Fire Dusty Baker

I am finally going to take part in the whole blog stereotype by calling for someone’s job. I have yet to do it in all of my time as a blogger, but it needs to be done. Dusty Baker, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, needs to be fired. To make it even more clear, I’m not even a Reds fan, not at all. I live in Columbus, OH, so I get every Reds game on Fox Sports Ohio, but I usually just watch them if they are playing the Cubs or I see a guy on my fantasy baseball team up to bat.

Dusty Baker is like Godzilla destroying the Reds, one pitcher at a time. Last season, a lot of the experts expected the Reds to have a good season. Their pitching staff was rated as one of the best, since they had young arms like Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto. The mood was high and every Reds fan was excited about the young arms and guys like Jay Bruce waiting in the minors waiting to be called up. Baker had success with the Giants and Cubs as the manager, even making it deep in the playoffs with both teams. After Baker left, it looked like a 100-foot lizard destroyed the entire franchise.

Let’s start with Baker’s destruction of young pitching. I would like to coin a word and say the “Bakerification” of a pitcher, which would be the utter and total annihilation of a young pitcher’s career. In San Francisco, Baker the only elite pitching prospect that the Giants had while he was manager was Shawn Estes. He was teh 11th overall pick in the 1991 MLB amateur draft. He made his pro debut in ’95, and had a great year in ’97 (19-5 3.18 ERA). He had a good 2 1/2 year run as an elite pitcher, but he fell off the face of the earth. Except one decent year in Colorado, he has bounced around as a 5th or spot starter. Baker used him and pushed him over 200 innings and kept him in games in which they were behind by a large number of runs.

In Chicago he had a full plate of young pitching prospects. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior being the best two young pitchers the Cubs had seen since Greg Maddux. They had high expectations and were going to be a great #1 and #2 starters for a long time. After the 2003 season, both pitchers were never the same. They have missed complete seasons each and have had a laundry list of arm problems. Prior hasn’t really pitched in the big leagues since and Wood was converted to a closer, but not as dominant as he once was (he is a closer for Cleveland and has a 4.72 ERA this season). The lone young pitcher that seems to be standing after the Baker era in Chicago is Carlos Zambrano. I think there must be some truth to the rumors that he is actually a zombie.

This all circles back to the present-day Cincinnati Reds. It was announced last week that Edinson Volquez underwent Tommy John surgery and could miss the entire next season, as well as the rest of this season. To add more fuel to the fire, Johnny Cueto has had arm troubles this season and he’s now injured with a hip injury. Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang both had great season a few seasons before Baker became skipper, but the last two years they have been horrible. You can’t blame run support for their losses, since they have been sporting ERA around 5.00. So it’s not only the young pitchers who are prone to “Bakerification.”

You can’t blame GM Walk Jocketty for sticking with Dusty Baker. He was the man who hired Tony LaRussa in St. Louis, so he likes guys with winning experience. I think it’s time to let Baker go and find a man himself. The former GM Wayne Krivsky hired Baker as a last-ditch effort to save his job, kind of a desperate man’s final meal. He needed to make a splash, but he clearly had no plan for the future of the club. He was hoping that Baker could catch lightning in a bottle, but I think he more or less caught something else that needs some penicillin to clear up.

Once again, I would like to reiterate that I am not a Reds fan, I’m a Cubs fan, but I would like to see them competitive again. I have the same feeling about the Pirates too, but if both of those franchises ever get to a point where they are actually contending for the NL Central, I may not be too pleased. The Reds need to be blown up and get rid of guys like Harang and Arroya and build around some guys like Bruce, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, and future-star Yonder Alonso. The start this process, fire Dusty Baker!

Are The Cubs Finally Making A Run?

