R.I.P Josh Hancock 1978-2007

Former Red Sox pitching prodigy Josh Hancock and current St. Louis Cardinals' relief pitcher Josh Hancock passed away in a car crash today April 29, 2007. My thoughts and prayers to the Hancock family and to the St. Louis Cardinals during this tough time. No evidence of drugs or alcohol was found in the car.
Hancock was supposed to be next ace in the Sox pitching staff and they had high hopes for him. I remember him on the Sox a while back and he was traded for one of our "first base hero" Jeremy Giambi of the Philadelphia Phillies. He somehow ended up with the Cardinals and went on to win the World Series last year. He will be dearly missed by the MLB. Hancock had career statistics of 9-7, 4.20 ERA and 110 Strikeouts. Also, I respect the Chicago Cubs for postponing the Sunday Night Baseball game against the Cardinals tonight on ESPN.

NFL Draft 2007 - Trade of the Century

Yup, the Pats traded for Mr. Randy Moss of the Oakland Raiders. It cost them a measly fourth round pick (110 Overall) which the Pats received from the Niners. The Pats are looking scarier every day and now Tom Brady has two legit options at WR with Wes Welker owning the slot. Reche "My Eyes are Always Open" Caldwell, Kelly Washington, and Jabar Gaffney rounding out the WR Corps. Maroney will see plenty of open lanes to run with Moss and Stallworth on the outside. On Defense the team with Meriweather, Samuel, and co. will stop everyone and the pats have 2 picks in next year's draft to become younger at LB and CB.

Pats Trade: 1st Round (28th overall)
Pats Receive: 1st Round pick (2008) + Randy Moss

Pats Grin and run away like bandits in this draft.

Anything shy of a Super Bowl victory is a disappointment in the upcoming season.

The Pats will be dominant in Madden NFL 2008 as well!

NFL Draft 2007 - Patriots Pick #24

With the 24th Pick in the NFL the Patriots select Brandon Meriweather from the University of Miami. This immediately helps the Patriots as versatile Meriweather can cover the slot, help with the run and play centerfield. Rodney Harrison is on his last leg of his NFL career and Eugene Wilson is coming back from injury. Meriweather gives the Patriots depth in the Safety/Cornerback area. I'm excited to see the kid who is on the cover of NCAA 07 Football in a Pats uniform. The reason that Meriweather dropped this much is his character issues as he was involved in a brawl earlier in the 2006-2007 season.

The Pats traded away their 2nd first round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2008 first round pick and a 2007 fourth round pick. This is a better deal for the Pats because to beat the 28th pick in the draft the niners would have to have a top 4 record in the league, that is very unlikely. As ESPN put it, Norv Turner is no longer the offensive Coordinator of the Niners which means Alex Smith needs to find that chemistry with his new offensive Coordinator. Turner created the monster known as Troy Aikman for the cowboys and he was in the process of doing that for the Smith but now head coach of the Chargerss Smith has to learn. therefore the niners will not be a top 4 team in the NFL next year and clearly making this trade better for the Pats. If Joe Staley becomes a bust then this trade will definitely favor the Pats.

Patriots Draft Needs:
~Nickel Corner Back
~5th Linebacker (After Bruschi, Vrabel, Colvin, and Thomas who else?)
~Offensive Line Depth (T, G)
~Running Back Depth (Competition for Sammy Morris/kevin faulk for the #2 position)

Miss Saigon

Yesterday night i went to see Miss Saigon being performed at my school. It was an amazing play that was performed well by my friends, classmates, and schoolmates. The songs and music were amazing as well. Keep up the good work and I strongly encourage everyone to go and watch it.

BU Class of 2011?

Today I finally paid the deposit stating my intent to attend Boston University this fall and graduate as part of their class of 2011 or maybe even class of 2010. However, my decision is not final as I may end up going to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor but i'll only know if i'm going there around May 15th since i have been waitlisted. I would be studying Computer Engineering at both of these schools and possibly minoring or putting a double major with Computer Science. I am really excited for next year but school has to end and i have 1 more month until that happens and plenty of things that need to be done before school's out. Wish me luck next year!

NBA Playoffs 2007 - Western Conference

Lets Head Out West!

