Archive for July, 2010
I try to follow the Oakland Athletics, since they are my local team. The A’s are a low budget operation as far as baseball is concerned, and I suppose if you look at it like that, maybe they are not doing too bad. But they are doing bad, and have really fallen apart at this time.
The Athletics started out in first place at the beginning of June, and seemed to be surging. It was an illusion. Today, they are 8 games behind and looking up at everybody. Why are they looking up? It involves a number of factors, all repairable. But will they be? I doubt it.
First, the A’s play in a pitcher’s park. Look at the thing. The park is in Oakland. This is a detriment in itself, because of the Bay Area weather. Each year I look at the folks in December at Green Bay and laugh at all their equipment as I sit there in shorts on a sunny day. But the Bay Area is cold folks. Up until September (August sometimes) to go to a night game, you need two pairs of socks, a jacket, fruit coverings, gloves, and a blanket is not amiss. If you go to San Francisco, a grappling covering is not amiss either. So, the team goes from the 90’s back easterly to the cool 60’s here. Quite a change. Then there is the fog. That’s right fog. The air gets cold and heavy at night. The ball doesn’t carry well. Many players leaving Oakland become great home run hitters. This is not just a coincidence. And then there are the lights. They are not too good. Worse, in the outfield it is brightly lit, because the NFL had the park place in extra lights for an Oakland Raiders playoff game once upon a time. The extra lighting was so nice, you think someone would have place it in all around the park, but no. So, besides being cold, and the air heavy, the lights are a bit confusing. The park also has large foul ball areas. I can of like them, since I move out of the way really slow. But pitchers get lots of extra outs at the Coliseum. Also, the ballpark is evenhandedly long, over 400 in centerfield. Sorry, no short walls here. So, we have a pitcher’s park.
So what type of team does the General Manager want to build? You got it. A power team. This doesn’t work for many home games. But he does it apiece year anyway. What type of team do the A’s need (and have)? A running, single – double hitting team. Power doesn’t work at home. Running could work in any park. But our GM wants power, so we waste time and money apiece year on the power hitter that doesn’t. This year we had Fox. But games lost playing these guys. Now the A’s out of desperation, have actually stolen some bases and are using bunts. The fact that it works is still not getting through to anyone. But at least they have figured out how to win a few games, but it might be too late.
Then we have the pitching. Just look at their ERAs. All the A’s starters are all most over 4.0. The middle relievers are split between 3.0 and around 5. Our closer is good, but often wasted on ties or games that are behind. And these pitchers play in a pitcher’s park. Fixing the middle relievers would really help this team. Why anyone with an ERA of 6 would be on a major league roster I just don’t understand. Gosh, we have minor leagues, don’t we? With our hitting, we should not be carrying any pitchers with an ERA of state 4. Remember, we don’t hit.
Then there are weird managing decisions. Time and time again, players who are hitting are sat. Last week, Baily the saver came in, visaged one batter, saved the A’s behind and got pinch hit for. The A’s then lost the game, where they were ahead in the ninth inning as the sorry middle relievers came in, one after the other. Baily should have hit. The A’s have this nutty thing about pitchers getting injured if they swing at the ball. Gosh, Bailey could of just stood there and took three strikes. Truthfully, several of our pitchers are good hitters. We could use them.
Then as with many teams who are “poor” are back-ups leave much to be desired. This is a problem hard to rectify, but could at least be improved. Bring up minor leaguers sooner. This could make the club more captivating for playes trying to break into baseball. As it is, when the A’s develop good players, they leave because they want to be on a winner at sometime during the career.
We also have kind of dopey owners, who keep announcing they want to move the team. Then they shut off the third deck, the cheapest tickets, in the middle of a recession. Closing the third deck makes the ball park sound hollow, and the place is really pretty empty now, since the team is doing bad, people are poor, they are angry at the owner who keeps speaking about moving the team, and the A’s don’t seem to like to keep any player that really resonates with the fans. Anyone who is a tiny out there, but fun, is immediately gone. The A’s are boring.
So, these are my ideas to improve the A’s. What do you think?
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10. Lynn Swann
Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former professional football player, sportscaster, and current politician. In 2006, he was the Republican nominee to run against the incumbent Ed Rendell for Pennsylvania Governor. -Wikipedia.org
9. Chris Carter
Cristopher D. Carter (born November 25, 1965) is a former American football player in the National Football League. He played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles (1987–89), the Minnesota Vikings (1990–2001) and the Miami Dolphins (2002). After starting for the Ohio Say University Buckeyes, Carter was drafted by the Eagles in the 4th round of the 1987 NFL supplemental draft.
