Archive for the ‘MLB’ Category

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Posted: April 9, 2013 by dontbeskerritt in College Basketball, Games, Hockey, MLB, NBA, NCAA, NHL
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College Basketball's One Shining Moment

College Basketball’s One Shining Moment

I won’t start this post with a glowing tribute to college basketball.  Before the masterpiece that was the National Championship game, college basketball looked to be in big trouble.  Poor play, awful officiating, coaches kicking players, it was not a good time to be a college basketball defender.  The tournament, with the exception of Florida Gulf Coast and a couple of games here and there, was a clunker.  Even the Michigan-Syracuse game became a letdown, limping to finish behind spotty decision-making on the floor, on the bench, and by the refs.

But then Monday night happened and showed us the best of basketball.

Suddenly this time of year, from the middle of March to June, was shoved back to the forefront as the best time for sport fans.  Forget the beginning of football season, college and pro, or December to February.  This time is the time for sports fans and Monday night reminded us of that.  The game between Michigan and Louisville had athleticism, talent, and coaching all at its best.  A rocking dome, with the Fab Five in attendance added frosting to the cake.  A movie like performance by Spike Albrecht, who came off the bench averaging 1.6 points per game, then proceeded to drop 17 points easily in the first half, then MOP Luke Hancock bringing his team back with 4 straight 3s (and Phil Jackson’s commentary on twitter about momentum).  Then the 2nd half, with Allen Ive- I mean Trey Burke bounce up and down off the canvas trying to push his team to victory (Burke easily was the best player on the court and it wasn’t even close).  Peyton Siva, with an all-world performance in the battle of some of the best backcourts in the country.  In the end, Louisville’s mental toughness won out over Michigan’s youthful exuberance.  The only thing missing was a last-second shot opportunity to cap it off.  What a treat to the sports fans, at least those that were able to stay up and watch.

Even Mascots Love This Time of Year

Even Mascots Love This Time of Year

But this is just the beginning of this glorious time of year.  Baseball started last week, and the storylines are already forming with the Battle of LA, Cano signing with Jay-Z, the Yankees and Red Sox being trash, the Big Red Machine, the two nice Upton Brothers, Washington’s Rise, and the Astros and Marlins competing for being the worst team ever.  This week the Masters starts, and Tiger Woods has his life together seemingly, because he has his game back.  Later this month, the NHL starts their playoffs, which is arguably the most dramatic games of the year, especially if and when the game goes to overtime.  Not to mention the Kentucky Derby at the beginning of May if you like to participate in America’s greatest pastime; gambling.

Finally, in two weeks, the greatest basketball players in the world start their tournament, in what projects to be the another fantastic NBC playoffs.  The West looks wide open, from the number one seed down to the five.  Yes, I included Memphis because not having Rudy Gay makes them better.  Heck, if the Lakers get in (and even me, the diabolical Laker hater wants the purple and gold to get mollywhopped in the playoffs) that could be intriguing at least.  In the East, let’s not pretend we are not dying for a Heat-Knicks showdown in the Conference Finals, especially with Carmelo hitting the B button 7 times, then going up, Y, B before each game.  Just to hear that Madison Square Garden organ in meaningful playoff games (and wins, they’ve only had 1 in 12 years), is life for NBA fans.

From the great sports on TV, great weather outside to turn into a weekend warrior, Iron Man 3, and the return of the sundress, this is probably the greatest time of year for the Mancave  Now if we can get Phil Jackson to tweet all about it to make it even better.

MLB Playoff Power Poll: AL Edition

Posted: October 5, 2012 by dontbeskerritt in MLB
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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For the NL Playoff Power Poll, click on this link.

The NL playoffs is a crapshoot.  The AL playoffs were suppose to be a sure thing until this week.  So who is a contender to make it to the World Series?  Let’s rank the participants.

5. Oakland Athletics – As a Nationals fan, I guess I should root for the A’s because they gave us Gio Gonzalez, and the guys we gave up (Tommy Milone and Derek Norris) have really produced for this scrappy squad.  Their entire pitching staff, from starters to bullpen is solid, even though you don’t know who their names are (because I know I don’t).  They lost their veteran pitchers, the rookies came in and picked up the slack.  The team plays hard every night, which keeps them in most games.  The hitting is much to be desired; they have a .238 batting average.  Who do they think they are, the Astros!  But if the power hitters come through, this team can keep their improbable run alive.  Is Disney already working on Moneyball 2?

4. Baltimore Orioles – The better of the nobody believes in us squads.  25 guys have contributed for this team, 40 in September.  Everyone is all in.  Buck Showalter has plugged and played and pushed this team along.  If it’s a one-run game, which most of these playoff games are, then the Orioles have to be a favorite to pull it out.  They have clutch hitting, led by Adam Jones which is crucial in the playoffs.  Their bullpen is actually pretty dominant, with Jim Johnson on the back-end to shut down opponents.  Did I mention that Buck Showalter is the best manager in these playoffs.  The ‘Orioles Way’ is back and hopefully here to stay.