The Cubs may not be making any huge trades over the next 24-hour period, but their current players have finally started to hit. What would happen if Milton Bradley actually starts to produce for the Cubs? Can they keep pace with the Cardinals, who added Mark DeRosa and Matt Holliday over the past couple weeks? Geovany Soto and Ted Lilly are both on the DL, but with Ryan Dempster and Aramis Ramirez coming off, this could be the beginning of a nice second-half of the season.

Alfonso Soriano, who has battled a leg injury for most of the season, has finally started to swing the bat well. They moved him down to the sixth spot, and since then, he has been hitting .383 with 5 homers and 15 RBI. I’m not sure if the move down in the order sparked this offense, but resting during the All-Star break could have added to his numbers. I like him hitting behind Ramirez, Fox/Hoffpauer platoon, and Bradley, they have all found their numbers have increased. Ramirez has had an extra base-hit in 9 straight games and Bradley hit is eight homer of the season this afternoon. If they get their pitching in order, maybe they can keep pace with the Cardinals. Adam Wainwright and Cris Carpenter are the only Cardinals who has pitched well after the All-Star break, with Ryan Franklin finally looking human. If the Cubs can get a mid-level bat or someone like John Grabow over the next day, it could help their cause.

Geovany Soto has not had a great season this year, but he is expected back in a couple weeks from an oblique injury. He started to hit well before his trip to the DL, but I like the way Koyie Hill has called games for the pitching staff. Randy Wells has looked great and even Kevin Hart has looked like a professional over the last two weeks. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Soto is out longer than expected, but I would like him to get a couple weeks of regular season activity at the end of the season, if the Cubs make the playoffs, I don’t want him rusty.

The rest of the league are scouring the league for trades, but the Cubs can’t afford to do that, nor should they do so. If their line-up starts to hit to their potential and Zambrano doesn’t eat someone’s face off, they will be in the race. The Cubs don’t have any blue-chip prospects other than Josh Vitters, who they hope will develop into something great. He’s a third-baseman, so he’ll either be an insurance policy for Aramis Ramirez, or a possible position change to first base, if Derrek Lee’s performance begins to decline.

I have really turned the wagons around the last few days concerning the Cubs season. If the Brewers get desparate and trade their lot of prospects away for Roy Halladay, I could head back the other way, but it looks like Doc Halladay isn’t headed into these parts anytime soon.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Ohio State Football – Rebuilding Year?

I have lived in Columbus, OH for three years and this will be my fourth football season that I will experience here. My first year here was when Ohio State played Michigan as the #1 vs. #2 teams in the country. Since it was a home game, this town was completely nuts. I couldn’t even use my cell phone, since so many people crammed into the city for the game. This year’s team is by far the worst Ohio State team in the last four season, even if die-hard Buckeye fans won’t admit it.

A lot of hype will surround Columbus on September 12th. The USC Trojans come here to play Ohio State, but both teams will only be a skeleton of themselves. USC and OSU lost most of their starters and will still be getting used to each other by the time they play. Ohio State is expecting a break-out season from Terelle Pryor, but they will definitely miss Chris Wells. Boom Herron and Brandon Saine will do their best to duplicate the impact Beanie had on move the chains, but it will be a huge task. Pryor may have to use his feet to gain yards, even more than last year. They also lose Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline to graduation/draft, two veteran targets will be missed. Dan Sanzenbacher and DeVier Posey will be the go-to receivers and if Ray Small can develop any offensive game, they may start to click by the time Big Ten season begins.

The defensive side of the ball could be the Buckeyes best attribute. I am looking for a big year from safety Kyle Coleman. I’m not saying that ’cause I’m friends with his brother and have met him on many occassions, he’s a great safety and is a playmaker. He will have to make plays in the secondary, since Malcolm Jenkins is no longer out there to intercept passes. They won’t miss Donald Washington, since he didn’t do much in college, but was still drafted early in the NFL Draft. They will miss James Laurenitis and Marcus Freeman from their linebacking corpse. Tyler Moeller, Ross Homan, and Austin Spitler will have to mature in a hurry. Luckily for them, when they play USC, they will be breaking in a new QB.

