Marlins Spending Wildly

Just three days into MLB's annual winter general manager meetings in Dallas, Texas the new look Miami Marlins are jumping into free agency head first and not looking back.  They have already signed former San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell a three year $27 million deal and former New York Mets star shortstop Jose Reyes to a six year $106 million deal.  Now, news from ESPN today is that the Marlins have offered Albert Pujols a 10 year contract worth well over 200 million dollars.  Pujols is widely considered the game's best player, but come on Miami what are you thinking?  Their spending so far this free agency period is appauling.  This is coming from a team that hasn't topped a payroll of over $60 million in almost a decade.  I guess new ownership comes with outrageous spending habits.  If the team ends up signing Pujols, they will have spent more money on these three players in three days than their entire payroll combined from the last nine years.  Don't get me wrong, these players are among the best in the league, but in Pujols' case specifically, it just doesn't make sense to me.  He is already 31 years old.  If he signed this contract the Marlins would have his rights until he is 41 years old.  Besides the steroid filled era of the early 2000s, when is the last time you saw productive 41 year old baseball player.  Okay, so he's not just another player but he isn't superman either.  Its a fact, an athletes physical skills start diminishing as they get older.  After all, that is why players are forced to retire.  The Marlins will be tied to an old aging star for years to come.  But hey, at least they won't have to worry about putting fans in their seats this year.  Get ready Albert, you're about to be a rich man.

Valentine Not a Popular Choice in Boston

The Boston Red Sox hired former Mets manager Bobby Valentine as their next head coach on Tuesday and already the Red Sox players are complaining.  Its now Wednesday, the day after.  Some players supposedly were told the team would not hire Valentine, but they did anyway.  One reason for the uproar is most likely due to the fact that Valentine is quite the contrast of coachs compared to Terry Francona (fired at the end of the season).  Francona was know to be a "players coach" and never really disiplined his players too much.  Valentine on the other hand is a hard nosed tell it how it is kind of coach.  In the past, he has used the media to call out multiple players.  I think this was a good hire, the Red Sox could use a little disipline especially after the beer drinking and chicken eating during a game incident that occured this season.  I'm just not so sure how much the players will like it.

The Assault on the NHL Begins

Sidney Crosby scores his first goal of the season Monday night just over 5 minutes into the game.  The Pens won 5-0.

Sidney Crosby made his return to NHL action in a big way monday night in Pittsburgh against the New York Islanders.  After not playing a game since January 5th because of a concussion, Crosby didn't miss a beat.  He recorded 2 goals and 2 assists in just over 15 minutes of ice time.  On his first shift he set up linemate Chris Kunitz for a backhander off the crossbar.  Not soon after, he scored his first goal of the season just over 5 minutes into the game.  He blew by a New York defender and roofed a sweet backhand shot over the glove hand of the goalie.  Crosby was noticable on every shift of the game, making things happen for himself and his teamates.  He even set up Brooks Orpik for a goal, only his third in 76 games.  Overall, the Pens looked awesome last night en route to their 5-0 victory.  With Jordan Staal emerging as an offensive threat this season, Evgeni Malkin playing like his old self, and Crosby coming back, the offense looks to be nearly unstoppable.  Along with the stars you have an outstanding supporting cast of role players such as Pascal Dupuis (17 points on the season), Matt Cooke, and Tyler Kennedy.  Couple the offense with a solid group of defensemen headed by Kris Letang, you have the makings of a Stanley Cup contender.  Oh ya and Marc-Andre Fleury posted his 21st career shutout last night too, good luck NHL.  

Falcons Risky Call Doesn't Pay Off

To call the Atlanta Falcon's 4th down call on Sunday risky would be an understatement.  Atlanta head coach Mike Smith elected to go for the first down on 4th down in overtime while they were on their own 30 yard line.  Granted, they only needed a few inches to get the first and have one of the biggest power running backs in the league; yet if you don't convert the other team (New Orleans Saint) just have to kick a field goal to win the game.  That's exactly what they did too!  Michael Turner could not convert the first down and the Falcons turned the ball over on downs.  A couple run plays later, the Saints won the game on a short field goal.  Game over.  The call was (and still is) being criticized by all the experts on ESPN.  While Coach Smith is known for his aggressive play, this may have crossed the line into stupidity. 