From Greatest to Goat, just like that

3. Texas Rangers – It was all good a week ago.  The Rangers were going to be runaway winners of the AL West and have home-field in the AL Playoffs.  Then bad pitching, and bad Josh Hamilton defense happened.  Now they are in a wild card playoff with the upstart Orioles.  Where did it all go wrong?  I couldn’t put this team in the top 2 because of their September swoon (15-16, Sept-Oct included), but this team really has the talent to in the World Series.  It would really be upsetting if they didn’t because of the last two playoff runs for this team.  Also, the fact they may lose Hamilton in free agency makes this playoff run more urgent, but with the way he’s playing right now, would they miss him?  If the pitching returns to form with this lineup, the Rangers will be a tough out.  But can they get through the wild card game?

2. New York Yankees – If this was any other team, this would be my 4th ranked team.  But it is the Yankees, so of course they will win it all.  A week ago, they could have been playing in the wild-card game.  Now they are the Number 1 seed.  That’s the Yankees magic.  I don’t like their lineup because they are home-run or bust.  But watch Robinson Cano start hitting doubles the opposite way and Derek Jeter starts hitting seeing eye singles.  I don’t like their pitching.  I don’t even know who will be the 2nd starter; but watch that guy (probably Andy Pettitte pitch 7+ innings.  Why? Yankee Magic.  That’s why they are 2nd on this list.

1. Detroit Tigers – This may be the worst defense team in the playoffs, so how are they my favorite in the AL?  Well for one they have a Triple Crown winner.  No one has had that kind of weapon since 1967.  The 3-4 part of the lineup of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder carried the Tigers into the playoffs.  The problem with the Tigers all season has been the guys not named Cabrera-Fielder, especially in the bottom of the order.  But if they can string together hits and manufacture runs, just like experts expected them to do at the beginning of the season, the Tigers will be tough to beat.  Throw in the Justin Verlander-Max Scherzer-Doug Fister pitching rotation, and they are down-right lethal.

So the Mancave picks a Braves-Tigers World Series.  Congratulations to those fans, now that will never happen.  But this is really the 2nd best time of year with NFL, NBA starting, NHL (if they would get their act together), and now the MLB postseason.  So buckle up for the ride, because I guarantee something will happen that you don’t expect.

MLB Playoff Power Poll: NL Edition

Posted: October 2, 2012 by dontbeskerritt in MLB
Tags: , ,
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Ah the autumn wind is blowing over the country.  That means playoff baseball and 3+ hour games that actually will leave you on the edge of your seats.  Since teams for the NL tournament are pretty much locked up, we’re going ahead and rank the 5 teams that can best make the World Series.  What makes the NL so awesome this year is that any of these teams can make, it is that wide open.  Each team possess a strength that sets them apart, and a weakness that can be exploited.  It definitely will come down to which team is hot in the playoffs.

5. St. Louis Cardinals - They may not be sexy, but they get the job done.  Without Tony LaRussa and Albert Pujols, the Cards are back in the playoffs.  They are as dangerous as any NL team in the playoffs, as the Nationals found out this past weekend.  They are the defending champs as well, so no stage will be too daunting for them.  They also are a very good defensive team so they will not beat themselves.  However, it is a question on who can get a big hit, or drive in a big run for them in the clutch.  Also, Chris Carpenter is not the same pitcher as he was last year, and even Adam Wainwright has been getting hit around in the latter part of the season.  The bullpen is also a question mark.

4. San Francisco Giants - This could be the best starting pitching staff there is in the tournament, with perhaps the best home-field in the NL.  Tim Lincecum, who has won 2 Cy Young awards, barely made the NLDS rotation.  They have a perfect game winner in Matt Cain.  Madison Bumgarner has been awesome the entire year, though he has slowed down toward the end of the season.  Either Ryan Vogelsong or Barry Zito will make a fine 4th starter and they will probably be better than the other team’s 4th starter.  The question mark is the offense, but lately they have been dominate, and that’s without the cheater Melky Cabrera.  Buster Posey has been lights out, and Marco Scutaro has filled in where Melky left off (hitting over .400 since being acquired).  The Giants are not going to bring back Cabrera in the playoffs, which I think is a mistake because he is better than Gregor Blanco.  But why mess with what is working?  The bullpen is the worst of the 5 teams in the NL playoffs, with Sergio Romo, the 8th inning set-up guy, as the closer.

