Sports

Well, I was wrong. I thought he would stay put but he’s on the move. Roy Oswalt is now a Philadelphia Philly. And the Braves just dropped two series in a row…on the road…to divisional foes. Worried a bit? You should be because Frank Wren is shakin in his boots as the Phils get closer and closer to leading the N.L East. Considered the best arm on the market, Oswalt now teams up with another Roy in Mr. Halladay as well as Cole Hamels. In return Houston gets J.A. Happ and two prospects. The Astros will pay $11 million of the $23 million that the 32-year-old Oswalt is guaranteed through 2011. A pretty solid deal for Philadelphia.

The N.L East race just got a little more interesting. I predicted the Phillies to win the N.L East when it’s all said and done. They are currently two and half games back of the Braves and the addition of Oswalt will only make them better.  He has 120 strike outs in 129 innings. His ERA is 3.42 which will fit in with the Phillies who have averaged 6 runs a game in the last 7 days. Since the start of the 2008 season, Oswalt is 0-5 with a 7.76 ERA in 12 starts against the Braves, Marlins, Mets and Nationals. Therefore Oswalt will be terrible for the Phils right? Wrong. He’s coming to a winning team. He’ll be on his A-game so he can help this ball club get to the World Series. That record and ERA came from the Astros where he rarely got run support. The Phils will hit the ball and put up runs for both their Roy’s. Look out baseball world, Philly has their own big 3 now.

This doesn’t mean the Braves should panic and make a quick deal without thinking it through. We need a big bat to bolster the line up but I don’t want another Mark Teixeira type deal. Losing Elvis Adrus was brutal. Frank Wren is in a tough spot as the Oswalt trade certainly puts a lot of pressure on him to do something. Yes the Braves are a deep team and when they’re on they’re very good. However there isn’t enough power on this team. I’m not saying the Braves aren’t strong enough to make the playoffs because they are. They’re a great team. I believe they’ll be the wild card team. However, come playoff time will this team as is be able to hang with the Cards or a healthy Phillies team? I don’t think they can. So Frank, best of luck to you. The fans are going to want an answer to the Oswalt trade. Will we have a new Brave as of 4pm Saturday? I hope so but it’s doubtful. If there is a new Brave it may be a reliever. Jesse Chavez is downright horrible, Kawakami forgot how to pitch, and O’Flaherty is still on the DL. I would be happy with a reliever but most fans would not.

Adding Lance Berkman would be a horrible idea. His average is .245, he only has 49 RBI’s and 13 HR, which is on pace to finish with 84 RBI’s and 22 HR. That is not enough for a team trying to win a pennant. Berkman is not enough to boost the Braves on the level of the Cards, Phils, or Yanks. I’d like to see Cody Ross, maybe Adam Dunn, or even Jayson Werth. But the Ross talks have diminished, the Yanks and Rays lead the way in the race for Dunn, and I doubt the Phillies would trade Werth to the team they’re trying to catch.

At the moment Chase Utley and Shane Victorino are on the disabled list. 20 million dollars resting on the DL. When these two return the Phils will get on a roll down the stretch. The way the Braves are playing right now you should be worried. They wrap up their road trip in Cincinnati this weekend and I can only hope they don’t pay attention to the Oswalt hype. A return home is what these Bravos need. They’re 34-13 at home and 24-30 on the road. They’ll kick off a weeklong stay at the Ted on Monday August 2^nd against the third place Mets. There is a lot of baseball left but if the Braves continue their slump into their home stand things could get ugly. I look for a race until the end, which will make the first weekend of October when the Phils come to town a very good series.

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Mark Richt has seen a double rainbow. It was awesome.

This upcoming Monday, UGA will be holding it’s 2010 Pre-Season Media Day at Sanford Stadium. James is currently out finding himself in the mountains, so I will be attending instead.

