Mulldog's Monday Madness

A lot going on in the world of sports, let's jump right to it:

-Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable is beating up his assistants. At first it was reported that Cable fractured defensive assistant Randy Hanson's jaw by punching him and was ripping into the defensive coordinator. An unnamed source said "It was cable who hit him. He never saw it coming." Now there is a rumor that he instead flipped the Hanson off a chair and his jaw hit a cabinet. Good riddance already Oakland. Stop the madness. Seriously, can they stop the circus act for one season? I realize it is the NFL and teammates (hi Steve Smith) sometimes fight...but the head coach is dropping his assistants? And Cable refusing to comment on it only makes him look like a little kid...admit what happened, say everyone is over it and move on...now the story will linger, it appears to everyone that there is turmoil on the staff and Cable is not adorning the media at all. With Detroit having taken a lot of the pressure off Oakland as being the worst franchise in the NFL by going 0-16, looks like Oak-town wants its spot back. Appear to be in for another long season in Raider land, sorry R-Mania.

-Denver star WR Brandon Marshall is again demanding a new contract or a trade.

-St. Louis Cardinals are apparently hot on the trail of John Smoltz. While most teams would only let him come out of the bullpen, given his struggles to get through a lineup multiple times in Boston..I would guess St. Louis is willing to let him start. Their offense is clicking on all cylinders since Matt Holliday came over to hit behind Albert Pujols and got white hot. They certainly could still use another starter and while I'm not sure what Smoltz has left, I'm sure the NL Central would be more forgiving to him than the AL East and at this point, why not? You could probably convince him to take up a bullpen role in the playoffs where I think he could be top-notch. The upside is high and the downside is limited.

-The Giants and Panthers played the wildest pre-season game I've ever seen last night. With just over 2 minutes left, Carolina drove 88 yards to tie the game 17-17. The Giants then went three and out and punted. Carolina, with 10 seconds left and the ball on their 18 yard line set up for a hail mary before future perennial pro-bowl Defensive Tackle Leger Douzable sacked the Lina fourth-string quarterback and forced a fumble that DE Tommie Hill caught out of the air and ran 18 yards into the endzone as time expired for the win. I won't bore anyone with my analysis of how everyone performed, but first-round WR Hakeem Nicks doesn't look as polished as I had thought/hoped. 6'6 Third round I-AA WR Ramses Barden actually looked more polished. 2nd round DE Clint Stintim got a sack and 2nd round OT William Beatty certainly held his own against the 2nd stringers. When the Giants are the new Ravens this year, with an absolute lock-down defense and struggle to score, don't say I didn't warn you and your fantasy football team.

-The Detroit Tigers made a quiet, shrewd pick-up acquiring Aubrey Huff from Baltimore. Huff has seen his numbers really slip this year, but he still has a live bat and could contribute to a lineup that currently employs Carl Thomas as its third hitter. He should at least hold value as a bat off the bench and spot starting vs right-handers. With a narrow 2 game lead on the White Sox and the Twins looming 6.5 back..any little addition could make the difference for Detroit.

-Thanks to all who voted, confirming that the Millman is in fact a pewch shortstop, perhaps Pewch Nation is not very shocked at the NV Blues disappointing conclusion to the season. 81% saw the Millman's form as being pewch, and insider knowledge confirms that in fact 2/3 of the votes for "not pewch" were the Millman himself. I'm sure the other unidentified family member was voting completely unbiased though.

-Lost in the mix with all the hype about the Strasburg signing is that the best hitter in the draft, second pick, Dustin Ackley, agreed to a deal with the Mariners worth just under 10 Mill at the last-minute as well. Third overall pick, Donovan Tate also signed with the Padres. And some high schooler for the Tigers got about 7 Mill. Ridiculous.

-Joe Mauer is quietly back up to .380...this after beating up Fransisco Liriano, who despite a good start vs KC two back, really looks like he's about to be shut down or put in the bullpen. Probably would be best..I wouldn't give up on him just yet, maybe next year he will re-gain form, but it is highly unlikely that he will ever be what he was a few years ago, and certainly will never live up to the potential everyone thought he had. Sad story.

-Quietly, Braves stud starting pitching prospect Tommy Hanson is starting to put things together at the major league level...

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.