Don't Mess With This Fan

After viewing the video of the angry hockey mom over at The Postmen, I decided to see if I could continue the fun and find another video of an angry fan or two. Well everybody, you're in luck! After searching through the archives of YouTube, I was able to find something to fill that void. Hopefully none of you will ever have to sit next to this guy at a sporting event. And if you do, try not to get in an argument with him. And if you happen to get in an argument with him, don't stand up and turn your back to him, because, you know, the following might happen...

Fantasy Players of the Week

This week was another exciting week for fantasy players across MLB. The Cubs also showed some signs that they are indeed capable of winning and might just have a shot to put together a good streak and get back in the NL Central Division hunt.

But before we get into the fantasy players of the week, let me extend my sympathies to the Cardinals’ organization and fans after news broke early Sunday that relief pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in an auto accident. It is never easy for an organization to lose a player, especially right in the middle of a season. Here is a good write-up of what kind of man Mr. Hancock was.

Position Player of the Week – Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers
Mags had a spectacular week at the dish. He hit .571 with 2 bombs and 11 RBI’s during his past six-game span, while adding an on base percentage of .654. He capped off the week with a 2-3 performance against Johan Santana and the Twins, including a 2-run blast to right field. Chase Utley came in a close second this week, hitting .444 with 2 homeruns and 10 RBI’s

Pitcher of the Week – John Maine, New York Mets
Maine’s week on the mound including two excellent starts for the New York Mets. His total stat line for the week was 14.2 IP, 10 H, 13 SO while only giving up 1 ER in his two starts. Maine pitched in dominant fashion yesterday; scattering only 3 hits in the seven innings of work in their 1-0 win over the Nationals.

Not that anyone really cares, but I feel it necessary to mention that my CBS Sportsline fantasy team led my league in scoring with 431 points. God I’m a genius!

Who Would Buy These??

I first came across this story today on Deadspin about the two University of Georgia students who purchased tickets to the 2006 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to watch their Bulldogs take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. One of the students got on Ebay, searched for some tickets and won an auction. No big deal, right? Well it wouldn't have been, except for the fact that it turns out the Virginia Tech student he bought them from was none other than Seung-Hui Cho.

Via the story that I read earlier, the junior Georgia student who bought the tickets (Casey Spivey) is planning on selling the ticket stubs and donating the money to a charity that has been set up for the families of the victim's in the shooting that took place last week.

I guess it's kind of a nice gesture to find a way to help out those who lost a loved one in the shootings (but seriously, would you really keep the money from selling those tickets...you'd have to be a complete douchebag to do something like that). But I gotta ask, who in the world would buy those ticket stubs? I cannot imagine someone wanting to look at those everyday and have to think about the events that unfolded the morning of April 16th. I can only hope that whoever buys those tickets decides to discard them in a way so they are never seen again. If I were more than a poor college student, I would look into buying those and then burn them so nobody has to see them again. It's not enough that this whole situation was grossly over-publicized (including seeing the kid talk about what he was going to do and seeing those crazy pictures), but now we have to hear about the unimportant things Cho did before the massacre and make a big deal about them.

Ughh...I am getting pretty sick of hearing his name. I wish they'd never release the names of the people who do this or the videos/pictures they send in. It will just create more of an incentive for some other person to think that people will see and remember him/her after doing such a horrible act.

Red Sox Bats Go Nuts

So last night the Red Sox decided to go insane and hit four consecutive homeruns in the 3rd inning of their win vs. the Yankees last night. The Yankee's starter, Chase Wright, was only making his second career MLB start. He had a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 3rd inning; and then within a 10-pitch span, he had given up four straight bombs and lost his team's early lead.

