Taking a look around stats across MLB I came across old man river Omar Vizquel. Vizquel will never be known for his hitting considering in his 20 year career he's managed to hit over .300 just once and managed to hit double digit homers once as well. So it's not surprising that the 41 year old isn't mashing this season, but his numbers are as miserable as they could possibly be.

For the season Omar is hitting .156 (19-122) and that's downright terrible. What makes it even worse is that 8 for his first 18, so that would make him 11 for his last 104 putting him at a massive .105 since May 15th. Furthermore Vizquel has only 3 extra base hits this season (all doubles) the last coming on May 21st meaning he's gone 86 at bats without recording a single one double, triple or home run.

And if that wasn't bad enough for you, Omar's been even worse the last half of June. Since June 14th Omar has one single in 32 at bats. In that span he's grabbed 1 rbi, scored 2 runs and walked twice. Thus in his last 11 games Omar has a slugging percentage of .03125 and an on base percentage of .0909 giving him an OPS of .122. This is essentially equivalent to the OPS of hitting one double in the same span.

So ya I think it's probably time for Omar to hang 'em up and let someone else play.

For one of my courses I was tasked with coming up with a pitch for a prediction market. Essentially in a prediction market has given assets where you get paid out if an event happens and the price of the asset is essentially the group wisdom of the likelihood it will happen. So if an asset is selling at 50, than the public thinks its 50/50 that the action will happen and they will receive the 100 payout. Just think of it like gambling on predictions just in a stock way. An example of a prediction market is Tradesports.com .

Anyway I wrote my paper on creating a predciction market based solely on the MLB draft so if you care to read 5+ pages of joy here's The Papel.

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of EC, LIO, COED Mag, Hot Clicks, Sports Hernia, Unique Daily, Busted Coverage, Fanhouse, LIO


She certainly isn't Abreu's daughter.


If we were in the Philippines we could just watch them go at it.


This is why Shaq was renowned as an awful rapper.


Delicious baseball juice. Clemens adds steroids and Viagra to his breakfast blend.


Oh my god that must have hurt so much. He's such a warrior.


Come on that doesn't hurt at all. Ronaldo would take that like a man.


Do skullets bring championships to all people?


Come on John you of all people know you should finish the beer first.


Sneaky sneaky. He didn't even offer a reach around.

This is arguably my favorite part of the draft. Players wearing hats for teams they never play for.

Lovely: Memphis -> Minny
Mayo: Minny -> Memphis

Super Nintendo: Minny -> Miami

Bayless: Pacers -> Blazers

Rush: Blazers -> Pacers

Batum: Rockets -> Blazers

Dorsey: Blazers ->Rockets

Arthur: NO -> Portland -> Houston -> Memphis

I wondered why in the world the Celtics did not take CDR with the 30th pick, but now it all makes sense. J.R. Giddens was Paul Pierced.

Man, now I really want New Jersey Nets season tickets.

Knicks Fans will Love the Cock. It's only a matter of time.

The Nets just traded Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian, Bobby Simmons and the chance to sign Lebron in 2010. Hoorah another team which is basing the success of their franchise on the hope of making some massive free agent splash years in advance. The problem for the Nets is that well, unless they move to Brooklyn there ain't a chance in hell that they'll be locking up LBJ so perhaps this will get their ass in gear.

Maybe it's because I'm just in a complete pissed off mood right now, but do we need shitty stories about how any NBA draftee dreamed about playing in the NBA. Wow a kid always hoped and dreamed that he could play professional basketball, what a heartfelt story it happened for him. No shit, what did you think he dreamed of being? A janitor?

Too bad I never dreamed of being in IT when I was a kid or else maybe I would have gotten a stupid F'n story written about me.

EC had the ole photoshop thing for a 50$ gift certificate and my e-card is up as one of the potential. If you feel like voting for me, go here, however lets be honest the Hank one is the best one.

Yesterday TJ Ford was the biggest asset utilized in a trade by the Raptors to pick up Jermaine O'Neal, and well I don't F'n get it. Perhaps I understand the Pacers wanting to start off a fresh and maybe getting the #17 pick will pay off, but to me it seems like they should have gotten more than what they ended up with. Certainly at the very least everyone has to admit that they held onto O'Neal too long and that this is a solid move for the Raptors considering Calderon is hands down a better point guard than Ford.

What puzzles me most is that people in the past have compared him to Steve Nash. Why because they both play point guard are both quick and both can't play physical defense? Just in case those people haven't noticed, Steve Nash has a pure stroke. In each of his 4 years with the Suns he has shot over 50% from the floor and over 43% from three. Meanwhile Ford's career FG% is 42.9 and his career 3% is 31. The dude can't shoot. He's not a big time player.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of a point guard who has my shooting stroke and my range.

Now that the NBA Draft is just around the bend it is time for everyone to discuss the greatest NBA Busts of all time. ESPN had a top 10 greatest busts on Sportscenter and I'm sure blogs and MSM members alike are all putting together their lists of the greatest NBA Busts of all time. But I would just like to hypothesize for a second. What would be worse for an NBA franchise? To draft a player in the lottery whom never amounts to anything and is labeled as a bust or to forfeit the pick entirely. To analyze this let me bring up a few cases of the historic NBA draft busts.

Kwame Brown was drafted number 1 overall by the Washington Wizards in 2001 and was listed as ESPN's #1 draft bust of all time. He even has a website aptly named KwameBrownSucks.com devoted to the fact that he sucks. In 7 seasons in the NBA Kwame has averaged 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. His peak numbers came 03-04 when he averaged 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. These numbers certainly aren't great but they are better than having no player at all right? And if that doesn't tip the scale than this will. In 2005 off season the Wizards were able to trade Kwame and Laron Profit for Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins.
Verdict: Kwame > Forfeiting the Pick

Sam Bowie will always be renowned as a major draft bust because he was taken instead of Jordan. Was Bowie ever a dominant player? No of course not, but at his peak with the Nets in 89-90 he averaged nearly 15 points with 10+ boards. And in his first two seasons with the Trailblazers after being drafted he averaged 10+ points and 8.5 boards. He was no superstar but he contributed.
Verdict: Bowie > Forfeiting the Pick

Chris Washburn in my humble opinion is the single biggest draft bust in history in the typical context. In 1986 used the #3 overall pick to take the NC State big man. After only a season an a half with the Warriors the team jettisoned him off to the Hawks for Notre Dame Grad Ken Barlow who was playing in Europe and who played the rest of his career in Europe. All in all, Washburn thanks to drug problems lasted only two seasons in the NBA before getting the boot and only averaged 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game during that period.
Verdict: Chris Washburn = Throwing away the Pick

And now this brings me to my point. Even the worst draft bust brings more benefits to a franchise than forfeiting the pick entirely. At the absolute worst when drafting a player like Chris Washburn you are essentially throwing away the pick. And therefore one historical pick is being overlooked by everybody creating a list.

Len Bias is in fact the single biggest Draft 'Bust' of all time. Obviously this isn't a very kosher opinion to have given that the reason he never contributed to an NBA team is due to his completely tragic death. And I understand that taking this stance is completely controversial and why every single list fails to include Bias but the facts remain that even the worst of the worst contribute something to their franchise while Len Bias did not. The only difference in NBA terms between Bias and Washburn (who were drafted #2 & #3 in 86) is that Bias cocaine use led to his death while Washburn's led to his banishment from the league.

[This is why I have a Heartless Tag, sigh]

Novak Djokovic got bounced in straight sets by the always awesome Marat Safin today and it looks as if the two celebrated the tough match with a make out session. Man on Man love, Yippy.

Marat looks a bit more into it than Novak.

In my limited interest in the draft I decided to do some research on Danilo Gallinari to see just what he was about. So naturally I first went to Wikipedia to check out his entry. It didn't provide much insight, but what it did provide was a link to Danilo's website. The website of course is in Italian, but that's what Google Translate is for. So I started my perusing and guess what Danilo has his very own blog, aptly named the DBLOG. And hoorah it was time to peruse the blog using the wondrously incorrect translations provided by google. Here are some highlights with one resulting serious conclusion:

His First Blog Post:

I was very amused to design these pages, and in particular are very happy to have even a blog ...
Not a blog any ...
This will be my blog, my diary, where write everything that I passing through the mind, tenendovi always up to date on what I am doing and thinking.
I like the idea to be able to compare with all who follow me, with you ...
this is exactly the right place to free the mind and relax.

Great Insight on Yao:

This morning I was with the radio turned to me to the shower when I hear that Yao Ming was injured and that the season with Houston is over!
I have precipitated the PC on the Internet and I find that not only is true, but which could also skip the Olympics!
Well .. I said now I call and do my mouth in a wolf .. because I felt close more than you imagine!

[Note He signed of this post simply as Cock]

Best Comments (Apparently Italians love his Cock):

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to be ... fantastic game ... and as always great cock!

Written by Francy May 19 08 @ 20:23

great guys! grande vuckevic, super-booker e mitico gallo!! vuckevic great, super-booker and mythical cock!
l'atmosfera al forum era spettacolare! the atmosphere at the forum was spectacular! grazie! thank you! e adesso continuate così!!! and now continue so!

Written by chelseadaggers May 13 08 @ 17:28

27 points big cock !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scritto da walter_94 il 19 maggio 08 @ 17:24 Written by walter_94 May 19 08 @ 17:24 (Link)

So what have we learned? Whatever his nickname is in Italy (Gallo) it translates simply to Cock. Therefore I think it should stay. Why should he have to change what so many Italian fans loved about him prior. He should be able to transition comfortably to the US by keeping his nickname, thus Long Live Danilo 'Big Cock' Gallinari.

Just in case you needed extra incentive to root for the underdog Bulldogs, I present you with Kris Tomlinson. If a man is willing to go to such extremes of self humiliation simply in an effort to create luck for his team he deserves nation wide support.

Courtesy of Friends of the Program

~I went to the Traveler's Championship (aka the golf tourney in Hartford that no foreigners play in) on Saturday and while I learned a few things I have one important piece of wisdom to share. If you attend a golf tournament in the near future I have a singular suggestion for you (other than wear sun screen) and that is find the draft beer tent. I walked around the course for multiple hours and everywhere they had typical food and beverage stands and each one was selling either Bud or Bud Light Aluminum 16 ounce bottles or Heineiken or Amstel Light 12 ounce cans for 5.75. I figured that was the typical price so I ponied up the money and had one with lunch.