3. Washington Nationals - I’ve watched a lot of Nationals baseball this year, so this will be a little more in-depth.  Let’s start with pitching.  I would have the Nats up higher if Stephen Strasburg was still in the rotation, but the it is still pretty formidable without him.  However Edwin Jackson is no Strasburg, and the rest of the rotation has been getting hit around as of late.  Gio Gonzalez has a history of losing command of his pitches, and there are worries about Jordan Zimmermann’s shoulder.   This might be the 2nd best bullpen with Aroldis Chapman of the Reds having a sore shoulder.  If they can get to the 7th inning, Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard, and Drew Storen can make it a really short game.  However, Clippard has lost some of his edge, and if he starts missing pitches, it all goes downhill fast.

As for the offense, this is a feast or famine team.  They can score 10 runs in a game, or 2 depending on the day.  They don’t manufacture runs very well (8th in NL in sacrifice hits) and are 3rd in strikeouts in the NL.  That won’t bode well when you are facing the top 3 pitchers a team has to offer, EVERY NIGHT.  They have a lot of very good hitters with no glaring holes in their lineup, but no great hitter that you can see carrying them in a pinch.  But if someone gets hot, like the Jayson Werth/Bryce Harper combo, or Ian Desmond, this team could be really dangerous.  This team has the best bench with a power and speed balance unlike any other team.  Playoff inexperience is a problem, but their manager Davey Johnson and World Series champ Werth will get these guys ready.  I would like the Nationals position a lot better if they were 2nd seed as you will see why later.

Johnny Cueto has been balling all year

2. Cincinnati Reds - The best defensive team in the NL playoffs, along with the best hitter in Joey Votto.  The starting pitching has come around (Homer Bailey just pitched a no-hitter).  However, they still could be throwing Bronson Arroyo to the mound for a game 3.  The bullpen was awesome before power meter in Aroldis Chapman’s arm went down to red.  But you aren’t intimidated about any of they starts (Johnny Cueto is the #1 starter and he has worn down).  But their lineup is very good, anchored by Votto, and surrounded by Jay Bruce, who had a career year, Brandon Phillips, and Ryan Ludwick.  Dusty Baker is as good as it gets managerial-wise in the playoffs.  No one talks about the Reds, and maybe that is their secret weapon.

1. Atlanta Braves - Might be the most unbeatable team in the MLB, if everything breaks their way.  If Michael Bourn hits at the top of the lineup, their offense will be potent.  If Kris Medlen and Mike Minor stay unhittable, it is the best 1-2 punch in the rotation (since Strasburg is gone).  If the Braves can give their bullpen the lead, games are an absolute lock.  Jason Heyward has found himself, Freddie Freeman is raking, and Chipper Jones is playing like he is 20, not 40.  But the Braves are very streaky; they can get shut down for a couple of games straight.  The Braves play almost as good defense as the Reds.  This team has the look of destiny; they have to hope they just get by that one-game playoff first.  If they do, they will give the #1 seed a lot of fits in the NLDS.  If I were the Reds or Nationals, I would avoid that #1 seed at all costs.

Meltdown Over Shutdown

Posted: August 15, 2012 by dontbeskerritt in MLB
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Well, since other baseball experts have waded into the Strasburg shutdown decision that Nationals have already made, the Mancave might as well too.  It’s been a great summer for us here, with a great NBA Playoffs, the Olympics, and with an unbelievably fun team to watch in the Nationals.  The Nationals went from a scrappy young team with great pitching early in the season, to the potential juggernaut that the world saw on Monday Night with a 14-2 win in San Francisco.  Through this team transformation has been the looming subplot; Stephen Strasburg will not finish the season.  He will be shutdown.  Even when we were in 1st place by a string in May and June, we in the Mancave agreed this was the right thing to do.  Why force Strasburg to pitch past fatigue and hurt himself all over again?  Why mortgage the future for a shot in 2012?  But as June has dragged into August and the Nats have gotten better, I have come to this conclusion:

I think the Nationals are doing the wrong thing.

I completely understand the thinking.  In fact I wouldn’t even argue with you if you believe the Nats are right.  The guys running the team have more knowledge in their dirty socks than I have in my whole body.  They say they have the studies to prove that their decision is right (which this article and this article state otherwise).  The Nats think if they get Strasburg fully healthy, they can make runs at a title for a long time. And really, there are 24 other guys who have excelled on this team right along with Strasburg.  In fact, you can argue that Strasburg is the 3rd best pitcher on the staff.   This team is built to win for the long haul, like Oklahoma City in basketball.

But baseball is not basketball.  The best team talent-wise may not make the playoffs, like they do easily in the NBA.  One season all your hits go in to the gaps, next year they are sharp liners to the outfielders.  One year your pitchers are Cy Young award winners.  The next year they can’t get out the 5th.  Baseball is a game where you make your own luck, but the gods affect things in many ways.

