If you gamble on sports, something I do not do right now (seriously considered this for the upcoming year) I am saving you a ton of money with this blog post. Do not put any money on a future bet that the Baltimore Ravens will be in the Super Bowl or that they will even get there.
The biggest reason why I feel this way is Ed Reed announced yesterday that he will be out six weeks of the NFL season from hip surgery. Even though he will be back for most of the season, I think this is something that could really hinder the Ravens all season. As a defensive back, he needs his hips to rotate and make plays. In the last couple years, Reed has been the defensive stalwart for their team more so than Ray Lewis. Reed is also getting pretty old (31) and I cannot imagine that the Ravens being a top notch team with this problem.
Also the first six games are pretty tough for the most part: at the New York Jets, at Cincinnati, vs. Cleveland, at Pittsburgh, vs. Denver, and at New England. I could see 3-3 for the Ravens to start out the season but I could also see 2-4, the Browns game in week three is their only real lock to start the year off without Ed Reed. Thankfully, they have the Buffalo Bills and a bye week in the next two games if Reed's injury took longer than believed.
This isn't their only problem in the defensive secondary. They have no cornerbacks right now, Chris McAillister and Samari Rolle are both out and they really have a bunch of nobodies who will go up against the best wide recievers. Did everyone forget how much Baltimore was penalized last season too? I mean yes they added Anquan Boldin, which is a huge upgrade offensively but to me, it's a bunch of smoke and mirrors for Baltimore.
-Charlie
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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Let's Talk About Golf
I watched maybe an hour or two hours of the British Open this weekend, which was probably an all time low for me for a major golf tournament in awhile. Granted, I had to work a lot but if I didn't I would not have made it a point to wake up to watch it with the blowout inflicted by Louis Oosthuizen.
He played some great golf and I am not taking that away from him, but no one wants to see a nobody blow away the competition. It's an impression and who knows with his age (27), Oosthuizen could make some waves. I just want one of these nobodies to win some majors or at least be around in the top 10 in big tournaments. That's what pisses me off is a lot of these nobodies do not do anything after they win a major. I think they have the theory of 'this is the apex, I never expected a major championship so now that I am here, I don't need to try as hard.'
When it all boils down to it, I miss Tiger Woods' dominance. I loved the tournaments where Tiger would blow away the competition like Oosthuizen did this weekend because it just proved he was the best player in the world. I think he probably will never regain the form that he once had because he is getting older, not due to the scandal. Woods will get his first win some point and it will be great, yet Tiger will not be that same player who could win the major slam.
-Charlie.
He played some great golf and I am not taking that away from him, but no one wants to see a nobody blow away the competition. It's an impression and who knows with his age (27), Oosthuizen could make some waves. I just want one of these nobodies to win some majors or at least be around in the top 10 in big tournaments. That's what pisses me off is a lot of these nobodies do not do anything after they win a major. I think they have the theory of 'this is the apex, I never expected a major championship so now that I am here, I don't need to try as hard.'
When it all boils down to it, I miss Tiger Woods' dominance. I loved the tournaments where Tiger would blow away the competition like Oosthuizen did this weekend because it just proved he was the best player in the world. I think he probably will never regain the form that he once had because he is getting older, not due to the scandal. Woods will get his first win some point and it will be great, yet Tiger will not be that same player who could win the major slam.
-Charlie.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
2. LeBron's Legacy Doesn't Exist
A reader, Green Bay asked me to comment on LeBron James' legacy and since I am a whore to my readers, I absolutely will do this for him. I have had a long time to look at it and I have come to my conclusion. He is never going to compared with Michael Jordan/Henry Aaron/Joe Montana/Wayne Gretzky any of 'the greatest of all time.'
He will be in the category of Bo Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Julius Erving, Deion Sanders, Eric Lindros, and Ken Griffey Jr. Also you wonder why I put Deion in there is because he is in the freak athlete category of guys we will probably not see for another fifteen to twenty years. These guys are all uber athletes who could have been the greatest of all time at their sport but they never lived up to the potential that everybody wanted them to be.
