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.