Hello,
Thankfully the Dodgers were able to stop the two point conversion against the Rockies yesterday, so the Dodgers only gave up 12 points. Colorado cruised to an easy 12-2 victory in LA. Starting pitching was suppose to be a strong part of the 2013 Dodgers. In this game starter Ted Lilly pitched 3 innings and gave up 8 hits. He was tagged for 5 runs, with 4 of them earned. That pitching performance was closer to the norm than it should be. The allegedly strong Dodgers pitching hasn't worked out very well this season. Other than superstar Clayton Kershaw and solid Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dodgers starting pitching has been less than amazing.
Before the season started the Dodgers had 8 starters. Some of those players were injured, but all 8 were expected to pitch for the Dodgers this season. However with their seeming glut of pitching the Dodgers traded Aaron Harang for a back-up catcher. Three Dodgers starting pitchers are currently injured. Chad Billingsley needed Tommy John surgery and is out for the season. The $147 million dollar man Zack Greinke got in that stupid fight, which knocked him out for 2 months. Chris Capuano is also on the 15 day DL. Of the 8 Dodgers starting pitchers that leaves highly ineffective Ted Lilly (0-1, 5.63 ERA) and and Josh Beckett (0-3, 4.75 ERA). So something that was suppose to be strong, doesn't seem to be that strong anymore. When Greinke comes back, obviously Dodgers pitching will be a lot better.
Also I'm not sure how people should see Dodgers left fielder Skip Schumaker pitch an inning for the Dodgers. He gave up 2 hits and one walk in one inning pitched. However he didn't give up any runs, he currently leads all Dodgers pitchers with a 0.00 ERA :)
Two good pieces of news for the Dodgers today though. Ryu is tonight's starting pitcher for the Dodgers. It's highly unlikely the Rockies will score 12 runs tonight. The other good piece of news is that Hanley Ramirez is back 3 weeks early. He made his season debut last night and was 0-1 as a pinch hitter. But I'm so glad that Ramirez is back, his bat is sorely needed in this lineup. Hopefully his offense can cover up some the ineffective Dodgers starting pitching.
While the Dodgers are making their home in the NL West's 4th place spot, the Red Sox have the best record in MLB. Boston is 18-7 overall and leading the AL East. They lead the second place Evil Empire by 3 games. Boston has won 5 straight games and just completed a weekend sweep of the Houston Astros. On Monday those same Astros blasted the Yankees 9-1.
In fact the Red Sox are doing so well even John Lackey had a good game. In his last game he pitched 6 innings, gave up 5 hits but only 1 run. I'll take that kind of game from Lackey every time. Lackey is 1-1 this season and has an extremely respectable ERA of 2.61. That's so much better than his career ERA of 4.09.
I'm sure when people looked at this series before the start of the season, they wouldn't have guessed that the Red Sox would be in first place. I'm also sure that almost no one would have predicted the Blue Jays would be 9-17. However both of those things have occurred. Although this series is in Toronto, it looks like things will get worse for the Jays. Pitching for the Red Sox in this series will be Jon Lester (4-0), Clay Buchholz (5-0) and Ryan Dempster (1-2). Also Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan looks like he'll be active for Tuesday's game, although it's not a surety he'll be the Red Sox closer any more.
Also David Ortiz is absolutely on fire, he had two more hits in Sunday's game. Since his return from injury, he's hitting .516.
It's amazing how getting rid of Bobby Valentine has benefitted the Red Sox this season, it's the classic addition by subtraction. While all of the blame for the Red Sox horrific season can't be placed on Valentine, a lot of it can and should be. Also adding John Farrell has helped the Red Sox a lot. Can this Red Sox team win their third World Series in the last decade?
themusicaddict
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Carmelo Anthony: The Only Time He'll Be Mentioned In The Same Breath As Jordan, Introducing The Meads Metric NBA Playoff Notes
Hello,
I had to laugh at Carmelo Anthony's 10 for 35 shooting this past Sunday. This is from ESPN.com via Elias Sports Bureau.
"Carmelo Anthony made only 10 of his 35 field-goal attempts in the New York Kicks' Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Over the past 46 years, only two other players have missed at least 25 shots from the field in an NBA playoff game: New Jersey's John Williamson shot 9-for-34 from the field against Philadelphia on April 13, 1979, and Chicago's Michael Jordan made only nine of his 35 field goal attempts against Miami on May 26, 1997."
The above paragraph is the only time that Carmelo Anthony will be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan. I'm not a big fan of either Jordan or Anthony, but Jordan is 100 times the player Anthony is.
Anthony is shooting .407 this series against the Celtics. The Knicks will be able to get away with it because the Celtics can't score. If Rajon Rondo is at full strength I predict that the Celtics win this series. How in the hell did the Celtics allow Ray Allen to get away? What were they thinking? Please tell me they didn't really think that Jason Terry could take Allen's place. If they did they are getting what they deserved. It makes me laugh that Terry is shooting .438 this series, better than Anthony.
I use a metric to see how good of a game a player plays. For every free throw or shot from the field, a NBA player should score at least one point per shot. That's due to some made baskets being worth 3 points. I call it the Meads Metric.
Comparing Anthony to a true NBA Superstar is laughable. I'll compare Anthony's Game 4 stats to real superstar LeBron James Game 4. James was 13-20 from the field as he scored 30 points. James shot 27 shots total and scored 30 points. He was over 100% on the Meads Metric. James also had 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals as the Heat were 16 points better with James on the floor. James also had 5 turnovers and was only 4-7 from the free throw line.
Again Carfailo was 10 of 35, including 0-7 from the 3 point line. Anthony scored 36 points. how did Anthony do on the Meads Metric on Sunday? He shot 55 total shots and only scored 36 points. That's a pathetic 65% efficiency rate. Thankfully for Anthony he was rescued by the refs, he was sent to the line an astonishing 20 times. Yes that's in one game. He converted 16 of 20 free throw attempts. He also added 7 rebounds and what I'm guessing his a career high for assists: 2. He also had one steal. The amazing Anthony also had 7 turnovers and his team was outscored by 10 points when Anthony was on the floor.
I do wonder how Anthony will play when the Knicks #2 scorer is back Wednesday night. Anthony should be so glad J.R. Smith will be back. Or will he be mad because that will be less shots he gets? I expect Anthony's Meads Metric to be much better in Game 5.
Note: I haven't seen anyone else do a stat similar to the Meads Metric, in spite of that I'm sure someone already uses it. It's a stat that I'm working on and trying to smooth out the rough edges.
For all those people that say "yeah but J.R. Smith didn't play and also the Heat are a much better team". Both of those statements are true, but I know that Anthony can easily stop being such a selfish player. With the opponents defense focused on shutting down Anthony, how much more effective of a team player he could be. If he averaged 5 assists a game Knicks opponents wouldn't be able to focus on him so much. Then in terms of scoring he could be a much better player and the Knicks could be a better team. Also it wouldn't hurt Anthony to play occasional defenseI know that Anthony won't do either though. Honestly when ever I watch Anthony "play", I'm always surprised when he passes.
Am I the only one that feels like all these early playoff rounds are a waste of time? Are the Grizzilies-Clippers, Nets-Bulls or even Knicks-Celtics series going to be relevant in a few weeks? Has an Eastern Conference team done anything to show that they'll challenge the Heat to make the NBA Finals? For me the answers are no and no. The Heat dominated the Bucks so easily that that series felt like a bye to me. I don't see the Heat losing any more than 1 or 2 games before the NBA Finals. With the injury of Russell Westbrook it seems it's going to be a Spurs-Heat Finals.
themusicaddict
I had to laugh at Carmelo Anthony's 10 for 35 shooting this past Sunday. This is from ESPN.com via Elias Sports Bureau.
"Carmelo Anthony made only 10 of his 35 field-goal attempts in the New York Kicks' Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Over the past 46 years, only two other players have missed at least 25 shots from the field in an NBA playoff game: New Jersey's John Williamson shot 9-for-34 from the field against Philadelphia on April 13, 1979, and Chicago's Michael Jordan made only nine of his 35 field goal attempts against Miami on May 26, 1997."
The above paragraph is the only time that Carmelo Anthony will be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan. I'm not a big fan of either Jordan or Anthony, but Jordan is 100 times the player Anthony is.
Anthony is shooting .407 this series against the Celtics. The Knicks will be able to get away with it because the Celtics can't score. If Rajon Rondo is at full strength I predict that the Celtics win this series. How in the hell did the Celtics allow Ray Allen to get away? What were they thinking? Please tell me they didn't really think that Jason Terry could take Allen's place. If they did they are getting what they deserved. It makes me laugh that Terry is shooting .438 this series, better than Anthony.
I use a metric to see how good of a game a player plays. For every free throw or shot from the field, a NBA player should score at least one point per shot. That's due to some made baskets being worth 3 points. I call it the Meads Metric.
Comparing Anthony to a true NBA Superstar is laughable. I'll compare Anthony's Game 4 stats to real superstar LeBron James Game 4. James was 13-20 from the field as he scored 30 points. James shot 27 shots total and scored 30 points. He was over 100% on the Meads Metric. James also had 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals as the Heat were 16 points better with James on the floor. James also had 5 turnovers and was only 4-7 from the free throw line.
Again Carfailo was 10 of 35, including 0-7 from the 3 point line. Anthony scored 36 points. how did Anthony do on the Meads Metric on Sunday? He shot 55 total shots and only scored 36 points. That's a pathetic 65% efficiency rate. Thankfully for Anthony he was rescued by the refs, he was sent to the line an astonishing 20 times. Yes that's in one game. He converted 16 of 20 free throw attempts. He also added 7 rebounds and what I'm guessing his a career high for assists: 2. He also had one steal. The amazing Anthony also had 7 turnovers and his team was outscored by 10 points when Anthony was on the floor.
I do wonder how Anthony will play when the Knicks #2 scorer is back Wednesday night. Anthony should be so glad J.R. Smith will be back. Or will he be mad because that will be less shots he gets? I expect Anthony's Meads Metric to be much better in Game 5.
Note: I haven't seen anyone else do a stat similar to the Meads Metric, in spite of that I'm sure someone already uses it. It's a stat that I'm working on and trying to smooth out the rough edges.
For all those people that say "yeah but J.R. Smith didn't play and also the Heat are a much better team". Both of those statements are true, but I know that Anthony can easily stop being such a selfish player. With the opponents defense focused on shutting down Anthony, how much more effective of a team player he could be. If he averaged 5 assists a game Knicks opponents wouldn't be able to focus on him so much. Then in terms of scoring he could be a much better player and the Knicks could be a better team. Also it wouldn't hurt Anthony to play occasional defenseI know that Anthony won't do either though. Honestly when ever I watch Anthony "play", I'm always surprised when he passes.
Am I the only one that feels like all these early playoff rounds are a waste of time? Are the Grizzilies-Clippers, Nets-Bulls or even Knicks-Celtics series going to be relevant in a few weeks? Has an Eastern Conference team done anything to show that they'll challenge the Heat to make the NBA Finals? For me the answers are no and no. The Heat dominated the Bucks so easily that that series felt like a bye to me. I don't see the Heat losing any more than 1 or 2 games before the NBA Finals. With the injury of Russell Westbrook it seems it's going to be a Spurs-Heat Finals.
themusicaddict
Monday, April 29, 2013
Dodgers Daily April 28th, 2013 Crawford and Kershaw's Big Day & Lakers Fade Away (Updated April 30th, 2013)
Hello,
Just a quick Dodgers Daily today as I'm very busy at my real job today. The Dodgers took 2 of 3 from the Brewers over the weekend and move back to .500. Since the Dodgers-Red Sox trade occurred late last season I've been ripping the Dodgers for allowing Boston to include Carl Crawford in the deal. When he played for Boston, he was relatively ineffective and was extremely injury prone. Honestly I expected more of the same for Crawford in LA.
It's still relatively early in the season but I may have to issue an apology to Crawford if he continues to play like he has so far this season. The Dodgers improved to 12-12 yesterday after being powered by Crawford's 2 home runs and another excellent Clayton Kershaw outing. Crawford won't ever be a home run hitter, but if he hit 10-15 this year that would be nice. Yesterday he hit his 3rd and 4th season home runs this season. After going 2 for 4 Sunday, Crawford is hitting .307 this season.
There hasn't ever been much doubt about the abilities of Kershaw, he's one of the 4 or 5 best pitchers in MLB. He's improved to 3-2 this season after pitching 8 shut out innings. At one point Kershaw retired 18 consecutive batters and added 12 strikeouts in the game. Thankfully Kershaw also didn't have to provide the offense this game.
Again the Dodgers are 12-12 this season and are 4th place in the NL West. Or as I call 4th place in the NL West for the Dodgers: home. I expect the Dodgers to spend most of the season in 4th place. That is unless they find some offense.
Upcoming: Now the Dodgers welcome the Rockies for a 3 game series to Chavez Ravine. Colorado is tied for first place with the Diamondbacks at 15-10. The Dodgers will be sending Ted Lilly, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Josh "Oh Hell We Ain't Winning Today" Beckett to the mound in the 3 game series. With Lilly and Beckett pitching the Dodgers are going to need all the offense they can get in this series.
You have no idea how much I enjoyed watching the Lakers getting swept out of the playoffs. It didn't happen to a more deserving team. Dwight Howard got kicked out of the game for running his mouth. Honestly I think that was intentional as I'm sure Howard was ready for the season to be over. I love that Magic Johnson criticized Howard for getting ejected. Johnson acted like the Lakers could have still won if Howard had stayed in the game. No they wouldn't have won, the Lakers were done. Here's the difference Magic between you and Howard, you truly cared. Howard could care less.
Now the question is will the Lakers learn from their mistakes or will they repeat their mistakes from this year? If I'm the Lakers I'm firing Mike D'Antoni asap, not signing Howard for anything and use the draft to build for 2014 and beyond. I know they won't do that as they want to win now. However sometimes having a couple of rough years is worth winning a couple of years later.
Also with Tim Tebow being cut by the Jets today it seems the ESPN hyped players/teams have a rough time. Please Tim Tebow can you just go away now? Name a team that could add Tebow to their roster and it would make a significant difference. How many NFL teams would he even play for? Seriously I get so tired of these over hyped players. ESPN loves the Lakers and Cowboys also and look how bad they've been lately. Thankfully the Cowboys have already said they aren't interested in signing Tebow. How much of an attention monster Jerry Jones is that truly surprises me.
Anyway back to ESPN I fail to understand why they give more coverage to the Lakers and Knicks over the defending NBA champions. It's not like this Heat team has dramatically fallen off from last season, in fact they are actually better. LeBron James is playing better than ever and they added the sweet shooting touch of Ray Allen.
But no we hear more about the heartless Dwight Howard. Yesterday I heard a couple of broadcasters rip on Howard, so I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks he's vastly overrated.
themusicaddict
Just a quick Dodgers Daily today as I'm very busy at my real job today. The Dodgers took 2 of 3 from the Brewers over the weekend and move back to .500. Since the Dodgers-Red Sox trade occurred late last season I've been ripping the Dodgers for allowing Boston to include Carl Crawford in the deal. When he played for Boston, he was relatively ineffective and was extremely injury prone. Honestly I expected more of the same for Crawford in LA.
It's still relatively early in the season but I may have to issue an apology to Crawford if he continues to play like he has so far this season. The Dodgers improved to 12-12 yesterday after being powered by Crawford's 2 home runs and another excellent Clayton Kershaw outing. Crawford won't ever be a home run hitter, but if he hit 10-15 this year that would be nice. Yesterday he hit his 3rd and 4th season home runs this season. After going 2 for 4 Sunday, Crawford is hitting .307 this season.
There hasn't ever been much doubt about the abilities of Kershaw, he's one of the 4 or 5 best pitchers in MLB. He's improved to 3-2 this season after pitching 8 shut out innings. At one point Kershaw retired 18 consecutive batters and added 12 strikeouts in the game. Thankfully Kershaw also didn't have to provide the offense this game.
Again the Dodgers are 12-12 this season and are 4th place in the NL West. Or as I call 4th place in the NL West for the Dodgers: home. I expect the Dodgers to spend most of the season in 4th place. That is unless they find some offense.
Upcoming: Now the Dodgers welcome the Rockies for a 3 game series to Chavez Ravine. Colorado is tied for first place with the Diamondbacks at 15-10. The Dodgers will be sending Ted Lilly, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Josh "Oh Hell We Ain't Winning Today" Beckett to the mound in the 3 game series. With Lilly and Beckett pitching the Dodgers are going to need all the offense they can get in this series.
You have no idea how much I enjoyed watching the Lakers getting swept out of the playoffs. It didn't happen to a more deserving team. Dwight Howard got kicked out of the game for running his mouth. Honestly I think that was intentional as I'm sure Howard was ready for the season to be over. I love that Magic Johnson criticized Howard for getting ejected. Johnson acted like the Lakers could have still won if Howard had stayed in the game. No they wouldn't have won, the Lakers were done. Here's the difference Magic between you and Howard, you truly cared. Howard could care less.
Now the question is will the Lakers learn from their mistakes or will they repeat their mistakes from this year? If I'm the Lakers I'm firing Mike D'Antoni asap, not signing Howard for anything and use the draft to build for 2014 and beyond. I know they won't do that as they want to win now. However sometimes having a couple of rough years is worth winning a couple of years later.
Also with Tim Tebow being cut by the Jets today it seems the ESPN hyped players/teams have a rough time. Please Tim Tebow can you just go away now? Name a team that could add Tebow to their roster and it would make a significant difference. How many NFL teams would he even play for? Seriously I get so tired of these over hyped players. ESPN loves the Lakers and Cowboys also and look how bad they've been lately. Thankfully the Cowboys have already said they aren't interested in signing Tebow. How much of an attention monster Jerry Jones is that truly surprises me.
Anyway back to ESPN I fail to understand why they give more coverage to the Lakers and Knicks over the defending NBA champions. It's not like this Heat team has dramatically fallen off from last season, in fact they are actually better. LeBron James is playing better than ever and they added the sweet shooting touch of Ray Allen.
But no we hear more about the heartless Dwight Howard. Yesterday I heard a couple of broadcasters rip on Howard, so I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks he's vastly overrated.
themusicaddict
Sunday, April 28, 2013
NFL Draft Wrap Up: 49ers Pick Marcus Lattimore, Lakers Bid Adieu To NBA Playoffs, Carmelo: NBA's Most Selfish Player
Hello,
I'm under no illusion that I'm a NFL Draft expert. No one knows how these players will perform during their careers. There are so many factors that can affect a NFL player's career. Injuries, poor coaching, the team that they play for etc. However I want to comment on one specific draft pick. Again the 49ers show again why they'll continue to be so good. The 49ers drafted Marcus Lattimore at the end of the 4th round. Lattimore is the former South Carolina player who badly injured his knee last season on October 27th while playing for the Gamecocks.
The 49ers have already stated that Lattimore might not play this season. So why do I think this is such a good pick? This is only a taking a chance on a player that could be a NFL superstar. The 49ers went into last week's NFL Draft with the most draft picks of any team. That meant they could take chances on a couple of picks and they took a chance on Lattimore. If he works out then it will be a great pick, If he doesn't work out then no big loss. With San Francisco loaded, another 4th round pick probably wouldn't have made the 49ers roster anyway.
