Cats have Cards for lunch in the Yum! Center

When Kentucky and Louisville take the court you know it’s going to be a great game. Today’s match up was no different. It was a great game but the Wildcats come out with a huge victory over the Cards 78-63.

This game came with several surprises with a career high double-double play from big man Josh Harrellson had 23 points and 14 rebounds. This was a huge deal as he normal averages about 5 points per game and only scored 28 total points last season. He has really stepped up into this leadership role on this team as he is the only senior on the roster and is the only big man with big man Enes Kanter being ruled ineligible to play by the NCAA.

As it was last season this team is lead by a group of incredible freshmen talent which has two of the teams leading scorers. They showed up to play against the Cards as Brandon Knight had an outstanding game scoring 25 points and Terrence Jones had 12 points, eight rebounds and six assist. This group of freshmen have really stepped up since the loss to North Carolina on ways of their game they are playing better defense as well as offense and are really looking good as they are about to enter SEC play.

As for Louisville they came out early hitting the three but that did not last as they went eight for 20 from three-point line. The Cards was out match on all levels they got beat in every category from field-goals to rebounds they just could not play with this Wildcat squad. They did get some good play out of Preston Knowles who scored 22 points which is above his season average of 15.2 points per game.

This game set a record attendance for the new KFC Yum! Center with 22,803 people. This is the first year of the new arena and it will play host to many more great games between the two rivals for years to come.

With the win over Louisville this puts Coach Calipari 2-0 in the battle of the bluegrass and puts the Wildcats 11-2 on the season.

The next match up for the Wildcats will be Monday against Penn in Rupp Arena at 7:00 PM EST.

Cats Lose a Quarterback for Bowl

As the Kentucky Wildcats are preparing for their fifth straight bowl appearance they will do so without starting quarterback Mike Hartline, after being arrested early Friday morning.

Hartline was taken into custody outside a Lexington bar and was charged with second-degree disorderly conduct, alcohol intoxication in a public place and failure to notify the department of transportation of an address change.

After news of the arrest got to head coach Joker Phillips he went on to suspend Hartline from what would be his last game in a Wildcats uniform.

“Mike Hartline has had a good record here conduct-wise, and I regret that this happened,” Phillips said. “I really hate that it happened because of what he did, leading this program to our fifth straight bowl, and he’s done a great job at that. But we have clear expectations for how we want our players to act and for them to behave.”

This has been a big blow to the Wildcats going into the BBVA Compass Bowl without Hartline. He started all 12 of Kentucky’s games this season and put up some of his best numbers in senior season. So far on the year he is ranked sixth in the SEC and 24th nationally, in pass efficiency. Hartline also lead the Cats to a 6-6 record.

Since Hartline will not be allowed to play the Cats will look to Sophomore Morgan Newton to take the reins and lead them to a victory. Newton has thrown seven successful passes on season and will be expected to get the start.

The Wildcats will take the field on January 8 against Pittsburgh who has had problems of their own in the firing of former head coach Dave Wannsted after six seasons there.

After Long Day Sox Sign Gonzalez

December 5, 2010 may go down as one of the most stressful but exciting days for fans of the Boston Red Sox. This is the day that the biggest trade in recent history went down sending first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox by trade but it almost didn’t happen.

All trade talks began on Saturday saying that Gonzalez had been traded from the San Diego Padres for three of Boston’s top minor league prospects, which included Casey Kelly a right-handed pitcher and was considered there top prospect. It was said the only way the deal would go through was if Gonzalez, who is coming into his final year of his contract, was willing to sign a contract extension allowing him to skip free agency and become of a long term member of the team.

The two sides began to negotiate a long term contract with a 2pm ET deadline on Sunday to get a deal complete. Both sides worked long into the night and Red Sox Nation began to worry if a deal would get done. It was said that Gonzalez camp was requesting a six year deal worth $150 million and the Red Sox are not known for signing players over five year deal due to injury or age.

Well the 2pm deadline comes and goes, the fans are nervously waiting to see if a deal had been agreed upon between the two camps.

When a tweet from SI.com’s Jon Heyman came out saying that the “Gonzalez trade had feel thru”. Peter Gammons also added that Gonzalez was leaving Boston on a 4:30 flight and had left a hundred million dollar deal on the table.

At this point the hearts of all Boston fans was broken as some fans were calling for the firing of General Manager Theo Epstein and saying that John W. Henry should sell the team if he wasn’t willing to spend money on winning players. This would be the second time they was unable to finish a deal as they lost in the bidding two years before on first baseman Mark Teixeira to the New York Yankees.

Later in the day as hearts of broken fans sit around to hear from the team sources come out to say what had happened. Rumors began to surface that the two sides was still working on a deal past the deadline deal. This began to bring hope back.
Then at around the 9 pm ET, out of nowhere Heyman sends out a tweet saying that a deal had been completed sending Gonzalez to the Red Sox. This was not the deal Boston had originally wanted and the deal was done without contract extension that they had hoped for.

With all the speculations over of will he or won’t he play in Boston, Monday morning the deal became official in a press conference. Gonzalez said that as a boy his favorite American League team growing up was the Boston Red Sox.
“I’m very excited,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve had five incredible years in San Diego. When I grew up, my whole dream as a kid was to play in the major leagues and be a Padre. My second dream was to be a Red Sox. So, I’m very excited. God has been very, very good to me, and I’m just very excited to start this new phase. I look forward to a lot of world championships.”

Boston fans couldn’t have said it better than that; he is being brought in as a bat that has been missing in the lineup since the trade of Manny Ramirez in 2008.

Since a deal is not in place as of yet he is currently under contract his original contract for one year for a bargain of $5.5 million. It is said that the Red Sox and Gonzalez have common ground and they feel that a deal can be done at a later date. Some believe that a deal will not come from the Red Sox until after Opening Day so to avoid any luxury taxes on the 2011 pay roll.

So now that it is all said and done Gonzalez will take the field on April1, 2011 as the starting first baseman for the Red Sox, the fans can now be excited for the future of the team and no longer be calling for Epstein’s head because of his success.

Lee Leads Rangers to First Series Win

Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers win the ALDS and franchise first series win, against the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1. This was also the first season in which the road team won every game.

Coming into the game the series was tied at two games apiece and with the being the deciding game both teams had their ace on the mound; Cliff Lee for the Rangers and David Price for the Rays. Coming into the game Lee had a 3.98 ERA since joining the Rangers and Price had a 2.72 on the season.

Lee came out on top as he threw a complete game. He also struck out 11 men and only gave up six-hits and only allowed one run not allowing a walk. Lee threw 120 pitches 89 of which was strikes and he threw 73% of his first pitches as stirkes. This is his fourth post season game where he struck out at least 10 batters and he also remains undefeated in the post season. When ask his thoughts about the game Lee said:

“It was a lot of fun, I know that much,” Lee said. “We had our back against the wall today and we came out and performed.”

That is exactly what they did the Rangers struck early and off often as they scored one-run in the first, one in the fourth, one in the sixth and two in the ninth. The two runs in the ninth were score off second basemen Ian Kinsler to insure that the Rangers came out on top.

