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Archive for August, 2010

Kentwan Balmer was a sign of the old regime in San Francisco, a mediocre player who the 49ers reached tremendously on to draft in the first round. After taking an accepted day off from training camp news broke that Balmer illegally paid for former UNC teammates to fly to California to train at a performance institute. Balmer stopped showing up altogether at 49ers training camp. As a result the 49ers grew tired of his incompetence & sent him to the Seahawks for a 6th round pick next year. Luckily for Balmer his new head coach knows a thing or two about breaking NCAA rules.

As quickly as the 49ers ran one bum out of town they announced the signing of another one. With the abrupt, unexpected retirement of Glen Coffee the 49ers were in need of a running back. Oddly enough the signing comes a day after 49ers rookie Anthony Dixon tore up Colts backups in the 49ers first preseason game. The signing of Brian Westbrook is questionable for numerous reasons, the foremost being the fact that Westbrook has never been a great running back & is coming off a season where he suffered multiple concussions. Luckily Westbrook claims he is fine with riding the bench since the 49ers have an established running back who is one of the game’s elite at his position in Frank Gore.

The New York Mets have made a habit of being incompetent from trading for Luis Castillo, allowing Ollie Perez to stay on the team & repeatedly hiring inept people to run the organization. But when the Mets signed K-Rod coming off his season of record breaking saves success no one batted an eye. In only his second year with the team the Mets are already looking to get rid of the first decent closer they’ve had in years.

In spite of the team being beyond terrible during his tenure K-Rod has managed to record 60 saves as a member of the Mets. Last week when K-Rod assaulted his girlfriend’s father the Mets did next to nothing (suspending him two games, including one they had played prior to the incident even happening). K-Rod pitched without issue on Saturday but word came out on Monday he tore a ligament in his thumb & will need season ending surgery. Amazingly the Mets, as of this writing, have yet to put him on the DL.

As everyone would assume to be the case K-Rod told Mets management that the injury occurred as a result of the melee of last week. As a result the Mets will attempt to void the rest of K-Rod’s contract. The MLBPA will more than likely fight the Mets on this considering they allow Ollie Perez to do nothing & collect a paycheck. But both parties may be better off without each other. The Mets have committed themselves to being a last place team, so why would they need a decent closer? K-Rod on the other hand will have a dozen teams looking to sign him, though not at the incompetent money the Mets gave him. Maybe the Mets can use Ollie Perez as the closer for the rest of the season?

When the Pacers drafted Lance Stephenson out of Cincinnati they were expecting to get a pretty good basketball player who could come off their bench & contribute as early as this season. Instead they’re now facing a public relations issue. The first Pacers player to make news in a long while simply made headlines for assaulting his girlfriend. Reports are Stephenson shoved his girlfriend down a flight of stairs, helped her up, then punched her in the face. As a result he was arrested for assault, menacing & harassment.

This continues a sad trend in the NBA of late. NBA players constantly commit crimes & very little happens to them due to their paychecks.

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Recently it was reported Miami Heat star Udonis Haslem was arrested for having excessive quantities of drugs in his possession. Haslem was originally pulled over for speeding & the car was searched leading to police finding excessive marijuana in the car. Interestingly Haslem’s friend, who was a passenger at the time, immediately took the rap for the crime. Regardless the police arrested both men. Either the friend is trying to protect the NBA star or Haslem had some bad judgment allowing all that weed into a car he was driving.

In any event, due to the obscene amount of arrests in the NBA commissioner David Stern should start being stricter about off the court conduct, as the NFL has recently done.

In recent years when you think of Tampa Rays pitching you think dominance. Jeremy Hellickson has continued that trend. Earlier in the season the Rays brought him up for a spot start in which he dominated. He was immediately sent back down to Triple A. But when two of the Rays starting pitchers went down to injury Hellickson returned & doesn’t appear to be in a rush to go back to Triple A any time soon.

The Iowa native has made three MLB starts, winning all three in dominating fashion. In his first start he faced a powerful Twins lineup going seven innings, striking out six batters while only giving up two runs on three hits. His second start against the Tigers was even more dominant, he gave up three hits again but no runs. Going seven innings & recording seven strikeouts he recorded another victory. In his most recent outing he faced an Orioles team that has started to try under the guidance of Buck Showalter going six innings, giving up one run on three hits. He recorded five strikeouts in route to a 3-0 record.

