Winning streak comes to an end.

The white sox had an 11 game winning streak going until they lost yesterday. It was upsetting for me to even watch. As the white sox kept building and building their streak I was getting more and more excited. I was watching as many games as I could on TV cause i don't have MLBtv. Yesterday I was watching the game and it was 2-0 and almost could have been 4-0 at the end of the first but then our pitching gave up just too many runs for us to catch up. The key to our winning streak was our starting pitching and our good relief. In this game we could see that when the pitching is bad our team just can't catch up. This proves that we were winning because our pitching was dynamite. I don't mean to be putting John Danks down, because he has been a very good pitcher before, but he had a bad game. When he came out, though our relief gave up runs. If they hadn't done that we could have won this game. We have to give ourselves chances to win. We have an offense that is able to score 5 or 6 runs. That means that the pitchers should only give up 4 or 5 or less. This gives us a chance to win. We have one of the best rotations in baseball, but until this winning streak nobody noticed. Now people are saying wow! they have a dynamite pitching staff. With Mark Buerhle and Jake Peavy you are a pretty good team. When you add Gavin Floyd and John Danks who are young assets you are really good. When you add Garcia who has good games where sometimes he is unstoppable and sometimes he is shaky, but that's ok. He won game 4 to win the world series when he was with the white sox before in 2005. Now with those five you are great. Now you add your bullpen which is pretty dominate, you have one of the best pitching staffs in Major League Baseball. When you have an average or even good offense and one of the best pitching staffs in the game, then you should also have one of the best teams in the game. Instead we aren't playing to our potential and we are in second or third place in our division. When/if the white sox wake up they will be the team to beat. Lets see if that happens.

Lebron.

It seems to be looking as though James will be going to the bulls with Bosh right after the free agency period begins. This could be good for Chicago and mean that they have a chance to win a championship sometime soon with young guys such as James, Bosh, and Rose. I say that in 3 years the bulls are a pretty unstoppable force if they get both James and Bosh. ESPN reports that what Chicago is offering is way to good of a chance for LeBron to pass up. They also say that even though James will be meeting with the Knicks and Nets on July 1st it is just a courtesy meeting. Because James will probably not be joining the Knicks they have decided to go after other players such as Amare Stoudemire. I think that James might have better luck at winning a championship with Chicago than he did with Cleveland. A few days ago i blogged saying that if James did not rejoin the Cavs he would be with the bulls. Now the sources seem to be agreeing with me. I will be keeping my phone on once the free agency period begins to see if Bosh and James both get to Chicago and when that happens. We will see what happens when James is officially a free agent, but for right now we can only guess or have an educated guess.

Year of the pitcher

This year has definitely been the year of the pitcher. We have already had 4 no-hitters and it really should be 5. With 2 really 3 being perfect games. Last night Edwin Jackson threw a 149 pitch no-hitter. He had 8 walks and had 9 base runners in his no-hitter. He was in a jam a few times and yet he had not given up a hit. What is more embarrassing is that the Rays are one of the best teams in baseball and in the last 365 days that have been no-hit 3 times with two of those being perfect games. The Rays were thrown 149 pitches and not one player could get a hit out of any of them. That is something you won't see very often. This year has been rediculous with all this fantastic pitching. And its only June, that is also what makes what is happening this year so special. The steroid era is over and maybe this is the beginning to the pitching era. The most amount of no-hitters in a season was 7 in 1991 and now we have 4 in june and we should have had 5. This could be the season that we break that record. If I were actually paying attention and old enough to care in 1991 i would have thought 7 was crazy, but to think that this year we might beat that. To me that is very impressive.

LeBron. The story everyone has blown out of proportion

The question is where will LeBron James be playing next year. The answer is either the Bulls or the Cavs. I figured that since everyone is talking about this and i do have a little bit of knowledge and opinion about this I will jump on the bandwagon. James is from Akron, Ohio. He plays in Cleveland, Ohio. He is near to his family and other loved ones. I think that family is very important, but maybe he thinks that a championship or where his friends are is more important. I think that the biggest factor in his decision is that he wants to win a championship. The two places that he really has a legitimate chance to win in the next few years and possibly get more than one championship is in Cleveland or Chicago. If he stays in Cleveland he has a chance to have most of the same players. They have been the best regular season team in the last two years, but have failed in the playoffs. If he stays with the Cavs he could have a chance to eventually lead them to a championship win. The chances for a championship are also great in Chicago. If he goes there he could be with Derrick Rose, a good and young player, possibly Chris Bosh and others on the bulls. That team would be a great contender with all those assets. Chicago has really been fighting to get LeBron. My opinion is that they will get him if he chooses to go to another team. If he does not play for the Cavs he will play for the bulls. And if he doesn't play for the bulls he will play for the cavs. Its as simple as that. Its my prediction and im sticking with it no matter what anybody tells me.

