I was apprehensive to join Twitter because I knew that I would become addicted to it. I was out with some friends, about a year ago, and my friend talked me into signing up with her phone. I just posted a few “tweets” and then that turned into multiple “tweets” and now I’m on there all the time. I have around 1700 followers and it fluctuates daily. My Twitter name is @sweetbob and you can follow me by clicking here.
Here are the 22 sports people that you must follow on Twitter. Continue reading
You can’t really grade a draft in any league until 3 years later. I did a “re-do” post a year ago with the 2005 NBA Draft, you can see that HERE.
The NBA just had their draft last week and it will take a few seasons to see if they work out. The 2006 NBA Draft has had only one all-star so far, but a few stars are starting to emerge. The teams didn’t seem to know who they wanted during the draft, 5 out of top 10 picks were traded. Toronto had the first pick in that draft, would they still pick Andrea Bargnani? Here is what the 2006 NBA Draft Lottery would look like if it were held today. Continue reading
I have been a Cubs fan for as long as I’ve been alive. I am 28 years old and some of the earliest memories involved my dad and I watching afternoon games on WGN. I remember Jody Davis, Leon Durham, Rick Sutcliffe, and Lee Smith all fighting the Chicago summer heat. The times were special and moments that I wouldn’t change at all. The teams were bad and most of the crowd didn’t care, and I didn’t care too much either. I was a little kid who idolized the players with dreams of one day playing professional baseball too. Those dreams never came true, but I am still a Cubs fan, although I am a little confused of how happy I am about that today.
I was in middle school when the Cubs traded George Bell to the White Sox for a young outfielder, Sammy Sosa. I liked Bell for the few seasons that he was with the Cubs, but I kind of understood that they needed to get younger. I didn’t know much about Sosa, other than owning a few of his rookie cards. My lone opinion was that he looked extremely happy. Almost immediately, the trade for Sosa started to pay off. He was stealing bases and hitting more homers than I expected. The first season, I thought that he may be a better version of Shawon Dunston, since he didn’t strike out as much, which didn’t say much.
The Cubs didn’t win many games the first few seasons that Sosa was around. I can still hear Harry Caray yell out Sosa’s name after he jacked a 400+ foot home-run. Those moments gave me joy, about as much as an actual Cubs victory. Sosa’s home-run total kept creeping up, but the whispers of the ball being juiced calmed my fears of anything fishy going on. It wasn’t until the summer of ’98 that the homers were getting out of hand. I have to admit, I still didn’t care. Mark McGwire was hitting just as many homers as Sosa and he looked noticeably huge. I didn’t suspect much about steroid use, the only thing that was written was something new to me called “Andro.” I read about it and saw that it wasn’t illegal. I didn’t think anything was wrong, but I wanted Sosa to beat him. I think most people wanted Sosa to beat McGwire, if not for the fact that he was more likeable.
Every time that Sosa took the field in the first inning, he would run out into right field like a perfectly choreographed play. Everything Sosa did was more of a show for the fans. After 9/11, he hit a homer and ran around the bases with a little American flag.
Sosa’s numbers stayed the same as McGwire began to breakdown. Sosa’s average took a hit, since he looked like he was wanting to knock it out of the park with every swing. Finally, his behavior the last year with the Cubs was too much for the club to handle. They dealt him to Baltimore for a few young players. Sosa’s career was never the same, mainly because the cloud of suspicion was too great. To this day he denies all claims of using PEDs, but the revelation of a failed test in 2003 makes it all clear. Sosa apparently cheated, it doesn’t surprise many, but I’m just confused.
I believe that a large number of players used some sort of performance-enhancing drug during the same period of Sosa’s career. I believe he wanted an edge and once he had a taste of success, he couldn’t leave it alone. If he didn’t do it for himself, he did it for the fans. As I said before, my first opinion of Sosa was his smile. He didn’t lose his smile until the end of his career. He didn’t have his smile when he was testifying in front of Congress. If Sosa’s number isn’t retired and he doesn’t make the Hall of Fame, Sosa may never smile again. A decision to forgive and forget has to be made at some point. Some purists still have a big problem with “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the Black Sox. I say that we still need to decide on what kind of punishment would suit the crime.
