Hey there, it's Chris (your fearless leader) with another edition of How it Went Down. Actually it's more like "How it's going Down" because s**t is going down. First thing is my writing career may be coming to an end. I may do a decent job at writing this blog, and I love it, but my true passion is doing this nonsense on the radio; so that's what I hope to do. I finally found a radio station that will have me, and I will be recording my audio blogs there in no time and posting them right here for your listening pleasure. So instead of my "two finger typing" my thoughts at 22 words per minute, I can deliver more content to you in audio form, and leave the writing to Jay. I will still be doing the Top 5's, because they are my obsession, and other various things, but day to day will be audio blogs and just shorts written blurbs from me. If you Rioters! disagree with this decision and think my writing if worth plucking through, feel free to comment below or toss me an email (thesportsriot@yahoo.com). The second thing that has me preoccupied is there will be a website for The Riot! in the very near future. We've already outgrown this "blog" thing and need to move on to an actual, fancy website with our own name. So look out for the launch of our very own website in the coming weeks (I'm sure you'll hear about it, we're whores like that).
Now onto sports, after all, that's why we're here right?
SCOREBOARD
These are the things I've been tracking from the gate so let's have an update:
*My beloved Mets unloaded some payroll in Beltran and Rodriguez, Reyes is on the DL again (so much for $20 mil a year), and David Wright has returned; and the Mets are holding steady at .500 (58-57). This season is actually going way better than I ever expected; the Mets have shed some dead weight, and continue to play well. My fear of a .500, semi-competitive season was based on the past when teams who are "competitive" when they are not supposed to be fall short and then hold on to their aging, overpriced "stars" for the next season and then repeat mediocrity for several seasons as a result. I by no means think the Mets are out of the woods, but the dumping of K-Rod, and Beltran are a sign of the Mets trying to get younger. Building around Reyes and Wright is a good start.
*World Series pick - Brew Crew are starting to make some noise in the NL Central. They beat the 2nd place Cards last night and have taken the first 2 games of this series to open up a 4 game lead, and look like a formidable force in the NL going forward. It's funny because Jay just emailed me last night and said "Honestly is they a hotter or better team than the Phillies???" I definitely agree and I too would pick the Phils right now. They are the most complete team since the acquisition of Pence, and that pitching is ridiculous. Here's my only caveat, if the Brewers get solid pitching, their lineup is every bit as good as the Phils if not better. Feilder and Braun are both having MVP caliber season, Weeks has been a monster and their pitching has been solid. If Gallardo and Marcum keep doing what they are doing and Greinke keeps rounding into his former Cy Young form, a series between the Phils and the Brewers could be epic; stay tuned.
As for my AL World Series pick, the Oakland A's, I'm not even sure they are fielding a team anymore. I think they may have taken to forfeiting games instead of actually trying to win some.
*Suzyn Waldman is still breathing unfortunately, and more unfortunate is that she's breathing into the microphone during the game. Can somebody gag her already?
*Joe Buck is still firmly planted in his Fox position like a Disney animatronic; he's not going anywhere folks, i guess we need to just deal with him.
*MVP picks - My NL pick was Buster Posey, and he is currently watching games at home on his TV. It's to win an MVP that way. My AL pick was AROD, another stud who's watching games on TV, except AROD prefers to do it from a casino; can anybody say the second coming of Pete Rose. Somebody dig up Bart Giamanni, we have a job for him.
*Cy Young Picks - My NL pick was RA Dickey, and even though I will continue to campaign for the knuckleball to be the pitch most used in baseball, Dickey may not be the savior I was hoping for. Dickey is 5-10 with a 3.72 ERA, not awful but the Niekro family is not pleased. RA may want to hide after the season is over; I've heard that when the Niekro family isn't pleased, legs get broken. My AL pick was Felix Hernandez who is 10-10 with a 3.31 ERA; so it looks like I will be wrong on almost all my picks. Felix is having a good season, but CC and Verlander are having great seasons, and 13 wins won't get it done this year for Felix like it did last year.
So that's the SCOREBOARD, it looks like I'm losing; I'm always good for a late rally.
*Late inning heroics, in Queens? - So not only are the Mets not going to lose 100 games this season, but they are being very clutch in the 9th inning. The Mets, twice this week, came back to win games where they trailed by 2 or more runs. On Monday it was a 9-8 walk-off victory after being down 8-4 heading into the bottom of the 8th. The Mets won a game after trailing by 2 or more runs past the 8th inning for the first time in 195 games. Then to top it off, they did it again yesterday; coming back from 4-2 down with a 3 spot in the 8th. You know the stadium may be empty, a shadow of Bernie Madoff may be cast over the franchise, and they may have the worst owner in baseball; but it's not all bleak for the Metropolitans in 2011.
