Pats

Going for it on Fourth and 2 Didn't cost them the game!

If you have been living under a rock for the past three days, you may not know that your New England Patriots blew a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts. You may also know that Bill Bellichek went for it on Fourth and 2 from his own 28 yard line, failed to convert and Peyton Manning subsequently drove his team 30 yards for the winning score. Most experts and pundits have been bashing William for his call in the fourth quarter but it was not that play that lost them the game. For all intents and purposed the Patriots should have won that game by more than 20 points, beating the spread, covering the over and making the whole Northeast corner of the United States happy as a clam. What lost them the game wasn't the going for it on fourth and two, it was the whole fourth quarter. In the last six meetings between these two teams (playoffs included) the Colts have won 5 of them. The Colts also have not lost a game since week 8 of last year to the Tennessee Titans. The following week they defeated the Patriots at the Oil Rig 18-15 under the tutalige of the one and only Matt Cassel. That's (count them) 18 games straight that they've won. Now, what better scenario would it have been if 3 games away from the Colts tying the Patriots streak, the Pats could go into the Horshoes and beat them before they could sniff the record. Bellichek is a student of the game, he knows what's going on (see: Vinny Testaverde, Doug Flutie) at all times. Do you think it crossed his mind as this game was slipping through their fingertips that they were losing more than just one game? Look, every other significant team (minus the Bengals) on Sunday. The Jets, Dolphins, Steelers, all of them. It wasn't a loss that was going to push them out of the playoffs or take them out of the division race. They're still going to win the division and believing that the Bungles will lose their steam will probably end up as the 2 seed in the AFC with 11 wins. At that point in the game, they had way more to gain by going for it on fourth and two and ending it, than punting it with two minutes to go. Now, should they have punted? Yes, in most scenarios. But I can see the reasoning behind not punting. Peyton Manning on consecutive drives had torched the Pats D for 80 yards for two TD's in less than two minutes. Say they punt them down to the 20, it's another 80 yard drive in less than two minutes and they Colts had 2 TIMEOUTS. Granted, with more play calls there are more opportunities for mistakes but with the way things were playing out nothing was stopping Manning at that point. He's a Hall of Fame player who has come up in the last 5 years in big situations and performed, something Mr. Brady has not done since the Super Bowl against the Giants (yes I know about the injury/missed season). Brady played great, played like it was 2007 and put his team in a position to win the game, but he also (along with the rest of the team) completely failed the fourth quarter. Coming off an interception that should've ended the game, the wrong personnel was on the field and they were forced to call a timeout, their 2nd of the half. When it came down to fourth and two they wasted their last timeout and were not able to challenge the spot on the field on the Faulk reception. Complete and utter debauchery of how football is supposed to be managed and played. Earlier in the quarter Brady threw into double coverage in the endzone and was picked off. If they were really concerned about Manning and the Colts O-fense then they should have started running then. But oh wait, the pride of Minnesota Laurence Maroney decided to caugh up the ball as he fell into the endzone (again, which would have effectively ended the game) oh and by the way, only his 2nd or 3rd career fumble. The guy choked, he doesn't give up the ball often and he choked. Bellichek made a mistake but I don't fault him for the situation he was in and the call he made. It was the performance of the team in the 10 minutes before that play that cost him the game. It will in all likelihood be the Pats and Colts in Lucas Oil come late December, and I guarantee that the outcome will be different. Don't be surprised if the Pats rattle off 6 in a row after this game, beat the Saints and be the #2 seed in the East.

Top Five! reasons the Red Sox should not deal for Halladay (at Toronto's asking price)

I've disregarded the old blog and hopefully will be putting things up on the notes for you all to read and comment, bash, dispute (Dan Swartz) or just praise the wonderfulness that is my opinion (kidding of course). Anyone that knows me knows that I am an enormous Red Sox fan, well Boston fan in general...but that I can not stand Boston sports fans…for the most part. The people that go to the games and sit in the front rows with their business suits and the people who call up EEI have had me seriously thinking about moving to Pittsburgh to become a Pirates fan and paying 500 dollars for season tickets.

Listen I've heard the pros, I've heard the cons...I've heard the idiots on WEEI and “Loser” Nation cheering for the Buchholz Bus to leave town and bring in Halladay. Look, Halladay is a beast, a monster, an absolute force to be reckoned with, but the Red Sox in the short and long term do not need him. Now I'll be criticized, heckled or what have you because of this, but it doesn't make long or short term sense.