Than after lunch we went strolling around the lake which holes 15, 16, & 17 are built around and I saw people drinking draft beer. So I followed the trail and saw the tent in the distance with about 12 different kegs lined up. So I figured I'd see how much they were, figuring about 8 bucks, and when I get their with a confused look I read "Craft Beers 20 Ounces 5.75". Now I don't know why they used Craft rather than draft, but when I was sipping down my 20 ounces of Newcastle for the same price as a 16 ounce bud light I knew that I hit the jack pot.

~The single largest thing I took away about golf from the event is that being a caddie sucks. First of all seemingly every golfer on the tour must use the largest bags on the planet. Basically each bag looks big enough to pack an entire 5 day vacations worth of items. And each bag for that reason looks like it at minimum weighs 100 lbs. So while the golfer casually walks around the course (I did much more walking on Saturday than any of the golfers) and swings a club every once in awhile the caddy has to walk the same distance just with a tremendous amount of weight on their shoulder. Than they have to do tedious tasks, like rake out the bunkers. I watched a player pummel a shot out of the fairway bunker, after he hit the shot he made some stupid trail with his club which he walked on. The caddie then got the rake got in the bunker and slowly and precisely raked away for what seemed like 5 minutes. Each stroke was as if he was trying to create a work of art. Shit like that would piss me the hell off.

And then I saw something complelety ridiculous. For some ungodly reason Sharon Funk, wife of Fred Funk, decided that she would caddy for him this weekend. The bag she had to lug around all 4 days easily looked heavier than her. Why in the world if your her would you want to deal with that all day? No f'n way. The PGATour.com has a video interview with her about her caddying.

~The amount of silence required at a golf tournament is pretty ridiculous. Each hole employs countless amounts of volunteers whose sole purpose is to raise their hands when a golfer is about to hit to signal to the crowd to be silent.

~On that note, when I got in, a player (I forgot whom) was teeing off and a kid made a single noise and so he stepped off the ball and directed a comment to the kid instructing him that he couldn't do that (Had to be embarrassing to the father). Then he stepped up to the ball again, got distracted by a fly swung his club at the fly, and stepped off the ball again. Then he proceeded to knock his Par 3 tee shot 5 feet from the cup. Asshole.

~Vijay Singh is ridiculously dark. I mean ridiculously dark.

~Vaughn Taylor popped his collar the entire round, which makes me question his sexuality.

~It must have been plaid shorts day at the course for spectators.

~Apparently you're not allowed to bring in your Blackberry or Cell Phone into the course. So I simply lied and said I didn't have it. It was on silent anyway so F off.

~Oh and they hit the ball ridiculously far and straight. Top notch insight there.

A Quiz on NBA Draft Outfits at Mental Floss
I got 10 of 12 right. Only got the first and last question wrong, both were unacceptable for me. The first was downright pathetic.

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Last year I was one of the many to defend Imus and say that his firing was too extreme, well yesterday he was at it again with the racial controversy.

During a conversation about Jones' run-ins with the law, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Sports announcer Warner Wolf said Jones — formerly known as Pacman — is "African-American." Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know." AP

This time Imus decided he wasn't even going to remotely try to apologize rather he said people misinterpreted his statements.

On Tuesday he said he was following the spirit of that promise by calling attention to the unfair treatment of blacks — in this case the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones.

"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said Tuesday. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."AP

Seriously Don? How do you expect any person to believe that explanation? First of all A) You have no idea what race is so you obviously have no idea what he actually did, his story and whether or not he actually deserved to be arrested.

Right now if I was asked whether or not I think Imus is a racist my answer would have to be yes.

Forgive the apathy but since the Celtics won the title and they have the last pick in the first round, I just don't care as much this year. So I pretty much just put together the picks real quick, feel free to disagree I won't argue.

When the White Sox brass decided that it was time to end their time with Jerry Manuel as the manager of their ball club they decided to replace him with a man of intense passion one with a big mouth and a history with the club and thus they chose Ozzie Guillen. In his time with the White Sox Guillen has provided one World Series ring and a whole lot of loud noises and embarrassing quote. Now, less than 5 years later it seems like all Manuel wants to be as manager of the Mets is Ozzie.

After Reyes didn't run out the ball he went Gangsta
"I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade out and cut him. I'm a gangster. You go gangster on me, I'm going to have to get you. You do that again, I'm going to cut you right on the field."

And then he went all Bill Parcells on Reyes
"She acted up with me, and she had a day off."

When asked how Heilman handles the boos he equated Shea to a place filled with shit (highly accurate)
"It's very, very fertile ground for growth in Shea Stadium. It's fertile ground for a team's growth and development. Sometimes, fertile ground has fertilizer."

"Fertilizer is a good thing. It's a good thing. You get the greatest results—get the most beautiful plants—when you put it in that type of fertile soil. That's what we have the opportunity to do."

Unfortunately for Manuel there are big differences between him and Ozzie. First Ozzie had a long storied background with the White Sox. People in the city of Chicago were both used to his ways and accepted them. Manuel meanwhile has no such history with New York and certainly is not in the good graces with the typical Met fan. Secondly, Manuel has inherited a team with massive expectations mid season. He already comes with a ton of controversy and photoshopped back page covers of him with a knife behind Willie's back. He's taken the job on thin ice and what he's done in the first week is not cute it's embarrassing. So perhaps he should try to act more like himself rather than some big tough "Gangster".

Perhaps this is only relevant to those of us in the Tri-State, but Neil Best at Newsday is reporting that the Mike and the Mad Dog program just might be no longer. Apparently the two are not getting a long so well and that strain could perhaps abruptly end their show only months from their 19th anniversary.

While both think they know just about everything on the planet and can be annoyingly pompous at times, they are vastly entertaining and this would deal a significant blow to my miserable hour commute. At the very least you can't say they aren't passionate about their opinions and about sports in general.

Who knows if both would leave, one would get a new cohost, or this rumor even has merrit, but regardless the rumor itself is cause for concern. Michael Kay is the lone sports radio competitor in my area during the rush hour session and well I easily disagree with him. Meanwhile the FAN's mid day show of Evan and Joe, to me atleast, isn't remotely as entertaining as Max Kellerman and Brian Kenny. Thus if this breakup is imminent than the FAN needs to get their ass in gear to find replacements that can hold their current dominant ratings performance.

In the history of baseball only 2 players have racked up 100+ rbi prior to the all star game. In 1935 Hank Greenberg had 103 by the July 8th game and in 1998 steroid abuser Juan Gonzalez had 101 by the July 7th game. Well sitting at 74 rbi now, Josh Hamilton has 22 games to reach the 100 rbi total. Here's hoping he joins the club.

Note: The All Star Game is a week later this year, so it wouldn't be as impressive but it'd still be solid.

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of COED Mag, Hot Clicks, Hot Clicks *2, The Onion, DockSquad, Fanhouse, Fanhouse *2, Ball Don't Lie, Who Ate All the Pies, Lakers-fan.com, Tirico Suave


Probably felt like a professional massage.


Jon def. would have fired him on saturday to avoid paying for his flights.


I hope he kept that look.


He could probably play a down or two.


A commercial that actually is watchable and enjoyable, as KG would say "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE".


I think Tub O' Lard may revoke his sponsorship.


I despise Pryor already... and this fat guy.


If only I could dunk like that guy...


Stupid Brits can't even make a European tourney.


The machine makes one shot cause he is machine.


See that's what you get when you can't cheerlead for a real team.

A little bit over two weeks ago I took the media to task, namely Michael Kay, for their completely incorrect criticism of how the Yankees were handling Joba. And I would like to say now only 3 weeks later that I was right you were wrong, I'm smart you're stupid, I'm stunningly handsome you have eaten one too many donuts (probably way more than 1).

In 4 starts since the Yankees inserted Joba as a starter the team is 3-1 with their only loss coming in his first outing against the Toronto Blue Jays. An outing where the Yanks faced Roy Halladay so the chances of winning are incredibly diminished. An outing in which Veras and Edwar gave up 6 runs in the 7th inning. Every fan would sign up for any pitcher to go 3-1 with the lone loss coming against a Cy Young opponent.

Since the first start the Yanks have gone from 2 games under .500 to 7 games over .500, but that's not really the point. The point is that this month Joba has given the Yanks 18 1/3 major league innings and has given 5 earned runs during that period. So instead of having Kei Igawa or some replacement throw those innings, they got a 2.50 ERA over 18 major league innings and in the process have lucked out into training Dan Giese to be the initial filler for the Yankees injured Wang.

So once again Michael Kay baffles with his blatantly wrong opinions and analysis, let's see if he actually admits it for once.

I understand that everybody in Philadelphia hates JD Drew, hell last year everybody basically hated JD Drew even Red Sox fans (they probably turned around when he blasted a grand slam in the postseason). I understand that he dismissed your franchise and that you feel burned by him, but can we just analyze what the hell happened. Daulerio at Deadspin is a Brotherly Lovian, and pretty much is sick of the whole derogatory actions that are directed at Drew and brought up the point that it was actually the front office who failed to meet the demands which Boras laid on the table for all to know well before he was drafted. I would like to bring up a slightly different factual point that everybody ignores. And that is Pat Burrell.

Contrary to popular belief when you do not sign your draft pick you actually do not lose your first round pick. Instead you get an additional pick in the next seasons draft. Thus by not signing your pick you're delaying the recruitment of talent. In the 1998 draft the Phillies garnered the #1 pick as a result of the jilting by JD Drew. With that pick they drafted, you guessed it, Pat the Bat. With their second pick they selected Eric Valent whom you probably don't remember, but again that's not the point.

The Phillies didn't get Drew who's bounced between 4 teams in his career but rather got Pat who's played every professional game in a Phillies uniform. While their talents are different their production throughout their career and this season is comparable. So can Philadelphians please fight with the facts for once instead of just spewing misguided hate all the time.

