Heart and Soul

Bottom of the 11th Aaron Boone steps to the plate. The pitch by Wakefield is hit hard into deep left, HOMERUN! YANKEES WIN! That was the 2003 ALCS where Aaron Boone was the hero, six years later he is finally able to play baseball again five months after open-heart surgery. Boone batted in the two spot for the Double-A squad, Corpus Christi Hooks, for the Houston Astros. It is just a wonder to think of how you have ball players out there that sit out of games with little injuries when you have players that this game was built on healing broken hearts, literally. Keep up the good work Aaron, you are what makes the game of baseball so great.

Good and Only Getting Better

The USA Today college football rankings came out today at approximately 9:19a.m. They have the top five as follows; Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Alabama. Florida being the top team, I do not think anyone is really arguing that for the fact that you have Superman's twin brother at quarterback. Texas and Oklahoma are a toss up. Bradford came back for another season which could not hurt him, he will be a top five pick in the NFL draft no matter what, and Colt McCoy is back with Texas, who was National Title bound until their, usually strong, defense let Crabtree slide right through their fingers, literally. USC was a surprise pick for the number four spot. They lost all three linebackers to the draft I believe and the guy who ran the show, Mark Sanchez. Alabama was a solid pick for the top five considering they have one of the best wide receivers in the game today in Julio Jones. That said, I do not think it will last long looking at their schedule. Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Penn State, LSU, and Mississippi round out the top ten respectively. They are putting a lot on the shoulders of young sensation Terrelle Pryor lets see how he can handle it. Virginia Tech will float around the top ten the whole season but if Tyrod Taylor is still taking snaps at seasons end this team could be struggling, they are going to have to have him make some big strides. Penn State is a strong top ten with returning play caller Daryll Clark back they will look to make a run with a relatively weak conference. LSU will always be around, they never seem to lose talent at the quarterback position, but Jarrett Lee still needs to step his game up another notch if LSU is looking to get past Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Mississippi is kind of a surprise to a lot of people. Finishing with an 8-4 record last year was a shocker in such a tough conference but look forward to a better season with Jevan Snead coming off a 26 touchdown campaign and only looking to get better. Here is how I think things will shake out at the end.

Top 10
1) Florida
2) Oklahoma
3) Ohio State
4) Texas
5) Alabama
6) Notre Dame
7) Boise State
8) Penn State
9) Oklahoma State
10) USC

!UPDATE!

Orland Magic forward Rashard Lewis tested for High Levels of testosterone and was suspended for the first 10 games of the NBA season.

Little Heart Means BIGGER Money

ESPN reports the San Francisco 49er's first round draft pick Michael Crabtree, a Texas Tech standout and a Texas Longhorn "wrangler", is prepared to sit out his first season so he can get redraft to make more money. David Wells, Crabree's Advisor, said in a statement, "We are prepared to do it," Wells said. "Michael just wants fair market value. They took him with the 10th pick and you have Darrius Heyward-Bey [the seventh overall pick by the Oakland Raiders] getting $38 million? This week is crucial. Michael was one of the best players in the draft and he just wants to be paid like one of the best players. This week is very crucial."
-ESPN Report-

Michael Crabtree has been a superstar even since coming on to the scene back in 2007 with Texas Tech and lighting it up. He was this highly touted receiver that would be the next great thing, a good role model for kids perhaps. The next great receiver huh, as far as I can think back, I do not remember a "great" wide receiver missing an entire season for money. You put your "heart" into the game your whole life to get to this point, this dream that kid's have when they are throwing the ball around in the yard. Role model, that is a sporadic saying that people use that is an opinion to a lot of young kids. The definition of role model in the dictionary is...a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, esp. by younger people. When you throw some of the biggest athletes out there today into the mix of potential role models not many shake out. Throw the steroid users out of the discussion, I do not care when or why they used. Take the people who hold out of camps and sometimes seasons for more money, not to mention the off-field violence/mishaps. When you take those three subjects out of the role model discussion you are left with very few superstars to look up to, Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, Payton Manning, and Tiger Woods, that is where it about stops for me.

NL Central Closer Then You Think

The NL Central is cluster at the top of the division, is that a surprise....no, but the Milwaukee Brewers leading the NL Central is the surprise. In second are the Cardinals, followed by the Reds and Astros and then finally the loveably hateable Cubs. The Cubs coming into the season were being toted as the winner of this division and getting back to the promise land or should I say finally to the promise land, what has it been, 360 days above a century since they last won it? Anyways back to the main point, the winner of this division will be the...Cubs. Proof, well I have it. The Brewers will ride into oblivion with their pitching staff driving, considering that they are ranked 23rd in the majors in ERA, and only two clear cut hitters in Fielder and Braun. The Cardinals are a challenge with what could be one of the greatest, if not the greatest hitter of all time in Phat Albert, not to mention they are top 10 in ERA, but their batting is going to be their Achilles heal. The Reds...well they are the Reds, good run but better luck next year. Dusty has done a good job but they just do not have the fire power nor the pitching to make a serious run at this. The Astros have a runphobia, they do not like to score. They are in the bottom ten teams in runs in the majors, so that puts them out of things in my books. Then we get to the Cubs. Cubs are sitting right now with a top 5 ERA and a struggling offense. Aramis Ramirez is coming back soon and that should lift their offense off the ground. Only 3.5 games out of first this will be an interesting race to say the least.