Don’t worry, even though this will be my first offical UGA media event, I’m not afraid to ask the tough questions like:

1. Team Edward or Team Jacob?

2. Have you seen a double rainbow? If yes, how did it make you feel?

3. Will Whitney Houston ever make a comeback?

Sure, I’ll throw a couple other questions in like:

1. Is Aaron Murray really ready to lead the Bulldog offense?

2. What can we expect from the new 3-4 defense?

3. Will an NCAA inquiry and other off-field incidents be a distraction for the upcoming season?

But, mind you, these are only possible questions. Don’t get your hopes up.

In all seriousness, it will be very interesting to hear what Mark Richt and the Bulldog players have to say about the quickly-approaching season.

Georgia will certainly be a dark horse for the SEC East this year, as long as they can get past Florida.  While expectations are not exceptionally high, there is a lot of potential and I think Coach Richt and his players understand that.

Here’s the schedule:

11:00 AM: Lunch

11:45 AM: Coach Richt will speak with media.

12:00 PM: Players available to media for questions.

3:25 PM: Open practice to media at Butts-Mehere complex.

WARNING: Here comes a shameless Twitter drop.

Follow me on Twitter for updates throughout the day and check back on the blog for a comprehensive overview of the day’s events.

Major League Baseball witnessed history once again last night. Matt Garza threw the Tampa Bay Rays first no hitter in franchise history and the 5th no hitter of the season. Garza faced the minimum 27 batters throwing 6 strikeouts and walking one batter. Throwing mostly his fastball all night Garza flourished against a weak Detroit Tigers line up. The last time there were 5 no hitters in a season was 1991, and there were 7 that year. Garza’s average velocity on his fastball was 91.9 mph. So how did he no hit Detroit? It’s all about location baby. He placed the fastball in the perfect spots to get the weak ground balls and pop ups. 23 outs came by way of the fastball and 101 of the 120 pitches were fastballs. When you’re on, you’re on. Which Graza wasn’t in his last start. The Baltimore Orioles tore him up in his last start scoring 7 runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Good way to bounce back for Garza. Sad that his family wasn’t there to witness although I’m sure they watched on TV.  
This no hitter marks the third one the Rays have been involved with this season. They have been no hit twice this season, once by Oakland’s Dallas Braden and also by Edwin Jackson of the D-Backs. It had to feel good to be on ther other side this time. It’s only the 3rd time in MLB history that a team has been involved in three no hitters in one season. The St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox were involved in three,  all against each other in 1917. Hopefully the Rays fans will step up and come to some ball games now. Garza threw his no hitter in front of 17,009 people last night. The Rays are now 60-38 and 3 games behind the Yanks.
Destiny was alive and well last night. Will it strike again? It very well could. Pitchers have been dominating this year and will continue to do so. The steroid era is over and the play of baseball is back in the hands of the pitcher. The way it should be. Granted lots of home runs and scoring make baseball more fun to watch but I’ve always loved a great pitching duel. The Mets and Padres are now the only clubs that haven’t thrown no hitters. The Mets take on the Cards tonight and the Padres take on the Dodgers. Doubtful we’ll see it tonight but you never know.

In other baseball news…

Dan Haren, who was recently traded to the LA Angels, was hit by a pitch in his first start with his new team. Hopefully it’s only a bruise and nothing more.

The Trade Deadline is fast approaching (this Saturdayat 4pm). In this year of the pitcher Roy Oswalt is the lone big name pitcher left on the table. I believe he’ll stay put in Houston. They’re asking to much and teams are backing away. Oswalt wants to go to a winning club but when it’s all said and done he won’t be moving anywhere.

