Seau death officially ruled a suicide, Mo go for the season?

With Wednesday came the devastating news of Junior Seau’s death. The death has been officially ruled as a suicide by the medical examiner.

Big hits are a part of football. You take away big hits, I guarantee people will stop watching it (with good reason). People watch for the big hits and the scampering running back, dashing across the field like a men among boys. We not only lost a great player in Seau’s death, but an amazing person as well.

It’s sad to think that football may have ultimately caused this death. We’ve never had these concussion problems before (pre 1990s), but now everyone’s anxious to tell their story of battered brains and hurt souls.

Thankfully, the Seau family will allow an examination of Junior’s brain. This will greatly help the NFL determine exactly how football affects the brain.

Thank you, Seau family. RIP Junior.

On to baseball:

Sad news comin’ out of New York: Mariano Rivera tore his ACL in pre-game on Thursday. He is ruled out for the rest of the young 2012 season. The question is: Have we seen him pitch his last innings in the majors? As a baseball fan, you’ve gotta feel bad for Mo.

Kung Fu Panda (Pablo Sandoval) has a hand injury that puts him back four to six weeks. This is a crushing blow to the Giants, who can’t possibly replace the production of big boy Panda. At least they’ll get him back by the middle of June.

Albert Pujols is still homer-less this season (yay).

Basketball time:

The Knicks are down 0-3 in their 1^st Round series to the Miami Heat. This season has been one of highs and lows for the Knicks, and right now they can’t find the groove. Let me tell you, they were leading at halftime last night 40-36 and I was confident they could come at least withink 10. But no, LeFlop has to score eight straight points in the fourth quarter for the Miami Heat.

Go Knicks!

Weaver tosses no-hitter, Rangers up 2-1

Yesterday, we all learned of the death of former linebacker Junior Seau. Seau committed suicide in his San Diego home without leaving a note. We all remember Seau from his time with the Chargers, whom he spent 13 years of his 20 year career. Many sports analysts believe Seau’s suicide could have resulted from the head injuries caused by playing football. If this is true, look for the NFL to become the No Fun League, because at this rate the players will need bubble wrap pretty soon.

Gaborik’s goal in the 3rd OT puts Rangers over Caps 2-1, leading the series 2-1.

Jered Weaver pitched the 2nd no-hitter of the season last night against the Twins.  Of course, it came against the worst team in the league. How can a team with Joe Mauer be the worst? Wouldn’t that guarantee you a top 25 spot?

What do you guys think of Bryce Harper? I think he’s very good for a 19-year-old.

Great time to be a sports fan

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite months of sports. You’ve got the NBA Playoffs finally underway after a drama-filled regular season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are always exciting, since the dynamic of a game can change in a flash. Between one moment and the next is a period of “What’s gonna happen next?” In basketball, you know after every score it takes about 10 seconds to bring the ball to half-court, which creates less drama then a 2-1 hockey game.

Plus, baseball is finding it’s groove around this time (too bad Albert Pujols hasn’t). By the way, Matt Kemp is a monster. If he even remotely produces like this for the rest of the season, he’ll be a frontrunner for the MVP race.

On to basketball:

The Knicks play Game 3 tomorrow night at the Garden against the Miami Heat. It would be an understatement to say this has been disappointing playoffs so far for the Knicks. First, they embarrass themselves by losing “Bobcats style” in Game 1. Next, they lose Game 2 by a frustrating 10 points.

This season’s had more drama then a bad soap opera for the Knicks! I’m not going to recap that (it would take thousands of words), but we did here an interesting story break yesterday morning. Amar’eStoudemire committed an act of violence against himself. Out of frustration, he punched the class casing surrounding a fire extinguisher. He’s “out for [tonight’s] game and is doubtful for Game 4” (wsj.com).  If I were the Knicks, at the beginning of the season next year I would cut (pun) Amar’e. This is a disgusting act and does not help the team at all.

Or does it?

It’s been true all year: the Knicks actually play BETTER with Amar’e out of the lineup. So, will this help them out in Game’s 3 and 4? We’ll see.

When the Celtics lost Game 1, analysts were already taking them for granted and saying “Oh, they can’t win without Rondo in the lineup.” Of course, Rondo was suspended on Monday for Game 2. They said “A team without Rondo and Allen cannot beat the Hawks.” I thought the Hawks would see no Rondo or Allen and go, “We got this.” Of course, Pierce went off for 36 points. They ended up winning the game, evening up the series 1-1.

