Today marks the end of the Stephen A Smith era at ESPN, so they had him doing the rounds including this snapshot from his First Take segment. He just looks demoralized, it's kind of sad. Get the man some cheese doodles stat.

Cody Ransom was placed on the DL over the weekend with a strained right quad. By the time he gets back to the club, if he does get back to the club, Alex Rodriguez will be back. It certainly doesn't look good that Cody is ever going to see his batting average above the Mendoza line this season.

The Jets Retro jerseys are just so damn ugly. Mustard Yellow and Navy Blue? What an awful combo. Plus a boring plain helmet. I can't stand when they throw those hideous shirts on and not the beautiful green. And well, Gang Green is going greenless in three different games next year. One game at home against the Titans with the normal throw up retro jersey we're used to and two games on the road against the Dolphins and Raiders where they'll wear retro white jerseys. Oh joy. Can't they wear retro Namath jerseys?

I have a bunch of sites feeded through my google reader, one of which is the AOL Fanhouse. I peruse that feed daily and one thing always astonishes me, every time I see a title that is douchie it's Jay Marrioti. This morning we get, Rondo in, Howard Out: Double Standard. Because a foul is obviously the same as turning around and throwing an elbow at somebodies head in frustration. Let's play Fire Joe Morgan and pick a part pieces of his article.

Rondo leaped, popped him in the mouth, drew blood when Miller's tooth cut his lip, forced him to get a stitch job and left him so woozy that his eyeballs were peeking out of his eardrums.
It's called a foul. Sometimes you get hit in the head in basketball. Ask Grutt, I go for the ball all the time and probably smash him in the face 2 or 3 times a game.

It should have been whistled as a flagrant foul, which would have given the Chicago Bulls two free throws and possession of the ball. With Miller in no condition to attempt foul shots, a flagrant also would have let the Bulls pick a replacement shooter -- Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich -- to maybe make the two shots that Miller wound up missing.
No condition to shoot foul shots? He had a fat lip, it's not like he was hit by Mike Tyson in his prime. Rajon Rondo weighs 170 pounds soaking wet.

"You have to go for the basketball, and he didn't come near the ball. He came right across his face," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro, rightfully defending his player. "I agree that it's a hard playoff foul, but it's still a flagrant and you have to call it a flagrant."
Quote the Bulls coach as if he's a viable source. He might be jaded don't you think?

Said Miller: "I understand hard fouls. But when you get hit in the mouth over the shoulders, that stuff just gets old after a while."
And quote the guy who got fouled as well and then choked. Wow what non-biased sources.

"We felt Rondo was making a basketball play and going for the basketball after a blown defensive assignment by the Celtic team," said Stu Jackson, the NBA's vice president of operations. "In terms of the criteria that we use to evaluate a flagrant foul penalty one, generally we like to consider whether or not there was a windup, an appropriate level of impact and a follow-through. And with this foul, we didn't see a windup, nor did he follow through. So for that reason, we're not going to upgrade this foul to a flagrant foul penalty one."
Ok quote the league's suspension guru. Makes sense.

Why was Howard suspended and Rondo not even punished? Why the double standard? Shouldn't the Bulls and Magic wonder why Rondo gets to play his Game 6 and Howard doesn't?
Probably because Howard threw an elbow not during the course of play at the head of his opponent while Rondo was deemed to go for the ball and foul his opponent. There's a big fucking difference between trying to knock out your opponent pre-meditated and fouling someone.

And if the roles were reversed -- Miller as the perpetrator, Rondo as the victim -- don't you think Miller would have been flagrantly flagged?
Probably not.

We aren't far removed from the Tim Donaghy point-shaving scandal that, while apparently an isolated case, red-flagged some suspicions about hanky-panky. As a difficult game to officiate, pro basketball always will have a gray area when it comes to calls. But it's inconceivable that on the very same night in the playoffs, one hard shot to the head results in a suspension while another hard shot to the head warrants no action.
Intent, jackass. Do you not understand the difference between intent to take someones head off and intent to foul someone in the arm?

Jackson is dead wrong about Rondo going after the ball. In the final seconds of overtime, with Miller on an unimpeded path to a game-tying basket, Rondo turned into one of Bill Belichick's linebackers on a goal-line tackling mission and went straight for the face.
Football players don't go for the face. That's a 15 yard penalty.

Yet the league felt compelled to issue the one-game suspension anyway, sticking to the letter of the law. "They saw the elbow thrown but they couldn't determine whether or not the elbow actually made contact with Dalembert," Jackson said. "This was an elbow that was thrown that made contact above the shoulders and by rule there's an automatic suspension."
Yep no shit. He threw an elbow with intent at a guys face. An elbow at the head is effectively a punch, this is entirely different than fouling someone during the course of a game.

But Rondo can slam a player in the face with his arm and get a pass? I don't understand the vast differences in foul severity, especially when one can argue that Rondo's shot effectively cost Chicago the game.
A) It didn't cost them the game, Miller bricking the free throws did. You don't understand the differences cause you're an idiot. In one circumstance a guy tries to make a basketball foul and hits a guy in the face. In the other a guy turns after a made bucket and throws an unnecessary elbow at a guys head. They aren't anything a like in the slightest. And this is why you Jay, are a Moron.

David Wright is a New York Met. He's always been a New York Met. He's always been a fan favorite. But now the tide is turning, the whispers of disappointed are starting to become screams. The lynch mob is gathering steam and could be on Wright's door step in just a matter of months.

David Wright is a great player. He's a .300 hitter. He hits 30+ home runs. He steals bases. But while he continues to put up these numbers year after year, Met fans are slowly realizing that after years of saying that they'd rather have David Wright over Alex Rodriguez because A-Rod isn't clutch, that Wright suffers from a similar case of the yips in big at bats. Over the past two seasons the Mets have collapsed in September and while David Wright isn't the only issue with the Mets, he certainly contributed. His numbers were significantly worse with runners in scoring position and he seemingly never picked up a big at bat in the final weeks of the year.

2009 unfortunately has been much of the same. Wright is batting a respectable .280, but if you listen to WFAN or ESPN 1050 or listen to the boos at Citi Field, you would think he's batting more like Rey Ordonez than David Wright. Why? Because it's the clutch at bats where he's struggling. Yesterday, down by 1 with runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs in the 9th, Wright came up against Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom. What did Wright do? He got caught looking, backwards K.

The reaction post game in the afternoon ranged from, what the hell is wrong with David Wright to Wright should be given the bunt signal to its time to trade Wright. At this point in time, many Met fans would rather have their franchise player bunt and leave the game up to Fernando Tatis to get the game winning hit. That's how bad it's already turned and if David Wright continues to perform in the clutch at the same miserable pace he may just need some extra security surrounding him and his gal pal.

Yovani Gallardo was dominating on the hill against the Pirates. In the 7th inning he had 9 Ks and had given up just 1 hit and 1 walk, yet the Brew Crew sat deadlocked at 0. So what does he do? He says fuck it, and goes deep. Yovani 1 - Rest of the Brewers 0 - Pirates 0.

Here's highlights of Yovani's awesomeness.

Speaking of Hockey, How the hell do you have two game sevens and the one network that shows hockey games doesn't show either? How exactly is that promoting the game at all?

I was able to watch parts of the Rangers game because I get MSG but couldn't find the Devils game anywhere despite desperately wanting to watch its closing minutes. I get Versus, I get the NHL Network, the god damn NHL Network and I couldn't find the game. Apparently, the game was on MSG+, which I "get" but was showing a black screen. Maybe I'm the moron but neither of these games were on Nationally right? You have a game 7 featuring the best hockey player in the world and a game 7 featuring one of the most startling and quick comebacks in NHL history and neither could be watched by anybody but New Yorkers and New Jerseyites.

Don't let people watch the best games of your season. Now that's just a plain stupid way to promote your league.

With 2 minutes to go all things pointed to a satanic celebration in New Jersey. The Devils looked like they were going to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs and more importantly my Streak for the Cash was going to reach 7. And then Martin Brodeur decided to forget that he's one of the greatest goaltenders of all time. Within 1 minute of regulation the Devils went from in the 2nd round, to ready for overtime, to gotta schedule that tee time tomorrow.

So what do you think a hall of fame goaltender coming off his worst ever defeat is doing today? The weather is a nice cool 63 in Newark, so its neither beach nor heavy smog weather. He could spend it outside golfing, but that seems a bit too casual. He could spend time banging his wife, who used to be his sister-in-law. Perhaps he's beating up homeless people ala Clockwork Orange to blow off some steam.

Or perhaps he's just crying and watching this YouTube clip...


Whatever he's doing, I can't imagine that today is a good day.

Through 3 1/2 weeks of the season Chien-Ming Wang has been the worst pitcher in major league baseball. He was so bad that the Yankees basically just told him to go on the Disabled List with "Hip abductor muscle weakness". And by that they mean incredibly bloated ERA.

Last night marked a potential crossroads for Wang. Phil Hughes, the Yankees top prospect, filled in and threw a gem. Hughes last 6 innings, struckout six and gave up just 2 hits and 2 walks total. If Hughes goes out and has a few more solid outings than where does that leave Wang. Hughes is the Yankees top prospect, if he goes out and pitches well, in reality there's no reason the Yankees should take him out of the rotation even if Wang is theoretically back to the 19 game winner of 06-07. Obviously, Burnett and CC aren't going to the bullpen anytime soon. Andy is likely to old and prideful to accept a demotion, and is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA thus far this season. Thus that leaves either Wang or Joba to be in the pen.

Everyone knows that Joba in his time in the bullpen was amongst the best setup men in baseball but the Yankees have proclaimed him to be an ace of the future. A move back into the pen would signal a retraction of that statement and could signal Joba's permanent move to the pen. The back and forth nonsense the Yankees have put Joba through must stop.

Meanwhile Wang's stuff and career splits scream "Useless in the Bullpen". Why? First off Wang is not a strikeout nor a power pitcher. At best his upside is a Ramiro Mendoza / Justin Masterson type, who comes in with runners on seaking to induce a double play. But his situational stats suggest the worst. Between pitches 0-15 and 15-30 his stats are significantly worse than the rest of his stats with ERAs above 5 in both spots. Some of this is obviously skewed, because if you don't have your stuff and are getting rocked, you probably won't last to your 90th pitch, but still the stats are alarming.

So who would you put in the pen? Joba or Wang?

Just when you thought that it was all done there would be no more rumors about Brett's return to the NFL the Jets go and throw this in your face. Brett Favre is released, he is a free agent, free to sign anywhere on the planet, [cough] Minnesota [cough].

Over the weekend it was pretty evident that the Jets had moved on. When they traded up for Mark Sanchez in the first round it was entirely certain that even if Brett wanted to quarterback the Jets next season that it wouldn't have happenned. And since the Jets still owned his rights as a football player than if he wasn't going to play for the Jets he wasn't going to play period. It was a certainty. And Now? Not so much.

Apparently Favre had asked the Jets for his release a long time ago and the Jets just finally got around to granting him it this week. This begs the question, "If you're a retired football player with no intention of ever coming back to play again, why the hell do you need to be a free agent?" The answers are one of two options, either he is still potentially open to playing again or he wants to retire as a Packer and not a Jet so he does one of those stupid one day contract bullshit with the Packers and holds qa big press conference in Green Bay. Option two could really be his reasoning but it certainly won't stop ESPN or other talking heads to speculate until it happens, which means MORE BRETT FAVRE! Yay, Arm Punts for Everyone.

After just one home stand the Yankees have decided it's time to fix the glitch and are restructuring their prices for premium seats. They have cut the prices of behind the plate seats from a way to damn expensive $2,500 a game to a way too damn expensive $1,250 a game. Most notably to me they have cut the prices of the empty seats in the above photo and the two sections next to it from a mind blowing $1000 a game to a mind blowing $650 dollars a game. So, they've admitted defeat just three weeks into the season.

Also, to not piss off the filthy rich customers who already paid the ludicrous previous prices, the Yankees are giving them extra tickets in the premium seats, because well they have plenty of them to spare. So they have laid out a dozen or so bullet points of if you bought this than you'll get that. I won't bore you with the details, cause it's not going to affect your life cause anyone who reads this blog isn't dropping $850 on a seat.

To me, a 26 year old who isn't getting a raise anytime soon during his companies current year long salary freeze, these tickets are still 1/2 a paycheck and ludicrous. But perhaps people out there are willing to drop $650 dollars for a game but not $1000? I certainly hope so because I would prefer the stadium to stop embarrassing itself. It'd be nice to have a sold out brand new ball park.

H/T to Darren Rovell & the AP & Yankees.com

Think that the Happy Gilmore swing doesn't add length to your tee shot? Well you're just doing it wrong.



I can't wait until someone starts doing this on the tour, and it's just a matter of time.

Courtesy of Devil Ball

All Football Bowl Subdivisions Helmet Schedules, from the ACC to the WAC, are completed and ready to be downloaded online. So what are you waiting for?

