The Rundown II



Bad time to be an attractive Jets female employee (see Ines Sainz)



I must say, I did acknowledge October as the best time of the year for us sports nuts. One thing that I didn't count on was all the controversy and scandals taking place. Listening to sports radio and ESPN, I've grown accustomed to hearing just about anything you could possibly think of and not being surprised. I mean, Mel Kiper has even been thrown into some scandalous accusations. With everything going on in the world of sports right now, I thought of no better time then to bring back the Rundown. For anyone reading this and saying to themselves, "What the hell is the rundown?" It is a bunch of sports topics that I briefly touch base upon. So without further ado here is the Rundown!


Brett Farve - Gives new meaning to the phrase commonly referring to him as "gunslinger" except there's not much of a gun  http://deadspin.com/5658206/brett-favres-cellphone-seduction-of-jenn-sterger?skyline=true&s=i  Kind of funny the incidents taking place with New York Jet female employees. ATTENTION if your an attractive 20 something year old aspiring female sports reporter do not apply at any New York Jets facility! One last thing, ironic how Farve the "Iron Man" who has a streak of 289 straight games started is contemplating taking a few games off due to elbow tendinitis, it must be a coincidence that this comes at a time of accusations of sexual misconduct.

Mel Kiper - Wow, what can you say about ESPN employees? Sean Salisbury (Brett Farve took a play out of his playbook) Steve Phillips, Dana Jacobson, Barry Melrose, Rush Limbaugh, all of whom had there controversies that either led to suspensions or being shown the door. (http://youbeenblinded.com/what-can-and-cant-be-said-at-espn/6250). What's really interesting about this whole thing is last year Kiper seemed to be the only guy that had Jimmy Clausen as a top 10 pick, guess who his agent was....Gary Wichard.

It's ok Gilbert, your just misunderstood

Gilbert Arenas - This guy doesn't have a clue. Quirky and occasionally funny, albeit mostly unintentional has a real knack for some wild headlines. Faking injuries happens (see Jerome Bettis) but who in there right mind comes out after a game and says it? Stories of him putting his dogs on treadmills for exercise don't surprise either. Enough with the Gilbert stories though, that discussion deserves its own column!

Phillies vs Giants - Prediction: Giants in 7. Love their pitching and I believe Madison Bumgarner is a huge advantage for the Giants versus Joe Blanton as a game 4 starter. Is Roy Halladay really any better then Lincencum?  Sanchez vs Oswalt in game two should be a good one. The big adjustment the Giants made that is going to pay dividends is having Matt Cain pitch game 3. Now the Giants have positioned themselves to have Matt Cain in there back pocket for a deciding game 7.

Yanks vs Rangers - Unfortunate that Cliff Lee had to pitch game 5 of the ALDS. If Texas had Lee for game 1 this would be a totally different series. I will say this, Rangers team does not fear the Yankees though. With that said Yanks in 6, too much experience and catch the Rangers at a good time.

Cowboys @ Vikings - Two sexy Super Bowl picks, both  having down years. Loser's season may be done. Randy Moss loves torching the Cowboys. Vikings 27 Cowboys 24.

Falcons @ Eagles - Shame Michael Vick can't play in this one! Winner seizes "favorite" tag in the NFC. Falcons 24 Eagles 17.

Ben Roethlisburger - Huge lift for the Steelers. They weathered the storm, now have one of the games top 5 quarterback patrolling the offense. Steelers are finishing 13-3. My Super Bowl pick.

Dreadful NFC West - Who isn't convinced their Varsity high school team couldn't win this division?

Miami Heat - Anyone really surprised Dwyane Wade is hurt? At least not fantasy owners. Now Lebron is having hamstring issues. The season can't get here quick enough!

Enjoy the weekend sports goons!

Al Davis......Please Step Down

The Oakland Raiders are the perennial laughing stocks of the NFL. Year after year, over the last decade they have done nothing but be inept in any situation the job of running a franchise has to offer. Of coarse this all stems from one man, Al Davis.

Davis bought the Raiders 3 years into their existance. He led this one time great franchise from the AFL to the glory days of the NFL winning 3 Super Bowls. There is no question that he ranks amongst the great owners in any sport in terms of wanting to win. In fact Davis even coined the slogan "just win baby". The Raiders have thirteen former players that have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In fact, the Raiders had only 7 losing seasons from 1963 until 2002. That's incredible. We can go on all day with his list of achievements with the Raiders, including the mystique he has brought upon the franchise. Albeit maybe not the positive mystique you would like, but we're talking about the Raiders here.