This is So Long Ago

Take the case of the Phillies.  I moved to Philadelphia in 2009, the year after their World Series run.  I moved up when they were planning another one on Broad Street for that year.  They had just traded for Cliff Lee, partially because 2008 World Series MVP was awful.  They made the World Series that year but lost to a better Yankees team.  No biggie, in 2010 they reloaded with Roy Halladay and Placido Polanco and traded for Roy Oswalt.  What happens?  They don’t even make the World Series, losing to the inferior Giants.  Certainly, 2011 would be their year with Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Oswalt.  They don’t even get out the first round.  The Phillies were suppose to contend this year.  They are currently 10 games back – of the wild card.  That 2008 Phillies squad was supposed to win multiple championships too.  4 years and no rings later, they are in rebuilding mode.  You just never know what next year will bring.

Right now Strasburg is at 133 innings going into his start tonight vs the Giants.  He probably has 6 or 7 more starts left in him which would take him to late September then he’s done.  The Nationals won’t have a full arsenal going into October and that’s fine by management.  There’s no use arguing. There’s no use debating.  As Jayson Stark said, we’ll never know if it was the right move, whether Strasburg gets hurt or not, whether the Nationals win or not.  It’s just amazing that a team has a chance to win and they will not go all out to win.  It’s amazing that what Strasburg has trained his whole life for – October baseball, is going to be torn from his fingers. I feel this is supposed to be a Chris Rock standup; I’m not saying that I condone this decision – but I understand.

Triple Play: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Baseball’s 1st Half

Posted: July 11, 2012 by dontbeskerritt in MLB
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Best Player In Baseball…By Far

I hope you are enjoying the worst day on the sports calendar; the day right after the MLB All-Star Game.  No games on, football games are weeks away from starting, and NBA free agency is lagging (even though this year, the NBA offseason has been fantastic!)  So to entertain you on this dreadful day, and catch you up on what you may have missed watching the NBA, here is the good, bad, and ugly of baseball’s first half.

Is Bryce the Real Deal?
That’s A Clown Question, Bro?

The Good – Let’s talk about some surprise teams.  The Pirates, led by easily the 1st half NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, has seemingly put it together with great pitching from James McDonald and former castaway A.J. Burnett.  Even better than the Pirates, the Nationals are the best team in the NL with 3 starting pitchers who could start for most teams, along with spark plug Bryce Harper.  In the AL, it’s the usual suspects at the top with the Yankees and Rangers.  But the Orioles have turned their fortunes around behind Adam Jones hot bat, and Cleveland is in first, if only because the AL Central is suspect.

The Bad – Well good thing we have surprise team to excite us, because these other teams have been god awful.  The Red Sox and Tigers have struggled staying at the .500 level, but it’s the Phillies and Marlins that have really been woeful.  It’s really hard to believe, since their offense is statistically better than last year with a healthy Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.  All these teams have proven that baseball is not just stockpiling the best arms and bats to overpower everyone.  The Tigers have no pitching outside Verlander and bad defense; the Marlins are more streaky than Will Ferrell in Old School; the Phillies have no bullpen, no depth and are too old;  and the Red Sox just hate each and everyone hates the manager.  Can’t win that way, can’t do it.

The Ugly – This is actually a beautiful thing for a Nationals fan like myself, but the National League is easily the NFC West of the two leagues.  There is no way that the Nats should be the favorites in the league, but top to bottom, there really isn’t a team that you could see upending them.  The Dodgers don’t have the offense or pitching depth.  The Nats just swept the Giants and their ace Tim Lincecum is struggling this year.  The Cardinals don’t have their ace Chris Carpenter either.  The Reds could come close but their starting pitching isn’t intimidating.  You can’t count on the Braves, especially after last year, and the Mets have been overachieving all year.  Could we see a Nats-Pirates NLCS?  The baseball gods wouldn’t allow that right?

As for the AL, I would love to see Yankees-Rangers again but the Angels, not led by grisled veteran Albert Pujols, but by the young gun, Mike Trout, could overtake the Rangers.  As for the Yankees, they clearly are the class of the MLB, and that’s with them cutting payroll.  So for the ALCS, I have Angels-Yankees.  It should be an interesting next two months for baseball as these races heat up.  If you don’t care about that, at least it will entertain you until football returns.

Yankees-Red Sox…We Still Get These Games Force-fed to Us!

 

The Most Exciting Game in All of Sports

Posted: April 26, 2012 by dontbeskerritt in Hockey, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL
Tags: ,
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We at the Mancave have a stern rule, don’t talk about a subject you don’t know anything about (which you could argue we violate every time we come up here).  So that is why it is rare we talk about hockey on here.  But this is one thing I know about hockey; Game 7 in the playoffs is by far the best, most exciting game in all of sports.

When you pit hockey’s do-or-die game against those in basketball and baseball, it is usually no comparison.  In basketball,  the home team, or the better team (which is usually to same), win out in the end.  In baseball, the hotter team, or the better pitching staff is triumphant.  But in hockey, there is no rhyme or reason to anything in Game 7.  A hot goalie usually is the one to root for, but pucks can go anywhere and everywhere.  One lucky (or unlucky) bounce can doom your team.  Every shot on goal is nerve-wracking and as time ticks down, your hair stands on end.  And what happens when the game goes to OT?  Better have your defibrillator ready.