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Darren Rovell of CNBC recently had an interview with Rick Smith, the agent of Cincinnati Bengals 1st round draft pick Andre Smith. It's time to translate what he is really saying.

Darren: I know you have only been with Andre for days, but how did he manage to salvage what could have been a monumental loss of money for him?

Smith: It started with team officials understanding the fact that he responds well to the type of discipline that Nick Saban gave him at Alabama. And he doesn’t do as well when he’s off on his own. They knew that when he was in a structured, disciplined environment, he would be a star.

Translation: The kid is lazy and fat. Finished the football season and lived at a Krispy Kream. What do you want kids always hungry? I just had to convince people he could be less fat, and obviously the Bengals were the easiest team to convince.

Darren: What did it for Cincinnati? Because we didn’t see anything that would have made it obvious.

Smith: It was really the surprise weigh-in that happened on Thursday. The Bengals put him on the scale and he came in at 337 pounds. (Smith weighed as high as 380 pounds, at one point.)

Translation: I couldn't believe the kid actually lost weight, I could hear the cash registers ringing in my ears.

Darren: It was being said that his conduct at the Combine could have put him to the bottom of the first round. There’s a lot of misinformation. Was this information accurate?

Smith: It was absolutely accurate. He was definitely in jeopardy of losing a lot of money. Last year’s 28th pick overall was guaranteed $6,060,000 and got a max of $11.2 million. Last year’s No. 6 pick got a guaranteed $21 million and a maximum of $50 million. That would have been a lot of money to leave on the table.

Translation: No he really is a complete moron. He would have lost a boatload of money. Agains let's thank the Bengals for being the Bengals.

Darren: But people are still confused. We’ve been told that if you don’t have a good Combine, you always have Pro Day. And if you don’t have a good Pro Day, you’ll slip. He had neither. How did Andre get the benefit of the doubt?

Smith: Film. You can see he’s unbelievably talented. He’s an elite Pro Bowl-type player who can play at a high level.

Translation: The Bengals drafted him. They don't pay attention. I just showed them a video of a good lineman. It wasn't even Andre.

Darren: How much do you credit you and your team at Priority Sports for Andre staying up at the top of the Draft?

Smith: I would say that we completed the puzzle. We helped give teams the comfort that they needed.

Translation: Everything. Without me that moron could have balooned up to 400 pounds and fell to the 4th round. I give my team all the credit.

The era is over. It wasn't good. It lasted a year. It's time to realize those Brett Favre items on clearance aren't going to sell no matter how cheap you make them. Just donate it all to Nicaragua. Thanks.

~Quality over Quantity was the Jets motto. And well they better be quality cause they only made three draft picks. An insignificant 6th rounder for O-line depth, Mark Sanchez, and Shonn Greene. Shonn Greene might be really good but where the hell does he get snaps next year? TJ had his best year and Leon already doesn't get enough touches. Where the hell is Greene getting carries? The Jets still lack offensive deep threats, so the offense may still be suspect.

~I obviously don't know much about token 6th round offensive guards, so I'm not going to be able to say this Abilene Christian player is going to be really really good. So when I look at a draft I look at top picks and think they improved or they didn't and to me I absolutely positively love the Eagles first two picks. The entire offseason the Eagles looked like they accomplished nothing to further McNabb's available weapons and within the first two rounds they are looking good. I've already proclaimed my thoughts on Maclin, and I love him with the Iggles. He'll provide a solid compliment of speed and quickness on short routes to DeSean Jackson's constant vertical threat. Maclin also provides excellent kickoff and punt return games which can keep Westbrook away from those areas. The next pick of McCoy gives them a solid safety net for the 4 games Westbrook will miss next year due to injuries and the fall off should not be as astronomical as it has been in recent years. All in all I absolutely love these pickups.

~Only Al Davis drafts DHB above Crabtree and Maclin. Only Al Davis. And that's what makes Al Davis so great. It's like he knows everyone thinks he's senile and just loves speed over all other important aspects to being a great football player so he just fits the bill to make people shake their heads and be controversial. Or he really is just senile.

~The Bucs are retarded and so is Josh Freeman. Freeman went out and said that the Bucs picked up Leftwich for the purpose of trying to convince teams that the Bucs had no interest in him in a chat on NFL.com. And yet they convinced everyone so much of their non-interest that they traded up in the draft to get him when no one else wanted him.

~The Cowboys had a fun draft thanks to their idiotic Roy Williams trade. Yay for repercussions from a stupid midseason acquisition.

~In typical Patriot fashion I've never heard of any of the players they drafted. If it works every year, than why stop.

~Rey Maualuga is a beast and was a 2nd round steal. Too bad he'll be a complete waste in Cincy, the land where defense dies.

~The Bill Cosby segment on ESPN was scary weird.

~Honestly, I think overall the draft was pretty boring. Limited trades, limited surprises. The big names supposedely on the block, Braylon Edwards, Brady Quinn, Boldin, etc, stayed put. There weren't too many suprises nor a Brady Quinn-esque free-fall down the draft board. Just kind of a status-quo draft for the most part.

On the final lap, a little Ricky Bobby action. Man if I knew this would happen the final lap of every race I would actually sign up to watch 30 seconds of NASCAR a week. And nobody died or was seriously injured.

Flying Car + Nobody Dying = Awesome

Kellen was lucky enough to be Mr. March in the 2009 Jets Calendar. For some reason I don't think he's Mr. April and beyond.

In a word, no shit. They pop up 12 career blown saves against the Sox on the screen and say that he's blown more saves against Boston than anybody else as if it's newsworthy. Who the hell did you think he was going to blow more saves against? The Royals? The Red Sox are consistently the best team the Yankees play year in and year out. They are the team they play more than anybody during the regular season. The vast majority of their games are close so when the Yankees are winning he gets plenty of save opportunities. In a world with plenty of 'No Shit' statistics, just chalk this one up as another.

Mariano in his long career has pitched against the Red Sox more than any team other than the Baltimore Orioles. He's had more save opportunities against the Red Sox than any other team other than the Orioles. He has more saves against the Sox than any team but the Orioles and Rays. He actually has 12 wins against the Sox which is more than against any other team.

If anything what would be noteworthy is the ratio of blown saves to saves. Mo has 44 saves against the Sox and 12 blown saves. That's obviously not a great total but not nearly as bad as his totals against the Angels. Against the Angels, he's saved just 17 games and blown 8 saves. But again this isn't groundbreaking news either. Mo has been worse against the better teams in baseball during his era. Umm, no shit.

The Jets showed balls, the wanted one man and they went out and got him. They believe he's going to be the franchise quarterback. They believe he's the quarterback to lead them in the future. So they went out gave up two picks and three players to get one guy. Mark Sanchez is now Gang Green.

As a franchise they are extremely excited, the future is now. As a fan my expectations are tempered. Do any of us know what Mark Sanchez is going to be? He's only played one season in college and first round quarterbacks aren't necessarily automatic. The potential is there, the franchise loves him, but in reality he's still a wildcard. We still have no idea what the future holds. Are the Jets any better today than they were 3 days ago? None of us really have any idea.

Additionally, the've now as a franchise fully admitted that Kellen Clemens is a sunk cost. In 2006 they utilized their 2nd round pick on the quarterback from Oregon and through 3 seasons he's never gotten a legitimate shot to prove he could play the position in the NFL. In all likelihood Sanchez is given every opportunity to beat out Clemens in the preseason and if somehow Clemens wins the job and plays well, then the Jets will have a Derek Anderson / Brady Quinn shit show on their hands. It could get ugly. In all honesty I was hoping that yesterday the Jets just dump Clemens for a 6th round pick so that the franchise admitted this was Sanchez's team.

Finally, my expectations are tempered because they still have no wide receivers to make a big play. Cotchery and Keller will be a solid over the middle combination but the Jets are lining up to be the Ravens in the Big Apple and that doesn't excite me. Perhaps over the next few months they will land a big time wideout, but right now defenses are going to pack the box, double no one, and bring heat on whichever inexperienced QB takes snaps. It could get ugly.

In the end I can't say I'm thrilled or annoyed with the deal. Sanchez could be a perennial pro bowl quarterback but he also could be a mediocre pro. Only time will tell.

I went with Vintage helmets because it added a little twist. Click on the Image for a Full Size Version. If you want the Excel File for whatever reason or have a correction to the schedule, email me at SimonOnSports at gmail dot com. Also feel free to Check Out the Other Conference Helmet Schedules.

*Update, Download the Entire Helmet Schedule Here

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When a player single handedly sinks your teams chances in a playoff game by throwing 5 interceptions and tacking on a fumble to boot, how the hell do you give him a 5 year extension? This may amount to the absolute dumbest of the offseason. Jake Delhomme is a mid-tier quarterback. He threw 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last year. These numbers are nothing to write home about and don't even include the debacle in January where he almost hit Cardinals d-backs as many times as he hit his own receivers.

To make the deal even worse, Delhomme isn't exactly a young man. He's 34 years old. In five years he'll be 39. If he isn't very good right now, how the hell do you think he's going to be good in 5 years? I don't know the structure of the 5 year, 42 million dollar deal, perhaps the 20 million guaranteed is frontloaded but regardless there's no way Delhomme is a viable Superbowl quarterback in 2014. Absolutely positively no way.

So how the hell did Delhomme get this extension? My only guess is blackmail. Or the Scalabrine method.

Chien-Ming Wang has been everything but good so far this season. He's singularly lost three games for the Yankees through fifteen games. So naturally the Yankees do not want to pitch him against the rival Red Sox and are going to skip his start. So if you're not doing anything for a week in the big leagues what does an MLB pitcher do? Apparently go down to Florida and throw 7 innings. Huh?

So let me get this straight. You can be on the active 25 man roster and both not be on the team but actually start games for a different team within the organization. That must have been a solid pitch. He Wang, you suck, go to Tampa and start against some little leaguers and then maybe we'll bring you back or maybe we'll just put you on the DL and bring up someone that doesn't have an ERA of 34.

The worst part of all of this nonsense is that not only did he have to go down to Tampa and pitch against scrubs, but he still managed to give up 5 runs in 7 innings. And to prove he was facing scrubs, Wang struckout 11 batters through 7. Wang has never struckout 11 batters in his 5 year career in the big leagues.

It's time for a change. It's time to accomodate the kids. It's time to create a horrendous mascot. But St. John's can't do it themselves, no they want fan input on the given options. So they give you quick snipits of what each mascot stands for.


1. Thunderbird is a mythological spirit of thunder and lightning...
2. Thunder Horse is a redesigned and improved version of "Thunder," the horse mascot of the 1990s.
3. Red Storm Bear: Black bears are native to New York State and can be some of the fiercest animals in the world.
4. Red Storm Dog: The Red Storm dog is a faithful, loyal and protective companion.
5. Storm Hero: Dressed in St. John's colors and adorned with thunderbolts, this superhero exudes strength, courage, confidence and tenacity.
6. Thunderbolt: A traditional expression for lightning or a symbolic representation, a thunderbolt has been a powerful symbol throughout history, and has appeared numerous times in mythology.

My vote is for Ron Artest Assault hero. He raps, he throws haymakers in the crowd, he does it all.

Courtesy of Deadspin

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

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Dear Fantasy Owners,

Hello friendly fantasy owners, this here is your favorite fantasy second baseman Ian Kinsler. I'm here to congratulate those who were intelligent enough to draft me and laugh at those who said I was an injury risk, blah blah blah, I'll just wait for Alexei Ramirez in the 5th round. Silly jackass. I'm ranked #1. Ramirez? He's 817. Good choice.

And just to rub it in, I'm not going to get injured and I'm not going to stop being awesome. I'm gonna hit 30 homers. Steal 35 bases. Hit .315. Drive in over 100 and score over 100. At 2nd base no less. Suck on that.

I AM FANTASTIC,
Ian Kinsler

Ps. You wondering why it was actually the dumb Jewish kid who knows nothing about baseball who stole me in the early 2nd round? I'm 1/2 Jew, that's why.

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

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So the draft is two days away and not the Jets trade winds are starting to swirl up up and away. And they all have to do with either a quarterback or a wideout. Apparently the Jets are in the Browns marketplace and are contemplating trading around for Hero of the Homosexuals Brady Quinn and/or Braylon Edwards. Those could happen, Mangini does hate quarterbacks, receivers and offense in general. Good ole Sal Palontonio thinks that the Jets may be in the Jason Campbell sweepstakes especially if the Redskins do their typical nonsensical insanity and trade up for Mark 'Dirty' Sanchez. Oh and the Jets are of course in the sweepstakes for 'Dirty' Sanchez themselves. Trades trades trades trades, YAY trade rumors.

So what do we expect the Jets to do? Pick someone to add to this video of course. It already needs to be updated with Vernon Gholston why not just add another name to the list.



And why trade up for a quarterback when Brett Favre is obviously just gonna come out of retirement in August to lob arm punts throughout the season.

Check Out More SimonOnSports Trivia

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

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So I've already elaborated on the pathetic attendance in the lower levels but here's a run through of some of my other thoughts on the stadium.