LeBron will never be the greatest of all time. I cannot call the guy the greatest who wanted to play with his buddy instead of kicking his ass. Would Jordan had wanted to come to Phoenix to play with Charles Barkley? Hell no, he wanted to kicks Chuck's ass every time they played and we would have never seen Magic Johnson/Larry Bird together. There is no hate in the NBA anymore, Kobe is so old school compared to these other jokers in the league because he is the only one with the serial killer look in his eyes. Dwyane Wade doesn't have that look nor does LeBron.
He latched on to the Heat because LeBron did not want to be Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, or Dan Marino of great players who never win a title. LeBron couldn't deal with that so he jettisoned to a place where he and his tremendous PR team believed that would happen. If LeBron was like Kobe, he would have said, "You know what who cares about Donald Sterling, I am joining the Clippers and battling Kobe Bryant out for the Staples Center for six months." Honestly had he decided to join the Clips, I would have been a LeBron fan. As Vince McMahon says, "LeBron doesn't have the grapefruits to do anything like that."
The one thing that told me LeBron hated pressure like A-Rod and others before him was the comment "It will be really nice to not have to score 30 points a game." I think Kobe goes on a Mel Gibson-like rant when he doesn't get his 30 so for Bron to tell people he doesn't want to score like that makes absolutely no sense. To me, that is the quote that I will point out and tell you that he doesn't want it as much as others before.
He is like the kids we all knew in high school who had all the talents in the world but never worked hard enough to reach their full potential. They let everybody tell them how good they were and they never tried to be better than what they were. Nobody ever told them they were wrong or that is a bad idea. LeBron needs that person and sadly, he will never get that.
-Charlie.
He will be in the category of Bo Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Julius Erving, Deion Sanders, Eric Lindros, and Ken Griffey Jr. Also you wonder why I put Deion in there is because he is in the freak athlete category of guys we will probably not see for another fifteen to twenty years. These guys are all uber athletes who could have been the greatest of all time at their sport but they never lived up to the potential that everybody wanted them to be.
LeBron will never be the greatest of all time. I cannot call the guy the greatest who wanted to play with his buddy instead of kicking his ass. Would Jordan had wanted to come to Phoenix to play with Charles Barkley? Hell no, he wanted to kicks Chuck's ass every time they played and we would have never seen Magic Johnson/Larry Bird together. There is no hate in the NBA anymore, Kobe is so old school compared to these other jokers in the league because he is the only one with the serial killer look in his eyes. Dwyane Wade doesn't have that look nor does LeBron.
He latched on to the Heat because LeBron did not want to be Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, or Dan Marino of great players who never win a title. LeBron couldn't deal with that so he jettisoned to a place where he and his tremendous PR team believed that would happen. If LeBron was like Kobe, he would have said, "You know what who cares about Donald Sterling, I am joining the Clippers and battling Kobe Bryant out for the Staples Center for six months." Honestly had he decided to join the Clips, I would have been a LeBron fan. As Vince McMahon says, "LeBron doesn't have the grapefruits to do anything like that."
The one thing that told me LeBron hated pressure like A-Rod and others before him was the comment "It will be really nice to not have to score 30 points a game." I think Kobe goes on a Mel Gibson-like rant when he doesn't get his 30 so for Bron to tell people he doesn't want to score like that makes absolutely no sense. To me, that is the quote that I will point out and tell you that he doesn't want it as much as others before.
He is like the kids we all knew in high school who had all the talents in the world but never worked hard enough to reach their full potential. They let everybody tell them how good they were and they never tried to be better than what they were. Nobody ever told them they were wrong or that is a bad idea. LeBron needs that person and sadly, he will never get that.
-Charlie.
3. What the World Cup Meant to Me
On Sunday, the World Cup ended and left me disappointed. I looked forward to waking up early at 9 to watch the games and learn about the beautiful game. I was always an outside fan and I liked to watch plus play a ton of FIFA against a lot of my friends. But I think the World Cup transformed me into a fan.
