Overrated NFL Players

There was a recent poll going around throughout the NFL held by its players that sparked some conversations in the sporting world. This poll was, "Who is the most overrated player in the NFL?" The question was asked to 180 random NFL players, and the result was Tim Tebow earning 34% of the votes and running away as the most overrated.

Second, was Jets starting quarterback Mark Sanchez, and the fact that Tebow and Sanchez are 1-2 really makes me wonder if NFL players know what "overrated" really means. If you look at urbandictionary.com, a great resource for everyday definitions, it reads, "overrated: Anything that is given too much credit and hype. See: Ford Mustang and Dragonball Z." That definition is as cut and dry as it gets, and the guy who submitted that definition's handle is "The Truth," so obviously it has to be true.

Sanchez and Tebow are definitely not overrated, because everyone knows that they suck, and no one goes around bragging about how the Jets have the two top quarterbacks in the league. This is why I am going to unveil my list of most overrated players.

#5 Tony Romo - Dallas Cowboys, Quarterback

Romo is coming off his best statistical season last year when he threw for 4,200 yards, 31 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions, but the guy cannot lead his team to victory. He's got a good arm and always looks good early in the year, but when the going gets tough, Romo gets going....home.

In the six full seasons as the quarterback of "America's Team," Romo is 1-3 in the playoffs, including the muffed hold game in '06 against the Seahawks. That play pretty much sums up Romo's career, he led the team to a game-tying touchdown, but muffs the extra point and they lose by 1. Sad stuff, but can't say I feel bad for him.

#4 Devin Hester - Chicago Bears, Wide Receiver/Kick Return

Hester burst onto the NFL scene as a return man during his first few seasons, and he's always good for one or two now-a-days, but his is a God awful receiver, yet everyone sees him as this huge threat. He was so bad that the team had to bring in stud wideout Brandon Marshall AND draft Alshon Jeffery to put some guys who could catch out on the field.

Hester reminds me a lot of Dante Hall, a return specialist for the Kansas City Chiefs a few years back who played some wide out. When there's a punt and either of these guys are back to return it, you want to watch. Everyone stops to makes sure they don't miss an incredible combination of jukes that somehow results in a TD. Stick either of them at wide out, and their a "deep threat" decoy. (Hester is a great Madden receiver, send him on a streak, and he blows by the defense, too bad that's not real life.)

#3 Cam Newton - Carolina Panthers, Quarterback

Vince Young 2.0? Anyone? Anyone? No? Ok maybe it's just me, but I got into a huge argument before this season started with a bunch of my buddies by saying that Cam Newton is really overrated. They argued saying that the Panthers are terrible and that it isn't his fault, plus he won Rookie of the Year. Big whoop, the guy is a head case and a turnover machine, a lot like Vince Young.

Sure this is only his second year in the league, but the Panthers are 1-5 and in 22 career games he's thrown 23 interceptions. That is not formula for winning football, especially now that the NFL is a "quarterback's league." And by the way he isn't winning, he's 7-15 as a starter. So people can keep hyping up Newton all they want, but I'm not buying it. P.S. RG3, another dual threat guy, had a bad team in Washington and he's tearing it up. So is Luck with the Colts, the laughing stock of the league last year that struggled to win 1 game. So knock it off with the bad team nonsense.

#2 Nnamdi Asomugha - Philadelphia Eagles, Cornerback

Widely regarded as the second best corner back behind Revis Island, Asomugha makes zero plays. Asomugha was always a bright sport for the dismal Raiders during his stint there, but that was because the opposing offenses would literally pick on every other defensive player on that Raider team, because Asomugha was the only one with a pulse. He literally was thrown at 27 times in 2010...and he only allowed 10 receptions....that is ridiculous.

Now that Asomugha is on the Eagles, a team with a good defense, he looks like more of a weakness than superstar. He gives up a lot of deep receptions and is near the worst in yards per attempt allowed. He did have three picks last year which is respectable, but not when you have a $60 million contract and were brought in to be the lockdown guy he was in Oakland.

#1 Chris Johnson - Tennessee Titans, Running Back

This guy just flat out fell off. He used to churn out 100 yard games like it was nothing a few years back, and he even eclipsed the mark 12 times in a row during one stretch. Now, it rarely happens, although he did torch the Bills last week. Aside from that, he has also put up weeks of 4, 17, 24, and 24 yards so far this season. 

He still is one of the fastest guys in the league, and can break out for 200 yards on any given Sunday (great film), but he is vastly overrated. He only scored four touchdowns all of last season, and it took him 16 games to reach the 1,000 yard mark. This season, he didn't get into the endzone until last week, Week 7. The Titans need him to 

be the CJ2K from '09 in order to be successful, 

and he is starting to look like more and more like a 

shadow of that.

Overated But Not Top 5: Philip Rivers Chargers QB, Michael Vick Eagles QB, Jermichael Finley Packers TE, Shonn Greene Jets RB, John Abraham Falcons DE, Champ Bailey Broncos CB, Brandon Lloyd Patriots WR

Worst Announcers in Sports

With the baseball season coming to a close, football in full swing, and the NBA about to tip off, it's time to discuss announcers. The bad, the ugly, and the terrible. The list is in no specific order; on who should be strangled with their head sets, and be buried on the side of the road.

Gross smiles

Joe Buck & Tim McCarver :
The worst tag team in the history of sports. The Dudley boys would go ape all over these panzy's. McCarver is so oblivious to real life and Joe Buck could not be more of a homer. If I hear McCarver give his input during the World Series on any crucial situation and just restate what's going on and leave it at that, then he should just go to a retirement home and call it a life. Buck has so many man crushes it's unbelievable and if the Cardinals lose, he drowns his sorrows at the bar with Fernando Tatis or someone like that.