GOOAAL. the story of the US world cup this year. so far

When Tim Howard threw the ball and Donovan got it. And then he gave it to Altidore. And then he crosses and Dempsey barely misses. I thought that it was all over. I thought the US was going to go home about 2 inches short of a goal. But, the ball was popped out and Donovan came rushing in and scored the goal. I went from almost crying that the US would lose to jumping up and down. Donovan the great leader of this team deserved to be the guy who scored the goal and was that guy. And yet when he was interviewed he didn't say one thing about himself everything he said was about how well his teammates played. He also forgave the refs that almost put them out of two wins. Saying, we can either whine about it or we can move on. And so we moved on and won the group. Donovan is one of the most humble leaders in this sport. He is also one of the best players, quickest players, leaders, and teammates. To me he is one of the best Americans to ever play soccer. Today he proved he could come through and he came through at a big time. He didn't let his team down or give up because the ball wasn't going in. He moved forward and scored that goal.

Ubaldo Jimenez.

This kid is amazing. Right now he has an ERA of 1.15. He also has a league leading 13 wins. He could become the first pitcher since Denny McLain in 1968 when he had a record of 31-6. Right now Jimenez has a record of 13-0. When Denny McLain did it he didn't have an amazing ERA, though. Jimenez is a very gifted pitcher. He has not been publicized a lot because he plays for Colorado where there aren't any good pitchers because of the elevation, but that's what makes this kid more special. Most pitchers that pitch in Colorado have terrible ERAs, but this guy has the best in the league and possibly could have the best ever at the end of the year if he keeps the pace up. This means that if he ever gets traded to some American League team in the midwest or east he could be an ultra awesome pitcher. Right now if he continues his pace he will get 30 wins or more. If you haven't even heard of him there is a reason. He plays in Colorado, there are so many other good pitchers getting no-hitters and perfect games. He did get a no-hitter earlier this year. Also, a young pitcher named Stephen Strasburg has stolen all the thunder for young pitchers. Just like we haven't heard very much about Lincecum anymore. Its old news now. Everything is about this new phenom Strasburg. To me, the best young pitcher in the league and maybe even the best pitcher in the league right now overall is Ubaldo Jimenez.

NFL schedule expansion.

The NFL is talking about making the league have 18 games instead of 16. This is based mostly off the fact that people love football. This so that each team can get more revenue per game and more per year. The commissioner likes the idea of two extra weeks. This means that it is likely to happen in the next few years. There is a possibility that a strike will happen in the next few years from the players also. Maybe the NFL making changes before that happens will keep that from happening if they give the players what they want before they strike and then teams won't have to lose money and the game of football won't have to stop for a year or two. If they make this change though for more weeks, will that start more giving up at the end of the season? The Colts did something that I thought was foolish last year, they gave up after being 14-0. Now with more weeks left will they give up earlier? The Commissioner has thought about this and has been making adjustments to the schedules that would put 4 out of the last 6 games to be inside the division. In the NFC North they may not help though. If the Vikings are in the lead and they are 15-0 with 3 games left and they play the Lions, Bears, and seahawks, they will still not try, because the Bears and Lions will probably not be contending for the division. I think that if they do decide they are going to add more weeks they should wait. They should see if there is a strike and maybe make that adjustment after the possible strike.

Finals: How can the Celtics win game 7?

First, I would like to say that the Celtics played terrible last night. They were a totally different team from game 5. They played a game that was not Celtics basketball. The reason that the Celtics win games and have gotten this far is because they play well as a team. They work together. Last night they didn't play like a team. They were only worried about themselves. They wanted that Finals MVP. The only thing they didn't think about was if I play to get as many points as I can we may not win the Finals and it won't even matter anymore. If the Celtics played their game and worked as a team I would be writing a blog about how the Celtics got it done tremendously in the playoffs this year and how they just took the team that was supposed to win and beat them at their own court. Instead, I'm writing a blog about the desperation things the Celtics have to do with their backs against the wall now to win this championship.
Here is what they need to do:
1. They need to rebound the ball better. The Lakers out rebounded them in this game. One of the top reasons they won was because of their rebounding. The Celtics have good rebounders and can rebound well, in this game they didn't. If they want to win they have to get both offensive and defensive rebounds.
2. Their bench has to play like they are in Boston. The Lakers bench outplayed the Celtics bench for the first time in the series. Everyone was saying how great the Celtics bench played in Game 4 and 5. Now in game 6 they played terrible. They have a good bench which means if they are down 6 going into the fourth quarter their big three and rajon rondo will be rested and they can have a chance at closing out the game.
3. They need to play as a team. This team is so close with each other. They need to stop worrying about who is going to get the glory, or if they are worried about it they should be trying to make sure that some other guy is going to get it. That is how the Celtics play basketball. If they play like a team the way they have this whole season and in the playoffs they can win.
4. They need to play good defense. Their defense was terrible in game 6. They have a great defense that can win games for them. The Lakers defense outplayed them in this game they can't let that happen again. If the Celtics play good defense into transition offense that can score easy baskets and put less pressure on the actual offense.
5. They need to figure out a way to make Kobe not trust his teammates. If Kobe doesn't trust them he is going to take all the shots himself. Kobe Bryant cannot beat this Celtics team by himself. That proved to be true in game 5. If they get Kobe to try to take all the shots they can win.
6. They have to make all their layups, dunks, and easy shots. They also have to make a good percentage of free throws. This is what killed them in game 6. If they miss layups and easy shots like that in game 7 its over. They have no chance. The Lakers will take advantage of that and make them pay.
Final Thoughts: last night was terrible for the Celtics. The Lakers are expected to win again with the momentum on their side. If the Celtics really want this and play hard for it they can win. They didn't come this far to lose in game 7. They came this far through two of the top teams in the league to get here and they won't stop now.