~First and foremost the stadium is HUGE! It's massive. The concourses are 2 1/2 to 3 times bigger than they used to be. You can walk around field level and see the field from basically anywhere in fair territory. The only time you're shielded from the light of day is when you walk under the bleachers. It's immeasurably better than the old stadium in maneuvarabilty. I could basically sprint around on field level to the food if I wanted to, and I was pretty close to doing that.

~When you walk in the stadium there's really a wow moment and then from there, you'll get some things that take away from the wow feeling.

~The first thing that kicks you in the groin is that everything is ridiculously expensive. I walked around the entire field level searching for something that I didn't think would require me to cut off my leg and hand it to the cashier as payment for food. It was nearly impossible to find. Eventually I decided on getting a massive plate of Nachos from Latina Cantina, or whatever its called. It was 9 bucks. Had approximately 1400 calories, they told me on the board, was decent, but not really what I was looking for. I was actually pretty disappointed with my food options. I could only find one place in the upper deck that I could by a sausage and the line was massive. If I wanted a Johnny Rockets cheeseburger I would have needed to drop like 10 bones. The pulled pork sandwhich was like 12 or something like that. Steak Sandwhich 15 bucks. Seriously everything is outrageously and annoyingly priced.

~It cost me ten bucks for like a 20+ ounce Budweiser. But I got a commerorative cup. Two of them actually. YAY 20 dollars for two plastic cups. Not really expecting much less from them, but 11 dollars for a Guiness that was likely smaller than the Budweiser just seemed a bit too steep for me to purchase. (Yes I'm relatively cheap)

~The lines for the food were still a massive clusterfuck.


~I'm not really sure where to park anymore, but the lot I used to park in across the street from the bat, is a hike to the stadium. And it's 19$ bones to park. Yay money.

~Sitting in the upperdeck and looking at the field, I honestly didn't feel like I was in a new building, unless I was of course looking at the 9000 foot flat screen in centerfield. The dimensions and field and behind the plate look pretty similar so it really does feel like you're in "Yankee Stadium".

~Unlike the Mets and their homage to all things Dodgers, the Yankees have pictures of their World Championships and heroes everywhere. So when you're in the stadium you absolutely positively know this is the Yankees ball park.

~Because the concourses are open air and have a view of the field, if you buy a cheap seat you can essentially just stand behind the last field row and watch the game there the entire time. It's actually a pretty baller view of the game.

~I like the out of town scoreboard. Showing who's on, who's pitching, who's up, etc. is a nice touch. Allows me to stop checking scores on my phone.

~Some things to me are a bit weird. The art gallery and the live lookin butcher shop are probably the main two culprits.

~Honestly I think restaurants in stadiums are stupid. Why go to a restaurant in a stadium and pay for a ticket and pay 3 times for your food if you're not going to even experience the actual game?

~Oh and all those empty seats pissed me off and are mostly likely negatively jading what was really a sweet experience. Especially considering I only had to sell one of my kidneys for the Nachos and beer. What a steal.

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

Or Download the Entire Spreadsheet

To be completely honest, I don't care much about this years NFL draft. I doubt highly the Jets will trade up enough to get Sanchez and even more highly that Maclin could plummet all the way to 17. Other than those two guys I'm a little indefferent as to whom the Jets select. For this reason, all I'm doing is a simple mock draft.


Basically the Lions throw their franchise in Stafford's hands, the next few teams go conservative with lineman and Curry. Than Crabtree falls further to he should to the depths of Oakland. The Jaguars dreams come true and they trade out of the pick to somebody who drafts Sanchez. Maybe the Broncos. I get my hopes up that Maclin is falling and then some random team trades up to the Redskins and snatches him up. Then the rest of the draft is snooze fest.

Last night I made my first ever trip to the New Yankee Stadium. It's massive it's grand and it's currently being horrendously embarrassed by the fact that they've priced their tickets in a range that nobody is buying and I mean nobody. I've highlighted three sections above all of which are at the worst seats at a given price range which you can see on the image at the bottom of the post. The most glaring hole is section 11 in the middle. This field level section AT MOST had TWO PEOPLE in it the entire game. Those two people were there from the third inning to the 7th inning. When I walked down to field level to get food, Section 29 which are essentially the same seats but on left field line HAD 3 PEOPLE IN THEM. Between two premium sections with a great view of the game there were FIVE PEOPLE. I felt like I was at a Pirates game.

The other two sections I highlighted were for the most part less than half full the entire game. Why? Because they are obviously overpriced. Section 215 by the first base line is a 125$ dollars a ticket per game pre-ordered or a 150$ per game if bought on game day. It was probably 3/4 empty the entire game. Section 103 in rightfield is 90$ a ticket for an over-glorified bleacher seat. It was at best 1/2 full. And I didn't even circle the luxury sweets which were already covered over the weekend by PaulKatcher.com as being incredibly vacant.

Sure it was a misty night against a shitty team with an uninspiring pitching matchup. You can expect some seats to be empty for the game. Just when an entire section is empty for the entire game its EMBRARRASSING.



Here are my other thoughts on the stadium. Namely that everything is really really expensive.

Click on either image to see it in larger size. And unfortunately all I had was my Blackberry's camera so the quality is just eh.

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

Or Download the Entire Spreadsheet

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

Or Download the Entire Spreadsheet

It's just two weeks into your fantasy season and you're in dead last kicking yourself over how you didn't pick up Ian Kinsler in the second round when you knew he was going to be a stud. Instead you picked up Jimmy Rollins and his .150average. Let's take a look at some of the superstars that are pulling out the hair of their fantasy owners, hint many of them reside on my team.

POWER JEW aka Ryan Braun - Came into the year with a Yahoo rank of 7 and like many of the Brew Crew is maligned in a power and contact outage. After 2 weeks POWER JEW has scored just 3 runs, hit one homer and is batting just .222.

Prince Fielder - Seriously someone get him a fat juicy steak. Enough with this vegetarian garbage. You're a large man, act like it. And start hitting homers again. Just 1 homer and a .175 average and like Braun just 3 runs scored through 2 weeks.

Jimmy Rollins* - Typically a slow starter but this is ridiculous. J-Roll isn't hitting at all. Through 2 weeks he's hitting in the .100s, has 1 home run, and worst of all isn't even running as he hasn't stolen a base yet. Guess that's what happens when you get 7 hits in two weeks.

Matt Holliday - Worried about his move from Coors to Oakland, but you just couldn't shy away from all that track record. Now after two weeks, no homers, no steals and only 1 run scored you're very very frightened.

Alexei Ramirez - 20/20 as second base and shortstop eligible? Sign me up. Except for the fact that after 2 weeks he has neither a steal nor a homer and only has 5 hits. Ouch.

Brandon Phillips - Locking up that second baseman with the fourth best option out their behind Kinsler, Utley and Pedroia and you thought you were solid. He hits in a great park, with some young stud as protection, and now after two weeks that's got you 6 hits and a homer and steal.

Russell Martin - You couldn't quite make up your mind who was the number 1 catcher between McCann or Martin but you pulled the trigger on Martin. You were excited to take Martin's 20/20 potential. Through 2 weeks you've gotten a .244 with no power or speed. Uh oh.

Brian McCann* - You drafted him right after Martin got picked up and the first series against the Phillies looked great. You were pumped up. Then all of a sudden he got blurred vision, can't see the baseball and is teetering towards a DL stint.

Geovany Soto - Why not make it a tri-fecta of catcher pain. Soto's been banged up but with just 19 at bats he's got 2 hits, scored 1 run, and has 1 rbi. Ahhhhhh. Catcher madness.

Big Papi - He kept sliding in your draft and eventually you said you know what maybe he's got something left. Well, he doesn't. No homers through two weeks and batting around the Mendoza Line.

Yesterday I took the plunge. I added Elijah Dukes to the fantasy squad and jettisoned Hideki "Bum Knee" Matsui. So Elijah lets try to hit baseballs and not women. No more death threats to your former girlfriend. No more autographs for little kids either cause apparently doing charity work for kids and showing up 5 minutes late for work gets you suspended and fined. Elijah set up a bunk bed in the clubhouse and start sleeping there.

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

Or Download the Entire Spreadsheet

Daniel Cabrera is no longer an automatic strikeout. He initially stretched his streak to 18 with a 2nd inning strikeout but in the bottom of the 4th inning he was not to be denied. He put the ball in play. He went oppo and grounded out to first base. Than in the 6th inning it got even better. Chris Volstad walked him. Now that's weak pitching.

Why do a helmet schedule for the NFL when so many squads don't have solid vintage helmets? So instead you get a cheerleader schedule. Why? Because I'm guessing you like scantily clad women. Click on the pick to see a full size image.

Check Out the Other Schedules: AFC East, AFC West, AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFC South, NFC North

Or Download the Entire Spreadsheet

~That wasn't my seat but it certainly was the "best seat" in the house. Look at that beam wee. Who needs to see the plate?

~If you're going to a game at Citi Field my first advise would be not get the cheapest seats in the house. That is unless you actually like not being able to see any of the outfield. Below is essentially where I was seated and for the majority of the game I couldn't see the left fielder OR the center fielder, I could see both when Luis Castillo was up. I also couldn't see the apple in center field. If you're going to get cheap seats, spend the extra 10 bucks and get them promenade seats in fair territory.



~So what are my overall thoughts on the stadium. It's 1 billion times better than Shea. It's not even close. Sure there's the limited view seats, but everything about the ballpark feels and looks better. And it's not even close.

~That being said there are issues, and most of these issues come if you're a Mets fan which I am not. I think honoring Jackie Robinson is great and all, but when you walk into the Mets ballpark don't you think the first thing you should see is a Mets logo, or a lot of pictures of Mets players? Instead you get a ton of Jackie Robinson photos and a massive blue 42. It's a great way to honor a great man, but to me if I'm a Mets fan that's not what I want.

~And that was far from the end of the Brooklyn escapades. We walked into a Mets store, one of the approximately 35 in the stadium, and the first thing we saw was a Dodgers jersey. It obviously was a Jackie Robinson jersey but still, you walk through the door and stare Dodgers in the face. It pissed my buddy off to no end. Then there's the Ebbet's club which is the fancy pants club for fancy pants people. The Ebbet's club has picture of Ebbet's field around it. The normal concession stands are called Brooklyn Burgers, or something to that measure, despite the fact that you're actually in Flushing. Way way too much Dodger stuff and not enough Mets stuff.

~The section of the stadium with Shake Shack, Blue Smoke and the Taqueria is where the good food is. Well I'm sure there's good food in the Ebbet's club, but good food normal people can buy. I bought two steak tacos which were delicious and a pint of BROOKLYN Ale. Unfortunately I went there in the 7th and missed the only run scored the entire game, had to watch it on the big screen tv while in line.

~There's still nothing to do outside the stadium and the CHOP shop is still grotesque looking.

~The outfield dimensions are overly quirky. Especially in right field with the Modell's section which is receeded about 10 feet behind the upper deck over hang. Not sure why they did that and not sure I like it. It makes it look as if the upper-deck is in the field of play. That's a bit too quirky for me.

~The stadium was pretty damn confusing to get around and there were a ton of security guards telling me I couldn't go in places or use certain staircases. I found that a bit weird/annoying. Also, the staircases need flat screen tvs.

~We walked into the Caesar's club and immediately didn't feel like we were in a baseball stadium anymore.

~I feel as if they could have added way way way more bathrooms than they had. Is there really a reason to have a bathroom with only 6 urinals? There should be like 40 per bathroom. There shouldn't be 30+ person lines in between innings anymore.

~We couldn't have asked for a better game. Straight pitchers dual between Johan and Yovani. The Mets took the lead in the 7th then handed it to the Putz, K-Rod combo and that was that.

~All in all it was a solid trip. The stadium is a billion times better than Shea again, but it certainly has some kinks to work out and certainly takes time to figure out how to get around. The stadium was nice, the food was solid, the game was great, just spend a few extra bucks and get tickets where you can see the entire field.

~Also, after the game we walked around the stadium and ended up catching the tail end of the Brewers squad walking into their bus. Power Jew looked like he thinks he's the shit and Trevor Hoffman is enormous.

2nd Photo Courtesy of Amazin Avenue

Now introducing... POWER JEW! Go get your POWER JEW jerseys.

Damaso Marte is rock solid in the PEN. And by rock solid, I mean a lock to blow the game. Show Your Marte Pride with a DUMBASSHO jersey.

First Players to Hit Back to Back Home Runs: Johnny Damon & Mark Teixeira
First Yankee Lead at the Stadium: April 17th, the 3rd inning

Get 'em while they're hot. And by hot I mean, before the Yankees decide that Fatassia is not an appropriate nickname for their 300+ pound 160+ million dollar investment.

