Oh calm down Jr nation, truth hurt?

Alright. So I expect some bad replies from this, but, I am still doing it.

The most average driver in NASCAR was called to the carpet today. "it's never Junior; it's always the crew chief" was said about Jr by Kyle Busch. The funny thing is, he's correct, for the most part.

So the nation (both Jr and NASCAR fans) are calling Kyle Busch out. At least someone is. Jr looked like a sad puppy at the press conference talking about how Kyle always has something out for him. WHAT? A lot like his driving, Jr went out soft. Are you going to tell me he took the high road? How about showing some heart? How about showing some anger? How about showing some emotion because a large part of you just got your family member fired? Why not go and drink some of those Amp energy drinks, act like you're angry and want to take on the world?

But no. Jr just limped along the press conference, whoa is me, feel bad for me.

Remember it was not too long ago that Jeff Gordon was called out because he "didn't want to win"? Eh hem.

You want to hate Kyle Busch because, he, um, competes? Wins? Says 2nd place stinks? Now don't get me wrong, I don't have any 18 gear, but he does drive for JGR who I support. I do respect the fact that at any given weekend he could be driving in 3 series, trying to win in all.

I read some of the postings from fans on foxsports.com, and on espn.com, and man, its a war. 18 this, 88 that.

Simple facts are, Jr under-performed, a lot of money is involved, and someone had to go. Just like in any other sport, in fact just ask the Colorado Rockies. Two years ago they were in the world series. Today, they fire the manager.

One thing is outrageously clear, Mr Earnhardt Jr, you have one more pass. When you do get your new crew chief, you might want to win. You don't have Eury Jr to deflect any more attention, its now all on you.

I suggest you show some heart.

A "key role'' in HMS's research and development group

So the much anticipated firing of Tony Eury Jr came down this morning. Well, it really isn't a firing since he's going to be filling a "key role" in R&D. What in the hell is that? Is he going to do testing on which coffee works best in the break room? Or is he gonna be the guy that taste's the oils to find out which one taste more like chicken? For a guy that couldn't adjust a car right, this will be interesting .

Anywho, the trainwreck that was the "family" racing team is over. Eury Jr is being replaced by Brian Whitesell. Whitesell most recently was Brad Keselowski's crew chief at Darlington. Good luck with that Brian. Obviously, I don't think there is a job that is more pressure in NASCAR.

More than the firing of Eury Jr, Earnhardt finally has to fulfill what people expect of him, and that's to be an elite driver. Currently Jr is 19th in the standings, 7 positions out from the chase. It will be an uphill road if they can pull this off. Granted its early, but to make a switch like this, however necessary, is risky.

Hang on boys and girls, the saga that is Jr is only getting started

Seriously Martin?

Rumors are swarming that Martin Truex Jr is on his way to Michael Waltrip Racing. Now I know what a whirlwind MWR is on, shoot, first win and all due to a rain out, but Martin, WHAT GIVES?

Granted he has been involved in a smoke and mirrors organization since coming to the big show, but why leave one train wreck for another? Ask Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and others what its like to finally get it that you cannot turn an organization around, it takes many. Look at Stewart-Haas racing. Mired in what was a lower 20's, mid 30's owner points organization, Tony Stewart was brought in, wholesale changes were made, and presto.

Plus, why leave Bass Pro Shops for NAPA? That has to be as lame as what Clint Bowyer had to go through. Seriously, Jack Daniels to Hamburger Helper!

Friends of mine have discussed where he might end up, the third ride for Stewart-Haas, possibly the 4th car for JGR, but never in a million years would I think that it was to MWR.

If this is true, if Truex goes to MWR, that means Michael Waltrip's historic career is over. I think that all the drivers in the series will be thankful in a way, I mean, at least he wont do what he normally does and take out the field somewhere in the race!!

MLB this aint Houston, and you have a problem

Two games, two serious issues.