Hellickson should only continue his dominance in his next outing as he faces the abysmal Oakland Athletics in their cavernous ballpark. As the season comes to a close though he may be called upon to play a crucial role in determining who wins the AL East.

The rules of golf are finite & most who play know them well. Unfortunately, no one expected that a major championship would be played on a terrible course that featured bunkers every where. While Martin Kaymer won his first PGA event, a major no less, no one will remember that five years from now. What everyone will remember is the PGA screwing Dustin Johnson out of almost certain victory.

Dustin Johnson charged towards the top of the leaderboard on the final day of the event while watching everyone else struggle mightily to stay where they were. Johnson, a far superior golfer to any one in the late groups on Sunday, hit an errant shot on the 18th into what everyone assumed was a pile of dirt. Johnson hit a shot onto the green, then two putted to put himself into a three person playoff.

Unfortunately the three person playoff never happened as Whistling Strait officials claimed the area of dirt was a bunker, meaning that Johnson grounding his club before his shot resulted in a two stroke penalty. So Johnson went from competing for a major to coming in fourth place. No one on CBS’ coverage of the event even mentioned the area of dirt could’ve been a bunker, which made it very odd when Jim Nantz croaked “Uh oh. It seems we have a problem” as Johnson went to get his scorecard approved.

Supposedly Johnson was asked if he had grounded his club in the bunker. Johnson replied “What bunker? On what hole?” Johnson didn’t know it was a bunker & reports from media personnel indicate that hade it happened earlier in the event or even on an earlier hole it wouldn’t even have been called. So hat’s off to Dustin Johnson who will be remembered as the real winner for this tournament, even if the record books say otherwise.

The year of the pitcher continues. Brandow Morrow, a pitcher so terrible the Seattle Mariners practically gave him away, made headlines on Sunday. The diabetic right hander who has done next to nothing in his career almost threw a no hitter. He went 8.2 innings before giving up a hit (though most individuals would call it an error) against the Tampa Bay Rays, a team already no hit this year.

While Morrow failed to make history by throwing a no hitter he continued the trend of making people assume Toronto Blue Jays players are using illegal performance enhancers. Morrow through the first shutout of his career after blowing the no hit bid. He also recorded the first game of his career where he struck out more than nine batters, with a grand total of seventeen strikeouts. It is also only the second start of Morrow’s career where he didn’t give up a run (previously pitched 8 innings of no runs this year).

Morrow continues the trend of Blue Jays who have never done anything before that are making individuals across America scratch their heads. Morrow joins career bums Kevin Gregg, Jose Bautista & John Buck who have fair exceeded any expectations any one could have had for them. Isn’t that Galea fellow from Canada? Maybe they should change the team name to the Toronto Steroiders?

No one said Rick Pitino was an intelligent human being. All they’ve ever said was he was a great coach. So it was no surprise when late last year news broke that a woman was trying to extort him due to a sexual relationship they had back in 2003. In theory the idea was that Pitino was trying to protect his image but the woman wanted money to continue to keep her silence.

As expected Louisville did nothing to punish Pitino for his actions, as is common place amongst sports. Also as expected Pitino won the case the woman threw against him handily in court, even testifying on his own behalf.

Now the woman is crying foul, claiming that Pitino only won the case because his fame & power influences the judge & jury. The fact that the woman expected to win the case shows how incompetent she is. She insisted on going on a tirade mocking the judicial system, the Louisville community, Louisville (the college) & Rick Pitino himself. If only she had any money there’d be countless libel/slander lawsuits to prepare for. Unfortunately she’s just a freak who had sexual intercourse with a famous person & knew she’d get her name in the papers because of it.

Normally when I profile a golfer on here it will be because they won a tournament or made history. While we’ve seen some history in recent weeks with many low scores, nothing of interest caught my eye, that is until I heard about Erik Compton.

The Florida native hasn’t always been lucky enough to go out on the golf course due to a heart condition that has him going on his 3rd heart at only 30 years old. While he has struggled mightily throughout most of his golf career he made waves last week where he was in contention of The Greenbrier Classic until a 77 on his final round did him in.

While Compton has mostly hit the 60′s & 70′s as far as finishes in the events he makes the cuts in the mere fact he is able to go out there with his heart condition makes us stand up & salute Mr. Compton.

Once Compton selects the proper beginner golf clubs I expect his game to improve tremendously. Maybe he can even contend for an entire weekend at that point. Good luck Mr. Compton.

