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.

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.

Fresh off of a perfect game in his last outing, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle came out smoking tonight against the Minnesota Twins. As described in this game article, Buehrle "retired the first 17 batters on Tuesday night to set a record with 45 outs in a row" (the 17 batters from tonight were added to the 27 from the perfect game and the last batter from the start before that). Once Buehrle got the record, however, Minnesota batters started to get to him, leaving Buehrle as the losing pitcher in a 5-3 Twins win. As one of the commentators on ESPN's Baseball Tonight just noted, the previous record for consecutive batters retired was shared at 41 by Buehrle's White Sox teammate, Bobby Jenks.

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?


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Golfer Mark Calcavecchia earlier today birdied nine straight holes (the third through eleventh) to set a new PGA record. Such a record reflects not only great putting, but also great shooting at all stages to put oneself in position to have makeable birdie opportunities. Quoting from the above-linked New York Times article, "[Calcavecchia's] nine birdie putts were from 12 feet or closer." Even if all putts were from standard length, however, they'd still be more difficult than, say, free-throw shooting in basketball. Whereas a hoop is a hoop, golf greens have subtle curvatures, which require players and their caddies to develop an ability to "read the break."

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.

Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox just minutes ago pitched a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. A perfect game is the ultimate in hot pitching, as it requires a pitcher to retire each and every opposing batter. Beyond pitching a no-hitter (which Buehrle had already done once in his career and which I analyzed here), the pitcher of a perfect game also allows no walks, hits no batters, has his fielders (and himself) commit no errors, etc. Buehrle's is just the 18th perfect game in major-league history.

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.

I am not a fan of Tebow on the field, but off the field, it's hard not to respect the guy. He is a cocky, abrasive guy when you put a helmet on him, but he's just a competitive person. He will probably go onto win the Heisman this year and be drafted somewhere in the middle to late first round. A team will have to take a chance on him. He would be good for PR and a nice morality figure to have in the locker room. The Cincinnati Bengals would love to draft him, only if they would have a pick in the late first round, that's unlikely.

There has been countless numbers of pictures of Tebow with hot co-eds flating around the internet since his freshman year. A lot of them were probably girls that wanted to have their picture taken with him, others he probably dated. He isn't exactly at the University of Wyoming (sorry had to chose a school in cool weather). The University of Florida has a lot of A+ talent roaming around the quads on campus. Tebow would certainly have his pick of the litter, but that's not his style. 9 out of 10 players in his position would probably already have an illegitimate child and a few other ladies to "get with" on the side.

I applaud Tebow for his honesty, but you know that he is going to get torched on the road in the SEC this season. I can already see the signs at LSU and South Carolina. They will have to confiscate signs out of the crowd and I doubt CBS would want to televise signs of that nature.

Oh well, At least you've made one man happy. A.C. Green is no longer the butt of virgin jokes across America.


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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

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.

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.


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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.

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.

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.

Idolizing - Chuck Klosterman (Again!)

About a year ago, I wrote a post in my "Idolizing" series about Chuck Klosterman. I was in awe of his first effort of writing a novel called "Downtown Owl." I thought the book was great and I even bought an advanced copy on eBay for nearly 30 dollars a few months before it was released. The book didn't sell a lot of copies, but he still feels like he accomplished something that he wanted to do. He has been on record that he had promised his publisher a few more essay books like "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" as a trade off that they would release one of his fiction works.

The reason that I am writing about Chuck Klosterman again in my "Idolizing" section is that he is still an idol of mine. I own all of his books, I try to read every column he writes, and when he's on Bill Simmonss podcast, "The B.S. Report," I pay attention to his every word. I know everyone has idols, but my idols usually have a shelf-life of about two years. I pretty much give them every opportunity to disappoint me. Klosterman has yet to do so and I've been a fan of his for almost 5 years. I don't agree with everything he says, but I can usually understand his point of view. For example, when he was on The B.S. Report, he went on a monologue against Twitter. I am a big fan of Twitter (you can follow me here) and Klosterman believes that his fans would get over-saturated with his work if he is constantly whoring himself out or commenting on things that he would write in a column or book. I can understand his point of view, but I think Twitter has more uses than just social networking.

Chuck Klosterman has a new book coming out in a few months called "Eating The Dinosaur." The book is in the line of "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" and is sure to be a must-read. If I didn't think that an advance copy would appear on eBay soon, I would have already pre-ordered it on Amazon.

