SportsCrack Blog

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

LADY GAGA IS EVERYWHERE, BAFFLING



I can not go 4 hours in the day without hearing this chick sing her Poker Face song. Seriously, every time I go to LA Fitness or turn on my Sirius radio I hear that fucking song. I will admit it has a good beat but once she starts the "Po...Po...Po...Po...kkkkkeeerrrr face" I start to get really angry. I'm talking violent angry. I start flinging 5 pound dumb bells around like there is no tomorrow. I mean you would think with this song being so popular she would at least be hot. That would be a negative. Anyways I will let you the blog readers judge her for yourself. I got a Facebook message from a buddy of mine who is backpacking through Europe and he says people across the big pond are going nuts for Lady Gaga. I guess I just don't get it. She looks like Barbara Streisand's daughter.

YUNEL ESCOBAR IS A BITCH


As you probably know I'm not a big fan of Atlanta Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar. I hate his lazy play and the way he carries himself on the baseball field. He seems like a guy who is completely full of himself in the Barry Bonds way. He basically thinks he has the talent of Alex Rodriguez but he isn't even close. Escobar is a good player no doubt but he could be so much better if he played the game the right way. In other words hustle and be a good teammate.

Last night I attended the Braves-Cubs game with my wife and we had our typical lower level tickets behind the visitor's dugout on the third base side of Turner Field. Escobar comes to the plate in the 4th inning. Cubs pitcher Randy Wells throws him the high hard one and Escobar goes down. It looks like he has been beaned in the head. Escobar lays on the ground in an apparent daze. The crowd is concerned. The Braves bench is concerned. Hell, I'm concerned. I never want to see a player get beaned in the head. But guess what? He never got hit! The pitch hit Escobar's bat. It should have been a foul ball but Escobar, the bitch he is, acts like he is in pain from being hit by a pitch. This is the kind of shit that turns me off from soccer, Duke basketball, and now the NBA sometimes. This blatant faking doesn't belong in baseball. I had no idea Escobar didn't get hit until I got texts from two friends telling me he faked it.

I hate shit like this. It makes the Braves look bad. And if you think this is an isolated incident with Escobar and I'm going overboard in my criticism of him well then look at what he did against the Phillies on May 9th of this year. Yes, he did the same exact thing. If I am Cubs manager Lou Piniella I make sure that Escobar gets his medicine tonight. If I am Bobby Cox I make sure Escobar gets reprimanded for his acting. There is no room for this bullshit in the game. Ted Lilly should bean his frosted hair tip ass tonight in the first inning. They already have a history of Escobar taking exception of Lilly pitching inside to him.

So be on the lookout tonight for the Braves and Cubs to get in an all-out brawl. People will be hit. Feelings will be hurt. And Escobar will still be the whiny little bitch. He plays it so well.

SPORTSCRACK T-SHIRT TRIVIA QUESTION

You know the rules, the first person to answer this question correctly via email to matt@sportscrack.com gets a free Sportscrack shirt of your choice.

Today we are going to dive into a college football question. Less than a 100 days remain till kickoff, but seriously who is counting? Oh, that's right, everybody!

Anyways, here is the question: Phil Steele just released his 2009 College Football Preview, who can tell me who his #1 most improved team is and his #1 biggest surprise team for 2009?

Remember to send it to matt@sportscrack.com with your answers, your address, and what shirt and size you want.

Good luck!

THE WINNER IS BRENDON MCGIRR OF YORK, PA. BRENDON GOT THE CORRECT ANSWERS OF ILLINOIS AND PENN STATE TO OUR EMAIL THE FASTEST AND HAS PICKED THE NICK THE STICK SHIRT. CONGRATS BRENDON!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

THINGS I THINK I KNOW...SORT OF

-Going into the 2009 College Football season there is little doubt that the Florida Gators are the best team on paper. They are the returning BCS Title Game winner and have the best player in college football in Tim Tebow. This isn't up for debate either. Tebow is the best player in college football. I don't want to hear from any Georgia fan or Sam Bradford apologist. Tebow is the best...accept it. Now if you want to make fun of Tebow go right ahead but you will have to look out for his 4 year old girlfriend. Don't you worry, she is saving her virginity for him. Her daddy wouldn't have it any other way.

You know you are big time when Erin Andrews comes up to you and offers you anything...and I mean anything...just ask Percy Harvin...for one night with you.

