Boston Legend Set to Retire

David "Big Papi" (Cookie Monster?) Ortiz has announced that he will retire following the 2016 season, bringing an end to an illustrious career. Now that the finish line is in sight for Ortiz, the big question is the Hall of Fame. Is David Ortiz a Hall of Famer? The short answer is "yes," but currently no designated hitters have been voted into the Hall of Fame, the position that Ortiz has spent most of his career. The camps are divided between those that think he should get in (right) and those who think he should not (wrong). For those who don't want Ortiz in the Hall of Fame, the argument revolves around suspected PED (performance enhancing drug) use, merely serving as a designated hitter, and hatred of Dominicans. Those who believe Ortiz belongs in baseball's magical list of names point out his massive home run total (503 as of the end of 2015) and his spectacular postseason displays while leading, scratch that, winning the Boston Red Sox 3 World Series titles. Clearly Ortiz's impact on the Red Sox and this generation of baseball merit him induction into the Hall of Fame now. Let's take a look at why.

First, let's address the PED allegations. When asked if he used any illegal substances, Ortiz says he didn't. So Ortiz is clean. Now let's look at designated hitters. Currently no DHs have been voted into the Hall of Fame including Edgar Martinez. The designated hitter position is often frowned on because it is located not on the field, but rather on the bench. Most people opposing the induction of a DH into the Hall of Fame are old school, die hard National League curmudgeons who think that the DH is an abomination to the game. What these people fail to recognize are the 277 games Ortiz has made appearances at first base, his career .990 fielding percentage and -4.4 UZR/150. Ortiz has played 2,161 inning in the field, the exclusive DH argument conveniently dismisses all of Ortiz's defensive prowess. And lastly on the hater's reasons for disallowing Ortiz's membership in the great Hall of Fame, we need to be respectful of everyone's nationality.

Ortiz's regular season numbers speak for themselves: 503 homers, 1,641 runs batted in, 15 stolen bases, .284 career batting average, wOBA of .390 and wRC+ of 138. What puts Ortiz over the top are his godly postseason performance. We all know about the 3 World Series championships he won all by himself in 2004, 2007, and 2013. In all three World Series winning runs, Ortiz literally won all stages of the postseason by himself, batting leadoff through nine while pitching every game with no relief. Most notably are his extra inning heroics in 2004, walk off 3-run bomb off K-Rod in 2007, and grand slam in game 2 of the ALCS in 2013.

Ortiz after his walk off blast against K-Rod in 2007

Ortiz game tying/series altering grand slam

However, no one ever mentions Ortiz's other legendary postseason exploits. In the 2003 ALDS against Oakland, the Red Sox won a thriller in 5 games with Ortiz going 2 for 21 (.095 average). Or in 2005 when the Red Sox got swept by the Chicago White Sox despite Ortiz driving in 1 run. Then in 2008 the Red Sox again reached the ALCS with Ortiz hitting .235 and driving in 1 run in the division series, and producing another 4 runs in the championship series while hitting at a .154 clip against the division rival Tampa Bay Rays. How would the Red Sox have managed to get swept in the 2009 division series against the Angels without Ortiz going 1 for 12 (.083 average) while batting in a whopping 0 runs. The evidence is overwhelmingly in Ortiz's favor. The greatest hitter in baseball postseason history.

Since joining the Red Sox in 2003, Ortiz has graced the wonderful city of Boston with much more than his presence. In 2003 alone the AIDS Action Committee was established, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial bridge opened and Anime Boston started. Ortiz was a founding member of all three. In 2004, not only did Ortiz bring a World Series championship to Boston for the first time since 1918, but held moderated the 2004 Democratic National Convention in July. In 2005 Ortiz helped establish the Boston Derby Dames and warned the Big Dig of a potential ceiling collapse. His warning was ignored and in July of 2006 that ceiling collapsed.

Then in 2007 Ortiz established a Sister City relationship with Valladolid, Spain while rebuilding the Charles/MGH MBTA station. Ortiz took off a few years focusing exclusively on baseball, but came back hard in 2011 where he occupied and then unoccupied Boston, saved Massachusetts from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, united Boston in 2013 with the greatest speech ever and later got 5 additional years added to Whitey Bulger's two life sentences.

Ortiz has had an illustrious, godly, superhuman-like career in Boston, but it's clear his powers are beginning to dwindle judging by the snowstorm that hit Boston last year. What is not debatable is Ortiz's Hall of Fame standing. Ortiz is without a doubt a pre-ballot Hall of Famer who should have been elected into the magical list of names yesterday. The Hall of Fame is Ortiz's f*cking list.

Running Diary: WBC 2013 Semi-Final "Netherlands" vs Dominican Republic

8:40pm EST- Damn it, I'm probably a night too late on doing this.  In the wake of the excitement of Puerto Rico knocking off Japan last night I decided I might as well do a running diary of tonight's game for the fun of it.  While they do some over the top presentation of the flags of all our losers I am going to clarify that I put Netherlands in quotations in the title because this team is mostly players from Curacao, and I am going to give them credit for it.  As far as I'm concerned this is DR vs Curacao, a la the Little League World Series.

8:43- Lineup time!  Bert Blylevin is a pitching coach for Curacao!?  You have my attention Netherlands.  I was really hoping to see Boegarts, Simmons and Profar (its like a prospect all-star team!) in the same infield but this Schoop dude is playing instead at third, I'll tolerate it for now but there better be a sub eventually.  Simmons, Profar and Bernadina to start then Andruw Jones in the 5 hole, its possibly better than Puerto Rico's lineup.

8:47- Now the Dominican lineup, I don't understand whats going on because they are announcing it all in Spanish, all I've gathered so far is Erick Aybar is on the bench and Octavio Dotel is wearing what might be his 2,000th different uniform.  AND FERNANDO RODNEY HAS A PLANTAIN!  I was going to comment about how much the players love the peace sign but then Rodney decided to take a plantain on the field!  Reyes, Tejada, Cano, Encarnacion, Ramirez, Cruz, Santana, Sierra and De Aza, goddamn.  They only way they can fail through Edinson Volquez, who almost blew it for them against Italy less than a week ago.

Plantains even show up that hat tilt.

8:56- Funny, all three of the National Anthems they played seemed to sound a lot like my dog barking at something out the window right next to my ear...

8:57- Whats the deal with Lou Seal?  Wearing orange and sitting near the Curacao bench.  That is rather unprofessional for a mascot at a neutral ballpark.

9:00- I know most of my music comes directly from playing FIFA, but damn if the WBC didn't just inform me that Phoenix released a new album!  I have also just now decided that I'm going to count how many times they force a plug for MLB Now with Harold Reynolds and Brian Kenny.

This is the new Phoenix album cover.  Hoping they covered PotUSA's "Peaches"

9:07- Seeing the Curacao lineup written out, it has 7 righties, a lefty and a switch hitter...  But here we go!  First pitch Volquez to Andrelton Simmons is a ball up and in as Simmons faked bunt.  Let's get this rolling!

