Month: April 2009 (Page 24 of 53)

      Chicago’s youngsters star in upset

      April 18, 2009 /

      Bulls GM John Paxson has taken a lot of grief for his decision to the draft rights of LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas back in 2006. But as Thomas was knocking down jumper after jumper in the fourth quarter of Game 1 at the Garden, that trade doesn’t look quite as bad anymore. Sure, Aldridge still projects to have the better career, but Thomas has made big strides in his third season, and he’s still just 22 years old. He finished with 16 points (on 8 of 12 shooting), six rebounds and three blocks.

      But I’m burying the lead. Derrick Rose was the reason the Bulls were able to pull the upset. He posted 36 points (tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points by a rookie in his playoff debut) and 11 assists. He shot 12 of 19 from the field and made all 12 of his free throws. It was truly one of the best playoff debuts by a rookie in the history of the league, especially considering that he was going up one of the better defensive point guards in Rajon Rondo.

      Joakim Noah rounded out the “young core” trio with 12 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks. Ben Gordon chipped in with 20 points and had a great fourth quarter.

      The Celtics are in a bad way down 0-1 and without Kevin Garnett for the foreseeable future. Rondo played well (29 points, nine boards, seven dimes, one turnover), and Paul Pierce scored an inefficient 23 points (on 8 of 21 shooting), but Ray Allen’s 1 for 12 shooting killed Boston.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Report: Browns to take either Sanchez or Crabtree

      April 18, 2009 /

      According to 19 Action News in Cleveland, the Browns will either take USC quarterback Mark Sanchez or Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree with the No. 5 overall pick.

      Cleveland – Sources have told 19 Action News the Browns will either take USC quarteraback Mark Sanchez or Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The Browns have the fifth pick in next week’s NFL Draft.

      Rumors have swirled around the team concerning a trade with Braylon Edwards and Brady Quinn. One report said teh team will trade Edwards to the Giants before the draft.

      If the NFL Network, ESPN or any other major media network isn’t reporting this, than I doubt 19 Action News has the inside scoop. However, either player makes sense for the Browns as I’ve highlighted here, and here.

      Again though, this is just a rumor and there will be about a million more in the upcoming week.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Top 10 active ERA leaders

      April 18, 2009 /

      As far as pitchers’ statistics in baseball, earned run average (ERA) is the batting average of those stats. ERA is how many earned runs a pitcher gives up per nine innings, and anything under 4.00 is pretty good while anything under 3.00 is very good and anything under 2.00 is bordering on sick. So here is a list of your Top 10 active pitchers in ERA:

      1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees (2.28)—You want to know why this guy comes in and shuts the door every time he’s brought in for a save? Look no further than this statistic. Mo has been the most dominant closer in the game for over a decade and shows no signs of slowing down.

      2. Pedro Martinez, free agent (2.91)—Sure, he’s not the same guy he was in Boston or even Montreal, but Pedro’s a gamer and it’s hard to believe he still isn’t on a major league roster right now.

      3. Johan Santana, New York Mets (3.10)—You have to watch this guy work to fully appreciate his art of pitching. He doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, but he locates all his pitches beautifully and his change-up sometimes makes batters swing out of their shoes. He’s like a lefty Greg Maddux.

      4. Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (3.14)—At 31, Oswalt has a lot of career left, and he has one of the game’s best fastballs.

      5. Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (3.26)—Peavy was rumored to be traded to the Cubs about 12 times in this past off-season. If you close your eyes, you can someday picture him in Yankee pinstripes.

      5. John Smoltz, Boston Red Sox (3.26)—One of the game’s good guys, and as a Mets’ fan, that is not easy for me to say. I’m just glad he’s now in the American League.

      7. Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks (3.27)—At 30, Webb is another of the game’s bright young stars and he’ll be in contention for many more Cy Young Awards.

      7. Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants (3.27)—The Big Unit is 45 years old and creeping up on 300 wins. And yeah, he’s racked up an incredible 4801 strikeouts. But his 3.27 ERA over 22 seasons is just awesome.

      9. Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs (3.50)—Is it possible that Carlos Zambrano is only 28 years old? Yes, and he’s going to be dominant for quite some time.

      10. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (3.48)—He’s battled injuries, but when he’s on top of his game, Hudson is one of the best in the game. And he turned out to be the best among that awesome young trio in Oakland that included Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Which position is the safest bet in the first round?

      April 17, 2009 /

      I was watching one of the many Mel Kiper and Todd McShay arguments on ESPN the other day [video], and Kiper was arguing that if McShay has Matthew Stafford ranked so high (McShay currently has Stafford ranked #8), then he should almost be a no-brainer for the Detroit Lions, who have the #1 overall pick and need a quarterback. McShay isn’t convinced that he’s a so-called “franchise” quarterback, so he says he would go another direction. (For the record, at the time Kiper called McShay “crazy” for having Stafford that high, but now he has the QB ranked #3 on his big board. It’s clear that Kiper’s pure hatred for McShay is causing him to slowly lose his mind.)

      Anyway, the debate piqued my interest and got me wondering – when it comes to the first round of the NFL Draft, is one position safer than another? For example, if the Lions have three holes to fill (they have more, but bear with me) – quarterback, linebacker and tackle – and they can’t decide amongst the three players, is one position a safer pick than the other two?

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football, MLB, NFL, NFL Draft

      Friday MMA Review 4/17

      April 17, 2009 /

      Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

      – The young angry lion took out the old braces-wearing lion at Strikeforce’s kickass “Shamrock vs. Diaz” event. In the aftermath, Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos lost some respect and Nick Diaz thinks he’s ready to box Roy Jones Jr.

      – Junie Browning’s even dumber and drunker brother Rob left The Ultimate Fighter as quickly as he arrived. And everyone rejoiced.

      – Speaking of MMA on TV, “Bully Beatdown” may be as fake as “The Hills.”

      – Tickets to the UFC’s historic 100th show sold out in a matter of hours. Scalped tickets are going for up to $24,000. Seriously.

      – Sorry Chuck, but if your biggest problem is all the porn stars trying to party with you to advance their own careers, you don’t have that many problems.

      – Bellator Fighting Championships: The most interesting MMA league that nobody seems to care about.

      – Tune in to CagePotato.com tomorrow night starting at 10 p.m. ET for live results of UFC 97: Redemption. Will Mauricio “Shogun” Rua show up in shape for his do-or-die fight against Chuck Liddell? Does Thales Leites have a chance in hell of stealing the middleweight belt from Anderson Silva? Are there any other fights on this card genuinely worth getting exciting about?

      – Also, if you want to win a DVD of “Never Surrender” (starring BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and Anderson Silva), enter our latest caption contest!

      Mixed Martial Arts

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