Baseball:

As we all know, Albert Pujols is in a major slump. He hasn’t hit a home run, and is hitting sub-.250. He’s got 4 RBI’s…Nobody knows what’s wrong with him so far this season. To be honest, I’m glad he’s in this slump. I’m happy because he left, no, abandoned the Cardinals with such a money-first attitude. He wasn’t concerned with winning more rings and staying loyal to his team. Nope, everyone says it’s a business. Follow the money…

Football:

BREAKING NEWS: Junior Seau is dead

Four New Orleans Saints players were suspended today for their involvement in the bounty scandal. Most significantly, Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, effective immediately.

For more on the story, visit ESPN: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7881761/nfl-bans-four-players-new-orleans-saints-bounty-roles

Cardinals are 2011 WS Champions

I guess this is a bit late, but better late than never right?

Anyway, the Cardinals won Game 7 last night to earn their 11th WS Title and their first since ’06. To be honest, I had no favorite in this series. I was watching as a baseball fan, not as a Cards/Rangers fan. In my opinion, that’s the best way to watch playoffs(unless your team happens to be in the playoffs). Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, and Allen Craig led their team to victory in this postseason. But the real leader of this team was David Freese. Freese became only the 6th player to be the NLCS MVP and the WS MVP in the same year. He “Put the team on his back“, as demetryjames86 said on Youtube.

The Rangers just weren’t able to get it done this year. Now that I’m remembering, they were in the WS last year too! And they lost! I’m a bit disappointing they came up short both years, and to be honest I thought they should’ve beat SF last year. I felt that they were the better team, but in sports the better team does not always win. Maybe next year (for the 3rd year in a row).

Till tomorrow (NFL Picks!),

@TheSportzGuru

#SportsBlogMovement

Cards top Rangers, force a Game 7

Last night, we were asking a lot of questions about the World Series: will the Cardinals force a Game 7? Can they pull out to an early lead? Who will win the Series? The Cardinals ended up forcing a game 7, an did it in dramatic fashion. it was a 10-9, 11-inning victory that forced the first Game 7 since 2002. David Freese “put the team on his back” by delivering a clutch homer off Mark Lowe in the 11th inning. The Rangers lost this game because of David Freese, but the Cardinals were strong enough to stay close to the Rangers for 11 innings. Now, I have no idea who will win Game 7! Both teams have shown that they deserve to win, but only one can (that’s just sports!). Who will Tony LaRussa choose to pitch in Game 7? Will it be his ace (Carpenter) on short rest? Of will he send out Edwin Jackson to get this crucial Game 7 victory?

Freese won Game 6 for the Cards on a walk-off. (media.al.com)

All I know is, it’s gonna be an exciting game.

Till next time,

@TheSportzGuru

NFL Recap, MLB WS and more!

After reading @jstar1973’s blog (Read it here), I think I’ll take a page from his book. This will be a post covering baseball, basketball, and football.

Football

Last week wasn’t good for the NFL. The games were bad and there just wasn’t excitement around the league this week. There were some nice stories though: Tim Tebow got his first win of the year, coming back from 0-15 in the last 5 minutes of  regulation. It was also his first start after HC John Fox decided to bench Orton. People are already annointing Tebow as the “QB of the future”, but remember it was only the Dolphins he beat. He didn’t go into Green Bay and beat the undefeated Packers, just saying.

Staying inside the NFL, the Jaguars beat the Ravens on MNF by a score of 12-9. The Jags didn’t need TD’s to win: Scobee had 4 FG’s, 3 of them 50+ yards. Also, their defense held Baltimore to 150 total yards. Ray Rice fumbled 3 times, surprisingly only losing 1 of those fumbles. I was completely wrong in my prediction: I said that Ray Lewis was gonna lead the Ravens to victory, but I guess that’s why they play the game (Bermanism).

Now on to the NCAA: Michigan State beat Wisconsin last week in the final seconds of the game. Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins launched a Hail Mary with 4 seconds left on the clock. The ball was tipped by both teams, but Keith Nichol was able to reel the ball in. He crossed the plane! Touchdown MICHIGAN STATE! Game over, 37-31 Michigan State OVER Wisconsin. That put Wisconsins BCS Championship hopes to rest, there’s no way they can get there now! At best they can probably get 8th or 7th.