-This talk about Notre Dame playing Army in the new Yankees Stadium is beyond dumb. As a Notre Dame fan I have no desire at all to see the Fighting Irish play Army. One service academy on the schedule is enough. And don't give me this BS about it being a rivalry game with Army because it's not. It's all about the money. If they are going to play a game in the Northeast why not play it at an actual football stadium. I respect the tradition of Yankees baseball and believe that baseball should be the only game played in the new Yankees Stadium. Plus if you play a football game there the most you can get in the stadium is 45,000 and with seats starting at $2500 for a baseball game I can only imagine how much tickets will cost for a Notre Dame football game in the Bronx. It's beyond stupid to play Army there. Army isn't even a real opponent. Schedule someone like Penn State or even play Michigan there but do it in East Rutherford so people can actually afford to attend the game. Playing a game against Army in Yankees Stadium does nothing for the Notre Dame football program. If anything it makes them a laughingstock among college football pundits. Plus a game in New York City does little for their recruiting. If they want to get big time recruits they need to schedule neutral site games in cities like Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas and New Orleans. Those cities have big time venues in super rich recruiting areas. And these neutral site games need to be against quality opponents. No Army or Baylor or Washington State. Schedule a team like Miami or Georgia or even Texas on a neutral field. That will get me pumped up and it will get people to notice your program legitimately.

The last time Notre Dame vs. Army meant something was before the color television had been invented, no need to go back to black and white now.

-The 100 pitch count in baseball needs to go away. I know MLB teams are scared they are going to lose their high paid ace to injury if he throws over 100 pitches in a start but is there really any science to prove that 100 pitches is when arms start to fall off? Last night I was watching the Orioles-Mariners game (one of 5 people actually watching it live) and Orioles starter Rich Hill had a 2 hitter going while retiring 15 straight batters. He wasn't just retiring batters, he was making them look silly with his curveball. Instead of letting him pitch the 8th the Orioles manager Dave Trembley pulled him after he reached 100 pitches. Maybe Hill insisted coming out but I doubt it. When you are pitching that good you never want to come out especially in a 1-0 game. Baseball minds are getting too wrapped up around the idea of 100 pitch max for a starter. Nolan Ryan used to throw over 140 pitches regularly. His arm never fell off. These kids never throw more than 100 pitches or 7 innings in the minors and then when they are called up they don't have the strength to throw complete games. I don't see Roy Halladay or C.C. Sabathia complaining about throwing too many pitches. At least Nolan Ryan has taken notice and made the Rangers organization from top to bottom get rid of the 100 pitch count. And this isn't even up for discussion with Ryan. Ask Robin Ventura what happens when you disagree with Ryan...

Monday, June 01, 2009

YOUR MONDAY MORNING WAKE UP SONG

Sunday, May 31, 2009

CHARLES BARKLEY CALLS HIS PRODUCER A PUSSY


Gotta love Barkley. He never holds back.

Video HT: Barstool Sports

BRUNO LANDS ON EMINEM AT MTV MOVIE AWARDS



This was all staged but it still is hilarious. I can't wait for Bruno to come out. Just the fact that he put his balls in front of Enimem is reason enough to give it a shot.

Friday, May 29, 2009

DREW BREES ROCKING THE COMBOVER MULLET



If I grew my hair out it would look exactly like this. I'm rocking the fading Pete Sampras hairline and instead of deciding to comb it over I just shave it. But New Orlean Saints QB Drew Brees is bringing back not only the comb over but also the Kenny Powers mullet. Good luck with that Mr. Chocolate Chip face. Hopefully this starts a trend in the sports world. I would love to see Matt Hasselbeck or even Kevin Youkilis sport the comb over mullet. Bring it back guys! Give this balding a hole a chance.

TERI HATCHER CAN STILL BRING IT


Desperate Housewives Teri Hatcher is like 89 years old and still looks like she could break some serious dicks off. It goes to prove that Botox can be a wonderful drug. As well as lipo and eating only food that rabbits enjoy. Go check out WWTDD for more pics of Hatcher cougar prowling on Miami Beach today.


And on that note have a great weekend everybody!

MATT WIETERS FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE


The kid looks like he is ready. One can only hope that he lives up to half of his hype. If he turns out to be anything close to resembling Twins catcher Joe Mauer then I will be one happy fan as well as all of the other Baltimore die hards out there.

Go get em tonight Matty!

Video courtesy of MASN Sports

KOBE AND LEBRON PUPPETS ON COKE


"COCAINE KOBE BRYANT! GET EXCITED!"

