction: Wang has his first real good start of the year, Yanks win 6-1.

Pelfrey / Hamels (OK can I say these Phils/Mets pitching match-ups are brutal?)
Prediction: Phils 5-0.

6/11: Sabathia / Penny - With a lot of trade rumors surrounding a possible Brad Penny trade (not sure I'd give up even a low-level prospect like N. Huard at this point for him), the Sox would love to see him throw a good game to increase his value.
Prediction: CC with a nice effort, Yanks win 5-3.

Redding (pride of Rochester?) / Moyer
Prediction: Phils 1-0, Jamie Moyer tosses no-hitter, Bud Selig blows up Citi Field afterward with dozens of fans still in it after being lulled to sleep by a 2009 pitching duel between Tim Redding and Jamie Moyer.


(Actual advance photo of Citi Field 15 minutes before Redding/Moyer start >)

Queens heads uptown / Uppity Boston Fucks meet Rugged Philadalphians:

6/12: Joba / Maine - Joba throwing better, Maine coming off getting thumped (finally), hard to pick against the Yanks here.
Prediction: Yanks 7-5.

Lester / Blanton
Prediction: Lester cruises, Sox 8-2.

6/13: Pettitte / Livan - Livan is walking on water right now, he's going to get absolutely crushed Saturday though.
Prediction: Yanks 13-9.

Dice-K / Bastardo
Prediction: Longest 9-inning game in MLB history. Sox win 11-8.

6/14: Burnett / Santana - Mets salvage series with a big outing from Santana.
Prediction: Mets 9-1.

Beckett / Happ
Prediction: Happ continue to regress, Beckett continues to throw well, 5-1 Sox for the sweep. Mets fans rejoice.

Man Piles?

So I am sitting around Sunday afternoon on the couch when I happen to flip on what I thought would be SportsCenter. It actually happened to be the end of the UVA vs. Ole Miss college baseball game. I decided since it was the 9th and Virginia was going for the close out I would sit around and watch the end of the ballgame. With 2 outs and a 1-2 count the Ole Miss hitter was rung up looking on an outside slider to end their season. I have two problems with the way this game ended.

1) You can't, just can't, let your season end looking at the plate. Two strikes, season on the line (granted your down 4 runs), you gotta be up at the plate hacking.

2) My major grievance came after what happened when UVA realized they were going to Omaha to participate in the College World Series. Let me set up this scene for you and we can evaluate what is wrong.

Umpire calls strike three. Catcher immediately tosses off his protective helmet, runs out to the pitchers mound and leaps on top of his pitcher for a giant bear hug. Watch out now, here comes 1b, 2b, ss, 3b, lf, cf, and the rf all sprinting with giant smiles on their faces towards the pitcher and catcher. All of the sudden, the bench clears and the pitchers from the bullpen take off in a frenzy also going for their teammates. Before you know it, you have 20 some odd men all taking running leaps at each other and joining in what I like to call a man pile.

Since when is it acceptable for a bunch of male adults to celebrate by jumping on top of each other and rubbing their bods on one another while making animalistic screams of joy? Sounds pretty weird to me. Just so you know this isn't just kids always partaking in this because we see this at the Major league level as well.

Add jumping in man piles to celebrate victories, to team showers, football scrums for fumbled footballs, celebratory pats on the butt by coaches, dressing rookies up in female clothes, and water polo....and you got yourself a bunch of questionable figures in the sporting world.

* On another note: NV Blues weekend double header cancelled due to rain. Team record remains at 1-1. Hoping for a divison title and ultimately a man pile.

Weekend Round-up

-No triple crown again in horse racing, that makes 31 years now, and Calvin Borel fails to do it as a jockey as Mine That Bird makes a premature move and gets out-kicked by Summer Bird. Dunkirk came in second, leaving me to rip up my daily double and win tickets...

