No Contract For You!

Let's knock some of the dust off this blog shall we.

#5 in the Cardinal red n' white wants a 10-year deal worth $300 mil. And I want a toilet crafted of gold and platinum. Not going to happen. Or in Pujols' case, shouldn't happen. The last I heard this man is 31 years old. Not ancient by baseball standards. But let's be honest for minute here. 31 plus 10 simply says Albert will be 41 by the time this contract would expire should the St. Louis front office sign him. This doesn't make much business since to me considering most MLB players never see their 40's while still playing the game. Whether it be kicking back in the bullpen or spitting sunflower shells from the dugout, this is an oddity. And for those who do see the golden age of their 40's and are still under contract with a franchise, they don't see playing time. So that said, the Cardinals' organization would be out of their mind to give Pujols a contract of this caliber. Even if the players union is pressuring him to raise the wage scale across the board, no one is worth that amount of money. Unless there is an unheard pitcher who tosses perfect game after perfect game or a slugger who belts homer after homer, that kind of dough handcuffs any chance of building a competitive team on the diamond.

It has been widely reported that the Cardinals have offered him an 8-year deal worth roughly $240 million, which would still provide Albert with the same $30 million per year that he is seeking. A better deal in terms of shaving off years from the contract. But not one I'd be willing to fork over as an owner. It still does not make good sports business sense to offer a contract worth this type of money that will still have a guy at age 39 when it finally expires. Why put all of your eggs in one basket? Sure he is the face of Cardinal baseball and arguably the best player in the game right now. But does that mean you pay him whatever he asks? Of course not. And if Babe Ruth were around, I doubt I would offer the Sultan of Swat the same deal.

Look, the Phillies had one of the best offseasons a club could have when they nabbed Cliff Lee from the Yankees when he was ready to bolt from the Rangers. This team now has one of the most historic rotations ever and is definitely the team to beat in all of baseball. Great pitching will always dominate great hitting. Besides the Phillies acquisitions, do you see an irreplaceable slugger on the San Francisco Giants team that won the World Series last year? I think not. By keeping the money that Albert wants safely in your pockets, you can open the door for a better pitching staff and possibly more speed on the base paths. These two aspects of the game are what will take you to the playoffs and beyond. Not some face who has had a great career with the same team since he began playing. It's a feel good story, but I don't feel good about selling the farm on one individual.

While I haven't looked at his stats, all fingers point to indications that Pujols' numbers have dipped for the third consecutive year. That coupled with the fact that he is over 30 years old might suggest he is past his prime. I'm a believer in this trend and don't think that Albert is any exception. He will more than likely smack 40+ homers this season and probably several after that, but the fact remains that he will not solely carry the Cards to a pennant championship. Those chips were cashed after the 2006 World Series. So why waste money on this guy when you simply don't have to? If he goes to the arch-rival Cubs...so what! More incentive to beat them in the future, I say. Some things never change. He is sticking to his noon deadline of Feb. 16th and I'm sticking to my decision to not offer him a contract. If he wants that type of money, why not make him earn it? "Show me the money!" On a final note, if he is signed for $30 million per year, regardless of how many years, all we will have is another A-Rod-esque situation on our hands. And we'll spend the next 10-20 years correcting it and rebuilding because we have no money to spend. That, my friends, spells bottom feeders of the National League for many years to come.

Ahh, The Gifts That Keep On Giving...

Thanks for Nothing Brett!

Brett, you've done it to me again. And this time, I can only hope it is the LAST time. I think I continued my losing streak of predictions yet again when you announced you were going to stay retired from the NFL and not join my beloved Minnesota Vikings. Well I would like to tastefully respond by saying "Good, and good riddance!"

You have been a thorn in my side ever since becoming the mayor of Cheeseland in Green Bay. I've watched countless 4th quarter comebacks of you and the Packers overcoming certain defeat only to pull it out in the waning minutes against us citizens of Vikings Country. And to think I was actually somewhat pulling for you to say you'd join our organization for the simple fact it was going to improve our offense and our overall team chemistry. Well to hell with that! I should have known you would go out on your own terms and wait until the last possible second before training camp opened up to spurn me again. You leave us with Sage "I-like-to-fumble-while-doing-a-helicopter-spin-in-the-air-against-the-Colts" Rosenfels and Tarvaris "Gingerbread Man" Jackson. Well, that's just fine by me. Sure I'd take Michael Vick in a heartbeat for the same reasons I would have chosen you to be our starting quarterback this season. But now, I will take my chances with the two we have battling it out for the starting job right now. We don't need your gunslinging attitude or your left handed underarm throws while you're about to get sacked either. Who knows? We might be like the Baltimore Ravens several years ago and let our defense win us a Super Bowl. Trent Dilfer is a Super Bowl winning quarterback of yesteryear, so why can't Rosenfels or Jackson???!!!