Despite their recent scoring struggles (thoughts on that to come later) the Red Sox have been the best team in the American League all year and have been playing as well as the Dodgers to fuel the debate on which team is the best in the MLB.

So, without further adieu here are my top five reasons why the Boston Red Sox do not make the Roy Halladay Deal:

1. “You can’t trade the farm Big O!”

Theo Epstein (despite most of his free agent blunders) has been a master of building up the farm system that was once the joke of MLB. Remember those late 1990 Yankees teams that won all those World Series. All you hear about was how it was the farm system that did it. Just to rattle off a few names, Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neil, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, oh yeah and some guy named Derek Jeter. They were so important to those World Series teams that it served as the model to build a champion. It wasn’t until George went all money crazy and Luis Gonzalez hammered home the winning run in 2001, that the Yankees luck ran out. They began spending money, trading their farm away for big free agent’s to be (ahem, sound familiar) and now they haven’t had a serious chance other than 2003 to win a title (ahem, Josh Beckett...of the Marlins farm system).

2. Age

I’m a huge believer in using untested talent as bargaining chips to make your team better. Trading Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr for Pedro Martinez was the most significant trade in altering Red Sox history since this guy. But there’s a difference. At the time Pedro was 26 years old and entering the prime of his career, and his stat lines prove that. Roy Halladay is 32 and at the end of his current contract is going to be a 34 year old looking for his last big paycheck (and I don’t blame him in this economy). It is not worth bringing in a 34 year old pitcher at the tail end of his prime for a 2 year rental that is not guaranteed long term for a 23 year old that has outrageous stuff and has already thrown a no-hitter (something Pedro could never do...good job Expos offense).

3. Josh Beckett/John Lester/Tim Wakefield

Going into the playoffs you want to have 3 solid starting pitchers rolling along and there is no better three-headed monster in the major leagues right now. Yes I know Tim Wakefield is 87 years old and his stats probably aren’t going to keep up. However you know for a fact that Josh and John are going to continue to get better as the season goes on. Not to mention by September you will have a guy won 18 games last year with a sub 3.00 era with a fresh arm, not to mention John Smoltz/Penny which combined have been as good as a number 4 starter. The Red Sox have more depth than any other team in the league and it has shown the first half of the year. Long-term, why not have this foundation to move forward and be able to add Buchholz and Bowden to the rotation in the next few years. Potentially you have a rotation of Beckett, Daisuke, Lester, Buchholz, and Bowden. That is downright scary. If the last two live up to some sort of there potential you’re looking at a rotation with no worse than a number 3 starter at the BACK of your rotation for the next decade. Giving up the farm for a 32 year old ace with no guarantee of re-signing is too much.

4. Money

Roy Halladay this season makes $14.25 million with the number likely to be in the $14-16 million range next year. In his final year of his contract he will no doubt put up numbers worthy of CC Sabathia money, and no doubt some team out there will be able to/willing to give it to him. It just doesn’t make sense for the Red Sox to commit that kind of money for 2 years at the expense of possible re-signing Josh Beckett or Jonathan Pabelbon. I’m willing to part with Jonathan because he’s going to make K-Rod money and I really don’t think he’s worth it (aka BJ Ryan) and Daniel Bard is waiting in the wings to become the next arbitration special the Red Sox dote out to the mound. Beckett is the key here. He is 2 years younger than Halladay and is entering…repeat entering the prime of his career which is downright scary. I’d take him and the salary you would be paying Buchholz and/or Bowden long term over risking with Halladay who has been a career second half slow down machine.

5. Clay Buchholz’ Girlfriend

No seriously have you seen her? You really want see Doc Halladay pitching at Fenway over seeing this…potentially at a Clay Buchholz start? You have to be kidding me!

