MLB Predictions Update

First, happy Labor Day! Always a good holiday to celebrate. It’s a time to reflect on the end of the summer and prepare for the fall. It’s also the start of the best period of the sports season. I mentioned this in my Reflections yesterday, but there are so many sports active right now or or going to start up in a few weeks. Football, both pro and college, dominates this time of year, but don’t forget about baseball.

At this stage, if you’re a team like the Yankees or Dodgers, you are what you are and no more excuses can be made. This goes the other way. We shouldn’t be shocked by the Rays or Twins anymore, they are legit playoff teams.

As usual, at the beginning of every month, I review my MLB picks and seeing how I did.

Let’s get to the picks.

Here were my choices before the season started for the National League:

NL East- Phillies (The Mets are actually a game up right now, but that frickin bullpen will give this division to the Phillies)

NL Central- Milwaukee (They’re still only four games out, but I think that the Cubs take this one. The Brewers get the wild card)

NL West- Arizona (Terrible division, but the pitching of Arizona wins out) Wild Card- Colorado (They aren’t going to win the wild-card, but they are only six games out of the division. They need to go on a major winning streak now.)

NL Champions- Arizona (All signs point to a battle between Milwaukee and Chicago for the NL pennent. However, Arizona can throw some major pitchers out there for a short playoff series, so whoever gets them in the first round needs to be careful.)

NL MVP- Prince Fielder/Ryan Howard (It can go to almost anybody right now.)

NL Cy Young- Johan Santana (Johan has had a good year, he just has so many games get blown by that awful bullpen. Brandon Webb is going to have his 20 wins and he’s good, but I would seriously consider CC Sabathia. He’s been the best pitcher in the NL for the last few months.)

NL Manager of the Year- Bob Melvin (Arizona is doing well, but the Cubs are rolling right now and you have to make Pinella the favorite. I also think that Tony LaRussa, Gonozalez at Florida and Ned Yost of Milwaukee)

NL Surprise Team- Cincinnati (The natti has moved on to next year and that’s a good thing. The Marlins and Cardinals have had solid seasons )

NL Disappointment- Chicago and San Diego (This Cubs pick continues to look worse and worse by the day. I was on with San Diego)

NL Worst Team- San Francisco (even worse than Pittsburgh) The Giants still stink and are making me look good. Only the Braves, Washington, Pittsburgh and San Diego have worse records. Wow, bad times for Atlanta and San Diego. The National League is terrible overall.

My standings predictions for each division and the current ones:

My NL East:

1) Philadelphia
2) New York
3) Atlanta
4) Washington
5) Florida

Current NL East:

1) New York
2) Philadelphia
3) Florida
4) Atlanta
5) Washington

Thoughts: The only thing that has changed in the past month is the flip between the Mets and Phillies. It seems like either team can just take a stranglehold on this division if they won a few games in a row and weren’t so inconsistent. I still think Philly takes this in the end, I gotta stick with my pick.

Florida has been a nice surprise. The crappiness of Atlanta has been a personal highlight for me. I love that Atlanta sucks right now, it makes me so, so happy. I wish I was still living in Atlanta so see how terrible they are up close. I absolutely hate the Braves and am a happy fan right now. How’s Jeff Francoeur doing right now? Yeah, I thought so bitches!

I don’t even acknowledge the Nationals right now. They need to change the direction of that franchise immediately.

My NL Central:

1) Milwaukee
2) Cincinnati
3) Chicago
4) St. Louis
5) Houston
6) Pittsburgh

Current NL Central:

1) Chicago
2) Milwaukee
3) St. Louis
4) Houston
5) Cincinnati
6) Pittsburgh

Thoughts: The Brewers can win the division technically but the Cubs are rolling. The Natti isn’t finishing second. Houston is actually a few games over .500 but get no attention. St. Louis has done well and I see hope for Pittsburgh, if they can sign their first-round draft picks.

Look, I don’t know Pedro Alvarez personally but have followed his career being a Vanderbilt fan and I’ve heard he’s a good guy. The minute that he signed with Scott Boras, I knew that problems would develop. Boras is a bad influence and I know some of you out there are saying that Scott’s main job is to get the most money for his client.

I agree and most of the time he does his job. However, there’s a better way of doing it then he does.

Here’s my major problem with this situation. If Boras and Alvarez didn’t want to sign with Pittsburgh by the deadline, Aug. 15, that’s fine. He can then play independent baseball, reenter the draft and keep it moving.

However, don’t make a verbal agreement with the Pirates before the deadline and then go back on the promise after the deadline. You screw with the Pirates in that regard.