As is customary before every NFL season blogs & news sites like to take a look at the divisions in the NFL & predict what will happen. Here at Sports News Center we are no different. We have looked at information galore & are ready to submit our picks for the upcoming NFL season.

AFC East:

New England Patriots: (11-5, Division Winner) – while everyone seems to be jumping on the New York Jets bandwagon people seem to forgot the last time Tom Brady played healthy the Patriots went 18-1. The Patriots return most of their team from last season & made some draft choices that should help the defense.

Miami Dolphins: (10-6, Miss Playoffs) – the Miami Dolphins have all the pieces in place to be a great team for an extended period of time. The trouble is the team, as currently constructed, cannot afford to turn the ball over. If Ronnie Brown comes back fully healthy & Ricky feels like playing this team should be in playoff contention late into the season. The team made a huge upgrade at its only weak area in wide receiver during the offseason which only improves things.

New York Jets: (9-7, Miss Playoffs) – while everyone wants to claim the Jets are a great team I just don’t see it. They went 9-7 last season & were 7-7 in real games (games the other teams tried in). They were mediocre at best last season with a better all around team. They added over the hill players in LT & Jason Taylor who won’t contribute much & have numerous headaches for Mark Sanchez to deal with due to incompetent trades. Did I mention their three best players are unhappy with their current contracts?

Buffalo Bills: (6-10, Miss Playoffs) – the Bills may improve this season primarily due to the addition of CJ Spiller & subtraction of Terrell Owens. The problem is they play in a division where they can only beat the Jets which immediately sets them back in the standings. The Bills are still looking for a quarterback who can be consistent & are still trying to find a coach who can coach. On the bright side they should have the best special teams in football.

AFC North:

Cincinnati Bengals: (12-4, Division Winner) – with the numerous wide receiver & tight end additions the Bengals made in the offseason they can go back to being the team Carson Palmer wants them to be, a pass first team. The team benefits from the Steelers quarterback problems & playing the Browns twice a season. If their young cornerbacks can play like they did last year & The TO Show & whatever Ocho Cinco’s show is called can co-exist like they do on VH1 this could be the year for the Bengals.

Baltimore Ravens: (11-5, Miss Playoffs) – the addition of Anquan Boldin makes the team look better on paper but the age of the defense may catch up with the team. Lewis is aging rapidly, Ed Reed may miss a substantial part of the season. The running game will keep them in the playoff hunt but a few division losses may ultimately spell disaster this year.

Pittsburgh Steelers: (8-8, Miss Playoffs) – whoever plays the first five or six games, whether it be Charlie Batch or Byron Leftwich, it is hard to envision the Steelers doing much this year. They don’t have the dominant running attack they once boasted about, they shipped their best receiver to NJ & their quarterback won’t be in full swing until week 8, if they’re lucky. Their year may already be doomed because Big Ben can’t keep it in his pants.

Cleveland Browns: (6-10, Miss Playoffs) – is this team even worth discussing? They’ve already indicated by saying they won’t play Colt McCoy until next year that this is a wasted year. Jake Delhomme will cost them 8 games & the defense will win them 4 games. The Delhomme experiment will be a one year deal, as the defense steadily improves under Mangini, but the team is still a few years away from respectability.

AFC South:

Indianapolis Colts: (13-3, Division Winners) – the Colts will continue their dominance this year, as they’ve done the last decade.

Tennessee Titans: (12-4, Wild Card Winner) – would it be nuts to suggest Chris Johnson will have a better year than last year? I think he will. The rush yards will drop a bit but it seemed every game after Vince Young took over last year that he had a 60 yard screen pass for a touchdown. With Vince Young at quarterback the team’s offense will improve. The defense has gotten younger & even more physical.

Houston Texans: (12-4, Wild Card Winner) – the Texans may have the second best quarterback, wide receiver tandem in football. Unfortunately the only better tandem is in their division. The Texans defense continues to improve with most of their draft picks making huge contributions in recent years. Matt Schaub finally proved last year he can stay healthy for an entire season. The next hurdle will be beating the Colts. The Texans offensive fire power & stout defense should keep them near the Colts all year long.

Jacksonville Jaguars: (8-8, Miss Playoffs) – the question is are the Jaguars even interested any more? Their quarterback showed them he’s not the elite player they claimed him to be, their defense hasn’t been the same due to purging & bad draft picks, their offensive line is still a mess, they have no receivers either. If everyone knows MJD is getting the ball 65% of the time what can the Jags expect?