The 49ers are so much better at drafting than the Cowboys. While the 49ers could take a few chances the Cowboys have to nearly hit on all their draft picks to be relevant this season. I won't even mention who the coaches for the two teams and how much that favors the 49ers. While the 49ers had a better draft than the Cowboys, I'm thankful that Dallas didn't select Manti Te'o, Matt Barkley or Tyrann Matthieu.
Other NFL draft thoughts: The Eagles selecting Matt Barkley = fail. He might end up having a Carson Palmer like career, but that's his upside. In other words this was a bad pick by the Eagles and Chip Kelly. T'eo was drafted by the Chargers and Matthieu were drafted by the Cardinals. In other words we'll never hear from either player again.
Without Ron Arrest and Steve Nash playing today for the Lakers, LA will finish their ignominious season and playoffs by being swept by the Spurs. The Lakers may have a ton of talent, but they don't have a ton of heart or basketball smarts. At this point my expectation is that the Lakers are preparing for their off season. Next season they'll come back one year older, slower and more injured. My advice to the Lakers, which I know they'd ignore, is to let Dwight Howard go in free agency. He's extremely overrated and won't be missed. They also need to get rid of Mike D'antoni, that's a coach that is way out of his depth with the toxic Lakers.
Since I'm a Lakers hater I'll enjoy watching the Lakers continue to make bad moves. I look forward to them getting swept today. There will be at least one or two Spurs fans who'll sneak in brooms today to signify the sweep of the Lakers.
Speaking of overrated players/teams Carfailo Anthony started out today's game 0-6 and then went on a hot streak hitting 3 of his next 6 shots. So halfway through the second quarter he was 3 for 12 and the only reason he had scored 13 points because he leads the NBA in Superstar calls and was 7-7 from the free throw line.
At halftime he was 3 for 15 from the field but 10-11 from the free throw line. The overrated Anthony finished 10 for 35 from the field, that's 29%. Even though the most selfish NBA player couldn't hit the side of a barn, Anthony was still chucking up shots. When you miss 25 shots in a game I do think chucking is the perfect word. Anthony also contributed with 7 turnovers and 2 assists. I didn't see the game, but I'm sure he played his usual matador defense. When Anthony is your best player, you are in trouble. I know that J.R. Smith missed today's game because of his suspension so the Knicks weren't at full strength today.
The Knicks will still close out this series in Game 5. They'll have a much stiffer challenge in the second round, expect more 29% shooting nights for the NBA's most selfish player.
themusicaddict
I'm under no illusion that I'm a NFL Draft expert. No one knows how these players will perform during their careers. There are so many factors that can affect a NFL player's career. Injuries, poor coaching, the team that they play for etc. However I want to comment on one specific draft pick. Again the 49ers show again why they'll continue to be so good. The 49ers drafted Marcus Lattimore at the end of the 4th round. Lattimore is the former South Carolina player who badly injured his knee last season on October 27th while playing for the Gamecocks.
The 49ers have already stated that Lattimore might not play this season. So why do I think this is such a good pick? This is only a taking a chance on a player that could be a NFL superstar. The 49ers went into last week's NFL Draft with the most draft picks of any team. That meant they could take chances on a couple of picks and they took a chance on Lattimore. If he works out then it will be a great pick, If he doesn't work out then no big loss. With San Francisco loaded, another 4th round pick probably wouldn't have made the 49ers roster anyway.
The 49ers are so much better at drafting than the Cowboys. While the 49ers could take a few chances the Cowboys have to nearly hit on all their draft picks to be relevant this season. I won't even mention who the coaches for the two teams and how much that favors the 49ers. While the 49ers had a better draft than the Cowboys, I'm thankful that Dallas didn't select Manti Te'o, Matt Barkley or Tyrann Matthieu.
Other NFL draft thoughts: The Eagles selecting Matt Barkley = fail. He might end up having a Carson Palmer like career, but that's his upside. In other words this was a bad pick by the Eagles and Chip Kelly. T'eo was drafted by the Chargers and Matthieu were drafted by the Cardinals. In other words we'll never hear from either player again.
Without Ron Arrest and Steve Nash playing today for the Lakers, LA will finish their ignominious season and playoffs by being swept by the Spurs. The Lakers may have a ton of talent, but they don't have a ton of heart or basketball smarts. At this point my expectation is that the Lakers are preparing for their off season. Next season they'll come back one year older, slower and more injured. My advice to the Lakers, which I know they'd ignore, is to let Dwight Howard go in free agency. He's extremely overrated and won't be missed. They also need to get rid of Mike D'antoni, that's a coach that is way out of his depth with the toxic Lakers.
Since I'm a Lakers hater I'll enjoy watching the Lakers continue to make bad moves. I look forward to them getting swept today. There will be at least one or two Spurs fans who'll sneak in brooms today to signify the sweep of the Lakers.
Speaking of overrated players/teams Carfailo Anthony started out today's game 0-6 and then went on a hot streak hitting 3 of his next 6 shots. So halfway through the second quarter he was 3 for 12 and the only reason he had scored 13 points because he leads the NBA in Superstar calls and was 7-7 from the free throw line.
At halftime he was 3 for 15 from the field but 10-11 from the free throw line. The overrated Anthony finished 10 for 35 from the field, that's 29%. Even though the most selfish NBA player couldn't hit the side of a barn, Anthony was still chucking up shots. When you miss 25 shots in a game I do think chucking is the perfect word. Anthony also contributed with 7 turnovers and 2 assists. I didn't see the game, but I'm sure he played his usual matador defense. When Anthony is your best player, you are in trouble. I know that J.R. Smith missed today's game because of his suspension so the Knicks weren't at full strength today.
The Knicks will still close out this series in Game 5. They'll have a much stiffer challenge in the second round, expect more 29% shooting nights for the NBA's most selfish player.
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, April 26th & 27th: Dodgers Split First 2 Games With Brewers, Red Sox Off To Best Start Since 2002
Hello,
The Dodgers won 7-5 on Friday to improve to .500 on the season. The Dodgers impressively came from behind on Friday and LA actually won a game that Josh Beckett started. Although I'd still trade him and his ridiculous contract for a toasted pop tart. Beckett is still 0-3 with a 4.75 ERA this season. Adrian Gonzalez, who was scratched from Saturday's game, continued to sparkle on Friday. Gonzalez had two RBI producing doubles for a total of 3 RBIs. Gonzalez is hitting .363 this season. If he plays like this for the rest of his Dodgers career, that expensive trade with the Red Sox might actually end up being worth it.
LA only enjoyed being .500 for one day as LA lost Saturday 6-4. After Saturday's game LA is now 11-12 and still in 4th place in the NL West. They are 3.5 games behind the first place Rockies.
Here's to hoping Hanley Ramirez and his bat will actually be back with the Dodgers the first weekend in May.
Meanwhile one of my other teams, Boston, is off to their best start since 2002. The Red Sox have won 4 straight games and currently are 17-7. I'm glad the Red Sox are off to their best start since 2002. But in 2002 the Red Sox didn't win the World Series, I'm hoping this season has more similarites with the 2004 and 2007 seasons rather than the 2002 season. Boston leads the nearly as hot Orioles (15-9) by 2 games. The Evil Empire is in third place. Meanwhile the Blue Jays, who allegedly had a talent infusion in the offseason are last place in the AL East. They are 9-16 and trail the Red Sox by 8.5 games. So far the Blue Jays seem to be a lot like the Dodgers and the Lakers, a lot of hype but poorly built. (As always thanks to ESPN.com.)
David Ortiz is absolutely on fire in his 7 games back from injury. He's hitting .519, getting a hit in 14 of 27 at bats so far.
Although bad news for the Red Sox on Sunday, the worthless John Lackey is scheduled to take the mound for the Red Sox today. I'm wondering how many runs he'll give up and/ or how long he'll be injured again. He was an even worse free agency signing than Daisuke Matsuzaka.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers won 7-5 on Friday to improve to .500 on the season. The Dodgers impressively came from behind on Friday and LA actually won a game that Josh Beckett started. Although I'd still trade him and his ridiculous contract for a toasted pop tart. Beckett is still 0-3 with a 4.75 ERA this season. Adrian Gonzalez, who was scratched from Saturday's game, continued to sparkle on Friday. Gonzalez had two RBI producing doubles for a total of 3 RBIs. Gonzalez is hitting .363 this season. If he plays like this for the rest of his Dodgers career, that expensive trade with the Red Sox might actually end up being worth it.
LA only enjoyed being .500 for one day as LA lost Saturday 6-4. After Saturday's game LA is now 11-12 and still in 4th place in the NL West. They are 3.5 games behind the first place Rockies.
Here's to hoping Hanley Ramirez and his bat will actually be back with the Dodgers the first weekend in May.
Meanwhile one of my other teams, Boston, is off to their best start since 2002. The Red Sox have won 4 straight games and currently are 17-7. I'm glad the Red Sox are off to their best start since 2002. But in 2002 the Red Sox didn't win the World Series, I'm hoping this season has more similarites with the 2004 and 2007 seasons rather than the 2002 season. Boston leads the nearly as hot Orioles (15-9) by 2 games. The Evil Empire is in third place. Meanwhile the Blue Jays, who allegedly had a talent infusion in the offseason are last place in the AL East. They are 9-16 and trail the Red Sox by 8.5 games. So far the Blue Jays seem to be a lot like the Dodgers and the Lakers, a lot of hype but poorly built. (As always thanks to ESPN.com.)
David Ortiz is absolutely on fire in his 7 games back from injury. He's hitting .519, getting a hit in 14 of 27 at bats so far.
Although bad news for the Red Sox on Sunday, the worthless John Lackey is scheduled to take the mound for the Red Sox today. I'm wondering how many runs he'll give up and/ or how long he'll be injured again. He was an even worse free agency signing than Daisuke Matsuzaka.
themusicaddict
Friday, April 26, 2013
George Jones, The Possum, Dies At The Age Of 81
Hello,
This morning George Jones died in Nashville this morning, Jones was 81. My condolences to Jones's family and all his fans. Here's a selection of some of my favorite George Jones songs.
My absolute favorite George Jones song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today":
George Jones and Tammy Wynette's "Golden Ring":
George and Tammy again, "We're Gonna Hold On":
A question that's still very pertinent today, "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"?:
"The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)":
"She Thinks I Still Care":
George Jones and Garth Brooks "Beer Run":
This is such a great song: "I Always Get Lucky With You":
"These Days I Barely Get By":
themusicaddict
This morning George Jones died in Nashville this morning, Jones was 81. My condolences to Jones's family and all his fans. Here's a selection of some of my favorite George Jones songs.
My absolute favorite George Jones song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today":
George Jones and Tammy Wynette's "Golden Ring":
George and Tammy again, "We're Gonna Hold On":
A question that's still very pertinent today, "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"?:
"The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)":
"She Thinks I Still Care":
George Jones and Garth Brooks "Beer Run":
This is such a great song: "I Always Get Lucky With You":
"These Days I Barely Get By":
themusicaddict
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Dodgers Daily: April 24th & 25th, 2013 Dodgers Take Two of Three From Mets, Pirates On Fire
Hello,
This will serve as the Dodgers Daily blog for April 24th and 25th as LA played very early Thursday morning. After wining the first game of the series LA lost the second game on a walk off grand slam by Jordany Valdespin. Valdespin has hit 6 pinch run home runs last season plus the start of this season. LA bounced back today, they were powered by an Andre Ethier single in the 9th inning. The Dodgers won two of three against the Mets. I should be optimistic about the Dodgers winning two of three on the road. However the fact that the Dodgers were able to take 2 of 3 from the Mets in New York makes me think this Mets team isn't very good. But I'll take a series win on the road anytime.
The Dodgers are now 10-11 and there are some good trends for the Dodgers. Ted Lilly made his season debut for the Dodgers yesterday and pitched well enough. If they can get 5 good innings out of him every fourth or fifth day the Dodgers will take it. Matt Kemp continues to round into the kind of player he can be. On Wednesday he hit his first home run of the season. Thursday Kemp was 2 for 3 and he raised his batting average to .266.
Also it sounds like desperately needed Hanley Ramirez will be going to a rehab assignment soon and could be playing for the Dodgers as soon as the first weekend in May. He'd be welcomed back so much. His bat would be so great to have back in the Dodgers lineup. Let me give you an example why. Wednesday nights Mets-Dodgers game was tied at 3 going into the 10th inning. The Dodgers quickly got two outs in the top of the 10th inning. Who was the player left to provide some offense for the Dodgers? The legendary Skip Schumaker, legendarily bad that is, he was hitless in his previous 4 at bats. Because Schumaker is consistent he was also hitless in his 5th at bat, which lowered his batting average to a sizzling .107 this season.
LA will remain in fourth place in the NL West even after the results to later games on Thursday.
Thanks to ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball I was able to see some of the Dodgers-Mets game last night, yes I sadly saw the walk off grand slam. But the Spurs-Lakers game overlapped the Dodgers game a bit. As someone that hates the Lakers and all the hype that surrounds them I had to hate watch the Lakers some. From the way Reggie Miller was loving on Dwight Howard I sometimes forget that it's the Spurs that are the #2 seed. I love that the Spurs have won the first two games, although that shouldn't be that big of a surprise for anyone. Any team that plays Steve Blake so many crucial minutes isn't that good. Oh how I love watching the Lakers lose. And as Jim Rome pointed out this morning, the Lakers are even going to be older next year.
While watching Sports Center this morning ESPN had a graphic on their screen that said the Lakers are in trouble. Actually the Lakers were in trouble when this playoff series started. ESPN is one of the worst at hyping up the Lakers. This Lakers team is just not good and the Spurs should need no more than 5 games to win this series. Remember hype is a tool to make something bad seem better than it actually is. It's Jerry Jones favorite tool to cover up his and the Cowboys deficiencies.
Back to the MLB: The Pirates finished a 4 game series against the Phillies in Philadelphia today. The Pirates won the final 3 games of the series and are now 12-4 over their last 16 games. Will this finally be the year of the Pirates, finally breaking the .500 mark?
There are more games later tonight, but as of now the Pirates are tied for second place in the NL Central. The NL Central is shaping up to be the second toughest division in MLB, it won't be tougher than the AL East. The NL Central has four very solid to great teams, it seems any one of them could win the Central. Of course the home of the Central is also the home of the Cubs, who are off to a terrible 6-14 start.
themusicaddict
This will serve as the Dodgers Daily blog for April 24th and 25th as LA played very early Thursday morning. After wining the first game of the series LA lost the second game on a walk off grand slam by Jordany Valdespin. Valdespin has hit 6 pinch run home runs last season plus the start of this season. LA bounced back today, they were powered by an Andre Ethier single in the 9th inning. The Dodgers won two of three against the Mets. I should be optimistic about the Dodgers winning two of three on the road. However the fact that the Dodgers were able to take 2 of 3 from the Mets in New York makes me think this Mets team isn't very good. But I'll take a series win on the road anytime.
The Dodgers are now 10-11 and there are some good trends for the Dodgers. Ted Lilly made his season debut for the Dodgers yesterday and pitched well enough. If they can get 5 good innings out of him every fourth or fifth day the Dodgers will take it. Matt Kemp continues to round into the kind of player he can be. On Wednesday he hit his first home run of the season. Thursday Kemp was 2 for 3 and he raised his batting average to .266.
Also it sounds like desperately needed Hanley Ramirez will be going to a rehab assignment soon and could be playing for the Dodgers as soon as the first weekend in May. He'd be welcomed back so much. His bat would be so great to have back in the Dodgers lineup. Let me give you an example why. Wednesday nights Mets-Dodgers game was tied at 3 going into the 10th inning. The Dodgers quickly got two outs in the top of the 10th inning. Who was the player left to provide some offense for the Dodgers? The legendary Skip Schumaker, legendarily bad that is, he was hitless in his previous 4 at bats. Because Schumaker is consistent he was also hitless in his 5th at bat, which lowered his batting average to a sizzling .107 this season.
LA will remain in fourth place in the NL West even after the results to later games on Thursday.
Thanks to ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball I was able to see some of the Dodgers-Mets game last night, yes I sadly saw the walk off grand slam. But the Spurs-Lakers game overlapped the Dodgers game a bit. As someone that hates the Lakers and all the hype that surrounds them I had to hate watch the Lakers some. From the way Reggie Miller was loving on Dwight Howard I sometimes forget that it's the Spurs that are the #2 seed. I love that the Spurs have won the first two games, although that shouldn't be that big of a surprise for anyone. Any team that plays Steve Blake so many crucial minutes isn't that good. Oh how I love watching the Lakers lose. And as Jim Rome pointed out this morning, the Lakers are even going to be older next year.
While watching Sports Center this morning ESPN had a graphic on their screen that said the Lakers are in trouble. Actually the Lakers were in trouble when this playoff series started. ESPN is one of the worst at hyping up the Lakers. This Lakers team is just not good and the Spurs should need no more than 5 games to win this series. Remember hype is a tool to make something bad seem better than it actually is. It's Jerry Jones favorite tool to cover up his and the Cowboys deficiencies.
Back to the MLB: The Pirates finished a 4 game series against the Phillies in Philadelphia today. The Pirates won the final 3 games of the series and are now 12-4 over their last 16 games. Will this finally be the year of the Pirates, finally breaking the .500 mark?
There are more games later tonight, but as of now the Pirates are tied for second place in the NL Central. The NL Central is shaping up to be the second toughest division in MLB, it won't be tougher than the AL East. The NL Central has four very solid to great teams, it seems any one of them could win the Central. Of course the home of the Central is also the home of the Cubs, who are off to a terrible 6-14 start.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Dodgers Daily, April 23rd, 2013: Mark Ellis Explodes, Atlanta Braves Return Best Record In MLB
Hello,
Again I just want to make it clear that I don't attend any of these games, all the following information comes from either ESPN.com or MLB.com.
In a rare outburst of offense the Dodgers scored 7 runs yesterday. The Dodgers were led by Mark Ellis and the good enough pitching of Clayton Kershaw and 4 other Dodger pitchers. A tip of the cap especially goes to Ellis. Mark Ellis had 4 hits, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs. He also raised his batting average to .348, which puts him at 7th in the NL.
Ellis now has 2 home runs, which means he's tied for first in that category for the Dodgers. He's tied with Juan Uribe, Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier. When you can hit two home runs in one game and tie for the team lead, that shows you how anemic this Dodgers offense has been. Ellis has 11 RBIs this season, which puts him in second place in that category for the Dodgers. He only trails Gonzalez and his 14 RBIs.
For batting averages the Dodgers are doing pretty well in the NL. Gonzalez is third with .377, Mark Ellis is seventh at .348, A.J. Ellis is 14th at .321 and Carl Crawford is 17th at .314. Carl Crawford started out the season hot, but now he's regressing back to about where I expect him to be. He was 0-5 yesterday, I expect him to eventually settle at about .270 for the season. Matt Kemp continues to be hitting better, he was 2 for 5 yesterday. He has improved his batting average to .247. Once when he gets everything figured out I expect him to settle a bit over .300. I'm concerned that after 19 games he still hasn't hit a home run and only has 6 RBIs.