Baseball

Tomorrow, the Cardinals will take on the Rangers in Game 6 of the WS. The Rangers lead the Series 3-2. Do you think the Cardinals will force a Game 7? Honestly, I think they will; the Rangers most likely will fold and they don’t have the run production to close things out. I don’t follow baseball as much as football or basketball, so what I say probably isn’t going to happen. Just watch Pujols take over, that’s when you know I’m right.

Basketball

The NBA Lockout is looking really bad for everybody: players, coaches, owners, and most importantly fans! According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the NBA plans to cancel two more weeks of the regular season. If that happens, that would be 128 games in total that Stern has cancelled this year. What have we done to deserve this?

Till tomorrow,

@TheSportzGuru

#SportsBlogMovement

World Series: Game 1

Last night’s Game 1 was a chess match between the two managers: Tony La Russa and Ron Washington. Which team would emerge victorious to take a 1-0 lead in the Series? I thought the Rangers would win, but it was the Cardinals prevailing by a score of 3-2. La Russa made all the right managing moves, including putting Allen Craig (who?) to pinch hit for Chris Carpeter. In that AB, Craig got the game-winning single, although it was in the 6th inning. Tony’s riding the hot hand and his team is benefiting greatly from his managerial decisions.

This World Series brings up an interesting predicament: will Albert Pujols be back next year? If the Cardinals win the World Series, I’ll say yes. However, if they come up short, especially after taking a 1-0 lead, I don’t think he’ll resign. He’ll think that even with him on this team, they aren’t good enough to win a World Series. Well, I’m off to school, hopefully when I come back I can write a bit more.

Till tomorrow,

@TheSportzGuru

#SportsBlogMovement

NBA Lockout update; Detroit wins 5-2

NBA Cancels First 2 Weeks of Regular Season

Because the players and the owners were unable to reach a deal by Monday, commish David Stern has cancelled the first 2 weeks of the season. The situation is not looking good for NBA fans; the talks are happening, but no progress is being made whatsoever. Maybe the players can start their own league in case the 2011 season doesn’t happen? It’s a possibility, although I’d rather watch NBA basketball because….it’s the NBA. It looks like the owners want a 50/50 split, but it’s the players that are not cooperating with it. While this might seem fair, when you consider that the players are the guys on the court entertaining us and there are 300 players to 30 owners, I think the players should get like a 52/48 split. However, the owners are not going past that 50/50, which is why they can’t currently agree. Will David Stern cancel more games?

Detroit Wins 5-2

Last night, the Tigers beat the Rangers 5-2 in Game 3 of the ALCS. This slashes the Rangers’ lead in the series to 2-1. With Justin Verlander pitching in Game 5, I think Detroit has a chance to come back and at least make this series competitive. According to ESPN, ” Miguel Cabrera homered and had a run-scoring double to help the Tigers claim their first win in the ALCS.” I also think with Cabrera as their spark plug, they can explode one game and even the series up to 2-2 or 3-3, the latter forcing a Game 7. Who will win Game 4 of this exciting ALCS?

NBA Lockout update, MLB news and more in this edition!

Hello everybody, it’s @TheSportzGuru back again with another update. I’ve got some homework to do and my corn dogs are almost done in the over, so I’ll try to be short and to the point.

Going back to my Week 4 picks, I went 11-5 which I think is not bad at all.

NBA LOCKOUT UPDATE

Yesterday, the players union and the owners had a meeting to discuss a new CBA for next season. It was reported late last night that the players union was offered a 50/50 split in revenue starting next season. They rejected it, with president Derek Fisher saying, “…the owners gave us an opportunity to back down. We refused” (nytimes.com). This indicates that they want more than 50% of the total revenue, and I don’t blame them for it. These players dedicate themselves to practicing and performing at the highest level possible night in and night out. They shouldn’t be denied the money that they deserve. Besides, don’t the owners already have enough money? If the two sides can’t agree on a 50/50 split, I have no idea what they can agree on. It seems that these two sides are getting farther apart (from a deal) as opposed to closer. To all you die-hard NBA fans, good luck and may God bless you.

