Monday, November 19, 2007

Boston's painful fall

The city of Boston just can not catch a break in the sports world.

ESPN Page 2: Caple: Beantown Blues

*Thanks to the Horne for his find- now if we could just get him writing some posts

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Dog Day Afternoon

But this one did not star Al Pacino. No, this Dog Day belonged in the hands of the MSU football and basketball players. Much more so on the gridiron than the hardwood though.

#22 Alabama arrived early yesterday morning to face one of only three teams in the SEC that hasn't been ranked this year, us. This Mississippi State Bulldog team has looked better and better every game this season though, won big games against giant killers Auburn and Kentucky, and was coming off a by week of what I'm sure was colossal walrus sized work outs.

By 11:05 AM, Davis Wade Stadium (pictured above) was at a new school record capacity of 56,188 and nearly one out of three people had a cowbell in hand. There would be no cries for more cowbell this day.

In an immediate disappointment, freshman QB Wesley Carroll threw an interception on his first attempt, not only turning the ball over to the Tide in our territory but quelling Carroll's quest for the NCAA freshman record for most attempts without an INT of which he was just two shy. Our namesake shining through, the Bulldog Defense held Bama to a field goal and got the ball back in our hands.

After two more FG by Bama and only one from State, Alabama fought it's way to inside the MSU 10 yard line where a touchdown seemed imminent. After two battles at the line trying to run the ball into the end zone, a third down call for a throw led to the day's game changing play. Bama's QB is rushed and scrambling, and in his attempt not to be sacked, hurls the ball into the end zone and into the waiting arms of a Bulldog defense-man. With one good block, the ball is returned 100+ yards for a TD and the lead after the extra point. And this was all with less than 20 seconds in the half.

Coming out after halftime, the dawgs were rejuvenated. Allowing only one more field goal from Alabama and tacking on an offensive touchdown, the Bulldogs finished the final drive of the game with a sack that had been brewing all day, to let time expire.

Bama fans sure were proud of their million dollar coach, but our Alabama alumni coach, for the second year in a row, knew what it took to take Saban down.

Go Dawgs!
and not to let our basketball team go unnoticed
Go Dawgs!

Friday, November 2, 2007

the World Series in 50 seconds

It was fast. It was painless(for the Sox). And it was oh-so-glorious. We now sum up the last leg of the 2007 Red Sox Championship run...



I am sure Trevor will have a season recap soon. I'll give my thoughts when I have no more work to do (read: mid-December).

-RBDS1

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Papelbon is my hero (and I wish my boyfriend)

Okay so not really my boyfriend, but I love him as much as any heterosexual can love another heterosexual.

Dice isn't bad either, and Beckett is the ALCS MVP, and I wish Schilling was my biological father.

Red Sox are going to the World Series for the second time in four years. Papelbon (a MSU grad) got the save in game 7 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians and life couldn't be better. I pretty much have a crush on Jonathan, he's so goofy, so country, and such a damn fine game closer. He came in for a full six outs (for the first time this year) and he destroyed them, with noted help from our outfield (Coco Crisp and Jacoby "the Kid" Ellsbury).

Its funny how a sport I had nothing but disdain for is now my favorite sport to keep up with and by far evokes the most emotion. I yell, I clap, I curse, and I love it.

Back from a 3-1 deficit to win 3 games in a row to win the ALCS at home in front of the best fans in any sport in the best town in all sports (you want to argue that?? Red Sox, Patriots, BC, and the Celtics).

It's 11:30pm local time, I have class in the morning, I just cracked a beer, and am probably going to have a few more.

Long live baseball

Go Sox


*you like the pic? that's our dry erase board, home to all RedBullDawgSox sports

Currently Drinking: Samuel Adams Cream Stout

Thursday, October 18, 2007

ALCS Game 5 live blog

  • I am now a profound supporter of replay support for Major League Baseball. Manny hits a two run home run in the 3rd inning and its ruled A SINGLE!? -T
  • Beckett comes after the bottom of the 3rd striking out two of three -T
  • The ground rules for Jacobs field may say that hitting the yellow line is a homer, but seriously, all umpires present actually saw that little piece of material fly up? Yeh. Right. -H
  • Okay, so maybe it hit the wall. Seems like different ground rules in different parks is something the commentators would do well to acknowledge. -T
  • ...especially Tim "Fountain of all Baseball Knowledge" McCarver -H
  • 10 GIDP in this series. That's pathetic. -T
  • Beckett is settled. 40 pitches thru 4 -T
  • For those of us in Mississippi tonight: local news, for the love of Allah, make the "Storm Weather Watch Forecast Team Radar Tracker 5" ticker about 20 font sizes smaller. -H
  • And we've been watching Severe Weather News instead of the game for a whole inning. Well we've been watching Gameday on Horne's computer, going to try and Slingbox the game directly from Boston -T
  • Had to watch our baseloaded out via Gameday. Trevor not happy. Titan angry! - T
  • I love Beckett. Besides the actual one (Paps), Beck's is a bulldog and you better take him serious -T
  • How many times are we going to have a missed play due to a glancing blow off the webbing? -T
  • Here's a shoutout to my bro Will. Because of the numerous and timely Weather updates, we've got the computer out and watching my brother's Slingbox via the tv. You can't stop us, evil weather Gods!!! - H
  • Beckett. Damn. -T
  • YOUK! -T
  • Do Grady's ladies like seeing his face in the dirt and no baseball in his glove, cus I do -T
  • Sizemore does not = Crisp/Ellsbury -H
  • Single most inconsistent ump. Ever. Of all-time. In the history of the world. -T
  • 10 Ks -T
  • 20-to-1 odds we see Papelbon this game. I'm just sayin. -H
  • Perez "Hilton" throws the ball to right field instead of the short stop. E1 -T
  • Lugo makes a perfect 3rd baseline bunt to advance the runners, and makes the single. Based Juiced -T
  • Perez going back to bench "jail" Get it? Like Paris Hilton? -T
  • PASSBALL. No DoublePlay. 5-1 (I think that's the first time we've actually said the score) -T
  • 2 walks. Papi to bat with bases load...
  • sac fly 7-1 -T
  • If Beckett doesn't come back in the 9th, he has 11 Ks and was still hitting 96mph after 100 pitches -T
  • Paps is lights out. 2 Wins Away.

I know it's not the most precise live blog ever, but hey we didn't have all night to just write, we had a game to watch.

Go Sox

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Who Is Worse?