Listen Doc is a great pitcher who will probably win a Cy young either this year or next year to garner up for that monster contract. But it doesn’t make sense for the Red Sox to break up what they’ve built since Theo came along, for him. Plus why would Toronto trade Halladay anywhere near the AL East? They know the Yankees won’t part with Hughes and the Sox won’t part with one of their top tier guys. Halladay is better off heading to the National League where he will absolutely be a monster beyond proportions. If St. Louis really said, “Take 5 prospects you want for him.” I would absolutely do it on both fronts. Imagine facing the Cardinals in the playoffs with Halladay on the mound and Pujols in the line-up. RIDICULOUS

The BoSox are better off making a move at the deadline to improve their offense and/or get a replacement for when Jay Ray Bay skips town for more money. They need to look to the future in that sense. They have an aging Mike Lowell at third that can barely get on the field. Youkilis is starting to age a little bit. Bay will probably be gone and the man who is a human cigar is past 30. Not to mention the logjam/shitshow they have at shortstop. This team needs help but pitching is not the immediate one. They need to bolster their lineup which suddenly, even with Pedroia and Ellsbury has looked worn and old.

Please feel free to comment, suggest, dispute and we’ll make this an ongoing thing

Cheers,

Jared

Melting rocks, Boiling seas

Musings: I love when you find out that a song you really like is a cover. Then you youtube the song, find the original and it blows your mind for several reasons
1. How could you not KNOW this was a cover??????
2. You think the cover is so good, and you realize how awesome the band you know is, but how glorious the original is at the same time
3. How cool that band is for covering something relatively obscure or from a different genre that youre not super familiar with, and then you realize how phat it is.
This happened to me with ‘Wrong em Boyo’ by The Clash. I love the song a lot, if anyone reading this knows me and knows how much I love the clash, London Calling and Wrong em Boyos (I named my fantasy hockey team after it every year, and in fact floated the idea to name my first born son Stagger Lee….didnt fly with the old lady). Anyways its originally done by The Rulers. Check out both versions. Unbelievable…

The Ducks and the CAPITALS are going to win their respective series’ and for the Bs sake I hope Cakalaka pulls out the win against the Brodeurs, so we can play them instead of Pitt. If the Bruins don’t win the East it will be because of the Penguins. God the Sharks suck balls, No Show Jumbo Joe. (still a terrible trade when Luongo was dealt that same year)

Don’t support Breed Specific Legislation
I am about to become the proud owner of a Pit Bull Mix. The most decorated dog in American Military history is Stubbie the Pit Bull from WWI. Check out the recent ESPN: E60 piece on the Michael Vick dogs, and how they have been transformed into loving family pets after some rehabilitation.

And check out these facts about media reporting and bias on Pit Bulls from the National Canine Research Council http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/
This is just one grotesque example there are mad others….
December 2008
An Arizona woman was killed by one or two dogs identified by authorities to be Labrador Retrievers.
ONE local newspaper published an article following the discovery of her body.
A California man was attacked and killed by one or two dogs that the media identified as his
grandson’s pit bulls.
This incident was reported by at least 285 media outlets, both nationally (in 47 U.S. states) and internationally
(in 8 other countries). MSNBC, Forbes, USA Today, Fox News, CBS News,
and ABC News all picked up the story. (One dog was later reported to be a mastiff-pit bull mix)

Beer Review #1
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine style ale vin. 2009
(yes beers have vintages, and can be as complex and awesome as a fine wine)

Ok for you non beer geeks this is how this works. Beer reviews generally call into consideration appearance (a) smell (s) taste (t) mouthfeel (m) and drinkability. Most are self explanatory like a s and t. Mouthfeel is what is best described as the body of the beer usually consitent of the protein content and unfermented sugars that give beers a thick/thin feel. For example, contrary to popular belief Guinness is not THICK, or full bodied at all, mainly its just Bud black. It is watery, without life and relatively flavorless, just check these reviews. Now a beer like Sam Adams Boston Lager is full bodied and has a lot of malty syrupy awesomeness. Drinkability is the want or capability of the reviewer to drink it as a session beer. Now, a session beer is the name given to beers brewed to be low alcohol so that workers in England could go to a pub, between shifts for a session…have a few and go back to the job and not be ham slam rectified. I am also throwing in a new intangibles group which I can just rate on overall experience, dankness of brew, if I would purchase it again etc. etc…intangibles (I). Each category graded out of 5 and averaged to get a final score.