To sum everything up, I think Klosterman is a great writer and I hope one day to write as well as him. He is one of the reasons that I write and I hope that his new book will be a great success.

Jamie McOwen, a Single-A minor-league baseball player, put together a 45-game hitting streak, which ended last night. For those not familiar with the levels of play in professional baseball, in order of increasing skill level, there's A, AA, AAA, and ultimately the major leagues.

Support Your Local Blogger

I have been a busy guy lately. I have been completely bogged down at my work and I've picked up a couple writing jobs on the side. I need 30 hours in a day and I would be fine. If I had that amount of time, maybe I could actually spend time with my girlfriend and stop ignoring my gym membership.

Here are some cool blog links:


Pacers Sign A Guy Who Doesn't Look Like John Mayer [Pacers Place]

Blue Jackets Use Their Farm System...For A Broadcaster [Stingers On Ice]

Jay Mariotti Is A Douche [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

Colin Cowherd Is Also A Douche [The Big Lead]

Ron Artest Is F#@&ing Crazy [The Sports Hernia]

Obama and Sarkozy Can Spot Good Talent [Tasty Booze]

I Want This Cooler/Bag [On 205th]

I Want To See Bruno [Gunaxin]

R.I.P. Oscar Meyer [H8torade]

Erin Andrews Has A Chin Of Steel [Busted Coverage]

Mark DeRosa's Wrist Hates St. Louis

I can finally write about Mark DeRosa again. I wrote a post about a week ago and I banned him and his hot wife (Heidi Miller DeRosa) from this blog. DeRosa injured himself late last week and it looks like he tore his tendon sheath and will be out for quite some time. I shouldn't be happy about someone's misfortune, I'm not, but as everyone knows, I'm a Cubs fan. I am happy that the Cardinals will be down a hitter when they play this weekend, but I am a fan of DeRosa and his time in Chicago.

DeRosa's injury can be an ugly one. To put his injury in perspective, David Ortiz had the same injury last year and he was out about 7 weeks. That doesn't seem like long of time, but his power and bat speed took about a whole calendar year to come back. Wrists injuries are scary things and very unpredictable how the player will bounce back. Derrek Lee and Nomar Garciaparra both had nasty wrist injuries, Lee bounced back in about a year and Nomar never really did. I wish DeRosa the best and I hope he signs with a team this off-season that is either the Cubs or not in the NL Central.

22 Sports People You Must Follow On Twitter

I was apprehensive to join Twitter because I knew that I would become addicted to it. I was out with some friends, about a year ago, and my friend talked me into signing up with her phone. I just posted a few “tweets” and then that turned into multiple “tweets” and now I’m on there all the time. I have around 1700 followers and it fluctuates daily. My Twitter name is @sweetbob and you can follow me by clicking here.

Here are the 22 sports people that you must follow on Twitter.

Bill Simmons - @SportsGuy33 - He’s extremely popular writer on ESPN and I love his writing and podcasts. He is very active on Twitter and sends out a lot of hilarious links. He was also apprehensive about Twitter, but now he seems to be addicted.

Mike Freeman - @realfreemanCBS - He throws in comedy with sports insight. He often RTs his @ replies with a funny remark. He's a must follow for every level of sports fan.

Chris Bosh - @chrisbosh - Chris Bosh is a basketball player for the Toronto Raptors. He has a great sense of humor and often asks for help on his Twitter for things to do in different cities that he travels to.

Eric Stangel - @EricStangel - He's the lead writer on The Late Show with David Letterman, but mostly tweets about sports. He often tweets out pictures of famous New York Yankee mustaches and asks his followers to guess who's mustache it is.

Hasheem Thabeet - @HasheemTheDream - Thabeet was just drafted in the NBA by the Memphis Grizzlies. He is very active and tweets about getting ready for the season.

Sports Bloggers - @sportsbloggers - This is a twitter page that posts anything from sports blogs that tag their tweets with “#sblog.” It’s a nice twitter account to follow for the latest posts on some of the best sports blogs.

Will Leitch - @williamfleitch - Will Leitch was the founder of the sports blog, Deadspin.com. He now works for New York Magazine and is the Emeritus at Deadspin. I needed to add him to this list because I just bought his book, “God Save The Fan,” at Half-Price Books, it’s a good read.

Jon Heyman - @SI_JonHeyman - He is a sports writer at Sports Illustrated. He is very active on Twitter and gives out links and tidbits that are worthy of a follow. I love his writing and sometimes he gives out a little information of what he is working on.