Makes me hate the Yankees even more

John Sterling & Suzyn Waldman:
For such a successful ball club, you'd think they could hire people who weren't totally inept and senile. John Sterling misses more calls than Jim Joyce up there, miss-calling homeruns, catches, outs, the whole sha-bang. Suzyn Waldman is infamous for her freaking out about Roger Clemens return, just awful stuff out of these folks and it doesn't look like its going to get any better soon.

She's kinda hot...

Doris Burke:
I think Doris is kinda hot in like a weird way, especially with those glasses, but she's a god awful announcer. She knows nothing about men's basketball, and should probably stick to women's college ball. The games she does with Hubie Brown is like listening to a crazy old man ramble to his doctor about his colon or something. To be fair I love Hubie Brown, I think he knows a lot about the game and is so energetic, but when they're paired together its like watching a rec game.

Feel bad for JB

Phil Simms & Cris Collinsworth:
Two of the biggest blowhards in the announcing game. Simms talks about his kids too much and talks too little about what's actually going on in the game. Collinsworth talks too much about the game which is his problem because he's usually wrong and always has some dumb opinion. One was a stud player, and one wasn't, and the bum talks like he won a buncha Super Bowls, uhh not quite there CC.

Spider 3 Y Banana

John Gruden:
Does Gruden love every single player in NFL history. Guy goes on 10 minute rants about the back up long snapper being a great team player and a hard worker. Give it a rest, Johnny boy. Gruden does know a lot about football and was no doubt a great coach, but get out of the booth bro, you're making Tirico look bad and he's got a voice of gold. Frank Caliendo does a knock out impression of him, its crazy spot on.

"Aliens"

Jack Edwards:
If you've ever watched a Bruins game on NESN, it's probably the most painful experience of all time. Jack Edwards is not only the biggest homer in all of sports, but he's completely insane. Goes on rants about the American Revolution and rebelling against the queen, which he feels is comparable to playing the Canadiens, just a total douche.

World Series Preview

Tigers Miguel Cabrera and Giants Buster Posey led their teams to the World Series

Wow so the Giants came all the way back from a 3-1 series deficit to make sure that I went 0-2 in my Championship Series predictions. Either way, I still will voice my opinion on the World Series, so take it with a grain of salt.

A few keys to this series:

Melky Cabrera
After ripping my heart out for testing positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs back in August, I have remained silent about my favorite baseball player not named Derek Jeter. That is until right now. The San Francisco Giants have to send Melky some sort care package for earning them home field advantage in the World Series.

For those of you who do not remember, Melky dominated this season's All-Star game, taking home the Most Valuable Player award, and leading the National League to victory. The side that wins the All-Star game then gets awarded home field advantage, ergo, the Giants need to show some sort of appreciation for Melky's "taking one for the team."

Justin Verlander
Since the Tigers manhandled the Yankees in just four games and the Giants/Cardinals series went the full seven, the Tigers had six days of rest before Game 1 of the World Series. This means that Tigers ace Justin Verlander will be more than ready for this series.

Don't be surprised if you see Verlander more than twice if this series goes the full seven games. He definitely will start Games 1 and 5 (if necessary) and will probably be in the bullpen in Game 7.

Closers are Overrated
With the recent struggles of former "lights out" Tigers closer Jose Valverde, manager Jim Leyland has resorted to a "closer by committee" outlook. This means that Leyland will go with the hot hand at any situation. That being said, Phil Coke pitched very well against the Yankees late in games, and will definitely be called upon for big outs.

The Giants on the other hand had three guys close numerous games out for them this year in Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, and Jeremy Affeldt. This was due to the fact that Brian Wilson, their closer of the past few seasons, has been hurt for the majority of the year. Whichever team can get the toughest of outs late in games, will jump out in this series.

Starting Pitchers
These two teams have the hottest pitching staffs in the league right now, and it's only right that they are in the World Series. The Tigers pitching staff has posted a combined 1.74 ERA this postseason and Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez have all done a wonderful job complimenting Verlander in the rotation.

The Giants are 6-0 in elimination games this postseason and the "never say die" attitude starts in the early innings with guys like Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, and Barry Zito. On top of those guys that have each showed up big in win or go home starts, they have two-time Cy Young winner TIm Lincecum and young star Madison Bumgarner, who each can step in and help.

Buster Posey vs. Miguel Cabrera
These two could potentially be the league's two MVP's of their respective leagues and they need to step up in order to help their team to victory. This means, driving in runs, hitting home runs, and coming up big in the clutch. These will be the two guys that are expected to come through in those situations.

My Prediction: Tigers in 7 They way the Tigers dominated the Yankees is hard to erase from my memory and as pesky as the Giants have been in elimination games, I think the Tigers have a staff strong enough to put them away. Also, outside of Posey and Pablo Sandoval, the Giants lineup is pretty mediocre, as the Tigers are stacked.

A Fan's Desperate Plea...

Ok I know I've been kind of a bum and haven't written anything in a while, mostly because I've been sulking about my Yankees, and their pitiful playoff performance. That performance, and the coaching that went along with it is why I am writing this article.

I beg of the Yankees, please, please, listen to me. Fire Joe Girardi. Get rid of him, and start over. We can't blame everything on the players, some blame has to fall on the manager. This team is probably the most talented team in the entire league, yet for the past two seasons we have fallen short when it counts. In October. A month that once meant for the rest of the league, stay away from the Yankees. Now it's true the Yankees stars have gotten older, and lost a step but we've seen this team beat the biggest and best. So why is it that come playoff time we crumble under the pressure.

I just don't understand why he has such job security? Why no matter what is he safe? Because he won one world series? I could have done it too with that team. All I'm saying is he's nothing special, and all he does make pointless pitching changes and piss off the players we rely on like A-Rod, and Granderson. These guys were in the lineup every game they could 162 times a year, and then we get to the playoffs and he starts to shuffle the lineup around. It's stupid, and it ruins any sort of consistency we have going in to the playoffs. Girardi is a cancer to this team. He brings nothing but poison to our day to day play and I want him out. End of story.