Now, Pedro looks like a conceited money-grabber, pretty much screwing over the early good will he would have had with the Pirates organizations and fans. Boras looks like Boras which I don’t think he minds.

Pedro gets blame too because he needs to handle his business better as well. Some players tend to forget that the agent works for you and not the reverse. I hope Pedro realizes that Boras needs to act in his client’s best interest and not the reverse.

Even the Pirates look unprofessional in this regard by not taking care of business. No one is a winner.

My NL West:

1) Arizona
2) Colorado
3) Los Angeles
4) San Diego
5) San Francisco

Current NL West:

1) Arizona
2) Los Angeles
3) Colorado
4) San Francisco
5) San Diego

Thoughts: Ramirez has been playing great for the Dodgers, yet they’re still below .500. Don’t look now, but Colorado is only six games back. Can they make another run like last year? Probably not. San Fran and San Diego, just playing out the string.

On to the American League:

AL East- Boston (Tampa takes it)

AL Central- Cleveland (The Indians are playing well right now, just like they should have been doing since the beginning. They should have never been this bad.)

AL West- Seattle (terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible pick)

Wild Card- Toronto (They’re another team that should be better but their division is stacked. Put them in the NL and they contend for a championship)

AL Champs- Cleveland (let’s just move on)

AL MVP- Manny Ramirez (Yeah, no chance of this happening. It’s a wide open race.)

AL Cy Young- Roy Halladay (Cliff Lee should win it but the Indians are below average and that’s going to hurt him. I can see K-Rod getting the award because the Angels are so good. Halladay should still get consideration as well.)

AL Manager of the Year- Terry Francona (this is Joe Maddon’s award, manager of Tampa Bay, right now. Terry has done a good job and you have to consider that loser manager of Anaheim, the manager of the Twins and Ozzie.)

AL Surprise Team- Kansas City (Not the best choice. I wonder who this award should go to…)

AL Disappointment Team- Yankees and Anaheim (Yankees, yes…Anaheim’s in first place and cruising. Mixed bag.)

AL Worst Team- Baltimore (the Orioles aren’t that bad. Oakland, Kansas City and darn Seattle have worse records.)

My AL East:

1) Boston
2) Toronto
3) New York
4) Tampa Bay
5) Baltimore

Current AL East:

1) Tampa Bay
2) Boston
3) New York
4) Toronto
5) Baltimore

Thoughts: Nothing has changed in this division. Tampa is amazing. Boston is having a decent season as well.

Let’s talk about the possibility of the Yanks and Red Sox not making the playoffs. I know that ESPN would be mad because they can’t overkill us with coverage of those two teams, but I think it would be refreshing.

I get so tired of hearing about the Red Sox and Yankees. Don’t get it twisted. I get tired of hearing about the Mets and to a lesser extent the Cubs also.

I have no beef with the Red Sox and I used to hate the Yankees but really care less about them now.

If both teams miss the playoffs, it would be cool to see teams like Tampa and Milwaukee get some coverage.

My AL Central:

1) Cleveland
2) Detroit
3) Kansas City
4) Chicago
5) Minnesota
Current AL Central:

1) Chicago
2) Minnesota
3) Detroit
4) Cleveland
5) Kansas City

Thoughts: I still think that Boston wins the wild card so only one team from this division makes the playoffs. I’m going with Chicago.

Detroit has been underwhelming. Cleveland is starting to play better but it’s too late. Kansas City, well, they’re Kansas City.

My AL West:

1) Seattle
2) Anaheim
3) Oakland
4) Texas

Current AL West:

1) Anaheim
2) Texas
3) Oakland
4) Seattle

Thoughts: I have no thoughts on this division.

That’s it for now. I was catching up on some General Hospital while doing this post, so I know that none of you want me to embed some of that video on here. See y’all around.

Why I left the NYC...

That picture above was taken at a recent baseball game between the New York Mets and the Florida Marlins in Miami. The Marlins fans were giving the Mets fans who attended a hard time. As a New Yorker living in the south, I completely agree with the sign.

Nothing annoys me more than northeasterners who move down here to the South and complain. There is this cult of people who move from New York, Philly, Boston, Connecticut and other cities who come down here to places like Nashville and Miami and talk about how their original cities do everything better.

I love my hometown and everything but there’s a reason I got the heck out of there the first chance I had.

When I moved to the south full-time back in 1999 after growing up in New York City, I really had many preconceived notions about moving here. I heard all of the stereotypical stuff about people in the South being slow and racist, along with not having stuff to do. I was brainwashed like many other northerners, especially New Yorkers, that the only place worth living was New York. However, I was a unique case before I started college in Nashville.

