Two underrateds solid in loss.

The Angels came in looking for a sweep of four close games against the second place Rangers, but were unable to step it up, eventually losing 3-4 to wrap up the home stand. Despite the loss, a rarity in the last couple of days, the Angels continued to have a couple of underrated players step it up, and it is time for their going unnoticed to be stopped. 

Every team has players who are expected to do well, and usually do well enough to make people happy. For the Angels, those players are Vlad, Torii, Lackey, and now Teixeira. However, a team cannot be solid when just their stars are doing well. A team that has the ability to win the championship also needs to have role players performing at 100% (see: the 2007/2008 Boston Celtics). To make those players smile, however, fans need to point out when the underrated are doing well. That's what I'm about to do. 

I'm going to start with Kansas City, MO native Darren Oliver. DO was picked up by the Angels two offseasons ago, and has been quite a pleasant surprise, even if he hasn't been noticed by fans or the media. Of course, he was given some love after the All-Star break in 2007, but he has been so much better than an old guy who performed for just a couple of months. Let's especially take a look at his impressive 2008. Currently at 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA, Oliver has a K/BB ratio of 33/14 over his 59.3 innings on the hill. Of course, he's been rocking and rolling even more recently. Over the last 28 days, DO has pitched in 8 games, holding down a 0.84 ERA with a .231 BAA. He's been a homebody with a 1.51 ERA at home (versus his 4.56 ERA on the road), which would lend to the fact that more Halo fans should love this guy. Have you seen anyone wearing his t-shirt jersey? No. Maybe I should buy one. When it comes down to pitching in a tie game, its hard not to want the elder Oliver on the mound, as he holds the bad guys to a .160 batting average. Overall this season, the 37 year old has been a huge benefit to the Angels bullpen, possibly being one of the hurlers that the Red Hats can count on the most. One question is: Why hasn't he been getting the love? Well, for one, he's not too exciting. He just goes out and does his thing without much show. No yelling, no impressive music, just getting people out. Another point would be that he's 37 going on 38. The fans (and media, for that matter) are way more into a young guy doing impressive things with a baseball; unless the old guy is really old. Hopefully when the playoffs roll around Darren will get some more appreciation with the fans, because when it gets difficult in a clutch situation, there aren't many other bullpen boys I would want on the mound. I appreciate you, DO. 

I know I talk about loving him a lot, but the other underrated Halo I want to bring to the limelight is Juan Rivera. Despite the 3-4 loss earlier today, good ol' JR went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI to continue being the most underrated stick handler on the squad. Despite only hitting .239/10/36 here in the '08 season, Juan Rivera has been one Venezuelan that Angels fans have been able to count on. After a .311 July in 20 games, Juan has followed it up with an August hitting a modest .232. However, his hits have seemed to come at rather clutch times, eh? Baseball Reference.com has a "Late & Close" stat, which is defined at "an at bat in the seventh inning or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck." JR is hitting an impressive .324 in "Late & Close" situations, with 11 RBI in 34 at bats. He's hitting .286 against the Red Sox, which could come in handy during the AL playoffs; and he's hitting .375 in inter-league play, which would mean he'd be a lock to perform in the World Series, right? Just to add to my respect for JR, he's hitting a stunning .357 as a pinch hitter with 5 RBI in 14 chances. While he may need to get some more solid playing time to bring up his numbers before season's end, you have to admit that Juan Rivera has been an extremely helping hand to the Angels offense when they've needed it. I mean, his homer to left was pretty sweet this afternoon. 

After a Labor Day off from their jobs, the Angels (83-53) get back to play September baseball on Tuesday against the Tigers (66-70). Our favorite lefty, Joe Saunders (14-7, 3.67), searches for that elusive 15th win against Manchester native Chris Lambert (0-1, 6.75). Lambert has made just one start this season, against the Indians, and made it just 2.67 innings of 6 run ball (just 2 earned) giving up 2 jacks. The BC graduate won't no what will hit him when Juan Rivera and company storm into Detroit ready to get back to their winning ways. 

Andrew was nice enough to point out to me that Rangers overtook Celtic 4-2 this weekend. All I can say is that I'm planning on watching my Hoops get revenge against Andrew on October 21 in their Champions League match with Manchester United. Hail, hail, the Celts are coming.  

Torii continues to shine, both glove and slide.

Another game, another home run pulled back by Torii Hunter. And this time, he had a ridiculous slide into home plate to make things even better. I mean, I don't think that he was safe at home on his crazy slide, but you have to just kind of go with what the umpires say. Right, Ron Washington? Nevertheless, the Angels went on to slip by with a 4-3 win, adding more pain to the Texas Blues. After a win like that, I'm interested in a couple of things: I'm curious about the comparison of Torii Hunter to the other large center field signing in Los Angeles this offseason, and I'm wondering if Jose Arredondo (now 7-1 after his fifth blown save) is as good as most people (including myself) believe. 

So, when the offseason was in full strength, the two teams from "Los Angeles" both made outfield splashes. While, I must admit, I was curious about the Angels decision to bring in another outfielder, I was happy to have a guy like Torii Hunter wearing the red for 2008 and beyond. The Doyers also made a move to bring in a center fielder, a move that was often compared to the Hunter deal. A lot of Dodger fans thought two things about their move to bring in Andruw Jones versus our move to bring in Big Game: A) We paid about the same price for a fairly comparable player, and B) If he isn't good, at least we can get out of it sooner than the fools who locked up Torii for 5 years. So how are the two deals looking as we climb into the final month of the regular season? Let's start with the visiting Dodger (at least in terms of my post). Andruw Jones was signed for 2 years at a price of $36.2 million (a price of $18.1 million per year). The latest news on the slugger is that he is having his knee examined prior to attempting to continue his rehabilitation assignment at AAA Las Vegas (he's been on the DL since August 12), so we'll look at his performance through his first 74 games of the 2008 season. The Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles native is hitting .161/3/14 this season with a .261 OBP. He's rocking 74 punch outs to 27 free passes, and is 0 for 1 in stolen base attempts. His best month was May, where he hit .178 over 16 games with half of his hits going for extra bases (3 doubles and 1 jack). One interesting point about his statistics is the fact that as a starter he is hitting .146 in 55 games, and as a substitute he's raking at .385 in 19 games. Sounds like he could end up being the amazing $36 million pinch hitter, that is, if he can get healthy. Meanwhile, Pine Bluff, Arkansas native Torii "Kedar" Hunter (real middle name) was signed by the Angels for 5 years at $90 million ($18 million per season; $100,000 less than Jones). The "Daily Web Gem" has had some tough droughts this season, indeed, but he is sitting at .279/19/68 after 126 games in 2008 overall with a .343 OBP. He's rocking 90 punch outs to 41 free passes, and is 12 for 17 in stolen base attempts. His best month was July where he hit .314 over 23 games, with more HR and RBI than any other month and a K/BB ratio of 12/11 (his best in any month as well). He has never been brought in as a sub, but an interesting note is that with a 2-0 count, he holds an average of .600, his best in any count the game has to offer. While he was added to an already crowded outfield, Torii has been a solid addition, helping the Angels with the bat and the glove, and he has made Angels fans happy all around the Nation. Even if you come back to me in 2012, when he is the starting DH hitting somewhere around .227, I'll still tell you I'm happy. 

Next I'd like to take a look at everyone's favorite Angels relieve, who most idiot fans think came out of nowhere. Jose Arredondo was signed by the Halos as an undrafted free agent in 2002, and he has seemingly paid off nicely. First, to eliminate the feeling that he came out of nowhere: In 2005, he split time between the Orem Owlz (with a z, no joke), and the Arkansas Travs to go 5-0 with a 3.79 ERA. In 2006 he held down a 2.30 ERA at Rancho over 15 games. In 2007 he got a chance to lick his chops as a closer. The Arkansas Travs watched him go 0-1 with a 2.52 ERA over 23 games, earning 10 saves. With the Bees in 2008, thus far, 'Dondo has gone 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA over 17 innings, and since joining the Halos he's been electric, going 7-1 with a 1.13 ERA. He's punched out 41 and walked just 17 to hold a WHIP of 1.049. His best month was July, where he held a 0.77 ERA in 10 games (11.67 innings), and when he's in a situation with two outs and runners in scoring position, he holds the opposing offense to a .190 batting average (in a tie game, the BAA drops to .167). Just to continue to pad the stats, in the eighth inning of games, he holds the bad guys to a .113 BAA (.192 in innings 7-9 overall). But, the question is, does he have what it takes to carry this on? Many in the media, and as usual around Angels Nation (because most fans just follow what ESPN/FSN tell them), have talked about how the Angels can be confident to let the MLB's soon-to-be best closer in history because we have 'Dondo waiting in the wings. Is it true? The real answer is hard to know until the career of the San Pedro de Macoris, DR native is played out. Of course, we do have the ability to look back on those positive minor league stats and take a look. The way that Jose finishes 2009 will be a strong indicator of if this season was a fluke, as he will have been seen by more hitters who can adjust to his exploding sinker. Of course, by that time, Frankie could be in pin stripes, and it may be too late. You know me, I'm a sucker for the young guys, so I say let's go for it and enjoy the ride. Although, one can't help but wonder why the arrival of 'Dondo has made everyone completely forget about Frankie's former successor, Scot Shields (5-4, 2.63). 

Well, our chance to sweep the second best team in the AL West is happening right now (the Rangers are up 3-0 in the 2nd). With a MLB third ranked 83-52 (.615) record, the Angels now lead the division by 18 games, increasing that comfortable feeling that most fans will feel until we find out were playing either Boston or Tampa Bay come October. The magic number to clinch the division is now 9, getting smaller and smaller with each win and Texas loss, and the team with the next biggest lead in their division is Chicago (with a 5.5 game lead of Milwaukee) to kind of put things in perspective. After Texas, we go to Detroit and Chicago to try and win some from the Central. 

On my way out, I'd like to point out what we know after the opening weekend of the college football season (of course, only pointing out things that matter here at LSF). First off, HUGE props to the Owlz of Rice for crushing that traitor June Jones in his debut with SMU. The Rice victory saw QB Chase Clement go 24 for 37 (258 yards) and 6 unbelievable touchdown. Is he working his way up to the Heisman chase? Respect also to Jon's Wake Forest squad, booting Baylor with a 41-13 season opening win. QB Riley Skinner finished the night 27 for 36 (220 yards) with 3 TDs. Andrew's Trojans beat Virginia by a final of 52-7, but who really cares about that? The real action starts next Saturday when our beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish match up against the San Diego State Aztecs for their first of twelve tests en route to a National Championship (I'm using the Secret). 