Henig or Gagne

Really, which is worse? That's all I got.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

ALDS Review

First up to bat, Red Sox and Angels. These two teams were pretty well matched in the regular season so a post season league division series should have proven to be quite the contested match up. However, this was not to be. Granted the other guys did not look as impressive as Beckett did in his 4 hit, complete game, shut out. Dice and Schill both brought their stuff and went deep in the game, both picking up the win. Actually Curt became the oldest pitcher in post season history to earn himself the W.
The second game seemed like it might was possibly going to maybe become kind of a close game, but then Manny being Manny hit his first ever post season walk off home run. A ball that soared a good 60 ft above the monster and continued to rocket over the freeway and possibly into the next state.
The third game with Weaver pitching for the Angels had some back story to it. Earlier in the year when Papi sent one sailing into right field, Weaver and his golden locks got all tied up in knots because, as he claims, Ortiz watched his homerun for too long before beginning his stroll around the bases. Next time he was to face Papi (G3) he would not forget that. Weaver made good on his promise to sitting down Ortiz, at his first at bat. Second at bat however, Papi again let loose his arm cannon (with broken knee attachment) and sent Weaver's pitch past Pesky's pole. I don't know if he stared at this one too long or not because following Ortiz, Manny showed Weaver the same respect and sent a ball past the fence and into the stands. And that was as close as the Angels came to winning a game. They are now 0 - 10 I believe, correct me if I am wrong, in post season games against the Red Sox.

The Yankees put up a good fight for game 3 of the their contest and took the series to 2-1 Indians. But the tribe would not be denied. After winning a game when their starting pitcher (Clemens) only lasted three innings, the Yanks pulled Wang after only 2+ innings and garnishing Moose's first ever relief appearance. In a true Moose's career slide performance, the Indians took it to the bottom of the ninth with a 8-5 lead. The Yankees, as they always do, tried to make some last of the game heroics with Abreu belting on into the third deck and bringing the Yanks within two.
Flashback, after game two Steinbrenner said that if Torre lost this series it very well could be his last. That coupled with A-rod's option to opt out and the likely hood that Posada, Rivera, Petite, and others would not be returning if Torre gets axed made for an important game aside from play off contention.
Back to the game, the last three outs by the Yanks were at the bats of Jeter, Posada, and A-rod. How does that sit with the Yankee fans. Apparently not too badly since the following day I see a girl in a Yankee Universe tshirt. I going to go ahead and say they day after you are eliminated from the play offs isn't the best day to flaunt your allegiance to what is now more than ever a dead dynasty.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

He is, dare I say, "En Fuego!"

or do you prefer "Atsui Desune!" ? Okay, fine. Have it your way. Beckett was hot, like on fire hot. Just look at this screen capture of a recorded conversation between Mike Lowell (3B) and Josh Beckett (P) at last night's game one against the AL East division winning LA Angels
Lowell: "Dude, you curve ball is crazy awesome. How are you pulling the string that hard?"
Beckett: "What? Did you say something Mike? I can't hear you because my hands are on fire."
Lowell: "Oh Crap! No more high fives for you."

Seriously. These two are hands down the stars of the BoSox this year. Mike Lowell with his 120+ RBI season (most ever by a Red Sox 3B) and Beckett as the only 20 winner in the Majors. Both added to their glory last night in Beckett's full game, shut out, 4 hitter (with 8 K and 0 BB). Lowell tacked on another ribby to pad the Sox lead to 4-0. Beckett retired 19 straight after the Angels first hit, and Lowell was featured in the Top Ten plays for a defensive snag and throw out at first.

I think our seemingly near brush with division defeat at the hands of the Yanks was just a perfectly orchestrated maneuver to get all our boys back to health. Youk went yard at his first at bat, followed later by Ortiz smoking a two run shot around Pesky's. Ortiz and Manny both got on the bags all night. CoCo had a patented stretched out catch to continue Beckett's sit down numbers. The Sox looked untouchable last night.



The Angels looked like this deer at the hands of Beckett. Dead.






Quick recap of the other two games. Rockies fought off the Phills to take the series to Colorado with a 1-0 lead and the Cubs fell to the adder's bite as the D-backs gain the upper hand.

I love postseason. Except that it is on TBS, but that's a topic for another post. As for now, go Indians!

Last Night's Drink: Smithwick's. Found it at a gas station, go figure.


*To help our reader discern which of us writes which posts I am going to put my signature at the end of my posts

-M. Trevor Acy

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

There's only one Wednesday, there's only one OCTOBER

This might be the greatest piece of apparel ever created. I would sell a kidney to see a true yanks fan with one of these one at any point in the post season. I thought the yanks not making it to the post season would be the best thing ever but no, I was wrong; this is way better.

Updates have been shy I know. The two of us have been super busy with school and while that is no excuse, I'm using it anyway. We've made time to watch some football and of course never miss a sox game, but after that hiatus we don't have the time to sit down and write about it because we have to make up for the time spent watching. It's very confusing.

Quick football news, Mississippi State looked decent against South Carolina. I think our defense looked the worst it has all year, but I was starting like our community college transfer Riddle. So what happens? He tears his ACL, Henig starts practice this week, and we're faced to choose between Michael "I don't know which players our mine" Henig or a true red shirt freshman who has 4.2 seconds of playing time in the SEC. Personally, I'll go with Carroll. Our only two loses coming from a top 20 and top 5 team don't disappoint me too badly, but Riddle being our does. Honestly, I'm just praying that UAB doesn't upset us.

Baseball; It starts today. The last 160+ days have all been warm up and weed out. This post season is shaping up to be one of the best in a long long time.
  • Red Sox win the division with the best lead in baseball with a very possible Cy Young winner in Beckett and even more than likely Rookie of the Year with Pedroia.
  • The cast of teams is one of the best mixes in recent memory. Teams that haven't made it in years are all in.
  • The Rookies winning 14 of 15 to force a play off game versus the Padres which was one of the most incredibly odd baseball games ever. A home run not called so and the walk off score not touching the bag all. Not too mention the all time leading saver Trevor Hoffman giving up the game.
  • It is possible, though I'm not saying it will happen, to have a Red Sox / Cubs World Series. Holy Bejeezus
  • D-Backs in it for the first time since the Unit and Schiller devastated the Yankess
  • Phillies winning the division in the last regular season game, destroying the Mets after 159 games in the lead.
  • While the AL MVP is probably locked up with Arod, the NL race is a tight one and should prove to make that league worth watching even before the WS

I could go on and on but I'll stop there. Make sure to leave comments with why you think this post season is one for the record books

Monday, September 24, 2007

alot going on, little to talk about

It was, as usual for this time of year, a pretty busy weekend in the world of sports. However, I really did not watch as much as I would normally and for good reason. It was Bulldog Bash weekend in Starkville. That is always our second home game of the season where we have live entertainment (though usually not that great, and this year was no exception) but any excuse is a good excuse to go to the old cotton district, eat a lot of food, kick back a few, and walk around bumping into people and not remembering girls' names. We got kind of a late start that night because baseball was on. And it turned out great, Sox won and the Yanks lost. It's just about as good a night can get right? Anyway that brought the magic number to clinch the division down to 7 (it is down to 6 presently) and then we hit the town.

Saturday, we headed over to a friend's place where his little brother (currently in culinary school) decided he would cook all day. We didn't stop him. After watching Ole Miss lose to Florida and bits of other college games, we headed to our own night game versus Gardner Webb University.


Yes, Gardner Webb. Power House of the Atlantic Sun Conference, and sometimes the Big South Conference. How are they in both, one can only guess. Not to be too cocky though, it wouldn't be the first time a small school had an upset (a la Michigan) but considering it would not be that big of an upset, we did not fret too much.