The entire mother side of my family is from South Carolina so I would spend my summers as a youth in that state, incorporating myself into the culture. My big incorporation into the South came in the early 1990’s when my brother moved to Atlanta from Washington, D.C.

My brother Troy and his wife moved to Atlanta back in 1991 or 1992. Now, this was Atlanta before the Olympics in 1996. That city has changed so much from back then to what it is today. I would go there in the summer and it was a great time. I loved being out in nature, sitting in the back yard, just relaxing. It was so different then New York, where there was so much stress.

The biggest difference was the people. In New York, everyone stayed to themselves and never looked at each other. People were scared to make eye contact with another person in fear of pissing them off and causing a problem. New Yorkers were also rude and would shove each other in the street to get somewhere. I would do this too.

However, in Atlanta, it was different. I would be at Kroger or Home Depot and people would just walk past me and say hello. The first few times this happened freaked me out. Why were strangers coming up to me to say something? Was I supposed to ignore them or talk with them? I wasn’t sure.

Eventually I learned how to communicate with the people properly and truly enjoyed myself. I had the feeling that I wanted to stay in Atlanta as long as I could. However, I had to go back to New York and was sad.

By the time I started high school in 1995, I was over New York. The pace of the city wore on me. I liked the cultural aspects of the city and my family was there, but I wanted to move on.

When I started applying to colleges, all of my friends were trying to stay in the northeast, but I was having none of it. I was looking at schools like Emory, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia, North Carolina and of course, Vanderbilt. Everyone was questioning me for looking at these schools, especially Vandy because it wasn’t a known commodity in the NYC at that time. I did my research, saw that it was close to Atlanta and applied.

After getting accepted to Vandy and getting rejected by Duke and Emory (those bastards! Just kidding, it’s been nearly ten years. I’ve gotten over it), I made my first trip to Nashville and loved it. Nice weather, clean air, grass, I was all over it.

So I’ve been down here ten years and have no aspirations to head back to the northeast anytime soon.

There are really no differences between major southern cities like Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Tampa, New Orleans, Cincinnati and northern powers like the NYC, Boston and Philly.

1) Technology and job expansions. There was a time where all of the major corporations and jobs were located in the Northeast. However, starting in the mid-1990’s companies were going into the southeast because of cheaper land, lighter taxes and weaker expenses. Then with the development of the Internet, especially e-mail, has made communication so much easier. Instead of having to be in the NYC for all of the meetings, you can set up calls, e-mail exchanges and video broadcasts and get the same things taken care of.

2) Sports expansion. Back in the olden days (1980’s), the only southern teams that were truly acknowledged were the Atlanta Braves and Falcons. However with the inclusion of teams like the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Rays, Tennessee Titans, Nashville Predators and several others, people have more chances to see their northern, Midwestern and west coast teams.

Say you’re a New Yorker in Nashville like me. I can see my SUPER BOWL WINNING CHAMPIONS (sorry!) Giants play the Titans or the Bengals and Falcons, each three hours away. I can see my Mets play the Reds or Braves. I can see my Rangers play the Predators or Thrashers. I can see my Knicks play the Hawks. You get the idea.

To further expand on this point, cable broadcasting and internet coverage of sports has made it possible for anybody, anywhere to follow the team. I haven’t been to a Mets game in nearly ten years but I can watch every single one of their games if I wanted. That wasn’t happening 20 years ago.

What I’m saying is that being a Knicks fan in New York and in Tampa is really not that much different.

From a dating prospective, it has been a pleasure dealing with southern women. This may have to be a subject for another post, but northeastern women can be a bear to deal with. I used to joke that you needed a resume to get a hello out of a New York girl. That may not be far from the truth.

The one thing that I do miss is the food. I was speaking with the leader of the Demon Deacon Movement, Mr. McMahon, and he talked about his recent trip to the Northeast and the good food he had there, including pizza.

He asked me if I’ve had a good bagel in Nashville.

The one thing that the NYC brought to me was great food. I loved heading to the bakery and getting bagels, rolls and other types of bread. New York just has so many options in that regard.

Another thing that I was a big fan of was the butcher. This isn’t a New York thing, but my mother and I would head out there and get different cuts of meat. It was a great thing.

Anyway, in the NYC I could get bagels, knishes, Chinese food from Chinatown, Italian food from Little Italy, great Mexican food, soul food from Harlem, Jamaican food in Brooklyn and so many other examples. I was even down with some Kosher food in my neighborhood which had a majority of Jewish people.

I just can’t find a place to get some of these things.

BTW, if you live or are familiar with getting some of these foods in Nashville, hook a brother up.

I will say that I haven’t found that perfect piece of pizza here. If I don’t find it, just like love, I’m OK with it.