9:15- First two batters walked... This looks familiar.

9:19- First out recorded on a comebacker to the mound, didn't try to go for two so men on second and third with one out.  Then a grounder to short brings the first run in, I'd be happy if I was Curacao.

9:23- The announcer just says "You could almost call this Curacao vs the Dominican Republic" then Andruw Jones promptly pops up a ball causing Moises Sierra to make an awesome catch jumping into the crowd (The announcers later gave the apt comparison to the Sierra catch to the Bartman play in 2003).  Got out of the inning with only one run scored, I'd be happy if I was the Dominican Republic.

Curacao actually has a really cool flag.

9:32- Two pretty quick outs and Robinson Cano steps up rocking some numbers I haven't seen since MVP Baseball 2005.  And before the 1-2 pitch MLB Network cut to one of the coolest graphics I've ever seen, showing the shift by comparing the positions to the standard by distance, the right fielder was about 50 feet out of position.  Cano ultimately pads his stats with a single roped up the middle.

9:36- Encarnacion grounds to third to end the inning.  After an inning I'm pretty disappointed, too many empty seats, too few wacky drums and horns in the background.  Maybe the proximity from the DR and Miami pampered me in the last round, it was really cool.

9:46- Between receiving a geography lesson on what makes up the "Kingdom of the Netherlands" and realizing Edinson Volquez is pretty good when he can hit the strikezone, absolutely nothing of interest happened.  1-2-3 inning.

9:53- Once I'm starting to think the pitchers are just giving bases away, Hanley Ramirez gets picked off and Nelson Cruz grounds out softly on a 3-1 count within seconds.  This inning just took a quick turn for Curacao, who I'm now admitting have awesome uniforms.

9:58- There was just a Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy commercial, I'm not sure if I'm more confused that they had a commercial or that I could identify the background music as "Lovely Cup" by Grouplove.

10:05- Volquez rolling.

10:08- Bottom of the 3rd and they just make the first plug for MLB Now, I think someone must have told them to cool their jets over the last week.

10:11- They just showed a graphic of the potential Dominican Republic lineup made completely from players not on the Dominican roster, it is scary how much talent is out there.  And Miguel Tejada pops up a bunt to end the inning.  Wait a second... Miguel Tejada is 38 years old and never stole more than 11 bases in a year, why is he bunting with two outs?  (Fangraphs says he has a 50% career rate on bunting for hits.)

10:15- As we return to the game the announcers are postulating that Tejada forgot how many outs there were, that's pretty bad.

10:21- Two outs in the 4th, finally Curacao gets their first hit.  None other than Andruw Jones!  It's pretty short lived as the inning ends two pitches later.

10:26- Robinson Cano has 4 more hits than anybody else in the tournament, also I'm starting to hear the silly horns again!  It doesn't help, this Markwell dude is rolling.

10:36- Can anybody get a hit with less than two outs?  All four hits thus far came with two outs.  Cut to Fernando Rodney, who is still holstering the plantain in the inside pocket of his jacket.  Which they have explains as his "rally plantain" which he will start shaking if they need a run.  I sure hope this game continues like this so the Dominicans will need that run.

10:47- Uh oh, Carlos Santana grounds one just inside the third base line for a one out double.  Rodney must be shaking his plantain!

10:48- Moises Sierra makes those back-to-back doubles to tie the game at 1.  Needless to say Diegomar Markwell is no longer cruising.

10:56- Full count on Jose Reyes with 2 outs, I truthfully thought it was over.  Reyes bloops one into shallow center to take a 2-1 lead.  Curacao might be on the ropes now.

10:59- Tejada almost rips Markwell's head off with a single, men on the corners for Cano.  There's a pitching change and the Dominicans are likely to do the same in the top of the inning with their stellar bullpen.  Curacao is definitely on the ropes now.

11:02- Stuifbergen!!  The pitching change results in a run off a wild pitch in the first pitch.  Curacao is beyond the ropes (if that even means anything), they wisely choose to intentionally walk Cano now.

11:06- They finally get out of the inning on an Edwin Encarnacion single where they were able to catch Cano going for third, problem is Tejada already scored the 4th run.  This is big trouble in little Curacao.

Because Kurt Russell improves everyting!

11:13- Cano flashing some leather to get Bernadina!  This game may be over.

11:32-  The Dominicans just had the longest offensive half of an inning to only get one baserunner.  Through 6 innings 4-1 DR.

11:36- They just showed 2004 Little League World Series footage, which is probably when I first learned what Curacao was.  Both Jurrickson Profar and Jonathan Schoop were on that team!  There is hope yet for Curacao.  

11:40- Not a ton of hope though, seventh inning stretch time.

11:48- Jose Reyes strikes out, this is relevant because it is the first Dominican batter to strike out thus far.  The Dominicans get a few baserunners in the inning, including Cano getting intentionally walked again but made nothing of it.

11:59- Now Pedro Strop comes in for the DR and takes care of the bulk of the Curacao lineup with ease.

12:02- We can an actual player from Holland now!  His name is Loek Van Mil and he is 7 feet tall!  In other news, Rodney is warming up for next inning, and unfortunately he has lost his plantain to do so.  

12:09- Busy inning for Andrelton Simmons at short, boy does that guy have a strong arm.  Strong armed shortstop for the Braves, can't help but be reminded of young Rafael Furcal!

What cool socks!

12:12- Fernando Rodney comes in, this should be over.  Andruw Jones pops it up to Cano, this is probably over.  

12:15- There are so many seagulls flying around I can barely see whats going on as they keep flying in front of the screen, I could barely see Rodney strike out Curt Smith, this game is basically over.  

12:16- For some reason it seems fitting that this whole game will come down to Jonathan Schoop.  He buys some time by fouling the first pitch into Carlos Santana's domepiece.  Schoop goes down looking, happy birthday Fernando!

12:19- This game went pretty much exactly as would have been expected.  I'm going to bed now, maybe I'll do this again for the final tomorrow.

A Moment of Extreme Self-Awareness

It's a couple of days until pitchers and catchers report!  So not only am I using MATLAB to do calculations on a 2,386x9 matrix (it takes over a minute to create this matrix) so I can take guesses at each teams' winning percentages, but I am also doing a quick look over each depth chart to take some guesses based off gut instinct.  This isn't about my thoughts on the whole (Washington and Atlanta may be among the most complete teams I have ever seen, but I am totally biased) but rather something I noticed when looking at one specific team.  Lets see if you notice it as immediately as I do.

Do you see it?  If you don't, allow me to zoom in.