The first, on Sunday. The Milwaukee Brewers were playing the Minnesota Twins. In the 7th inning, Joe Mauer was hit by a pitch, however the umpire called it a foul ball. Mauer strutted down the line, only to be called back. The umpire was saying that he fouled the ball off, and not off the hand. The issue is not if he got hit or not, the issue is after saying it was foul, the manager for the Twins, Ron Gardenhire came out to argue. He went out, Mauer showed his hand, and somehow, the ump changed the call. Milwaukee's manager Ken Macha immediately came out and tried to get an explanation. However, the overturned decision stuck, and Macha quietly left the field. With bases loaded, the very next pitch, and I do mean very next pitch, Justin Morneau took it deep into the right field bleachers.

Second, tonight. During the Mets and and Nationals game, Gary Sheffield took John Lannan deep into left field. Except, under the new rules, the manager of the Nationals came out and said that a fan interfered with the ball, and that it wasn't in fact a home run. With this, the umpires are expected to come in and watch it on replay. The video on ESPN clearly shows the fan hitting it, it dropping down and should be called anything but a home run. To anyone who watched the replay/game, the ump's come out and call it a home run.

In two days, MLB got the best and worst from people that argue and argue against replay. What should have happened in the Minnesota game was the ump go into the, well, where ever they go, and look.

In the Mets game, obviously they need some high def. WHAT in the world were they watching?

Two games, two plays that changed the game. And the people that are in charge of enforcing the rules clearly screwed up. I know that the Minnesota play is not able to be replayed. But, if you are going to have replay, have replay. If it's contested, someone for god's sake look at it. And more so, look at it with a good TV that doesn't have rabbit ears and has some color to it.

In baseball where one play can change a game, anything should be looked at. For god's sake, its already a slow game, adding 5 minutes isn't going to kill anyone.

Also, shame on you Macha. You should have come unglued after the grand slam. You should have thrown bases, kicked chalk, shoot, even be like that minor league manager from last year that used the rosin bag as a grenade. To go back to the dugout, watch it go yard and do nothing is disappointing.

2 other things, Mr T as the 7th inning stretch singer? What, was everyone on the list of hopefuls busy? And lastly, oh to be a Ray's fan. Up 10-0 and lose? Ouch

Coca Cola 600 Recap and some notes about Indy 500

In what has to be a disappointing end, the weekend at Charlotte will better be known for rain than great racing that comes from Lowes.

The Nationwide race was shortened and after being delayed from Sunday night to Monday, we would find no difference in luck. Mother Nature had different plans for this weekend. But, some racing happened, and what was there was either really good for some, or a wreck for others.

Kyle Busch started the race and took off, which this and last season we have been very accostumed seeing. A few cars looked strong early, Vickers, Kahne, Stewart, Kyle Busch, and even Juan Pablo Montoya.

The race was stopped as more rain came, and then started and stopped and started and I cant remember how many times it happened. And finally a long red flag and inches more of rain led to a long, long stoppage.

One thing that did occur in the race, and it was something that I have never seen in any sporting event, which was at 3:00 pm the race stopped. In recognition of Memorial Day, NASCAR showed its respect by stopping the cars, getting the crews over the wall, and the track stood silent. I myself, was very moved. Tony Stewart called it the coolest thing he's ever been apart of. I as a fan was watching very proud of what NASCAR did.

The was decided unfortunately by the 00 car, David Reutimann not stopping along with others during a caution, and staying out. Before this, Kyle Busch was leading with a slew of cars behind him.

Michael Waltrip Racing was awarded on a rain shortened race. To me, it was reminiscent of Waltrips Daytona win. How fitting.

For a particular 2, the race could'nt have come sooner. Kevin Harvick started the race and promptly dented in his right front fender only to a couple laps later bury it into the wall. His race was over, and was it going to be a long day for the 29 crew. For that matter, all of RCR (Richard Childress Racing) were junk. To me, there is no greater disappointment overall than this team.

