1. Georgia Football Thoughts
Some good news this week for the Dawgs as Phil Steele released his pre-season All-American teams had UGA had 5 players make his squad. The reason I find the interesting is that only five teams nationally placed multiple players on the first team, and the only other SEC team to do so was Alabama, also with two first-teamers. Punter Drew Butler and receiver A.J. Green made the first-team All-America list. Kicker Blair Walsh was a second-team All-American. Clint Boling was named a third-team All-American left tackle, while return specialist Brandon Boykin was named to the fourth team. Steele also named his All-SEC preseason team and the Dawgs had six first-team All-SEC players which tied Alabama for the most in the league. It should also be noted that the Dawgs' 14 overall honorees tied Florida for the most in the conference.
Also of interest this week was a five part story in the Orlando Sentinel in which they named the top 5 coaches on the hot seat and of course they had Mark Richt on the list-which is beyond ridiculous. For argument sake lets compare the five and you tell me which one does not belong. One Monday the Orlando Sentinel took a look at Rich Rodriguez who has had back to back losing seasons at Michigan and his 3-13 in two seasons of Big Ten play. On Tuesday the Orlando Sentinel took a look at Coach Richt who has won 18 games the past two seasons and 90 games overall in 9 years at UGA. On Wednesday the Orlando Sentinel looked at Colorado coach Dan Hawkins who is 16-33 he past four seasons. On Thursday Washington State Cougar coach was Paul Wulff was the focus of the Orlando Sentinel and Wulff is 3-22 as head coach at his alma mater. On Friday the Orlando Sentinel took a look at Ralph Friedgen who went 2-10 last season and has only managed a 33-38 record since winning the ACC in 2001. After comparing these five coaches which one does not belong to you? Are you starting to wonder why newspapers are losing lots of money when they give us crap like this?
2. Georgia Hoop Thoughts
It was a great week for the basketball team as the UGA hoops team signed Georgia's Mr. Basketball. While Marcus Thornton was not a top-100 player nationally he is still considered the top player in the state that is loaded with basketball player. Click here and here and here for some highlights of Mr. Thornton. By the way here is a list of former Georgia's Mr. Basketball winners-Derrick Favors, Al-Farouq Aminu, Gani Lawal, Javaris Crittenton, Dwight Howard, Louis Williams, Kwame Brown, Donnell Harvey, Dion Glover, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Matt Harpring and Jeff Sheppard. If ends up like any of these players I will be one happy Bulldawg. By the way Mr. Thornton is the first Mr. Georgia Basketball player to sign with the University of Georgia. In Mark Fox I trust.
Also last week ESPN's Andy Katz released his preseason top-25 for the 2010-2011 season and his the Dawgs at #25. In fact a couple of his comments include; the Bulldogs have two of the top talents in the SEC in Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie. If you haven't seen these two perform, you're missing a good show and Don't sleep on the Dawgs. That's right-Don't sleep on the Dawgs. This is probably the most excited I have been for UGA Basketball in a long, long time.
3. Some Fun Jamie Moyer Stats
I am quite amazed by the 47 year old Phillies pitcher who has a career record of 263-198. The 263 wins are good enough for 40th all time and the most among active pitchers. The 198 loses are the 45th most all time and the most among all of active pitchers. Here are some more fun Moyer numbers.
a. Moyer has given up 501 career home runs. 2nd most all time to another Philly great; Robin Roberts.
b. Moyer has allowed homers against all 30 major league teams in 40 different parks.
c. Manny Ramirez has hit the most against him (10). The first one of those came on Aug. 14, 1995, when Ramirez was a member of the Indians, and the last one came on July 21, 2006.
d. On April 22, 1987, Moyer scored a run on Andre Dawson's 228th career home run. Six-plus years later, he served up Dawson's 407th career homer. Dawson is the only player to hit a homer off Moyer and drive in Moyer with a home run.
e. On May 21, 1991, Barry Bonds had a multi-homer game against Moyer. It was the last time Bonds hit two homers in the same game off the same pitcher as a member of the Pirates.