I do not want to sound like John Madden but as the games go on, the games got better. I really became excited to watch and check my work schedule to see if I was able to watch the games. In 2006, I thought i hated the Netherlands but after watching them against Brazil, I liked their physical play and that Wesley Sneijder was playfully patting the Brazilians on their face after making a bad call. Although, the downside of the Dutch was Nigel De Jong, that man is a bonafide asshole who broke the American's Stuart Holden's ankle in a friendly and dropkicked a Spainard who I cannot think of. De Jong is a man I will not root for but the Dutch are okay with me.
I have to also give credit to my man Doz who jumped on Diego Forlan bandwagon before everybody else did. He told me when we were still in group stages, how much he loved Forlan. He began to call them Fightin' Forlans and texted me with updates whenever he could. He had a love affair with Petr Cech last World Cup, and now it's Forlan. Also let me add, everybody loved him by the quarterfinals and wanted Urugauy to advance as far as possible. I hope he moves on to greener pastures than Athletico Madrid so we can watch him more.
I have already watched a couple MLS games to quench my pallet for soccer even if it's sub-par compared to the European style, which I have to wait to watch in August. I have already declared I am a Tottingham Hotspur fan and before you say "This is only because of Simmons!!!!!" It's not, I liked the squad when I played with them in FIFA 08 and stayed on the bandwagon because I didn't want to jump to the usual teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Inter Milan. That would be too easy, and I had to convert to a team who not many people would like. I cannot wait until the English Premier League starts in August and I hope ESPN continues their wonderful coverage of futbol.
-Charlie.
I do not want to sound like John Madden but as the games go on, the games got better. I really became excited to watch and check my work schedule to see if I was able to watch the games. In 2006, I thought i hated the Netherlands but after watching them against Brazil, I liked their physical play and that Wesley Sneijder was playfully patting the Brazilians on their face after making a bad call. Although, the downside of the Dutch was Nigel De Jong, that man is a bonafide asshole who broke the American's Stuart Holden's ankle in a friendly and dropkicked a Spainard who I cannot think of. De Jong is a man I will not root for but the Dutch are okay with me.
I have to also give credit to my man Doz who jumped on Diego Forlan bandwagon before everybody else did. He told me when we were still in group stages, how much he loved Forlan. He began to call them Fightin' Forlans and texted me with updates whenever he could. He had a love affair with Petr Cech last World Cup, and now it's Forlan. Also let me add, everybody loved him by the quarterfinals and wanted Urugauy to advance as far as possible. I hope he moves on to greener pastures than Athletico Madrid so we can watch him more.
I have already watched a couple MLS games to quench my pallet for soccer even if it's sub-par compared to the European style, which I have to wait to watch in August. I have already declared I am a Tottingham Hotspur fan and before you say "This is only because of Simmons!!!!!" It's not, I liked the squad when I played with them in FIFA 08 and stayed on the bandwagon because I didn't want to jump to the usual teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Inter Milan. That would be too easy, and I had to convert to a team who not many people would like. I cannot wait until the English Premier League starts in August and I hope ESPN continues their wonderful coverage of futbol.
-Charlie.
4. The Michael Myers of the NBA
One of the bigger questions going on right now is bringing three of the bigger names of the NBA to one team a good thing? I have wonder the same thing, and honestly it is good for one big time reason... we finally have a villain in the NBA.
If you think about the NFL, NHL, College Football/Basketball, and MLB have hated teams that nobody can stand (Cowboys, Red Wings, Fightin' Irish, Wildcats, Yankees). The NBA hasn't had that since Detroit's Bad Boys teams who did some classless things throughout their years. It could be argued the 90s New York Knicks also were a hated team, and that the Los Angles Lakers have always been hated. As much as when LeBron James signed, I thought many people would begin their jump to the bandwagon because of James. I do not think that is happening like I thought it would.