Atlanta running back Michael Turner gets stopped on 4th down on Sunday's game against the Saints.

Penn State Students Rowdy in Protest

In response to Penn State's firing of coaching legend Joe Paterno, students acted out in strong disagreement.  Bottles were thrown, vehicles were flipped, and policemen with pepper spray and riot shields were used.  I can understand some disagreement with the executive boards decision to fire the infamous coach of 45+ years, but come on people.  The man did not do all in his power (ethically) in response to one of his former collegues sex abuse allegations.  It's not like nobody in the world would have fired they guy, he is linked to a tremendous scandle and simply paid the price.  And hey, it was probably his last year anyways right?

Early Season Pens Report

While some NHL teams have yet to play their 10th game of the season, the Penguins have been busy playing 13 games in 23 days.  They have been by far the league's busiest team, playing as many as four games more than some teams.  This may be one of the reasons they sit on top the overall standings, but it is not the only reason.  The team has gotten off to a great start with eight wins and recieving 18 out of a possible 26 points (8-3-2).  They are doing all this with many injuries to key players such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy, Zbynek Michalek, and Brooks Orpik.  This is a tribute to general manager Ray Shero and his staff for putting together a team with phenomenal depth.  The team has gotten good offensive production from James Neal and Jordan Staal.  Neal has 9 goals, good for second in the league while Staal is on pace for career highs in both goals and points.  He seems to finally be developing his offensive game.  Evgeni Malkin has looked more like the player he was back in 2009 when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff mvp) but it remains to be seen how his sore knee will hold up.  Marc-Andre Fleury is playing very well and the defense led by Kris Letang is playing solid in front of him.  Couple this with good play from role players such as Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, and Joe Vitale the Pens look like serious Cup contenders once again this year.  Now lets just get Sid back. 

 

Chris Johnson's Struggles Agravating More Than Just Titans

Former NFL rushing leader Chris Johnson is having a bad year.  Maybe bad year is an understatement.  He is having an excruciating season to date.  As of this week, Johnson is averaging a career worst 3.0 yards per carry and has only scored one touchdown.  This is not only making his real life owners (Tennessee Titans) angry but is is also infuriating his fantasy league owners (ME!).  How can a guy run like he does, with such little heart and so little effort.  He looks like a guy that is scared to have the ball in his hands anymore.  He hits the line with absolutely no speed whatsoever; speed was supposed to be his greatest attribute!  Last week against the Bengals, he turned in his best performance of the season.  This included a total of just over 100 yards from scrimmage (only 64 rushing) and no touchdowns.  I can't decide whether or not to sit him, start him, trade him, or drop him.  It is extremely frustrating as a fantasy league owner and I can't even imagine how the Tenessee Titans are feeling after awarding him with a huge guaranteed contract in the offseason.  Then again, maybe thats why he doesn't seem like he cares anymore. 

Cardinals, Rangers Deserve More Respect

Despite this being potentially one of the bes World Series in the history of MLB, viewer ratings are not up to par for this year's fall classic.  Reports are that television ratings are way down compared to just two years ago when the Phillies met the Yankees in the World Series.  It was estimated that about 22 million people tuned in to watch that year's series clinching game 6 while this year's game 6 garnered a little over 17 million viewers.  Much of this can be attributed to the markets each team plays in compared to the markets of the 2009 teams.  The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers operate under a much smaller market for baseball viewers than that of the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.  Still, with all the excitement of last game 6 and games prior, this World Series should be producing equal or better ratings that that of the 2009 Series.  It is disappointing to think that baseball has shrunk to the level that it has.

Carson Palmer: Answer To Radiers Struggles?

The Cincinatti Bengals finally shed their angry franchise player, Carson Palmer.  Palmer was retired and finally traded to the Oakland Radiers today for a first round pick in this year's draft and a conditional first round pick two years from now.  Is this the player the Radiers have been missing?  They haven't had a true quality quarterback since Rich Gannon took them to the super bowl almost a decade ago.  They had the widely publicized bust of quarterback JaMarcus Russell out of LSU (first overall pick).  I believe Palmer will undoubtedly help the team.  But is he what he used to be before the Steelers tore his ACL the first play of the game during the playoffs a few years back?  On that play he threw a 60 yard bomb for a huge opening play of the game by the way.  I don't view Palmer as the elite quarterback he once was, yet he is still dependable.  I'm just not sure he is two first round picks dependable.