As for the Rays they only scored one run when Ben Zobrist singled into center field to allow Sean Rodriguez to go home. Pitching for the Rays was also a difficulty as they went through four different pitchers but starting pitcher Price went six innings while he struck out six batters and gave up three runs. While closer Rafael Soriano gave up three hits and two runs in the ninth inning alone but the lose goes to Price.

Most teams after winning a series especially the first one in the teams franchise want to celebrate with their teammates with champagne and beer but not the Rangers. Out of respect they wanted to celebrate this as a team with outfielder Josh Hamilton, who sit out the celebration when the team clinched the division because he is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. So out of respect the team celebrated with ginger ale instead of alcohol. Pitcher C.J. Wilson was also able to celebrate with the team as he does not drink as well. The idea was came up with by the equipment manger.

“It was a great idea,” third basemen Micheal Young said. “Josh and C.J. are a big part of our ballclub, and we wanted them to be able to celebrate with us.”
Hamilton was excited to take part in the celebration and said;

“This stuff burns your eyes, too,” Hamilton said. “But for them to adapt the celebration to this, it really says a lot about our organization.”

The team would later celebrate in normal fashion after those two guys left but they wanted to show the respect to wait.

With the Rangers winning this game they will move on to face the New York Yankees on Friday at 8:00 PM at home in the ALCS. The starting pitchers for this game will be C.C. Sabaitha for the Yankees and Wilson will take the mound for the Rangers.

Patriots Trade Moss Back to Vikings

There has been an extreme change of events that has happened in the last 24 hours. Today I planned to prepare for the MLB playoffs but I check my phone on the way to class to see that the New England Patriots have traded future Hall of Famer Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings for a third-round draft pick.

The drama with Moss started after the week one game when he addressed the media for the first time to discuss wanting a new contract with New England. Which lead to a meeting to discuss his actions with head coach Bill Belicheck and Moss giving an apology interview with the Boston media. This was the beginning of the end of his time with team, which may have lead to his poor performance on the field and his extremely poor performance in the Monday night game on ESPN this could have been the last straw for the team who was willing to give him away for nothing but a draft pick which could be key as that makes the team have eight draft picks in the 2011 draft two per round in the first through fourth rounds.

This will be Moss seconded stint with the Vikings who have had a poor season at this point in the season as they are 1-2 on the season coming off of the bye-week this should be a huge Improvement for the team as it will give quarterback Brett Farve a new target in the back field which could be what the team as they have several players with injury some that keeps them off the field for the season and some that just prevents practice so this is a relief for the Vikings.

This could be an exciting but rare midseason trade in which Moss will get to meet up with his former team on Halloween night.

Madness is Here in the Bluegrass

It's that time of the year in Kentucky the leaves are changing colors and the temperature is starting to drop and what does that mean? That means it is time for basketball season to start in the bluegrass as big blue nation has set up camp at the Joe Craft center on the UK campus waiting for their shot at tickets to the biggest basketball event in Lexington to true blue fans Big Blue Madness.

Big Blue Madness is the first official practice of the season and will be part of an ESPNU event this year. It has been a record breaking event for the school in the past and they are excepting it again for the event. Tickets are available tomorrow morning at 7 am and will be gone extremely quick so it's a battle for the fan to get the ticket but it is well worth it end.

I have been lucky enough to attend the event three times in my life and it is one of the most exciting events for a fan in how it is put together. The team looks at this as a way of honoring the faithful fans giving them a good show and preparing them for a winning season and it is never disappointing the fans that show up. They do different things to wow the crowd some include bringing back a former player the fans love to take part sometimes a dunk contest they actively involve the fans and they always add something new to wow the crowd.

The team has been involving the fans all week by stopping by as signing autographs for the fans and even stopping by early in the morning to deliver them a warm breakfast from the teams official sponsor McDonalds it a special event all Kentucky fans should experience once in their life as a fan I hope to try my luck at the Holy Grail of tickets tomorrow wish me luck I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Closers Blow It But the Yankees Still Win

The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees meet up for an interesting extra inning matchup. In a game where both closers receive blown saves but the Red Sox fall short 4-3.

It looked to be a great night for the Red Sox as they came into the game with a chance to go for the sweep. The Red Sox came out in the third inning with an early one run lead with a Victor Martinez RBI to right field which allowed Bill Hall to run home.

Red Sox starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka came out with one of his best outcomes of the season. He pitched 8.0 innings giving up four hits, seven strike outs, one walk and a two run homer to Alex Rodriguez in the seventh inning. To give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

While the Yankees give Phil Hughes the start in a game in which he was going to be skipped. Hughes had a decent game with 6.0 innings pitched, three hits, four walks and one earned run.

The Red Sox forced the Yankees to bring out there closer Mariano Rivera to come in the eighth inning for a quick out, but the ninth wasn’t a normal outing for Rivera as he allowed four key walks. Two walks to Kalish and Two walks for Hall, both of which would lead to two runs scored to give the Sox a one run lead going in to the bottom of the ninth and his fifth blown save.

With a one run lead the Red Sox bring out Jonathan Papelbon to come in and get the save and give Matsuzaka his 10th win of the season but he would blow it for his eighth blown save. He would give up a run to Eduardo Nunez on a Robinson Cano RBI.
With the game being tied 3 all going in to the bottom of the tenth inning, Sox bring Hideki Okajima who would give up a bases loaded walk-off walk to Marcus Thames which would lead to a Juan Miranda run for a 4-3 victory.

Winning pitcher for the Yankees is Logan (2-0) and Okajima (4-4) would receive the L.

Remembering Nine Years Later

I feel today is a day to take a break from sports talk and talk about the importance of today. Take time to remember and honor those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks that happened 9 years ago today. As many we remember where we were on that day, I will never forget. I was seating in my high school freshman English class on the front row, I was supposed to reading the book To Kill a Mocking Bird but I had dozed off when my teacher gets off the phone and runs to put the television on and screams the World Trade Center has been hit by a plane. I can remember being confused about what was happening and scared of what this would bring for our future as a country. I can remember being glued to the television and seeing the rest of the horrible acts that happened throughout the rest of the day including the attacks on the pentagon and the bravery of flight 93. To this day I still think about it daily as we see our troops fighting the war against terrorism and how it has affected our country and still does daily.

I remember how as a country we joined together and united for the common good of our country, that we wasn’t republicans or democrats but that we was Americans. This was an important scene to show our enemy that no matter what they do to us we will remain strong and join together. An important image I can remember is when former President George W. Bush went to visit ground zero and spoke with the volunteers that were helping find survivors it was an important image for our country. He spoke through a bull horn so everyone could hear this image will always stick with me as well as this one line he said.

“I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people—and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”

All important events were put on hold including sports in fear of another attack to our citizens but we found out that sports are important to hold us together. An important day to our country was on Sept. 18, 2001 one week after the attacks on America, the New York Yankees took the field against the Chicago White Sox. The people was excited to be getting back to normal why the players had no idea why they was about to take the field.

“When we started playing, I didn’t see the sense of it.” New York Yankee Bernie Williams said. “We were playing games and resuming our season, and it seemed ridiculous to me”

“It started making sense when I saw the faces of people who lost loved ones, people who needed something to take them away for a few minutes and see something else,” he added. “We helped bring some sense of normalcy to the whole thing.”