Giants Game 7 Recap - "The Close One"

Victor Cruz scored a game-winning 77 yard touchdown with just over a minute left.

What a game, almost a huge let down loss to the Washington Redskins, but the Giants did escape with a 27-23 victory that was way too close for comfort. Either way, the Giants now have more than a 1 game lead over the rest of the NFC East, and they finally got their first divisional win.

That could have easily gone the other way if we didn't have Eli(te) at quarterback. Manning had an abnormally bad game in his stellar season up to this point, and almost gave the 'Skins the game with his two costly picks. Everyone forgets all of that though since Eli unleashed a 77-yard bomb to Victor Cruz, when trailing by 3 with 1:20 left in the game, to steal back the win.

Yesterday's game was also the first taste that the Giants got of the new franchise quarterback of the Redskins, Robert Griffin III. RG3 looked efficient for most of the game, but he is the definition of a system quarterback. Like Alex Smith in San Francisco, RG3 has an offense tailored to his strengths and it was obvious in the formations that head coach Mike Shanahan have drawn up. Griffin spent most of the day in shotgun formation, with a tailback behind him and fullback to his side. He then read the defense in an option-styled matter and would either give a handoff, pitch to the tailback or pull the handoff and fire a strike down the middle of the field.

Even though a lot was done to put Griffin into a position to succeed, you can see that he will break out of all of the catering and be a star in a few years. He has a big time arm, and made a clutch through late in the game in what would have been the game winning touchdown. RG3 also used his legs to scramble for numerous first downs, and keep plays alive while keeping his eyes down field. He and Eli will have many more of these nail biting showdowns over the next few years.

One Last Thing: The Giants defense is really starting to come together now, despite giving up 23 points. If it was any other quarterback besides Griffin or Philadelphia Eagles Michael Vick, the Giants would have had close to six or seven sacks, but with Griffin's elusiveness they only had three. Still, Griffin was running around all game and the defense forced four turnovers, a lot of them in big situations. This is a very good sign since up until the 49ers game last week, the D looked like nothing like they have over the past few seasons.

Up Next the Giants will square off in Dallas with the rival Cowboys for the last time this year. This is a big game on more than just a personal level since the Giants are 1-2 in their division, with one of those losses coming to the Cowboys in Week 1. 

Typical Jet Crushing Loss

God I hate New England

For a second I was standing in front of some stupid Pats fans and yelling that we were going to win after a crazy special teams turnover. We had it. Then on a perfect ball right into the chest of Stephen Hill, it all came crashing down. That would have been a first down and we could have milked the clock down and not given the Pats any time to try and tie the game.

Instead they got the ball with a minute 40 and moved it like it was a scale drill with no defenders, 60 yards in under a minute, to set up a soul damaging tying field goal. Yeah I guess you can blame Sanchez for that fumble at the end to kill it off for good, but that's super harsh. Sanchez had a really good game except for that one duck he threw right to the defense. He was sharp, throwing lasers all over the field and moving the ball really effectively. If it was my TV, I would have put my foot right through it without any remorse.

For now its a moot point, the Jets can either move forward or just roll over and die like they usually do. I hope this is motivation and they play the rest of the season like they did in the 4th quarter today. Ah what could have been, I make that catch, not just because I have hands of pure gold but because it was right in the numbers, probably best throw of Sanchez's career. Whatever, Massachusetts is a cesspool so they can hold on to these little victories. We'll see them again in a couple of weeks and probably lay a fat egg at home. Classic Jets.

Knicks Outlook

Courtesy: ESPN.com

Can the Knicks be contenders in the East this year?

Schoolwork has definitely got the best of me, as I’ve been extremely weak in my lack of posts. That being said, I am back in action, at least for one post. This post is all about the Knicks as the Yanks have been knocked out.                                                                                                                                   

First off, I’m extremely optimistic about this year's team. It is indeed true that they have statistically the oldest team in NBA history, but the 1999 Knicks team that made the Finals was the previous record holder. The likes of Camby, Kidd, Rasheed, and Kurt Thomas will provide leadership and quality minutes, and that vows good for a team who hasn't gotten out the first round in the past  two years.

Secondly, I know it sounds stupid, but I’m actually happy with the choice of Felton over Lin. Felton seems to be in shape for this season and in his prior stint with the Bockers, he was brilliant. Amar’e seemed to flourish under Felton’s wing, and hopefully that continues. Having an old Amar’e that shined in the pick and roll, as well as posting up, is what the Knicks need.

            

         In addition, I just think the combination of different skill sets that the Knicks have in the preseason is really like no other team.  The Knicks will most likely be at least 10 deep with Carmelo leading the charge. The other 9 consists of players that can score, rebound, defend and do other intangibles. The East this year is significantly weaker than it was last year and honestly, this team can snatch a 3 seed.

          

          I hope the Knicks can live up to their expectations and go out there and prove they’re ready to rumble with the likes of the Heat. If not, expect major changes next year. Lastly, I would just like to point out the Iman Shumpert may have the most swag in the NBA with the high top fade and post 90's movement. 

Yankees Season Finally Comes to an End

Was today A-Rod's last game for New York?

In Game 1 of the ALCS, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, fractured his ankle in the 12th inning ending his season. Five days later, his team's season is now over as the Detroit Tigers knocked out the New York Yankees for the third time in six years. They did so in a dominating fashion with their 8-1 statement victory in today's Game 4 completing the sweep of the series.

Could this be the end of an era? Jeter's ankle injury may have been a telltale sign that this team is getting old. That is what many people will be saying about the Yankees all offseason after their poor display in this season's playoffs. In fact, if you really think about it, the Yankees could have been eliminated in the Divisional Series in just four games if Raul Ibanez doesn't bail them out twice in Game 3.