Skip Bayless - @RealSkipBayless - I have made myself clear that I don’t like Skip Bayless. I have even written posts dedicated to his idiotic banter. I follow Skip Bayless for possible material to bash and to see what great player he will decide to bash and belittle.

Chris Mortensen - @mortreport - I know that Jay Glazer can scoop the pants off of Mort, but I still follow him. He gives out some information that is worth reading, even if it pertains to the College Baseball World Series.

Molly Qerim – @MollyQerim_ESPN - I first saw Molly Qerim on a fantasy football program on ESPN. She was playing the “Sage Steele” role with Matthew Berry. She is beautiful and well-spoken. She is now involved in Mixed-Martial Arts programming at ESPN.

Jason McIntyre - @thebiglead - He writes at TheBigLead.com. I read The Big Lead almost daily and it’s a great sports blog. He gives out interesting links and is very active. He also keeps be updated on soccer scores while I’m at work, thanks Jason.

Jamie Mottram - @jamiemottram - Motrram is a sports blogger that is based in the Washington D.C. area. He runs MrIrrelevant.com and SBNation.com and works with Yahoo! I read his blog very often and his tweets are informative and entertaining.

Will Brinson - @willbrinson - He is a sports blogger over at AOL Fanhouse. I have been reading his stuff for awhile now and I think he’s great. He is active on Twitter and gives links out to some of his work and others that he wants people to read.

Amy K. Nelson - @AmyKNelson - I have been a fan of Amy K. Nelson since I saw her on First Take. She knows her stuff! I have read some of her articles and she is making a name for herself at ESPN. She is also a sports crush of mine…Shhhhhh!

Deadspin - @Deadspin - Deadspin.com is in my favorites on my computer at home. I read the site daily and it made a name for itself by having an edge with no access and a little bias. They tweet links to material on their site and most of them are worth a click.

Hugging Harold Reynolds - @HHReynolds - He was the mastermind behind the “Blogs With Balls” conference in NYC last month. I was unable to attend, but I read nearly every post that explained what happened. I am a big fan of his site, HuggingHaroldReynolds.com and go there daily. His tweets are great and he re-tweets a lot of good material.

Jenn Sterger - @jennifersterger - We all love Jenn Sterger, right? She tweets about sports and what she has been doing. She also posts a lot of twitpics of things that she has done like the Indy 500 and photo shoots. Just for that reason alone, she’s worth a follow.

Jimmy Traina - @JimmyTraina - Jimmy works at Sports Illustrated and helps deliver the “Hot Clicks” section over at “Extra Mustard” at SI.com. He has linked to a couple posts of mine, for that I’m thankful. He has a great sense of humor and tweets about the funny videos and the Yankees.

Matthew Berry - @MatthewBerryTMR - Matthew Berry is a fantasy analyst over at ESPN. He helps do the Fantasy Focus podcasts and videocasts on ESPN.com. He gives out a lot of fantasy advice on his Twitter, often responding to questions asked to him via the program.

Gunaxin - @Gunaxin - Gunaxin.com is a great site for sports, beer, babes, and humor. I read it daily and I’m now a contributor to the site. They often tweet links to new material and is very active. They have a staff of contributors that get content up on Gunaxin.com on a regular basis.

Shaquille O’Neal - @Shaq - Shaquille O’Neal is the King of Twitter. His tweets helped put Twitter on the map, even if they are often misspelled. Shaq can be a polarizing figure, but he won a lot of people over with his down-to-earth humor and accessibility. He’s definitely worth a follow.


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Indiana Pacers Summer League Roster

For those that are not aware, I have a couple new writing jobs. I am the Indiana Pacers and Columbus Blue Jackets correspondents for Fanball.com. I am writing at the Indiana Pacers site, PacersPlace.com, and the Columbus Blue Jackets site, StingersOnIce.com.

I just recently put up a post about the Indiana Pacers Summer League team. I listed the players and a little bio about each player. You can check out the post by clicking here.

As I watched yesterday's dramatic men's Wimbledon singles final -- won by Roger Federer over Andy Roddick 16-14 in the fifth set for Federer's record 15th Grand Slam singles title -- the key factor that stood out to me was Roddick's consistency in getting his first serves in. Roddick bested Federer in first-serve percentage, 70-64, which contributed to Federer's complete inability to break Roddick's serve -- until the very last game of the match. Some interesting serve-placement graphics are available here.