Western Conference 1st Round

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (8)Golden State Warriors - Golden State Leads 1-0
~Dallas in 6
Last year this team should have won the Championship and this year they want to prove themselves as the best team in the league but they seem to not enjoy playing the Warriors as they have lost 4 games this season to them. Golden State provides matchup problems throughout their lineup with Don Nelson's smallball approach. Dallas tried to counter the approach by starting George instead of Dampier but that plan did not work out so well. The speed and athleticism of the Warriors was too much for the Mavs to handle. Dallas Coach Avery Johnson will find a way to counter his mentor's coaching taking the ultra-talented Mavs to the next step of the playoffs.

(4) Houston Rockets vs (5) Utah Jazz - Rockets Lead 2-0
~Houston in 7
The rockets make their long awaited playoff return and finally have McGrady and Yao healthy. T-Mac has plenty of pressure on him to shine in these playoffs as he has never won a playoff series throughout his brilliant/injury-prone career. Yao is slowly but surely becoming the next dominant player in the NBA with his array of hook shots, jumpers, and low-post moves he is quietly becoming a force. After these two players the rockets have no one else of note. The Jazz started out of the gate quickly this season and then became a true force to be reckoned with. Lost in the hooplah of the Mavericks and Suns the Jazz quietly won 51 games this year and won the mediocre northwest division crown. Led by Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams, and Andrei Kirilenko the Jazz have defense and a young nucleus that is ready for perennial playoff appearances. This series will be tough but I believe at the end the Jazz will make their runs to make this a series and the Rockets win game 7 at home on a McGrady 3-pointer at the buzzer 93-92.

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) LA Lakers - Phoenix leads 1-0
~Phoenix in 6
No. 1 Offense vs. No 1. scorer is this series. Basically a repeat of last year's first round series as the Suns take on Kobe's Lakers. Last year the Lakers had a 3-1 series lead only to have Phoenix win the series by winning the final three games. The Lakers have a shot at winning this series based on which Kobe shows up. If its the Kobe that plays playmaker and dishes off assists and plays all-NBA defense on his man and for his team the Lakers can take the series. If its the Kobe that chucks up 35-50 shots a game en route to 50 points while his team stands around and watches then the Suns will trump the Lakers in either 4 or 5 games. I believe that the Playmaker Kobe will show up a couple times this series leading to Laker victories but it will be predominantly the shooter Kobe who puts up 40-50 points a game. The Suns also have Amare for this series unlike last year putting more pressure on laker big men inside unlike last year where the Lakers could just worry about the Suns shooters. The Suns on the wings of Steve Nash will get past the first round but it will be a hard fought and physical series.

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Denver Nuggets - Denver leads 1-0
~San Antonio in 6
Going into the Playoffs the Nuggets were the team to beat. With the dynamic combination of Iverson and 'Melo and an excellent supporting cast of Camby, Nene, and others they looked like a championship team. The Spurs on the other hand aren't as deep or offensively skilled as the Nuggets but they do have the most fundamentally sound player in the game, Tim Duncan. Duncan can single-handedly win the series for the Spurs with a combination of rebounding, blocking shots, passing, and scoring. Though he may not be the most vocal person on the floor his energy and emotion feed into the Spurs. His supporting cast of Tony Parker, Manu, and Finley have been or are NBA All-Stars and have plenty of playoff experience and play excellent defense. The Spurs should win out in the series because Iverson has a knack of being chucker, see Kobe, and sometimes tries to take over a game by shooting the ball 30+ times instead of letting his passing skills work for him. Also Duncan, Parker, and Manu are one of the top trios of players on the same team in the NBA. Spurs will advance to the next round to play the Suns.

Western Conference Second Round

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (4) Houston Rockets
~Dallas in 6
Yao will cause problems this series but McGrady will have a tougher time scoring this series with Josh Howard on him. Dirk will carry the load offensively for the Mavs with Jason Terry, Harris, Stackhouse, and Josh Howard supporting him. Houston has no answer for Dirk but if i was Jeff Van Gundy I would try to play McGrady on Dirk to see if he can get up there to bother that jumper. Dallas has Dampier, Diop, Dirk, and other serviceable big men to body up on Yao and be physical with him. Therefore I give the series to Dallas since Dallas is deep and has many scoring options while the Rockets operate basically with two All-Stars and a limited supporting cast.