Screw that! If it came down to eternal love with a special lady friend or a perfect slice of pizza, I would have to think about it for a while.

For now, here’s some Janet Jackson videos I came across today. These three songs are probably my favorite songs from her, but the list is long. The first video features an appearance from a future star in her own right and was the jam to try to get girls closer to you when it came out. The second song has a rock feel to it, so you know I'm down. The third one came out when I was a young boy and I watched it and was silent. I never saw such a beautiful woman in just a simple top and jeans.

Songs that missed the cut were Miss You Much and Rhythm Nation, Escapade, I can go on for days on this one.

Cleaning out the Links, Part II

Time for me to clean out some more links for your enjoyment:

-One great thing that I’ve come across recently is the SI Vault. Sports Illustrated has archived all of their back issues on to a Web site so that you can see every article written. Here it is: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/

I’ve read stuff by Frank Deford, Curry Kirkpatrick, Ralph Wiley and so many other legendary writers. Sports journalism has truly changed over the years. Here are some interesting articles I’ve bookmarked:

Here was an interesting article on Pat Summit that appeared in Sports Illustrated in 1998. Despite the fact that I’ve grown to dislike that orange community college in east Tennessee, I respect Summit. I don’t like the university that she works for, but I acknowledge her. Anyway, here’s the article: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1012132/index.htm

Here’s an article on Tom Seaver in the middle of his dominance for the Mets: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086339/index.htm

Here’s an article on the UnClutch nature of Magic Johnson. I had a talk about this with my boss, which I’ll discuss in detail on a post later this week: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122425/index.htm?eref=sircrc

-Another topic that I will discuss later this week is how potentially worthless my English degree is. Here’s an article on the 10 Most Worthless Majors: http://www.holytaco.com/2008/06/03/the-10-most-worthless-college-majors/

-While I was a pretty smart dude back in my elementary school days, I would always find time to play games to get rid of the monotony of classes. Unlike high school or middle school for some when you can change rooms and subjects every hour, elementary school was just sitting in that one room going over the same stuff everyday accept for gym and lunch. Here’s a list of the top-10 Indoor Games: http://theloveofsports.com/index.php/site/comments/top_10_indoor_games/

I was king of the number one game on the list. I was good at number six and eight as well. Number nine, not so much.

-Here’s a listing of SI.com’s Top 25 College Programs for the 2007-08 season: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/07/01/2008-top-25-ncaa-rankings/index.html?eref=T1

It’s like the annual Sears Trophy that’s given out to the top overall college athletic program. I don’t understand why Arizona State or UCLA doesn’t win in every sport, yet Stanford does. I’ve been to UCLA and it’s like heaven on earth.

-Here’s a funny link to the Top 10 Annoying Things about Facebook: http://www.collegecandy.com/haha/10039

I have to be honest, as a Facebook addict, I violate one or two of these.

-Have you ever wanted to order a custom championship belt just like your favorite wrestler or combat fighting champion? Check here: http://www.azstarnet.com/accent/248887

And if you don’t think that I’m going to have at least one of these in my life, you’re playing yourself. I will have one and battle my future wife in competitions for ownership of it. This will keep the marriage active and competitive, which is all you need. Oh yeah, a good pre-nup as well. Just kidding, or am I?

That’s all for now. I didn’t give you a preview of this week of the blog yesterday, so here it is:

Tuesday: Why did I major in English?

Wednesday: Maybe something about college athletic programs or the values of pimping. Either one works for me. Tell me which one you want to hear about.

Thursday: Do we view our superstars differently now for winning or not winning championships?

Friday: MMA Review

Saturday: Whatever I damn well please.

Sunday: Sunday Reflections

Here’s some Mars Volta

My Five-Saddest Moments as a Sports Fan

For all of us sports fans, it’s the happy moments that make us go to the games. It’s when you can see your team achieve its ultimate goals. I’ve been fortunate to remember seeing my favorite NFL team win two titles, including the latest, the SUPER BOWL WINNING CHAMPIONS, THE NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS. The New York Rangers won a Stanley Cup in 1994 and it was awesome. I’ve seen great moments in Vanderbilt sports history, including this year (WAR SHAN FOSTER) and many other things in sports over time.

However, for every ying there’s a yang. Us sports fans tend to remember the sad moments more than the happy ones because those are the ones that stick with you. Anyway, here are my Five Saddest Sports Moments, in no particular order.