So congrats to the Capitals for their Game 7 win.  I hope you check out the 2 game 7′s tonight, in the Rangers vs Senators and Panthers vs Devils.  I hope we get a bunch of Game 7s in the NBA playoffs.  I hope every series from now on goes 7, because there is nothing like it.  I’ll leave you with my most memorable Game 7s of all time.

#5 – 2003 Red Sox vs Yankees: The year before the Red Sox finally crushed the curse of the Bambino, the curse of Aaron Bleepin’ Boone began.  Boone’s moon shot in the 11th inning of Game 7 lifted the Yankees to the World Series.  Considering the Red Sox would win 2 World Series after that homer run, I guess every disappointment can be a blessing.

#4 2009 Celtics vs Lakers: Kobe Bryant 6-24. Ron Artest the clutch player.  And Boston going stone cold in the 4th.  Lakers stealing the game and the title at home.  It was the first sign of the end of the world.  This may be the worst, but best basketball game I have ever seen.

#3 2000 Trail Blazers vs Lakers: The beginning of the Lakers most recent dynasty.  The Blazers blew a 15-point 4th quarter lead.  Of course, they had Mike Dunleavy as a coach so it’s no surprise.  The iconic alley-oop from Kobe Bryant to Shaq still haunts my memories.

#2 2012 Capitals vs Bruins: I’m a homer with a short memory, sue me.  You can also put 2009 1st round game 7 for the Caps vs the Rangers right here.  The 2nd round Game 7 when the Caps got smacked by the Penguins ranks #666.  But that series was fantastic.

#1 2001 Yankees vs Diamondbacks: No one could get a hit off of Mariano Rivera…until Luis Gonzalez smacked the ball back through the middle to stop the Yankee’s dynasty.  The fact that Sports Illustrated called this the best postseason game of the decade means nothing to me whatsoever.

The Hit Heard Around the World

Football Friday: Paranormal Activity

Posted: October 28, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in MLB, NFL
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Sorry, I’m wiping the crust from my 3rd eyelid after Game 6 of the World Series kept me up later than I expect.  In one of the wildest, wackiest games in baseball history, much less World Series history, the Cardinals forced game 7 by coming back twice when they were down 2 in the 9th inning or later.  There were 6 home runs including the game-winning homer and 5 errors.  There were Ron Washington celebrations and Nolan Ryan stank faces.  The game had everything that you want in a game and somethings that you don’t want, but it makes the game that much more awesome.  So I know we do the weekend TV preview at the end, but I want to make sure you watch Game 7 of the best World Series since 2001 (I know ’02 went 7 games but I don’t think I watched one pitch of that series).  I know its Friday, but I would hate to see Say Yes to the Dress beat Game 7 in ratings tomorrow so I must implore you:

Game 7 – Rangers vs Cardinals 8:05 pm FOX

This is why I told you for the last couple of weeks to take you girl out instead of watching terrible college football and NFL matchups.  You got to store up the points for nights like these.

To Think I Laughed When Cam Couldn't Call a Play to Jon Gruden

This game inspired me to write about what I think is wrong with the way we watch sports.  Everything is about math and stats these days.  Baseball is terrible with this new sabermetrics; instead of strike the hell out of that batter, games are decided by BABIP, LIPS, WAR, VORP, and UZR.  Do you know what any of that bull crap means?  Do you think people were thinking about that when the Cardinals were down to their final strike twice?  It’s amazing that when the pressure is turnt up, the game gets real simple.

Football has become the same way.  Us geek boys and fantasy nerds has turned the game into a stats class.  Coaches, GMs, and now the fans are taking the magic out of football.  I don’t want to harp on the Tim Tebow thing cause I know its been beaten into your brain, but don’t you think a lot of the Tebow backlash is because he doesn’t play quarterback the way we want to see the QB position.  He doesn’t read progression or pass the ball to receivers on the run.  He literally plays the “run and get open offense” (we call it the Dez Bryant offense in the ManCave) but it succeeds to an extent.  Michael Vick was the same way when he came out.  And it drives us crazy.

We as fans want explanations for what happens on the field or the court.  Announcers always have to explain what occurs, so we don’t even trust what we see with our own eyes.  Analysts like Skip Bayless wax poetic about the reasons this team won or lost, even so much as to play sports psychologists and entrances us with his craziness.  We want to know why something happens on the field, so we can impress our friends who probably thought of the same thing.  We forget that what draws us back into sports is the unexplainable occurrences; the magic that occurs on the field.

You can practice all you want for a game.  You drill plays over and over again until you do them in your sleep.  It’s all about execution of the offense and being in the right position on defense.  But what happens on the field and court?  Chaos ensues.  The other team is actually trying to win, how dare they?  Those first 15 plays you run, swallowed by the opposing defense (ask the Ravens).  You were suppose to be up by 21 by the end of those 15 plays, now you’re scoreless against Jacksonville in the 4th.  Coaches and fans always try to make sports as scientific as possible, when it is as much spiritual as it is science.