My opinion is for the Baseball Writers of America to have a conference. Everyone should take sides and maybe come to a conclusion. I would like to see all the alleged steroid users, that have Hall of Fame numbers, be inducted in the same class. You would be able to put that on Pay-Per-View and it would have a high buyrate. I don’t think it’s right that they used PEDs, but enough is enough. I want to move past this. It may take the player’s union to allow blood testing, it would be a step in the right direction.
Joe Sports Fan needed more questions for his podcast a few weeks ago and I thought that it would be fun to re-cast the movie “Major League” with current Major League baseball players. He thought it was a good idea and may touch on it in a future podcast. I started brainstorming ideas about who would play each character and thought it deserved its own post. Here is the player-by-player re-casting of the movie “Major League.” (I had to thrown in other sports figures for the female characters).
Jake Taylor – This character needs to be played by a catcher who is on his last legs, but is enjoying a nice season. I choose Jason Varitek since he seemed washed-up last year and it playing great this season. He is also the captain, which Taylor certainly was in “Major League.”
Rick Vaughn – I know what you’re thinking, he should be John Rocker. That would have been the answer about 7-8 years ago, but we need a current baseball player to play “Wild Thing.” I think Joba Chamberlain is a great fit to play Rick Vaughn. He was arrested for a DUI, so he has the sketchy criminal past. He is pretty wild on occassion, especially his celebratory fist pumps.
Roger Dorn – Dorn’s character has to be a guy who has made a lot of money during his career and is just out there for endorsements and maybe some road-tail. He has to play 3rd base, so I’m going with Alex Rodriguez, although A-Rod would probably be the one that would try and sleep with a player’s wife, not the other way around.
Willie “Mays” Hayes – My early vote would have gone to Torii Hunter, since Mays had a great glove and made a few nice catches in center. I couldn’t do it, ’cause Hunter is a 5-tool player and Hayes couldn’t hit well and possibly floated around in the minors awahile. I have to go with Joey Gathright since Mays would probably put up YouTube videos of himself jumping over things too. Gathright isn’t known for his bat, but if he hits grounders, I’m sure he could leg out a few infield singles.
Eddie Harris – Harris was the old-timer that used Vagisil, among other foreign substances, to get movement on the ball. He probably threw a 75mph fastball. This pick was easy, Jamie Moyer is the unanimous choice. He is in his later 40’s and hasn’t see 90 on the radar gun since he married Digger Phelps’ daughter.
Pedro Cerrano – Cerrano prayed to the voodoo gods to help him hit a curveball. He had crazy power, but he was a little crazy. Milton Bradley is the perfect player, although the voodoo religion ties are unfounded. I could see Bradley using bat-warmers and lighting gunpower to awake his bat.
Coach Lou Brown – Brown was a lifer coaching in the minors and came up to coach the Indians. I think he is a smarter coach than he portrayed in the movie. I assume that he was one of the first coaches to use VORP and BBIP to revise his daily line-up of characters. I’m going to throw a curveball here and say that Trey Hillman, the coach of the Kansas City Royals. Hillman coached all over before he was given the shot at the Royals. He is known as a smart guy and a little of a hardass.
Rachel Phelps – She was the ex-showgirl that received the Indians when the owner died. He wanted the team to tank so she could move the team to Miami. I thought long and hard about this and think that Monica Seles would fit the role of Phelps. Seles has been dating the owner of the Buffalo Sabres for awhile and think that she may be in it for the long haul. If he kicks the bucket, Seles could be in line to own a small-market sports franchise.
Lynn Wells – Wells was the character that ended up with Jake Taylor at the end. She clearly has a thing for baseball players, possibly a fetish. I would like Alyssa Milano to play the role of Lynn Wells. Milano has dated many players and she is a huge fan. This could also help the eye-candy factor for the movie.
Harry Doyle – Doyle was the play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Indians. He was played by Bob Uecker and he did a fantastic job. I would like to see Uecker reprise his role, since he was still the play-by-play guy for the Milwaukee Brewers.
That was my re-casting of the movie “Major League.” It was the 20th anniversary of the movie’s release on Monday. The Cleveland Indians gaveaway a Rick Vaughn bobblehead and had Bob Uecker throw out the first pitch. The pitch was “just a bit outside.”