In honor of the Angels current winning streak, I'll leave you with a quote from the greatest baseball movie of all time (not counting the Sandlot): "It feels out there. I mean, it's a major rush. I mean, it feels radical in kind of a tubular sort of way, but most of all, it feels out there."

Let's go Haloz.

From Beijing to Zurich; vindication?

Well, I'm throwing out some rare props to the people at ESPN (ESPN Classic to be specific) for televising the penultimate leg of the 2008 AF Golden League earlier today. My DVR was set and ready to rock and roll, and it caught some sweet track and field action that had some moments to cheer for, and a couple of moments to jeer for. Just like my Beijing posts, let's get it going with my 5 Zurich things:

#1: "Bolt electrifies but provides no shocks." That is the actual quote from the story on the IAAF website concerning the 100m battle in Zurich today. Usain wasn't at his world record pace, but easily came away with first place in the duel with Walter Dix and T&T's Richard Thompson (Beijing silver medalist). Into a 0.5m/s headwind, Mr. Bolt finished with a 9.83 time, sending the crowd to its feet, and sending Bolt into his patented yet annoying "Lightning Pose." Nuh linga, right? My boy, Walter Dix, came in with a better finish that Beijing, getting second place with his 9.99. He was coming about half way to go, but couldn't keep the pace. Thompson finished with a 10.09 in a race that was much slower than the Beijing finals. Of course, it was much of the same, with the announcers repeatedly saying how amazing Bolt would be in the 400. How do you figure?

#2: Jeremy Wariner runs his race, about a week too late. In other anticipated matchup, it was my boy LaShawn Merritt dashing out of the blocks against Internationally renowned douchebag, Jeremy Wariner. This time around, it was a much happier douche crossing the finish line, as Wariner blazed to a 43.82 (his season's best). LaShawn, whose 43.75 golden run in Beijing is the only faster time in 2008 other than today's run by Wariner, crossed the finish at 44.43 to take second place. Merritt looked like he simply ran out of gas in the final 100m, allowing Wariner to blaze to the all-alone lead. The American that nobody hates, David Neville, just must have been out of gas after Beijing. He finished 8th out of 8 with a 46.41 to round out the American efforts. It's okay Merritt, there's always time for revenge (especially when you get to go home and hang out with your gold medal). 

#3: Karen & I both think David Oliver beat Robles. With the introduction of Dayron Robles, the 110m has become one of the more exciting races at the meets. This time, Robles' main rival, American David Oliver "pushed him all the way." Guess what? When you slow things down, it is pretty clear that DO's foot crossed the line prior to Robles' head. The announcers made no mention of it, and Dayron was ruled the winner with a 12.97 (Oliver was told he finished at 12.98). Watch the tape, Oliver won. This rivalry is quickly becoming one of the more exciting out there. It is just another example of a matchup that makes me love my country more, and makes me feel quite a bit of anger toward the communists of Cuba. We'll get you next week, four eyes. 

#4: Lolo Jones: vindication? After her tearjerking performance in Beijing, Lolo Jones came into Zurich hoping to get herself back to her winning ways. The announcers made it clear that Lolo was looking for vindication after her trip up in the Beijing 100m finals, but isn't it kind of hard to believe that winning here in Zurich provides vindication for a tough loss in China? She was clean over each of the hurdles, though, and beat out the rest of the field with a solid 12.56 finish. Spain's Josephine Onyia was in second with Australia's Sally McLellan falling off after an earlier burst to take third. Jones will hit the sack tonight knowing that she still has the talent to run a near perfect 100m hurdles, but that doesn't mean she'll wake up with that elusive gold medal around her neck. 

#5: Sanya Richards and Allyson Felix both get Zurich wins. Two other under-performers from Beijing stepped onto the track in Zurich hoping to right their ships. You have to admit that every time Sanya comes around to the final 100m, you start to watch for her to pull up again. This time, just like in the 4X400m in Beijing, she was able to power through for the win. Richards earned her season best time at 49.74. Her smile was as bright as the bling on her engagement ring. Allyson Felix was able to step things up in the Golden League as well, blazing past the field in the 200m sprint. Felix went 22.37 in the sprint to burn past the surprisingly fast Lauryn Williams. Lauryn was the sprinter who went back to pick up the baton and finish after the 4X100m drop, earning her love from this blog. She was able to hold on and finish second behind our Southern California hero in Felix to make the US proud with the 1/2 finish. 

With Pamel Jelimo (800m) and Blanka "Street Fighter" Vlasic (high jump) still in contention for the $1 million, the final meet of the AF Golden League for this year should be a darned exciting one. Karen and I have been on Vlasic's back for some time, and it would be nice to at least see her win a share of the million dollar stack of the golden bricks. It's also hard to not root for Jelimo, who just crushes the competition in the 800. The only question I have for Vlasic is: why did you lose the bangs? 

September 5 is the Memorial Van Damme in Bruxelles, Belgium. Get ready. 

Picture JR at the scene of the crime.

On Wednesday night, Juan Rivera came up with the bases loaded and a chance to win the game against the A's. He grounded into a double play to end the game. On Thursday night against the Rangers, he got another chance with the same situation. Like a kid taking the same test for the second time, good ol' JR came through with a ridiculous two out three run double to bring the Angels to the lead, setting up a nice 7-5 win over the fading Texas squad. This game made me think a couple of things: What should fans think of our infield? And, how great was Jon Garland after the rough start? I know after a game like this you would think I would go on to talk about Juan Rivera needing to get more chances, but I think I've beat that one to a pulp in previous posts, so let's move on. 

Our infield is ailing at the wrong time. With Maicer Izturis on the shelf for the rest of the season, Chone Figgins having toe issues, Howie Kendrick heading back to the DL, and Erick Aybar drifting over to the bench after grabbing his hammy, fans are left wondering what the heck we are going to do. Of course, all but Ma$e will be back easily in time for the playoffs; but with the lesser knowns playing around the grass, can we snap our recent slide and turn on the heat? Last night we saw Brandon Wood playing shortstop and Sean "Quaker" Rodriguez starting at the two bag. Overall, they finished the night a combined 0 for 7, with B-Wood leaving a team high four runners on base (including a rough bases loaded at bat). Of course, you know that I am the guy who wishes that Matt Brown would always be called up in place of Brandon Wood. Brown is raking .319/21/67 this season, and shows that there is really no reason for him to be still down in the AAA playoffs rather than up with the big club. My guess is that he would probably come up starting on Monday when the rosters expand. Meanwhile, Sean Rodriguez is hitting .154/1/3 in his 31 games with the Halos at the highest level. Although we can expect much more out of him in his career, it is going to be tough going over the remainder of the season for my boy HR-Rod. So, where do we stand? Well, there aren't any other options up on the active roster currently to fill the middle infield void. Down in AAA, the only other option besides Matt Brown would be Freddy Sandoval from Tijuana, Mexico. Freddy is hitting .333/15/86 with the PCL regular season champions, and could be a possibility up the middle while the Angels wait to get healed up. With the lead the Angels have (16 games), we shouldn't be too worried about not having Howie, Erick, or Ma$e, as long as the first two can be back sometime in the middle of September. 

When then 11-8 Valencia, CA native Jon Garland walked off the field after the top of the first inning in last night's game, most Angels fans were not too happy. Four runs were put on the Angels in that opening frame, and with our middle infield depleted, there wasn't much immediate hope that the Angels would be able to come back from that kind of deficit. What happened in the end, however, was a stellar 8 innings performance allowing 5 runs on 8 hits punching out 3 and walking just 1, to earn his 12th win of the 2008 season. It was an impressive performance that should not be overlooked. JG's studly hurling was enough to keep our boys in the game until Magic Juan could deliver the knockout blow and Frankie could come in for his 51st save of the campaign (the fastest to 51 in MLB history). Big ups, Garland. 

The 81-52 (.609) Angels will again try to pull the record back to .500+30, as Ervin Santana (13-5) takes on some goofus from Wheeling, WV named Dustin Nippert (1-3). While Nippert has been a part of some 15 games in 2008, he has only started 1, and it was a no decision against the Halos (7 innings of 1 run ball) back on July 7. 

The Angels magic number to secure their fourth AL West title over the last five years is now just 13. 13, already, in the month of August! That leaves me predicting that the Angels will wrap up the division during the September 16-18 series at Oakland. Wouldn't that just be perfect? 

Just another reason to not be a fan of Dallas.

Finally I come back to baseball, thanks to the end of the Olympics, and the Angels do what I've read they've been doing since the Olympics started: Lose. It was a hard luck loss for Big Baby Weaver, who only gave up 2 runs in 7 innings of 3 hit ball, but a young man named Dallas Braden inserted himself squarely into the Angels/A's rivalry, and he pitched a gem against a continually struggling offense.

What about this runner's in scoring position thing? The Angels held the A's to just two runs on four hits, but despite seven hits, the Halos were only able to scratch out one run (on an above pictured solo bomb by Mike Napoli). That left 5 runners to be left on base in the game, including a double play by Gary Matthews Jr. to scratch out another chance. There was no "biggest offender" for the LOB category (five different players finished with 1), but there were some hitless wonders that hurt the squad in this one. I have to throw out Mark Teixeira and Juan Rivera for going a combined 0 for 7 in the game, and I'll point out Chone Figgins was the offensive "hero" with a 2 for 4 night. However, when it all came down to it, there was just not enough offense to grab the Angels their 80th win of the year. This always leads me to the question: So, we have that other big bat; now what?

Some quick pitching topics to deal with on the way toward the bottom. Jered Weaver, taking the loss, is now sitting at 10-10, despite his strong outing. However, I'd have to point out (as I posited in an earlier post) that there is no way that Jered Weaver is going to come away with 15 wins this year. Remember, Rex Hudler guaranteed that the Angels would be the second team in modern history to finish with five 15 win starters. He's in trouble on this one. I'd also like to just give me rivalry-type props to this guy Brad "Professor" Ziegler from Pratt, KS. The Southwest Missouri State graduate is showing why the A's had no worries with getting rid of their former closer. With his 1-0, 0.40 numbers (and 5 saves in 5 save opportunities), this guy continues to impress.  Finally, as I finish up with pitching, I'd like to take a quick look at the progress and projections for Frankie as the Angels continue to semi-struggle. At the end of August 1990, Bobby Thigpen had 45 saves. He marched through September and October with 12, to finish with his MLB record of 57.  Francisco, meanwhile, is having a pretty damned slow August (just 6 saves thus far), but is sitting on an even 50. He still has the rest of this week to grab Augustan saves prior to moving into the home stretch, and he still has to be pretty sure that he is going to be breaking this 28 year old record. Frankie is still on pace for 62 total saves here in 2008, but the Angels offense if going to need to continue doing its part to mark this happen for our favorite departing Angel. 