People who didn't mind James really do not like him anymore. Everyone talks about how much of a 'douche' he was about the whole process and that they cannot stand the Heat. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the backlash for a team who just brought back Dwyane Wade, and brought in Chris Bosh/James. This team had to well-liked but they vaulted the Lakers as the number hated team.
This will be a team that when they go to opposing arenas, the chorus of boos will rain down on them like if it was a monsoon. I couldn't imagine some of the people who supported James through the years will be on his side this year. In addition, can someone clarify if James does his powder toss on the road? If so, fans should ask their management to not allow James to do that as another big FU.
People love to say "God I am really glad the Yankees/Cowboys/Fightin Irish are sucking, it just puts a smile on my face when they lose." A lot of people including myself will be happy when the Heat lose even though they have a Marquette graduate on the team, no one wants see a super team succeed. Finally, DWade has his ring, why does LeBron need one too?
-Charlie.
If you think about the NFL, NHL, College Football/Basketball, and MLB have hated teams that nobody can stand (Cowboys, Red Wings, Fightin' Irish, Wildcats, Yankees). The NBA hasn't had that since Detroit's Bad Boys teams who did some classless things throughout their years. It could be argued the 90s New York Knicks also were a hated team, and that the Los Angles Lakers have always been hated. As much as when LeBron James signed, I thought many people would begin their jump to the bandwagon because of James. I do not think that is happening like I thought it would.
People who didn't mind James really do not like him anymore. Everyone talks about how much of a 'douche' he was about the whole process and that they cannot stand the Heat. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the backlash for a team who just brought back Dwyane Wade, and brought in Chris Bosh/James. This team had to well-liked but they vaulted the Lakers as the number hated team.
This will be a team that when they go to opposing arenas, the chorus of boos will rain down on them like if it was a monsoon. I couldn't imagine some of the people who supported James through the years will be on his side this year. In addition, can someone clarify if James does his powder toss on the road? If so, fans should ask their management to not allow James to do that as another big FU.
People love to say "God I am really glad the Yankees/Cowboys/Fightin Irish are sucking, it just puts a smile on my face when they lose." A lot of people including myself will be happy when the Heat lose even though they have a Marquette graduate on the team, no one wants see a super team succeed. Finally, DWade has his ring, why does LeBron need one too?
-Charlie.
5. Cleveland Still Hungover From The Decision
I realize this is a few days late but I already explained my situation. I cannot help but think that Cleveland is still hurting from Thursday night even though they signed Kyle Lowry today. I can understand somewhat Cavs fans of what you are going through right now. I don't believe I am on your level of grieving but I truly do get what is going on. It's an uber reality where you believe it's a sports nightmare where you might have been the only one happy for 12 hour coverage of George Steinbrenner today because you didn't have to see LeBron.
The wheels began to turn on this when your friend Eric asked the Sports Guy on Twitter, what is a bigger slap in the face: LBJ leaving Cleveland or Brett Favre leaving Green Bay for Minnesota. I thought about this for awhile because I knew Simmons probably wouldn't tweet Eric back. I had trouble coming with a decision and had to remind myself how mad I was about the Brett Favre to Minnesota thing last season.
What's funny is I told people that LeBron was much worse but then looking back on the Favre thing, I couldn't have been more mad. I really had so much hate in my stomach that week, that first game the Minnesota Viking plays, and the first game against Favre. Then when the Packers got swept, and lost the division, I felt like I needed to drink 50 beers to swallow the pain.
But what I haven't dealt with it is none of my three local teams never winning a championship for the city. Since 1948, there hasn't been a victory parade in the city of Cleveland. At least I have the Packers 97' Super Bowl to go off and I can be content knowing I saw one championship in my lifetime while some fans have never seen one. It's not just that Cleveland has a bunch of shitty teams for years upon years (right now all three are awful). The Fumble, The Drive, Jose Mesa, and the two LeBron choke jobs are all examples of the pain this city has felt without winning one championship.
