Thanks for stopping by!  The Jack Loew interview should be up by weeks end, I am really excited to put it on my site because he gave me some great answers and discussed the Pavlik-Hopkins fight, Arthur Abraham, Joe Calzaghe, and what a new gym is like to run.  I hope you folks will all check it out!

In the meantime, here are some stories I really liked from some great bloggers!

Kevin Garnett: The Man Who Saved Boston Hockey * Josh Q. Public
Bill Murray Hits Woman With Golf Ball At Outback Pro-Am * Sports Rubbish
NBA Mock Draft 2009 Top Ten * Hoop Doctors
UFC 97 Preview And Predictions * Total Pro Sports
1987 Pete Rose Tegrin Commercial … And His Wife * NESW Sports
Tribe Must Rebuild From Within * FOX Sports
John Madden Tribute * Midwest Sports Fans
Reds Looking For Results In 2009 * Baseball Reflections
Hockey Power Rankings * The Program
NBA ROY & MVP Balloting * Pippenainteasy

Check out these great stories!

Read the rest of this entry »

The New York Yankees opened the doors to their new home for the first time.  The Cleveland Indians were supposed to be the sacrificial lamb to help aid the baptism of a new park.  Cleveland turned out to be the rudest of guests, scoring nine times in the 7th inning and riding their best pitching start of the year to slap the Yankees,  10-2.

Cliff Lee looked sharp for six innings giving up just a homer to Jorge Posada.  Lee gave up seven hits and struck out four lowering his season ERA to 6.75.  Other than Posada’s bomb, Lee seemed to have good stuff and bent but didn’t break.  This has to be, by far, the best effort by a starting pitcher for The Tribe in all ten games.

Grady Sizemore had a grand slam and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland as well.  Martinez is batting .381 and has been consistently productive.  Kelly Shoppach tacked on a couple of hits.

First Bank of Steinbrenner investment known as CC Sabathia, an overweight and overpaid baseball pitcher who happens to be worth half as much as the entire Florida Marlins roster, went 5 2/3 giving up five hits and walking five.  Sabathia didn’t figure into the decision.

Few things should make Cleveland sports fans happier than what happened in New York today.  The Indians, playing with their backs against the wall, played a complete game against the financially secure bullies.  This may well be the wake-up call Eric Wedge was hoping for. 

I’m sure Yankee fans everywhere will be making excuses, they have gotten really good at that in the last few years.  “What do you expect, we didn’t have A-Roid“, will be a popular one.  Here is one for the Yankee faithful from me.  One of your worst investments in recent times, and there have been plenty, failed to pitch his team to victory today.

It’s been a busy week and I am surely not able to write about everything that needs touched upon.  Click on a link, visit these other great sites, leave a comment, and learn something you might not have known!

Revisiting The Great Sports Year Of 1991 * In Game Now
Duke QB Greg Paulus Transferring To Michigan? * Fanhouse
Sidney Crosby Struggles To Grow Facial Hair * PSAMP
John Buck’s Two Homers Beat Indians. Who Is He? * Josh Q. Public
Doc Gooden Has (Uh) At Least Six Kids * Hugging Harold Reynolds
Allen Iverson Photo: No Casino For Y’all * Hoop Doctors
Lebron James Must-See Warm-Up Dunk * NESW Sports
Shaq Gets Pranked * Total Pro Sports
Billy Bob vs Joaquin: Roller Derby Fans? * Steady Burn
High School Pitcher Throws Three Consecutive No-Hitters * Sports Rubbish
Dick Trickle: Racing Legend * Rootzoo
2009 Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule * Pro Football Fans
2009 Cleveland Browns Schedule * Pro Football Fans
Lebron James Swats Chris Duhon’s Shot To Half Court * Docksquad
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych Dead At 54 * Fox Sports
Reds vs Brewers Preview * True Blue Brew Blog
2009 Cleveland Indians = 2008 Cleveland Browns? * Midwest Sports Fans
Brandon Roy = Michael Jordan? * A Stern Warning
Leftwich Signs With Bucs, What’s Next For Steelers? * My Sports Rumors
A Tribute To Harry Kalas * Baseball Reflections
Good Morning, MLB Fans * Zoner Sports

Enjoy The Reading!

Baseball is penciled up to be a great day at the ballpark for a family, a couple, or some buddies watching their team.  Hecklers have been ruining trips to the ballpark for years.  Last season at an Indians game, I watched a family of five leave because the guy sitting directly behind me kept dropping “f bombs” in nearly every sentence.  By the third inning, the father turned around and explained that none of his three children were ten yet and he would appreciate it if they could tone it down.  At this point, I think they poured it on more as they made the whole section uncomfortable.

Granted, the seats we were in were not field boxes or anything.  However, I had to endure a ruthless comment every pitch.  A friend of mine took his wife to the Indians opener against Toronto this past Friday.  He almost got into a fight because the three drunk idiots behind him were screaming their opinions on every single pitch.  It came to a head in the sixth when they spilled a beer everywhere and got some on him.  The usher asked my friend and his wife to leave to avoid “confrontation”.  Sorry, but I am either telling the usher to breathalize these losers or I am swinging, but I let my friend have it for not sticking up for his rights as a fan.