Since I've been out for so long, I hope you don't mind if I update myself on what's going on for all of my favorite teams who are in season as I type. Thanks: Angels: 79-51, 16 games up. Celtic FC: 2-0-1, with a game against Rangers this weekend. Newcastle:  1-0-1, with Coventry (the white swimmer for Zimbabwe?) coming up tonight in the Carling Cup. Chivas USA: 6-9-6, 8 points back of the Western Conference lead. What happened? Notre Dame: The season starts September 6 against San Diego State (Silky's?). B.C.: 4-4-0 and bottom feeding in the West this year. Bummer. Rams: The boys from the STL start the regular season September 7 at Philly after starting the preseason 2-1 (and going against KC on Thursday). Track & Field: Don't forget that the Golden League barrels into Zurich on August 29 for its first post-Olympics bash. The meet with feature a 100m rematch between Bolt and Dix, a 400m rematch between Merritt and Wariner, and Blanka Vlasic going for $1 million paid in a bucket of golden bricks if she can win the high jump again. ESPN2 will have that bad boy over the weekend. 

Man, I missed a lot, but it's fun to be back now that the Olympics have come and gone. 

My 5 Beijing things #10.

My tenth, and most likely my final, post about these glorious Beijing games, and the topics couldn't be more exciting to usher us out. 

#1: Red, White, and Blue sweep the 4x400s. Does the redemption for the track and field get any better than that? First, the combo of Wineberg, Henderson, Felix, and Richards beat the Russians and Jamaicans to earn the gold. That was followed up by my boy Merritt, Neville, Taylor, and the bespectacled douchebag beating that Bahamas and Russia to earn the gold as well. Everyone in the Nation was watching when Allyson Felix grabbed the baton for the third leg, and after she handed the stick to Sanya Richards, I was one of billions of people (if you believe NBC) to be holding our collective breath. This time, however, Sanya was able to complete the 400m sprint without cramping up after 320, and she earned a gold medal to go along with the giant diamond right. Sanya grabbed the stick well behind Russia's Tatiana Firova, but was able to blast past her to make the triumphant gold medal finish. She celebrated a tad early, but let's not complain about that. The men's race, although just as impressive (setting a new Olympic record), was less intense. The US men dominated the race beginning to end (with Merritt opening and Wariner closing), and easily stormed home with the record breaking team effort. Way to go out boys and girls.

#2: Kenya' first-ever marathon gold. Wow. A new Olympic record in the marathon is a pretty special event to witness, so I hope you were watching. Samuel Kamau Wansiru stepped it up and finished in 2:06:32 to earn Kenya their first golden marathon. That's not a joke. The fools from running's favorite country have dominated marathons in different cities and at different championships, but they have never finished first in the big spot light. Morocco's Jaouad Gharib finished in second, and the battle for the bronze was another sight to behold. Ethiopia's DEriba Ejigu was the lone third place runner for some time, including leading by 19 seconds as he worked his way onto the track at the Bird's Nest. But look at Ejigu, a guy named Tsegay Kebede was all about making those 19 seconds up. Ejigu just had nothing in the tank for the last 400m, and Kebede past his fellow countryman to win the bronze of the marathon by 21 seconds. 

#3: The US men's water polo's surprising run comes to a silver lining. It was an impressive run for the United States water polo squad. They hadn't medaled since their coach was the top player on the squad, and even he called the team a "dysfunctional family" before the games began. Somehow, however, they came together and made a run that will be unforgettable in water polo circles for the next couple of generations. There was rumors that the Serbians lost a game on purpose to be able to eventually match up against the US for the water polo semis, and that completely backfired. The US shocked the Serbs, only to match up against two time gold medalists from Hungary. We couldn't hold off the now three straight golden squad from Hungary, going down 14-10, but I'm still proud of this impressive effort by our non-Water Cube swimmers. 

#4: Am I the only one unimpressed by the US basketball golds? Maybe it's just because I'm not that big on basketball. The media, however, seems thoroughly impressed with the US basketball sweep, after the men beat Spain 118-107 and the women beat the Aussies 92-65. Dwayne Wade was the surprising leading scorer for the mentwith 27 points, and the US can be proud and cocky again, now that we have showed the world that we are good at putting a ball in a hoop. We are redeemed! Right? 

#5: US finished with the most medals (and most athletes), with China taking the most golds. If it wasn't for diving and table tennis, I don't really think the Chinese would have done much. The same could pretty much be said for us if there was no beach volleyball or basketball. The obvious question becomes, "Who wins?" Well, I'm kind of partial to the different tables presented by the BBC on this story. I really like the points scored table (3 for gold, 2 for silver, and 1 for bronze), which puts China at 212, the US at 190, and the Russian Federation at 101. The number of athletes at games per medal won is also pretty cool. That puts Uzbekistan atop with 2, Jamaica with 2.95, and Panama and Tongo tied at 3 in third place. Not to be outdone, the US finished at 9th in this table with 5.95 athletes per medal won. 

Overall, the Olympics engrossed me over the last two week. I gave sports I've never been into a try (handball and synchronized swimming), maintained my excitement with some old standbys (ping pong and badminton), and was amazed by the feats accomplished in the greatest sports of all time (track & field and swimming). I'd like to thank all of China, all Chinese, and all Chinese-Americans for the games. Even though the coverage by NBC could have been much better (in my humble opinion), these games were some of the most exciting moments of sports I have ever witnessed. Farewell Beijing. 

I guess its back to regular sports for now. What's been happening? I can't wait for Vancouver in 2010. Road trip anyone?

My 5 Beijing things #9.

I've been rooting on LaShawn Merritt ever since the Olympic trails like a little girl (kind of that that Phelps Phan on that AT&T commercial), and it finally paid off last night. Now is everyone convinced that Jeremy Wariner is a giant douche? Good. 

#1: Merritt leads the US sweep of the 400m. In was raining, it didn't look like the runners were running very hard, and it was one of the most exciting races of the games (maybe in part because the US didn't suck). Going into the 400m finals, it became evident that NBC wanted everyone who hasn't been paying attention to think that Jeremy Wariner was the man to beat in the race. If you are me, or if you have been reading this blog since the trails, you were on top of all of that and knew that LaShawn was the real deal in this race. And boy, did he prove it. Right before the race, the NBC announcer guaranteed that it wouldn't be a blow out. Whoops. LaShawn made the country proud with a 43.75 time, leading the US sweep with an angry Wariner taking silver and a diving David Neville earning the bronze the hard way. The key to realizing who is cool and who isn't was in the interviews. In a US sweep, Jeremy Wariner refused to be interviewed with the other Americans, and when he was asked if changing coaches since 2007 impacted his running, he refused to answer anymore questions and walked off camera. Minutes later, Merritt and Neville stepped up to be interviewed together, and shared their happiness in the US sweep. Best part: When asked if he would have believed, if he was told a month ago, that he would beat Wariner by nearly 1 second in the 400m finals, Merritt answered, "I sure would have." Perfect.

#2: US Men and Women's 4x100 cursed by voodoo? After both US teams dropped the baton in the semifinals, Lauryn Williams said that someone must have a US track & field voodoo doll. No joke, it seems like she's right. The US men stepped onto the track in the semifinal 4x100 race, and Darvis "Doc" Patton couldn't get the baton in the hand of Tyson Gay, with the stik falling to the ground in disgrace. Moments later, Torri Edwards was unable to make a clean exchange with Lauryn Williams, the baton hit the ground again, and the entire country was left wondering what the hell happened. If you watched it, you understand just how crazy it was. Americans around the country were either rewinding their DVRs to see if it was a dream, or crying out of pain for the country's track squad's fundamental mistakes. A couple of things I want to point out about this disgraceful couple of events. First, I'm wondering why they would put Tyson Gay out on the 4x100m race. Honestly, I love the guy, but despite his denials, his trails injury is still having an impact on him. Right? I realize that Walter Dix had recently run the 200m (and got bronze), but he should have been on that relay team over Gay. Give me a break. Next, I'd like to point out that Lauryn Williams took huge strides toward becoming my favorite female runner last night. After the baton fell, with no chance of finishing anything but last, Williams went back, picked up the baton, and finished the race. In an event of sadness, she made me damn proud to be an American. Finally, I want to point out how weak I think it is that Usain Bolt wasn't out there for the Jamaicans in the semis, but that they are going to let him run the 4x100 finals. That's a joke. 

#3: I guess the US men's beach volleyball squad overcame that opening loss to Latvia. It kind of makes you think that beach volleyball is too American of a sport to be in the Olympics, rather than softball or baseball. The American men's tandem of Phil "Lurch" Dalhausser and Todd Rogers met Brazil in the gold medal match and won a harder fought battle than the golden ladies. The Brazilians went down 23-21, 17-21, and 15-4 to earn the silver. After an opening match loss to the Latvians, after which I made fun of the American squad, Dalhausser and Rogers really turned it on. Just like that we have another American sweep in an American sport. Wait, did we win BMX?

#4: Speaking of US/Brazil gold medal volleyball matches. The US stepped onto the indoor court to take on the Russians, in what may be a precursor to an upcoming war, if you've been reading the current events. After a thrilling five set match, the US men stepped away with a win 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, and 15-13 to remain undefeated in Beijing. They are playing with purpose after their coach has been through some tough times since arriving in China. After watching almost the entire Olympic games, I have to admit that the indoor version of the game is amazingly more exciting than the sandy version. So, I'm damned excited for the indoor gold medal match against the Brazilians on the last day of the games. Brazil got to the finals with a 3-1 victory over Italy, and the Italians will match up with the recently losing Russians for the bronze. Can David Lee and company win one more game to earn us that precious gold medal? 