Ohio State is either a 10-2 or a 9-3 team this year. Their losses will be at the hands of USC and Penn State. The bubble loss could come against Illinois, they had a bad year last season, but Ron Zook has recruited well the last two seasons. You would think that those players will have to mature this season. The Big Ten is down again this year and a 10-2 or 9-3 season could land them in the Rose Bowl, if Penn State is playing for the National Championship. I think Penn State will have a good team, it just depends how down the Big Ten really is. If they lose one game this year, it could knock them down pretty far in the polls and a weak Big Ten schedule would make it hard to make a jump up.

I know that I am going to get grilled by Ohio State fans, since they are extremely rabid and passionate. A 10-2 or 9-3 season wouldn’t be a bad season for this team. They are very young and it is something that they could build upon for the 2010-11 season. If Ohio State could pull off a win against USC, then the season could change and they could yet again be vying for a spot in the BCS Championship game. A lot will be determined by the game on September 12th, but which team will fall down to normal expectations and which team will be catapulted into the elite.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

10 ESPN Personalities That You Never Want To See In A Peephole Video

Perverts around the world have been attacking Google this week in hopes of find the infamous Erin Andrews nude peephole video. I have already argued my point in a previous post that this is wrong and I hope that they find the person that did it. It was a pretty serious post and I’m not a guy who is very serious. I started thinking about other ESPN personalities who would cause such a frenzy if something like this happened again. It was a short list, but my list of people who should never, ever have a peephole video, was much bigger. Here are 10 ESPN personalities that you never want to see in a nude peephole video.

Jon Miller – He calls the marquee baseball games with Joe Morgan on ESPN. He has a great voice that is made for radio and a not necessarily something that I would want to see on my television. If he ever appeared in a peephole video, please cancel my cable internet.

Holly Rowe – She is a sideline reporter for ESPN. She basically has the same job as Erin Andrews, but she covers the C-list game on ESPN. You can normally see her during the Wyoming vs. Idaho State football games on ESPN2.

Mike Golic – Golic is one-half of the duo on “Mike and Mike In the Morning” on ESPN Radio and appears on NFL Live. I know he has lost 22 pounts on the Nutri-system diet, but he needs to eat less pot roast and more vegetables.

John Clayton – It’s hard to believe, but he is a football guy at ESPN. The angle in the picture is about the only angle that you get to see him at. My theory is that he is actually a 2-D figure. Dan Patrick, formerly of ESPN, jokes around that he has a pony-tail. I kind of hope that is true and if that is the case, is that a sign of Armageddon? If John Clayton was in a peephole video, it would probably look like a 8-bit Nintendo game.

Chris Berman – His voice is one of the most recognizable voices in sports television. He also has one of the best comb-overs in the entire industry. If Berman had a peephole video, I would envision that he would end up doing the play-by-play of it. He could even give his “boys” some sort of nickname that would reference some late 70’s funk band. The picture above is about all the nation can endure of Berman’s body.

Dana Jacobson – She might be best known for her drunken appearance at the Mike & Mike roast awhile back. She also hosts ESPN’s “First Take” in the morning, I don’t watch that show much since I can’t stand her or Skip Bayless. Jacobson looks like a mix between Chyna and Cybill Shepherd, and I’m not a fan of either. I guess I would rather see a Skip Bayless video more than one of her, what does this say about me? Yikes, what a scary thought.

Bob Ley – He has been with ESPN since the beginning and he looks nearly identical from when he started. I think he looks a bit like Peter Griffin, if he was a real person. I wouldn’t want a Bob Ley peephole video, because I fear that he would do a 10-piece “Outside The Line” feature about it. I would not want to see that on a loop for any period of time.

John Kruk – I could do with the easy joke here and but I can’t, too simple. Kruk appears on “Baseball Tonight” and his analysis goes in slumps and so does his hair (I had to throw that in there, Sports Hernia). I would expect Kruk to had random crumbs of Doritos spread all around his body. His skin could be permanently dyed orange from the nacho cheese flavoring.