The LeBron's choice to leave for Miami hurt more than Favre because this dealt blow for the Cleveland fan base to win championship or even have a competitive team. The Packers went to the playoffs when Favre went to Minnesota and we had a star in Aaron Rodgers. The Cavs have none of that, I mean who they look to... Antwan Jamison? That is about it for the Cavs and let's not forget, LeBron is from Ohio. I wrote two weeks ago that LeBron didn't care about the city for the franchises he adored in other sports. I think that point made it clear when LeBron decide to announce on national television that he would leave Cleveland for South Beach.
An Ohio kid basically told the state that it was too small for him and he needed to move on to create new memories. He didn't care about the history of Cleveland ever and for that I am sorry to the fans who believed that. I am sorry that you had a selfish basketball player even though your ownership should shoulder more blame than they actually have. Cleveland weeps again and hopefully they will find a championship in something before I turn 50.
-Charlie.
The wheels began to turn on this when your friend Eric asked the Sports Guy on Twitter, what is a bigger slap in the face: LBJ leaving Cleveland or Brett Favre leaving Green Bay for Minnesota. I thought about this for awhile because I knew Simmons probably wouldn't tweet Eric back. I had trouble coming with a decision and had to remind myself how mad I was about the Brett Favre to Minnesota thing last season.
What's funny is I told people that LeBron was much worse but then looking back on the Favre thing, I couldn't have been more mad. I really had so much hate in my stomach that week, that first game the Minnesota Viking plays, and the first game against Favre. Then when the Packers got swept, and lost the division, I felt like I needed to drink 50 beers to swallow the pain.
But what I haven't dealt with it is none of my three local teams never winning a championship for the city. Since 1948, there hasn't been a victory parade in the city of Cleveland. At least I have the Packers 97' Super Bowl to go off and I can be content knowing I saw one championship in my lifetime while some fans have never seen one. It's not just that Cleveland has a bunch of shitty teams for years upon years (right now all three are awful). The Fumble, The Drive, Jose Mesa, and the two LeBron choke jobs are all examples of the pain this city has felt without winning one championship.
The LeBron's choice to leave for Miami hurt more than Favre because this dealt blow for the Cleveland fan base to win championship or even have a competitive team. The Packers went to the playoffs when Favre went to Minnesota and we had a star in Aaron Rodgers. The Cavs have none of that, I mean who they look to... Antwan Jamison? That is about it for the Cavs and let's not forget, LeBron is from Ohio. I wrote two weeks ago that LeBron didn't care about the city for the franchises he adored in other sports. I think that point made it clear when LeBron decide to announce on national television that he would leave Cleveland for South Beach.
An Ohio kid basically told the state that it was too small for him and he needed to move on to create new memories. He didn't care about the history of Cleveland ever and for that I am sorry to the fans who believed that. I am sorry that you had a selfish basketball player even though your ownership should shoulder more blame than they actually have. Cleveland weeps again and hopefully they will find a championship in something before I turn 50.
-Charlie.
6. Brewers At The Break
Today when you watched the All Star Game and see that your Milwaukee Brewers have the two corner outfielders starting for the National League, you have to figure the team has to be at least be .500 or maybe even better. Nope. They are nine games under .500 and need a remarkable second half to get to the playoffs.
It has been a frustrating season but there are some bright spots like Corey Hart. A player whose jersey I had in 2007 and loved him as a player because he could pretty much do it all. In addition, I tried my best not to give up on him but I did take a lot of shit to the point, I couldn't wear my jersey out in public. I didn't feel like having to defend and I really couldn't say anything positive about him. I am glad I can now wear it with pride and glory.
Another player that has a great season is John Axford. A guy everyone seemed to fall in love with because of his tremendous mustache including myself because I understand a good stache. Then when the Crew was losing 10 straight games, Ken Macha decided to throw out Axford for shits and giggles in the 9th inning to close out a game against the Pirates. Now, he is our closer and has been a great one since that time. I hope the Ax man can keep it up for the rest of the season.
