Pitbull likes to party: How to find good trades and free agents in Fantasy Baseball

 What’s Pitbull’s secret?

No, not some deep dark secret about how he’s actually an alien from another planet trying to take over the world by hypnotizing us with repetitive songs, or his nefarious plan to be included in all 1000 channels of Sirius radio ranging from Hits 1 to the Bruce Springsteen channel.  No, I’m talking about Pitbull’s secret song recipe.  OK, let me back up for a second, as I realize that maybe some of you don’t know who Pitbull is.

Nate Montana: Dog and Pony Magic with the 49ers

Living in up to your father's reputation is never easy for any young lad, especially when your dad is a 49er legend, and one of the greatest Quarterbacks in NFL history. Joe Montana shined at Notre Dame and was taken in the 3rd round of the 1979 draft by Bill Walsh and the Niners. It was the beginning of what was to become the greatest dynasty of all time. The 49ers won 4 Super Bowls with Montana at quarterback, and  3 times he was named Super Bowl MVP. Nate Montana now must live under the gigantic shadow cast by his own father, as he dawns the Scarlett and Gold just as his father first did 34 years ago.

The last of the Al Davis old guard is gone. Where do they go from here:

The last of Al Davis old guard is now gone.  Amy Trask resigned last week as CEO of the Oakland Raiders.  The Raiders are officially on a new course. 

While attending Cal Berkeley, Amy Trask became a huge Raiders fan.  Growing up in Brentwood in Los Angeles, she followed the Raiders trek going to law school at USC.  In 1983 Trask became in intern for the Raiders and in 1987 she was hired full time.  Eventually she became the first woman CEO in NFL history when Al Davis hired her in 1997.

Revis & Butthead

You can't polish a turd, Beavis" - Butthead

My outrage over the Darrellle Revis trade  has subsided just enough to write a (somewhat) lucid analysis. I think every Jets fan can add this trade to the laundry list of debacles we carry around like a big green millstone.  We have been wounded on Draft Day time after time. - the Blair Thomas’s and Dwayne Robertson’s and Vernon Gholston’s. 

Darrelle Revis was ointment for those wounds.  The girl you bring home to mama.

Not anymore.  

Replacing Lechler in Oakland

The Oakland Raiders are rebuilding, and recently (due cap reasons) had to let the greatest punter the game has ever seen go. They have made recent strides to doing this with some outstanding acquisitions to the special team’s core. The biggest may be signing outstanding special teams kick returner and wide receiver veteran Josh Cribs .Josh averaged  and excellent 27.4 yards on kick returns with his longest being 74 yards and over  1,000 return yards for the season. Add a nearly 500 more yards and a season longest 60 on punt returns to those numbers. Josh can make an immediate impact to the Raiders Special team’s core.

Michigan State loses WR Recruit Jay Harris

In one of the most unheard of and surprising turns in recent memory, Michigan State WR recruit Jay Harris will not be attending MSU in the fall.  No, not to play at a different school.  Not to play a different sport.  Harris declined his scholarship in order to pursue a rap career.  

For several years, Harris has rapped under the pseudonym Jay DatBull.  He has posted many youtube videos that have amassed thousands of hits, even before this news struck mainstream media.  Take a look at one of his youtube videos. 

Throwback punter Chris Kluwe signs with the Raiders... Politics entersthe NFL.

Minnesota punter Chris Kluwe signs with the Oakland Raiders today. Normally the signing of a punter is buried on the transaction section of any sports website. For a few reasons THIS team signing THIS punter is very different. 

The Mets’ Craig Swan Song

“This is Craig Swan bad for these Mets.”

            Say what you will about longtime WFAN sports commentator Mike Francesa, but he is probably the best in the business at giving the Mets a critical run for their money. And every time they have a big meltdown, be it bullpen or offense related, I wait in earnest to hear what the loudmouth from Long Beach has to say. But now, the wait, and result, are just getting depressing.

The Steelers Have Struggled With Consistency Since 2008

2008 was an epic year of defensive grit and sandlot improvisation that boiled down to a miraculous culmination of last second heroics. It meant 2 rings for our quarterback, 2 rings within 3 years and on our way back to dynasty status, it meant the top of the world, with nowhere else to go but unfortunately down. 2009 was a so-so year of special teams breakdowns, the beginning of the end for our beloved anti-hero psychopath Jeff ’Quadzilla’ Reed, and a fizzling finale of 9 – 7. Perhaps there is such a thing as the ’Superbowl Hangover’. Perhaps such highs will extinguish raw hunger and the want-to to play mistake free football; perhaps it is the bell toll of mediocrity when you begin to buy into your own myth.

For the Red Sox, May is about optimism

​Baseball is a game of ups and downs; that much is indisputable. But in recent times for the Boston Red Sox, it seems like that has been true to the most extreme degree. In 2011, they started (2-10) and ended (7-20) terribly, with a fantastic middle (81-42). Of course, this led to missing the postseason and cleaning house the following winter. 2012 was even worse, with a second half so terrible that its highlight was when Magic Johnson agreed to pay for their garbage (never expected to write that in a baseball article). The Red Sox went 16-42 after the trade deadline, and ended the season with their worst record since 1965.