-Roger Federer is the GOAT. He is now tied with Pete Sampras for the all-time lead with 14 career grand slam championships and can now say he won each separate one after easily defeating Robin Soderling in the French Open Finals Sunday. Still don't think he's the best? That's OK, by the time he's done he's likely to add a couple more (Rafa might be out for Wimbledon?) and completely stop all debate - that said, if he retired today he'd go down as the GOAT to most knowledgeable tennis fans (Bud Collins be damned).

-The Big Unit got his 300th victory this weekend. Leading all left-handed pitchers in all-time strikeouts (4,845, he also is the all-time leader in k:9 with 10.67), he now joins a prestigious group that includes Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton, Eddie Plank, Lefty Grove and Tom Glavine as the only southpaws with 300 wins. I have always hated Johnson, but it is hard to ignore his greatness and the fact that he did once kill a bird with a pitch, which probably ranks behind only Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez literally smashing the cover off a ball as the most impressive single plays in baseball history:

-The NBA got a much-needed close game, with the Lakers pulling it out in overtime last night. Courtney Lee will be having nightmares about that one for some time now. I just want to shout out Hedo Torkuglo, reader Curtis's boy, for playing like a man possessed down the stretch. That said, I want to launch a couple complaints as well:
1. My buddy sent me a text last night when it was headed for overtime claiming it was unwatchable due to the time it took to play out the last thirty seconds. I somewhat disagreed, saying he was the only one not enjoying this, but after falling asleep with 20 seconds left in overtime, I woke up in total agreement. The NBA needs to find a solution for the lack of flow at the end of games due to timeouts. It is pretty ridiculous when there is a timeout after every play...I know they try to limit this with some restrictions but they need to get even more strict about it - that or don't go to commercial and get us in on the huddles.
2. What happened to the NBA policy of no-tolerance for complaining about calls? Ever since those damn Pistons teams that complained and whined about every call the NBA has become a cry-happy league (has always been to a degree, that is just the nature of basketball, ever played in a pickup game? I got into an argument just the other day with some kid trying to call a carry on me for losing the ball and smashing my buddy in the face accidentally). I expect Kobe to complain about every call, I expect Lebron to, go ahead Dwight, do your best Dikembe Mutumbo impersonation and act like you never committed a foul in your life...I really wouldn't care....but Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston complaining is cringe-worthy.
3. With all the gushing about Kobe, I honestly thought he played poorly last night. He took some poor shots, didn't get Gasol and Odom enough touches and missed a couple opportunities (like the last shot in regulation that Hedo blocked) to make passes to open teammates. And with all this talk about his defense, first of all I'm a little disappointed he's guarding Courtney Lee at the end of games, and on top of that Lee burned him a couple times and just couldn't finish. Pau Gasol was reason number one the Lake Show pulled that one out last night, I don't care what anyone says. And honestly, reason number two was Lamar Odom. Dwight Howard is a beast down low, but the Magic simply can't stop both of them at the same time.

-Speaking of Kobe how about that press conference after the game? Kobe Bryant comes off as fake as the WWF these days. I love watching the man play, his game is as pure as you'll ever see...but between that scripted mess that was Doin' Work, his bizarre faces and awkward, calculated interviews/press conferences - I came to the startling realization last night that Kobe Bryant is incredibly pewch. For all his non-pewch ability the man just constantly does pewch things out there, like the face he made to Pau Gasol after he put in that 3-point play.

-JJ Redick - Is there anything more bizarre than watching JJ Redick play in the NBA? How about him taking it hard to the rack and putting in a strong layup on Lamar Odom? How about him clanking open threes? How about him getting all that playing time? How about him playing some pretty decent defense, even being quick enough to shut off D-Fish on a couple drives and making some nice run-outs to contest open 3's?

-I don't watch hockey but I saw Detroit up 5-0 the one night. Funny how all the analysts were talking about a big momentum shift in that series and that Pittsburgh was starting to think they could win, and Detroit was thinking they could lose.