The once promising outlook on this postseason quickly faded as fans and the media were reminded of past postseason struggles for numerous Yankee stars. Alex Rodriguez, the man who usually took most of the heat in the past for his career long postseason slump, got benched for almost half of the games that the Yankees played, while also forcing manager Joe Girardi to pinch hit for him on several occasions.

Joining him this year was Nick Swisher, who has always struggled in the postseason but yet somehow goes unnoticed and Curtis Granderson, who strikes out almost every time he steps to the plate. Both of these players were benched in at least one game as well, pointing out the glaring internal issues with this team.

Manager Joe Girardi tried everything this postseason to try and get his team to hit, and at the beginning, it actually worked. Although I have already mentioned it, Girardi pinch hit Ibanez for Rodriguez in the ninth inning of Game 3 in the Divisional Series, while the team trailed by one run. If a manager is pinch hitting for one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, it is a huge sign of desperation.

If anything else but an extra base hit came off the bat of Ibanez, Girardi would have been crucified by the media, as his team would have been down 2-1 to the Orioles who were in the midst of their improbable playoff run. Instead, Ibanez homered, in one of the gutsiest calls by a manager/coach in all of sports, shifting the momentum of the series back to the Yankees.

That was a great call by Girardi, but it was a foreshadowing for how he would handle the rest of the playoffs, and a prime example of his micromanaging that he usually only resorts to for pitching changes. Girardi completely lost hold of his guys, abandoning his soldiers that had fought long and hard to get to this point, and replacing them with guys like Eric Chavez and Brett Gardner.

Girardi is a very poor in-game manager and it is clear he doesn't trust his guys to get the job done, and always feels the need to try and impact the result of the game any opportunity he gets. The pitchers that he brings out of the bullpen are all "specialty guys," in the sense that righty pitchers are only in there to face righties and lefty pitchers are only in there to face lefties. He doesn't have guys like Phil Coke or Brian Matusz, two lefties that the Yankees faced this postseason that opposing mangers would leave in to get all three outs in an inning no matter who was up.

This translated to the way Girardi handled his batters. In a big spot, no matter who was up or what the have accomplished, he would pinch hit for them based on whether a lefty or righty was on the mound. This blatantly shows his distrust for his guys to come through in a clutch situation, and that he feels the need to try and do it himself from the managerial position.

Even though Girardi is a poor manager, and totally lost control of his team down the stretch, the players didn't do anything to help themselves out. Starting pitchers Andy Pettitte, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, and CC Sabathia (before getting shelled today), all pitched tremendously. They gave the Yankees a chance to win each and every night, but the hitters never picked them up. Guys like Rodriguez, Granderson, Swisher and Robinson Cano (who came into the playoffs as one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball, ended up having statistically the worst slump in postseason history) all tanked and basically shouldn't even have shown up to play. Take a look at their stats in this years playoffs.

Alex Rodriguez - 3 for 25 (.120 AVG), 0 XBHs, 0 RBIs, 1 RUN, 12 STRIKEOUTS
Curtis Granderson - 3 for 30 (.100 AVG), 1 XBH, 1 RBI, 1 RUN, 16 STRIKEOUTS
Nick Swisher - 5 for 30 (.167 AVG), 2 XBHs, 2 RBIs, 0 RUNS, 10 STRIKEOUTS
Robinson Cano - 3 for 40 (.075 AVG), 2 XBHs, 4 RBIs, 1 RUN, 6 STRIKEOUTS

That is essentially the every day "heart" of the Yankees order, with the exception of Mark Teixeira, who was one of the few that actually hit well (9 for 32) in the playoffs. There is no way any team can win with this type of production coming from half of their starters. In the Tigers series, the Yankees only scored in 3 of the 39 innings in which they played in and managed to hit just .200 as a team throughout the entire playoffs. If you watched, you would think that even that number is too high.

The Yankees have a bunch of questions that they must answer this offseason and of course the biggest one will be figuring out what to do with Alex Rodriguez. After embarrassing him on a national stage with the numerous benchings and replacement pinch hitters, rumors are already starting to swirl that A-Rod might be on the verge of being traded to Miami, his hometown. Who knows if this is true, but what is true is that aside from 2009, A-Rod struggles in the playoffs. Now with five years left on his lucrative contract, the Yanks may be looking to get rid of the fading and aging star.

Next the team has to figure out their outfield. With Granderson and Gardner most likely locking down the center and left field positions, right field remains a question mark. Nick Swisher, who clearly struggled again this postseason, will be a free agent, along with Ichiro Suzuki (39 years old), who the Yanks picked up at the trade deadline.

A very real possibility is that both of these guys walk, and the Yankees look elsewhere for a replacement. Many fans will be calling for the bringing back of both because they are each fan favorites, and Ichiro was probably the best playoff hitter this season. Ibanez, who emerged as another fan favorite with his clutch home runs down the stretch, will probably sign another one-year deal and serve as the DH and spot outfielder.

The next spot that the Yankees must figure out is catcher. Russell Martin struggled mightily all season, hitting below the .200 mark, but picked it up in September to get himself up to .211 and a solid 20 home runs. Where Martin is most valuable is behind the plate, and since he is one of the top defensive catchers in the game, the Yankees will probably bring him back.

The final and most important situation they need to figure out is their starting rotation. CC Sabathia will return as the ace of the staff, and Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova will also be under contract next season. Michael Pineda, who the Yankees picked up last offseason and the world has forgotten about, will also probably be fighting for a spot in the rotation.

That being said, Andy Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda are both aging veterans who pitched very well for the Yankees this season and are now free agents. Pettitte will most likely decide his own fate by figuring out if he wants to retire again, or come back for a full season, but the Yanks should resign Kuroda. That being said, the fact that he pitched very well for the team this season at his older age, might mean that he will look for a contract longer than one year, and the Yanks may not be committed to doing that.

One Last Thing: It is a very realistic idea that GM Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenner brothers may blow this team up this offseason after not advancing to the World Series for the third straight season. That may not be very long for some baseball fans, but when you are in the postseason year in and year out and you don't take home the Commissioner's Trophy, you aren't getting the job done. Especially in New York.

