The Deadzone.

This is the time o' year when sports gets a little lean for me. Football is still on, but the most we get is twice a week. Roundball is on as well but you can not find a daily game on any of the channels.

I hate this time o' year. I fucking despise it.

Oh, and I sucked all year fantasy-wise. None of my teams made it to the playoffs..none, zilch, zip, nada.

I just want the new year to start..now!

NLCS starts tomorrow-Go Dodgers!

I am rooting for the Dodgers..yes, it's true. Why?

I want a SoCal freeway series, thats why. If the Angels can knock off the Yank$ and the Dodgers can sink the Phillies..I will get it.

As my baseball season comes to a close..I am sad as the winter doesn't offer much in the way of sports after the Super Bowl.

Yes, I know...basketball and hockey will be alive and kicking. But they just don't ring my bell like a good baseball game.

Little Leaguer asks permission to plunk a batter.

This is SO rich!



From Deadspin's writeup on this:

Baseball is supposed to teach youngsters the value of teamwork and fair play. But sometimes the game is just so damn frustrating that all you want to do is drill some kid in the back with a fastball. Mercer Island's Brandon Lawler certainly understood that after allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score in the top of the sixth (and final) inning against Georgia—an inning that included three wild pitches and two passed balls. His coach came out to talk him down, but Lawler was not in the mood.

COACH: "Hey, we're going to come up again."
PITCHER: "Is it okay if I just hit this batter?"
COACH: "What? No. No. Are you kidding me? ... Let's get this guy. Come on. We're still in this game. One-run game. You wanna stay in?"
PITCHER: "No."
COACH: "You wanna come out right now?"
PITCHER: "Yes, I do. Can I sit out?"
COACH: "No, you're going to first base."

Well, the kid might be a quitter and a pussy, but you and I both know plenty of adult ball players are jackasses too on the field of dreams.

Vick signs with Eagles.

Espn is reporting the Eagles have signed Vick to a two year contract.

It's Here! NFL season starts this weekend.

The preseason starts this Sunday with the Hall of Fame game. Buffalo vs Tennesee. Anyone remember that highschool play that Tenn pulled to sink Buffalo in the playoffs? The Music City Miracle...


Tt's also T.O's first game on the boob tube.

Jeez, I can't wait to see T.O. act the ass..really, I can't. Will I draft him? Dunno yet, but it's unlikely.

Now that I have forced the Ball n' Chain™ to get DirecTV, I will not miss one friggin game, as I now get the NFL Network. This makes me happy.

Chargers still haven't signed their first round pick..

Ah yes..football..a sport that has the shortest god damn season of any American sport.

Delana and Kevin Harvick buy Kern River Raceway

The word around Bakersfield is that Delana Harvick has purchased the new and as yet incomplete racetrack just outside of town. The Kern River Raceway has been seeking a buyer for over six months. The track is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. From our local rag, the Bakersfield Californian:

The bankruptcy filing listed an estimated 50 to 99 creditors owed $10,000,001 to $50 million, and assets of $10,000,001 to $50 million.

Most of the creditors are contractors and subcontractors who worked on the partially built race track, which broke ground in February 2007.

The half-mile track is listed as worth $30 million according the Californian article. I hope this rumor is true as Kevin is a homegrown hero and would see to it that the track was finished and operational. Another owner might not keep it as a track and turn it into friggin homes, like every other piece of land around Bakersfield.

Feds rescue over 400 fighting dogs in one day.

It’s the biggest dogfighting raid in the history of law enforcement. It took place over seven states and netted 26 people that will hopefully one day rot in hell for what they have done. From the San Francisco Examiner:

State and federal agents staged raids in several states, charging individuals in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas following a more-than-year-long investigation originally tipped off by the Humane Society of Missouri.

In Missouri, prosecutors said members of a multistate ring routinely denied the dogs medical treatment and “destroyed” injured dogs who were no longer able to fight by shooting them “in the head, throwing them into the river or burning them in a barrel.”

Although the arrests stem from the same investigation, the rings were not “one concentrated, organized conspiracy.” United States attorneys in four districts will try the cases separately.

Kathy Warnick, president of the Humane Society of Missouri called the raid the “largest coordinated rescue in U.S. history.” “This heinous, heinous bloodsport is not going to be tolerated,” she told the New York Daily News.

The Humane Society of Missouri is sheltering more than 300 dogs - believed to be mostly pit bull terriers - seized in Missouri and Illinois raids. The dogs will be housed, cared for and evaluated at an undisclosed emergency shelter in St. Louis.

I just can not wrap my mind around humans that do this. I just can not. They would kill the losing dogs by shooting them and burning the bodies.

Slamming Sammy being investigated..

By the folks he lied to in 2005..Congress. From AP:

A congressional committee will look into former baseball slugger Sammy Sosa’s(notes) denial that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs in light of a report that he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Democratic Rep. Edolphus Towns of New York, says that the committee takes seriously suggestions that a witness had been misleading.

Towns said in a statement Wednesday that he will determine the appropriate steps following a review of the matter.

In 2005, Sosa told Congress that he had never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Sosa tested positive two years before his appearance at a House hearing.

There goes the Hall of Fame Sammy..say goodbye!

When Politics and Sports mix..

The Coleman v Franken election case is now in the hands of the MN Supreme Court. One of the associate justices is none other than Alan Page.

Mr. Page is in the NFL Hall of Fame. He played as a MN Viking and a Chicago Bear. He will help decide whether Coleman gets his wish in counting absentee votes or if Franken is the winner hands down.

I was watching the MN Supreme Court hearing this morning online and when they showed Justice Page and put up his name in the video..I knew that I knew that guy from somewhere...