The Dodgers are now 9-10 and 4th place in the NL West. I expect they'll spend most of this season in 4th place, they just have too many holes. Unless they make some great moves, I doubt they'll improve a lot. Again I'd like the Dodgers to remember just because they have money to make a move, doesn't mean they should. Dodgers Front Office: we can wait until next year for a great team. Please build for the future, instead of having a win now philosophy. (See how well trying to win now has worked out for the Dallas Cowboys- not at all. And things seem to be getting worse for them.)
LA is now 3.5 games behind the first place Rockies.
Tonight the Dodgers-Mets game is ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball. Pitching for the Dodgers will be Ted Lilly, he's making his season debut. He'll be pitching against the Mets wonder kid Matt Harvey, who's 4-0 this season. Harvey is probably also the majority of the reason that ESPN is broadcasting tonight's game.
In other Dodgers pitching news: yesterday the Dodgers announced that Chad Billingsley will be getting Tommy John surgery. He'll be out for the season. That's another hole in this Dodgers team.
Earlier I mentioned the Rockies, they lost both games of their doubleheader with the Braves. Going into that game both the Rockies and the Braves were tied for the best record in MLB. Following the Braves sweep, Atlanta returns to the top of the MLB mountaintop. They are 15-5 and rule the NL East. They lead both the Nationals and the Mets by 5 games.
In wintry Colorado the Braves were amazing. They won the first game of the day 4-3, the first pitch temperature was 23 degrees. The Braves won the second game 10-2, the first pitch temperature for that game was 30 degrees. In that game brothers B.J. and Justin Upton hit back to back home runs. Justin Upton is making an early run at the NL MVP. He's hitting .307, which is 23rd in the NL. He has 11 home runs, which is first in the NL, and he's 7th in the NL with 16 RBIs.
Colorado, Boston and Texas are tied for the second best record in the MLB at 13-7. The Rangers are doing just fine without Josh Hamilton. Meanwhile the team he signed with, the Angels, are only 8-11. Hamilton, who has very terrible and disinterested body language, is hitting all of .211. He also only has 2 home runs this season. Hamilton reminds me so much of Dwight Howard. It seems both just get by on their athletic ability, but don't work much on improving their games. The Dodgers have made some bad moves with all their money, signing Hamilton is one bad move I'm so glad they didn't make.
themusicaddict
Again I just want to make it clear that I don't attend any of these games, all the following information comes from either ESPN.com or MLB.com.
In a rare outburst of offense the Dodgers scored 7 runs yesterday. The Dodgers were led by Mark Ellis and the good enough pitching of Clayton Kershaw and 4 other Dodger pitchers. A tip of the cap especially goes to Ellis. Mark Ellis had 4 hits, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs. He also raised his batting average to .348, which puts him at 7th in the NL.
Ellis now has 2 home runs, which means he's tied for first in that category for the Dodgers. He's tied with Juan Uribe, Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier. When you can hit two home runs in one game and tie for the team lead, that shows you how anemic this Dodgers offense has been. Ellis has 11 RBIs this season, which puts him in second place in that category for the Dodgers. He only trails Gonzalez and his 14 RBIs.
For batting averages the Dodgers are doing pretty well in the NL. Gonzalez is third with .377, Mark Ellis is seventh at .348, A.J. Ellis is 14th at .321 and Carl Crawford is 17th at .314. Carl Crawford started out the season hot, but now he's regressing back to about where I expect him to be. He was 0-5 yesterday, I expect him to eventually settle at about .270 for the season. Matt Kemp continues to be hitting better, he was 2 for 5 yesterday. He has improved his batting average to .247. Once when he gets everything figured out I expect him to settle a bit over .300. I'm concerned that after 19 games he still hasn't hit a home run and only has 6 RBIs.
The Dodgers are now 9-10 and 4th place in the NL West. I expect they'll spend most of this season in 4th place, they just have too many holes. Unless they make some great moves, I doubt they'll improve a lot. Again I'd like the Dodgers to remember just because they have money to make a move, doesn't mean they should. Dodgers Front Office: we can wait until next year for a great team. Please build for the future, instead of having a win now philosophy. (See how well trying to win now has worked out for the Dallas Cowboys- not at all. And things seem to be getting worse for them.)
LA is now 3.5 games behind the first place Rockies.
Tonight the Dodgers-Mets game is ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball. Pitching for the Dodgers will be Ted Lilly, he's making his season debut. He'll be pitching against the Mets wonder kid Matt Harvey, who's 4-0 this season. Harvey is probably also the majority of the reason that ESPN is broadcasting tonight's game.
In other Dodgers pitching news: yesterday the Dodgers announced that Chad Billingsley will be getting Tommy John surgery. He'll be out for the season. That's another hole in this Dodgers team.
Earlier I mentioned the Rockies, they lost both games of their doubleheader with the Braves. Going into that game both the Rockies and the Braves were tied for the best record in MLB. Following the Braves sweep, Atlanta returns to the top of the MLB mountaintop. They are 15-5 and rule the NL East. They lead both the Nationals and the Mets by 5 games.
In wintry Colorado the Braves were amazing. They won the first game of the day 4-3, the first pitch temperature was 23 degrees. The Braves won the second game 10-2, the first pitch temperature for that game was 30 degrees. In that game brothers B.J. and Justin Upton hit back to back home runs. Justin Upton is making an early run at the NL MVP. He's hitting .307, which is 23rd in the NL. He has 11 home runs, which is first in the NL, and he's 7th in the NL with 16 RBIs.
Colorado, Boston and Texas are tied for the second best record in the MLB at 13-7. The Rangers are doing just fine without Josh Hamilton. Meanwhile the team he signed with, the Angels, are only 8-11. Hamilton, who has very terrible and disinterested body language, is hitting all of .211. He also only has 2 home runs this season. Hamilton reminds me so much of Dwight Howard. It seems both just get by on their athletic ability, but don't work much on improving their games. The Dodgers have made some bad moves with all their money, signing Hamilton is one bad move I'm so glad they didn't make.
themusicaddict
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Cowboys Draft: How Will They Fail This Season?, Revis Island Moves To Tampa Bay (Updated 4/26/2013)
Hello,
The NFL draft starts on Thursday.
I toned down the negativity of this blog after reading Bill Barnwell's excellent article at Grantland.com about just how hard it is to consistently draft well in the NFL Draft. From seeing the results of the draft over the last several years it seems that Barnwell is right on. However that being said, the Cowboys drafts under the Jerry Jones regime have been awful. For instance, they no longer have any players from their 2008 and 2009 drafts. The Cowboys are saying that Jason Garrett is in charge of this draft. Not only are the Cowboys going to let Garrett hang himself, but they are giving him the rope to do so.
I'm a big fan of ESPN Dallas, their writers and their commentators. I agree with much of what they say. If you detect a bias that sounds like theirs then you'll understand why. By the way I love Nate Newton. He doesn't drink any of Jerry's kool aid and he absolutely tells it like he sees it. I wish the Cowboys had people like that actually working for them. But Jerry usually likes to surround himself with family and yes men. Don't let the fact that the Cowboys were the most successful when they had Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, both of whom are anything but yes men.
I'm not going to break down the terrible failures of past Cowboys drafts. I'm going to make a couple of predictions about the Cowboys draft this season. First of all at ESPN Dallas yesterday, there was a picture of Jason Garrett, Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones sitting at a table. I thought to myself when these are the Dallas decision makers no wonder I don't have any confidence in this Cowboys regime.
Jerry Jones loves to hog the spotlight, it's why the Cowboys usually make big trades on Draft Day. So my first prediction is that the Cowboys will trade their #18 pick in the first round. I'd be glad for them to do that, as long as the Cowboys trade down. I predict the Cowboys will do exactly that. Due to their disastrous drafts in the past Dallas needs to get as many quality players as possible.
My second prediction is although the Cowboys need to stock up on offensive linemen, they'll mostly bypass offensive lineman to make more splashy picks. I also predict that the Cowboys will draft at least one of the following three players Manti T'eo, Tyrann Matthieu (The Honey Badger) or Matt Barkley. From Jones past drafts he likes to go with flashy picks over quiet picks, even though many times those quiet picks would better help the Cowboys. I'm convinced Jones is much more interested in looking like a genius than winning.
The Cowboys putting Jason Garrett is in charge of the draft is so very scary, but thankfully this will be his last draft. The Cowboys are going to be mediocre again this season and Jones will finally fire him. However I'm sure that Jones will just hire another yes man to replace him and the Cowboys problems will continue. Again this is why I find my allegiances going more and more over to the 49ers. I prefer to follow well run organizations and the Cowboys are anything but. Actually I expect one season the top heavy Cowboys will implode and crumble in on themselves. That season I expect about a 2-14 record. I'd welcome that as long as the Cowboys finally got someone that knows what they are doing.
Sorry I got sidetracked. The Cowboys would draft either T'eo or Barkley because of their name value. However I doubt that either player will be a great pro. I expect Barkley to be the next Matt Leinart. I'm grateful for the rookie salary cap in the NFL. That will prevent Jones from signing another unworthy player to a 7 year-$119 million dollar contract. The Cowboys would go after The Honey Badger as he's a player they can get at a discount. Going after a player at a discount is another thing that Jones loves to do, although that has bit the Cowboys in the butt so many times. He wants to save money and then if one of these discount players does well Jones hopes it will make him look like a football genius.
The third of my NFL teams is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who finalized a big trade on Sunday. The Bucs have acquired Darelle Revis, the man who's nickname is Revis Island. Why does he have that nickname? Because when he's on the field quarterbacks rarely throw to the player he's covering. Thus he's all alone on his own island. Revis Island is one place you don't want to visit.
Tampa Bay added him to their young and hungry roster, he should make them that much better. I actually think that the Bucs could have a better record than the Cowboys this season. Tampa Bay has a better quarterback, better coach and have had a better offseason.
Revis signed an interesting contract with Tampa Bay, he signed a 6 year- $96 million dollar contract with no guaranteed money. A player of Revis' caliber not getting any guaranteed money is unheard of. To me it suggests that Revis is trying to send a message, he's going to put everything on the line. He'll get $16 million this season, but there's no guarantee beyond that. If Revis is terrible this season the Bucs can cut him outright and not worry about owing him any more money. (Oh how I wish Tony Romo's recent contract also had no guaranteed money in it.) One of Revis's most iconic interceptions is in the Jets-Cowboys 2011 game. Romo threw the ball perfectly right to Revis. That was more a bad play by Romo than a great play by Revis.
Updated April 26th, 2013: Although I'm not 100% sold on the Cowboys drafting Travis Federick I'm glad my prediction was wrong about them not drafting an offensive lineman in the first round. I'm also glad that the Cowboys traded down in the first round. Although that prediction being right has more to do with all the reading that I did more than my own football knowledge. But I could see the value in the Cowboys getting more draft picks.
The Cowboys traded down in the first round, trading with San Francisco. WIth the 49ers having a much better front office I expected the 49ers to do better in the first round than the Cowboys. I didn't realize it was by the 49ers trading with the Cowboys. Many people say the Cowboys were fleeced in this trade. In no shape or form am I a NFL expert, but I was surprised that I had never heard of the Cowboys first round pick Federick. Again many people are saying it was a bad pick, but I'll leave that for time to determine. Jones has long proven he's a terrible GM so nothing surprises me any more. It's also why even though I want Garrett gone, Jones would just hire another puppet to take his place. So does it even matter any more?
Based on how Jones like to draft flashy players I predicted that the Cowboys would end up with Manti Te'o, Matt Barkley or Tyrann Matthieu. As the second round starts later today, all three of those players are still available. I think that both Te'o and Matthieu could be productive pro players but I think the slow footed Barkley is going to be a bust. Just like E.J. Manuel who went to Buffalo. Picks like those are why bad and mediocre teams remain bad and mediocre. It's one of the main reasons why the Cowboys will miss out on the playoffs for the 5th time in 6 years this season. As long as a Jones is in charge in Dallas I don't think there's much hope for the Cowboys.
And although the 49ers reached the Super Bowl, they still have the most picks of any team in the NFL Draft. Picks like those are why the 49ers will be challenging for the Super Bowl for the next few years.
Slowly but surely my allegiances continue to switch to the 49ers. If Dallas was just a bad team but showing signs of progress that's one thing. But the Cowboys are also completely inept, and after 17 years of that that's just too long.
themusicaddict
The NFL draft starts on Thursday.
I toned down the negativity of this blog after reading Bill Barnwell's excellent article at Grantland.com about just how hard it is to consistently draft well in the NFL Draft. From seeing the results of the draft over the last several years it seems that Barnwell is right on. However that being said, the Cowboys drafts under the Jerry Jones regime have been awful. For instance, they no longer have any players from their 2008 and 2009 drafts. The Cowboys are saying that Jason Garrett is in charge of this draft. Not only are the Cowboys going to let Garrett hang himself, but they are giving him the rope to do so.
I'm a big fan of ESPN Dallas, their writers and their commentators. I agree with much of what they say. If you detect a bias that sounds like theirs then you'll understand why. By the way I love Nate Newton. He doesn't drink any of Jerry's kool aid and he absolutely tells it like he sees it. I wish the Cowboys had people like that actually working for them. But Jerry usually likes to surround himself with family and yes men. Don't let the fact that the Cowboys were the most successful when they had Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, both of whom are anything but yes men.
I'm not going to break down the terrible failures of past Cowboys drafts. I'm going to make a couple of predictions about the Cowboys draft this season. First of all at ESPN Dallas yesterday, there was a picture of Jason Garrett, Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones sitting at a table. I thought to myself when these are the Dallas decision makers no wonder I don't have any confidence in this Cowboys regime.
Jerry Jones loves to hog the spotlight, it's why the Cowboys usually make big trades on Draft Day. So my first prediction is that the Cowboys will trade their #18 pick in the first round. I'd be glad for them to do that, as long as the Cowboys trade down. I predict the Cowboys will do exactly that. Due to their disastrous drafts in the past Dallas needs to get as many quality players as possible.
My second prediction is although the Cowboys need to stock up on offensive linemen, they'll mostly bypass offensive lineman to make more splashy picks. I also predict that the Cowboys will draft at least one of the following three players Manti T'eo, Tyrann Matthieu (The Honey Badger) or Matt Barkley. From Jones past drafts he likes to go with flashy picks over quiet picks, even though many times those quiet picks would better help the Cowboys. I'm convinced Jones is much more interested in looking like a genius than winning.
The Cowboys putting Jason Garrett is in charge of the draft is so very scary, but thankfully this will be his last draft. The Cowboys are going to be mediocre again this season and Jones will finally fire him. However I'm sure that Jones will just hire another yes man to replace him and the Cowboys problems will continue. Again this is why I find my allegiances going more and more over to the 49ers. I prefer to follow well run organizations and the Cowboys are anything but. Actually I expect one season the top heavy Cowboys will implode and crumble in on themselves. That season I expect about a 2-14 record. I'd welcome that as long as the Cowboys finally got someone that knows what they are doing.
Sorry I got sidetracked. The Cowboys would draft either T'eo or Barkley because of their name value. However I doubt that either player will be a great pro. I expect Barkley to be the next Matt Leinart. I'm grateful for the rookie salary cap in the NFL. That will prevent Jones from signing another unworthy player to a 7 year-$119 million dollar contract. The Cowboys would go after The Honey Badger as he's a player they can get at a discount. Going after a player at a discount is another thing that Jones loves to do, although that has bit the Cowboys in the butt so many times. He wants to save money and then if one of these discount players does well Jones hopes it will make him look like a football genius.
The third of my NFL teams is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who finalized a big trade on Sunday. The Bucs have acquired Darelle Revis, the man who's nickname is Revis Island. Why does he have that nickname? Because when he's on the field quarterbacks rarely throw to the player he's covering. Thus he's all alone on his own island. Revis Island is one place you don't want to visit.
Tampa Bay added him to their young and hungry roster, he should make them that much better. I actually think that the Bucs could have a better record than the Cowboys this season. Tampa Bay has a better quarterback, better coach and have had a better offseason.
Revis signed an interesting contract with Tampa Bay, he signed a 6 year- $96 million dollar contract with no guaranteed money. A player of Revis' caliber not getting any guaranteed money is unheard of. To me it suggests that Revis is trying to send a message, he's going to put everything on the line. He'll get $16 million this season, but there's no guarantee beyond that. If Revis is terrible this season the Bucs can cut him outright and not worry about owing him any more money. (Oh how I wish Tony Romo's recent contract also had no guaranteed money in it.) One of Revis's most iconic interceptions is in the Jets-Cowboys 2011 game. Romo threw the ball perfectly right to Revis. That was more a bad play by Romo than a great play by Revis.
Updated April 26th, 2013: Although I'm not 100% sold on the Cowboys drafting Travis Federick I'm glad my prediction was wrong about them not drafting an offensive lineman in the first round. I'm also glad that the Cowboys traded down in the first round. Although that prediction being right has more to do with all the reading that I did more than my own football knowledge. But I could see the value in the Cowboys getting more draft picks.
The Cowboys traded down in the first round, trading with San Francisco. WIth the 49ers having a much better front office I expected the 49ers to do better in the first round than the Cowboys. I didn't realize it was by the 49ers trading with the Cowboys. Many people say the Cowboys were fleeced in this trade. In no shape or form am I a NFL expert, but I was surprised that I had never heard of the Cowboys first round pick Federick. Again many people are saying it was a bad pick, but I'll leave that for time to determine. Jones has long proven he's a terrible GM so nothing surprises me any more. It's also why even though I want Garrett gone, Jones would just hire another puppet to take his place. So does it even matter any more?
Based on how Jones like to draft flashy players I predicted that the Cowboys would end up with Manti Te'o, Matt Barkley or Tyrann Matthieu. As the second round starts later today, all three of those players are still available. I think that both Te'o and Matthieu could be productive pro players but I think the slow footed Barkley is going to be a bust. Just like E.J. Manuel who went to Buffalo. Picks like those are why bad and mediocre teams remain bad and mediocre. It's one of the main reasons why the Cowboys will miss out on the playoffs for the 5th time in 6 years this season. As long as a Jones is in charge in Dallas I don't think there's much hope for the Cowboys.
And although the 49ers reached the Super Bowl, they still have the most picks of any team in the NFL Draft. Picks like those are why the 49ers will be challenging for the Super Bowl for the next few years.
Slowly but surely my allegiances continue to switch to the 49ers. If Dallas was just a bad team but showing signs of progress that's one thing. But the Cowboys are also completely inept, and after 17 years of that that's just too long.
themusicaddict
Monday, April 22, 2013
One of the 80's Greats: Madonna 1983-1985, History, Original Videos and The Virgin Tour (Updated 4/23/13)
Hello,
For those of you who are confused by or don't understand Ke$ha, the look and career of Madonna is what she was trying for. She failed miserably, but you can't blame the girl for trying.
I realize I haven't written many music blogs lately, so here's one for you. While exercising this morning, Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" played on my iPod. I thought to myself I need to have a Madonna blog. She was probably my favorite singer of the 80s- edging out people like Prince, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson- and one of the most successful artists ever. While she was one of the greatest artists of the 80s, this blog will specifically cover 1983-1985. The videos are mostly in chronological order.