While in Philadelphia, head coach Buddy Ryan helped to coin one of ESPN’s Chris Berman’s famous quotes about Carter: “All he does is catch touchdowns.” He was let go by Ryan in 1989, however, due to off-the-field issues. Carter was signed by the Vikings and turned his life and career around, becoming a two-time First-team, one-time Second-team All-Pro and playing in 8 straight Pro Bowls. When he left the Vikings after 2001, he held most of the team career receiving records. He briefly played for the Dolphins in 2002 before retiring. -Wikipedia.org
8. Chad Johnson
Chad Javon Ochocinco (born Chad Javon Johnson on Jan 9, 1978, in Miami, Florida) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bengals in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oregon State. Ochocinco has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times and titled an All-Pro three times. He legally changed his surname from Johnson to Ochocinco prior to the 2008 regular season to reflect the two numerals on his Bengals uniform. While he references his last study as two words “Ocho Cinco”, his legal last study is condensed into one word, as spelled on his study change application. -Wikipedia.org
7. Steve Largent
Steven Michael “Steve” Largent (born September 28, 1954, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a retired American football player, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a former U.S. Congressman, having served in the U.S. Home of Representatives for Oklahoma from 1994 until 2002. He prefabricated an unsuccessful run for Governor of Oklahoma in 2002 losing by one half of one percent. -Wikipedia.org
6. Michael Irvin
Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is a former American football player for the metropolis Cowboys, and actor. He is also a former broadcaster for ESPN’s nfl Countdown and currently an analyst for NFL Network. Irvin was self-nicknamed “The Playmaker” due to his penchant for making huge plays in huge games during his college career.
In 2007, he was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Irvin is also known as one of “The Triplets” along with Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. The Triplets highlighted the metropolis Cowboys’ offense in the 1990s that won three Super Bowls. He competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars. Irvin was the 9th contestant to be eliminated. -Wikipedia.org
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5. Lance Alworth
Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940) is a former American collegiate and Professional Football wide receiver. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He retired as a player after the 1972 season. -Wikipedia.org
4. Terrell Owens
Terrell Eldorado Owens (born on December 7, 1973) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). A six-time Pro Bowl selection and former holder of the league single-game reception record, Owens has been one of the dominant receivers of his era. He holds or shares several NFL records, and features in the all-time top-5 in several receiving categories, including yards and touchdowns. As productive as he has been, Owens has been equally controversial, creating firestorms with nearly each team he has played for as a professional.
Owens played college football and basketball at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and was selected in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Owens was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004 after a spat with 49ers front office members. Two years later, he was released and signed to another massive pact by the metropolis Cowboys, only to be given his unconditional release on March 4, 2009. Several days later, he was signed by the Buffalo Bills to a one-year contract. -Wikipedia.org
3. Marcin Harrison
Marvin justice Harrison (born August 25, 1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football at Syracuse. Harrison was selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 19th selection in the 1996 NFL Draft, a selection which was obtained in a trade that sent Jeff George to the Atlanta Falcons.
Harrison has gone on to become one of the most productive receivers from that draft class, which included Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, Eddie Kennison, Joe Horn, Bobby Engram, Eric Moulds, Amani Toomer, Muhsin Muhammad, and Terrell Owens. In 2002 Harrison broke Herman Moore’s single season receptions record by 20 receptions. He completed with 143 catches, and he also had over 1,700 yards receiving. In December, 2006 Harrison became just the fourth player in NFL history to record 1000 receptions, joining Jerry Rice (1549), Cris Carter (1101), and Tim Brown (1094). He is also one of only seven wide receivers in NFL history to reach 100 touchdowns. -Wikipedia.org
2. Randy Moss
Randall “Randy” Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American football wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Marshall University. Moss played the first seven years of his career in Minnesota before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders.
On April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick. On October 6, 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots. However, his stint in Minnesota was short-lived, as he was waived by the team less than a month later, and claimed by the Tennessee Titans. Moss holds the NFL single season touchdown reception record (23, set in 2007), and the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17, in 1998). -Wikipedia.org
1. Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is a retired Hall of Fame American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver ever and one of the greatest players in National Football League history. On November 4, 2010, Rice was chosen by the NFL Channel’s NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players as the number one greatest player in NFL history.