Manny Ramirez started the party with an absolute bomb to left-center field that left the entire park. J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell homered in the middle of the fun and Jason Varitek capped it off with a solo-shot to left field. The back-to-back-to-back-to-back homerun marked only the 5th time in history where it has happened. The other four occurences are:

Milwaukee Braves vs. Cincinnati on June 8th, 1961 -
(Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas)
Cleveland Indians vs. L.A. Angels on July 31st, 1963 -
(Woody Held, Pedor Ramos, Tito Francona and Larry Brown
Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals on May 2nd, 1964
(Tony Olivia, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall, Harmon Killebrew)
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres on Sept. 18th, 2006
(Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, Marlon Anderson)

Two names that stand out on that list include J.D. Drew and Tito Francona. J.D. Drew became the only player in MLB history to be involved in this amazing feat two separate times. Tito Francona is the father of current Red Sox manager, Terry Francona.

Anyway, enough with the history lesson. Here's the video if you stuck around long enough. Enjoy!

Fantasy Players of the Week

This past week proved to be a week for some amazing pitching performances. Considering all the players in the MLB, there will be weeks when multiple players will share the honors. So let's get right into it.

Position Player of the Week - Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
This is Rodriguez's second top honor in three weeks. It is really hard to make an argument against ARod right now. He's on a tear, leading the majors in some high profile categories. This past week, ARod hit .370 with 5 HR's and 13 RBI's ARod now leads the MLB in RBI's, OPS, HR's, Runs and SLG. percentage. Not bad for a guy who was almost ran out of town by those totally awesome Yankee fans. ARod edged out Carlos Beltran for this week's honor, who hit .448 this past week.

Pitcher of the Week - Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox
It's hard not to give the highest honor to a guy who threw a no-hitter. In his game last week vs. the Texas Rangers, he threw a complete game, no-hit shutout while striking out eight Rangers. It's also noteworthy that he only threw 106 pitches. As much as I hate the White Sox and would love for them to lose 100 games every year, I have to say I was rooting for him in the ninth inning. As other people have noted, there just really isn't anything like a no-hitter/perfect game in any other sport. So any time I get a chance to see one, I really don't care who is throwing or who he's playing.

Other Pitchers Worth Noting -
Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies -- Rich Hill, Chicago Cubs
Hamels had a Kerry Wood esque performance on Saturday when he took the mound vs. Cincinnati. He threw a complete game, while striking out 15 Reds and only surrendering one run.
Rich Hill continued his outstanding start to the 2007 season on Thursday night against the Braves. He threw eight innings, giving up no runs while striking out seven. Hill has only given up one run in 22 innings of work this year which has pushed his ERA down to a razor-thin and MLB leading 0.41.

Great Weekend Ahead for Indiana

This weekend marks two very historic and significant events in the world of sports for the state of Indiana.

Here in South Bend, the Blue/Gold spring football game will give Irish fans a taste of what the 2007 Fighting Irish will look like. Most of the attention will surround early admitted, freshman phenom, Jimmy Clausen and fellow sophomore quarterback, Demtrius Jones. From what I have been hearing, they have both looked good this spring, but Clausen appears to be the front-runner for the starting job next fall. Clausen has supposedly been connecting with receivers on all types of routes; including the 50-yard bombs where he’s been hitting receivers in stride. I’m sure plenty of Irish fans will also have their eyes on the guys Clausen and Jones will be throwing to. With the losses of Jeff Samardzija and Rhema Mcknight, the new receiving core will need to step up next year.

The other historic event will be taking place about a 3 ½ hour drive from South Bend in Bloomington, IN (which the drive between the two may be the worst ever). This event is none other than the Little 500 bike race. This year’s race will mark the 56^th running of the 200-lap race (that is approximately 51 total miles) that takes place at Armstrong Stadium every April.

The buzz around the Indiana Unveristy campus that surrounds this wonderful week is second to none. Although the race takes place on a Saturday, the students begin preparing weeks in advance. From planning concerts at fraternities to parties get togethers, it is definitely something to look forward to every year. Oh, and the bike riders themselves, well they train year-round for this thing and take it pretty seriously.

As for myself, I will be heading down to the University of Indiana University shortly. However, this year I will not be attending the race as I will be driving back to South Bend early Saturday morning to catch the Blue/Gold game and the festivities that go along with it. I would normally take this time to wish my favorite frat, ATO, good luck this year…but unfortunately for the defending champions, they will not be participating in this year's race because they did not qualify *tear*. (Somewhere HAAANS is crying.)