Any biographical information comes from Madonna's Wikipedia.org page and my faulty memory.
Madonna's first single was released on April 24th, 1982. Watching this video I understand why those people who knew of Madonna then didn't take her too seriously. While "Everybody" is good enough, it's also very disposable. It sounds like a song a person just beginning in the music business would make:
On July 17th, 1983 Madonna released her self-titled debut CD, "Madonna". There were 5 singles that were released from that CD. As mentioned above "Everybody" was the 1st single. According to the "Madonna" CD Wikipedia page, "Everybody" was released on October 6th, 1982. That date obviously contradicts the above date for the same song. However that doesn't mean either date is wrong, perhaps the song bombed on the first release date and later was released again.
It took me awhile to jump on the Madonna bandwagon. So I'm sort of hazy about a few details. If I remember right the first two singles didn't make much of an impact. The second single released from "Madonna" was "Burning Up". Clearly Madonna and her advisors were still trying to figure out what her "look" should be. Madonna and her look were very much a work in progress here.
The third single from "Madonna" was "Holiday". It seems to me this was the song that really broke Madonna. While working on this blog, one thing I noticed about Madonna's music is how much joy there is. Indeed "Holiday" is a very joyous song:
The fourth song released from "Madonna" was also her first Top 5 hit, "Lucky Star". Clearly the idea behind the "Lucky Star" video is Madonna is a babe, what else do we need? I'm sure that's why they put her against a white backdrop. The dancers in the background are extraneous, although I'm sure this video is featured prominently on their resumes:
The fifth and final single from "Madonna" was "Borderline", it was released on February 15th, 1984. How many CDs are released now where the fifth single might be the best song on the CD? That would be none. How many modern CDs can be released and the third song is even listenable? Not very many. #musicwasbetterinthe80s
Although neither one of the following two songs were "hits" I still quite like both. I love the grit in he voice in parts of "Think Of Me":
"Physical Attraction":
On November 12th, 1984 Sire Records released Madonna's second CD "Like A Virgin". Madonna slowly but surely was becoming a major star and "Like A Virgin" launched her into the stratosphere.
A few days earlier on November 6th, 1984 the single "Like A Virgin" was released and there was no going back for Madonna or America:
September 14th, 1984 Madonna made a very famous appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards. It looks like she's actually singing here. When you can actually sing you don't need Auto Tune or to lip sync.
"Like A Virgin" (live at the MTV Video Music Awards)
Madonna ended 1984 with a lot of momentum and she become an even bigger star in 1985. In that year Madonna released 4 more amazing songs. In fact, Madonna didn't wait long to make a big impact in 1985. On January 30th she released "Material Girl". It was another tremendous hit and video for Madonna. Sadly I can't find the original video on youtube.com. It's a shame, because she looks amazing in it:
In the midst of "Like A Virgin's" phenomenal success, and perhaps taking advantage of that success, Geffen records released the first single from the "Vision Quest" soundtrack. That song, "Crazy For You", was released on March 2nd 1985. "Crazy For You" may be Madonna's best ballad.
(Just a side note about "Vision Quest", it's a great movie. Or at least it was the last time I watched it, it was. Some 80's movies don't age so well. Also the "Vision Quest" soundtrack is great. Along with "Crazy For You", the soundtrack features many other great songs. Those songs include Journey's "Only The Young", Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe", Sammy Hagar's "I'll Fall In Love Again" and "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner.
About 5 weeks later after "Crazy For You" Madonna released "Angel". I don't remember this being a big hit, but nonetheless a great song.
According to Wikipedia's Madonna page, "Into The Groove" wasn't on the original release of "Like A Virgin". It was added to the record in 1985. It pushed all the songs from the sixth song on back one space. If you got the record in 1985 (ask your parents what a record is) "Into The Groove" was now the first song on side 2. "Into The Groove" was the 4th "Virgin" single and was released on July 23rd.
"Into The Groove"
The final single off "Virgin" was released on July 24th, 1985, it's the vastly under appreciated "Dress You Up":
Two songs on "Like A Virgin" that weren't released as singles, but are great songs, include "Stay":
The last amazing song from "Like A Virgin"is the heart breaking "Love Don't Live Here Anymore":
I prefer this version of "Love Don't Live Here Anymore":
Madonna also was in "Desperately Seeking Susan" in 1985:
Madonna appeared in Philadelphia on July 13th, 1985 as part of Live Aid. It was a benefit to raise money for Ethiopia famine relief.
"Holiday" and "Into The Groove":
"Love Makes The World Go Around":
Finally 1985 was a very busy year for Madonna, as she also went on tour. It was the aptly titled The Virgin Tour:
Last and possibly least on August 16th, 1985 Madonna married Sean Penn. The marriage didn't last long.
Upcoming in future Madonna blogs: I'll include amazing songs, like the one below, and Madonna's first talk show appearance. Also "Dick Tracy", "Express Yourself", "Evita" and all the amazing songs from that movie.
"Papa Don't Preach":
Madonna's first talk show appearance on June 9th, 1987. She explains to Johnny Carson what a bustier is:
themusicaddict
For those of you who are confused by or don't understand Ke$ha, the look and career of Madonna is what she was trying for. She failed miserably, but you can't blame the girl for trying.
I realize I haven't written many music blogs lately, so here's one for you. While exercising this morning, Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" played on my iPod. I thought to myself I need to have a Madonna blog. She was probably my favorite singer of the 80s- edging out people like Prince, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson- and one of the most successful artists ever. While she was one of the greatest artists of the 80s, this blog will specifically cover 1983-1985. The videos are mostly in chronological order.
Any biographical information comes from Madonna's Wikipedia.org page and my faulty memory.
Madonna's first single was released on April 24th, 1982. Watching this video I understand why those people who knew of Madonna then didn't take her too seriously. While "Everybody" is good enough, it's also very disposable. It sounds like a song a person just beginning in the music business would make:
On July 17th, 1983 Madonna released her self-titled debut CD, "Madonna". There were 5 singles that were released from that CD. As mentioned above "Everybody" was the 1st single. According to the "Madonna" CD Wikipedia page, "Everybody" was released on October 6th, 1982. That date obviously contradicts the above date for the same song. However that doesn't mean either date is wrong, perhaps the song bombed on the first release date and later was released again.
It took me awhile to jump on the Madonna bandwagon. So I'm sort of hazy about a few details. If I remember right the first two singles didn't make much of an impact. The second single released from "Madonna" was "Burning Up". Clearly Madonna and her advisors were still trying to figure out what her "look" should be. Madonna and her look were very much a work in progress here.
The third single from "Madonna" was "Holiday". It seems to me this was the song that really broke Madonna. While working on this blog, one thing I noticed about Madonna's music is how much joy there is. Indeed "Holiday" is a very joyous song:
The fourth song released from "Madonna" was also her first Top 5 hit, "Lucky Star". Clearly the idea behind the "Lucky Star" video is Madonna is a babe, what else do we need? I'm sure that's why they put her against a white backdrop. The dancers in the background are extraneous, although I'm sure this video is featured prominently on their resumes:
The fifth and final single from "Madonna" was "Borderline", it was released on February 15th, 1984. How many CDs are released now where the fifth single might be the best song on the CD? That would be none. How many modern CDs can be released and the third song is even listenable? Not very many. #musicwasbetterinthe80s
Although neither one of the following two songs were "hits" I still quite like both. I love the grit in he voice in parts of "Think Of Me":
"Physical Attraction":
On November 12th, 1984 Sire Records released Madonna's second CD "Like A Virgin". Madonna slowly but surely was becoming a major star and "Like A Virgin" launched her into the stratosphere.
A few days earlier on November 6th, 1984 the single "Like A Virgin" was released and there was no going back for Madonna or America:
September 14th, 1984 Madonna made a very famous appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards. It looks like she's actually singing here. When you can actually sing you don't need Auto Tune or to lip sync.
"Like A Virgin" (live at the MTV Video Music Awards)
Madonna ended 1984 with a lot of momentum and she become an even bigger star in 1985. In that year Madonna released 4 more amazing songs. In fact, Madonna didn't wait long to make a big impact in 1985. On January 30th she released "Material Girl". It was another tremendous hit and video for Madonna. Sadly I can't find the original video on youtube.com. It's a shame, because she looks amazing in it:
In the midst of "Like A Virgin's" phenomenal success, and perhaps taking advantage of that success, Geffen records released the first single from the "Vision Quest" soundtrack. That song, "Crazy For You", was released on March 2nd 1985. "Crazy For You" may be Madonna's best ballad.
(Just a side note about "Vision Quest", it's a great movie. Or at least it was the last time I watched it, it was. Some 80's movies don't age so well. Also the "Vision Quest" soundtrack is great. Along with "Crazy For You", the soundtrack features many other great songs. Those songs include Journey's "Only The Young", Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe", Sammy Hagar's "I'll Fall In Love Again" and "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner.
About 5 weeks later after "Crazy For You" Madonna released "Angel". I don't remember this being a big hit, but nonetheless a great song.
According to Wikipedia's Madonna page, "Into The Groove" wasn't on the original release of "Like A Virgin". It was added to the record in 1985. It pushed all the songs from the sixth song on back one space. If you got the record in 1985 (ask your parents what a record is) "Into The Groove" was now the first song on side 2. "Into The Groove" was the 4th "Virgin" single and was released on July 23rd.
"Into The Groove"
The final single off "Virgin" was released on July 24th, 1985, it's the vastly under appreciated "Dress You Up":
Two songs on "Like A Virgin" that weren't released as singles, but are great songs, include "Stay":
The last amazing song from "Like A Virgin"is the heart breaking "Love Don't Live Here Anymore":
I prefer this version of "Love Don't Live Here Anymore":
Madonna also was in "Desperately Seeking Susan" in 1985:
Madonna appeared in Philadelphia on July 13th, 1985 as part of Live Aid. It was a benefit to raise money for Ethiopia famine relief.
"Holiday" and "Into The Groove":
"Love Makes The World Go Around":
Finally 1985 was a very busy year for Madonna, as she also went on tour. It was the aptly titled The Virgin Tour:
Last and possibly least on August 16th, 1985 Madonna married Sean Penn. The marriage didn't last long.
Upcoming in future Madonna blogs: I'll include amazing songs, like the one below, and Madonna's first talk show appearance. Also "Dick Tracy", "Express Yourself", "Evita" and all the amazing songs from that movie.
"Papa Don't Preach":
Madonna's first talk show appearance on June 9th, 1987. She explains to Johnny Carson what a bustier is:
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, April 21st, 2013: Dodgers Are Handed A Gift, Here Come The Pirates (Updated 4/23/13)
Hello,
The Dodgers finally broke their 6 game losing streak yesterday in their 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Let's be honest though. The Dodgers won this game due more to young pitcher Jake Arrieta's meltdown than any Dodgers offensive explosion. Arrieta only gave up two hits in his 4 innings of pitching. However he walked five Dodgers and hit one Dodger batter. Four of those six Dodgers later scored.
Matt Kemp did have 3 more hits, raising his batting average to .235. He also added another RBI, but mystifyingly he still hasn't hit a home run this season. When he finally starts hitting does that mean he'll hit a bunch of home runs in a short amount of time? Adrian Gonzalez remains the best player that came over in the big Dodgers-Red Sox trade last season. He was 2 for 4 and is now hitting .385 this season and leads the Dodgers in most of the important offensive stats.
At 8-10, the Dodgers remain fourth place in the NL West. They are 5 games behind the 13-5 Rockies. It was clear before this season started that the quality of this team didn't live up to the hype. LA had a nice start, but reality quickly showed it's ugly face. But it's clear now that this is an costly but poorly built team. It's probably at least one more year before the Dodgers truly challenge to even make the playoffs. The only thing I can see that will change that is that whn Hanley Ramirez comes back, he makes a huge difference. Either that or that the Dodgers make a big move. I wouldn't put this Dodgers management group past making a big move. However if they make a big move, I hope it's more suited towards next season going forward. I'd rather the Dodgers to be awesome next season than good this year and next. The win now philosophy rarely works very well.
It was an ugly victory, but obviously the Dodgers will take any sort of victory now. The Dodgers now have Monday off before going to New York to open a three game series tomorrow. The Wednesday night game will be on ESPN.
Meanwhile the Braves came into Pittsburgh the hottest team in MLB. They were 13-2 and absolutely cruising. The Braves won the first game of the series 6-4. However this season's Pirates are determined to finally finish above .500 and the Pirates won the final 3 games of the series. Pittsburgh's pitching staff was outstanding in the final 3 games of the series, they only gave up 3 runs in the final 3 games.
Atlanta and Colorado are tied for best record in MLB now at 13-5. The Braves lead NL East second place team Washington by 3 games. The Pirates started out the season 1-5, but have played better of late. The Pirates have won 9 of their last 12 games and have broken through .500 to go to 10-8. Their record is good enough for them to be tied for second place in the NL East with St. Louis. Both the Pirates and the Cardinals are 1/2 game behind the Reds.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers finally broke their 6 game losing streak yesterday in their 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Let's be honest though. The Dodgers won this game due more to young pitcher Jake Arrieta's meltdown than any Dodgers offensive explosion. Arrieta only gave up two hits in his 4 innings of pitching. However he walked five Dodgers and hit one Dodger batter. Four of those six Dodgers later scored.
Matt Kemp did have 3 more hits, raising his batting average to .235. He also added another RBI, but mystifyingly he still hasn't hit a home run this season. When he finally starts hitting does that mean he'll hit a bunch of home runs in a short amount of time? Adrian Gonzalez remains the best player that came over in the big Dodgers-Red Sox trade last season. He was 2 for 4 and is now hitting .385 this season and leads the Dodgers in most of the important offensive stats.
At 8-10, the Dodgers remain fourth place in the NL West. They are 5 games behind the 13-5 Rockies. It was clear before this season started that the quality of this team didn't live up to the hype. LA had a nice start, but reality quickly showed it's ugly face. But it's clear now that this is an costly but poorly built team. It's probably at least one more year before the Dodgers truly challenge to even make the playoffs. The only thing I can see that will change that is that whn Hanley Ramirez comes back, he makes a huge difference. Either that or that the Dodgers make a big move. I wouldn't put this Dodgers management group past making a big move. However if they make a big move, I hope it's more suited towards next season going forward. I'd rather the Dodgers to be awesome next season than good this year and next. The win now philosophy rarely works very well.
It was an ugly victory, but obviously the Dodgers will take any sort of victory now. The Dodgers now have Monday off before going to New York to open a three game series tomorrow. The Wednesday night game will be on ESPN.
Meanwhile the Braves came into Pittsburgh the hottest team in MLB. They were 13-2 and absolutely cruising. The Braves won the first game of the series 6-4. However this season's Pirates are determined to finally finish above .500 and the Pirates won the final 3 games of the series. Pittsburgh's pitching staff was outstanding in the final 3 games of the series, they only gave up 3 runs in the final 3 games.
Atlanta and Colorado are tied for best record in MLB now at 13-5. The Braves lead NL East second place team Washington by 3 games. The Pirates started out the season 1-5, but have played better of late. The Pirates have won 9 of their last 12 games and have broken through .500 to go to 10-8. Their record is good enough for them to be tied for second place in the NL East with St. Louis. Both the Pirates and the Cardinals are 1/2 game behind the Reds.
themusicaddict
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Dodgers Daily: April 20th, 2013: Dodgers Lose 6 Games In A Row, Hurry Back Hanley!
Hello,
Welcome to another installment of themusicaddict's Dodgers Daily for April 21st, 2013. The Dodgers-Orioles game was rained out Friday night. That lead to the Dodgers and Orioles playing a split double header yesterday. The Dodgers lost both and have now lost 6 games in a row.
Many of the Dodgers liabilities are being exposed early in this season. In Game 1 at least the Dodgers offense finally showed up, although they still lost 7-5. In the Dodgers previous 4 games they had scored a total of 7 runs. Although LA's offense showed up, their pitching wasn't great.
I just don't understand how a team that has about a $218 million payroll can have such terrible hitters at the bottom of their lineup. Since the game was in an AL Stadium, the Dodgers were able to use a designated hitter. This is what the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th hitters line up did in Game 1. Ramon Hernandez was 0-3 and is hitting .111 on the season. Skip Schumaker was 0-3 and hitting .100 this season. Luis Cruz was 0-3 and is hitting .093 for this season. Justin Sellers at least had a hit, finishing 1-4. Sellers is comparatively hot to the other hitters as he's batting .186 this season. The final four batters in the Dodgers lineup were 1-13, which is a .076 batting average.
That especially doesn't help when one of the Dodgers best hitters is hitting so poorly this season, that of course is Matt Kemp. Kemp did have 3 hits in the first game, but that only raised his batting average to .217. He's only getting a hit roughly every fifth at bat and his bat hasn't had much pop this season. He still hasn't hit a home run and only has 5 RBIs this season. (All batting averages mentioned above were up to yesterday's Game 1.)
In Game 2 the Dodgers offense reverted to normal as they only scored 1 run. In 6 of the Dodgers last 8 games, their offense has managed more than 3 runs only two times. It seems that scoring at least 4 runs is the tipping point in order to win the majority of games. I tried to find exact stats on-line, but I didn't.
In Game 2 the Dodgers only managed 6 total hits and only one from that dreadful final four batters of the lineup. That final four included one of the Dodgers most highly paid players, Andre Ethier. He did hit a 3 run home run in Game 1. However in game 2 he was 0-4 and is hitting .250 this season. A.J. Ellis was 1-2 and is hitting .319 this season. Ellis is an unassuming key part of the Dodgers, although a consistent contributor. Although he only had one hit, he did get on base 3 times this game. Ellis's on-base percentage is .429 this season. Juan Uribe was 0-4 and is hitting .158 on the season. Luis Cruz was 0-3 as his batting average dropped to .087. And then in a pinch hitting role Skip Schumaker was 0-1 and has a .095 batting average this season. Although calling Schumaker a pinch hitter is a bit of a stretch, maybe they should just call him a pinch out? The Dodgers final 4 hitters hit .071 in Game 2. Their whole line up only hit .206.
Josh Beckett continues to be the anchor of the Dodgers staff, he dropped to 0-3 this season. He gave up 8 hits yesterday and has a 4.68 ERA. I hope the Red Sox thank LA everyday for taking Beckett off their hands.
Upcoming today is the final game in the Dodgers-Orioles series and this series can't end soon enough. The Orioles will send Jake Arrieta to the mound, he's 1-0 on the season. The Dodgers will send Stephen Fife to the mound, he's making his season debut for the Dodgers. No word on whether he's any relation to Barney Fife.
In Sunday's game Fife gave up 4 hits and 3 runs in the first inning. The Orioles only need to score one more run to almost guarantee themselves a victory as they are playing the offensively challenged Dodgers.
Not only is $147 million man Zack Greinke out for about 7 more weeks, now Chad Billingsley is going on the DL for the second time this season. He was placed on the 15 day DL because of his sore right elbow. It does look like Ted Lilly will be making his season debut for the Dodgers soon, but honestly I'm not expecting a whole lot from him.