Yankees Game 4 Preview

This could be the final preview I have for the Yankees postseason, and even though it has dominated the site over the past two weeks, it is the playoffs. Yankees ace CC Sabathia will try to prolong the torturing of Yankee fans by dragging on this miserable series. The Tigers will throw Max Scherzer, who has two different colored eyes. Not that it helps him pitch, I just figured that to be pretty neat.

The Yankees are down 3-0 to the Tigers, who are now just one game from knocking the Yankees out of the playoffs for the third time in six years. With another win, which the Tigers will have four opportunities to do so, they will get back to the World Series for the first time since 2006.

Joe Girardi shook up the lineup again, with A-Rod still parked on the bench, Swisher will get the start in the outfield along with Gardner and Ichiro. This means the strikeout machine Curtis Granderson is the odd man out and will be joining A-Rod on the pine.

CC has the best postseason record through his first 12 starts out of any Yankee pitcher at 7-1. The workhorse will need to keep this up because as everyone across the country including myself have been saying, the Yankees anemic offense will not provide him with any run support.

One Last Thing: Each night A-Rod doesn't start it looks more and more like the beginning of the end for him in pinstripes. It's sad to see it working this way, but you have to figure a guy like Jeter would speak up to Girardi and basically demand to be in the game. Either way, A-Rod is not Jeter, and Jeter is done for the year, just like the rest of the Yankees will be if not tonight then tomorrow.

PS The game is currently in a rain delay and no start time has been determined and even though it isn't raining in Detroit yet, the weather does not look promising.

UPDATE: The game has been postponed until tomorrow at 4:07 PM ET.

Yankees Game 3 Recap

The Tigers continued their dominance over the Yankees in this series to win Game 3 and take a 3-0 lead in this best-of-7 series. The series is all but over for Yankees as they need to win 4 games in a row in order to come back, and this has only happened one other time in MLB history by the 2004 Boston Red Sox against the Yankees.

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was not unhittable as he had been earlier in the playoffs with 22 strikeouts before the game tonight. Most people figured, the pitcher who had the most strikeouts was facing the team who strikes out almost every time up, that Verlander would eclipse 10 K's again. Not tonight, the Yankees put the bat on the ball but everything they "hit" were just slow ground balls and lazy pop flies. Verlander only had 3 strikeouts on the day and gave up 1 run on 3 hits thanks to an Eduardo Nunez homer in the 9th.

Now even though Verlander only struck out 3 guys and the Yankees made contact, Verlander still totally dominated the game. The Yankees couldn't get anything going and didn't get more than one guy on base until the 9th inning. Ichiro Suzuki was the only person to get on base before the 9th and he was only one with a hit, he had two of them, until the 9th as well.

The turning point in this game was the error made on a hard hit ground ball to Eric Chavez in the 5th inning. Any time a baserunner gets on in front of Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Delmon Young, it is never a good thing, especially if it is an error. The baserunner that got on as a result of the error, Quintin Berry, scored on a RBI double by Cabrera later in the inning. This run was the deciding one as the Yankees did manage to score in the 9th.

One Last Thing: The Yankees got another good collective pitching performance by everyone that came in tonight, the offense just wasn't enough again. CC Sabathia will get the ball tomorrow, and even though I fully expect him to pitch deep into the game, I don't think the hitting will pick him up. Today was the last hope for New York to get back into the series and they didn't show up. I think tomorrow will be the end of the season, and I can't believe that the Tigers would ever sweep the Yankees.

Yankees Game 3 Preview

They're done. It's over. That is all that the Yankees have been hearing over the past two days and even though the team has done nothing to prove doubters wrong, they need to tune all of that out.

The series is 2-0, but until the Tigers win four games, the Yankees are still alive. Phil Hughes will be on the mound tonight and he will be David the best pitcher on the planet in Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

Everything is stacked against the Yankees in this game. They haven't been able to hit, they lost their beat player and captain Derek Jeter to a fractured ankle, they didn't defend their home ballpark, they're Gavin Verlander, they're on the road, and they are down 0-2. The Yanks clearly have nothing to lose, and call me crazy, but this might be a good thing.

There was so much negativity at home with the booing and minimal attendance, it might be good for the Yanks to have a change of scenery. And what a better way to do it than by proving everyone wrong and topping Verlander? There is none. And that is why I will not be giving any keys to tonight's game.

The Yankees need to forget their individual struggles and follow the words of the late Al Davis and "Just Win Baby." Do whatever it takes to help the team and score more than the other guys. The team needs to come together and find a way to beat the Tigers, as a team.

2009 Hero's Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez need to channel some of their magic from 3 years ago and use it tonight.

Jets Glimmer of Hope, Top of the Division

Luck getting stuck, what a mouth breather

Whoa, what happened yesterday? The Jets ran the ball? Scored touchdowns? Played defense? Sounds super familiar..

For Sanchez's first two years at the helm, that was the recipe. Run the ball 40 times and throw short intermediate balls that Sanchez is actually really good at throwing. Everything seemed to work yesterday, the defense was stout and I think Cromartie is starting to realize he's the man now and he's playing great football. Shonn Greene finally woke up and looked like a tank out there for a buck 60 and 3 td's (fantasy note: CB32 had Shonn on his bench, 34 points. Can't knock it too much, guy had a total of 10 points in the first 5 weeks or something terrible).

Anyways, Sanchez only threw it 19 times and completed over 50 percent, and didn't turn it over. He also threw two nice TD's so it was a pretty flawless game in that sense. I really liked the game plan, and as much as it pains me to say it, like the most excruciating admission of all time, Tebow was almost effective. Ah I'm dead, the fake punt dynamic is pretty sick and he's a good short yardage back, just not a quarterback by any stretch.