Check back Monday for my recap of the two events and as always, my fantasy players of the week!

Crazy Umpire

This is a video I came across a while back. This umpire makes the right call (if you watch closely) but the way he handles himself is hilarious. Enjoy!

Fantasy Players of the Week

Before I give you my fantasy players of the week, I'd first like to show some sympathy for those who are currently involved in a fantasy baseball league over at ESPN. I can only imagine how frustrating it is to lose all your transactions, stats and whatever else that may have been lost. However, ESPN did offer refunds to all those who had paid for teams and Insider access. I know that doesn't make up for their mistake, but at least it's something.

Anyway, on to the fantasy MLB players of the week

Position Player of the Week - Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
Kinsler (the 2nd baseman for the Rangers) had an outstanding past 7 days. He hit .476 with 4 bombs, 8 RBI's while racking up a total of 7 runs. Kinsler edged out Aaron Hill and Rickie Weeks for this week's top honor.

Pitcher of the Week - Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
Hernandez edged out Roy Halladay this week after throwing a gem at Fenway on Wednesday night. He threw 7 innings of no hit ball before giving up the lone hit of the game to J.D. Drew on the first pitch of the 8th inning. He ended the game with a one-hit, complete game shutout, striking out 6 while only surrendering two walks. It's also worth noting that he did this in Dice-K's Fenway debut.

I'd also like to make note of Chicago Cubs reliever, Michael Wuertz. He pitched 4 innings this week, giving up no hits and surrending only one walk while striking out 6. What was most notable about his week came on Friday the 13th at Wrigley (a game in which I attended). In the 5th inning, the Cubs had already given up 6 runs and the bases were still loaded and nobody out when Wuertz came in. He struck out the next three batters, keeping the Cubs only one run behind. But, of course, in typical Cubs fashion, they couldn't put one run across in the last four innings and lost 6-5.

Olympics in CHI? One Step Closer

The Olympic bid for the 2016 Olymips in the US came down to Los Angeles and Chicago. Yesterday, Chicago was selected as the city that will represent the United States.

The next process in the selection of the 2016 Olympic host city will come in October of 2009 when the International Olympic Committee members make their final decision. The cities that Chicago will most likely have to go up against for the bid will include the likes of: Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Rome, Tokyo and Prague.

I have to say, being from the Midwest and loving the city of Chicago, that I am pretty excited about the possibility of the Olympics being in Chicago. However, I also realize that the Olympics aren't for another nine years and who knows where I'll be then. I'd love to be around Chicago then, but nine years is a long time. Either way though, I think Chicago definitely deserves the opportunity to host the Olympics...especially after originally winning the bid for the 1904 Olympics but then losing out to St. Louis.

Zach Johnson Is Taking Care of His Green Jacket

Zach Johnson has been extremely busy since winning the Masters on Sunday afternoon. After winning the Masters, he had to do the whole press thing and then celebrate his victory in Atlanta. He then had to jump on a plane to do the David Letterman show on Monday as well as various other visits to radio/television personnel.

Being that he has never won the Masters or actually believe he would be the Masters champion of 2007, he was unsure of how much he should be wearing the green jacket. While he was at the ESPN Zone in New York on Monday, he decided that he didn't want to overwear it and offend the members of Augusta National. This excerpt was pulled from the NY Times story today:

"Johnson arrived at the ESPN Zone in Times Square and hung it (the green jacket) on a chair with a white trash bag around it."

Come on Zach, you just won the Masters and you can't have someone run to a store for you and buy you a nice garment bag to hold that coveted green jacket? I mean I love Zach and all for his representin' of this great state, but seriously, buy something to keep that thing lookin' sharp. It kind of sounds like he has the same response that Happy Gilmore had to the gold jacket in the movie. "Gold jacket, green jacket...who gives a shit"?