You may or may not have heard of Daniel Cabrera. If you haven't well first he's a baseball player, second he's a pitcher, and third he just might be the world's worst hitter. Daniel Cabrera pitched for the Oreo's from 2004 through last season so he didn't get many at bats, but in those at bats he performed. And by performed I mean struck out every single at bat. That's right coming into this year he was 14 for 14. Fourteen at bats, fourteen strikeouts. In the offseason he moved across the Metro area and is now in the Nationals rotation. Thus far he's started two games and has seen the plate three different times and he's kept the streak going, 3 more Ks. For his career he is now 17 for 17.

I guess to Cabrera's credit, he has gotten a hit in spring training which he was incredibly pumped about. Too bad that doesn't count.

Anywho, the Cabrera watch is going to be a short post tracking his at bats per post until he finally gets a hit. Then we shall embarrass the pitcher who gives up the hit.

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

So I'm flipping through SKY Mall on my flight back from Lexington and I come across this little offer. Get a picture of your favorite team celebrating, but get it better! Get it personalized! Put Your Name on the Back of one of the Jerseys!

LOSER! It's bad enough to get a uniform with your own name on it and wear it around, but to super impose your name on the back of a jersey on one of the greatest moments in your teams history screams one thing. LOSER! You are a LOSER!

We're getting retarded and listing the Yankee Stadium Firsts...

Pitching

First Pitcher to Get a Win: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Get a Loss: Jose Veras
First Pitcher to Throw a Strike: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Throw a Ball: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Record an Out: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Record a Strikeout: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Throw a Scoreless Inning: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Throw a Hitless Inning: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Give Up a Hit: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Hit a Batter: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Give Up a Double: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Walk a Batter: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Give Up a Run: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Give Up a Home Run: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Throw a Wild Pitch: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Load the Bases: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Work Out Of a Bases Loaded Jam: Cliff Lee
First Pitcher to Get a No Decision: CC Sabathia
First Pitcher to Have A Game ERA of Infinity: Jose Veras
First Pitcher to give up a Grand Slam: Damaso Marte
First Pitcher to Give Up Multiple Home Runs: Damaso Marte

First Relief Pitcher Used: Edwar Ramirez
First Relief Pither to Record No Outs: Edwar Ramirez
First Relief Pitcher to Record an Out: Phil Coke
First Relief Pitcher to Work Out of a Bases Loaded Jam: Phil Coke
First Relief Pitcher to Give Up Runs: Jose Veras

First Opposing Pitcher to throw a Ball: Cliff Lee
First Opposing Pitcher to throw a Strike: Cliff Lee
First Opposing Pitcher to record an Out: Cliff Lee

Hitting

First Batter to Get a Hit: Johnny Damon
First Batter to Hit a Homer: Jorge Posada
First Batter to Hit a Grandslam: Grady Sizemore
First Batter to Get Hit By a Pitch: Mark Teixeira
First Batter to Double: Ben Francisco
First Batter to Walk: Kelly Shoppach
First Batter to Record an RBI: Kelly Shoppach
First Batter to Score a Run: Ben Francisco
First Batter to Have Multiple Hits: Victor Martinez
First Batter to Take a Strike: Grady Sizemore
First Batter to Get Out: Grady Sizemore
First Batter to Groundout: Grady Sizemore
First Batter to Groundout to First: Grady Sizemore
First Batter to Foul Off a Pitch: Mark DeRosa
First Batter to Swing and Miss: Mark DeRosa
First Batter to Groundout to Second: Mark DeRosa
First Batter to Reach a Full Count: Mark DeRosa
First Batter to Strikeout: Victor Martinez
First Batter to End an Inning: Victor Martinez
First Batter to Flyout: Derek Jeter
First Batter to Get Up With Runners in Scoring Position: Nick Swisher
First Batter to Get Out With Runners in Scoring Position: Nick Swisher
First Batter to Strand Runners on Base with 2 Outs: Jorge Posada
First Batter to K with Runners on Base: Tony Graffanino
First Batter to Line Out: Jhonny Peralta
First Batter to Leadoff an Inning With a Hit: Robinson Cano
First Batter to Move over a Runner via Groundout: Hideki Matsui
First Batter to Hit into a Double Play: Victor Martinez
First Batter to Record and Infield Single: Derek Jeter
First Batter to Ground Into Fielders Choice: Johnny Damon
First Batter to Reach Third Base: Johnny Damon
First Batter Thrown Out at the Plate: Johnny Peralta
First Batter to Get Out With Runner On Third And Less Than 2 Outs: Ben Francisco
First Batter to Strand the Bases Loaded: Johnny Damon
First Better to Get a Hit With Runners in Scoring Position: Jhonny Peralta

First Baserunner to Get Caught Stealing: Grady Sizemore

First Yankee to Record an Out: Derek Jeter
First Yankee to Fly Out: Derek Jeter
First Yankee to End an Inning: Jorge Posada
First Yankee to Strikeout: Cody Ransom
First Yankee with Multiple Hits: Robinson Cano

Fielding

First Fielder to Field a Groundball: Mark Teixeira
First Outfielder to Record an Out: Grady Sizemore
First Fielder to Throw Out a Runner at the Plate: Cody Ransom
First Catcher to Throw Out a Base Stealer: Jorge Posada
First Fielder to Make an Error: Tony Graffanino

First Yankee to Make an Error: Cody Ransom

Everything just seems like a formality with KG now apparently on the shelf for good. The Cavs are unbeatable at home and certainly won't lose to the Celtics without KG nor the Magic without Nelson. Meanwhile, the West is a jumble from seed 2-8, but the Lakers are vastly superior those seven squads. To me the first three rounds of the playoffs is a mere formality to the Kobe vs. Lebron showdown which I think Kobe will win thanks to a superior supporting cast.

Anyway I created a Bracket Challenge Group on NBA.com which you can join here. The name of the group is "1 month til LBJ Kobe".

Nick Swisher is the 2009 version of the 1998 version of Scott Brosius. Didn't you know that? I'm not sure what the hell sparked this, maybe the moronic Michael Kay who was the first person I heard utter this comparison, but now I'm hearing it left and right. Maybe Nick Swisher can be Scott Brosius. Why are they comparing them? Because they both hit in the low .200s the season before joing in the Bronx bombers. Other than that, the comparison ends.

1. They play completely different positions.
2. Swisher's highest batting in a single year was .262, he's never been built on a high average. Meanwhile, Brosius hit .300 in 1996.
3. Swisher is a walk machine, with a peak in 2007 when he had 100 walks. Brosius never topped 60.
4. Swisher is also built on power hitting 20+ home runs in every season of his career. Brosius hit 20 home runs once.
5. Swisher is 28 this year, Brosius was 31 in his first year in the Bronx.

So other than the shitty average, the fact that both played in Oakland and that both are white, they have nothing in common. But that's ok they both hit .200 so Swisher is obviously the next Brosius.

Must everything be the next something?

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

When Alex Rodriguez first went down in Spring training the New York City Radio Shows were littered with many moronic callers saying that this was a good. That the Yankees would be better without Rodriguez. That the chemistry would be better and they would play better as a team. That the Yankee dynasties of the past had Scott Brosius at third base and Cody Ransom would do a good job playing that part.

The season is just 9 games in and the Yankees fought to a 5-4 record over the road trip, which isn't a bad result, but it's obvious that Alex's replacements are flat out awful at the plate. Cody Ransom has seen action in 8 games and has hit a robust .120 in 25 plate appearances. To his credit he did come up with a huge double in the ninth inning of yesterday's game, but that's only his third hit of the season. He's showing why he's 33 year old who only had 183 total at bats coming into this season.

In the two games Ransom has not started, youngster Ramiro Pena has. And well he has no stick either. He has 1 single in six at bats this season, which is a tiny sample size, but he's a career .256 hitter in the minors with only 3 home runs in four seasons. He's basically a National League pitcher equivalent.

You can only hide automatic outs in a lineup for so long. The Yankees absolutely need A-Rod back if they want to make a continued run at a return to the postseason.

Went to the Yankees stat page on ESPN, and well it's Nick Swisher's world. He leads in everything and thus, he gets 4 pictures of himself.

Filled out this bracket at Rinkotology. I backed off the Rangers who were my pick in the preseason because I haven't heard a single person pick them over the Capitols in round 1. So ya, I went chalk. Delicious chalk. I'm like that chick in your March Madness Pool that can name maybe 5 players in the league that somehow miraculously wins your bracket. It's just that in this case it's Hockey and the Office Pool is a pool of 1.

ESPN1050 just reported that Nady is likely headed for Tommy John Surgery and is likely done for the season. That is bad news for the Yankees and good news for my fantasy team (I have Matsui and Damon, less bodies to platoon). After Michael Kay announced the news he said that he's suprised that it happened given how "Nady takes care of his arm." He went on to say that Nady throws every ball as hard as he can so that "No throw sneaks up on him." Umm, isn't there a point in warming up? Loosening up the arm so that it is physical ready to throw hard. Doesn't picking up the ball and immediately throwing it as hard as you can seem like a dumb thing? I'm no physical therapist, my girlfriend is, but I can't imagine throwing every ball as "hard as you can" is a good thing.

I went with Vintage helmets because it added a little twist. Click on the Image for a Full Size Version. If you want the Excel File for whatever reason or have a correction to the schedule, email me at SimonOnSports at gmail dot com. Also feel free to Check Out the Other Conference Helmet Schedules.

*Update, Download the Entire Helmet Schedule Here

If you're going to miss the cut of the Masters you might as well do it with funny Asian Puppets of yourself.

~The Vacation was much needed. Much Much Needed.

The Masters

~The Masters looked like it was awesome but I saw limited of it. I was rarely in my cabin on sunday but even when I was the DirectTV wasn't picking up the local channels and thus not picking up CBS's coverage.

~Angel Cabrera was not even on my radar for Masters contention. Not on the radar, which makes it three years in a row.

~Tiger and Phil looked like the made the opening 9 of Sunday a lot of fun.

~Kenny Perry choked and his press conference just seemed like "Aww shucks I'm southern, it's not that bad." Maybe that aww shucks is why you didn't win.

~Shingo played pretty damn well. It would have been cool to see the Green Jacket and Hat combo.

~Whiner Sergio bitched again, which is making him more difficult to pull for.

~My predictions were... eh.

Baseball

~The whole Nick Adenhart saga was depressing and sad and tragic.

~I will truly miss Harry Kalas fantastic voice.

~In oddities, while I was driving back to Lexington on monday afternoon my girlfriend was playing around with wikipedia and she looked up her hometown, Northborough Mass, and rattled off the famous people from there. One of those famous people? Mark the Bird Fydrich. We get home and on the bottom line, he's dead.

~The Red Sox are STRUGGLING.

~Pedroia bashing his hometown is hilarious.

~Chris Carpenter is headed back to the DL. SHIT.

~Wang might as well go back on the DL if he's going to pitch like he has the past two games.

NBA

~Yay the regular season ends today. Finally. There are actually meaningful games for seeding purposes tonight but alas, I don't really care.

~In more important NBA news, the White Warriors are going to lose in the championship game.

~Isiah Thomas to Florida International is weird very weird, but I guess it makes sense. Florida International is looking to get in the news, and Isiah Thomas has no other options.

Soccer

~The Chelsea Liverpool match yesterday was phenomenal. If you ever contemplated getting into soccer yesterdays Champions League Quarterfinal match would have been a great starting point.

~Ya that's probably good enough. This weekend was basically about the Masters, everything else was just a footnote.

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

So I've been out of the loop for a few days having been on vacation (quick notes will follow soon) and this morning I turn on the radio and here, "Greg Paulus traveled to Ann Arbor, watched a Wolverines practice and is contemplating transferring there and competing for their starting quarterback position." This sparks the, "Ahhhhhhhhhh no fucking way, ahhhhhhh, I'm in hell, ahhhhhhhhh, Greg Paulus? Ahhhhhhhhh", reaction.

My hatred towards Greg Paulus is well chronicled on this here site. I inducted him to the Hall of the Overhyped. I celebrated many Duke losses, here, here and here. He even won a Waste of Oxygen Award. Anytime the words Greg Paulus have been uttered by or around me, hate has spewed from my lips and now there is the potential that he might quarterback the Wolverines. Seriously? I understand he was once a top rated high school quarterback, but seriously? Greg Paulus? I couldn't have possibly ever contemplated rooting for the kid and now I just might have to?

Ugh.

I think Peyton Manning in that photo agrees with me, you do not want Greg Paulus as your starting quarterback.

You aren't good at golf anymore and you've lost almost all of your money on gambling hookers and beer, so what do you do? If you're John Daly you pull your RV up to a nearby Augusta parking lot and sell t-shirts and paintings of yourself. Embarrassing.


And yet he still has more major championships than Sergio.

It's time for a vacation. This place will have echoes over the next few days. I should be back firing off things on Wednesday.

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

The Masters kicks off tomorrow. Geoff Ogilvy is gonna win. Let's take a look at the thursday tee times and which pairings are the most intriguing.

1. 9:28 G. Player L. Donald S. Ames - It's Gary's last Masters so he trumps all.

2. 1:52 T. Woods S. Cink J. Singh - This is here for Jiev Mika Singh and not Tiger of course.