Yes, the New York Yankees bullpen is currently no more than just Mariano Rivera all on his own.  This might be one of the best managerial decisions I have ever seen!  They have effectively been just Mariano Rivera for over a decade now, not only that, but I could go even further and say their bullpen has been Mariano Rivera's cutter for the last decade.  Why not just accept this fact and cut everybody from the team and let him stand alone, the man is easily the best relief pitcher in history, and even though he spent all of last year on the DL, even though I am a Red Sox fan, even though he is 43 years old, I can say that it is more than likely the best closer in baseball.  This frightens me to no end, and I really wish they would try to go into the season with this setup for two reasons.  First, I am imagining the random cuts to the bullpen that are often showed in TV broadcasts and you just see Rivera sitting all alone with his bullpen catcher shooting the shit, not another soul to be seen.  Second, it makes it a little bit easier to watch the following video and pretend its Joe Girardi singing instead of Michael Bolton.

(Note: I wanted to go with this video originally)

This has done nothing but get me even more excited for baseball season starting back up, I'll be back with my results on my predictions when they are finished and I might even talk about the WBC if I can manage to find a way to watch it.  Goodbye everybody, and wonder to yourself, how are you supposed to live without Mariano Rivera?

Pique Confused?

Extremely reliable source Goal.com has reported that Barcelona center back, Gerard Pique, has claimed that current Real Madrid trainer, Jose "The Special One" Mourinho, got away with "murder" last year. Pique pointed out that  Mourinho poked Tito Villanova in the eye. However, ongoing investigations suggest that the infamous eye poke had nothing to do with Tito's battle against cancer. The leading culprit for Tito's cancer is in fact New York Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. Pique is not to blame for this misunderstanding, though. Clearly he was confused by the story recently breaking from the National Football League regarding Ray Lewis' retirement. The National Football League has been a major distraction to all other sports in Europe following the wild success of the National Football League's annual single game in London each season. Not only do foreign fans not understand what's going on during the game, but they have become increasingly interested in the drama, such as Ray Lewis' retirement, a story that has clearly had a lot of meaning to Gerard Pique, even if he thought they were reporting on Jose "The Special One Mourinho."

They accused me of what?

One of the stories that makes up Ray Lewis' illustrious career has to do with a double murder and a bloody suit, belonging to Mr. Lewis, that has gone missing probably never to be seen again. Neither Jose Mourinho or Ray Lewis got away with murder last year, Mr. Pique, but Ray Lewis probably got away with murder years ago. Pique, most likely distracted by his girlfriend Shakira's hips because they don't lie, must have caught only part of the story and, just like every other Barcelona player or fan, thought that the negative news was about Satan's imp over in Madrid, Jose Mourinho.

Have you seen my girlfriend's hips?

While Mourinho has not been interviewed about Pique's allegations yet and the mix up with the Ray Lewis story, it is beyond reasonable doubt that Jose would respond with "who is Ray Lewis?" and then ask Pique where his 2011/2012 La Liga trophy was. Real Madrid fans have rallied by claiming that Cristiano Ronaldo, CR7, is the best player in the world, and Barcelona fans have countered with "91."

So goes the never ending feud between Barcelona and Real Madrid...

Inept Football!!

Although I am usually a baseball writer for this blog, I decided after this weekend of playoff football I need to write about it. I have never experienced a series of playoff games that have ever been as uninteresting as the ones I just saw.  I usually expect when watching playoffs of any sport that there is going to be some sense of talent or anticipation or even excitement, but rather I spent hours of my weekend waiting for the games to end.  Let's look at how each game managed to bore me.

Game 1: Houston 19 Cincinnati 13
I never thought this game ever had any hope of being entertaining, when I saw it was going to happen I thought "haven't we seen this before?" Yes, we had seen this before and it was almost entertaining because I was drinking and Arian Foster was running fools over left and right.  This time I wasn't drinking and actually watched the first part of the game at a local pizza joint, which probably makes for the best part of the game.  While Toninho and I were waiting for our delicious Hawaiian pizza to come to us, some random guy and other people with him come in and occupy the booth next to us, I chose the booth in the far corner for a reason.  Anyways, the guy was all sorts of pumped to see the outcome of this game and I believe was interested in seeing the Texans lose, I know this because he talked to everybody in his local vicinity about this and even enlightened Toninho and I with this amazing insight, "if the Texans lose, they're going home!"  Thank whichever deity you choose that we had him to explain to us how the NFL playoffs worked, despite the fact that anybody who gave a damn about what he said would know that already.  Anyways, we ate our pizza and watched the game at my house.  Arian Foster kicked ass again, there were a ton of field goals and Cincinnati had negative passing yards in the first half.  Yup, that's some inept football courtesy of Andy Dalton.  But at least there was another game coming up!

No look pass?

Game 2: Green Bay 24 Minnesota 10
Looking back I can't believe the score was as close as it was, this game never appeared to be even vaguely close.  Especially since Minnesota discovered their mediocre quarterback, Christian Ponder was too hurt to be able to play, and their coach decided to start backup Joe Webb because they wanted to "rest him up for next week" (the quote is probably not exact but he definitely said something along those lines.)  Here's some background knowledge on Joe Webb, he had not thrown a pass in about 2 years, the only positive thing they could say about him is that he runs a 4.4 second 40 yard dash and, as far as I'm concerned, his greatest achievement is having jumped over 7 bags during his combine.  The eleven points Green Bay were giving were obviously too few as once again we were in range of having a team go into halftime with negative passing yards (something we were told only happened one other time in NFL playoff history), there is no way they had much more than 4 though.  It was at this time we went to a bar and I paid much less attention to the game.  I would occasionally look up at the TV and see Webb alternate between throwing the ball 12 yards too far or 12 yards too short.  I'm sure the Packers played fine, but I was left wondering how Joe Webb could possibly be a professional quarterback who was so bad at his job, I'm not sure whether or not I want to see him get another chance.

Speaking of another chance...

Game 3: Baltimore 24 Indianapolis 9
To make some excuses for the first set of games, nobody was expecting them to be entertaining.  I figured I would have a fun night on the town, wake up and enjoy the games that were supposed to be good.  This first game was rife with subplot, probably the best defensive player I have seen in my life was potentially playing the last game of his career at home in the playoffs (not as emotional as Chipper's last game in October, by the way) against the first overall pick rookie quarterback and their cancer survivor head coach.  The drama was palpable and there was no way the game couldn't be entertaining!  Sure as hell this turned out to be one of those low scoring games, and in football a low scoring game usually means it is really sloppy and this game followed the trend.  Joe Flacco was doing Joe Flacco things, I can't remember if Ray Rice ever came on the field and, worse yet, Andrew Luck must have been so nervous he was drenching the ball with his sweat, I can't think of another reason his receivers would have dropped 9 passes with those flypaper gloves.  Anyways, the result of this game was a whole lot more field goals, another week of hearing about how this may be Ray Lewis's last game and another few hours of commercials and boring football, but at least I got to see the following commercial a few times!

