Interesting World Series Info

-The Reds are the only NL team since 1963 to sweep the World Series (1976, 1990)

-The last time two teams were both making their first World Series appearance was in 1906.

-Since 1920, the only time both World Series participants were titleless was 1980.

-We've never had a World Series featuring two 'expansion' teams.

-The 1990s were the first time since the 1930s that we didn't have a Yankees-Dodgers World Series.  It looks like it won't happen this decade, either.

-Since 1975, all World Series have been different matchups.  Meaning that there have been no duplicate series during that time period.

-The Boston Red Sox have played all current non-expansion NL teams in the World Series ... except the Braves.  They've faced the Reds, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, Giants and Pirates.

-The Yankees have beaten all eight in a World Series.  They've also lost to six of the eight (not the Cubs or Phillies).

-The Colorado Rockies are the only franchise to face Boston in the World Series, but not the Yankees.

-The last six World Series has featured at least one Wild Card team. 

-The National League hasn't had home field advantage in the World Series since 2001.

-The only current teams to have never made the World Series are the Tampa Rays, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals.

-The Astros, Brewers, Padres and Rockies are the only franchise that have made the World Series but never won it.  The Padres are the only team to have made it more than once.

-The Florida Marlins own two World Series championships.  They own zero division titles.

-The Florida Marlins have never lost a playoff series.

-The Florida Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays are the only franchises to have made multiple World Series appearances and not lost.

-The Cubs, Giants and Reds are the only NL teams to win back to back World Series.

-The Red Sox, Yankees, A's and Blue Jays are the only AL teams to win back to back World Series.

-The Braves have won World Series in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

News Flash: The Reds Suck Again!

                    

We have just entered May, but it already seems as if the 2008 season for the Cincinnati Reds will end the same way it has for the last 13 years:  without a playoff appearance.

The Reds are now 12-20 ... which means they are on pace to go 60-102.  All this and the team really hasn't had horrid injury issues, they've spent money and they hired a fairly successful (albeit controversial) new manager.

The GM has already been canned.

In reality, the biggest elephant in the room wears the #600.  When Ken Griffey Jr finally reaches the mighty 600 home run plateau, I fully expect the team to deal him away.  From a purely selfish standpoint, I don't want to see that happen.  However, the only think Griffey has to offer the Reds is the pub (and ticket sales) when he gets to that mark and the prospects he would be worth to a contending franchise. 

Obviously, the Reds would be fools to deal him now.  They can't wait to put the number 600 right into the media guide next to 4192.  Dealing him beforehand would be moronic. 

However, once he gets to the mark ... he's probably gone.

He could be followed out the door by Adam Dunn, who is seemingly always on the trading block.  There are other guys Cincy would surely want to deal away (Arroyo, Gonzalez) ... but would anyone want them?  The only veteran that I could see being off limits is Brandon Phillips. 

In will come those vaunted prospects from Louisville and Chattanooga and we will enter Florida Marlins territory. 

I don't mean disrespect when I say that.  It seems that there are two ways to win in today's baseball:  spend like a mo'fo or trade away your stars for top prospects.

The Marlins have chosen to do the latter.  They develop young talent into a contender for a season or two ... then deal them off (when they are due to get paid) for some more young talent.  Hey.  They've won a World Series doing exactly this.  Oakland and Minnesota have been pretty successful doing the same sorts of things.

There is no middle ground.  You very rarely see a team spend average amounts of money win.

The Reds have been stuck in this middle ground for a decade or so.  There is some good talent in the minors, but not an amazing amount.  There are some big salaries on the roster, but no one who wows you. 

And this is one of the reasons baseball has lost me a bit.  I used to love it but have now grown weary of it all.  While the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Mets can make constant trips to the postseason, the Reds, Brewers, Pirates and Royals can't get a sniff.

I'm not getting into all of that, but it does suck to sit here on Cinco de Mayo and know there is no point in the rest of the season.

Great Moments in Sports Video Games: Arch Rivals

Ahhhhh.  Remember Arch Rivals?  The old arcade and NES classic that featured two man teams going at each other with jump shots and right hooks.

You could be:

Blade: A crowd pleaser

Hammer: Rebound king

Lewis: Top shooter

Mohawk: Tough & mean

Moose: A real champ

Reggie: All-American

Tyrone: Defensive giant

Vinnie: A great player

You could play for Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or Denver.  Or how about Natural High and Brawl State? 

Others tried but failed (including Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball, pictured below).  Arch Rivals had everything you wanted in a quick, B.S. style hoops game.

                         

Just Because You Struggle in the First Round Doesn't Mean You Still Can't Get There

                  

The Boston Celtics are looking at an embarassing Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.  Embarrassing because the Celtics were the NBA's best team during the regular season while the Hawks ... making their first postseason appearance in nearly a decade ... entered the playoffs with a losing record.