In good fashion, our dawgs decided to show up and play. Henig is out with his broke "fill in the blank" so we have freshman barely out of cap and gown throwing the ball. Compared to Henig, they look okay (better footwork, slightly better arm, same bad pass decisions) but where we decided to shine this game other than on defense was our run. Sure in true bulldog form we would try a run right up the center tailend and get all of 1.3 yards. But when we would option outside or anything we would carry a good 5 yard minimum. This goes back to years ago when we would throw to the tight end maybe twice a game and get 12 or 13 yards everytime. Why not do what works more often? Either way, with defense in great form as usual (except for a couple of drives) we squeaked it out of the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Did I forget to mention that? It was the MSU Bulldogs vs the Gardner Webb Runnin' Bulldogs


How great is that? I won't harp too long, but it is very nice to have 3 wins in our first 4 games. Granted our schedule becomes invinitely more difficult from here on than our last three games. Even UAB for our homecoming is a bit daunting. But hey, for first year our suspension I think we are looking very promising, especially considering the age of our not broken QBs.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Weekend Update with Norm Macdonald

2-1. That's the MSU Bulldogs' football record right now with the one loss coming from #2 LSU. Granted the wins have been over Tulane and Auburn but both are teams we have lost to in the past year. Maybe Croom is on to something this year. In each of the three games are defense has looked good and with each game our offense has looked better. Henig is out 4-6 weeks with a broken (fill in the blank). I'm okay with that because I'm not too hot on the guy. He looks scared in the pocket, has bad foot work, and more often than not makes very poor pass decisions. Our two little guys that filled in for him Saturday both looked more comfortable behind the line, although did show signs that they were indeed freshman. I am completely satisfied with the way our defense has been playing, especially versus Auburn. We look like we once did, and for what reason we became known as the bulldogs. Very agressive on the line with a hard hitting back.

Quick NFL side note. The Patriots rolled over the Chargers yesterday. Wasn't even that interesting to watch. Videos or not, the Pats are stacked. Now if we could just get the Chargers back into their baby blues and dress Belichick like a head coach instead of a bum trying to find half a hamburger in a refuse bin. The Bengals and Browns had a record breaking game though. Both QBs threw for 6 TDs in one of the highest score NFL games ever, if not the highest. I should probably look that up, but it's the NFL so I don't really care.

Painful three game series between the Red Sox and Yankees came to fruition yesterday. With the Yankees taking two of the games following two top of the eighth inning charges. Ironically enough a buddy of mine was over at the apartment for those two games but not the one Saturday in which the Sox won 10-1. So long story short, he's never invited over during Sox games again.


I love this kid. Jacoby Ellsbury is everything a minor league prospect call up is suppose to be and more. He is the fastest thing around the bases I have seen in a long time, steals bases so well that Reyes looks bland, can hit for yard, and uses those wheels effectively in the outfield. I repeat, I love this kid. Actually I love all our rookies. If the Sox can manage to hold on to all of them for a few years, we are going to be dynamite. Pedroia is nearly a shoe in for Rookie of the Year and Dice-K is still making an argument for a Cy Young if not Rookie of the Year. I think the Cy will go to our boy Beckett though, which is fine because he is on top of his game this year.

Notre Dame is 0-3. Ha ha ha. I wish Michigan would have lost though. Ole Miss drops the ball to Vandy. Florida and LSU aren't worth mentioning, we all know how they fared. And USC held up their end versus Nebraska.

Go Dawgs.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Don't be Sad Wally

Yeah, I don't know what happened either Wally.

Last night the Red Sox held a commanding five run lead over the Bronx Bombers until the top of the eighth. In retrospect I probably ran my mouth too much because usually getting into a bullpen battle with the Yanks can only end well for your team and we had Petite out by the sixth inning. None the less in true New York fashion the first eight batters reached for the Yanks in the top of the inning topping it off with the go ahead run which Boston was not able to redeem in the following two innings. Boston needs these wins badly, but not as badly as the Yankees want them. Two more nights, two more games. Tonight the two clubs' aces (Beckett, Wang) face off and tomorrow the old guys hit the mound in their first face off in six years (Schilling, Clemens).

For now, the magic number holds at 11.

Go Sox

Friday, September 14, 2007

Money in the Bank. Well, Out of it

500K out of your personal pocket would more than bankrupt most. But not Mr. Belichick. Granted that is still a huge sum of money it isn't going to keep the Patriots' head coach from eating at fancy Boston restaurants. Throw in another 250K that gets docked directly from the team and you would think that would hurt the once glorious dynasty, but I'm going to disagree. The fans will end up paying for that. Either in ticket price gouging or increased food and beverage prices.

The draft picks is where they are going to get hurt, no doubt. Having to give up a first round draft pick is huge, except that it will only go into effect if they make it to the play-offs. If they don't, they still lose second and third rounds which will sting but not like it will if they lose their first pick. So, will Bill make the boys take a dive to keep that pick and take the hit later in the draft?

I have to say, $750,000 is a lot of money and losing picks is a pretty big penalty for cheating. Honestly though, I expected more given the new commissioner's attitude toward his noble sport. I don't know why but I was expecting something like:
  • The Patriots only get three downs
  • Tom Brady must play blind folded the rest of the season
  • Pats touchdowns only count for 4 points with no extra point attempt
or something along those lines.

Funny how in a sport that requires perhaps the most physical contact, people are getting in trouble for stealing signs, and then in baseball (one of the least physical contact sports) where there are 1,000,000 signs given every inning people are getting caught trying to bulk up.
Go Figure.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Tom Brady's Home Videos

If you have three Super Bowl rings, play for an alleged "dynasty" in football, and date the world's most beautiful women and get caught having inappropriate video tapes, let it be of the bedroom with Giselle and not of stealing signals from the Jets.

THE JETS? Come On


Okay so it wasn't really Brady's doing, but I think you get my point. After one whole week of regular season play the team to beat is cheating. No wonder they are so good. As soon as the Jets story broke, we heard that the Pats might have cheating in the Packers game too. Just how long do you think it is going to be before speculation starts flying that they cheating in one of the Super Bowls? I give my over / under at one day, and that's assuming Skip isn't talking about it as I write this.

I'm going to go with my gut and say they haven't been cheating all along. I think they tried something stupid because of last year's upset or some idiot tried to rationalize it by thinking that if you can steal signals with your eyes (which is legal) why can't you use a camera lens. Even before this, the Pats were a fan favorite to go all the way this year regardless of the end of last season.

It is kind of nice to have a little bit of the spotlight out of MLB's eyes and onto another sport dealing with breaking the rules. Although the steroid hype has died down despite two players being found guilty of using HGH and testosterone in the last couple of weeks. I wonder why that is? Couldn't have anything to do with Bonds breaking the all time home run record and now it's not hot news because the Giants still suck? No, of course not.

This week's prediction: Patriots get docked some draft spots and maybe a fine (although that is pointless and just hurts fans) and A-rod belts two more homers, at least one off the Sox this weekend, but Red Sox still take at least two games from the Yanks by that time putting the magic number into single digits.