It's beyond me how this situation hasn't gardnered more attention. He cannot even get a qualified head coach for his team. Instead he has resorted to a linebackers coach in Tom Cable. If thats not bad enough, Davis has gone through a total of 6 head coaches this past decade. Yes, I said six! That's amazing seeing that the Raiders have had a total of 11 head coaches previous to Jon Grueden. Since 2003 the Raiders have a record of 29-83.

I would argue that all of these great achievements the Raiders have done in the past, have been trumped by the incompetance this organization has been apart of since their last Super Bowl win in 1983-84. Davis has repeatedtly sued the NFL along with his own players. From moving the team back and forth from Oakland to LA, his public fueds with Hall of Famer Marcus Allen to the most recent Jamarcus Russell debacle. It doesn't stop there neither. Run ins with head Coaches from Mike Shannahan to firing Art Shell (admitted it was a mistake) to Jon Grueden, which probably costed him a Super Bowl or two. If that's not enough he had another feud with Lane Kiffin, whom he hired for a good 5 minutes on the job without any previous head coaching experience.

Since 1983-84, Oaklands last Super Bowl win, they have recorded 9 seasons above .500. Nine in the last 26 years! Shall we recap this? From 1970(when they emerged with the NFL) to 1984 (there last Super Bowl win) a span of 14 years the Raiders won 3 Super Bowls, and recorded just 1 losing season. That losing season was a 7-9 mark in 1981. Raider nation certainly would take that record now a days faster then a Paris Hilton prison sentence. Let's not forget they also made 5 AFC championship games. Oakland also was the first team to win the Super Bowl while being a wild card team.

Fourteen years of excellence compared to the last 26 years of mediocrity at best. My question is this. With everything Davis has endured the last 26 years, why not step down now with the chance to still repair your once great repuation as a winning owner? I realize no owner of anything should be told when it's time to step aside, but Davis has went from great owner to the butt of all jokes. To be honest it's probably too late for Davis to repair his image of a great owner, but why not admit you made mistakes in the past, and you realize its been time to step aside, but your compeititve nature has kept you sucked in all of these years. Or create a new slogan for your franchise "just lose baby."

Was Roy Halladays No Hitter Really that Big of a Deal?

Let me be the first to say Roy Halladay's no hitter was very impressive, but are we going a little overboard here with all the bold statements being made by everybody? I've heard the word "goose bumps" going on 2 full days now. This morning Mike Schmidt told ESPN's Mike and Mike, and I quote "greatest moment in Philadelphia sports history".

Look, here’s my thing... impressive as it was this was game 1 of the NL Wild Card, this wasn't the World Series. It wasn't even the NLCS! Guess what, up until 15 years ago there wasn't even a Wild Card in Baseball. Cincinnati doesn’t even make the playoffs if this happens before 1995. The Red's won 91 games this year and did not have a winning record against any of the top 2 teams in the NL East or West divisions.


What happens if they end up losing this series? Is a No Hitter in game 1 really going to trump winning the World Series in 2008 or in 1980? What about Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game? What about the 76ers Championship 1982-1983 year?


Roy Halladay is an excellent pitcher, but up until this year he had never even thrown a no hitter. He's pitching in the inferior NL, and against a team that is lucky to be there, thanks to the new alignment that was installed 15 years ago


Quick, besides Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips name a prominent Red's hitter? See where I'm getting at here? The Reds are an average team that is in the playoffs thanks to a down year by the Cardinals. Does Roy pitch a No No against the Cards? I don't think so.


So before we give Roy Halladay the key to the city and crown him king of Philadelphia, can we at least see the Phillies win a World Series this year? Isn't winning championships what it's all about? Apparently it's the Accolades




Article first published as Was Roy Halladays No Hitter Really that Big of a Deal? on Technorati.

Jets/Bills Game (Log)

Rex, it wasn't neccesary for your team to get off the bus Sunday

715 A.M.- I wake up to the sound of the worse ringtone ever (Verizon Wireless Standard Ringtone). Yup, time to get up. I proceed to hop out of bed and into the shower. It’s time to get ready for Rex Ryan and the Jets. I had to attend this game to see what all the hoopla about this self proclaimed super team was about. Now here’s the catch, my SUV’s window is shattered and Sunday is the day the insurance company decides they can come fix it. I get the typical 8am-12pm window which means, “We’ll be there at 1245.” So I’m stuck catching a ride with Grandma.

