Sport Great

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Spotlight Posts

[ more ]

I don't like to spend too much time on previews, especially Super Bowl previews, mainly because predictions are almost always wrong. I was dead-on in my NFC and AFC predictions, but those games are much easier to tell.
The New Orleans Saints will head down to Miami to face the Indianapolis Colts. Indy has been to four Super Bowls, and have won one. Their most recent victory was just a few years back in 2007. Every time the Colts have played in the Super Bowl, it has been in Miami. The Saints have never been to a Super Bowl in the franchise's history, until now.
Both teams where undefeated through at least thirteen games straight during the regular season. This is the first time since 1994 a Super Bowl has been played with the two number one seeds.

The Colts defense will have to guard the most explosive offense in football. They will have to face this year's top quarterback Drew Brees. Brees threw for 34 touchdowns compared to just eleven picks. He also had a passer rating of 109.9 and completed 70.6 percent of his passes. He threw it to 16 different players, and he also threw for over 4,000 yards. He has a 70 catch, 1,000 yard receiver in Marques Colston. The Colts defense is weakened even more with the injury of Dwight Freeney. Whether he plays or not is a gametime decision.
The Saints and defensive coordinater Gregg Williams have the daunting taks of putting down Peyton Manning. Williams is a strategical guru, but nobody out-gurus Manning in strategy. However, the Saints have three beasts the Colts have nobody close to. Will Smith, Jonathan Vilma, and especially Darren Sharper. Manning has not seen a playmaking all-around weapon like Sharper. Darren has rejuvenated this team, and elevated them to elite stats. Will Smith said that all the team needed was a playmaker like him.

I think the Aints will take this game 31-30. If your going to bet then take the Saints because that 5.5 vegas line is garbage. The Colts may win this, and it is a coin toss between the two. I just feel that emotion carries you far. The Saints and their fans are riding high on emotion.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

They Finally Found Jobs!

February 5th 2010 19:27

Baseball Free Agency is still going on. There have been some stars that finally found teams. This is another post dedicated to looking at these signings.
The Jays signed former closer Kevin Gregg to a one year deal worth 2.7 million dollars a year. The year was fine, and the money was not awful either. However, last year Gregg had a 4.72 ERA with the Chicago Cubs. I think he should be the Setup-man to Scott Downs in the pen.
All Star and Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson finally got himself a contract. It was not with the Washington Nationals, however. No matter how hard Jason Marquis and the others wanted him, the Twins made another good offseason move and picked up the O-Dogg. He was signed on a very cheap one year deal worth only five million. He will start and second base, and he is a great locker room influence with an amazing glove. The deal inches the Twins ahead in their division.
Speaking of the Nats, they signed a decent second baseman of their own. Washington has tried to sign a few players this offseason, and Adam Kennedy is a decent signing. He certainly has no bat, but he has a pretty good glove. Kennedy is also a pretty nice guy in the clubhouse, he is cheap, and he is better than anybody else they had at second.
Now we go back to the AL Central. The Detroit Tigers always wanted to get an extension done with one of the most valuable players in this league, Justin Verlander. They were able to give him five years and eighty million. They inked the man coming off a career year, and the most popular and valuable player on the team. Good move guys, and now to give him some offensive backing. He also says he feels at home. Does all that money help Justin?
The Mariner's rotation is about to get one of its former pieces back. Erik Bedard, the guy they traded Adam Jones and some other good prospects for, has not lived up to his Seattle potential. He did have a nice first half in 09, but he is an oft injured player. However, they still like him and offered him a one year deal. This deal is close to being finalized and will probably go through by tomorrow. It is a nice deal because he gets to help out the formidable duo of Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee. The M's are only helping themselves in this uncertain AL West.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