First, here’s an honorable mention:

-The Giants losing the Super Bowl to the damn Ravens in 2002. I was a junior in college and an RA. The person next to me happened to be from Baltimore and was talking crap. Needless to say, that was an unhappy moment. The bad part about it was that the Giants dominated the Vikings in the NFC Championship and I got my hopes up. Never again, until this year, when the SUPER BOWL WINNING CHAMPIONS, THE NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS restored some order.

1) Dodgers/Mets, 1988 NLCS. As a kid, I was obsessed with the New York Mets and Dwight Gooden was my hero. He was the first guy that I had posters of and thought he was the greatest thing ever. I was born in 1981, so I was too young to know of his drug usage. I was also too young to really comprehend the Mets World Series victory in 1986. However, being the young sports fanatic, I understood everything in 1988. I was fans of Keith Hernandez, David Cone, Howard Johnson, Gary Carter, newcomer Kevin McReynolds, Sid Fernandez, Daryl Strawberry and many others. None of them compared to Gooden.

So in 1988, the Mets won 100 games and the division by 15 games! They completely dominated the season, including the Dodgers, who won only 94 games.

I thought the Mets would cruise to the World Series and face Oakland. The teams split the first two games of the NLCS in LA. Then the Mets destroyed the Dodgers in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.

Game Four was going great for the Mets. Gooden started the game was still pitching and nursing a 4-2 lead, pitching a one-hitter by the way, going into the top of the ninth inning. Gooden walked Mike Shelby and then this dude:


Mike frickin Scioscia hits an OPPOSITE FIELD HOME RUN TO RIGHT FIELD to tie the game. I was crushed and speechless watching from home. It gets worse. Loser Kirk Gibson, who I never, ever liked, even to this day, hit a solo home run off of Roger McDowell in the top of the 12th inning to give LA the 5-4 lead. Finally, in the bottom of the 12th, Orel Hershiser came in and got the save. He was the Cy Young winning pitcher that season and dominated. When he ran out of the bullpen to save the game, I knew it was over.

LA won Game Five, NY won Game Six. Guess who pitched a five-hit shutout in Game Seven to send the Dodgers to the World Series?

To this day, whenever I see Hershiser on TV covering a game or Scioscia managing the Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Whatever Angels, I don’t trust or like any of them. Real talk.

2) Mets/Braves, NLCS 1999. What is it about the Mets and the NLCS for me? This was during my freshman year of college. The Mets were in the NLCS and it was my first time not being in the NYC while one of my teams was competing in the playoffs. I usually get into lockdown mode when watching my teams, meaning that I talk to no one and watch the games alone because I can’t stand people watching sports. People are generally dumb.

So when Game Six came along in Atlanta, the Mets were down three games to two and I decided to be social and watch the game with some dorm mates. I remember exactly which room I was in. It was Byron’s room, a native of Atlanta. All of these Braves fans were in the room as well and talking smack about the Mets and the NYC in general. I got back at them because no one talks smack about New York around me.

Anyway, the game goes into extra-innings and in the 11th inning, Kenny damn Rogers walked in the game-winning run to Andruw Jones and end the Mets’ season. I literally throw a cup at the TV screen and stormed out of the room and out of the building to gain composure. I came back in, said nothing to anybody and went to bed.

I’ve gotten over this one over time and Kenny Rogers' asshole tendencies over time have made everyone hate him, so I’m not alone.

I lived in Atlanta for three years and this moment would come up often. Not happy about that.

3) Penguins/Rangers, Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1992. The 1992 season was a magical one for the Rangers. They finished with the most points in the regular season hence winning the President’s Trophy. Messier was dominating. Furthermore, the Rangers led their series against the Pens two games to one and actually held a two-goal lead in game four. The Rangers win game four, they win that series.

So the Rangers are cruising along in game four until disaster happens. Ron Francis of the Penguins takes a harmless shot from the blue line that catches Rangers goalie Mike Richter out of position and it goes in. That started the downfall for the Rangers. They lost game four in overtime, Francis had a hat trick in the game and the Rangers drop the next two games to lose the series 4-2. Pittsburgh goes on to win the Stanley Cup and a young boy in Brooklyn was devastated. Highlights of that game are below.



The Rangers ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 1994 and gave me this moment:



4) Vanderbilt/Kentucky night football game in 1999. I know you old school Vandy fans can remember this one like it was yesterday. At the time before the game, Vanderbilt was 5-4. The Dores needed one more win to clinch a spot in a bowl game for the first time since 1982, when I was one year old. Vandy had two games left, a home game against Kentucky and then a road game against Tennessee over Thanksgiving weekend. Vandy wasn’t going to beat a top-ten ranked Tennessee team that year, so everything hinges on the Kentucky game.