The people of this country needed something to be excited about even if it is sports, it gives us something to look forward to and it was something to heal the city of New York. When the Yankees took the field that night they wasn’t representing the team the was representing the city and they didn’t wear their traditional NY hat they had on NYPD and NYFD hats in honor of the men and women who gave their lives to help and those who was still working to find survivors at ground zero. I recall watching this game not thinking the Yankees are killing the Red Sox in the division, I was thinking of the pride this meant for the city of New York to rise about this day but not forget about what happened to show that you can blow up one of our building but you cannot kill our spirit. We as Americans needed a distraction that sports were able to give us. We used sports to not only help us think about something other than the loss of our countrymen but as a way of honoring the people who died and saying that they did not die in vain.

The acts of 9/11 will always be a sad day in American history that we will feel the effects of this day for years to come but as we will never forget the images of that day. I’ll close with a quote from President Bush.

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last calls, the funerals of the children.”

We will never forget!

Bad Day for Brady Turns Into Payday

Most people would think they were having a really bad when it started with a car accident. But for Tom Brady it seems like nothing bad can happen, as He started his day yesterday with a minor car accident. At around 6:30 AM on Thursday morning Brady was leaving his home in an Audi S8, which happened to be a loaner, when he was smashed in to by a 21 year old driver which a pretty poor driving record. Brady would walk away from this with no major injuries and managed to keep a low profile while doing it.

Unlike most people who have been in a car accident most people would lay around most of the day or go to the emergency room and get checked out, not Brady. He continued his day as usual as he arrived at practice a little late but made the team meeting and went through the normal practice routine with full pads as scheduled for the day. According to his teammates it was as if nothing had ever happened Brady completed his passes as normal and everything went as scheduled.

As if Tom Brady wasn’t enough of a superman at this point for making it through a car accident unharmed and showing up to practice. It was reported that Friday morning Brady will receive a four-year deal worth $72 million with $48.5 million guaranteed money. This contract makes Brady the highest paid yearly player, this will probably last until Peyton Manning signs his new deal.

This is not a bad way to end a day that started so awful, if getting in a car accident makes me $72 million sign me up. Brady and the New England Patriots will open there season on Sunday at 1PM eastern time against the Bengals.

2010 NFL Projections

I have taken the last couple of days to put together my 2010 NFL projections grant it I’m in no way or form an NFL expert but I thought I’d throw my two-cents in the bucket. First off I will say I didn’t use any of the pre-season games to come up with this mainly because I feel that pre-season is a joke. I used last season’s results and how much the teams have changed since that point in their off-season activities. Let’s take a look at this at the end of the regular season and see how I did; now here are the teams broken down by conference. I may come back later this week if I have time to explain why I feel which teams will do what.

AFC EAST
New York Jets 12-4
New England Patriots 9-7
Miami Dolphins 9-7
Buffalo Bills 3-13

AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens 11-5
Cincinnati Bengals 10-6
Pittsburg Steelers 9-7
Cleveland Browns 2-14

AFC SOUTH
Indianapolis Colts 12-4
Houston Texans 10-6
Tennessee Titans 8-8
Jacksonville Jaguars 6-10

AFC WEST
San Diego Chargers 11-5
Kansas City Chiefs 8-8
Denver Broncos 6-10
Oakland Raiders 5-11

NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys 10-6
New York Giants 9-7
Philadelphia Eagles 8-8
Washington Redskins 7-9

NFC NORTH
Green Bay Packers 11-5
Minnesota Vikings 10-6
Chicago Bears 7-9
Detroit Lions 2-14

NFC SOUTH
New Orleans Saints 12-4
Atlanta Falcons 7-9
Carolina Panthers 6-10
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2-14

NFC WEST
San Francisco 49ers 10-6
Seattle Seahawks 9-7
Arizona Cardinals 7-9
St. Louis Rams 2-14

Garza Makes No-Hit History

If you are a fan of pitching then you must love the 2010 season. Pitchers have dominated both leagues as we have saw two perfect game, an imperfect game and with tonight’s no-hitter by Matt Garza three no-hitters. Garza became the Tampa Bay Ray to perform this act in the franchise short existence in a 5-0 win over the Tigers. This game was truly a pitcher duel as there was no hit in the game until the sixth inning when Matt Joyce comes up to the plate with bases loaded and hits a grand slam, to break up a no hitter for Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer. Garza also got help from outfield Carl Crawford when he hit a solo homerun in the eighth inning. Garza made his way in to history with six strike outs and one walk that came in the second inning. Garza had a lot of help from the defense of the team to lead him in to the history books from the outfield with two great plays. The Rays feel great that they are on the winning side of a no-hitter as they have been on the losing side twice this season. Now that the Rays have got the no-no under their belt, it leaves two teams without this joy and those teams are the New York Mets and the San Diego Padres. I look forward to seeing what else this 2010 season has to bring and see if it continues to be the Year of the Pitcher.

The Streak is Over

For the last thirteen years the American League has came to the All-Star game and dominated the event. Not this year as the National League finally picks up a win in the midsummer classic. The game was a true showing of this year’s baseball being known as the year of the pitcher as the NL’s arms held the AL to only one run as the National League went on to win 3-1.

The AL came out in the fifth inning when Evan Longoria scored the first run of the game and what would be the only run for the AL. The Lead did not last for long as Braves catcher Brian McCann came in to a bases loaded opportunity when he came up with a bases clearing double and three run RBI. As these was the only three runs for NL and that’s all it took to win.

The American League thought that they had a chance in the ninth when David Ortiz (the winner of last night home run derby) comes up with a lead off base hit single off of Jonathan Broxton. As things seemed to be looking up Papi’s Red Sox team Adrian Beltre comes up to bat and strikes out. So with one out in the bottom of the ninth you would think that you would send in a pinch runner for one of the lowest runners in baseball but they left Ortiz out there which would come back to bite them. As Catcher John Buck gets a base hit in right field that would lead to Ortiz getting a force out at second base. With two down Broxton faces Ian Kinsler and Kinsler can’t get it done which leads to the National League win. The winning pitcher for the game was Matt Caps and the save went to Broxton. Of course the winner of the MVP award was McCann who lead to all the runs that was scored for the NL.

The only thing that I don’t understand about this game is the balancing of players by Joe Girardi. Why would you not keep players for the ninth inning in a close game so that you have options? When it came down to need a pinch runner all he has on the bench is Alex Rodriguez, who never entered the game. I feel if he left some bench players and gave himself some better option there may have been a different ending to this game. But there wasn’t and the National League wins the game and wins the home field advantage for the team that wins the NL Pennant.

The Boss has Passed

This morning the game of baseball has lost one of its more powerful faces, George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner passed away at the age of 80 at his Tampa home. Steinbrenner was known to most baseball fans as “The Boss” and the owner of the New York Yankees. Most people hated his team but always respected the way he ran it; he was one of the most powerful owners in sports. The man changed the way that organizations got players as he always strived for the best and wanted the best for his organization. He changed the way of free agency and how much players would be worth, always making sure he got who he wanted for his franchise. But he always pushed the players to get what he wanted out of them as he would do this in the media to their face or however it took to get the point across. The players respected him and would always show him that in all times. George built his organization around the idea of winning and winning he did. His Yankees won 11 pennants and 7 World Series titles. He also turned them in to a brand when he created the YES network and putting his all-stars out there made millions off of them. The Boss went out on top his team is the current World Champs, they have the best record in baseball at this point in the season, and 8 of his players made the All-Star team I feel all of this is fitting for the exit of the Boss. You will be missed by baseball!

