World Series Preview, Season Review

Cardinals: In my season preview I said the Cardinals would finish third, but fourth would be acceptable. Well, 86 wins is a successful season in my book. That is alot of wins for 4th place! (Toronto did it too). The Lineup was great all season, but the pitching couldn't hold any consistancy down the stretch. Still better than the 5th place finish I saw some people predict.

NEEDS: Bullpen!!!!!! A lefty reliever for sure, but the Cards need to decide if Chris Perez is our closer next season (I think he is) because if not we need a closer too, and those are expensive. I feel we should keep Felipe Lopez and Cesar Izturis in the middle infield. They were dependable and effective and the right price, leaving us money for other positions such as Starting Pitching. We know better than to count on Carpenter this year. Is Jake Peavy the answer? I don't think so, he only has two 15 win seasons in his career. I'm sure we can find a good, young arm for a lesser price. Unless we all forgot the name Mark Mulder. I think the outfield played very well, and maybe we should leave it alone. As much as I would want to see Matt Holiday in our lineup.....hmmmm.....Ok, I would take Holiday still. Just make sure we get another pitcher too, ok?

Pre-Season Picks: My preseason picks were an absolute joke. I got Philly, Milwakee and Boston correct. However, I picked Seattle, Detroit and San Diego all of whom finished in last place. At least the Cubs choked!

World Series Preview: History has shown that the team with the giant layoff (Philly) struggles mightily in the World Series. I give the hitting advantage to the Rays because hot bats can beat out big sluggers who are streaky. Bullpen I give to Philly for their consistancy, but TB has some good arms. Starting pitching I give to the Rays because after Cole Hamels the Phillies are outmatched.

Prediction: Rays in 6 (Hamels will keep it closer than it should be). I would be happy for Philly if they win, they only have one World Championship ever. Like 100 years ever.

But I want the Rays to win because they represent what is right in baseball. A bunch of young guys going out and playing to win. It gives hope to all franchises, especially the Royals, the Pirates, and even those Cubbies.

UPDATE: Ok, so the experienced Phillies won out in the end. Congrats to Philly, an uber sports town that usually needs a chill pill. You now have as many Championships as the Marlins!

Coach Linehan, step into your office. And bring your playbook.

I think we can all safely say that this is a good move. I predicted we would fire Linehan before we won a game, and I was right. Linehan may end up with a great head coaching gig, but it wasn't here and now. He was just beat: by the opponents and by his own squad. I feel the team had quit on him.

Or at least Jim Haslett hopes so, cause now he wears the big head set. Which kind of worries me because he is in charge of the lifeless defense. My only hope is that Linehan played guys who lacked hustle and discipline, and Haslett can insert personel that will play 4 quarters of football.

Something else to mention. Chris Mortenson of ESPN mentioned today that despite what ownership is saying, the Rams are definitely for sale and are being shopped around. Lets hope Rams fans can rally behind these coaching moves, because I am still nervous that this team will be in LA in two years.

My Top 10 Songs of the 90's

Last month 105.7 the Point did their top 500 songs of the 90's. I loved it. I heard many songs I had forgotten about. It also inspired me to give my own top 10 songs of the 90's.

A unique aspect of the 90's is everyone knows the number one song of the decade. Can you say that about any other decade? "Satisfaction" for the 60's? "Imagine" for the 70's? "Billy Jean" for the 80's? They are all debatable. The 90's is not.

Obviously, this is technically a Top 10 Alternative/Rock songs of the 90's. So my apologies to Alanis Morisette, Hootie and the Blowfish, Maria Carey and Boyz II Men for being left off the list.

#1 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana The Anthem. This song not only changed the face of music, it ended many artists careers because their sound was made obsolete overnight by Nirvana. So many have tried to imitate the sound, but still there is only one Nirvana. I am still sad that Kurt had to leave the music scene so early.

#2 Alive - Pearl Jam My favorite song by my favorite band. This song is versitile. A catchy chorus. Lyrics that make you think, and have even inspired people to change their own lives because for one reason or another "I'm still alive." And the kickin' extended guitar solo at the end, something that is missing from today's scene.