Next week is the ultimate test, the Pats in Foxborough. I'll be here in Worcester having to listen to these clown Pats fans, "ahhh, Brady is a gawd, he's wicked good. Welka is a great receivah and Belichick is the greatest coach who ever was ever."

As of right now, the Jets are a top of the Division because of 2 divisional wins and the Pats having dropped 3 games they really shouldn't have. I'll take that with a chance to get a full game ahead if we come out and do what we did against the Colts. I want to be able to gloat to all these Massholes, but knowing the Jets, I'll probably be getting the business for weeks after a blow out, but we can hope.

Ps. I still hate Tebow. Andy Luck is dumb as paint,"the footballs are engineered for spirals" shut up, Einstein. Close your mouth when you breathe.

Pps. Shonn is a hood name.

Ppps. We need to stop getting stupid personal fouls, looking at you Quinton Coples/Muhammad Wilkerson.

Giants Game 6 Recap - "Dominance"

Antrel Rolle (left) had 2 picks and Prince Amukamara (right) had 1

The Giants dismantled the 49ers in their rematch of last year's NFC Championship rematch today at Candlestick Park in San Francisco 26-3. The Giants had an established run game, and Eli Manning managed the game pretty much to perfection. He didn't need to throw for 5 touchdowns and 300+ yards, he simply did enough to win the game and put his team in a position to win. 

The defense also got back to the defense that Giants fans have grown accustomed to over the past few years dominating the game from start to finish. The D-Line was finally a factor tallying 6 sacks and the defensive backs came to play today picking off 49er quarterback Alex Smith 3 times, including 2 by safety Antrel Rolle.

The special teams also did a good job minus giving up a blocked field goal at the end of the first half. Rookie running back David Wilson has really emerged as a weapon on kickoff returns, and he had another big return for 66 yards that set the team up on the San Fran 32. Kicker Lawrence Tynes added 4 field goals that slowly but surely put the 49ers away.

Lastly, like I mentioned earlier and I don't want to jinx it, but the running game may be back in New York. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 116 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries against the top run defense in the league. This comes after a 200 yard performance by Bradshaw against the Cleveland Browns last week. If this aspect of the Giants offense can continue, this opens up a whole other aspect of the offense for Eli Manning, including play-action passes and the patented Giants draw play.

One Last Thing: The Giants should be feeling good about this win and it was a very good sign that the defense got after the quarterback this week because they are going to need that next week against Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins. The Giants will head home to face the Redskins in a game they need to win since they are already 0-2 in the division. But for now, the G-Men are sitting at 4-2 alone atop the NFC East, which means the pain the Yankees have caused me this past week has been eased a little bit.

Yankees Game 2 Recap

This guy shut down the Yankees...

Today was the most frustrating game of the frustrating Yankees postseason to date. The Yankees lost 3-0, going down 0-2 in the series as they head to Detroit for at least the next two games. If the Yankees manage to win one of the next two games, then a third will be played in Detroit as well, with the series not returning to New York unless the Yankees win two or more in Detroit.

The reason why today was so frustrating, was because the game was a stereotypical 2012 Yankees postseason game. The game might as well have not even been played, it was that predictable. It included no offense, a solid pitching performance with nothing to show for it, a lot of strikeouts, and most importantly a close Yankees loss.

The offense struggled yet again, this time not even managing to score a run. This means that over the first 21 innings of this series, the Yankees have managed to go scoreless in 20 of them. This being all but the 4 run bottom of the 9th rally that they put together in Game 1. That is just terrible. On top of that, the Yanks only had 4 hits the entire night, making Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez look like Sandy Koufax.

The Yankees also earned a beautiful start from another one of their pitchers, but the hitting couldn't provide run support again. Hiroki Kuroda was perfect through 5, literally. Kuroda didn't give up a hit until the 6th inning and struck out 11 over his 7.2 innings of work. The only run the Tigers even got off of Kuroda occurred when Robinson Cano failed to turn a difficult double play. The bullpen allowed the rest of the damage, but it didn't even matter at that point

The last and most irritating part of every game thus far are the strikeouts at the plate. The Yankees have the worst at bats almost every time up and pairing Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Swisher together is like giving the Tigers 3 automatic outs. That group combined for 7 strikeouts out of the team's 10. I don't know what Girardi is going to do to try and stop this trend, but he needs to do something fast, or else he might as well start sending that group up to the plate without a bat because they clearly aren't using them. Robinson Cano's struggles will not go unnoticed either since he is 0-26 in his last 26 at-bats, but at least Cano puts the ball in play.

One Last Thing: A big play in this game came with 2 outs in the top of the 8th during an Austin Jackson single. Omar Infante took too big of a turn and Swisher threw behind him, clearly picking him off for the final out, but umpire Jeff Nelson called him safe and the Tigers knocked in 2 more runs. (see the play in the post below) This was a big part of the game but it isn't something Yankee fans should be upset with. We didn't even score 1 run, and the play just delayed the inevitable.

The Yankees get a much needed day off tomorrow and head into Detroit Tuesday night for Game 3. To add to that, Justin Verlander, last year's AL Cy Young and MVP winner, will be on the mound for the Tigers. This will be a very very very tough game and I won't lie I am not confident. One thing that will help my confidence and is something that Joe Girardi will need to consider is starting CC Sabathia on short rest instead of Phil Hughes. Even though Hughes pitched really well in his start against the Orioles, Sabathia is a big game pitcher and performs in these games.

Great Call...

Call of the year. Is it possible the MLB is conspiring against the Yankees? Probably. The umpire is literally right there, there is no way he didn't see he was out.

Update: Infante just scored. I'm pissed.

Yankees Game 2 Preview

Jayson Nix will replace the injured Jeter

Today will be another crucial game for the Yankees, but in the playoffs what game isn't? Game 2 will have an added significance due to the fact that the Yankees will be on the road in Games 3-5, so they will have to win 2 games instead of 1 in Detroit in order to stay alive. On top of this, the game's top pitcher Justin Verlander will be on the mound in Game 3.

