If the Braves continue to be riddled with injuries suffered by their stud pitchers, this team won't have an iceberg's chance in hell to make the playoffs. Peter Moylan, who was the rock in the bullpen last year, is done for the season; John Smoltz could be done for his career (let's hope he's not); Tom Glavine is out until at least the All-Star Break, and Rafael Soriano constantly has pain in his elbow.

And let's not forget the freak accidents. Jair Jurrjens twisted his ankle on the dugout stairs last Tuesday in Chicago and Chipper Jones got hit in the face from his own foul-tip in batting practice last night. Thankfully he was alright and will be back in the lineup tonight, but remember he is still battling with a minor tear in his right quad. And in infamous Disabled List news, Mike Hampton will soon have a sex-change operation to complete his transformation into a graceful and delicate ballerina.

The outfield is in shambles, too. Mark Kotsay is on the 15-day DL with back problems (maybe his smokin' hot wife had something to do with it) and Matt Diaz has a strained ligament in his knee. Martin Prado has caused some stress for the infield when he was placed on the DL with a thumb injury. Pretty soon the Braves clubhouse will be added as a new wing in Grady Hospital.

Even the seemingly healthy pitchers are struggling. Blaine Boyer and Manny Acosta can't seem to leave the mound until they make the game "a little more interesting" (ahem, or 'blowing it' as they call it nowadays).

Consequently, this leaves us with Charlie Morton making his MLB debut tonight against the almighty Angels. Since the entire Braves outfield seems to be on the DL, perhaps a few "angels in the outfield" could help them out in Anaheim. Oh the childhood memories and terrible puns...

And now we've arrived to the point I was making with the title of my post. Sure, the Braves have been solid at home (minus this past embarrassing home stand), but having the major league's worst away record (8-24) isn't going to cut it. But there is one record they can easily beat: The Braves have lost 21 consecutive one-run road games, which ties the all-time record with the KC Royals. WE CAN DO IT GUYS! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!

As I've alluded to in the title, the Celtics have scraped by their NBA playoff series with very few road wins. It's been the theme, especially when they faced the Hawks, after stretching the miracle series to 7 games. Since then, the Celtics have won key games on the road against the Pistons and now the Lakers. They're pretty much guaranteed a championship ring at this point. And why? It's because they won the games they needed to win on the road.

And if the Bravos can't start doing the same for ol' Bobby (and stay off the DL), then you fans might as well catch a flight to Richmond to see our soon-to-be major league starters.

Yes......I'm an idiot.

more later

If anyone else has been watching the NBA playoffs so far, you'll most certainly have noticed that the celtics have had their fair share of scares in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Although the semifinals were against a legit opponent that had arguably the best player in the league, the first round was played against a team that snuck into the playoffs with less than 40 wins (sorry hawks fans, but its kinda true that you guys got lucky). Not to say they didn't give the C's a run for their money, but the celtics should have and were expected to blast through the playoffs on their return to glory. so where has that glory of the green gone? where is KG's passion in the endgames?

Be scared celtic fans, because looming large tonight is the definition of a battle-tested playoff team. The Pistons have reached four straight conference finals after winning their title in 2004 and are hungry for a return to the finals, and if things hold up, i wont be surprised to see the Pistons, and not the celtics, squaring off against the west's champion.

here are my top 5 reasons why the pistons will win this series and reach the finals one more time.

1. Winning road games: During the regular season, the C's were the best team on the road, by far. With a 31-10 record, the celtics were the definition of dominance on the road. However, Since the start of the playoffs, they haven't won a single game on the road, dropping three games each in Atlanta and Cleveland. Even though they are extremely dominant at home, it will take more than that to beat Detroit. To win this series, the Celtics need to split the two games at the Palace to have a real shot of moving on.

On the other hand, Detroit has been the only team that has consistently won on the road these playoffs. they dispatched the sixers in six, closing out the series in Philly, and they routed orlando in 5 games, splitting the games played in Orlando. The odds are very low that detroit will give up more games than they already have at the palace, and the Celtics are not looking very certain of themselves at home.