5-time NBA Champ Derek Fisher serves as the NBPA President. (lakers.topbuzz.com)

Terry Francona Offered Job

When it was announced that the Red Sox released Francona from his contract, everybody was left wondering where he will coach next. It seems a collegiate team has took the initiative to send him a job offer. From hardballtalk.com: ” The Laconia Muskrats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League faxed a job offer to Francona’s agent immediately after he was released from his contract with the major league club last week, but haven’t heard back.” I heard the offer was $6 grand a year for Francona, which would be a huge step backwards from his $12 million (guaranteed) contract with the Sox. Do you think he would go this low to coach a team again? Comment and tell me what you think.

Will Francona take the job as the Muskrats coach? (sox1fan.com.)

Tigers @ Yankees, Game 5

Tonight at 8 o’clock the Tigers travel to the Bronx to take on the New York Yanks in a deciding Game 5 of the ALDS. Doug Fister and Ivan Nova will be squaring off against each other, competing just to stay in the playoffs. Winner goes on to face the Rangers in the ALCS, loser goes home. Who do you think will win? Comment your pick. In my humble opinion, I believe Ivan Nova and the Yankees will win this game using their explosive bats and Nova’s dirty pitching. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this guy, so I guess he’s gotta be pretty good.

Final score: NYY 6, DET 3

Ivan Nova will look to advance his team to the ALCS with a win tonight in the Bronx. (itsabout.server304.com).

NBA Lockout Threatens Season; Yanks top Tigers.

NBA Lockout Threatens Season

Lets start out with some NBA news. Commish David Stern says if a deal isn’t struck by the end of this weekend, the 2011-2012 season will be cancelled. He might be using this as a bluff so the players can settle for less money, or he could be serious and both the players AND the fans would be royally screwed until next year. Judging by he way the players union is handling the lockout/negotiations, I think the former isn’t likely to happen. They feel they deserve more money than the owners, and considering there are 300 players to 30 owners AND the players are the ones actually entertaining us, I also feel they should get at least a 50/50 split, if not more. I will keep you updated as the talks progress.

Is he bluffing? You tell me.

Yanks top Tigers

Now lets talk some baseball. The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 9-3 yesterday to take the first game of the series. Second Baseman Robinson Cano drove in six of the Yankees nine runs, four of them coming on a grand slam given up by Al Alburquerque in the fifth. Tigers ace Justin Verlander is slated to only pitch one game in this series. Game 2 is happening right now as we speak.

***Credit for David Stern ‘bluff’ info, Yanks win, and Verlander info goes to my friend Alexander Sheeckutz, his Facebook profile is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002635232468.

CONFIRMED Francona leaves Red Sox

After Boston’s epic September collapse, manager Terry Francona has decided to leave the Red Sox.

Francona had a long tenure with Boston (eight seasons, two championships). Also, he lead the team to their first championship since 1918.

As most of you already know, the Sox went into the month of September with a 9 game lead on the WC, but went 7-20 to forfeit the spot to the Rays.

Looking back, I think this was the best choice for both parties. Francona told the team he was frustrated he couldn’t really “connect” with the players down the stretch (of the season). If I went 7-20 and coulndn’t really get into my players minds, I’d be pissed too. However, it looks like the only position available is in the White Sox organization, seeing as Ozzie just left.

One thing I don’t get is, how can you be out of the playoffs with a team that has Pedroia, Lackey, Buckholz, Papelbon, Ortiz, Gonzalez etc? Just something to think about on the weekend.

Until next time,

          The Sportz Guru

Terry Francona to leave Red Sox?

Reports are surfacing now on Twitter that Terry Francona (Red Sox manager) might not resign for next year. The reason Francona might leave/get fired is because his team blew a 9 game lead going into September by going 7-20. In addition, Terry recently talked about how his team “Became challenging” (NECN.com). My buddy @TonyJVilleGroup on Twitter said it best in this tweet: “Spend $342 million on your payroll the last 2 years & blow a 9 game lead in September, somebody’s gotta go. #RedSox“. 

I’m going to bed now, so if Francona get’s fired overnight I can’t really report it. But if he gets fired I will have the latest report for you. Until then, @TheSportzGuru is out.

Gotta admit, I don’t watch a lot of baseball…

Really.

I don’t.