#3 Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis's poem to the city of Los Angeles, brought to life by Flea and the band. Melodic, creative and beautiful.

#4 Today - Smashing Pumpkins Before Billy Corgan was just a rat in a cage he penned a classic grunge song about seizing the day. The opening guitar riff is learned by most aspiring guitarists. It captured the grunge sound perfectly.

#5 Enter Sandman - Metallica The song that brought heavy metal to the masses(as is still evident in today's scene). It has hooks all over the place and still rocks as hard as any Metallica song. NOTE: Just because you like "Enter Sandman" doesn't mean you are a metal fan.

#6 Basket Case - Green Day The song that brought Punk to the masses. (as is still evident in today's scene) It was fast, it was catchy and it was about crazy people. You don't have to be a math major to figure this one out. You Win!

#7 Undone: The Sweater Song - Weezer The best sing along the 90's has to offer in my opinion. Bonus points for working the phrase "Superman Skivies" into a song. Nice.

#8 Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots STP had several hits in the early 90's, but this song is the most melodic. Which is a fancy way of saying you can understand what he's singing. My only regret is that there was no solo on this song. That guy can play.

#9 Everlong - Foo Fighters Dave Grohl is a remarkable musician. He not only drummed for Nirvana, he started his own rock band in Foo Fighters. If was tough choosing just one FF song, but this is the one I always end up singing hours after I hear it. Because if they don't fight Foo, then who will?!?

#10 One - U2 U2 had an interesting decade, but it all started with this song. Bono has told the story that they were thinking of breaking up until they wrote this song. Beautiful and simple.

That's it, let me know what I forgot. To close, here is a live performance of "Alive" by Pearl Jam from 1992. (I think)

Lion on the Floor

After my little Weezer obsession over the summer I started thinking back to the first time I ever heard a song by Weezer. It was their video for "Undone - The Sweater Song." This video starts out normal and just gets stranger and funnier. I mean, why have your instruments plugged in while you are lip synching? And the drummer is just a little to into his drumming. And, as always, it poses one of life's great questions:

Why does he keep singing about a Lion on the Floor?

NFL Preview

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ST. LOUIS RAMS FANS: If we want to keep our team, the time to support them is now. Here is the deal. We all know that the dome is a dump. I know personally that the Rams have done nothing to improve the stadium experience.(They still use the same graphics from '95) But if we don't start supoprting our franchise they will be the LA Rams again. That means watching games even if we suck. That means going to games even if we will probably lose. Anything. Because if the city/NFL sees no reason to get a new dome built the Rams will be moved and we will never see the NFL again. I urge any and all Rams fans to find a way to make a difference. If you can't go to games, encourage those who can. I know STL is a baseball city, but we are smart enough to be great football fans too.

My picks for the season. I don't like how many teams I have returning to the playoffs, but this is what I got.

AFC: New England, Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Diego. Wild Cards: Jacksonville and New York Jets

NFC: Dallas, New Orleans, Green Bay, Seattle. Wild Cards: New York Giants, Minnesota

Superbowl: New England over New Orleans

In my mind New England can do 2 things. 1)Live in disbelief about how close they came to the perfect season and blow this one (eg 2002 Rams) or 2)Go out and show what kind of champions they are. I believe the Patriots are like any true champions that hate to lose and will destroy you to prove it. In the NFC I like Dallas alot but Romo looks like a choker to me, so i go with the talented Saints. We shall see how poorly these picks are come playoff time.

EDIT: What a difference a day makes. I forgot to blog that I think the Rams will finish 6-10 and finish third. Now I am predicting Linehan gets fired before the Rams win a game. Rams front office better start investing in the fans, cause even this die-hard is getting annoyed.

Tom Brady is out for the year. Not only my superbowl pick, but my #1 fantasy football pick. I still like the Pats to make the playoffs, but if I get a mulligan on my Super Bowl pick I would like to take San Diego now please.