2. Proven scorers: We all know about the "boston three party", but what you may or may not have noticed is how that became a two person affair in the Cleveland series, when Ray Allen couldn't hit the ocean if he tried (he shot a whopping .328 from the field on 20-61 shooting, including .167 from beyond the arc on 4-24 shooting). Paired up with the fact that Allen is mostly ineffective covering one on one, he was almost a non factor in the series. The scoring slack was picked up mostly by Pierce, with KG helping most of the time. Boston's bench was also wildly ineffective, with major stinkbombs in games 5 and 6 (3 and 10 points from the bench, respectively).

Detroit has four proven scorers who are capable of taking over the game. Billups, Prince, Wallace, and Hamilton are all capable of carrying the scoring load when the game is on the line, and run their half-court offense to perfection. Even Antonio McDyess is a solid big man, htough not the best scorer. Although they have been known to start off games in sluggish fashion, i tend to trust the pistons' scorers more than i have Boston's in these playoffs.

3. Coaching: Flip Saunders vs. Doc Rivers. We're talking about two polar opposites here. For the past 3 years, Saunders has been the definition of consistency, getting his team deep into the playoffs every year, and consistently ending the regular season in the top slots in the East. While many people forget this, Doc Rivers has actually been one of the worse coaches in Basketball for the same period of time before this year. In the playoffs, Rivers' flaws have been exposed while Saunders has remained cool and managed his team.

Rivers' has been incapable so far of setting an established rotation and keeping to it, substituting players randomly as if they were a hockey team and destroying Rondo's confidence in the process by constantly giving his minutes to Cassell, who, while he has playoff experience, it necessarily isn't good experience, and he tends to try and keep the ball for as long as possible and make forced shots whenever he can. Rivers has also proven inept at modifying his game plan when needed, refusing to cover a red-hot Joe Smith in the Atlanta series, and constantly ignoring Al Horford. Against the cavs, his over-attention on Lebron (albeit justified), left the rest of the team to run wild and seemingly score at will. Saunders managed to shut down Iguodala against the Sixers and severely limited Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard's effectiveness against orlando.

4. Experience: Now, this one may seem a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. The celtics have the big names (Garnett, Pierce, Allen), but their combined playoff experience leaves alot to be desired. Garnett had most of his experience in one season with the T'wolves, when they reach the second round, and went on to implode. Allen's experience follows the same line, and Pierce hasn't been in the playoffs since 2004.

The Pistons have more collective experience than any other team in the playoffs right now. They've kept the same core of players intact throughout their impressive run of conference finals. Because of this, the Pistons have developed a consistent game plan and are extremely adept at using it.

5. Clutchability: Simply put, the Pistons are a clutch TEAM. They showed it in game 4 of round 1 against the sixers. Down at the half, the pistons came out guns blazing and didn't look back until they were done with orlando. Chauncy Billups is perhaps one of the best playoff performers in the NBA right now, and Wallace, Hamilton, and Prince aren't far behind. The Pistons have showed time and time again that they can win when it matters, and they have an extra gear that is difficult to stop MOST nights (note: i wrote this while watching game 1, and the pistons looked extremely, well, un-clutch, but my argument still stands).

However, in this department, the Pistons have an ace in the hole, and his name is Paul Pierce. Even with the addition of KG and Ray Allen, it is always clear who is the leader on this team. KG may have pushed the team over the top with his passion and his chest-thumping near-psychotic energy, but Pierce has been the constant clutch for this team. KG plays like a scared kid when the game is on the line, shying away from the shots he needs to make and hesitating too much on his fade-away and easy looks. Pierce, on the other hand, in a brilliant display of clutch, outgunned LeBron in game 7 (even though he was outscored 45 to 41, Pierce's contributions to the C's were far greater, including his crucial steal of a ball LeBron should have had.) Pierce, however, cannot win without the other two parts of that threesome, and with Ray Allen's jumper somewhere between thailand and jupiter, its hard to see KG finally deciding to step up with two minutes left when the game is on the line.