Big Papi Swings for the Heavens

The Boston media is sticking a sock in their mouths right now when it comes to David Ortiz, in the early months of the season Big Papi had a slow start to season. The media was calling for his head saying he was too old, his bat was slow and that he was washed up. Last night Ortiz showed them who was in charge while he won State Farm Home Run Derby at Angels Stadium . Ortiz was one of eight players with four players from each league.

In the first round David hit eight homers which helped him to advance to the second round in the derby; he was the third player to advance, while he was joined by Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart and Hanley Ramirez. There was a poor showing for Cabrera who is leading the league in homers and in path to winning a triple crown and Hart showed good in the first round knocking out 13 homers but put a big goose egg up in the second round. Ortiz put up 13 in the second round to put him at 21 homers to tie him with former Red Sox minor leaguer Ramirez for them to advance to the final round.

In the final round of the event Ortiz out shined his former apprentice while he tied the most home runs in a final round with 11 to make him the first Red Sox player to ever win the home run derby crown.

This was a fun family event which is put on for the fans; all the players had their kids on the field with them including big papi himself. Ortiz asked to participate in the derby because he wanted to put on a show for the fans and that it was for them. He called Ramirez like a son to him that he watched him grow up while he played in Boston in the minor league system. This event looked like fun for all the players and looked to raise the spirits of the Boston players as Dustin Pedroia was there filming him and of them was excited to see their Designated Hitter was having fun representing them in the derby.

David Ortiz 32 home runs put him third in most home runs in the derby in his first win. This puts him a total 68 home runs all time in the event he follows only future hall of famer Ken Griffey Jr. who only leads him by two home runs and he is the only player to win three derbies. This has been a fun to see these All-Star sluggers in action but all the true action continues tonight in the 81st All-Star game which will decide who has home field advantage in the World Series.

The Chosen One Chose a Team

2010 has brought on the biggest NBA Free Agency class in history; the most wanted prize of the class was Lebron James. Lebron has played his first seven season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he was drafted the number one pick. He is a six time all-star and is one of three players to win back to back MVP awards. He had six different teams begging for him to join him to join their franchise but ultimately He decided to pack up his bags and head to south beach to start a dynasty in Miami for the Heat. LeBron has teamed up two other great Free Agents in Dewayne Wade and Chris Bosh all joining together to hopefully put a ring on their hand. D-Wade has already one championship under his belt with the Heat that he won with Shaq. LeBron says that he chose the Heat because it was in his best interest to win the championship. He was ask if it would have been better to win in Cleveland than it would in Miami and he says a ring is a ring it will be good no matter where he wins. So with all this being said it has been a long wait for all the fans of basketball, some people care some don’t but it affects everyone. If he stays in Cleveland he would have received a lot of money but may have never won the chip. If he went to New York he would have a lot of endorsements offers that he won’t have in other places and would have made a lot of money. He could have went to play for his favorite childhood team in Chicago but in the end he decided it was best to take less money and play with his friends and win a ring.

Ridin' the Rail to the Roses

It was an exciting but very rainy first Saturday of May, as they ran the 136th Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky at Churchill Downs. The day was full of some exciting races but none was as exciting as the main event with the field of 20 horses in the “most exciting 2 minutes in sports”. It was a wide field of owners of these fine animals from a group of everyday people from Kentucky, to baseball manager Joe Torre, to politician Jack Conway. This race shows that anyone can have a chance at owning one of the fastest and most beautiful horses in the sport of kings. The race began around 6:30 PM when the jockeys hop on their horses for an exciting ride but before starting they hear the state song “My Old Kentucky Home” which brings a tear to the jockeys and all Kentuckians. This is their super bowl their moment of greatness.

The story coming in to the derby was the record of horse trainer Todd Pletcher, who coming in to the race had not won with 24 different horses prior to this year’s run. Some people start to wonder about his ability to train a horse to get them ready for the derby, he is a great trainer and had horses win other stakes races but never the big one. This year his luck had changed at Super Saver made his way in to the winning circle with now three time derby winner Calvin Borel upon his back, this was also the first win for the Winstar Farm group.

How did Super Saver make it to be the one horse with the roses around its neck? Well Super Saver got a great jump out of the gate has he moves to the inside rail and seats in fourth place up until about the one mile mark as he passes only one horse and all of a sudden Borel kicks into another gear as he does like last he rides the rail to win. Borel has made a name himself as being a jockey who loves to ride the inside rail but he is also puts in the work. He works seven days a week at Churchill Downs watching horses and preparing for the run for the roses. He becomes the first Jockey to ever win three derby races in four years, and he says that this is his year to win the Triple Crown. He was one race away from being the first jockey to win the Crown on two different horses last year. I will him the best of luck in the Preakness Stakes race in Baltimore, Maryland on the 1 and 3/16th mile race on May 15th.

Defense and Pitching or Offense and Offense? We got it all

What are the 2010 Boston Red Sox team are they a team of defense and pitching or are they an offensive team? Well at the start of the season everyone including the General Manager Theo Epstein was preaching that this season would be all about defense and pitching and then you have your fans who still believe the sox can be an offensive team. Well the past two days the sox have shown both one night we have poor pitching on the mound but we are slugging like crazy and the next day our bats was asleep but they proved they can win with both.

On Monday night our “ace” Josh Beckett took the mound against the jays, who he has struggled against in the past and it would not be any different. Beckett gave up nine hits, and eight runs in three innings pitched. He was only one of seven pitchers that made and appearance in a game that the final score was 13-12 with a Red Sox victory. The Bats was alive as the Sox had five players have a three hit game the best of the season. The red sox was lead by their off the bench captain Jason Varitek as he went 3-5 with 4 RBI and scored two runs for the sox. This was also his first three hit game before now full time catcher Victor Martinez joined the team. The Sox defense was not the best in this game but it didn’t give up any errors so you can’t really complain there.

Now Tuesday night’s game was completely different as starting pitcher Clay Buchholtz showed up to play and did just what the skipper wanted him to do pitch. This was truly a game of pitching and defense from the lowest paid starter on the staff. As he pitched eight innings of great baseball to only give up one run even though he did give up seven hits the defense helped him out. Buchholtz gave up his one run to the leadoff hitter for the Jays in the first inning and he threw shut out baseball after that it looked like the true ace of the staff. As for offense in this game well there wasn’t much as there was only two runs that crossed home plate as one was David Ortiz who was batted in by Jeremy Hermida and a pinch hit walk by Mike Lowell for Ortiz in the top of the eighth with two outs to bring home Dustin Pedroia. The bats were not great but they weren’t awful as we had seven hits as a team but we left 16 men stranded on base. With our bullpen stressed to the max and no one to call on in the ninth inning the skip had to call Ramon Ramirez to the mound to finish the game, which before Tuesday only had one major league save in his career. Ramirez surprisingly came in and successfully received the save with the help of the defense.

