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1 Apr 2010 02:09 PM
Last week the Minnesota Twins signed All-Star catcher Joe Mauer to an eight-year $184 million contract extension that ensures he will remain a Twin for the rest of his career. It was the richest contract for a catcher in MLB history and in my opinion one of the most important of the past decade.
A lot of people were ragging on this deal because its such a large sum of money to spending on a player that doesn't play in every game and for a position that doesn't have a long shelf life. Many catchers reach their peak in their early 30s and this deal will ensure that Mauer is making over $20 million when he is 36.
Normally I would agree with this statement but these critics seems to be forgetting one thing: this contract was given out by the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are one of the thriftiest...
9 Mar 2010 11:36 PM
Tonight the Toronto Raptors are playing the Los Angeles Lakers. The game features some of the best players in the NBA, Kobe Bryan, Pau Gasol, and Chris Bosh. It also features some of the worst nicknames in the NBA. Chris Bosh is referred to as CB4. How embarrassing is that? His nickname is just his initials and his numbers. There is no creativity there at all.
That isn't even the worst of it though. Kobe Bryant, arguably one of the best basketball players on the planet, doesn't even have a nickname (I don't count "Black Mamba" because he gave it to himself and no one calls him that). How is it that Kobe hasn't been dubbed something cool that is memorable and clever?
Sadly this is a trend that is developing in sports. People have seemingly stopped trying to come up with awesome nicknames for the best athletes and have...
9 Mar 2010 06:31 PM
Chicago Cubs
Once again the Cubs make their quest for a vaunted World Series. After a century of baseball without one it is an elusive task and yet again in my mind they don’t have enough. This being said they are not a bad team and should place well in the division. Cubs brass has dealt with losses but they have much to still do in terms of replacements for those losses. Losses of note include; Milton Bradley, Jake Fox, Kevin Gregg, Rich Harden, Aaron Heilman, Reed Johnson, and So Taguchi. Like many other clubs the Cubs looked to fill voids with the free agent market and did a poor job. The new faces that intend to step in to fill the voids include; Marlon Byrd, Kevin Millar, Xavier Nady, Carlos Silva, and Chad Tracy. The Cubs managed to fill many of the offensive holes that were a problem with...
7 Mar 2010 09:47 PM
Chicago White Sox
White Sox fans should be elated for this coming season. Not necessarily with the additions that have been made this offseason but more with the team that will be on the field next season as a whole. The additions of Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre, J. J. Putz, Mark Teahen, Omar Vizquel and last season's acquiring of Jake Peavy will make this team a force to be reckoned with come October. This being said there are some losses that will be noticed on the team for this coming season. The losses of Wilson Betemit, Bartolo Colon, Octavio Dotel, and Jermaine Dye will be missed for their veteran presence in the lineup. Never the less the team is vastly improved regardless of these losses. In conclusion this team should have no issue taking the AL central next season with the personnel additions that they made to an already very...
5 Mar 2010 02:06 PM
NL Overview
The NL is obviously the weaker of the two leagues in baseball but there has been movement like that of the AL that has changed dynamics in the respective divisions. The most notable will be the change in the Central where I foresee a changing of the guard. Like the AL there should not be too much movement in the divisions other then the Central in my mind. The winners will be the Phillies out of the East, the Cubs out of the Central, and the Diamondbacks out of the West. As for the wild card this is where the battle will be as it always has in the NL. Perennial teams will be there to challenge for it. I would say, expect the Mets, Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers and Giants to be in the hunt deep into the season. Its tough to say but expect it to...
3 Mar 2010 10:16 PM
American League Overview
The off-season has been a busy one in the AL. Many teams have bolstered rotations, benches, bullpens and added high priced talent that in a couple cases has changed the dynamic of the divisions. Division winners in my mind seem to be the usual suspects. Out of the East I expect Boston, in the Central it no doubt will be the White Sox, and in the West I will shock many when I say the Angels again. Wild Card wise, its one of the toughest calls in a few years the Mariners are right there in both the division and the wild card, the Yankees are also a team to consider after winning the World Series, cases could also be made for Minnesota and Tampa Bay. I will give the nod to the Yankees cause I just cant see the mariners having enough in the form of...
26 Dec 2009 03:08 PM
Tiger Woods has now joined Ben Roethlisberger, Phil Mickelson, Derek Jeter and Kevin Garnett as one of my least favorite athletes. Not because he cheated on his wife, I could personally care less about that, but because his extracurricular activities have lead to the creation of something that may cause me to hate the one thing I care mot about, sports.
The creation I speak of is TMZSports.com. Pardon me while I go puke like I just chugged a 26er of Jose Cuervo on an empty stomach.
That's right the popular celebrity gossip website and unofficial creation of Satan TMZ.com has decided it wants to get into sports.
Way to fuck everything up Tiger.
Why is this such a big deal you ask? This is such a big deal because I loathe everything TMZ stands for. I think people who read celebrity gossip magazines and visit celebrity gossip websites are...
17 Dec 2009 02:52 PM
MLB free agency kicked off this week and already some big names have found new homes with different teams.
John Lackey signed a 5-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, Randy Wolf signed a multi-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, Chone Figgins went to the Seattle Mariners, Rich Harden signed with the Texas Rangers, Hideki Matsui joined the Angels and Pedro Feliz signed with the Houston Astros.