#5: Dayron Robles claims his rightful spot atop the 110m hurdles platform. This guy is a stud, and I've only said that about one other Cuban (Kendry Morales). Robles runs the hurdles with regular glasses, which makes him a stud, and he runs a severely clean 110 hurdles, which makes him even more impressive. After breaking the world record on June 12 in the pre-Olympics European tune up (12.87), Robles followed it up with his gold medal run last night in 12.93. He was noticeably disappointed by the fact that he didn't re-break his newly achieved record, but he should be proud of his Beijing finals run. The Americans, of course, should be proud too. David Payne's 13.17 was good enough for silver, and David "Headed to the WWE" Oliver earned the bronze at 13.18. Would the placement have been any difference if Liu Xiang wouldn't have gotten hurt? The Chinese would like to think so. 

Tonight, as we continue our march toward the end of these beautiful games, I'll be checking out the team synchronized swimming, the table tennis finals, and more of the greatest sport on the planet, track and field (hopefully they'll finally show some decathlon!). 

Alright, I'm turning to channel four as you read, so I'm out. 

My 5 Beijing things #8.

Sorry it took so long for me to throw this post up, but the track and field is heating up, and it has been damned exciting. 

#1: Bolt doubles up, breaks another record, in a controversial 200m finals. That was nuts. Usain Bolt finally decided to leave it all out of the track, and he actually ran the entire race before celebrating like a 21 year old (yes, I know he turned 22 today) fool. The story, of course, isn't all about Bolt in this one. Two runners ended up getting disqualified, including American Wallace Spearmon, who thought he had won the bronze before being notified that he stepped on the line. Silver medalist Churandy Martina of the Nethlerlands Antilles also stepped on the line, which bumped up two mother Americans. Shawn Crawford moved up to the silver thanks to the line stepping, and my boy Walter Dix moved up to the bronze. Nice work, despite all of the controversy. I feel for Spearmon, but hell yeah for Dix. Of course, nothing could touch the 19.30 (00.02 faster than Michael Johnson's world record) pace of Usain Bolt. "Lightning struck again!" At least he wasn't as much of a douche as he was after he won the 100m. Hopefully we can get him in European competitions. 

#2: Misty May and Kerri Walsh have finally ended it all. I no longer have to worry about being "that" American. The women's beach volleyball squad, as expected, came through and brought home the gold with back to back 21-18 games over the Chinese home team. It was a rainy day game, and the home country was sent home in tears. Of course, the Chinese have to be pretty darn happy. They never won a medal in the beach volleyball competition, and here in 2008 they walked away with the silver and bronze. Too bad those medals don't matter!!! Oh, sorry, I was being "that" American again. 

#3: Has anyone noticed that the women won soccer gold? It sure doesn't seem like anyone has noticed. The American women stepped things up and beat Brazil to take home the gold medal in a 1-0 victory in Beijing last night. They may not be the squad that everyone knows, but the came away with the same result, and they proved that a country calling the game "soccer" can still come away and dominate the rest of the world. Hope Solo was the keeper keeping the clean sheet, making save after save against the Yellow & Blue, and she vindicated herself after being banished from the World Cup squad for a flash in the pan keeper who didn't get the job done. Who can question Hope or this team now? No one. Not even you, Brandon.

#4: Sheena Tosta goes strong into silver of 400m hurdles. It was an exciting race in the women's hurdles between Melanie Walker of Jamaica and the US favorite Sheena Tosta. In the end, the Yellow & Green continued to dominate the track and field portion of these games. Walker ran a 52.64 to grab the Olympic record, with Tosta coming in at 53.70, showing the utter difference between the two runners. Tosta did suck it up, however, to fight off Tasha Danvers of Great Britain by 00.14. Just like the revolutionary war. 

#5: The US women's pong team has officially run their course. So, in my last post I was pointing out that Jun Gao was the lone American hope in table tennis. Well, she dropped her next match to Xue Wu of the Dominican Republic (yeah, I'm sure that "Xue Wu" is Dominican...she's probably not even black). Despite what I said, we still have one more chance. American ponger Chen Wang was the literal last hope for US table tennis. She actually moved to Beijing to learn how to be more of a ping pong stud. Of course, she met up with Singapore's Jia Wei Li (yeah, I'm sure that "Jia Wei Li" is Singaporean...she's probably not even Asian). Well, Chen Wang picked up one out of five games to drop hard to Jia Wei Li, and all of American let out a loud sigh of disappointment. WASSAHHHHH!

What 2 Watch 4 2Night: Here we go again with my advice about Olympic TV viewing tonight. Basically I'm just telling you what I want to watch. Tonight at the Nest we'll have the Men's 110m hurdle finals (Cuban domination?), the most important race of the games (Men's 400...let's go Merritt), the women and men head out for the 4X100 prelim heats (which is going to be totally awesome), and the women's 200m finals (the battle between our girl Alyson Felix and Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown rages on).

On my way out, can I point out a few things? First, the US Women lost to Japan in the softball finals, which I think proves that softball and baseball shouldn't be removed from the Olympics in 2012 due to being an "American Sport" (I still think it's a London conspiracy). Second, the Olympic commission is working on an investigation of the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin (uh oh). Finally, and pay attention because the media won't tell you, the Dutch shocked out girls in the water polo finals for one of the larger upsets of the games thus far. 

We've got about three days to go in Beijing, and the US leads China in the medal count 95-83, so booyah (let's not focus on the Chinese gold medal lead of...it's all diving).

P.S. If you took my advice, you watched Russia win the doubles synchronized swimming gold medal, and you are now willing to admit that it is freaking awesome to watch. The team matches come up tomorrow and Saturday night, so you still have a chance to have some fun. 

My 5 Beijing things #7.

Tuesday night (which I guess is Wednesday morning) was a shockingly bad night for the Americans. However, it may have been better than we all think. 

#1: Sanya Richards cramps up in 400m. What a tough race to watch. Sanya Richards has been billed as the greatest women's 400m runner in Beijing, and she looked like it until the last 80 meters. Richards, the highly touted fiance of some role player for the New York Giants, came out huge on her first 200m and was dominating the rest of the field. Coming around the turn into the home straightaway, you could see it in her face. Sanya got a cramp with about 80 meters left to go, and it was all over. She was able to gut it out and keep going to hold on for the bronze, but with a lead like she had going into the final fourth of the race, it was a shock. Richards was interviewed after the race, "I was definitely in control of the race. When I got to the 320 mark, my right hamstring grabbed on me and I just couldn't move it any more." Great Britain's Christine Ohurouogu (who had been busted for doping a couple of years ago) blasted past to earn the gold, with Shericka Williams finishing in second to earn Jamaica the silver. 

#2: Lolo Jones trips up on the last hurdle to blow the 100m. Lolo (Lauren) Jones came out in her 100m hurdles finals as the heavy favorite, and it sure would have been nice to have the US get a gold in this event. Coming out for the ten hurdles, Lolo was in control. She was way ahead as she approached hurdle #9, and her toe tipped the hurdle just enough to throw her off track, messing up her stride. She was able to finish the race, although she dropped from first to seventh, and it was just another American disappointment. Of course, it isn't all sad for the good guys. With the Lolo disappointment came crazy glory for American Dawn Harper. DH came through and made her name known by snagging the surprising gold medal and keeping the US successful. The obvious question that came up after Lolo lost was, "Will she make it to the 2012s in London?" Let's let her take a couple of minutes to get used to finishing so poorly, and then we'll decide. 

#3: The men's 400m is shaping up to be a crazy final. Outside of the men's 100m, there is no better and more exciting race than the men's 400m finals. It has been billed as a battle between two Americans, Jeremy "Douchebag" Wariner, and LaShawn "Our Salvation" Merritt. Last night in the semifinals (where they ran in two different heats), Wariner finished at 44.15 with Merritt finishing at 44.12. I know that the semifinals don't count at all, except for making it into the top 2, but I like to think that Merritt was trying to give Wariner a stern message about what to expect in the finals. It is going to be an all out battle on the track, and oh yeah, did I mention that American David Neville also made the finals? Alright people, start talking about a US sweep. 

#4: US basketball makes it to the semifinals after beating the Aussies. I didn't think I'd be writing anything about the US basketball team while doing my Olympics posts, but here I am. The US pulled away from the Aussies last night to grab an 116-85 victory over the Green & Yellow. With the US finally playing up to expectations, the country is still feeling proud of our professionals. The semifinal matchup will either see the US play Argentina (the defending champs) or Greece (a solid Euro squad) on Friday night. LeBron James had 16 points in a game where Kobe led the way with 25. The win secures the US playing for a medal, as even a loss in the semis would give our boys a chance to play for the bronze. It's game on Friday night in Beijing. 

#5: Is Jun Gao our lone ping pong hope? Women's singles ponger, Jun Gao, has come out strong in the single competition with the hope of giving the US something they have dreamed about for years. The 39 year old helped take the US women's doubles squad to the bronze semifinals only to lose to the Koreans, but she has stepped it up so far in singles. After beating Eva Odorova in her first match, she took out Sayaka Hirano of Japan to advance to the fourth round after a couple of solid showings. We're not sure who she will be taking on in the fourth round, but hopefully Jun can continue to bring the American heat in the "real" game of tennis. WASSAH!!!

What 2 Watch 4, 2NIGHT: I'd just like to point out that I watched synchronized swimming with Karen last night, and it was freaking incredible. The doubles medal finals are tonight at 6 pm on Oxygen, and I dare you to watch it. Also tonight, the men's 200m finals (can we stop Usain Bolt from doubling up?), the women's 400m hurdle finals, the Americans trying to secure gold in the volleyball finals (I'm about to become "that" American again), and the only event I'm outwardly protesting: the BMX biking finals. We're looking at the final four days of these Olympic games in Beijing, so keep on keeping on.  

My 5 Beijing things #6.

I'm back from a rainy weekend in Flagstaff, a weekend filled with watching the Olympics, and I'm ready to get back to my famous five things. 

#1: Now do you believe that Bolt is a prick? Did the 100m have story lines, or what? First off, you have American favorite Tyson Gay not qualifying for the finals due to a poor semi run. Gay reported after the race that his trails injury had nothing to do with the result, and that he just didn't come through. This, of course, made NBC decide to bill the 100m final as a battle between Bolt and Powell. Luckily, a couple of other runners (including my favorite 100/200 runner) had other plans. Sure, Usain came through and set the world record at 9.69 (crushing his previous 9.72 record), but his attitude toward the end of the race certainly showed what a jerk the young Jamaican is. As the NBC announcer said, Bolt could have finished with a sub-9.6 if he would have actually run the whole way through. Bolt decided to slow up and beat his chest on the last 15 meters, and in a post-race interview he basically said he didn't care. Karen's prediction is that he did it so he would be able to continue to break his world record again and again. Good point. Surprisingly, even to me, Asafa Powell cam away with a fifth place finish in the run, leaving the door open to silver medalist Richard Thompson (9.89) and my boy Walter Dix (9.91) to finish up in the medal category. Walter Dix earned the first bronze that the US can be proud of, and for that, I'm proud of my favorite sprinter. Hopefully he can beat Bolt in the 200m to get revenge for our country. 