The most overrated driver in the series, Dale Jr, didnt have the luxury of saying he hit something. In fact, he missed everything. Every setup that his teammates ran seemed to work, but for NASCAR's dynamic duo, Eury Jr and Jr, they could'nt yet again figure it out. I don't know what it is with those two, I don't know if Jr can't explain what it is that's going on in his car, or if Eury Jr can't understand what is coming out of Jr's mouth, but whatever it is, this combo is still not working. I wouldnt look at today's race results and say Hendricks all missed it, because that's not what happened during the race. The 48,24, and 5 all were strong. Since 2000, Jr has won 18 races. In the last 3 years, he has won 3. For being the most popular driver, results obviously arent required.

During one of the stoppages, Stewart went to Reutimann and had a conversation about something that occured on the track. During the conversation, one of Reutimann's crew members decided to intervene. I know that Stewart can come off wrong, but to me, Reutimann's crew member should have been put in his place. It's between the drivers, not crew members. Stewart had what I thought was the last laugh in calling the member Billy Bad Butt, and Fox evening airing that when he was on TV, however in the end, the 00 got it with winning the race.

Just a couple things from the Indy 500.

I'm so tired of hearing about Danica Patrick and where she's going and everything else about her. Listen, she should not decide her next move is to NASCAR. This is not a sexist thing, this is reality. She has only driven in open wheel, NASCAR is a completely different beast, and like others before her, chances are, it wont work. I dont understand all the hype around her anyhow. She has won one race. In Japan. Other than a couple top 5's, thats it. She's more known about screaming at other driver's and telling them what they should do. I would love to see her try that with one of the NASCAR drivers. Plus, in the year of sponsorship problems, who on this earth is going to take a risk like this?

Stay where you are Ms Danica. You have a better chance there at winning a race then you ever will in NASCAR. God I hope that is the last of that.

So finally, a disappointing weekend is over, and its north to Dover next week. Let's hope for better weather and the 43 best drivers (OK not really 43) take on the Monster Mile.

Have a great week

OK ESPN, Here's a tip

Enough already. Enough of the developing stories regarding Mike Vick and how he went from the bedroom to the living room because one of the reporters that are camped out in his yard saw him do this.

Whats next?

This is ESPN with a developing story:

Mike Vick went down to his kitchen at 1:23 pm today and heated up one of those steak and cheese hot pockets, and after doing so, Mike spent the period of 1:55 to 2:08 on the pooper. ((Geese what do you expect after eating one of those things?))

It is being reported that he read "Dog World", this months "Animal Planet A Pit Bull special".

ENOUGH ALREADY

Holy Hindenburg Batman, where oh where has the offense gone?

I have heard it said before, and I do believe it, one of the hardest things to do in any sport is to hit a baseball.

But with 14 guys on the roster, you think that someone could do it. OK, that's not fair, I hear ya, but, again last night the Mariners were held scoreless thanks to Joe Saunders dazzling the Mariners at the plate with the white 9" in circumference, 5 oz with white with red stitching thing we call a baseball.

I guess we should be thankful that Beltre decided to take advantage of the tip that if you take that wood off your shoulder and swing it on a horizontal axis, sometimes it makes contact. With a 2 for 4 night, Beltre raised his staggering offense to a whopping .207 avg. If you didn't have a glove, the Wisconsin Timberrattlers would be looking to dump you.

Id like to give the award for hard effort of the night award to, um, judges, please, judges, the verdict, what do you mean there aren't any candidates?

Come on now, Bedard had a decent night, 5 ip, 2 er, his era is a respectful 2.64

And Morrow, shoot he threw 2 scoreless innings. Denny Stark threw one inning of scoreless innings late in the game also.

But the offense. Oh the offense. Ichiro got the hit fest off in the second inning, getting the party off with a single into left field. But somehow, the swiss cheese bats that the Mariners brought with them to the Safe would not be able to connect again until the 5th when Lopez singled to right, to be followed up with Betancourt also singling to right. Gutierrez powered up with a foul ball to 1st, then Ichiro hit into a fielders choice moving the 2 already on to third and second respectfully. AND THEN.....LOPEZ in his best Jacob Ellsbury and this was the new Yankee's stadium and stole home. Except the fact that Lopez forgot to take the Piano, Encyclopedia set and other various items that might slow down the speedy Lopez . What in the hell. Anywho, Lopez attempts a steal, I don't need to continue.