 Game 4: Seattle 24 Washington 14
I was excited for this game, even through the boring games before it, I kept watching knowing that I''ll get to see RG3 and Russell Wilson battle it out in the last game of the weekend.  There was no way this game could let me down, especially since Griffin and his Redskins came out of the gates with two dominant drives for touchdowns, including the second one which left me raving about how much of a warrior Griffin was after twisting his knee, limping to the huddle and throwing a touchdown on the next play.  Unfortunately it was not a sign of  awesomeness but rather a sign that things were going to start hobbling.  Shortly after that, Russell Wilson and his Seahawks started going on a tear and going into the 2nd half it was a tight game.  So there was potential that it was going down to the wire.  Much to the chagrin of everybody who wanted to watch an entertaining game, Griffin's knee was screwed up for the day and as was Washington's offense.  Washington couldn't get anything going and neither could Seattle, partially due to the kicker turning his ankle earlier (and the award for most hilarious injury to affect a game's trajectory goes there.)  Then we reached the point where Russell Wilson remembered that he was good and suddenly the game was over.  On the whole, it wasn't that bad of a game, but it also wasn't too good of a game.  After such a bad set of games it was way too little too late.

DC sports renaissance!  2013

So that was my weekend, and everybody else's who likes to watch the playoffs.  Let's hope that next weeks games are better, or at least the ones that are supposed to be entertaining actually live up to their billing.  I'm looking at you San Francisco-Green Bay and Atlanta-Seattle.

Messi Wins 2012 Ballon d'Or

Earlier today Barcelona's Lionel Messi, the little genius, was awarded the 2012 Fifa Ballon d'Or. Messi has now won this award four times in a row, a streak beginning with the 2009 Ballon d'Or. Soon Fifa will change the name of this award to the "Lionel Messi" award, a fitting name since the Argentine is the only player allowed to win the award. Coming into today the field of eligible recipients had been narrowed down to Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta, and the paragon of excellence that is Lionel Messi.

The Fifa Ballon d'Or is a combination of the Fifa World Player of the year award and the Ballon d'Or award, commonly known as the European Footballer of the World award. The Ballon d'Or was presented to the European player who was deemed to have performed the best over the past calendar year. The Fifa World Player of the year was awarded to the best player in the world. With the merging of the two awards, the new criteria for winning the award changes each year to fit the accomplishments of Barcelona's Hobbit-like forward, Lionel Messi.

Can you believe I won again?

In 2010, Dutch, attacking midfielder, Wesley Sneijder was an integral part of Inter Milan's success as well as Holland's. Sneijder led Inter Milan to a treble winning season, winning the Copa Italia, the Italian Serie A, and the Champions League. Sneijder's Inter even eliminated the little genius' squad from the Champion's League in the semi-final stage. Not even the greatest team in the history of everything could keep Inter away from the treble. Later in 2010 Sneijder reached the World Cup final with Holland, again playing an integral role. Holland did lose to Spain in extra time in that final, but Messi's Argentina was bounced from the competition when Germany romped them 4-0 in the knockout stages. However, Messi still won the Ballon d'Or in 2010.

Then in the 2010-2011 season Messi's Barcelona finished first in La Liga and won the Champions League. Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid finished second in La Liga, but the hated Portuguese led the league in scoring. Naturally Messi won the award because of the success his team enjoyed and his large goal tally. However, in the 2011-2012 campaign Real Madrid dominated La Liga, earning over 100 points and scoring a large quantity of goals. The goal distribution at Real Madrid is not nearly as lopsided as Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 46 league goals while getting good inputs from teammates such as Karim Benzema. Messi, scoring 50 league goals that year and 73 overall (13 more than Cristiano Ronaldo's 60 total goals) won the Ballon d'Or. When Messi scores a ton of goals and wins the Copa del Rey, that's the criteria for winning the Ballon d'Or. When Cristiano Ronaldo scores a ton of goals and wins the Copa del Rey in 2010-2011 campaign, it's not good enough.

This award belongs to me

There is no surprise that the little genius that is Lionel Messi won the 2012 Ballon d' Or. Messi scored a ton of goals and didn't win La Liga or the Champions League. The criteria for winning the 2012 Ballon d'Or was breaking Muller's goals in one calendar year record, a record that no one ever spoke about until the very later stages of 2012. Fifa has already declared that the criteria for next year's award is to "be Lionel Messi." If Cristiano Ronaldo scores 527 goals in 2013, he will not win the award because people do not like him. Fifa continuously puts Cristiano Ronaldo in the final three for consideration in hopes of making him cry after seeing Messi receive the award year after year. Robin van Persie, the man who carried Arsenal last season and led the English Premier League in scoring was not a final three contestant because he is not Lionel Messi and he does not play for Barcelona or Real Madrid.

The 2014 Ballon d'Or final three have already been decided upon: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and someone who has no chance in hell to win the award. Well, make that Lionel Messi and two people that have no chance in hell to win the award, one which will be Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi has won this new Ballon d'Or four out of the five years it has been in existence, but Fifa officials still cannot figure out how he did not win in 2008. What a travesty that was.

Let's all congratulate Lionel Messi for winning the 2012 Ballon d'Or, and while we're at it, congratulations on winning the 2013 Ballon d'Or, too. He really is a little genius.

Hope for Running Quarterbacks in the National Football League

Over the last decade or so, the quarterback position in the National Football League has evolved into a position not only for throwing the football, but also for running it. Arguably the most influential pioneer of running quarterbacks is Michael Vick, who made running his primary directive while quarterback at Virginia Tech. No quarterback has or did run the football quite like Vick, who would take off on captivating runs down the field using his blazing speed and agility to evade tackles.

However the running quarterback has not found much success in the National Football League outside of establishing quarterback rushing records and winning a few games. Not even the great Michael Vick could use his admirable skill set to outrun and juke out professional thugs, such as Ray Lewis, as a means of winning games. The quarterbacks winning the National Football League's greatest prize, the Super Bowl, continue to be quarterbacks who can throw the ball. Trent Dilfer is an exception, but he sure was not a running quarterback. For the most part quarterbacks such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees win Super Bowls. Or you get ridiculously lucky by heaving the ball in the air like Eli Manning. Nonetheless, none of the aforementioned quarterbacks are known as running quarterbacks.

The defenses in the National Football League consist of the best of the best. These guys will kill you. Despite the lack of success in the National Football League for running quarterbacks, college football remains rife with these clowns. Coaches with running quarterbacks and National Football League teams scouting and contemplating drafting running quarterbacks must begin thinking of ways to make the running quarterback more successful where it counts: in the National Football League. Absorbing National Football League hits over the course of a National Football League season is the job of players who are not the quarterback. However, there may be one method that will revolutionize the National Football League and see running quarterbacks become legitimate threats.

Observational studies of pickup football games (whether tackle, two-hand touch, flag, or any other variation of the game played in the National Football League) have shown that quarterbacks yelling "Michael Vick, Michael Vick!" as they pull the football down to run average a great deal more yards per carry and are far less likely to get injured or suffer a concussion than counterparts who yell something else or remain silent. The theory behind this method is that yelling "Michael Vick, Michael Vick!" as the quarterback goes into a run channels the inner Virginia Tech Michael Vick, thus allowing the quarterback to pull off amazing runs, avoid injury, and even win games.

