Blackhawks Take 2-0 Lead On Flyers

The Chicago Blackhawks have taken a commanding 2 games to 0 lead over the underdog Philadelphia Flyers.

In Game 1 Chicago overtook Philadelphia in a barnburner on the ice 6-5. Monday night's Game 2 was far different has Chicago's goalie, Antti Niemi stopped 32 of 33 Flyer shots for a 2-1 Chicago win. Scoring for Chicago were Marian Hossa and Ben Eager, both in the 2nd period.

Hossa has played for 3 diferent teams in the past 3 Stanley Cups, which is unheard of for a star of caliber. In '08 Hossa was a part of the young, upstart Pittsburgh Penguins who were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games. The next season Hossa decided to sign a 1 year contract with the very same Red Wings who dispatched of him in the Finals. Hossa and the Red Wings got back to the Stanley Cup Finals against (hmmm...irony?) the Pittsburgh Penguins. This time the Penguins beat the Red Wings in 7 games, preventing Hossa from hoisting the Stanley Cup. That karma sure is a...well you know what it is. This past offseason, the 30 year old Hossa signed a ludicrous 12 year, $62.8 million deal with Chicago. Perhaps the third time is the charm.

Impressive 2nd half sends USA to S Africa as winners

It really was a tale of two halves. Still trying to address offensive issues in lacking Charlie Davies, Bob Bradley chose to go with an unconventional 4-4-1-1 formation in which the Americans just could not seem to find any offensive rhythm. You could chalk it up to lack of communication and familiarity between Dempsey and Altidore, or just poor defending mainly on Jonathan Spector and Benny Feilhaber's part, but when the half-time whistle blew USA was lucky to only be down 0-1 to Turkey.

During halftime Bob Bradley made some key substitutions that provided more than just a spark. Gooch came in for Clarence Goodson, Steve Cherundolo came in for the often out-of-position Jonathan Spector, Jose Torres came on for Ricardo Clark, and Robbie Findley for the struggling Benny Feilhaber. The impact was instant. With Dempsey sliding back into a more natural mid-field role, Jose Torres just being an animal in the middle of the field and Findley playing the same role that Charlie Davies would be playing, the offense came alive. The first goal came when Findley found Donovan on the wing in open space who was able to find Jozy just in the keepers box who then buried the ball in the back of the net finally ending his scoring drought. The second and final goal came in the 75th minute where Donovan found Dempsey who, with a beautiful piece of footwork shaking off a defender, just put the ball out of the keepers reach to put the US ahead for good. Although the Turks would launch several dangerous counters on our aggressive defense, they were consistently snuffed out by Gooch, DeMerit and Cherundolo.

This was exactly the win that we needed to send off our boys to the World Cup with confidence having just beaten a very good Turkey side. The final friendly will be next week when we face the Socceroos in South Africa - exactly one week before we kick off our World Cup against Angland.

Observations:

• I'm not ready to say that Robbie Findley is the answer to Charlie Davies, but I think it is at least apparent that this team will find the most success in the 4-4-2 where the benefit is a flexible attack. With two true forwards and Donovan and Dempsey playing to their real strengths as a mid and wing, the offense is able to find legitimate scoring opportunities. Simply put, we have the personnel.
• Jose Torres was the difference maker in the mid field. His defending was clutch, his long ball was accurate, and his left foot is a dangerous weapon for free kicks. This man needs to be on the field next to Michael Bradley.
  
• Benny Feilhaber should not be in the starting 11. He should be a sub.
• Jonathan Spector should not be in the starting 11. He should be a sub.
• Jozy Altidore is more than just a striker. His passing and ball-handling skills have been greatly improved.
  
• Oguchi Onyewu will be fine. He played the entire 2nd half, and didn't look tentative or scared. He and DeMerit were bullies on the backline.
• As stated before I'm not sure if Findley is our man to play Altidore's counterpart, but after watching Findley, Gomez, and Buddle's performances in the last two friendlies, one has to feel much better about our situation.

Celtics Cruise Past Magic

Unlike the series coming into Game 6, Game 6 was never actually in question. Boston was up 11 after the first quarter and never looked back. Paul Pierce was dominant with 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. It's amazing what Pierce can do when he doesn't have to check LeBron, huh?

The common thinking was that the winner of this game would end up as the Eastern Conference representative in the Finals. Obviously because Boston would finish out the series, but also because if Orlando won it would have been 3 straight wins for defending Conference Champions heading into a deciding Game 7 in Orlando.

There were a few question marks on Boston's bench coming into tonight's game. Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Marquis Daniels both suffered concussions during Game 5 and Rasheed Wallace was suffering from severe back pains that accompany his AARP status. While Daniels did not play, Wallace played 12 ineffective minutes with no points and Davis played 17 minutes while scoring 6 points and grabbing 7 boards.

The big story, however, off the bench was little bitty Nate Robinson who, on the day of Gary Coleman's death, showed up for little people everywhere and provided the spark the Celtics needed. The 5'9" Robinson scored 13 points in only 13 minutes and kept the crowd energized while Rajon Rondo was on the bench after taking a hard fall.

This marks the end to a disappointing series for the Magic. Both the Cavaliers and Magic spent their entire offseasons building a roster built for beating each other. They just forgot one minor thing: Boston is now healthy. Of course, no one thought Rondo would turn into the player he has, and Boston doesn't get past Cleveland.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers brought up a very good point during the post game celebration when he told the crowd that this starting five (Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins) had never lost a postseason series. Last postseason's struggles can be attributed to Garnett's injury and absence. They have one more series to win.

Today Redemption Is Spelled: R-O-N

OK, maybe not, but Wes Mantooth wasn't THAT far off according to last night's thrilling Game 5 in Los Angeles. After taking an ill advised 3 pointer just 2 seconds into the shot clock with under a minute left while trying to protect a slim lead, Ron Artest snagged a Kobe Bryant airball under the basket and put it in as time exprired to give the Lakers a 103-101 victory.

The Suns erased an 18 point second half deficit as they tied it at 101 after Jason Richardson banked in a 3 pointer from the top of the key after a wild sequence. Pau Gasol missed a dunk with about 19 seconds left and Richardson grabbed the rebound. Steve Nash raced down court and missed a 3 point attempt, but was able to corral the long rebound. He found an open Richardson who missed as well. Somehow Channing Frye came down with the ensuing board and Richardson found himself open once again, and this time hit the tying shot with 3.5 seconds left on the clock.

Their jubilation would only last through the Lakers' timeout though.

Bryant played superbly, as he has the entire series, and led all scorers with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. Nash led the Suns with his best game of the series and had 29 points and 11 assists.

Things are starting to get a bit chippy between the teams as Slovenian reserves Goran Dragic and Sasha Vujacic picked up double technicals midway through the fourth. This is playoff basketball!

The game winning basket could possibly be a HUGE lift for the often emotional Artest. Artest was brought in this past offseason to replace Trevor Ariza in what many saw as a considerable upgrade despite the breakout playoffs Ariza had in '09. It was a high risk, high reward move by the LA front office considering the Lakers were coming off of a Championship with the cheaper Ariza, and Artest is known for his well...antics. Such instances include his late boarding of the team bus in his underwear, his appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show in his underwear, and of course this.

If Artest can start playing to his actual talent level offensively and defensively, then the Lakers are without a doubt THE team to beat. As if they weren't already...

MLB Quarterly Report - NL East

1. Philadelphia Phillies (26-19)

- Biggest Surprise

Anyone who follows baseball knows how potent the Philadelphia Phillies' lineup is. With names like Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley, Philly sure can put some crooked numbers on the board. A name that often gets lost in the shuffle, however, is Jayson Werth. Werth blew away his previous career highs last season when he hit 36 HRs and 99 RBI. Now coming into a contract year most were wondering if Werth could replicate his stats from a year ago. So far his chances look good as Werth is hitting .319 with 9 HRs and 33 RBI.