The all-time leader in most major statistical categories for wide receivers and the all-time NFL leader in touchdowns scored with 208, Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl 13 times (1986–1996, 1998, 2002) and titled All-Pro 11 times in his 20 NFL seasons. He won three super bowl rings playing for the San Francisco 49ers and an AFC Championship with the Oakland Raiders. -Wikipedia.org
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Scuba diving with sharks with Stuart Cove in the bahamas. These are caribbean reef sharks and will not attack unless angry or they mistake your hand for a fish. Depth was probably around 15ft and shark size possibly up to 6ft. Was filmed with a Canon s80 with no extra lighting. As you can see, I’m no professional cameraman.
The 2010 NFL Draft is still a ways away in April 2010 but that hasn’t stopped tons of World wide web fans and analysts from ranking their top players.
Many teams such as the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns among others will be looking for quarterbacks in but his problems are a tendency for his deep ball to canvass on him as well as a demand of physical maturity and a tendency to panic a bit when visaged with pressure are issues.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the top quarterbacks entering the 2010 nfl Draft but the draft should be deep with top QB talent when it’s all stated and done, even though it lacks a true franchise QB at this point.
2010 NFL Draft QB Rankings: Who is the Top Quarterback?
Here is a my short list of top QB picks or the 2010 NFL Draft.
1. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma-
I’ve been tough on Bradford in the past but he deserves to be at the top thus far of a weak QB class. He is a great decision maker at QB and he ranks as one of the ideal passers Oklahoma’s ever seen.
He is very accurate and has a good build for a QB with underrated toughness. The concern is injury trouble and also a demand of size and physical maturity plus his arm strength is good but not great.
Still, Bradford is a top-ranked QB because of his accuracy and the implosion of Oklahoma while he was out this year shows he’s not just a system quarterback going into the 2010 NFL Draft.
2. Colt McCoy. Texas-
He doesn’t have the perfect size or arm strength but he’s a great athlete at QB and has won more games than any top QB in FBS history in college. McCoy is a top-ranked 2010 NFL Draft QB because he gets it done in large games and has single-handedly carried the Texas offense in many games over the past two years to two large seasons.
3. Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan-
There is concern over whether or not LeFevour will translate well to playing more under center from an all-out spread for the most part at CMU but he is a record-setting QB from the MAC, a conference that has churned out some good NFL QB’s and top draft picks at quarterback.
LeFevour is a former high school running back who switched to QB at Central and lit up the MAC both running and throwing. Another QB with a good but not great arm and above-average athleticism. He is also very accurate and smart.
4. Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame-
Clausen came out primeval at QB for the 2010 NFL Draft. While he didn’t quite live up to his hype from high school as a quarterback at Notre Dame he place up large stats his senior year. Clausen has a swift release and has good technique at QB but his problems are a tendency for his deep ball to canvass on him as well as a demand of physical maturity and a tendency to panic a bit when visaged with pressure are issues.
5. Tim Tebow, Florida-
He has a lot to establish still at QB in a pro-style offense but Tim Tebow could be a 2nd round NFL draft pick in 2010 with a good combine showing.
He has a solid arm and his size is a plus despite some people knocking him because of his capability tor run people over. Tebow will obviously be more judicious about when to run and when not to run in the NFL as a starting QB. He didn’t have a lot of weapons on the outside in 2010 and if he goes to a team with some good WR’s on the outside he can be a solid starter at worst in the NFL in the coming years at QB.
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OPENING DAY musical concert of World Cup 2010 is going to be the most watched concert of the world, and the mortal who is going to do song samba is Shakira. The FIFA World Cup opening ceremony is going to be musical double feature this week.
Top stars including Shakira will perform on Thursday and a secret performance just ahead of match on Friday. The concert will be broadcast live from the heart of the Johannesburg Soweto Township’s 40,000 capacity Orlando Stadium at 1800 GMT.
Soccers fans from crossways the world have already booked their tickets to watch Shakira in opening concert of FIFA World Cup 2010 singing official song “Waka Waka” with South African pop group Freshlyground.
Among others who are going to rock Johannesburg are Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and John Legend. Top African musicians including Angelique Kdjo from Benin, The Parlotones from South Africa and Amadou and Mariam, the blind musical duo from Mali.
But there is a surprise element from FIFA for the world just before the opening match between host South Africa and Mexico.