*The World Champs are on the ropes - If you would've asked me a week to 10 days ago who I thought would win the NL this season, and I would have said hands down, The San Francisco Giants. With the acquisition of Carlos Beltran, it looked like they added the missing piece to an anemic lineup. That bat that can get the hit you need and get those four runs you need to support that phenomenal pitching the Giants have. Flash forward 10 days and the landscape has changed a bit; the Phillies went and solidified their lineup with the addition of Hunter Pence and the Brewers appear to have gelled late in the season and seem to be a serious contender for the NL crown. The Gigantes need to watch out here. That pitching staff, as great as it is, can burn out if it doesn't have a few easy starts; and appear to be going through a rough patch right now. The Giants have lost 11 of 13 and stand only 1/2 game up on the D-Backs. Now I fully expect the Giants to win this division, but the point is 2 years in a row of fighting to the end, 2-1 games, will burn out a pitching staff. Especially a bullpen. It's the Phillies pennant to lose.
*The NFL is COMING! THE NFL IS COMING! – So now that the lockout is over, free agency is in full swing and camps are up and running I can stop pretending that the NFL annoys me. The fact is I LOVE THE NFL! It has actually pulled into a tie with baseball in my fandom. I know everyone does this, but when one of your teams is great (in this case it’s the JETS, believe that?) and another is down (METS and RANGERS) then you tend to get more excited for the sports the great team plays. That’s totally what’s happening here. I am so amped about this season that I can’t wait until the pre-season kicks off; imagine that? I used to hate the pre-season but I think this year it’s going to be a little different. Here are some things to watch for in the pre-season.Watch for…..
-starters to play way longer than in past pre-seasons
-starters to get hurt way more than in past pre-seasons
-the Lions to annihilate everyone in the pre-season only to finish 6-10 or worse again
-the Jets to get ridiculed every step of the way
-Chad Ochocinco to do absolutely nothing entertaining including play good football
-The Albert Haynesworth saga, Boston Edition to kick off its 1st season (it’s already starting, why isn’t he practicing? Hmmmm)
-Chris Johnson to continue to have the Titans by the balls until September
-at least one Brett Favre rumor to swirl as will a Randy Moss rumor
-Michael Vick to be underwhelming in the pre-season (not saying anything about the regular season yet)
-Pat Sumerall to pop-up somewhere and scare the s**t out of everyone. (one of the best play by play guys ever, but God he’s frightening to look at)
God I love the NFL. “Can’t Wait!” –Bart Scott
*and now back to baseball – I have some notes about baseball and the way things are going right now so I’m going to do this rapid fire style. These are thoughts I have going through my head as I endlessly run on the treadmill at the gym and stare at ESPN silently in the middle of the night.
-How are the Yankees even in the AL East race? On the other hand, how are they not dominating the AL East? What might be the most enigmatic Yankee team ever has baffled me from opening day until now. The Bronx Bombers have a payroll that exceeds $200 million dollars, a potential, or current, All Star at every position on the field, and an ace that could win the MVP in the AL this year. That’s the good. The bad is the rest of the rotation; an awful AJ Burnett, a very young Ivan Nova, an ineffective Phil Hughes, and the decrepit Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. Not to mention the sad but true decline of the greatest closer in baseball history, Mariano Rivera. Now the Yanks are only 2 games behind the Red Sox despite being utterly dominated by The Sox (10-2) in the season series, and their less than stellar rotation. On top of that you have AROD’s injuries and scandals, Jeter’s slow start and streaky hitting by Mark Texiera; it’s been a very up and down season and should make for an interesting post-season.
-How bad of a season was Dan Uggla having? Uggla is now in the middle of a 30 game hitting streak where he’s improved his batting avg. from .173 to .220. So if he was a .173 hitter before the streak, how is he all of sudden doing it? Well, out of the 30 games, Uggla has one hit in 22 of them; that’s a record. If the streak ends tonight or anytime soon for that matter, Uggla will finish with BY FAR the lowest batting average for a player with a 30 game or better hitting streak (the lowest before was .284). Here’s a stat for you to wrap your brain around when contemplating the type of hitter it takes to get to a 30 game hitting streak; Uggla has gone 3 for his last 14. Now that’s just hanging on to a streak by the skin of your teeth.
-The ship is sinking and there is nothing Captain Jack can do to save it. Of course, I’m talking about the Pirates from Pittsburgh who have seen the other shoe drop; and by shoe I mean concrete filled steel toed boot. This ship came crashing down in a massive way. The only thing distracting me from the Pirates crash is the Stock Market crashing around us, my God. I’m sad to see it to; I started to love the Pirates story. They even made some minor moves at the trade deadline and seemed to make an effort to make this dream come true. I just hope they can rally to a respectable finish and come back stronger next year.
-These races are really heating up. As of today, 5 of the 6 divisions are up for grabs with the Phillies holding the largest lead at 8.5 games. The Wild Card races are actually quite dull with the Yanks having a 6 game lead on the Angels and the Braves having a 5 game lead on the D-Backs. It should be a fun August.
*…and finally – I am out of things to say for now. More to come soon. thesportsriot@yahoo.com or on twitter @thesportsriot.
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