8:45 A.M.- I’m finally in Avon. I show up 30 minutes later from the time I’m supposed to meet her, and promptly get the “hurry up I’m pissed at the world voice.” Understandable I suppose, but anyone that knows me realizes you add 20-30 minutes onto whatever time you tell me. In my defense she should have known better!

9:30 A.M.- Grandma is doing 80 as we pass a state trooper. I look out the rear view mirror and see lights flashing and a wicked U-Turn in the middle of the road. This actually is the highlight of the morning so far; my 80 something year old grandma is flying faster than Chris Johnson streaking down the sidelines for a 80 yard TD run. The trooper tosses her a bone and settles on a 74 mph ticket, in which my grandma thanks him and says, “First ticket in 50 years.” That leads me to the “that’s twice my age” comment, while she grins. By the way, who the hell thanks the Trooper who just nailed you with a ticket that’s going to probably cost over 150 bucks?

10:30 A.M.- Finally, we pull into the Stadium, the smell of grilling is everywhere, unfortunately so are these drunk rabid 0-3 Bills fans. I hear, “Jay, look for a parking spot.” Grandma, who has a lot in common with the Bills brass (they’re all over 70), decides on a parking spot smaller then the holes the bills offensive line will create for CJ Spiller to run through today. We pull up to some tailgating fans, spraying explicatives everywhere, mostly starting with the letter F. As if this ride isn’t awkward enough, I’m now hearing F-bombs with Grandma!

11:00 A.M. - I’m waltzing through the stadium parking lot to hear Buffalo fans yelling “Jets Suck!” I just nod in complete disarray, seeing how last year the Jets came 1 game short of reaching the Superbowl. While on the other hand the Bills haven’t sniffed the playoffs in over a decade.

11:17 A.M. - Finally reach one of my boys over in parking lot C, in which the first thing I’m told is “Grab a beer.” Don’t have to ask me twice. Only problem with that is, it’s about 37 degrees in Buffalo and I have a ice cold beer in my hand.

11:30 A.M. - We meet up with some other friends that drove up in a Covered Wagon bus. We proceed to walk through about 40 of these RV’s in their own special lot. Some Jets fan wearing a Sanchez jersey is on top of a school bus, obviously drunk, while Bills fans are chucking full beer cans at him faster than a Stephen Strasburg fast ball, and I’m not kidding.

12:00 P.M. - Time to get my ticket and head into “The Ralph.” Not sure I’m naming my team after myself if it’s widely presumed across the NFL as the most broke franchise. Why not name it “Verizon Wireless Field?” or “Burger King Stadium?” Alright I’ll stop.

1:00 P.M. - Game Time, or if you’re a Bills fan, “Ryan Fitzpatrick time.” Eh, not such a great ring to that. By the way, they must lead the league in Ivy League players/coaches. I’m not sure this is a good thing.

1:04 P.M.- I sit in the wrong row which leads a few other fans to not even bother to check their seat numbers, and just sit in the ones next to mine. This in turn leads to some fans coming over and claiming that we’re all in their seats. Of course, this begins a heated argument which progresses to this exchange and I quote, “Well your tickets must be fake, because mine aren’t.” Only in Buffalo.

1:10 P.M. - The Jets score 5 minutes into the game; LT on the 1 yard plunge. The Bills could make Jamarcus Russell look like Peyton Manning. On that note we get to see Spiller kick return!

1:12 P.M. - So much for that, Buffalo muffs the short kick off. This is a blow out in the making.

1:20 P.M. - Folk misses a 30 yard chip shot, while the Bills special teams are celebrating as if they had something to do with it. Think Dallas misses Folk at all?

1:30 P. M. - One thing I’ll give Bills fans credit for is that they have a sense of humor. The first “Aaron Maybin is getting a lot of time” joke. Vegas should get the odds going the Bills draft either a running back or a Penn State linebacker with their top 5 pick they’re going to have in April’s draft.


1:47 P. M. - Fast forward half way through the 2nd quarter; you’re not going to believe this but Folk connects on a 19 yard field goal.

2:00 P.M. - It's now 17-0, good news is more CJ Spiller kick returns! I don't understand why they don't run Fred Jackson more, every time he gets the ball something good happens. He converts a nice 4 yard run on 4th and 3 out of the Wild Cat. Seriously why isn't this team trading Lynch for a bag of donuts at this point? He's taking up snaps from Spiller and Jackson.