- Biggest Disappointment

Since his first full season in 2001, Jimmy Rollins has only played in less than 154 games once, including 2007 when Rollins played in all 162. This season is a bit different. Rollins has already missed 33 games which means if he played in every game from this point forward, Rollins would still set a new career low in games played by 8 games.

2. Atlanta Braves (24-22)

- Biggest Surprise

Unless you've been living in a cave this spring, or Montreal because those people obviously don't care about baseball, you've heard of Jason Heyward. Heyward, in his rookie season, is reviving the Braves' organization and giving Bobby Cox a reason to rethink retiring in the fall. It's been a storybook season for the 20 year old Atlanta native beginning with his superb Spring Training where he won a starting spot to a 3 run HR in his first ever at-bat at home on Opening Day to hitting .290 while leading the team with 9 HRs and 35 RBI.

- Biggest Disappointment

Jair Jurrjens has missed almost the entire month of May while being on the DL with a strained left hamstring. Unlike Jimmy Rollins though, Jurrjens wasn't living up to expectations even before his current DL stint. Jurrjens had a terrific '09 that saw him finish 14-10 with a sparkling 2.60 ERA. 2010 has seen Jurrjens start 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA. Also disappointing Braves' fans has been Melky Cabrera, Chipper Jones, and Nate McLouth with their .228, .219, and .190 batting averages.

3. Florida Marlins (24-23)

- Biggest Surprise

Gaby Sanchez has already set career highs in almost every offensive category this season for the Florida Marlins. It wasn't too difficult considering Sanchez only had 29 career at-bats coming into this season. Sanchez is hitting .276 with 4 HRs and 21 RBI. The Marlins are hoping the 27 year old, rookie Sanchez can provide some long term stability at a position that has been a revolving door the better part of a decade.

- Biggest Disappointment

Chris Coghlan hit .321 in '09 while on his way to claiming the NL Rookie of the Year Award. In order to match that output this season Coghlan is going to have to get hot in a hurry. In April Coghlan hit .195, but "improved" in May to hit .229. If the Marlins are going to compete in a competitive NL East, they're going to need Coghlan to turn it around rather quickly.

4. New York Mets (24-23)

- Biggest Surprise

After missing half of last season due to injuries, Carlos Beltran looks like he won't be 100% healthy until after the All-Star break. Ordinarily losing a player with the talent level of Beltran is a huge loss for your ball club, but when you have Angel Pagan playing as well as he has been, both offensively and defensively, it's easy to not sweat it. In the past week, Pagan has hit two inside the park home runs and added an assist on a triple play to boot. Throughout the entire season, Pagan is hitting .291 providing perhaps the most consistent bat in the Mets line-up. Extra kudos to Mike Pelfrey as well. Pelfrey is 6-1 and maintaining a sub 3 ERA.

- Biggest Disappointment

In '09 Jose Reyes had an alibi for his poor numbers in the fact that he was injured for most of the season and only played in 36 games. This season Reyes has already topped that number, with 43 games played, but his other numbers are quite sad. Reyes is hitting an abysmal .238 and his .279 on-base percentage is only six points higher than his career low .273 batting average. Reyes' .604 OPS is also among the league lows.

5. Washington Nationals (24-24)

- Biggest Surprise

Take your pick. Christian Guzman was moved to 2B in Spring Training to make room for rookie SS Ian Desmond. Message received. Guzman is hitting a team leading .327. Then there's the elderly Pudge Rodriguez who is hitting .325. Or even Josh Willingham who just needed a change of scenery from dull, dreary South Beach, and he's responded by hitting 9 HRs and 31 RBI. Or closer Matt Capps who is 16 of 17 in save oppotunities. My personal choice is Livan Hernandez. The veteran right hander, who has mostly been used as an innings eater in recent years, is 4-3 with an astounding 2.08 ERA. His previous career low ERA was 3.18 in his rookie season waaaaay back in '97 with Florida.

- Biggest Disappointment

I don't think it gets more disappointing than Jason Marquis this season. Marquis was only able to make 3 starts before heading to the DL with inflammation in his pitching elbow caused by floating bone chips which will keep him out for about another 2 months. However, in those 3 starts Marquis went 0-3 with a preposterous 20.52 ERA. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for Nationals fans came late in Spring Training when manager Jim Riggleman announced Stephen Strasburg would not be on the opening day roster. Trust me though Nats fans, good things come to those who wait. And you only have until June 8th to wait.

USMNT loses meaningless game 2-4 to Czech Republic; 23-man roster announced

Okay I agree, the game wasn't completely meaningless. As Lexi Lalas reiterated about a thousand times during last night's warm up friendly against Czech Republic, the only purpose for this game was to give Bob Bradley one last look before trimming the roster down to 23 men. For some players, this would be their chance to prove to Bob that they belong on the roster (Gomez, Buddle). For others, it just confirmed that they have no business wearing a USA jersey (Pearce). For some it was to see if they were fit enough to belong on the roster (Gooch, Ching, Holden). As it would turn out, this match served only to reaffirm what most of us already knew going into it (for the most part).

The Bad:

• Defense. I don't know if Bob Bradley just doesn't know how to coach them up, because the last two years we have had just absolutely ridiculous lapses in defense where the opposition is given goals. It is hard to expect last night's backline to fend off a potent Czech offense, but the performance was beyond bad.
• Jonathan Bornstein and Heath Pearce - See above.
• Did anyone see Eddie Johnson last night? No? Me neither.
• Not feeling great about Gooch's health. He looked tentative. I am not at all confident. Him not being in great condition for South Africa would be a huge blow.

The Good:

• Both "Flash-In-The-Pans" - Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez both received invitations to the USMNT training camp in New Jersey for being awesome for their respective clubs. They made the most of it last night by scoring on a header (Gomez) and being outright disruptive to the Czech's defense (Buddle).
• Stuart Holden - Another guy who was nicked up, to see him play a solid 75 minutes before getting gassed is great news. He is definitely a guy we will need.

As I said before, last nights game would only reaffirm what we already knew... for the most part. This was confirmed when Bob Bradley released the official 23-man roster to the public this afternoon:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann, Tim Howard
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Jose Torres
Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez

We knew the last left back spot was going to come down to Bornstein or Pearce. Bornstein wins the position basically because he doesn't suck as much as Pearce.

For the final center back sub both Chad Marshall and Clarence Goodson were pretty bad on defense, but Goodson wasn't as bad as Marshall. And he played a major role in both US goals.

The center mid sub spot goes to Jose Torres, who clearly deserves it over Klejstan. I was a little surprised neither Bedoya nor Rogers made the cut. I figured we would need one of the two as a wing sub, but I'm guessing Beasley and Donovan's fitness as wingers were enough to convince Bradley to take the risk of adding a luxury forward...

And this is where Bob Bradley surprised me. I figured we would be taking either Buddle or Gomez as our 'flash in the pan' hot striker. Apparently we are taking both. I don't just like this move, I love this move. They both earned it.

The biggest surprise of all is leaving off Ching (whaaat???), and going with Robbie Findley (who? and whaaaaaat?). While my dislike for Brian Ching is known by all who know me, I'm shocked Bradley didn't pick him. He always picks Ching. Instead he chose Robbie freaking Findley who I know absolutely nothing about. I guess the reports of him impressing the players and coaches at the training camp are true.

So there it is. A few surprises, but overall it is the roster we knew we would have all along. This squad will get their first test as a unit this Saturday afternoon when they face Turkey in the second-to-last World Cup warm up friendly. It will be a much better performance than what we saw last night.

It's the End of an Era

Jared Allen will trim his mullet for his upcoming wedding. Let's all have a moment of silence.