Life Is About to Change For Masters Champion [NY Times]
Photo credited to Damon Hack of the NY Times

Sanjaya Malakar is AWESOME!!

While I was at home this weekend, my brother introduced me to Sanjaya Malakar and votefortheworst.com; and I want to take a moment to thank him. For those of you who are not aware, Sanjaya is one of the remaining eight contestants on American Idol this season....and he is absolutely terrible. Sure, he's a better singer than me, but that isn't saying much.

As for votefortheworst.com, it was started in 2004, and gained some popularity when it helped some less than stellar contestants advance further than they should have. Earlier this season, Howard Stern jumped on board and helped promote the site and the voting of Sanjaya and now the popularity of the site and its mission is at an all time high. I personally think this is a fantastic idea and would love to see Sanjaya crowned as the next "American Idol."

However, there are also numerous die-hard Idol fans out there who are not as fond of the site as I am. They claim it is ruining the entire show (which, in essence, it is...but I'm perfectly fine with that). There have also been threats of lawsuit against the site, but to this date, no pending lawsuits have been recognized. I headed over to the site to read some of the hate mail and came across the following entry. I must say, Idol has some of the most intelligent fans in the world.

"you really have no life. i hope you get sewed from that danielle girl. no one likes you . all of the american idol fans think your stupid. sanjaya malakar is not going to win this thing ill make sure of it. im gonna be so happy the day you get sewed." -AnimalLover3492

I can't say that I know what getting "sewed" is. Something to do with sewers?? Not really sure on that one. As for how this person is going to make sure Sanjaya doesn't win, good luck doing it one your own...

Anyway, back to Sanjaya. Yea, he's bad and everyone knows it. Here's a sample of one of his performances. You'll notice the girl in the video they keep cutting to. She may say she's a fan of his at the end, but we all know his singing/performance was the thing making her so upset. See for yourself...



So as you can see, Sanjaya is really, really good bad. However, I encourage all of you to visit votefortheworst.com and/or partake in voting for the worst, aka Sanjaya. The next showing of American Idol will air on Tuesday night at 8pm EST. The next voting will take place during Wednesday's showing, airing at 9pm EST. I encourage all of you to take some time during the next couple of months and help make Sanjaya Malakar the next American Idol!!

Fantasy Player of the Week

I am going to try and lead every week off here with the naming of the fantasy player(s) of the week for this baseball season. I will normally try and get it out before Monday afternoon, but with the Easter holiday and traveling back to Notre Dame to learn pointless crap, the naming of this week's fantasy player of the week was delayed until tonight. So, in response, I will use tonight's stats as well.

MLB Fantasy Player of the Week - Alex Rodriguez
This week's fantasy player shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He's on a tear already this season and the Yankee fans will have to hold off booing him for at least a couple of days weeks. This past week, ARod hit .360 with an MLB leading 5 HRs and 13 RBIs. His game winning grand slam on Saturday, shown below, was simply ARod being ARod. That was his third career game winning grand slam in his career, tying a Major League record (which he will probably break).





(This month I will release my Ultimate Fantasy Baseball Team that will include a roster full of players from 1900-2007 that I believe would be the ultimate fantasy lineup...so check back frequently so you don't miss it!!)

New Wrigley? Let's Negotiate...

In Wednesday's Sports section of the Chicago Tribune, Rick Morrissey outlined his true feelings towards Wrigley Field. And you know what, I tend to agree with what he had to say. I mean, let's be honest, anyone who has been to Wrigley Field knows that it is basically a dump. Sure, a lot of you will look at what I just said as committing blasphemy, but in all reality, it is.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the Friendly Confines that have resided on the corner of Clark and Addison since 1914 (I even won a regional speech contest in 8th grade with a speech on why Wrigley Field is "An American place worth a visit"!!). I have spent roughly 30 games in the past six years with my fellow bleacher bums. I've lined the Wrigley walls two hours before the gates open so I could sit front row. I even accomplished a lifelong dream of mine by catching a Bobby Abreu homerun and throwing it back (to Nomar nonetheless).

