White Sox Season Preview Take 1

If your first expression of this post title is that you are wondering why I said take 1 I will explain. I plan on making a season preview before opening day. This is the spring training one, so it may prove to be super wrong or be super right.
Tomorrow the White Sox play their first spring training game. They are playing against the Dodgers. This should be a good game. I think both teams have good chances, although I think the White Sox have a better chance. I can't wait for baseball season and that's why I have been blogging like crazy about them and tweeting about them a lot. I really hope they have a good season, because only the Bulls are really doing well and making me completely happy this season.
This year is bound to be good. We signed a pure DH in Adam Dunn. I think last year we got way to caught up in trying to have a speedy team that we forgot that power is okay also. We didn't have an official or pure DH last year and I think this year we do. That will be a huge difference in our offense. The White Sox biggest problems in the past few years have been that they have not been able to get runners home when they are in scoring position. This stresses me out almost every game. I hope this year they have solved that huge problem with their offense.
The pitching last year was pretty good. The starters were all good pitchers and they will again this year. Peavy will be back early in the season, which was not expected, and that will help our starters have a better year as a total. Buehrle will again be the opening day starter. He is a great pitcher and I love him as our ace. Our other pitchers are great also and they end up performing well. You can read more about all of the pitchers in my blog post about when the pitchers and catchers reported. I went into much more depth in that post.
Overall I think the White Sox are going to have a great season. They made a lot of great additions this offseason and kept a lot of important players. I think resigning Paulie and A.J was huge. Keeping them will help our offense and keeping A.J will help keep our pitchers steady with him. He is a great defensive catcher and keeps the game running quickly. This offseason the White Sox improved both their offense and their pitching staff. Improving both of those parts of the team will make this team much better and will give them the edge to win this division.

Patrick Sharp 300 Career Points

I realize that I am late to the party on this, but if you have ever read my blog you know that I am late to the part on blogging on most things. Patrick Sharp got his 300th career point on Thursday. One of my twitter friends was asking for photo-shopped pictures of sharps head on a 300 character. I did not post this to her, I made this today. I saw her blog and you can visit her blog by click the MsBlackhawks link at the bottom right of my blog page. I saw the images that she got and I decided that I should make my own so that I could blog about how amazing my favorite Blackahawks player is. Okay, I'm done with the citing and boring stuff, onto Patrick Sharps amazingness.
When I saw that he got his 300th point I was super happy, he ended up getting another point for scoring on the open net later in the game. I was really happy when I saw this, though because I have known for awhile that he was a good player. I chose him to be my favorite around 2007 or 2008 when the Blackhawks started to be talked about again in Chicago. This year he has shown his talent the best and it just seems right that this is the year that he hits a great milestone. He is a beast and he has been scoring goals like a machine,(refer to my last post for a great pic to represent that) and he has also been getting a lot of assists. That leads to a lot of points. I guess what I'm trying to say is CONGRATS SHARPIE ON 300 POINTS!!

Blackhawks Struggles

I was planning on posting this basic post about four days ago, when the Blackhawks were making me very mad and they were not playing well at all. Now they won last night and they won earlier today, against pretty good teams, but not great teams. This is a step in the right direction, but we still need a lot more wins and not to lose a couple days after a win. There is something in hockey called a winning streak. Apparently the players don't understand what that is this year. The Blackhawks players can't seem to get it in their head that just because they won last year doesn't mean that they will automatically be in the playoffs this year. It doesn't work that way. They have to play like they want it, they have to play like it is last year. I have a feeling that Johnaton Toews' speech pumped up this team in a major way, no matter what he said. If we get a 10 game winning streak starting with these two games I would not be surprised. People say that Toews is not a good leader for our team. They must be kidding. He was the reason we won the game today and he is the reason we win many games. Just because he isn't a bitch like Crosby and doesn't have a big personality like Ovechkin doesn't mean that he isn't a good leader. He is a big leader for our team and a lot of the players on this team say that.
Back to the Blackhawks struggles. One of the reasons I think they are having a bad year is the beginning. They are a young team. I am as old as Patrick Kane. I know if I won the Stanley Cup the next year I might not play as well; I would feel invincible. I think that is what happened to a lot of these players. They won and therefore thought that nobody could ever beat them now. That caused the beginning of the season to be not such a great start and now we are in a tough situation as we get into playoff push mode.
Another reason for the slow start and not great season is that we have had a lot of injuries. Kane has been injured once for a long time. Toews was out for a little while. Hossa has been out for a lot of this year. Those guys were the first line last year. If you expect a team to win a lot of their games with those guys gone at points, you are crazy and have very high expectations. I knew from the point when they all got injured that this wasn't going to be a fabulous year. You can't blame a team for that, and I know I sound like a Cubs fan pulling the injury excuse, but Kane, Toews, and Hossa??
I'm going to end on a positive note. My favorite player since 2008 when I started paying attention the blackhawks again is having a monster year. He is, obviously, Patrick Sharp. He has 30 goals and most of those were while the other big parts were injured. He stepped up in a big way this year. He knew that some of the better players were injured and the Blackhawks would have an even worse year if somebody didn't step up. He knew this and he stepped into that position and scored like crazy. @blinkfink182 even made a great photoshopped picture of him. Everyone reading this follow him on twitter at that name.

