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A Hack Job: The “Big Things” in Sports
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Championship, Editorial, Fantasy, Front Office, Golf, Kudos, MLB, NBA, NFL, Playoffs, Tennis,
As sports fans, we love and want to witness feats of athletic, methodical, and powerful achievement. The grace of Barry Sanders stopping on a dime, running back five yards, then going forward 80 yards while evading all 11 defensive players for a score was soemthing you felt lucky to see, mouth agape, drool making a half necklace around your neck. The devastating display of homerun power in 1998 as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chase of Roger Maris and his single season home run record and the way they chased each other had even your grandmother paying attention to the home run race. And, how about Tiger Wood’s assassin-like taking of the PGA at the turn of the century, and most recently this past weekend at the British Open.
Face it, folks, we want to know and be blessed with witnessing, to steal from LeBron James and Nike, the “big things” in sports. And, I’m here to help you all figure out what those things are.
Click to continue reading A Hack Job: The “Big Things” in Sports
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Americans Rule The World (Or At Least Europe) And That’s Good Enough!
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Editorial, Golf, Kudos, News,
Sunday’s sheer domination by Americans, Tiger Woods and Floyd Landis, in their respective sports displayed the raw power of our American athletes. With a U.S. team ousting in the recent World Cup and the U.S. Basketball squads not exactly tearing up the court in international play in the past several years, Woods winning the British Open and Landis taking the Tour de France was a much needed shot in the arm for our sports ego as a country. But, we all know we were going to win eventually, right? After all, we’re American!
Click to continue reading Americans Rule The World (Or At Least Europe) And That’s Good Enough!
Marvin Williams Wins Summer League MVP
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Editorial, Kudos, NBA, News,
This can only be great news for Atlanta Hawks fans - Marvin Williams was named the Rocky Mountain Revue’s Most Valuable Player. After spending a second overall pick on Williams in last year’s draft, the Hawks were hoping that Williams would elevate his game with more experience, especially considering that he just turned 19 years old at the time of the draft.
And at the Rocky Mountain Revue, Williams showed exactly what he learned previously.
Click to continue reading Marvin Williams Wins Summer League MVP
Ah, breath it in. It’s time for the Midsummer Classic when the National League and American League’s “best” players meet up for their annual contest to theoretically see which is the better league. For the past nine contests, the A.L. has flexed their muscle and shown that they are better than their senior circuit brethren.
Oh, wait, I forgot about that debacle of an All-Star game in 2002 when the A.L. and N.L. played to a 7-7 tie, going 11 innnings. How embarassing was that for baseball. BUT, we’re not here to dwell on the past and certainly the N.L. doesn’t want to, last winning the All-Star game in 1996, 6-0 with Mike Piazza (then with the Los Angeles Dodgers) taking home the MVP hardware.
So, how does tonight’s matchup look? Here’s the batting order and since the game is taking place in Pittsburgh’s beautiful and basically new, PNC Park, there is no designated hitter (and unfortunately, no deserving Travis Hafner!) and pitchers will bat:
American League
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
Derek Jeter, Yankees, SS
David Ortiz, Red Sox, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees, 3B
Vladimir Guerrero, Angels, LF
Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers, C
Vernon Wells, Blue Jays, CF
Mark Loretta, Red Sox, 2B
Kenny Rogers, Tigers, P
National League
Alfonso Soriano, Nationals, LF
Carlos Beltran, Mets, CF
Albert Pujols, Cardinals, 1B
Jason Bay, Pirates, RF
Edgar Renteria, Braves, SS
David Wright, Mets, 3B
Chase Utley, Phillies, 2B
Paul Lo Duca, Mets, C
Brad Penny, Dodgers, P
My prediction? The American League continues its dominance over the National League, beating the senior circuit 5-3 with David Ortiz taking the MVP going 2-2 with two dingers and four RBI. Now if only Pronk could have played, I’m sure he would have hit a grand slam to take the MVP award… I mean, the guy does have five already in half a season! Sorry, no more Hafner propaganda.
Enjoy the game! (Pronk, you were robbed!)
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| Yahoo Sports MLB
Final MLB All-Stars: A.J. Pierzynski and Nomar Garciaparra
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Kudos, MLB, News,
Yet another White Sox player makes the American League All-Star squad! Catcher A.J. Pierzynski joins teammates Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Jose Contreras, Bobby Jenks, and Mark Buerhle. Pierzynski can thank his spot to the Final Vote option that fans could choose, online, the player that deserved a spot in the Midseason Classic that wasn’t chosen before. For the National League, 1B Nomar Garciaparra, usually a mainstay as an All-Star during his Boston Red Sox days, get’s the fans’ vote to represent the Los Angeles Dodgers in the “game that counts.”
Read More | Yahoo Sports - MLB
Here is the National League All-Star team that will try to stop the blood from dripping anymore with a ninth straight American League win. Hopefully, the hometown Pittsburgh crowd will help get the N.L. over the hump.