Izzo staying with Mich. State

When i saw that Tom Izzo was offered the job with the cavaliers I said this will tell you if Tom Izzo will go for the money or stay with the players that were recruited thinking they would play for Izzo. I think that Izzo made the right decision. I think that staying with Michigan State was the best he could do for the players. The players for the Cavs have dealt with different coaches and they didn't go to the Cavs to play for Tom Izzo because they didn't know he would be there. The players that were recruited were expecting their head coach to be Tom Izzo, if Izzo left then the players feel like they maybe made the wrong decision. Izzo had everything at Michigan State. He had a good team going, he had fans, he had players, people near Michigan State loved him. He had it all their. Cleveland had uncertainties. He didn't know if LeBron was going to stay and if he did stay he would be expected to win the Finals and if he didn't his career might be in jeopordy. With Michigan State Izzo doesn't have any unreal expectations and the fans already love him. Fun Fact: Izzo is 50 years old, but looks 35-40. TOM IZZO: you made the right decision in my mind by not leaving the players you recruited behind and by staying with the team that you love and loves you.

The Finals

The Celtics have come back and won game 5. Now they lead the Lakers 3-2 in the series. This could be dangerous for the Lakers. Now I think that the Lakers realize that they aren't unstoppable. They have their backs against the wall and they have to win this game to make the Celtics kind of panic. The Celtics could also come out and say if we lose tonight that might mean we lose the series. We have the momentum, so we should go out there and win and not force a game seven. I think that its funny how ESPN is extremely sure that the Lakers will win today, which totally gives the Celtics something to prove wrong. Yes, this series looked like a 7-game series from the start, but the Celtics will have to win today to win it. ESPN just says we pick the one who is supposed to win and we are sure of it. I would LOVE to see the Celtics win tonight and just say "suck it" to all the Lakers fans. The Stanley cup finals ended in 6 with my pic winning in 6. I picked the Celtics in 6 and now its going to come true. I have confidence that my prediction will be true again like in the Stanley cup finals. The Celtics WILL WIN TONIGHT.

Big Ten

Will the Big Ten have a Championship game? Now the Big Ten has enough teams to have an actual championship game, but will they have one? They haven't had one their whole time as a conference and now because Nebraska has joined they have enough. I think that having a championship game might be a good thing for the big ten. It might give the chance for top ranked teams to go head to head and maybe an upset to happen and change the whole bowl system. the winner of the championship game would then go to the rose bowl unless they are going to the national championship. In the case that the champion is going to the national championship the loser of the championship game will go to the rose bowl. It is simple, but may cause problems because the big ten has always had a certain way to tell the winner; by how many wins they have and who is the best. Maybe the Big Ten should just try for one year with a championship game and then if it doesn't work and seems too complicated, then just change it back to the way it was and always has been.

ONE GOAL. acheived

the blackhawks are the stanley cup chammps. i know that this is late, but i had other things to talk about. Now im going to say it all. This is the best thing that has happened in sports for me. The white sox won the world series after 76 years without a world series. THe blackhawks only had a drought of 49, but this year was just amazing. I plan on buying plenty of gear from them winning and will remember the day they won for the rest of my life. I LOVE THE BLACKHAWKS!!!!!!!!

World Cup

NICELY DONE!! to the england goalie. he basically gave us an opportunity to come back and win, even though we couldn't get it done. He made a save like a goalie on my 5th grade soccer team, embarrassing. So we ended up getting a tie in our first game against England. This gives us an ok chance to move on to the next round. I think that if we really just play soccer like our team can, then we will move on to the next round and not have the same ending as 4 years ago, which was terrifying. LETS GO USA

HAWKS WIN!!

and... the Chicago Blackhawks are the stanley cup champs! We finally did it and ended the 49 year drought. Patrick Kane made a shot, but only he knew it was in and started to celebrate. The horn was never sounded and the light never went off, but Kane knew his childhood dream had just come true and he scored the game-winning goal to get the stanley cup. It was a great moment to see all the players and coaches hoisting the cup. Another special moment was Marian Hossa finally getting to feel the cup after three long years of getting there and losing. This was a special night!!

Night of history

last night Stephen Strasburg took in all the hype about himself, and EXCEDED it. That to me was very impressive. He had 14 K's with no walks. The great Nolan Ryan did that in his 6oo something start, this kid did it in his first. This may be only one game against the pirates, but this kid just said i have talent and i will prove that. I think that the nationals have some good things coming for them if they keep getting the number 1 pick. With bryson and Strasburg they can be a powerhouse pretty soon. When both those players mature the Nationals will be a team to watch. and by then maybe they will have had about 5 other number 1 picks. Stephen Strasburg was untouchable other than the homerun given up to Delwyn Young. This kid has more to prove, but so far he is going above and beyond what we expected.