f. Gary Roenicke was the first player to have a multi-homer game versus Moyer, on Aug. 20, 1987. Roenicke would only hit two more homers in his career.
g. Dale Murphy hit two homers in his career against Moyer, and they were sandwiched around a milestone: Nos. 299 and 301. Both were two-run jobs that scored Gary Roenicke.
h. The opposing pitcher in the game in which Moyer allowed his first homer -- Shane Rawley -- has been retired since 1989.
i.Hall of Famer Don Sutton was 1-for-1 against Robin Roberts. He was 0-1 against Jamie Moyer. Hall of Famer Tony Perez was 0-for-3 against Moyer, 0-for-1 against Roberts.
j. Moyer has only made one All-Star team and that was in 2003.
k.He's allowed a home run to the first batter of the game 10 times. He's allowed one walk-off home run (Alfonso Soriano on June 24, 2004).
l. Moyer has never allowed a homer to a pitcher.
m.When Moyer made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs on June 16, 1986 Atlanta Braves rookie Jason Heyward was 3 years and 2 months away from being born.
n. Moyer's wife Karen is the daughter of former Notre Dame basketball coach and current ESPN sportscaster Digger Phelps. I am probably the only person who thinks thats cool.
o. Of the nine batters to homer against Moyer in 1986, here are the years in which they last played in the majors. Only one has been out of the majors for less than 10 years. Three have been out of the majors for 20 years.
• Barry Bonds, 2007
• Kevin Mitchell, 1998
• Juan Samuel, 1998
• Mitch Webster, 1995
• Glenn Davis, 1993
• Mookie Wilson, 1991
• Keith Hernandez, 1990
• Mike Schmidt, 1989
• Luis Aguayo, 1989
4. I Need A Vacation This Fall-
I lost this as it was 80% written-will rewrite for next week
5. Baseball Notes
a.Thursday's SunTrust Business Fan special made for a wild afternoon at The Ted. In the Braves history they have played 19,935 games dating back to 1876 and according to the Elias Sports Bureau Thursday afternoon marked just the second time they have won a game which they have trailed by six or more runs in the ninth inning or later.
b. Conrad became the first rookie to hit a walk off grand slam since Cleveland's Ron Lolich on April 22, 1973. Conrad also became the seventh different Brave to hit a game-winner in eight final at-bat victories this season.
c. On Saturday, the Mets scored more runs (5) against the Yankees than they had scored in the previous 5 Subway Series games combined (4).
d. There were a couple crazy plays at Nationals Ballpark this week. For one on Wednesday night when the Mets were in town the team from Flushing had both an inside the park home run and turned a triple play. Then on Saturday Adam Jones hit another inside the park home run. Thus, the Nationals are the first team to allow 2 inside-the-park HRs in the same week since the Rays on 8/1/2003 & 8/3/2003.
e. The inside the park home run for Angel Pagan was the 26th inside the park Home Run in Mets' history. Pagan has the last two (also 8/23/09 vs. Phi). Adam Jones hit the first inside-the-park HR by an Orioles player since David Newhan on 7/21/2004.
f. There was an ugly situation this week in Florida after Hanley Ramirez dogged a play in the outfield he was pulled by manager Freddi Gonzalez. Which in return Ramirez ripped the manager and his other 24 teammates.
During Ramirez’s rant, he said he didn’t respect Gonzalez because Gonzalez never played in the major leagues. Ramirez might like to know there have been 117 managers in the big leagues, including Gonzalez, who never played in the big leagues. The list not only includes current managers Jim Leyland of Detroit, Jim Riggleman of Washington and Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay, but also Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy, Earl Weaver and Frank Selee.g. Am I the only surprised that the list of managers who did not play in the big leagues is that large?
h. Coming into Sunday's action both Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia were both hitting .267.
i. I knew Andre Ethier was leading the NL in batting average, home runs and RBI's but I had no idea he was hitting .392. Ethier who is currently on the DL with a broken pinkie hopefully returns soon to make a run at .400 and the triple crown.
j. Interesting note: Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes allowed 41 foul balls against the Mets Saturday -- the most in almost five years(Jon Garland vs. Twins,'05, 42). When did they start keeping track of this stat?