See It...Believe It

Can you explain Michigan State’s wild hail mary last weekend?  Or that short Denard Robinson could lead Michigan’s comeback twice over God’s team, Notre Dame?  Did you know that Ron Artest would make that 4th quarter 3-pointer against the Celtics in 2010?  If they replayed the 2008 Super Bowl, how times out of 10 would the Giants have beat the Patriots?  Why doesn’t LeBron have a ring right now, especially since he has had arguably the best team in the league each of the last 2 seasons?  You have any ideas for the Music City Miracle and the Immaculate Reception?  Sometimes sports isn’t about out-smarting your opponents.  It’s about belief; belief in yourself and in the team, as Coach O’Shea told us at halftime before the Annexation of Puerto Rico play. (The IceBox isn’t the IceBox anymore LOL)

So let’s stop trying to have an explanation for the Cardinals, Tebows, Newtons, and VCUs of the world.  I know it drives us crazy when people we think that are not as talented, or not as smart achieve success.  It defies all that we learned about being the best and brightest and smartest.  Those teams and players I mentioned were suppose to be afterthoughts in this year, because they were not conventional, or too dumb to call plays, or not athletic enough for the better teams.  But they had the belief in themselves, and the heart to persevere.  And they made fools of us all in the end.  But hey, weirder things have happened.

So this weekend on your ManCave TVs enjoy the magic of sports, instead of trying to figure out all the answers to why your fantasy team hasn’t scored over 100 points total so far this season.  It’ll make the weekend that much better.  Best game in bold on your projection wall TV, italics for the TV that you play madden on, regular, you might as well save electricity and keep that off for a while (especially on Sunday).

Saturday, October 29

12-3pm: Michigan State vs Nebraska (ESPN), Missouri vs Texas A&M (FX), Purdue vs Michigan (ESPN2)

3:30-7pm: Oklahoma vs Kansas State (ESPN), Georgia vs Florida (CBS), Baylor vs Oklahoma State (ABC or ESPN2)

8pm: Stanford vs USC (ABC), Clemson vs Georgia Tech (ABC), Wisconsin vs Ohio State (ESPN)

Sunday, October 30

1-4pm: Minnesota vs Carolina, Miami vs New York Giants, Arizona vs Baltimore

4-7pm: New England vs Pittsburgh, Washington vs Buffalo, Detroit vs Denver

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (if you root against these suckers)

Posted: October 3, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in Just Turrible, MLB, NFL
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It Would Be A Better World If Philadelphia Fans Looked Like This

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

As a prisoner of the irrational fan complex that is the Philadelphia sports complex, I have to say that Sunday, October 2 was one of the great days of my occupation in this lovely city.  This piece will describe the joy I felt as I witnessed the pain of my fellow citizens of the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.  You may find me despicable; you can call me a hater; but you cannot take my joy today because of all the days that I have been here, its the Sunniest Day in Philadelphia!!!  I will say this though; this piece could be a reverse jinx for the Eagles and Phillies, who can read this, get inspired, and win the Super Bowl and World Series respectively.  But I’m sorry, I’m gonna enjoy this one today BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Philadelphia Eagles

First of all, I think the Dream Team moniker is overplayed.  Vince Young, who is so 730 it’s not even funny (ask a Titans fan), was the only one to call the Eagles the Dream Team.  So anything he says is inadmissable.  But I still love the sinking ship.  My comrades up here hailed all their signings; I, as a victim of the 2000 Washington Redskins, held my tongue.  I implored my brothers, “racking up superstars doesn’t make a team.”  My comrades scoffed at my and stole my kufi.  So I held my tongue.

I held my tongue as the same problems that plagued the team last year (weak offensive line play, no linebackers, bad safety play) were not addressed.  In fact, they got rid of their best linebackers and safeties.  The Eagles got really good on the sidelines, but the middle of both sides of the ball was the soft underbelly of Rick Ross.  And they are getting exposed so far.

The offensive line can’t keep Michael Vick from getting a new injury every week.  It can’t protect Vick to get the ball to the outside with the great DeSean Jackson (sarcasm) and Jeremy Maclin.  It can’t make a push on the goal-line to get 1-yard for a touchdown.  Then in the 4th quarter, this offense has been outscored 36-0 this season.  36-0 and you have LeSean McCoy, Jackson, and Vick!!!  Youse gotta be kidding me!  On defense, every team is running and passing right up the middle of the Eagles because they have Clay Matthews’s brother (he doesn’t deserve his name) and some substitute teachers at safety.