KEY:*=Starter; I=Injured; IR=Injury Replacement; BA=Batting Average; HR=Homerun; RBI=Runs Batted In; ERA=Earned Run Average; SV=Saves; ASGA=All Star Game Appearance
NOTE: Stats are through July 1st
Catcher
*Paul Lo Duca, New York Mets .288 BA; 3 HR; 25 RBI; 4th ASGA
Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves .354 BA; 5 HR; 23 RBI; 1st ASGA
First Baseman
*Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals .320 BA; 27 HR; 72 RBI; 5th ASGA
Lance Berkman, Houston Astros .319 BA; 22 HR; 71 RBI; 4th ASGA
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies .284 BA; 28 HR; 69 RBI; 1st ASGA
Second Baseman
*Chase Utley, Philadephia Phillies .300 BA; 16 HR; 49 RBI; 1st ASGA
Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins .307 BA; 13 HR; 44 RBI; 1st ASGA
Click to continue reading 2006 National League All-Star Team
Does time fly or what? The All-Star game results have been announced and the baseball season rolls by quickly as we are now approaching the unofficial half-way point of the season. Doesn’t Spring Training seem like it was just a month ago? In any case, this season’s All-Star game in Pittsburgh, PA, will once again determine home-field advantage for the World Series. The American League will be going for its 9th straight win.
KEY:*=Starter; I=Injured; IR=Injury Replacement; BA=Batting Average; HR=Homerun; RBI=Runs Batted In; ERA=Earned Run Average; SV=Saves; ASGA=All Star Game Appearance
NOTE: Stats are through July 1st
Catcher:
*Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers .298 BA; 7 HR; 38 RBI; 13th ASGA
Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins .392 BA; 5 HR; 40 RBI; 1st ASGA
First Baseman
*David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox .276 BA; 26 HR; 75 RBI; 3rd ASGA
Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox .314 BA; 20 HR; 63 RBI; 3rd ASGA
Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox .292 BA; 27 HR; 68 RBI; 5th ASGA
Second Baseman
*Mark Loretta, Boston Red Sox .317 BA; 3 HR; 34 RBI; 2nd ASGA
I-Robinson Cano, New York Yankees .325 BA; 4 HR; 27 RBI; 1st ASGA
IR-Jose Lopez, Seattle Mariners .282 BA; 9 HR; 57 RBI; 1st ASGA
Click to continue reading 2006 American League All-Star Team
Getting bounced from the World Cup seems so final. When you loose, there is no “next year.” You are dun-ski. The only thing I can compare it to is loosing in the NCAA Tournament.
These two events are the most passion filled tournaments on the planet, and it’s too bad that most Americans will tune the World Cup out at this point. Players wear their hearts on their sleeves and their countries flags proudly on their chests. The World Cup is a special tournament where one goal or one missed call by a referee makes the difference in winning or losing it’s any teams match. Truly, “one game changes everything.” There are no seven game series to make sure the best team eventually wins more games than the inferior team. It’s about getting hot, and getting some breaks- just like the NCAA Tournament.
For Ghana, a country smaller than Oregon and a population of less that 25 million, to beat the United States is an unimaginable upset. I’m all about Cinderella’s - I was at Gonzaga for the initial Elite 8 run, afterall. For that reason, and for the fact at their entire country was watching the match today (and will be celebrating with pride for the next week), a part of me is happy that Ghana won today.
As they move on to the knock-out stages of the World Cup, I hope the clock never strikes midnight for this squad.
Miami Heat - NBA Champions!
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Championship, Kudos, NBA, Playoffs, Scoreboard,
In what seemed impossible, the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game Six of the NBA Finals, 95-92, to claim the franchise’s first championship. It’s not that the Heat were huge underdogs to win tonight’s game, but in the fact that they won four straight games after going down two games to none at the beginning of the series.
But, before I go any further, I have to give props to the Dallas Mavericks who easily could have been the world champions instead. The only problem was that they had to defend the Heat’s Dwyane Wade, who was simply off-the-charts the last four games. In any case, the Mavs will probably sign Jason Terry, who shined during the postseason, and keep this team together to contend the next few seasons. Kudos to them.
At the opening of tonight’s game, it looked like the Mavs were going to run away with the game early, but thanks to Wade scoring seven points in under two minutes for the Heat, the end of the first quarter wasn’t as bad as it could have been. In the second quarter, the Heat just continued to pour it on, outscoring the Mavs for the quarter, 26-18 and taking a one point lead into the half.
But, the second half of the game couldn’t have been played any more tightly.
Click to continue reading Miami Heat - NBA Champions!
Carolina Hurricanes Win The Stanley Cup
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Championship, Kudos, NHL, Playoffs,
The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and almost like the 1996 World Series Champion New York Yankees, the Hurricanes have to thank a rookie. I say almost because Derek Jeter’s impact wasn’t as much as goalie, Cam Ward’s. Ward who filled in at goal for the struggling Martin Gerber at the beginning of the playoffs and was simply amazing. So amazing, in fact, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy that goes to the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
After leading the series 3-1, it looked like the Oilers would fold, but they came back in Game Five with a well-fought overtime win and a 4-0 blowout in Game Six. However, they never looked like they were in control in Game Seven as Ward simply wouldn’t let them, blocking 22 shots of the Oilers’ 23 for the night.
This is the first Stanley Cup for the Carolina Hurricanes. Congratulations!
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