AFC West:

San Diego Chargers: (10-6, Division Winner) – the offseason turmoil in San Diego may cost the team a few games during the season. Luckily the team plays in the worst division in football. Behind the arm of Philip Rivers the team will still win its fair share of games. The questions are will Vincent Jackson grow a brain & can Matthews carry the load?

Oakland Raiders: (9-7, Miss Playoffs) – last season the Raiders beat some fairly good teams. They have a fairly good defense with the best cornerback in football. They have a great running game, when the running backs stay healthy. The issue has always been the quarterback play. With Jason Campbell they finally have a real quarterback. The Raiders will be the most improved team this season in all of football & may give the Chargers a scare for the division.

Denver Broncos: (7-9, Miss Playoffs) – when the best quarterback on the roster is the 3rd stringer (Tim Tebow) you’re in trouble from the get go. The team continues to send away great talent without replacing it. One thing will remain constant, the Broncos will have a decent running attack. The defense continues to be average at best & the Broncos haven’t really addressed improving it in years, unless you consider signing veterans who haven’t been good in three years “improving.”

Kansas City Chiefs: (6-10, Miss Playoffs) – so we’ve obviously learned the Patriots were trying to be funny by sending the Chiefs their garbage for next to nothing last year. The Chiefs have some talent on defense but injuries continue to hurt them. They have two decent running backs but must decide who gets the load of the carries. If Dwayne Bowe tries all year they may improve some but we must be shown Matt Cassel isn’t a fluke.

NFC East:

New York Giants: (10-6, Division Winner) – with the overall averageness of the division the teams will undoubtedly beat up on each other. While the Cowboys may have the most talent in the division the Giants have the best head coach in the division. The Giants have added veteran dominance to their defense in Bullock & Rolle instead of adding veteran bums as they did last year. Last year the receiving core emerged. Did I mention the defense & running backs didn’t bother to try last year? I doubt we’ll see that again & the G Men should be back in business.

Philadelphia Eagles: (10-6, Wild Card Winner) – the Eagles may be getting younger & therefore worse to some people but that isn’t the case. The Eagles have transitioned from a team led by Donovan McNabb & Brian Westbrook (two spoiled prima donnas who have never accomplished anything) to two gritty hard nosed individuals in McCoy & Kolb who are trying to make a name for themselves. When no one seemed to care the team cut ties with Westbrook & traded McNabb you knew the team was Kolb’s. Kolb has all the offensive weapons in place & we know the defense year in & year out is consistently dominant.

Dallas Cowboys: (8-8, Miss Playoffs) – the Kardashian effect won’t help the Cowboys this year. The team has an average quarterback in Romo, they had an overachieving receiving core last year & Roy Williams seems to be destroying the team from the inside. The offensive line will continue to be a problem & the defense will not be able to win every game, so the Cowboys will cost Wade Phillips his job by mid season.

Washington Redskins: (8-8, Miss Playoffs) – the Redskins have had a fairly good defense for a few years now but have always seemed to sputter on offense. Signing mediocre veteran running backs won’t help the team much but Donovan McNabb took an average receiving core like the Redskins have to multiple division titles while in Philly. If Shanahan can find the right mesh the team can vastly improve but don’t expect playoffs just yet.

NFC North:

Green Bay Packers: (12-4, Division Winner) – the Packers only seem to be getting better & will do so again this year. Raji will be a huge addition to a defense that showed signs of dominance last year. Health, an improved offensive line & the Vikings playing more like we expect them to will culminate in the Packers winning the division.

Minnesota Vikings: (11-5, Wild Card Winner) – with or without Brett Favre the team is a playoff team. The team has one of the most dominant defensive lines in NFL history & one of the top three running backs in the NFL. The only issue will be the turnovers. The team will not get miracle last second wins like last year, the fumbles will continue & Brett Favre will play like Brett Favre again, since we all know he’s returning.

Detroit Lions: (7-9, Miss Playoffs) – yes, I have the Lions finishing ahead of the Bears. I have a feeling that Mike Martz has lost whatever luster he once had & will ruin the Bears. The Lions have also quietly built a good team. They’ve improved on defense with Vanden Bosch & Suh. Stafford has Calvin Johnson & Pettigrew to make life easy for him. The issue will be can the offensive line & cornerback tandem show some vast improvement, if they can the team is in great shape going forward.

