Roy in Philly
It’s been all too easy for Roy Halladay. He threw a five hit-shutout yesterday. He’s unconscious.
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Halladay has enjoyed the NL quite a bit. He’s 4-0 with an ERA of .82 and 28 Ks to his three walks. Ouch. Roy was a prized possession for any team this offseason and he clock on his time in Toronto was running out. Philly made an unpopular decision to send Cliff Lee to the Mariners to make room for a nice little Halladay season.
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Truth be told, I would have been mad as a Phillies fan if they had sent Cliff away after such a remarkable season. What can you say now? Lee is on the DL and Halladay is making headlines. You know, I am willing to bet Roy likes pitching in the NL rather than the AL East. STRIKE ONE!
Did you see how mad Chris Carpenter was last night? Don’t throw at him I suppose.
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He had a ball hit him inside early in the Arizona game. Carp doesn’t like the fact that a ball hits the opposing pitcher. I guess the rest of the team felt the same way after Carpenter nearly attempted a take-out slide at second base. Carp admitted it was in poor judgement especially because it ignited a bench clearing brawl.
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I got to tell you I agree with Carp. Pitchers should be hit by other pitchers. They all throw 90 plus and it hurts bad. These NL pitchers are all batting a clean .100 and pose no threat (although people might note that Carp has a 6 RBI night including a grand slam last year). Jackson shouldn’t have been throwing two feet inside on the pitcher and one can also see that Carp isn’t made of iron, more like glass. STRIKE TWO!
Duke is talking about repeat. Well, sort of. They have announced they’ll get back two starters in Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. That’s exciting.
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Also, Duke will activate Seth Curry. This team might be a force again. With Nolan running the offense and a combination of Curry and Andre Dawkins at the shooting guard, they might be dangerous. Of course they’ll have Singler in the three spot and down low it will be the Plummlee brothers. I like this team. They will be preseason number one for sure.
Can they do it again. Probably not but it sure is fun to think about. STRIKE THREE AND I’M OUT!
Four of em, Skins New QB, Bulger
Coach Krzyzewski added his fourth title last night. Wow what a finish it was.
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I have to agree with the call at the end. Zoubek is your 55% free-throw shooter. AND Butler has no timeouts. With a handful of seconds left Duke took the game plan out of the Bull Dogs hands and into theirs.
I know it could have gone in and any Duke fan in the world skipped a heart beat but that’s the way it has to be. If the Devils call a TO then that freezes Z and gives Butler a chance to talk it over. Instead, Coach K tells Zoubek to try to make the first and miss the second.
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Also, a side note is that Kyle Singler was layed out on that play. Call me crazy (I know this is crazy) but the referee has to call that an illegal screen and end the game there. He thrusted his body into it and caused Singler to hit the ground. It should have been an offensive foul with no shot and Duke ball.
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But hey it didn’t go in right? STRIKE ONE!
McNabb was always a QB that was great but never really talked about (except when Philly would ridicule him). Now we are making him news everyday. And now he is in Washington. Wait? What?
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Yeah, they traded him to a division rival. I mean…what? He will most definitely be the starting QB for the Redskins this year and that means he gets a chance to beat up his old team.
Not only that, the Eagles assured him a chance to win one more time in Philidelphia. Geez they are dumb. You just got to hate that team and cheer for Donovan right? Yep. STRIKE TWO! (more…)
The Survivor, Garcia is the Fifth, Buffalo is Bad
Yes, Duke is the last one seed left in our NCAA Men’s Bracket. Who is shocked (my hand is raised)?
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Now the Devils have taken down each team in very convincing fashion. Even at times when it looked like Baylor had a chance in the second half, Duke came back in that resilient manner that Coach K teaches. Syracuse went down and so did Kansas but I was surprised that Kentucky (I know WV is good) took the plunge. Duke became that last hope for # 1s.
