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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.
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The NBA Playoff Participants Are Set: Eastern Conference Quick Look
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, NBA, Playoffs,
EASTERN CONFERENCE
- Detroit Pistons - Former NBA champs are consistent performers thanks to the starting five who definitely play like they five separate fingers on the same hand. Not only playing defense, but have upped their offense thanks to head coach Flip Saunders new offensive scheme.
- Miami Heat - Dwyane Wade is a monster player that is as smooth as silk taking it to the rack. The role players that they brought in (Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, and James Posey) need to step up and play their roles to the max for the Heat to go all the way. And, of course, Shaquille O’Neal needs to stay healthy.
- New Jersey Nets - They have a great trio in Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Vince Carter. The first two have playoff pedigrees, but VC does not. The X-Factor will be the emerging Nenad Krstic.
- Cleveland Cavaliers - Let’s be honest, LeBron James carries this team. And in my opinion IS the MVP. If he’s gone, the Cavs will be too. However, LBJ is still there and he should make some noise in the playoffs before his inexperienced team falters against one of the above teams.
- Washington Wizards - Gilbert Arenas can score from anywhere and upped his profile this season. Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are excellent sidekicks that can turn it up and be the main man at any point during the game.
- Indiana Pacers - Thanks to Jermaine O’Neal being a warrior and Stephen Jackson for the most part keeping the team floating amongst the Ron Artest debacle, O’Neal injury woes (as well as Jamaal Tinsley), and general sense of gloom the Pacers make it in. But how long will they stick around?
- Milwaukee Bucks - The underrated Michael Redd, along with the comeback play of T.J. Ford, consistency of rookie Andrew Bogut, and offseason acquisition of Brian Simmons, will lead the Bucks to a 1st round playoff exit. They can steal one game, but that will be it against any of the East’s top teams.
- Chicago Bulls - This is a young team that can make this season’s playoff appearance a yearly thing for the next few years as Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Tyson Chandler have some excellent talent and will only get better taking their lumps in the playoffs.
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.”
With the Rangers losing three straight games, they could end the season by losing out on being division champs with Philadelphia and New Jersey just 3 points behind and two games left to play. The Rangers will face off against the Philadelphia Flyers today at 2 p.m. on NBC. With a win, they can clinch the division and head to the playoffs back with some confidence. Hopefully this game will deliver and help the casual NHL fan to tune in. This would be the first division title in twelve years, the first since the magical ‘94 season when the Rangers broke their Stanley Cup curse.
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.
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| NBA.com
I’m sorry, but the NBA is just not doing it for me anymore. What are the headlines these days? People enraged that the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs will meet in the second round despite having the best records in the NBA. Western Conference teams gunning for the sixth seed instead of the fifth seed to face the Denver Nuggets to avoid the Dallas Mavericks. If it weren’t for Kobe Bryant, the dismal Knicks or the sad Portland Trail Blazer soap opera there would be nothing of interest to grab our attentions. I’m still amazed Isiah Thomas had visions of second half suit-wearing Darius Miles on his wish list. Thanks to the Artest melee, fans lost the only budding NBA rivalry. I like many fans are hoping this is the year Dallas or Phoenix has what it takes to challenge and spark a new championship level rivalry.
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
A Couple Of Noteworthy Pitching Performances
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Editorial, MLB,
Newly acquired starting pitcher Chris Young pitched well for the San Diego Padres in a win over the rebuilding Florida Marlins on Wednesday afternoon. Young went six innings, allowing only a double to Hanley Ramirez in the third inning, striking out six hitters and walking three. Young is a great candidate to step up his game this season after toiling in the hitter’s haven known as Ameriquest Field for his first two seasons, where surprisingly he didn’t do that badly in. Now that he’s pitching in the very spacious Petco Park and doesn’t have to face a designated hitter, Young and his flyball tendencies should do very well, especially considering his ability to make batters miss.
Baltimore Orioles pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, was supposed to bring his pitching magic that he worked so well in Atlanta for over a decade and help the young Orioles staff. The primary pitcher many thought he could help tremendously is the very talented and raw Daniel Cabrera. If you bring the meat, he’ll have the sauce as Cabrera is highly effective in whiffing batters. Case in point of his potential was today’s game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Cabrera went five frames and struck out an amazing 10 hitters, giving up only three hits and one run. However, Cabrera also surrendered a whopping nine walks as well. NINE! Photo (at right) symbolizes Cabrera’s K/BB performance. Thus far, he is leading the Majors in walks allowed as Mazzone is leading in aspirins taken.
YAO-OW! Yao Ming Breaks His Foot
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Injuries, NBA,
Houston Rockets center, Yao Ming, broke his left foot on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, effectively ending his season. This is a tough break (no pun intended) for the third year pro who was averaging 22.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks while shooting over 50% from the floor. The All-Star center had suffered a toe infection that sidelined him for 21 games earlier in the season. Before this latest injury, Ming was showing a tenacity many critics said he was devoid of. It was a big step in the development of a seemingly “soft” Ming, especially stepping up his game when teammate and perennial All-Star, Tracy McGrady went down to injury himself, a back injury in March that also ended his season.
Ming will have surgery this weekend, which will take about four to six months to heal. His participation in the basketball world championship hosted in Japan to begin on August 19 is in doubt.
Well this is somewhat of a dubious award, sort of like having the all-time HR record for a minor league baseball player like Crash Davis, Kevin Costner’s character in Bull Durham. Getting called up to the big show and getting send back down back and forth is not the career former lottery pick Marcus Fizer had in mind, when he was the #4 overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. Did Fizer ended up being a bust? Sure. Did the Bulls blow the pick by selecting Fizer at #4, well they did over-looked Mike Miller at #5 but well not exactly. This must be one of the worst drafts in NBA history. Out of the entire draft class, there have been a total of three all-star appearances by every one of these players from the 2000 class. Number one pick Kenyon Martin, pick #19 Jamaal Magloire was a default Center selection for the Eastern Conference one year, and Michael Redd, who amazingly slid to the second round had one appearance each. Never-the-less it’s not cool to be the basketball equivalent of a “4A player” (AA, AAA, Majors).
Read More | NBA.com
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