Some Thoughts..

    I should not be awake right now, or at least while I'm awake i should be doing some studying for an Italian test tomorrow, but I'd rather write about sports. If your reading that's where you need to say HOLLA! But first things first I want to congratulate the Duke Blue Devils on their 4th National Championship in school history. I am well aware that there are a plethora of haters, sometimes including myself, however they got it done. The core of Scheyer, Zoubek, Smith, Thomas, and Kyle Singler are just a great thing to watch when they are on. The big 3 scores the points while Thomas and Zoubek, the two Jersey boys, do the dirty work. Kyle Singler is like the NCAA's version of Dirk Nowitzki. The guy just knows where the basket is and has an incredible touch, not to mention how he fills out a stat sheet night in and night out. Coach K once again did a remarkable job directing this orchestra throughout the season and tournament despite doubt from critics and fans.

    Butler should be commended with high praise with their effort throughout the season and especially tonight's game. At no time did they feel like the underdog going shot for shot with Duke for basically the entire affair. Gordon Heyward very nearly accomplished the unthinkable half court heave at the buzzer, however they did come up on the short end, but Butler did not do anything to lose this game. Both teams that squared off were deserving of a championship and Duke did what it needed to do. Butler has a bright future behind an incredibly talented young coach. Butler will be no longer a bracket-buster, but a mainstay with the big boys. 

    

    As for the Yankees, not quite what fans had in mind. You're up 5-1 in the 5th inning with CC Sabathia on the hill. Even in Fenway Park, you still have to think good things. However the Red Sox displayed their resilience as they have been known to do in April against the Yanks. A 9-7 win it was for the BoSox. The Yanks and Red Sox both have things to look at for good and for ill. The acquisitions of Mike Cameron and Marco Scutaro seem to look like good moves as they both had a hand in the win. It's been since the '04 season that the Red Sox have had a good shortstop (Orlando Cabrera) and they're hoping Scutaro can be that guy. Since Cabrera the Red Sox have tried Edgar Renteria who never fit in, Jed Lowrie who can never stay healthy, Nick Green who should never be a starting shortstop on a "contending" team, and Alex Gonzalez who is downright mediocre. With the absence of Jason Bay and a declining David Ortiz, guys like Youkilis, Pedroia, and Victor Martinez will need to pick up the slack, as they did Sunday night. You can bet the AL East will be won the hard way this year. 

    The Yankees bullpen sure didn't look as good as they planned. Chan Ho Park didn't know Pedroia can turn on an inside fastball, and Joba kept up his inconsistancy. It is way to early to put the microscope on things, however from what i got out of game 1 of 162, the bullpen could be a downfall. The Yankees proved they're going to score runs, and it was nice to see Granderson take one deep right away, as well as Gardner having multiple hits. For what's left of this first series, it surely favors Boston with matchups of Lester/Burnett and Lackey/Pettitte, however I think these ballgames will all be decided by the bullpens, and the Yanks should hit. There is a lot to look forward to. 

Overall, It's a Net Gain

Its been a hot minute, but now that the New York Yankees are ready to take on the world again, i'll be blogging nightly. First, a few thoughts about the New Jersey Nets. It has indeed been a rough season to say the least, but there has been plenty of good things for the positive man to think about. During the first 60 games of the season, there was no need to bother blogging about these Nets because it was a new night, same result. The Nets would lose interest in the game whether it was in the 2nd or 4th quarter, and then their own teammates. It was not a pleasure to watch. But now late in the season, something has clicked. The Nets have won 4 of their last 6 games moving the record to a still meek 11-65, but now have cleared their way out of a record of infamy. From people to expecting the Nets to finish with the worse record of all time, the Nets now have a shot to even finish better than the lowly 15-61 Minnesota Timberwolves. It would hurt their chances for the number one overall pick in the lottery for the upcoming draft, but it would be some type of feat to not finish with the worst record. Inspired basketball is what the Nets are playing and its a good thing to watch. The Nets have a lot to look forward to. They will be moving to the Prudential Center in Newark for the next 2 seasons, and then the stage will be set for them to move to the highly coveted Barclays Center which will be built in Brooklyn. A new owner who is expected to be approved by the league later this month by the name of Mikhail Prokhorov will no doubt about it, make a sizeable impact. This is the 39th richest man in the world who has already taken his Moscow team to the promise land twice, and he's good friends with Vladamir Putin, just throwing that out there. He's kind of a big deal, and the upcoming high profile free agents of the summer will take this man's phone call. With the likely chance of the number one draft pick which could be either Kentucky All-American point guard John Wall, or Ohio State swingman, player of the year Evan Turner, plus a couple good free agents, and a new coach, the Nets could be very well in business. Players like  power fowards Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, as well as small forwards Al Harrington and Rudy Gay have all been quoted saying good things with interest about the Nets. The Nets also have 2 first round picks in the draft. Which originally looked like a season to forget now looks like what could possibly be a season to remember, a season that could potentially set the table for a huge turn around for this franchise. The Nets play the Wizards tonight at 6.