Mike Ditka – Mike Ditka was a great coach, but now he’s a football analyst for ESPN. He can go off on tangents that never lead you to anywhere, much like this blog. A Ditka peephole video would do well in Chicago, but not so much in New Orleans. I would think that he still has his Bears v-neck on at all times, so maybe the video wouldn’t be too revealing.

Tony Kornheiser – He is one of the hosts of “Pardon The Interruption” on ESPN. He was also in the booth during “Monday Night Football,” but that experiment ended when he didn’t want to do it anymore, or so he wants us to believe. A peephole video for Kornheiser would be awful and I would put odds that he is either wearing a hat or holding up one of those faces on a stick. Scratch that, he would probably be doing the penguin dance.

There is my list, for some reason Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd didn’t make the list. I can’t explain that, but hopefully one of these guys gets the bump from ESPN and they make the top 10. Any other ESPN personalities that should make the list?

Feel free to “Like” my blog on Facebook or click the Facebook box located within the sidebar.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Buehrle’s Perfect Game Puts Pressure On Cubs

Mark Buehrle has been a workhorse for the Chicago White Sox. He is a feast or famine type of pitcher, but when he has his control, the guy is non-stop. The White Sox are now tied for the AL Central lead with the Tigers, but the momentum is on their side. On the other side of town, the Cubs are struggling to score runs and put together a consistent line-up card. Buehrle’s perfect game has put added pressure on the Cubs to make a move. The White Sox and the Cubs aren’t in the same league, but they always feel the heat when the other team is controlling the headlines. When you add in that St. Louis is trying to get Roy Halladay from Toronto and Matt Holliday from Oakland, the North Side of Chicago is starting to feel like a sauna.

The Cubs need a few more pieces to compete in the NL Central. They only have the salary flexibility to add a middle reliever. There are rumors that they are trying to pry away Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh and George Sherrill from Baltimore. I’m okay with acquiring Sanchez, since he is a consistent .300 hitter and can get on base. I am not okay with acquiring Sherrill. If they get the Baltimore reliever, the Cubs would have three former closers in charge of the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. That normally would be a good thing, but it seems like the only club that the Cubs trade with is Baltimore. Andy MacPhail, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations, used to be the president of the Chicago Cubs. He was GM Jim Hendry’s boss in Chicago and they seem to be buddies. I am okay with having friends on other teams, but Hendry needs to call a few different numbers. Unless they want to trade us Brian Roberts or Adam Jones, don’t answer the phone with MacPhail calls you. Sherrill would be a better option than Chad Qualls or Juan Cruz, but I just don’t like how the Cubs conduct business with Baltimore.

If Milwaukee or St. Louis get Roy Halladay, I’m throwing in the towel as a Cubs fan. The Brewers obtained C.C. Sabathia last season and they could barely hold them off. This season, every team, except the Pirates, are in this race and we won’t be able to keep pace with everyone. The Chicago Tribune really screwed the Cubs over. The newspaper business has been in the toilet for the last decade and they should have sold off the club years ago. The uncertainty of the owner situation, made the Cubs stagnant this off-season. They had to trade away Mark DeRosa for table scraps and it barely saved them any money. They have had to rely on picking up guys like Ryan Freel and Jeff Baker on the cheap, just to fill out the batting order. I am not even going to discuss the Cardinals possibly getting Matt Holliday from Oakland for Brett Wallace. I am just praying that that doesn’t happen. They will only have him for the rest of the season, but this season could be won before the July 31st trade deadline. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they will be doing very little.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Tim Tebow Is A Virgin