I was crazy about it at the beginning of this year because it was my first year playing fantasy baseball. That quickly tailed off after I realized how much the Mets SUCKED. On second thought, the first half of the season was decent for them. At any rate, I knew they weren’t gonna make the playoffs, so I said why bother? I wouldn’t root for any other team. Baseball is kinda like an ‘on again, off again’ relationship; some weeks are great, others remind me that the Mets are just the Mets.

And I didn’t watch the last night of the regular season either (when the Rays and the Cardinals both clinched WC spots in the playoffs).

HOWEVER, I think it’s awesome that the Rays and the Cards were able to clinch, especially with the Braves AND the Sox being up by like 9 games with 20 to go. It was some crazy number like that right? Damn that’s like the Mets; every couple years, they get a decent lead on the division and they fall at the end. Hard to be a Met fan these days huh?

It may seem that this post doesn’t have a point, but it does: even thought I find the sport completely boring, I can still find enjoyment in READING about the sport. Granted, two teams clinching on the last night of the season happens every 50 years, but at least the bloggers have something to write about the next morning :).

NFL mediation to begin Monday; Rangers win 10th in a row

As the days go by, I notice there’s less and less NBA news to report. Obviously, the lockout is the reason for this (they’re not really getting any talking done, so you can’t report what hasn’t happened right?). If you check on espn.com, you’ll see from yesterday to today there was NO NBA NEWS. I’ve never seen that before; a whole 24-hour period with no news? I’m surprised there’s no news of the NBA/NBAPA getting together to talk, but I guess there’s just too many issues to do anything at this time.

NFL mediation to begin Monday

Sources indicate the NFL and the NFLPA will have mediated talks, beginning on Monday. Just another step towards ending the lockout I guess. It certainly seems we’re getting close, hopefully by next week the CBA can be finalized and we can have a full 16 game season minus the preseason games. I’m not getting Madden 12 either way; they’ve sucked me into buying the last 7 so I need a break. My choice is NCAA Football 12 this year.

NFLPA, get a deal done! Photo Cred thesportsbank.net

Rangers win 10th in a row behind Kinsler

Kinsler hit two home runs last night to propell the Texas Rangers to their 10th win in a row. They beat the Mariners 5-1 while also beating them in the hit department 13-6. Anytime you can double the amount of hits your opponent has, your chance of winning increase greatly. How long can they keep this up? Will it go till the end of July? I doubt it; they’ll lose sometime in the next 5 games.

Kinsler had his eye on the ball last night. Photo Cred nolanwritin.com

Comment! I know it was a short post, sorry guys nothing from the Big 4!

News from the dugout: K-Rod traded to Brewers, Braves beat Nats

Since baseball is the hottest thing right now in sports (especially since the 2nd half just kicked off), why not write about that?

For some reason that reminds me, does anyone want me to write a guest post?

 

 K-Rod traded to Brewers

The Mets traded Francisco Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers a couple days ago. K-Rod really doesn’t have much to show in his 2 and a half years with the Mets. Should we even call him K-Rod anymore after his stint with the Mets? One year (2008) he’s setting the season-high saves record, the next he’s recording a decent 35 saves for the Mets. During his Mets years, he was very inconsistent and it was nerve-wracking watching him close out a game, especially when it was a 1-run game. All my Mets fans, comment and tell me good or bad move by the Mets?

Why does it always seem like every guy that comes to the Mets ends up sucking? Jason Bay, K-Rod, Luis Castillo, Tom Glavine, you name it.

I'll guarentee you K-Rod will have a better career in Milwaukee than in NY. Photo Cred nypost.com

Braves beat Nats

This wouldn’t normally be a headline-worthy story, however I think this is something special. Last night, the Braves routed the Nationals 11-1 to earn their 10,oooth franchise win. In this game, the Nats were extremely sloppy, committing five errors.I congratulate the Braves on their 10,000th win, nice job and keep it up. Earning that many wins shows dedication, hard, and overall excellence in the sport of baseball. Since I’m a Mets fan I’ll still hate the Braves, but I’ve earned a bit of respect for them after this rout of the Nats.

The Braves did good work last night, getting their 10,000th win. Photo Cred blogspot.com

Phillips walk-off HR beats Cards

Last night, Reds 2nd baseman Brandon Phillips stunned the Cardnals, hitting a game-winning HR with  2 outs in the ninth inning. “Phillips connected on the second pitch from Fernando Salas (5-3) for his second career game-ending homer, stopping to wave his arms in joy before reaching first base. Phillips injected some ill will into the rivalry last season when he called the Cardinals whiners, sparking a brawl” (Cred ESPN.com). Looks like this rivalry is certainly heating up. Any Cards or Reds fans reading this? What’d you think of this HR? Anyone else can comment on this as well, I was just lookin for an opinion from someone inside the rivalry.