#2: Shawn Johnson earns her gold. I hope this is the last time I have to talk about gymnastics, I'm sorry but I'm burned out on it. Shawn Johnson, our best gymnast, came away with the gold medal in the balance beam individual finals. Nastia Liukin finished with the silver in the event, to switch up the way the medals came down in the all-around finals. I'm proud of Johnson, mostly because I don't like Liukin, but I think you'd have to agree that the US gymnastics squad just didn't have that "it" quality this year. I think that's why I burned out on it this time around; that, and the fact that they continue to show gymnastics constantly while track & field is already going on. 

#3: US men sweep the 400m hurdles. Damn, that was an exciting race, and Batman only got the bronze. The US men came up big to help the track & field team grab some more hardware, with an amazingly solid run. Angelo Taylor, Kerron Clement, and Bershawn "Batman" Jackson came in at 47.25 and above in the huge hurdle race. Is Angelo Taylor the World's fastest man? The last time that the US went 1-2-3 in this event was the 1960 Olympics when Glenn Davis, Clifton Cushman, and Dick Howard beat the rest of the World. The studs added to a sweet American day that also included Jenn Stuczynski's silver in the pole vault (losing to the Russian golden girl) and Stephanie Brown's gold in the discuss (Brown, being an athlete who has always wanted to win a medal in gym). Big ups to these American boys, the current track & field stories of the game. 

#4: David Zhuang drops table tennis prelims to Segun Toriola of Nigeria. The US' best hopes for a medal in the sport of table tennis dropped a thriller to the greatest African pong player last night, and I was shocked. Thanks to CNBC for putting this match on TV, but after going up 2-1, the American Zhuang really let things turn on him. DZ came out with an 11-8 win in the first game, only to watch Segun come out and win the second game by the same score. The third game made you feel as though you could flip to repeats of Seinfeld, and then come back 30 minutes later to Zhuang screaming "Wassah!!!" in his victory call. Zhuang dominated the third game, basically lobbing the ball up and watching the Nigeria either smash it into the net or off the table. The US ping ponger finished with an 11-2 win the game 3, and then it got a little tight. Nigeria won game 4 11-6, the US pushed things to the brink with an 11-9 game 5 win, and Toriola came away with a gigantic game 6 and game 7 win (by a combined scored of 22-15) to shock the US ping pong contingency. Tough, tough results. 

#5: Misty May and Kerri Walsh are set for the gold medal match. Big deal, right? I mean, the girls have been exciting to watch out on the beach, really just lighting up every squad they've faced, but did we expect anything else? I think I stated earlier that when I watch May/Walsh take on the world, I almost expect them to dominate. I become that douche-bag American. It is almost as if we're just waiting for the girls to falter so we can have a story; it would be a bigger story than if they actually won the gold, right? Well, they beat the Brazilians 21-12 and 21-14 for their 107th consecutive victory and punched their ticket for the gold medal match. The #1 seed of beach volleyball (again, thanks to the home country advantage), Tian Jia and Wang Jie, will take on the US favorites. It's another huge China/US battle, and you know it's going to be intense. But, will the US lose a game? 

What up next for T&F? Clearly, track and field is the most exciting sport here at the end of the games. Tonight we'll see the women's 400m and 100m hurdle finals, as well as the men's 1500m finals. Tomorrow night, we get to watch the men's 200m finals (come on, Dix) and women's 400m hurdles. Thursday night will showcase the huge 400m finals (the real race to determine the World's fastest man), as well as the women's 200m finals (let's go Felix!). Beside track and field, I'd like to also point out (just to make Karen happy) that the synchronized swimming starts tonight on the Oxygen network. Watch it, and enjoy it. 

P.S. I noticed that the Rays beat the Angels last night, 6-4, and it made me realize that the Olympics have made me completely forget about baseball. I guess baseball season will start back up starting early next week. 

P.P.S. Since none of my fellow bloggers picked up the slack while I was out in the AZ, the proofreading strike rolls right along. 

P.P.P.S. Isn't the picture on this post with the gun in the foreground and Bolt in the background a little inappropriate? I thought so too, and that's why I liked it. 

My Beijing things: Intermission

Just a quick heads up. Karen & I are heading out to Flagstaff, Arizona for a little four day weekend. Even though nobody reads this, I felt obligated to alert that no one what there won't be any Beijing posts (unless one of the three other authors on this blog decide to "carry the torch" while I'm gone). 

One my way out for the long weekend, however, I'd like to bring up a couple things: Isn't it annoying how they ignore so many countries during gymnastics? Wasn't it cool (even thought the US finished with the bronze) to watch the French lose again in the Women's 200m free? Aren't you excited for track and field? The 100m finals come on Friday night, so get freaking ready! 

Alright, enjoy the start of track and field, and I'll hit you all (meaning Jon) up when I get back to California. 

My 5 Beijing things #5.

Michael Phelps rolled along on the fifth day, earning two more golds, but it was the Americans finishing in second in the team gym event that made my top headline. 

#1: China take gold, US takes silver. And that is the way it should have gone. China was better than we were. Sure, a Chinese girl fell off the beam, but our "seasoned veteran" Alicia Sacramone fell off the beam on her leap onto the beam. That's a 0.8 deduction, and the US simply couldn't recover from that mistake. She, again, was no Wall-E. Of course, the controversy (so called) of the Chinese girls being younger than the Olympic age (of turning 16 during the year of 2008) has led to the US making excuses. Coach Marta Karolyi decided to voice her displeasure of the assumed ages of the Chinese girls, and sited that we would have won if the Red & Yellow would have actually fielded a team of appropriately aged athletes. Stop it. The US got 2nd, we deserved it, and if these girls are too young (which I refuse to believe) than that should have been all the more reason to have beaten them. Karolyi also complained that the judges were making the US wait to start their routines to shake them with no reason to delay, further adding to the sour grapes feeling the Americans are putting out there. Give it up. Silver is what we got, its what we deserved, and you need to stop making us look bad Karolyi. 

#2: Phelps doubles up to reach 5 out of his hopeful 8. Another two events, another two golds, another two world records. Phelps dominated his 200, butterfly event to break the all-time gold medal record (holding down 10), and then came back 50 minutes later to lead the relay 200m squad that broke the world record by a full 5 seconds en route to the most dominating swimming gold medal of the games thus far. Now with 11 career golds, it seems like its getting easier and easier for the greatest Olympian of all time, and if he gets three more golds in these games, he will show (without argument) that he is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) athletes in the history of sport. 

#3: US beach volleyball gets their groove back. They may have lost to Latvia early on, but Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers stepped it up when it mattered, beating the Argentineans in straight games to advance to the elimination round of 16. The duo from Argentina decided not to step up and try and block the kills from the US squad, but rather to set back and try and make the returns a little easier. The strategy didn't work, and the US rolled on 21-12 and 21-13 in just 39 minutes. Hopefully we can keep he wins coming as we move along. 

#4: Singapore just Fs my Americans up in table tennis. Finally we get to won of my favorite events, ping pong. With the US women's double team starting things off, I was pretty pumped. I mean, the US squad are Chinese, so we should be pretty good, right? Well, our first match against Singapore made me think otherwise. The US came in ranked #9, with the 'Pores ranked #2, but the US wasn't able to make it happen, dropping the match 3 games to 1. However, we came back and busted out against Netherlands 3 games to 1 in a crazy match where the US sent hard smashes that sent Dutch Elena Timina to the floor in an attempt to save things. The crowd was amazingly into the game, with chants of "USA! USA!" sounding around the gym, and the US girls continued to give us hope with the comeback victory. 

#5: Howie and Bob dropped in the quarters of badminton. Well, our Vitamin Water badminton celebrities came out hard in their match against the Chinese in the quarterfinals elimination match, but it just wasn't meant to be. However, the Red & Yellow started the first game with an 8-1 win, and finished off the duo of Bach/Malaythong with 21-9 and 21-10 numbers. It was an effort that kept us interested, but in the end, China wouldn't be stopped. Thanks to USA Network and my DVR for bringing me the match. Even with the tough loss, it was enjoyable to watch our badminton studs trying their best. 

Tonight: The men's all-around individual gym finals are tonight, so let's hope we can make some noise tonight and smoke some Chinese for revenge. Isn't it interesting how this Olympics has totally become China vs. US? Bring it!

My 5 Beijing things #4.

Another evening, another Phelps gold. Meanwhile, the men's gymnastics squads showed how long they can make an event last, and for some reason, everyone in the nation is proud of a bronze. Am I? 

#1: US men's gymers finish behind China and Japan to get the bronze. Um, great job!? A couple of things I'd like to point out about the event that made me stay up way too late. First, how horrible are the judges? Not only with the fact that it seemed as though the host country was getting high marks despite messing up consistently, but also because it took the judges like 12 minutes after each event to pick a score out of their hats to screw us. Second, why is it that we are so pumped about the bronze? I mean, I understand that with the Hamm brothers out (although I swear I saw them competing) we shouldn't have been any good. But, when we saw ourselves out there and the way that the other squads were performing (and falling), there is no way we couldn't have competed at the top of the list. Justin Spring (possibly the only gym master not from Houston, TX) nailed his last event on the pommel horse to make up for Joey Hagerty's misstep on the floor. Sasha Artemev was the "hero" in saving the third place hardware for our nation, however, stepping up on the pommels with ease to secure solid points, and hold off the Germans, who finished fourth (275.850-274.600). I guess, as I write this, I'm getting more excited about this bronze win; however, I'll be hoping for gold tonight in the women's finals. 

#2: Can someone explain synchronized diving scoring to me? This is hard for me. I enjoy synchro diving, indeed, but I wonder how the hell these fools get scored. Of course, when you initially look at a real speed dive you just assume that it was great. Just look at the crowd's reaction: every dive is a winner. Then they show the slow motion version of the dives, and you realize that David Boudia left his legs open and twisted, while Thomas Finchum put his hands above his head way too early. So you decide, "Well, better luck next dive." Then the scores go up, and they get 8.5 and 9 all across (except from the South Africans...but what happened in badminton yesterday bitches?). I guess when I'm pointing out the odd high scores, the Americans are a poor choice of example. Our boys finished in 5th place in the 10m synchro platform yesterday behind the gold medal studs of Lin Yue and Huo Liang (China, again). I'm ready for the regular diving. 