Lebo M, the Soweo-born musician behind Broadway’s “The Lion King,” is the producer of 25-minute performance at Soccer City Stadium. Nelsen Mandela has picked a song “Hope” to play at opening by rocker Russ Ballard and Chris Winter.
But Mandela’s pick South African opera tenor 34-year-old Siphiwo Ntshebe, die dsuddenly last month of meningitis. Lebo M is not yet clarified who will replace Siphiwo, in the singing event on Friday before 95,000 spectators.
As this kind of Global event brings massive publicity, several small musical groups raised voice regarding the non representation of Local artists in the opening event. They called for boycott of the event from the people, and people’s response to their boycott call is not gaining momentum.
Stampede during the warm up match raises serious doubts regarding the preparedness, crowd management and security. If any thing of this kind happens during the main event, this will be shameful for Africa and football community at large. Hope the South African government will fully utlize this global oppurtunity to boost its image and refrain this kid of minor mistakes.
Read here for more information related to FIFA World Cup and World Cup Latest News.
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In the United States, the baseball and football have impassioned ventilators which claim that they follow the true sport of the number one to America. But, how done one determine what is the American sport of the number reality ?
There are several categories which can be considered by determining the number of USA a pastime. Examining the assistance, the costs of ticket, income of television, wages, go, will help to present a case for which the sport is the number one in the United States. These six factors will help to determine which sport is liked more by Americans.
Assistance
The one-way to determine if the baseball or football is more favourite in USA easterly while looking at how many people go to the plays. During the year 2000, average crowd with a play of baseball was 30. 125 years old, whereas average crowd with a play of football was 66. 077 years old. This figure is based on an assistance annual total, divided by all the number of games which were played in the sport. Simply based on a this factor, it would establish that twice as many people went to the plays of football than to the plays of baseball in this particular year.
Costs Of Ticket
An aspect which can contribute to the popularity of a sport is cost of ticket. An important question is: how much accessible is it for the average family in USA with going to a sporting event of phase? Concerning this factor, the baseball is a more accessible combination and potentially more favourite with the average, the income with-below-means gaining the American families. The plays of baseball, in the year 2000, cost $20. 02, whereas the plays of football cost an average of $54. 14. Clearly, it is easier to have average the baseball of phase than the football of phase, and the attending of the plays of phase is an experiment which can create much ventilators and produce abundance of the excitation for a particular sport.
Income Of television
Another important bourgeois to think about when the analysis of the popularity of a given sport is how much the money which the sport accumulates of the incomes of television. In this case, football is gaining it clear. The NFL brings approximately 2. 2 billion dollars per annum in the incomes of television. The MLB gains approximately 340 million. The significant difference concerning the income of television is that football takes place a few days per week, and the baseball takes place nearly apiece night. However, football brings always much more money of the incomes of advertisement to the television, which means that there are more people perceptive the plays of football than observes the plays of baseball. When it comes to the income from television, football is the sport of the number one.
However, this does not hold the argument. The season of baseball and the season of football are opposúx of many manners. The season of baseball long and is drawn outside, with a team playing apiece night almost. The plays of football are primarily once per week, though the league and the networks added Saturday and of the plays of Thursday to football Monday already succeeded of night . this creates more than one buzz for a play of football, and the television numbers and the generation of income is a product of this buzz.
Wages
Another measurement in the way in which a favourite sport easterly would be how much its players cost paid. In the principal baseball of league, the average consequence are more than 2 million dollars per annum; while the average consequence in the NFL are good per annum around 1. 18 million dollars. Consequently, the baseball pays to its players more money, but it is primarily not very clear which effect this aspect has on the preference of ventilators between the two sports.
Appointment
The various appointments in which both fôlatre are played are another aspect to be taken into account. While trying to determine which sport is sport of the number one in America, this can be a factor. The number of seats in the stages is important because it shows the number of ventilators which can be envisaged by play. The average stage of baseball holds 47. 000 people. The average stage of football holds 70. 000 people. Consequently, there are more seats to notice plays of football, meaning that more people go typically to the plays of football. Still, this can be due of through to the frequency of the games played in football and the baseball. However, a regular play of the football of season is more than one important event on a coherent basis that a regular play of baseball.
The role of the athletes of a Sport
An other bourgeois to think about when the discussion the preferred pastime of which USA can be is the impact the players of plays have on the company, positive and negative. For example, if a player of arena football or a player of baseball of A-class obtains in the trouble, or does something very generous, it is not outstanding news. If a player of NFL or MLB does one of these things, it obtains usually the abundance of the insurance. This can be an aspiration, most of the time because the players of MLB and NFL are uniformly in the news for various run-in’s with the law or of the charitable actions.