In the 49ers game, the game that started my excellent Sunday, the Eagles had a 20 point lead at 23-3.  Then the 49ers realized, hey the Eagles are Pillsbury doughboy up the middle.  Alex Smith started slinging over the middle, with TD passes to the Josh Morgan and Vernon Davis.  Frank Gore got his first 100 yard game this season.  The Eagles tightened up faster than a nun’s chastity belt.  Two missed field goals, a fumble, and boneheaded plays doomed the Eagles.  The coaching staff can’t coach up the team, because nobody is coaching up the coaching staff!  The team is falling apart and nobody looks like they want to step up (sound familiar Skins fan).  And I tried to warn these Eagles fans, but no one would listen.  Vindication tastes real good on a Monday morning.

Oh Yeah, I Feel You Brother

Philadelphia Phillies

This team actually may win the World Series (actually they probably will).  They have the best pitching staff ever assembled.  They can still mash the ball if they get hot.  There is nobody I really don’t like on this team; actually the guy I didn’t like from the last 4 years of the Phillies is now on my Washington Nationals.  So my wrath is directed to these fraud Phillies fans.

Now pink hat wearers are unavoidable when things are going well.  We have a ton of them in the DC Area showing up for Capitals games.  But these guys grind my gears when they pretend that they were there when this team was losing 90 games instead of winning 90 games.  I seeth when these guys make fun of my Nationals for 6 years of mediocrity when the Phillies MADE THE PLAYOFFS 9 TIMES IN A 124 YEAR SPAN!!!  Were you there when the Phillies were collapsing in 1964?  Where you wearing your hat in the vet when they lost 97 games in 2000?  I wear my Nats hat, and it’s not causing I’m a crip from LA.  I’m not a front-runner like these frauds.  You can only understand if you live up here.

Back to the Phillies.  They assembled a crew of 4 aces; the city exploded when the Phillies got Cliff Lee back last offseason.  The same Lee that got shelled in the World Series last season.  Roy Halladay, after pitching a no-hitter in the NLDS last season, didn’t do so well in the NLCS.  Cole Hamels, who actually won the city a World Series by himself in 2008, was almost run out of town by these clowns.  And when Cliff Lee blew a 4-0 lead last night in Game 2, these jokers now have to rely on that same Hamels to right the ship in Game 3 on the road.  Heaven forbid that Hamels doesn’t get the job done.

These yahoos will tell you that the Philadelphia fan is greedy, they always want more.  HOW CAN YOU WANT MORE OF SOMETHING YOU NEVER HAD!!! You never won a Super Bowl and never assembled a team or kept the team together in the prime of your greatest quarterback in franchise history.  You mortgaged the future from short-term gains after the 2008 season, and you haven’t been close to winning the World Series since.  You railed against the Yankees and Red Sox for buying championships (which if you look at history, it never really happened), then when you get Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Pence it’s awesome baby!!! Are you kidding me, frauds and frontrunners?  I liked y’all better when you were losing 90 games and losing in the NFC Championship game with Freddie Mitchell.

Could this be a bitter piece because my Washington teams have been blowing chunks for most of my young life?  Yeah, I guarantee it is.  But trust me, I will make sure that these Philadelphia fans will feel my joy as my teams ascend in these next couple of years while their teams break down, get broken down, and descend into the land of sports purgatory.  But I can’t hate on all of the Philadelphia teams; Go Sixers and Passion!!!

Football Friday: More About Not Football

Posted: September 30, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in Just Turrible, MLB, NBA, NFL, Ownership
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Sorry readers, but with such a tremendous sports news week that has nothing to do with football I had to take advantage and write about it before football engulfs our souls.  I’m sorry, I have never been as jacked up over a night of sports than Wednesday night’s baseball games.  Four games that would decide the fate of the playoffs, with three of the games being so wild, that words can’t express what occurred.  But I’m still going to try.

Baseball is one of the few sports where you can see doom on the faces of the players on the field.  Every pitch, every swing, you can see the labor and the sense of dread in the players.  It’s what makes the sports so amazing, especially in October.  The Boston Red Sox was literally a dead man walking team.  They had blown the largest September lead EVER (9 games) and despite facing a terrible Baltimore team, you kinda knew that Boston would blow this somehow.

Everything was going their way on Wednesday; Tampa, the team chasing them for the wild card spot, was getting mollywhopped by Mark Teixeira BY HIMSELF!!! Meanwhile, it looked like Boston’s 3 runs would be enough to overtake the Orioles.  But the heavens parted and judgment was cast against the Sox.  The torrential rains in B-more allowed the Red Sox to watch the Rays come back from 7 runs down to tie the Yankees in the late innings, including a home run with one strike left against a guy who Renzreport could probably beat out for the team if he wanted.

After the rains let up, the Sox began to implode; hitting Orioles batters, grounding into double plays, getting thrown out at home, then the 2-out, 2-run rally by the Birds to win the game in the 9th!!!  You would have thought it was the Orioles that won the World Series!!!  And to put the icing the cake, 3 minutes later the Rays hit a walk-off, playoff spot, clinching home run!!!  Totally unbelievable that this would be the story going into October, despite the situation heading into September.

