Boston Red Sox – Are They Dead in the Water?

It’s a big week coming up for the 11-13 Boston Red Sox.  They have gotten off to a bad start but have won the past two series.  They need to get business taken care of right now though because they have the LA Angels and the Yankees after these upcoming “easier” series with the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles.   Still 3 games below .500 baseball, it not only looks bad because of their position in their division (4^th out of 5), but they are also 11^th place overall in the American League.  Whoever thought that the Blue Jays series and Orioles series would be so important to the Red Sox nation.  If they want to continue to fill seats in Fenway Park then they should start winning games because fans aren’t going to want to go to games if they soon become irrelevant because the Sox are 20 games out of playoff position.

They were able to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3 games in a row to take that series but they have lost both games to the Baltimore Orioles.  Its not looking good considering they lost in a 10 inning game on Friday and then lost again last night despite a late 2 inning run in which 5 runners came in.  The Red Sox had the lead for innings 2-4 leading  4-1, but in the 5^th and 6^th innings Baltimore score 10 runs.  That pretty much sealed the deal if you ask me because its almost as if the Red Sox had been deflated after that and 35,000 fans were cheering the home team on.  Daisuke Matsuzaka did not help things by making his season debut not only below average, but I would almost say lets send him back to the farm league.  He starts his season with an 11.57 ERA…A far cry from anything anyone could consider “Big League” material.  I guarantee you that the Boston Red Sox were wishing they were at Fenway park last night.  Thank goodness Matsuzaka didn’t have to deal with his home crowd booing him…well at least not in person.  I was certainly yelling at the TV.  He seriously could not stay out of the middle of the plate.  He was great for 3 innings and then just gave up or something.  Boston baseball is not safe, lets just say that.  I worry about the future for them being 4^th in their division.  Oh well, thank god I am a huge Atlanta Braves fan.  Oh wait, they suck too…Great.  And people wonder why no one watches baseball anymore.

Why San Antonio will make an early exit in the NBA Playoffs.

The San Antonio Spurs have been the pinnacle of basketball in Central/South Texas for  years now.  The problem I feel they have run into is their inability to reload their team as well as everyone else in the Western Conference.  The real problem is that the Spurs are just old. The average age of their starters is 29 years old.  Thats pretty hardcore if you ask me…especially since George Hill is only 23 years old.  Average age without him is pretty much 30 years old.   The upside is that they really started out horrible this season and to be honest I really didn’t think they would be making the playoffs in the first place.  The fact that they made it in is an accomplishment in itself.  Well they get the Dallas Mavericks first found which really does not sound like fun to me.  Its going to be great for fans, but not so great for the San Antonio Spurs.  The Mavericks lead the series this season 3-1 and the last time San Antonio beat Dallas was back in mid-November.  The last game they played was actually last night and the Mavericks won by 7 points 96-89 as we got a little preview of whats to come int he playoffs no doubt.  Should be an interesting series that gets heated at times.  When push comes to shove though, San Antonio is just too old to make any kind of run in the playoffs.

Blake Griffin Will Receive Season-Ending Knee Surgery

Blake Griffin, the overall number one pick in the 2009 NBA draft will have season-ending surgery on his broken left kneecap.  A lot of the media were excited when the preseason started but it seems that Blake Griffin just has not lived up to the built-up hype.  Much like most of the movies I get excited about, he played well when it didnt count and then choked once it did injuring himself in the preseason finale.  He has not played since.   What does this mean for Griffin?  Well, this means that his rookie season isnt officially until next season (which is great because this class is amazing).  With Griffin out this puts the Los Angeles Clippers at a huge disadvantage.  They were just 3 games out of the playoff picture in 11th position but they have lost two games in a row now.  Things looked up when Griffin came back from his previous problem (knee injury in the final game of the preseason) but it looks like the Clipper curse has struck again.  I dont know why they just cant pick in the draft very well, but I cannot remember a time they have picked someone who turned out half decent in the first round.  Blake Griffin could probably still be a superstar in the end, but at this point, I dont give him much of a chance.  By the time he gets back into the swing of things, he will be miles behind all those who came out of the draft with him.  Stephen Curry is looking better and better everyday averaging 12.4 points per game, nearly 5 assists per game, and is shooting 43% from three point land.  Its just a matter of time before my boy Curry takes off.  The video is of Blake Griffin’s first injury back in October.