So with all of this being said who are the Red Sox this season? I feel it is still too soon to put a title on them just yet because they have showed some nights they can have a slug fest and all the bats are in order, then some nights it will be a classic pitcher’s duel. One thing is for certain if the bats and the pitching show up on the same night I feel sorry for whomever they facing that night, because this Sox team has showed it can be great.

Shipping up to Boston

It is good to be a Boston sports fan right now, with two of the teams in the play-offs and you have the Red Sox finally winning a few games. You have the Celtics being really hot going 3-0 so far against the Heat, with the possibility of a sweep. The Bruins are 3-2 over Buffalo, so they are still in the mix for a chance at the Stanley Cup. Then you have the Sox who are off to a slow start with a 7-10 start but they have won a few walk off wins in the past week. So there is a lot of great stuff for Boston sports fan to look forward with these great series going on.

The Boston Celtics are on a hot streak and they are on their way to a first round sweep over Dewayne Wade and his Miami Heat team. The Celtics won game one was a close one but the C’s pull out a win in a very heated game as veteran leader Kevin Garnett out ejected from the game for throwing an elbow which lead to a game to suspension during Game two of the play offs. The Celtics was lead during that game Paul Pierce with 16 points in an 85-76 win. Game two was a different story the Celtics come out ready to play without Garnett with Glen “big baby” Davis filling his spot on the floor. Ray Allen and cast came out to play as they lead the last three quarters of the game as they walked away with a 106-77 win. Allen had 25 points to lead the team in points. Then you get to last night battle which was the heats best chance at winning as the C’s only won by two points with a 100-98 last second victory made possible by Pierce who made a 21-foot shot to win the game. Pierce was the leading scorer again in game three with 32 points. So the Celtics hope to wrap up the series on Sunday and start to prepare for round two of the NBA play-offs.

The Boston Bruins are looking to make it farther in the quest for the Stanley Cup. The Bruins lost game one to the Sabres 2-1, the Sabres scored one of their two goals in the first period and one in the second period but the B’s scored a goal in the second trying to come back but come up short. The Bruins came back in game two to win 5-3, the Bruins started off slow as they gave up two goals in the first period and one in the second but that would be all that they allow. The B’s went to score two goals in the second and three in the third. The B’s won game three 2-1 putting up one goal in both the first and third period to win. Game four was the long one as it went in to double overtime as Boston pulled a come from behind to tie the game 2-2 in the third period and it took two long overtimes to pull off the win. Game five was lost by the Bruins as the Sabres outscored Boston 4-1. This has been an exciting series and the Bruins get another chance to look up a second round spot with a win on Monday.

The Red Sox have had a poor start this season with the injury of not one but two out fielders and poor pitching and defense. Which is what GM Theo Epstein said would be what lead the team this season. With two injured players it gave a chance to call up two outfielders from the Paw Sox, one of those players was Josh Reddick and Darnell McDonald. At the start of the Texas series people was asking who the heck is McDonald, well they found out in a big way as he hit a home run in his first at bat as a member of the Red Sox and also hit the game winning RBI in the ninth. McDonalds bat was a much needed thing for the Sox as it seemed to be a rebirth of the team for the season. In game two J.D. hit a grand slam and McDonald hit another home run and the game ended in a walk off by Kevin Youkilis. Then last night against the Orioles David Oritz bat finally decided to wake up after being pitch hit for earlier in the week he got his first home run of the year. We can only hope that this week’s games will be a turnaround point for the rest of the season but the pitching will have to be better for that to happen. The bullpen is losing games for starters and the starters are staying in too long and giving up to many runs. The Red Sox are finally starting to look like the team I know they can be this week.

So Boston Fans enjoy the play offs and the rest of the Red Sox series and hopefully they can end their season in the play offs as well.

Big Problems for the Steelers

First I want to start this by saying that I do not mean for this blog to be gossip blog but I would like to touch on the issues with the Steelers. I really want to talk about Ben Roethlisberger and the Georgia DA that decided not to press chargers. For those in the world who have been under a rock ill update you on what has happened. On Roethlisberger’s past birthday he was bar hoping in some Georgia night clubs where, he meet up with a female college student invited her to his VIP section and according to the victim she was sexually assaulted in the bathroom of the night club. An investigation was conducting and gave to the District Attorney who yesterday said no charges would be pressed. As a criminal justice major in college I agree with the reasons for not pressing charges that there is not enough evidence to convict. I am paraphrasing but he said his job is to convict on crimes not on morals, which is the truest statement I have ever heard.

But back to the Steelers, there are talks that they are going to suspend him and not give the commissioner a chance to suspend. The Rooney family has always been known to be a classy organization but do you really think that putting your best player on the bench is the smartest move when you didn’t make the play offs the year before? I just feel if you want to punish him for his moral actions that seem to be happening on a regular basis then do it within the organization, fine him or something like that but removing him from the field isn’t the best move for the team. I am one of those fans who do not care what you do in your personal life all I care for is what you do when you play the game. Big Ben has been the face of the organization and has brought home two super bowl rings, last year was not the team’s season but they had a comeback the last couple of games in the regular season.

Another point I want to bring up, What in the hell was the Rooney’s thinking when they traded the MVP of the Super Bowl just two years ago Santonio Holmes, to the New York Jets for a fifth round draft pick. Yet again this is a guy with poor moral character but he is an outstanding athlete on the field. Last season his numbers was up from his super bowl year. Holmes had some off the field charges from drugs to assault which will lead to a 4 game suspension from the league that the Jets are going to have to deal with in the 2010 season. So in a way I understand trading him but you just gave him away when all you are getting is a fifth round draft pick from him because in most cases that is going to be someone who is let go before training camp is over. I would have been trying to find someone to replace him with or tried to get a first or second round pick for him which is honestly probably to much to ask for his drama that he will cause for your locker room but his playing ability is worth it.

I feel that this is going to be a tough year for the Steelers because they are going to have to find another wide receiver that can feel Holmes shoes and if they follow through with the suspension of big Ben they are going to be putting two big games on the shoulders of your back up quarter back and is he ready for that? I don’t know but I guess we will just have to wait and see how things work out for the team and hopefully these acts don’t cost them the play offs.

Roethlisberger's statement

The Jersey says it all C U KY

Well now that the season is over it is that time that all Wildcat fans hate to hear about, the NBA draft. This season the cats have had a very talented team full of freshmen talent and most of those freshmen feel they are talented enough to enter the draft after one year. The university’s athletics website put out yesterday that five wildcats put their name in to the draft those players include four freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton as well as Junior Patrick Patterson, who will graduate in 3 years so good for him. So this team of one and done players are said to go in the first round.

Can I say I’m surprised about this? Well, I’m not surprised that Wall, Cousins and Patterson are leaving but I am surprised that Bledsoe and Orton are leaving early. Bledsoe is a very streaky player at least he was at Kentucky and only averaged 11.3 points a game on the year which are not NBA numbers in my book. He showed to be a true freshman when the game was on the line and I feel if he had one more year under Coach Cal that he could be a great point guard and may be useful in the pros as of right now I feel he is not ready.