3. 10:45 P. Mickelson C. Villegas J. Furyk - Strong threesome here with Titties, Goofy Swing, and fantastic Columbian Fashion.

4. 10:23 V. Singh G. Ogilvy E. Els - Ogilvy is gonna win remember.

5. 10:56 S. Appleby O. Wilson S. Garcia - For all those who bought a Taylor Made driver in the past month, this moves to #1.

6. 9:39 R. Goosen S. Hansen S. Katayama - It's all in Shingo's hat.

7. 11:29 T. Watson I. Poulter S. Wilson - Poulter wore pink pants last year, you never know what craziness he'll bring this year. Light Urple Maybe?

8. 12:35 A. Romero B. Weekley C. Campbell - With Boo there seems to always be a distinct possibility that he plays the back nine drinking a beer per hole.

9. 10:34 M. Weir P. Harrington R.Imada - A Canadian, a Irishman, and an Asian Man. International feel.

10. 10:12 J. Rose H. Stenson A. Cabrera - A brit, a sweed, and an argentine. More International love.

11. 9:50 B. Langer G. Norman L. Westwood - Can the Shark outplay the man who's currently f'ing his daughter?

12. 1:41 T.Immelman A. Scott D. Lee - Immelman won last year right? Or was that the prior year? I forgot already.

13. 2:03 A. Kim R. Mcilroy R.Ishikawa - Anthony Kim is awesome.

14. 12:02 F. Couples R. Mediate J. Newman - Old man freddy finally missed a cut last year. Will he miss another?

15. 9:17 C. Stadler R. Sabbatini D. Johnson - I hope the Walrus punches Rory in the face.

16. 8:44 R. Floyd J. Leonard R. Saxton - Raymond is old.

17. 9:06 B. Curtis N. Watney M. Jimenez - Yay Falcons gear for Ben Curtis.

18. 11:40 A. Baddeley B. Watson G. Mcdowell - There's something about Baddeley I like.

19. 12:46 B. Crenshaw P. Casey S. Stricker - Paul Casey shall bust out the green pants.

20. 1:08 Z. Johnson W. Lin R. Karlsson - Good ole Zach has a Green Jacket already so he's been granted playing with some random dude named Lin.

And the rest, cause I've lost interest...

1:30 K. Choi A. Quiros K. Perry
8:00 I. Woosnam C. Reavie B. Baird
8:11 S. Lyle B. Mayfair T. Clark
1:19 J. Olazabal M. Kaymer B. Snedeker
11:51 M. O'Meara P. Perez D. Trahan
8:55 F. Zoeller M. Campbell K. Duke
12:24 S. Kjeldsen S. O'Hair R. Sterne
12:57 Y. Yang R. Allenby H. Mahan
11:07 L. Mize J. Merrick D. Kittleson
11:18 T. Hamilton S. Flesch M. Goggin
8:22 K. Sutherland R. Fisher P. Marksaeng
8:33 L. Oosthuizen C. Pettersson D. Hart

So I'm bored perusing the interwebs searching and decide to go to Ian Poulter's website and see what beautiful new pink pant selections he has to offer this year. I'm just perusing the site and then...

I stumble on glory. Ian's Wardrobe Page. Yes that's right it's an entire page dedicated to what Ian wore this year thus far and what he plans on wearing on for the upcoming tournament. Disappointingly Ian is not planning on wearing pink pants this weekend. Just a pink shirt twice.

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

By far my favorite golf tourny of the year. The course is cool, the tradition is phenomenal, I love the quirky way they decide the field and the best players in the World always contend and more often than not you will get a Tiger, VJ, or Phil taking it home instead of a Justin Leonard, Rich Beem, Todd Hamilton, type. Which is much more entertaining.

4 People to Watch to Contend

Obvious is Obvious- Tigger Woo - The obvious pick is Tigger Woo. He's back. He's proven he can win since he's been back. Nobody is better than him. He won his last major on one leg. He came in 2nd at Augusta last year. Everything screams Tigger. Accept my desire to not go straight chalk.

Secondary - Sergio Garcia - He's not gonna win and really he's been horrible at Augusta the past four years. This is kind of just an excuse to mention that fact that if you buy a Taylor Made Driver today and Sergio wins the Master's you get it for free. FREE! What a deal! Except for the fact that you're going to have to pay for it.

The CRAZY PANTS - Ian Poulter - It's just him and Tiger Woods remember? Well not quite yet for Ian and his crazy quote but he is a solid player and he leads the tour in awesome pants. If he isn't in contention on Sunday for the tournament he will be in contention for the best 4 day wardrobe.

Darkhorse - Nick Watney - A man you've obviously never heard of is 8 for 8 in cuts this year. Has a win under his belt. And he finished 11th in his first start at the Masters last year. That's a nice formula.

3 People Who Might Surpisingly Miss the Cut

The Irish - Padraig Harrington - Paddy this season has been mostly poop. He's coming off back to back top 10 finishes at Augusta though and has won the last two majors played. If Paddy continues his recent play than he'll be flirting with the cut line. If he regains his 2008 form, he'll be in it on Sunday.

The Titties - Phil Mickelson - The Titties missed the cut last weekend. The Titties couldn't get it done in the absence of Tigger last year, so why would Titties get it done this weekend. The chances of him missing the cut at Augusta are very very very slim though considering in the past five years he's one twice, finished 5th, 10th and 24th. That's all well within the cut line.

The Dick - Rory Sabbatini - I've pretty much forgotten why he pissed me off a long time ago, but I know I don't like him for some reason. I believe he did some stupid shit talking of Tigger. Plus, he wore that horrendous skull belt buckle. Anyway, he'll miss the cut cause he's a douche.

2 People to Root For this Weekend

The Great Hat - Shingo Katayama - Usually in the Master's I throw up an amateur to pull for. This tournament screw it, I'm rooting for Shingo and his magical hat of glory. I mean how can you not root for the hat of glory. It's so curvy and majestic. It exemplifies the great qualities of team asia. He wears a nice necklace to match and often wears white pants to boot. If you decide to chant Let's Go Shingo on the course, you even have a solid rhyme scheme. All in all there really is no reason not to pull for the man.

The Old Guys - Gary, Watson, the Walrus and others - The Master's is partly so great because once you win it you can play it for forever, even if you're so old that you're almost as bad at golf as I am. It's awesome. Some of these guys have absolutely no chance to get it done, but sometimes an old vet like Watson can surprise. And when that old man does surprise and outplay some 28 year old in his pairing it's always hilarious.

1 Winner

Geoff Ogilvy - Why the Aussie? Well not because of his mediocre track record at Augusta that's for sure. Three starts no top 15 finishes. So Why? Well he's big time that's why. He's won a major. He took down the match play champhionship this year. He's made every cut this season. He's just solid all around. So hand the man a Green Jacket to Go with His Helmet.

"John" who I'm guessing is "John the Terrorist from Boston" requested my thoughts on the impending doom of the Yankee season that erupted on opening day. So here goes.

~My reaction to the Yankee game is this, Sabathia sucked. This isn't that shocking but is annoying and hopefully isn't a testament to his being the ARod of pitchers. What I mean is this, Sabathia has shown tendencies in the past to let his nerves get the best of him. Think his last few playoff outings and his mixed bag debut for the Brewers last year. In addition his April last year was miserable. Beyond miserable. But he hasn't pitched like crap all April yet. When he does there will be more panic, but I'm not willing to panic over one day.

~If anything I'm almost more pissed off that not only did he pitch like shit and lose the game but he also didn't strike out a single batter. What a shitty fantasy outing for my team. If you're gonna get rocked at least strike some people out.

~On Teixeira going 0 for 4, who cares times 10.

~On Teixeira getting booed with vigor, I say Awesome. I love inspired hatred and fans with signs saying his hometown hates him is quality. Problem is, what free agent signs with the Oreo's?

~On the Johnny Damon interference no-call, I say Karma. Sure it was obvious that Damon's glove was still in fair territory when he was interfered with and the umpire was dead wrong, but it's opening day. The Oreo's could get 100 of these favorable calls in the regular season and it still wouldn't make up for Jeffrey Maier.

~So ya, no undefeated season. Shit.

~Well that sucked and probably doesn't even deserve it's own post so it shall be a lighting, lightning quick version of quick notes.

~Was that the worst championship game you've ever watched? At least in my memory yes. I don't remember the UNLV Duke game, so maybe that was worse, but at 33-11 this game was over.

~What the hell was Tom Izzo doing? Does he know you can use a timeout in the opening minutes when your team is getting run out of the building? You have a handful of them, you can could have called four timeouts in the first few minutes to try to get your team to stop playing like douche.

~What the hell was Michigan St. doing? Any casual fan could have told you Michigan St. running with North Carolina would be a miserable idea. Yet, that was seemingly the gameplan at the start of the game. Play UNC's tempo, try to push the ball and get open looks. It just resulted in UNC scoring more and more and more points.

~UNC was actually playing defense for the first 10 minutes of the game. That was pretty much the only defense they needed to play.

~Does UNC have an invisible defensive magnetic force around the three point arc pushing the ball in the wrong direction? Michigan St. couldn't buy a three either, just like Nova on Saturday.

~No Hansbrough crying was very disappointing.

~Clark Kellogg is so bad its ridiculous. Please Please Please put Raftery on the #1 crew for gods sake.

~Ya I'm done talking about that shit.

The White Warriors have made their valient return to prominence in the 08-09 season in an attempt to defend their title. In the semifinals last week they fought back from a midweek deficit to sneak out a 1 point victory. And then when the finals begin, Manu goes down for the year forcing the Warriors to scour the wire for the best White player available. That Man? Kyle Korver. Will Kyle Korver become a White Warrior Legend? Or will the Warriors fall short of the epic fantasy goal.

ESPN is Having a Master's Best Ball Challenge. I say join my group Rockin the Green Jacket password tiger, and lose to me. Now go you have no excuses.

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

My final project in my Sports Marketing MBA Class is on the potential business benefits of a playoff as opposed to the current system. Over the course of the next few weeks there may be a few posts digging into an analysis.


The Format

The format is an 8 team college playoff featuring the conference champion of the current 6 BCS conferences plus two wild card teams based on a ranking system similar to today's BCS rankings. When the 8 team field is set the matchups are made again based the ranking system. The top team plays the lowest team, the 2nd best plays the 2nd lowest, etc. So in the above image the SEC Winner would be the 1 seed and the Big East the 8 seed. The ACC Winner the 4 seed and the Wildcard the 5. In the first round the higher seeded team would host the matchup.

The next round begins to incorporate the history and legacies of the current BCS bowls. The winners of the four first round games would matchup in two of the BCS bowls. These would rotate on a yearly basis. The remaining two BCS games would be allowed to choose the 4 best teams in the country no longer in the playoffs. The remaining BCS games could potentially choose from losers of the first round or any other D1 college team.

Finally the National Championship game would be held at one of BCS Invitational Bowls stadium. Again this would be on a rotational basis similar to today's structure with each of the BCS bowl sites getting the title game once in a four year stretch.

Tournament Scheduling

Round 1 would be played the second saturday of December or the week following conference championship games. The 2nd round and invitational games would be played in a similar format to today. The Rose Bowl would continue to be played at 4 pm on January 1st regardless of whether it was a playoff or invitational game. The 8 pm slot on January 1st would be another playoff game. Then depending on the status of the Rose Bowl, the night of January 2nd will hold another game which would either be a playoff or Invitational Game. The last Invitational game would be held the night of the 3rd.

Finally, the National Title Game would still be played on the second thursday of the calendar year as it currently is.

Why It Works

So why does this playoff make sense and why would it make the NCAA more money? Here's a list of reasons why this system satisfies many needs for college football and is an enhancement over the current system.

1. The Inclusion of the Historical Bowls - First off it would keep all the tradition of the major bowl games. Each year the Rose Bowl would be held. Each year the Rose Bowl parade can be run. Each year the Rose Bowl trophy will be awarded. Just one year the Rose Bowl winner will get to play for the National Title and the other year it's a nice capper to a quality season.

By keeping the bowls in place, the powers that be will be satisfied. By incorporating the bowls the conferences will continue to exploit the luster, history, and following of these bowls.

2. Inclusion of All BCS Conferences - Including each conference champion in the playoffs again is a ploy to appease the powers that be. It gets every conference in the money each year and improves the likelihood that they would agree to this system.

3. Universal Importance in Conference Championship Games - In the current format each conference champion gets to go to the BCS. But only two get the chance to play for the National Championship. In this format, every conference championship game has the opportunity to play for the National title on the line. This would enhance viewing and importance of matchups that may in other circumstances be unappealing. Think Georgia Tech vs. Wake Forest a few years ago.

4. Does Not Kill the Entire College Bowl Structure By spacing out the scheduling of the tournament the way it is, the current Bowl Structure of basically every college with a winning record playing in a bowl would continue. The current bowl system allows programs to potentially make extra cash but more importantly get the Universities name out there more and more. It's university advertising. No playoff is going to be agreed to if it eliminates the current bowl structure.