So without further adieu…

A. Golden reddish color with a small white head that dissipates into a slight covering at the top of the beer. It looks awesome. 4.25

S. You can smell the hops all the way, and it doesn’t have that sweet kind of overbearing nastiness that are usually in barleywines. This thing smells hoppy, and the folks at SN know how to use hops to their advantage. I don’t detect any fruit really just hops, with maybe if I strain a tiny bit of sweetness. 3.75

(Now a note about my beer drinking habits: classically, I have had nothing but disdain for barleywines. They are usally way too grossly sweet and boozy [from the tons of leftover non-fermented sugars] and have virtually no hop presence. They are no fun to try to force down and I much prefer a stout if its going to be that strong)

T. The biggy…Tons of bitterness right in your face up front, I love it, after that we get a lot of malt, heavy malt sugars and sweetness to balance the bitterness of the huge hop grenade that went off in the front. Back end was definitely, boozy harsh, hints of dark fruit like raisins, plum, prune etc. 4

M. Thick and syrupy, which is classical barleywine-esque, but its pleasant, not like most of the others ive tried. 3.5

D. When it comes to barleywines I am sure I could drink a few of these in a sitting, which is bad considering the 9.6% ABV tag on it. 3.75

I. A surprisingly good beer for its style which admittedly I am not a huge fan of, but it was definitely good, maybe even a gateway to try other barleywines. 4.0
Total score: 23.25 AVG: 3.875

ps (from the other half)- BUCKETS

WBC thoughts

Like car-parts, bottles, and cutlery or whatever I find lying around

The WBC is so lame. What did we really expect from the brain of Bud Selig?
Bud: “OK team lets stage a baseball tournament before the season when nobody is ready, the incidence of injury and delaying readiness for the season are rampant, so rampant in fact that most of the good players will either back out of it, or be forced to back out of it because the owners paying these guys millions of dollars force them to feign an injury. and so it will become a horrendous tournament of fringe 4A players….”
Yes-Men Team: “Yeah, good idea BUD I don’t see anything wrong with this idea…”

Awww come on!

The solution is so easy. Have this thing be played over a 5 day span during the all star break. The all star break is already 3 days long, and boring and outdated, so every 4 years or whatever, just expand it to 5 days in the middle of summer so that the venues can be places like Fenway, Shea, Yankee stadium, Wrigley. You mean to tell me that a mid July game between the DR and the US taking place at Fenway wouldn’t be must see TV???? Or Daisuke pitching in the finals at Fenway to Ortiz in the bottom of the 9th bases loaded wouldn’t be the most compelling thing ever?

You can announce a pseudo all star roster and have the game simulated on an Xbox 360 to determine the WS home field advantage (as valid as the current system imho).

Take a page from March Madness, have a seeded (you know the US, DR and Japan are good and the Netherlands and Canada not so much) single game elimination bracket style tournament (round robin is so god awful to watch with listless players in a fairly meaningless game), and every game will have 7th game written all over it.

Expand the rosters of pitchers to like 50, so that you limit each starter to pitch one game or a 7 IP limit for starters and like 3 IP for each reliever, or whatever you want, that way they are all in midseason form, only gain 1 start over the course of the year and the risk of injury is less because they are used to competing at a high level.

Instead of all this we get triple A fill-ins playing round robin joke games in the daytime, where none of us see them on TV anyways. Single elimination bracket style tournament played on prime time TV like the playoffs would be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to be commissioner of Baseball, it pays a lot better than this blog

I am going beer shopping this weekend so ill hit you guys up with a review on Sunday.

Album I am listening to: Post by Bjork
J-1

WBC...Oscars...Big Shot Brob (really? does it get better?)

My thoughts on the World Baseball Classic and Who’s going to win...

But before I get to that, how bad were the Oscars?

I mean really, no flashy epic happenings, a lack-luster seemingly fake Beyonce performance. The highlight of the night was watching them cut 78 times to Angelina Jolie holding back an ear to ear smile while Jennifer Anniston made an ass out of herself just because of the fact she was standing next to Jack Black at the time. Honestly, we all know, she wrecked the marriage, but don’t give her the satisfaction by cutting to her 1/3 of the time Jennifer Anniston was on stage. That’s like everytime you turn on Fox News you see some white old man and Ann Coulter talking about how awful Democrats are, and just being racist...oh wait...

Fox News?

Oh have you seen this NY Post Cartoon? To defend this in any fashion and to think it is not racist would be irresponsible...and downright frigthening...

