~It appears as if all the Billy Donovan stuff has come to a conclusion he will be heading back to Gainesville to coach the Gators, who won't be terribly good next year, and the Magic will wind up with Stan Van Gundy as coach. Can't really say this is that bad for either side. I don't think that Donovan will be hurt by this at all, so he flip flopped but it showed that he really wanted to be at Florida, why would recruits see that as a negative? Especially coming off 2 national titles and after he didn't take the Kentucky job. With the imposed 5 year NBA ban, every recruit should be assured that he will be there for 5 more seasons, why wouldn't you go there? As for the Magic, will Stan Van Gundy be any better or worse than Donovan coaching this team, my guess is no more than a few game swing in either direction. They are what they are a mid to low NBA Eastern Conference team.~The Red Sox gave Dice-K the Pedro Martinez treatment last night, allowing him to throw a whopping 130 pitches and giving him zero run support despite facing former Red Sox bum Lenny Dinardo.
~Al Reyes just might be the most valuable closer in major league baseball right now, or shall I say the biggest drop off between closer and the rest of the bullpen. He pitched 3 days in a row going into last night so the Rays were forced to throw other guys, and they blew an 11-6 lead in the 9th and lost 12-11 on a walk off walk.
~Fatassia keeps on chugging away with 9 wins now after a CG shutout over the Royals last night. Most underrated pitcher in baseball, is Fatassia.
~Speaking of nasty pitching, what the hell is up with Kelvim Escobar this year, he threw his second complete game of the season last night and gave up a single run. He's been a good pitcher in the past but 7-3 with a 2.76 ERA good, hell no.
~Randy Johnson passed Clemens on the all time strike out total list last night and for some reason people are saying that it will be a battle for the remainder of the season to see who will end up #2. Unless Johnson gets hurt it's him. He gets more Ks per inning, and pitches in the NL. It's not really a story, he will finish his career as #2 in total strikeouts in history.~Trent Green to the Dolphins? Who saw that coming? Not like it's been reported to going to happen for the last 2 months. Does it really matter? Eh I don't think it will change the dynamics of the AFC East that much, he's old, and with one huge tackle could get injured. I do bet Culpepper is a little ticked off about it.
~The NHL has this whole buyout to get out of cap space clause perfectly right. The Islanders yesterday bought out Alexei Yashin's contract and will be forced to pay him 2/3 of his remaining contract spread across an 8 year period. It gives the team a chance at cap relief, as well as forces them to oblige most of the contract agreement, I think this is a terrific policy which should be implanted in every sport around the board.
~Is anybody surprised that Kevin Durant isn't strong and that he was unable to bench 185 pounds? The kid has twigs for arms and probably barely weighs above 185 despite being 6-10. But who cares, he can drive, he can shoot, and he's taller than anyone that will have the quickness needed to guard him. We know he needs to get stronger, it's obvious, but it's basketball, the bench press means nothing.~I like the idea of doing polls like the one from yesterday, I'm going to do them more often. Oh and surprisingly Ivanovic is currently winning...
~Also, I got an all-time high # of hits yesterday thanks to the links from With Leather and The Big Lead, so I just want to say thanks.
~Speaking of advancements in life, I finally got a DVR which means I can finally tape sporting events, namely soccer matches and tennis matches that happen while I'm stuck at work. I asked for it for my birthday, which was in January, so it's 4 months late, but I guess it's better than never. Although, I really wanted it for 24 and Heroes especially considering I still haven't watched the season finale of 24. But again oh well.
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