YANKEES SUCK SHIRT GETS COUPLE THROWN OUT OF RANGERS GAME


And to think an $8 Yankees Suck t-shirt could be so offensive! I thought this was America. Home of the free and the right to free speech. I believe in this country and I think the majority of people would not find this shirt offensive. Are we not allowed to attempt humor on a shirt anymore? I had no idea the Gestapo was alive and thriving in Arlington. Good day sir.

Video HT: Don

Thursday, May 28, 2009

BASEBALL RUMBLINGS


-Everyone knows Carlos Zambrano is a hot head. The guy melts down faster than an ice cube on the Devil's dick. I think Zambrano was just doing his best Kenny Powers impression. He was obviously inspired by Kenny's words of wisdom such as "You're fucking out!" Look, Zambrano had a right to be angry because he thought he tagged the runner out. Replays showed the runner might have just gotten in before the tag was applied. It doesn't matter. I love to see baseball players get fired up. It shows they have heart and want to win. And don't worry about that little bump they talked about. The umpire bumped into Zambrano. One other thing we found out about Zambrano after this freak out: he prefers Powerade.

-What the fuck are the Atlanta Braves doing? Have you seen their outfield production? Oh yeah, you haven't because there is none. Jordan Schafer has no right whatsoever to be in the major leagues right now. But yet everyday Bobby Cox trots him out to centerfield for his obligatory 3-4 K's a game. The kid is so overmatched right now it's not even funny. He can't hit an inside curveball to save his life and yet hitting coach Terry Pendleton has done nothing to correct his swing or position in the box to help him. If he can't be helped in Atlanta he needs to be sent down. Same with Jeff Francoeur. Frenchy is terrible at the plate. I love his arm and defense in the outfield but the guy just hasn't adjusted to major league pitching. Maybe Bobby Cox knows something that I don't but I can not for the life of me see these guys make drastic improvements. The Braves offense is anemic because of Frenchy, Schafer, and Garrett Anderson. GM Frank Wren needs to make a move to get a power bat for the outfield. The Braves have the pitching to compete with anybody but they can't score any runs. Or maybe they need to fire Pendleton. If I were the Braves GM I would fire Pendleton, send Schafer down, and trade Frenchy plus some other spare pitching parts(Charlie Morton, Medlen, etc.) for a proven slugger. Matt Holliday could be available. The Orioles are willing to listen to offers for Aubrey Huff. Make some phone calls Wren. Turn this team around.

-Zack Greinke is reminding me of Pedro Martinez when he first appeared in Boston. Zack Attack is almost untouchable right now when he steps on the mound. I actually expect him to throw a no-hitter this year. We are already almost a third of the way through the season and his ERA is still below 1.00. He has 5 complete games. If this guy pitched for one of the East Coast teams he would be considered the greatest pitcher ever. Well, it doesn't matter because he is pitching in KC and bringing back the fans to Kauffman. I want to see the Royals compete for their division almost as badly as I want to watch Greinke pitch. The loyal Royals fans who have stuck by their team deserve it.

THE FREAK 55 SAN FRANCISCO SHIRT


We got a brand new shirt called The Freak in honor of Tim Lincecum. Lincecum has been lights out this season after dominating the National League last season in winning his first Cy Young. Affectionately called "The Freak" by teammates and fans, now you can wear the shirt to support your favorite player. The shirt has a distressed design to give it a vintage look and feel to it.

SPORTSCRACK STORE PAGE

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

NOLAN REIMOLD IS THE MAN!


WALK OFF 3 RUN HOMERUN IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 11TH TO WIN THE GAME! A sweep of the Blue Jays, their first since 1994. Plus I saw a fan wearing a Nick the Stick shirt right before Reimold hit the laser shot out. Hell yeah!

T-SHIRT TRIVIA


I got one free Sportscrack Tee or Drink Like a Champion Today shirt to the first person who can answer this trivia question correctly.

There have been an abundance of home steals in baseball this year, can you name the all-time leader in home stolen bases and the exact number this person collected in their career?

First person to email me their name, address, and the correct answers to matt@sportscrack.com will get a free shirt of their choice. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations go out to Jim Niemie of New York for being the first person to correctly email me the answer of Ty Cobb with 54 stolen bases. Jim picked the BC$ We Want Playoffs not Payoffs shirt. Be on the lookout next Wednesday at noon eastern when we will do another Sportscrack Tee Trivia giveaway.