The "Michael Vick technique" is still in experimental stages, but don't be surprised if this new technique starts showing up in National Football League preseason games. Current National Football League quarterbacks considering implementing the "Michael Vick" technique into their game include Tim Tebow, Colin Kaepernick, Vince Young, and Michael Vick himself.

Michael Vick, Michael Vick!

Of course this technique is only suitable to quarterbacks who run often. Asking a quarterback of Tom Brady's stature to implement this technique would be down right silly, he can already win games and no one should assume that he even knows who Michael Vick is.

Did not call "Michael Vick, Michael Vick!"

Usually rushing is left to the running back, but if that's not working the Michael Vick technique is sure to catch fire sooner or later. Keep an eye out for the Michael Vick technique, and when it comes around watch those running National Football League quarterback's yards per carry go up and injuries go down.

intERrUPTION: Ending the Streak

This past weekend Inter Milan defeated Juventus 3-1 in the Serie A ending Juventus' 49 match unbeaten streak. The match began in typical fashion with the referee allowing Juventus to score a goal in the first minute that was sparked by a pass to a Juventus player in an offside position. The referee, at this early stage of the game, thought he was getting a Maserati from the Agnelli family, a belief he held throughout the duration of the first half. If asked about the call, the referee would wisely tell the media that he was not offered a Maserati and that Juventus were unfairly demoted to the Serie B a few years ago on false information. He would cite the penalty he awarded Inter at the beginning of the second half as proof that he was not favoring Juventus, despite missing a blatant offsides call that directly led to a goal.

Offsides much?

Despite some suspect refereeing and roughhousing from Juventus defender, Inter, headed by a resurgent Diego Milito were able to turn the halftime deficit into a two goal by the late stages of the game. Not even Andrea Pirlo's beard could save Juventus from suffering defeat on this fateful day in November.

The Italian Serie A has come a long way in the past ten years or so. Once one of the very top leagues in Europe in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Serie A is now rated lower than the German Bundesliga. As a result the Serie A has seen reduced automatic spots in the Champions League and is now ranked closer to the French League. Now the Serie A is best known for it's match fixing scandals that present themselves at least once each season, usually involving a handful of teams.

Despite the praise that Juventus has been given over the past season continuing into the current campaign, the only teams from Italy that have found any success in Europe recently are both from Milan, Inter Milan and AC Milan. AC Milan won the Champions League a few years ago and Inter most recently lifted the coveted trophy in 2010, a campaign that included the Italian Cup and the Serie A title, too. Either referees throughout Europe aren't interested in Maseratis or other clubs are offering something better. What is Barcelona's secret? Whatever it is, Fernando Torres didn't care to stick around to figure it out.

Juventus' CEO, Giuseppe Marotta, claimed that Juventus' lack of a "clinical striker" was a major part of the undoing of his club. Apparently this was not a problem during the 49 game unbeaten streak. Alessandro Del Piero's 3 goals in 23 league appearances last season is sorely missed by the Italian giants. Inter could not have possibly won this game because they were the better team, they don't even give the referees presents. If there is one thing that is certain about this match, it is that the referee did not drive home in a brand new Maserati.

The floor is now open for bets on which teams will be involved in a match fixing scandal at the end of the 2012-2013 Italian Serie A season. Good luck and choose wisely.

What do you mean the beard wasn't enough?

Losing Is Good For You!

Don't get confused by the title, this isn't one of those things your parents, teachers and other respectable members of society are trying to tell you.  The whole "losing builds character" thing is fine, but since we write about real sports and real competitions where winning is everything, to hell with character!  Especially since we are talking about baseball, not saying that all baseball players are bad people, but look at the top two all time hits leaders!  One is banned from baseball for the rest of his life and the next is considered to be a disgrace to baseball despite being the leading vote-getter for the introductory class for the Hall of Fame, and is still the 4th leading vote-getter of all time.  I also hold the stiff belief that Barry Bonds was the best player I've seen in my life, possibly only being threatened by Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and the potential of a healthy Ken Griffey Jr.  So you know what, character is great and I have all the respect in the world for the Chipper Joneses and Derek Jeters of the world, but in some cases you don't need to be the best person to be successful in baseball.  Returning to my point, even though you don't need character and losing builds character, losing can be important in the right circumstances.  Namely, the Championship Series.

Because I respect my readers..

As you should know if you are reading this, the San Francisco Giants are once again the World Series champions, and since the last time I wrote about this topic it went on to be one of my most viewed blog posts ever, I'll see if lightning can strike twice.  They once again won on a great pitching staff, which this time DID include Barry Zito and his curve.  But I don't want to talk about the Giants winning, I'm slightly more interested in talking about the Tigers losing.  They quite possibly have 3 of the top 10 players in the league right now yet looked completely helpless for the entire series, which only lasted 4 games.  The hell of it was that the Tigers also were playing their best baseball of the year down the stretch.  Miguel Cabrera had a fantastic September that catapulted him from "this guy is having a quite good season" to "this guy is winning the Triple Crown" and his Triple Crown is still something I didn't expect to see for a long time.  Their pitching staff was streaking with Max Scherzer and Doug Fister each having awesome Septembers, as well as Verlander being himself.  They had just swept the Yankees in an ALCS that looked too easy.  Yet Despite all this they still looked useless at the bat against San Francisco.  This could, of course, be due to the fantastic pitching staff they have, but that wouldn't be as fun to talk about as why they failed.

"Woah! San Fran can cheer for me!"

Even before the series started I couldn't have helped but remember the 2007 Colorado Rockies, streaking down the stretch of the season to make the playoffs, then not losing a single game before falling to the Red Sox in the World Series.  A World Series in which they were outscored 29-10, although most of that deficit was caused by a 13-1 loss in game 1 to set the tone of the series.  Needless to say the Rockies did not win a single game that series.  Being both a Red Sox fan and a fan of baseball in general, this was an interesting time for me, because while the Rockies swept their NLCS against Arizona, the Red Sox took their sweet time dispatching Cleveland in all 7 games.  So while the Red Sox were gaining tons of momentum coming back to win a series they once trailed 3-1, the Rockies were just sitting there at home waiting to find out where they had to go for game 1, a period of 9 days where they had not taken part in any real competition.  Needless to say if they had any momentum that was helping them out through the playoffs, it was long gone.

Also a little help from umpires, perhaps?