So there you have it, i guess you can pretty much figure out my pick, but i'll write it down anyways, just so there's no confusion: Detroit in 7.
expect a crazy series, and don't blame me for being wrong......again.

Ryan Perrilloux will no longer be able to defend the national championship title. The prominent face of the 2008 LSU team will never take a snap for the Tigers after getting dismissed by Les Miles. He had numerous run-ins with the law in 2007 that included a nightclub fight and trying to use his brother's ID to go riverboat gambling, but he didn't make amends this Spring by missing team meetings and practices. Failing a drug test was the last straw and now LSU needs a new quarterback.

Jamar Hornsby, a Junior safety at Florida, has just been dismissed by Urban Meyer for using the gas credit card for 6 months of a woman who had been killed in a motorcycle accident.

In other Gator news, Florida defensive lineman Matt Patchan was shot in the shoulder in Tampa last Friday. No details have been released yet, but when you have a bullet in your arm it doesn't usually mean you were just "at the wrong place at the wrong time" in a library or at a church function.

Two Mississippi State players, Michael Brown and Quinton Wesley, have just been given suspended sentences for firing guns into the air on campus back in March and were dismissed from the team and kicked out of school.

In Nick Saban land, Freshman defensive tackle Jeremy Elder was kicked off the team following his arrest for allegedly robbing two other students at gunpoint a couple of months ago. At least eight players have been arrested from the Crimson Tide since Saban was hired.

I'm sure we can all agree the Southeastern Conference is the pinnacle of collegiate football, but boy, there have been several "personnel problems" recently that make the SEC look bush league off the field. We hear the college presidents get on their soap boxes and push sportsmanship rules on players and fans alike, and anointed the conference as the "Standard of Excellence". Sure the SEC has excellent teams in every sport available to our amateur athletes, but that excellence hasn't exactly been evident in newspapers and websites lately.

To be fair, the media loves to share negative stories more than they do heartwarming ones, so we fans don't get to hear about the generous and altruistic Kelin Johnson's of the world often enough. So for argument's sake, I am basing all of this negative attention on SEC football relative to the number of "big sports stories" lately. And I know SEC football players aren't the only troublemakers in the world of college football, but when you have this much bad press lately, it makes the conference look a Michael Vick prison league.

Well, it's that wonderful time of year again. The grass is freshly cut and smelling great, the weather is turning warm to stay, and Atlanta's pastime is back in action. On Sunday night, the Braves played the role of sacrificial lamb in Washington as the Nationals won it on Ryan Zimmerman's home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the first ever game in their new stadium. You just knew that when the Braves tied it up late in the game that the baseball Gods would not let Washington's first game in their new house end that way.



The last time that the Braves were in such a position (to the best of my memory, that is) was after 9-11, when the first games after the tragedy were played. The Braves were in New York to take on the Mets, and I don't think anyone had a problem pulling for the Mets that night. As fate would have it, the face of Mets baseball, Mike Piazza, won it for the home team that night, giving the Big Apple the shot in the arm it needed.



After a suspect first inning last night, Tim Hudson settled in for a long stretch of fantastic pitching. Late in the game, the Braves tied, but the bullpen gave up the game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th to Washington.



On to Monday. Atlanta hosted Pittsburgh in the home opener, and the homecoming for Tom Glavine. As much dislike as I have acquired for Tommy since he spurned the Braves for an extra $6 million dollars to go to rival New York (when you are as rich as he is, can you really put a price tag on staying home?), it was good to see him back in Atlanta. He looked good too. He left with a game intact that the bullpen could win. But for the second straight night, the bullpen faltered.



What looked to be a lost cause being down 9-4 in the bottom of the 9th, the Braves not only rallied with those powerful bats, but with help from Pittsburgh's own attempt to give the game away, as well as a little luck (Jason Bay "misjudging" the ball with 2 outs).



But even after giving up the lead and allowing the Pirates to pad a huge lead, then letting the offense get back into the game, the bullpen once again showed its cracks, allowing a 3 run home run in the top of the 12th to put Pittsburgh ahead for good. Ultimately, the Braves fell 12-11 in 12 innings.