When looking at these factor, one together to carry out that football and baseball extreme being favourite and also very different. Because of this dynamics, it becomes difficult to compare both equitably. The two sports were around during many years, and both will continue to be favourite during many years. What one, however, is more most popular, is still irresolute.
A doable changing of the guard is underway as long-time stud but past his prime RB Clinton Portis will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a torn groin muscle and thus opening the door in the process for understudy third year man Ryan Torain to step into the limelight. Torain is a very tiny used, mostly unknown commodity around the fantasy football world but he now has a chance to shine starting this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. With Mike Shanahan a large fan of his, Torain likely will have the rest of the season to show whether he can be their back of the future or if he is just a flash in the pan. The question for fantasy football players is this however: can Ryan Torain serve as a useful option at running back for owners or is he superior used as a backup???? Lets find out.
For starters, Ryan Torain was a Mike Shanahan find as a fifth round draft pick while with the Denver Broncos and the coach has always been a large fan of his. One thing Shanahan has always excelled at is finding running backs that have been healthy to star in his system such as Olandis Gary, Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, and Clinton Portis himself. No doubt he believes Torain can be one of those guys as he brought him over to Washington and who am I to disagree with that type of success he has had with backs? So on the surface you have to believe Torain can get the job done or else Shanhana wouldn’t bother.
Now as far as his capability is concerned, Torain has had only 35 carries in his career so its nearly impossible to grade him out since he has such a small workload. What we can conclude however is that Torain is a large back at 6-1 and during last week’s game against the Eagles, he showed nice power running between the tackles and on more than one occasion broke the first face and thus getting to the second level. Figure on that type of run being Torain’s game as he wont flash and dash like a Ray Rice or a Jahvid Best. He also doesn’t have home run capability where he is a threat to score each time he touches the ball but he seems to have a nice tiny burst through the hole. Finally as far as pass catching is concerned, Torain was never much of a receiver in college and hasn’t shown that trait at all in his limited time on the field in the league.
All in all I think Ryan Torain is certainly worth picking up due to the past success Shanahan has in turning mediocre looking players into stars. The Green Bay matchup is not the worst opponent for him to get his first begin and I would have no problem if you gave him a look this week due to the fact he will get the majority of carries which of course is becoming a thing of the past in today’s game. The reward is large and the risk is minimal so this is a potential winning lottery ticket.
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Only On The Web: Katie Couric introduces Steve Hartman’s interview with Zack Hample, who has snagged almost 3000 baseballs at major league games, then files her regular notebook.
The NFL has the smaller field, plays eleven per side with four downs and has a 40 second clock. Differences aside both games are basically football, played on the gridiron and both have their own excitement.
The huge debate is whether or not the NFL has more talented players then the CFL. In a general rule thumb that is true since the NFL has more players it would only be obvious that the talent pool would be greater. However, there are many talented players who play in the Canadian game that would not make it in the NFL game and vice versa. The CFL usually goes for the smaller player who has lots of speed and a larger focus on offence and the NFL player usually has the larger player which has more of a focus on defence.
Setting that rule aside for the moment though, there have been many a player who had great careers in the CFL who prefabricated it huge in the NFL. Players such as Warren Moon, Joe Thiesman, Doug Flutie just to study a few. So why do some Canadians look at the CFL as inferior? Well image perception for one. The NFL is known world wide, the super bowl is the highest rated and most bet on championship in the world. The NFL promotes its star players while the CFL is in a small market, tucked up in Canada and basically away from the American limelight. The CFL is well promoted by the local media in Canada, but it’s still considered a second tier league to the nfl. The game CFL game itself though has been said to be a far better game then the NFL went it comes to the excitement level of the game. Longer, Wider and Faster is how the league promoted itself on its ill fated attempt to expand in the United Says some 15 years ago. And in truth the CFL is a faster game and can be more exciting then the NFL game. But when it comes to pure marketing power the CFL is at the bottom of the barrel. Myself, I like the Canadian game over the American game, not that I don’t like the American game. I just like a good old offensive effort with high scoring then a defensive struggle and a low scoring game which tends to be the trend in the NFL. Which ever game you prefer, we up here in Canada must realize that if the NFL does come to town, it could spell the end of the CFL as Canadians know it.
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