Cheers

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Tulane's Green Puddle


A week after being torn a new one by the LSU Tigers, my Bulldogs took a trip down to New Orleans to take on in-state neighbor Tulane. So the competition isn't quite the same, but seeing as how Tulane came to MSU last year and beat us it was still an important game.

Take note, the game was held in the Superdome and other than this sentence there will be no mention of hurricane Katrina.

Man does New Orleans stink. Literally. It's actually quite odd. I do not think there is another city in the country that you can walk down the street and within four seconds go from saying how the street smells like urine to following your nose to some of the best smelling food in the world. Then immediately back to smelling fecal matter and beer induced vomit. No matter, I love New Orleans.

I was surprised with the fan base that showed up for the game. MSU usually has a pretty good showing in LA, but I would say about 70% of the attendance was clad in maroon and white. Glad we can still rally behind a football team that just got it's tenth win over the past four years.

Our offense had improved from last week. Henig still looked a little poor with his footwork and definitely made some bad pass choices but still it was not a seven interception game. Our run looked much better, particularly the blocking for the run. Defense was more or less stellar with one TD off an INT. However, after our first two TDs our defense let Tulane score the equalizer on the very next possession.

I'm glad we won, the team needed it badly going into next week's game at Auburn (ouch). If Tulane had shown up more though, I do not believe we would be celebrating the win. We owe the Green Wave as much appreciation for only playing up to the level of a moderately deep puddle for our win as we do to our dogs.

But here's to New Orleans for always knowing how to show college students a good time.

Friday, September 7, 2007

My NFL Predictions

I am by no means the biggest NFL fan. When you don't have a team in state (granted N.O. isn't that far away) it is just hard to really adopt a team when they play such few games (what is it now like 7 games a year?). But it is football and I love to watch it none the less, unless there is a more interesting *read "any" college game on. I'm actually heading to New Orleans tomorrow for the MSU v Tulane game, which hopefully will at least be a good game, unlike the likes we can look forward to against Auburn and West Virginia. Either way, Gardner Webb: Bring It On.

Enough bull, here are MY NFL PREDICTIONS

  1. Announcers make too many mentions of how the Saints have revitalized New Orleans since Katrina
  2. Only 22 Pro athletes get arrested for violent crimes this season
  3. Everyone still doesn't know that the Cardinals are also a football team (and just barely a baseball one)
  4. Romo cries, again
  5. Though sentencing isn't until Dec. no one shuts up about Vick
  6. Nearly all of the college drafted players will be disappointments, most notably Quinn
  7. Seriously, Reggi Bush rushes for 100+ yrd in more than 5 games
  8. The Super Bowl will include two of these teams, Colts, Bears, Cowboys, Pats, or Saints (it isn't going to be that exciting, all the good teams last year are the good teams this year)
  9. Favre surpasses Marino in many records making him "the best QB of all time", but Peyton will set pace to eclipse Favre's records if Brett ever does retire
  10. And finally, Eli will learn to count to ten without using his fingers

And there you have it, my 2007 NFL predictions.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Prodigal Son Returns

So yes, I am back. Actually I've been back for two weeks but I didn't slow down one bit. The first weekend back I headed to Natchez for a Food and Wine Festival. Nothing sports related other than playing a few rounds of Bocce ball. Then this past weekend, Horne, Sox Gal, Miss Rookie, and myself took the long drive to Camden Yards for two games against the Red Sox.

I won't go into too much detail, mainly because I'm just tired. Sox won one and lost one of our witness, and lost the one previous to our arrival. Go Figure. The O's who we have something like a .946 winning percentage against over the last half decade and we drop two out of three while we're there. Still, it was most of our first trips to Camden (Sox Gal with the only prior) and goodness is that a beautiful park. If Fenway is the epitome of a vintage stadium then Camden is definitely the shinning beacon of what a new one should be. Not a bad seat in the house (luckily for us since our seats Sunday were on the last row of the top deck) and plenty of food vendors with ice cold brews including Smithwick's and Guiness on tap. Oh yeah.

Everyone is all in an uproar about the Yanks winning streak since the break. I've always been one to stand back from a mid season streak and go... it doesn't do you any good in July to win 20 out of 25 if you drop 15 out of 20 in Sept. But that's just me. As I'm writing this they are getting the royal bejeezus kicked out of them by the Orioles (again, go figure). Of course the on again off again relationship between our baseball bats and baseballs has us trailing the Devil Rays... so frustrating to have such amazing pitching and then no one can find their swing. Still it's nice to be able to rely on a two run lead instead of having to have a seven point spread.

Of course I haven't lost faith. Not one bit. The Yanks are heading into a tough section with their schedule culminating with a face off against us (my first to watch since May). And on top of that I'll be back in Starkvegas with Horne and Miss Rookie to enjoy it.

Well that is my "return to the post" post. Nothing special, but at least you know I'm not dead.

I picked up Moneyball from Henry and am very excited about reading it. Money and baseball, could their be another book more up my alley? I think not.

Oh yeah, and I hate Joe Morgan still... probably more even. Sheesh.

Currently Drinking: Sweet Tea. Nectar to the gods.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Joe Morgan, you dumbass

Trevor and I talked about this for some length today, so I figured I'd share it with our faithful audience.

Today in a chat session on ESPN.com(many of which are available to me because of an awesome gift to me of ESPN The Magazine), Joe Morgan fielded a question:

Rick in San Diego: Do you think there is often too much weight and kudos given to individual stat data accomplishments in what is supposed to be a team sport?

Joe Morgan: Finally, somebody that understands the game! You're right. Statistics are overrated. What you do to help your team win is what it's all about. These stats like OPS, it doesn't tell you what you do for the team. To my opinion, to help the team, you drive in runs or score runs. That helps the team. That's how you should be judged.


Being a recently baptized "Moneyball baby," I quickly copied, pasted, and emailed this quote to my email in hopes of posting. I just couldn't let this go.

So Joe says statistics are overrated. Are they? Possibly. But it's doubtful. If there is anything Billy Beane and Co. have showed us, it's that even if you focus 100% on statistics and have a cold, hard relationship with your players and managers, you'll WIN games, and you'll be in CONTENTION. From 1999-2004, no team did that better with less money than the Oakland A's. So for that point alone, Joe should be slapped. With a bat. By David Ortiz.

As for the next part, well, Joe is just an idiot. "These stats like OPS, it doesn't tell you what you do for the team." REALLY, Joe? Did you seriously just say that? For those of you with not exactly as much free time devoted to baseball stats as I am, I'll try to explain.

OPS. It stands for "on-base plus slugging." It's a handy way to look at how a player(or team) bats for power, as well as how well he(or they) get on base. Let's break each of those components down further.

On-Base Percentage(OBP). It's basically what it sounds like. It is how many times you reach base safely in the absence of errors or fielder's choices, divided by how many official at-bats you have plus the "unofficial" at-bats. So it's:

(hits + walks + hits-by-pitch) / (at-bats + walks + hits-by-pitches + sacrifice flies)

Slugging Percentage(SLG). A power rate statistic, slugging percentage is just the total bases you earn per official at-bat, or:

(total # of bases) / ( at-bats)

Add OBP and SLG together and you get OPS.