2nd Time a Charm..?

Javier Vazquez has been traded for the 5th time in 7 years, and that's probably for a good reason. The 33 year old right hander clearly has great stuff, but inconsistency has led him to find himself wearing a new uniform quite frequently. This will be the second go-around in pinstripes for Mr. Vazquez. The first time ended bitterly after he tapered off in the second half of the season after an all-star appearance and a strong first half. Last year was an impressive year for Vazquez going 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA for a on-and-off Atlanta Braves ballclub. He was second in the National League (behind Tim Lincecum) in strikeouts, getting 238 of them. If Vazquez can contribute this in a rotation that already features CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte, the Yanks' rotation is just a strong as the Boston rotation.

The other side of the coin, Melky Cabrera. There are a lot of Yankee fans just happy he is gone, which is not something that is easy to understand. The Melk-man delivered down the stretch more periodically than every Yankee outside of Jeter and Rodriguez. He made every play in the field, he made every throw, and hit for the cycle. He hit from both sides of the plate, and he was a flat out sparkplug. Melky Cabrera will be missed in New York although most disagree. If Vazquez can deliver as he did last year, that will make it easier to let Melky go, however the Yankees now must address their left field needs, and the Yanks' might be in that Holliday spirit, and not just because it's Christmas time.

Giants Walk Over Washington

It was a must-win game for the New York football Giants on a Monday night in Landover, Maryland. The media had been hyping up the Washington Redskins because of their recent offensive successes, and their "playing for pride" mindset. The majority of the media had also decided to declare the Giants out of everything prior to the game. Although the Giants have to rely on Green Bay or Dallas to lose a football game, they can still put themselves in a good spot if they were to win out. However, it starts with putting one foot down in front of the other, and the first step was beating the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football.

The Giants came out firing putting 7 on the board on the first drive of the game and taking 9 minutes and 13 seconds to do so. They did not have a gain larger than 14 yards on that first drive, and not one reception was made by a wide receiver. The Giant defense would then take the field and show Washington what they would be facing the rest of the way. They showed blitz packages and actually came up with a sack and forced fumble during that 3 and out. The Giant offense would then throw to wide receivers the next drive, and they were able to get 7. Kevin Gillbride waited all season long to call a brilliant game, but what a brilliant game it was. Although it was the now 4-10 Redskins, the Giants scored emphatically, each and every time. 45-12 would be the final score in this one. It looks like this could be the end of the Jim Zorn era in Washington, and then end of the Jason Campbell at quarterback as well, who turned it over twice throwing 2 interceptions, and just really never got anything going. The minute Todd Collins was brought in after Jason Campbell was injured, the Skins got right down the field with a chance for their first points of the game and that's when the Redskins gave up. The Skins tried to get creative shifting 7 men to the left side of the field during a field goal try, the Giants would then call time out. The Skins would come back out, and do the same exact thing, and the Giants were not fooled, eventually getting an interception that was a fade-away throw from the right hand of the punter/holder Hunter Smith. The Giants go home to face a Carolina team who is fresh off of an impressive performance, beating the Minnesota Vikings 26-7. The Giants will then face the Vikings themselves on the road in week 17, however the focus is on Carolina. If the Giants get hot at the right time, it could be scary, and real unfortunate for the rest of the NFC.

This isn't written in my words, but it sure is interesting..

How many zeros in a billion? This is too true to be funny. The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.
A.A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B..A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C..A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age..
D.A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our governmentis spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...let's take a look at New Orleans ..It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator,Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number...what does it mean? A.Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.
B..Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
C..Or... if you are a family of four...your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D. C HELLO! Are all your calculators broken??
Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax (Fed)Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Tax Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service charge taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle TaxSchool Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge TaxTelephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Tax Vehicle License Registration T ax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened?Can you spell 'politicians!' And I still have to press '1' for English. I hope this goes around the U S A at least 100 times
What the heck happened?????