Will your Atlanta Braves make a move? This ball club is a big bat away from being a serious threat against the power hitting teams like the Yanks and the Cards. With that said, you have to give something up to get something. So who has value? Being the year of the pitcher I’m sure Frank Wren is receiving calls for Kris Medlen. Will he pull the trigger and bring in a solid center fielder? The production from center field has been lacking on this team and we could use a power bat.  Kris Medlen is turning into a great pitcher and it would be tough to see him go. If it means a solid power hitter joins the team then he’s gotta go. Sacrifices must be made. However, when it’s all said and done on Saturday I don’t believe we make any moves. I don’t see the Braves giving up top prospects at this moment. Maybe if we stop platooning Melky and just let him play center he can find his groove at the plate. It’s obvious Nate McLouth forgot how to hit the ball so why keep putting him in?
Also, don’t fret over the Bravos losing the series against the Marlins. It was the first series they lost in a month. You have to go back to June 24th when they were swept by the Chicago White Sox. You should be worried that they moved to 18-17 in NL East play. That record should improve as the open a three game series at Washington tonight. It’s a rematch tonight against the rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg. They beat him down last time 5-0 in Atlanta. The three runs he allowed in that game were the most in his nine starts. Since then Strasburg is 3-0 witha 2.38 ERA in four starts. His counter part is Tommy Hanson who is 2-0 with a 2.94 ERA against the Nats. Hanson has been up an down this season but pitched well last Wednesday against the Padres going 6 1/3 innings and only giving up 2 runs. The Braves currently hold a 4.5 game lead over the Phils with just a couple months of ball left to play. A lot can happen in that period of time. After the Nats series the Braves finish off their road trip in Cincinnati. We’ll see if they bounce back from losing the series against the fish. I don’t see them losing the Nats series but it should be a tough battle against the Reds. It does appear the Braves will be playing post season baseball which would be the first time since 2005. It would be a great way to send Bobby off into retirement. 64 games remain on the schedule. Let the countdown to October begin.

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Think you got what it takes to be The University of Georgia’s Athletic Director? Georgia posted an online want ad for a new AD. The ad includes details on how to apply and the requirements for the job. Eighteen requirements to be exact. My favorite requirements: “12. Represents the Department at University, community, SEC Conference, NCAA and other meetings and conventions.” (including police stops) 18. Provides additional services as directed by the President.” …being his DD.
All kidding aside I hope Adams makes the correct decision. And by that I mean a decision before classes starts. Where you been, are you still on vaca Adams? At least get someone before football season. Mainly because I’m dying to see what announcement they have on the Big Screen before the game. 40 days till the season opener and one week until the first practice. Go Dawgs!

The first day of SEC media days was all about the agents. The recent allegations of NFL agents in early talks with players at South Carolina, and Florida dominated the headlines. The talk is that these players received money from agents…which is a no no in college. And now your beloved Bulldogs are in question. Later today Coach Richt will take the stand and all will ask about this inquiry being made by the NCAA.

SI.com is reporting that UGA’s star athlete A.J Green is what the inquiry is all about. If this is true then Georgia is in big trouble. They’ve had 7 arrests since spring practice, resulting in a few players being removed from the team, and now an investigation from the NCAA. This is something the Bulldogs could do with out. Not to mention the A.D resigning earlier this month. The Summer hits just keep on coming.  Green is being questioned about an agent’s party in Miami and is denying said allegations. Let’s hope A.Jis telling the truth and nothing will happen from the NCAA’s examination of the football program. Perhaps this is nothing more than hype to build stories for the second day and Green can squash the rumors. Or perhaps he did attend this party and UGA loses their star player. Either way it brings negative attention to UGA, which is becoming a regular not only this Summer but a few Summer’s in a row now.  

The other SEC schools in question dealt with the media today. They were obviously not happy about the allegations. Alabama head coach Nick Saban referred to the agents as “pimps” and Urban Meyer called them “predators”. Saban called out to the NFL to help crack down on the agents. These players just aren’t using their heads.  As  a struggling college student myself, I know it would be hard to turn down money from an agent. But the risk out weighs the rewards. The players in question are talented play makers on their teams and are needed all season long. What were they thinking? Especially posting on your twitter, “bottles like it’s a giveaway”. Smooth.

