Braves 1 Mets 0

The first pitch of the season hasn't been made yet,
but the first point has been, by the Braves.
The Mets boneheaded decision to place Ruben
Gotay on waivers was quickly capitalized upon by
the Atlanta Braves. Who do you think made the
recommendation on that? Well Tom Glavine, that's
who. You think maybe he knew something?
Well, apparently he he knew more than the Mets
did. I was going to pick the Mets to run away with
this division, 103 wins actually, but after the
weakening of their bench like this, and the many
question marks with Carlos Delgado, I'm going to
have to rethink this. Predictions to come.

This Is Personal

I have no choice but to comment. Many sports
pundits and sports talk radio callers for that
matter are constantly saying that Al Davis, the
Grand High Exulted Mystic Ruler of the Oakland
Raiders himself, has been passed by, by the game
he once dominated. Well I strongly disagree,
and though I will be the first to admit that though
some of his moves both on and off the field will
leave you to scratch you head, I will also add that
at least he has the BALLS to gamble where others
climb into their shells. This off season the NY
Jets, and Oakland Raiders have opened their
wallets in a very big way, but the Raiders more
obviously have been the big chance takers here,
and I for one love the moves. The addition of
D'Angelo Hall opposite Nnamdi Asomugha, and
the the additional signing of safety Gibril Wilson
is sure to make their secondary, not so secondary.
Resigning Tommy Kelly, and adding William
Joseph who has thus far been an NFL disappointment
as a first rounder is definitely a gamble worth taking.
And though I think they grossly over paid for Javon
Walker at wide receiver, I don't disagree with the
signing in and of itself. I could definitely go on and
on here, but the point here is quite simply this, their
is only one way to go about this, and that is by grabbing
the bull by the horns, and Al Davis has chosen to do just
that rather than go quietly into the night. This new
secondary tandem has Lester Hayes, and Mike Haynes
written all over it. Davis has been an assistant on both
the college and pro levels, he been a head coach, and
Coach of the Year, a GM and AFL Commisioner, he also
has three Super Bowl Rings, and unless your the 49er's,
Steelers, Patriots, or Cowboys their really isn't much
you can say. You may have have won more recently, but
not more often. It also now looks that Davis disciple
and friend Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones may now
take a similar route and go after Pacman Jones with a
gamble of his own. It will be a good season for the
Raiders, better than many think, and then they'll
have to pick on his outfit or something

No Trash Talking Today

Just quick props to the NY Yankees and
the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees as an
organization for being generous and
kind to those who had to suffer through
the tragedy that was the Virginia Tech
Massacre. Nice job by the players too.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ar0z6qFvQvq1HCE4hOuABCQRvLYF?slug=ap-yankees-virginiatech&prov=ap&type=lgns

To the Red Sox players who had the decency
to stand up for those people who aren't
six figure salary people, i.e. coaches,
trainers, support staff. The players
threatened to boycott their Japan trip
unless the promises made to those members
of the staff were kept. When only a day or two
ago they were informed that they would not
receive the stipends and compensation they
were originally promised, the players acted.
Nice Job, very nice job!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Avt2hnL6SOomMzhL2Bc1YFcRvLYF?slug=ap-redsox-boycott&prov=ap&type=lgns

Quick Hits

With all due respect to Billy Crystal and
the NY Yankees, it's a cute story, but
fantasy camps were invented for a reason,
use them.

The NY Rangers 13 game undefeated streak
was nice, as is the Houston Rockets still
on going 21 game winning streak, problem
is no one considers either to be a strong,
strong contender for their leagues titles.

NASCAR drivers berating tires company's
like they did Friday, clearly shows that
they don't know who butters their bread.

Brett Favre's departure will most certainly
leave a void in the NFL's current hierarchy
and class, however he was a clear example
of how the legend is larger than the reality.

Just ONE Thought

It's been a fairly quiet sports week, hence the
lack of postings, but I did find something I
thought was worth mentioning again.
You see Marion Jones started her six month
sentence in Federal prison this weekend, and
this is for using performance enhancing drugs
and lying about it, as well as her role in a check
fraud scheme. She was also stripped of her
medals. These things are worth noting
because we still don't have closure with Bonds
and Clemens, and if they are not punished in
some way. and stripped of MVP's and Cy Young's
IF found guilty, it would be an even larger crime
to both the public, and Ms. Jones for being treated
like second class citizens.

Anyway JUST A THOUGHT.

Happy 70th Dad!

Oy Vey (NY'er For Sheeeeeesh)

You know we are taking our sports way too
seriously when such haloed institutions as
Harvard can be seduced into cheating.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=Ahq9sd7UOsDLV.VlMZ._aA45nYcB?slug=dw-harvardscandal030208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Last off season the New England Patriots
added Randy Moss, Jabar Gaffney, Donte
Stallworth, and Wes Walker. Unless they
sign Randy Moss they might lose 3/4 of
that cast. Stallworth is gone, Gaffeny is
about to sign elsewhere, and Bret Favre
is making a big push to have the Packers
right a wrong and have Moss signed as
a free agent this off season. I wonder how
much of an effect that will have on their
16-0 regular season record, it certainly
can't hurt last seasons championship tally.

Women's College Basketball is not very
glamorous, and doesn't always make the
highlight reels, so in case you missed it
here is a clip of a coach that doesn't take
very kindly to losing a 17 point lead.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/01/michigan-basketball-coach_n_89365.html