I'm going to start by doing a quick memorial to my dog Buddie. He unfortunately passed away this past Saturday morning. My family got Buddie back in 2007, when I was an eighth grader. He was a major part of my life as a high schooler. If I was in a bad mood or good mood, he was there for me. Buddie had developed a spinal disease over the past few weeks. When I got back to Bismarck to go see him one last time this past weekend, it was at the point where he could not walk and had essentially lost all feeling in his legs. Seeing him suffer was too much for us, so he was put down Saturday morning. He had just turned 7 in January. Whoever dubbed dogs "man's best friend" sure knew what they were talking about. Buddie is survived by our death-defying dog Babe. She is a full-bred chihuahua and is 11 years old, although she acts like she is 20 years old.
On to the wonderful world of sports. Here are some of my thoughts on this past week.
All-Star Weekend
I didn't happen to catch the celebrity game this year, so I won't touch much on this. I'm sure it was rather unejoyable with half of the coverage going towards Kevin Hart anyway. I happened to see Greeny and Golic made the game, which I would've liked to see. I did see the highlight of Golic missing a layup and it gave me a good chuckle.
So that was Friday, now for the "oh-so-controversial" slate of events on Saturday night. The league tried out a new format, in which the east competed against the west. The individual component was reduced quite a bit. I actually didn't have that much of a problem with this (with one exception). The shooting stars competition honestly might be my favorite of the four. The randomness of the half court shot makes it quite interesting to watch. Chris Bosh was 2-2 from half court and his team won the event for the second year in a row.
Next was the skills challenge, or at least I think that's what it's called. This is an interesting event as it is like an obstacle course in which typically point guards participate. They added the pairs component this year, or at least my understanding was that this was new. I think this makes a lot more sense to do in individuals, but the event itself turned out to be pretty good. The one thing that really upset me about this is that at least half of these guys who did this were seemingly jogging through the course. Please give a god damn effort if you're going to be there. Who wouldn't want to win an all-star Saturday night event. I just don't get it. Yet another example of the NBA all-stars being satisfied with simply being there.
The 3-point contest is always visually stimulating, as the best shooters in the league seem to drain shot after shot. In addition to the last ball on a rack being worth 2 points, this year they added a full rack of these "money balls" in which the player can choose which location to place it in. I like this new format and it greatly benefited this year's winner. Here's a look at who won this year's competition.
The dunk contest was a joke. From the freestyle round to the battle round to the final in which one person wins, it was just awful. Oh wait, there wasn't a final in which someone won the contest. The dunk contest doesn't stand a chance until the best of the best decide to enter. I mean did you see LeBron's practice in which he was throwing balls of the wall and dunking? Well if you didn't, here you go (I believe you have to view the blog on the computer in order to watch videos).
That is what the dunk contest needs. That's all the coverage I will give this year-in-year-out disappointment of an event.
How about the actual game? It's easy to forget that the game is actually intended to be the main event of the weekend. I only happened to catch the 4th quarter, but maybe that is a good thing. So via ESPN I saw the highlights of the early quarters, and the summary is that Blake Griffin dunked the ball, and Carmelo Anthony shot the ball. The fourth quarter was somewhat interesting, as the east made a comeback and ended up winning 163-155. Kyrie Irving won MVP, and he was very impressive with his savvy lay-ups and dribbling skills.
So that wraps up all-star weekend. Now I don't watch the NBA or follow it, so this is more than likely my last NBA post until the Finals or so.
Oh wait, I forgot something interesting I heard on ESPN radio on the way back from Bismarck this weekend. The new NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, is making one of his first moves to change the age limit for the NBA Draft. I absolutely support this. Players who have had successful college careers are much more fun to watch in the NBA. I'm just sick of seeing teams win national championships and then every freshman on the team is gone (i.e. Kentucky). I want to see a dynasty. It will also make college basketball much more enjoyable than it already is because you will not have so much turnover in the sport, where the best players always seem to be the new flock of freshmen. Get it done Adam Silver.
Angels 2014 Season Outlook
I've been waiting all week to write this up. I'm overly optimistic as always about the Angel's upcoming season. This week I will outline the hitting and fielding side, and next week how the pitching is shaping up.
We'll start with the projected batting order for 2014.