5. More Games Equals More Money - The addition of the first round games are the only additional games added to the schedule, but these games should be major money makers. They would be held on a day when college football is typically not played. They would be played at some of the greatest home stadiums in all of college football. They would often create matchups that we would not normally see in a college regular season. The ticket sales would be through the roof. The TV revenue generated would be extraordinary. More money is always a good thing for these universities.

6. Fans Want a Playoff - Fans clamor for a playoff all the time, this would only improve the popularity of the sport and increase revenues.

Possible Roadblocks

1. Game Overload - Say theoretically an SEC team goes out plays their full schedule, wins the SEC title game, than makes a run to the National Championship game. By the national championship game that SEC team would be playing in their 16th game. So essentially an NFL season. This may get some opposition from University presidents.

2. Non-BCS Conferences - Already the non-BCS conferences are going to congress and trying to get action on the unfair practices of the current BCS system. If this move to the playoff happenned and there was even more of the National Championship quest linked into the BCS, than they might raise their voice even more.

3. The Rose Bowl / Big Ten / Pac 10 - Yes the Rose Bowl isn't going away and would still be played, the difference is it would not be a yearly Big Ten vs. Pac 10 matchup. This is a cash cow for these conferences and a major reason they have been so unwilling to discuss the playoff system.

Feel free to throw any thoughts about scheduling format, benefits, roadblocks, etc in the comments.

Take a random guess at how many times Cliff Lee gave up 7 runs in a game last year? Did you guess zero? You would be right. In 2009 however it only takes Cliff Lee one start to give up 7 runs. This is why you do not draft one year wonders and expect them to duplicate the previous year.

Had the ole keeper leaguer draft on saturday so I figured why not share with my 2.5 readers how it went. Here's a quick summary for the rules to give you a context for the draft. Positions: 2 C, 2 1B, 2 2B, 2 SS, 2 3B, 5 OF, 7 SP, 3 RP, no bench all active all the time. Hitting Categories: Runs, Hits, Steals, Homers, RBI. Pitching Categories: Innings Pitched, Ks, ERA, Wins, Saves. 12 team league, each team keeps 5 fielders, 2 starters and a reliever, so essentially the draft starts at pick 97. My keepers were Berkman, Rollins, Hamilton, McCann, Cano (over Bay), CC, Haren and KRod.

I came in first last year so I was punished by picking last the first two rounds with the snake beginning in round 3. I labeled each pick with effectively the number pick the would be in a normal draft.

108. Corey Hart - So I had accrued a list of the top available players not kept and they included Kemp, Soto, Stephen Drew, Bay, Alexei Ramirez, Chris Davis, Granderson, Chipper, Vlad, Hart and Victorino. Of the top list only Hart and Victorino were left when I drafted, I really really hoped Davis would still be available but alas he was gone. The Hart, Victorino debate is really a coin flip debate. More power on one side more speed on the other. I've had Victorino back to back years on my championship squads, but in the end I decided to go with Hart in hopes that he would hit 30 homers and that with my next pick I would land...

120. Rafael Furcal - His health is a massive question mark but if he stays healthy he will give me Victorino's numbers at Shortstop. If he doesn't stay healthy than I'm gonna be really pissed I used my 2nd round pick on Furcal in back to back years. Don't be a jackass Rafael.

121. Roy Oswalt - With this pick I was targetted mancrush Yovani but with Oswalt's consistency on the board I just couldn't pull the trigger. I crossed my fingers and hoped that Yovani would make it through the next to laps around the table...

144. Yovani Gallardo - And he did. Awesomeness.

145. Brandon Morrow - This pick is probably going to confuse the hell out of you and in any normal draft this looks a little like crazy talk. But here's the thing, in this league, closers go like hot cakes. By this time approximately 20 closers were gone. So you're saying who cares just scrounge the waiver wire during the season, closers always change hands. Problem is in our league each move costs 10 bucks. The past two years I've only ended up with two closers at the end of the draft and each year dropped a ton of loot on the ever changing closer revolving door. Morrow has great stuff, the rest of the Mariners pen is shit, I think he's safe and secure in the position and will keep money in my pocket.

168. Johnny Damon - In the umm why is this guy still on the board world of picks, I select Johnny Damon. I'm concerned over his number of games, but he hit 17 HRs and stole 29 bases last year, he's essentially to their lineup. I think he still plays 150 games if he stays healthy gives me double digit homers and 20+ steals. I don't love the pick, mostly cause I prefer youth, but I made it.

169. Matt Lindstrom - Ditto on everything I said about Morrow. This time there were like 5 closers left. I forgot about Lindstroms little shoulder balking in the spring or I would have taken Heath Bell. Oh well.

At this point in time I had no third baseman, and counted down the third baseman selected and it was something like 20 total third baseman selected meaning that outside of the two I needed to draft only 2 other ones were going to drafted. Thus I decided to say screw it and draft them with my last two picks.

192. Ramon Hernandez - I'm not saying I expect big things from Hernandez this year, but is 20 homers in that Cincy park too much to ask? I picked him up at this point because it is incredibly valuable in a two catcher league and especially mine with no penalties for a low average, to pick up a player who is in the lineup daily. Hernandez played 133 games last year and will likely do the same this year.

193. Chris Carpenter - And time to roll the dice. I was gonna try to take Bedard with this pick but he was gone. I thought about trying to wait on Carpenter for another round but couldn't come up with a guy I really wanted to draft so yay Carpenter.

216. Felipe Lopez - I wanted Rickie Weeks but he went way early. I decided to jump at Felipe Lopez because I'm hoping to get 20+ steals and maybe 10 homers from him. He hit the crap out of the ball when he went to St. Louis last year in 43 games, maybe Washington was just his Kryptonite. Plus, he's currently slotted in at leadoff which means ample at bats which is always good in my league.

217. Oliver Perez - Ok so here's my rational on the Ollie P pick. First off there's no WHIP in my league so let's get the walk conversation out of the way. Next, last year he had a 'bad' year, but he still threw over 200 innings had 180 Ks and his ERA wasn't that bad at 4.22. Yes, he's a roller coaster ride. And no I did not enjoy coming home from my draft and seeing he got his shit pushed in.

240. Adam LaRoche - We were at the bottom of the barrell for first baseman at this point, think Konerko, Helton's of the world. I went with LaRoche over them cause he's younger and has 30 home run potential. If I drop him I drop him, it's a late round pick.

241. Hideki Matsui - And this is probably the pick I liked the least. As I mentioned before, at bats are very very key aspect of this league because of hits instead of homers. I like the fact that Matsui is hitting after Teixeira and will likely hit after Arod come his return. What I don't like is the potential for Jorge to steal days at DH away from him. If that happens a couple of times a week than Matsui might be found on my leagues waiver wire.

264. Josh Fields - Hey look a third baseman. If you're going to draft the 22nd or 23rd 3rd baseman than you're gonna get an old guy or a youngster with potential to succeed or fail. So we get Josh Fields and his 23 homers in 07 and his no show in 08. Come on Fields of 07.

265. Scott Baker - I'm not really a fan of Baker or Slowey, but at 265 how could I not draft Baker? He's on the DL for maybe a week or two and he was supposed to be the Twins opening day starter.

288. Scott Rolen - What did you expect me to get? Rolen at least will play every day if he can ever stay healthy. Somehow he's only 33.

289. Cameron Maybin - He was my minor leaguer so I'm allowed to use my last pick on him and put him on my active roster. Yes this is awesome. Hooray Maybin and his Mike Cameron impersonation numbers.

So my pitching is stacked. My hitting has some question marks and I have some decisions to make. I DLed Baker and picked up Lohse strictly due to a Two Start week against poop opponents. I also have Porcello who I will have three weeks to activate. This means that come a few weeks from now, barring any other injuries on my staff, I'm either gonna need to dump or trade Porcello or another one of my pitchers. We shall see.

I went with Vintage helmets because it added a little twist. Click on the Image for a Full Size Version. If you want the Excel File for whatever reason or have a correction to the schedule, email me at SimonOnSports at gmail dot com. Also feel free to Check Out the Other Conference Helmet Schedules.

*Update, Download the Entire Helmet Schedule Here

I'm not even a UConn homer, more closely a UConn hater, but Stanley Robinson is backpeddaling jumps up dislodges the ball COMPLETELY from Durrell Summers hands and the ball just falls into the hoop. How is that a Facial?

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

"I wish we were playing anyone but Louisville," Auriemma said. "Anyone, I don't care who. The last team you want to play is a team you beat the way we beat them the two times we beat them, especially the last time we played them." [ESPN]

There's coach speak and not disrespecting the other team and than there's spitting out complete bullshit. You've played them twice and beat them by a combined 67 points in two games. You played them in the Big East Championship game, obviously a game with plenty of meaning for college kids, and you beat them 75-36. I repeat 75 to 36. You thoroughly embarrassed them. You are clearly twice the basketball team than them.

In reality Geno's thinking, we're going to need to play like absolute dog shit to lose to this team. I'm now 48 hours away from holding up the title again and having a number 1 season. This is awesome that we get to play a team I absolutely positively no has little to no chance to beat us. This is pretty awesome.

~Michigan St. really wanted a piece of Thabeet's 3rd leg.

~Throughout the season UConn has been the one top ranked team that had almost no reliance on the three point shot. That comes with its positives and its negatives. Winning a bunch of games without relying on your jump shooting means that you're likely a dominant low post team and you have superior athletes to your opponents. The negatives are you can't space the floor effectively because your shooters are not respected and finally and on saturday most importantly when you get behind a lot needs to go your way if you can't get 3 points on a possession instead of 2.

~Sometimes it looks like UConn doesn't bother practicing offense or free throws.

~With all of their problems UConn still cut the deficit to 3 on Stanley massive follow up dunk only to be zapped back to 6 when Kemba got burnt on the press and furthered the damage by giving a soft and 1 foul.

~Kemba Walker was TEEEERRRRRRRIIIIBBBBLLLLLEEEEE.

~I came up with this theory during the end of the UConn game and you can banter against me or agree with me and I might further elaborate it an its own post, ok so the theory is if you mixed UConn and Duke's players you could effectively make two superior teams to the current UConn and Duke squads. Why? Well the teams are heavily focused in the others weakness. Duke is built on the three point shot. Singler and Scheyer are the annoying Duke jump shooters you've grown to hate. Now they're adding Seth Curry to the mix as well. Meanwhile UConn is built on athletes with an attitude, toughness, physicality and perhaps a little bit too much swagger, think Adrien and Stanley Robinson. Duke got abused by Nova because their athletes simply didn't match up with the Cunningham's, Reddings, and Reynold's of the world. Meanwhile UConn lost to Michigan St. because they have zero ability to spread the floor, run miserable offensive sets, and are entirely reliant on wild drives from Price & Kemba to the paint or the not so great post moves of Thabeet. If you traded Scheyer and Singler for either Adrien or Robinson, I truly think both teams are instantly better.

~The Bar I was at with a heavy UConn crowd, was playing Jock Jams like tunes during the commercial breaks for about the first 37 minutes of the game. Then when UConn was down by like 10ish in the final few minutes and it went to commercial they played Live Lightning Crashes, a song about a woman dying during child birth. Yay Depression. It was quite humurous.

~With that being said, UConn desperately needs to find someone to hit outside shots in future recruiting classes. They've always had someone to make big buckets in the past, this team didn't and that's why they won't play UNC tonight.

~For a brief moment it looked like Villanova had a chance. They cut the lead to 4. It looked like Hansbrough tears could have potential. And then within a blink of an eye UNC was back up by double digits and the game was as good as dead thanks to Nova's miserable three point shooting. Absolutely brutal. It's not even like the majority of the threes were contested. They had open looks, couldn't knock them down, meanwhile Danny Green was deadly and UNC is the odds on favorite for another National Title.

~I think every minute I watch Hansbrough I like him less. He whines and whines over every call. And he just looks stupid all the time. Whether it be sitting on the bench with his mouth open or looking mentally challenged during his press conference, the man does not look bright.

~Why does this game start at 9:20? I guess I shouldn't complain, I get out of class at 9ish so this gives me the opportunity to actually watch the game. It always sucked back during the Fab Five days when I had to tape the game and watch it the next day cause I was 8.

~Would you rather watch the game tonight or a 1 on 1 matchup between Michael and Magic? Remember that was the final matchup in my 1 on 1 tournament.

~UNC has too many scorers to be denied tonight. It's unfortunate, I know you want to see Hansbrough cry as well. You'll see tears of joy which are just annoying, not delicious.

There are many reasons to root against North Carolina this weekend, but one takes the cake for me. I want to see massive amounts of emotion spill out of Tyler Hansbrough after the buzzer ends his college career. And by emotion I mean Tears. Delicious Delicious Inability to live up the the hype tears.

Hansbrough now has all the accolades. He's won player of the year. He's the ACC all time leading scorer. He's made Final Fours. The one thing he hasn't done is win a title despite arguably being on the most talented teams each of the past three years.