Jordan Zimmermann Big Reason For Nationals success, MVP at Quarter Mark

 With almost a quarter of the season in the books, there are a few candidates who could be called the Washington Nationals MVP at the quarter mark. Many would argue that the Washington Nationals MVP thus far is second year phenom Bryce Harper, but the player who has proved the most valuable so far has been starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann.

Heat game three breakdown

Lebron got the ball at half-court with 30 seconds remaining in the 1st half. Two Chicago Bulls defenders stood between himself and the basket. Refusing to be deterred by the defenders, Lebron went straight at the smaller of the two, Nate Robinson. The next step happened so quickly even Steve Kerr and Marv Albert needed to watch the replay over a couple times. Lebron spun towards the basket and knocked Nate Robinson out of the way as if he was a rag-doll, not a professional athlete, finishing with an easy layup at the rim. And the foul!

Steelers seeking stability on defensive front

Anchored on the front line by NT Casey Hampton and bookend DEs Kimo Von Oelhoffen and Aaron Smith the dominant 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers defense allowed a stingy 3.4 yards per carry. Von Oelhoffen left for Gang Green pastures following the Superbowl season and was replaced by incumbent DE Brett Keisel. The Steelers played .500 football in 2006 but that was due to careless turnovers on offense and special teams; the defense however brought the pain-hammer to the ground game’s jaw by only allowing 3.5 yards per carry.  In 2007 a mediocre run defense gave up 4.0 yards per carry, which is a considerable jump from previous years, keeping in mind injuries to Aaron Smith kept him out of games early in the season and after a torn bicep suffered during the 34 – 13 loss in Foxboro he missed the final four games of 2007.  Smith recovered, started all games in 2008, and helped etch his defense in the golden books as one of the best in NFL history allowing a mere 3.3 yards per carry. Smith’s decline after 2008 was sad to watch for Steeler Nation, however inevitable be the tolls taken on the body after years of collision it is never easy to bear witness when giants fall.

Buffalo Bills: Change in Culture or Same Old Bills?

​Today marks the final change for the Buffalo Bills, trying to leave behind another unsuccessful regime, with Buddy Nix, the Bill’s GM for the last three years stepping down.  It is expected that Assistant GM Doug Whaley will take over, and with the hiring of Doug Marrone, and drafting of E.J. Manuel, there is a new culture in Buffalo.  However, the Bills have a long way to go if they are going to end the longest current playoff draught in the NFL at 14 years.

Hoke, Wolverines look to continue improvement in 2013

It has been no secret that the last few seasons in Ann Arbor have been less than stable.  After the departure of Lloyd Carr, Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez away from his alma mater, West Virginia, to take over the reigns.  After a 15-22 record, 2 bowl-less seasons, NCAA investigations and 0 wins against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State, Rodriguez was showed the door.  In only three short seasons, Rodriguez managed to alienate most of his team’s fan base, implement a mostly ineffective spread offense and make Josh Groban seem almost tough. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i3jZ0fk9iU).

The greatest Raider of them all

When you ask a Raider fan who is the greatest Raider of all time, you will get several different answers.  Maybe you will hear Art Shell or Gene Upshaw.  Some may say Tim Brown or Marcus Allen or any of the other all time Raider greats.  In reality though, the greatest Raider of them all is Ron Wolf. If you are under 30 years old you are saying, “Who is Ron Wolf?”

My Love Hate Relationship with Lebron

Recently, I wrote a blog about Lebron, and I had a few criticisms about what I wrote, so let’s clear the air. Here are the two truths I know about Lebron James.

1)      I love Lebron

2)      I hate Lebron

How the Nationals Can Un-Suck

​First off, a little perspective:  the Nationals are 20-17 after another unnecessary loss to the Cubs on Sunday – a 2-1 debacle.  They currently sit one and a half games behind the Atlanta Braves for the division lead.  And, it’s 37 games into the season.  We haven’t even reached the games of the summer, and theNats are getting by without their best stuff.  It’s not time to panic.

​

​Except that it kind of is, at least a little.

The Nationals lead off, finally.

​For the first seven years of the Washington Nationals baseball club’s existence, the team and its fans experienced an array of uncertainties.  Could the team assemble a starting rotation that did not consist of outcasts and middle relievers?  Would the Nats ever be able to attract a transformative free agent who would sign a long-term contract?  What was the over/under on Elijah Dukes domestic assault charges?  Would there ever be stability at any position besides third base?  Could this team ever contend?

Bukowski, Carlin, and the Pittsburgh Steelers

May 12 is George Carlin’s birthday. He had a bit where he juxtaposed specific action verbs and nuances of the respective sports of baseball and football and created a hilarious opposition that portrayed baseball as a pastoral pastime and football as a meat and gritty strategic war game. This is true also in the poetic sense. Baseball’s lyrical complexion is more akin to Whitman whereas football is more to the tone of the lean, adjective shunning observations of the late great Charles Bukowski. Football is visceral and ham-fisted

as is boxing

or horseracing

or surviving.