MLB Quarterly Report - AL West

1. Texas Rangers (25-20)

- Biggest Surprise

In 2009 Vladimir Guerrero set career lows for a full season in the following categories: batting average (.295), HRs (15), RBI (50), hits (113), doubles (16), runs (59), walks (19), and on-base percentage (.334). Guerrero also did it at the worst possible time as he entered free agency. Even after that disastrous season the Texas Rangers still offered Guerrero a one year at $5.5 million plus incentives. I think Guerrero will be cashing in on those inncentives. To date Guerrero is hitting .339 while hitting 10 HRs and 37 RBI. Editor's Note: As I'm typing this the bottom line just scrolled across, "Guerrero 2-3 2HR 4RBI".

- Biggest Disappointment

Matt Treanor is the type of player who will always have a spot on a Major League roster. He's a prototypical back-up catcher. He's a veteran who is good with pitchers, but can't hit worth a crap. So if it's not his fault that he's only hitting .205 as the starting catcher in Arlington, whose is it? Jared Saltalamacchia's, that's who. Salty began the season as the Rangers starting back stop, but a back injury quickly landed him on the DL. Well Salty has been healthy and playing in the Minors for weeks and hitting well over .300, so what's the friggin' issue? This. Pathetic. Or better yet, disappointing.

2. Oakland A's (23-22)

- Biggest Surprise

Honestly I'm having a tough time finding a real surprise here. And it's weird because they're overachieving. They only have one regular hitting over .300 (Ryan Sweeney, .307), and only one other hitting over .275 (Daric Barton, .278). They're next to last in the Majors with only 25 HRs. Offensively, they're simply blah. They have won, however, with good pitching. But here's the crazy thing, no one on the mound has stood out over the entire season. While Dallas Braden has been making headlines with his perfect game and feud with A-Rod, his overall stats aren't exactly jaw dropping (4-4, 3.23 ERA).

- Biggest Disappointment

Eric Chavez began his extremely promising MLB career 12 years ago as a spry 20 year old with Oakland. Throughout his mid-20's, Chavez was stellar at the dish, hitting over .270 and more than 25 HRs every year from 2000-'05. Now that career may be coming to an end awfully too soon. Chavez has been experiencing several serious injuries over the past calendar year. He missed almost the entire '09 season due to back, shoulder, and another back injury. During Spring Training of 2010 Chavez was shelved to due a neck injury when he stated that he suffered another serious injury he would hang up his cleats. Well, that time may be now. If we never get to see Eric Chavez lace them up again, then I just want to say it was a pleasure.

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (21-26)

- Biggest Surprise

After an injury plagued 2009 Ervin Santana was hoping for a completely healthy 2010, which fit right into the Anaheim Angels plans to replace the free agent departure of John Lackey. So far, so good. Santana has begun the season 3-3 with a 3.75 ERA to provide a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation along with Jared Weaver.

- Biggest Disappointment

It seemed like the logical move at the time. Former DH Vladimir Guerrero showed signs of aging and current DH Hideki Matsui was coming off of a World Series MVP. Both were free agents, and both received deals within $1 million of the other. We've already discussed Guerrero's bounce back season, now it's time for Matsui's disappointing 2010 start. Matsui may have 5 HRs and 22 RBI, but he is only hitting .229 and has struckout (32) twice as many times as he's walked (16).

4. Seattle Mariners (16-28)

- Biggest Surprise

Who the hell is Doug "Sister" Fister? Fister is 26 and pitched at Fresno State University. Fister only had 10 career starts coming into the season, and they all took place last season after his August debut. Currently "Sister" Fister has a ridiculous 1.96 ERA, but a 3-2 record due to the Mariners anemic offense (see below).

- Biggest Disappointment

Milton Bradley. Enough said. OK. OK. OK. There's a lot more to add. Chone Figgins hitting

.195. Jose Lopez hitting .211. Casey Kotchman hitting .196. Ken Griffey, Jr. hitting .186.

Basically anytime anyone not named Ichiro picks up a bat for the Mariners it's a

disappointment.

Stanley Cup Finals Are All Set

The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers both looked impressive in their respective Conference Finals and will face-off, literally, Saturday at 7 p.m. on NBC in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Chicago made quick work of the San Jose Sharks as they swept the Sharks to gain their first Finals appearance since 1992 when they were swept by Super Mario and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Philadelphia, however, is making their first Cup appearance since 1997 when they too were swept, but it was by the Detroit Red Wings.

The drought for each team actually winning the Cup is considerably longer. Philadelphia last won the Stanley Cup in 1975, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in 6 games. Chicago is on an even longer Stanley Cup drought. The last Cup they won was in 1961 when they bested the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.

New Orleans to Make Offer to Head Coaching Candidate

The New Orleans Hornets are continuing their busy offseason by planning to offer their vacant head coaching position to long time NBA Assistant Tom Thibodeau (Who, by the way, is NOT from Louisiana as his name might suggest. Try Connecticut. I know. What the freak is that about?) Thibodeau has a history as a defensive specialist and is currently an assistant on Doc Rivers' staff with the Boston Celtics where he has been since 2007.

Thibodeau became head coach of his alma mater Salem State College after 3 seasons as an assistant. Thibodeau then bolted for smarter pastures the very next season when he was hired as an assistant on the Harvard staff. Four years later, Bill Musselman hired Thibodeau on as an assistant for the NBA expansion Minnesota Timberwolves.

After a brief stint in Minnesota, followed by ones in Seattle, San Antonio, and Philadelphia, Thibodeau was hired as an assistant by Jeff Van Gundy before the '96-'97 season who was coaching the New York Knicks. It was there that Thibodeau's defensive prowess began to take form.

Thibodeau helped the Knicks reach the NBA Finals in 2000 while holding 33 straight opponents under 100 points which was an NBA record at the time. After seven seasons with the Knicks, Thibodeau followed Van Gundy to the Houston Rockets where he coached for 4 seasons before being hired to his current position in Boston where the Celtics won the '08 NBA Championship and are one game away from another Finals appearance.

MLB Quarterly Report - AL Central

1. Minnesota Twins (26-18)

- Biggest Surprise

Less than a month before Opening Day, Joe Nathan was exeriencing some discomfort in his pitching elbow. The X-rays confirmed the Twins' worst fear; Nathan was going to need Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2010 campaign. The Twins were left with very few legitimate options and settled on Jon Rauch. Rauch had been picked up in a trade at the deadline from Arizona in '09. He finished last season in Minnesota racking up 17 appearances with a 5-1 record and a 1.72 ERA as a setup man. He had only saved 26 career games over the first 7 years of his Major League career, but has filled in quite nicely converting 10 out of 12 oppotunities while maintaining a low 2.65 ERA.

- Biggest Disappointment

Jason Kubel's emergence last season helped Minnesota steal the AL Central crown and make into the playoffs. This season is a completely different story. In '09 Kubel set career highs in almost every offensive category imaginable. This season he's rewriting the history books in a totally opposite manner. Kubel is struggling with his batting stroke while dropping his average to .214 and only has 3 HRs to accompany his 22 RBI.

2. Detroit Tigers (25-19)

- Biggest Surprise

Barely a month after capturing their 27th World Series, the New York Yankees traded for Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers in a 3 team deal that also involved the Arizona Diamondbacks. Amongst other players, the Tigers received 23 year old prospect Austin Jackson from the Yankees. While we talked yesterday about how Granderson has been hurt most of the season, Jackson has done something else for most of the season, lead the AL in hits. Jackson is currently hitting at a .337 mark and was the AL Rookie of the Month in April.

- Biggest Disappointment

Last season Rick Porcello had quite the impressive rookie season. Porcello went 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA for the Tigers, and in 2010 he was looking to improve upon those numbers. While it's not impossible, he isn't making things easy for himself. Porcello is 4-4 with a 5.58 ERA after the first quarter of 2010. And he's not the only young Tiger starter not living up to expectations. Also brought over in the 3 team swap involving Granderson and Jackson was Arizona pitcher Max Scherzer. Scherzer is off to a horrible start at 1-4 with a 7.29 ERA.