(visit blackhawksdl.com for more)
I think that picture sums it up well.

Pitchers&Catchers Report Tomorrow

Since tomorrow is the day that the pitchers and catchers report, I will talk about them even though this is the start of spring training which is the start of the season. I will post about the White Sox and what I think will happen this season later, but right now I will talk about the pitchers and the catchers.
The first pitcher is one of my favorites, Mark Buerhle, and he sort of made a big deal recently talking about Michael Vick and how he hoped that he would get injured, because Mark is a very passionate dog lover. I don't think this will effect his performance, but nothing really does. He will be the opening day picture for the 11th time, i think. This is a guy that loves playing with the White Sox and loves pitching in general. He is one of the quickest pitchers and I think he will have another great season.
The second is Mark's prodigy, Johnny Danks. Every year it seems like Danks gets better and I think that will continue this year. I like the fact that we have both good lefties and righties. Danks is an important part of our team and works quickly just like buerhle.
The third is Gavin Floyd. Like with Danks he keeps getting better every year and I think he will again this year. Both are young pitchers with promise learning from two greats in Buerhle and Peavy. I expect him to come back better this year and get a couple more wins.
The fourth is Sale. I think the White Sox are getting ahead of themselves with him. They drafted him last year and are ready to start him this year. I think they should keep him in the bullpen for a year or two. He needs time to mature, and we see that with other pitchers. I like his pitching and I think he is a very good pitcher, but he should wait to start.
The final is Peavy. I'm not sure when he is back. Part of me wants him to come back soon, because I obviously want to see him play and pitch for us. The other part of me wants him to get as much rest and rehab as he possibly can so that when he comes back he is better.
I know this was quick, but I will get in deeper later on in spring training.

Jack Skille Traded

jack skille was just trade for a panthers player named frolik. i dont know much about him, but skille hasnt been playing well and so i think anyone is vetter than he has been lately. we also got a goaltender from the panthers and that will help in the future. Turco has been playing well as long as crawford, but at some point turco will be too old and this guy will hopefully be a good step in for the second goalie position. overall i think this is a good trade. skille wasnt playing well lately and fans were expecting someone to get traded so i think they made the right decision. i hope this new guy will make a big impact and i look forward to seeing him work with the hawks.

Derrick Rose

There is no doubt that Derrick Rose has been playing very well this season. He has game in and game out lead this team in scoring, this year he has tried to reach the free throw line more often and he has. The best thing about Derrick Rose penitrating to get to the line is that he is probably going to make the original shot and that makes a lot of his chances and1s. When you get and1s and you can shoot free throws like Derrick Rose can that really helps your team. He is a great player and the Bulls management knew that when they drafted him first overall. This has to be one of the best examples of how having the first pick can help and can help in a hurry. It was only a couple years ago that the Bulls were dismal and made me shake my head, along with the rest of the NBA. Now that Rose is leading this team and that I've gotten over my struggle with the NBA I like this team and I think they are going to do great things. If they don't win this year because they don't have a 2 guard I'm fine because this is a very young team and they have about 10 more years of good play and I'm only a little kidding. Derrick Rose will be a player in 10 years and a few of these players we be there too. They are a great team. Now onto the MVP talk about Rose.
Rose has been playing great this season like I said before. He has been playing like an MVP and yet he hasn't been recognized like one until just recently by the national media. Rose is a great player and this season he has improved a lot and has really stepped up to that upper echelon of players. I think he deserves this award 100%. It is only the middle of the season, but I think DRose is only going to get better not worse. I doubt he will get injured(knock on wood) and so I think they should just hand it to him now. You might talk about some of the other contenders. They are LeBron, Wade, Dirk, and Rondo. LeBron and Wade are probably not going to win this because the votes will be split for them because they are both playing well but they are playing together. Dirk will probably not get this because the Mavs seem like they are falling and Dirk was injured for a chunk of the season. I don't think he will win this award, but if Derrick doesn't get it Dirk should. Now onto Rondo, this is the one that I have a lot to say about. People think Rondo is a better point guard because he had a good year last year. Derrick has had a good year last year and this year and people still don't realize how good of a year he is having this year. When the Bulls played the Celtics most recently Derrick showed up Rondo. He played better both as a scorer and as a passer. Rondo didn't have a great game, but Rose still played better than Rondo would have in a good game. The Bulls won and Rose came out victorious. After this people still didn't think of Rose as an MVP candidate. I think people as fans of the game and the national media have wised up a little and now consider him, but still don't always pick him as a favorite. I think they should have him as the favorite. He is a great player and is having a great year and deserves the MVP.

