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Published.Com a Free directory listing service for authors Sport Seizure: March 2007

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Ricky Who?

i keep forgetting that ricky williams is still alive. that's not supposed to sound mean, because i don't hate the man...i'm just confused by him. everyone knows about his love of the ganja, his early retirement, and his battles with depressive, crippling shyness. i also enjoy the fact that the dude grew out a viking beard and decided to play in the CFL. Now it seems he's about to be reinstated in the NFL. with cory "good bye lions!!" schlesinger doing some good blocking ahead of him and having ronnie brown getting the bulk of the carries. call me crazy (in reference to ol' ricky, yes, it's a pun), but i think mr. williams will be making a significant comeback this season....awkwardly enough.

"Blades of Glory" seems to be another success for will ferrell, and i know i'm excited to see it. from word of mouth it appears to be a pretty solid movie, and the combo of daniel heder's subdued goofy and ferrell's bombastic goofy looks to be a good match. personally, i just like the way ferrell keeps having connections with sports in his movies, from this to "Kicking and Screaming" to "Ricky Bobby." maybe he would be interested in a "Slapshot" remake...or a biopic of harry carey. one can only hope...

here are the rankings for catchers and starting pitchers:

Catchers:
1. Joe Mauer
2. Victor Martinez (1B)
3. Brian McCann - it's funny how the braves have mccann in a long term deal as well as staltamacchia, the top catching prospect, in their system.
4. Kenji Johjima
5. Michael Barrett - after an abbreviated season last year, i think he'll mash this one.
6. Mike Piazza
7. Ramon Hernandez
8. Jorge Posada
9. Russ Martin - he's like a new pudge rodriguez!
10. Ivan Rodriguez - he's like an old pudge rodriguez!
11. Johnny Estrada
12. Paul Lo Duca
13. Jason Varitek

Starting Pitchers:
Johan Santana
Jake Peavy
Carlos Zambrano
Chris Carpenter
Roy Oswalt
Roy Halladay
Brandon Webb
Ben Sheets - STAY. HEALTHY.
John Lackey
Scott Kazmir
Jeremy Bonderman
CC Sabathia
Dan Haren
Felix Hernandez
John Smoltz
Daisuke Matsuzaka - unproven commodity could shift the red sox fortune....or get shellacked.
Aaron Harang
Brett Myers
Justin Verlander
Rich Harden - STAY. HEALTHY. CANUCK.
Bronson Arroyo
Chris Capuano
Curt Schilling
Barry Zito
Freddy Garcia
Chris Young
Dave Bush - look out for this guy: he could be really good.
AJ Burnett
Randy Johnson
Dontrelle Willis
Cole Hamels
Jason Schmidt
Erik Bedard
Ervin Santana
Matt Cain
Bartolo Colon - prooooobably should be higher...
Kelvim Escobar
Javier Vazquez
Jason Jennings
Nate Robertson
Mark Prior - prooooooobably should be lower....assuming he gets back to the bigs.
Mike Mussina
Josh Beckett
Jered Weaver
Jeff Francis - a steal in sheep's ballpark.
John Patterson
Rich Hill
Scott Olsen
Brad Penny
Kenny Rogers - kenny! nooooooooo!
Tom Glavine
Chien-Ming Wang/Kei Igawa - one's injured, one's unproven...i just couldn't decide where to put which. and no, i'm not lumping them together because they're asian.
Jose Contreres
Adam Wainwright
Ted Lilly
Chuck James
Andy Pettitte
Jeff Suppan
Derek Lowe
Jeremy Sowers - could get some serious W's.
Joe Blanton
Jon Garland
Anibal Sanchez
Jake Westbrook
Mike Maroth
Kevin Millwood
Boof Bonser - ....i'd draft him early just for the name alone.
Vincente Padilla
Doug Davis
Josh Johnson
Randy Wolf
Oliver Perez/Miguel Batista - one of these guys might be a great value pick. i think.

also, i think that the twins might finally drop to mediocre status this year...and then catapult back up when liriano comes back next season. go tigers!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

ugly = awesome

so the final four is this weekend, and a revelation has come to pass: apparently, being unattractive helps one's game. hear me out.

we can all agree that joakim noah, though a superb rebounder and high-octane energy guy (like shane battier 3.0), is hideous. his hair, his teeth, his awkward resemblence to a WNBA player...it just goes on. but i would venture to say that he is as good at basketball as he is ugly, and that is why his team is in the final four. look at greg oden. the dude looks like a 53-year-old pig farmer; i haven't seen that weathered of a face since jack palance hosted "Ripley's." he kinda looks like one of the cavemen from those awful geico commercials. BUT he is also the potential number one pick in the NBA draft and is a collegiate force of nature, muscling his team to the final four. lorenzo mata of UCLA? almost made my hdtv crack in half. he just can't wear enough sweat bands to detract from his horrific appearance, but it was certainly enough to propel the bruins through the tourney. and then there's patrick ewing, jr....but that's just hereditary.

so essentially, college basketball teams need these gollums to aid them in their quests for glory, like a reverse Ephialtes from "300."

on the pro basketball front, let's dissect a potential championship foundation in orlando: dwight howard is, most certainly, the most imposing young forward in the league, due to his already impressive talents and developing skills and body. but what of the other twin tower down there? darko milicic, all 21 years of him, is developing quite nicely as well. i've been singing his praises since the pistons drafted him, worthy or crazy, back in '03, and i still believe in him now. his game is becoming qutie noticeable, especially playing alongside howard, and if he chooses to stay after this season (which orlando should be able to afford), those two guys could really form a dominate pairing for years to come. not bad for a dude who played in the NBA with braces, and another who played with boy-band hair.