We all might think this just shows this weakness to other teams which may try to exploit it.  Maybe ... but don't count the Celtics out of winning the whole shabang if they manage to pull out Game 7.

Two teams in the last 20 years have had to go the distance in their first round series only to still go on and win the NBA Championship. 

2000-Los Angeles Lakers.  The Lakers entered the postseason with the NBA's best record.  That still didn't keep them from struggling in the first round against the Sacramento Kings.  The Lakers won two, Kings won two, before LA closed it out in the series' final contest.  Shaq and Kobe would go on to win the NBA title.

1995-Houston Rockets.  The defending champs were actually the 6th seed against Utah in the first round.  Still, the "heart of a champion" came through and Houston won the clinching Game 5 in Salt Lake City.  Houston would go on to repeat as champions ... sweeping Orlando in the NBA Finals.

There have been six other teams in the last 20 years to go the distance in their first round series and gone on to lose the NBA Finals.

2002-New Jersey Nets.  The Nets were pushed to a full five games in their first round series with the Indiana Pacers.  New Jersey would go on to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Lakers.

2000-Indiana Pacers.  The same year the Lakers struggled with the Kings in the first round, the Pacers got all they wanted from the Milwaukee Bucks.  The series went the full five games with Indiana eeking out a 96-95 win in the final contest.  Indiana would go on to the NBA Finals and lose to the Lakers.

1999-New York Knicks.  This one gets an asterick of sorts, because they were the #8 seed in a strike shortened season.  The Knicks took the #1 seeded Miami Heat to a full five games before disposing of them.  New York would go on an unprobable run to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Spurs. 

1998-Utah Jazz.  We remember this Jazz team for nearly knocking off the Bulls in the Finals ... but they needed a full five games to beat Houston in the first round.  The Rockets actually had a 2-1 series lead before Stockton-n-Malone soared for the last two wins.

1993-Phoenix Suns.  This was the MVP Charles Barkley season.  The Suns ... who had the NBA's best record ... actually lost their first two games against the Lakers (at home) in their first round matchup.  Suns eeked out elimination in Game 3, won Game 4 and pulled out an overtime victory in Game 5 to keep from being embarassed.

1988-Detroit Pistons.  We all remember the magical Lakers-Pistons NBA Finals of that year.  Well, in nearly didn't happen (and not just because the Lakers needed to win Game 7s against the Jazz and Mavs along the way).  No, Detroit had a heck of a time trying to rid themselves of the Washington Bullets in their first round meeting.  After blowing out the Bullets in the first two games, Washington went home and pulled out two to send it back to the Silverdome for a winner-take-all.  The Pistons won and made their first trip to the NBA Finals.

Two Mo' College Football Bowls

         

The NCAA has decided that we need two more college football bowl games ... bringing up the total to 34 bowls.  That means there will be 68 teams that will see postseason play next year.

Unlike many, I like it.  Not because I think we need two more bowls or that I'll actually watch the games ... but there is nothing wrong with giving these kids one more opportunity to play a game they love.  For many of them, it will be their final game.

The games will be in Washington and St. Petersburg.  That's not so bad.  I'm sure that fans and players will enjoy the sunny St. Pete weather and all the things the Tampa Bay area has to offer.  And how about D.C.?  I'm sure there will be no shortage of stuff to see and do there.

 

Karl Malone is Nasty

       

Karl Malone may be a Hall of Fame basketball player, but he's also in the Hall of Fame of horrible dads.

It's one thing to dismiss your offspring ... it's another thing when his mom was 13 when she had her.

Yeah, Malone is quite disgusting in so many ways.

 

Great Moments in Jets Draft History

New Reality Show: Sports Cheaters

                      

There is a new reality show in the works where the best sports cheaters of all time will be forced to live with each other.

Picture it Big Brother, Survivior and the NBA playoffs rolled into one.   The house will be on 1919 Black Sox Lane.

Danny Almonte: the 20 yr old Little Leaguer
Bill Belichick:  Film auteur
Barry Bonds:  He's got nothing to do right now.
Tonya Harding:  Olympic Skater/Redneck
Ben Johnson:  The Steroid O.G.
Mark McGwire:  But let's talk about the future
Milli Vanilli:  Okay, not sports.  But you need something else in there.
Rosie Ruiz:  Cheated at the Boston Marathon
Stella Walsh:  The dude/chick who won a gold medal

The winner will be picked by the figure skating judges from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

 

The Karate Kid: "You're the Best"

Rocky IV: "No Easy Way Out"

Win In The End!

I Wanna Move Some NCAA Conferences Around

Let me start out by saying that I'm not using feelings and total logic on this.  This is just want I'd want to see from our NCAA conferences in football and basketball.