So a team that many are predicting to be NL East Champions, NL Champions, perhaps even World Series Champions is now 0-2, granted that those 2 losses were very close and hard fought battles down to the very end. It is very early yet.

But I am worried. I have been a Braves fan for as long as I was competent enough to watch and understand baseball. I have followed this team for years. I loved the run of division titles and probably did take them for granted. Now 2 years without playoff appearances has me restless. The main struggle that the past 2 Atlanta teams have dealt with would be bullpen pitching. This year, the pitching from top to bottom has been revamped, and they are now deep enough to make a deep playoff run. But after 2 losses in which the bullpen failed to hold for the powerful offense, I am beginning to question just a little. Is this the same bullpen of 2006 and 2007? Are we in for the same roller coaster ride once Hudson, Smoltz, Hampton, Glavine, or whoever the starter may be, leaves the game? This offense is talented enough to put up runs whenever it is asked to do such. It just doesn't need to do it multiple times a game after the 'pen has placed the team in a hole.

This is supposed to be a new Braves lineup, but so far the same faults and imperfections that have cost the team the past 2 seasons have cost them 2 victories on this young season. Let's just hope it's early season growing pains, and that the Braves turn things around quickly to get back to the summit of the NL East.

Greetings and salutations from Tim Kohrumel and Ryan Evans, who will be giving you an inside look at the Braves Spring Training for the next few days here at the Disney Wide World of Sports.

Let's start you off with the accommodations--Ron Burgendy would have lived it up big here at the Ramada where renovations have been non-existent since the disco era. But that gives it character.

Today was a day game with Jair Jurrjens taking the mound for his second start of the spring season. He looked solid, only giving up one hit in 4 innings. Detroit is going to be sorry for giving up this guy. He'll be a part of the 5-man rotation for sure.

Other things of note include old timer Javy Lopez getting his second homer of the spring...which also happened to be his second hit of the season. If he only gets homers for hits, that might be enough to give him a backup spot behind McCann. But that's probably unlikely at this point because he is hitting below .200 and his defense has been shakey. He admitted that he's pressing, but maybe Frank Wren will throw him a bone and give him a minor league contract in the meantime.

Jordan Schafer also is continuing to impress. He ended up with a double and two walks today, so the pop in his bat is continuing to...well, pop. Yes. Pop. He'll still play behind Kotsay this season, but he'll definitely be the starting center fielder in a year.

We were fortunate enough to sit behind the rarest of all baseball fans - the fan of both teams. He routinely would cheer for each batter, yelling "This is our inning! Get some RBIs!" only to cheer when the opposing team made an out. And as you would expect of a man of 60+, he was wearing his vintage Atlantic City hat sideways. Good thing the stereotypical Braves fan is apathetic, otherwise there would have been a bloodbath.

There was also the obligatory drunk and obnoxious Cubs fan there wearing Top Gun style mirrored aviators. Not sure if he knew where he was or who was playing. There was a "Massh*le" sitting in front of us (pardon the french) wearing a Red Sox shirt. Maybe those two guys were going to Epcot together tomorrow.

Words of warning to those of you wanting to come catch some spring training action. 1) Wear sunscreen and apply it evenly. Tim has a phallic looking sun burn running the length of his arm. He's not pleased. 2) If you are looking to try any local brews here in Florida, you are SOL. We've been to two bars/restaurants and the most eccentric beer choice is a Boston Lager and a Corona Light (this sadly includes the ESPN Club). Score dudez! Who wants a Bud Heavy and watch some NASCAR??? 3) If you really think there is some chance in this world that a hot trio of blonde females between the ages of 18-25 will be at spring training baseball games, you are going to be extremely disappointed. Women like Erin Andrews don't actually exist in the real world.

So tomorrow night, we'll shamelessly compete with 12 year-olds for autographs as we continue bringing you the inside scoop from Disney's Wide World of Sports. We'll leave you with a few pictures that I hope you'll enjoy.