I think this one is theres for the taking. West Virginia has talent but who is going to guard all those big guys AND MORE IMPORTANTLY stop the Blue Devils from getting too many rebounds(=second chance points). I like Duke in the Championship with Michigan State. Izzo always gets his team to the top. Can they avenge their romping last year? Nope, Duke will win without Lucas there. STRIKE ONE!
The St. Louis Cardinals named Jaime Garcia their fifth starter. This guys has a totally reconstructed arm (he turns 24 in July). He had arm surgery in 2008 and has had no real experience in the bigs since. La Russa has always liked this guy and the Red Birds have not had a lefty starter in two seasons.
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Garcia is not a dominating pitcher but he was a top prospect. He has the strikeout pitch too. Now, this means that Kyle McClellan’s bid is done. I like him in the bullpen though. He does good setting up Ryan Franklin. I always say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
The Cards needed a replacement for Joel Pinero-Brad Penny and the Brad Thompson/Todd Wellemeyer show-Jaime Garcia.Let me tell you this too. St. Louie better be happy that the Thompson and Wellemeyer crap is over. It was not pretty. STRIKE TWO! (more…)
# 1 Seeds?, Brady Quinn?, Florida not Tech or IL?
Today I might have three questions rather than strikes. Man, it’s good to be back.
What could the criteria for a number one seed be in the NCAA tourney? Kansas will get to the Sweet 16 but needs a half way decent game if they play UNI in the 16 to get to the Elite Eight. And if they get there, a death storm awaits. A possible Michigan State with something to prove or a possible ACC player of the year with Vazquez and Maryland. On the other side of this bracket lies Gtown, Tennessee, Ohio State, GA Tech, and a very underrated OK State.
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Kentucky’s Bracket contains Marquette, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. Also, they have to play Texas or Wake in the second round!!! The Syracuse bracket is no easier. A second round match-up with Gonzaga? Butler, Vandy, and Xavier on their side and a possible Elite with Pitt or Kansas State.
But Duke gets a cake walk (Should be West Virginia’s walk). No one should touch them until the Sweet 16 (Not Louisville, sorry). Purdue without Hummel probably won’t meet them there either, my guess Texas A&M. Baylor and Nova are the only notable teams that will only face them in this regions final. The committee sided with the veteran line-up at Duke this year. Coach K gets an opportunity to be crowned a third time this season, and it’ll be sad if they don’t get to the Final Four. STRIKE ONE!
[picappgallerysingle id="7476799"]The Broncos got Brady Quinn. Ew. I mean, it isn’t a bad trade for what they gave up. An ineffective Peyton Hillis along with a sixth rounder move to Cleveland who are settling for Delhome. Ew. I guess McDaniels wants some competing at QB. If Orton can’t beat out this combine-Notre Dame-produced actor than I don’t know what to do. STRIKE TWO!
Back to the NCAA. How did Florida get in over some of the other bubbles. I know all those ESPN experts said don’t get mad because they didn’t do a bad job this year. I beg to differ. I don’t care if the Illini had 14 losses, they played well in big games. Two big wins versus Wisconsin, Michigan State, and a ranked Northwestern. A tough loss to Gonzaga was what they probably needed but I liked the wins against Vanderbilt and Clemson (a huge comeback to save the Big Ten ACC Challenge for the first time ever!)
Florida wasn’t really competing and a few of their wins were miracles (literally). They finished under 500 in the two months and nothing impressive happened. Well, if you consider the fact they finished off Aubrun twoice in that time. Virginia Tech was even a better pick. Just because the ACC is down doesn’t mean that a good ACC team is worse than a mediocre SEC team.
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Virginia Tech had no real bad losses than at UNC and Boston College. Other than that, I have to say the only reason they were left out was because the ACC wasn’t strong. If it was a normal year for the conference the committee would have made them a six seed. It was silly. I guess they were left out because of a first round loss to Miami in the tournement. What a shame. STRIKE THREE AND I’M OUT!
Ted Maguire