However, I've been saying (along with my Dad) for years now that something needs to be done with Wrigley. Morrissey outlines basically what I've been saying for a while now:

"If I were king for a day—Thursdays work for me—I would keep the beautiful scoreboard, the outfield bleachers (including the ivy walls) and the field intact. I would salvage the red Wrigley Field sign on Addison Street. I would tear down the rest of it and rebuild, even if that meant fewer seats."

I agree basically 100% with what he says. If you think about it, those are the best parts about Wrigley. With this plan, you keep mostly everything that makes Wrigley Field what it is. Wrigley stays in the middle of neighborhood on the North side of Chicago. I believe it is even possible to redo the grandstand area, and not lose any seats. Upgrade it so there are no poles in the way and make it a much more pleasant place to watch from the 200 and 500 level seats.

There's one thing I feel Morrissey left out, and it's somewhat of a big deal when you think about it. Let me ask you, how many World Series Championships have the Cubs won since moving to Wrigley Field? When was the last time they were in a World Series? Well, if you guessed 0 and 1945, you'd be right. Don't you think it's about time that we shake things up a bit? We don't need a brand new ballpark; we just need a little bit of a new look and feel.

So let's do what the Bears did. Let's move the Cubs out to Naperville or somewhere for a year. Tear down the grandstands and rebuild. Move them back a year later and let's get back to a World Series!

Candice Who??

Yes, I know Candice Parker just won a National Championship last night,but who really gives a crap but this girl makes her "dunks" look like child's play.


Brittney Griner is a 6'5 sophomore at Nimitz high school in Houston and I can only imagine what dunks she'll have up her sleeve by the times she's a senior. And if that doesn't make you feel bad that you can't dunk, check out this guy over at We Are The Postmen, and he'll definitely make you feel bad that you can't dunk.

Cubs vs. Reds Opening Day Live Blog

4:47pm - This day belonged to Aaron Harang and Adam Dunn. Like previously mentioned, Zambrano did not have a very good outing. The Cubs bats also didn't look great and they left some men on base in crucial situations early with 2 outs. Lucky for us Cubs fans(or maybe bad for us) there's still 161 games left to be played. For those of all who checked this out (if there is anyone!) I hope you enjoyed it.

4:38pm - Very nice catch by Murton out in left. Great job taking a hit away from a cheater.

4:28pm - Murton just collected the hat trick for strike outs today. He's 1-4, but his only hit was an infield single. He hasn't impressed me at all today in the #2 hole. I still think I'd rather see DeRosa in that spot.

4:26pm - The bullpen has looked fairly decent so far. 2IP and no runs...can't complain about that. The Cubs have Murton, Lee and Ramirez due up right now. If they're going to come back, they should do it now.

4:14pm - Pretty weak effort by the cameramen for the first installment of the Bud Light Fan Cam. I feel it should be 75% hot girls (well, 100% but that's just not a realistic expectation) and then throw in whatever else you want for the remaining 25%).

4:12pm - I don't know if I like this "Season of Hope" campaign all that much. It is basically setting us all up for failure. We HOPE we can win, but if not, oh well...it won't be any different that the last 98 years.

4:00pm - Big Z is done for the day. Not a very good outing. 5IP, 6H, 5R, 5ER, 5BB, 2SO. Disappointing start for Zambrano, but he hasn't had a good opening day start now in three years so I guess I'm not too worried yet. Now we make way for Neal Cotts...hooray.

3:54pm - That guy from the latest Dairy Queen commercial (where he takes his kids Kit Kat blizzard) is a mix between Jack Black and Chris Farley.

3:49pm - Big Z is struggling this inning. 2 walks, a HBP, a little Texas leaguer, and a sac fly. 2 runs so far and the Reds still have two on with two out. Rough day for Zambrano's control. He's been all over the place and consistently missing spots.