3. Chicago White Sox (19-25)

- Biggest Surprise

23 year old John Danks is quickly becoming the ace of the White Sox staff that includes Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy. Don't believe me? Let's compare last year's stats. Danks went 13-11 with a starting rotation low 3.77 ERA. Buehrle went 13-10 with a 3.84 ERA. Peavy was 3-0 in 3 starts with a 1.35 ERA. So far this season Danks is 4-3 with a 2.37 ERA while Buehrle is 3-5 with a 4.55 ERA and Peavy is 3-3 with a 5.74 ERA. The numbers speak for themselves.

- Biggest Disappointment

Basically the entire offense falls here. The White Sox rank last in the AL in hits and doubles. They also rank next to last in batting average, on-base percentage, and triples. There are two exceptions to the disastrous lineup. Alex Rios is having a year of resurgence. After signing a long term deal in Toronto, and bombing, only to be put on waivers and snatched up by the South Siders, Rios is finally producing the kid of year Toronto was hoping for. Rios is hitting .309 with 9 HRs and 14 SBs. Paul Konerko is also tied for the MLB lead in HRs with 14.

4. Kansas City Royals (18-27)

- Biggest Surprise

Billy Butler was given the keys to the Kansas City offense last season as he was placed in the 3 hole and given the 1B job. Butler responded by hitting .301 with 21 HRs and 93 RBI. In 201o Butler is looking to surpass those stats. Through today Butler is hitting a magnificent .341. His power numbers may be down a bit at 4 HRs and 23 RBI, but as long as he keeps hitting like he is, those will come along as well. But they may not need to as Jose Guillen has 11 HRs and 31 RBI already in the young season.

- Biggest Disappointment

The Royals brought in Rick Ankiel to play CF for them in the offseason. It hasn't exactly worked out too well. Ankiel has already spent some time on the DL and is only hitting .210. Because of his struggles, Ankiel has lost his starting spot in CF to journeyman Scott Podsednik. Also, last year's Cy Young winner, Zack Greinke, is only 1-5 after starting last year with 24 scoreless innings. However, Greinke has an ERA of 3.57 so it is hard to place the blame for his poor record on him

5. Cleveland Indians (16-26)

- Biggest Surprise

Fausto Carmona's entire career has been a rocky roller coaster. In '06, his first season in the big leagues, Carmona went 1-10 with a 5.42 while appearing mostly from the bullpen with an occasional spot start. The very next season Carmona finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting to teammate CC Sabathia when he finished the year with a 19-8 record and 3.06 ERA. Then in '08 his ERA shot back up to 5.44 and his win-loss record fell to 8-7. '09 was much of the same as Carmona went 5-12 with a 6.32 ERA. This year? Well Carmona is back to pitching well for the Indians. Carmona is 4-2 with a 3.45 ERA.

- Biggest Disappointment

Oh Grady Sizemore. Where have you gone? Before last season many people thought Sizemore was on the verge of superstardom. Things didn't exactly go as planned. In '09 Sizemore was hampered by lingering injuries which limited him to hitting .248 with a significant decrease in his power numbers. With a month left in the season and Cleveland mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, Sizemore elected to have surgery on a nagging left elbow, as well as a hernia injury. The Indians hoped Sizemore would be fully healthy and ready to tear up 2010. He's been healthy and playing, but he's not producing. Currently Sizemore is hitting .211 with 0 HRs and 13 RBI. Yikes.

So Remember How Mike Brown's Job Was Safe?

Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhh. Not so much.

Venus Williams Is Gross

She felt like she needed to make a disgusting fashion statement at the French Open. *shivers* Ugh. Yuck.

MLB Quarterly Report - AL East

The MLB season is about a quarter of the way through. Over the next 6 days I'll break down each team by divisions with updated standings and give a surprise and disappointment. Today we'll start things off with the AL East.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (31-12)

- Biggest Surprise

Tampa has been nothing short of dominant this season, so it's difficult to pick only one player for this category. So we won't. The Rays lead the Majors with a 2.80 team ERA. That number is astounding, and they're doing it in the AL. Wade Davis has the worst ERA out of all five starters at 3.35. Slacker. That's almost double David Price's ERA of 1.81 to lead the starting five. I can't forget Rafael Soraino in the bullpen either. Soriano was brought in from Atlanta to close out ball games, and he has done a marvelous job of just that. He's got 12 saves to go with his miniscule 1.42 ERA and 16/5 K/BB ratio.

-Biggest Disappointment

As hard as it is to pick only one surprise for the Rays, it's that hard to find a single disappointment. I mean, when you're 19 games over .500 in May and have a 4.5 game lead on the rest of the Majors, not much isn't going your way. However, I think it's safe to say BJ Upton has been a bit of a disappointment so far. When his younger brother Justin got a big contract from Arizona this past offseason and BJ lost his salary arbitration hearing, lowering his salary to $3 million, many, including Tampa, were hoping it would help propel BJ to another level. It hasn't. Upton is only hitting .220 this season and has struckout 42 times in 42 games.

2. New York Yankees (26-17)

- Biggest Surprise

Last season Brett Gardner hit .270 with 3 HRs, 23 RBI, and 26 SBs in 108 games. This season in a little over 1/3 the amount of games Gardner is hitting .304 with 2 HRs, 12 RBI, and 17 SBs. Gardner, who is only 26, has quickly become a fixture in the Yankee outfield. That's good news for Gardner since in Spring Training Joe Girardi was looking to platoon he, Randy Winn, and Marcus Thames in left field. Francisco Cervelli is another to watch here. Cervelli was giving long time catcher Jorge Posada a day off here and there earlier in the season, but since Posada went on the DL Cervelli has been given the temporary starting job. While lacking any sort of power what-so-ever, Cervelli does have an awesome name and is hitting .346 in about half the at-bats as the rest of the starters.

- Biggest Disappointment

While the Yankees did not have the type of offseason as they did last year when they signed Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and AJ Burnett, they did attempt to improve their World Series winning ball club by bringing in Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez. Granderson was only hitting .225 with 2 HRs and 7 RBIs in 23 games before limping his way onto the Disabled List with a strained groin. Vazquez has been even worse while staying healthy. Vazquez is 3-4, but has a bloated 6.69 ERA

3. Toronto Blue Jays (25-20)

- Biggest Surprise

The main reason Toronto traded Roy Halladay was due to his soon to be expiring contract. Of course, knowing they had Ricky Romero didn't hurt either. And apparently neither did having Shaun Marcum. Romero was considered the heir apparent to the soon to be traded Halladay last season so it comes as no surprise to see him succeeding. Although not many had projected him with a sub 3 ERA. However, Shaun Marcum was an afterthought since he missed most of the '08 and all of the '09 season after Tommy John surgery. Marcum is 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA and sub 1 WHIP. He's also struckout 45 while only walking 14.

- Biggest Disappointment

Last season Adam Lind was an All-Star, and for good reason. In '09 Lind hit .305 with 35 HRs and 114 RBI. In 2010 Lind's power numbers are still there, 7 HRs and 23 RBI in 44 games, but he is only hitting .225 and pissing off fantasy owners everywhere. And he's not the only Blue Jay. Former LSU Tiger Aaron Hill had a monster '09 season hitting .286 with 36 HRs and 106 RBI garnering himself an All-Star birth with Lind, and many people thought he had put himself into the upper echelon of AL 2B. Um. About that. This season in only 30 games due to a DL stint, Hill is hitting a measly .167 with 5 HRs and 13 RBI. Back to reality.

