Hello,
One final sports blog today.
While showing the Dodgers-Giants game last night, MLB Network cut in to show Yu Darvish going for a perfect game. Darvish got the first two Astros out in the 9th inning. For the perfect game "all" that Darvish had to do was to get out a player I had never heard of. That's Marwin Gonzalez, he of the .236 career batting average. Of course Marwin hit the ball right up the middle for a single. At that point Rangers manager, Ron Washington, pulled Darvish from the game. Darvish didn't even get the shutout and had to settle for the win.
I'd like to thank the MLB Network for showing Darvish's near perfect game. I'd have loved to watch history last night. Although I'm not a Rangers fan I found myself pulling for Darvish. I was impressed by how graciously he took his perfect game being ended. I've become more of Darvish fan because of that.
The 49ers continue their amazing offseason. They continue to show that an organization with football people in key positions can dramatically improve a year after reaching the Super Bowl. The 49ers already have traded Alex Smith for a second round draft pick. Then in just the last couple of days, the 49ers also traded for qb Colt McCoy. By trading away Smith and trading for McCoy, they'll be saving $7,000,000 on the salary cap this season. They also traded for stud wide receiver Anquan Boldin from the Ravens. For Boldin, all the 49ers gave up was a sixth round pick. Yesterday they made another great move. They signed Nnamdi Asomugha to a 1 year, up to $3 million dollar contract.
Also one of the 49ers biggest weaknesses going into the offseason was their place kicker. The 49ers cut David Akers and signed Phil Dawson to a 1 year, 2.25 million dollar contract.
If San Francisco isn't the Super Bowl favorites, I'm not sure who else would be. The defending Super Bowl champion Ravens can't be considered the favorites as they've lost so many pieces in the offseason. It's not the Eagles, Chiefs and a bunch of other teams.
Meanwhile in Dallas Tony Romo signed a long-term extension. I hate this move for so many reasons, it's not just due to him only having one playoff win. With him as quarterback the Cowboys haven't even got to the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years. I don't see the Cowboys getting to the playoffs again this next season.
Carmelo Anthony scored 50 points last night as the Knicks won their 9th straight game. The Knicks beat an injury depleted Heat team, who played without LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Mario Chalmers. The game remained close until the Knicks put on a burst at the end of the game. It was a good win for the Knicks. But let's be honest, who cares? The Knicks won a meaningless regular season game. And if this was the playoffs James, Wade and Chalmers probably would have been playing and they definitely would have won.
The Knicks will either finish second or third place in the Eastern Conference and probably play either Chicago or Boston in the NBA playoffs first round. Even if they get past their first round opponent, the Knicks won't be a threat in anyway to the Heat. I'm guessing that the Knicks would be about a 5th or 6th seed if they played in the Western Conference.
In the Western Conference the Lakers beat the Mavs last night by 20 points. That means the Lakers are tied with the Jazz record wise for 8th place in the Western Conference. However the Jazz own the tiebreaker, if the playoffs started today the Lakers wouldn't be playing in them. I love all the drama that ESPN is creating about this Lakers run. Even if they do sneak into the playoffs LA will be squished by the Spurs. Much adieu about nothing seems to be what this is.
I loved Kobe Bryant talking about Dwight Howard becoming a dominant player for the Lakers. That was followed by Howard having the ball stolen from him in the paint. I've seen the Lakers play a lot this year and I'm still not impressed by them or Howard. They'll be lucky to get into the playoffs!
From the department of bogus news stories, Rutgers Men's Basketball Head Coach Mike Rice was fired today. Yawn. The stated reason Rice was fired because of yelling and throwing basketballs at his players. However it seems the real reason Rice was fired is because his terrible behavior was caught on video. That caused Rutgers to go into CYA mode. From all I've read on this subject my impression is that almost 100% of the reason Rice is being fired is because of embarrassment to Rutgers.
Activate sarcasm font: Yes, Rice is the first coach to do that. Should Rice have been fired, definitely. However it seems he wouldn't have been fired if it wasn't for the video proof on ESPN's "Outside The Lines". Many other coaches have engaged in similar behavior and many of those have been praised for the results that kind of behavior brought. I also wonder what would have been different if Rutgers had made it to this weekend's Final Four. Rice would probably be described as a coaching genius and I'm guessing his behavior would be explained away.
Update: Dearest ESPN you know I love you, but you've got to stop trying to make this Mike Rice-Rutgers story bigger than it is. It's already lasted longer than it's shelf life. Please stop showing the same several clips of the Rutgers practices over and over again.
Although props to Mike Rice, good for you for taking your lumps like a man. I hope what you said was sincere and not a carefully worded statement by a publicist.
Finally congrats to the BYU Cougars for making the N.I.T. Final Four, only to lose to a tough Baylor team 76-70. Congrats to Coach Dave Rose and his players. Although the Cougars lose stud Brandon Davies, I think the Cougars will be just fine next season. They'll be welcoming back many veterans, including Tyler Haws, Matt Carlino and Nate Austin. They also have an intriguing set of new players coming into the program. I'm looking forward to another great year.
Also congrats to the Weber State Wildcats for making it the the CIT Finals, before losing to the East Carolina Pirates. It's hard to beat a team who shot 59% from the field, especially when the Wildcats missed 6 crucial free throws down the stretch. The year after losing potential NBA Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard finished the season 30-7.
themusicaddict
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