I mean sure it's great Prince Fielder has a bunch of homers, Rickie Weeks is doing well, before the DL Yovani Gallardo made a name for himself, and Casey McGehee isn't suffering the sophomore slump. Notice, most has been about the offense, the pitching has been the cause for concern and the reason why ball games have been lost at an alarming rate.
Pitching was a problem last season as well when the Brewers finished a disappointing .500. This led to Doug Melvin busting out the wallet to get Doug Davis and Randy Wolf, which worked out about as good as the Bay of Pigs. Wolf has been alright but he hasn't been a game changer for the Brewers, which I thought he would be. But it's the classic thing about getting excited about a signing your team makes when you probably should just take it for what it is. I was never excited about Davis, I felt we could have done better like the time you see your buddy dating a 4. Granted, he did pitch well in his last start and hopefully he will showcase his talents in the coming weeks for the trade deadline because I would rather see Manny Parra/Chris Narveson than Davis.
The back end of the bullpen is the reason why we are nine games under .500. If we had cut the cord with Trevor Hoffman earlier in the year, we might not be where we are today. The Crew have a stunning 11 blown saves already, which is extremely high for this time of the year. I expect about five or six games by now to go wrong in the 9th or later but eleven? They could be right in the thick of things if they stayed the course. I mean when people at the Clubhouse and Twitter joked about how Trevor Hoffman could have cost the National League the game tonight.
I have no idea what will happened in the months of July, August, and September yet I am guessing it will not be how we all want it. Either Hart or Fielder will be gone by July 31st plus the Brewers will keep hanging around third through fifth unless of an amazing second half run.
-Charlie.
It has been a frustrating season but there are some bright spots like Corey Hart. A player whose jersey I had in 2007 and loved him as a player because he could pretty much do it all. In addition, I tried my best not to give up on him but I did take a lot of shit to the point, I couldn't wear my jersey out in public. I didn't feel like having to defend and I really couldn't say anything positive about him. I am glad I can now wear it with pride and glory.
Another player that has a great season is John Axford. A guy everyone seemed to fall in love with because of his tremendous mustache including myself because I understand a good stache. Then when the Crew was losing 10 straight games, Ken Macha decided to throw out Axford for shits and giggles in the 9th inning to close out a game against the Pirates. Now, he is our closer and has been a great one since that time. I hope the Ax man can keep it up for the rest of the season.
I mean sure it's great Prince Fielder has a bunch of homers, Rickie Weeks is doing well, before the DL Yovani Gallardo made a name for himself, and Casey McGehee isn't suffering the sophomore slump. Notice, most has been about the offense, the pitching has been the cause for concern and the reason why ball games have been lost at an alarming rate.
Pitching was a problem last season as well when the Brewers finished a disappointing .500. This led to Doug Melvin busting out the wallet to get Doug Davis and Randy Wolf, which worked out about as good as the Bay of Pigs. Wolf has been alright but he hasn't been a game changer for the Brewers, which I thought he would be. But it's the classic thing about getting excited about a signing your team makes when you probably should just take it for what it is. I was never excited about Davis, I felt we could have done better like the time you see your buddy dating a 4. Granted, he did pitch well in his last start and hopefully he will showcase his talents in the coming weeks for the trade deadline because I would rather see Manny Parra/Chris Narveson than Davis.
The back end of the bullpen is the reason why we are nine games under .500. If we had cut the cord with Trevor Hoffman earlier in the year, we might not be where we are today. The Crew have a stunning 11 blown saves already, which is extremely high for this time of the year. I expect about five or six games by now to go wrong in the 9th or later but eleven? They could be right in the thick of things if they stayed the course. I mean when people at the Clubhouse and Twitter joked about how Trevor Hoffman could have cost the National League the game tonight.
I have no idea what will happened in the months of July, August, and September yet I am guessing it will not be how we all want it. Either Hart or Fielder will be gone by July 31st plus the Brewers will keep hanging around third through fifth unless of an amazing second half run.
-Charlie.
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