 Are you starting to see the connections yet?  I was vaguely thinking about this at the start of the series, but as it went on it seemed to be more and more like deja vu, so I actually took the time to look at the past results of teams that had swept their 7 game Championship series.  Since the 7 game series was introduced in 1985 here is the exhaustive list of teams that have won it in 4 games. The 1988 Oakland Athletics, 1990 Oakland Athletics, 1995 Atlanta Braves, 2006 Detroit Tigers, 2007 Colorado Rockies and the 2012 Detroit Tigers.  Out of these 6 teams in the playoffs, they have combined for 6 wins in the World Series, (4 of those coming from the 1995 World Champion Atlanta Braves) and a total record of 6-22.  Needless to say, sweeping the Championship Series has not been a particularly good thing for teams that desire to win the World Series, no matter how counter-intuitive and backwards that may seem.  This is by no means saying that if you sweep the Championship Series, you are going to get destroyed in the World Series, but it is starting to look like a trend, so please, try to lose at least one game will ya?

By being less hasty of doing this, you can do this more often!

I do need to make sure that I give proper credit to the San Francisco Giants once again, they played a great series, and got some pretty great production out of all their players.  Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, but don't get too soft the Dodgers are gonna be coming for you next year.  Speaking of next year, MLB Fan Cave look no further, I'm comin' for ya!

America's Most Hated Man

With the New York Yankees pitifully bowing out of postseason to the Detroit Tigers the insults of Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) are in full swing again. As if those insults ever cease. Not only was the loss of the series 100% Rodriguez's fault, it was also his evil powers that fractured Jeter's aging bone and took out Mariano way back in May. Apparently A-Rod had been planing this one for a while. A-Rod was even lifted due to his lack of productivity at the plate in favor of Eric Chavez. Chavez's stellar .000 postseason average was a major force in the Yankees offensive attack, proving that he was clearly a better hitter in the postseason than A-Rod who hit .120, only 120 points higher than Chavez.

Donald Trump reminds the Twitter universe just about everyday that A-Rod was better when he was on drugs. Much of the criticism of Rodriguez exists due to his enormous salary. Everyone who hates A-Rod because of how much he makes is absolutely correct. None of those people would accept the contract that A-Rod has because they all know they would be unable to live up to it. A-Rod is nothing to this Yankees team which should rid themselves of the man who had nothing to do with the team's 2009 World Series victory. A-Rod's 6 home runs and 18 RBI during the 2009 postseason did not help the Yankees win in the least bit. Derek Jeter could have won the World Series that year by himself.

I'm the number one hated person in America!

Since Alex was born in 1975 he has been a burden to our world. Despite playing in Texas during the 2001 season he shoulders the blame for the September 11th attacks on New York's Twin Towers. He was f**king New York well before signing with the Evil Empire in 2004. A-Rod is also the leading cause of global warming and it is only a matter of time before Al Gore sets out on a stingy campaign against the former Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and MVP award winner. Rodriguez's most recent damage to New York is of the smaller variety. Earlier this summer, A-Rod was the reason the city's mayor banned large fizzy beverages for purchase in his wonderful city. Clearly A-Rod is a major contributor to the obesity problem in the country and the mayor is doing all in his power to crack down on the superstar's terrible influence.

Not only is A-Rod destroying our environment and making Americans fat, but he is ruining our economy. One of the largest issues faced worldwide today is unemployment. The lack of jobs even in our great country has many people sitting at home all day collecting unemployment that they all definitely deserve. Rodriguez's ludicrous salary is preventing the Yankees from signing other overrated pricks to hefty contracts. The nerve of the bastard to do such a thing. If it wasn't for A-Rod the Yankees could be a better team with more than one player tying up the same amount of money. This would help the U.S. unemployment by about 0%, what a selfish f**k.

Apparently I had nothing to do with this

Fans from all over Yankee Universe are calling for A-Rod's head. They want him gone, and who can blame them, the numbers don't lie. In the 2012 postseason A-Rod only had a higher batting average than Chavez, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson. Yankees fans would argue that Jeter would have been more productive playing in a cast or wheelchair than Rodriguez. The fans treat A-Rod the right way, too. If fans want to help out struggling superstars, then booing is the number one prescription to help them turn it around.

Let's not forget all the other horrid things that A-Rod has done during his time on earth. We haven't been hard enough on him to this point, not the Yankee fans, not Donald Trump, or any of the baseball experts out there. Don't forget what he did to New Orleans a few years ago, Katrina's nickname was A-Rod. Don't think you're safe on the west coast either. Those fires out in California were all caused by the same person. That's right, A-Rod, who is now the number one target for Al Gore and Smokey the Bear. Good luck finding your way out of that one, Mr. Rodriguez. A-Rod's devilish legacy has him chasing down even the greatest of evil icons. Watch out Adolf Hitler, A-Rod is hot on your trail. In fact, Donald Trump already thinks that what A-Rod has done to his beloved Yankees is much worse than what Hitler did to the Jews.

Everyone is definitely going to pick on me again

We all know the Mayans predicted the world to end in 2012, but the untold part of their prediction is that the world will end this December because of Rodriguez. The stories about plagues and environmental disasters are simply stories. However, A-Rod is the figure of impending doom and the Mayans correctly predicted him as the downfall of mankind. The Mayans foresaw the 2012 season that A-Rod had at the plate and knew it was all over without any doubt.

If we somehow make it through December of 2012 will the Yankees get rid of A-Rod this off-season? No one knows for sure right now, but we can all agree that he played absolutely no part in the Yankees winning the World Series in 2009. What A-Rod will do next no one knows either. Keep your fingers crossed and hope that the game's most expensive player doesn't f**k what's left of the Yankee legacy and the great country of America.

What a Year!

It's October as Toninho pointed out in a post the other day!  He also talked about the end of the baseball season and the start of playoffs.  That's where I come in, a majority of this was written about a week ago on the last day of the season, I tried to update it as much as I could.

AL East
I say it's obvious that the biggest story of the year in the AL East was the Red Sox deciding to take a very talented team and driving it into the ground again.  Going into this year, this Red Sox team was not the same team that I knew when they reversed the curse and won two titles in 3 years after an 86 year drought.  They had Fried Chickengate, Francona's firing and the sting from last year's collapse on their mind, a real Red Sox team would have gone in with a chip on their shoulder and be what Bill Simmons often refers to as the "Nobody Believes in Us" team.  Instead they got a team full of entitled players and sedated management, it was a disaster from day 1, and now they have to start from scratch.  Meanwhile the Yankees hardly even stumbled through the season and will likely beat the Sox in the two remaining games to clinch the AL East and the top seed (they did).  I can't think of anything positive or negative to say about Toronto other than better luck next year.  The Rays had the season they were expecting to have and would've made the playoffs if it wasn't for those meddling kids in Baltimore.  Yes, the Orioles, a team running completely on bravado winning pretty much every 1 run game they played in and are a jaw dropping 11 games better than their Pythagorean Record.  Holy Buck Showalter Batman!  I can't imagine they can keep this up in the playoffs, but you can never rule out the real "Nobody Believes in Us" team.

Been there, done that...