Just a tidbit of info you should know..or not! ;)

Lakers lose...again.

It's been interesting in that the Lakers and Nuggets keep switching back and forth. No one team has won two in a row yet during the Western Conf finals.

As for the Cav's...dunno 'bout them guys..They can't expect Lebron to win all the games for them.

So, are the Cav's that bad or is Orlando that good? We find out tonight.

Long live the King! Lebron saves the game.

Lebron James showed why he is The King tonight. His only 3-pointer that went in was at the final buzzer.

Cav's actually didn't lead in any category for most of the game. Cleveland scored more points in the first quarter and never led in that category for the rest of the game.

Orlando is a better 'team' as far as spreading the points around. Cav's depend on Lebron. Both games were decided by a point..that's freaking it..

You can't win a series if only one guy is the go-to guy in fucking roundball. It's a team sport for a fucking reason.

Orlando got more points out of their bench than Cleveland even dreamed of. 26 vs 14 for the Cav's. Boxscore here.

It isn't going to be a slam dunk for the Cav's. I think this might go seven..but I could be wrong. ;)

But remember this..only two players have scored more points in the first two games of the division championship than Lebron's 84..Jerry West and Rick Barry. And it was a helluva long time ago. Tonite he had 35 points. (I think..long evening folks)

Lakers lose..

Warms the cockles of my lil' black heart don't cha know? ;)

Tonight is game two of the Eastern Conference finals..YAY! Hopefully the Cav's will be consistent the whole game, not just one half.

Padres have actually won more than two games in a row. Praise Jeebus!

Jack Peavy told the Pads to fuck off on the trade to the ChiSox. heh..

Today's interesting sports happenings..

Holy fuckamoly..what was Lackey thinking when his first pitch blew past the batter's back and the second pitch hit the batter? The ump thinks he knows..

The umpire tossed his ass after the second pitch.

On the horseracing front..the filly Rachel Alexandra beats all the boys by a length. Last filly to beat the boys in the Preakness was in...wait for it..1924.

Her jockey was none other than Calvin Borel, which is a trip unto itself as he won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago riding Mine that Bird, who btw came in second today after coming from last place. Calvin is the first jockey to ever do that. So he could win the triple crown..but there will not be a horse that can do it this year..strange eh?

Tomorrow is D-day for four basketball teams- Houston/Lakers and Orlando/Boston. I am rooting for Boston and against the Lakers tomorrow.

My hope is the Cav's will be the reining champs of the NBA. Long live King James!

Good bye Chuck Daly.

It is sad to know 'Daddy Rich' is gone from this world. His Pistons beat the shit out of the Lakers in the '89 playoffs. He coached some of the greatest players in the game.

Whatever team he coached, they always made the playoffs. First American team to win Olympic gold was coached by Daddy Rich.

He dressed for success but was down to earth.
Say hello to Red Auerbach Chuck, I feel quite sure you will see him soon.

Y tu Manny*?

I have raged a lot about cheating, aka roid use and the idiots that try to go down that road.

But Manny, he just took a hormone that is usually prescribed to women. Keith Olbermann, former ESPN talking head and now a political talking head has a great piece on Manny Ramirez today. The video isn't available yet..when it is..I will put it up here.

As for Manny and his use of cheating materials..here is AP's take:

Whats wrong with this picture? He fucking lied for Christ's sake. Yes, he passed 15 drug tests..so fucking what?

We all remember the one you failed..and so will the sports writers that elect you fuckwits into the Hall of Fame. SI's article, which I will filch part of below:

Mannywood was rocked Thursday when the All-Star outfielder was suspended for 50 games for using a banned drug.

"Do I still think we can win without him? I think he makes us a better team when he's with us, but without him we still have a good team and we're still capable of winning us some ballgames,'' Martin said before Thursday night's game against Washington.

"He's one of the best hitters of all time, so it's definitely going to be tough. But what can you do? You've just got to move on and keep plugging away. You have to take it either as a challenge, and that's what we're going to do,'' he said.

Even before the first pitch of the game, Ramirez's penalty had a noticeable effect. The Manny-style dreadlock hats that had been on sale at the concession stands at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night had been pulled off at least one shelf. Other Manny-related memorabilia was missing, too.

The Dodgers said there may have been a misunderstanding with the Ramirez merchandise, but that it still was for sale.

Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said he called Ramirez and that the 36-year-old star called him back.

"He feels very badly. Right now he's trying to gather his thoughts,'' Torre said.

He feels badly? I bet he feels real bad about losing a third of his $25 mil salary..

What do you think? The asterisk..*..it will follow you all the days of your career dude..bet on it you fucking douchebag.

Long live The King!!!!

King James was absolutely awesome last night. This kid is only 24, but he is a veteran of round ball as anyone that follows Basketball knows.

34 points he scored. I think he showed us why he is the leagues MVP this year. From the Guardian link:

Leading 49-44 at halftime, Cleveland turned up the pressure, outscoring the Hawks 50-28. The visitors scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Mo Williams added 21 points and Delonte West had 13 for the Cavaliers, who host Game Two on Thursday.

Josh Smith had 22 points for Atlanta and Mike Bibby contributed 19.
"We competed for a half, but that wasn't good enough," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

Cleveland had not played since April 26 after sweeping the Detroit Pistons 4-0 in the opening round of the playoffs.
Atlanta was taken to a deciding Game Seven by the Miami Heat before winning the series 4-3 on Sunday.

I do love watching the playoffs which are also known as the second season..they last forevah! Lebron James gets better every year. His maturity surpasses many of the players that are a decade older than he is.

Now, being a Celtics fan..its gonna be interesting for me this year. No KG, but the Celt's did win their series.