*Prediction*
Cubs will win the NL Central

UPDATE

Cavaliers looking at Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza

Pistons sign Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva

Celtics in talks with Rasheed Wallace

Pistons "Reving Up" the Team for 2010

Less then 2 months ago the Pistons were looking dismal, getting ousted in the first round in four games to the Cavaliers, but it looks like we might not even be seeing the same team next year in the motor city. The departures of Coach Michael Curry, A.I., and "Sheeeeeed", might get the fans to stop saying "boooooooooo".

-ESPN reports the candidates for the job are Avery Johnson and John Kuester.-

Reported in today is that the Pistons are "oiling" the machine and signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva both to five year deals. Could this be a push to the finals before we see the storm of a market in the 2010 free agency? The Pistons are the fade away team in the East, they used to be the strong hold team that everyone feared, are they back with this move? The Magic signing Vince Carter and the Cavaliers sign Shaq, and in talks with Ron Artest, the Pistons needed to do something drastic and this could have been it. They might be missing that dominate player, the one who drops 30 points any night he feels like, but then again where was that in 2004?



*Bold Prediction for 2009-2010 season*

The Magic will be good with the addition of Vince but letting Courtney Lee go will hurt them more then they think. The Cavaliers will be a dominate team in the regular season, again, but with the focus on an Old Shaq, there will not be the focus on team oriented basketball. The Celtics, who are in talks with Rasheed Wallace, will be there with a healthy K.G. but they are getting old and yes wisdom does come with age, but so does sore joints. The Pistons lose two of their scorers but are getting two role players that averaged nearly twenty points per game last year. With the starting line-up like they might have and hopeful addition of a big, the Detroit Pistons are making the Eastern Conference finals and are going to give the Cavaliers a run for their money.



Detroit Pistons Starting Line-up for 2009-10
Rodney Stuckey 13.4 ppg
Richard Hamilton 18.3 ppg
Charlie Villanueva 16.2 ppg
Tayshaun Prince 14.2 ppg
Jason Maxiell 5.8 ppg

6th man
Ben Gordon 20.7 ppg

A Tribute to One of the Great Owners

Larry H. Miller, one of the great NBA franchise owners and stand up guy in the community, died Friday from complications with type two diabetes. Larry will be remember in the NBA world for years to come and will be a role model for what integrity and honor stands for.
Larry Miller, in my eyes, will be known for him establishing the Utah Jazz as a premier powerhouse in the NBA and producing two championship runs, both ending in defeat to the great Mr. Air himself. He brought big name superstars like Karl Malone, John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, and current superstar Deron Williams. He was also known to me by hiring one of the greatest coaches of all time in Jerry Sloan. Jerry has took the Jazz to two championships and to the playoffs all but two years he has been coaching.
Larry was also an amazing business man too. He purchased a Toyota dealership in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray, Utah. It opened on May 1, 1979 as Larry H. Miller Toyota. In October 1981, Miller bought out his uncle's share in the business. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he acquired a number of automobile dealerships in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, creating the Larry H. Miller Automotive Group. In 2007, Selling Power listed him as the tenth largest U.S. automotive dealer, with forty-two dealerships and sales of $2,327,000,000. After a failed attempt to start a television outlet on the last remaining VHF frequency in the Utah market, Miller purchased Salt Lake City independent station KXIV in February 1993. He later changed the call letters to KJZZ-TV as a reference to the Jazz. Miller also owned the Larry H. Miller Megaplex, Prestige Financial, Miller Motor-sports Park (opened in 2006), Fanzz (a chain of sports clothing & memorabilia outlets), and the successful Jordan Commons cinema/restaurant complexes along the Wasatch Front. There are 5 Megaplex Theaters located in shopping centers along the Wasatch Front; the Gateway Mall in downtown Salt Lake City, at the aforementioned Jordan Commons in Sandy, at The District in South Jordan, at The Junction in Ogden, and at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. Together the theaters total 70 screens.
So let us raise up our glasses to a NBA owner, business man, and most importantly, a stand up guy. I think I speak for a multitude of people when I say, thank you Larry Miller, rest in piece.

Scandal, Cheats, and Mischeif: Where Are Our Role Models?

Over the past few weeks we have seen a couple of the biggest "idols" in sports get bucked off their high horse and thrown into reality. Michael Phelps and Alex Rodriguez are two of the biggest faces in sports and these past few weeks have sent Phelps into a smoke filled spiral and Rodriguez has found out that integrity is a little more important then getting ahead of the pack with a little help. With that said, who are kids today supposed to look up to? Where are those athletes that you can say, wow that person has such a good work ethic and they are a good competitor and have even better sportsmanship. Where are the athletes that not only can keep their name good and clean on the court or field but also off? Alex Rodriguez has tarnished his name forever with the steroids scandal. He has lied to many and told the truth to few. Why should anyone ever believe him if he has not told the truth till "now"? Michael Phelps has been an outstanding competitor his whole life. He is arguably the greatest Olympian of all time, but these recent pictures and confessions have really turned him to the negative side for me. Kobe Bryant is also one of those people who is amazing at what he does. He is one of the top ten players of all time. He has won three championships and has a shot as smooth as the other side of the pillow, but three or four years ago, his rape case gave him bad publicity. Even though he was wrongly accused of rape he still cheated on his wife with another women. Another person to look at is Ray Lewis, who won the super bowl about nine years ago. Right before that super bowl though he was accused and involved in a shooting. He is an amazing linebacker and a perennial pro bowler but he tarnished his name being involved in the shootings. So i come back to the question, who are the role models for kids now and in the future? Where are the Ken Griffey Jr's or the Michael Jordan's, the stand-up good guys. What is in store for the future of sports and youth?