Not everyone can have the last name ‘Jordan’ or ‘Chamberlain’, some of us have to go through life with a pretty ridiculous name. Most of these names are pretty rough to grow up with, but some are names you wish you may have, especially if you are named something bland like Joe Smith or Bobby Roberts.
Once again this year the lesser-known Division I teams make up the majority of the list, keep up the good recruiting work.
Woody Payne – G – Detroit
Scoop Jardine – G – Syracuse
Cashmere Wright – G – Cincinnati
Idong Ibok – C – Michigan State
Pawel Kielbasa – F – Chicago State
Chop Tang – F – Wisconsin-Green Bay
Hyman Taylor – C – San Francisco
Beloved Rogers – G – Oral Roberts
Chief Kickingstallionsims – C – Alabama State
King Cannon – F – Central Arkansas
Picasso Simmons – G – Murray State
Tweety Carter – G – Baylor
Lex Mongo – G – Massachusetts
Ookie Clayton – G – Tennessee-Martin
and of course…
Lil’ Romeo – G – USC
After any major sports draft, every team and their fans usually feel great about the future. The NBA many teams draft based on potential and not on the basis of past performance. 2005 was one of the last drafts that high school talent could bypass the college game and enter in the draft. Teams will still draft on potential, even a year in college doesn’t show enough to make an educated determination on what player is better than the other. Here is a re-do of the 2005 NBA Draft if it happened today.
1. Chris Paul – Milwaukee Bucks – The Bucks would be a much improved team with Paul at the point. Andrew Bogut was a decent pick, but the draft class was presumed to be very thin in 2005 and they couldn’t pass up on a big man with International flavor. Chris Paul is hands-down, head above shoulders, the filet mignon of this draft. (Paul went #3 to New Orleans) Continue reading
Not everyone can have the last name ‘Manning’ or ‘Montana’, some of us have to go through life with a pretty ridiculous name. Most of these names are pretty rough to grow up with, but some are names you wish you may have, especially if you are named something bland like Joe Smith or Bobby Roberts.
YourHighNess Morgan – LB – Florida Atlantic
H.B. Banjoman – RB – Eastern Kentucky
Casey Dick – QB – Arkansas
Chris Smelley – QB – South Carolina
Cooter Arnold – WR – North Carolina
Baccari Rambo – DB – Georgia
Sam Spitz – FB – Wisconsin
Mighty Inyang – DB – Houston
Chubb Small – RB – Marshall
Caleb Dyck – RB – Alabama-Birmingham
Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada – QB – Navy
Stash McGuiness – OL – Cal Poly
Mike Lougee – LB – Iona
Dirk Kool – LB – South Dakota State
Heath Cockburn – G – Furman
Jeff Dickmann – CB – UCLA
T-Bob Hebert – C – Louisiana State
Fitz Bobo – WR – Miami (OH)
Prince Moody – DB – Wisconsin
Dane Cook – S – Ball State
Ryan Succup – K – South Carolina
Joker Phillips – Offensive Coordinator – Kentucky
The NBA Draft is now officially over and every team has forgotten about the disappointment of last season and are excited for a new season. A new trend may have started this year, I didn’t see any funky suits. What happened to the Jalen Rose and Hakeem Olajuwon? The only suit that I could take a swing at was the suit O.J. Mayo wore. It was a 3-piece suit, but it was super tight and appeared to be a bit short on him.
Also, I would like to note that this year’s “Best Hair Award” goes to Robin Lopez. Any hair that is barely dented by a hair, gets a trophy. Here is my recap of this year’s lottery selections.
1 – Bulls – Derrick Rose, Memphis , PG – No surprise here, we’ve known that he was going here for awhile. He should have a decent season this year, but the team still needs a few more pieces to compete with Boston and Detroit.
2 – Heat – Michael Beasley, Kansas State,PF – I am still a little shocked about this one. All the news you heard from Miami pre-draft was how this guy wasn’t their guy, but they still picked him. I guess it still seems a little fishy, unless it was all political and was trying to bait a trade. Beasley will fit well with Wade and Marion and they will have a much better season this year.