Red Sox Dysfunction Just a Microcosm of Sports Today

Ever since the Boston Red Sox failed to make the playoffs this season, experts have been searching for reasons for their monumental September collapse.  A team once on pace for 100 wins and a trip to the playoffs stuttered big time, going 6-18 down the stretch and losing a nine game lead in the wild-card race as of September 3rd.  Reports have been coming out that arguably the team's top three starting pitchers (Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey) were drinking beer, eating fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games instead of being on the bench.  To me, this is absolutely ridiculous.  It shows so much dissrespect to the game of baseball and to Americans in general.  It seems like athletes and sports in general these days are getting more and more dissrespectful and lazy every year.  Players are getting illegally recruited, using performance enhancing drugs, saying innapropriate things during interviews and social media, along with countless other examples that can be seen every day on ESPN.  Athletes don't care as much as they should and are just in it for the money.  They care more about themselves and their statistics rather than winning their game.  This specific Boston Red Sox incident is just a microcosm of sports today.   

Verlander Making History, Again

Detroit Tigers star pitcher Justin Verlander is adding his name to the record books, again.  He has already thrown two career no-hitters and is the heavy favorite to win the AL Cy Young award this season for the league's best pitcher.  On Sunday he  put his name in another historical category by becoming the first pitcher in 33 years (Ron Guidry, 1978) to record 24 wins and 240 strikeouts in a season.  He is only the seventh AL pitcher since World War II to accomplish this.  The win yesterday marked his 12th straight, the first time a pitcher has done that since 2004 (Johan Santana).  His 24 total wins is also the most by a MLB pitcher since Randy Johnson won 24 in 2002.  Overall, Verlander stands at 24-5 with a 2.28 ERA with one start remaining in the regular season.  If he wins his next one, he will become baseball's most winning pitcher since 1990 (Bob Welch, 27).  There is no reason why he shouldn't walk away with this year's AL Cy Young award. 

Pirates Collapse After All-Star Break

Well that was fun wasn't it?  Your Pittsburgh Pirates were in first place not too long ago in the middle of the summer.  But if you thought they would finish the season there, you were sorely mistaken and probably mentally unstable.  But for the team to collapse like it has since that 19 inning game in Atlanta is embarassing and brings Pirate fans back down to earth.  The team has gone something to the tune of 15-40 or so after the all-star break and is in a free fall in the standings.  This is mostly due to the decline in performance by the pitching staff and the continued year long struggle of the offense to produce runs.  Maybe next year the team can build upon it's success it had this season and sustain it next year.  Hey, it's good to dream right?

NFL Should Once Again Take Over Sports World

While MLB baseball has been the talk of the sports world most of the summer, it should take a back seat to the NFL once again.  According to a USA Today article by Michael Hiestand, a regular season football game between two 1-3 teams last year (Dallas & Minnesota) nearly tripled the ratings the NLCS playoff game between the Phillies and eventual MLB champion San Francisco Giants.   This shouldn't come as a surprise as the NFL is by far the most popular sport in the US.  And nobody should expect this to change this year either, especially after that thrillng NFL opener thursday night between the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints.  Another factor that will almost certainly sink any chance the MLB had to stay even with the NFL at this point in the year is the lack of close pennant races this year.  The Yankees/Redsox battle and the race between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the closest thing to an interesting pennant race and thats a 2.5 game difference.  All the other division leading teams are at least 7.5 games ahead of the second place team.  The combination of the two (NFL being traditionaly overpowering and lack of MLB pennant races) could doom the MLB.  Ratings could fall to an all-time low this year and who knows what might happen with the current Collecctive Bargaining Agreement expiring after this season; but only time will tell.  We all know what happened with the NFL and their lockout situation, but in the meantime, the NFL appears to be ruling supreme once again.

Introduction

Hello everyone my name is Marcus Cashell and I am a Sport Management major and also a Business Administration minor.  I am from Saxonburg, Pa and Knoch High School.  I am a huge sports fan but concentrate heavily on the Pittsburgh based team obviously (Steelers, Penguins, Pirates).