Speaking of twitter, after the reports on A.J came out former WR Michael Moore tweeted, ” Hahaha. This talk about A.J. is hilarious. That country boy ain’t never been to Miami!!! You can put those rumors to rest.” and Rennie Curran tweeted, “Can’t believe how hard the ncaa is trying to crack down on college athletes. How can expect someone not to look to outside sources”. Not smart Rennie. The rules say you can’t look to outside sources while still in school. They pay your way through college and they want you to abide by their rules. Simple as that. Their will always be some type of authority above you. That is life. Curran’s next tweet was, “when there are video games being made of you, your jerseys getting sold, your family is struggling n you don’t even get a dime except pell”.  Rennie, you get a free education. I can understand it has to be frustrating to see yourself on video games and little kids wearing your jerseys and you see no profit from it. However, you’re property of the school. Yes you make them a lot of money and in return they give you an education. I do think players should receive some type of compensation for the video games. Will it ever happen? Probably not.
Here’s to day one of SEC media days. I’m sure day two has quite a bit in store for us all.

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A couple days ago, I tried to dispell rumors that the Braves were looking to shop Yunel Escobar. Turns out I was wrong, the shortstop (and JoJo Reyes) were sent to Toronto for Alex Gonzalez and a handful of minor leaguers.

This was a stupid trade.

Toronto gets one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball for three years of club control without giving up all that much. Sure, Yunel is known as a head case, but he’s also known for having an incredibly high ceiling and boatloads of talent. His power numbers haven’t been there this year (0 home runs), but he’s shown the ability to put the ball into the seats and he’s got the ability to hit for a decent average.

The trade no doubt signals Escobar as one of the biggest busts in Atlanta sports history. He was once regarded as one of the best prospects in baseball, but his style of play clashed with Bobby Cox and many of those in the Braves front office.

On the other hand, people are already praising Gonzalez as an experienced player with a professional demeanor. From a clubhouse angle, the Braves have to feel good about his presence. I’m not totally sure how he’ll function in this lineup, but he’s an improvement over what the Braves were currently getting out of Escobar.

I’m concerned about Gonzalez’ ability to get on base. First base is a foreign concept to Gonzalez. He’s got an abysmal .261 BB/K ratio. But he’s hitting a .259 which is an improvement over Yunel’s .238. His 17 home runs are a nice addition as well. Still, this offense has been predicated on seeing a lot of pitches, wearing guys down, and getting on base… three things Gonzalez hasn’t really been adept at doing. Say what you will about Yunel’s lack of power, his 37 walks indicate he saw a lot of pitches and worked a lot of counts.

The other concern for me: the future. This was very much a “right now”  move by Frank Wren and the front office. Gonzalez will help them in the short term and will be under team control for next season as well. However, with an aging Chipper Jones at third and a guy at short stop that isn’t a spring chicken, the Braves may need to replace that entire half of the infield within the next two years and there aren’t a lot of internal candidates to do it.

Great news, sports fans! I have recently received word that Atlanta’s sports radio leader, 790 The Zone is doing a competition to find the next great young sports radio show hosts. For more information, check out this link to enter the competition: http://www.790thezone.com/younggunsapplication/index.aspx

Check out my audio sample below, where I discuss LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat.

http://bdale86.podbean.com/

The Braves head into the All-Star Break in first place with a 4 game lead over the New York Mets. They went 8-4 in their two week N.L. East battle to extend their lead over everyone in the division by winning every series 2-1. I predicted 7-5 thinking the we would lose at least one series but it feels good to be wrong here.