[What I'm saying is that it would be way cooler if they convinced Pat the Bat to defeat JD in a steal cage death match rather than just throw batteries at him]

Every once in awhile out of curiosity I'll look up someone on ebay and see what kind of items are being sold. Today, it's Kyle Farnsworth a great american hero.


As you can see, everybody wants a piece of Farny. 17 items regarding Farny and a whopping 4 have been bid on. Poor Farny, nobody loves him.

It's in predicting international soccer contests. Screw analyzing the teams that I like and follow with intense passion like the Celtics or the Jets. Or a sport that I follow daily like baseball. Nope, I just need casual observance to have a solid showing in predictions.

And this brings me to my Euro 2008 predictions from two weeks ago. The first round concluded yesterday, and well if it wasn't for Peter Cech's boneheaded inability to catch a cross I would be 8 for 8 in the group selections. Instead Turkey blasted its way in the final 10 past the Czech Republic. Anyway through the first round of the ESPN Euro Pick'Em challenge I am in the 98.1 %. Now I just can't decide whether alter the order of my selections to reflect my original predictions of Italy vs. Portugal, or keep the checks as they lay now which would lead to the Dutch vs. Portugal.

I think that image pretty much sums up Scalabrine's contribution to the NBA playoffs. Stepping off the bench and onto the court a whopping zero times and only wearing a uniform when Kendrick Perkins was deactivated for the game. Yep, Scals made 3 mill this year gets an NBA title ring, and didn't have to do anything in the postseason to garner either. And he even got the opportunity to have a press conference.



Yep, that guy makes 3 million dollars. It makes you feel pretty shitty about yourself doesn't it.

Video Courtesy of the Fanhouse

So after I shoved my foot in my mouth this morning perhaps it's time for just some semblance of analysis. Simple analysis, but analysis.

The Celtics were simply a better basketball team. Paul Pierce is not leaps and bounds worse than Kobe Bryant. In given games Pierce could easily match Kobe's production thus nullifying the Lakers sole advantage. The rest of the Celtics roster was simply far superior.

The bench play was completely overlooked by the media coming into the game. Namely James Posey who was a force for much of the series. He knocked down huge shots and played stellar defense. Eddie House when Doc finally got it through his skull that he should played also knocked down huge shots and balanced off the court when the Cs made their huge run in game 4. Additionally House provided scoring when Allen and Pierce were not on the floor. Finally Powe dominated game 2 and was the biggest reason they won that game.

The biggest reason the Celtics won this series? They aren't soft. The Lakers however are. Pau Gasol is a talented player, but if you body him up enough and play physical enough with him he starts to make poor decision and his game starts to fade. Lamar Odom gets hit and turns into a whining 3 year old. Vujacic and Radmanovic are typical European shooters. They don't board they don't play defense and they certainly aren't physical. The Lakers did not have enough presence down on the blocks to consistently score, defend or rebound. And without they they became subject to prolonged slumps and prolonged Celtics runs. Celtics runs that ended their season in embarrassing fashion.

If there's one consistent topic I've been wrong about since this blogs inception than its the Boston Celtics (other than predicting them to win the title this year of course). So let's take a look back at all of my miserable opinions from the start of this blog.

The first of which was one of my first basketball posts at this here blog regarding my assessment of the 2006 NBA Draft. I thought the Celtics needed a distributor, someone who could make open jump shots and run an offense I thought they needed a big time point guard and I thought they needed Marcus Williams. So when they picked Rondo a player who proved in college he couldn't shoot I thought it was incredibly poor decision. (Trading the #8 pick which turned out to be Brandon Roy for Bassy was still a very dumb decision). I was continually hard on Rondo throughout his rookie season and coming into this season in my post about finding the next Celtics point guard I said "...the biggest need for the squad is a point guard, as Rajon Rondo is not going to be the answer this season." Whoops. Granted Rondo at home is superman and on the road he's superman holding kryptonite, but he certainly was a big time reason why their defense was so strong.

Now onto my biggest past criticisms and my desire for Doc and Danny to get the axe. With Danny's miserable history on trades which I chronicled last year how exactly was I supposed to predict him making intelligent decisions in the future. I even petitioned for people to venture off to the site Can Danny. And as for Doc, sure I wanted him fired but come on so did everybody else. The only thing he was especially good at in the past seasons was tanking games. He definitely wasn't good at developing talent for finding solid rotations (something he still sucks at).

Then the offseason came and when the ping pong dropped in the wrong direction I felt a sense of doom. When the Celtics decided to trade their 5th pick for Ray Allen I was essentially indifferent to the decision while the majority of the media was criticizing the move. My personal thoughts were that at least it gave the Celtics buzz and the #5 pick wouldn't have helped that much. But alas this was the first big example of myself failing to show any vision.

And then came my biggest mistake, disagreeing with the KG trade. I think my general sentiments are summed up well in its conclusion:

This has been my longest rant ever at SimonOnSports and I guess it's simply built up hatred for Danny and Doc and their overwhelming desire to trade my favorite Celtic along with every other chip of value for a 31 year old aging superstar that they are going to incredibly overpay. One that I've never been that fond of. I don't think the deal is the right move, I don't think they will win a championship and even worse I think it means I'll have to see those two asses roaming the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

Only a few days later after my rage died down, I back tracked and back tracked some more on my initial statements, but the negative feelings still lingered. I didn't want KG, I wanted Big Al, he was my favorite Celtic I didn't want him to go to bring in and 'aging' superstar. I wanted to win with players I had grown with and I didn't have the vision to see the moves that would win them a title. The biggest move being signing James Posey, whom the Celtics would not have won the title without.

Anyway I'm sorry Doc I'm sorry Danny, you guys were right I was wrong. You guys are smart I'm stupid. You guys take gatorade baths I barely take showers. You guys have a ring and multi millions and live in mansions I have um a blog and live in 'my mothers basement'.

Hey Kobe we know you're going to get in the lane every once in awhile and we know you're going to get your points. But when you get to the lane be prepared for Perk. Cause he's not gonna defend the ball he's gonna smack you upside the head and pick up a foul.


Soft serve Pau, you ready to get smacked up side the head all game when you have the ball in your hands? You ready for bruising hip checks? You ready for Perk to cradle your skull only to delivering a thundering head butt?


Lamar you want to bring your weak game into the lane? Well prepare for body blows and checks from Perk. Perk will swat those pansy layups and in his follow through smash the back of your head with his elbow. Cause Perk swings with purpose.


That's right boys and girls with Perk back that means 6 more hard fouls. Go Perk... More Football Player than Basketball Player.

It's time for the Yankees to replace their Wang and to do so will require an exhaustive search. First up, the losers that the Yankees used to have that sucked are free and could come back.

A) Dreamweaver - He's a free Agent. Why? Because he had a 6+ ERA in the minors. In his last year with the Yanks he had a 5.99 ERA. Last season after intelligently declining a multi year contract he had an ERA over 6. He'd be almost perfect to bring back.

B) Sir Sydney - Sir Sydney threw in 5 games with the Yanks in 2006 to the tune of a 10+ ERA. Why is he available now despite a 3-1 record this season? Well everybody hates him especially his teammates and fans and general managers, so the Rangers cut him for being a clubhouse cancer. Obviously a Grade A candidate for the staff.

C) The Wright Stuff - He got cut by the Pirates so you know he's good. Hell he really wasn't that miserable with the Yanks. He was at least better than Pavano, so what say the Yanks sign him and him and Pavano compete for the 5th spot in the rotation come September that could be an epic battle.

D) Eric Milton - Technically he never pitched for the Yankees, he was traded to quickly. So don't you think it's about damn time the Yanks brought him back to finish what he wasn't allowed to start. Who cares if the best ERA he ever had was 4.32 in 2001. He's primed to break that +6 ERA streak now.

E) Boomer - Boomer has Type II Diabetes is about 900 pounds over weight and about 800 years old. And he had an ERA well above 5 last year. So ya nobody wants him cause he can't pitch any more. But he is a beloved and he probably spends his time getting back into shape for baseball by pounding back 30 racks, so chances are his forearms are strong and ready to go. He'd obviously be the ideal candidate.

F) Rodge - Steroids shmeroids. Who cares as long as they work. All you have to do is make him a little roofy koolada with Viagra, HGH, and some roids and he will be ready to dominate the hill again in the pin stripes.

G) None of the Above - Probably gonna go with this one.

What better way to honor the showdown of the Euro 2008 host country Austria and the oddsmakers favorite Germany than to have woman in each country showdown in a pre-match contest. And what better way to enjoy the contest than to put them on the sand and have them only wear body paint. Sounds like a perfect idea to me.


I think the Austrians won this game if anyone cares. But they definitely lost the Men's game so the motivation apparently was unsuccessful.


Come on you have to like soccer a little bit now. Right?

Courtesy of the Manawatu Standard (whatever that is)

Those damn Ninjas got Willie and Rick on there way back to the hotel room. Those tricky Ninjas are incredibly tough to deal with in alley ways after midnight.

The singular reason the Lakers won the game last night was the fact that they pushed their white player performance to the 5.5 level by inserting the dominant Chris Mihm into the lineup. In 2 minutes and 46 seconds of what can only be described as divine, Mihm was an unstoppable force reminiscent of the greatest of greats. His final stat line read 0 points, 2 fouls, 1 air balled hook shot, and 1 inbounds pass to the other team.

Now imagine what the Lakers could do if they pushed the limits even further an inserted Coby Karl in the lineup to push their chalk count to 6.5. They would surely stomp the Celtics in Boston. The Celtics only hope would be the Scalabrine Leprechaun counter attack which is an inherently risky maneuver given his inability to play basketball at all.

Yesterday I was pretty annoyed about the US Open rules where an 18 hole playoff is conducted the next day. Today? Well I changed my mind. Why? Cause of the Power of the Interwebs.

This video stuff is sweet. Now I have a little distraction from the ordinary day of work. I still think the 3 or 4 hole playoff creates more sustainable drama when conducted right after the given tournament. And I do think its stupid that this started at noon when everybody on the planet is at work, but whatever I got something to do so no reason to complain.

Thanks Goes to Grutt, who always has the male anatomy on his mind, for the find.

Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest golfer of all time. His passion and intensity and work ethic is unparalleled. In all likelihood he will pass Jack in almost every major category. Yet with all his accolades and all his talents Tiger is undeniably horrible at one thing on the golf course. He and caddy Steve Williams are kings of the awkward High Five. Every single major celebration they have ends in the creation of an eye cringingly embarrassing High Five. Whether it was yesterdays putt to send the US Open into a playoff or the epic shot at Augusta on the 16th, it all ends with a sorry attempt at the high five.

But fear not Tiger I have you're cure and your teacher. If you and your caddy Steve dedicate yourself with the same intensity and devotion as you do your golf game you to can have non awkward high fives. And because I trust your drive I will set you up with one of the plates #1 high five specialist. A man who is often criticized because his high fives are so spectacular that they can create fury in the opposition. A high five that was blamed for the motivation of the miserable Marlins to dismantle his team in the final weekend of the season. That man, that high five artist and your future teacher is Jose Reyes.


You want flare you want style when you hit one of the greatest shots in history rather than an embarrassing smack of forearms? Than you want Jose Reyes wisdom in the art of the high five. With just a few lessons from Reyes you too Tiger can have a patented high five which could be revered as much as your golf game. And then finally your celebrations will be in the same stratosphere as your golf game.

Willy Taveras is one fast athlete. When he gets on base you pretty much know he's going to steal but sometimes the time isn't right for a pitch out, so he'll get his steals. But eventually one would figure that the opposition would have to adjust and try to take away the stolen base eventually by pitching out, or throwing 4700 pick off attempts. Maybe the White Sox should have pitched out once or twice when Taveras was on base on saturday, why? Because he stole 5 F'n bases in a single game.

He stole 2nd of pitcher John Danks once. He stole 3rd of pitcher John Danks twice. He stole 2nd and 3rd off pitcher Octavio Dotel. 5 steals in the span 7 innings. All with loud mouth AJ Pierzynski behind the dish. That's a big fail. Too bad Taveras didn't take off after he got an rbi single with 2 outs in the top of the 9th.

Oh ya, the White Sox lost the game.

EC is having a photoshop contest in correlation with the State Farm Call Your Shot Thingy... That was my entry. Or at least my first.

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of With Leather, The Big Picture, KSK, Mills,The Chuck Knoblog, Brett, somebody, TSB, Deadspin, CGB


I call shenanigans, the man has no nuts.


Perhaps he shall win a High Oscar.


The military must be so proud.


He took the extra shirt idea to the extreme


More Mustaches please.


If only Deron was white, it would have been 100% (almost).


Way to try to get yourself murdered on your return to Detroit.


Fans fighting with Refs only happens in my imagination in modern times and that's disappointing.


The Rays probably should have concentrated on other forms of research last year.


Their mothers must be so proud.

Catalog of All SimonOnSports Trivia

This is the Real Hand Shake...


This is what it Might Look Like if You Just Ate Mushrooms...

Some people love to watch the best players in the world fighting through the rough and taking bogey after bogey, to those people the US Open is the greatest tournament in the world. Personally, I'm a green jacket guy first and the allure of the history of the Links courses second, but the US Open still has its appeals.

4 People to Watch to Contend

Obvious - Jim 'Ugly Swing' Furyk - The US Open is Furyk's best tournament. In the past five years Furyk has made every single cut and has 3, 3 top 2 finishes including back to back 2nds in 2006 and 2007. His ability to keep the ball out of the deep stuff while still getting length on his drives allows him to always be in contention in these tournaments.

A Litte Spanish Flavor - Sergio Garcia - Eventually Sergio is going to win a god damn major. He picked up his biggest win of his career at the TPC and now it's time to step it up. He's been awful at the US Open the past two years and now is his time to reemerge as a contender.

A Little More Foreign Blood - Daniel Chopra - The Europeans never seem to win a major. From Sergio on down the line they just can't get it done on the biggest of stages. Chopra is seemingly always around the top 30 when he plays in Big tournies but perhaps this is his time to move into the top 10 on sunday.

The Young Whipper Snapper - Anthony Kim - Kim, 22, currently sits at 11th on the Tour money list this year having 3 top 3 finishes including his first career victory. His Driving Accuracy rank is surely scary for this event, but he's a big hitter (7th in Driving Distance) and this tournament has steadily moved its favor to the big hitters who can pound the ball out of the rough.

3 People Who Might Surpisingly Miss the Cut

The Past Champion - Retief Goosen - Retief has 2 US Open Titles and is considered one of the best players on the planet. Yet, he has missed the cut during the past two US Open Tournaments and he hasn't played particularly well recently.

#3 - Adam Scott - Perhaps I'm just being a skeptic but I think it would be difficult to golf with a broken finger. And given the fact that Scott has not played well in recent US Opens and will be pressured heavily by his opening round pairing, I could easily see him lounging on Saturday.

Big Mouth - Rory Sabbatini - I haven't heard Sabbatini's annoying mouth recently probably because he has yet to make a splash on the tour this year. And with his recent play combined with his history at the US Open do not be surprised if we do not see him around this weekend.

2 People to Root For this Weekend

The Club Pros - I don't know their names and you don't know their names unless you're from their country club of choice, but if any of these guys pull off a Tin Cup than it will be the greatest story of the year. Not only would that person win the cash (assuming they don't have stupid amateur status) but they would be able to sign up a Disney movie deal within minutes if not seconds of hoisting the trophy.

The Stuffy Brit - Colin Montgomerie - Some people hate Monty others like me want to see him around on Sunday afternoon to see what kind of antics he pulls. He had the 06 tournament in the bag after Phil blew up but than he blew up himself. Here's hoping he's given that same opportunity this weekend.

1 Winner

Fatty Phil - This tournament has been Fatty Phil's to win in the past and he's choked up a big one. This year there will be the added pressure of pairing with Tiger during the opening rounds but for some strange reason I think he rises up to the challenge. I think Fatty Phil gets his coveted US Open title while Tiger fights with his surgically repaired body into the top 10.

I amongst many others put on my genius thinking cap prior to the start of the season and picked the Mariners to win the division. Part of the reason I chose them to out pace the Angels were the injuries to Lackey and Escobar but really that's no excuse. I would have had them in 2nd if those injuries didn't occur so I still would have been incredibly wrong. The Mariners not only are not out pacing the Angels for the division title, they aren't out pacing anybody in major league baseball as they currently have the absolute worst record in the MLB. So what the hell has gone on with the Mariners to make so many look like complete fools?

Hitting Hitting Hitting... Or the Lack of It

I stated that the key to the Mariners success this season would be Richie Sexson. He was supposed to be their power source and they needed him to have a bounce back season. I figured he would bounce back to the tune of .260 and around 30 homers. This just has not happened as he once again sits in the lower .200s (.213) with a whopping 53 strikeouts in 178 at bats.

After Sexson, there isn't much more success. Even Ichiro is currently hitting below .300 this season. Adrian Beltre is hitting .226 thus far this season. Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt are hitting respectably at .302 and .284 respectively but they have 12 walks in nearly 500 at bats combined. So their On Base % are only .316 and .294. Kenji Johjima is hitting .224 with only 2 home runs this season. The Mariners use Jose Vidro as their primary DH and he is rewarding them with a .220 average and 4 home runs.

As a team the Mariners are in dead last in all of major league baseball in On Base %, rank 28th out of 30 in SLG% (KC, WAS) and 27th in Runs Scored (SD, KC, WAS). This team needed a reliable hitter, this team needed Barry Bonds. They were too scared to go out and get him and because of this they are one of the worst offenses in all of baseball.

Back of the Rotation (ERA +6 Apply Here)

The back of the rotation of Washburn, Batista and Silva certainly weren't expected to be lights out pitchers but they also weren't expected to be completely dreadful. Combined these three pitchers have a record of 8-20 in 38 starts. The lowest of the three ERAs belongs to Carlos Silva and sits at 5.96. Batista is next with a flat 6.00 ERA followed by Washburn with a 6.09 ERA. When the back end of your rotation is pitching like garbage the only way to win ball games is to mash. And obviously the Mariners are not mashing.

The backend of the rotation has countered their two aces to the point where their team ERA is currently 26th (Pitt, DET, COL, TEX) at 4.69. There WHIP is even worse at 1.50 ranking 28th in MLB (Pitt, TEX).

Key Injuries

This has definitely been the least of the Mariners problems this season but its still an issue. Coming into this season their three best pitchers were obviously King Felix, Eric Bedard and JJ Putz. While Felix has pitched well this season (3.07 ERA) the other two have spent time on the DL and not pitched like themselves. Bedard has missed a couple starts and instead of being a dominant Cy Young candidate has been incredibly inconsistent and average. In 11 starts Bedard is 4-4 with a mediocre 4.26 ERA. Putz meanwhile spent a lengthier period on the DL but has been considerably worse while active. He has only 7 saves in 19 appearances but the staggering numbers come with regards to his peripherals. His ERA of 5.21 is bad but a WHIP of 1.95 for a closer is completely unacceptable. Last season Putz had an ERA of 1.38 and only gave up 50 base runners in 71 innings.

Sum Up

Essentially the Mariners have been worse than predicted at every phase of the game. Nobody in their offense is excelling. The back of their rotation has been amongst the worst in MLB. Even 2 of their stud pitchers have been average or worse than average this season. What looked like a promising season only 2 1/2 months ago now could presumably turn into a fire sale in the coming weeks.

How many frigging layups could you possibly take/miss. God damn couldn't someone have taken a single trick shot instead of a jumper or a layup. The biggest trick shot made was a simple bounce off the backboard tap in move.

Plain layups should be banned from games of HORSE, period.

I am not a gambler. Why? Because I don't like winning money as much as I hate losing money. And well my luck of the irish doesn't exist. But looking at the line for the game tonight makes me think, wow Vegas is really just begging you to bet on the Celtics.

Up 2-0 and undefeated thus far this season against the Lakers they are getting Salmost double digits? I understand favoring the Lakers and thinking that they are going to bounce back at home and avoid going 0 for the series, but what exactly is the logic backing a beat down. They were getting crushed for 40 minutes on Sunday night before the Celtics put it in cruise control and the Lakers fought back. They've killed them on the boards and are obviously the more physical team and in my opinion simply a better team. I just don't get it.