now, the rankings for SS and 2B (italics indicate contract year, parenthesis indicate position eligibility):

Shortstop:
1. Jose Reyes
2. Jimmy Rollins
3. Michael Young -consistently amazing.
4. Miguel Tejada
5. Derek Jeter
6. Hanley Ramirez - like a poor man's reyes, but needs to do it again for me to believe.
7. Carlos Guillen
8. Rafael Furcal
9. Stephen Drew
10. Bobby Crosby
11. Jhonny Peralta
12. Khalil Greene - a world of talent...but very brittle fingers.
13. Troy Tulowitzki - NL ROY candidate...potentially.
14. Felipe Lopez
15. Orlando Cabrera

Second Base:
1. Chase Utley - king of the dung heap
2. Brian Roberts
3. Robinson Cano
4. Rickie Weeks
5. Howie Kendrick
6. Chone Figgins (3B, OF) - drops because of the whole one-month DL thing
7. Chris Burke (OF)
8. Freddy Sanchez (3B, SS) - drops due to injury, too
9. Mark DeRosa
10. Tadahito Iguchi
11. Dan Uggla - ....hey danny, do it again! i dare ya!
12. Ian Kinsler - huge upside
13. Josh Barfield
14. Brandon Philips
15. Julio Lugo
16. Ray Durham - i swear one of these days he'll realize he's old and not good at baseball...i just don't know when.
17. Marcus Giles

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Fantasy Time

Having read the book "Fantasyland" by Sam Walker several months ago, i've been jonesing for this upcoming baseball season hard. however, seeing as how recent fantasy endeavors have left me unsatisfied (read: i blew, i sucked, i did whatever i could with this mouth of mine in a derogatory manner), i decided to approach everything differently...or at least as close as i could in this time of sports media saturation (like starting a new sports blog!), back when i was actually good at it.


and so now, the season is upon us. the opening day starters are listed, lineups are all but set, and my own draft has come and gone. in the days leading up to 4/1/07 i plan on listing my own fantasy pre-rankings in addition to whatever sport-related tidbit i'd like to share. so here is my initial predictions for this season:


AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez - let's be serious here. the man is in a walk year, he dropped about 12 pounds in the off season, he's coming off a relatively shotty season, and he's now got a chip on his shoulder the size of brooklyn. plus, it's just regular season MVP, it doesn't carry over into the playoffs or anything. a sleeper candidate could be a healthy travis hafner.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols - this man has gotten robbed more than a blind man flashing dollar bills in detroit. he should have about four trophies, but instead has one due to ignorant voting. what does he have to do to get another, win the triple crown? sneaking up to seize it could be jose reyes if he keeps improving in leaps and bounds.

AL Cy Young: Johan Santana - as much as i'd like to hope it would be Jeremy Bonderman, we should just go with a winning formula and say it's santana. a dark horse for this one could also be jonathan papelbon back in the closer role or roy halladay with healthy run support and healthy...health.

NL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano - he's got the stuff, he's got the support, and he's got the motivation of a huge (HUUUUUUGE) potential cotract. the only thing that can derail him is if he actually rips his arm off on the mound. the only person who could upset him is ben sheets...assuming his body doesn't fall apart.

AL Not-So-Sleeper: Mark Teixeira - honestly, if everything's on track, the dude's gonna mash the cover off the ball benny rodriguez-style.

NL Not-So-Sleeper: Morgan Ensberg - dude had a bum shoulder. cost him some hardware (look at his April numbers! disgusting! he had about 15-17 dongs before his shoulder cut out). however, his batting eye improved (101 walks over 96 K's).

AL Sleeper: Mark Teahen - as a rookie he hit 18 home runs and was 10 for 10 on stolen bases....FOR THE ROYALS. plus, he has dual eligibility as both a 3B and an OF.

NL Sleeper: Brad Hawpe - those cooky rockies seem to gestate these hitters and birth them forth recently, eh? hopefully this guy will be next in line....'cause i drafted him.


now, 3B rankings (contract year in italics):
1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Miguel Cabrera
3. David Wright
4. Aramis Ramirez
5. Troy Glaus (SS)
6. Garrett Atkins - he's gonna have to do it again before i believe in him.
7. Morgan Ensberg
8. Scott Rolen
9. Ryan Zimmerman - who's batting behind him? dmitri young? oy.
10. Eric Chavez
11. Bill Hall (SS) - why not just put him at 3B for real and let tony gwynn, jr. lead off?
12. Chipper Jones
13. Joe Crede
14. Adrian Beltre
15. Brandon Inge
16. Mark Teahen (OF)
17. Chad Tracy
18. Melvin Mora
19. Mike Lowell - am i crazy or is he kinda good again?
20. Hank Blalock - what the capital F happened to THIS guy?
21. Wilson Betemit (2B, SS)



and now for some non-baseball articles:
  • NHL playoffs start in two weeks. joe thornton is making a serious bid for NHL MVP in addition to overtaking hockey jesus (sidney crosby) for the Art Ross. dominik hasek still has a groin. people in carolina don't realize they have a team...still. things are heating up!
  • if they lions take brady quinn over joe thomas i just may, in fact, collect a small group of befuddled fans to rescue bill clay ford, jr. from matt millen's basement to alert him of the fact that his team IS BEING RUN INTO THE GROUND.
  • tubby smith going to minnesota - good for them...not for him.
  • best final four in years, eh? and how cool would an old-school meeting of UCLA and Georgetown be in the finals? maybe we can forgive patrick ewing for being ugly. maybe.
  • um. nascar?
  • why are the bears dismantling ever-so-slowly? didn't they just go to the Super Bowl?
don't you want to party with the NBA MVP candidates? i sure do.