Before Sunday's game the Dodgers are 7-10 and 4th place in the NL West. They trail the first place Rockies by 6 games. Even more concerning they only lead the last place Padres by 2 games. I don't have high hopes for this Dodgers team the rest of the season. Maybe they'll be able to dump some of their expensive players before the trade deadline and get some prospects. Sadly this current Dodgers team doesn't seem to be built to even make the playoffs.
Meanwhile the Orioles are 10-7 and third place in the AL East. They trail the surprising Red Sox by 2.5 games and the injury prone Yankees by a .5 game.
themusicaddict
Welcome to another installment of themusicaddict's Dodgers Daily for April 21st, 2013. The Dodgers-Orioles game was rained out Friday night. That lead to the Dodgers and Orioles playing a split double header yesterday. The Dodgers lost both and have now lost 6 games in a row.
Many of the Dodgers liabilities are being exposed early in this season. In Game 1 at least the Dodgers offense finally showed up, although they still lost 7-5. In the Dodgers previous 4 games they had scored a total of 7 runs. Although LA's offense showed up, their pitching wasn't great.
I just don't understand how a team that has about a $218 million payroll can have such terrible hitters at the bottom of their lineup. Since the game was in an AL Stadium, the Dodgers were able to use a designated hitter. This is what the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th hitters line up did in Game 1. Ramon Hernandez was 0-3 and is hitting .111 on the season. Skip Schumaker was 0-3 and hitting .100 this season. Luis Cruz was 0-3 and is hitting .093 for this season. Justin Sellers at least had a hit, finishing 1-4. Sellers is comparatively hot to the other hitters as he's batting .186 this season. The final four batters in the Dodgers lineup were 1-13, which is a .076 batting average.
That especially doesn't help when one of the Dodgers best hitters is hitting so poorly this season, that of course is Matt Kemp. Kemp did have 3 hits in the first game, but that only raised his batting average to .217. He's only getting a hit roughly every fifth at bat and his bat hasn't had much pop this season. He still hasn't hit a home run and only has 5 RBIs this season. (All batting averages mentioned above were up to yesterday's Game 1.)
In Game 2 the Dodgers offense reverted to normal as they only scored 1 run. In 6 of the Dodgers last 8 games, their offense has managed more than 3 runs only two times. It seems that scoring at least 4 runs is the tipping point in order to win the majority of games. I tried to find exact stats on-line, but I didn't.
In Game 2 the Dodgers only managed 6 total hits and only one from that dreadful final four batters of the lineup. That final four included one of the Dodgers most highly paid players, Andre Ethier. He did hit a 3 run home run in Game 1. However in game 2 he was 0-4 and is hitting .250 this season. A.J. Ellis was 1-2 and is hitting .319 this season. Ellis is an unassuming key part of the Dodgers, although a consistent contributor. Although he only had one hit, he did get on base 3 times this game. Ellis's on-base percentage is .429 this season. Juan Uribe was 0-4 and is hitting .158 on the season. Luis Cruz was 0-3 as his batting average dropped to .087. And then in a pinch hitting role Skip Schumaker was 0-1 and has a .095 batting average this season. Although calling Schumaker a pinch hitter is a bit of a stretch, maybe they should just call him a pinch out? The Dodgers final 4 hitters hit .071 in Game 2. Their whole line up only hit .206.
Josh Beckett continues to be the anchor of the Dodgers staff, he dropped to 0-3 this season. He gave up 8 hits yesterday and has a 4.68 ERA. I hope the Red Sox thank LA everyday for taking Beckett off their hands.
Upcoming today is the final game in the Dodgers-Orioles series and this series can't end soon enough. The Orioles will send Jake Arrieta to the mound, he's 1-0 on the season. The Dodgers will send Stephen Fife to the mound, he's making his season debut for the Dodgers. No word on whether he's any relation to Barney Fife.
In Sunday's game Fife gave up 4 hits and 3 runs in the first inning. The Orioles only need to score one more run to almost guarantee themselves a victory as they are playing the offensively challenged Dodgers.
Not only is $147 million man Zack Greinke out for about 7 more weeks, now Chad Billingsley is going on the DL for the second time this season. He was placed on the 15 day DL because of his sore right elbow. It does look like Ted Lilly will be making his season debut for the Dodgers soon, but honestly I'm not expecting a whole lot from him.
Before Sunday's game the Dodgers are 7-10 and 4th place in the NL West. They trail the first place Rockies by 6 games. Even more concerning they only lead the last place Padres by 2 games. I don't have high hopes for this Dodgers team the rest of the season. Maybe they'll be able to dump some of their expensive players before the trade deadline and get some prospects. Sadly this current Dodgers team doesn't seem to be built to even make the playoffs.
Meanwhile the Orioles are 10-7 and third place in the AL East. They trail the surprising Red Sox by 2.5 games and the injury prone Yankees by a .5 game.
themusicaddict
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Knicks Basketball = Ugly: Ugly Win, Ugly Offense and Carmelo's Ugly, Ridiculous Mustache
Hello,
I was flipping through the dictionary today and I stumbled across the word ugly. I was surprised to see the 2013 Knicks team photo. But it can't be denied, nearly everything about the Knicks is ugly. Here's just a few ugly things I noticed today while watching the Knicks first playoff game against the Celtics:
1) Their offense is ugly, the Knicks stand around and wait for Carmelo Anthony to shoot the ball. Do they call that offense the stand and chuck. Anthony was "on fire" today, he made 13 of 29 shots. That's almost 45%, which is in line with his season shooting percentage. I love how people say he's a great shooter. For every field goal and free throw a person shoots, he should average at least a point per shot. Anthony shot 29 field goals and 6 free throws as he scored 36 points in the game. Anthony scored 1 point more than his combined 35 shots. I'm glad it's a team I don't like who's putting their fate in the hands of Anthony.
I laughed that Anthony's FIRST assist came with about a minute left in the game. That play describes Anthony's one-dimensional game perfectly. It seems the Celtics defense forgot that Anthony does occasionally pass. I certainly understand how the Celtics could forget that though.
Carmelo is also the owner of one of the most preposterously ugly mustaches in the NBA. Um, why hasn't anyone talked to him about that? Anthony finished with 6 rebounds, 3 turnovers and that rare assist. He also virtually played no defense. I just don't get why people are so enthralled with the NBA's most overpaid player. (Tom Van Riper's article in Forbes magazine.)
2) This is where I would mock the Knicks defense in the first half of the game, but I can't mock what they didn't do. They played a much more literally hands on/ mugging defense in the second half.
3) Iman Shumpert's ugly Kid N' Play hair. Does he and Anthony get hair advice from the same person?
4) Those clothes that Spike Lee was wearing today. I'm so glad some of his movies are better than his sartorial choices.
5) Their heavily tattoo'd team, especially J.R. Smith's near full body series of tattoos. I could care less if people get tattoos, but I don't understand the attraction to them. They certainly aren't attractive to look at.
6) Eastern Conference basketball, especially in the playoffs, is ugly. That is except for the Heat, they are a joy to watch. They have a more balanced attack that spreads the ball and is more more enjoyable to the eye. (By the way I'm glad the Heat have ignored Brandon Jennings comments, of course why would they pay attention to Jennings? The Heat were already going to sweep the Bucks, but now that series might be even uglier.)
I'll give credit to the Knicks as they did pull out the ugly victory 85-78. Game 2 is Tuesday night back at MSG.
Also I really like the Knicks coach, Mike Woodson. He seems like a very classy guy and I love that he is rarely demonstrative on the sidelines. At first I wasn't sure why the Knicks hired him, but that's been one of their best decisions in the last several years. Not that they've made a lot of great decisions.
One side note: I wish Jeff Van Gundy could call every NBA game. The man is hilarious and cracks me up. He's not one of those bland announcers that speaks in corporate Americaese. He actually has strong opinions and stands by them. For instance, when Mike Breen asked him if anybody could beat the Heat in the Eastern Conference. Without any bull, Van Gundy simply said "no". Of course unless you are completely blind, that's exceedingly obvious. But I'm glad he stated the obvious and didn't try to finesse it like I'm sure his corporate overlords want him too.
themusicaddict
I was flipping through the dictionary today and I stumbled across the word ugly. I was surprised to see the 2013 Knicks team photo. But it can't be denied, nearly everything about the Knicks is ugly. Here's just a few ugly things I noticed today while watching the Knicks first playoff game against the Celtics:
1) Their offense is ugly, the Knicks stand around and wait for Carmelo Anthony to shoot the ball. Do they call that offense the stand and chuck. Anthony was "on fire" today, he made 13 of 29 shots. That's almost 45%, which is in line with his season shooting percentage. I love how people say he's a great shooter. For every field goal and free throw a person shoots, he should average at least a point per shot. Anthony shot 29 field goals and 6 free throws as he scored 36 points in the game. Anthony scored 1 point more than his combined 35 shots. I'm glad it's a team I don't like who's putting their fate in the hands of Anthony.
I laughed that Anthony's FIRST assist came with about a minute left in the game. That play describes Anthony's one-dimensional game perfectly. It seems the Celtics defense forgot that Anthony does occasionally pass. I certainly understand how the Celtics could forget that though.
Carmelo is also the owner of one of the most preposterously ugly mustaches in the NBA. Um, why hasn't anyone talked to him about that? Anthony finished with 6 rebounds, 3 turnovers and that rare assist. He also virtually played no defense. I just don't get why people are so enthralled with the NBA's most overpaid player. (Tom Van Riper's article in Forbes magazine.)
2) This is where I would mock the Knicks defense in the first half of the game, but I can't mock what they didn't do. They played a much more literally hands on/ mugging defense in the second half.
3) Iman Shumpert's ugly Kid N' Play hair. Does he and Anthony get hair advice from the same person?
4) Those clothes that Spike Lee was wearing today. I'm so glad some of his movies are better than his sartorial choices.
5) Their heavily tattoo'd team, especially J.R. Smith's near full body series of tattoos. I could care less if people get tattoos, but I don't understand the attraction to them. They certainly aren't attractive to look at.
6) Eastern Conference basketball, especially in the playoffs, is ugly. That is except for the Heat, they are a joy to watch. They have a more balanced attack that spreads the ball and is more more enjoyable to the eye. (By the way I'm glad the Heat have ignored Brandon Jennings comments, of course why would they pay attention to Jennings? The Heat were already going to sweep the Bucks, but now that series might be even uglier.)
I'll give credit to the Knicks as they did pull out the ugly victory 85-78. Game 2 is Tuesday night back at MSG.
Also I really like the Knicks coach, Mike Woodson. He seems like a very classy guy and I love that he is rarely demonstrative on the sidelines. At first I wasn't sure why the Knicks hired him, but that's been one of their best decisions in the last several years. Not that they've made a lot of great decisions.
One side note: I wish Jeff Van Gundy could call every NBA game. The man is hilarious and cracks me up. He's not one of those bland announcers that speaks in corporate Americaese. He actually has strong opinions and stands by them. For instance, when Mike Breen asked him if anybody could beat the Heat in the Eastern Conference. Without any bull, Van Gundy simply said "no". Of course unless you are completely blind, that's exceedingly obvious. But I'm glad he stated the obvious and didn't try to finesse it like I'm sure his corporate overlords want him too.
themusicaddict
Friday, April 19, 2013
themusicaddict's Things I Won't Be Writing About Today: Anticipating Another 8-8 Cowboys Season in 2013, I Love Ainsley Hayes
Hello,
These are things I'm not writing about today:
Tomorrow is the annual Record Store Day, support your local independent record store. Independent record stores usually have all sorts of fun promotions, giveaways and discounts on many of their items. If you live in Utah, Graywhale is a great independent record store.
Thanks to my friends at the Davis County Library, I've been ripping through episodes of the excellent "The West Wing" on DVD. I love this show so much, it's so good. Right now I'm watching Season 2. I absolutely love Ainsley Hays. Emily Proctor plays that character with the proper amount of humor and charm.
Last June I received my first Kindle and have yet to read a complete book on it. I think that trend may come to an end as soon as this weekend. Thanks to my trial membership in amazon.com Prime I was able to borrow a Kindle book. Currently I'm reading Lee Goldberg's "The Walk". It's about a TV executive who is far away from home when a major LA earthquake hits. The book follows him as he tries to make his way back home to his wife. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with a bounty hunter named Buck. (By the way living in Salt Lake City, I've long been afraid when we will have our own Big One.)
It's only about 200 pages and a quick read so I've read through it pretty quickly. Unless the end is a complete mess I'm highly recommending this book.
Yesterday the NFL released the 2013 regular season schedule. Looking at the Dallas Cowboys schedule, my first instinct is that it will be another 8-8 season for them. 8-8 and the fifth in six years of not making the playoffs. When a team has an egotistical owner that doubles as a bad GM there's only so much one can realistically expect. The good thing about another 8-8 season is the Cowboys will finally get rid of terrible head coach Jason Garrett. Sadly they'll still be stuck with Jones.
The NFL Draft is coming up very soon and the poorly run Cowboys are looking to the draft to save fill in all their holes. The only problem with that is that with the idiot GM, the Cowboys have been horrible at drafting. Look at the 2008 and 2009 drafts if you want proof. Also you can bet that the Cowboys will trade the first round pick just to make a splash, that's Jones MO. If they trade that first round pick for multiple picks in later rounds I'd be all for that. The Cowboys desperately need to fill the holes from those 2008 and 2009 drafts.
I hate following such a mediocre franchise, especially over a 16 year span, so that's one of the reasons I started cheering for the 49ers. The 49ers are everything the Cowboys aren't. They have a great head coach in Jim Harbaugh, a great GM who I don't even know his name, a great Offensive Coordinator in Greg Roman, a great quarterback and a great defense. Also since their organization is one of the best run in the NFL, they have more money to spend than do many teams. Because of that they've had a great off season, adding many players that will take them to the next level. (The Cowboys had to sign the terrible Tony Romo to an extension to open up a significant amount of cap room.)
I'm predicting that the 49ers will go 12-4 this season and make another deep playoff run.
Yesterday I wrote about the upcoming NBA playoffs. Neither the Clippers or the Knicks are going to get anywhere near the NBA title. The Knicks are the second best team in the 1 quality team Eastern Conference. There's the Heat and then everyone else. In the Western Conference I don't even know if the Clippers will get out of the first round. Even if they survive that round, they won't get out of the second round.
themusicaddict
These are things I'm not writing about today:
Tomorrow is the annual Record Store Day, support your local independent record store. Independent record stores usually have all sorts of fun promotions, giveaways and discounts on many of their items. If you live in Utah, Graywhale is a great independent record store.
Thanks to my friends at the Davis County Library, I've been ripping through episodes of the excellent "The West Wing" on DVD. I love this show so much, it's so good. Right now I'm watching Season 2. I absolutely love Ainsley Hays. Emily Proctor plays that character with the proper amount of humor and charm.
Last June I received my first Kindle and have yet to read a complete book on it. I think that trend may come to an end as soon as this weekend. Thanks to my trial membership in amazon.com Prime I was able to borrow a Kindle book. Currently I'm reading Lee Goldberg's "The Walk". It's about a TV executive who is far away from home when a major LA earthquake hits. The book follows him as he tries to make his way back home to his wife. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with a bounty hunter named Buck. (By the way living in Salt Lake City, I've long been afraid when we will have our own Big One.)
It's only about 200 pages and a quick read so I've read through it pretty quickly. Unless the end is a complete mess I'm highly recommending this book.
Yesterday the NFL released the 2013 regular season schedule. Looking at the Dallas Cowboys schedule, my first instinct is that it will be another 8-8 season for them. 8-8 and the fifth in six years of not making the playoffs. When a team has an egotistical owner that doubles as a bad GM there's only so much one can realistically expect. The good thing about another 8-8 season is the Cowboys will finally get rid of terrible head coach Jason Garrett. Sadly they'll still be stuck with Jones.
The NFL Draft is coming up very soon and the poorly run Cowboys are looking to the draft to save fill in all their holes. The only problem with that is that with the idiot GM, the Cowboys have been horrible at drafting. Look at the 2008 and 2009 drafts if you want proof. Also you can bet that the Cowboys will trade the first round pick just to make a splash, that's Jones MO. If they trade that first round pick for multiple picks in later rounds I'd be all for that. The Cowboys desperately need to fill the holes from those 2008 and 2009 drafts.
I hate following such a mediocre franchise, especially over a 16 year span, so that's one of the reasons I started cheering for the 49ers. The 49ers are everything the Cowboys aren't. They have a great head coach in Jim Harbaugh, a great GM who I don't even know his name, a great Offensive Coordinator in Greg Roman, a great quarterback and a great defense. Also since their organization is one of the best run in the NFL, they have more money to spend than do many teams. Because of that they've had a great off season, adding many players that will take them to the next level. (The Cowboys had to sign the terrible Tony Romo to an extension to open up a significant amount of cap room.)
I'm predicting that the 49ers will go 12-4 this season and make another deep playoff run.
Yesterday I wrote about the upcoming NBA playoffs. Neither the Clippers or the Knicks are going to get anywhere near the NBA title. The Knicks are the second best team in the 1 quality team Eastern Conference. There's the Heat and then everyone else. In the Western Conference I don't even know if the Clippers will get out of the first round. Even if they survive that round, they won't get out of the second round.
themusicaddict
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The NBA Playoffs Start Saturday: Thankfully the Jazz Aren't In Them, The Knicks Will Be A Washout As Usual
Hello,
First of all what I want to say is thank goodness the Jazz didn't make the playoffs. What good would it be for the Jazz to get swept by the Thunder? That's especially when so many Jazz players are going to be playing elsewhere next season? The Jazz will have up to 10 free agents, of all those players I can live without all of them. It's time for the no defense Al Jefferson to find a new home. I thought Paul Milsap was a great player for a long time, but if he leaves it won't be a big deal. I hope that someone from the Jazz drives Mo Williams to the airport asap, the Jazz are desperately in need of a real point guard next year.
The Jazz will welcome back Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. I'm excited by the first two, but I'm not fully on board with Hayward yet. He's just too slight of frame to be as effective around the basket as he should be. Also the Jazz terribly mishandled going to a youth movement about 2/3rds of the way through the season. I wished they would have dumped either Jefferson or Milsap before the trade deadline.
Now the Jazz are probably the most conservative team in the NBA, so I expect Tyrone Corbin to be back as Jazz coach. Although with many new players coming in, I'm not sure it would be a good idea bringing him back.
The other bad thing about the Jazz this season was how boring they were. It was hard to watch a game with their ponderous offense. Passing to the black hole and standing around while waiting for him to shoot isn't that exciting. Can the Jazz also develop some semblance of a 3 point shooting offense? The Jazz seem to forget that they can shoot 3 pointers until another team rains a bunch on them.
The Jazz now have two first round picks, I hope they pick at least one point guard. They desperately need a point guard after having William, Jamaal Tinsley and Earl Watson. My favorite Jazz point guard this season was Alec Burks, who's not a traditional point guard. Burks was mostly wasted this season as the Jazz and Corbin didn't fully embrace a youth movement when they should have. This will come back to hurt the Jazz. All those young studs could have got valuable experience and been a hell of a lot more fun to watch.