The Braves had a tremendous turnaround after playing horrible baseball to start the year in April. This being Bobby’s last season as the Braves manager the guys found a hot streak in May and have continued to play well. Bobby finally found his lead-off man in Martin Prado and things just clicked. Now a top the N.L. East and the third best record in baseball at 52-36–Yanks 56-32 Rays 54-34–the Braves will take a nice three day break of relaxation. Yes even those headed to the All-Star game in Cali. Jason Heyward won the starting role but has decided not to play. I am all for this. Take these addition three days to continue healing that thumb. He’s a smart rookie thinking about his team and not himself. Not a lot of rookies make the All-Star team, so this is a great milestone in Heyward’s career. Naturally anyone is going to want to play, but this guy is thinking about his team and he wants to win. Prado, McCann, Infante, and Hudson will all make the trip and each play an inning or two. Frank Wren is looking pretty good right now too. Everyone bashed him in April when the Braves couldn’t hit or win. The Troy Glaus pick up appeared to be a bad move as well as the Melky-Vasquez trade. Now it’s so bad and Wren looks like a genius. So my apologies Mr. Wren. However that is life. People crush you when you’re down and praise you when you’re up. Wren isn’t the first to experience this in the world of sports.

The question is, will these Braves remain on top and win the division? Will they win it all? There’s a lot of baseball left and anything can happen. The Mets won on Sunday preventing the Braves from sweeping them before the break. This gives them a little hope during the break. The Phils are only 4.5 games back and a little banged up. They’ve missed Rollins for a good bit of the first half but are glad to have him back. Polanco and Utley are still injured and the Phils are going to need to stay healthy if they want to make a run at the division title. This time last year the Phils were leading the division with a similar record they have now. It’s only a matter of time before this team gets hot. Their roster is deep and they play well as a team. They just haven’t had their full team most of this first half of baseball. In order for the Braves to remain on top they will need their pitching to be on point from the whole rotation. It won’t happen every time but starters going deep into games will certainly help throughout the second half. 6-7 quality innings from your starter is what these Bravos will need. They also need to keep fighting. A few more comeback wins and last at bat wins would be nice as well. Here are my first half awards and then I will follow up with my second half division predictions.

All-Star Break Awards

N.L. MVP: Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves
You might say this is a homer pick but I think Prado deserves this. Without Prado the Braves would be in third maybe even fourth place in the division. Prado leads the N.L in batting average at .325 and in hits with 121. He is second in runs with 61 and tied for fourth in doubles with 25. Prado is the key to the Braves success this year because he gets on base. He is a solid lead-off hitter, something the Braves have lacked as of late. Not to mention his defense is superb.

N.L. Cy Young : Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies
Jimenez leads the majors with 15 wins and was dominating in ERA but his last couple of starts bumped him to 5th in the N.L with a 2.20. He has a no-hitter this year and threw 22 1/3 innings without giving up a run. Others says Josh Johnson of the Marlins, but he’s in a pitcher friendly park. Jimenez pitches in a mile high hitter friendly park. Jimenez steps on the mound and gives his team the best chance to win, better than anyone in baseball right now.

A.L MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
Cabrera leads the majors in batting avg with a .346, tied for second in home runs with 22, and leads the majors with 77 RBI’s. His Tigers are half a game back in the A.L Central and wouldn’t be there without him. You could go with Josh Hamilton, Justin Morneau, or even Robinson Cano. All their numbers are similar but the 77 RBI’s is far above everyone else so I give it Cabrera.

A.L. Cy Young: Cliff Lee, Texas Rangers
Lee is third in ERA with 2.64 and only has 8 wins. However he leads the majors in WHIP with 0.95. He has five complete games this year and his win total might be more if his previous team were a little better. His new team will certainly give him run support. His strike to walk out ratio is 91-6. 6 walks in 112 innings. Phenomenal. Lee’s numbers will continue to get better as the season moves on.

Second Half Predictions:

N.L East: I’m picking the Phils to win the division. This team is too good and only 4.5 games out of first. They will get healthy and get hot at the right time.

N.L Central: I’m picking the St. Louis Cardinals. Currently they are one game behind the Reds. There is a lot of baseball left to play and I believe the Reds will tail off towards the end of the season. The experience of Cards will win them the division.