Now that that's out of the way, let me say that I partly blame Brad Childress and the Vikings front office for letting the drama of #4 go on for as long as it did. Why are we letting Brett decide when HE is going to tell us whether he wants to play for us this season?? Instead, why aren't WE setting the deadline as to when we need his decsion?? After all, one man is not bigger than entire team...is he? But, unfortunately, that is the way things played out. We treated Brett Favre like the spoiled little girl named Violet in "Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory". We let him have his way and that was something that should never have happened. He took advantage of us and then bit us in the ass right when he knew it would hurt us the most. It truly would not hurt my feelings if I never saw his ugly gray bearded 40-year-old face again. And that includes those dumbass Wrangler commercials. Geeeeeeeeezzzzz.....

In closing, you would probably refuse to sign with the Detroit Lions since they don't have a chance in hell at winning the division this season, so who knows, maybe you'll root for the Bears and Jay Cutler on Sunday afternoons?? In the words of PTI (Pardon The Interruption on ESPN): Happy Trails Brett (not really, but don't let Roger Goodell's commissioner's door hit you in the ass on your way out!

30 Years...And Still Counting

It has been thirty years since the horse racing industry and the entire world has witnessed a Triple Crown winner. And, rest assured, you can bet on that number increasing to thirty-one years after Saturday's running of the Preakness Stakes.

A couple of weeks ago, Mine That Bird pulled off one of the greatest upsets in thoroughbred racing history by winning the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. He didn't necesarily dominate the competition, but he turned on the jets coming down the stretch and won the Kentucky Derby by several lengths. At a near 50-1 odds when the starting gate opened, Calvin Borel rode Mine That Bird just as perfectly as he did Street Sense two years ago. He waited until the time was right and chose the right openings in between horses late in the race to steal the garland of roses. Today, people are comparing Calvin Borel to the legendary Pat Day. Now winning aside, I never recalled Pat Day celebrating after a victory the way Borel did when he pulled off the upset of upsets on May 2nd. I will give him credit where credit is due, as he knows the track at Churchill Downs probably better than he knows himself. But just like any good athlete, Borel has his weaknesses. It's certainly no secret that his strategy is to hug the rail whenever possible and, if he hasn't found it by the time he hits the home stretch, he goes hunting for it if it's the last thing he does. How the other trainers do not relay the message to colse off the rail before these races even begin is beyond me. Given the fact Borel has proved himself to be deadly when given an opening on the rail, you would think it would be priority number one for trainers and jockeys to close that gap whenever they are the opposition. My point here is that if there was no room on the inside rail at the Derby in 2007 and 2009, Borel would never have won.

Let's shift to the Preakness. Unfortuantely, I'm going to have to put blame on Borel right here, right now for choosing to ride aboard Rachel Alexandra instead of Mine That Bird. Of course having a filly beat the boys in the Preakness would be great headlines, but wouldn't winning the second leg of the Triple Crown be even greater? If Mine That Bird were to win at Pimlico on Saturday it would do nothing short of enhancing his underdog status and establish him as one of the craziest and astounding stories in horse racing.

Instead, Mine That Bird will be ridden by veteran Mike Smith. This move alone almost seals the fate of the current Derby winner to finish middle of the pack at best. Calvin Borel is looking for the money on Saturday and that's clearly why he's taking the irons with Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra. Borel knows he can be successful with just about any horse at Churchille Downs, but anywhere else he'd rather increase his chances at winning by riding the FASTER horse. Without saying it, Borel knows in his mind that Mine That Bird has no chance at all at pulling the upset twice.

As for me, I'm sticking with my pick from two weeks ago in Musket Man followed by Pioneer of the Nile and Rachel Alexandra finishing a close third. Our fearless Mine That Bird, as much as I hate to say it, will hardly be mentioned when it comes to the high class finishers on Saturday. Is there anyone left, trainer or jockey, who is afraid to turn away the cash in return for some Triple Crown gold? I can only hope we as fans do not have to wait another grueling thirty years to find out.

