The Dreaded A.L. West and the downfall of the Seattle Mariners

Something unnatural seems to be taking place this year in the A.L. West division of Major League Baseball. The Angels have won the division 4 times in the last 5 years, and look to be the team to beat again this year. The A's are the surprise team of the division, keeping up with the Angels and somehow beating teams they shouldn't. Just yesterday they completed a 3-game sweep of the World Champion Boston Red Sox who brought the best record in the major leagues with them.

The Rangers are just as surprising, with a guy like Josh Hamilton on your team, you can win ball games. The pitching staff won't hold for a post-season berth, but they are still winning games nonetheless.

Then we arrive at the Seattle Mariners. A team that most baseball analysts expected to be over .500 at this point in the season. They added tremendously to their pitching staff by picking up Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva, to compliment the young fireballer in the likes of Felix Hernandez. Problem is, these guys aren't doing much for the team. Bedard (3-3, 4.70). Silva (3-4, 5.14). And Hernandez, who has lost 4 of his last 5 starts since the last time I wrote about him when he was then 2-0, is now 2-4. The problems are everywhere. They can't pitch and they can't hit.

Even Ichiro, the guy who is expected to give you at least 200 hits a year and a 300 average is batting only .289. Close but no cigar. The Mariners are hurting.

I think Richie Sexson knew something else when he charged the mound and threw his helmet at Texas' pitcher Kevin Gabbard. He knew the once worst team in the west was now better than they were. Any matter, Sexson is batting .197. Somehow the guy has 9HR. Whoopity do. They guy needs to go back to Milwaukee, they only place he did any good for the game.

So as the season drags on in the A.L. West, there are new faces vying for the top spot. But one team surely isn't. The Seattle Mariners.

Cashed Out Charles - Sports Headlines?

If you haven't heard, Charles Barkley is calling it quits when it comes to gambling. According to reports, Barkley failed to pay the Wynn casino on four $100,000 markers, that he took out on a loan in October of last year.

Barkley is no stranger to gambling as most of us know, but the guy who "hates the whole city of golden state", says he's going to put the dice aside for at least a year or two.

Is it just me, or are more things happening to athletes that aren't sports related these days? I can think of tons of examples. You've got OJ Mayo accepting thousands of dollars in high school and in college to keep him happy while busting 3-pointers. Jason Taylor, the one-time defensive player of the year for the Miami Dolphins, is more concerned with his acting career and a win on 'Dancing with the Stars' than his future in the NFL and the Dolphins organization.Bonds get his 4 counts broken down into 14 separate counts of perjury and obstruction of justice in the BALCO case. I'll reference the book that I'm reading once again, "Game of Shadows" and once you read it you will both hate Barry Bonds and appreciate the research these reporters did. Once the fastest woman in the world, Marion Jones, is in jail for six-months and boyfriend/runner Tim Montgomery will be joining her for fraud.

Don't even get me started on Clemens. The guy is going to jail.

Tons of NFL players not reporting to camps, and holding out on contract deals. The list goes on and on. The idea of having professional athletes as heroes for kids is quickly diminishing. As sports fans we all want raw, solid playing on the field, coupled with a life off the field that is respectable for all those millions they are making.

Give me a guy like Jon Lester. The man recovers from cancer, and pitches a no-hitter a year and a half later. These are the types of stories that guys like me want to write about. There is no end to these tales, and I'm sure the future holds just as much terrible stories about these athletes as we have been seeing recently. Just plain ridiculous.

Cycle for Gomez

In the box score, it doesn't look that hard to do. Most players get at least four at-bats a game, especially those who are the leadoff hitters. The cycle consists of every hit a player can get in a single baseball game. A single, a double, a triple, and of course the home run. Since the start of major league baseball, it has only happened 277 times. Given the talent that has been capable of accomplishing the feat in the history of major league baseball, this is a small number.

There is such a thing called the 'natural cycle', when the player hits the single, double, triple and home run in order in the same game.

To this day, there has never been a player who has hit for the cycle in a post-season game.

On May 8th, Carlos Gomez became the 277th player to add his name to the list who can say they've hit for the cycle in the major leagues. There's a lot to be said about Gomez. After a short stint with the Mets last season, he was traded to the Twins in the Johan Santana deal. The Twins are reaping the benefits in picking up a solid defensive outfielder with speed, who will hit for average and touch em' all every now and again. Gomez hit the cycle against the divisional rival Chicago White Sox and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in an American jersey come the all-star break. Hats off to Carlos Gomez.

The More You Read, The More You Know

I've recently taken an internship with a pre-game radio show for the Oakland Athletics. I work with a guy named Marty Lurie, who broadcasts before every game on 1550AM out of Oakland. There is a pre-game show that is done by the same guys who do the play-by-play, and this is the show that is directly before that.