From the sixth on, 3 hits. 2 were Beltre. 1 Branyan. That's disgusting. Actually, when my daughter was young, she couldn't pronounce disgusting correctly, she would say, that was digusting, and the offense is digusting.

The good news is, the Giants of San Fransisco are coming to town. That's right boys and girls, the experiment that has run its course and should be put out to pasture is back. Interleague play. If there is something that is more done than this, please let me know.

The Big Unit, yes Randy Johnson is coming to town tonight. Unfortunately this is not the same Randy that we know, he's 3-4 with a 6.86 era. We counter with Vargas who is 1-0 and a 1.29 era.

Shoot, tonight should be Joey Cora "Tears in my eyes" bobblehead night.

Come on guys, remember the 7+ run games when we were hitting games? Remember that? Lets get it started, bring out that can, open it up and use it this weekend on the Giants.

A sad demise for something with so much promise

This is not a bashing. This is not a husky/cougar thing. This is just a posting that on the AP states there is an indictment on Ryan Leaf for one count of burglary to a habitation, seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and delivery of a simulated controlled substance.

There was an abrupt leaving from the Assistant Coach position he held at West Texas A&M. He was also the Head Coach of the golf team. Apparently Mr Leaf is in a rehab in British Columbia. It is not known if he has an attorney, and currently they (Randall County Prosecutors) are asking for Ryan to come back on his own accord rather than extradite him.

Like him, hate him, another sad story of someone that had an opportunity and struggled. Its been documented and laughed about enough, I am not throwing fuel on the fire, just writing about it because the fall is sad.

Puppy Chow's new spokesman

Has been sent home for confinement. I cant wait to hear where he will land. I have read that the leading candidates are the Bills and the (of course) Raiders.

Irregardless, yes I know he has paid his debt to society, yes I know he will hear it where ever he goes, but I will never root for this a-hole. He's lucky we don't live in the society of eye for an eye.

I knew the Mariners were reading my posts

Finally

A quality signing

I will take: Give me an F'ng break for $1000 Alex

For those of you that don't know it, that is the symbol for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

That symbol and the name has come under fire since 2005 when it was "deemed" "hostile and abusive" to American Indians.

The symbol and nickname was changed in the 1930's, a move to bolster the Universities name, which was named the Flickertails. Who in the hell would be proud to be a Flickertail?

The University and the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes

have until Oct 1st to agree that the University can continue to use the name, or the name has to be removed by Aug 1 2010.

Sadly, the tribe said that the possibility of this happening is "remote".

If the University doesn't do this, they will be barred by the NCAA in post season play and other sanctions.

The University of Illinois is going through the same sanctions, and unfortunately have decided to change this too. The Washington Redskins fell under the same scrutiny.

I am sorry, but this is freaking ridiculous. The tribes think that the representation is disrespectful? I think that the fact that Universities have been put under the pressure from the NCAA is disrespectful. The fact that they have to change their name, the same very names they have used for decades is disrespectful. The board for North Dakota voted 8-0 to change it. Typical politicians.

I hope they go back to the Flickertails.

I hate this "politically correct" society that we live in that everything is touched with soft gloves and make everything nice.

So, North Dakota, you change the name, I say anyone that comes to your sporting event that is from the tribe has to pay double to pay for the costs of changing all the merchandising, posters, etc.

But that's just my nonpolitical correct opinion

Lets take a look at the Bedard trade

So here we sit, 14 days into the month of May and are we seeing what the Mariners truly are? Did we see what a team with a new Manager and energy can bring to the start of the season, and then reality set in? On the heels of getting swept by the first place Rangers, here are some ugly stats:

The Mariners have 2 wins and 11 losses for the month of may, heading into a long home stretch with the likes of Boston, and the Angels, only to get on a plane for 3 games at Oakland and 3 games at LA only to return to play a series with Baltimore. That is 22 days of games. 22 straight days, with a staff that is old, position players that are struggling, and sorry, but a lot of losses coming.