So, if I was a Gambler I think I'd have to take up Vegas' begging offer to take the Celtics. But of course if I bet on the Celtics they would go out and lose by 15.

If you live in the Northeast than you know it was hot as hell the entire weekend and continuing into today. So if you went to the Belmont you probably knew you were going to sweat through a shirt, especially if you are fat like Big Brown Trainer Rick Dutrow. So you have to plan in advance, like wearing a shirt that doesn't show sweat as well or better yet bringing a 2nd shirt to change into prior to race time. Hell you know you're going to be on camera. Why do you want to look like you just jumped into Long Island Sound.

Note: The Power of the 2nd shirt is also essential for those that can't control their sweat glands during pick up bball games.

One would think that when you are advertising a series already in progress you would know who was actually involved in the Series rather especially if it was being broadcast on your own family of networks. Yet apparently ESPN could only get pictures of Kobe and KG right but not the teams they play for. I wonder which Superstar is on TEAM 1 and which is on TEAM 2.

~NBA Finals

~Did I not say that the Celtics bench was significantly better than the Lakers bench? Leon Powe is actually good unlike many of the players on the Lakers bench. He is athletic, big and strong. He's not a superstar but he's good enough to contribute and because he played the most important game of his career the Celtics are up 2-0.

~At the start of the 4th quarter I figured the Celtics would just need to get to around 100 as they shouldn't really give up 40+ points in the overtime so I thought 17 points in the fourth quarter would be the magic number. But I guess they just really didn't want to play defense the final 12 minutes. They're lucky they make their free throws, unlike Memphis, or they would have been victims to the worst NBA game collapse ever.

~I hope we don't hear anything more about Paul Pierce's "I needed to get carried off the court cause I thought I blew out my knee but I was obviously completely wrong, I was actually pretty fine". It's a bit pathetic. This is coming from a guy who survived several stab wounds.

~I liked the Lakers strategy of not getting Kobe the ball the final possession. They should run more of those plays.

~It's nice to see Ray Allen making some buckets. Jesus Shuttlesworth should not struggle in the NBA finals.

~Phil Jackson whining is pretty annoying. Perhaps your team would get more calls if they actually drove to the hoop rather than took jump shots. The reason Powe had so many free throw attempts is because he attacked the basket. Perhaps your team should simply foul less.

~When is Scalabrine gonna get some PT?

~Tennis

~Ivanovic won her first major which means apparently she can go out and celebrate by wearing an ugly shirt and posing with the trophy in front of the Eiffel Tower. I could certainly think of plenty of things that would be more entertaining, like getting trashed and vomiting on some stuffy french guy for instance.

~Perhaps if I saw Borg play live I would think differently but its hard for me to believe that there has ever been a better clay court player than Nadal. He's trounced everyone for 4 straight years in Paris. It's a foregone conclusion that he's winning the French Open even more so than it is that Federer is winning Wimbledon.

~Essentially Federer learn his clay court game too late. If he was playing like this 5 years ago he would have his coveted final piece. But instead he is not going to get it.

~Additionally I hate people who say don't compare Federer to Tiger Woods because Woods won in every scenario. Woods doesn't have a Nadal. Imagine if Woods was dominant in the British Open yet there was one player who owned the Links courses one player who grew up on the Links Courses and shot consistent 15 under tournaments. Well Federer has that opponent, Woods doesn't. If Federer didn't have the greatest Clay Court specialist in his era he'd have 3 more majors, possibly 4.

~Horse Racing

~How many jockey's could you fit inside Shaq? I'm going with 5.

~I'm not very surprised Big Brown couldn't get it done, history has said that the Belmont is by far the hardest race for these horses to win. Additionally, they kept on mentioning that during Big Brown's training he never eclipsed a mile nevermind a mile and a half. Just think about if you were training for a marathon and you only ran a half mile once in training. Do you think you would be able to go out and dominate people who had trained their bodies to go 20+ miles. I certainly don't.

~I don't get why people are so upset that others bring up the value of the horse in regards to pulling him up instead of pushing him. Sure part of the reason he was pulled up was for the general safety of any horse, but could you imagine how ruined that jockey's career would be if he pushed Big Brown to the limits and the horse died and the owners lost out on millions upon millions of dollars. Someone getting shot and killed is miserable period but theres a reason that the President has a limitless protection its a bigger deal if he dies.

~I picked Icabad Crane and in typical fashion he finished 2nd to last. Woo, this is why I don't gamble. My girlfriend picked Dennis of Cork, he finished 2nd.

~I wish I dumped my life saving on De'Cody. That would have been a house.

~MLB

~Is improving your life as simple as growing a mustache? Seriously Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi were miserable at the start of the season and now with porn stache's they are raking. F'n Damon went 6 for 6 on saturday. On May 26th Damon's average was .265, after this weekend it sits at .328. In 12 games he's bumped his average by 60 points. Meanwhile Giambi is hitting walk off homers off an elite closer. Mustaches should be the next corporate trend.

~The Yanks are now 1-1 in starts made by Joba. Obviously starting Joba is not the cause of the apocalypse as members of the media were saying.

~Apparently the kid the Yankees drafted in the first round that MLB compared to Kyle Farnsworth is actually a Yankee fan and is pictured here at Game 6 of the 2001 World Series holding up a sign.

~The Mets getting swept by the Padres is quite pathetic. Especially when you have a 2 run lead going into the 8th inning and you eventually serve up a 3 run home run to 95 year old Tony Clark.

~Rafael Furcal is arguably the most annoy player to have on your fantasy team right now. He was supposed to return from the DL about 5 times already. But now they're just throwing out random days just because.

~How much of a douche do you have to be to get cut from your team after going 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA. Apparently you need to be a douche the size of Sir Sidney Ponson.

~I guess Manny and Youk got into a spat on Thursday because Manny doesn't like how Youk flips out every time he gets out.

Hey its time to make token predictions based on slightly above average but certainly not expert knowledge.

I have Germany and Croatia tieing for the group lead and say Germany gets spot #1 on goal differential. I don't think Poland or Austria have a large chance of advancing.

Group C

This is a big time group and of course I sided against the French advancing because well I don't like France much.

Group D

Spain will dominate this group and flip a coin between Greece, Sweden and Russia. My coin landed in a tie with Russia and Sweden and then landed in Russia's favor.

Quarterfinals

These rounds didn't automatically fill out which team was what. So I just picked them at random and filled out the teams afterwards. I think a final 4 of Italy, Spain, Portuagal and the Czech Republic is a pretty good prediction.

Semifinals

I just picked the two on the left. I feel as if Spain is going to do well this year but if I was going to pick between Spain and Italy the bias in me would have picked Italy anyway.

Final

Again I just picked these at first without figuring out who was Game 29 winner. Regardless it wound up being Portugal and well its Christiano's World the rest of us are just using his land and air out of the kindness of his heart.

(Um for some reason Blogger didn't publish this yesterday. It simply left it scheduled to publish, who the hell knows why)

I figure I should at least give some kind of opinion on what is going to happen starting this evening. I picked the Celtics to win the NBA title at the beginning of the season for selfish reasons. I like one team from Boston, the Celtics and I want a piece of this championship run.

Anyway let's do a brief Roster Spot Comparison:

Starters: 2-1-2 Celtics

Derek Fisher vs. Rondo: Fisher's old, Rondo can't shoot I vote push.

Kobe vs. Ray Ray: Kobe hates Ray Ray will torch him and Ray Ray hasn't been making shots I vote big advantage Lakers.

Lamar vs. The Truth: Lamar is good but he isn't the Truth, he's more like science fiction I vote advantage Cs

Rad-Man vs. Perk: These players do nothing similar and nothing great I vote Push.

Pau vs. KG: They'll be covering each other and I think this is closer than most people but I vote KG.

Bench: 3-1-3 Celtics

Walton vs. Posey: They do similar things, Posey is a better defender and knocks down 3s I vote Posey

Vujacic vs. House: They see the court simply to shoot the ball its close but I vote Sasha

Mbenga vs. Brown: Brown has the potential to knock down shots I dont think Mbenga does anything I vote Brown.

Farmar vs. Cassell: Cassell is all but done but the nut dance has at least one more go round I vote push.

Ariza vs. T Allen: Both players are there to play tough D and nothing else I vote push

Turiaf vs. Davis: Similar players advantage Push.

Karl vs. Powe: Coby doesn't see the court, Powe could contribute I vote Powe.

Coaching: ∞-0 Lakers

Hopefully this series doesn't come down to coaching decisions. That would be very very bad for the Celtics.

Dead Ghost Presence: ∞-0 Celtics

There are no Lakers ghosts in the arena (Wilt is to busy having sex with your dead relatives). Meanwhile the Celtics have one pissed of Red who will be pulling out everything to keep Phil from passing him.

Cheerleading: Push

Turiaf and Scalabrine should seriously go head to head in a spirit finger showdown to the death. Turiaf may be a little more animated but he actually plays. All of Scals of exuberance is in jeans and a sport coat making his cheerleading skills slightly more genuine.

Final Tally: ∞+5-∞+2-6 Celtics

Both of these teams are pretty even at ∞, but the Celtics have the slight edge once Red balances out the Lakers coaching advantage. So that's why the Celtics are going to win this one in 7.

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of me, Walk off Walk, The Fightins, Barstool, NHL, Duece, Fanhouse, Fanhouse *2, Docksquad


Too bad Shields didn't land that first punch.


I always enjoyed pulling this move when I caught.


I never tried to catch the ball with my nuts when I caught though.


So god damn stupid.


In your face Malone.


I like Chelsea too yeah. They gonna do well yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


If you guessed this happened in the South somehow you would be wrong.


[Clever thoughts not coming]


These two need to get on Jenny Craig.

This is the report on MLB.com for Gerrit Cole a big high schooler whom the Yankees drafted with their first pick. You know who MLB.com compares him to? Kyle God Damn Farnsworth. You know what Kyle Farnsworth was doing the second they drafted him, expanding the Blue Jays lead in the 9th inning of course. Gerrit let's all pray that this is the only time in your life that your name and Kyle's names are mentioned in the same breath.