Beijing: Lasting Memories

Wow. What a great Olympics. Sets the bar pretty high for London in 2012.(I'm sure they will do awesome) So I give you my personal lasting images from the Beijing Games.

1. Michael Phelps 8 gold medals: I wrote an entire blog about this already, comparing Phelps' domination only to Tiger Woods. A performance for the ages.

2. Usain Bolt: Fastest man ever? It is a ridiculous question to ask, but as far as athletics goes it could be Bolt. He set world records in the two fastest sprint events in the 100m and 200m. And he made it look easy. A huge congrats to Bolt and the entire Jamaican track team. They put on a show.

3. Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson Although they didn't win team gold, Luikin and Johnson performed with precision. In fact, I feel every event could have been won by either gymnast (I don't follow the scoring, too inconsistant). They were clutch with style. Great to watch.

4.Kerry Walsh/Misty May-Treanor: Nobody had gone gold in back to back Olympics until they did. Watching them celebrate was like watching the Olympic spirit. You could tell they are ecstatic to start their families with Olympic gold. The entire US volleyball did amazing with 3 gold and 1 silver.

5. The Host Nation: The government may have tried to hide the poverty, but the people showed their pride. The opening and closing ceremonies were the best ever, and the athletes won an incredible amount of gold medals. A great perfomance, even if they do have athlete factories.

6. US Women win gold in soccer: without Abbey Wambauch I thought the US would still medal. Their complete team performance to win gold against Brazil ushered in a new era of US soccer.

7. The Redeem Team: Not only did they dominate, they represented themselves as great Olympians by attending a variety of other sports. Class.

8. Swimming success, Track tribulations: Even without Michael Phelps, our swimming team has great success. They won a fair share of gold and silver. The track team has some answering to do. I believe their training was very poor, and half our athletes looked flat. We won a fair amount of medals, but clearly we struggled in some strong events.

Did I forget anything? I look forward now to Vancouver in 2010. And don't forget the World Baseball Classic next spring.

Michael Phelps: World Domination

We love sports for two reasons: for love of the game and to become a champion. I love watching championships being won. I watch any championship game that's on, which means I watch lacrosse only once a year. There are two types of champions: the surprise team/player who just seazed the moment and the heavy favorite that lives up to potential.

Michael Phelps redefined what it means to live up to potential. I've heard plenty of people say how difficult it is to win when everyone expects you to. That covers teams like The Patriots, The Spurs and the Yankees of the last 10 years. What Phelps did was different. He destroyed the competition. It was Phelps vs the field, and you gotta take Phelps. Only few athletes have done that in my lifetime. Here are the athletes I put Phelps with(from my lifetime).

Pete Sampras/Roger Federer: You knew what the Grand Slams looked like before the year started. They would win the Australian, Wimbeldon and US Open. It was all about the French Open. They dominated in an individual sport that had hundreds of professionals aiming at them.

Michael Jordan: It took a whole team, but we all know that Michael Jordan essentially single handedly won 6 NBA championships, and if he hadn't retired it would have been 8 straight. But he did it during an era when it was predominantly a US game, not the worldwide game we see now.

Michael Phelps: He didn't lose. He found that extra gear to get the clutch victory. He set a record for gold medals when literally the whole world is challenging him. And he did it in a competition held only once every 4 years. And he will swim again in 2012. The next 30 years will help us understand how remarkable this really is.

Tiger Woods: In tennis you play one man each match. Basketball is about 12 with subs. Phelps swam against 7 at a time. Tiger Woods faces over a hundred each tournament and has dominated. He blows people away. He wins the close call. He wins hurt. I remember saying to myself during his "Tiger Slam" you can't just say "I'm gonna win" and then go do it! Phelps really only compares to Tiger. Both are men who have changed their sports for a nation. You can't give a bigger compliment than that.

EDIT: Lance Armstrong: How could I forget the 7 time champion following cancer? Probably because it's cycling. Doesn't always come to mind. Still, it is hard for any athlete to dominate for 4 years, let alone 7.