Mark Mcgwire admits to using Steroids

Another one bites the dust.  A report came out today that Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record with 70 home runs back in 1998, admitted today that he used steroids through the 90′s while playing baseball.  This includes his record breaking season which hurts me because I really looked up to the guy back in the day.  While he was not my favorite player, he was one of them.  The day Greg Maddux comes out and says he has used steroids is the day that I stop watching baseball.  This comes at no surprise to most baseball fans as he dodged a lot of the questions in his testimony in front of the Senate.  Most of his fans are actually coming out in support and Bob Knight has even come out in support of the Mark McGwire legacy.  ”I wish I had never used steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake.”  Those words make me think that maybe McGwire isn’t sleeping too well these days.  The media claims that its probably because he is taking a new job.  His family seems to be very understanding just giving him words of encouragement throughout this whole ordeal.  He was a baseball icon back in the 90′s with his grandiose physique and a swing that only a 12 year old dreaming of hitting that home run in the 9th inning of the World Series could appreciate.  With the swing came the fans barreling out of their cars three hours before the game even started just to see a glimpse of the home run machine that was Mark McGwire.  With this I can only say that in my mind Roger Maris is now the single season home run leader (Sammy Sosa and McGwire being the only two players to have statistically more home runs in a season).

Manu Ginobili Swats Bat in Middle of Game

I have seen a lot of weird things living in Central Texas but this happening during a game takes the cake so far in my life. Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs got tired of a bat interrupting their basketball game last week. In the video you will see him swat the bat (killing or stunning it, im not quite sure), pick it up off the court and walk it off the court to hand it to an official who then disposed of it somehow (I am strictly speculating of course because all I could see was the dude walk off the court and disappeared).  The best part about the entire game I think was that it was a Halloween game when this happened haha!  The San Antonio Spurs sure know how to put on a good show.

The New Tiger Woods

We all remember Tiger Woods from the 2008 U.S. Open when he beat the whole group of 60 other players all on one leg.  His left knee was killiing his game serious, but he stuck through it and finished strong in the final round (not to mention the fact that he played in an 18 hole playoff against Rocco Mediate).  Well he had the surgery April 15th, 2008 on his knee.  He got a double stress fracture on his left tibia during his rehab of the knee in which I can’t even understand the pain involved with that. Well he came back.  He walked back onto the golf course less than 11 months after having the surgery.  February 15th, 2009 at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Marana, Arizona, Tiger Woods walked onto the course to restart his career.  He finished when he lost the second round to Tim Clark who was only ranked 8th in the Bobby Jones bracket at the time.  Clearly it wasnt Tigers day that day.  Could it have been the knee?  Well, what happens next leads me to believe that it was not his knee.  He has now won 5 out of his first 12 tournaments which has got to be some kind of record for return-from-surgery players.  He has won the last two tournaments coming into the PGA Championship which means that this championship is actually now his to lose.  Its sad, but thats when he really turns the burners on.  I am excited to watch him this weekend as he dismantles the other players at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. This is how Tiger has finished since he has come back:

8/6 – 8/9	World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational	1	68-70-65-65 – 268 (-12)	$1,400,000
7/30 – 8/2	Buick Open	1	71-63-65-69 – 268 (-20)	$918,000
7/16 – 7/19	British Open Championship	Missed Cut	71-74 – 145	N/A
7/2 – 7/5	AT&T National	1	64-66-70-67 – 267 (-13)	$1,080,000
6/18 – 6/22	U.S. Open Championship	6	74-69-68-69 – 280 (E)	$233,350
6/4 – 6/7	the Memorial Tournament	1	69-74-68-65 – 276 (-12)	$1,080,000
5/7 – 5/10	THE PLAYERS Championship	8	71-69-70-73 – 283 (-5)	$294,500
4/30 – 5/3	Quail Hollow Championship	4	65-72-70-72 – 279 (-9)	$312,000
4/9 – 4/12	The Masters	6	70-72-70-68 – 280 (-8)	$242,813
3/26 – 3/29	Arnold Palmer Invitational	1	68-69-71-67 – 275 (-5)	$1,080,000
3/12 – 3/15	World Golf Championships	9	71-70-68-68 – 277 (-11)	$142,500
2/25 – 3/1	WGC: Accenture Match	17	-	$95,000

Top 2009 Recruiting School – NCAA Mens Basketball

I have studied all the recruits going into this next season and I have decided finally on my Top 10 recruiting schools for mens basketball.  I know I am a little late on the picks but you should hear me out on this one.  I think you are going to see these schools getting just that much better by playing their top prospects their freshman season.  This in no way reflects my personal views and I basically watched film on the Top 150 players coming out of high school and where they are headed to.  I then tallied those players up and ordered them from top to bottom in my own personal opinion.  I then I averaged the numbers out and figured out how many top 150 athletes were going to each school and what the average number was.  This is what I came up with (and it would be sweet if its actually true):

1. North Carolina – (#6 John Henson)
2. Texas – (#1 Avery Bradley, #8 Jordan Hamilton)
3. Kentucky (#4 DeMarcus Cousins, #5 John Wall)
4. Villanova
5. Kansas (#3 Xavier Henry)
6. Georgia Tech (#2 Derrick Favors)
7. Oklahoma
8. Oklahoma State
9. Duke (#10 Mason Plumlee)
10. Connecticut

I know you are thinking, but Sidelineblog, youre a huge fan of both North Carolina and Texas…I cant help it that Texas is getting two players that are in my Top 10 (Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton).  Its not my fault they just happen to be amazing at recuiting.