I was reading the story that Bedard is expected to miss his turn on the mound Saturday, and that got me to thinking. Honestly, yesterday watching replays of Adam Jones got me thinking, and before I go on, hind site is 20/20 and its easy to go this route, but I am going at it anywho.

G AB R H 2b 3b HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG

32 127 35 47 12 1 8 26 10 25 3 2 .370

That would be the line of one Adam Jones who runs the outfield for the Baltimore Orioles

G GS CG IP H R ER HR BB SO W L S HLD BLSV WHIP ERA
15 0 0 14.2 17 6 6 3 7 13 0 1 6 0 2 1.64 3.68

That would be the line for George Sherrill who was also part of the Bedard trade.

G GS CG SO IP H R ER HR BB SO W L S HLD BLSV WHIP ERA
7 7 0 0 42.2 39 14 12 3 11 43 2 1 0 0 -- 1.17 2.53

That is Eric Bedard's line this year.

Adding both Sherrill's and Jones's salaries it is $3,185,000.00.

Eric Bedard's salary is $7,750,000.00

Adam Jones currently is third in the league in BA, 1st in Runs, 3rd in slugging percentage, 13th in HR, 5th in OBP, and 4th in OPS.

Franklin Gutierrez who is roaming the center green for the Mariner's makes $20,000.00 more a year than Jones. I know that that will change shortly for Jones, but it is important.

Gutierrez's line looks like this:

G AB R H 2b 3b HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG
32 103 15 26 3 0 3 13 13 23 1 2 . .252

The only thing that is close is that Gutierrez is close on Caught Stealing and leads by 3 in walks.

Face it, another horrible trade on the Mariners. Another sell the farm to get a hopeful that isn't working out. Adam Jones will be in the league for years to come, and unfortunately, for us, we will be watching him making spectacular plays in center field, reminiscent of the guy we brought back for one year.

Sadly, Jones's numbers beat all the Mariners in offensive production alone.

Inflamation of the Shoulder? More like ERA

That's it, Wak has seen enough. The train wreck that is Carlos Silva is getting a much deserved....errrr.....needed break. Shutting down the powerhouse that is Silva is a risky move no doubt. By putting your offense on notice that they will not need to score more than 8.48 runs tonight, the offense might take the night off. Wak is definitely a gambler.

In a career that has more losses than wins, I thought that I might post this tool's career standings for your viewing pleasure. In fact, next time you are up for a job review, go into it with these kinda stats and attempt to get a pay raise let alone keep your job.

w l w% era g gs gf cg ip hits
60 64 .484 4.71 293 159 38 6 1127.0 1373

runs er hr bb ibb so
630 590 142 212 23 474

No doubt not only does this move put more pressure on the staff, they are replacing him with Vargas, but can you imagine the pressure the Team Chef is under now? Shoot, at least he had a break on game day when Carlos was forced to go out to the field, now Carlos can wander the buffet table with reckless abandon. Oh the pressure.....

Seriously?

A purple warning track? Really?

Recap of the Sounders debacle

Alright, I will give it to you, I agree. Soccer has a terrible problem. What transpired on the pitch yesterday was embarrassing to watch. Infact, it was hard to watch. There should have been academy awards handed out yesterday after the game. I will list the candidates:

Award for: "Best Impersonation of a Ref" goes to Tim Weyland. Apparently Tim had retired from being a ref, and unfortunately for the Sounder faithful, he came out of retirement and showed what happens when you lose control of a game that is full of emotions, and show zero consistency in the way you call the game.

Award for: "Help me I've fallen" goes to the Galaxies Donovan Ricketts. Between the falling down episodes and looking like he had concocted the swine flu, this guy should have been carded repeatedly. The worst was the closing minutes and he falls down due to the pull of the earths orbital pull.