I'd like to see all of the BCS conferences get to 12 teams and each of them have a conference championship game.  It's unfair that the Big Ten doesn't have one but the SEC, ACC and Big XII do. 

Other than that ... well ...

ACC NORTH:  Maryland, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia
ACC SOUTH:  Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Ga Tech, Miami, North Carolina

The only change I have with the ACC is trading Boston College back to the Big East for West Virginia.  Nothing against BC (they've been a great addition to the conference) but it just seems like a better fit to have BC back in the Big East and moving WVU down the coast).

Big Ten West:  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Big Ten East:  Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue

The lone change is adding the Irish to the Big Ten.  Get over yourselves, Notre Dame!  You belong in this conference. 

I'd put Notre Dame in the East since they usually battle Michigan, MSU, Purdue and Penn State anyways.  The only thing I don't like is how strong that division is.  Oh, well.

PAC-10 North:  BYU, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, Washington State
PAC-10 South:  Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Obviously the biggest change is adding BYU and Utah.  I think that the two Utah-based schools would add a lot to the conference and they certainly have the athletic departments to pull that off.

SEC East:  Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
SEC West:  Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Miss State, Ole Miss

No changes here, though it was tempting to send Arkansas to the Big XII. 

Big XII North:  Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska
Big XII South:  Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Again, I wanted to add Arkansas in ... but there is nothing I'd send out.  Well, maybe Colorado to the Pac-10.

Big East Football Conference:  Boston College, Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple, UConn

Now, this is the football league (yes, with Temple).  The basketball league, below, will be split into East and West.  Now, I can't have a Big East West Division because it sounds stupid.  How about the "Big Mid-East" then??? 

Big East:  Boston College, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John's, UConn, Temple, Villanova

Big Mideast:  Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Syracuse, Xavier

Not perfect, but it will have to do.  I added Xavier because we needed to replace Notre Dame with a non-football school.  I added Temple because they deserve to be back in the Big East.  Now, these guys can play twice against teams in their conference (16 games) and then four against teams in the other league that won't count in the conference standings.

Atlantic 10:  Charlotte, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, Geo. Washington, LaSalle, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Joe's, St. Louis, UMass

Taking Xavier and Temple out definitely takes a lot of the star power from this conference.  Oh, well.  And we're dumping St. Bonnie to one of those smaller eastern conferences.

WIP

Vote for Chris Bosh in '08

Gimme a Caption: Mangino Edition

Here is a pic of Kansas coach Mark Mangino after the Jayhawks Orange Bowl win yesterday.  What a great pic!

First off, it's the robust Mangino holding an orange with a grin that could be viewed as "yeah, I'm really gonna start eating this."

It also looks like he's holding it like he's gonna throw it at someone: "C'mon!  Call me fat one more time!"

Or "Dude!  I make this grapefruit look like an orange!"

Maybe he is just saying "daaaaaaa Bears!"

I know, I know.  It is a cheap shot calling the man big ... but he is.  He is also one of the better coaches in college football right now.  How in the heck do you build a football program at Kansas??  I mean, they just won the freakin' Orange Bowl!  He also seems to be a nice guy (never met him, but just upon viewing the times I've seen him speak).

If the BCS Is So Great Part II: Use It For All The Bowls!!!

                                               

In a week, we will get to see Ohio State and LSU battle for our college football national championship.  The BCS system set up that game ... so that's what we are stuck with.

Again, I hate the BCS.

However, if it is going to stay ... then why do we use it only for the title game?  Why not for AAAALLLLLLLLLL the bowl games?  I just watched USC blow up Illinois and Georgia maul Hawaii in so-called "BCS bowl games".  Are they unimportant now?

They picked the friggin' game!

So why not use the BCS formula to give us all the bowl games so teams ranked near each other get to face off.   Then sort them out in the bowls with an eye towards proximity and prestige to get this done.

BCS:  #1 Ohio State v #2 LSU
ORANGE:  #3 Virginia Tech v #4 Oklahoma
SUGAR:  #5 Georgia vs #6 Missouri
ROSE:  #7 USC v #8 Kansas
FIESTA:  #9 West Virginia v #10 Hawaii

COTTON: #11 Arizona State v #12 Florida
GATOR:  #13 Illinois v #14 Boston College
CAPITAL ONE:  #15 Clemson v #15 Tennessee
OUTBACK:  #17 BYU v #18 Wisconsin
CHICK FIL A:  #19 Texas v #20 Virginia
ALAMO: #21 South Florida v #23 Auburn
SUN:  #22 Cincinnnati v #24 Boise State
INSIGHT: #25 UConn .... expand the rankings for the top 64 teams who are bowl eligible so we can match up all 32 bowl games.