North Carolina leaves the College World Series

Yes thats right, my boys in blue have been taken out of the College World Series today losing to Arizona State 12-5.  The Tarheels had the early 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the 5th inning.  Then Kole Calhoun stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 5th inning.  This Sun Devil reportedly couldnt explain what happened next.  He homered to the right center of the stands hitting a grand slam homerun tying the game up at four all.  He didnt stop there though.  In his next at bat in the bottom of the 7th inning he drove home the next two runs not knowing he had sealed the deal with his double into deep right center field.  One would think that the players would have caught onto the fact that he was hitting into right center field after his last at bat.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Arizona State moves on to play Texas tomorrow (Friday, June 19th) at 6:00 P.M. Central Standard Time on ESPN 2.  I hope you will watch it because in order for Arizona State to move on, they will have to beat Texas twice in a row.  Texas comes into the game 2-0 hoping to make it a short stay for the Sun Devils.  This means if Arizona State wins tomorrow, then they will have to play Texas again on Saturday.  Should be an interesting game with ASU playing their little hearts out…you should be watching this if you haven’t already planned to.  I am predicting that Texas will win 7-2 tomorrow sending Arizona State home.

Who Cares about Steroids?

Seriously?  On the eve of Sammy Sosa being labeled as one of the 104 names on the list of players who failed drug screenings back in 2003.  First of all, are you really that suprised about it?  Sammy Sosa lied in open court about the use of the substances, but who didnt lie?  Did you expect him not to lie?  I am not saying that since everyone lies, it makes it alright, but this was back in 2003 (6 years ago) and I think its crazy to think that we are still talking about this and I know over the next few weeks there will be more and more names let out of the bag.  To be honest with you, if I were Sammy Sosa, I would be trying to figure out which law firm decided to leak this information out into the public because they were supposed to get rid of the document, destroy it, and never look at it again.  Obviously thats not whats going on here, someone has the list and is leaking it to the New York Times.  I think what makes me angry about the whole situation is that 10 years from now, this isnt going to be a big deal. In fact I am almost certain that Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Roger Clemens and others will still be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and if that happens what was the point in even talking about it in the first place.  I understand that this baseball era (1980′s-Present) will be known as the “Steroid Era” and it looks like America’s Past Time has now reverted to Football, but that doesnt mean we have to freak out about everything considering I would be willing to bet that at least half of NFL players have taken some sort of performance enhancing drug.  I understand they test for illegal drugs which has gotten several players in trouble, but what about performance enhancing drugs?  I guess what I am trying to ask is does anyone really care about this issue or would you rather get mad at the football players who are getting wasted and killing people with their cars.  Dante Stallworth got sentenced to just 30 days in jail, his career is not ruined, and he will more than likely end up getting the same punishment from the commissioner of the NFL as Michael Vick.  What do you think about it?

VacationRentals.com could send you to New York!

That’s right, I have found one of the better deals of this year.  I know I have not been writing on here all that much but I promise that its going to change very soon.  I have found a site that wants to send someone to New York to eat really good food and you could also win a Golf Weekend with Charley Hoffman.  Charley is a PGA Pro and you could be playing with him in Las Vegas, Nevada.  You could be eating really good food in New York prepared by Hell’s Kitchens Chef Bonnie.  Vacation Rentals are no longer a thing of the past anymore because the economy has taken such a hit lately.  Places are getting cheaper to rent and companies are trying harder and harder to get your business.  Just look at what this group is doing, they are offering so much just to get your business and you know what, this site really isnt that bad.  I have been looking through a lot of their deals and they have some really good ones.  You can get a 4 bedroom house in Costa Rica with its own pool (which if you have ever been to Costa Rica, then you know that its almost impossible to find villas like this) and an ocean view that sleeps 12 for $7500 a week.    Thats less than 70 dollars a night per person haha.  Anyways, you can follow these guys on Twitter.  Overall I would give this a shot and see what all they have to offer, especially if you are looking to get away this summer.

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