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs
~Phoenix in 7
Two years ago this was Amare's coming out party in the playoffs. He owned Tim Duncan in every aspect of the series but the Suns still ended up losing this series. These Suns are 2 years more experienced with the playoffs and still have two-time league MVP Steve Nash. They will dominate inside again with Amare, Marion, Diaw, and Kurt Thomas while the outside will be commanded by Nash. The Spurs will struggle at times to keep up the offensive firepower that the Suns have but in the end they will fall since the Suns, like the Mavericks are too deep and have a lot of weapons on the offensive end.

Western Conference Finals

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (2) Phoenix Suns
~Phoenix in 7
The NBA Finals are basically the Western Conference finals as no team in the east can match up with these two teams. Plenty of storylines here as the headliners are Nash vs. Dirk and the top two teams in the NBA squaring off against each other. Again last year the Mavericks defeated the Suns to knock them out of the playoffs and they won by have Josh Howard defend Steve Nash. That matchup worked but that meant there was another mismatch. The Suns also didn't have Amare in the post so Dallas won last year. The Suns will win the series this year because they have too much firepower compared to the Mavs and the Suns outside shooting will bury the Mavs in game seven of the series.

Phoenix represents the West in the NBA Finals.

How Sweep It Is!!!

The Red Sox have turned the tables and swept "The Evil Empire" at Fenway. The final game of the series ended Home Run Derby style as a total of six home runs were launched. Five of them for the Red Sox and one for the Yankees. In the Bottom of the 3rd Inning with the Sox down 3-0, Manny, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and 'Tek went yard in a back-to-back-to-back-to-back off Yankees rookie pitcher Chase Wright and the Sox led 4-3! Dice - K Pitched well and it was a great team victory for the Sox. Top 9th, Papelbon pwns the Yankees for his 6th save in 6 chances and second of the series. He still has his sharp 0.00 ERA while his Yankees counterpart Mariano Rivera is 1-2 with a 8.44 ERA, 0 saves and 2 blown saves. The Sox sit comfortably atop the AL East with a 1.5 game lead on the Orioles and a whopping 4 game lead on the Yanks. I know its only April and the Sox are due for their June-July slump again this year, but it is a great confidence booster for this team.

Few Things I Hated From ESPN this weekend:
~Jon Miller is the worst announcer in the world, at times i wish he would have shut-up. Joe Morgan states an interesting stat when someone is batting and next time that guys bats Miller repeats what Morgan has stated but he makes it sound like he did the research.
~Jon Miller kept on confusing Hideki Okajima and Dice-K.
~Jon Miller is a Tool.
~SportsCenter after Friday's game says lets go to Boston to think what our announcers say, they play the same segment that was played after the game. At least they would state that this is what the announcers had to say.
~Baseball Tonight had a segment on Dice-K that was taken before the game started and Peter Gammons was talking about Dice-K and how he'd react to the Yankees. It was on Baseball Tonight After the Game.
~A-Rod does this, A-Rod does that. Do they care about anything else. I know that guy is a big deal but don't they realize that he'll eventually become the A-Rod we all know, batting .000 in the postseason and collapsing statistically by the end of the year?
~Many More but I bet anyone i can announce a baseball game better than Jon Miller of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

Up Coming, Maybe today or tomorrow my Western Conference Preview. I'm too lazy to do it now.

NBA Playoffs 2007 - Eastern Conference

As many of you know, i'm a basketball nut. I love the NBA and the Boston Celtics especially. This year i decided to make a quick NBA playoff preview with a little insight in each of the series. Lets start out East

Eastern Conference First Round

(1)Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Orlando Magic - Detroit Leads 1-0
~Prediction: Detroit in 4.
Billups and Hamilton are two players Detroit depends upon to win and these players shine the brightest in the playoffs. The experienced Pistons will tool on the Magic with the sweep while Philly fans will be wondering how Chris Webber became 10x better with the Pistons than the Sixers. Orlando also turns the ball over a lot and shoots poorly at the Free Throw line which will be their downfall.