-Tiger Woods

-Braves phenom Tommy Hanson got touched up in his first start against Milwaukee yesterday allowing 7 runs (6 earned) in 6 innings on 6 hits (3 hr's), striking out 5 while walking just 1. Seems he was a bit unfortunate as he displayed good stuff with a fastball working around 95, a nasty slider and a 12 to 6 curveball. Perhaps most impressive is that the fastball comes with a lot of movement apparently, and while that movement hurt him yesterday as the ball found the middle of the plate and Ryan Braun and Mike Cameron took care of it - any pitcher with this type of arsenal is a good bet to become a true ace, for Hanson that may be sooner rather than later.

The Belmont Stakes

My favorite horse race of the year on the only track I seem to cap horses with much success, many of you have probably heard the story of the superfecta I nearly hit a few years back that paid around 10k..The story this year at the last leg of the triple crown actually may be more about jockey Calvin Borel who rode Mine That Bird to the win in the Kentucky Derby before riding Rachel Alexandra to win The Preakness. I don't know that it has ever been done before that a jockey won the triple crown using different horses (and it's shocking that one would even attempt). But without further ado here is my analysis of the race:

1. Chocolate Candy - Talented horse never seems to get a good trip, dangerous that could sneak onto the board but I'll be passsing.
2. Dunkirk - Horse got a ton of hype before the Kentucky Derby and then absolutely no-showed after stumbling out the gate. That said this may be the most talented 3-year-old and best horse in this field. At 4-1 this is my pick.
3. Mr. Hot Stuff - Another horse that didn't fire in the Kentucky Derby, I'm not sure Hot Stuff isn't still running. Horse is a stone cold closer in a field of closers and far from the most talented one, not a good sign I'll pass.
4. Summer Bird - Some talk of this as a good longshot as his father Birdstone beat Smarty Jones on his attempt to win the triple crown in this same race. Do think there is more value here than Mine That Bird but don't think better than 3rd will happen.
5. Luv Gov - Ran a pretty good Preakness despite finishing 8th, another with a chance to fire late and hit the board.
6. Charitable Man - Has Lemon Drop Kid's gene pool, how can you not love this horse? The only horse in the field with true early speed and if you all remember D'tara from last year, sometimes if there is only one good frontrunner they can get out and take it wire-to-wire. Belmont isn't historically a great race for closers, and Charitable Man will certainly be out front so must be considered.
7. Mine That Bird - Horse that kind of came out of nowhere and just put together monster runs in the derby and preakness. Gets jockey back and if Preakness was this distance he would have blown by Rachel Alexandra. Appears to be begging for distance but I don't think this race sets up for him..not enough early speed and I just don't think he'll be able to repeat with another huge race...I'll be leaving out, may cost me but I think that is how you get value in this race.
8. Flying Private - Not garnering as much attention as would have if hit the board instead of just missing in 4th in the Preakness..ran a pretty monster race though after not firing at all in the Derby. That said, this is another closer I'll pass on.
9. Miner's Escape - Doesn't appear to belong on paper. Took big step forward last race and should look to get out early but won't be considered by me.
10. Brave Victory - Finished 3rd a ways back from Charitable Man in Peter Pan. Talented horse not garnering much attention at 15-1, another that could hit the board but ultimately shouldn't be much of a threat.

Obviously I think Dunkirk wins this and holds the most value. I also like Charitable Man, so I'll probably play Dunkirk to win and a 2/6 exacta box. As a longshot tri or superfecta I'll probably play something along the lines of 2/6/1,4,7,8,10. Good luck gamblers.

Chris Berman On Smuggling Drugs

Large and In Charge

The other night I get a comment from a fair weather pewch revolution supporter who I dare not name (Icky).

Icky: You are losing me as a pewch revolution follower with all these NBA stories.
Millman: Well what do you expect, it's a slow time in sports all that’s going on is the NBA Playoffs/Finals. God knows we aren't going to touch hockey. Go check the games out on VS. if you care and can even find the channel.
Icky: Why don't you do some football articles, like who has the best body in the NFL.
Millman: You my friend are real pewch.