AL Central

I wrote about them earlier in the season, it turned out to be fairly accurate so read on that and love my predictive talents.  The Tigers put it together and clinched the division despite underachieving, the White Sox did find consistent pitching and held it together until dropping out of the playoff hunt the other night, I overrated the Indians who found a 12 game losing streak in August and never looked back, Kansas City started playing better but they were never destined to much and the Twins are the worst team in the American League.  Detroit is ending the season and going into the playoffs as a streaky team, the magic of October will have to decide their fate.  Meanwhile, Miguel Cabrera is making me look slightly good since I said after this year there won't be any question that he is the best hitter in baseball, winning the Triple Crown will surely do that.  He has been in the top 5 of MVP voting 5 years in his career, including the last 3 years, I think this is the year he going to finally get over that hump.  I'll gush over him more later.

Gushing.

AL West

I honestly can't wait to get to talk about the Astros in this camp next year.  Anyways, the Rangers have been mildly uninteresting like the Yankees and just kept winning and still have (had) the upper hand in winning the division again.  What the people really want are surprises!  Like the Mariners!  Oh wait... they didn't play that well, except for the fact they were probably like 15 games better than I expected out of them.  Lets try again.  Like the Angels!  Kinda... Trout had been a total spark plug and having the best rookie season since Ichiro broke into the league in 2001, Pujols also ended up having a good year after his abysmal start but their pitching betrayed them despite signing C.J. Wilson and trading fro Zach Grienke so they are on the outside looking in.  One more try for the excitement.  Like the Athletics!  Now that is exciting, this team of nobodies who signs a top free agent in Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, trades their best starting pitcher (Gio Gonzalez) and their closer (Andrew Bailey), should not be competing.  And that's what we thought when it reached midseason and they traded their catcher Kurt Suzuki to join Gonzalez in Washington, yet they just didn't stop winning.  I still haven't watched any of their games so I don't know if they are actually good or not, but I can't think of anything more fitting than them having this amazingly unexpected year the year after Moneyball came out and made a splash at the box office.  The baseball gods have an interesting way of working, I'll call this a team of destiny for now and may the gods (or Brad Pitt) be with them.

This town ain't big enough for the two of us!

NL East

I was a moron and didn't publish my thoughts on the Nationals before this year, but Toninho, my brother and some of my close friends are sure of how I felt before this season.  I thought they were a year away from being a playoff contender, but then they traded for Gio Gonzalez and basically told the world "were gonna be in the playoffs, deal with it."  I knew Gio was a good move but a 20 game winner was beyond my wildest dreams, not only did I enjoy this from a fantasy owner perspective (taking Gio in effectively the 11th round of my draft) but I enjoyed it from the seats as I happened to organize a trip to DC to see a game with some friends and it was the day he won his 20th over the Brewers!  I think the Nationals are going to hang around for a long time and can still make a dent in the playoffs without Strasburg.  I have also been a big fan of the Braves for a large chunk of my life and am really happy to see them playing so well in the final year of Chipper Jones's illustrious career, and am also happier to see Heyward may be stepping up to be the new franchise guy with a great year.  Unfortunately I sat through a game that I could only describe as condensing a long term relationship into 3 and a half hours, to see the Braves lose the Wild Card and Chipper end his career, we'll miss you.  The Marlins were struck down by the baseball Gods after hosting the Opening Night game which is an honor that should go to the defending champs every year.  The Phillies got old.  And the Mets held in there better than I would have ever imagined, especially R.A. Dickey's continued success.

Didn't even mention this fine lad!

NL Central

Fuck the Cardinals.  They are the New York Giants of the MLB and are one of the main reasons I'm starting to agree with Toninho about how the American sports playoff systems are kinda dumb.  They have a very good offense and some fine pitchers but screw them.  If you want a playoff team let me show you the Cincinnati Reds, a team I truly can respect, from the OBP monster Joey Votto, the playful spirit of Brandon Phillips and the guitar of Bronson Arroyo.  I hope to see them continue the success they have seen thus far in the Playoffs (unless the face off with Washington).  Milwaukee saw a late season run be for naught, but saw fantastic years out of Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Braun, they could be a good team next year.  The Cubs and Astros were absolutely abysmal, it is kind of sad.  And lastly we all missed out on a great story in the Pirates who keep on teasing us by performing admirably until the All-Star break and then losing control.  I want to see them make it back to the playoffs some time.

It's been too long...

NL West
The Dodgers should be ashamed of themselves, they started out the season like wildfire, then by the time California reached actual wildfire season they bought every available player on the market and performed worse.  Now they are paying infinity dollars for a non-playoff team, just like the Cubs!  The Giants managed to keep up their amazing season despite Melky Cabrera informing us that BALCO does, in fact, still conduct their business (Bartolo Colon only confirmed it), mostly due to Matt Cain having his breakout year and Buster Posey stepping up to take the slack.  I guess the Diamondbacks were lightning in a bottle last year as they brought in an improved team and finished at a respectable .500.  San Diego put up a solid year despite having no more than one nationally known player on their roster.  I still don't know what happened to the Rockies, their DL looks like it could win 70 games!  Lets look at award winners now!

I guess there wasn't enough Magic.

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera (Week 1 Prediction: Miguel Cabrera)

Nailed it!  I thought for a little while that I was going to have to give it to Mike Trout, but then Miggy finished the season like a man possessed and gave us the first Triple Crown since 1967.  I am proud of him, as he has put himself above Pujols and could easily be sold as the best hitter in baseball right now.  I can understand how some people still think Trout deserves the MVP, but the modern convention has given precedence to playoff players and milestones.  Trout had plenty milestones, but if Ichiro doesn't get a single 1st place vote for the most hits ever in a season I don't know how a leadoff hitter could ever win (you know unless he manages only a .344 OBP...)  Sorry Trout you put up a valiant effort, but you aren't getting this trophy yet.

NL MVP: Buster Posey (Weel 1 Prediction: Troy Tulowitzki)
Yeouch, Tulo got hurt so I should get a waiver for that, but saying the NL West was winnable for the Rockies was terrible.  I wish Tulo the best of luck in years going forward.  I don't want Posey to win, but I think the convention of the voters will make him the winner, despite making it obvious that the first half of the season is meaningless.  Here are some players that deserve it over Posey.  Ryan Braun, who likely put the whole steroid mess behind him and put up better numbers with a worse guy hitting behind him.  Yadier Molina, who didn't quite have the statistical prowess of Posey but still put up a very good statistical year and is indispensable for a very easy to hate Cardinals team.  Andrew McCutchen for his breakout year everyone knew was coming.  And finally, Adam LaRoche, I can hardly think of a player who was more consistently effective for his team.

AL Cy Young: David Price (Week 1 Prediction: Justin Verlander)
I could still be right, some analysts have said Verlander has put up a better year than Price.  But I am usually of the convention that when WHIP and ERA are comparable you look at wins, not strikeouts, cause sometimes you need a little luck to win a game and you need a little more luck to win a Cy Young.  I wouldn't be surprised if either player won.