#3: US Men's doubles win in badminton? It's true. The tandem of "Howard" Bach and "Bob" Malaythong stepped on to the court, picked up with shuttlecock, and completely dominated the South Africans in two straight games (21-10 & 21-16). Now the double delights, who appeared in an exciting commercial with Brian Urlacher and David Ortiz, advance to the quarterfinals. Guess what? Bach and Malay get to take on the Chinese duo (#2 seed) of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. The Cai-Fu duo beat the seriously solid Danes 21-12 and 21-11 in straight games. Tomorrow will be the huge match, and you really don't want to miss it. 

#4: I feel like the stereotypical American douche when I watch Misty May and K. Walsh light fools up. Honestly. When they played Cuba last night, I was that guy. I was the dude sitting back laughing every time that the US scored a point on the severely overmatched Cuban girls. 21-15 and 21-16 were the straight sets winning scores for our girls, and with 103 straight wins under their belts (or, under their creepy black leech bandages)  I feel like screaming "USA! USA!" at the top of my lungs every time they go for the kill. Also, even though this may be a little too early, I was shocked by the Yahoo! Sports report with the headline, "US Men's Volleyball Takes Joy In Killing." I went on to read that they were talking about spiking the volleyball (referred to as "kills"), and not about the murder of the coach's father. Still, that's a little too close to throw up on a respectable website, right? 

#5: Mizzle Phizzle ties the gold record after the 200m free. I don't know how this slipped behind the volleyball, badminton, and synchronize diving, but here it is. Michael Phelps came out in the men's 200m freestyle and stunned everyone again. He finished with a 1:42.96 to win the gold medal, and oh yeah, set a third world record since showing up to the Water Cube. Vanderkaay came in second for the reported American "sweep", with the South Korean bringing the heat for the silver to continue making up for his slip into the pool in Athens. Big ups, Park. With the win, Mike Phelps tied the all-time record for career gold medals with 9. So, even if he doesn't get the 8 golds everyone is waiting for, he still has a very good chance to break the all-time gold record for a career, and that's pretty special too. Oh yeah, and 50 minutes later Phelps was back in the water at the Cube to win his 200m butterfly heat. Who is this guy? 

The answer to the biggest Beijing question of the week: I don't know if you're ready for this. Watching "Today" this morning on NBC, Michael Phelps was interviewed and asked the most important question of the 2008 games. "What are you playing on your iPod?" Survey says (brace yourself): Lil' Wayne. Phelps reported that prior to the 200m free win he was busting out the Lil' Wayne to get himself pumped up, which begs the question again, "Who is this guy?"

2 night: Here again is tonight's "What 2 Watch 4" from the LSF. All up on the prime time is the men's 200m butterfly finals and the 4x200m relay, the men's beach volleyball of Dalhausser and Rogers (who lost to Latvia) will try to get redemption against Argentina, the women's platform synchro finals will be shown, and of course the women's team gymnastics finals will keep us up really late. Can the women best the men?    

My 5 Beijing things #3.

Well, we finally had the highlight of the games, and this one is going to hard to beat. I almost feel like making all 5 of my things about the 4x100 victory. Maybe I will. 

#1: U.S. blow up Frenchies to shut Bernard up. God, what a race. The 4x100 men's squad from France were heavily favored in this race, and anchor moron Alain Bernard spouted his mouth before the race saying that the French only came to Beijing to "smash the US". Whoops. Jason Lezak brought home one of the most memorable golds in US Olympic history by swimming the fastest 100m split in the history of humanity. Michael Phelps, as shown above, went completely nuts as he captured his second (of eight?) golds, and I was one proud patriot. God, what a race. 

#2: The US Women's gym squad is not Wall-E. That comes straight from the mouth of our team captain. We made it through the qualifying to reach the finals (behind China), but we sure didn't look amazing. With our girls stepping out of the boundary twice on the floor exercise and falling off the uneven bars once, I am not completely confident that we're headed into the finals as the favs. Of course, the Chinese (12 year olds) didn't look perfect either, falling flat on their back on the vault. It should be an exciting event in a couple of evenings, and hopefully we can "pull a Wall-E" and grab a gold. 

#3: The US steps up the medal count. We're actually leading the gold medal count 19-14 over the host country, despite losing the gold medal race 6-9. However, it has to make you proud to see our boys winning this overall Olympic championship, which actually doesn't exist. At least we can be proud that the US are holding it down in the Bronze. Suckers.

#4: Synchronized diving is more exciting than you think. Seriously, watch it. I'll tell you that I'm pretty frustrated with the fact that the women's spring board ended up in fourth place behind those damn Germans, but it is always pretty exciting to judge perfect synchronization. Right now we're watching the US trying to pull out of 4th place in the platform synchro, and we're up again against those damn Germans. Fight those Nazis!

#5: Tonight is the men's team gymnastics finals; are you pumped? I am. We're just a couple of hours away from the big finals between the US and China (basically), and I couldn't be more excited. Could the US men's squad suck it up and improve upon an already solid qualifying performance? Will we take it to the Chinos to prove our dominance? Maybe we can sneak a surprise win over the Chinese men who are playing for their lives (possibly)? I'm watching channel four right now; waiting, wishing. Here we come bitches. 

Tonight's "F The Internet" Moment: One problem with the internet is that you can log on to get information about what you've seen and accidently see results that haven't occurred on TV yet. I guess that's one reason to dislike living on the West Coast. So, tonight's moment is that I logged on and found out that Michael Phelps won his gold medal in the 200m free tonight. I guess I'll still have to act excited when I watch it, though, because Karen and Brandon (who are watching the 'Lymps with me tonight) have no idea that I know what the result will be. This is going to be difficult, but I believe in myself. 

Don't forget: the proofreading strike continues until someone actually starts posting again on this website. What the hell happened? Who am I talking to?  

My 5 Beijing things #2.

If you're like me, you can't get enough of these 17 days of excitement. Two posts in one day should show you just how "geeked up" I am. So, let's get to it:

#1: USA dominates China in hoop. Not too surprising, right? Well, if you listen to the media buzz, the 101-70 win over Yao Ming on the other commies is a tad surprising. The thing I came away with after watching the game was that I feel would could have done a lot more. It gets kind of boring to watch dunk after dunk as we run the floor against the Red & Yellow, and it doesn't get much more embarrassing than when D. Wade goes up for a dunk and bricks it. Once again, Kobe made mention of how the Olympics is more important than the NBA, and both the former and current Bush were at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium to see our boys polish of an exciting first win. 

#2: Why is the U.S. draw with Netherlands a disappointment? I understand the fact that it looked as though the Americans had a 2-1 win in the bag against the Orange shirts today, but despite the heartbreaking goal to end the game, shouldn't we be pumped to match such a solid squad? Even the U.S. coach Peter Nowak recognized, "Before the game, nobody gave us a chance. And I think we played pretty good." It would actually be, "I think we played pretty well", but that's okay. Beside all of that, I'd like to point out that I'm proud of my Red, White, and Blue beating up on Netherlands to earn this 2-2 draw. I'm also proud of Sacha Klejstan's goal in the 64th minute to show how great the Chivas stud is. 

#3: The cyclists are really close to each other while racing. It must be difficult to ride 150 miles on a bike through the ups and downs of Beijing. But, doing it in the rain with a crazy pack of fools riding less than a meter from you is even crazier. As I type, I just saw American rider Kristen Armstrong eat it in a pack of riders. Cycling is way more intense than I remembered.

#4: I figure we might as well start the Team USA handball squad. I realize that the handball we grew up with in elementary school may be quite different, but the fact that handball doesn't exist in our great country, makes me feel that we could just start a team and get into the 2012 games in London. Have you been watching this crazy sport? Like water polo on dry land, handball has become the surprise sport of the games in Beijing, with Poland, France, Croatia, Germany, and Iceland leading the way. Keep an eye on the Croats, however, as they look to repeat from their Athens glory.

#5: Speaking of water polo, the US added to glory over China later in the day. With the U.S. and China competing for the medal count, the matches between the host country and the best country are coming even more under the spotlight. After the loss to U.S. basketball, the gracious yet communist hosts were looking for a form of revenge in the deep pool. Once again, however, the round eyes were bringing the heat. The U.S. beat China in the water polo pool play (unintentional pun!) 8-4 to start things off undefeated in Group B. The defending gold medal winners from Athens, Hungary, are sitting in Group A with a record of 0-0-1 after a tie with Montenegro. The U.S. goes next against Serbia on day 6 of the games. 

LSF's "What 2 Watch 4": The TV schedule posted on NBCOlympics.com is a little confusing, so I figured I'd let my brain (and my DVR) guide you through what you need to watch tonight/tomorrow on day 3 of the games. Tonight, Michael Phelps is going for gold #2 in the 4x100m freestyle relay, meaning that if he wants to get to 8 golds, he's going to have to rely on his pals. He'll also be stepping up in the 200m free semis. Tonight will also showcase the women's gymnastics qualifying and the women's synchronized springboard diving medal match. Later tonight, the Latvians go back onto the sand to try and continue their amazing beach volleyball pool play against Argentina. In women's basketball, the US and China will square off at 3:00 am, and badminton gets back on the screen tomorrow morning at 9:00 am when Raju Rai (3x US national champ) takes on Finland's Ville Lang in the single elimination men's round of 32. 

On my way out, I'd like to point out that the rain in Beijing is completely out of control right now, and that the Angels & Spanks are tied at 3 in the top of the 8th with a chance for the Red Hats to sweep. 

My 5 Beijing things #1.

Wow. The Olympics are off and running, and I am engrossed. I have no idea that the Angels are about the sweep the Yanks or what happened in the Chivas/KC game last night. All I can do is lay around and watch Beijing in action. Shooting, badminton, swimming, and handball; its all awesome. I figured, in honor of the five Olympic rings, I would try and do some blog updates with my 5 Beijing things as we march toward winning the medal count in honor of the red, white, and blue. 

#1: Phelps is off and running, but what's missing? Well, Michael Phelps is starting off the right way, with a 400 meter medley gold medal/world record setting (4:03.84) win, Michael earned his 7th career gold, and made a step toward his shot of winning 8 possible gold medals. I cheered for him during the swim, but I feel like there is something missing. I mean, he's a nice guy (despite his lisp), but for some reason I just don't like him like I should. I'm not sure why. I'll be rooting him on, however, after he qualified for the semis with the fourth fastest time for his 200m free just a couple of hours after he won his first gold. If only he could make me like him more.