 

Phillips stuck the knife into the hearts of the Cards last night. Photo cred Baseballsblackheritage.com

Comment!

 

 

 

Clemens walks free, NFL/ NFLPA making progress

In my last article, I talked about how slow sports are these days. With no NFL free agency and no NBA news at all, the only major news is baseball (which isn’t a bad sport, it’s just in the middle of the season so it’s not as exciting as October). Obviously, sports such as golf, NASCAR, and tennis are year-round; however they don’t draw in the pure fan base that football, basketball, OR baseball do. Who’s gonna watch some 80 cars circling a track for 500 miles (200 laps)? Whenever I watch (once a year, the prostegious Daytona 500), I watch the last 5 laps..I know the other 195 laps are important as well, but it’s just too boring. That’s like watching football when 2 teams ONLY run the ball. No big plays, once in a while a 30 yard gain, but otherwise 2 and 3 yard gains…

Forgot to mention crashes are the best part. Photo Cred Bleacherreport.net

With golf, it’s sorta different. Pro golf is boring to me too, but at least there’s exciting putts once in a while. Tiger Woods WAS a joy to watch, during his seemingly unstoppable run where he like never was out of the Top 3 in any tourney. Now Rory Mcllroy is the hot shit, but can he keep it that way? He’s real young, so he has time to faulter, as well as time to shine.

Mcilroy hard at work. Photo cred blogspot.com

Tennis is the HARDEST sport i’ve ever played, to be brutally honest. So I kinda have some respect for those athletes, although I don’t like listening to them grunting like they’re having sex. But when Anna Kournikova is grunting, my oh my I’m the first one to rush to the TV.

Clemens walks free

Let’s get down to business now. Yesterday, Roger Clemens’ case was declared a mistrial after prosecutors failed to prove that the former all-star committed perjury. If I remember correctly from middle school, he cannot be tried again because of the “double jeopardy” rule in the U.S Constitution. It’s obvious he did commit perjury. Here’s  my thing with these cases: why would the defendant be on trial if he didn’t commit the crime. Why would the prosecutors go thought so much trouble to put him in jail if they weren’t 100% sure he commited the crime? Tell me what you think of this in the comments section. I know my opinion is a bit harsh, so tell me also where you stand on that.

Clemens is free after a judge declared a mistrial in his perjury case.

NFL/NFLPA making progress

“A source with knowledge of the NFL talks told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Thursday night that the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement are headed toward a settlement” (Cred ESPN.com). That’s great news for us NFL fans, as it looks like a season WILL happen. I’ve recently predicted that the new CBA will be signed in the month of July, so they’ve got 15 more days or so for my prediction to be correct. Read the full article at http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6768521/nfl-lockout-owners-players-moving-cba-settlement-source-says

YAY FOOTBALL!!!!   Go GIANTS!!!

LT, nuff said. Photo cred blogspot.com

CC, Verlander earn their 11th win, more baseball news in this edition

The 2011 MLB Season is almost halfway over!!! Crazy how fast it went, right? The biggest story’s been Jose Reyes and how he’s carried the woeful Mets from a pretender to a contender, all in about 2 months! However, you can probably find another story that might be more important; I’m a Mets fan, so that’s why I say that. But honestly, all I’ve been hearing on ESPN, Sportscenter, and the like is “Reyes 3-4 with 2 runs in last night’s game carries Mets over (insert team name here)”. Now that I’ve bored you with my Mets talk, let’s divulge into the stories across the league from yesterday’s games.

CC fans 13 as Yankees beat Brewers 5-0

Yesterday, CC Sabathia pitched a quality start against the Brewers, allowing zero runs, six hits, and two walks in 7 and 2/3rds inning (Cred ESPN).He was the first ML pitcher to earn 11 wins, in fact just an hour before Verlander did (see Verlander section below). CC is now 11-4 on the season, and is looking like he’s found his groove with all his pitches, especially his fastball. The Yanks are now 23-4 in day-games, which is an amazing record (that’s a win percentage of 86!). REALLY GLAD I picked him up on my fantasy team this season, as he is doing amazing! Just realized, I HAVE VERLANDER TOO :)!