LT is a Repeat Story

February 5th 2010 19:14

Many people across Football Nation have been shocked at the decline of LaDainian Tomlinson. Just a few years ago he was in the discussion of one of the greatest backs of all time. There is no doubt he is in the top twenty, but many were perplexed at the sudden drop-off in stats and playing value.
LT's story is not a new one. We have seen, over this decade at least, the declines of running backs like Shaun Alexander. Running backs in the current NFL hit their zenith in their mid-twenties. In other professional sports, most namely baseball, players are in their prime around the age of thirty.
The National Football League is not as friendly to players as other sports. Come on, this is football. This is a violent, contact sport. Running backs have carried the football numerous amounts of time until their late-twenties. They have received so many bone-jarring hits. Their legs are getting weaker than rubber. A simple example is that of Larry Johnson. The man was the best running back in the league unquestionably for two years. He fazed out because he was constantly running without a break. LJ would run for about thirty times each game.
Shaun Alexander played hard during his career. He formerly owned the record for most TDs in a season, broken and still held by Tomlinson, and he was out of a job and had no interest whatsoever. Think about it in this perspective, there are always new running backs coming into the league. Older players that are battered lose their value. They become yesterday's news. NFL teams are on the search for tomorrows big stars, even if they have to give up yesterday's stars.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Worst, Interesting Steroid Suspicion

January 31st 2010 15:46

I heard from a few so called "experts that they thought a certain player was taking steroids. Let me leave this up to you.
Alfonso Soriano is under suspicion by these people for taking steroids. Soriano is the only person in the 40/40 club to not be linked with steroids. The other three; Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Jose Canseco.
From 2002-2007 he had a surge in power. He slugged .500 or more and hit 30 homers or more in five of those six seasons. In all of them he had an OPS of .800 or more. He only posted an OPS of that sort just once in a year outside of that period of time. The other time was in fact in 2008

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Kevin Pritchard is Right

January 31st 2010 12:43

A month ago, there were questions about the Trail Blazer's organization. The big question was about newly acquired veteran point guard Andre Miller. It seemed that he was having difficulties with coach Nate McMillan. Dre wanted to be used more in the offense, and wanted to share less time with Steve Blake. It was a rather well publicized argument. This fiasco was only somewhat cleared up when GM Kevin Pritchard called it a common discussion between a coach and a player while he was on the Basketball Today podcast.
Pritchard also stated that it was healthy for a player to have a talk with his coach. I agree with this. It is always better to know what is going on and say something about it, than to just sit there and stay aggrivated. If you do the latter, then eventually all that pressure is going to explode. It's like Coke and Mentos, it is going to happen.
Last night, he blew up. Andre Miller was said by Pritchard to be one of their focal players. He is able to score, and to get the ball to his teammates while playing a huge leadership role. He showed just that. The Dallas Mavericks were torched by Miller as the Blazers road on his back to an overtime victory. In all, Miller scored fifty-two points. He got off to a bad start, missing his first shot horribly, but he was hot the rest of the way

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

The Biggest Joke in Sports; The Pro Bowl

January 29th 2010 18:16

When you think of the word "Pro-Bowler" I hope you think of one of the elite players in the game. David Gerrard and Vince Young are the two QBs in the AFC. That is ridiculous, and it is not even the most ludicrous aspect. Nobody cares about this came. The fans that vote the players in never care. The players themselves don't care. No player tries at all. They don't because they don't want to be injured.
On the Vince Young part, the dude only played half the season and his numbers were not great at all. However, the biggest joke lies in Gerrard. His QB rating was barely over eighty. Is that a pro bowler? Nuh-uh.
The meet-n-greet thing also gets me. Why is it that a hobbled Dwight Freeney has to be there? Why does he have to take away a valuable rehab day in preparation for the Super Bowl for this meaningless tradition? The Pro Bowl was bad enough, but it got worse now that it is in front of the Super Bowl. This change is slightly implying that the Pro Bowl is more important. The fact that Super Bowl players must attend instead of preparing is prepostrous