In the NL, it was more of the same.  The Braves blew a big lead to the Cardinals in the Wild Card.  Just like the Red Sox, the Braves didn’t deserve the playoffs.  They couldn’t pitch, they couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position, and they had old people who should have retired years ago (Chipper Jones, Jason Varitek, I’m looking at you).  The buzz for the year’s playoffs is going to be off the chain with how the Rays and the Cardinals got in, along with the Phillies pitching juggernaut, the Brewers’ dynamic duo of the Hebrew Hammer Ryan Bruan, and the gulliest dude in baseball in my opinion, Prince Fielder.  For the pista resistance, my Nats are looking good for next year, with Strasburg 6 inning, 10 strikeout gem with only 79 pitches on the final game of the season.  God I love the game of baseball…

…But it’s not my favorite sport.  That’s reserved for basketball, which is being attacked from all sides in the college and the pros.  Rivalries in college basketball are being destroyed by realignment for the almighty dollar.  Guys can still leave after one year, and who knows if that will ever change because the NBA can’t get their act together with the labor deal.  By the time you read this, Kaiser David Stern will be threatening to cancel the NBA season.  A season that will follow the greatest NBA season I can remember.  A season that follows one of the coolest offseasons of the summer with the NBA Streetball video game come to life.

Miss Me with the NBA BS

Idiotic owners  decided to give Travis Outlaw 5 years, $35 million and Brendan Haywood 6 years, $55 million extension, and that was LAST YEAR WITH THE LOCKOUT LOOMING!!!  But yet its the players that should and will give back loads of dough and commit to a hard cap.  I’m sorry, if your company squanders the profits with bad investments and makes other idiotic decisions, should you be forced to take a salary cut and give back benefits while the executives get bonuses?  Wait, you saying you already did that?  Well, sucks to be you but I think it’s the idiot owners that should contract themselves before you contract the Minnesota Timberwolves or Charlotte Bobcats.

The NFL players lost in their negotiations; I would love to see the NBA players stand firm and say, “hey NBA owners, how about you commit to being smarter businessmen, before we commit to a hard cap.” However, there are not enough players that have the heart, or the pockets, to commit to that stance.  The owners have already killed the union at the bargaining table, but now they are on the edge of killing the golden NBA goose because of their greed.  The owners and players, once friends and partners in the league, need to understand what needs to be done and sacrificed this weekend in order to preserve the 2011-12 NBA season.

Those are my musing on other sports.  Don’t worry, I’ll be all football for the rest of the football Fridays.  In fact I want to introduce to you our newest idea, the Trap Game of the Week.  I’ll pick a game that you should think about for a little while longer before you make your pick.  It will be either college or pro (I really want to pick this weekend’s Wise vs Northwestern High School tilt as a trap game, s/o to ArAyeGee).  And of course I will make up some reason why you should care.  It debuts next week, but if you wanted a trap game for this week, I think the Buffalo vs Cincinnati game fits the bill.  With Buffalo coming off a huge win last week, and Philly coming up to upstate New York next week, they could easily overlook the Bengals on Sunday.

For your Mancave setup for a great weekend in college football, and a clunker for the NFL, check this guide.  Bold is for your 1080p I think I’m in the movies behemoth, italics for the old faithful 720p, and regular is for whatever TV you gave to your girl so she could play Wii Fit.

Saturday Oct 1

12-3pm – Texas A&M vs Arkansas (ESPN), Kentucky vs LSU (check local TV), Mississippi St. vs Georgia (check local TV)

3:30-7pm – Auburn vs South Carolina (CBS), Michigan St vs Ohio St (ABC or ESPN), Clemson vs Virginia Tech (6pm ESPN2)

8pm – Alabama vs Florida (CBS), Nebraska vs Wisconsin (ABC), MLB: Gm 2 – Tigers vs Yankees (8:30 TBS)

Sunday Oct 2

1-4 – Pittsburgh vs Houston, Detroit vs Dallas, San Francisco vs Philadelphia

4-7 – New England vs Oakland, Denver vs Green Bay, MLB: Gm 2 – D-Backs vs Brewers (4:30 TBS)

8pm – New York Jets vs Baltimore, MLB: Gm 2 – Cardinals vs Phillies (8:30pm TBS)

Congratulations to Mariano Rivera

Posted: September 19, 2011 by dontbeskerritt in MLB
Tags: , , ,
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Mancave06 Salute To You Mr. Rivera

Mariano Rivera has solidfied himself as the greatest reliever of all-time. He picked up his 602nd save today, the most all-time in baseball. In honor of his feat, here is a link to a friend of the ManCave06 and fellow brother, Andre Fields, and his excellent piece on one of the best pitchers of all time

Continuing the Legacy: A Salute to Mariano Rivera

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