You know its coming and you know you want it as well. A UNC loss will equal Hansbrough tears and lots of them, one can only hope for Adam Morrison like proportions.

So let's go Nova, let us enjoy the Delicious Tears of Unfathomable Sadness.

Time to run down the playoff predictions which are almost certainly going to be terribly wrong.

Wild Card Matchups

NL East New York Mets vs. NL Central Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are an intriguing team this year. If ever they could keep Rich Harden healthy than they could be a dominant force in the postseason. But what are the odds of that? 20 to 1? Without Harden, the Cubs are just so so, thus the Mets move on.

NL Wildcard Philadelphia Phillies vs. NL West Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers got dumped quickly in the NL Championship series last year, the tables will turn this year. Both rotations aren't very good. The Phillies have a better lineup but with another year of experience the Dodgers will step up to the plate.

AL West Los Angeles Angels vs. AL East New York Yankees
This would frighten me to no end. The Angels own the Yanks, and by October they should have Lackey and Santana healthy and potentially even Escobar. In the end even with those guys, the Yanks have a better rotation with CC, Burnett, Wang, and Andy or Joba.

AL Wildcard Boston Red Sox vs. AL Central Cleveland Indians
By October the Red Sox will have a rotation parralleled only by the Yankees. Throwing out a 4 spot of Beckett, Lester, Dice-K and Smoltz will be way too much for the Indians to match up with.

Championship Series

NL East New York Mets vs. NL West Los Angeles Dodgers
Johan potentially three times in a series filled in on the edges with Ollie P aka "I only pitch well in big spots", will be too much for the Dodgers to handle.

AL Wildcard Boston Red Sox vs. AL East New York Yankees
It'll be nice to get back to a Yankee Red Sox ALCS. The pitching matchups would be phenomenal. CC vs. Beckett. Burnett vs. Lester. Team Asia vs. Team Asia. Smoltz vs. Andy. We're going edge A-Rod.

World Series: Subway Series #2

Back to the Subway Series. Just like in 2000 the results will be the same. The Yanks shall take home the title thanks to superior pitching and a superior 1 through 9 lineup. A-Rod gets his World Series Trophy and can tell everyone to suck on a fat man part.

Denver knows that St. Patrick's day was actually two weeks ago right? What the hell is up with the Green Jerseys?

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

A couple of weeks ago I threw Jay Cutler on My Jets Wish List. Today I'm happy to say the Jets did not give up a Kings Ransom to sign him. I mentioned in the post that there was a certain price tag I'd be willing to give up, and well the Bears shot way way way past that.

Here's the thing, it's great to have a solid Quarterback with an arm and talent. I'd love to have that. But at some point you need players for him to throw the ball to. The Bears don't have that and won't be that much better next season. The Jets don't have that either and had they given up two first rounders and a third rounder, they would have no opportunity to bring one in. Cutler would be throwing the same dump off passes that Favre and Pennington were throwing in the past few seasons. Would bringing in a stud QB and forcing him to do the same things really make much sense?

Additionally it's coming out that the Broncos did not want Cutler in the AFC and weren't returning the Jets phone calls. Apparently this is a big time theme in Denver.

All in all, it looks like the Jets are going to go the Kellen Clemens route. It's going to be a risky route, but at least they'll have the opportunity to bring in a few weapons and give the former 2nd rounder a chance to succeed.

MVP - Grady Sizemore, Sizemore's numbers last year were through the roof. 33 homers and 38 steals? Damn. The Indians unfortunately for him stunk, this year I've got the Indians taking home the division and if Sizemore throws up similar stats the award could be his.

Cy Young - CC Sabathia, Why not go chalk with the Cy Young? CC will get run support, he will be the Yankees horse, he won't have to compete with Tiny Tim or Johan, this award shall be his.

Manager of the Year - Trey Hillman, I've got the Royals finishing with a .500 record, if that ever happens than Hillman wins the award with ease.

Rookie of the Year - David Price, The AL rookie of the year will pretty much be determined by whom gets called up quicker between Price and Matt Weiters. My guess is that Price is up in the first week of may and utterly dominates.

Comeback Player of the Year - Brad Penny, He'll fit in just fine with the Red Sox after an injury plagued 2008. If he wins say 13-15 games the Red Sox will be in great shape for a postseason run.

Just a reminder that I did absolutely miserable with these predictions last year. But alas we shall predict err make an educated guess at these things.

MVP - Manny Ramirez, I was gonna go David Wright, but I'm changing it up and picking Manny. Did you know he's somehow never finished in the top 2 of the MVP voting? He finished in the top ten in 8 consecutive seasons but has never won the award nor got the runner up trohpy. If the Dodgers make the run to the playoffs that I expect, and Manny does anything similar to his performance last year, than he will be in the running.

Cy Young - Johan Santana, Johan + solid bullpen = Lots of Wins. If the bullpen didn't suck last year than Johan most likely would have taken home the award. This year with Putz and Krod in the pen I fully expect Johan to win 20 games with his typically awesome ratios.

Manager of the Year - Jerry Manual, Somehow getting the Mets to not collapse in September will be enough for the "Gangsta" to take home to award.

Rookie of the Year - Cameron Maybin, He's already up, he's gonna get lots of playing time, and he has athleticism to spare. Think Mike Cameron like numbers. Double digit homers. Double Digit steals. Solid run and rbi totals, lots of strikeouts and a mediocre average.

Comeback Player of the Year - Khalil Greene, He was god awful last year. He hit .213 and his homers dropped from 27 to 10. Now with a change of scenery and a spot at cleanup against lefties. No seriously Khalil Greene is going to be Pujols protetion. Tony LaRussa may be smoking a wee bit too much crack.

And finally on to the big boys.

1. New York Yankees

And the money comes off the books and the money goes on the books. With boatloads of cash going away in the offseason the Yankees decided it was a good idea to give 3 guys cash worth about 1/2 of the stadium costs, or something similarly ludicrous. With that money spent they are once again the division, AL, and MLB favorites. But what about the aging superstars? CC's knack for shitty October starts? AJ's fragile elbow? The Yanks are no lock for the playoffs and certainly no lock for 100 games as some are proclaiming. That being said, homerism is picking them to win the division.

Key Player: Mariano Rivera, The bullpen lacks depth and lacks a true replacement if anything ever happened to Mo. The Yankees however have a replacement on staff, he's just in the starting rotation. They've already said that if anything happens to Mo that Joba will be inserted in the closers roles which is a miserable idea. Tugging the kid around would absolutely crush his progression as a big league player.

Player to Eye: Robinson Cano, Many Yankee fans and Fantasy Owners were scorned by Robby last year. But don't jump off the bandwagon my dear friend. He's still 26, he's having a good spring, he's supposedly in better shape, and there's no god damn way he has as bad of an April as last season. It's impossible.

Record Prediction: 95-67

2. Boston Red Sox

Yay, Boston. [vomit] The Sox spent the offseason scouring the DL to pick up pitchers that potentially could be undervalued. When they found one they added them to their collection. Saito, Penny, and Smoltz all fit the category. With that being said the Sox rotation is stellar and their lineup is gutsy, smart and talented. However, if I was a Sox fan I would be a little bit concerned with the potential that Pedroia and Youk will never be better than they were in 2008. Regressions from two of their most important players plus the natural aging of David Ortiz would put a lot of pressure on the Canadian, Silent Jay.

Key Player: David Ortiz, Big man hit just 23 home runs last year and was shelved for 7 weeks during the middle of the season. Despite the emergences of Bay, Youk and Pedroia, he's still the most important hitter in the lineup and the most feared. His age and propensity to break down are worrisome for any Sox fan even with his mashing in the spring. Without Ortiz and without Manny, this lineup isn't something to be afraid of.

Player to Eye: John Smoltz, Imagine on September 1st the Red Sox have a healthy Lester, Beckett, Penny, Dice-K and John Smoltz. Ahhhhhh, run away. That'll be scary good. SCARY!!! Smoltz may be old and his status may be in question this year, but in 07 he had a 3.11 ERA in a full damn season. If he's that than the Sox will be a frightening postseason team.

Record Prediction: 94-68

3. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays shocked the world in 2008 and took home the AL Pennant. This season they won't be sneaking up on anyone. Everyone knows they will be a solid squad. The questions really surround whether their rotation can stay healthy as it did last year. Will their youngsters stay status quo, improve, or regress? And will the offseason improvements of the Yankees and Red Sox be too much for the Rays to stay in front?

Key Player: Evan Longoria, In just his sophomore year, Longoria will be expected to have another great season and anchor the middle of the Rays lineup. He's got the skills to progress even further but sometimes the Sophomore jinx just smacks you in the face. If the jinx is in the Rays are out.

Player to Eye: B.J. Upton, Upton will be an incredibly intriguing player this year. Last year in the regular season his power was incredibly disappointing but his speed was tremendous. Than in the postseason he amped up the power a few notches and was tearing the cover off the ball. Was October merely a hot streak or is the power going to be flaunted consistently over a 162 game season.

Record Prediction: 88-74

4. Toronto Blue Jays

When 3 of your starting five from the previous season are no longer on your roster than you are in trouble. Especially when you don't go out into the market and replace them. Burnett obviously left via free agency. McGowan and Marcum are both injured with Marcum done for the year and McGowan expected to be back in June. They replaced those David Purcey, Ricky Romero, and Scott Richmond. Or Who? Who? And Who? Being in the same division as the Rays, Sox and Yanks will only make this season worse.

Key Player: Vernon Wells, Big ole Vernon is usually on a even schedule. On even years he has solid years. On odd years he sucks. Well that's the way it seems to work. Last year, when he was actually on the field he was solid. .300 and 20 homers in just 108 games. If the odd jinxes come back and he has a piss poor season like his .245 shit show and just 16 homers in 07, than the Blue Jays just might finish dead last in the East.

Player to Eye: Roy Halladay, He's the only pitcher you actually know on the roster, so why is he the player to eye? Cause he gon' get traded. Why wouldn't he really? Look at the Blue Jays roster, there is no foreseeable hope. They are in the best division in baseball and have two massive spenders and a team with ample youth talent ahead of them. They need to play catch up. They need top prospects. They need to trade their best chip to acquire lots of little seeds with chance to grow.

Record Prediction: 73-89

5. Baltimore Orioles

I think I'm being generous with the amount of wins I'm divying out cause their rotation is flat out embarrassing. Jeremy Guthrie is a solid MLB pitcher but far from a staff ace. After Guthrie the O's will throw Koji Uehara described by some as the Japanese Brad Radke (oh YAY!), Mark Hendrickson with his 5.00 ERA, Adam Eaton, and some kid named Alfredo Simon. Good name, probably bad pitcher. All in all, the Oreos have essentially no chance to make the postseason.

Key Player: Adam "Not Pacman" Jones, The Oreos will need someone to step up and help out Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts in the lineup. "Not Pacman" has the skillset to do it and the Oreos need him to produce.

Player to Eye: Koji Uehara, Calling someone the Japanese Brad Radke screams, "WOW THIS GUY IS GOING TO SUCK BALLS!!!!!". Anybody have Kei Igawa on their minds other than me? He's in the Oreos rotation for good, and he better be closer to Kaz Ishii than Kei Igawa.

Record Prediction: 66-96

Check Out All the Previews: AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central, NL West

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

It's the NL East, home to massive collapses and world champions.

1. New York Mets

Can the Mets avoid a 3rd straight collapse? SI thinks so. They picked the Metropolitans to win the World Series. That seems remarkably dumb, who the hell would do that? Oh me last year, that's right. Oh well, I only proclaim myself as being intelligent some of the time.

Key Player: Carlos Delgado, Carlos Delgado was by far the Mets most pivotal player last season. You expect Beltran, Wright and Reyes to produce but Delgado pre-Willy being fired looked like his career was toast. He was a power hitter that couldn't make much contact anymore. Before the all star break in 90+ games he hit 17 homers and hit below .250. Then all of a sudden Delgado became a beast again. In July he hit .357 and overal post all star break he hit 21 homers in 60+ games. So which Delgado are the Mets getting this season?

Player to Eye: Daniel Murphy, He's the young kid that's going to bat 2nd for the Mets and start daily in left field. He's supposed to be a mild speed, mild power guy with a great eye at the dish. At the very least he'll be better than Luis Castillo, but him getting on base consistently in front of Wright, Beltran and Delgado would result in a ton of runs scored.

Record Prediction: 89-73

2. Philadelphia Phillies

Yay World Series Champions and benefitters of back to back Mets collapses. The Phillies are a team you have to love if you aren't a Mets fan. Between Utley, Rollins and Victorino they have three players you would want on any team. Absolute grinders. Their pitching staff on the other hand leaves much to be desired.

Key Player: Cole Hamels, The Phillies arguably had the worst rotation for a World Series winner ever. They have Cole Hamels and Brett Myers who is inconsistent at best and then it gets sloppy. Moyer is 97. Blanton is a run producer for the other team. And the fifth starter Chan F'n Ho F'n Park. Chan Ho Park! The Phillies have zero shot of winning if Hamels can't stay healthy this year.

