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Tiger Woods made an announcement that he would be off the golf course til at least June, back in time for the US Open. Woods will spend time with his ailing father. People can now speculate and make fun of Tiger by claiming he is afraid of going head to head with the surging Phil Mickelson.
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| Washington Post
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Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee suffered a broken wrist by colliding with Los Angeles Dodger SS Rafael Furcal, as he was running down the first base-line. This move will take the punch out of the Chicago Cubs line-up. After watching the Red Sox and White Sox get over their respective championship drought “curses”, many Cubs fans thought 2006 was their turn but it doesn’t look like it is the Chicago Cubs’ year. Lee is expected to miss at least six weeks.
Read More | ESPN
Atlanta Braves Take Two of Three from the New York Mets
Posted by Jeff Chan Categories: Athletes, MLB, Scoreboard,
In a classic pitchers duel, Tim Hudson and Tom Glavine gave the fans a treat on a Wednesday afternoon game. The demise of the Atlanta Braves has been highly exaggerated, despite playing without Edgar Renteria, Chipper Jones and Marcus Giles. Hudson pitched a complete game, and the Braves won the rubber game of the three game series. The game was full of great defense on the Braves side, an outfield assist by LF Matt Diaz and a nifty web gem by SS Tony Pena Jr. (wow that makes me feel old). Andrew Jones homered again, his fourth in three games which broke the scoreless tie, who excels in picking up his game in Chipper Jones’ absence. An outstanding game and a treat for everyone playing hooky from work.
Reggie Bush Versus Domanick Davis
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Drafts, Editorial, NFL,
Yes, Reggie Bush is nice. He’s athletic, a game breaker, and he has a sweet piece of tin called the Heisman. But, let’s be serious. The Texans don’t need a RB as they already have a very good one in Domanick Davis. Davis had over 1300 total yards and six total TD last season… in only 11 games! Okay, so Davis is diminutive and has all of the negative stuff associated with being small for a RB, but so is Bush. The difference to me, and it’s a big one, Davis is already proven in the NFL. Bush, obviously, has done diddly squat.
Did you watch the Rose Bowl? Was it me or did USC head coach Pete Carroll keep Bush out during critical downs and on short yardage situations? It was all LenDale White on those plays. Meanwhile, Davis for the past three years busted his butt for every single yard he rushed for, thanks to defenses loading the box because the secondary only had to focus on WR Andre Johnson and QB David Carr had as much protection as cake from a fat kid. Before last season, Davis rushed for over 1000 yards each of his previous two seasons. Last season Davis was only 24 yards away from achieving the 1000 yard benchmark again.
And, Davis has skills catching the ball out of the backfield. In 2004, Davis had 68 receptions, 588 receiving yards, and a score. Last season in 2005, Davis had 39 catches for 337 receiving yards, and four TD… need I remind you, in only 11 games. Okay, so Bush has the ability to take it to the house should he catch the ball anywhere on the field, at least from what we’ve seen in his college career. But, will that translate to the NFL where players are more experienced, have better technique, and are bigger and stronger? Maybe, but why chance it with the number one overall pick on a player that would basically be excess for the Texans? So that he can be a punt and kick returner? Don’t think so.
If I were the Texans and I could trade away the number one overall pick to the Tennessee Titans who pick third and pick up an extra pick, say the Titans 39th overall pick in the second round (okay, so it’s a pipe dream; I’d settle for the 103rd overall pick in the fourth round), I’d do it yesterday. There is a battle between the Titans and New York Jets in jockeying for position to take Matt Leinart and the Texans can play those teams against each other. So, let’s say this happens where Texas drops to third overall, whom do they pick?
Isn’t it obvious?
Carr has no protection and often finds himself eating grass for most of the game. So, it has to be OT standout D’Brickashaw Ferguson from Virginia to help Carr stay healthy and really give Carr a shot at being the QB he can be. The addition of WR Eric Moulds helps a lot as it will give Carr another target, but mostly to draw secondary attention away from WR Andre Johnson. This should make defenses play honest against the Texans and possibly open up more holes for Davis to take advantage of. But, most of all, in picking Ferguson, Carr will be better protected and will actually be able to sit in the pocket looking for an open man, instead of a way to escape oncoming defensive players. The whole offense will benefit.
The Texans’ most important need is at the O-Line, so I’d pass on Bush and take the Brick. Their running game is already solid in the hands of Davis.
Mets Take First Game And Pedro Martinez Gets Number 200
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Editorial, MLB,
In the first game of a big series against division rival, Atlanta Braves, Pedro Martinez helped lead the New York Mets to a 4-3 win Monday night. It’s hard to determine which was sweeter for Martinez - winning number 200 for his career or defeating the Braves, winners of 14 consecutive division titles. The Braves are to the Mets what the Detroit Pistons were to the Chicago Bulls in the late 80’s/early 90’s - that “hump” team that they needed to get over to once and for all diminish any sort of cloud over them. Even in 2000 when the Mets made it to the World Series, their path didn’t go through the Braves, but the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Championships. Whether or not this win is indicative of the Mets finally “getting over” the Braves, Monday night was an important start to the process.