Anyways I thought the Grammy’s trumped the Oscar’s in every way imaginable. There were no surprises!

Did you really think Ledger wasn’t going to win? I mean, I wanted him to win, but to think anyone else would win? No chance

I texted my brother before it started to put 10 bucks on Sean Penn...at 2-1 Vegas odds, not that significant, but again predictable.

Winslet is the most unappreciated star of the past decade. She nailed Titanic and didn’t get any love after that. The woman is unbelievable and to think she wouldn’t win in a year when she had two critically acclaimed movies for which she could’Ve been nominated...Merryl Streep didn’t even pen an outline for her acceptance speech.

Slumdog delivered on all it’s hype...deservedly so...but i mean c’mon giVe us a surprise or two?

Should it have won best picture? absolutely

but why not haVe Richard Jenkins win best actor...talk about underappreciated, each time I saw him in an interview before the Oscars everyone asked him in not so many words...”How does it feel to be a legitmate unknown (even though you’ve been in a million quality movies for 20 years) with all these stars?”

He’s been around forEVER...check his resume...the guy is a stud
Imdb.com

He’s like the sports equivalent of Big Shot Brob...seriously this guy wins wherever he goes and just goes about his business...


If you wanted it to be a year of the underdog...stick with it!

Ben Stiller as Juaquin Pheonix as the actor-turned rapper on Letterman...genius

So I guess I ranted way longer than I wanted...

As for the WBC...always go with pitching

And because I know nothing about any other teams other than the US...the Dominican...and Venezuela...I’ll let Jason Stark do my point-making for me

It seems in his rankings at the bottom he thinks Japan has the best all-around rotation...
But watch out if the US gets a lead early...because their bullpen reaks havoc if put in the game...

Jason Stark

Nathan
Ryan
Fuentes
Putz

I’m going to predict a Venezuelan...US championship with Nathan closing the final out and a US Victory.

www.myspace.com/losbarricados

J-2

The other half of the Boston Blog Brothers

Mouth full of Cavities

Actually, I have perfect teeth (Jared too). Never had braces and didn’t get my first cavity until I was 23 years old. People, no soda in the house, and sugarless gum! My parents never allowed me either of those things and they saved a ton on dental work until my brother Jake who got the short end of the genetic stick.

Instead of thrusting myself into a sports blog I wanted to do an introduction of sorts so all of you can get to know your new faithful local blogger. So I am 27 years old a current second year graduate student at Northeastern University dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. I love lifting weights (Oak Sq. YMCA) and drinking beer. Not anything from St. Louis MO or Golden CO, but good craft beers that actually have FLAVOR! Just because you guys/girls watch sports doesn’t mean you have to fall in line with the advertising gigantism of Bud/Miller/Coors and thier awful yellow water products. Beer shouldn’t look like piss (apologies to drinkers of good pilsners, cream ales, and Belgian golden ales) Anyways, I am going to post a weekly beer review on a new beer that I hope you can gain insight into and initiate some variety into your beer drinking lives.

Sports in this order: I love hockey and the Bruins, I love the patriots and Brady and Bellicheck, and I get a kick out of coach’s press conferences. I like the Celtics but find it hard to watch a whole game this year because of the blowouts…and boredom expressed by the big 3 with the regular season, can not wait for the playoffs though.
Now the Sox…(bear with me)
I know being from Boston one is supposed to follow the local 9 with fervor and passion and blindly be led over the plank by Red Sox nation and its yahoo fans…but I can’t. Not anymore. I watched every inning in the Pedro years up to 2005, after the Clement game in Chicago I was slightly annoyed. 2006…snooze, and 2007 I couldn’t believe how apathetic I had become towards the sox (probably the best sox team assembled in my lifetime). I fell asleep before most of the games ended in Colorado, whatever. It really started in 2004, after they won. I mean I really enjoyed rooting for a team that I never thought would win, I know it sounds stupid but after they won it just didn’t feel the same. But the straw that broke the camels back was when there was a conflict between a meaningless Red Sox regular season game head to head with a BRUINS-CANADIENS PLAYOFF TILT…two guesses as to which one was shown on NESN. I happened to be working at EF International language school and set up the satellite dish to watch while I worked, but all I saw was Red Sox pre-game. DirecTV didn’t carry whatever the channel the B’s game had been moved to, and the NESN-Red Sox cartel and loser nation had officially lost a customer. A team that happened to be hot at the time was the Tampa Bay Devil Dogs, so I rooted for them all year long, got a little lucky (not so much with rooting for the Bill Simmons inspired Tottenham Hotspurs in the EPL)…If its any consolation Red Sox Nation, I did find it hard to openly root against the sox in the playoffs, so this year I am going to watch the sox, be a fan again, but be more objective because I have seen both sides of being a rabid fan and a rabid red sox hater.