Hiroki Kuroda will be on the mound tonight for the Yanks on only 4 days rest after pitching Game 3 in the Divisional Series on Wednesday. Kuroda pitched well giving up just 2 runs and pitching into the 9th inning. That wasn't enough for a victory but Raul Ibanez bailed out the team and forced a no decision for Kuroda with his heroics in that game.

The Tigers will counter with Anibal Sanchez, who also pitched well in his lone Divisional Series start against the Oakland Athletics, giving up 2 runs in 6.1 innings. Like Kuroda, the performance by Sanchez was not enough to earn a win, in fact, Sanchez earned a loss because the Tigers got shutout in that game.

Here are some keys for today's game:

Jeter Done for the Season

The captain fractured his ankle in the game last night and has been lost for the season. This is a crushing blow for the Yankees because Jeter was one of the only guys that was producing this postseason. On top of this, they lose a veteran presence with a ton of postseason experience, and the heart and soul of the team.

Jayson Nix will get the start tonight at shortstop and will bat 9th. Nix hit the ball well in the one start he got in the Divisional Round and will have to perform both in the field and at the plate. Eduardo Nunez, who was left off the Championship Series roster, has been added to the team to replace Jeter, and is another option for Girardi.

Capitalize

The Yankees had the bases loaded on 3 separate occasions last night, and they didn't score one run in those situations. That cannot happen. It was nice to see the team creating chances to score, but what good is that if they don't actually score.

The Yanks were 3-13 with runners in scoring position, and 2 of those hits came in the 9th innings on home runs by Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez. That means they were 1-11 before that point and on a team that was so dependent on home runs during the season, they can't seem to get a big single when they need one.

Delmon Young

This guy loves playing the Yankees in the playoffs. Last year he single handedly murdered the Yankees, and was a huge reason why they exited early. So far this series, he is 3-6 with a game-winning RBI double and solo home run.

Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder are scary enough in the middle of that Tiger lineup, add in a hot Young, and it will be impossible to get out of an inning when these guys step to the plate. The Yankees need to get ahead early on all 3 of these hitters, especially Young, and limit hitter's counts.

Go Yankees!!!!! 

Yankees Game 1 Recap

Jeter was helped off the field last night in a silent Yankee Stadium

Talk about a roller coaster ride of emotions. The Tigers escaped Game 1 with a 6-4 victory in 12 innings, but more importantly, the Yankees lost their heart and soul of their team, captain shortstop Derek Jeter.

Jeter was having arguably the best postseason on the team going 9-27 (.333 AVG) and he was lost for the season last night after suffering a fractured ankle fielding a ground ball in the 12th. The captain went down clearly in pain, and had to be helped off the field. This is a crushing blow for the Yanks, and watching Jeter get carried off the field was probably the saddest moment of my baseball fanhood.

That moment was the lowest of the lows, but there were some ups and downs during this game. The Yankees were down virtually the entire game after having the bases loaded in three different innings and getting nothing to show for it. This was a good sign considering that they didn't create many chances to score in the Baltimore series, but moral victories don't get you anywhere and they were down 4-0 going into bottom of the 9th.

This was where the roller coaster factor came in. Everyone, including myself, figured this to be a game of missed opportunities and were not excited for Game 2. This all changed in a heartbeat when Ichiro Suzuki and "Mr. Clutch" himself Raul Ibanez each hit 2-run home runs to tie the game at 4-4. It was nice to see them rally a little bit, considering the Yanks had only scored more than 1 run once in the playoffs up until that point.

Fast-forward back to the 12th and the game ended with a Yankees loss, a season-ending injury for Jeter, and many question marks heading into Game 2. Hiroki Kuroda will be on the mound on short rest, and he will need to keep the Yankees within striking distance considering their leadoff hitter and top run creator is gone for the year.

The Yankees need to win considering Justin Verlander will be on the mound in Game 3, and being down 2-0 heading to Detroit facing Verlander isn't exactly the ideal situation.

One Last Thing: Nick Swisher missed a liner in the 12th that essentially keeps the Tigers from rallying. That play needs to be made in the playoffs, no excuses.

MLB Playoff Championship Series Predictions

This year's first round was probably the most entertaining Divisional Series of all time. All four series went the distance lasting 5 games with the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals advancing to the next round.

Reviewing my selections from the first round, I was one out away from being a perfect 4-0 (but who's counting). I had the Yankees, Tigers, Giants, and Nationals, and the Nationals let their hopes for advancing slip away last night to the "never say die"Cardinals.

So here are my predictions for the following two series.

San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals continued to surprise everyone with another come from behind win in the 9th inning of Game 5 against the Nationals. Their stacked lineup poses a huge threat to any pitching staff no matter who the other team has. They are balanced from 1-8, with a steady balance of veterans and young talent.

The Giants had a comeback of their own in the first round, but it stretched over the entire series. The Cincinnati Reds jumped out to an early 2-0 series league before the Giants won 3 straight stealing the series. One interesting thing about the Giants is that they had two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum come out of the bullpen instead of start. Starters Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong and Barry Zito all started instead with Cain going twice.

My Take: Cardinals in 6 These guys just simply know how to win in the playoffs. They can get a big win from any of their starters, Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, or Lance Lynn and they also have hitters like Carlos Beltran, Matt Holiday, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina, and David Freese.  I think that the Giants simply will not be able to put the Cards away and will lose the series in 6 games.

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers
Oh boy, my Yanks are back in the ALCS. They did not look good at the plate all series but were able to get very good pitching to bail them out on numerous occasions. A-Rod is back in the lineup tonight even though that whole situation is still awkward, and a fresh 7 game series starts tonight in the Bronx. The team needs to hit the ball and Phil Hughes will have to come up big in Game 3 because he will be starting against Justin Verlander, arguably the best pitcher in baseball.