4. Boston Red Sox (23-21)

- Biggest Surprise

Looking at this team up and down it's hard to find a real surprise. However, if I had to choose one it's Adrian Beltre. Beltre was brought in as a free agent from the Seattle Mariners for one year at $9 million with a player option next year at $5 million. If he keeps hitting .321 and playing stellar defense it's safe to assume that he won't be taking that option as he could garner more money than that as a free agent again.

- Biggest Disappointment

Where do I start? Josh Beckett and John Lackey had $150.5 million combined promised to them in the offseason, and they've responded with a 7.29 and 5.07 ERA each. Now Beckett finds himself on the DL with a lower back strain. Daisuke Matsuzaka was hoping for a healthy season after an injury riddled '09, but he began the season on the DL with neck and back issues. In his first four starts his ERA was at 7.89, but last night Matsuzaka lost a no-hitter in the 8th and finished the game going 8 innings and only one hit which lowered his ERA over 2 runs to 5.76. Here's to hoping he's back on track. Then there's Big Papi. Although he's caught a little fire lately, his batting average is still hovering around .250. Also, Jacoby Ellsbury was on the DL for a month and a half and just returned yesterday.

5. Baltimore Orioles (14-30)

- Biggest Surprise

Ugh. Do I really have to pick one? Can't I just pick two disappointments? On second thought, there is Ty Wigginton. Wigginton has been a journeyman during his first 8 years in the Majors, but maybe, just maybe, he's found himself a home. Too bad for him it's in Baltimore. Wigginton is hitting .294 with 13 HRs and 31 RBI. His 13 HRs finds himself ranked 2nd in the Majors.

- Biggest Disappointment

Before I pick a specific disappointment, let's get this straight; Baltimore's entire season has been one huge disappointment. Got it? Alright, moving on. I think it's best to consider the face of the Baltimore franchise who has only appeared in 4 games with 14 official at-bats as the "biggest disappointment" of the first quarter season. Enter Brian Roberts. The 2B has been a fixture in the Baltimore line-up for the past 7 seasons. In those seasons he has yet to hit less than .270, steal less than 23 bases, and only played in less than 138 games once. And all of those lows came in Roberts' first season as the starter when he won the job around this time in May. Abdominal and back strains have put Roberts on the DL since the first week of the season, and just two days ago pneumonia put him in the hospital.

It's Lima Time No More

Former eccentric MLB pitcher Jose Lima has passed away at his home in the Dominican Republic from an apparent massive heart attack at the age of 37. Lima pitched for 6 different teams over his 12 year career, and is known for one year of greatness and one year of utter disaster.

In 1999 with the Houston Astros, Lima won a career high 21 games and was elected to his only All-Star Game appearance. Lima could never recapture the magic of that season again. The next season he lost 16 games and gave up a whopping 48 HRs which was only 2 short of the record of 50 held by Bert Blyleven. However, that was not even his worst year. In 2005, his only season with the Kansas City Royals, Lima finished the season with a 6.99 ERA which is the worst ever by a pitcher in a season with at least 30 starts.

Lima's last appearance in the Majors came in 2006 with the New York Mets when, with his final pitch, gave up a Grand Slam to Marlins' pitcher Dontrelle Willis. Since then Lima had been pitching in various Independent Leagues.

My condolences go out to the Lima family, more specifically his wife. Giggidy. On a more serious note, Lima leaves behind his family and that woman who is suing him because he gave her herpes. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of them.

Wiedersehen to Dallas For Nowitzki?

The richest and most talented free agent class in NBA history is only about to get richer and more talented.

Sources in the Dallas Mavericks' front office believe that their all-time leading scorer, Dirk Nowitzki, will opt out of his current contract in order to become an unrestricted free agent, for the first time in his 9 year career, on July 1. It's not because Dirk isn't happy, as most believe he will resign with his good friend Mark Cuban and the only NBA team he's ever played for, it's because once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached he will most likely not make as much as the 4 year, $96.2 million deal he can currently get from Dallas.

I think it's safe to say Mark Cuban will do everything in his power to keep Dirk in Dallas this offseason.

Spiderman Wins Indy 500 Pole

Helio Castroneves has captured his 4th career pole at the Indianapolis 500. Now he's looking to capture his 4th Indianapolis 500 victory.

Castroneves averaged 227.970 mph over his four qualifying laps. No one else topped 227.9 mph on a full lap. That kind of performance obviously has to make Castroneves the early favorite to take the checkered flag next Sunday.

Among those who will not be considered favorites are IndyCar darling Danica Patrick and perennial contender Tony Kanaan. Patrick finished a disappointing 23rd out of 24 during qualifying and was quick to blame it on "the worst car she had ever driven". That did not sit well with the fans who were just as quick to boo her for passing the blame on her lackluster outing.

Kanaan had an even worse time during qualifying. Kanaan may have been the first ever driver to lead the Indy 500 in each of his first 7 starts, but he's never won the big one. And he won't this year either. Kanaan wrecked early Saturday and never got another chance to qualify leaving him out of the field for the first time.

Nerazzurri: Campione d'Europa

"The Special One" hoists the spoils of victory

Behind two goals from Diego Milito and the leadership and direction of "The Special One", Inter Milan was finally able to step out from a 45 year old shadow of previous UEFA Champions League winners. In their wake you will find a trail of defeated champions from their own respective leagues - Chelsea (EPL), Barcelona (La Liga), and today Bayern Munich (Bundesliga) - proving to all of Europe that the 2009-10 Inter Milan squad truly is in an elite class of historic significance.

Today's win makes Inter the first Italian club to win Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League. Only 5 other clubs can boast the feat of sweeping titles in their domestic league, domestic cup and Champions League/European Cup: Celtic (1967), Ajax (1972), PSV Eindhoven (1988), Manchester United (1999), and Barcelona (2008).

Enjoy this one Internazionale!

I'm Running Out of Headlines For Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg is what we would call...Phenomenal. Fantastic. Incredible. Spectacular. The future. Better yet, the present.

Strasburg dominated in his 3rd Triple A start, which now makes him 3 for 3. Wednesday against the Rochester Red Wings Strasburg pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up (Surprise!!) no runs while striking out a career high 9 batters, walking 2, and giving up 3 hits. In his previous two starts in Triple A Strasburg has walked only one batter and given up only one hit. Talk about regressing, huh?

To top off Strasburg's night, as he walked off the field the 12,590 that comprised the 8th largest crowd in Rochester history gave the visiting pitcher a standing ovation. That was promptly followed by boos since Strasburg did not acknowledge the crowd's applause. Not everyone's perfect.

Favre's Future to Be Determined By...

...whether or not Southern Miss makes it back to the College World Series. What a crock. He's a joke. I hate Brett Favre. Ugh. I'm done.

Uh oh

To his teammates, Dwayne Bowe will officially be 'that guy'.  You know, the guy who can't keep his trap shut.  According to Profootballtalk, it looks like Dwayne Bowe may have shared a little too much information in a little segment he is doing for ESPN The Magazine called "Postcards from the Edge".  In the piece, Bowe describes how when he was a rookie, older players would pay to have women flown in and placed in his hotel room.  It would not surprise me if some type of internal investigation is launched, because this is certainly not the type of attention the NFL wants.

Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

So Boston went up 2-0 in Orlando last night. And I haven't said a word about it. I know. I know. My bad.

The Eastern Conference playoffs were supposed to be down to Cleveland and Orlando at this point. Yeah, that didn't go as planned as Delonte West had to go and smush LBJ's mommy. At least that's the word. Now Boston is the Cinderella of the NBA playoffs.

It's hard to believe that the NBA Champs of 2 years ago could be written off as much as they have been before the playoffs. Especially when their core has stayed intact, minus a ton of talent and the addition of some seriously showing age, and even been aided by the emergence of a top 5 PG in Rajon Rondo. But they were. And now Cleveland and Orlando are paying mightily for it.