#2: We are just not going to win in badminton. I was watching the U.S. women's double team take on Singapore, and man was it sad. We lost the first game, and were down 6-20 in the second game when I realized that we just didn't have a chance against people with slanted look holes. I also suffered through a match between Ireland's Scott Evans and Germany's Marc Zwiebler. Evans had a crazy comeback, but dropped the final game 19-21 to drop out of the single elimination tournament. I think you have to root for the Danes. 

#3: Why couldn't we beat Latvia in beach volleyball? I mean, didn't we invent beach volleyball? American hopefuls, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser were the #2 ranked team in the Games. And let me explain that a little: they would have been ranked the number one team in the Games, but the China squad was #2, and in that case, the host country gets a little love, and gets bumped up to #1. Back to the facts. Rogers/Dalhausser lost to Latvia in their first game of pool play. Did you see it? It was awful to watch. The Lats were playing the game of their lives. They, and their fans, were so crazy pumped up. Of course, Misty May-Treanor (married to one of the Florida Marlins that you've never heard of) and Kerri Walsh dominated in their opening match against Japan, as advertised. However, you have to step back and give love to Latvia for crushing our best men's team.

#4: Archery is fun to watch, I'm sad it's over. Karen and I are watching the gold medal match between South Korea and China in archery right now, and it's bringing me back to the days of Fountain Valley native Justin Huish. It may not sound exciting, but trust me, its awesome. The South Koreans, the most dominating country in archery history (their coach even said that competition they face in their home country league is more intense than Olympic competition) came out on top with the gold medal over the home country. After 24 arrows a piece, South Korea beat China 224-215 (10 being the best shot, 9 being the amount scored most often). The Frenchies got the bronze to round things out. 

#5: It's you and me against China. People pay a lot of attention to the medal count, as if there is some kind of grand champion at the end of the games. Right now, we're deadlocked with China for 8 medals, however, the host county holds on with 6 golds to our 2 (we're the bronze master's with 4). But, hold on, because as the Games move along we get more into events where we should grab some big tin (ahem, track and field starts 8/15). Just make sure you keep watching, because you might find a sport that is really awesome that you've never seen before (handball). Enjoy. 

Fun Fact: Every time I typed China, I started typing Chivas, and had to backspace and retype. 

A walk, a walk off, and a Shane Loux surprise.

What a game! The Angels came out with a gigantic 5-1 lead all the way into the ninth inning, only to have Frankie Rodriguez come in and not hold it down. Joe Saunders may have been unable to secure his 15th win of the year, but a walk from Chone Figgins with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth secure the seventieth victory for the Halos overall. Other highlights included a Teixeira RBI single in the first, a Vlad two run bomb (with Teix on base) in the third, a Big Game HBP with the bases loaded in the fourth, and another night of amazing pitching from Springfield, VA native Joey Saunders. In the end, it was a 6-5 finish, and just another victory over an AL East squad.

Isn't it just wrong that Frankie gets the win on a night like this? The painful to watch outing stalled Rodriguez on 45 saves and saw him have a WHIP of 6.00 in his 0.3 innings of hurling. My important note from this one, however, is the power of a walk. The Angels got three walks after Torii Hunter's leadoff ninth inning double to eventually force Big Game home for the win. Figgins drew the final walk on the 3-2 pitch against George Sherrill. This just goes to show how important the base on balls is. So I wondered, how do we rank in getting the free pass? We don't rank all too highly, to be honest. The American League team average is 536 walks this season, with the Angels nabbing 507, good enough for #9 in the AL. We don't take a great deal of pitches, that's for sure, but does that hurt us? I'd like to think so, just because I'm a huge fan of taking pitches. However, let's take a look at the Angels strikeouts to possibly measure things up. The American League average for punch outs it 1,053 for a team thus far in the 2008 season. The Angels, amazingly, are sitting on 883, #3 in the American League for least amount of Ks this year. I'd also like to point out that the Angels are second in the entire American League in intentional walks with 55 (38 being the average, 56 being the league best Cleveland Indians). So I guess I'm going to try and perpetuate the idea that the Angels should be taking more pitches, but I would accept your argument that they take enough. You'd have to admit that it couldn't hurt, however, as the Halos are currently fifth away from the bottom in OBP. In case your wondering, the Angels current free pass champion is Chone Figgins with 46 (Vlad leads the intentional walks, not surprisingly, with 11). 

I guess after reading the blog a couple of days ago, the Angels decided to send Darren O'Day back to Salt Lake City. I didn't know I had that kind of power. In a move to show off even more what kind of power this blog has, the Angels accepted my long term pumping up of Shane Loux, and called Loux Dawg up to the bigs. I've been talking up Loux's AAA performance all season long, as he has been passed up by love for Nick Green, Adenhart, and even Kasey Olenberger. He's damn good, though. Loux Dawg leaves AAA with a 12-6 record and a 3.98 ERA. 77 punch outs in 138 innings with 1 complete game in his 22 starts. His 1.41 WHIP may be a little up there, but you can't argue with that record/ERA for tops among up and coming starters for the Halos. As the LA Daily News reports, Loux didn't think he would ever smell the grass of a big league park again. He was cut by the moronic Mariners in 2007, and practically retired due to noticing that no teams wanting to get him. He went to be a coach in Chandler, AZ, and was discovered by a minor league Angels scout. The rest is comeback history. The last time he was up was in 2003 with Los Tigres of Detroit, and the Rapid City, SD native has a 1-4, 7.71 MLB career mark. It hasn't been pretty at the show for Loux, but here in 2008, he's about to change that perception. While he might not be hitting the hill in crucial situations at first, he can sit in the bullpen knowing that he has earned the right to be up here with the big boys, and that's got to be pretty darned satisfying. Best of luck, Loux Dawg. 

With over 2 days until the Olympics, the big story is that 100m World record holder (and this year's enemy) Usain Bolt is going to double in Beijing. He'll be putting up his stuff in both the 100m and 200m. People may be talking about how Bolt could be the favorite in both events, but keep in mind that the last time a runner won gold in both the 100m and 200m was in 1984 in Los Angeles when Carl Lewis did it, and it has only occurred 8 times since 1904. Hopefully Gay and Dix can make sure that the Bolt fizzles out. Track & Field starts on August 15, so get ready.

"Tiny Toon Adventures" or "Here comes the 'Castle".

With the EPL season just a couple of weeks away, I thought I would take a small look at the adventure ahead for the Northern Rock sponsored squad. There is a lot of upside after a strong finish in 2007/2008, but is my optimistic view realistic?

Kevin Keegan is back for more in the 2008/2009 campaign, and despite a dreadful start to his latest campaign with the Toon Army, Keegs turned things around to make 'Castle play like a top tier team. He's got a lot to work with this season, despite rumors having many Magpie players on the move. As it stands right now, the Black & White will have Given back in the net. The defending core will feature Senegal slugger Habib Beye, perennial favorite Steven Taylor, Cacapa, and my favorite footballer Charles N'Zogbia. Middle of the squad looks like Brazilian Jonas Gutierrez, 2 goal scoring Geremi, Joey Barton, and 2 goal scoring English native James Milner. The striking suckers on this projected starting XI are Oba Oba and "Don't call me injured" Michael Owen. This would be a strong starting side, and would leave quite a nice bench to supplement. The pine would feature such Newcastle studs as Steve Harper, my boy Faye, Jose Enrique, Seb Bassong, Nicky Butt, my dog Ameobi, oldie Mark Viduka, Damien Duff, and even Kazenga LuaLua. Strong team, I'd say; but is that just because I'm a fan. Not much seems to have changed from last season, except the fact that these fools finally figures out how to play like a team come April or so. Hopefully they can keep it up. 

If Michael Owen can stay fit during the 08/09 campaign, the striking side should be spectacular. Nobody discounts the amazingness of Obafemi Martins on the other side, and a strong Owen could supply Newcastle with somewhere near 20 netters. There is a growing feeling that Newcastle will need to make a move on the transfer market once the season starts to truly become a top 4 team, but finishing in the top 6 would be remarkable enough for me to be proud of my boys, so I'd be happy with the fools we have. This season, by far, will not be a EPL Championship year to break the curse that goes back to 1927; but my boys have to be looking forward to a possible FA or Carling Cup run. 

I think the best thing to get me pumped up for the upcoming season may be the fixtures. The season starts on August 17, 2008 with an afternoon match against the hated Manchester United Red Devils. I'm sure Andrew will be over at my apartment in some variation of the bastards sweater, but I'm also sure that he will have no clue that after 90 minutes there will be a look of pure shock on his face when 'Castle walks off the pitch with a 2-0 win to start the season. Besides, who the fuck are Man. United?

In case your salivating for other news regarding my favorite footy teams: Celtic opens SPL play against St. Mirren on August 10, Chivas USA dropped a 0-1 game to Chicago over the weekend with just one shot on goal by the Fire to drop to fifth in the Western table (showing that new keeper Zach "The Beast" Thorton needs some work after allowing 1 goal on 1 shot on goal), and since starting the Mexican Division campaign, Chivas Guadalajara are 0-1-1 after a 2-2 draw to Cruz Azul and a 0-1 loss to U.A.G. (not to mention a tough 2-5 loss in a friendly with FC Barcelona in Chicago this weekend). Next up for C-USA is Kansas City on August 9 (a win could tie the Red & White for #3 in the West), while Guada's next match is with Monterrey on the same day (still looking for win #1).   

3 days until the Olympics. 

Five 15s, adios JG, and next year's starting first baseman.

I'm sitting here watching the Yankees continue toward ending the Angels winning streak (7-2 NY in the 7th, with Speier fixing to make it worse), and I figured it was a good time to explore a couple of topics floating around Angels Nation on August 2, 2008. 