NBA Playoff Predictions

So, as we are already several weeks into the 2009 NBA playoffs, and some teams have been eliminated, I thought I would use this post to shed some light on my predictions.

First and foremost, the Cleveland Cavaliers are my pick to run the table and be crowned this year's champs. Why you ask? Lebron James of course. Why Lebron over Kobe you ask? Time. Meaning it's King James' TIME to shine. Kobe has clearly had his time to shine when Shaq was in LA, but now it's time for a new breed. I'm not saying that in a game of 1-on-1 Lebron could shut down Kobe and take him to the cleaners or vice versa. This post isn't about who could beat who in a game of 21 on the blacktop. Rather it's about which player does more for their team and gives them a better chance to win on the hardwood. The Cavs have yet to lose a playoff game and are on the verge of sweeping their second straight team in the Atlanta Hawks. In fact, last night, Lebron went for 47, almost half of the team's points. In my opinion, he is the most athletic and gifted athlete on the court. Kobe only had 15, in the Lakers 12 point loss to the Rockets. That type of performance is unacceptable when you're an all-star who has clearly shown you can produce during the regular season. Now is not the time to fizzle out. So my position here is that Kobe is showing some inconsistency while Lebron still has the pedal to the metal and the trophy in sight. Not to mention Kobe has much better role players on his squad than Lebron does which makes James more of a standout. #23 has to bring it every night because he knows if he doesn't, that's all she wrote and the Cavs will be wondering if LBJ is headed to the Knicks next season!

Needless to say I'm picking the Cavs to come out of the East and play the Nuggets in the Finals come next month. Denver is much like the Cavs minus Lebron. They are a team that is peaking at the perfect time and playing great basketball out west. Sure they have Carmelo Anthony, but these guys play as a team and don't let one player be the focal point. I said in a previous post that Chauncey Billups would do nothing but make this team better, and it turns out I was right. He has been racking up the points, minutes and assists and has been a very important piece to this team's success. If the Nuggets and Lakers were to hold a series right now, my money would definitely be on Denver.

There is still much to be determined in these playoffs. But I think it's safe to say the Cavs and the Nuggets in the championship would make for some good matchups and would, quite frankly, be an NBA Finals that no one expected.

Not Again!!!

The old...and I do mean old...#4 is at it again. Brett Favre cannot make up his mind on retiring. What a shocker?! The last time we saw Favre was when he was gun slinging the pigskin in the Big Apple for the New York Jets. Of course, that came after all of the drama that was induced when he was reportedly going to bow out of Green Bay, where he had spent his entire NFL career and won a Super Bowl, and cross state lines into Minnesota and sign with the Vikings. The Packers were in an uproar and even filed "tampering" charges (whatever that means in the world of football) against the Vikings organization. If you were a Packer fan around this time that would sound like Brett was going to stay in Green Bay right? WRONG! He ended up having his bags packed and went to New York instead to play for Eric Mangini.

After one season, the former Southern Miss alum began playing the Rock Band III version of (in Frank Sinatra style no less) "Start spreading the news, I'm leavin' today! I want to be a part of it...MINNESOTA!" Come on, you know the tune! It just so turns out that by the end of this week Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress will be meeting with Brett, whose last name is spelled nothing like its pronounced, at an undisclosed location to discuss putting retirement on hold and signing as the newest quarterback with the Purple People Eaters.