Now for Orton I feel going to the draft is going to be something that he will regret, he is looking at the dollar signs and not the fact that he will be a bench player as he was at Kentucky. Orton is a very immature player who might have averaged at least one goal tending charge in every game, he just doesn’t use his best judgment when trying to block shots and I just feel he isn’t ready. Orton is a freshman who was a sixth man for the cats who did not play his senior year of high school basketball due to injury and it showed on the court. He only averaged 3 points a game on the year, mainly because he followed Cousins and only got playing time when Cousins was in foul trouble or running his mouth. I feel he needed at least two more years under a good coaching staff to prepare to be ready for the tough play in the NBA, he is a poor defensive player but hey who plays defense in the pros, he may fit in.

Now my thoughts on players I knew would be gone. Wall would have been a number one out of high school if the one year out of high school rule had not been put in to place. Wall’s speed is better than any Kentucky player I have saw in my lifetime, his knowledge of the game is so much high then his age. He is just an outstanding point guard that will fit the player of the NBA better than most because of his ability to run the ball up the floor and score. I feel Wall will go over all number one and will fit in great.

Cousins is just a man beast that is the best way I can put it. He can score under the double team which he will not see when is in the pros because well there is no defense played there. Sorry I’m a hater of the defense in the NBA but that is for another day. If John Wall was not on the team I feel that DeMarcus Cousins could have been the freshmen of the year in NCAA. He is just a great player but he does need to grow up some and learn to keep his mouth shut when he gets poor calls against him and be a little bit more careful when he is playing and getting easy fouls but he will be a great player in the league.

I saved Patterson for last because I feel he is most ready for the big leagues. He stayed an extra year when he found out Coach Cal was going to be the coach this season. He improved his three point game by a 100 times because well he had no three point game under Billy Gillispie. Everyone knew he could play in the paint but he proved that he is a more overall player this past year. They was trying to make him or appealing to the scouts more of a Blake Griffin style player (lets hope he has better luck).

So with this being said I am proud of the Year that they gave to Kentucky and wish them the best of Luck in the future. Getting ready for the next batch of one and done players in the bluegrass.

Dancin' Their Way To the Sweet 16

Well it is a sweet time to be a basketball fan in the state of Kentucky, as both the men’s and women’s teams have reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. This is the first time the men have made it to the round of 16 since 2005 and the first time the women have done it since the expansion of the field in the tournament. This is the first time in my life that I can remember this happening, both teams start there seasons together with big blue madness can they end the season together as national champ? I think this may be asking a lot for Coach Matthew Mitchell and his Hoops team since they have never done it. Both of these teams spoiled wildcat fans as both the men and women was perfect at home, how many schools can say that both of their programs can do that.

These teams took way different paths to get there as the men’s cats team started the season expected to win, while the women hoops team was expected to have a good year but not as great as they have both teams started the seasons winning 13 straight and both beat in state rival Louisville, but they are not the same the Cats are 34-2 on the season the a number one seed in the tournament. While the hoops went 27-7 to be a number four seed in the tourney. The Cats have plowed over their opponents while the hoops had a couple close games verses Liberty and Michigan State but they looked good doing it.

These teams also have some things in common as they both have the SEC player of the year in John Wall and Victoria Dunlap, as well as SEC freshman of the year with DeMarcus Cousins and A’dia Mathies. So this year’s teams showed they are in the top of the SEC, I’m excited to see what happens as both of these teams finish the big dance.

Cats pull out the SEC Chip!

Wow! That is really all I can say about the South Eastern Conference (SEC) tournament outcome, it included everything you could ask for. As the Kentucky Wildcats lead by freshman John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins defeat Mississippi State in overtime for the schools 26th SEC tournament championship, Kentucky also won the regular season SEC championship as well.

This tourney was a challenge for the cats from the start as they received a first round bye and faced Alabama in a game were the cats struggled in the first half and went in to half time down by five, but the second half was a different story. Whatever Coach Cal told them in the locker room at the half worked as they come out to win the game as they pulled out a 73-63 point win over the tide. The leading scorer of game one was Wall with 23 points as he stepped up big in this game. Junior Patrick Patterson showed his leadership skills to have 20 points and four rebounds.

Game two of the weekend the wildcats faced there boarder state rival Tennessee Vols, the cats and the vols split the regular season as UT awarded Kentucky one of their two losses this season. The neutral court played in the cats favor as the town was painted blue with wildcat fans. Coach Cal pushed the point of play as hard as you can the first five minutes of each half and you will win the game and He also told his players if you don’t take the open shot you’re going to be on the bench and these two things pushed Kentucky to a 74-45 win. There is bad blood between these two teams and the coaches so it was a very physical game that included 2 sets of technical fouls and an ejection of a Tennessee player. The wildcats lead this game from the tip as Kentucky took a 32-19 lead at the half were coach call said I want to win by 25 points, well he got his wish. Cousins went to get his 19th double-double of the year with 19 points and 15 rebounds in a game controlled by freshmen as Eric Bledsoe scored 17 points and Wall put up 14.

With these two wins they advance to the championship game were they went on to win 75-74 in overtime over Miss. St. Today was Patterson’s 21st birthday and he wanted to bring home the title for that as he came out of the gate scoring four of his 15 points in the first few minutes of the game. The cats trialed at the half 31-35 but they came out playing a lot better half a pep talk from the coach but they just couldn’t finish it in the second 20 minutes as Cousins hits a shot with one tenth of a second left on the clock to send them in to over time. Overtime was control by Wall as he hit a key 3-point shot to put the cats in control. Wall finished the game with 17 points, eight assist and seven rebounds, and Cousins finished the game with a double-double 10 points and 10 rebounds.

John Wall was awarded the MVP of the tournament and him as well as cousins made the all tourney team. The cats will celebrate this win for a little while as they wait out to see where they place in the NCAA tournament bracket. They are thought to be the number two over all in the tournament which would give them a number one seed in the east more than likely. We don’t have long to wait to find out where they will place as the selection show begins at 6:00 pm eastern time.

Thank You Nomar!

Today is a sad and joyful day for members of Red Sox Nation, as this morning Nomar Garciaparra signed a one day minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox, so that he could retire as a member of the team. Garciaparra was the first round draft pick of the 1994 draft for the Red Sox coming out of Georgia Tech and this began his journey into the major leagues. Nomar played 14 seasons in major league nine of which he played with the sox and he stated late in 2009 that He would like to retire in a Red Sox uniform which he got a chance to do today.

Nomar was the 1997 American League rookie of the year, during that season he had a .306 batting average in 153 games that year he also lead the league in at bats, hits and triples. He is a six time All-star and started in the 1999 All-star game at Fenway Park, He also won two AL batting titles. He was loved by fans in Boston because of his love for the franchise, the team and most importantly the fans. Nomar took time out of his day to sign autographs every chance he got and he says the things that you need to say to be loved by the fans.

The press conference that took place today was a class act as he seat at the same table with the man who sent him out of Boston, Red Sox General Manger Theo Epstein and other members of the staff. He answered a question about how he felt about leaving the Red Sox the same year that they won the first World Series for the franchise in 86 years.