Meanwhile the Lakers closed the season on a 5 game winning streak and somehow ended up with the 7th seed in the playoffs. I look forward to seeing the Spurs completely dismantle the Lakers in the first round. Anybody who thinks the Lakers have a chance in this series are either crazy or a Laker. I loved Dwight Howard, who was going to put it all on the floor last night, was so uninspiring yesterday. He shot 40% from both the free throw line and the field. That's 40% from the field when he usually shoots within 3 feet of the basket and against red faced Omer Asik. Maybe instead of leaving it on the floor, he should leave a few in the basket.
Although the Nuggets are the Western Conference's 3rd seeded team you wouldn't know it by the national press. If you thought the Lakers was the West's 3rd seed I'd understand. The Lakers have that prime Sunday afternoon spot for their first playoff game. And let's be honest that has nothing to do with the Spurs. It's because David Stern and the NBA are in love with the Lakers. I see the Spurs winning this series in 5.
ESPN had a poll asking who people thought would win the NBA Championship. For those 16% who voted for the Knicks you are completely idiotic. This Knicks team who depends so much on Carmelo Anthony and his .449 field goal percentage is going to beat the Miami Heat? Really? Next to saying either Jerry Jones or James Dolan is the best owner in all of professional sports, that might be the next dumbest thing to say.
Thanks to Johnette Howard at espn.com, here's some of the most interesting stats from her article about Anthony. Here's the link to read her full excellent story.:
http://espn.go.com/newyork/nba/story/_/id/9185836/2013-nba-playoffs-carmelo-anthony-tortured-playoff-history
Some of the highlights of Howard's article. She mentions Tom Van Riper's article at Forbes magazine naming Anthony the NBA's most overpaid player. I always thought it was him or Dwight Howard, I'm glad there are stats that back up these thoughts.
From Howard's article here are some other random Knicks/Anthony stats:
1) The Knicks have one playoff win in 11 years, they somehow won a game against the Heat last season. The Heat are like a cat that sometimes gets bored playing with the mouse and sometimes they lose interest.
2) As a player Carmelo Anthony is 17-37 in the playoffs. (He's the NBA's version of Tony Romo, other than Anthony at least gets his teams to the playoffs.)
3) Carmelo Anthony's teams have gone to the playoffs 9 times, but have only got past the first round once.
4) The Bulls are 4-0 against the Knicks this season, the Knicks playoff opponents will probably follow the Bulls' blueprint.
Don't get me wrong I still expect the Knicks to beat Boston in the first round of the playoffs. However it wouldn't completely surprise me if the Celtics win that series, especially if they steal the first game. The Knicks may even stumble to the Eastern Conference Finals with the East being so depleted and weak. Miami against Milwaukee in the first round is practically a bye for the Heat.
Meanwhile the Knicks will be in a dogfight with a hungry, experienced Celtics team playing for themselves and the whole city of Boston.
Just a side note Anthony took 56 more shots than Kevin Durrant, but scored 360 points less. When Anthony is your team's best player, there's a certain point you'll never reach.
The Heat will be the team to come out of the Eastern Conference and go to the NBA Finals. In the Western Conference it's going to either be the Spurs or the Thunder. We may have a NBA Finals rematch.
themusicaddict
First of all what I want to say is thank goodness the Jazz didn't make the playoffs. What good would it be for the Jazz to get swept by the Thunder? That's especially when so many Jazz players are going to be playing elsewhere next season? The Jazz will have up to 10 free agents, of all those players I can live without all of them. It's time for the no defense Al Jefferson to find a new home. I thought Paul Milsap was a great player for a long time, but if he leaves it won't be a big deal. I hope that someone from the Jazz drives Mo Williams to the airport asap, the Jazz are desperately in need of a real point guard next year.
The Jazz will welcome back Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. I'm excited by the first two, but I'm not fully on board with Hayward yet. He's just too slight of frame to be as effective around the basket as he should be. Also the Jazz terribly mishandled going to a youth movement about 2/3rds of the way through the season. I wished they would have dumped either Jefferson or Milsap before the trade deadline.
Now the Jazz are probably the most conservative team in the NBA, so I expect Tyrone Corbin to be back as Jazz coach. Although with many new players coming in, I'm not sure it would be a good idea bringing him back.
The other bad thing about the Jazz this season was how boring they were. It was hard to watch a game with their ponderous offense. Passing to the black hole and standing around while waiting for him to shoot isn't that exciting. Can the Jazz also develop some semblance of a 3 point shooting offense? The Jazz seem to forget that they can shoot 3 pointers until another team rains a bunch on them.
The Jazz now have two first round picks, I hope they pick at least one point guard. They desperately need a point guard after having William, Jamaal Tinsley and Earl Watson. My favorite Jazz point guard this season was Alec Burks, who's not a traditional point guard. Burks was mostly wasted this season as the Jazz and Corbin didn't fully embrace a youth movement when they should have. This will come back to hurt the Jazz. All those young studs could have got valuable experience and been a hell of a lot more fun to watch.
Meanwhile the Lakers closed the season on a 5 game winning streak and somehow ended up with the 7th seed in the playoffs. I look forward to seeing the Spurs completely dismantle the Lakers in the first round. Anybody who thinks the Lakers have a chance in this series are either crazy or a Laker. I loved Dwight Howard, who was going to put it all on the floor last night, was so uninspiring yesterday. He shot 40% from both the free throw line and the field. That's 40% from the field when he usually shoots within 3 feet of the basket and against red faced Omer Asik. Maybe instead of leaving it on the floor, he should leave a few in the basket.
Although the Nuggets are the Western Conference's 3rd seeded team you wouldn't know it by the national press. If you thought the Lakers was the West's 3rd seed I'd understand. The Lakers have that prime Sunday afternoon spot for their first playoff game. And let's be honest that has nothing to do with the Spurs. It's because David Stern and the NBA are in love with the Lakers. I see the Spurs winning this series in 5.
ESPN had a poll asking who people thought would win the NBA Championship. For those 16% who voted for the Knicks you are completely idiotic. This Knicks team who depends so much on Carmelo Anthony and his .449 field goal percentage is going to beat the Miami Heat? Really? Next to saying either Jerry Jones or James Dolan is the best owner in all of professional sports, that might be the next dumbest thing to say.
Thanks to Johnette Howard at espn.com, here's some of the most interesting stats from her article about Anthony. Here's the link to read her full excellent story.:
http://espn.go.com/newyork/nba/story/_/id/9185836/2013-nba-playoffs-carmelo-anthony-tortured-playoff-history
Some of the highlights of Howard's article. She mentions Tom Van Riper's article at Forbes magazine naming Anthony the NBA's most overpaid player. I always thought it was him or Dwight Howard, I'm glad there are stats that back up these thoughts.
From Howard's article here are some other random Knicks/Anthony stats:
1) The Knicks have one playoff win in 11 years, they somehow won a game against the Heat last season. The Heat are like a cat that sometimes gets bored playing with the mouse and sometimes they lose interest.
2) As a player Carmelo Anthony is 17-37 in the playoffs. (He's the NBA's version of Tony Romo, other than Anthony at least gets his teams to the playoffs.)
3) Carmelo Anthony's teams have gone to the playoffs 9 times, but have only got past the first round once.
4) The Bulls are 4-0 against the Knicks this season, the Knicks playoff opponents will probably follow the Bulls' blueprint.
Don't get me wrong I still expect the Knicks to beat Boston in the first round of the playoffs. However it wouldn't completely surprise me if the Celtics win that series, especially if they steal the first game. The Knicks may even stumble to the Eastern Conference Finals with the East being so depleted and weak. Miami against Milwaukee in the first round is practically a bye for the Heat.
Meanwhile the Knicks will be in a dogfight with a hungry, experienced Celtics team playing for themselves and the whole city of Boston.
Just a side note Anthony took 56 more shots than Kevin Durrant, but scored 360 points less. When Anthony is your team's best player, there's a certain point you'll never reach.
The Heat will be the team to come out of the Eastern Conference and go to the NBA Finals. In the Western Conference it's going to either be the Spurs or the Thunder. We may have a NBA Finals rematch.
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, April 17th, 2013: Swept By The Padres, What Are The Dodgers Most Embarrassed About?
Hello,
After being swept by the Padres last night, I wonder what one thing the Dodgers are most embarrassed by?Are they most embarrassed by 1) Being swept at home, by the 5-10 Padres? 2) Giving up 22 runs in the 3 games? 3) Or only scoring 7 total runs in the series to a team that has a much smaller payroll?
And to think people were fearful that this Dodger team might retaliate following the Greinke-Quentin melee? Not only did the Dodgers not retaliate, I'm not even sure how many of them showed up. Again I think the theme for the 2013 Dodgers is just because you have the money doesn't mean you should spend it. The Red Sox dumped all that salary and all those players on to the Dodgers. Currently the Red Sox are 10-4, meanwhile the Dodgers are 7-8. The Red Sox seem to be bouncing back, while I'm not sure what the Dodgers are doing. And the Dodgers are paying more for their mediocre team than the Red Sox are paying for their much better record.
I'm doing my best to keep this positive because I do remember the Frank McCourt era. Other than the Dodgers completely dissolving, I can't think of anything worse than the McCourt era. Thank goodness it's over, at least this Dodgers team is moving forward slightly.
Clayton Kershaw, 2-2, started off the season with two electrifying games. He has stumbled back to earth a bit. Although in his two losses Kershaw virtually received no run support. Despite his team's pathetic offensive performance, Kershaw is doing his part. Through 4 games this season he has a 1.88 ERA, which is very good. Kershaw also recently notched his 1000th career strike out. Imagine how good Kershaw would look if he pitched against this overpaid Dodgers lineup.
The Dodgers are 7-8 and 4th place in the NL West. They only lead the Padres, who just swept them. The Dodgers trail first place Colorado by 3.5 games. LA has a much needed day off Thursday and start a three game series against the Orioles on Friday. Since this series is in Baltimore, does that mean the Dodgers get to have a DH? But who not already playing regularly for the Dodgers would they have as a DH? The all powerful Skip Schumaker? The overpaid Giants transplant Juan Uribe? Egads.
I write about the Dodgers virtually everyday. I wrote about two of my other teams yesterday, the Red Sox and the Braves. To give close to equal coverage to all my teams, I'm writing about the Pirates and Cubs today.
Yesterday Pittsburgh beat St. Louis 5-0 to move to 7-7 on the season. The Pirates are now 3rd place in the NL Central, they are 1 game behind the team they played yesterday. The Cardinals lead the Pirates by 1 game. A.J. Burnett continues his late career effectiveness. Although he's 1-2 on the season, he has only a 2.63 ERA. He pitched a hell of a game yesterday, pitching 7 innings, striking out 8 and only allowing 1 hit. Also congrats to Burnett, he threw his 2000th career strike out yesterday.
Meanwhile the Cubs were rained out yesterday, which is just as well as they probably wouldn't have won anyway. The Cubs are in their usual place, near last place, in the NL Central. They probably miss the Astros most of any team in the NL. The Astros, who have gone to the AL, seem to be even worse than the Cubs. Chicago is 4-9, last place in the NL Central and trail St. Louis by 3.5 games. New year, same season for the Cubs. Will they ever be good again? Unlike the Astros, the Cubs have deep pockets behind them.
themusicaddict
After being swept by the Padres last night, I wonder what one thing the Dodgers are most embarrassed by?Are they most embarrassed by 1) Being swept at home, by the 5-10 Padres? 2) Giving up 22 runs in the 3 games? 3) Or only scoring 7 total runs in the series to a team that has a much smaller payroll?
And to think people were fearful that this Dodger team might retaliate following the Greinke-Quentin melee? Not only did the Dodgers not retaliate, I'm not even sure how many of them showed up. Again I think the theme for the 2013 Dodgers is just because you have the money doesn't mean you should spend it. The Red Sox dumped all that salary and all those players on to the Dodgers. Currently the Red Sox are 10-4, meanwhile the Dodgers are 7-8. The Red Sox seem to be bouncing back, while I'm not sure what the Dodgers are doing. And the Dodgers are paying more for their mediocre team than the Red Sox are paying for their much better record.
I'm doing my best to keep this positive because I do remember the Frank McCourt era. Other than the Dodgers completely dissolving, I can't think of anything worse than the McCourt era. Thank goodness it's over, at least this Dodgers team is moving forward slightly.
Clayton Kershaw, 2-2, started off the season with two electrifying games. He has stumbled back to earth a bit. Although in his two losses Kershaw virtually received no run support. Despite his team's pathetic offensive performance, Kershaw is doing his part. Through 4 games this season he has a 1.88 ERA, which is very good. Kershaw also recently notched his 1000th career strike out. Imagine how good Kershaw would look if he pitched against this overpaid Dodgers lineup.
The Dodgers are 7-8 and 4th place in the NL West. They only lead the Padres, who just swept them. The Dodgers trail first place Colorado by 3.5 games. LA has a much needed day off Thursday and start a three game series against the Orioles on Friday. Since this series is in Baltimore, does that mean the Dodgers get to have a DH? But who not already playing regularly for the Dodgers would they have as a DH? The all powerful Skip Schumaker? The overpaid Giants transplant Juan Uribe? Egads.
I write about the Dodgers virtually everyday. I wrote about two of my other teams yesterday, the Red Sox and the Braves. To give close to equal coverage to all my teams, I'm writing about the Pirates and Cubs today.
Yesterday Pittsburgh beat St. Louis 5-0 to move to 7-7 on the season. The Pirates are now 3rd place in the NL Central, they are 1 game behind the team they played yesterday. The Cardinals lead the Pirates by 1 game. A.J. Burnett continues his late career effectiveness. Although he's 1-2 on the season, he has only a 2.63 ERA. He pitched a hell of a game yesterday, pitching 7 innings, striking out 8 and only allowing 1 hit. Also congrats to Burnett, he threw his 2000th career strike out yesterday.
Meanwhile the Cubs were rained out yesterday, which is just as well as they probably wouldn't have won anyway. The Cubs are in their usual place, near last place, in the NL Central. They probably miss the Astros most of any team in the NL. The Astros, who have gone to the AL, seem to be even worse than the Cubs. Chicago is 4-9, last place in the NL Central and trail St. Louis by 3.5 games. New year, same season for the Cubs. Will they ever be good again? Unlike the Astros, the Cubs have deep pockets behind them.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Dodgers Daily April 16th, 2013: Dodgers Are In Trouble, Braves and Red Sox Playing Well
Hello,
If you are looking for a happy post about the Dodgers, then you need to look elsewhere. I know it's still early in the season, but it's clear that the Dodgers are in serious trouble. In their last 6 games they've scored 3,0,7,0,3 and 2 runs. Guess how many of those games they won? They won a grand total of 1 of those games. The game they scored the most runs was the game that they won, funny how that works. In those 6 games they scored a total of 15 runs, an average of 2.5 runs a game.
Of course it didn't help that the pitcher that was suppose to pitch last night, Zack Greinke, was injured in a stupid fight. So while the Dodgers need him the most he'll be out for about 2 months. Greinke's replacement, Chris Capuano, promptly gave up 4 runs in the first inning of last night's game. Capuano was so ineffective in his start that he didn't even get a chance to hit.
The Dodgers only had 4 hits last night. Of course the incredibly hot Carl Crawford had one of the hits, he's hitting .392 on the season. Matt Kemp continued his horrific early season hitting doldrums. He was up 3 times, stuck out twice and didn't have a single hit. Kemp is hitting .185 this season. In 54 at bats this season he has 17 strikeouts and only 2 RBIs.
Good news it looks like Hanley Ramirez will be back sooner than originally expected. The Dodgers didn't think he would be back until mid-May. Although if the Dodgers team wants to be a true playoff contender they should add at least one more bat. What's Yasiel Puig doing? He's currently playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Dodgers Double A affiliate. Puig is hitting .341, has 15 hits, 2 home runs and 7 RBIs.
The Dodgers have only hit 9 home runs in 456 at bats. Adrian Gonzalez and Juan Uribe are currently involved in a thrilling duel for most home runs for the Dodgers. Both players have each hit two home runs this season. Thankfully the strength of the Dodgers is their pitching. Dodgers pitching has only given up 7 home runs in 448 at bats.
Most people expected the Dodgers to retaliate when the Padres visited town. Well the MLB didn't have to worry about that, although maybe they should investigate while the Dodgers decided to play dead for this series.
The Dodgers remain in 4th place in the NL West, 3 games behind the surprising first place Rockies. LA has one more game against the powerhouse Padres. The Padres have tagged Dodgers pitching for 15 runs in two games. After tonight thankfully the Dodgers get a day off, of course it seems like some of their players have been taking days off already.
Call me a bandwagon jumper, but yes I have more than one team I cheer for. Although I have been on the bandwagon of the Dodgers the longest. I started following the Dodgers when their infield was Bill Russell, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Davey Lopes. My favorite player growing up was Garvey.
Two of my other teams are the Red Sox and Braves, both of those teams are off to better than expected starts. This blog is a bit behind as the Braves already played on Wednesday, losing 1-0 to the Royals. The information below is current through Tuesday night. As of last night the Braves had won 10 games in a row. In Tuesday night's game the Braves hit 5 home runs. Although it's only 13 games into the season, the Braves are 12-1. They lead the second place Nationals by 4.5 games already. Of course the Braves won't continue that pace all season, but I'm going to enjoy as long as it lasts.
Also Boston won again yesterday, they beat the Indians and former manager Terry Francona 7-2. The Red Sox scored all 7 of their runs in the second inning. Mike Napoli had the big blow as his second inning double knocked in 3 runs. Boston is 9-4 and all without the help of Big Papi, who may be back as soon as Friday.
The Red Sox lead the AL East, they lead the second place Evil Empire by 1.5 games.
themusicaddict
If you are looking for a happy post about the Dodgers, then you need to look elsewhere. I know it's still early in the season, but it's clear that the Dodgers are in serious trouble. In their last 6 games they've scored 3,0,7,0,3 and 2 runs. Guess how many of those games they won? They won a grand total of 1 of those games. The game they scored the most runs was the game that they won, funny how that works. In those 6 games they scored a total of 15 runs, an average of 2.5 runs a game.
Of course it didn't help that the pitcher that was suppose to pitch last night, Zack Greinke, was injured in a stupid fight. So while the Dodgers need him the most he'll be out for about 2 months. Greinke's replacement, Chris Capuano, promptly gave up 4 runs in the first inning of last night's game. Capuano was so ineffective in his start that he didn't even get a chance to hit.
The Dodgers only had 4 hits last night. Of course the incredibly hot Carl Crawford had one of the hits, he's hitting .392 on the season. Matt Kemp continued his horrific early season hitting doldrums. He was up 3 times, stuck out twice and didn't have a single hit. Kemp is hitting .185 this season. In 54 at bats this season he has 17 strikeouts and only 2 RBIs.
Good news it looks like Hanley Ramirez will be back sooner than originally expected. The Dodgers didn't think he would be back until mid-May. Although if the Dodgers team wants to be a true playoff contender they should add at least one more bat. What's Yasiel Puig doing? He's currently playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Dodgers Double A affiliate. Puig is hitting .341, has 15 hits, 2 home runs and 7 RBIs.