If anyone is shocked that Tebow is a virgin, I have some land to sell you. He is a devout Christian and off the field, he has the manners of a nobleman. During the SEC Media Day, a random reporter shouted out the question, “Are you a virgin?” and Tebow responded with “Yes, I am.” He chuckled initially, but are you surprised? He wants to be a preacher and has the charm to be a politician. He was on the Dan Patrick Show earlier today and he said “Sir” after every answer. He goes on mission trip to help circumcise 3rd-world children, he’s like Mother Teresa with shoulder pads. Continue reading →

Lebron Gets Dunked On…Doesn’t Live Up To Hype

eBaum Nation has just released a high-quality video of Lebron getting dunked on by Xavier’s Jordan Crawford. The video’s quality appears to be much better than was is going to be released on TMZ today. I was expecting a crazy “Vince Carter jumping over Fredric Weis” type of dunk, but it doesn’t live up to the hype. I have seen better dunks on NBA Live 95 on Sega Genesis. Here is the link to the video of the dunk, courtesy of eBaum Nation. (I would have embedded the video, but the format made my entire page right adjusted). Enjoy!

High Quality video of Lebron Getting Dunked On By Jordan Crawford

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Glenn Beck Is A Douche

I usually shy away from politics on this blog. It’s not because I don’t have an opinion, but it’s a sticky subject that is usually never funny. My roommate was watching Fox News tonight and I saw video of Glenn Beck freaking the hell out.

Here is the video

The freak out starts around the 1:30 mark and it just escalates to a crazy level. He uses the crazy girlfriend level of “whomever is the loudest and uses the highest pitch in an argument, they win” tactic.

I really dislike Glenn Beck. I used to listen to his radio show during my lunch break at work, mostly because I had a hard time listening to “The Common Man & The Torg Mid-Day Show” on the local ESPN Radio affiliate here in Columbus. Everyone should listen to opinions that aren’t there own, just to see what the other side is mad about. I think Beck is just a douche. His climb to syndication radio is just as crazy. He is a high school graduate (he took a few classes at Yale, but never graduated) and he was a drug addict/alcoholic. He quit the booze and drugs, joined AA, and became a Mormon. He is now on Fox News and you can usually catch him yelling at loud levels and/or crying almost daily. I would like to see a decibel contest between Stephen A. Smith and Glenn Beck. Quite Frankly, I believe Stephen A. would probably still win, but I would bet that everyone would watch that contest on television, on mute.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Erin Andrews Video Photos Turns NY Post Writer Into A Virgin Blogger

The NY Post turned into a poor man’s blog today. They wrote a story that publicized the pervert that took pictures of Erin Andrews’ naked in a hotel room. I will not put a link to their story on my blog, since they did an insufficient job at writing the story and with censoring the photos. The photos, which are blurry and crude, have black boxes over areas that they couldn’t print due to nudity. One of the photos, a full body shot, is so poorly censored that you could clearly see her backside, since the black box is a small, thin box that censors very little.

I know the NY Post isn’t exactly the Wall Street Journal, but they should be held to higher standards. They clearly look at Google Trends and realize that the terms “Erin Andrews” and “Aaron Andrews” (a misspelling of her name) were both the top trends at one point yesterday and most of the weekend. I am guessing that the writer, Andy Soltis, who works for the Post Wire Service, went to journalism school. I don’t want to put down bloggers, since I am one and a lot of my collegues are great people, but The Post is acting like a blog who’s fishing for hits. “The Erin Andrews Rule” is when you post something about her, you will see a little spike in traffic. Nearly every major sports blog or “pretty girl blog” has a post just declaring how beautiful she is. The posts usually contains pictures of her on the sideline from curious point-of-views.

I am a writer who took many journalism classes in college. I know a little more than the basics when it comes to decent journalism practices. I understand that this is turning into a major story and once it becomes something that your readers want to know about, you must inform the readers. I don’t have a problem with them writing a story about the photos, but publishing them they way that they did, was distasteful.

I think everyone who write for a blog would one day like to write for a major print publication or be in some other media. The NY Post makes me never want to read a newspaper again. I feel sorry for Erin Andrews and her family, she seems like a nice lady who just wants to do her job. I will never subjugate her as a sex symbol on my blog, I feel that she has already went through enough.