Boston is clicking on every possible cylinder right now. They punched Cleveland in the mouth in Games 4-6 and carried that momentum down the east coast and into O-Town. (What? They don't call it that? Even after Tiger's sexual escapades in his hometown? Well they should. They most certainly should.)

What they've done in the Eastern Conference Finals is quite astounding actually. Orlando came into this series undefeated in the playoffs at 8-0 after sweeping Charlotte and Atlanta. Orlando was also 34-7 at home in the regular season and had yet to lose to the same team more than once at home. Boston is now 3-1 in Orlando overall.

Boston won the first two games of the series on the road for the first time in their franchise's history. Boston is also 32-0 all time when up 2 games to none in the playoffs. Orlando's looking to make a little history of their own now.

Milton Bradley Returns to Mariners

The deranged Milton Bradley has returned to the Seattle Mariners after 2 weeks of counseling. What could Bradley have possibly learned in 2 weeks that would make him a good hitter again?

Oh. It was because he's nuts? And that only took 2 weeks to fix? Riiiiiigggghhhhht. I'll be blogging about this again before the All Star Break.

Wizards Win NBA Draft Lottery

After a season of complete turmoil, the Washington Wizards have won the draft lottery. They beat out 13 other teams who were all competing for the #1 draft choice including 4 teams with better odds.

The Wizards season was one they and their fans would LOVE to forget. In November, well liked team majority owner Abe Pollin died of a rare brain disease. Pollin had been part owner of the team for 46 years which was the longest tenured owner in all of the NBA. Then on Christmas Eve as the team was in the midst of a 10-17 start to a season with playoff aspirations, it was reported that Gilbert Arenas was storing firearms in his locker which led to his suspension for the remainder of the season and his admittance into a halfway house for 30 days.

With 1/3 of

their Big Three gone for the year and a mightily struggling team, Wizards front office dealt the remaining 2/3s in Caron Butler to Dallas and Antawn Jamison to Cleveland. During the month of March, Washington lost their first 16 games and only managed to win a game on March 31st to prevent going an entire month without a victory. They finished the season 26-56, but did find one bright spot in 23 year old C/PF Andray Blatche who averaged 22.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 32 games after the All-Star break.

Most believe PG John Wall is the top prospect in this year's draft. That's great for the Wizards since they voided Gilbert Arenas' horrible contract after his gun issues. Ohhhh yeah. No they didn't. For some awful reason they went ahead and kept the worst contract in the NBA because they had 96$ million burning a hole in their pocket over the next 5 years. I'd like to think Abe Pollin would never have kept Arenas. Well perhaps the Wizards could take the 2nd highest rated prospect in the draft and the NCAA Consensus Player of the Year last year Evan Turner. Aw damn. Another PG.

At least Washington isn't the biggest loser in this year's draft lottery. That distinction goes to Minnesota and their GM David Kahn. The Timberwolves had the 2nd best opportunity to win the top pick, but fell to 4th thanks to Philadelphia and Washington jumping them. What's the big deal? Kahn will actually have to take a wing or post player rather than another PG.

Yankees Walk-Off Against Red Sox

The New York Yankees blew a 6-1 lead, but only to make things interesting.

Trailing 9-7 heading into the bottom of the 9th with All-Star closer Jonathon Papelbon on the mound for their arch-rival, the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees hit 2 two run HRs to win 11-9. A-Rod hit the first bomb with 1 out to tie the game at 9 on the first pitch he saw from Paps. After getting Robinson Cano to fly out, Paps hit soft hitting catcher Francisco Cervelli. The next batter was offseason pick-up Marcus Thames who, like A-Rod, drove the first pitch he saw out for a HR.

This loss is particularly devastating for the BoSox since it puts them a game under .500 at 19-20, and it's their 5th loss in 7 games against the Yanks this season. The 2nd game of their 2 game series is Tuesday evening in the Bronx during the Celtics' Game 2 in Orlando. At least there's one team clicking in New England.

Lakers Eclipse Suns

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers weathered a fast start by the Phoenix Suns to take Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals Monday night. Phoenix hit 8 of their first 11 shots and led by as many as 7, but LA quickly took charge and led after the first quarter by 9. From there they would never trail again and went on to win 128-107.

Kobe finished the game with 40 points, and Lamar Odom dominated the middle with 19 points, 15 in the first half, and a whopping 19 rebounds. Pau Gasol also added 21 points of his own by spending most of the night posting up smaller Suns' defenders like Channing Frye and Louis Amundson.

Steve Nash added 13 points and 13 assists and Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points, but somehow could only pull down a pathetic 3 boards at 6'10". However, Robin Lopez impressed in his first game back from a bulging disk in his back as he scored 14 and had 6 rebounds. Channing Frye and Grant Hill both struggled as they scored a combined 10 points on 2-13 shooting.

Before tonight I thought LA was going to prevail in this series in 7 games, and I still do. But it won't if the Suns continue to play like they did tonight. Obviously. Phoenix had no answer for the inside game of LA, which most prognosticators figured would happen. Phoenix has a shot in this series if they can somehow increase the tempo to offset the points in the paint the Lakers are inevitably going to get. However, if LA is going to continue to shoot 58%, there is nothing Phoenix can do except pray they don't get swept.

USMNT Begins Training

The US Men's National Team began training for the World Cup for the first time as a team today in Princeton, NJ at coach Bob Bradley's alma mater Princeton University. Let's hope we can get healthy in a hurry!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5195609/ce/us/us-team-opens-camp-injury-concerns-remain?cc=5901&ver=us

Soccer News!!

Some nastiness in Europe involving a World Cup bribing scandal
Lord Triesman has thrown around accusations concerning Spain possibly bribing Russian officials in return for Spain's support for a 2022 World Cup bid. Right now I have no idea what this all means for the '18 and '22 bids. There has been speculation that that the 2018 bid was likely to go to England, but now after Triesman has decided to step down as chairman of the Football Association and England's World Cup bid team, everything is up in the air.

Germany will be without Michael Ballack for the World Cup
Not really a big loss for Ze Germans. Not only is the 33-year old a red card waiting to happen, his best playing days are far behind him. Sure, he brought valuable experience but the Germans have plenty of other options in the mid-field. This only confirms that Bastian Schweinsteiger will simply be the man for Germany this summer.

Chelsea making a push for El Niño??
After failing to secure a Champions League bid, Liverpool is in a world of hurt as far as financial problems are concerned. So obviously we will be hearing plenty of transfer rumors concerning goal-machine, Fernando Torres. I have seen him linked to Manchester City, and Chelsea. While an attack of Drogba and Torres would just be unfair to the rest of European clubs, can both egos work together? Personally I don't see it happening. The Liverpool chairman has been adamant about keeping Torres and Gerrard as they are the nucleus of the team. Liverpool managed to hover around the 4th spot all year only dropping considerably at the end of the season. If Torres can stay healthy, and if Liverpool can find a new owner it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect Liverpool to begin a spending frenzy akin to Man City or Chelsea following next season. Besides, it looks like Chelsea is also making a strong push to bring in Sergio Aguero at a much lesser cost.

Lampard to finally follow Mourinho? And if so will it be with Internazionale or Real Madrid?
For the last 2 years Frank Lampard has been rumored to join former Chelsea manager José Mourinho at Inter Milan. Carlo Ancelotti insists that Frank Lampard will remain in Chelsea going as far as to call the rumors of his leaving to follow Mourinho (wherever he may be next year) a "joke". Both Lampard and Mourinho are also rumored to be coveted by Real Madrid as a package deal of sorts. Along with everybody else it seems. Thats just what Real Madrid does.