Update: The Yanks Scored in the 9th leaving it up the Jason Giambi with 2 outs. And he hit a home run to win the game... Your off the hook for today Farny, the porn stache wins the game. And some how some way fucking Farny gets the win.

The 2007 1st round draft class was highly pitcher centric with 17 of the first 30 picks being pitchers, of those 9 were from college and 8 were from high school. 14 of these pitchers have started their minor league seasons with 4 being sidelined due to injury including Andrew Brackman who was drafted by the Yankees under the knowledge of his necessity for Tommy John surgery. These pitchers are distributed throughout the minor league levels with 2 at AA, 7 at High A Ball and 4 at Low A Ball.

Surprisingly the High Schoolers are currently having more success. Overall the High Schoolers of which 2 are in High A and 4 are in Low A have a 2.62 ERA and a record of 25-17. In comparison the Collegians of which 5 are in High A Ball and 2 are in Double A, have an 18-17 record with 3 saves and an ERA of 3.81. The Collegians K rate, Walk Rate, Average against and WHIP are all higher than the High Schoolers average.

If I put money on one player making the big leagues first I would probably gamble on Casey Weathers who is a reliever for the Rockie from Vanderbuilt. Currently in Double A Weathers has 22 appearances all in relief and has an ERA of 2.05, over a strike out per inning and a WHIP of 1.18. Many of these teams are drafting relievers out of college and putting them on the fast track to the majors (see Houston Street & Chad Cordero). I wouldn't be surprised if Weathers got called up later this season to get a look.

#1 pick David Price threw a ton in extended Spring Training but in 3 starts in Triple A he has yet to give up a single run. So he too could be on the fast track to the major leagues.

The High Schooler currently having the most success is left handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner in the Giants organization. The #10 pick in the draft is 5-2 with a 2.10 ERA and a WHIP of 1.01 as well as a K rate of 10.34 per 9 innings. Blake Beavan (Rangers), Phil Aumont (Mariners) and Rick Porcello (Tigers) are all playing very well and are not far behind Bumgarner's production.

All in all these pitchers are looking like the real deal so far. Only 3 of the active pitchers have an ERA above 3.50 thus far this season. All of these players happen to be Collegians. Once again you can't judge a baseball draft pick by his first 2 months but its nice to see your 18 year old throwing 95 miles per hour and retiring professional hitters with ease.

1	David Price	LHP	Devil Rays	Vanderbilt	Vero Beach (FSL)	HiA
4	Daniel Moskos	LHP	Pirates	Clemson	Lynchburg (CAR)	HiA
6	Ross Detwiler	LHP	Nationals	Missouri State	Potomac (CAR)	HiA
8	Casey Weathers	RHP	Rockies	Vanderbilt	Tulsa (TEX)	AA
9	Jarrod Parker	RHP	Diamondbacks	Norwell HS, Ossian, Ind.	South Bend (MWL)	LoA
10	Madison Bumgarner	LHP	Giants	South Caldwell HS, Hudson, N.C.	Augusta (SAL)	LoA
11	Phillippe Aumont	RHP	Mariners	Gatineau, Quebec	Wisconsin (MWL)	LoA
17	Blake Beavan	RHP	Rangers	Irving (Texas) HS	Clinton (MWL)	LoA
19	Joe Savery	LHP	Phillies	Rice	Clearwater (FSL)	HiA
20	Chris Withrow	RHP	Dodgers	Midland (Texas) Christian HS
22	Tim Alderson	RHP	Giants	Horizon HS, Paradise Valley, Ariz.	San Jose (CAL)	HiA
23	Nick Schmidt	LHP	Padres	Arkansas
24	Michael Main	RHP	Rangers	Deland (Fla.) HS
25	Aaron Poreda	LHP	White Sox	San Francisco	Winston-Salem (CAR)	HiA
26	James Simmons	RHP	Athletics	UC Riverside	Midland (TEX)	AA
27	Rick Porcello	RHP	Tigers	Seton Hall Prep, West Orange, N.J.	Lakeland (FSL)	HiA
30	Andrew Brackman	RHP	Yankees	North Carolina State

SI recently completed their annual list of the top 50 earning US athletes and semi surprisingly the top earners were both professional golfers. The first being Tiger Woods of course but the second being Phil Mickelson who made a staggering 62+ million dollars last year. Golf.com chronicled some of Phil's endorsement deals which brought in a total of 53$ million dollars but they missed some significant deals which I am here to share.

The Bro = $1 Million + Lifetime Supply


How do you keep your man breasts firm and supple for your entire playing career? The Bro of course and this is why Phil is their key athletic spokesperson. With the nickname Mickletits, Phil is the perfect athlete to advocate supporting of your man mammaries.

Tub O' Lard = 12 Dollars + Years Supply O' Lard

Phil proclaims that the singular way he is able to keep his mystique physique is through genuine Tub O' Lard. Tub O' Lard gives him the proper fat content he needs to store the high powered fuel he needs to succeed on the course.

The Ab Belt = Permanent 6 Pack Abs No Cash Payment

To work off those excess pounds Phil gets from his Tub O' Lard endorsement Phil advertises the Ab Belt. Phil keeps a slender physique not by working out but by strapping on the ab belt all day long. Nothing keeps his abs tone and in 6 pack form like the Ab belt.

The Tiger Hunters Club of America = -1$ million (Phil Funds the Organization)


After several life threating maulings from a Tiger, Phil is the spokesperson and founder of the Tiger Hunters Club of America. He advocates that Tigers on the loose are very dangerous to the public and that any Tiger seen on American soil should be shot no questions asked. He very much feels as if the Golf Course is a key feeding ground for American Tigers and sniper tours at local clubs to ensure protection.

If you listened to any media outlet talking about Joba's first night in the rotation than chances are you heard criticism of how the Yankees handled it. You probably heard that its a big distraction or that the Yankees lost on Tuesday because of Joba or that a starter doesn't go 3 innings basically you heard the media throw out a lot of crap.

Before I get into dismantling the arguments of the media I would just like to point back to my post the day after the Yankees announced they were going to move Joba into the starting rotation. This is what I said then:

Basically the only way I can see the Yankees stretching him out is either A) Send him to the minors (this is a miserable idea) or B) Just start him and have him pitch the alloted innings than after his allotted innings just bring in the corresponding long reliever. Will it put your team in some odd spots? Sure. If Kennedy or Igawa or whatever long reliever was any good they would be in the rotation. But at the very least this guarantees that every inning that Chamberlain pitches is a relevant one.

For the purpose of this post I will focus on one man who criticized the move, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay. Now Michael of course did this on his radio gig because how could he possibly criticize the Yankees during a broadcast but his point was generally that the Yankees should stretch out Joba in the minors and that by doing so in the majors they are taxing the bullpen and creating a major distraction. He also went so far as to say that Joba was the reason the Yankees lost on Tuesday. In typical fashion Michael proves himself to be, well not very bright so let's pick a part every portion of Michael's argument.

By moving him into the starting rotation (which you could argue is or is not a good move) you can't stretch him out in the bullpen. He needs to get used to coming out of the gates in the first inning. He needs to get used to coming into a 0-0 game when the crowd is still entering the stadium. And mostly he needs to get stretched out against live competition and not pitch one inning against at bats and then throw 40 more pitches in the bullpen. That's not simulating a start, that's working out your arm.

Let's undervalue Joba and say that he is currently the 4th or 5th best pitcher on the Yankees roster behind Mo, Wang, Pettitte and perhaps Mussina (who surprisingly doesn't suck this year). Advocating putting Joba in the minors for a month is saying that you do not want one of your best pitchers to contribute to your major league roster for a month because he can't contribute in the typical 5+ inning starters role you would like him to. If he throws 20 innings in the minors that is essentially 20 wasted innings. The Yankees sitting below .500 can not afford to waste innings from one of their best pitchers.

Saying that Joba cost the team the game on Tuesday is simply moronic. The reason why the Yankees lost the game on Tuesday is due to the fact their bullpen sucks. They have no long relievers worth a grain of salt. If they did have any value than the problem would be simplistic. Throw Joba for his specified innings and then bring in that long reliever, think of him as the 5th & 1/2 starter. Saying that Joba should not start is essentially advocating the Yankees to start Kei Igawa instead. He'll give you 3 innings too, just he'll come out of the game down 5.

And finally the distraction that this is all creating. To me this is the only argument with any validity. The media talks about this non stop and perhaps the Yankees are sick of answering questions about Joba. But if it wasn't Joba it would be something else. This is New York City, this is the Yankees they always have distractions. They always have media scrutiny. This is no different than any other year and certainly not more than the A-Rod criticism in its prime stages. To me any one that argues that this is creating a significant detrimentally distraction for the roster is completely blowing this out of proportion.

Argue whether or not moving Joba from the Bullpen to the Starting Rotation is a good idea or not all you want but how they are doing it is the right way to go about it. They need Joba, one of their best pitchers, to throw meaningful innings on the major league level. By starting him every inning, every pitch he throws will be a meaningful pitch for the New York Yankees. The consequences of the decision do not closely stack up to the consequences of starting Kei Igawa instead.

I think Scott Boras is the equivalent of Satan to major league baseball, he could take much of the blame for the ever increasing salaries and the money over loyalty mlb player attitude. But if you're a fan of a major market team come draft day than Scott Boras is officially your friend. Why, because often his presence frightens the Royals of the world.

Every year Boras latches onto a few uber prospects who could potentially be one of the first players selected in the draft. Yet, it always seems as if many of these players slip, but why? It's simple, Boras is willing to take a major risk to get his players top dollar and is unwilling to compromise. If you draft a Boras client and don't want to pay the hefty price tag than Boras has no problem telling you 'go screw' and having his player suit up for whatever Independent league team that will currently pay the bills. And come deadline time if you still are unwilling to offer top dollar Boras has no problem letting you know that you just wasted your first round pick because his client isn't signing the dotted line but rather is entering next years draft.

It all started for Boras in 1997 with JD Drew. JD was selected with the 2nd pick of the draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, yet a combination of poor offers by the Phillies and a lack of desire to live in the city of brotherly love left contract discussions in the dust. By late spring Drew was suiting up for the St. Paul Saints rather than in the Phillies organization. Come the signing deadline, both Boras and Drew decided it was best to re-enter the 1998 draft and poof the Phillies had wasted their opportunity to get a potential cornerstone player.