2:15 P.M. - Touchdown Bills, 17-7, nice play. I think they scored this TD partially because the Jets were napping. Their defense makes alot of offenses look bad.

2:30 P.M. - Jets force a punt, leading to another Jets TD. Nice play, WR Brad Smith tosses a TD out of the wild cat. The Jets receivers are now throwing touchdown passes against the Bills. I'm kind of hoping Rex Ryan gets some action in at quarterback before the day is over.

2:32 P. M. - Fans are now exiting the stadium. You know it's bad when your fans are leaving in the middle of the 3rd quarter to a score of 24-7.

2:35 P.M. - Lynch fumbles, still confused why he's in the game. I think I know what's going on with the Bills. They wait until their players start to play so bad that they have little or no trade value left, then cut them! First it was Trent Edwards, who I'm sure they could have recieved at least a 4th or 5th round draft pick for. Next, I'm predicting the Bills cut Lynch whom the Packers would certainly offer up a 2nd round pick for.

2:40 P.M. - Sanchez is getting into the act of throwing touchdowns. He likes to wait until the game is out of hand before he gets involved. I will say LT is looking good. Jets are for real. They came into Buffalo and dismantled this JV team.

2:45 P.M. - Speak of the devil, LT runs for a nifty 26 yard touchdown. This crowd is now down to your average High School football game.

3:00 P.M. - Wow, a Mark Bruenell sighting! Funny thing about all this is that he could probably start for the Bills. Well when Rex decides to call off the horses, so do I.

3:10 P.M. - This Jets team is legit. They did what they were suppose to do in crushing the Bills. I'd normally say this isn't convincing enough for me, but seeing how the Bills went into New England and almost won, I have to say the Jets impressed me. Time to exit the "Ralph."

Sports Season!

Buckle up Sports fans, we're heading for a 3 way collision











Sports Season is here! Yes, with October upon us, I have officially dubbed this time Sports Season. Everyday the variety of sports are changing more then the October leaves. Well unless your enjoying the 100 plus degree heat out west, in which case there probably isn't much changing. Whats better then getting into the meat of the NFL season while having the Baseball playoffs starting next week? Now if that is not enough on our sports plate, we are also heading into one of the most anticipated NBA seasons ever. With so many things going on its impossible to concentrate on just one story, so with that said I introduce to you the Rundown! I will touch on as many of today's top stories as possible without going too far in depth.

                                                   THE RUNDOWN

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  Donovan Mcnabbs return to Philly - He's getting booed no doubt, aren't the Eagles 2-1, maybe 3-0 with Mcnabb at QB? Can we please slow down on the Michael Vick resurgence story fan club?

• Baltimore at Pittsburgh -  If the Steelers win this, how can we not anoint them the favorites?

• New England At Miami - Big early season game for both teams; loser takes a big step back in the competitive AFC East.

• Yankees Playoff Rotation - Sabathia then who? Might be an early exit for the Bombers.

• Braves, Padres, Giants - 3 teams, 2 spots, 2 games. I love the Giants, I think they can give the Phillies all they can handle with Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, and Brian Wilson slamming the door shut in the 9th.

• Cincinnati Reds - Awesome feel good story, haven't been in the playoffs in 15 years. Well have fun playing an extra 3-4 games, quick exit for them. Bright future lies ahead, no more Cardinals dominance.

• Bobby Cox last hurrah - Lets hope the Braves players wrap up the Wild Card and send him out the only way he has ever known...losing in the playoffs.

• NHL Season starting up - Who's watching? I'm not!

• NBA Training Camp - What better way to start the season with a Shaq quote on the Heat, "They got a great 1-2."  You know what, hes absolutely right.

• Carmelo Anthony - Love that the Nuggets haven't traded him. You're not getting fair value, why not win another 55+ games and try and make a deep run into the playoffs? Wouldn't that only help convince him to stay right? Who's better then they are in the west outside of the Lakers?

• Miami Thrice - Cannot wait for the first 2 game losing streak. Pardon the pun, but the heat that Lebron, Wade, and Bosh will face from the media will be enormous.

• The Lake Show - 3 Peat? I think so. This is going to be Phil Jackson's last year, they will send him out the only way he knows...Winning Rings. Artest is definitely heading for a meltdown this year, or we can only hope. Kobe's on a mission and he'll get number 6

Enjoy sports fans, were in for a wild weekend and month! Even Lindsey Lohan agrees to that, but says, "Wait isn't that every month?"