So here you are non-NBA fans. After careful considerations of all 32 NFL teams and the players that comprise their rosters. I have found the best body in the NFL. I looked through countless pictures and it was an extremely painful experience. After numerous hours looking through photo after photo of NFL dreamboats like Tom Brady and T.O I think I found the winner. Cincinnati....eat your hearts out....before this guy does. YUCK!

In other football news. Ralph Wilson has announced that Chris "Boomer" Berman will be introducing him into the Hall of Fame. I honestly did not know Ralph Wilson was good friends with Chris Berman. I am actually convinced the two have never met or even spoken on the phone. I imagine Ralph called up someone and said "I want to be introduced by the guy on ESPN who screams out that no one circles the wagons, like the Buffalo Bills!" Ralph Wilson is clearly smitten by Boomer who continuously picks a 49ers Bills SuperBowl matchup at the beginning of the season. Another sound decision by Ralph. Hopefully we can get Boomer in fine form....check out the link below, anyone wanna bet Chris Berman somehow ends up in Toronto for the Bills game this year (appologies for the clip link, youtube was giving me troubles loading it on our blog page).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0q4oibfs9g

Eastern Conference Exposed?

Amidst all the talk this year about the Eastern Conference being back, the Orlando Magic just got beat down by the Lakers so bad in Game 1 and looked so over-matched that it's hard not to think that the Eastern Conference was a bit of a sham this year. And shame on us for not realizing this sooner, after all a team like the Suns didn't even make the Western Conference Playoffs, while I don't even want to get into the Eastern Conference Playoff race.

This Magic team, which everyone conveniently forgot had their problems with the 76ers and were taken to the max by a worn down, beat-up Celtics team before they shot the lights out exposing the weaknesses of the Cavaliers last series. But all anyone remembered was the Cavs series, and believed they were undefendable. Looks like they can miss three-pointers after all.

Maybe Dwight can call out Stan Van Gundy again after the game. That is if he can finally stop talking about how butt-hurt he is he didn't get to shake King James hand. Maybe he should have spent a little less time reflecting about a missed handshake and a little more time worrying about the Lakers frontcourt - a little bigger challenge than the joke he used and abused last series.

So happy to see they didn't scrap the puppet commercials, instead we get a shameless, unapologetic, ineffective, revamped, pewch bunch of whiny commercials we have to sit through. Thanks Nike, you continue to be a classy company.

This Magic team is still good, they can't win this series but hopefully they can heat it up a bit and at least make the games more entertaining - if they don't make this at all competitive their defeat of the Lebrons will end up being a bigger blow to the NBA than initially thought.

Pittsburgh's Pewch Pirates...

If you were not aware there was a move made today in MLB that is worth bringing up. The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded away all-star Nate McLouth in return for a handful of prospects, OF Gorkys Hernandez, and Pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke. The Pirates have now traded away Jason Bay, Xaiver Nady, and Nate McLouth which you can argue could be one of the best outfields in the game. I have never been a huge fan of teams trading away confirmed studs for prospects.

The move allows the Bravo's to find a replacement for Jordan Schafer who was relegated back to triple A ball after not being quite ready for the big show. The move works for the Braves team who are only 5 games back in the NL East, but do they really have the power and arms to contend? They just released Glavine, which seemed like a pretty raw deal. Glavine apparently worked his tail off to rehab and get back into playing shape and right when he was ready to get back on the mound the Braves ripped the cord. They brought up stud prospect Tommy Hanson and claimed the move was pure "performance based." Its a tough situation for both parties as Glavine has obviously meant so much to this organization, you can't help to think that his $1M dollar bonus for being added to the roster as well as million dollar bonuses at the 30 and 90 day mark had a bit to play in the decision. Three Cheers to you Glavine, and all-time great. It is sad to see Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltzy all officially gone from the braves organization. We will now see if Hanson is the future...

Back to the Pirates, its hard to see a team with such a rich tradition, and such a great sports town, working on their 17th consecutive losing season. How many good players can you trade away for prospects...and what exactly does this team need to do to turn the corner. PNC park is unbelievable, one of the finer ballparks in America overlooking the river. Will there ever be fans in the seats to take it all in?