Lets take a moment to honor some of the major champions from Europe from this past year:

English Premier League - Chelsea
La Liga - Barcelona
Serie A - Inter Milan
Bundesliga - Bayern Munich
French Ligue 1 - Marseille
Scottish Premier League - Rangers
Europea League - Atlético Madrid
FA Cup - Chelsea
Carling Cup - Manchester United

And of course we are days away from the big one this Saturday as Bayern Munich takes on Inter Milan in Madrid, Spain for the Champions League Final.

Speaking of the Champions League Final, Bayern Munich will definitely be without their star winger Franck Ribery, who lost an appeal of a 3-match ban after being issued a red card during the first leg of the semifinals against Lyon.

Now lets talk a little USA soccer:


A week ago Bob Bradley announced his 30-man preliminary roster. Bradley will have until June 1 to decide which 23 men will make the journey to South Africa. The starting lineup is all but set, but there will be a few positional sub battles that should take place in the next few weeks to decide the final spots on the 23-man roster:

Left back sub: Jonathan Bornstein / Heath Pearce
Final center back sub: Chad Marshall / Clarence Goodson
Wing sub: Robbie Rogers / Alejandro Bedoya
Center Mid sub: Jose Francisco Torres / Sacha Klejstan
Foward sub: Eddie Johnson / Robbie Findley / Edson Buddle / Herculez Gomez

I feel like Brian Ching should also be on this list, but I am convinced he has something dirty that he is hanging over Bob Bradley's head that prevents him from ever not being on the National Team.

Sweet Lou Turns Sour

We've finally seen the Lou Piniella of old. And it only took a 15-22 start from the 3rd highest payroll in baseball. Before the Chicago Cubs' game Sunday afternoon, Piniella went on a frustration filled rant about winning. Piniella is going to pull out all of the stops if he wants to continue his Hall of Fame career.

Piniella is in the final year of his contract with the Cubs and has said numerous times that this would be his last managerial job whenever it ends. The Ricketts' family purchased the Cubs' before the start of the season and have yet to give Piniella any type of endorsement.

In Piniella's first two years as manager the Cubs won the NL Central division before being swept in the first round of the playoffs. Last year was quite disappointing as the Cubs finished only 5 games over .500, and well behind the Cardinals, while totally missing out on the playoffs. If Piniella wants an extention he must righten the ship quick. Perhaps this is just what was needed.

LeBron Can Start Calling Delonte West "Daddy"

There has been widespread speculation over the weekend for the reason Cleveland absolutely tanked over the last 3 games of the Boston series. Perhaps we now have the answer.

According to WCWP Sports out of Long Island, NY, right before game 4 LBJ found out that teammate Delonte West had been, and still was, sleeping with his mother Gloria James for some time now. Let that sink in...

...still sinking in...

OK, that's enough, at least for now. It's still hitting me like the 35 bricks LBJ put up over Games 4, 5, and 6. This can't be good for Cleveland's chances of bringing back LBJ, can it? Granted, Delonte is only under contract for one more season, and easily could be traded or flat out cut if that's what King James really wanted. But one would have to think that LBJ would want to get as far away from this situation as possible.

And if it wasn't enough that West has been a teammate of LBJ's for the past 2 and a half seasons, let's take a look at his checkered past. Back in September West was pulled over on one of these awesome things after he was speeding and cut off a police cruiser with not one, not two, but three unlicensed guns in his possession. A 9MM in his waistband, a .357 strapped to his leg, and a shotgun in a guitar case that was on his back. So far there has been no word as to where West was headed that night. One could only imagine though due to his constant battle with bipolar disease and depression. He sounds like just the guy you want banging your mom.

Now for the worst part of all this...Gloria James looks just like LeBron. That's right, folks. Delonte went for the next best thing. I just got the creeps. She's not even hot! What the hell was Delonte thinking?! In several hip thrusts, you've practically driven LBJ as far away from Cleveland as possible, while possibly blackballing yourself from the league, and sleeping with an ugly, older woman when you can have almost anyone you want.

I REALLY wish this is true. Please, please, please be true.

Breaking Down the NBA Conference Finals

So the Conference Finals are now set. In the West we have the #1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #3 Phoenix Suns and in the East we have the #2 Orlando Magic vs. #4 Boston Celtics. T-Time is going to give his analysis and predictions later, but for now I'm going to breakdown the previous match-ups between these teams.

Lakers/Suns

While the Phoenix Suns failed to make the playoffs last year for the first time since 2004, Kobe Bryant is no stranger to the Suns in the early summer. The last two times the Lakers failed to make it out of the Western Conference playoffs they were defeated by the Suns in '06 and '07. Don't think Kobe forgets.

The Lakers(3-1) and Suns(1-3) played four times in the regular season with these four outcomes:

1. PHX 102 @ LA 121, November 12th

The first time these two teams met in the 2009-10 regular season Los Angeles, without Pau Gasol, was in

control from start to finish. Kobe led all scorers with 29, but Andrew Bynum was truly dominant as he posted 26 points and 15 rebounds. The Suns' starters scored a combined 42 points and only averaged 23 minutes a piece. Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson shot a

combined 2-16 and scored 13 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. LA also shot

58% from the field with 36 assists on 58 made FGs. Phoenix was held to 37% shooting and 12, count 'em 12, assists on 38 made baskets. Looking at the box score it seems as if LA straight up dominated Phoenix, but let's take a deeper look at the schedule.

The Lakers game was the 7th game in 10 days, and 6th road game, for Phoenix. However, LA had only played 3 games in the previous week and all were at home. The Suns were gassed, and rightfully so.

2. PHX 88 @ LA 108, December 6th

The 2nd time around the box score looked considerably better than the 1st match-up for the Phoenix Suns. LA and Phoenix shot 47% and 45% with 20 and 21 assists respectively. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 18 and 8 and Steve Nash added 12 points on only 7 shots and 10 assists. However, they're starters still only combined for a total of 52 points compared to LA's starters with 75 points led by Kobe's game high 26.

The schedule leading up to the match-up once again highly favored the defending NBA Champions as they had only played 1 freaking road game the previous 3 weeks, and it was 400 miles to the north at Golden State. The Lakers, like last time, had only played 3 total games (all at home) in the previous week, while the Suns were playing Sacramento the night before at

home and had just wrapped up a six day, four game East Coast road trip.

3. LA 103 @ PHX 118, December 28th

34 points from Kobe Bryant were not enough as the Suns shot 49% and led by Amare Stoudemire's 26 and 6. Steve Nash added 16 and 13 assists, and C

hanning Frye added 14 and 11 boards.

Leandro Barbosa, Jared Dudley, and Goran Dragic all added 11, 19, and 14 off of the bench to complete the Suns' well rounded offensive attack. However, the Lakers were without starting small forward Ron Artest.

This time around the Lakers had played 1 whole road game two days before their game with the Suns and 2 home games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder. On the other hand, the Phoenix Suns...wait a second...they actually played the same amount of games. Hmmm...interesting.

4. LA 102 @ PHX 96, March 12th

The fourth and final regular season match-up was by far the most exciting, mostly because it was the only game in doubt in the 4th quarter. Amare Stoudemire went off went 29 and 16, but it was no match for the balanced attack of the Los Angeles Lakers. All 5 Laker starters had at least 15 points with Kobe leading the way (surprise, surprise) with 21, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists.

In the week previous to this game, LA went on a 3 game East Coast swing and returned to play Toronto at home. Phoenix actually had an LA-esque schedule the week prior, as they only played 2 home games before welcoming LA to town. Unfortunately, Phoenix could not capitalize. It is important to note, that Phoenix won 10 straight, and 14 out of their last 16 games after the last Lakers defeat.

Magic/Celtics

The Magic and Celtics are meeting for the 2nd straight postseason, but this time the stakes are higher. Last year, the Orlando Magic defeated the reigning Champion Boston Celtics in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Semifinal on their way to a surprising NBA Finals appearance. This year if the Magic were to make it back to the Finals it would be a lot more expected. Boston, on the other hand...