The Tigers struggled with the pesky Athletics before putting them away in Game 5. The Tigers, like the Cardinals, are built to succeed in the playoffs. The have a solid lineup, filled with guys that do their job, along with a good pitching staff and a very good but shaky bullpen. Combine all of that with arguably the best pitcher, Verlander, and best hitter, Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and you know you have a good team. Protecting Cabrera is also a very good hitter, Prince Fielder, who will have a lot of fun with the short porch in right field of Yankee Stadium.

My Take: Yankees in 7 The Tigers have had success against the Yankees in the playoffs of late, and even though I want to pick the Tigers from an unbiased standpoint, I can't. I am hoping the Yankees dig down and find away to hit the tough Tiger pitching and pitch around Cabrera and Fielder. Maybe the most important thing in this series is probably the fact that we won't see Verlander or Sabathia until Game 3 and 4 respectively. The rest of the rotation will have to show up on both sides, and whoever does a better job, will win.

I will not be doing a Game 1 for the Yankees because I did these predictions tonight, but a recap can be expected later tonight. Go Yankees!!!!!

Kobe Rips Smush Parker

Kobe Probably Telling Smush to Give Him the Ball

Ok the Yankees just won and are headed to the ALCS, CC killed it, and all is right with the world as the Orioles are once again gearing up for another offseason. I'll let CB32 take the full write up since it's been his thing all week and I'll turn the attention to the Kobe Bryant comments made about Smush Parker just a few days ago. In case you didn't see Kobe said...

“I tell Steve, you won MVP but I was playing with Smush Parker … (Nash) is playing with (Leandro) Barbosa. I’m playing with Smush and Kwame (Brown). My goodness. Smush Parker was the worst. He shouldn’t have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. We let him walk on.”

Some pretty harsh things to say about the former Fordham star. But of course, much to the delight of the sports world, it did not take long for Smush to retaliate. Responding with...

“What I don’t like about him is the man that he is. His personality. How he treats people. I don’t like that side of Kobe Bryant…. The reason I wasn’t a Laker after my second year is because I didn’t bow down to (Kobe). I didn’t kiss his a–. I wasn’t kissing his feet. Quite frankly, towards the end of the second season, I stopped passing him the ball. I stopped giving him the ball. I started looking him off.”

Don't you just love old teammates calling each other out? I mean this is really, really random considering Smush Parker hadn't been mentioned in the real world in about 5 years, but you have to wonder about Kobe. His ex-teammates have constantly called him out for being a bad teammate, and maybe even a bad person. His track record sort of speaks for itself, with Shaq publicly hating him, now Smush, he raped a girl (she probably wanted it), he cheats on his wife, calls out the ownership of the Lakers, calls out his current teammates, gets called out by other players, and his running his mouth about 100% of the time. Don't get me wrong, I actually like Kobe, and I think he has earned the right to talk to some extent. But why does he continue to draw this negative attention to himself? If he's not careful he's going to end up like Lebron and the Heat. Hated and rooted against by almost everyone. He is on his way to being that guy, and it can be so easily corrected, just shut your mouth.

Just to be clear no one is as bad as the Heat though. The biggest story out of the Heat's camp is that their shooters are "having a hard time executing simple plays." Why you ask? Because, "in this offense our shooters are so open they are getting confused." Give me a break. Jesus Lebron. What a douche.

Back to Kobe. First of all Smush is the wrong guy to call out because none of this is really his fault. The Lakers wanted him to play. It's not like he blackmailed his way on to the team or he knew somebody or something. He tried out for the team, and the Lakers coaching staff said they wanted him. End of story. Secondly, and most importantly, Smush was, and still is an NBA2K legend. He was guaranteed good for 30 points any given game, 28 of them on dunks down the lane. Based on that fact alone you can't help but respect and love that guy. #1 in your programs, #1 in your hearts.

Yankees Game 5 Preview

Struggling A-Rod will not be in the lineup for tonight's do-or-die game

The entire Yankee season comes down to tonight's showdown in the Bronx with the Baltimore Orioles. The series is tied 2-2 and and the winner will move on to the the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers who advanced to the next round last night knocking out the Oakland Athletics.

Tonight, the ball will be in CC Sabathia's hands, who has been the workhorse ever since he was brought in, and these are the types of games he is expected to win. The Orioles will counter with the guy who faced Sabathia in Game 1, Jason Hammel. Hammel got the no decision giving up 4 hits and 2 runs over 5.2 innings and Sabathia earned the win pitching into the 9th inning.

Here are some keys to tonight's big game.

A-Rod Benched
It finally happened. Girardi made the move that many managers would not even dare to think about. Even though Girardi did decide to bench the struggling Rodriguez, that doesn't necessarily make it the right move.

A-Rod is struggling, but so are Curtis Granderson (1-16 with 9 strikeouts), Robinson Cano (2-18) and Nick Swisher (2-15), and they're all still in the lineup. It seems wrong completely dropping A-Rod from the lineup completely instead of just moving him to lower in the order. In fact, he's 8-22 with 4 home runs off Hammel.

Ibanez and Chavez
Both of these guys are getting the start tonight, Ibanez at DH and Chavez at 3rd, and both will be expected to perform. A-Rod apparently has done so poorly that these guys, who play a few games a week, will apparently have more success.

They need to come through in a big situation and get on base. The fans are tired of watching everyone strike out and fail to succeed in big spots.

Hit the Ball.
Everyone need to come up big tonight, the struggling Granderson, Cano, and Swisher, the replacements Ibanez and Chavez, along with the guys who have had some success this series Jeter, Ichiro, Teixeira, and Martin, need to score runs.

Game 1 doesn't matter now, neither does the other 22 games they have played this season (which they happened to split 11-11.) All that matters is tonight, and the team simply needs to hit the ball. If they don't it's all over.

Game 5's first pitch will come at 5:07 PM ET in the Bronx. Go Yanks!!!!!