During that season, Vanderbilt continued to find ways to lose games that they should have won. I remember my first ever college football game was Vandy’s season opener against ranked Alabama. They had Shawn Alexander and everything. Vandy was winning the game and had to punt from their own 15 yard line. However, Vandy calls a fake punt, it doesn’t work, and Alabama comes back and wins the game 28-17. This should have been a sign.

So the Kentucky game is coming up and its changed to a night game so that it can be on ESPN 2. Furthermore, it was declared a “Black Out” and everyone in the stadium wore black. It was one of the rare times that it was a sell out and nearly everyone was a Vandy fan.

I had my all-black on and got absolutely wasted at the Kappa Sigma house before the game. Hey, I was a freshman in college, so sue me.

I get to the game and the atmosphere is amazing. Perfect night, great conditions and the entire nation is watching an actually decent game.

Vandy is driving down the field late in the fourth quarter. They get into the redzone and if I remember correctly, Vandy calls a running play. Of course, the player fumbles the ball; Kentucky recovers the ball, game over.

Vandy loses 19-17. The silence in the stadium is depressing. Everyone was sad. I was supposed to go back to the Kappa Sig house and party some more, but I just went back to my dorm room. My roommate Tom and I just nodded and went to bed. It was that bad.

The next week, they lose at Tennessee, 38-10. No bowl game and the program was never the same again. Vandy has had some crappy losses over the years, including Miami of Ohio and MTSU, but the Kentucky loss hurt the most for me.

5) Knicks vs. Bulls, 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, Game Five or the Charles Smith game. I actually have video for these moments. As much as I loved the Mets, they stunk in the early 1990’s. My attention turned to the Knicks and their pursuit of a championship.

The Knicks were actually good back then and hung with the Bulls. The two teams met again in the playoffs, this time in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks even had home court advantage.

The two teams are tied at two games in the series before Game Five at Madison Square Garden. In game four, Michael Jordan maybe played the best game I’d ever seen when he scored 54 points. But that game was in Chicago, I thought, he couldn’t do that in the NYC, where the Knicks hadn’t lost since late January. This game took place much later.

So I’m home watching game five getting ready to see my Knicks win game five, maybe lose game six but come back for game seven at home, where they never lose.

Of course Jordan decides to drop a triple-double in game five and play an even better game then game four.

Jordan is the greatest athlete ever; I don’t care what anyone says.

However, the Knicks find a way to stay in the game and have the ball with 30 seconds left and down by one. Here’s what happened:



Game over, Bulls win game six at home and beat the Suns for their third straight title. Charles Smith is never invited to my house for a meal ever!

Well that was fun kids. I would love to hear your thoughts on my list and some of your painful memories. Good times!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everybody.

This is definitely one of my favorite holidays of the year. It’s a time when the burgers are cooking, the weather is nice and everyone is happy for the most part.

I remember my early 4th of July celebrations back in New York. My mother and I would head out to a family member’s home and have an excellent barbeque meal. Burgers, hot dogs, fries, salads, punch and of course, pie. The older family members would have their liquor and just talk smack all day. The younger family members like me would just play a sport or just talk about the latest happenings in our schools. Music would be playing loudly and everyone would just have a good time.

We would talk about sports, especially how the Mets were ruining their season. That’s always a central theme of the discussions. The Mets always find a way to screw up their season around this time of year and my uncles and I would discuss this greatly.

Finally, I would head home, finish off some leftover food and head outside and watch the Macy’s fireworks show. I lived near the Williamsburg Bridge which went over the East River, the center of the show. People would line up for hours in Manhattan to get a prime view of the show while I would just stand outside my apartment in Brooklyn right before the event and get a grand view.

The only sad part about this memory now is that the fireworks would be set against a background which consisted of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. Obviously since 2001, this view is non-existent. But that doesn’t damper my positive memories of the NYC this time of year.

The holiday also brought out the freaks in NYC. I would hear shouting and fireworks going off until 3 a.m. every year. A gun shot or two was also not uncommon. Crime also went up. This is New York I’m talking about, would you expect anything less? Ah, illegal guns. The memories.

When I started spending more time in Georgia during this holiday, it was about heading to Stone Mountain for the laser show! Loved the lasers!

The holiday is really about celebrating our independence as a nation. I know that we have major issues in this country, too numerous to list. However, for one day, we can look back at the history of this great nation and realize how fortunate each of us is.

BTW, props to my international readers as well. I’ll celebrate your independence days as well.

Anyway, enjoy the festivities tomorrow. Be safe and stay off them streets!

I’ll probably be home just relaxing since I’m not going to head to Atlanta or NYC this year.

Of course I have to go with God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood. Is there any doubt?

Sunday Reflections

Another award winning edition of Sunday Reflections...