Last night a couple of interesting things came up on the Angels radio broadcast of the 1-0 win over the Yankees. First, Rex Hudler gave Juan Rivera the new nickname "Magic Juan" after slipping up while trying to say "Magic Wand". That's something I'm going to try and carry on. Second, however, was the assertion between both Terry Smith and Rex Hudler that this year the Angels are realistically approaching a mark that has only been accomplished once since 1930, and I'm not exactly sure I agree with them. The 1998 Braves are the only team since 1930 to have finished a season with five different starting pitchers going 15+ on wins in a single season. Rex Hudler "guaranteed" that the Angels would reach that mark here in 2008. Is he right? Let's take a look. As we stand right now, the win totals are: Joe Saunders (14), Ervin (12), JG (10), John Lackey (9), and Jered Weaver (9). Again, as we stand right now, here is the pace for finishing mark at the end of 162 games: Saunders (20), Santana (18), Garland (15), Lackey and Big Baby (13). There a couple of things that stand out on my pace figures. First, and most obvious, not all five Angels pitchers are on pace to finish at 15 or more (sorry Terry and Rex). Second is that Joe Saunders could finish this amazing season with 20 wins, which would be simply awesome. Third is that Ervin is on pace to finish +2 on his single season high for wins, one season after most around Angels Nation wrote him off as finished. Finally, that John Lackey will most likely finish the regular season with about 8 less starts that Weaver, and should finish with about the same amount of wins (every f'ing time). So, although it would be awesome to be just the second team since 1930 to be able to have these numbers, I'm highly doubting it is going to happen. 

If Jon Garland did finish his season 15-9, which is my set pace for him, I think most fans would approve of his numbers on the year. However, with his 3 year/$29 million contact ending at the conclusion of this season, is there any chance that the Angels will call up agent Craig Landis and resign him? It'll be a bummer to have the result of the Orlando Cabrera trade be gone from the squad, but I just don't think its going to happen. Looking at our rotation this year, JG is clearly the #5 guy, and the thing about #5 guys is that they don't get re-signed when another #5 can be found cheaper. Where might the Halos go for the replacement to our Chicago acquisition? Most likely from within. The most obvious choice would be Kelvim Escobar, who is signed at 3 years/$28.5 million through 2009. The big question surrounding the La Guaira, Venezuela native is, "How will he be able to come back after missing a complete season? My uneducated guess would be that he will be exactly as good as he was during his last full season, when he went 18-7 with a 3.40 ERA in 2007 (160 punch outs). Let's say the Angels decide that they want to make a splash into the free agent market, who would be out there? We could bring back Paul Byrd, but he has a pretty out of sight contract, and might retire. We could steal Derek Lowe from the Doyers, but I'm not too high on him. Oliver Perez will be out of New York, and he's always been a guy I liked. However, he's not really that good. Mark Prior would be a risk, but it sure would make Andrew happy. If Teixeira doesn't re-sign with the Angels, the rumors say that C.C. Sabathia will have the Halos making a play for him, which would be pretty interesting. But, where are we getting all this money. Ben Sheets is going to be out there too, and if both of those guys leave, the Brewers sure will suck next year. That's about it for the free agent market. So, it'll be interesting to see what kind of decision the Angels will make after the season. Of course, since I wrote all of this, they'll probably extend with JG tomorrow, and make me look like an idiot. 

Still trying to look at the bright spot for the Kotchman trade, I think I may have finally found it. If you've been paying attention to Teixeira's interviews, you may have noticed what I have noticed. Mark doesn't sound like a guy who is going to be signing with the Angels after the 2008 season. He keeps making comments like, "Who knows what city might be right for me next year." He's living in Scott Boras' house in Newport Beach for the next three months, with no intention of buying a place in Orange County at this point. Most reports I've heard (be it on FOX today, or on the radio earlier in the week) make it sound as thought our current first baseman will be headed to the Yanks or Mets. Meanwhile, reports are coming out that Mike Scioscia and Casey Kotchman were never really getting along in the clubhouse. Funny how you never hear that until it's all over. Word is that Casey was angry with grabbing pine when lefties were on the hill in favor of Q. Reports have also surfaced that Casey has been very happy to be closer to his Florida home. So, just quickly, I'd like to explore the positive side of this trade that I just found. Look at these numbers, and then tell me if I should be excited: 59 games, .315 batting average, 11 jacks, 47 RBI, only 29 strikeouts, and a .355 OBP. How about these numbers: 6 years/$4.5 million through 2010. All of these numbers can be attributed to the Angels 2009 opening day first baseman. His name: Kendry Morales. With the departure of Casey, I've realized that the Angels have opened up the hole for a guy we've been waiting for since 2005. We know he can hit, he's shown it in the bigs. We know he can field, he's been showing it at Salt Lake City. So, let's enjoy Mr. Teixeira (0 for 3 with a walk in today's game) for the next few months, and let's get our t-shirt jerseys ready for early April 2009 when our Cuban defector gets ready to show his stuff.  

The Angels have 2 outs left with which to work, but staring a 6 run deficit in the face in the 9th inning, the winning streak appears to be halted at 5. See you next time, pals. 

A snapped streak, a .500 mark, and why the Blackhawks suck.

My boys from BC had been rolling along. If you've been following the blog, you'd know that my calls for Jarious Jackson to get full-time status as the starting QB have been heard, and have obviously paid dividends. Well, last night in Edmonton (God, I hate Edmonton), my little streak of being right finally came to an end. The Eskimos brought the pain and outlasted my boys 35-24, thanks mostly to a huge 18 point fourth quarter. The Lions led the way 20-10 at the half, but it just wasn't enough to get the road win.

Notre Dame grad, Jackson, realized that the squad just wasn't getting the bounces in the second half, "We just weren't making the plays we should have made. We had drives that were going and then we had dropped ball or bobbled snaps. What could go wrong went wrong for us in the second half." Well said. After a 90 yard touchdown drive for the Eskimos, the Lions bounced back with a Paul McCallum field goal and a touchdown pass on the next drive from Jarious to Utah graduate Paris Jackson (12 yards). After a Esk field goal, the Leos marched back with Jarious Jackson taking the ball across the goal line himself for a 10 yard run. That was followed up with a field goal by McCallum to end the half, and then a field goal by McCallum to start the half. Besides a single, though, that would be the end of the scoring for our BC Boys, and former San Francisco 49'er Ricky Ray (the Edmonton QB) and the home team turned on the jets to defeat the West Coast's most beloved squad. A touchdown in the third, and then 18 points put up on our defense in the fourth, and the Lions three game winning streak was stopped on the road. Jarious Jackson did us proud again, despite the loss, finishing 19 for 36 with 217 yards (6.03 average yards per pass) and 1 TD. Paris Jackson led the way with 67 yards on 5 receptions (13.40 average), and Clarence "Choo Choo" Coleman was a close second with 61 yards on the books. Vancouver native Paul McCallum was a strong force as usual with 3 field goals (including a 41 yard long). 

The loss has pulled the rug out on my boys, dropping the record to 3-3, and a last place spot in the Western Conference. Calgary is the squad we're looking up on with their 3-2 record. They match up with Saskatchewan tomorrow night, and let's hope those pricks lose. 

If you love hockey like I love hockey (and hate who I hate), then I think you'll understand why I am officially saying that the Blackhawks suck. Read away. 

Bombs, and bombs, and bombs, and bombs.

Spaghetti! East Coast domination continued to be the name of the game on Thursday night as the Halos walked into Yankee Stadium. Good ol' boy Andy Pettitte was on the mound for the boys in pins, and if you were sitting here listening to me, you'd be hearing about how this guy Andy has nothing on my boy Jon Garland. JG went 6 large, pounded out 18 hits, nailed down three 3-run homers for the first time in 30 years (they last did it against the A's...heh heh), and made me one darn proud fan. The game reminded me of the fact that my boy GA is still a stud muffin, the Angels have "hella" offense without everyone's new favorite heart throb, and I continue to like Mr. O'Day no matter what happens (for some odd reason). 

Are you one of those Angels fans who have hated on GA for the last eight odd years? If anyone actually read this blog, I guess you would be. I, on the other hand, have been a staunch Garret supporter from 1994 onward. When he goes and gets himself four hits in back-to-back games, however, I think my point on his greatness is more than proven. He's smashing at .285/.321/.428 so far this season with 30 extra base hits out of his 107 this season. 6 for 9 on stolen bases, would you believe that? With 11 homers and 57 RBI, he has been the quiet producer who has gone unnoticed all season long, and now that he has been hitting .519 over the last seven days (.378 over the last month) the joker fans are all over how great he is. Talk radio is loving him, and wanting him moved up in the order. If you hate his fielding, that's fine; keep in mind that he hits about 8 points higher as a DH (which is not something very many other Angels can say), so I think it would be fine to pull him out of the field. I'm also fine with not moving him up in the order, as he's hitting .382 when he bats sixth (27 games). I just want people to recognize that he's great, he always has been great, and he deserves the respect that any player on this team deserves. 

So now that the Angels have a big bat, have you noticed how much better the offense is? Oh wait, it was already great. Since joining the team (2 games) Teixeira is hitting .250 with 2 hits in 8 at bats (1 RBI). Of course, the Angels have been pounding out hits like mad dogs long before Teix came along. I know, I know. Now that he's here there are more people who can pick up slumpers each day, and thus the offense will be more consistent (I think Kotch did that as well, but let's forget about that). I'm just this guy who hates trades, let's be honest. Come on Teix, change my mind. 

Since the 2008 spring training fixtures, I have been a crazy supported of Darren O'Day. Readers have criticized me, in fact, for how great I think the Florida graduate is. After he just allowed Yankees on base in last night's game, I started thinking, "Am I right in supporting the hell out of this guy." A 4.54 ERA with a 0-1 record, DOD has allowed 44 hits in 35.7 innings pitched. A 1.57 WHIP isn't that hot, and his home ERA makes him look even worse to Angels fans (6.23). April was the only month (11 games) where he had a decent mark (ERA of 2.30), and it has been over 6 each month since. So, Darren, I love you, but I think I'm going to be more luke warm on you than continue my crush. Of course, it is easy to point out an issue without a solution, so here goes: Lawrencevill, GA native Jason Bulger is holding a 2-0 record with a 0.56 ERA and leads the Salt Lake Bees with 13 saves. Even better, he has 57 punch outs in 32 innings pitched. He's been up with the Angels before (including 5.67 innings this season) and holds a career 6.08 ERA, a 1-0 record, and 23.67 innings pitched in the bigs. With the way he is putting it together in AAA this season, however, I'd say "pick 'em up!"

Is it bad that I expect the Angels to win every game now? Tonight its Ervin Santana (11-5, 3.57) against Fat Sidney (6-2, 4.59). Ervin will look to continue and be the road warrior (8-2, 3.77), and will try and increase the Angels (68-40, .630) lead to more than 12.5 over Texas. 

P.S. I was typing and talking to my Dad at the same time, so I'm not sure if any of this made sense. Either way, you get my point.