So back to the argument at hand. Joe Morgan said OPS doesn't tell you what you are doing for your team. Well thankfully for my side of things, the hard work has already been done. The guys over at Hardball Times did an analysis over every season of baseball, and they looked at the correlation of runs scored with a host of different parameters, including our lovely OPS statistic.

Their results? As it turns out, OPS and runs scored have a correlation coefficient of .955, which in statistics means that OPS is GREATLY related to run production(with a value of 1.000 meaning they are entirely related).

Do some more tinkering, as HBT did, and you square that term, and you get a coefficient of determination(CoD). If the CoD is 1.000, there is a 1-to-1 perfectly linear relationship between the two variables. OPS and runs scored have a CoD of .913. That means that OPS is almost perfectly linear with respect to runs scored.

So how does this help us? Well, if you(or your team) have a high OPS, then you are scoring some runs. Last time I checked, runs are how you beat your opponent. And I'm no expert, but I'm rather certain THAT is how your teams win. So Joe Morgan, OPS DOES show you what you are doing for your team. It shows that you are contributing to runs, and that is quite important in the grand baseball scheme of things.

Trevor and I have long hated Joe Morgan, but this is just another reason that supports our stance. I'm not saying Joe Morgan isn't knowledgeable about baseball(although he doesn't), but if he doesn't accept well-proven ideas and theories, or if he hasn't stepped into the modern era of baseball in the past 30 years, then he doesn't need to spreading his "know-how" with America, let alone telling them "they finally understand baseball."

I say "Good DAY, sir!"

Oh yeh, and if you check that Joe Morgan Wikipedia article, you'll find more boneheaded remarks by Joe regarding Moneyball. What a complete, utter, dumbass.

Currently Drinking: Coors Light (leftover from the wedding weekend)

Monday, July 16, 2007

no, Jonathan, "watchis" isn't a word

Two things you should already know about me:

1) I wish I had tons of money.
2) I wish the Red Sox and Fenway weren't so far away.

But now, these two things are magnified even more.

The Red Sox hold this thing called Picnic in the Park every year at Fenway. This year the picnic was yesterday. Check out some of the SWEET things they auctioned off this year:

  • A two day hunting trip with Mike Timlin and Tim Wakefield
  • A pizza party for 10 of your friends with special guest Mike Lowell.
  • Personal meeting with Daisuke Matsuzaka in addition to watching batting practice from the warning track AND great seats to the game
  • Dinner for 4 with the Schillings at THEIR HOME in the offseason
  • A game of scrabble with Jonathan Papelbon(my personal favorite)
  • A video game session before a game with Dustin Pedroia
You can check the rest of the auctioned items here. Pretty cool stuff. I heard on NESN today that they raised about $350,000 for charities.

Currently Drinking: screwdriver(I have OJ, I have vodka. Why not?)

Sunday, July 15, 2007

i hate this guy

I hate Scott Boras. He's a spineless, gutless agent that always costs teams more than they should pay for a player. As you know, he was the major reason the Matsuzaka negotiations took so long to finish. The Sox had the advantage of paying the posting fee to Dice-K, so ONLY they were able to talk to him; Boras was unable to use Free Agency bidding as his leverage.

Boras clients are always advised by him to test the free agent market when their contracts are up, causing teams to overbid against the market for the player they want.

So that's the main reason I hate this guy(and most other GMs in the business). But now, Boras is trying to mangle in the on-field happenings of his agents. More specifically, Daisuke Matsuzaka. Apparently, Boras is upset with the pitch counts of the $100 million dollar man, and he made his thoughts public.

But this is why I love our manager. His response to Boras' statement(that was asked by a reporter this morning):

"You know what, I've got a lot of respect for Scott, I really do. [But] he can run the pitching when he lets me run the contracts, how's that? Is that a fair tradeoff?"

That's right, Boras. Fuck off. Let the manager do the managing. Let the the pitching coach handle the pitchers.

Currently Drinking: water(gonna run after the Sox game)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

(slightly late) midseason report

Yeh, ok, I'm a little past the All-Star Break, but we're still close enough to talk about the first half. I wont go through each player and give a grade(like most places online are wont to do). Instead, I'm gonna touch on aspects of the team and give my opinion as to where things stand.

Offense
The Sox offense in the 1st half, although not on par with the 2003-2004 bats, was definitely more potent than most predicted before the season. The Sox are 1st in the AL in on-base % (.358) and 4th in slugging (.437). They lead the AL in walks by a huge margin (382 to Oakland's 340). They're getting on base, and they're hitting for decent power, which will almost always lead to runs(they're 4th in the AL in Runs Scored). Lowell, believe it or not, has been our "power" hitter, but if the first two games after the break are any indication, Papi and Manny are going to have monstah 2nd halves.

High Point: The Sox going back-to-back-to-back-to-back off rookie Yankee pitcher Chase Wright
Low Point: Julio Lugo

Fielding
The Sox fielders have the 5th best fielding % in the AL with .985, and they have a total of 51 errors. They are obviously not as good as that awesome 9 were last year(66 errors TOTAL), but they've shown huge improvements the past few weeks. Coco Crisp and Youkilis could very well win Gold Gloves at season's end, and Pedroia is a serious contender for that piece of hardware as well.

High Point: ANY catch made by Coco Crisp.
Low Point: Mike Lowell has 13 errors so far. He had SIX all last year.

Starting Pitching
This pitching is good. Very good. Beckett leads the way in his Cy-Young caliber season, followed by Dice-K and Schilling. Curt threw a good side session yesterday, and there is hope he will be good-to-go not too long after August 1st. Beckett leads the league in wins, and Dice-K is in the top 5 in strikeouts. I'm hoping we see Lester up soon, although he has struggled(from what I have read) in his past few outings. I can understand that the Sox don't want to rush a guy that just went through cancer mere months ago. A Schilling-Beckett-Matsuzaka rotation in the playoffs would be S-I-C-K.

High Point: Schilling almost getting a no-hitter.
Low Point: Schilling almost getting a no-hitter.

Bullpen
Can we all agree that the bullpen has been the strongest part of this year's team? These guys are lights out all the way. Now with Manny Delcarmen back in the bigs and having confidence, we have a righty set-up man, a lefty set-up man(Okajima), and one the best closers in the game(Papelbon). You get the starter through 6 innings, and you can pretty much go home. Okajima has been nothing short of amazing, leading the majors in relief ERA with .810. Unreal.

High Point: Okajima making Barry Bonds look retarded at bat.
Low Point: A-Rod's go-ahead homer in the 9th inning against Papelbon.

1st Half Surprise
Dustin Pedroia. No question about it. This guy had a lousy call-up session last year in September, but coming into Spring Training he shed about 20 lbs. and had a new work ethic. This guy started slow in April, but after a few days off and some help with hitting coach Magadan, he's been en fuego. The Rookie of the Month in May, Pedroia almost seems like he puts maximum effort into his swings, yet he doesn't just hit for power. He spreads it around the field, rarely strikes out, and is very Youk-like in his at-bats. Oh, and he's an awesome fielder too, committing just THREE errors all year in almost as many chances as the rest of the AL 2nd basemen.