-Busy and slow weekend overall. I spend a lot of time writing for the blog. Friday night was an evening out with the boys and a lady that was detailed in a post. I spend yesterday afternoon at Green Hills Mall, which was cool. Then I spent all of last night writing my advice post, which was the most enjoyable thing that I’ve written so far. Today was a lazy day doing laundry and watching the European Championship finals. Speaking of which…

-Viva Espana! I’m so glad that Spain beat Germany today. I have no beefs against any of the European teams, so I’m completely neutral. However, I want to see open action and aggressive soccer play. Teams like Germany and Italy play in that old school, passive defensive style that turns off potential soccer fans. Those two teams have tons of international tournament success, so you can’t knock it too much.

However, I want to see progressive play get rewarded and the Spaniards winning Euro confirmed this. Spain also played solid defense in today’s final, something Espana has been weak at in the past.

When I think of Euro, I will think of how Holland played the best soccer I’ve ever seen from a national team in their first two matches and then wet the bed in the quarterfinals against Russia. I’ll think of Spain finally breaking through. I’ll think of the classic penalty kick shootout between Spain and Italy. I’ll think of the surprising Russians. I’ll think about how Portugal can have such talent and promise, yet forget how to do fundamental thinks like defensive marking against Germany and that will always be their downfall.

The main thing that I will think about however, is the Turks. Their never give up attitude was inspiring to watch. Turkey went through so many injuries and suspensions, yet kept fighting and made an excellent run. Their wins against the Czech Republic and Croatia were thrilling. Even in defeat against Germany, they tied the score late before the Germans scored in the final minute. I’m now a lifetime fan of the Turks!

-At Green Hills Mall, I saw Vanessa Williams and that was a good sight. She’s smaller and shorter then I thought she would be. It was so weird because I was just walking to the Brookstone store next the Apple store and I see her in a white dress, really no makeup, with her small daughter I’m assuming and two other women. I guess she’s in town filming a movie or something like that.

Anyway, I didn’t place her at first and then I said to myself, is that Vanessa Williams? Very attractive and you know the love I have for older women. I’m supposed to say that she could get it or CGI at this point, even though I’ve never turned down a girl. She actually may crack the bench on my top-five, speaking of which…

I recently saw this picture of Ciara and she once again confirmed why she will always be a member of the top-five. Ashley is still the GM/head coach. For old time’s sake…




I will have an updated top-five list soon.

-As sucky as the Mets have been playing lately, they are only four games out of first place. That’s the beauty of baseball, the season is so darn long. The Mets have fired a manager, the clubhouse doesn’t get along, players want to get out and they are still in contention. Good stuff. Also…

-The Rays are coming on strong and are in it for the long haul. I LOVE that the Rays are contending and are actually in first place now. I get so, so tired of hearing about the Yankees and the Red Sox all of the time. I don’t have a big beef against either team, I just get tired of the media coverage of them. Detroit is also only five games out as well. Maybe my AL West champions Seattle can recover and make a run…maybe not.

-I’ll have my updated MLB predictions/review at the All-Star game in a few weeks.

-I must tell you that I’m a sucker for the Olympics, both Winter and Summer. I’m going to elaborate on this more in a future post. For now, I was watching the trials for Track and Field as well as Swimming. I don’t know all of the athletes names right now, but I just love the competition. Tyson Gay and Michael Phelps are freaks, btw. I also checked out the gymnastics one a few weeks ago as well.

-I was driving around town over the weekend and I began to thing about my career and what I would like to do with it. It was a reflective moment and I was glad to have it.

-I recently joined a cool Facebook group called “If you remember the 90’s…” Great group and going over the information on there brought back so many memories. Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204285338

-I watched 60 Minutes today and there was a story on Will Smith in anticipation of his new movie, Hancock. Such a down to earth guy. I’m a big fan of his and Fresh Prince of Bel Air was essential viewing. In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spend most of my days…Y’all know what I’m talking about.

Here are some potential post topics for the next week (I will try to not write a post about women or dating.)

-Does this offend me, Part 3. Its coming, I promise
-Olympics
-Fourth of July memories
-So Black people don’t like rock music?

I heard this Bush song at a bar on Friday night and it brought back some memories. Actually, it was the cover band at Tin Roof. I was a HUGE fan of Bush back in the day. Have a good week.

Meet the Mess, Meet the Mess, Get to the park and Meet the Mess...

Mr. Met isn’t smiling tonight…

There is a saying in sports that you can’t fire the owner and you can’t fire the players. A certain baseball team in New York is showing this rule applies.