Don’t think I am picking on Indians fans because I know it is ten times worse in Boston where hecklers are the norm and the quiet fan is the oddball.  I do not want people to think I am blaming it on alcohol either because plenty of folks can go to a game and have a few beers without causing chaos. 

I blame it on the mindset of people who go to games knowing they will be screaming profanity laced tirades around women and children.  If you can’t act proper in public then stay home and swear at your television.  Creating a disturbing atmosphere to feel like you got your moneys worth is a horrible way to think.  Boo when you disagree with a call, yell that a guy is a bum on his second error or third strikeout, or yap when the pitcher should have come out.  But dont try to scream at the home plate umpire from right field about a ball or strike.   

Josh Beckett has been suspended six games by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at Bobby Abreu.  That will probably be appealed and served much later in the year.  Look for Beckett to probably only miss one start.

The anger started when Abreu was batting, called timeout, which the umpire granted, and stepped back in to see the Beckett fastball coming right for his head.

The Angels, fighting emotions over the passing of Nick Adenhart, reacted strongly as the benches emptied Sunday.  Hitting Coach Mickey Hatcher was also suspended for one game and Torii Hunter and Mike Scioscia were fined for their actions in the chaos.

Congratulations go to Evgeni Malkin for winning the 2009 Art Ross Trophy.  The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the NHL scoring leader.  The Penguins scored two 3rd period shorthanded goals to beat Monytreal in their regular season finale.  Malkin scored his 35th sealing his first ever scoring championship.

Malkin joins Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Sidney Crosby as past Ross Trophy winner.  Geno credits his teammates for winning the Ross Trophy this season and says it was a team effort.

Pittsburgh will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs.  The Penguins are 18-3-4 under Coach Dan Bylsma and seem like the hottest team going into the playoffs.

Congratulations Geno!

Anyone who visits this page regularly knows I am new to this.  Sports blogging is frustrating at times because there is no deadline to be first.  It’s a race to have the best information or video to convey exactly how you feel about something.

I have been fortunate to make a few friends by doing this.  One of those people is Matt Clapp, the top guy over at Sharapova’s Thigh.  We have never spoke to each other or met in person.  We have however helped each other, exposing readers to each othes sites through linking.

The post that Matt wrote last night was tough to read because it was very emotional.  I want to share that post with all of those who take a moment to read it.  Click on the link below.

Remembering The Best Friend I Ever Had – Matt Clapp

The Ohio State University is losing James Laurinaitis to the NFL Draft.  The 6’1″, 245 lb. linebacker is a late first round, early second round predicted pick.  Lauranaitis has some accolades earned as a Buckeye to enhance his value.  He won the Nagurski trophy in 2006 and also won the Lombardi trophy, given to the best linebacker in college football in 2007.  Last season as a Jr, Lauranaitis led the Buckeyes in tackles and had 5 sacks and 2 INT.

What is so attractive about Lauranaitis is his ability to drop and read in pass coverage.  He got his hands on a bunch of passes last season and put himself in position to make many big plays.  Against the run, Lauranaitis has been knocked for making plays too far off of the ball.  A good linebacker fills the hole and makes the tackle at the line.  Lauranaitis made all those tackles, but so many were for three to five yard gains.

Many mock drafts I have seen so far have him going #20 overall to Detroit.  The Lions did well drafting Chris Spielman and are really hurting for defense.  The pick would make sense to me.  I have also seen Lauranaitis as high as #14 to New Orleans, which lacks star power on defense, and as low as #24 to Atlanta where defense is the biggest need.

Many are critical to point out that if Lauranaitis came out a year ago, his draft stock would have been much higher, potentially a top-ten pick.  I would say you can never criticize a college athlete for staying in school regardless of how good or ready the scouts feel he may be. 

As another year of playing golf has started, I have compiled a list of courses to play and a couple to avoid in the greater Youngstown area.  I will be doing features on these courses periodically.  Having grown up in Lowellville, I first played at the infamous 9-hole course called Lee Run.  Lee Run was later purchased by the Grischow family and turned into an 18-hole course now known as Bedford Trails.  The Grischow family has continually reinvested to make Bedford Trails an enjoyable course for all skill levels.

The front nine layout is pretty much the same as when the course was known as Lee Run.  The back will give the best golfers problems because it plays very thin.  Hole 13 demands two long straight shots to have a chance at par.  If you cant hit a straight ball, you will struggle on this hole.  I feel it is the hardest hole on the course and have only seen a couple of birdies on it.  The greens at Bedford Trails have gotten much better over the past couple of years. 

The best element for a golfer playing at Bedford Trails is the way they are treated from the time they get there until the time they leave.  The hospitality in the clubhouse is unbelievable, I have never heard anyone say they were ever treated in a rude manner.  The food in the clubhouse is outstanding as well.  They also have a small warm-up range (pictured above).  The cost of playing at Bedford Trails is reasonable.

I grade Bedford Trails a must play course, not only for the challenge, but for the overall experience.  You will not meet nicer people willing to accomodate your every last need.