k. The next time I complain about the Braves hitting into double plays remind me that the Orioles have hit into 50 double plays while their opponents have only hit into 28 dp's.
l. This weekend marked the 14th (really 14 years already) year of Interleague play. An idea I absolutely love as seeing new teams at Turner Field is always fun. However, interleague play can create some schedule oddities that are pretty interesting.
m. The Orioles play 12 games against the NL East (Nationals, Mets, Marlins), while the Blue Jays play only three against the East (Phillies). The Braves play just three games against the AL East (Rays), while the Phillies play 12.
n. How about the Dodgers interleague schedule? The Dodgers play 12 of their 15 interleague games against teams that made the playoffs last year (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels) -- and the other three games against a team (the Tigers) that didn't get knocked out until the 163rd game. It has to be noted that the Padres play no teams that were in the playoffs last season.
o. On the other end of the spectrum; The Reds dodge the entire 2009 playoff field, and their five interleague series are against teams (Cleveland, Kansas City, Seattle, Oakland) that are a combined 30 games under .500.
p. I really like this stat: The Phillies play 12 games against last year's playoff teams, 15 games against teams that currently have a winning record and nine games against the Red Sox (six) and Yankees (three), while three of the other four teams in their division play no games against those two teams.
q.The Yankees were the last team to win a one-run game this season when they beat the Mets Friday night, 2-1. They are now 1-4 in one-run games this season after going 22-16 in one-runners last year.
r. Last season for the Nationals only John Lannon (9-13) won more than five games. This season, reliever Tyler Clippard is 7-1 with a 1.80 ERA pitching for the Nationals in part because he’s allowed 12 of 23 inherited runners to score (55%).
s. We received sad news Sunday morning when news broke that former Astro Jose Lima died of a massive heart attack. It is hard to believe Jose Lima was only the only Dodger pitcher with a playoff win from 1989-2007.
t. I remember a trip to Turner Field that Ben, Brice, Les and myself took in high school when we were able to get box seats. Ben went down to the Astros dugout and got a picture taken with Lima and Lima also signed a towel for Mr. Ross. Good times.
u. Monday marks this 75th anniversary of MLB's first night game.
w. Trevor Hoffman has now appeared in 1,000 career games. Not bad for a former SS who couldn't hit in A-ball and tried pitching out of desperation.
x. Sunday in Philly Tim Wakefield pitched eight shutout innings while picking up his first victory since July 8, 2009. He was an all-star last season right?
y. Joe Posnanski gives us a great look at Jose Lima and Lima Time. What a great personality.
6. MLB Power 5
1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Minnesota Twins
3. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Texas Rangers
6. New York Yankees
6. Boston Red Sox
6. Cincinnati Reds
I could not narrow it down to 5 so you get eight teams. I am very intrigued by the Red Sox visit to St. Pete this week.
Halftime
Congratulations are still in order for Donald Sheppard who won the trivia contest a couple weeks ago when he knew that Dennis Martinez a.k.a was the last player to pitch a no-hitter for the Nationals franchise. This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to includes some Kid Rock Cowboy. This week trivia question is: Currently their are three active players who have won back to back stolen base titles...who are they? The winner wins the right to come clean my kitchen which you can not refuse.
7. The Women of Country Music
I know I have putting this post off for a long time so without further ado here is my look at the women of country music. I will break everything down by Musical talent, Looks (I am not conceded at all) and my 5 Favorite at this moment in time. Unfortunately, no time for Miss Congeniality.
Musical Talent
1. Patsy Cline - She has been Crazy and did her Walkin After Midnight and even Fell To Pieces. In my opinion no female in country music today can come close to Patsy, that shows how talented she was as we have some talented singers today. She died very tragically in a plane crash at age 30.
2. Allison Kraus - Most famous for her hit When You Say Nothing At All. Also played a vital part in the soundtrack for the movie O' Brother, Where Art Thou? with Down In The River To Pray and I'll Fly Away. If you can find someone alive today with a better voice I will buy you lunch.