"I felt like I was there," Garciaparra said. "In Boston there's something greater than an individual player winning a World Series. When I was there I realized there's something bigger than us winning a World Series. It's winning a World Series for these people."

He was awarded a World Series ring by the team in a private ceremony; in Chicago from the team because they felt that He was a part of what got them there.

Nomar to me in my younger day was a symbol of what the Red Sox were, just like when you thought about the Bulls in the early 90’s you thought Michael Jordon. He represented the heart of the team and he had the bat to back it up. I’m glad that he had a chance to retire with this organization and hope to still see him around it in the future. I feel that He was good enough to have his number retired because he was such and influential player during his nine years there and probably one of the best short stops the Red Sox have saw in years.

So what is next for Nomar Garciaparra? He says he plays to take a position at ESPN doing baseball tonight and even calling some games for them, so he isn’t quitting baseball all together. He is just moving from player to media, which he will do great in the media as he has auditioned for several different stations with appearances on the MLB Network and Baseball Tonight in the off season. I wish him the best of luck and can’t wait to see him on ESPN on a daily basis.

A video from today's press conference can be found belong from boston.com

2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad

This has been a beautiful spring weekend here in Barbourville, KY and with spring comes the great game of baseball. The Union College Bulldogs played a three game set against Covenant College in AAC play. The bulldogs’ weekend included a nine inning game that took place on Friday and on Saturday there was a twin-bill of seven inning games.

The Friday game was a game that featured Soph. Brandon Hedrick on the mound and his 11 strike outs that he received in the game and he was one away from tying the program record of 12 strike outs in a game which He has done once this season. Hedrick made it seven innings and gave up two earned runs on two hits and a walk to receive his second win of the season. Now the pitching looked good on Friday but the offence I can’t say the same for because as a team they only had five hits. This is not your traditional Bulldog team that scored five plus runs a game. The biggest help to the team was freshman first baseman Tyler Brake who went 2-4 with two RBI to lead to a Union win with a score of 4-2.

So coming off of a close win game one of a day brought on some worries for the team as they was having issues from the start giving up three runs in the top of the first inning you know that can only bring more trouble. In this game the bats was alive but pitching was the down point as Covenant had 11 hits, ten on senior Adam Snyder who pitched five innings and one on junior Koby Hearn. The bats were alive though as Union put up 11 hits and the team was lead by soph. Donnie Popham went 4-4 with two runs. But late in the game the mood of the game changed when junior catcher Mike Adams got injured making a terrific plate blocking play and had to leave the game. He did not return in the game, which lead to a defeat as Covenant went with a game one win of 8-6.

The second game of the double-header brought new life to the Bulldogs after dropping game two of the series and they wanted to win. The team came to life in the bottom of the second as they put five runs on the board to put them ahead. The bulldogs was lead by Hedrick who was manning third who hit 2-3 with one RBI and Brake who went 2-2 with 3 RBI. The Dogs was putting points on the board often but they were lead by some solid pitching as Senior Matt Modlinski and sophomore Drew Chamberlain. Modlinski went four innings giving up six hits, two walks, two strike outs and three runs. Chamberlain pitched four innings giving up three walks and striking out three batters with no hits to be awarded the win. Union won game two of the double with a score of 9-3 in seven innings.

So the Bulldogs finished the three game series with a 2-1 record and since this was the team’s first AAC match up of the season they are 2-1 in AAC play and 7-6 with all play. This is going to be a down year for the Dogs but I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season works out. For more information on the Bulldogs’ Baseball or other sports you can check that out here.

Athlete of the Week: John Wall

I decided this week I am going to start a new segment that I’ve had in mind for a few weeks now called Athlete of the week. I am going to look over the high lights of the week and season the chosen athlete has accomplished.

This week’s Athlete of the Week is going to be University of Kentucky freshman John Wall. Wall lead the Wildcats to an 80-68 victory over Georgia, were he scored 24 points 3 assist and 1 steal. This freshman star has taken this team by the reigns and become its leader, he is not the leading scorer most nights but he always makes his showing. With the NCAA tournament coming up in a few weeks I feel he will come out and show his true colors to lead his team to the final four. On the season Wall averages 17 points per game, 6 assist and 1 rebound and he is said by some to be the 2010 NBA overall number one draft pick. His leadership skills on the court and his ability to take control of the tempo of the game are why he is this week’s player of the week.

Olympics Gone Wild

The Winter Olympics come every four years it is the chance for the winter athletes to show there skills to world to compete to see who is the best. So far this has been an exciting event for Team USA as they are in the lead for the most medals earned by a country at this point in the games. The games have a little bit of everything for the average fan that isn’t a normal fan of winter games. I am one of these fans before this year Olympic Games I never looked forward to the event because I’m normally just a fan of the Xgames type events. But this year I have followed the games and become a fan of sports I never thought I would follow. I have watched the drama unfold as both the men and women curling team has struggled, in years past this was an event that I would make fun of but now I love it. I have also followed the hockey, being from Kentucky hockey isn’t the most popular sport so I don’t understand a lot of the rules. But I am learning and have enjoyed watching Team USA defeat Canada last night as the Americans won a game that they was supposed to lose to get a bye to move them on in the tournament. As always I watched the snowboarding half pipe competition for the men and watched American’s Shaun White and Scotty Lago medal for the USA.

Snowboarding bronze medalist Lago has brought a lot of unwanted drama to the games as he was had a photo took of him celebrating his win. Celebrating isn’t a bad thing but the act that was going down put his values of a representative from the United States at risk. The paparazzi got a photo of a young lady kissing his bronze medal in an inappropriate place and with his medal her mouth. These actions lead to Lago leaving Vancouver before the closing ceremony and on his own will or so we thought. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, the United States Skiing and Snowboarding Association (USSA) gave him the option of leaving on his own or risking going before an Olympic trial process and risking being ejected from the games. Lago plans to participate in future games so he chose to leave on his own will so he didn’t risk being banned from the games.

Now I am not saying this was not a disrespectful act toward your country and the games itself, but Lago didn’t do anything Illegal. His event was over and would not have been in front of the cameras any more in the event so I feel He should not have been asked or forced to leave the games. He is a young athlete in an extreme sport which brings a different lifestyle to the games that it has not in the past. Lago was acting as any 23 years old would who just won a major sporting event, he apologized for his actions and while the action was distasteful he shouldn’t have been treated the way he was and should have been allowed to stay and enjoy the games which his friends and teammates

Call Me

It was a wild night in Mississippi when the number two ranked Kentucky Wildcats played the Bulldogs of Mississippi State University. The drama started way before tip off could even get tipped, the students from MSU some how received the cell phone number of DeMarcus Cousins and has been calling and sending him text messages for a week, which lead him to play a great game. The Cats also had to play a game in front of the biggest crowd to ever show up at “The Hump” so this was a big game.

The game was a close game from the start and it was also a physical one, which lead to several players taking shots from the free throw line. As a team the Cats made 21 free throws of 31 attempted this is what kept the Cats in the game. This is a very young team who has a desire to win as we saw last night in the overtime victory. It was game with several lead changes and ties with a final score of 81-75. It was a great game for three of the Cats as Cousins, Patrick Patterson, and John Wall all had a double-double, this makes Cousins 17th on the season. Cousins also played most of the second half with four fouls and never fouled out of the game which shows his determination and growth since earlier in the year. This freshman used to wear his emotions on his sleeve which he had trouble doing a month ago.