CC's hot right now, no question. Photo Cred http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com

Verlander gets 11^th win, Coke moved to bullpen

Same story as CC, Verlander pitched a good game against my Mets, allowing one run, seven hits, and 2 walks in 7 innings of work. Detroit’s ace also added 6 K’s to his stat-line, as he kept the Mets at bay to avoid the sweep. His record halfway through the year is 11-3, percentage-wise just better than CC’s. I love to watch this guy pitch, especially now when he’s on fire. To quote my Twitter friend @AndrewMarhevko:”@TheSportzGuru Hes been totally different this year….living here and watching him mature…THIS is what everyone THOUGHT he would be.”

The Tigers sent Phil Coke to the bullpen yesterday after struggling the first half of the season. “Coke is 1-8 with a 4.91 ERA after allowing seven earned runs in four-plus innings against New York on Wednesday night.” That quote from ESPN.com pretty much says it all about Coke’s struggles this season. In his first three Major League seasons, Coke worked out of the pen. The Tigers only recently moved him to their rotation, and he has not been able to deliver what they expected from him. We shall see if he does better as a reliever compared to a starter, as he’s shown he’s much more comfortable in the pen.

Verlander is lookin good on the mound halfway through the season. Photo Cred http://www.rumorsandrants.com

Coke was moved to the pen yesterday after his abysmal 1-8 start to the season. Photo Cred http://multimedia.detnews.com

Sox cut ties with Cameron after Youk injury

Yesterday, the Boston Red Sox designated OF Mike Cameron for assignment. This means the team has ten days to trade him, release him, or waive him. This is a really sad thing to happen to any MLB player, especially one with a track record like Cameron. IT’s a shame to see Cameron bat only .149 with a 3-39 slump this season. That slump might’ve been the X-factor in the decision to cut him loose. The Sox needed cut someone loose because they needed room to make room for Youk’s replacement Yamaico Navarro. (He) “is a 23-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who made his debut for the Red Sox last season and batted .143 (6 for 42) with no home runs and five RBIs in 20 games” (Cred ESPN.com).

I remember Cameron back when he was with the Mets in 2005, when this happened:http://www.collegeslackers.com/video/baseball_players_collide

Absolutely terrible. I remember it like I was watching it like on TV yesterday, yet I was only nine years old at the time.

One last thing, Jeter is set to re-join the Yankees Monday against the Cleveland Indians. People on ESPN.com are sayin that he’ll most likely get his 3,000^th hit against the Tampa Bay Rays at home, July 7^th-10^th.

Comment, tell me what you think about this news, and whatever I forgot from yesterday, tell me about it.

Until tomorrow morning,

                The Sportz Guru

Who needs ESPN when you have Mike Francesa?

Normally, I’ll write these posts using my personal opinions, the TV analysts’ opinions, and espn.com. Truthfully, I only use the website for a quote or two per post and for stats (because let’s face it, I can’t just pull stats outta my ass and use them as if they’re true). Since my internet connection went down this morning, I had to improvise a bit.

A friend recommended that I watch Mike Francesa on the YES channel from 1 pm to 6 pm on weekdays. Every time I listened to him on the radio, he seemed to argue with his callers on every single little detail, especially about the questions they asked. But when I watched his show, I realized that he really isn’t that bad of a guy. One particular topic he was discussing was the *possible* use of the DH in the National League (I’m talkin about baseball for all you non-baseball folks).

Although I don't like the Yankees, the YES channel overall is ok. Photo Cred toptenz.net

The NL will never agree to use the DH in interleague play, says Francesa. They won’t agree because in doing so the NL would “surrender” and basically say that the AL product is “better”. In addition, in the NL, you can just walk the 8^th batter and strike out the pitcher to end the inning right? Not the case in the AL; they need to go through all 9 batters because the 9^th hitter is decent compared to the pitcher. I agree with Mike; the NL and the AL will be split in that regard. Let’s just say for a moment that both agree to *not* use the DH. Any game you go to, you wouldn’t see the pitcher hit. So, ALL pitchers could just walk the 8^th and get the pitcher out. That would make the game boring and repetitive. Therefore, by keeping the DH exclusive to the AL, the MLB creates diversity in their styles of play, which is always good. Nobody would go to see the Yankees if they played just like the Mets; everyone would go see the Mets because the tickets are 50% cheaper.