1st Half MVP
You know, at the beginning of the season, I would have said David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez. As it turns out, the 1st half MVP for me is none of ther than that Japanese pitching import that has been absolutely deadly on the mound. No no, I'm not talking about the Dice-man. I'm talking about Hideki Okajima, the left-handed specialist that DOESN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE BATTER when he pitches. To think, this guy was mainly brought in to make Matsuzaka's "transition" easier. Now, he(along with Pedroia and Dice) is a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate.

2nd Half Outlook
The Sox are in great position to take home the AL East title. Barring a complete collapse, and if the majority of the guys stay healthy(or take time off to rest), they can easily win 100 games at this pace. Another bullpen arm might be nice, but if they can take everyone into October with good health, they'll be in good shape.

What worries me:
David Ortiz. He has a torn meniscus, but it has no inflammation. He says he can play on it through the rest of the year, but he may need surgery after the season. This is obviously what has kept his power numbers at bay this season, although he is crushing doubles left and right and still getting on base, second only to Detroit's Magglio Ordonez. If he needs to rest, thanfully we have such a large lead in the division that we can give him that day off if need be. I still hope that he gets surgery this offseason and fixes it, and I REALLY hope this doesn't come back to bite us in September/October.

Bold Predicitons:
The Sox will somehow surprise us and make us MUCH better by the July 31st deadline by pulling a trade that we haven't even thought about.

Jacoby Ellsbury will be to the 2007 Red Sox in October what Dave Roberts was to the 2004 team. Mark my words.

Currently Drinking: Michelob Ultra Amber(an awesome discovery by the Sox Gal)

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

maybe I'm in the minority

...but I absolutely love how the All-Star game decides home-field advantage in the World Series. Although it's not usually the norm, I highly disagree with Eric Wilbur on this issue.

I mean, I guess it really depends who your team is or for whom you are playing. Yeah, I'm rather certain Gil Meche of the Royals or Michael Young of the Rangers couldn't care less as to whether the Red Sox played 4 games at home during the Fall Classic. Likewise, I'm certain a player like Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates is indifferent as to whether his NL representative in the Series has the field advantage. Those guys just don't care.

But take a look at the starters for the AL. All of them are on serious contenders for the pennant. And the pitchers? All but Bobby Jenks and Gil Meche are currently on teams vying for a playoff berth. My point is clear. Sure, there will be a few on the All-Star squads that couldn't give a shit about home field advantage in the World Series, but they will be GREATLY outnumbered by those that do, which puts some meaning into an otherwise meaningless game.

Yes, I know. It's supposed to be an exhibition. But in all honesty, I didn't care AT ALL about the Midsummer Classic until 2003, when the rule to decide homefield in late October was put in place(granted, it was created from the debacle known as the 2002 All-Star Game, but that's another issue that's been talked about quite enough). Hell, I didn't even have a team in the summer of 2003 before August, yet I still watched the two leagues duke it out because it MEANT something. It was compelling. There WOULD be ramifications. Sure, the Yanks lost that year because they ran into a 23-year old name Josh Beckett, but still. Because the Marlins had to win it IN Yankee Stadium made it that more appealing.

The fact of the matter is that I watch the game now with more scrutiny than ever. Sure, the whole nation gets to see players like Okajima on the national stage, but if you're anywhere close to a baseball fan(and watch ESPN or FOX once every 2 months), you should know who he is. The game is fun to watch because it's an awesome collection of talent, but it's also fun because you KNOW your team(if they're in contention) wants to win the game. Luckily for me, my team has sent 6 of their best to ensure this happens.

Top 78 Reasons to Watch the 78th All-Star Game(from Page 2 on ESPN.com). It's hilarious.

Here's to hoping that Michael Young repeats his performance last year and knocks in the winning run. Com'on American League!

Oh, and since tomorrow is the day after the All-Star Game(read: NOTHING in professional sports is happening), I'll post my midseason report card of the Sox.

Currently Drinking: Dr. Pepper(my first carbonated beverage in awhile...oh so good)

Saturday, July 7, 2007

a false sense of superiority

Well, I'm too exhausted from that 13-inning marathon the Sox just lost to blog much. My half-season review will have to wait tomorrow. The bullpen was steller once again, but of course someone had to take the loss, and unfortunately it was Paps. And I absolutely HATE the tv announcers for the other teams when they do the broadcast. They freakin' hate on every player on the Sox; Remy and Orsillo never do that. Eyugh. Hopefully I'll get the NESN broadcast tomorrow.

And I'm sure everyone in Detroit is saying how the Tigers are the best team right now because they have taken the first two from the Sox. Yeh ok. You beat us against Tavarez and our fill-in for Schilling. Please. We showed we were the better team earlier in the season at Fenway anyways. Dice is on the mound in a little over 12 hours, so we'll see how well your bats work then.

Currently Drinking: water(I'm doing the unthinkable and running tomorrow morning)

Friday, July 6, 2007

Joe Torre...or evil cult leader?

So I'm watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom tonight, and I realize that Dr. Jones wasn't fighting the evil voodoo shaman Mola Ram. He was fighting Joe Torre!!!

If only Mola Ram had Scott Proctor to do his evil bidding.


Speaking of Joe Torre, and my omni-present desire to make fun of the Yankees and their woes, here's a shot of Alex "my wife is a crazy bitch" Rodriguez in the dugout after the Yankees lost yet another game:

Aww, is little A-Rod gonna cry?? *sniff* *sniff*

Real sports news tomorrow. We'll talk about the midseason break, All-Star selections, and the perfect example on how NOT to have an at-bat(also known as Julio Lugo).

Currently Drinking: Dos Equis Amber(the roommate keeps buying it)

Friday, June 29, 2007

an interesting perspective

In case you didn't know, the Boston Globe's Red Sox page is a GREAT source of information regarding the team, especially the left side of the page. Tons of good blogs and posts before, during, and way after the game. Anyways, over the past year or so of being a loyal boston.com reader, I've gotten to know the editors and beat reporters rather well. The one with my favorite writing style (and humor) is Amalie Benjamin. Her live "game blogs" are very informal, and actually quite funny.

A few days ago, boston.com revived an old segment that they did last year, entitled "The Sox I know." It is audio commentary(usually a few minutes) about each Sox player told by certain Boston Globe sports reporters. Last year it was done by Bob Ryan(boo), and this year, you guessed it, it is being done by Miss Benjamin. Check it out here. This week's players are Dice-K and Mike Lowell. It's just kinda cool to hear how the reporters that cover the team describe the players...as they know them.

And in case you didn't know, RBDS2 is in the Land of the Rising Sun for the next month, so it's all me for 30 days. Please try to contain your excitement.

Currently Drinking: Chocolate Milk(the best way to end the night)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

maybe this should be a regular feature

So I may have judged too early a few posts ago. THIS commercial(from waaay back) is awesome. Glavine and (especially) Maddux are some of the dorkiest guys to ever wear a major league uni, but thankfully they knew how to make fun of themselves.