Labels: Atlanta, baseball, Braves, Disney, spring training, Wide World of Sports

I do a blog for a local paper so I figured I'd post here too.

This weekend, the almighty Kentucky Wildcats strolled into town in what promised to be an exciting game: The Dawgs were undefeated at Fort Stegeman while the ‘Cats had yet to win on the road.

I arrived at the Coliseum two hours early to ensure my place in the front row. The crowd slowly filtered in and excitement grew amongst the crowd. Free t-shirts were provided to boost a sellout crowd as well as the promise of Mark Richt presenting the Sugar Bowl trophy at halftime.

The Wildcats came out early to a chorus of boo’s and heckling fans (I amongst them). The main difference I noticed between the two teams in the early preparation was the focus of Kentucky compared to the loose demeanor of Georgia. The Bulldogs were talking and joking during the shoot around but I did not really notice any of the ‘Cats talking: each was preparing and getting mentally ready.

Dennis Felton then came through the student section and interacted with the crowd. I shook hands with him and he told me he appreciated my support. Felton has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for the team’s poor results but I stand by our Coach. He’s a good guy who is turning this program in a positive direction. Felton knew he would cost his team several wins by cutting Mercer and Brown but did it anyway. He cares about the prestige and class of UGA and I fully support that.

As the game was about to start I called out to my favorite player, Troy Brewer, and pointed at him. Yes, he pointed back. I was also selected to participate in the “dizzy bat race” during a T.V. timeout! It was very exciting to be out on the court in front of 10,000 people making a fool out of myself. Even better was that I got to talk to Knowshon Moreno and Matt Stafford! They were hanging out by the sideline and I asked Knowshon for some pre-race advice. He told me to “Finish the Drill.” Matt came up to me, shook my hand and asked who I was going against. I pointed and he said “Oh, you got him, man.” Well, turns out I didn’t…but the other guy cheated!

Before tip-off I wanted to note a few matchups: Ramel Bradley against Sudiata Gaines – two senior guards battling for pride and a late NBA draft pick -- and Jeremy “Big Dawg” Price against Patrick Patterson – two up and coming freshman with a lot of hype surrounding them. Unfortunately, neither one occurred. Bradley took a nasty fall about five feet away from me, hit his head hard on the court and never returned. Price didn’t get the minutes I expected (see below) and the match-ups became a moot point.

Overall the game was a thriller. There were so many lead changes I lost count. Once Georgia was down 11, I thought the game was over but the Dawgs came storming back late to take the lead. However, the win was not to be had. Patrick Patterson was a monster down low and Joe Crawford was so cool under pressure. Georgia had no answer for the dynamic tandem.

I was happy to hear Stegeman erupt at a few big three pointers, something I had yet to witness. A big UK fan who has been to Rupp Arena many teams (seats 24,000) said it was a hostile environment. That was quite the compliment

Two players I was impressed by: Terrance Woodbury and (you’ll never guess) Dave Bliss. Yes, Dave Bliss. I ragged on him hard in my last article (which he may have read…it can only explain his turnaround) but since then has performed better than ever. He’s scored double figures in his last three games and has been staying out of foul trouble. Woodbury took some of the heat off an anemic shooting performance from Billy Humphrey (2-9 FG, 8pts) chipping in twelve. Sundiata Gaines did exactly as expected: led the team in scoring and took over in clutch situations. He is The Man.

I do have to call into question the lack of playing time for our young forwards. Jeremy Price is our “highest-profile Bulldog newcomer” yet played three minutes. Three minutes. Jeremy Jacob is a four star recruit who I am a huge fan of did not leave the bench (but did flex his arms upon my request from the stand). I’m actually starting to wonder if he is in some academic trouble or doesn’t practice well because the guy can move in the paint. Troy Brewer came in with four minutes left and hit a three. Where was he the whole game? Humphrey had an off night!