Along with the free agent signings there have been a flurry of trades as Curtis Granderson was sent to the Yankees, Cliff Lee sent to the Mariners and the biggest name of all Roy Halladay was shipped off to the Phillies.
There are still some big names left that are without a team including the 2 biggest free agents Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. Although neither has hinted as to where they will sign rumor has it that the Angles, Yankees, Red Sox...
10 Dec 2009 06:03 AM
When GM J.P. Ricciardi was fired in October by the Toronto Blue Jays many fans thought that they could now rest easy as Ricciardi was no longer involved with the club and could do no further damage than he had already done.
So much for that.
The effect of Ricciardi's decisions are still being felt today as his decision not to trade Roy Halladay at the trade deadline last season is coming back to bite the Jays and new GM Alex Anthopoulos in the ass.
Going into the winter meetings many people thought that the Jays would trade Halladay and try and get maximum value for him since he had made it clear that he would be testing free agency once his contract expired at the end of the 2010 season. Unfortunately for Anthopoulos and Jays fans things haven't gone exactly the way they had hoped.
League interest on Halladay...
2 Dec 2009 12:25 AM
Maybe this is just me but I keep track of the days by knowing which televisions shows will be on that night. For instance I know it is Monday because Monday Night Football is on and I know it is Thursday because The Office is on. Every night has a show that is exclusive to that night and therefore helps keep track of the days when they all seem to run together.
For Wednesday night that show is The Ultimate Fighter or TUF. An MMA reality show where 16 amateurs are trained by 2 professionals and fight for their chance at a 6 figure UFC contract and a chance to become famous. The show first started in 2005 and since its first season it has produced some of the biggest names in the UFC. Guys like Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson, Rashad Evans and Michael Bisbing were all winners...
26 Nov 2009 10:11 PM
Toronto Maple Leafs
It goes without saying that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a terrible hockey team. Their team is filled with dusters and nobodies and some of the guys on their roster have no business even being in the NHL. I mean, Lee Stempniak is their point-man on the powerplay. This is not a team to be optimistic about this year.
Having said that there is one area where the Leafs excel, effort.
Say what you will about the team you cannot criticize their work ethic while on the ice. I have watched a number of Leaf games this year and while they may get beat worse than Forrest Griffin against Anderson Silva at least they try. Guys like Niklas Hagman aka Danglor, Jason Blake, Nikolai Kulemin, John Mitchell and Colton Orr work hard every shift, fighting for loose pucks and working the forecheck.
Obviously effort can only take...
26 Nov 2009 05:27 PM
In every major sport there is one player that can change the entire outcome of a game singlehandedly. In hockey it is the goalie, in basketball it is the point guard, in football it is the quarterback and to a lesser extent the kicker and in baseball it is the closer. The men who play these positions have the power to win or lose a game based on their decisions. If they play well it usually ensures a victory but if they are off their game you can count on the game ending in disaster.
If you support a team with a crappy goalie or an awful closer you know how hard it can be to watch games. How agonizing it is to see your team play hard for 8 innings and give your closer a 3 run lead just to have him piss it away like Charles Barkley with...
8 Nov 2009 02:56 PM
Last Sunday, November 1st, I was lucky enough to take part in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. What I had originally thought would be the most anxious and terrifying day of my life, had turned out to be the greatest event I had ever experienced.
From walking to the Staten Island Ferry at 6:00am, to looking for my family within the millions of people surrounding Central Park two hours after I had finished the race, the experience was worth every minute of it.
Much like most of the things I have ever done in my life, I got the idea to run in the big race after completing a ridiculously short triathlon in Muskoka just four months prior. After briefly researching marathons on the internet, I decided, what better marathon to make my debut than the biggest marathon in the world?
I immediately signed up with a great...
30 Oct 2009 09:40 PM
The scheduling for the next nine games for the Golden Hawks men’s hockey team is simply shocking in its difficulty.
They will face-off against the last four Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions. First they face the last years’ champions Western Mustang's, on Halloween night.
After that, they will make the always difficult journey to Thunder Bay to take on the OUA Western conference leaders Lakehead Thunderwolves in a two-game set before returning home to battle the legendary McGill Redmen.
The night after McGill, coach Kelly Nobes’ charges will take on the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). The last time Les Patriotes came to the Waterloo Recreational Complex, it was for the 2006-07 OUA finals where they came away with the championship against the Hawks.
The week after they face both of those visitors from Quebec, the Hawks will travel first to Ottawa to face the OUA East’s third place...
23 Oct 2009 06:42 PM
While it’s never a good idea to take pre-season games too seriously, a few observations can be made of the many unfamiliar faces suiting up in Raptors uniforms this year. Here are a few names that have looked impressive during the Raptors pre-season.
Reggie Evans The chants of “Reggie” that echoed throughout London’s Labatt Centre during the first quarter of the Raptors preseason debut suggest that the veteran forward is well on his way to becoming a fan favourite. His energy, defence and knack for chasing down loose balls fill an immediate need for a team that has historically lacked rebounding and toughness. However, Evans also demonstrated why he’s been relegated to smaller roles throughout his career as his offensive repertoire is beyond limited, leading him to miss easy lay-ups while making four turnovers in only 20 minutes during last Wednesday’s game.
Amir Johnson Much like Evans, Johnson impressed...