The Bulls

If you are someone who reads this blog often, you know that I am not a huge fan of the NBA. Well, in the past few months I have become quite the fan. I realized that if I wanted to call myself a true Chicago fan that I had to be a little bit more interested in the Bulls. So, I started to watch a few games. As I watched my first instinct was that the refs are ridiculous and they won't call anything. As I watched the Bulls play more the more I liked it. I think I can now officially call myself a Bulls fan, I've been outed. So lets get talking about the team.
This summer their was a lot of talk about LeBron (sorry anybody reading from Cleveland) and how he might go to the Bulls because we have a great young team. This week I realized that maybe this team is better off without him. Instead of him we got Boozer, who I think fits in a lot better. LeBron would be trying to take the ball, when this is Rose's team and he is the guy who takes the ball. I think the team works a lot better together than they would if LeBron was on the team. Rose is having an oustanding year and with James on the team he would not have numbers near as high and impressive. This was the best thing for the team, now I think we can beat the team that LeBron ended up going to and beat the Celtics as you have seen. I'm not saying that this is a for sure thing, but don't be surprised if the Bulls make it to the Finals. The chances of them beating the Lakers are slim, but its the same with almost every team. I think that maybe something will happen just like what happened with the Blackhawks. They are the surprise team one year, and then the next year they are on top more than before and they win it all. The Bulls have a lot of potential and a lot of really good young players. I think their coach knows how to use them and this team is going to be very good. Go Bulls!

bears

just wanted to say: THE PACKERS R GOING DOWN!!!!

AFC and NFC Championship games

AFC
This game is the Steeler and the Jets. I like both teams. The Steelers have a great defense, but so do the Jets. I think I might take Big Ben over Sanchez just because Ben has more experience. There is part of me that is saying that the Steelers are going to win without a problem, then again there is part of me saying that the Jets beat the Patriots, who says they will stop now. This is a very tough decision. Both teams are very good and deserve to be their. This game could go either way. I think the Jets spent a lot of their energy game planning for the Patriots. They have been planning for them probably since they knew they were in the playoffs. So I think the Jets might not be well prepared for this. I originally trusted my gut to say that the Jets would win, but as I wrote that little bit I got to thinking that the Steelers are probably going to win this game. I'm going to pick Steelers 24 Jets 17.
NFC
I think everyone knows who I'm going to pick in this matchup. I'm going to pick the Bears, but not just because I am a Bears fan, I have serious reasons. The Bears can beat the Packers. The Bears could have beat them week 17 when we had nothing to play for and the Packers had nothing to play for. Our defense can and has stopped Aaron Rodgers while he is hot as well as other quarterbacks. Our special teams will hopefully step up and our running game has to be good. I believe we can do it. I have this huge feeling that February 7th the Bears will be the Super Bowl champions.

Da Bears. Why they will be in the Super Bowl.

I have a great feeling that the Bears will make it to the Super Bowl this year. I'm also not just some crazy Bears fan who is dreaming of this. I have logical reasons why I think this.
The Bears are playing the Seahawks. That's right the team that finished 7-9 this season. Yes I know that they beat the Saints last week. I know that. I watched the game. Just because they beat the Saints doesn't mean we will lose too. The Saints had a bad defensive day. There is no way that our defense does that. They will step it up because its the playoffs. We are going to destroy the Seahawks. I would love to see a blowout. I have a feeling that we might see that. So then we move on to play probably the packers.
Playing the Packers is going to be a tough game. I have a feeling we will win this game because we have beat them this year at Soldier field. That was before the Bears had their breakthrough. Watching the game last week I thought they could have tried harder at the end to win, but they didn't. The Bears are built to beat the Packers. Our defense knows how to stop them. Our offense does get stopped but as long as they score less than we do we win. I think we can win this game. Winning two games and one of them against a team without a winning record. Yes it sounds reasonable.