Currently Drinking: Dos Equis Amber

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

sports roundup

No no, don't check your internet connection. It's really me. And this IS a new post. Just calm down. The last few weeks have been kind of crazy, and that has led to very little time for sports bloggin'(other than the occasional video of Terry Tate laying the smack down). Last week the Sox Gal and I attended the Red Sox series in Atlanta. It was glorious(like the Sox-themed caricature?). Sox took 2 out of 3, and we gave them their first back-to-back shutouts by an AL team in a looooong time. Beckett looked awesome. Schilling did not; guess that's why he's on the DL now. We also(and by we, I mean the Sox Gal) got tons of autographs. Can you say "Youuuuuuuuk"?

Anyways, lot's to talk about...

  • The whole Mark Buehrle deal. Apparently this deal was nowhere even close, ever since White Sox GM Kenny Williams wanted more/better prospects than Theo was willing to give(like Jacoby Ellsbury). No problem with me. Buehrle would have been a luxury, not a necessity.
  • I know this is weeks old, but it appears the Yankees watched all of Schilling's near-no-no, and they were cheering against him. Bastards. Just shows you that the players do indeed care about rivalries. Or, they just hate Schilling. Either is plausible.
  • Apparently, Renteria loved playing against the Red Sox, to show them "they were wrong." Yeh, ok Edgar, keep saying that. Granted, the Sox haven't exactly excelled in the shortstop position since Cabrera left after 2004. But dude, you sucked. I'm sorry.
  • Speaking of O-Cab, he tore into the Yankees fanbase a few weeks ago. Haha. Man I loved that guy.
  • Jon Lester hasn't exactly looked like himself the past few starts in Pawtucket, but thankfully there's no huge rush. Kason Gabbard steps in for Schill tonight in about 14 minutes. He got the "W" when the Braves rolled into Beantown last month.
  • Back to the Atlanta trip...boy do casual Sox fans suck. Tons of middle aged men asking for Sox players' autographs, and they don't even know who it is they're getting 'graphs from. Shame.
  • Then you have the 97% of them who only know 3 players on the Sox roster: Papi(they think that's his real name), Manny, and this new Matsuzaka fella. And they scream their names over and over again. Quite annoying.
  • Wimbledon has started. My FAVORITE of the Grand Slams! And seriously, how could you not like a tournament that has "The Championships" in its title? I'm obviously rooting for my leading lady, Miss Sharapova. We all know the men's tournament will be a joke. They should just give the trophy to Federe already.
  • As part of my birthday present last week, my father sent me several books. I'm currently reading Moneyball, by Michael Lewis. Absolutely amazing book.
  • I'm also reading The Physics of Baseball. For an engineer like me, it's paradise: baseball and science. Sweetness.
  • I also got Baseball Prospectus 2007 from my parents. Basically every stat and every record for every team and player in the big leagues. LOVE IT.
  • The Sox Gal came up with this idea a few days ago: She, Trevor, Miss Rookie, and I are gonna take a road trip up to DC in August. Who just happens to be playing in Baltimore at that time? Yup, you guessed it.
  • And finally, ESPN.com's Page 2 did this cool little write up of the 101 sports events you HAD to see before you die. Most are pretty good, but I'm gonna have to disagree vehemently with #49. They are WAY OFF.
And with that, I'm off to watch the Sox face off against the Mariners. MLB.tv is a wonderful thing.

Currrently drinking: Coors Light (in a bottle. they're just fun to open)

Sunday, June 24, 2007

more video!

Probably my favorite sports commercial...ever. Even more so than some of the best Sportscenter commercials out there. Anyways, kind of random, I know, but I'm in a video mood. So enjoy! "When it's game time, it's PAIN time, baby! WHOO!" hahaha




Currently Drinking: Actually, I'm EATING. My roommate just brought back some ribs, so I'm downing those.


Saturday, June 23, 2007

Roger Clemens...in 2057

Ok, this has been a big hit on Boston.com the last few weeks, so I figured it was its time to come to Sports on the Rox. It's funny, in my opinion, as it's not that far from the truth. You may also think it's kinda creepy in some respects, but then again, so is a professional organization resting their entire playoff hopes with $28 million on a 45-year old past his prime, right?





Currently Drinking: St. Paul's Lager (I have no idea. It's just the beer my roommate left in the fridge this weekend.)

Thursday, June 21, 2007

And Another Thing

Just a quick update. The third installment of the Pre-season rankings just came out and guess what... MSU is currently ranked 17th. The only other SEC team ranked higher than us is UT right now, but we all know that is bollocks. Actually they are looking pretty formidable but that's okay, I'd rather be ranked lower and climb my way to the town than have a slippery slope to descend. Alabama also makes it into the Top 25 at #24 but they have had health problems plague their best players.

I'm not leaving them out, currently Florida is not in the Top 25 though they received votes. They did make it in the second poll but no longer. Arkansas also has been receiving votes but have yet to break through into the top list.

In outer SEC news, Ohio State also is no longer in the Top 25, dropped out in the third round of polls. UNC is in 1st presently but my (used to be) darkhorse favorite Memphis is right behind them in second.

For the whole list CLICK HERE

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Survey Monkey

Found this cool website that lets you make quick and simple surveys. So I'm trying my hand out at one. Please fill it out, it won't take two minutes.

Click Here to take survey

College Talk

So State did not have too great of a showing in Omaha, but being the only team from the SEC to advance that far I still am proud of my DiamondDogs. But now that baseball is over (in terms of college) for MSU what should we look forward to? Obviously our baseball team will still be balling next season, so that's great. Football season is the closest... but the crown jewel of SEC sports, football is not such at MSU. With Croom in a contract year (I think, I've heard and read about seventeen different things) who knows, we could break out and have a .500+ season maybe. I need something I can be a little more enthusiastic about though. Oh yeah, BASKETBALL!

The Dawgs are shaping up to one hell of a formidable team this year. We were good last year, but had many areas of improvement. Losing nearly all of one class seems like it would hurt us, on paper. In all actuality, losing the Delks and Goodridge, I think, couldn't be better. But that's not the starting point. Let's examine this team a bit.

Jamont Gordon: He scared us a little bit months ago when he decided to join Charles Rhodes in the NBA draft. Smartly, and luckily for us, someone told him he probably wouldn't go first round so he pulled out and is going to play with State "one mo'again." He was good last year, working his way up to great after finally being coached into a real player making double-doubles and a record tying triple-double in the last few weeks of the season last year. And this year he's going to be even better. Rivals.com has him listed as the #1 Point Guard in the Nation in their power listings right now. Yeah, #1... Nation...

Charles Rhodes: Also went into the draft but did not gain his sense nearly as quick as Gordon, however earlier this week Rhodes also pulled out. Meaning he can't even become a free agent (like he would have if he had stayed in). With Varnado and Rhodes down low with JaGo wheeling and dealing we already have a formidable offense and two of the SEC's best defensive players.

Jarvis Varnado: I loved this kid last year. He kicks 7x the amount of ass that Goodridge did with about a thousand less turn overs. I really have no problem seeing Goodridge gone. I'm calling it right now, Varnado to lead the SEC in blocked shots next season. Bookmark this page, I said it first.

Everyone else already with us: We were so great last year because of our bench. We were very deep team. With Ben Hansbrough, Barry Stewart, and the Delks we were set. I see nothing but better seasons from lil'Hans and baby-faced Barry (that kid is nails) but we are losing two good, and I stress the mediocrity of the word good, players with the Delks. Offensively they were okay, draining threes at good moments and they came up with a lot of important defensive plays too. But in reality they were just good. No outstanding numbers. They could be clutch some of the time, and honestly I think the fact that they are twins added to people's appeal. They'll be missed, but not that much.

The Recruits: This is where we rock. Check these two kids out.

Romero Osby: Ranked at #10 in his position (Power Forward) for his recruiting class. A four star recruit made up of 6ft 8in and 230lbs.

and

Scotty Hopson: Ranked at #8 in his position (Small Forward) for his recruiting class. Also a four star recruit who is 6ft 5in and 185lbs. Rivals.com has some video footage of this kid and he is going to more than pull the Delks weight.

The only down side to these two great prospects right now is they are class of '08 so we may not be seeing them. But I'm a long term kind of guy. With our solid team still together from last year along with more play time for some of our bench guys (please be Stewart, please be Stewart) we are easily going to be a contender again for the SEC Championship and a good bid for the NCAA tourney.

Go Dawgs.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

"Omaha...sweet"

Such was the body of the text message my brother Will sent me mere seconds after Mississippi State's Mich Moreland struck out Clemson's Taylor Harbin to end the Super Regional sweep in front of a record breaking crowd at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.

So the Dawgs are headed to Omaha after a 9 year hiatus. It's pretty exciting. Especially after we were picked to finish last in the SEC West this year. That's why "predictions" are just that.

No long post today. Just a big CONGRATS to our fellow maroon dirt dawgs, and we wish them the best of luck. We'll be watching every game on ESPN and ESPN2. We can only hope Oral Hershiser will be doing the tv commentary along with Dan Shulman(a voice like butter).

GO DAWGS!

Currently Drinking: the rest of the Coors Light Josh left over here after Game 1

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

big ups to Damon...no, not THAT Damon












As funny/true as the video is, I probably say the same silent prayer that the rest of New England is thinking: "Please don't come back to bite us in the ass. Please don't come back to bite us in the ass. Please don't come back to bite us in the ass. "

Currently Drinking: Milk(I really need some beer, don't I?)

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

thank you, Mike Lowell

Sometimes we don't realize how the game of baseball affects people and their families. We also tend to overlook how professional baseball players are human being as well.

Peter Gammons, in his latest Insider Blog, talks about how Robinson Cano, after the Red Sox beating last Friday, was upset at Lowell practically elbowing the 2nd baseman in order to break up a possible double play. Cano complained after the game, and many in baseball seemed to reciprocate that view. Many called Lowell a "cheap-shot artist." Lowell was just giving the Yankee middle infield a taste of what A-Rod did to Pedroia weeks back, but that's not the point. Gammons goes on to cite this story from the Boston Herald that showed the REAL Mike Lowell. I've pasted the short article below.

In a family’s darkest hour, Mike Lowell [stats] offered a bit of light.


Courtney Butcher couldn’t have been more excited about the prospect of sitting in Fenway Park [map]’s Green Monster seats for the Red Sox [team stats]’ April 22 game against the Yankees. It was an excitement evidenced in a phone conversation to her father, Jim, two days earlier.

That, however, would be the last time father and daughter would speak.

An hour after Jim’s conversation with Courtney, the 18-year-old was killed in a car crash on a country road in Leicester. Also killed in the accident were teenagers Nathan Plaza, Bryan Rossik and Julianne Caron.

Two nights after the tragedy, Courtney’s favorite player, Lowell, and the rest of the Red Sox played the game the University of New Hampshire freshman was supposed to see. Right on cue, Lowell launched one of the Sox’ four straight home runs near the spot Butcher was supposed to be.


Then, in the seventh inning, Lowell did it again, this time sending his homer even farther. The blast prompted ESPN announcer Jon Miller to say, “That one is headed to New Hampshire!”

The Butchers took notice.

Through a family friend, the Butchers got word to Lowell the following Tuesday regarding what happened. The Red Sox signed one of his game jerseys, writing “Courtney, may God be with you. Rest in peace.”


A day later the shirt was hung near Courtney’s casket during her wake and is encased at the Worcester family’s home as a reminder of their daughter.


But Lowell also added something else that Tuesday night, after personalizing the memento - another home run, this time coming after a momentous prediction.


“They told me he said he would hit a home run that night,” Jim Butcher said. “It was just a tremendous thing he did.”

When asked last night, Lowellindicated it was the least he could do.

“If it can lighten the load for people who are going through tough times, then that’s great,” he said. “You want to make people feel better any way you can in that situation.”


Amazing story, eh? Thank you Mike Lowell for not only being a great example to kids everywhere and great ballplayer, but thank you for being an amazing human being.

Currently Drinking: Chocolate Milk(protein, baby!)

Dual Post

The post is a two-fer, so feel extra special! First off, commenting on Horne's latest post: I love the Yankees this year. Bet you never thought you'd "hear" me say that, but I do. Everything they touch turns to dust.
Ex: Red Sox got an awesome Japanese import so we better do the same... and send a 40+ Million dollar investment to the minors. We should fire our strength and conditioning coach... and send over half our starters to the DL. We should pick up Clemens to easily coast us past the Red Sox... and have him hurt before he makes it to the majors.

They can't do anything right for once and it's hysterical. And that's without looking at some of their prize possessions falling terribly short of expectations. A-rod could not have cooled off faster if he'd been dropped into liquid Oxygen, despite his homer last night. I'm not positive that Abreu is still alive. Cano and Cabrerra have been shells of themselves of yesteryear. And Jeter continues to prove his mediocrity at shortstop. Oh yah, and they are TIED with the DEVIL RAYS. Yes, the team that usually ends up 20 or more games behind in the ALEast is TIED with the Yanks.

It is such a strange feeling to not be constantly trying to catch up. I find myself saying things like, "that sucks we lost. we better shape up less our lead be cut to a single digit." It's great for the moral of the team and all of our players aren't having to press themselves, taking days off when needed and giving much needed field time for utility guys like Pena and Cora (who both have been performing brilliantly). Roger could not scare me less if he were a fluffy pink teddy bear kissing a puppy.

Part Two:
Just to tell everyone, I went to the MS Braves game last night at Trustmark Park. For minors, that place is awesome. There are tons of vendors, modestly priced food and beverages, not a bad seat in the place, and respectable ticket prices. Best of all, if you buy the cheapest tickets ($5 to sit in the outfield grass or picnic tables) and the stadium doesn't fill up you can move to the base line seats with no hassle.

It was a great game by Seattle's farm the DiamondJaxx. That lead changed three or four times coming down to a bottom of the ninth walk off single by the Braves. I really got into the game (hell it's baseball right) but I must say like those Braves that came before them (Saltalamacchia & McCann) the MS team has some great players with fantastic baseball names. I will surely be attending more games this summer and I highly recommend you do as well if you have the opportunity.
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