(4) Miami Heat vs. (5) Chicago Bulls - Chicago Leads 1-0
~Prediction: Miami in 7.
The defending champs will have a hard fought series with the young and relentless Bulls but in the end it will come down to if the Bulls can have their outside shots fall consistently over a 7 - game series. The Heat can always pound it inside to Shaq, 'Zo, Antoine, and Haslem while Wade, Kapono, Jones, Posey, and Williams can make shots to free up the post for Shaq to operate on Ben Wallace.

(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Washington Wizards - Series tied 0-0
~Cleveland in 5
The Wizards have been decimated with injuries to their two All - Stars, Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas, but i believe they can steal one game from the Cavs. Antwan Jamison of the Wizards is key if the wizards want to win at least one game, he is a former All - Star and if i'm not mistaken while he was with the Warriors he put up a Kobe-esque two straight games of 50+ points. If that Jamison shows up for a game or more the Wiz will win at least one game. I'm not the biggest LeBron fan in the world but he can win this series but he won't get past the second round.


(3) Toronto Raptors vs. (6) New Jersey Nets - Nets lead 1-0
~New Jersey in 6
Major storyline here is Wince Carter.. oops my bad Vince Carter returning to Toronto for a playoff series after his messy divorce with the Raptors a few years ago. The booing got to him the first game when he shot a dismal 5-19 from the field en route to 16 points. Toronto had a tough time getting adjusted to the playoff atmosphere as Chris Bosh had a horrible game offensively. It also seemed like every time Toronto cut the lead to under five points Bostjan Nachbar would nail a three to extend New Jersey's lead again. Similar to the Detroit series the Nets have plenty of playoff experience compared to Toronto.

Eastern Conference 2nd Round.

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (4) Miami Heat
~Detroit in 7
Tayshaun Prince will shut down Wade while the Detroit Defense clamps down to slow Miami's Offense down. Miami's defense will shut down Detroit's offense as well. This series will be very defensive oriented. The team with the most depth and firepower will win. Detroit has the best 1-2 guard punch in the NBA and they can throw multiple people at Shaq such as Chris Webber, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell, and Nazr Mohammed. They can "Hack-A-Shaq" to victory. Wade could also receive the "Jordan" treatment which is make sure Wade pays the price for trying to drive every chance he gets buy fouling him cleanly. It will be hard fought series but Miami will fall because this would be their second hard-fought series in the Playoffs while the Pistons owned their cupcake series.

(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (6) New Jersey Nets
~New Jersey in 6
Cavs are too inconsistent and the Nets would be on a roll. Kidd-Carter-Jefferson will carry the load offensively for the Nets. Nets play excellent defense and run the fastbreak like no other (well 2nd to the Suns). LeBron will have a tough cover with Richard Jefferson while Jason Kidd can own the Cavs point guards even though he is 34 years old. Mikki Moore and Jason Collins are serviciable enough to put the clamps on Big Z, Varejao and Gooden. If the Nets can stop LBJ which i believe they will they will beat the Cavs and have a tough ECF against the pistons. Plus, Wince Carter won't have anyone booing him as much this series.

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (6)New Jersey Nets
~Detroit in 6
Billups vs Kidd. Carter vs. Prince. Hamilton vs. Jefferson. All three match-ups are are fair and evenly matched. but when you get to the big guys, Wallace vs. Collins, Webber vs. Moore. Direct Advantage to the Pistons. The Pistons are too good to lose now to the Nets. After this off-season the Nets will implode - they can't afford to keep Carter-Kidd-Jefferson while giving more money to Kristic and others. One of them has to go and it will most likely be Carter who can opt out of his contract and become a free agent.

This preview was really lengthy. It is my first such preview. I'll gladly take comments to improve my writing-style. I didn't want to ramble.

Detroit will Represent the east in the NBA Finals

Next Up: Lets Head Out West!

First Post

Better late than never. I created this thing in January but now in April i make my first post. Welcome to my blog, here i'll have random thoughts that go on in my mind and my world. I'm not the greatest author in the world but i'll definitely try to make the stuff not boring and very interesting. Thank you for viewing this blog.