MLB Hot Stove Ignites

Today was a very busy day in the Major League Baseball offseason. The headline of today which ran through the wires this evening was the moving of Roy Halladay, and maybe even more importantly, Cliff Lee. The Philadelphia Phillies have moved very, very close, pending physicals, and contract extensions, to landing 6-time AL All-Star, and the 2003 Cy Young winner Roy Halladay. The 3-team blockbuster swap would send star pitcher Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners, outfielder Michael Taylor, catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud, and either prospect pitcher Kyle Drabek or lefthander J.A. Happ to Toronto. Depending on whether it's Happ or Drabek, trading Draben would get them Seattle's top pitching prospect Phillipe Aumont, who was originally destined for Toronto. The moving of Cliff Lee is a bit questionable even though he already had said he will probably test the waters of free agency at some point. He already proved he can pitch in the biggest spotlight in baseball, the World Series in New York against the Yankees. Lee was dominant ever since he was brought over by the Phills, however the Phillies did manage to lose out in the World Series, and they figure bringing over a more established pitcher like Doc Halladay should do justice. However, Halladay is used to pitching in Toronto, Philadelphia is a whole new scene for the 32 year old. Only time will tell if this deal will pan out for the Phillies. Otherwise, General Manager Ruben Amaro may be under some scrutiny...

This deal completely stole Boston's thunder. However, the Red Sox were able to throw some serious bills in acquiring former Angel's ace John Lackey. The Sox signed the bulldog of a 31 year old hurler for a ballpark figure of 85 million dollars over 5 years. The deal is somewhat similar to the Yankees' signing of A.J. Burnett during last year's offseason. Lackey should be a solid fixture in a rotation that already includes the likings of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Daisuke Matzusaka. The problem with Lackey is the injuries he has dealt with the past couple years, which is also similar to A.J. Burnett in year's past, however Mr. Burnett missed not one start due to injury this past season. If John Lackey can stay on the mound, Boston's rotation should be pretty tough.

The New York Yankees have been under the radar this offseason and for good reason. The Yanks are coming of an impressive championship season. What they have done thus far is re-signed Andy Pettitte and let go of pitcher Chien-Ming-Wang and World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, who signed with the Anaheim Angels for about 6 million for 1 year. This is the second year in a row the Angels have taken a former Yankee off of the market after picking up right fielder Bobby Abreu last year. The Yanks still are in negotiations with Johnny Damon, but things may not bid well money-wise for Damon after the splash deal made for Cutis Granderson. The Yanks are said to be looking at former Milwaukee Brewer ace Ben Sheets, and former Oakland Athletics pitcher, 2-time All-Star Justin Duchscherer. Ben Sheets has been known for his filthy-electric stuff and has been elected to 4 All-Star games. Sheets has had an 18 strikeout game in his career, and has established himself as one of the game's more premier power pitchers. However, he is also known for injuries that have plagued him during several seasons in the bigs, and all of last year being one of them. He would be a project, however if he can deliver, he could be a serious catalyst in an already world champion rotation.

Eagles Evade Hungry Giants, Grab Sole Possession of First Place

The Giants took some kind of loss to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night. It was a run-and-gun type ballgame, considerably one of the more exciting games all year. If you happen to enjoy smashmouth defense, sorry. 45-38 was the final in this one, and the score is absolutely symbolic of the outcome. The Eagles opened the game with a quick 14-0 cushion. They marched right down Big Blue's throats scoring 7 in 3 minutes and 27 seconds. They would then steal a Brandon Jacobs' fumble which hit off of tight end Kevin Boss's foot, went right to Sheldon Brown who took it 60 yards for the score. The Giants were resilient at times, coming back from that deficit, and then a 30-17 deficit and actually taking a 31-30 lead. It looked good for the Giants until Desean Jackson caught a 60 touchdown, which then he would taunt the Giants by walking backwards "shimmying" into the endzone. No flag was thrown, and that would end up being the knock-out punch for the G-Men. The officiating in the game was incredibly poor. No sides were taken, the referee crew just happened to miss many obvious pass interferences, holds, and numerous clipping penalties, however Philadelphia embraced the adversity, and took it to the Giants in their own stadium.

Although it hurt the Giants' divisional hopes, they still have life in the wildcard picture. While some may not think they are deserving of a playoff spot, think back to 2007 when the Giants were this close to losing out in the playoff race after losing to the Washington Redskins in difficult windy, rainy conditions at Giants Stadium. Some have said that it was the worst they had ever seen the Giants look in franchise history, however we all know how Giants fans can be. They would then come back with a statement win in the snow in Buffalo. The game was Ahmad Bradshaw's coming out party, and this led them to the pride they displayed in the loss to the undefeated (at the time) New England Patriots. I'm not saying that the Giants have as many playmakers as they did that year, however they went from under the radar, to Superbowl contenders. The Giants will in fact need some kind of turnaround in the final 3 games of the season in which they will face the Skins, the Carolina Panthers, and to finish out the season with the Minnesota Vikings as they did last year. Dallas will face New Orleans next week, so the Giants aren't in too bad of shape if the Saints take care of business like they have literally done week in, and week out. The Giants luckily have the tie-breaker on Dallas, however if they get to the postseason, they must make sure their Bill Sheridan's defense improves during these next 3 games, or they might as well lose the next 3 and snag a mediocre draft pick.