3 – Grizzlies – O.J. Mayo, USC, G – Minnesota did a good job in picking Mayo, but maybe a move was trading him away. The T-wolves received Kevin Love and Mike Miller, which will help a young team. Mayo can play the 1 or 2 and is a very versatile player, but with Mike Conley at the point, Mayo will look to fill the 2 spot. Look for Mayo to do well out of the gate and make Memphis, but they are still a few drafts away from filling the void that Pau Gasol left.
4 – Sonics – Russell Westbrook, UCLA, G – Westbrook was the perfect pick for the Sonics. He can defend, which was a serious need for the Sonics, plus he can help run the offense and get the ball to Durant.
5 – Timberwolves – Kevin Love, UCLA, PF – I didn’t think Love would go this high, but Minnesota finagled a trade with Memphis for the big man who can hit full-court shots. Kevin McHale still needs a lot for the T-wolves to be competitive, but this move looks like a smart one. Minnesota knows that they have a lot of work ahead of them, but for now, the Love/Jefferson combo in the post will drive defenses crazy. Good move McHale, it will take about ten of these moves for the people of Minnesota to forget about KG.
6 – Knicks – Danilo Gallinari, Italy, SF – Time will only tell if this pick will be a good one. His success depends on his ability to handle the pressure of playing in New York. The analysts are comparing Gallinari with Toni Kukoc and Dirk Nowitzki, but don’t they usually compare any big European who has a jumpshot with those guys?
7 – Clippers – Eric Gordon, Indiana, G – As you may already know, “America’s White Boy” have been critical of Eric Gordon in the past. Gordon reminds us of Sam Cassell-type of player who can score in bunches. Cassell had success with the Clippers, in the short time he was there. If Gordon can put together a full season, the Clippers made a good pick here.
8 – Bucks – Joe Alexander, West Virginia, SF – The Bucks were in love with Alexander for a long time now. This pick didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. They drafted three small-forwards in this year’s draft. Tou have to think that they will be good at that position for a few seasons. By the way, “Vanilla Sky” is the best nickname of any draft prospect since Fred Hoiberg’s “The Mayor.”
9 – Bobcats – D.J. Augustin, Texas, PG – A definite surprise here from the Bobcats. Charlotte is trying to trade Raymond Felton and by selecting Augustin, you have the exact opposite of Felton. Augustin isn’t going to be a big-time scorer, but he can handle the ball and run the offense much better.
10 – Nets – Brook Lopez, Stanford, C – “I know the Nets really like Brook Lopez,” that is how I started out my preview for this pick, but I never thought Lopez would be undrafted at this point. The Nets have had a really good day. They picked up Bobby Simmons and Yi for Richard Jefferson, which is making them much more physical. The Nets have needed a frontline scorer since Kenyon Martin left, Lopez fills the need.
11 – Blazers – Jerryd Bayless, Arizona, PG – The Pacers originally picked Bayless, but traded the pick with Ike Diogu to Portland for the #13 pick (Brandon Rush), Jarrett Jack, and Josh McRoberts. The GM for Portland has looked like a genius the last couple seasons, so I can’t really second-guess any of his decisions at this point. Portland will be a contender in the West next season, with or without a healthy Greg Oden.
12 – Kings – Jason Thompson, Rider, PF – Thompson is one of those under-the-radar type of guys, so this was surprising that he would be picked this high. They really needed a point guard, but without Bayless or Augustin available, they had to go with Thompson’s upside. I don’t see him being a factor the next season or two.
13 – Pacers – Brandon Rush, Kansas, SG – (see Pick #11) The Pacers have been in need of a shooting guard since the retirement of Reggie Miller. Rush is a good defender and is a proven winner. He has great size (6’7) and should give other guards troubles with defending his shot. The Pacers traded Bayless for Rush and gained a player that seemed more NBA-ready.
14 – Warriors – Anthony Randolph, LSU, PF – I thought the Warriors would pick Mario Chalmers with this pick, but NBA teams seemed to fall out of love with him. Instead of picking for need, the Warriors picked the next best prospect on the board with Randolph. I don’t understand the logic behind this pick since they drafted a clone of Randolph last season (Brandan Wright). They both are tall, but both need to get much, much stronger. Randolph is 6’10 and only 197lbs, he will end up in the D-League the next two seasons and it would still take a lot of hard work for him to live up to being a lottery pick.
After all the trades shake out, look for a “Draft Winners and Losers” post.