The Dodgers have only hit 9 home runs in 456 at bats. Adrian Gonzalez and Juan Uribe are currently involved in a thrilling duel for most home runs for the Dodgers. Both players have each hit two home runs this season. Thankfully the strength of the Dodgers is their pitching. Dodgers pitching has only given up 7 home runs in 448 at bats.
Most people expected the Dodgers to retaliate when the Padres visited town. Well the MLB didn't have to worry about that, although maybe they should investigate while the Dodgers decided to play dead for this series.
The Dodgers remain in 4th place in the NL West, 3 games behind the surprising first place Rockies. LA has one more game against the powerhouse Padres. The Padres have tagged Dodgers pitching for 15 runs in two games. After tonight thankfully the Dodgers get a day off, of course it seems like some of their players have been taking days off already.
Call me a bandwagon jumper, but yes I have more than one team I cheer for. Although I have been on the bandwagon of the Dodgers the longest. I started following the Dodgers when their infield was Bill Russell, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Davey Lopes. My favorite player growing up was Garvey.
Two of my other teams are the Red Sox and Braves, both of those teams are off to better than expected starts. This blog is a bit behind as the Braves already played on Wednesday, losing 1-0 to the Royals. The information below is current through Tuesday night. As of last night the Braves had won 10 games in a row. In Tuesday night's game the Braves hit 5 home runs. Although it's only 13 games into the season, the Braves are 12-1. They lead the second place Nationals by 4.5 games already. Of course the Braves won't continue that pace all season, but I'm going to enjoy as long as it lasts.
Also Boston won again yesterday, they beat the Indians and former manager Terry Francona 7-2. The Red Sox scored all 7 of their runs in the second inning. Mike Napoli had the big blow as his second inning double knocked in 3 runs. Boston is 9-4 and all without the help of Big Papi, who may be back as soon as Friday.
The Red Sox lead the AL East, they lead the second place Evil Empire by 1.5 games.
themusicaddict
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Was 1985 The Best Year For Music Ever 4?: The Best of 1985's New Wave
Hello,
This is my fourth in a series of blogs celebrating the great music of 1985. I won't definitely state that it's the best year for music ever. But if it isn't, it comes very close. Here are some of the best New Wave from 1985. I'm getting these songs from two Spotify playlists. The first playlist is 1985 KROQ Top 106.7 songs. The second playlist is KROQ Countdown 1985. Enjoy:
I'm starting with an Oingo Boingo triple play.
"Just Another Day":
"From my heart and from my hands why don't people understand my intentions?" "Weird Science":
"Gratitude":
Here's an ABC triple play:
"Be Near Me":
"Vanity Kills":
"How To Be A Millionaire":
Paul Hardcastle's "19" (The Destruction Mix):
Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls":
Pet Shop Boys "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)":
King's "Love and Pride":
King's "Won't You Hold My Hand Now":
We can't forget Dead or Alive and one of the best songs of all-time "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)":
"My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor)"
"Lover Come Back To Me":
"Would I Lie To You":
themusicaddict
This is my fourth in a series of blogs celebrating the great music of 1985. I won't definitely state that it's the best year for music ever. But if it isn't, it comes very close. Here are some of the best New Wave from 1985. I'm getting these songs from two Spotify playlists. The first playlist is 1985 KROQ Top 106.7 songs. The second playlist is KROQ Countdown 1985. Enjoy:
I'm starting with an Oingo Boingo triple play.
"Just Another Day":
"From my heart and from my hands why don't people understand my intentions?" "Weird Science":
"Gratitude":
Here's an ABC triple play:
"Be Near Me":
"Vanity Kills":
"How To Be A Millionaire":
Paul Hardcastle's "19" (The Destruction Mix):
Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls":
Pet Shop Boys "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)":
King's "Love and Pride":
King's "Won't You Hold My Hand Now":
We can't forget Dead or Alive and one of the best songs of all-time "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)":
"My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor)"
"Lover Come Back To Me":
"Would I Lie To You":
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, April 14th, 2013: Dodgers Offense Inept of Late, Not Coincidentally Lose 3 of 4
Hello,
The Dodgers scoring drought of late last season seems to have carried over to this season. In LA's last 4 games the Dodgers have only scored 10 runs. As I state in this blog's title, not so coincidentally they lost 3 of those 4 games.
On Sunday the Dodgers ended their 3 game series with the Diamondbacks by scoring 0 runs. A too infrequent Josh Beckett masterpiece was ruined. Although it was Beckett's best start of the season by far, he was still hung with the loss. This loss can't be blamed on him. The blame for this loss has to go to the so-called Dodgers offense. On Sunday they were truly offensive, but not the right kind of offensive.
Adrian Gonzalez had 3 hits and Nick Punto added two hits. The following players had 0 hits: Matt Kemp (again), Mark Ellis, A.J. Ellis and Luis Cruz. Kemp also struck out 3 times and only has a .174 batting average. Carl Crawford was held hitless in this game too. However I'm giving a pass to Crawford as he's started off the season on a torrid streak. He also bounced back with 3 hits against the Padres in the first game of that series.
In the Dodgers-Padres first game since the Zack Greinke- Carlos Quentin tussle there didn't seem to be much friction. Although Quentin charged the mound, I still think that Greinke was more in the wrong. Not only that but Greinke can't risk getting hurt over something so stupid. I'm guessing the less than expected lack of friction last night partially had to do with the tragic bombing of the Boston Marathon earlier in the day. Also the fact that MLB executive Joe Torre called both managers and reminded them the importance of the day probably didn't hurt. Yesterday throughout the MLB was Jackie Robinson day. On April 15th, 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the MLB's color barrier. I've always been proud that I'm a fan of the Dodgers, the team that made that momentous move. Jackie Robinson is a true hero.
There were no fireworks because of repercussions of the fight. Another thing that wasn't explosive was the Dodgers offense. Although after being shut out in 2 of their last three games I'm relatively happy LA could push 3 runs across the plate. The Dodgers did have 12 hits but left 10 runners stranded. Carl Crawford had another good game, although he is cooling down slightly. He was 3 for 5 and his batting average lowered to .396. Adrian Gonzalez has bounced back from a slow start and now is also hitting .396. Gonzalez also has 11 RBIs, 19 hits, including 2 home runs. Gonzalez leads the Dodgers in most offensive categories.
The Dodgers desperately need to add two more bats for this season to live up to the hype. I realize that Hanley Ramirez will be back in a few weeks, so there's one bat. I also can't wait until the real Matt Kemp comes back, his bat is very much missed. The Dodgers need to have a run of about 10 games where they hit multiple home runs in each game. With runs at such a premium it didn't help that Greinke was stupid in engaging Quentin a few days ago.
After fighting for 1st place in the NL West over the weekend, the Dodgers have slipped to 4th place. LA is now 7-6 and they trail the first place and defending World Series champ Giants by 2 games. As of now LA only leads the terrible Padres, who are only 3-10.
Upcoming the Dodgers play two more games against the Padres. Tonight new to the Dodgers starting rotation is Chris Capuano. He'll be matching up against Jason Marquis. This weekend the Dodgers will be playing their first interleague series of the season. They're traveling to Baltimore to take on the Orioles for 3 games.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers scoring drought of late last season seems to have carried over to this season. In LA's last 4 games the Dodgers have only scored 10 runs. As I state in this blog's title, not so coincidentally they lost 3 of those 4 games.
On Sunday the Dodgers ended their 3 game series with the Diamondbacks by scoring 0 runs. A too infrequent Josh Beckett masterpiece was ruined. Although it was Beckett's best start of the season by far, he was still hung with the loss. This loss can't be blamed on him. The blame for this loss has to go to the so-called Dodgers offense. On Sunday they were truly offensive, but not the right kind of offensive.
Adrian Gonzalez had 3 hits and Nick Punto added two hits. The following players had 0 hits: Matt Kemp (again), Mark Ellis, A.J. Ellis and Luis Cruz. Kemp also struck out 3 times and only has a .174 batting average. Carl Crawford was held hitless in this game too. However I'm giving a pass to Crawford as he's started off the season on a torrid streak. He also bounced back with 3 hits against the Padres in the first game of that series.
In the Dodgers-Padres first game since the Zack Greinke- Carlos Quentin tussle there didn't seem to be much friction. Although Quentin charged the mound, I still think that Greinke was more in the wrong. Not only that but Greinke can't risk getting hurt over something so stupid. I'm guessing the less than expected lack of friction last night partially had to do with the tragic bombing of the Boston Marathon earlier in the day. Also the fact that MLB executive Joe Torre called both managers and reminded them the importance of the day probably didn't hurt. Yesterday throughout the MLB was Jackie Robinson day. On April 15th, 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the MLB's color barrier. I've always been proud that I'm a fan of the Dodgers, the team that made that momentous move. Jackie Robinson is a true hero.
There were no fireworks because of repercussions of the fight. Another thing that wasn't explosive was the Dodgers offense. Although after being shut out in 2 of their last three games I'm relatively happy LA could push 3 runs across the plate. The Dodgers did have 12 hits but left 10 runners stranded. Carl Crawford had another good game, although he is cooling down slightly. He was 3 for 5 and his batting average lowered to .396. Adrian Gonzalez has bounced back from a slow start and now is also hitting .396. Gonzalez also has 11 RBIs, 19 hits, including 2 home runs. Gonzalez leads the Dodgers in most offensive categories.
The Dodgers desperately need to add two more bats for this season to live up to the hype. I realize that Hanley Ramirez will be back in a few weeks, so there's one bat. I also can't wait until the real Matt Kemp comes back, his bat is very much missed. The Dodgers need to have a run of about 10 games where they hit multiple home runs in each game. With runs at such a premium it didn't help that Greinke was stupid in engaging Quentin a few days ago.
After fighting for 1st place in the NL West over the weekend, the Dodgers have slipped to 4th place. LA is now 7-6 and they trail the first place and defending World Series champ Giants by 2 games. As of now LA only leads the terrible Padres, who are only 3-10.
Upcoming the Dodgers play two more games against the Padres. Tonight new to the Dodgers starting rotation is Chris Capuano. He'll be matching up against Jason Marquis. This weekend the Dodgers will be playing their first interleague series of the season. They're traveling to Baltimore to take on the Orioles for 3 games.
themusicaddict
Boston Marathon Tragedy
Hello,
First of all my prayers and thoughts go to the victims of yesterday's bombing of the Boston Marathon. Because of the cowardice of someone, 3 people were killed and over 130 people were injured. I can't imagine how terrible it is for those families of those who died. They went from having a great day to a tragic day in just a few moments. May the dead be buried properly, the injured recover as well as possible and culprits be caught.
Do not underestimate the fight and spirit of the American people and Bostonians. This crime won't be forgotten and the perpetrators will be caught and punished. "On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor." (thanks to wikipedia.org)
The above is a drawing of the Boston Tea Party during the tumultuous early 1770s.
themusicaddict
First of all my prayers and thoughts go to the victims of yesterday's bombing of the Boston Marathon. Because of the cowardice of someone, 3 people were killed and over 130 people were injured. I can't imagine how terrible it is for those families of those who died. They went from having a great day to a tragic day in just a few moments. May the dead be buried properly, the injured recover as well as possible and culprits be caught.
Do not underestimate the fight and spirit of the American people and Bostonians. This crime won't be forgotten and the perpetrators will be caught and punished. "On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor." (thanks to wikipedia.org)
The above is a drawing of the Boston Tea Party during the tumultuous early 1770s.
themusicaddict
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Dodgers Daily April 14th, 2013, Kershaw Is Human, Ryu Is Good So Far and Atlanta Remains On Fire
Hello,
Welcome to themusicaddict blog # 1510.
Due to having my kids this weekend, my time has been limited. That's why I'm putting two Dodgers Dailies into one blog. At my real job I'll be working 56 hours this week, so my time will be a bit limited this week as well. I'll write when I can.
This past Friday the Diamondbacks shut out the Dodgers 3-0. Clayton Kershaw had another good game, but not quite good enough to get the win. Even more importantly he didn't get into a stupid fight with anyone and hurt himself. Kershaw started off the season pitching 19 scoreless innings. Kershaw also struck out 9 Diamondbacks, moving to 999 strike outs in his stellar career. However he did give up 6 hits and was ultimately responsible for all 3 runs. Kershaw drops to 2-1 on the season. Overall it wasn't his best day, but I'm still extremely happy that he's a Dodger.
Obviously in being shut out the Dodgers didn't have much offense, Kershaw had one of the Dodgers 6 hits. Kershaw has 2 hits in his 7 at bats, that's a .286 batting average. That's better than the batting averages of Jerry Hairston Jr., Matt Kemp, Juan Uribe, Andre Ethier, A.J. Ellis, Skip Schumaker and Justin Sellers.
One of the reasons why I don't have a ton of confidence in this Dodgers team is that they have players like Jerry Hairston Jr. playing significant time for them. Hairston has been at bat 13 times and only has 1 hit. That's a .077 batting average. That's bad enough, but combine it with his actions in the last Padres game and I wonder don't they have someone better in Albuquerque? The Dodgers-Padres melee was calming down and all of a sudden Hairston rushed the Padres dugout. Why would he do that and what did he hope to gain from that? Approximately a $215,000,000 payroll doesn't give the Dodgers better options than Hairston? He's one of a few of less than stellar players on this Dodgers team.
Last night the Dodgers offense was much better, including 3 hits by starting pitcher Hyun-Jyn Ryu. By the way Dodgers batters, Ryu is hitting .429. Ryu even had a double. Ryu had a decent pitching performance. In 6 innings he gave up 6 hits and allowed three earned runs. Ryu also had 9 strike outs, very similar to Kershaw's game the night before. However where the Dodgers gave Kershaw no run support, Ryu was supported by 7 runs. Like Kershaw, Ryu is 2-1 on the season. So far Ryu is shaping up to be a solid MLB pitcher.
This was a good game for the Dodgers offense to show up for. The Dodgers racked up 14 hits and scored 7 runs. Adrian Gonzalez started out slowly this season, but has been coming on lately. Gonzalez is hitting .375 this season and had 3 hits last night. That included his second home run. Gonzalez also had 2 more RBIs, giving him 10 on the season.
Carl Crawford continues his hot start. He had two more hits and is hitting so far this season. Meanwhile Matt Kemp continues his slow start, he only had 1 hit in 5 at bats. He's hitting .190 on the season now. I keep on expecting Kemp to round into form and for Crawford to injure himself or to fall off. Time will tell.
Now the Dodgers are 7-4, they are one of the three NL West teams tied for second place. Those three teams are the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and the Rockies. All three of those teams trail first place San Francisco by 1 game. San Diego, who'll be the NL West's punching bag all season, is last at 2-9.
What's next for the Dodgers? They close their 3 game series with the Diamondbacks tonight. I'm not liking the Dodgers chances as Josh Beckett will be taking the mound. That's Beckett who has the 0-1 record and 4.91 ERA. Starting for the Diamondbacks will be Trevor Cahill, who is doing even worse than Beckett. Cahill is 0-2 and has a 5.91 ERA.
Then tomorrow the Dodgers will be playing in Dodgers Stadium. It will be the first game between the Dodgers and Padres following the Zack Greinke- Carlos Quentin tackle fest. Neither Quentin or Greinke will be in this game.
Records wise the best team in MLB is the extremely hot Atlanta Braves. The Braves are 10-1 so far this season, including winning their first two games against the Nationals in Washington. The third and final game of that series is being played as I write this blog. As of now the Braves are all alone in first place in the NL East. They lead the second place Nationals and Mets by 3 games. Mets enjoy this, this may be the last time all season your team in second place in the NL East.
themusicaddict
Welcome to themusicaddict blog # 1510.
Due to having my kids this weekend, my time has been limited. That's why I'm putting two Dodgers Dailies into one blog. At my real job I'll be working 56 hours this week, so my time will be a bit limited this week as well. I'll write when I can.
This past Friday the Diamondbacks shut out the Dodgers 3-0. Clayton Kershaw had another good game, but not quite good enough to get the win. Even more importantly he didn't get into a stupid fight with anyone and hurt himself. Kershaw started off the season pitching 19 scoreless innings. Kershaw also struck out 9 Diamondbacks, moving to 999 strike outs in his stellar career. However he did give up 6 hits and was ultimately responsible for all 3 runs. Kershaw drops to 2-1 on the season. Overall it wasn't his best day, but I'm still extremely happy that he's a Dodger.
Obviously in being shut out the Dodgers didn't have much offense, Kershaw had one of the Dodgers 6 hits. Kershaw has 2 hits in his 7 at bats, that's a .286 batting average. That's better than the batting averages of Jerry Hairston Jr., Matt Kemp, Juan Uribe, Andre Ethier, A.J. Ellis, Skip Schumaker and Justin Sellers.
One of the reasons why I don't have a ton of confidence in this Dodgers team is that they have players like Jerry Hairston Jr. playing significant time for them. Hairston has been at bat 13 times and only has 1 hit. That's a .077 batting average. That's bad enough, but combine it with his actions in the last Padres game and I wonder don't they have someone better in Albuquerque? The Dodgers-Padres melee was calming down and all of a sudden Hairston rushed the Padres dugout. Why would he do that and what did he hope to gain from that? Approximately a $215,000,000 payroll doesn't give the Dodgers better options than Hairston? He's one of a few of less than stellar players on this Dodgers team.
Last night the Dodgers offense was much better, including 3 hits by starting pitcher Hyun-Jyn Ryu. By the way Dodgers batters, Ryu is hitting .429. Ryu even had a double. Ryu had a decent pitching performance. In 6 innings he gave up 6 hits and allowed three earned runs. Ryu also had 9 strike outs, very similar to Kershaw's game the night before. However where the Dodgers gave Kershaw no run support, Ryu was supported by 7 runs. Like Kershaw, Ryu is 2-1 on the season. So far Ryu is shaping up to be a solid MLB pitcher.
This was a good game for the Dodgers offense to show up for. The Dodgers racked up 14 hits and scored 7 runs. Adrian Gonzalez started out slowly this season, but has been coming on lately. Gonzalez is hitting .375 this season and had 3 hits last night. That included his second home run. Gonzalez also had 2 more RBIs, giving him 10 on the season.
Carl Crawford continues his hot start. He had two more hits and is hitting so far this season. Meanwhile Matt Kemp continues his slow start, he only had 1 hit in 5 at bats. He's hitting .190 on the season now. I keep on expecting Kemp to round into form and for Crawford to injure himself or to fall off. Time will tell.
Now the Dodgers are 7-4, they are one of the three NL West teams tied for second place. Those three teams are the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and the Rockies. All three of those teams trail first place San Francisco by 1 game. San Diego, who'll be the NL West's punching bag all season, is last at 2-9.
What's next for the Dodgers? They close their 3 game series with the Diamondbacks tonight. I'm not liking the Dodgers chances as Josh Beckett will be taking the mound. That's Beckett who has the 0-1 record and 4.91 ERA. Starting for the Diamondbacks will be Trevor Cahill, who is doing even worse than Beckett. Cahill is 0-2 and has a 5.91 ERA.