3. Tanya Tuker- Delta Dawn is one of my favorite songs and Two Sparrows In a Hurricane is legit. She was 13 when Delta Dawn became a hit for her.
4. Carrie Underwood - The former American Idol star (audition tape) is multi-talented from her hits, to her hosting the CMA's to her guest starring role on How I Met Your Mother.
5. Jessica Nettles - Anyone from the 912 area code is alright by me as Nettles is from Douglas, Ga. I absolutely love her songs Stay and Baby Girl among countless others. She had to play in Athens when I was a student and somehow I missed those performances.
Looks
1. Carrie Underwood - Hard to believe she was a small town Oklahoma girl until she tried out for American Idol. What if she would have been born ten years earlier and missed the opportunity for American Idol?
2. Faith Hill- From singing the opening to Sunday Night Football to belting out tunes about being a Mississippi girl. Probably the first country singer with "Pop" appeal. The more I think about it the more she should have been in the top 5 female voices.
3. Miranda Lambert - Another artist that was able to gain fame thanks to American Idol spinoff Nashville Star. I absolutely love the video to her song Kerosene.
4. Sara Evans - Currently married to former Alabama QB Jay Barker. Will perform at Turner Field in early August.
5. Hillary Scott- If this survey is given a year ago no way she is on the list. I can not get enough of her and the group Lady Antebellum.
My Favorite 5
1. Carrie Underwood- Do not what else to add about Miss Underwood except she is engaged to hockey player Mike Fisher (No idea how that is relevant)
2. Hillary Scott- American Honey gets played by me multiple times a day. I also think it is AWESOME that she followed Vandy to Hoover and watched a game at the SEC baseball tourney last year.
3. Jessica Nettles -Her growing up in the 912 area code has everything to do with her being ranked higher than Faith Hill and Kristy Jo.
4. Faith Hill- I do not know what else to say about Mrs. McGraw.
5. Kristy Jo - You might ask yourself who? But Kristy Jo is Luke Bryan's fiddle player. Here is video of her covering Alabama's Mountain Music. (Start at 2:40)
8. Spring TV Recap
Best Reality Show
Besides the NCAA tournament, The Amazing Race. Nothing else on the reality front comes close in my opinion. My Brother or Brice and myself need to run this thing one day.
Shows I Wished I Would Have Watched
Treme- Treme is a neighborhood in New Orleans and the series is set three months after Hurricane Katrina as the residents try to rebuild. I have heard great things plus John Goodman is an actor and he might be one of the more underrated actors in Hollywood today. Luckily this show is on HBO so I should be able to catch a marathon of Treme shows if I play close attention this summer. Runner Up: How to Make It In America- Another HBO show it follows two enterprising twenty-somethings hustling their way through New York City's fashion scene, determined to achieve their version of the American Dream. Trying to make a name for themselves in the city's competitive fashion scene, Ben Epstein and his friend and business partner Cam Calderon use their street knowledge and connections to make their way up the ladder. Honorable Mention: The Pacific.
If it is HBO why do I not watch automatically?
Newcomer of The Year
-Modern Family. The Jason Heyward of television shows. Not only is it the best new show it might be the best on television right now. Runner up is Community which is very, very good. Who thought Chevy Chase could still make people laugh?
Best Comedy
Another win for Modern Family. Runner Up for The Big Bang Theory.
Best Drama
Friday Night Lights-The best season since season one.
I Hate To See You Go
24- Last episode is tonight, what craziness is Bauer going to do in the last two hours?
Needs to get its act together
The Office-One out of three is good in baseball. Not when you are producing comedy television.
You were still on TV ?
Scrubs- I'm still a bit sad at the prospect of a future without Dr. Cox, Turk and JD. There are enough repeats to keep me entertained.
Best Character
Cameron Tucker-Modern Family. Here is a classic scene.
Cameron Tucker-Modern Family. Here is a classic scene.
Here are some dates with some shows I am looking forward to this summer. If I could find a trailer or preview I have linked it. What shows am I missing this summer?