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Blitz All Night

October 5th 2009 06:41

Now that football season has come around again we are fortunate enough to be able to watch all the best football movies that will inevitably be played all season long on TV. Just a few days ago I caught "Remember the Titans" and although there were plenty of other things on that could catch my attention I was unable to change the channel. There is something about the movie that just sucks me in and won't let me go. There is inspirational moment after inspirational moment, but one that always sticks out in my head may not be on the top of most people's list.
In the semi-final game where the refs are trying to fix the game the Titan's assitant coach catchs wind of it and try to put an end to, but it is already out of his hands. So he calls time out and in the huddle you see a man who has been reserved and calm in the midst of a storm of hatred and tension the entire movie suddenly let it all out in one statement that ignites the fire of his team. "I don't want them to gain another yard. You blitz all night! If they cross the line of scrimmage I'm gonna take every last one of you out. You make sure they remember, forever the night they played the Titans."
In that moment I wanted to jump through the screen and be part of the defense. When I played I always hoped for a moment like that from one of my coaches but it never came. Now I hope that I can one day be a coach myself and be able to pass that kind of fire and passion to my players. In my opinion, teams follow the attitude of the head coach and you could see it in the coach's eyes as he addressed his players

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Rob Salgado - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Durham Bulls

June 29th 2009 04:47

I remember being away on a baseball trip with my older brother's all star team. I was lucky enough to be allowed to tag along and one day one of the games got rained out, so the coaches rented "Bull Durham" for all the guys to watch. It was my first time being introduced to the movie and to this day whenever I watch it I still remember being cooped up in that motel room with all the guys and loving every second of the movie.
As I have stated in earlier post Kevin Costner does a great job in sports movies and this one is no different. You got to love the way he describes to the other guys what its like in "the show" and how they are all hanging on every word. That alone makes every young boy want to go for it. Not because of what being is, but because it is simply paradise for a ball player.
One thing I have noticed over the years is that for those who love the game of baseball, nothing can replace it. Everything about the game is beautiful, from the feel of the bat to the way your hand smells after you take it out of your glove, and if you have the opportunity to play the game for money, then cherish it

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Rob Salgado - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

"Red Belt" takes a surprising turn

June 19th 2009 02:28

I was a little on the fence about seeing this movie due to the fact that I had not heard any reviews about it at all but every time I went to the video store it always seemed to catch my attention. So yesterday I went with the intention of getting it and I am very glad that I took the time to watch it. For any that have not seen it, it is very much worth watching; in fact I liked it so much that I hope to watch it again before I return it.
In the beginning there seems to be a lot going on and if you are not paying attention to all the details you may miss something later on but either way in the end you will fully understand the gist of it. Mike Terry is a Jiu Jitsu instructor that trains many people in a gym that is losing money fast. In his art form the red belt is worn only by the master or professor as they call him and he is shown the utmost respect by his followers. Mike is the kind of guy that is willing to give the shirt off of his back to a stranger if that person is in need and at one point, almost does exactly that.
Through a few unusual circumstances he falls into a way to make some money but it ends up being a scam and a way for others to make money off of him. His only choice is to fight as an undercard on the big fight night and hopefully win, pay off his bills and help those he must help and move on with his life, but he uncovers that the whole thing is fixed and being a man of honor and purity will not have any part of it

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Rob Salgado - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

"Five foot nothing"

June 12th 2009 00:14

For anyone that ever had the dream of playing college football this movie is like The Bible. "Rudy" gives us all hope that what others consider to be just a dream or impossible one can make happen with enough determination and hard work. What makes me admire Rudy in this movie is that the road he took to step onto the field to play for Notre Dame was not an easy one but even more then that it was not a short one. For years this young man struggled to make it on the roster and everyone that he came across told him he could not do it.
Not only did he have to deal with the fact that he was severely undersized for the position he played, but he also had to overcome the fact that his grades were not up to par for such a prestigious school. It took him two years of studying and working out to be able to get into the school and even with all that to overcome he continued to work at it. Most of us have dreams of something we want to accomplish in this world but fail to reach it because we stop trying after the road gets too tough. For Rudy the road was tough right from the beginning and it only got tougher.
Now I would be remise if I did not mention that at one point he did want to give up, go home say that he tried his best. If it were not for his boss and friend who saw all that Rudy had given up in the hopes of putting on the green and gold, he would have. Sometimes in life, what it comes down to is not what we are doing in that moment, but what we have done up until then. If Rudy had not done everything he could have up until that moment then maybe Roc would have let him walk away but the fact was that he had already been an inspiration to those around him, his friend was not going to let him walk away without completing what had been the mission of his life to this point

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Rob Salgado - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

February 2010

3 Posts

January 2010

3 Posts

October 2009

1 Posts