3:39pm - Aramis Ramirez just grounded out to third - but he was only out by 3/4 of a step...nice to see him hustle out a ground ball...maybe Sweet Lou laid the smack down

3:36pm - Ryan Freel just misplayed a D Lee line drive and then threw it into the stands trying to get Murton at 3rd. Is he really better than Griffey in center? Reds 3 - Cubs 1

3:30pm - Every time I see that commercial with Keith Hernandez for Just for Men, I can't help but think of the famous Seinfeld episode. What a great show.

3:22pm - Just saw a commercial for 24 which made me realize that 24, Florida vs. Ohio State AND I Love New York (series finale) are all on at the same time tonight. Considering I only have one TV and one DVD recorder, what the hell am I going to do?!

3:20pm - Izturis pops up on the first pitch with the bases loaded. God damnit...be patient.

3:08pm - The White Sox are losing 9-2 at Comiskey (seriously, who calls it US Cellular)...God I love it when they lose.

3:01pm - Regarding the phrase, "if you're keeping score at home"...does anyone keep score at home anymore??

2:57pm - Adam Dunn launches his second homerun today deep (very deep) to right center field (and I didn't start him in my fantasy lineup this week...nice work idiot).

2:56pm - Wow...what a break for the Cubs. Tough play for Izturis, bad throw bounces right back to D Lee and they get Freel at second.

2:46pm - Mark DeRosa registers the first hit for the Cubs in the 2007 season with a single to center. He's batting 1.000!

2:36pm - Cubs go down in order again. 0-6 so far.

2:32pm - Pete Rose is in attendance today. The first Reds game he's been to since managing them. I wonder how much money he's got riding on the game today..couple hundred?

2:25pm - Adam Dunn just blasted one that I think left the yard in about 1.3 seconds. That guy is an absolute beast...probably on his way to a 50+ HR season.

2:20pm - I've never seen a ball called for a pitcher licking his fingers on the mound in an MLB game. Too bad D Lee was caught stealing on the very next pitch.

2:15pm - First pitch to Soriano as a Cub - swing and a miss. You know I always chuckle when Randy Marsh is announced as an umpire for a game I'm watching (Southpark anyone?) -- Weak groundout for Soriano...looks like we'll have to wait a little longer on that first homerun.

2:11pm - That may have been the WORST attempt at an opening day ceremonial first pitch I've ever seen. Sucks for people in Cincinnati to have a pansy for a mayor.

2:09pm - There's nothing like a tribute to Zambrano to the sounds of Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man." That shot of him breaking the bat over his leg after striking out, is, well, it's freaking awesome.

2:07pm - I'm taking the afternoon off today to watch/live blog the Cubs game today. Needless to say, I am pretty damn excited for Soriano's first at-bat and big Z's first pitch. Let's hope this is the start of something special and we see plenty of those emotions from Z today.

Wii Makes People Look (and Sound) Stupid

I couldn't decide between the two, so I had to post both of them...




The first video needs no explanation. As for the second one, I can't wait until I'm in my early 40s, boxing my buddy on Wii and telling him to, "suck on that buddy..yeahhh!"

2007 MLB Predictions

As I am in the middle of my first fantasy baseball draft of the year (Alfonso Soriano with my first pick!), I will go ahead and make my Division champion, NL and AL champion and World Series champions. These predictions probably don’t have much merit because I haven’t been keeping up with how every team has looked this spring. However, that may turn out to be a good thing because then I won’t over analyze anything…and when that happens, I’m usually better off anyway.

National League

East – Philadelphia Phillies
Central – Chicago Cubs
East – LA Dodgers
Wild Card – Arizona Diamondbacks

American League

East – Boston Red Sox
Central – Detroit Tigers
West – Texas Rangers
Wild Card – Minnesota Twins

ALCS – Red Sox over the Tigers

NLCS – Phillies over the Cubs

World Series Champion – BOSTON RED SOX

So those are my picks, conveniently made right before the season kicks off tonight. As far as I’m concerned, this seems to be one of the more wide open years for baseball. Of course I’m hoping for the Cubs to take the crown, but I’ve already experienced 21 years of “Wait ‘til next year”…why would the 22^nd year be any different?