Chicago Bears: (6-10, Miss Playoffs) – Mike Martz will be a disaster in Chicago & Jay Cutler will have a duplicate of last season (maybe not as many red zone interceptions). The team didn’t address the aging, breaking down defense in the offseason. The Bears also refuse to improve their receiving group & were not sure the running game will be any good. The Bears had a lot of questions going into the offseason & addressed none of them.

NFC South:

Atlanta Falcons: (11-5, Division Winner) – the Falcons will certainly not have to deal with the countless injuries that plagued them last season & Matt Ryan will have a full year with a hall of fame tight end. The offense is stacked, the defense will come on as well. The Falcons should be able to take advantage of the Saints having a brutal first few week schedule & eclipse them in the division, running towards the playoffs.

New Orleans Saints: (9-7, Miss Playoffs) – the Saints start the season out playing Minnesota, San Francisco, Atlanta & Carolina. All four teams can beat the Saints & put them in a precarious position. Seven of the other Twelve games the Saints have scheduled they could easily lose as well. The difficulty of the Saints schedule combined with the fact there is no way the defense will play as good as it did last year will put the Saints knocking on the door step but inevitably the week 1 loss to the Vikings will be the difference between a wild card & missing the playoffs.

Carolina Panthers: (8-8, Miss Playoffs) – the Panthers really only upgraded at quarterback, which was their only area of weakness. They have a great wide receiver & a serviceable tight end. Do we even need to mention the two great running backs? The defense will be much improved, since we always expect a John Fox lead defense to be good. The issue is they’ll have a young quarterback behind center all year, regardless of who they play.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: (4-12, Miss Playoffs) – you have to wonder if they’d have been better off actually keeping decent players on the team rather than releasing them & trying to start over. The team has some decent running backs & a defense that may overachieve at times but that’s pretty much it.

NFC West:

San Francisco 49ers: (12-4, Division Winner) – the 49ers have one of the easier schedules in football this season playing only five games against decent teams (assuming past history of them beating up on the Cardinals continues). Based on that alone the 9ers should run away & hide with the division. The offense looked unstoppable at times last season & with Alex Smith seemingly emerging into someone who was worthy of a number 1 pick the 49ers seemed poised for a five or six year run of dominance. The defense continues to improve with great draft choices & the knowledge of a hall of fame defender. The issue has mostly been the offensive line the past two years, so the team drafted two massive men to solve that issue.

Arizona Cardinals: (8-8, Miss Playoffs) – we’ve seen that Matt Leinert is a good but not great quarterback & this will hurt the Cardinals this year. The Cardinals let all but two players of value on their team leave in the offseason whether by trade, retirement or failure to resign them which will also hurt. The defense looks to be average at best this season, they have no running game & now they only have one dominant wide receiver (who will surely be double teamed all year). The offensive line & tight end positions continue to be weak links on the team as well.

Seattle Seahawks: (7-9, Miss Playoffs) – the secondary should be improved but not much else. The team has no running backs of note & Seattle seems to be where wide receivers go to die. The team transitions from one overmatched coach to another overmatched coach. The team has hope if the secondary plays up to capabilities & Matt Hasselback stays healthy all year. Those are huge question marks though, so Seattle could have another terrible year.

St. Louis Rams: (3-13, Miss Playoffs) – the Rams have a great running back & not much else. The team has an abysmal offensive line so Sam Bradford may be healthy enough to start 6 games all year. The defense is average & will only improve in spurts this season. Unless the secondary plays great as the team constantly blitzes it could be a long long season. At least they may win more than one game right?

While the Texas Rangers added the best available pitcher in the American League to their pitching rotation the Phillies improved upon what had been a strength for them much of the season by adding starting pitcher Roy Oswalt. For the better part of the last decade Roy Oswalt has been a dominant pitcher for a sputtering franchise, who had brief success in the middle of the decade when they purchased Roger Clemens & Andy Pettitte from the Yankees. Otherwise the team has continued to decline in talent & payroll.

Oswalt joins a dominant Phillies rotation which already had the best pitcher in baseball in Roy Halladay, the best #3 starter in baseball in Cole Hamels & the best #5 starter in baseball in Joe Blanton. If the Phillies bats show up for the rest of the season they should be able to catch the Atlanta Braves.

The issue now is the Phillies bullpen is still unsettled but they are hoping two out of every five days they will now be getting complete games from the Phillies Roy. While Oswalt wasn’t very good in his debut for the team the remainder of August he will be facing mediocre lineups & should show what a dominant pitcher he is.