Martinez joins Greg Maddux (320), Tom Glavine (277), Randy Johnson (265), David Wells (227), Mike Mussina (225), and Jamie Moyer (205) as the only active pitchers with 200 or more wins. Martinez (70.4%) owns the highest career winning percentage with a minimum of 200 wins, followed by Whitey Ford (236-106; 69.0%), Lefty Grove (300-141; 68.0%), Christy Mathewson (373-188; 66.5%), Roger Clemens (341-172; 66.5%), and Randy Johnson (265-137; 65.9%).
Geoff Jenkins is starting to remind me of someone, but I couldn’t put my finger on it immediately. Now that the Brewers have been playing better this season, their best ball since the Ronald Reagan administration, the Brew Crew has something to be excited about. Jenkins is a player I’ll admit I haven’t given much attention to. He’s always been the decent slugger on a bad team, so I didn’t give a second look. Now that Jenkins is sporting the new facial beard, the lefty slugger is looking and hopefully will continue playing like another Jeff - Jeff Bagwell.
So far in the young 2006 season, Alfonso Soriano has given the Washington Nationals a legitimite power threat in the middle of the line-up even playing in the spacious RFK stadium. Soriano has played decently in LF, so far he hasn’t been a liability and with time he should be pretty decent in the outfield. He’s already a better fielder than Manny Ramirez, so as long as Soriano hits, the defense should suffice. The player they traded to acquire Soriano, Texas Rangers LF Brad Wilkerson has struggled striking out an American League-leading 23 times. The trade though did leave a void in the lead-off spot for the Nationals. Rookie Brandon Watson has already been demoted back to the minors, and the team has recalled Ryan Church to replace him.
Albert Pujols Hits Three Homers in One Game
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Editorial, Kudos, MLB,
Move over Barry Bonds, you are undeniably no longer the best hitter in baseball (steroids or not). Welcome, Albert Pujols, to your rightful place. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, Pujols was anything but against the Cincinnati Reds as he went 3-for-4 with one walk, 5 RBI, and of course three dingers off of three different pitchers because Pujols didn’t want anyone to feel left out of the hit parade. The third one off of Reds reliever, David Weathers, was a two-run shot that won the game for the Cardinals. Sooner or later, pitchers are going to pitch to Pujols the way they pitched to Bonds when Bonds was healthy. That is to say, they will intentionally walk him every chance they get OR throw nothing but junk at Pujols. A career .332 hitter with a 1.039 OPS in just over five seasons, Pujols is simply the biggest threat in the batter’s box today. At only 26 years of age, he hasn’t even hit his prime yet, which usually starts at 27 years old, going well into the early 30’s. There’s a reason that most in the media call Pujols, “King Albert.”
After just watching part of the Sebastian Telfair documentary of his senior year of high school all the way to the NBA draft, it shows how fine a line it is to become an NBA star or potentially playing pro ball in Europe. What I took out of this was, it made me wonder how the new basketball players turn out the way they do. One of the reasons the new hot-shot basketball stars become self-centered, non-team players is because that’s the way they’ve played their entire lives and they never had to change. The documentary puts Telfair in a pretty good light, showing his charismatic side, his patience with fans by signing autographs, taking his celebrity status very well for someone his age, showing him to being a determined high school player, and above all else being a decent person. The one thing about the young stars that I find amazing is how they have absolutely no idea who the players from the past are. One basketball guru points out to Telfair that he reminds him of Isiah Thomas, and that Telfair can perhaps be as good as Isiah one day and also take claim as the best NBA player under 6’1” ever. Telfair hardly knew who Isiah Thomas was, all he could say was that he saw some clips of him on tape. Geez, don’t these kids ever watch ESPN Classic or anything? I mean Isiah Thomas is only an NBA Hall of Famer, and only your cousin’s boss for crying out loud. The second thing is Telfair’s propensity to call everyone “son.” Well Telfair, hopefully for yourself and for Adidas, that you become a better team player than your cousin Stephon Marbury, and that you can learn from his mistakes.
Read More | NBA.com
Bill Syken makes a compelling argument for the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts to make a push to trade up to the #1 overall draft pick for the NFL draft. Syken especially hopes the Colts are the team that pulls the trigger for a “Ditka deal”. By Ditka deal, he is referring to Mike Ditka then of the New Orleans Saints trading every one of their draft picks to jump up two spots to acquire Ricky Williams a couple years ago. Syken feels trading up to acquire Reggie Bush would rejuvenate the franchise, whose championship window may have closed, while at the same time could help the Texans fill multiple needs rather than going for a superstar player they do not necessarily need.
Read More | Bill Syken
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