Pretty soon, the coaches may have to come to an unfortunate realization: we’re not that good. The future of this program lies with the development of our prize recruits. Price is a big body who can use some work playing with the big boys. What better practice than against tough SEC power men? Jacob needs some playing time. From what I saw of Chris Barnes this weekend, he needs more minutes too! Playing Dave Bliss and Albert Jackson may get a couple more wins this season but long term; we need these young guys to get some experience.

back here with the second half of Georgia-Arkansas

Again with the softness in the low point. All of Arkansas' points in the second half so far have come from inside the paint. Georgia's big men need serious work

Georgia needs to work on their fast breaks. only two points off the break in the first half and they had at least four opportunities off steals to convert. their transition offense needs serious work as well

The dawgs' half court offense is very stagnant. they don't create enough opportunities for shots, and are constantly pressured into bad passes and shots.

Georgia's bench on the court, playing very well. It's a great thing that the dawgs have good depth at every position (except for Center, see above) but their forwards are very good and look to have great future, they're all young.

Billy Humphrey from beyond the arc today: 3-5. this guy is really good. REALLY good

The more I see Woodbury play, the less I know about him. He's either really good, or really lucky, but he seems to be great when he gets excited, let's just hope he can stay excited for a long time.

Chris Barnes may be a little overexcited out there, but that's a good thing. He plays with passion, which is much needed for Georgia. Just saw him pull about 3 blocks in 6 minutes, plus a few boards and some great defensive assistance. This guy is gonna be great.

Rashard who? Albert Jackson is playing great. The Dawgs are getting a lot of blocks, which used to be Singleton's specialty, so that is being greatly compensated. Albert Jackson looks like a man possessed out there.

Its great to see sundiata gaines play. he's a pure, pass-first point guard, he's fast, and he hustles on every ball. It's going to hurt Georgia when he leaves. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill


Your Final Score:
Bulldogs 82, hogs 69.

See you next week vs. Kentucky.

welcome sports fans to the quick-hit thoughts for tonight's game between the dawgs and the razorbacks. I'll keep you updated on what's going on with posts after the first half and at the final buzzer. feel free to tell me what you thought of the game:

1st half:

Georgia going into full court pressure early. i like the aggressiveness coach Felton is taking. Shows that he wants to win big tonight

The poor shooting from the perimeter continues for Georgia. they need to get better at shooting from the outside to have any real shot at winning in the SEC. They're to eager to take a shot without looking at their options early

The rebounding game needs some serious work. they're getting beat on both boards on easy rebounds

Billy Humphrey is making it look easy. he's a great scoring 2 guard, and has been great in the starter's role, is fast off screens and has phenomenal touch on his long range shots. his defense still needs a minimal amount of work, but he more than makes up for it on offense.

Georgia seriously needs a big man who can draw double teams. their poor shooting would be greatly aided by a big man who can draw constant double teams and clear up the perimeter for Georgia's shooters.

Chris Barnes is a phenomenal freshman. already he has a block, a massive dunk, and he looks like he's about to tear someone's head off constantly (in a good way). He's playing with grea energy, although he still needs some work on his mechanics in the pivot.

leading scorer with 7 minutes in the first half: Dave Bliss...who'd have thought? he's playing a great game. strong on the boards, fighting for every board and fighting for every single point he can get.

georgia has 8 turnovers in the first 14 minutes. most of them off very bad decisions and passes. its a recipe for trouble if they can't change it soon.

georgia has a big hole in the low post. Arkansas is getting big points simply lobbing it to the low post.

The Dawgs' big men need some serious work on their low-post offense. They can't work under the basket without dribbling the ball or falling into defensive traps.

half time score: Dawgs 34, hogs 27.

back with more in the 2nd half.