This has continued ever since including last season when Rick Porcello was considered the top high school pitching prospect in the country. He was regarded as a sure fire top ten talent but when Boras asked for over 7 million dollars he plummeted all the way to the Detroit Tigers at pick #27 who eventually shelled out 7.28 million dollars over four years. Had the dollar amount been lower who knows where Porcello might be this spring.

So for once in your lifetime certain fans can be happy about Scott Boras. If you're a major market club who never find themselves having a top 5 pick than Boras is your opportunity. He is the only way you can land a top 5 pick. All you need to do is be willing to concede to his greed.

I think it's pretty well known that I am not a fan of Jason Giambi. I think he's typically annoying and I can't wait for him to no longer be on the Yankees. I would say that on a typical day he's probably my least favorite Yankee. But there's something about a Porn Stache that eases the hate. I actually find myself almost liking Giambi when he starts the Mustache rides for the ladies and/or Shelley Duncan. Somehow someway Giambi actually hits the ball better when he has a mustache which certainly doesn't hurt.

The 2007 consisted of the typical 30 first round picks of which 13 were positional players. Of these 14 players only four were college players. So let's check in at how they are doing in their first full season in the minors.

Of the 13 players 8 are currently in Low A ball, 3 are in High A Ball, 1 (Matt LaPorta) is in AA ball and one has yet to make an appearance (Wendell Fairley). All 4 players who came from college are in High A or better while all high schoolers are currently in Low A Ball. On average the college players are succeeding at a higher level than High Schoolers which is to be expected. The collegians are mostly excelling at a higher rate in regards to powers having 42 of the 65 total home runs, hitting at a slugging percentage of 530 compared to 455 and at an OPS of 902 compared to 813. The High Schoolers are showing superior speed having stolen all but 3 of the 39 bases as well as hit 17 of the 20 triples recorded.

Matt LaPorta looks like the most likely of any of the hitters to see a September call up. He currently is the only 1st round pick in AA (Brewers) and he is showing tremendous power. In 210 at bats in 57 games LaPorta has 15 homers, 49 RBI, 41 Runs, and an OPS of .981. higher level in power numbers.

Catcher Matt Wieters for the Orioles is not far behind. In High A Ball Wieters is currently hitting .329 with 12 home runs in 51 games played. At this pace he will likely ascend up the ranks quickly.

The current High Schoolers having the most success are outfielders Jason Heyward for the Braves organization and Ben Revere for the Twins organization. Heyward is hitting .332 with 7 home runs and 8 steals in 217 at bats. Revere on the other hand is showing leadoff skills by hitting .420 with and on base percentage of .463 and 16 steals in 33 games.

In total the numbers are what you expect, these players have talent and that's why they were drafted so high. In 490 total games the players are hitting .295 on average and an OPS of .851. Some players are excelling and others like #2 pick Mike Moustakas are struggling. In the long run the first 2 months of your first minor league will certainly not define your career but it's still nice for the organization to see your number 1 pick raking.

DRAFT CLASS STATS AS OF JUNE 2nd

Pick	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	SCHOOL	Club (League)
2	Mike Moustakas	SS	Royals	Chatsworth (Calif.) HS	Burlington (MWL)
3	Josh Vitters	3B	Cubs	Cypress (Calif.) HS	Peoria (MWL)
5	Matt Wieters	C	Orioles	Georgia Tech	Frederick (CAR)
7	Matt LaPorta	1B	Brewers	Florida	Huntsville (SL)
12	Matt Dominguez	3B	Marlins	Chatsworth (Calif.) HS	Greensboro (SAL)
13	Beau Mills	3B	Indians	Lewis-Clark State	Kinston (CAR)
14	Jason Heyward	OF	Braves	Henry County HS, McDonough, Ga.	Rome (SAL)
15	Devin Mesoraco	C	Reds	Punxsutawney (Pa.) HS	Dayton (MWL)
16	Kevin Ahrens	SS	Blue Jays	Memorial HS, Houston	Lansing (MWL)
18	Peter Kozma	SS	Cardinals	Owasso (Okla.) HS	Quad Cities (MWL)
21	J.P. Arencibia	C	Blue Jays	Tennessee	Dunedin (FSL)
28	Ben Revere	OF	Twins	Lexington (Ky.) Catholic HS	Beloit (MWL)
29	Wendell Fairley	OF	Giants	George County HS, Lucedale, Miss.

Looking at the Lakers Roster you see a couple of things jump out at you on the page. Being that I focus on the lighter side of rosters I noticed that assuming Coby Karl is placed on the active roster for the finals the Lakers will be one African American Father away from being a half Caucasian squad.

Pau Gasol
+ Vlad Radmanovic
+ Sasha Vujacic
+ Luke Walton
+ Coby Karl
+ Jordan Farmar (1/2 + Jewish = 75% White)
5.75 White Players

This 5.75 White Players could be the largest number in a very long time. The Spurs championship teams always had several white players including Manu and Brent Barry as well as Kerr and Will Purdon't in the past. But never reached above 5. The Pistons, Heat and Lakers 3-peat never even came close to this number. The 2nd batch of Jordan 3 peats hit 5 with Longley, Kukoc, Kerr, Wennington & Buechler but never hit the 6 man mark. The Rockets didn't come close to hitting the mark. The Bulls first 3-peat had Will Purdon't and John Paxson but not much else. The Bad Boy Pistons had Brawlin Bill but only a bench warmer or two. The Showtime Lakers of 1987 and 1988 had Kurt Rambis and Mike Smrek but that was it.

You have to travel to the mid 80s to arrive at a roster consisting of more white ball players than the 2008 Lakers. That roster was the 1980s Boston Celtics of course. In 1986 when the Celtics dispatched the Houston Rockets their starting lineup consisted of eight Caucasian ballers. Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale and Bill Walton were all integral parts for the 1986 title. In addition the Celtics had a bench that would make Scalabrine blush. Jerry Sichting, Scott Wedman, Rick Carlisle, and Greg Kite were all modest contributors but active cheerleaders on the pine. The Celtics African American players included starters Dennis Johnson and Robert Parish and bench warmers Sam Vincent and David Thirdkill.

The most amazing part of this all is that the Waltons played a similar role during both playoff runs. They both averaged under 20 minutes player per game. They both were sparks off the bench. They both averaged slightly under eight points per game. Now Luke looks to join his father 22 years later in the hallows of contributors to white American basketball.

All Research Was Done Looking At Basketball Reference's List of Playoff Stats for NBA Champions

This is Patrick Murphy, he is a softball coach for the University of Alabama, he is a certifiable master of strategery. He got his # 3 seeded Crimson Tide to the semifinals of the College World Series where they faced off against the #6 seed Arizona Sun Devils in a best of three showdown. And after 6 innings the Tide were 1 run away from taking a 1 game lead when Murphy busted out the most brilliant strategic deicision ever. Walk the leadoff hitter intentionally to avoid the game tieing home run.

See Kaitlin Cochran is apparently the Barry Bonds in the softball world only with we can hope less steroids. Over her career Cochran has hit .461 with 48 home runs. So Murphy decided he was going to force the Sun Devils other players to beat him and he told his pitcher to walk Cochran every time up to the plate in game 1.

So up 1 in the 7th apparently Murphy decided that it was better to put a runner on base with no outs than take a .500 chance of actually getting an out. The next batter bunted Cochran to 2nd. The following batter hit a double into the gap tieing the ball game. Three batters later the Sun Devils had a 3-1 courtesy of another double. The Sun Devils shut out the Crimson Tide in the bottom half of the inning going onto take a 1-0 series lead.

The following game Murphy decided to pitch to Cochran and she went 0-2 reaching base once after getting hit by the pitch. The next batter hit a 3 run home run and the Crimson Tide were sunk.

Memo to any coach in America, if you're up by 1 run in the last inning, do not intentionally walk the hitter. Chance of Getting on base if you pitch to the hitter < 100%. Chance of Getting on Base if Intentionally Walked = 100%. There's a simple equation for you to remember next season Mr. Murphy.

~The Cubs own the best record in baseball and thus garner the #1 spot on the power rankings. They lead all of baseball in runs scored so far this season and sit 7th in runs allowed. Sweet Lou has the Cubs on fire and in position to take both the NL Central as well as homefield throughout the NL playoffs.

~The fact that the Devil Rays have the best record in the AL is mind boggling but maybe they are for real. Shields and Kazmir are legitimate pitchers as long as Kazmir stays healthy and Matt Garza is starting to pitch like a bonafide #3 starter. Edwin Jackson is what you expect from a #4 starter some good games some bad games and Andy Sonnastine is a serviceable #5 starter.

~The Blue Jays really snuck up the rankings this month as they went 19-11 since the last power rankings. I knew they were pitching well but didn't know they played that well overall in the month.

~I still don't believe in the Cardinals but they had another month above .500.

~Now that Rollins and Victorino are both healthy at the top of the lineup the Phillies look like they have the best offense in the NL if not all of baseball. The fact that they are currently leading the division and typically are a better 2nd half team should give Mets fans cause for concern.

~Texas pitching has given up the most runs in baseball... Surprise.

~Kansas City has scored the least amount of runs... Surprise.

~The Red Sox and Angels to me look like the biggest guarantees to make the postseason.

~The Yankees after two months have been outscored by their opponents and sit at .500. This is better than last season but they need Jorge back in the worst way and should get him back on Thursday. Additionally the move of Joba to the rotation starting manana should dictate just how successful they are this season.

