Stickler

Mike Sims-Walker was benched by coach Jack Del Rio on Sunday for violating team rules.  The #1 rule in Jacksonville is to suck and Sims-Walker was playing well above average prior to the showdown with Seattle.  After a long and serious talk with the Coach and staff, Sims-Walker has vowed to focus on dropping passes and embarrassing his team like his fellow teammates in practice this week.  Hopefully his new direction will earn him some playing time going forward. 

When it mattered most UConn's AJ Price was at his least.  Now sources closing in on some revealing evidence claim that AJ Price was in fact paid to throw the big game.  Price, a senior from Amityville NY, took the game into his own hands and came up empty.  Some people are speculating that he was paid to perform poorly, including some of his own teammates.  "He wasn't even looking to pass!  He was double covered and I was wide open on more than one occassion!" said Junior Forward Stanley Robinson.

A better than 40% FG shooter over his career with the Huskies, Price wilted when the game was on the line.  Brookline's own Jeff Adrien commented on Price's performance down the stretch, "I kept yelling at him PASS PASS PASS but he seemed possessed and I knew he'd keep on missing."

Over the final 1:11 Price missed two open layups and an uncontested 3-pointer while also racking up a meaningless foul.  On the game Price was only 5 for 20, further fueling speculations that he was paid to flop.  According to the Associated Press, there was $108 million worth of bets on this game and Price could have profited $1 million to $5 million.

Coach Jim Calhoun said after the game, "AJ didn't give us much of a chance tonight.  I'm curious to see what they find."

This is not Price's first run-in with the law.  In 2005 Price was arrested in connection with the theft of laptop computers at the university.

Investigators did not say whether Price stole the computers, but they said Price and two others had tried to sell them. Two were found in Price's room, police said.

  

 

I was so excited when the Jets  acquired Brett Favre before the season started but his last 5 games have left all of us Jets fans completely sick.

After an 8-3 start they finish the season by losing 4 of the last 5 games, in which Brett completed only about half of his passing attempts and turned the ball over 9 times versus 3 TDs (1 rushing) to bring his season long stat line to 10 fumbles, sacked 30 times, and threw as many INTs as TDs (22).    

And what a fitting end to a terrible finish for the Jets and Favre this past Sunday -  With 17 seconds left in the game and the Jets backed up on their own goal line, needing a TD to tie, Mangini calls for the old 15 lateral Trinity Miracle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1CQPCf55LA. Favre passes it to Leon Washington only to receive the lateral back from Leon and a confused old Brett forward passes onto the field, earning the Jets a penalty for an illegal forward pass and earning Brett a spot on the bench for the last play of the Jets season.  

I didn’t expect the Jets to score on the last play of the game and, as it turns out, even if the Jets won they wouldn’t have made the playoffs since both the Patriots  and Ravens won but at least I can say, “That’s the last one that Brett will ever leave on the carpet again.” 

Everyone says, “It looks like Brett is always having a lot of fun out there!” To me it looks like he just doesn’t care and Mangini paid for Brett’s carelessness with his job this morning. Was it all Brett’s fault? Probably not, but I’ll be modest and give Favre at least 50% of the blame. 

Growing up our family had a cat that we called Cindy Clawford. We called her that because she had, what looked like, a mole above her top lip like the famous model who she was named after. Cindy was an absolute sweetheart and lived a very long and full life, well into her 20s. Towards the end though she was really falling apart; lost a lot of weight, forgot where her litter bowl was, and would often leave her stools on the living room floor. We loved her so much that we lived with it for awhile but one day during the Holiday season many years ago; my parents were in the process of redecorating the house and my Dad was under a lot of pressure to get the project done before Christmas Day with the family. One night he came across one of Cindy’s steaming presents on the living room carpet. He was so stressed out and angry that he tossed her out into the cold by the scruff of her neck and she crawled under a bush and died. It was the last time that she left one on the carpet ever again. 

As far as Brett’s future with the Jets and the NFL? As far as I’m concerned, I think its past time for Brett to return to his farm and crawl under a bush.

My first blog.  Pretty cool. 

I'm a huge Yankees fan.  I went to 7 home games last year and I try to watch at least 100 games on TV every year.  I'm from Ontario, Canada but I live in NJ now and I used to root for the Expos but now the Yankees are my team.

My 2 favorite MLB players are AJ Burnett and Scott Kazmir.  Needless to say, I'm really excited that AJ is a Yankee now.  The CC signing is nice but like they say, "Fat guys fall fast."  However, "There's nothing wrong with one hefty lefty in your rotation."  Chicken Wing (Wang) should be ready to go by opening day...JOBA rules...all that leaves is the last spot for Hughes, Kennedy, or maybe Coke to get completely bombed once every 5 days.  Not too bad...it'd be even better if they could resign Pettitte to only get slightly bombed once a week but I don't think it matter much.

The offense is strong to quite strong.  Damon still has some wheels, Jeter should hit .330 or so this year, Big Tex will start off slow but if he can endure the harsh criticism early on (not like A-Rod in ’04) then he should be fine, since coming to the Yankees A-Rod only plays well in odd-numbered years so 2009 should be another MVP type season for him, Matsui will return to form and be a good #5 hitter, Posada will play just well enough not to get benched, Cano should bounce back to being a .300 hitter, Nady will have a steady but not too exciting year in RF (aka a Paul O’Neil type of year), and Melky and Brett will take turns stinking up the bottom of the lineup all year unless the Yankees trade for Cameron or bring back Bernie!

Bullpen?  I think it all depends on Mariano.  Or does it?  Marte has some experiencing closing games and I still have a lot of faith in Bruney and Edwar Ramirez in the late innings.  I think Coke will be a nice setup guy when (not if) Mariano breaks down this year.  I’m just afraid that the Yankees will send Joba back to the bullpen and try to coast by with Hughes and Kennedy in the rotation.  I can almost deal with Hughes in the rotation because, even though his fastball stinks, his curveball can keep the other team under 7 runs most nights.  Kennedy has no skills and will kill the Yankees if allowed. 

My bold predictions =

1. Yankees will win 100 games (even) this year.
2. Mariano will not finish the season and his career ends due to injury.
3. A-Rod wins the MVP.
4. AJ Burnett wins the Cy Young.
5. Brett Gardner spends most of the season in the Minors.
6. Nick Swisher finishes the season with a .190 batting average and plays sparingly.
7. Bernie Williams will be back in pinstripes this year.
8. The pitching rotation will look like this – Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Joba, and Hughes.
9. The bullpen will look like this – Mariano (CL), Marte (Setup), Ramirez, Coke, Bruney, and Aceves and Kennedy will be the long relievers.
10. The batting order will look like this – Damon, Jeter, Big Tex, A-Rod, Matsui, Posada, Cano, Nady, and Melky.  The bench bats will be Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher, Jose Molina, and Bernie Williams.