I want to thank the Mitchell report for ruining players' lives and careers with minimal to no evidence. Without any positive test results, these players have been trashed in the media and court of public opinion. I can now never look at Roger Clemens again, even though I know the evidence is so flimsy it would not stand up in court.
The Mitchell report did absolutely nothing for baseball. What was the point of naming all those players we already knew took steroids? What was the point of destroying kids' dreams of growing up to be Roger Clemens? Congratulations Senator Mitchell, you have unnecessarily killed the reputations of numerous retired and active players.
In all, the report told us mostly names we already knew, a few we could have figured out and about three surprises. And to accomplish what? His goal was not to punish players: he advised the commish not to punish anyone named in the report (probably because the evidence was incredibly weak). His goal wasn't to propose alternate ways of testing, or if it was, he failed miserably as he did not suggest any new methods. Perhaps Mitchell simply does not want Clemens in the Hall of Fame, because that is the only thing he may have achieved.
The report told us we had a steroid problem and the testing has improved the scenario. That is all the report needed to say. Why trash so many players? The report was unnecessary, ridiculous and accomplished next to nothing. Come to think of it, that also describes Bud Selig's reign as commissioner...

We've heard the debate and controversy surrounding Sean Taylor's death and how unfairly the media is portraying his unlawful past. Many say the media is blaming him for his own murder. After thinking about it myself, it seems far too easy to simply blame his murder on "running with the wrong crowd". I believe this is a grossly oversimplified explanation. The truth is, you can't always choose every single person who runs in your group of friends.

To make sure I have my bases covered, I know that there hasn't been any suspects in the case, so this theory is NOT necessarily the explanation of what happened. It's a theory. I'm only going by what I've heard about his rough past, and especially by what his longtime friend and former U of Miami teammate Antrel Rolle told The Associated Press (from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel):

"They say it was a burglary," Rolle said. "It absolutely was not a burglary. Down South, where we're from, there were many people talking to Sean, a lot of jealousy, a lot of angry people. Sean, he had a large group of friends, and he no longer hung out with those friends, so you never know where this came from."

"This was not the first incident. They've been targeting him for three years now. ... He didn't really say too much, but I know he lived his life pretty much scared every day of his life when he was down in Miami because those people were targeting him. At least he's got peace now."


Pretty scary stuff if you ask me. Even more scary is that this is a problem that is literally bleeding into the National Football League. Everyone remembers the nightclub shooting that was loosely associated with Pacman Jones. Pacman's Mom says that he is a good kid and can only explain all of his run-ins with the law by saying he just "runs with the wrong crowd". Sound familiar? Okay, I'm definitely not defending Pacman and his 38 arrests (give or take), but it's not that easy to simply walk away from your lifelong friends.

We all know Mike Vick is going to the slammer for at least a year or two for being loyal to his childhood friends (even though a couple of those "friends" testified against him). However, on the flip side of that, Taylor is being buried six feet under because he broke his loyalty to his friends (according to Rolle). What are star athletes supposed to do now? They get arrested if they hang on to their past, but then get punished if they break ties with their past (assuming it was a former "friend" who killed Taylor). It has become a dangerous (and deadly) catch-22. Who knows what would/will happen if Pacman breaks ties with his past? His pro wrestling moves sure as hell won't do him any good.

R.I.P. Sean Taylor

Alex Rodriguez. The name brings so many thoughts to mind; future Hall of Famer, big contract, no World Series rings, and most recently: drama. One minute Alex is “100% committed to being a Yankee,” the next he is opting out of his contract knowing the Yankees’ stance on renegotiating with him, and now, just after “Goodbye,” is uttered from Hank Steinbrenners lips, the two are close to a(nother) record breaking deal. $290 million dollars is the early estimate. With all he brings to the table, two, soon to be three, MVP titles, gold gloves, silver sluggers, media spotlight, a divided locker room and sub-par playoff performances, would you pay the man close to $300 million dollars?

If I were the Yankees, I would. However, no other franchise should. We all know pitching wins championships. If a team besides the Yankees were to sign him, any thought of getting pitching help would instantly be out of the window. New York is the only team that could get away with signing him and may still be able to afford Johan Santana next off season.

The Mets could probably get away with it but they already have an all star third baseman. The same goes for the red sox. The Rangers could probably afford him, even Jesus could not help the Rangers (though A-Rod may dispute that). The Angels and Dodgers were mentioned but they both need pitching help to get them over the top. Out of no where the Marlins were brought up. A-Rod would command more than the entire team combined. No, the Yankees are the only team A-Rod should, could and will sign for.

Thoughts?