The NY Post should be ashamed and I hope that anyone who is upset about the photos being published will cancel their subscription. I hope this story goes away and whomever took the video/photos is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Feel free to “Like” my blog on Facebook or click the Facebook box located within the sidebar.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Jay Bruce – The Next Dunn or Kearns?

Jay Bruce was the most heralded prospect for the Reds since Pete Rose. The hoopla that surrounded him last season when he was called up was phenomenal. He tore up pitching the first two weeks into the league before cooling off and hitting a little rookie wall towards the end of the season. Before this season, I drafted Bruce in nearly every fantasy baseball league that I am in. He has hit 18 homers so far in 2009, but his average has been hovering around .200 for most of the season. While fielding a ball in the outfield, Bruce broke his wrist and is likely out for 6-8 weeks, nearly most of the rest of the season. I have analyzed Bruce’s stats at the beginning of his career. When he was called up, comparisons of Rose, Bench, and Morgan were there, but so far he has not lived up to the hype. Would a comparison to ex-Reds Adam Dunn or Austin Kearns be more reasonable?

Bruce is a much better fielder than both Dunn and Kearns, so the comparison is clearly based on his ability at the plate. We all know that they both hit home-runs out of Great American Ballpark at an alarming rate early in their careers, but it is a hitter’s ballpark. Dunn’s minor league numbers translated similar into the pros, since he hit homers, walked a lot, but struck out at a high-rate. Austin Kearns spent three season in the minors, but clearly didn’t have the home run totals that Dunn put up at the high minor league level. He hit at a better average and didn’t strike out as much. Dunn and Kearns are different hitters when it comes to their splits stats when facing LHP vs. RHP. Dunn can hit for power against both lefties and righties, but Kearns did not have any power when facing southpaws.

Jay Bruce has similaries to both Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns early in their careers. Bruce is similar to Austin Kearns, because he has no power against LHP and he does not have a high strikeout rate. Bruce’s similarities to Dunn relates to batting average and power. Dunn swings for the fences with every at-bat, Bruces swings for the fences, but not as much. Bruce has not shown the ability to hit for average in his minor league career and doesn’t look like he will be winning any batting average during his career. He could end up with a career batting average similar to Dunn, but Bruce has more speed than Dunn ever had in his career.

My final analysis is that Bruce’s future is still to be determined. His 2009 season is forgettable and has had a bad luck. I’m not completely referring to his wrist injury, but his BABIP (Batting Average for Balls In Play) is one of the lowest in the league. He has not had the lucky bounces that other players have received this year. I would say that he looks to be more like Adam Dunn at this point in his career, but he could still be a more complete player in the long-term. “Bruce Almighty” may have all the fans in Cincinnati worried right now, but they still need a lot of pieces before the Reds are fending for the NL Central crown. Let’s just hope that in five year’s time, Bruce isn’t playing for the Washington Nationals like Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

I Want! – 3-D Topps Baseball Cards

I have probably 100,000 baseball cards at my parents house, but they didn’t make the trip with me to Ohio. I spent every dime that I had buying pack after pack, in hopes of finding my favorite players and/or a pricey rookie card that I could trade for something else that I wanted, or more packs. I collected from the time that I was 5-years old until I was about 15 or 16. About that time, most kids snap out of spending all their money on baseball cards and spend it on gas money or going on dates. I still buy a pack or two every 6-months, but nothing like when I was younger. The Topps Baseball Card Company are introducing 3-D baseball cards, it could very well get me back into buying baseball cards once again.

Topps was one of the first major players in the baseball card industry. They have been around since the 1950s and have helped keep kids interested in baseball. The stats on the back of the cards have helped bring baseball to life, but now with Topps 3-D Live, it could change the industry.