Rank	MLB	W	L	PCT	GB	RS	RA	STRK
1	Chicago Cubs	36	21	0.63	-	324	232	Won 7
2	Boston	35	24	0.59	2	299	255	Won 3
3	Tampa Bay	35	22	0.61	1	257	228	Won 3
4	LA Angels	34	24	0.59	2.5	245	240	Won 2
5	Philadelphia	33	25	0.57	3.5	315	252	Won 1
6	St. Louis	34	24	0.59	2.5	266	243	Won 1
7	Arizona	32	25	0.56	4	287	234	Won 2
8	Florida	31	24	0.56	4	269	264	Lost 1
9	Toronto	31	28	0.53	6	238	210	Lost 2
10	Houston	30	28	0.52	6.5	267	279	Lost 5
11	Chicago Sox	30	26	0.54	5.5	241	206	Lost 3
12	Minnesota	29	27	0.52	6.5	261	269	Won 1
13	Oakland	30	27	0.53	6	254	218	Won 1
14	NY Mets	28	27	0.51	7	265	255	Won 2
15	NY Yankees	28	28	0.5	7.5	250	257	Lost 1
16	Atlanta	29	28	0.51	7	267	218	Lost 3
17	Milwaukee	29	28	0.51	7	248	262	Won 3
18	LA Dodgers	27	29	0.48	8.5	249	242	Lost 2
19	Texas	29	29	0.5	7.5	308	321	Lost 1
20	Cincinnati	28	29	0.49	8	262	280	Won 3
21	Baltimore	26	29	0.47	9	224	245	Lost 4
22	Detroit	24	32	0.43	12	268	284	Won 1
23	Pittsburgh	26	30	0.46	9.5	280	307	Lost 1
24	Cleveland	25	31	0.45	11	226	216	Lost 2
25	San Francisco	24	33	0.42	12	218	268	Won 1
26	Washington	24	34	0.41	13	217	273	Lost 2
27	San Diego	23	35	0.4	14	210	271	Lost 1
28	Seattle	21	36	0.37	15	231	290	Lost 1
29	Kansas City	23	34	0.4	13	207	260	Won 2
30	Colorado	20	37	0.35	16	240	314	Lost 7

1. Overview of the World of Scouting

In the world of building winning sports franchise nothing is more critical than the prediction of future success of athletes. In order to build a successful franchise, organizations must evaluate how a player will perform on for them in the future. A single wrong estimation could result in millions of lost revenue for organizations.

Of these player evaluations the most volatile are those whom have never performed in your league. In this world a player there is no barometer which shows what how he can perform at the next level, rather all evaluations and predictions must be creating using only physical attributes and statistical success versus lower competition. Whereas when evaluating players to acquire via free agency or via trade there is accurate data on how the athlete has performed in a similar environment.

In today’s world there are many websites including very popular ones such as Scout.com and Rivals.com that are solely dedicated to evaluating and predicting how amateur athletes will perform both in the collegiate world and professionally. Several TV analysts including Mel Kiper have made a significant amount of money solely on the reputation for being able to project how collegiate athletes will transition into the pros. Additionally each professional organization has a branch of scouts whose sole objective is to find the player who will eventually help lead them to a championship.

The scouting world is universally important to all professional franchises however it is Major League Baseball that has the largest structure to support finding their next superstar. Unlike the NFL and the NBA where athletes are only drafted from college institutions, the MLB must scout and develop opinions on both High School and College Players. All in all the major league baseball draft is a total of 50 rounds in comparison to 2 and 7 rounds respectively for the NBA and the NFL. Additionally the MLB is much more dependent on scouting on foreign soil than the NBA or NFL. All foreign players are not subject to the MLB draft but rather open to sign with any team who offers him a contract. Thus finding the prospect first and developing a relationship can be your ticket to a ring.

Thus Major League Baseball organizations must go through extreme lengths to evaluate talent both on American soil as well as globally. Using your high draft picks on players who never amount to anything professionally can both doom your franchise as well as those who make the decision. But finding that who can throw a shutout in game 7 of the World Series can turn you into a hero.

2. Difficulty of the MLB Draft

To give a quick sum up of just how difficult it can be to select the right prospect let us look at the 2000 draft. Given that the draft occurred 8 years ago all of these prospects would be at minimum 26 and would be entering the prime of their baseball career, thus if they should be contributing for their pro team. Every year the first round consists 30 picks, these picks obviously give you the best chance to find a superstar as there are a larger pool of prospects to choose from. Of the 30 players selected in the first round only 5 players are on an active roster and only one, Chase Utley, has made an all star team so far in their careers.

Meanwhile several players drafted in the later rounds have had incredible success in MLB. The first of whom is Brandon Webb whom was taken with the 249^th overall selection and has won a Cy Young (awarded to the best pitcher in the league). Other players drafted in 2000 that have been selected to at least one all star game are Grady Sizemore (75^th), Bobby Jenks (140^th), Dontrelle Willis (223^rd), and Jason Bay (645^th). For Jason Bay that means that MLB franchises thought 644 players were better than him and in his career he’s been selected to 2 all star games.

Each year the draft offers similar stories. Players that were evaluated by organizations as expected superstars who never end up amount to anything and players taken near the end of turn out to be diamonds in the rough. It is the job of a good organization to maximize good selections and minimize mistakes.

3. Main Purpose of the MLB Draft Market

The main purpose of the market is to create an increase in knowledge surrounding a process where decisions are based solely on the predictions of a collective group. By spreading out the predictions, the market would be able to pool more opinions together and potentially give a better (more uniform) prediction of the absolute unknown. For the purpose of avoiding incredible complexity the market will focus on those players that are eligible for the MLB draft and will not include foreign prospects.

4. Assets to Be Traded

All assets will be traded in association with an individual whom is projected to be taken in the MLB draft and would either be a normal predictive contract (0-100) or a strategic forecast which the buyer picks a range based on the total number of times an event will happen.

4a. Long Running Assets

These assets mark the prediction of the future success of the player. These assets give a prediction of how successful a prospect’s professional career will be.

Years to MLB: A key factor in drafting players is the estimation of how long it will take a prospect to break into the major leagues. If a college player is already at the level where he can be productive at the major league level it makes him that much more intriguing for contending teams. Sometimes teams will take a player in the top portion of the draft because they see a major league concern that the prospect could address and this tends to over way the prediction of whether the prospect can eventually become a star. The biggest example of this phenomenon is college relief pitchers, whom tend to have a quicker rate at which they reach the MLB. This would be a strategic forecast to predict the season they make their MLB debut.

MLB Longevity: Prospects are inherently more valuable to a franchise the longer that they play in the league. This would be a strategic forecast of the total number of games the prospect plays during his career in the MLB.

MLB Position: These would be predictions on what position the player winds up playing the majority of his games at in the MLB.

MLB All Star Appearances: A key factor in the success of a Major League Baseball team is to have players perform at an all star level. This long running asset would last the entirety of their career and would also be a strategic forecast of the total number of all star appearances.

MLB Hall of Fame: The absolute best case scenario for a draft pick is that they eventually develop into a player good enough to be given MLB’s highest honor. This would be a normal (0-100) contract and would pay out 100 if they made the Hall of Fame and zero if they did not.

4b. Short Running Assets

All of these assets will be complete either by the draft day itself or the following years draft when the previous years draft pick is no longer signable.

Projected Draft Position: A key prediction when setting up a draft strategy is knowing when other players will be selected by other teams. If a team has two players that they are equally interested in than often the tie breaker is which player they believe is more likely to not be selected by a different team prior to their next selection. This would be a strategic forecast based on what range of draft picks the player will go in.

Projected Salary: In MLB drafts there is no set scale as to how much a drafted player will be paid. For this reason each player has a given idea with how much they plan to ask for and how much they will settle for. Because these players may never have an impact on your professional team, having an accurate expectation for the athletes first contract salary is essential in selecting that player. This would be a strategic forecast based on the dollar amount the athlete signs for.

Likelihood to Sign: Because the MLB drafts High School players there is always the inherent risk that the player drafted will instead opt to go to college. Thus prior to drafting a high school player it is very important to have a prediction of whether or not they will sign with you, else you end up losing that seasons draft pick. In other cases players ask for more money than the franchise is willing to offer and opt to play for an independent team and enter the draft the next season (i.e. JD Drew). In this case the utilization of Projected Salary and Likelihood to sign would be used in correlation by teams. This would be a normal prediction (0-100) and would pay out 1 if they were to sign and zero if they opted not to sign.

5. Potential Users

I believe this market would both work externally or internally. Because MLB teams have so much invested in finding talent and drafting valuable players they have employed scouts around the globe. Thus they would have enough players with information regarding prospects where the market could potentially be successful. This could become a serious competition between different employees of the company and bonuses could potentially be awarded for whomever was most successful in their predictions. Additionally an organization could look to utilize this internally to get a competitive advantage over their competitors as it would be another tool that would could be utilize to aggregate all of the opinions and information from the organization.

If created externally it could serve as an information store for the entire league to utilize and for potential baseball fans to compete with their friends. By opening it up to the public many individuals, not just team scouts, would be able to predict how well the given prospect will perform at the next level. Granted some of these opinions will not be expert opinions but overall it would give

6. Main Rules

The Prediction Market can be run either with fake or real money. If the market was created as a public market than it may be beneficial for it to be run off real money. The reason behind this is that MLB scouts, the best source of information, would likely need an incentive to participate. If the market was run with real money than it may give scouts who are confident in their ability to predict the future performance of players to partake in the market.

7. Potential Limitations

The potential limitations are the depth of players whom could be entered into the prediction model. Because the draft is 50 rounds long with typically around 1,500 players selected it is obvious that not every individual will have any information, especially first hand knowledge on a tradable asset. Thus there is the potential for a large amount of noise trading if only a select few have valuable information on a tradable asset.

Additionally it would probably much more difficult for someone to offer a negative opinion about an athlete whom is not yet 22 than it would be for a positive one. Thus it might be expected that the predictions be slightly over optimistic. This may especially be the case when only few individuals have knowledge on the asset as these individuals might think that they found the hidden gem that no one else has thus buying up the asset and driving up the assets cost.

Finally some of the assets rely on the player (MLB Position) at least playing a single game in the MLB, a strategy would need to be taken into account on how to payout the assets if the player never in fact played a single game in MLB.

8. Conclusion

The Major League Draft is based solely on a handful of predictions. An organization must first be able to evaluate accurately the future success of athletes who may only be 18 years old. Before they actually make these selections they need to predict how much these players are going to ask for and what round they may go in so that can better prepare themselves to make solid decisions. Finally, the MLB Draft might be the most important two days each year for a franchise as their talent is dependent on its success. For these reasons the MLB draft is the perfect prediction market.