Then tomorrow the Dodgers will be playing in Dodgers Stadium. It will be the first game between the Dodgers and Padres following the Zack Greinke- Carlos Quentin tackle fest. Neither Quentin or Greinke will be in this game.
Records wise the best team in MLB is the extremely hot Atlanta Braves. The Braves are 10-1 so far this season, including winning their first two games against the Nationals in Washington. The third and final game of that series is being played as I write this blog. As of now the Braves are all alone in first place in the NL East. They lead the second place Nationals and Mets by 3 games. Mets enjoy this, this may be the last time all season your team in second place in the NL East.
themusicaddict
Saturday, April 13, 2013
themusicaddict's Recommended Songs and The Band Perry's Amazing "Pioneer"!, "Somebody I Used To Know" Done Right (Updated 3/23/13)
Hello,
I listened to The Band Perry's new CD "Pioneer" twice on Spotify. Since it was so good I decided to add it to my CD collection. That CD has a lot of great music, but there are 2 or 3 songs that are so very good. Expect to hear a lot about The Band Perry in the next several months. Their debut CD built very slowly over several months and eventually became a big seller. I don't expect any similar issues with "Pioneer". In fact, I predict "Pioneer" will take them to the Lady Antebellum level.
One thing I love about this CD is it's use of that Mumford & Sons sound. I don't even know the word to describe that sound, but The Band Perry use it wisely for this CD. They use that Mumfordish sound to their music's advantage. One thing I really like about Mumford and Sons is even though their music has an older sound to it, they also know how to rock. Here are some great songs from "Pioneer":
I'm guessing that the members of The Band Perry have had a bit of heartbreak? "Better Dig Two":
"Done.":
Here's "Done." live at the ACM Awards (this live version really has that Mumfordish sound to it):
"Forever Mine Nevermind":
"We Are Young/ Night Gone Wasted":
The Band Perry show a softer side with the very beautiful "Mother Like Mine":
Updated April 23rd, 2013. The more I listen to this CD the more I fall in love with it. This CD has so many amazing songs on it. Seriously if you haven't bought it yet, what are you waiting for? The latest song from "Pioneer" I've fallen in love with is "End of Time" (I especially love where Kimberly Perry sings about "The Alabama moon falling from the sky") :
Do you get the feeling the members of The Band Perry can be a bit feisty? "Chainsaw":
"I Saw A Light" (Live):
Here's a couple of other songs that are also pretty great. Enjoy.
Mayday Parade's much better cover of "Someone I Used To Know":
Ashley Monroe's heartbreaking "Used":
themusicaddict
I listened to The Band Perry's new CD "Pioneer" twice on Spotify. Since it was so good I decided to add it to my CD collection. That CD has a lot of great music, but there are 2 or 3 songs that are so very good. Expect to hear a lot about The Band Perry in the next several months. Their debut CD built very slowly over several months and eventually became a big seller. I don't expect any similar issues with "Pioneer". In fact, I predict "Pioneer" will take them to the Lady Antebellum level.
One thing I love about this CD is it's use of that Mumford & Sons sound. I don't even know the word to describe that sound, but The Band Perry use it wisely for this CD. They use that Mumfordish sound to their music's advantage. One thing I really like about Mumford and Sons is even though their music has an older sound to it, they also know how to rock. Here are some great songs from "Pioneer":
I'm guessing that the members of The Band Perry have had a bit of heartbreak? "Better Dig Two":
"Done.":
Here's "Done." live at the ACM Awards (this live version really has that Mumfordish sound to it):
"Forever Mine Nevermind":
"We Are Young/ Night Gone Wasted":
The Band Perry show a softer side with the very beautiful "Mother Like Mine":
Updated April 23rd, 2013. The more I listen to this CD the more I fall in love with it. This CD has so many amazing songs on it. Seriously if you haven't bought it yet, what are you waiting for? The latest song from "Pioneer" I've fallen in love with is "End of Time" (I especially love where Kimberly Perry sings about "The Alabama moon falling from the sky") :
Do you get the feeling the members of The Band Perry can be a bit feisty? "Chainsaw":
"I Saw A Light" (Live):
Here's a couple of other songs that are also pretty great. Enjoy.
Mayday Parade's much better cover of "Someone I Used To Know":
Ashley Monroe's heartbreaking "Used":
themusicaddict
Kobe Blows Out His Achilles, ESPN Almost Blows Up!
Hello,
Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles heel Friday. Today Lakers trainer Gary Vitti described Bryant's injury as a "complete rupture". That knocks him out for the rest of the season, not that it was going to last much longer anyway. Like they did with the Rutgers Mike Rice story, ESPN covered this story from every possible angle. No matter how unnecessary the angle was. ESPN's SportsCenter is only a few more Lakers and Cowboys stories away from going all Cowboys and Lakers coverage. It's only a matter of time now.
I just want to point out again that there's all this hype about the Lakers, they aren't even fighting for the #1 seed. They are fighting to be the last team in from the Western Conference. Obviously the Lakers drive ratings, which is why they get so much coverage. But they receive too much coverage, especially for a team that might not even make the playoffs! Come on ESPN, do better.
It's not like the Kobe Bryant story was the only story of the day either. Alex Rodriguez continues to show what a loathsome human being he is. He tried to buy records from Biogenesis, where he had obtained PEDs from. He wanted to destroy those records. How many of these types of incidents before the MLB steps in and gives him a suspension?
Also Tiger Woods received a two stroke penalty for violating some obscure rule. ESPN also talked about that plenty, sometimes I forget their are other players on the PGA tour than Tiger. I'm not a Tiger fan, or a golf fan, by any stretch of the imagination. However I'm so glad that the Masters didn't disqualify Woods from the tournament. That would have been extremely small minded.
Although I'm a Jazz fan and a big-time Lakers hater I hope that the Jazz and Lakers both lose their final two games of the season. The Jazz would then hopefully to be able to blow up their entire roster. The Jazz need to bring in some players that can defend. The Lakers would go into the NBA Playoffs as the # 8 seed and be thoroughly destroyed by either the Thunder or Spurs. I'd enjoy so much watching those games.
Vitti was complaining about all the injuries that the Lakers had this season. Well that's what happens with an old team, it was to be expected. The Lakers are a poorly constructed team. They chose to sign big names, not players that could make a cohesive team. LA is a mediocre team with Kobe, how bad will the Lakers be without Kobe? Let's be honest they are going to be terrible! Where are the Lakers going to get the big bucket from in clutch time? Ron Arrest? No! The extremely slow Pau Gasol? No! The overrated, poor free throw shooting Dwight Howard? No? The old and injured Steve Nash? No. As weird as it sounds for the Lakers with all those names, Bryant is truly a one man team. If you don't believe me then why did Bryant play the second most minutes of any individual player this season? He averaged 38.6 minutes a game this season.
Howard is frustrated by how many shots Kobe takes, why? That takes the blame off of Howard. I heard one of the ESPN talking heads saying that the Lakers would run their offense through Howard now. I love hearing that, look for the Lakers to close the season on a six game losing streak. Then in the offseasonI hope the Lakers sign Howard to a max contract. They'd lock down an extremely overrated player as they tie up their salary cap. I'm glad that teams I cheer for aren't making a run at Howard. Medicority comes for the Lakers.
ESPN only talks about 6 NBA teams: the Lakers, Heat, Knicks, Thunder, Spurs and the Clippers. Out of those teams only three have a legitimate shot of winning the NBA Title. Those three teams are the Heat, Spurs and Thunder.
Here are the three best teams in the Eastern Conference by chance of winning a title:
1) Miami
2) The Heat
3) Is any other team in the Eastern Conference relevant? The Knicks have a decent record, but as always they are going to fail when the lights are brightest. They won their first division title since 1994 this season. If the Knicks make the Eastern Conference Finals, which I question, the Heat are going to burn them alive.
themusicaddict
Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles heel Friday. Today Lakers trainer Gary Vitti described Bryant's injury as a "complete rupture". That knocks him out for the rest of the season, not that it was going to last much longer anyway. Like they did with the Rutgers Mike Rice story, ESPN covered this story from every possible angle. No matter how unnecessary the angle was. ESPN's SportsCenter is only a few more Lakers and Cowboys stories away from going all Cowboys and Lakers coverage. It's only a matter of time now.
I just want to point out again that there's all this hype about the Lakers, they aren't even fighting for the #1 seed. They are fighting to be the last team in from the Western Conference. Obviously the Lakers drive ratings, which is why they get so much coverage. But they receive too much coverage, especially for a team that might not even make the playoffs! Come on ESPN, do better.
It's not like the Kobe Bryant story was the only story of the day either. Alex Rodriguez continues to show what a loathsome human being he is. He tried to buy records from Biogenesis, where he had obtained PEDs from. He wanted to destroy those records. How many of these types of incidents before the MLB steps in and gives him a suspension?
Also Tiger Woods received a two stroke penalty for violating some obscure rule. ESPN also talked about that plenty, sometimes I forget their are other players on the PGA tour than Tiger. I'm not a Tiger fan, or a golf fan, by any stretch of the imagination. However I'm so glad that the Masters didn't disqualify Woods from the tournament. That would have been extremely small minded.
Although I'm a Jazz fan and a big-time Lakers hater I hope that the Jazz and Lakers both lose their final two games of the season. The Jazz would then hopefully to be able to blow up their entire roster. The Jazz need to bring in some players that can defend. The Lakers would go into the NBA Playoffs as the # 8 seed and be thoroughly destroyed by either the Thunder or Spurs. I'd enjoy so much watching those games.
Vitti was complaining about all the injuries that the Lakers had this season. Well that's what happens with an old team, it was to be expected. The Lakers are a poorly constructed team. They chose to sign big names, not players that could make a cohesive team. LA is a mediocre team with Kobe, how bad will the Lakers be without Kobe? Let's be honest they are going to be terrible! Where are the Lakers going to get the big bucket from in clutch time? Ron Arrest? No! The extremely slow Pau Gasol? No! The overrated, poor free throw shooting Dwight Howard? No? The old and injured Steve Nash? No. As weird as it sounds for the Lakers with all those names, Bryant is truly a one man team. If you don't believe me then why did Bryant play the second most minutes of any individual player this season? He averaged 38.6 minutes a game this season.
Howard is frustrated by how many shots Kobe takes, why? That takes the blame off of Howard. I heard one of the ESPN talking heads saying that the Lakers would run their offense through Howard now. I love hearing that, look for the Lakers to close the season on a six game losing streak. Then in the offseasonI hope the Lakers sign Howard to a max contract. They'd lock down an extremely overrated player as they tie up their salary cap. I'm glad that teams I cheer for aren't making a run at Howard. Medicority comes for the Lakers.
ESPN only talks about 6 NBA teams: the Lakers, Heat, Knicks, Thunder, Spurs and the Clippers. Out of those teams only three have a legitimate shot of winning the NBA Title. Those three teams are the Heat, Spurs and Thunder.
Here are the three best teams in the Eastern Conference by chance of winning a title:
1) Miami
2) The Heat
3) Is any other team in the Eastern Conference relevant? The Knicks have a decent record, but as always they are going to fail when the lights are brightest. They won their first division title since 1994 this season. If the Knicks make the Eastern Conference Finals, which I question, the Heat are going to burn them alive.
themusicaddict
Friday, April 12, 2013
2013 Dodgers Daily, April 11th, 2013: What The Hell Was Zack Greinke Thinking?
Hello,
Last night I saw one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on a baseball field. That was Zack Greinke's poor judgment following him hitting Quentin with a pitch. Let's review, before the start of the season Greinke signed a 6 year-$147 million contract with the Dodgers. Usually when a team signs a stud like Greinke I'm usually pretty excited. However with this signing something has felt hinky from the start. Not that any player ever deserves $147 million for six years, but I think Greinke is even less deserving than many players that have signed similar deals.
I don't have any concrete proof for my theory, it's just that this deal hasn't felt right from the beginning. Sometimes in sports people talk about the eyeball test, in this case this deal flunked the feel right test for me. Now obviously Greinke is just at the start of his contract and still has plenty of time to justify his contract. He could even be a key player for the Dodgers later on this season. If the Dodgers make the playoffs, a one two punch of Clayton Kershaw and Grienke would be tough to overcome. Not that I think this Dodgers team will be making the playoffs. They are a lot like their fellow LA sports team the Lakers, both have a lot of hype but ultimately will be done in by being poorly constructed teams. (LOL to Magic Johnson for saying that if the Lakers make the playoffs they'd beat the Spurs in the playoff's first round. That's a completely homer, or maybe gomer, thing to say.)
From multiple reports that I've read and heard, the consensus is that Greinke accidentally hit Carlos Quentin. That's baseball and things happen. I also realize there's a delicate balance between the pitcher and the hitter about who owns home plate. Occasionally pitchers are going to hit batters. Most times both the pitcher and hittee understand that and there's no problem, especially when it seems to be accidental. The batter needs to take first base without acknowledging the pitcher. And the pitcher should tip his hat or apologize in some way. As Mike and Mike's Mike Greenberg suggests Greinke should have tipped his hat and the game would have gone on.
However that's not happened last night and this is where the what the hell was Greinke thinking comes in. Greinke should realize the Dodgers are paying him all that money to better their chances of winning a World Series. Greinke needs to focus on what's best for his team and not best for his ego. When Quentin stepped towards the mound, the last thing Greinke should have done is engaged him. That would have been the best way to handle it. But no our good friend Zack pulled a Jerry Jones. He let pride goeth before the fall, or in this case tackle.
However the Dodgers expensive investment, Greinke, said something back to Quentin. Obviously he said something that was meant to inflame. That was the first dumb thing that Greinke did. His comment hit it's intended target, Quentin's pride. It seems Greinke has never been in a fight before as he prepared for Quentin's attack by lowering his shoulder into Quentin. That exposed his collar bone to Quentin's attack. That was the second dumb thing Greinke did. A tip of the hat would should have been enough to avoid this whole mess. And this is probably just the beginning of the mess.
The end result of the "fight" is Quentin will be suspended probably 3 to 8 games according to Buster Olney. Zack Greinke will be out 2-3 months as the Dodgers lose their second best pitcher for an extended part of the season. Already the Dodgers are undermanned and can ill afford to lose any of their key players.
Again this isn't the end of this mess as the Dodgers and Padres play each other 10 times between now and the All-Star break. Their next series starts Monday when the Dodgers host the Padres for 3 games, which means neither Greinke or Quentin will be playing in their next series. Look for more fireworks between the two teams. I hope the umpires are allowed great discretion in disciplining anyone that even fidgets out of line.
And the game almost became beside the point. The Dodgers won the game 3-2 on Juan Uribe's home run. Uribe is one of the Dodgers many bad contracts, I'm glad when he does anything positive. A.J. Ellis got on base 4 of the 5 times he was at the plate.
But before that the Dodgers have a three game series with the Diamondbacks. Entering today's games both the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks are 6-3. They're tied for second place in the NL West, both are a 1/2 game behind the first place Giants. Right now the Giants are playing an afternoon game and it looks like they will lose, that would drop them to 7-4. Tonight's Dodgers-Diamondbacks winner will be temporarily the NL West's first place team.
Perhaps the best pitcher in MLB is taking the mound for the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw will take his 2-0 record to the mound. He'll be pitching against Patrick Corbin, whose 1-0 on the season.
themusicaddict
Last night I saw one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on a baseball field. That was Zack Greinke's poor judgment following him hitting Quentin with a pitch. Let's review, before the start of the season Greinke signed a 6 year-$147 million contract with the Dodgers. Usually when a team signs a stud like Greinke I'm usually pretty excited. However with this signing something has felt hinky from the start. Not that any player ever deserves $147 million for six years, but I think Greinke is even less deserving than many players that have signed similar deals.
I don't have any concrete proof for my theory, it's just that this deal hasn't felt right from the beginning. Sometimes in sports people talk about the eyeball test, in this case this deal flunked the feel right test for me. Now obviously Greinke is just at the start of his contract and still has plenty of time to justify his contract. He could even be a key player for the Dodgers later on this season. If the Dodgers make the playoffs, a one two punch of Clayton Kershaw and Grienke would be tough to overcome. Not that I think this Dodgers team will be making the playoffs. They are a lot like their fellow LA sports team the Lakers, both have a lot of hype but ultimately will be done in by being poorly constructed teams. (LOL to Magic Johnson for saying that if the Lakers make the playoffs they'd beat the Spurs in the playoff's first round. That's a completely homer, or maybe gomer, thing to say.)
From multiple reports that I've read and heard, the consensus is that Greinke accidentally hit Carlos Quentin. That's baseball and things happen. I also realize there's a delicate balance between the pitcher and the hitter about who owns home plate. Occasionally pitchers are going to hit batters. Most times both the pitcher and hittee understand that and there's no problem, especially when it seems to be accidental. The batter needs to take first base without acknowledging the pitcher. And the pitcher should tip his hat or apologize in some way. As Mike and Mike's Mike Greenberg suggests Greinke should have tipped his hat and the game would have gone on.
However that's not happened last night and this is where the what the hell was Greinke thinking comes in. Greinke should realize the Dodgers are paying him all that money to better their chances of winning a World Series. Greinke needs to focus on what's best for his team and not best for his ego. When Quentin stepped towards the mound, the last thing Greinke should have done is engaged him. That would have been the best way to handle it. But no our good friend Zack pulled a Jerry Jones. He let pride goeth before the fall, or in this case tackle.
However the Dodgers expensive investment, Greinke, said something back to Quentin. Obviously he said something that was meant to inflame. That was the first dumb thing that Greinke did. His comment hit it's intended target, Quentin's pride. It seems Greinke has never been in a fight before as he prepared for Quentin's attack by lowering his shoulder into Quentin. That exposed his collar bone to Quentin's attack. That was the second dumb thing Greinke did. A tip of the hat would should have been enough to avoid this whole mess. And this is probably just the beginning of the mess.
The end result of the "fight" is Quentin will be suspended probably 3 to 8 games according to Buster Olney. Zack Greinke will be out 2-3 months as the Dodgers lose their second best pitcher for an extended part of the season. Already the Dodgers are undermanned and can ill afford to lose any of their key players.
Again this isn't the end of this mess as the Dodgers and Padres play each other 10 times between now and the All-Star break. Their next series starts Monday when the Dodgers host the Padres for 3 games, which means neither Greinke or Quentin will be playing in their next series. Look for more fireworks between the two teams. I hope the umpires are allowed great discretion in disciplining anyone that even fidgets out of line.
And the game almost became beside the point. The Dodgers won the game 3-2 on Juan Uribe's home run. Uribe is one of the Dodgers many bad contracts, I'm glad when he does anything positive. A.J. Ellis got on base 4 of the 5 times he was at the plate.
But before that the Dodgers have a three game series with the Diamondbacks. Entering today's games both the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks are 6-3. They're tied for second place in the NL West, both are a 1/2 game behind the first place Giants. Right now the Giants are playing an afternoon game and it looks like they will lose, that would drop them to 7-4. Tonight's Dodgers-Diamondbacks winner will be temporarily the NL West's first place team.
Perhaps the best pitcher in MLB is taking the mound for the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw will take his 2-0 record to the mound. He'll be pitching against Patrick Corbin, whose 1-0 on the season.
themusicaddict
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