THE GREAT WIETERS HOPE


And so it begins...nearly two full years after the Baltimore Orioles drafted phenom catcher Matt Wieters with the 5th overall pick out of Georgia Tech, Wieters will make his major league debut this Friday in Camden Yards against the Detroit Tigers. The 6'5 catcher has had scouts, baseball executives, coaches and fans raving and drooling about his minor league production not to mention his future MLB potential as one of the centerpieces of an Orioles franchise that already boosts young superstars in Nick Markakis and Adam Jones. Wieters has drawn favorable comparisons to Joe Mauer and Jason Varitek. Excuse me while I change my pants. I think I just soiled myself.

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail revealed last night during the MASN broadcast against the Blue Jays that Wieters would make his debut and that he was ready...

"He is really starting to hit the ball; he has been on quite a streak over the last 10 days...he has made the progress, the power is starting to come. He is (hitting) over .300 as we speak. ... It's time. He has done what he has needed to do at that level."

Wieters learned last night before taking the field for the Norfolk Tides that he was being called up. How did he respond to the news? Oh, simply by going 4-for-4 with a double, 4 RBIs and getting on base all 5 times he was up. Yeah, he is most certainly ready. Wieters tore up A and AA ball last year while climbing up to the #1 overall prospect. He finished last season with 27 home runs, drove in 91, and hit .355 overall with an on-base percentage of nearly .450 while earning the Baseball America Player of the Year honor. This season his production hasn't been as good while playing in AAA due partly to a tender hamstring that shelved him for almost a week. But nevertheless scouts and coaches and even the players know he is ready to make a big impact in Baltimore.
"Right when he came up [to Bowie] and I saw him play for a while, I was like 'Wow,' " said Orioles left fielder Nolan Reimold, who played with Wieters for parts of two seasons. "He can really hit and he can really play."

Wieters was all part of a plan drawn up and implemented by MacPhail to revitalize the Orioles minor league system. The Orioles spent too many seasons chasing old veterans, drafting the wrong guys, and not developing the talent and/or trading it away(I still can't believe to this day they traded Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch, and Steve Finley for Glenn Davis). But MacPhail has changed the Orioles franchise around and thankfully owner Peter Angelos has learned from his past mistakes and let a great baseball mind do his job. One of those was drafting Wieters with the 5th pick when he was rated the #1 overall player in the draft and only fell because of signing issues(Scott Boras client). MacPhail got him signed and delivered at the 11th hour with an Orioles record signing bonus of $6 million.

Wieters has proven so far that he is well worth the money. The Orioles haven't had a winning season since I was a freshman at Towson University. That was 12 years ago. It's been a painful decade to watch a proud franchise like the Orioles slip while teams in their division like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees enjoy huge success thanks in large part to the economics of the game. But things are changing for the better in Charm City. With the contract extensions of Markakis and Brian Roberts and the trade with Seattle to bring in superstar in the making Adam "Bazooka" Jones and future ace Chris Tillman along with All-Star closer George "Flat Breezy" Sherrill things are starting to look sunny on the diamond for the first time since Cal Ripken smiled and waved his final farewell to the fans. Not to mention that MacPhail drafted and signed future aces Jake Arrieta and Brian Matusz as part of a "cavalry" of young pitching phenoms that should have Marylanders ready to hang up those Ravens hats and start heading back to Camden Yards.

Wieters is just the start of the Great Hope. The next decade of call ups should be the light to guide the Orioles out of the darkness.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED BABY

I'm 30 years old, married, own a home, drive a SUV, and have two dogs and a cat. You know what comes next don't ya? Yes. A baby. You figured your friends would be happy for you. Think again. Take a look at your future, my future, the whole human race future...


I went and saw Terminator Salvation on Friday. Good action flick for all the Terminator junkies out there. But seriously, why no mention of John Connor's wife and his baby? Director McG seriously messed up on that part. It's like he was scared to even acknowledge to the audience the existence of a future Connor. I was almost as disappointed as when those garbage Star Wars prequels came out. Seriously, no baby Chewbacca? Come on George Lucas. He must have consulted his friends before filming. Oh, don't worry if you haven't seen Terminator Salvation. Everybody dies. It's over. I won't ruin it for you though and give you anymore details.

YOUR TUESDAY MORNING WAKE UP SONG

Since we took off for Memorial Day here is your Tuesday morning wake up song...

CLEVELAND NEEDS TO BELIEVE...

In the power of Lebron. Talk about a city full of defeatist losers, check out this Cleveland news station give up all hope after the Orlando Magic took a 2 point lead with 1 second left in the game 3.


I still think the NBA rule where you call a time out after the opposing team scores and you get the selection of taking the ball past half court is one of the dumbest rules in sports. But it does make for exciting highlights.