Where have we gone?

Well it's been about a year since anyone has blogged anything! I wonder if anyone missed us at all? Anyways I think I am going to start blogging again.

2011 MLB Season Preview: AL East New York Yankees

Now I can't stand the Yankees, but I will be as fair as possible and write an unbiased preview. While the Yankees may have missed out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, and there are tons of questions surrounding their pitching rotation, they're still the Yankees. No matter how many times I pray at night and hope that one of these years they'll just fade off and I won't have to worry about them, I know it'll never happen. The Yankees continue to compete every year, the highest payroll in the League is a big advantage, and helps to keep them ultra competitive every year. The Yankees do manage to develop some home grown talent in Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner, and they have some young pitchers coming up that may have to be an impact later this season.

The most glaring problem is the pitching rotation. The top two in the rotation are solid with CC and Hughes anchoring the staff. If AJ Burnett manages to prove that last year was simply a fluke he will greatly boost the rotation and take at lot of Cashman's mind. The bottom two of the rotation still leave a lot to desire, but with the dynamic Yankees offense, those weaknesses can be covered pretty quickly, especially pitching against other teams 4 and 5 starters. Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Ian Nova figure to compete for those last two remaining spots. They also have a few options in the minors that could get looks later in the season, or in a pinch earlier on.

Health will be a key to this teams success. They lack depth in just about all aspects of this team. If CC or Hughes goes down, the rotation could be a major liability and something they'd be unable to cover-up. They have the ability to cover up some short term injuries in the OF and INF in Ramiro Pena and Andruw Jones. There are plenty of "what if" scenarios, but the simple fact is the Yankees will still compete no matter what questions remain out there.

2011 MLB Season Preview: AL East Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays took plenty of hits this past off season, losing 12 players off their roster last year. There bullpen, which was one of their big time strengths last year, was torn about in free agency. Their dominant closer Rafael Soriano went to the Yankees, they saw Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour go to the Red Sox and Athletics respectively. While they took plenty of big hits, the Rays always seem to be able to piece together solid bullpens among players that are on the scrap heap, or through their internal options.


They also lost a fair amount of offense. Carl Crawford joined a rejuvenated Red Sox line up, Jason Bartlett was shipped to the Padres, and Carlos Pena signed with the Cubs, so they have plenty of holes to fill. The Rays will most likely rely on Reid Brignac and Ben Zobrist to handle the SS position. Brignac showed some promise last year with a few break out games, but hasn't shown his true potential. Zobrist is a solid player where ever the Rays put him, and will be a vital piece this year for the Rays to succeed. While Pena's production took a big hit, especially in the BA department, his defense was still highly regarded. Dan Johnson was solid last year, and the Rays would love to see a continuation on last year, that most likely won't be the case, and they will be looking for another first basemen to platoon with him. Additions Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon were brought in to pick up some of the slack left from the loses stated above. While neither offer much in the form of defense anymore (never did Ramirez's case), if either one of them see some of their success from a few years ago in this season, they will be a bargain.


Their starting pitching should continue to be a strength. If their youngest improve they could be looking at one of the best rotations in baseball. Behind ace David Price they have James Shields, who hopes to rebound from a slightly disappointing 2010 season, Jeff Niemann, Jeremey Hellickson, and Wade Davis. Hellickson could have a breakout year, as he looked pretty good in some late season call up work. Niemann and Davis had their up's and down's as any young pitchers will have, but still figure to be better this year.


The Rays knew this year was coming, where they'd lose some of their core players to free agency, but they still have a good solid young core headlined by Evan Longoria. I'm not sure if Longoria and Zobrist can carry this lineup into the postseason, but if Manny or Damon can put together a decent season, look for the Rays to be in the upper parts of the standings.

Cam Newton: Entertainer, Icon, Future Bust

Cam Newton came out and said he saw himself as an "entertainer" and "icon" already. The guy hasn't thrown one NFL pass, and struggled mightily in his combine workout, yet he's already got big plans as an star NFL QB. If my team was looking at drafting him in the NFL Draft, I would hope and pray everyday that they don't. We see this type of QB come around plenty: big QB, big arm, and loves to run (see Daunte Culpepper etc.) I just don't see why teams keep buying into these QBs. Yes, Micahel Vick is able to thrive with this, although he isn't very big, but he has elite speed. Michael Vick is ridiculously fast, that's what sets him apart. Cam Newton isn't doing anything for me as a football player, and I'm not liking his mental side either so far. While yes he handled the controversy at Auburn pretty well, throw 35 million in guaranteed money and celebrity status he has/ will achieve, and we'll see how he does.

New MJ?

Derrick Rose dropped 42 points and 8 assists Thursday night against a league leading San Antonio Spurs. This was a new career high for him and he had the fans chanting M-V-P all night long. To top this all off it comes on Micheal Jordans 47th birthday. This raises the question....is Rose the next MJ? Some people will say he is...personally for me he is not. About the only thing I can tell they have in common is that they both played for the Chicago Bulls and they both led/lead their team in scoring. Rose has neither a MVP award or a Championship ring and until he has a couple of both of these this should not even be a question.

Interview Meltdowns

Found this little gem the other day! This is one of the reasons I like Jim Rome...I know most people hate his show but when stuff like this happens it kind of takes away all the negatives. I mean this guy has got to have some gigantic kahunas to take on a beast like Jim Everett.



This vid got me wondering what other kind of sweet meltdowns I could find out there so I dug around a bit and found some things. Enjoy!

What should Blake do?

Dear Mr. Griffin,

If you would like to win the Slam Dunk Contest this year do not listen to these kids. The smartest thing this kid said all video was to jump over a truck....but he since that is like commiting suicide this advice should only be taken by Paul Pierce since he is garbage anyways and would not be missed by anyone except for maybe the Heat (0-10 against them today).

-Streetfighter

P.S. You need to dunk on Ron Artest so he remembers who the real Blake is!

Pep Talk

Nothing gets me fired up more than a Herm Edwards pep talk!


http://search.espn.go.com/herm-edwards-pep-talk/

I like how they set the mood and everything by dimming the lights and cueing the music while the other reporter slowly backs out of the picture and the camera slowly zooms in for a close up on Herm.