But as I said this was a wild night in the last seconds of the game the students section went crazy as someone threw a soda on the court which delayed the game so they could clean up the court. While the Cats was leaving the court the danger began as more stuff come flying from the stands and Coach Cal rushed his team off of the court. During a post game interview Cal said “We made plays. We made shots. We made blocks. We did enough to win the game and now we're going to get out of here,” as he rushed off the court to be with his team.

With this win this puts the Cats at 25-1 and they still hold the number one spot in the SEC east. The Cats have today off and they will get back to work on Thursday as they get ready to play on the road against Vanderbilt University on Saturday.

Happy Truck Day 2010

Well Red Sox fans the day is finally here it is truck day the official start of spring to die hard sox fans. Today is the day that Fenway Park gets packed up to send off to Ft. Myers, Florida for the start of spring training, this has become an annual event in Boston. The truck got to Fenway around 6:30 a.m. and they started the work around 7 a.m. and was packed and left out for its journey around noon today.

The lucky company that gets the privilege to transport the items on its journey is New England Household Moving and Storage; this is the 12th year straight that they used them to move the items to Florida. The man behind the truck is Al Hartz he has became a local hero because he has manned the truck all 12 years.

This day brings us closer to the start of spring training with pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb. 18th and with the first full squad work out being Feb. 24th. This is first of many exciting days to come for Red Sox fans.

Photo and Video from Steve Silva / Boston.com

How to make 6 go into 5

Is there such thing as too much pitching? I say no such thing. The reason I bring up this topic is because the Red Sox run a five man pitching rotation but they have six starting pitchers going into spring training. Like I said, there is no such thing as too much pitching as we learned last year with Daisuke Matsuzaka having such a poor season due to injury that he received during the World Baseball Classic last year. Then you had Brad Penny, who is a natural National League pitcher who as we saw last season proved he doesn’t belong in the American League. They also had a short stint which future hall of famer John Smoltz who coming off injury didn’t have much to offer the team. So the team was down the stretch using pitcher Paul Byrd who had been throwing batting practice to his kid’s team all season instead of even going to spring training and didn’t start the season until August. But hopefully all that is in our past.

This season we go into the season with six starting pitchers we have in my opinion three ace pitchers in Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey who all be the number one pitcher. Then we have three pitchers who can feel the four and five spot, in Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz, and the veteran knuckle baller Tim Wakefield.

Who will feel the four and five spot? Well it is reported that Matsuzaka is in great shape as He has been preparing for the season in Arizona and that he will be ready for the season. I feel He will hold the four spot not only because he is ready for the season but also because of his $104 million contract that they don’t want to waste by having him on the bench. Plus we know that he can be a winner when he is healthy he has had an 18 win season in the past so we know he has it in him some were.

So know we move on the youthful Buchholz, last season Buch went 7-4 in 16 starts, with a 4.21 ERA. This will make his fourth season in the majors but I feel this will be his first full season in a Boston Red Sox uniform. He has not yet proved to be a great pitcher but I feel He is growing in to the spot more and more each year. His clam to fame is his 2007 no hitter against the Orioles. Though life time pro winning percentage is below .500 but I feel a full season will help him.

But we also have Wakefield who has gone in front of the press stressing that he deserves a spot in the line up. He is coming off his first all-star season and also coming off of a back surgery. It makes me iffy as to weather he will have a great season or not, He is a knuckleball pitcher which means he is not a consistent with his wins. This will make Tim’s 18th year in the league and his 17th as a member of the Red Sox. He is on a 2 year contract so he is looking upon retirement soon, so should the organization respect him and give him a spot in the retirement? I say yes but if we look back to last year he was so broken down by the all-star break that he had to set out several games. So what should you do allow him to pitch until he gets hurt again or just save him for the second half of the season? I do you think that Wakefield would be happy if he was saved for the second half so what do you do?

I have a solution to this problem we know that the spots 1 through 4 are filled but we have to fill the 5 spot but we have two pitchers and only one spot. I say allow them to share the 5 spot that way Clay can work his way up to becoming a great pitcher of the future that we know he can be, and Wake gets his starts and doesn’t over work his body to allow him to play a whole season. The 5 spot pitch in most cases doesn’t get to pitch in the post season, so it isn’t they are your most important pitcher they are in there to win a game every 5 days. If you share the spot you only have to worry about winning a game every 10 days which will make the body fresher and allow you to work on the mechanics in the off days to allow them to make the win on the days they are called on.

The Red Sox have one of the best starting pitching in all of baseball this season as long as everyone stays healthy. If what they say about pitching wins championships, then this is the year for the Sox.

What a Week!

Wow, what an exciting week for the Kentucky Wildcats. The week for the Cats started with there first number one ranking since the 2002-2003 season, for most teams that would be the highlight of there week but not for coach John Calipari’s team.

On Tuesday, the cats received a call from President Obama congratulating them on outstanding work with the “Hoops for Haiti” telethon with raised over 1.5 million dollars for the people in need in Haiti after the earthquake tragedies that happened recently. Now as you can tell this is high point of most of these kids lives they walk into a game against an unranked South Carolina team thinking that they was going to walk all of over them. Well they were wrong the game cocks showed up to play and they didn’t care that the cats was number one. All that was on the game cocks mind is they wanted to continue there two win streak over the Cats from last season.

So the cats were upset not two full days after being named number one. So you think man that really is an eventful week, well that week isn’t over yet. Saturday the cats took the court at home after that lose with a vengeance that they was going to prove that they deserved to be on top of the polls with a decent game but not a great game against a very hot Vanderbilt team that was on a 10-0 streak coming into Rupp Arena. If all that was not enough they had to play this game with in my opinion one of the best players in the game today in the audience, LeBron James! It is very well known that LeBron and Coach Cal are close friends but who knew that he was also close with freshmen phenom John Wall. James also graced the crowd doing the legendary "Y" that is performed by a fan from the crowd that always happens during the first time out of the second half.

With the all-star on hand you knew they was going to put on a show the Cats put up an 85-72 victory, in which was one of the highest foul count game I have ever watched with 58 fouls. It felt like someone was at the line every other play and this killed the flow of the game. It did not seem to bother the Cats’ freshman DeMarcus Cousins who had his 12th double-double of the season. He lead the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds, he could not be stopped in the paint. This was also a game were junior Patrick Patterson had some what of a bounce back game were he had 12 points and 4 rebounds were He went 3-4 from the 3-point line. I don’t understand him playing so far back on the court but he was very effective from that position on Saturday. Wall also helped the team with 13 points and 9 assist. This was a good game and a game the cats played there hearts out to prove they deserve to be on top.

With that being said they did lose this week so they will more then likely fall out of the top spot and with Kansas have a close victory over Kansas State. I feel that Kansas will regain the top spot. They held the number one spot for nine weeks this season, until getting upset by Tennessee. There is plenty of basketball to be played until march madness comes around and I am excited to see how the rest of the season plays out and what other kind of exciting things are in store for the cats.

Video of LeBron James giving the "Y"