Like LA and Phoenix, Orlando(3-1) and Boston(1-3) met up four times this season:

1. ORL 83 @ BOS 78, November 20th

Boston shot only 35% from the field and 2-19 from the 3-poin

t line in an ugly defeat early in the season. Orlando didn't help themselves either by committing 21 TOs. However, offseason acquisition Vince Carter scored 26 points, including 10 in the 4th quarter to lead the Magic. Dwight Howard

added 15 boards while Rashard Lewis added 16 and 10. Boston's Kevin Garnett added a double-double of his own with 13 and 11, and their own free agent pick-up, Rasheed Wallace, added 13 boards, but was 0-8 from 3.

2. BOS 86 @ ORL 77, December 25th

Merry Christmas NBA fans! This is the most anticipated day of the NBA schedule every year, and it never disappoints. Both teams were finishing a week of home stands before this match-up. Rajon Rondo was the star in this Boston victory as he scored 17 while grabbing 13 boards and dishing out 8 assists. Cleveland would have loved holding Rondo to those numbers in their last series. Vince came out to play again for the Magic as he was able to top his last performance against the Celtics with 27. Dwight Howard also pulled down 20 rebounds, but shot a terrible 1-7 from the field and only scored 5 points.

3. BOS 94 @ ORL 96, January 28th

The Magic were down 14 in the 4th quarter, but came back to pull off an improbable comeback capped by Rashard Lewis' layup with 1.3 seconds. Lewis finished the game with 23 points to lead all scorers and 8 boards. Vince Carter was held to 6 points on 2-13 shooting after

torching the Celtics in the first two games, but he was picked up by Dwight Howard who added

19 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. The Celtics had no answer for Howard as Kendrick Perkins was in foul trouble for much of the game and only played 15 minutes. Rondo had another good game with 11, 7, and 8. The 8 assists for Rondo was as many as the entire Magic

team.

4. ORL 96 @ BOS 89, February 7th

The Magic completed their regular season series victory over the Celtics 10 days after their previous game, and used a HUGE 3rd quarter to do it. Down 11 at halftime, Orlando came out in the 3rd and outscored Boston 36-11 to take a commanding lead that they wouldn't relinquish. All 5 Magic starters were in double figures, but it was Vince Carter once again leading the way with 20, and Dwight Howard throwing in another 16 and 13. Like the previous two games

between these two teams, Rajon Rondo led the way offensively for the Celtics with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 0 TOs. Once again, Howard had Perkins in foul trouble for much of the game, limiting him to only 22 minutes and 2 points.

Flyers Avoid Sweep...Then Win Series

Remember how you promised yourself, and Gary Bettman, right after the Winter Olympics that you were going to watch more NHL this season and make more of an effort to get into hockey? Well I remember making that promise. And let me tell you something...I failed miserably. I'm not ashamed though. I'm doing like I always do. Ignoring the regular season, except for what I catch on SportsCenter, and watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And by playoffs, I mean the Finals and Conference Finals.

So did I know the Boston Bruins were up 3-0 on the Philadelphia Flyers? Of course. Did I realize Philly was coming back game-by-game to tie the series at 3 games a piece? You bet. Do I know how they pulled it off or which players were instrumental in the turnaround? Not a clue. And finally, did I watch Game 7 to hopefully witness the improbable comeback? Was it even on TV, because I don't know?

Ironically enough, Boston took a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 7 Friday night, only to have Philadelphia score 4 straight to win 4-3. I can't make this stuff up. Like, for real. If it weren't for the Celtics, I think most Boston sports fans would be on suicide watch.

Having said all of that, we finally have our Conference Finals match-ups. It's time for me to care a little bit! In the East we have the first ever #7 seed vs. #8 seed with the Flyers against the Montreal Canadiens. And in the West it is the more conventional #1 San Jose Sharks vs. #2 Chicago Blackhawks, although there is nothing conventional about San Jose making it this far in the playoffs.

Phil Jackson Fuels the Fire

The Zen Master is at it again. Phil Jackson is known for his mind games whether they're directed towards his team, his opponent, or the refs. This time he's got the Phoenix Suns and the refs in his cross hairs. 2 out 3 ain't bad.

When asked how difficult it was to simulate Steve Nash's skills and abilities as point guard of the Suns, Phil insinuated...no, implied...actually he just came out and said it was difficult because "You can't pick that ball up and run with it."

Woah. Wasn't Jackson fined for something like this right before the playoffs? Yeah, I think he was.

So what exactly is Phil trying to do? I mean, Nash isn't exactly a soft guy who's going to be affected by this. First off, the dude's Canadian. Second off, he polished off the Spurs with one good eye. He's got heart.

That leaves the refs. Phil is simply trying to send a message to the officiating crew. I guarantee you that at some point in Game 1 Monday night Steve Nash will get whistled for a carry. And THAT will get in Nash's head.

22 Year Old Fake High School Student Got His

I knew it!!

Woodson Out, Brown Safe

After disappointing showings in the 2nd round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Mike Woodson of the Atlanta Hawks and Mike Brown of the Cleveland Cavaliers were both on the chopping block. One was a little luckier than the other.

Mike Woodson was not rehired after 6 years as head coach in Atlanta when his contract ended Monday. He inherited a team that only won 13 games his first year. From there it only got better. I mean, it had to, right? The Hawks under Woodson became only the 7th team in NBA history to ever increase their win total for 5 straight years as they went from 13 to 30 to 37 to 47 to 53. However, it was Woodson inability to succeed in the playoofs that led to his dismissal. Even though, they've been to the 2nd round the past two seasons they were a combined 0-8 in that round, and 11-18 overall in the playoffs. Sadly, they will be most remembered for taking #1 seed and eventual champion Boston to 7 games in the first round in '08 and for being swept this postseason by the Orlando Magic by an NBA record 101 total points.

Mike Brown, on the other hand, was given a vote of confidence by his owner Dan Gilbert after another failure to capture a championship after being considered by most to be a frontrunner. The past 2 seasons the Cavaliers have won 60+ games and had the best record in the NBA. Also in the past 2 seasons the Cavaliers have failed to make it to the Finals. It was widely regarded that Brown would be let go if he could not get the Cavaliers farther than the Eastern Conference Finals where they were eliminated by the Magic last year. SI.com even falsely reported Brown had been fired. This is all coming exactly one year after Brown was voted NBA Coach of the Year and won 66 games.

P.S. You knew LeBron James is a free agent too, right?

Strasburg Watch Continues

Stephen Strasburg made his 2nd start in Triple A last night and continued to completely dominate hitters. Strasburg's first start was hard to top as he threw 6 innings of 1 hit baseball with 6 strikeouts. Well this time around he threw another 6 innings, but did not give up a single hit while striking out 7. In fact, the only batter that reached base was on the only walk Strasburg gave up in the first inning.

This news combined with this news and it seems as if everything is falling into place for Strasburg's trip to the Majors to become a tad accelerated.

Two Minutes of Hate

For this week ESPN The Magazine decided to run with the following cover:


You are looking at the face of a man who was born in America. Grew up in America. Went to high school prom in America. He also plays on the Italy national team. Our very own modern day Benedict Arnold bitch. It was painful enough to watch him seal the game against USA in last summer's Confederations Cup, but at least America got the last laugh as we were the one's who advanced to the Confed Cup final. But now, seemingly just to coarsely rub a rusty piece of salted carbon steel on the wound, ESPN has decided that a month prior to the World Cup a picture of Rossi himself holding a symbol of America, while wearing an Italian jersey, with the same antagonistic look that Daniele De Rossi (pictured on right) had after he bludgeoned American hero Brian McBride's face in 4 years ago on the world's biggest stage, would be a good idea.
Here's to you, ESPN the Magazine.