I also like lots of music, the websites hotchickswithdouchebags.com, rotten.com, I’m a left wing lunatic that believes the government which governs best governs least, so a bit of a political curmudgeon. So I am looking forward to being one half of the Boston Blog Brothers (alliteration), and I hope you all enjoy said blog.

J-1

Matt Ryan should send Michael Vick a Christmas Card

Matt Ryan had a wonderful rookie campaign, maybe better than any in the History of the NFL.
How good was he?  After being drafted by the team with maybe the most disgraced NFL off-season in the history of the league, the Atlanta Falcons, what he did was nothing short of amazing.

Stats-

16 TD 11 INT 3,440 YDS 87.7 RTG 1 FUM (Lost) 61.1 Completion PCT 11-5 Record

Other pre-eminent QB Rookie Campaigns

Manning- 26 TD 28 INT 3,739 YDS 71.2 RTG 1 FUM (Lost) 56.7 Completion PCT 3-13 Record
Marino- 20 TD 6 INT 2,210 YDS 96 RTG 3 FUM (Lost) 58.4 Comp PCT 7-2 Record
Brady- 18 TD 12 INT 2,843 YDS 86.5 RTG 3 FUM (Lost) 63.9 Comp PCT 11-5 Record
Bradshaw- 6 TD 24 INT 1,410 YDS 30.4 RTG 38.1 Comp PCT 3-5 Record

All of the people on that list are either in the hall of fame, or are going to in the hall of fame at the end of their respective careers. It’s safe to say that Ryan is in some premiere company and if his career can span as long as those on that list, I think he’ll do alright for himself.

But getting back to Michael Vick and why he is so important to not only Ryan, but most of the First round of the 2008 draft which is turning out to be a pretty good one. Rookies dominated most of the season and it seemed like every week there was a new rookie stand out that people were claiming off the fantasy waiver wire. Personally Matty Ice went behind Favre, Quinn, Schaub, Campbell (by yours truly), Rivers, Rodgers, Delhomme, Bulger, Kitna, and Vince Young in our 3rd year keeper Fantasy league. Now other than Rivers and Rodgers who had great 2008’s, you wouldn’t want any other QB on your team this year and for the future than Ryan. He came into the draft and delivered on a huge level for an embarrassing franchise.

But let’s play the what-if scenario for the top ten picks of 2008.

Let’s disregard picks number one and two because Ryan was picked at 3, and you’d have to assume both Long’s would have gone one and two.

Let’s assume the Michael Vick dog scandal hadn’t happened and coming off a huge statistical 2007 year, the Atlanta falcons who had signed Michael Turner in the off-season would have passed on McFadden.

Going by the Draft the next logical pick would’ve been Glenn Dorsey at Number 3.

The Raiders, who had drafted J-Mar Russel the year before, pass on Ryan and take McFadden anyway (499 yards and 4 TD’s)

The Kansas City Chiefs, laying the future on Brody Croyle, pass on Ryan and with Dorsey off the board go with Vernon Gholston.

The New York Jets, who had recently signed the ever-aging Brett Favre in the off-season, pass on Ryan and draft, DE Derrick Harvey

The Saints, who already have a franchise QB (my boy) Drew Brees, pass on Ryan and go with Vernon Gholston

The Jaguars, tied up with David Garrard (releasing Leftwich the year before), pass on Ryan and go with Sedrick Ellis.

Cincinatti pinning their high powered offense on the Van Olhoffened knee of Carson Palmer, passon Ryan and go with Keith Rivers.

New England with the Golden Boy who never gets hurt and backup who hasn’t started a game since 1999 (high school mind you), stay with Jerod Mayo who still goes on to win the Defensive ROY award because he’s a savage, pass on Ryan.

Looking down the board the next picks are Buffalo and Denver, both with quarterbacks who they have invested in for their future.