First was the embarrassing events that took place this week with my favorite baseball team, the New York Mets. Quick back story on the situation. The Mets fired their manager Willie Randolph after about a month of speculation about his job tenure. Managers get fired all of the time, no biggie there. I personally don’t think the terrible play was completely Willie’s fault, which I’ll get to later.

The problem was the way that the situation was handled. The Mets were about to head to California for a road trip and Randolph told Omar Minaya, his boss and general manager of the team, that he didn’t want to go on the trip if he was going to be fired. Randolph wanted to leave the job with dignity, if it was possible. According to speculations, Minaya told him that he wasn’t going to get fired and the team headed to California. Then after the Mets win three out of four games, things seem well. However, after the Mets won a game against Anaheim, Minaya fired Randolph and announced it on a press release at 3 a.m. in the morning.

What a joke. I see how the Mets were working, from a PR prospective. They wanted to sweep this firing under the rug so that no one would notice. That’s why they did it during a road series, to avoid the New York media. However, that move may have worked twenty years ago, but not now in our current digital age.

The problem with that organization is a lack of accountability. The Mets collapse towards the end of last season and their uninspired play to start this season comes down to everyone. Randolph deserved some blame but Minaya deserves blame for putting together an old, slow and injury prone team as well.

It seems like if you’re an old, Latin ballplayer, Minaya has you on speed dial. Enough with the old guys. I’ve always said that I would rather see my teams lose with young players than old players. Just ask the San Francisco Giants how having an old team has been the past few years.

The Mets have the budget and the resources to have a good player development organization, yet they seem to be stuck with old guys. Delgado, Castillo, Alou, Pedro Martinez, Fernando frickin Tatis. Really?

Let’s look at the top teams over the last few years and some teams that have emerged this season. All of them have embraced young players that have developed properly in their systems. Some teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels and Cubs bring in some veterans but still have acknowledged that they need to mix in some young players to stay on top. Then you have teams like the Rays, Indians, A’s, Twins, Phillies, Marlins, Brewers and Diamondbacks who have overhauled their teams with young players and have bright futures. I don’t see that with the Mets. Minaya is a blame for this.

However, someone had to hire Minaya and this is where ownership comes into play.

They need to just overhaul everything and start over and only keep Reyes, Wright, Beltran and maybe Wagner even though he’s older.

It is what it is and resident Mets fan Jon Stewart summarized it best below.

NBA and general sports musings

Some quick thoughts on the Conference Finals of the NBA and other sports musings on a Saturday afternoon:

Lakers/Spurs: This series has gone how I thought it would. The Spurs are finally starting to look old and a team is taking advantage of it. New Orleans had a chance to do it, but they weren’t ready. The Lakers have a good mix of veterans and a young bench that is ready to step up.

I’m not going to say that this series is going to be a sweep; I have too much respect for the Spurs. However, as Barkley said last night, Horry and Finley are done and that’s going to be the downfall of the team. Duncan and Parker are going to give you a good effort and Ginobili is a talented player, but it’s over for them being a championship caliber team. They just can’t score.

Celtics/Pistons: Now Boston, you are in a world of crap. I picked Detroit in this series before it even started and I’m even more confident in my pick now. The Pistons are just too grimey, too grumpy and too smart to get intimidated on the road. If Boston thought that they could just keep winning all of their home games that was foolish.

Now the series goes to Detroit, which will be problems for the Celtics. The only way that Boston has a chance is if the Pistons do their usual cruising and lose focus for game 3. This can happen. However, I actually think the Pistons realize that they are close to finally returning to the Finals.

On to other sports:

-The Mets are going through a rough stretch right now, losing a lot of games and people want Randolph or Minaya to get fired. I think it’s too early to push the panic button and fire the manager or GM. Who are you going to replace those guys with? Also, I think the problems are more with the players then the front office. Is it Willie’s fault that the pitching has been sub par or that the guys aren’t hustling and making routine plays?

I’m not saying that Willie is completely innocent. I disliked how at the end of last season when the Mets were losing their lead in the standings Randolph has a lax attitude about it and acted like nothing was wrong with losing games. That may work in the Joe Torre, Yankees school of thought, where Willie was a coach for a long time, but the Yanks had a veteran crew that knew to stay focused and take care of business. Unfortunately, the Mets don’t have those types of guys.

Also, it’s May. Do I really care about May MLB baseball? Not really. If the Mets are still playing like this in July, then changes need to be made.

-I love college baseball conference tournament season. I’ve been following the SEC Tournament for Vandy, the ACC Tournament for Georgia Tech, the SoCon Tournament for College of Charleston and of course the A-Sun Tournament, because its my job and I’m here with Belmont. It’s just good seeing all of these games taking place at the same time.