Player to Eye: Jayson Werth, Werth was once a first round draft pick by the Oreo's. Since that point he's bounced around to three additional franchises and before last season never really amounted to much. Than last year in just 134 games Werth put up 24 homers and 20 steals. Is he a late bloomer or was last year a fluke?

Record Prediction: 89-73

3. Atlanta Braves

You want brand spanking new rotations, look at the Atlanta Braves. They massively overpay bring in Derek Lowe. They trade for Javy Vazquez. They bring in Kenshin Kawakami and they resign 95 year old Tom Glavine. Three of their 5 starters are brand new, but still I don't think they'll have enough to push for the division crown.

Key Player: Larry Jones, Will Larry ever stay healthy for a full season again? Last season it wasn't even a major injury, it was just a week here and a week there but in the end it accumulate to just 118 starts. The Braves really need their best hitter to stay on the field.

Player to Eye: Jeff Francoeur, Remember when Frenchy was the greatest thing since a warm fresh loaf of delicious French bread? Last year he played more like a steaming turd. .239 with a below .300 on base percentage and only 11 home runs? Those are worse the Melky Cabrera #s. Will he return or will he find his ass on the bench?

Record Prediction: 84-78

4. Florida Marlins

The Marlins are a very very young team with potential everywhere. Their staff includes Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson two pitchers that while healthy in 08 had great years. It also includes the potential of Chris Volstad and Andrew Miller two topflight prospects and the return of Annibal Sanchez who had a great 2006 season and then loads of arm issues. Their lineup however is Hanley and then a massive dropoff to the Dan Uggla's and Jorge Cantu's of the world.

Key Player: Jeremy Hermida, Hanley Ramirez will be a monster barring injury, this is unquestioned. The Marlins however desperately need for a Ramirez sidekick. After a very solid surge at the end of 2007 hermida looked prime for a breakout in 2008, than kaboom mediocre numbers. If anyone is going to emerge as Robin, than it'll probably be Hermida.

Player to Eye: Cameron Maybin, Wheels. Delicious Wheels. That's what Maybin has. He's gonna be a speedster, he's gonna steal lots of bases. He's gonna hit double digit homers. He's also likely to strikeout more than Dan Uggla, which is a lot. The kid turns 22 over the weekend and the job is his and only his, he's a player to track this year.

Record Prediction: 78-84

5. Washington Nationals

Want a ass ugly rotation? Look at the Nationals. Ya John Lannan 9-15 last year being the opening day starter. Then you got Daniel Cabrera and his 200 walks in the 2nd spot. All in all it's kind of sad cause their lineup really does have potential.

Key Player: Ryan Zimmerman, Zimmerman feels like he's been due for a breakout for years now. He still hasn't hit more than 25 homers. He still hasn't approached .300. We're waiting on you to morph into a psuedo David Wright, but me thinks our expectations are too lofty.

Player to Eye: Jordan Zimmerman, Not actually Ryan's brother, but actually their #1 prospect. Mr. Zimmerman 2 is in the Nats rotation. Last year in 20 starts in Double A the 22 year old had a 3.21 ERA and averaged nearly a K per inning in 20 starts. He may or may not be ready for the bigs this season but the Nats really don't have better options.

Record Prediction: 76-86

Check Out All the Previews: AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central, NL West

I dominated my pool. Got the Champion and everything. Go Old Dominion, take home that massive CIT trophy you get. Well I hope you at least get a trophy.


It's made out of wood? The Trophy is wood? Um Ok. At least you get to throw up this banner on your website. I guess that's something.

As I mentioned late yesterday afternoon, Donald Fehr the Executive Director of the MLBPA spoke at my MBA course last night. I figured I'd just give some of my takeaways from the night overall and some examples of questions he was asked and how he answered them.

~He came off as highly intelligent and highly opinionated. These two things were not surprising to me. He's been the head of the Union for almost 25 years so he obviously needed a little intelligence to get the position in his 30s and to hold it for so long he obviously needed to be of the players benefit opinion. The one thing that I was surprised about is he's a much bigger man than I was expecting. He's actually about 6 foot 1 probably weighs in low 200s. Kind of always pictured him as a 5 foot 8 man.

~Much of what he said was like the foreword of a book. What I mean is it was just a little summary but not too in depth, but at the same time made his opinions pretty easy to read into. Let me give an example. He started the conversation speaking about the oddities of sports that would not be accepted in other businesses. This included getting traded, free agency, and of course the draft. He spoke about each saying things like "What if you worked for GE in Connecticut and one day your boss brings you in for a meeting and says we've traded you to Fedex in Memphis and you're only choice was to go or to find a job in a different field?" When he brought up the draft he spoke about it in a similar matter, and it was highly evident when you read between the lines that he thinks its utter bullshit and that it shouldn't exist. He even changed the tone of his voice when he utter the words "for the sake of competetive balance".

~Here's another example. Someone asked him about why the MLBPA has been more successful than the NFLPA. He at first gave a politically correct answer like "I don't think it's really fair to judge the decisions that were made when not in the room." Then he elaborated saying that the MLBPA was run by former Steel Worker Union Lead Marvin Miller, whereas the NFLPA was not. The easy to read chapters behind that are, there is no god damn way he ever would have agreed to the bullshit the NFL players are subjected to.

~He later elaborated on some of the differences between the MLB and NFL and why a salary cap makes more sense for the NFL and not the MLB. Major League baseball generates the vast majority of its revenue through local sources. Local TV, Gates, local radio, merchandise, etc. Meanwhile the NFL makes the vast majority of their money through national contracts. So what does this mean? The revenues of the NFL teams are very much closely aligned while the MLB is far from it. If their was total revenue sharing the MLB than what incentive would the Yankees have to invest in their local product if they knew it was just going to get split 30 different ways. By not having a salary cap each team is motivated to make the most amount of money possible.

~The World Baseball Classic is a joint venture between the players and owners and will absolutely never happen during the season.

~I personally asked about the issue with controlling young players and issues like David Price, Matt Wieters, Evan Longoria, Delmon Young, etc. being sent down for the reason of increasing the years of control a big league club has on them. He basically said if they could prove that was the case then they could get it fixed but proving it and thinking it are completely different things. He also said that in the vast majority of cases these players are the upper echelon prospect who will likely have a long career regardless. Makes sense.

~He said that baseball is likely the most exclusive club on the planet, in that you have to be approved by the owners to own a team and that starting up a rival baseball league would be nearly impossible. Reason being that their are only a handful (if that he said 2 Vancouver and Monterey) of baseball stadiums that could handle a major league baseball team. Meanwhile, if you wanted to start a new NFL or NBA rival there are plenty of viable college stadiums that could work as fits. Makes sense.

~He said that there is no evidence that a Labor stoppage has actually hurt the MLB popularity. Not sure I agree with that.

~He made it sound like the MLBPA may end up looking at this offseason and search for possible cases of collusion.

~Someone asked about steroids and why the MLBPA wouldn't release the 103 names. THe answer was obvious, it's a legal matter with contractual promises not free to violate. What I did learn on the steroid issue was that the MLBPA negotiated for players to only be tested via cause. So similar to a police officer not being able to look through your house for drugs without a warrant. The test that created the "List" lead to random testing thanks to the players testing positive too many times.

And that's about it. It was an interesting night, he was an interesting man, and I may have seen him smile like once or twice. He did crack a few jokes including one about Bud Selig and how the Owners held their meetings in Wisconsin so Bud could sleep in his own bed, but I don't see a profession change to comedian any time soon.

Donald Fehr the head of the MLBPA is speaking at my MBA course this evening at NYU. I am interested to find out A) what he's going to talk about B) if he has even the slightest sense of humor and C) is he capable of smiling. I'm not sure if I've ever seen him laugh or smile in public so we shall see if he possesses human like qualities.

Anyway, I figure this is the one time I'll be able to ask Mr. Fehr some questions. Yet, I'm kind of drawing a massive blank here. Do I ask him about steroids? That's so played out. Do I ask him about competetive balance and/or a salary cap? I don't even want a salary cap nor care if the Orioles are ever good again. I'm certainly not going to ask him dumb questions like what is it like to be the most powerful man in baseball or how did you get the job.

Alright dedicated 2 1/2 readers, I need your help. Give me some ideas.

What is the AL Central to me in 2009? It is a league full of a 5 teams that can all win the division. And ya that legitimately means I think the Royals have a chance.

1. Cleveland Indians

The Indians went poop up last season. Why? They had massively debilitating injuries to Victor Martinez, Hafner and others. They traded away CC Sabathia their best player. They got absolutely positively nothing from Fausto Carmona or really the bottom half of their rotation. So what has changed? Well now they have hero Carl Pavano. That'll definitely save them.

Key Player: Fausto Carmona, Carmona went from a 19-8 Cy Young Candidate with a 3.06 ERA in 2007 to a 8-7 injured bum with a 5.44 ERA in 2008. Talk about differing years, still he's just 25 and has shown the potential to be great. The Indians season really is in Carmona's hands.

Player to Eye: Shin Soo Choo, Cause why not? In 159 career games in the big leagues Choo is hitting .291 with 17 home runs and 9 steals in 509 at bats. Say the Indians give him a full season in rightfield and something like 560 at bats, is a .290 20+ 10+ line too much to ask? Probably not.

Record Prediction: 85-77

2. Kansas City Royals

yES i'M NUTS. sO NUTS i'M WRITING THIS IN CAPSLOCK. tHE rOYALS AREN'T GOING TO COMPLETELY SUCK THIS YEAR. wHY YOU ASK? wELL THEIR OFFENSE HAS POTENTIAL. tHEY HAVE YOUTH. tHEY HAVE A LEADOFF MAN IN cOCO. tHEY HAVE A 30+ HOMERUN BAT IN jACOBS. bILLY bUTLER IS EMERGING. tHEY ALSO HAVE A SOLID TOP TWO IN gREINKE AND mECHE. pLUS NOBODY IN THE al cENTRAL IS REALLY THAT GOOD. so YA THE 2009 kANSAS cITY rOYALS WILL BE A .500 BASEBALL TEAM.

Key Player: Zack Greinke, If the Royals are ever going to get close to my projection than it all lies on Zack Greinke's shoulders. He took a massive leap forward in 2008. What does 2009 have in store for the former phenom?

Player to Eye: Mike Jacobs, Power, Mike Jacobs has it. Knack for driving in run, has that too. Likes to strikeout a lot, well I don't know if he likes to but he certainly does. Can't hit lefties, well ya you're right about that but that's why they invented the platoon. Jacobs right now has the most power in the KC lineup, where will the 32 bombs from last season move in 2009?

Record Prediction: 81-81

3. Minnesota Twins

I have an issue with underrating the Twins perennially so chances are good that they'll wind up vastly better than the 81-81 I have predicted. They do have health question marks however in Liriano, Mauer and even Morneau is a bit banged up.

Key Player: Joe Mauer, Mauer might be a touch overrated but the fall off to old man Mark Redmond is massive. The Twins need Mauer in the lineup and his back is a barking right now.

Player to Eye: Delmon Young, When is the power going to show up? In two full seasons he's hit just 23 home runs. His average hasn't been terrible the past two seasons but he never walks. Perhaps this is the year that Young flaunts some of that power and shows a better eye at the plate.

Record Prediction: 81-81

4. Detroit Tigers

You have to like the Tigers lineup, it's filled with Cabrera and Ordonez, Granderson and Guillen, it's just the pitching has questionmark after questionmark after questionmark.

Key Player: Justin Verlander, Verlander flat out stunk last year after a few terrific years. Right now the Tigers rotation is in complete flux. Willis and Bonderman are starting the year on the DL. The squad is seriously considering outting 20 year old Rick Porcello in the rotation. Edwin Jackson, Nate Robertson, and Andres Galarraga aren't anything to write home about. They desperately need a return of the 07 Verlander form.

Player to Eye: Rick Porcello, The Tigers rotation issues are forcing the young kid to get ready in a hurry. He has officially made the opening day roster and will likely pitch in the #5 role. Is he ready? Is he rushed? Will he stick?

Record Prediction: 80-82

5. Chicago White Sox

From first to last? Why not? No more O-Cab. No more Swisher. The stars are getting older and older and older. I'm not really a massive believer in Danks or Floyd.

Key Player: Gavin Floyd & John Danks, Maybe I'll be wrong about Gavin Floyd and John Danks, maybe both are for real. This is for certain though, if Danks and Floyd are not for real than the White Sox can book their October vacations right now.

Player to Eye: Bartolo Colon, Hey look Bartolo Colon is back. And fatter than ever. Well I don't know about that one, but he has done absolutely nothing in baseball for three seasons, yet he looks like he has a rotation spot locked up. This should be fun.

Record Prediction: 78-84

Check Out All the Previews: AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central, NL West

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below.

ANSWERS

It's the NL Central Home of the dominant Pirates of Pittsburgh.

1. Chicago Cubs