The next logical pick would be Carolina, with an aging, fading Jake “the snake” Delhomme the Panthers select Ryan instead of Jonathan Stewart and Deangelo Williams has a mediocre year and doesn’t lead the Kurt Warner All Stars to their first championship season in the Hulke Fantasy Football League.

Matt Ryan’s number 3 contract- 6 years, 72 million dollars
Jonathan Stewarts number 13 contract- 5 years, 14 million dollars

Matt Ryan gained 1 year, and an average of almost 10 million dollars a year because Michael Vick had an underground dog-fighting ring for which he is serving jail time.

For goddsake Matt Ryan I don’t know how you sleep at night...

A-Rod amongst other things

Now before I go off on A-Rod, Bud Selig, the MLB and everything else dealing with sports the last two week. I just want to set a couple things straight (seeing how it’s my first blog post ever, unless you count my high school livejournal.)

I am a Boston sports fan, yes I will watch the Revolution if they’re on and I know who Sharlie Josef is is.
Of the four major sports teams in Boston, the Red Sox are my favorite but I am a victim of Red Sox Nation. I pledge no allegiance that farce of an advertising scheme by Mr. Lucchino.
The Bruins are next on the list. I just don’t know if it’s a bucking the trend thing, if my brother has more influence on me than i think, or if I just love hockey.
The Celtics are next just because I’ve been watching the past three teams since I came from the womb. I’ve watched Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, Robert Parish (the good) and Dino Radja, Shammond Williams and “Miracle” Milt Pilacio (the bad).
I don’t care what anyone from New England says. Nobody cared about the Patriots until one Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe came to town. Before that, even the ’86 team, they were irrellevant in this town, completely.
Tom Brady is the second greatest quarterback of this generation, just behind Peyton Manning (and I was saying this before Manning’s Super Bowl).
Bill Bellicheck is the greatest coach of this generation and the Patriots are the greatest team since the early 90’s Cowboys.
Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player that has ever lived and anyone who says otherwise is absolutely cracked in the head. But there would have never been an MJ without Magic and Bird.
Having a team you can hate in sports is great. And being a fan of one of those teams is even better. You need (in no particular order)- Duke, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Cowboys, the Lakers, the Celtics, Notre Dame, the Canadiens because it makes things interesting when the Devil Rays make a run to the World Series.
The Michael Phelps situation is ridiculous. But if you read Jemele Hill’s article, she’s right.
Soccer will never be big in this country and it’s a shame, because it’s a really beautiful sport if you sit down and actually watch critically. Soccer fans also bring more passion and more enthusiasm than any other fans in any sport around the world.
Bill Simmons is my favorite sports writer, however his increasing popularity is starting bug me, but he’s a clever, insightful writer and probably the reason I’m writing this now.
TMQ (as introduced by my brother) is now becoming my 2nd favorite ESPN article because of everything else he brings to the table. If I could be as creative as Bill Simmons, and as up to current affairs as the TMQ, I would be happy.
If you get the chance, watch the winter Olympic hockey tournament, the USA has a chance this year.

That’s all I could think of for the moment, with more to come.

Now to my thoughts on A-Rod:

Alex Rodriguez had the chance to be greatest baseball player ever to grace the game. He would’ve well surpassed Bonds, Aaron, Ruth and just about every statistical power category lifetime could’ve been his. Now it’s all gone, well so we think. Bud Selig is a criminal and should be held accountable for the steroid ridden lifestyle that he allowed to happen. I used to think that Bettman was the worst thing to happen to sports, but Bud Selig allowed steroids to permeate the sport that he watches over. Fehr is also a horrendous human being because I know that they knew it would have eventually get out.

That being said:

Where are the other 103 baseball players who were tested?
Why is this guy getting goatted out of his records and stats because of a confidential test?

I don’t know what the solution is. MLB has screwed themselves out of many fans, much money and the future of the sport getting off scott free.

Don’t tell me this isn’t happening in other sports as well. NFL,MLB,NHL,NBA should all be tested and punishments given.

I can’t write logically right now because of the anger over the things I enjoy so much...

PS

David Ortiz- took steroids
Nomar Garciaparra- took steroids
Trot Nixon- just gained a lot of weight as he got older
JD Drew- sleeps in a humidor and is a human cigar (au natural baby)