Back in the Groove!

Haven't been spouting off here in a while but as football season approached, time to get going. For openers, you'll want to pay attention to SportsTalk as we'll be giving away some cool stuff like gift certificates for dinner, golf, massages and even a tattoo! Obviously I have no pride and am completely willing to bribe you to listen to our show! Starting Monday, August 4th we'll be holding a contest with 3 winners joining me for a round of golf at Diamond Woods in Monroe.

I'm astonished that Boston traded Manny Ramirez. While I'll give a slight nod to the Angels from top to bottom, the Bosox were very much in the hunt to win it all again. Not that this means they're toast, but a middle of the order with Manny, one of the premiere righty sticks ever is just more formidable than putting Jason Bay in there. Bay is a really good player, but during his 4 full years in the big leagues, has never played for a Pirates team who has won more than 72 games. The heat of a pennant race is completely foreign while Ramirez is a terrific clutch hitter. Sure, he's a moron and has the maturity of a child, but he can rake. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt, but this is certainly interesting. Obviously as a Yankee die hard I hope it blows up in their faces. Stay tuned.

THE RETURN

Haven't blogged since July 8th. Somehow you all managed to survive. Had to chime in about a few issues starting with my anger at Yankees fans. In last night's All Star game, JD Drew of the freaking Red Sox hits a 2 run bomb to tie the game and there was actual cheering. I cussed a blue streak at the TV. The only logical reaction in my book would have been if the fan who caught the ball, jumped onto the field and plugged Drew as he rounded second. Wussies.


Brett Farve is a child. He's emotionally stunted and has the maturity of an 11-year old. He has not said one thing during these embarrassing interviews with that credible Fox News babe that has made him look good. He's a brat, with no depth of character who appears clearly defined by his occupation. The buffoon who pulled my show off the last station, who we will refer to as the "Human Pee Stain" was like that. All he was capable of was talking shop. If the station held some kind of gathering, he talked radio. I get the feeling if he's not the quarterback of the Packers, Brett Farve is nothing. Kind of odd and sad.
I'm officially back so remember to check in each weekday afternoon around 4pm.

PAC 10 QUARTERBACK RATINGS

I've read enough preview magazines and have gathered information to the point I'm willing to evaluate the quarterback position for the upcoming Pac-10 season. I don't count the schools where the position is not settled, like Oregon. Even though he's not technically a returning starter, I have USC's Mark Sanchez at the top based on what I saw during his 3 games running the show when John David Booty was hurt. Then I have Willie Tuitama of Arizona. He's been improving markedly the past 2 years and is entering his senior season. I like their line, Nick Grigsby running it, plus his core of receivers. I'm putting Rudy Carpenter of ASU third. He will get his brass tested for sure this year as the schedule is not nearly as favorable as 2007. He's gotta show me he can light people up on the road. They lost here, struggled at Wazzou, barely took down a bruised Bruin team at the Rose Bowl then got smoked by Texas in the Holiday Bowl. I know everyone is high on the Dawgs Jake Locker and I hate to be redundant. Until he can establish an accurate arm and do damage from the pocket, he's not going to win in this league. 47% is a nightmare! He's got to get in the upper 50's at the least or defenses will just eat him alive. He had one game in league where he completed over half his throws and threw more picks(15) than TD's(14). I understand he was just a freshman, but I'm not a believer that accuracy improves. Either you can sling it in there, or you run it and never make a bowl game or have a winning record. I think when the dust settles, Sean Canfield will be the starter for the Beavs. He had to sit out spring with the injury that cost him the last part of 2007. He's more of a prototype QB. With Sammie Stroughter returning alongside James Rodgers, they have some terrors on the outside. Looks like Kevin Riley will win the Cal job from Nate Longshore, Gary Rodgers in Pullman, incumbent Tavita Pritchard remains the front runner for Stanford. UCLA needs a bigger training room. Both guys in the hunt, Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan were injured within minutes of each other during Spring. Cowan is done for 2008 while Olson likely heals up and gets the gig.

OH YEAH THAT!

Must admit I've been getting home after SportsTalk in the new time slot & completely forgetting my blog duties. I said duty! Great talk today about "Those Guys", meaning the role or lesser profile players on your favorite teams. Some brought up great Ducks from the past like Joe Reitzig or Tony Hartley. We had a Dwight Evans mention from the 1980's Red Sox. From my chair this is what makes being a fan so great. It's personal. Who isn't aware Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson were a part of the 1977 Yankee World Series winners? How many would guess Don Gullet contributed 14 victories to the effort? It's a beautiful thing.
In the wake of the Tim Donaghy mess, the NBA has taken what I consider a pretty pro-active, progressive move and hired recently retired Army General Ronald L Johnson into the new position of senior vice president for referee operations. This means in essence an outside source can oversee the knucklehead officials. I agree with Dallas owner Mark Cuban who says it's the immediate right move.


Earlier this week, NFL commish Roger Goodell said cases of major rookie contracts had to be stopped for the economic good of the game. I've been a big supporter of this guy since he took the reigns from Paul Tagliabue, but he's bricked badly here, especially when he compared the issue to the NBA. The NBA pays kids big bucks and actually has a salary cap for rookies. The following were all among the top 7 picks and they're all 19 years old. Derrick Rose, Mike Beasley, Kevin Love, Danillo Gallinari and Eric Gordon. OJ Mayo is one of the elder statesmen. Plus these guys are one season removed from high school. Let's run some NFL numbers. The top 3, Jake Long of the Dolphins, Chris Long of the Rams and Atlanta's Matt Ryan are all 23 and have been out of high school 5 years, not to mentioned playing at least 3 full seasons at the highest level of college ball. It's apples & oranges. The money is nuts, but if you're going to write a check, who would you put more trust in. Goodell is way off base here.