If you hold a special Topps 3D Live baseball card in front of a webcam, you will see a three-dimensional avatar of the player on the computer screen. Rotate the card, and the figure rotates in full perspective. It’s called “augmented reality,” a combination of a real image with a virtual one. Here is a video of how it will look.

The baseball card industry is struggling in the age of the Internet. Today’s collectors, most of whom are still boys, can just as easily and less expensively find the sports facts they want online. The New York Times reported that the industry once had revenue of a $1 billion a year, but the market for sports trading cards has shrunk to $200 million. These facts are according to information provided by Major League Baseball Properties in a recent lawsuit against a former card licensee. (The players’ association licenses the right to use players’ likenesses.)

Michael Eisner, the former chief of Walt Disney, had a plan to help rebuild the industry. In 2007 his Tornante Company and Madison Dearborn Partners bought Topps for $385 million. Total Immersion, a French company, brought Topps the augmented reality technology. It has already been used in a theme park and for some auto design work. Using the technology, card collectors see a three-dimensional version of a player and can play elementary pitching, batting and catching games using the computer keyboard.

Mr. Eisner has also created Back on Topps, a 17-episode Internet comedy that spoofs his acquisition of the company. He is developing a movie based on another of the company’s products, Bazooka Joe bubble gum. He also wants to create sports films. It appears that he wants to make Topps into a multimedia corporation, similar, yet different to what Disney was when he was in charge. If you spread out the company into different media areas, the chances of future development and consistency are greater. The Topps 3D Live cards are a natural extension of the brand.

If you’re interested in purchasing some Topps 3-D Live baseball cards, they are affordable. Series 1 cards will cost $2 for a 12-pack while a $1 pack will contain five cards.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Play Ball! – 2nd Half Predictions

Now that the All-Star game is over and all the “drama” that surrounds the event is in the books, the baseball races and trade rumors will start to heat up. It seems that at least 20 teams are still in their division races and weird things could happen. The trade deadline is July 31st and most teams will wait until a few days before that date to assess their team’s chances of making the post-season. A lot of stuff will happen this off-season and since this blog loves speculation and opinionated banter, here are some of my predictions of what will happen in the 2nd-half this season.

– Mark DeRosa will bat under .200 for the rest of the season with the Cardinals.

– Albert Pujols will hit 60 homers this year.

– The Cubs will end up with 90 wins this season, but will not win the NL Central.

– Freddy Sanchez will be trade to the Cubs for Sean Marshall

– Joe Mauer will only hit 4 more homers the rest of the season.

– The Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central

– Matt Wieters will hit over .300 and hit 12 homers in the 2nd-half.

– Eric Wedge will be fired by Labor Day.

– Boston will edge out the Yankees in the AL East, but New York will win the Wild Card race.

– Jerry Manuel will be fired after the last day of the season.

– The full list of failed steroid tests will be leaked during the playoffs, thus putting the actual product on the field out of the spotlight.

– The Phillies will land Roy Halladay in a trade for Kyle Drabek and two other prospects.

– Pedro Martinez will have an ERA over 5.00 and will make less than 8 starts for Philadelphia.

– Tim Hudson will come back at the end of the season and win 4 games.

– Stephan Strasburg will sign with the Washington Nationals by September 15th.

– Raul Ibanez will hit 55 homers this season.

– Jimmy Rollins will hit under .210 in the 2nd half this year.

– Alex Rodriguez will hit 35+ homers, but his average will be below .245

– C.C. Sabathia will lead the AL in innings and win 20 games.

– Carlos Quentin will come off the DL and hit 10 homers the last 2 months of the season.

– Jason Schmidt will only make two starts for the Dodgers and end the season on the DL.

– Texas will win the AL West and make it to the ALCS.

– Tommy Hanson will edge out Colby Rasmus for the NL Rookie Of The Year

– Rick Porcello will have an ERA over 4.50 in the second half.

– The Mets will become sellers by July 31st.
Social Bookmarking

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.