NL Cy Young: Gio Gonzalez (Week 1 Prediction: Adam Wainwright)
Apparently I had no feel for the NL awards going into this year.  I am very proud of Gio Gonzalez, when he was traded to Washington I felt that was the turning point for the Nationals to be a playoff squad, and it needed to get more attention than it did.  Seeing him live, I was only more drawn in to his aura, where he seems like a truly nice guy who deserves this honor.  I wish him all the best in his career and will watch over him as long as I can.  Johnny Cueto and R.A. Dickey have also put up good years, but as I said with Price, when all else is similar, consult the wins.  Or give it to the guy whose slugging percentage against is less than .300.

AL Rookie of the Year: Mike Trout
I discussed him for MVP, that is some Ichiro shit right there.  Nobody else should even get a vote, no second place votes, just give Trout the trophy.

He can also catch a ball!

NL Rookie of the Year: Bryce Harper
This was a very close race for a large portion of the year with Harper doing admirably for a 19 year old, but still seeming like he was worse than Wade Miley and Todd Frazier.  Then September happened.  Harper was a monster in that final month of the season, and made me wonder if the way he runs the bases was similar to the spirit Ty Cobb had.  I've never seen a player before that forces the opposition to make a perfect throw as often as Harper has.

AL Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter (Week 1 Prediction: Joe Maddon)
Buck did an amazing job, which I have already talked about.  Now he has to get them to beat the Yankees.  I also feel obliged to mention Robin Ventura.

NL Manager of the Year: Davey Johnson (Week 1 Prediction: Ozzie Guillen)
The Nationals have such a young team, and even though they are very talented it has to take a good managerial job to make them the best team in baseball.  Ozzie Guillen never could get the Marlins off the ground.  I also think Dusty Baker did a good job bringing the Reds back into the playoffs after stumbling last year.  Screw Mike Matheny only because I hate the Cardinals.  Also, I like the Nationals this year.

Playoff Picture
Detroit over Oakland (It's basically over already)
Baltimore over New York (Unless Jeffrey Maier has anything to say about it)
Washington over St. Louis (Go home Cards, you are living a lie)
Cincinnati over San Francisco (Ditto from Detroit)

Detroit over Baltimore (Detroit is a better team than they have shown all year)
Cincinnati over Washington (It pains me to say it)

Cincinnati over Detroit (We may have a new Big Red Machine)

Maybe not...

A Man of Merit

On Friday September 7, 2012, Aries Merritt of the United States broke the world record in the 110 meter high hurdles at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels. The previous world record, established by Cuba's Dayron Robles four years ago, stood at 12.87 seconds, until Merritt absolutely hauled ass to cross the finish line in a blistering 12.80 seconds. .07 seconds in a short race like the 110 meter high hurdles is quite significant, not even mentioning that he ran the fastest time in the event... ever.




Merritt, also fresh off an Olympic gold in the same event, ended the outdoor season on the highest of highs by clinching the world record. Unfortunately, this tremendous achievement demonstrates the United States lack of respect for the sport, especially outside of the Olympics. Sportscenter, a popular sports news broadcast show in the United States, put Merritt's record setting performance number 10 on its top 10 plays. Apparently there were ten other things in the sports world that happened that day or week that were better than setting a world record. However, regardless of whether the other nine plays were from the same day or the entire week, setting a world record should take precedence over them. Merritt is American, too, so you'd think he would get some respect from his home country.

Let's take a moment to recognize what it means to hold a world record. World records are held by people who have achieved results that no other person in the history of anything has ever surpassed. Actually, that's about all you have to know. No one has ever run the 110 meter hurdles faster than Merritt, not the great Liu Xiang nor Dayron Robles, both former world record holders. Xiang who has been plagued by injuries for some time now might not have another chance to compete for this record, or at least not at 100% fitness, but Robles must be thinking "dayuuumn, that dude is flyin'!" He's certainly in for some tough battles as long as he can recover from the injury he sustained in the final at the Olympics in London.

Given this great accomplishment, the guy is under appreciated by people who are not fans of the sport. Even during the Olympics he wasn't praised much for his gold medal in the U.S. It was all about Phelps and some guy who had no legs. It it isn't football (American, take that!), basketball, baseball, hockey (to some extent), or golf, then it doesn't really matter in the U.S. Or swimming if it's during the Olympics.

Track and field isn't alone, soccer gets no respect, either. Just ask the Sportscenter anchor who didn't know how to pronounce Maicon's name when he scored an absurd goal, he was only one of the best right backs in the world. That's not even the start of it, but in general soccer and track are disrespected sports, at least in the U.S.

Congratulations Aries Merritt for your ridiculous run and tremendous accomplishment!

Dan Uggla is Confusing!

I don't have anything particularly interesting or insightful to say about Dan Uggla, but I really do feel that I need to post an article about him in some way.  I really like Uggla, not only because he plays for one of my favorite teams, the Braves, but because I have never been able to make sense of the man.  In general look at him.  He is supposed to be a second baseman but he is 5'11" and weighs 205, when I think of second basemen people like Dustin Pedroia and Craig Biggio, who are 5'8" 165 and 5'11" 185, respectively.  Every time I see him I wonder who the first person was that looked at this strong powerful man and decided to throw him at second base.  In the minors he played a majority of his games at second base, but also had a pretty large chunk of games at third base, which is where I would have put him personally.  Comparing him to some of the stereotype third base body types, David Wright and Evan Longoria, Uggla is a little short (about an inch shorter than Wright) and at a proper weight.  Yet, I can't complain about Uggla as a second baseman as his production at the position has made him a notable player and his defense is solid.  I just can never get used to seeing a guy at second base who has arms as big as the moon.

"I don't get it either!"

I also find Uggla's numbers to be notably interesting.  He is on pace this year to hit around 20 home runs which would be his career low by 7 homers, yet is still amazing for a second baseman (especially when you note he usually hits 30 or more.)  He also has a really low batting average in recent years (.233 last year .206  so far this year), yet his OBP is sticking around his career norms.  The man is currently leading the league in walks!  He also has the dubious honor of being the first veteran player I have known of who has been an All-Star at the midpoint of the season, then at the end it on platoon due to continued bad play.  I was ashamed to have to drop him from my fantasy team when the Braves announced a reduction in his playing time.  His numbers don't make sense to me because it seems that every time I watch the Braves he either ropes a double somewhere or hits a towering moonshot, so apparently he can't hit a beachball unless I'm watching him.  This is getting a little sad now so lets look at his arms again.

Consolation

I guess that concludes all I have to say about Dan Uggla, he is a great player to have in the league due to his position and style of play that leaves me scratching my head every time.  If you don't watch much baseball I do recommend you take the time to watch some of the Braves this postseason, Uggla will be there and he will have large arms and you won't quite know what to make of him.  Keep checking in on the site as I will probably start posting more as the playoffs come into sight, and you can also read this for a little bit of Toninho talking about Uggla (and Manny Ramirez!)

He also knows how to finish out a home run swing in style