Award for: "I'll Show You" goes to, sorry Seattle fans, Sigi. After the match was final, Freddie went after the refs who were walking off the pitch. Sigi decided to, at a distance, share his thoughts of the events. It looked silly. It looked desperate. I'm not saying he should have done it during the game, obviously not, it could have potentially hurt the team even worse. I get that. You have a forum, its called the press conference, use that instead.

Award for: "Let's fight like this is the NBA" goes to all the players involved in the incident that eventually sent Riley off. It looked like for a second that an NBA fight broke out, you know, like a bunch of swinging like they dont know what they are doing! Then pushing, obviously comments about the mothers (I know, even on mothers day), and then the eventual apology, pat on the back and lets play.

Award for: "Best actor in a missing plot" goes to David Beckham. The torture is over, the Beckham tragedy has been settled, and we didnt have to put up with it. Beckham wants to take his ball and play in Italy, in preparation for the World Cup. I dont pretend to think that the MLS is equal to say Serie A, I just hated when that tool showed his face with his stuck up wife like he was sent here to save the league. My wife will definetly disagree with this.

It was a game that got lost. Emotions, anger and testosterone hindered any kind of flow that might have developed in between the inconsistency of the ref's whistle. I hate the diving, I hate the noncalls from diving. It was another game that Seattle lost another player due to a red card. They have to stop doing this to themselves, this is a recipe for one point games and not closing the gap with Chivas.

On a great day that is Mothers Day, this game left a bad taste in atleast my mouth.

Baseball and its Performance Enhancing Drug problem

So the infamous Manny Ramirez of the LA Dodgers today has been banned 50 games by MLB for testing positive for using the female fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, which is considered a performance enhancing drug. Manny of course is blaming the doctor that prescribed it. The drug is designed to restart the bodies natural testosterone levels.

Alex Sanchez Jorge Piedra A. Montero Jamal Strong Juan Rincon R. Betancourt R. Palmeiro
Ryan Franklin Mike Morse C. Almanzar Felix Heredia Matt Lawton Yusaku Iriki Jason Grimsley Guillermo Mota Juan Salas Neifi Perez Neifi Perez Mike Cameron Dan Serafini Jay Gibbons Jose Guillen Eliezer Alfonzo Henry Owens J.C. Romero Sergio Mitre Manny Ramirez Damian Moss Robert Machado Clay Hensley Brian Mallette Jon Nunnally Tom Evans Grant Roberts Darnell McDonald Steven Smyth Christian Parker Luis Ugueto
Wilson Delgado Luis Ugueto Nerio Rodriguez Abraham Nunez Yamid Haad Henry Owens
Sergio Mitre

That is the list of players that since 2005 have also tested positive for steroids. That isnt including players that played before this. Granted ARod would be added if he would have "officially" been tested. But eventually the press finally found it and he in time copped to it. Roger Clemens is sweating bullets as the days pass. Barry Bonds walks freely still today.

Has the congressional intervention with baseball worked? Has it deterred the player from cheating? 44 players since 2005 have tested positive. Many of these players were positive in 2005, but it shows that even since its inception, players are still trying to get around the system.

I think the testing has worked. If you look at the amount of players that play for a MLB team, and throw in the minor leagues, the number of players vs the one's cheating, the numbers are small.

The saying a few bad apples holds true here. You can hope to police everyone, but there will always be individuals that feel the need to cheat to get ahead.

Which is worse? Is the Chicago White Sox of 1920 with "Shoeless" Joe and his gang of 8, or Pete Rose and his betting worse for the integrity and game or is one individual such as Manny injecting/swallowing steroids worse?

One good thing that has come of this is Mark McGwire, although never testing positive, only received 22% of the required votes to get into the Hall of Fame. A message clearly sent by the voters that steroids will not be accepted there.

The sad thing is, in July when the suspension is lifted, Manny's 2 month vacation will be over, he will step on the field and play again.

Instead of a 3 strike policy, it should be one and done. Guilty and you are finished. If it is something that isn't true, then in the court system, you have your venue to prove your innocence. Sadly though, the selfish individuals that cheat, that "received it through their cousins", or the doctor prescribed it, will never be brought to light.