I wanted to convey the crazy amounts of knowledge that these guys know about the game of baseball. Not only are they on the up and up with their team, they know every player, where they've played, big stories about them, and have their own opinions about how their career will pan out in the big leagues. My hat really goes off to these guys because they clearly know more about the sport then I do.

The amount of preparation that goes into each game is just plain dirty. Besides reading the sports page from every team's home city in the major leagues, these guys look at countless stat sheets, read the media guide and pick anything they can up from the stuff that they read. It's completely fair to say that MOST broadcasters know exactly what they are talking about. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on just so I don't look like a fool in the press box. So my posts are becoming less consistent, but you know what I'm doing now. Besides the text books I have to read and stories to shoot, edit and write, I'm reading an insane amount.

Undying Hatred = Bandwagon Hornets Fans

On Tuesday night, the playoff hopes of the Phoenix Suns, and the hopes of NBA playoffs fans spanning 49 states, died. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Suns in game five of their first round series in the Western Conference playoffs.

I haven't seen this much hatred towards a particular team since the Yankees were actually good. Wait a minute, people still hate the Yankees. No matter, the Spurs flipped the 'most despised team in the NBA' switch after the win tonight. Polls coast to coast of sports fans have suddenly become enormous Chris Paul fans, and who can blame them? It's not hard to like a team lead by the great Byron Scott, who knows exactly what its like to make a push through the playoffs and win an NBA title.

Something that will definitely start to be talked about, is the Tony Parker vs. CP3 matchup. Third to King James and Kobe 'I've decided to change my number' Bryant, Parker is right in the thick of things when it comes to points per game. Whoopity Do. Now that Nowitzki is gone, Paul is in the top five as well. All the more reason for him to step up on defense and shut down Mr. Eva Longoria.

The Spurs and Hornets will hit the hardwood and start their semi-final series to get to the Western Conference Championship. I think it's pretty clear who the nation is rooting for. But my question to you is who will win it, and in how many games?

On another note: There are two possible game seven's lurking. Detroit leads Philadelphia three games to two, but game six is in Philly, and my boy Iggy is heating up for the Sixers. I like this series going to a game seven. The other is the refusing to say die Houston Rockets vs. the Utah Jazz. Utah leads the series, and game six heads back to Utah. I like Utah closing out the series back in SLC.

One more note: a city softball team in Alameda, CA called "Boom Goes The Dynamite" is playing Thursday night, hoping to get a win streak going, after coming back last week in the top of the seventh inning to beat Otaez 9-7. Wish them luck.

Here comes the...Nope.

So far, for the most part, the NBA playoffs have been better than expected. There's been some games that show some heart: the 76'ers up two games to one on the Pistons and the Raptors refusing to get thrown around by the Magic. And there's been the series of no surprise: the Celtics up two games to none on the Hawks, and the Lakers up two games to none on the Nuggets. Then to the series that just sits deep in your stomach like bad chinese food that you can't take back eating:

The matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns.



I don't even know where to begin. Maybe it's Tim Duncan's lack of personality and whiny attitude when it comes to being fouled. Maybe it's the fact that they "hack Shaq" so that they send the worst free-throw shooter in history to the line every .2 seconds. Or maybe it's the fact that Manu Ginobli's field goal percentage is higher than that perfect score I got on my test last week. Spurs fans obviously are happy, but for those of us who don't live in Texas (thank the man upstairs) we can't stand it.

Question is, can the Suns come back from being down three games to none? NBA Playoff history will tell you that accomplishing the feat is highly unlikely. What do you think?

Cason Point

With the NFL Draft coming up on Saturday, it makes me think about which teams the players you have seen play at the college level will go to, and if they will be successful at the NFL level. Now that the number one pick has been chosen, (Jake Long, OL/T Michigan) it will be interesting to see who will step up in the draft and who will fall.

I am most interested in where this guy is going to go. Antoine Cason, (#5 in the red jersey) had a stellar career at the University of Arizona. He finished with 15 career interceptions, and averaged just over 23 yards per interception return, which set a new school record. Cason didn't leave the NFL combine with scouts very happy though, finishing with a 40-yard dash time of 4.52. The top time for defensive backs was 4.31. Speed is important as a defensive back, and some scouts don't think Cason can compete with the speed of players at the next level. Nevertheless, #5 did walk away with a prestigious award this year:

The Jim Thrope Award. It goes to the best defensive back in the nation. Cason played a big role in the Arizona vs. #2 Oregon game where the Wildcats upset the Ducks 34-24. Cason finished the game with 2 TD's, one an interception 42-yard return, and the other a 56-yard punt return. The game was on a national stage, and I don't think there was any doubt that Cason was the player of the game. Best of luck Antoine in the 2008 NFL Draft.