N.L West: I’ve gotta go with the LA Dodgers here. I like their pitching and they’re only 2 games back from the Padres. Getting Manny back will help propel the Dodgers into first.

N.L. Wild Card: Atlanta Braves. They’ll drop a few in August and the Phils will catch up to them. But they continue to play great ball and make the playoffs for Bobby one last time.

A.L East: I’m going with the Yanks here. Too good…everywhere.

A.L Central: The Detroit Tigers will win with their young and old talent.

A.L West: The addition of Cliff Lee will be to much for any team in the west to catch the Texas Rangers

A.L Wild Card: The Boston Red Sox. They will finally get healthy and start winning more. But won’t able to catch the Yanks.

World Series: After beating the Yankees to make it here, the Texas Rangers will defeat the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series.

Gotta love way to early predictions. Enjoy the Home Run Derby tonight. My pick: Mr. Big Papi David all I know how to do is hit home runs Ortiz.

Kevin Huebschman of the Daily Beacon in Knoxville joins me to discuss the sad state of affairs for Tennessee football.

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UPDATE:

Mark Richt has suspended the two players indefinitely from all team activities. Richt said Dontavius Jackson will sit out the first six games and Tavarres King will miss at least the season opener on September 4th against Louisiana-Lafayette. Glad to see some action happening here. Richt will continue to collect all the information which might lead to further consequences.  The vehicle Jackson was driving belonged to King.

A day after Bulldogs fan barked about Da’Rick Rogers arrest two of their very own were arrested for alcohol related incidents. Dontavius Jackson was arrested then charged with six misdemeanors: a DUI, underage possession of alcohol, following too closely, leaving the scene of an accident, violation of the move-over law, and violation of learner’s permit.  Jackson is only 20 and is a red shirt sophomore back up tailback. The other Bulldog arrested was Tavarres King who was charged with underage possession of alcohol.  King is a starting wide receiver and is only 19.

It seems these two athletes followed in the foot steps of the former Athletic Director as well as former UGA student athletes of summer’s past. Why these incidents continue to happen over the summer just baffles me. Richt hasn’t decided what action to take in terms of disciplining these two, but I believe it will be hefty. They will definitely serve a one game suspension under UGA’s rule but will Richt issue a steeper penalty? He needs to make a statement here, and it better be strong. It’s time to crack down Mark Richt. Obviously they didn’t listen to Evans, because he clearly set the best examples. And whatever you’ve been doing these past couple years isn’t working because just about every summer one of your players is booked in the Athens-Clarke County Jail. Make an example of these two; let your team know you mean business.  Maybe then our student athletes, well at least the football players, will think twice before they make that trip downtown and do something stupid.

I’m not saying kick these guys off the team Mettenberger style because he deserved that. He ruined his chance of being QB1 and paid the price for it. I am saying that they should be suspended more than the one game minimum and Jackson moreso than King. And single them out in practices…all summer long. Now I don’t go to practices so this may be something Richt frequently does. If so, great. If not, he should. He should remind the team that these guys broke the rules and when that happens you pay the price. More sprints, more laps, more push ups, etc. Heck even some silly pranks to embarrass these guys, anything to get your team to learn not to break the rules.

So where does this leave the Bulldogs? When we learn of what actions Richt decides to implode on these two, mainly King, we’ll be able to take a stab at who steps in for who. For now, one has to assume King will be out a couple of games. He will be missed while gone and gladly welcomed back, whenever it may be. While he is gone look for Marlon Brown to step up as well as the vet Kris Durham. Durham is back after a medical red shirt last year, and Brown continues to improve from his minimal usage as a freshman last year.

I like the Bulldogs being in the news. But certainly not for what they have been in these past few weeks. Let’s stop bringing negative attention to this University and focus on what everybody loves…college football. I’m excited for the fall and you should be as well. I’ll have my pre season ranks and picks come August. Only 54 days left till it’s Saturday in Athens!

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