Just something to think about, till tomorrow morning,

The Sportz Guru

Verlander Goes Hard in the Paint; Extra Sports Edition

In all of our 53 posts so far, we’ve written about 1 sport specifically. I feel that our horizons need to be expanded. We can do this by writing about a variety of sports in 1 post, covering the most important stories from the “Big 4” of sports. I’d love to know if you guys don’t like this idea; comments are welcome! I plan to switch up the sports I write in these “variety” posts.

This idea was brought to my mind by @jstar1973, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/jstar1973.

This post is sorta like his show, minus the unnecessary arguments :). Photo credit cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com

Football:

The lockout is still on, but most NFL fans have hope that the 2011 season will happen. Just ask @Sports_R_Me_MP3, @MrStats11, or anybody from #SportsBlogMovement on Twitter. To find us, follow @Sports_R_Me_MP3, go to his lists, you’ll see a list with that name. There’s also a rumor lurking that tips off the 4th of July as a day the new CBA will be signed. We’ll just have to wait and see; if you got any news on it, message me on twitter at @TheSportzGuru or comment below.

In other football news, Big Ben might need surgery to repair his broken foot. This announcement brings a huge blow to the Steelers, mainly because he’s the face of the franchise and they really don’t have a good enough replacement for him should he miss a couple weeks to start the season. I think if he needs surgery, he’s gonna have to miss a minimum of 6 games, which would render the Steelers a bit vulnerable.

Madden 12 Looks awesome this year; you can play as Goodell, or Smith! Photo Cred madden-school.com

Baseballl: Justin Verlander is becoming a joy to watch. Last night, he struck out a career-high 14 batters as he won his 10th game of the season.For Christ’s sake, in his last six games he’s 6-0 with a .72 ERA. He leads the Majors with 124 strikeouts and has an ERA of 2.38 this year. The fans would be stupid to not let this guy start in the MLB All-Star Game. Glad I have him on my fantasy team!

In related news, CC Sabathia was officially the first MLB pitcher to reach the 10 win mark this season, beating the Rockies last night 8-3. I really don’t like the Yankees, but you gotta tip your hat to CC, he’s pitching great.

Verlander's looking great this season. Photo Cred media.mlive.com

Basketball: Not too much basketball news to report, besides of course the NBA Draft that took place Thursday night. It was a weird draft, with some players going where they were projected, some that fell through, and some that were picked much higher than expected. Besides the first 15 picks or so, the draft this year really lacked talent. The most “complete” player in the draft was easily Kemba Walker because of his ability to score, pass, and win; 3 very important skills to take into consideration when drafting him. Walker was drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats with the 9th overall pick. In addition, Targuy Ngombo, taken with the 57th overall pick, was found to be lying about his age. He is actually a 26-year-old forward (instead of 21) and his real name is Tanguy Alban Harrys Ngombo (he switched out the “n” in Tanguy with an “r” to make his name Targuy). This makes him ineligible to be drafted. We will see what happens to him in the near future.

In other related basketball news, Scottie Pippen said on Friday that Michael Jordan is the greatest to ever play in the NBA. No duh, right? Well, last month after the Heat wiped the Bulls during the Eastern Conference Finals, Pippen said that “Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game.  But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved” (Credit ESPN.com). He’s in big trouble now; he just totally contradicted himself. Now he’s got nowhere to hide.

Walker's gonna have the "best" NBA career of the NBA Draft Class of 2011. Photo Cred cdn.everyjoe.com

Hockey: Ryan Smyth has been traded to the Edmonton Oilers, The full story is at http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nhl/news/story?id=6705940

Comments, concerns, all are welcome!

Pujols Out 4-6 Weeks with Arm Injury

Yesterday, the St. Louis Cards released the MRI and CT scan results of their All-Universe player Albert Pujols. The results showed that he has “a non-displaced fracture of the left radius bone” (Courtesy ESPN.com) The timetable for this injury is 4-6 weeks. This is a huge blow to the Cards because he’s very consistent, and his average has been on the rise ever since Opening Day. However, I think the Cards are a good-enough team to put this injury to the side, focus on the game, and at least play .500 ball till Pujols comes back around late July/early August.