1. Kole Calhoun, RF-- I don't know a whole lot about Kole, but the Angels leadoff position is crucial right now. The leadoff position will see a ton of good pitches, as Trout is right behind them. Getting on base for the trio behind them is crucial. I know this isn't set in stone, but Kole is the leading candidate right now.
2. Mike Trout, CF-- With the trade of Peter Bourjos, Trout will now be able to roam center field all on his own. Mike Trout is a phenomena to say the least. He is the best player in baseball. Sure Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in the game, but Mike Trout is the best overall player. The five tools just come naturally to him. He has Ricky Henderson like speed, Torii Hunter like fielding ability, an above average arm, has batted .326 and .323 the past two years with 30 and 27 homeruns. The dude is a freak of nature. If Miguel Cabrera didn't have two of the best seasons in MLB history, Trout would have two MVPs and his Rookie of the Year award. I could go on all day about him, but I'll move on.
3. Albert Pujols, 1B-- I'm really excited to see what Albert brings this year. Coming off of his season ending foot surgery, he is feeling healthier than ever. Pujols has finally settled in to Los Angeles, and the hype seems to have disappeared. Looking forward to seeing "The Machine" back at work.
4. Josh Hamilton, LF-- It would be an understatement to say Josh Hamilton struggled last year. Very similar to Pujols, Josh got a huge amount of money to come play in Anaheim, and just like Pujols, he disappointed everyone. But look for a bounce back from Josh this year, he has added 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason. I don't even know how to interpret that because he was already jacked. I expect the new Angels hitting coach Don Baylor to really help Josh get back to his MVP self.
Just a side note... the trio of the Trout, Pujols, Hamilton seriously should be the best in baseball. If they all perform to their potential, this IS the best trio in baseball, and opposing pitchers should be frightened.
5. Howie Kendrick, 2B-- Howie is the most underrated player on this team. In fact, he's one of the most underrated players in the league. Howie quietly had yet another great season, in which he had the second highest batting average on the team. His defense is sound, and is a great hitter to back up the trio before him.
6. Raul Ibanez, DH-- This was quite the interesting pick-up for the Angels this offseason. They lost Mark Trumbo in a trade to get two starting pitchers, so decided to add Ibanez to fill the power gap. Raul is old, like very old. But he still has shown some power in those old bones. This will be Raul's 42 year old season. One interesting stat, Ibanez is a career .349 hitter in Angel Stadium.
7. David Freese, 3B-- David was acquired in the Peter Bourjos trade, and I am satisfied with this move. Everyone remembers his historic postseason heroics, and hopefully he brings that to the Angels in October. He is coming off of a down year, but hopefully he can turn it around. I see him as a role player showing the Angels how to win.
8. Chris Iannetta, C-- Great game caller, has some pop too. As with most catchers, Iannetta's main job is to handle the pitching staff. He started off with a hot bat last year, and hopefully he just can put up those kinds of numbers for a full season.
9. Erick Aybar, SS-- An above average defensive shortstop is what Aybar is. He isn't terrible with the bat, but not that great either. He has some great speed and is a candidate for the leadoff spot as well. The Angels have tried him out in the leadoff spot over the years, but he just hasn't got on base enough.
The Bench
J.B. Shuck, OF and Hank Conger, C-- These two are going to be the two main bench players. Hank will obviously get considerable playing time, as the catcher position is quite demanding and Iannetta can't handle it all himself. J.B. had one of the top rookie seasons last year. I haven't looked into it too deeply, but I'm somewhat surprised J.B. isn't in Calhoun's spot. I was very surprised at how well Shuck played last season, and am looking forward to what he's got this year.
Notable players competing to make the team
Carlos Pena, 1B, Ian Stewart, 3B, Chad Tracy IF, John McDonald IF, Brennan Boesch, OF, Collin Cowgill, IF, Andrew Romine, IF, Grant Green, IF
Some of these big leaguers have had success in their careers. Carlos Pena was once a top first baseman with a ton of pop, but now he's a little washed up. Of this list, a few will take the last remaining bench spots.
That wraps up this week's blog. I have to remember to work on it a little earlier than Tuesday afternoon, as this took a long time to put together. I'll try to get them posted a little bit earlier in the day further along.
So long for now,
Austen Stewart
No comments:
Post a Comment