Royal Pains-June 3rd
Lie to Me-June 7th
Leverage-June 20
Memphis Beat-June 22
Entourage-June 27 - The preview is garbage so here is Ari's best nine moments of 09.
Hung-June 27- No good previews
Minute to Win It-July 7th
Mad Men-July 25th - No trailer but here is a good preview
My Boys-July 25th
Bachelor Pad-August 9th
10. Songs About Summer
Below you will find my favorite songs about Summer. My one requirement is that the song have the word "Summer" thus the reason "Under The Boardwalk" or Chicago's "Saturday In The Park" or anything by The Beach Boys did not make the top ten. (Just as an aside who can not forget in the last season of The Sopranos when Tony started a battle royale by singing his own version of "Under The Boardwalk" about his sister Janice?)
1. Summertime - Kenny Chesney - Barely beats out Mungo Jerry. I can not listen to this song without smiling. I mean who hasn't put two feet on a dashboard or been in love in an old Ford?
2. In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry - Look at this group and one can only imagine the shenanigans Mungo Jerry got into; In The Summertime.
3.Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith - Who does not love the tunes from the early 90's? In 1990 did anyone think the Fresh Prince would one day command $20 million a movie?
4. "School's Out (for summer)" -Alice Cooper - Few tunes announce summer like Mr. Cooper can. I know a lot of teachers rocking out to this tune come Friday. Who does not like the School Bell at the end of the song?
5. Summergirls-UFO - Another jam Smoak and myself used to rock out to in our youth. And yes I am not scared to admit this fact. Just as FYI...I still like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch.
6. Summer In The City-Lovin Spoonful - Any song that makes living in the city compared to the boring suburbs is okay with me.
7. Summertime Blues - Alan Jackson - I know it is a remake of the 1958 Eddie Cochran tune but I like this version better and it is my list so this is how its going to be. I love this line; ''I called my congressman and he said, quote,/'I'd like to help you, son, but you're too young to vote.'''
8. Summer Breeze- Seals & Croft - Kind of random I know.
9. Summerwind - Frank Sinatra - Even more random and even cooler.
10. All Summer Long-Kid Rock - A great tune about hanging out with friends chasing summer girls and having a good time.
11. What I Read This Week
Before we get to this week's article I will relink some links from last week. The first link is on the Great Joe DiMaggio.The second read takes a look at Teddy Ballgame. Lastly I will relink the read on the Twenty-somethings that work in the Obama administration. Go Read Everything.
This week's article comes from Gay Talese and is titled "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold." It ran in April 1966 and became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, a pioneering example of what came to be called New Journalism -- a work of rigorously faithful fact enlivened with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction. Is Frank Sinatra one of the cooler gentlemen in the last 100 years?
12. Non Football Thoughts
a. I know I referenced "Under the Boardwalk" earlier and it made me remember some of the great songs that were in The Sopranos. Maybe a potential Ten Things topic for The Captain or Lawyer Dan or Nabil when it is their turn to write the Ten Things.
b. Everything else was lost...not good, not good at all.
Quote of The Week
Comes from Braves Broadcaster Joe Simpson after Brooks Conrad improbable walk off home run Thursday afternoon at Chop Shop.
“I’ve seen two rodeos and three goat-ropings, but I’ve never seen anything like that,”
Text of The Week
From the good doctor...
I am currently staying at a Motel 6 outside of Baltimore. The tv looks like a huge iPod and the place looks like the motel from National Lampoons Vacation. I am very dissapointed in myself. The good doctor will definitely be utilizing hotwire instead of motel6.com
And he wonders why the government wants Health Care reform?
Tweet of The Week
From La Times NFL Columnist Sam Farmer...a follow if you are on Twitter
LATimesfarmer
What not to say to your wife when you return from 3-day camping weekend: "Oh, by the way, your minivan has ants now." Just learned that.
Noted.
Tweet of The Week II
EricStangel
Now that Lost is over, should we all meet here Wednesday to discuss Cougar Town? #lostfinale
Photo of The Week
Comes from Saturday's cover of the NY Post. Do not scroll down if you just ate breakfast. And yes that horn is doing what it looks like it is doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment