Schrempf Scampi's 2009 MLB Predictions

The entire staff was asked to make predictions about who will make playoffs and who will win what awards. We will check back on this during the season so we can make fun of how wrong we will inevitably be.

BOOBS:

==AL==
East Champ: Rays
Central Champ: Indians
West Champ: Angels
Wildcard: Yankees

ALCS: Rays over Yankees

MVP: Evan Longoria
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
Rookie of the Year: Matt Wieters

==NL==
East Champ: Braves
Central Champ: Cubs
West Champ: Dodgers
Wildcard: Phillies

NLCS : Cubs over Phillies

MVP: Aramis Ramirez
Cy Young: Tim Lincecum
Rookie of the Year: Tommy Hanson


World Series Champ: Rays over Cubs

Bold, Random Prediction: Oakland is out of contention at the trade deadline and deal Matt Holliday to the Rays for prospects. Holliday leads the Rays to their first world series victory and is named world series MVP. ((The following offseason he signs with the Yankees for 108 million)
--
Vanilla Gorilla:

==AL==
East Champ: Yankees
Central Champ: Indians
West Champ: Angels
Wildcard:Rays

ALCS: Angels over Indians

MVP: Grady Sizemore
Cy Young: John Lackey
Rookie of the Year: David Price

==NL==
East Champ: Phillies
Central Champ: Cardinals
West Champ: Dodgers
Wildcard: Braves

NLCS : Dodgers over Phillies

MVP: Manny Ramirez
Cy Young: Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year: Jeff Samardzija


World Series Champ: Angels over Dodgers

Bold, Random Prediction: The Braves' team ERA returns to the top 2 in the NL with the help of the offseason acquisitions-which help them return to the playoffs for the first time in 4 years
--
Tenny

==AL==
East Champ: Yankees
Central Champ: Indians
West Champ: Angels
Wildcard: Twins

ALCS: Angels over Yankees

MVP: Vladimir Guerrero
Cy Young: CC Sabathia
Rookie of the Year: Matt LaPorta


==NL==
East Champ: Phillies
Central Champ: Brewers
West Champ: Dodgers
Wildcard: Cubs

NLCS : Dodgers over Phillies

MVP: Manny Ramirez
Cy Young: Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year: Jeff Samardzija


World Series Champ: Angels over Dodgers

Bold, Random Prediction: Francisco Liriano wins 20 games.
--
Pederman

==AL==
East Champ: Rays
Central Champ: Royals
West Champ: Athletics
Wildcard: Twins

ALCS: Rays over Twins

MVP: Justin Morneau
Cy Young: Joakim Soria
Rookie of the Year: Matt Wieters


==NL==
East Champ: Marlins
Central Champ: Cardinals
West Champ: Diamondbacks
Wildcard: Braves

NLCS : Cardinals over Braves

MVP: Hanley Ramirez
Cy Young: Jake Peavy
Rookie of the Year: Colby Rasmus


World Series Champ: Rays over Cardinals

Bold, Random Prediction: Gil Meche and Zach Greinke each win 20 games; Jose Reyes steals 100 bases.
--
JP

==AL==
East Champ: Red Sox
Central Champ: Indians
West Champ: Angels
Wildcard: Rays

ALCS: Angels over Indians

MVP: Josh Hamilton
Cy Young: Roy Halladay
Rookie of the Year: David Price


==NL==
East Champ: Mets
Central Champ: Cubs
West Champ: Dodgers
Wildcard: Phillies

NLCS : Mets over Dodgers

MVP: Hanley Ramirez
Cy Young: Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year: Cameron Maybin


World Series Champ: Mets over Angels

Bold, Random Prediction: The Royals will miss the playoffs by just a couple games and compete all year for a spot.
--
Ben15

==AL==
East Champ: Boston Red Sox
Central Champ: Cleveland Indians
West Champ: Oakland Athletics
Wild card: New York Yankees

ALCS: Red Sox over Indians

MVP: Grady Sizemore
Cy Young: Josh Beckett
Rookie of the Year: Matt Wieters

==NL==

East Champ: Philadelphia Phillies
Central Champ: Chicago Cubs
West Champ: Los Angeles Dodgers
Wild card: Florida Marlins

NLCS: Marlins over Cubs

MVP: Hanley Ramirez
Cy Young: Tim Lincecum
Rookie of the Year: Cameron Maybin

World Series Champ: Red Sox over Marlins

Bold, Random Prediction: Brad Penny contends for the AL Cy Young

Today's Thumbs Up & High Five Awesomeness Award Winner...

Brian Dawkins, former Eagles defensive back. Long story short, Dan Leone, an Eagles game-day stadium employee complained about the trading of Dawkins on his Facebook page, the wrong person saw it and that resulted in his firing. The status:

"Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"




Okay, the status is pretty ridiculous...but whatever happened to that little freedom of speech thingy? Why would the Philadelphia Eagles care that one employee, who is assumedly a long-time Eagles and Brian Dawkins fan, complain about trading one of the most popular players in Eagles history. Of course that's going to happen, they're idiots to think otherwise...uh oh, sorry Eagles front office, are you gonna shut our blog down too?

Now onto the part where Brian Dawkins shows he's a classy dude. He heard about the story and felt really bad about Mr. Leone's firing and, even though he nothing to do with it directly, Dawkins decided to give him a pair of tickets to the Eagles-Broncos game in Philly. I genuinely love stories like this where athletes go out of their way to show their appreciation to fans. Great work Brian Dawkins, this TUHFAA's for you!

FINAL FOUR PREVIEW

Final Four Predictions and Analysis
For me, the 2009 NCAA Tournament has been a disappointment. I cheer for underdogs over big dogs, mid majors over majors, no hype over hype. I can pick Pittsburgh to win it all, then cry when they beat East Tennessee St in the final minutes in the first game. So even though Cinderella is absent from the final four for 3 years in a row, that doesn’t mean I won’t be cheering for Michigan St. and Villanova like they are the American Eagles. For analysis and predictions, I will put my objective hat on and sort through the matchups to decide who will be holding up the trophy next Monday.

1. Connecticut vs. 2. Michigan St
This game features the grind it out style of the Big Ten regular season champs and the bruising Big East style of number one seeded UConn. Ring the bell, but take the boxing gloves off, this will be a game you want to make sure you don’t let your kids watch alone.

Why Uconn could win: Dominance inside. When you have 7’3” Hasheem Thabeet, 6’9” Stanley Robinson, 6’7’’ Jeff Adrian starting and 6’9” Gavin Edwards coming off the bench, saying you have a good front line is like saying Ndaya Suleman enjoys having kids. Edwards would start and star at almost every mid major college in the nation, and he’s their FOURTH big guy? Even though AJ Price and Kemba Walker can pull their own weight, the Uconn big men time and time again clean up their misses around the rim. They also allow Walker and Price to gamble more on

defense, knowing there are goliaths behind them backing them up.

Why Michigan St could win: Playing their way. Michigan St held Louisville to 52 points. I’ll write that again: Michigan St held Louisville to 52 points! Have you seen Louisville play?! They put up 103 on Arizona. I don’t care if it’s Arizona and a 12 seed, they still play in the Pac 10 with 2 or 3 potential lottery picks on their team. Louisville wanted to play fast, and the Spartans simply did not allow it. They used the shot clock and rarely turned the ball over. The Spartans have the Big ten player of the year in Kalin Lucas and the Big Ten defensive player of the year in Travis Walton (Exhibit A: Terrence Williams, 2 points). They have one of the best coaches in the nation, plus they have something else going for them: Home Crowd. State is less than 90 miles from Detroit, and even though teams get the same amount of tickets allotted I have a funny feeling that the stands will look more green and white than blue. If Michigan St can do what they do best, keep the game low scoring and make timely shots, don’t be surprised to see the crowd get behind them and pull an upset in the first game Saturday.

UConn X Factor: AJ Price. Thabeet gets the hype, but when the game is on the line Price gets the ball. He was hurt last year leading to a first round upset against San Diego leading to extra motivation this year. Against Missouri, Kemba Walker took over the show as Price deferred. Now, it’s Price’s turn.

Michigan State X Factor: Durrell Summers. The only way Uconn is going to get beat is if Michigan St hits outside shots. Even if Goran Suton plays like he did against Louisville, someone else needs to hit shots. Summers hit big shots against Louiville, and Michigan St is going to need him to do the same against Uconn.
Prediction: Michigan St plays well, but Uconn is too tough down low, even for the Big Ten Champs. Uconn in a nailbiter. CONNECTICUT 65, MICHIGAN ST 62

1. North Carolina vs. 3. Villanova
It seems like everyone and their grandma has North Carolina in the Final Four, and most people picked them to win it all. Out of spite, I had them losing to Gonzaga (Whoops). I was privileged enough to watch them live in the sweet 16 and elite 8. They are the best team in the tournament, no doubt about it. Sometimes, though, the best team doesn’t always win.

Why North Carolina could win: Ty Lawson. He’s the best guard in the country, and the best player in the country not named Blake Griffin. At least when we watch him, we don’t have to see 4,329 shots of his parents in the stands (I feel like I personally know the Griffins). Anyway, I was amazed at what I saw when I watched Lawson. He’s unguardable. He’s the quickest guy on the court AND the best shooter on the court (sorry ellington and green). Lawson just doesn’t miss open shots. He creates for teammates and doesn’t turn the ball over. Check out his tournament stats so far: 20 for 35 from the field, 7 for 11 from the 3 point line, scored 23, 19, 19, dished out a total of 20 assists and 2 turnovers, and 6 steals. Are you kidding me? This guy is talked about all the time and he isn’t talked about enough. As Tyler Hansborough was showing why he won’t make it in the NBA against Oklahoma, Lawson was showing why he would be a top 10 point guard… Right now. As in, if he played for the Kings tomorrow. He’s what makes North Carolina go, and he’s the reason UNC will win or lose.

Why Villanova could win: Mental Toughness. When you play North Carolina, you can’t let the awe and admiration of the team get to you. They have multiple future NBA players, Villanova might have none. When they make a run, you can’t fold or give up. I felt like watching the Gonzaga game they were admiring North Carolina more than playing against them. Oklahoma definitely played nervous and scared. I doubt these wildcats will come out scared, and they need to treat this like any other game. The wildcats need to play their brand of basketball: get every loose ball, attack the offensive glass, not let Carolina get out in transition. They can’t let Carolina get off to a big lead either. There’s a lot of things that have to go right for Villanova to win, but in basketball that happens sometimes.

North Carolina X Factor : The “other” big men. Psycho T gets all the credit, but Deon Thompson and Ed Davis are the two guys that really hurt opposing defenses. Teams need to focus on stopping those guys too. It’s tough to stop UNC when Davis is making 10 foot jump hooks and Thompson consistently knocks down 15 footers. If that happens in this game, Villanova will be in for a long night.

Villanova X Factor: Rebounding. Villanova is a team comprised of small guards , and athletic big men. However, there big men are wing players. They don’t have a true post presence. Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson like to shoot outside more than inside. The key to the game for Villanova is limiting North Carolina’s chances. Even though they are undersized, they have to rebound well. North Carolina doesn’t miss much so when they do, there better be a wildcat getting the board. If Villanova limits North Carolina to one shot, and get some loose balls/offensive rebounds of their own by utilizing their quickness, their chances of winning the game increase exponentially.

Prediction: The game is closer than people think. It’s a five point game with 3 or 4 minutes left, and North Carolina pulls away at the end.
NORTH CAROLINA 81, VILLANOVA 71

Championship game prediction:
1. Connecticut vs. 1. North Carolina
Just what CBS wants. A showdown of two gigantic programs in college basketball. It’s been well documented that Uconn played its regionals in Arizona in 1999, 2004, and this year. They won the championship in those two prior years. Although some people might point to that as destiny, it just reminds me of the 1999 game when a heavily favored Duke team took on Connecticut. Connecticut won that match up, and I feel this one is going to be the same. UNC doesn’t hit as many shots while Uconn kills them on the glass. Everyone plays well for Uconn. That’s what it took 10 years ago, and that’s what will happen this year. Uconn in a classic.
Connecticut 76 North Carolina 72

Important Disclaimer: Shrempf Scampi is not responsible for any lost wagers made based on these picks.

The Allen Iverson Experiment Officially Gets Plug Pulled

Let me preface this by saying that I'm a Pistons fan...(sigh). It's awesome going from six consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals to on the verge of being knocked out of the playoffs by the Charlotte freaking Bobcats. I was extremely stunned to see the Pistons trade Chauncey Billups away...stunned and heartbroken. Chauncey was my favorite Piston and will always be one of my favorite players. I know Joe Dumars said that no one was safe but jeez...Chauncey? Now at the time I was a little excited about the prospect of one of the best pure scorers in NBA history joining a team that needed..well...scoring. It didn't look good from the start, and Iverson just never really meshed completely with the rest of the team. Michael Curry (read: idiot) was pretty adament about young Rodney Stuckey starting, so he gave AI the start and sent Richard Hamilton to the bench (another one of my faves). This didn't sit too well with Rip, who was already pretty heartbroken that they shipped Chauncey away, but he accepted his new role.

Long story short, Iverson got hurt somewhere along the way and Rip came back to the starting lineup to kick some ass and the Pistons actually started..you know... winning. This was great, except it was inevitable that AI would come back and screw it all up. This past week, Iverson yapped to the press about how hard it was to come off the bench and how he would rather retire..blah blah blah, so he immediately comes out the next game and goes 1-8 from the field. Do you forget how to shoot if you sit on the bench too long? Give me a break. Now he has a "back injury" that's going to keep him out for the rest of the season...I don't know if this is Joe Dumars' doing or Iverson's, but I'm pretty sure he could play if he wanted to...not that I'd want him to. Oh well, now the Pistons clear around $20 million in cap space from him alone, definitely enough to make some big splashes in free agency, which is something they'll need to do if they want to get back to the glory days of losing the Eastern Conference Finals every year. If Chris Bosh doesn't retire, then I'd LOVE to see him in Mo-town. Meanwhile the Nuggets are looking very solid out west, poised to make a deep run into the postseason...good luck Chauncey, you deserve it.

If the question is "How can we make an awesome team completely self-destruct?" then Allen Iverson is definitely The Answer.

Jay Cutler's Tears Will Freeze in Chicago

In a move that caught everyone by surprise, the Bears sell the house to bring Cutler to Chi-town. The Bears only gave up 2 first-round picks, a 3rd round pick, Kyle Orton, a couple Escalades, and naming rights to Soldier Field. Okay, take out the last two, but still, the Bears must've reallllly wanted Cutler, they gave up a lot. Do they finally have their remarkably sketchy quarterback situation settled? The Bears also signed offensive tackle Orlando Pace today as well, they certainly have had a busy day. Is it enough for them to compete for the NFC North crown? Probably, the Vikings are the favorite but not by much....not with the Rosencopter under center.

Meet Run GMC

The Memphis Grizzlies have been playing some good basketball this week. They beat the Wizards last night and have won 3 of their last 4. They have had a pretty rough season so this week has been pretty exciting. It looks like they are starting to actually play like a team and Run GMC has been on fire. Run GMC?

The Warriors in the late 80's and early 90's were carried on the shoulders of Run TMC (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin). Their run and gun style of basketball brought the team success and injected the NBA with excitement. I think enough time has passed and I can rip off the Run TMC name and give it to my Grizzlies. Even though the Memphis Grizzlies have had a bad season, Run GMC (Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, and Mike Conley) have shown what they are capable of. Rudy Gay has been playing like an All-Star, Mayo is making his case for Rookie of the Year, and Conley is proving that he can be an efficient point guard. They have been playing great recently and the future is looking brighter. I think that the Run GMC Grizzlies are a player away from being back in the playoffs. Blake Griffin or Hasheem Thabeet would definitely provide that push for the playoffs.

I'm going to leave you with a good mix of Bryant Reeves highlights. Just kidding. Enjoy some amazing plays from Rudy Gay.

Chris Bosh Announces Retirement

I was stunned to turn on my TV today and see a press conference of Toronto Raptors center and Indie-film star Chris Bosh announcing his retirement from the NBA effective at the end of this season. The woes of the Raptors franchise seemed to have taken their toll on the big man. Bosh announced that after his retirement, he will pursue his first love: fashion design. A photo from the press conference can be seen below:





Bosh also stated that the nerdy look might take some time to catch on, but he thinks that the world is ready to embrace this new trend. More details on his new fashion line will come soon.

A video of the press conference can be seen here.