I see this as something that's been planned for quite some time. No, I don't mean a conspiracy to get Favre to play in a town that has rivaled that of Green Bay for many-a-year in the good old black and blue division also known as the NFC North. But rather a plan to acquire one of the biggest names at quarterback in the history of the game to help improve the Minnesota Vikings football team. A lot of people don't know, in my opinion, that Brad Childress tries his damnedest to be sneaky with his quarterback moves and is, quite frankly, unsuccessful every single time. At the beginning of last season he named Tarvaris Jackson as his starting quarterback for the entire season and said there were no doubts that he was his go-to-guy at QB. After losing multiple games as a starter to begin the season, Childress yanked Jackson, put him on the pine, and gave the car keys to veteran Gus Frerotte as his starting quarterback for the remainder of the year. Turns out Jackson returned and still saw playing time before all 16 regular season games had been completed. Obviously you can point out that Childress' bold statements aren't so bold. Oh and by the way, this off season, the Vikings head coach brought in Sage Rosenfels to battle Jackson before all of this Favre hoopla surfaced. Let me get this straight. In less than two seasons, Childress has planned to go with either Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte and/or Sage Rosenfels to lead his team and the city of Minneapolis to a Super Bowl ring?!?! Brad: Bill Belichick just called, he said thanks for sharing your team's revenue this season and he'll see you at the NFL Draft combine next April. Geez, what a moron! And speaking of the draft, WHY didn't the Vikings grab some prospect at quarterback from the draft a couple of weeks ago? Do you think its because the organization believes Jackson and Rosenfels will be the future of Minnesota football? Absolutely not! The team has strategically placed itself in a position that makes it structurally ready for a guy who has torn them apart for the past several years. Unfortunately for me, I firmly believe Brett Favre will stay out of retirement and play football for the Vikings this season. The Green Bay fans will love him simply because he's brought that franchise its only Super Bowl victory since Bart Starr did it more than 40 years ago. Favre will also be loved by the folks in Minneapolis because he automatically will make the team better. He will create motivation for the team, serve as a mentor to its players and increase the value of its mediocre receiving core. I, on the other hand, WILL NOT support #4 with the name Favre on its jersey in Minnesota. I have too much pride and too many years of loyalty stocked in this team that I so gratefully love to watch on Sundays and that occasional Monday or Thursday night. Too many times have I watched this arrogant S.O.B. quarterback make 4th quarter comeback drives one after another against my beloved team. I will never forget that nor will I ever forgive that. I refuse to cheer for him. He may soon dawn the purple and gold. But in my eyes and in my heart, he will never, EVER, be a Minnesota Viking regardless of the accolades he may go on to achieve.

Finally, I will say this: I blame you, Brad Childress, for getting our team to where we are today. We might be a good football team, but we are not a great football team. And good luck trying to circle the wagons this season, Brad. Your back is against the wall. Somewhere along the line I heard a rumor coming from the west coast. And you may have heard it too. Its subtle whispers are calling to you, Brad. "If they build it, you will lose..." There is a stadium that is going to be built in Los Angeles. So go ahead and take your gambles. It won't matter once the dust has settled. And in my opinion, you've already buried us in Minnesota. The end is near, and you know it as well as I do. But look on the bright side, Brad. Once the Vikings franchise is embedded in Los Angeles after your impeccable legacy, you shouldn't have a problem finding a new job there. I hear its the second largest city in the country.

Take A Good Look At This Picture...

I should have blogged about the NCAA tournament sooner than this. As a matter of fact, there probably should have been a post published shortly after the pairings were released to show the world my picks for this years bracket. I'm thankful that I held off because, now that the first two rounds are in the books, one of my Final Four predictions has already bit the dust. That's right. Take a good look at the logo you see at the top of this post. That's about how my face looked on Friday night when the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest were utterly embarrassed by Cleveland State in Miami. That teeth-clinching, angry looking smirk has yet to leave my face even a few days in the aftermath.

I know. I'm my own worst enemy here, and my friends at home and work let me know about my horrible prediction of putting Wake Forest in my Final Four as soon as I informed them I penciled in the Demon Deacons over Louisville. "What?! Are you crazy?!" the voices rained down on me as I returned to work on Monday morning. But all I could do was bow my shaking head in remorse knowing I'd just blogged about the Cardinals' greatness just a week after they won the Big East Tournament outright.

I try not to mix passion with money and sports. Deep inside (and I know most of you know what I'm talking about here) I felt as though if I picked Louisville to go all the way and cut down the nets on April 6 in Detroit, they would somehow stumble in the opening rounds of the tourney, and somehow I would blame myself for it. Sometimes that's just how my luck rolls when it comes to pools and fantasy leagues. Speaking of pools, I'm currently in one run by friends that also includes family members. This pool has about 20 entries, if not more, and the winner will be paid out almost $300 in cold hard cash. See why I'm pouting now???

I still have Memphis, Pittsburgh and North Carolina still alive to make it as three of my Final Four teams. But, then again, so does everyone else in America along with their pen pals in foreign countries. So there is no ground to be gained here.

I thought Wake Forest would have been a decent pick to come out of the Midwest Region and make it to the Final Four. Heck, Seth Davis from CBS predicted the same. Of course he also had Virginia Commonwealth upsetting UCLA and, well, we all know now how that turned out. Sorry Seth. But apparently we both suck this year and so does Wake Forest. My chant from here on out will be to bring on the upsets and GO CARDS!