Friday, April 30, 2010

BTS IV

Last nights show while chaotic was a one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever done. We had so much participation and so much feedback we're teasing a segement tantamount to Pardon The Interuption!

We have yet to discuss the NFL schedule that was released before the draft. It kicks off on a Thursday night Sept. 9 with Minnesota traveling to the home of the Superbowl winning Saints, a rematch of the NFC Title game. Then theres a double header for Monday Night Football . 1st up is Baltimore hosting the on fire NY Jets followed by San Diego traveling to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Tide looking good at QB

By Justin Davis

Spring football practice has come and gone. The intra-squad spring scrimmages in front of thousands of fans has also come and gone. The NFL Draft has come and gone. The point is that from now until summer camps and summer practice, we enter the dead period in sports known as the "dog days of summer." During this period writers and bloggers alike will fantasize, fathom and depict every possible scenario until it all plays out. It with this in mind a look at the Alabama quarterback position is looked at.

The quarterback position is probably the most important one on the field. Alabama is at no loss for talented QB's both on the team and coming. With Greg McElroy at the helm for now, the Tide is poised to repeat as Nation Champions (another topic to be discussed). Greg McElroy has behind him AJ McCarron, Star Jackson and Philip Sims. In the world of recruiting, there are some top QB's with the Tide high on their list.

Greg McElroy has never lost a game, but he also make few mistakes. He's completed over 70% of his passes and thrown very few INT's. The leadership and grit that he plays with almost guarantee the Tide will win the close gut check games. AJ McCarron and Star Jackson showed more than their share of talent and poise in the A-Day game. The consensus seems to be that the hot, strong armed McCarron has overtaken Jackson for the starting job behind McElroy. Jackson has worked hard the past two seasons to learn the offense, after previously being recruited to run Applewright's spread.

Once McElroy is gone, Jackson and McCarron will compete with Under Armour All American Philip Sims from the Tidewater area of Virginia. The Tidewater area produced QB's such as David Giraud and the Vicks. Sims was a very highly touted QB who committed to Alabama very early and stuck with it. He also won the QB skills challenge during the All American game. While he didn't produce eye popping stats during the spring game, his ceiling and potential are limitless.

In addition to the QB's currently on the roster, there are QB recruits with the Tide pretty high on their list as well. Charlotte, NC's Christian LeMay and Ohio's Braxton Miller are perhaps the highest rated. LeMay is coming off a great season where he capped an undefeated record with a State Title. Braxton Miller has the measurables and athleticism to become a very productive college QB.

Assuming that everything holds, the Tide are set at QB for the next 5 years. Things change with the season, which is why all we can do is fathom, fantasize and predict.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010


Written by Chad Potier
April 27, 2010

It's week 4 in the Big Leagues; Ryan Howard just signed  a $125 million, five-year contract extension, The Yankees went to The White House, and The Nats are at .500. So, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the current trends. Remember it's a 162 game season and just like the stock market, will change on a daily basis.

*All stats are as of 4-27-2010*

Attendance always seems to be higher at the start of the season, most likely due to the "this will be our year" thinking of most fans. But the teams at the top of the list haven't changed much over the past few seasons.

Top Home Attendance 2010:




RK TEAM GMS TOTAL AVG PCT





1 LA Dodgers 6 284,804 47,467 84.8





2 Philadelphia 6 270,341 45,056 103.6





3 NY Yankees 6 267,616 44,602 85.2





4 LA Angels 15 597,542 39,836 88.4





5 St. Louis 7 277,246 39,606 84.5





6 Chicago 7 274,015 39,145 95.2
















Home Runs make the game fun to watch. No doubt, "Chicks Dig The Longball". Here is your Home Run leaders so far:


NL HOME RUN LEADERS HR PROJ AB/HR PA/HR

Albert Pujols
1. Albert Pujols, STL 7 60 11.00 12.43
1. Kelly Johnson, ARI 7 60 9.00 10.71
1. Matt Kemp, LAD 7 63 10.86 12.43
1. Mark Reynolds, ARI 7 60 9.57 11.29
5. Chase Utley, PHI 6 51 11.67 14.83

AL HOME RUN LEADERS
HR PROJ AB/HR PA/HR

Paul Konerko
1. Paul Konerko, CWS 8 68 7.75 9.37
2. Jose Guillen, KC 7 60 11.14 11.71
2. Vernon Wells, TOR 7 57 11.00 12.29
2. Nelson Cruz, TEX 7 60 8.86 10.57
5. Andruw Jones, CWS 6 51 8.00 9.50

The question comes up every year; will someone make a run at Joe DiMaggio's record 56 game hitting streak, that lasted from May 15 to July 17, 1941? For me, this is one of my favorite things to watch. I don't know if we will ever see the record broken, but these guys are giving it a run:

National League
PLAYER TEAM STREAK
Jorge Cantu Florida Marlins 17 games
Matt Kemp Los Angeles Dodgers 11 games
Casey Mcgehee Milwaukee Brewers 11 games
Ryan Braun Milwaukee Brewers 10 games
Rickie Weeks Milwaukee Brewers 10 games
Jeff Francoeur New York Mets 10 games
Cameron Maybin Florida Marlins 9 games

American League
PLAYER TEAM STREAK
Jason Kendall Kansas City Royals 14 games
Ryan Sweeney Oakland Athletics 13 games
Johnny Damon Detroit Tigers 13 games
Jose Guillen Kansas City Royals 11 games
Derek Jeter New York Yankees 11 games
Robinson Cano New York Yankees 10 games
Jeff Mathis Los Angeles Angels 10 games



That is a quick look at things. Don't forget to get out to the ballpark and enjoy a cold $8 beer, a Decker Dog, and some baseball.





















*Thanks to ESPN.com for the numbers*

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Battle for the Cellar

Written by Chad Potier
April 24, 2010


The Houston Astros and The Pittsburgh Pirates began the first of five 3-game series they will play this season. The Stros came into the game at 5-10, while the Pirates came in at 7-8. Roy Oswalt, was on the mound for Houston and pitched 6 scoreless innings, before giving up 3 in the 7th. (If not for a great play by Bourn he would have given up 4). Pittsburgh put Paul Maholm on the hill. Maholm, also, pitched well into the 6th when Carlos Lee and Pedro Feliz turned on the run-scoring. In the end, Houston held on to win 4-3. They improved to 6-10, while Pittsburgh fell to 7-9. That, folks, is the basis for this article. With the Stros 4 games out and the Pirates 3 games out, by the end of this weekend's series, we could very well be watching the 2 cellar dwellers of the NL.



Last season, both teams were at the bottom of the NL Central, and appear to be on track to do the same this year. But does that mean we aren't going to see good baseball? The two teams are pretty evenly matched. Houston has a team batting average of.228, Pittsburgh .225. Houston has a slight edge in team ERA at 4.18 vs 7.07 for Pittsburgh. It's not just this season either. Over the last two season,s Houston is 18-13 against Pittsburgh. So let the records and standings be damned; get out to the park and enjoy some baseball. Besides, it's not all bad down here in the cellar.


Friday, April 23, 2010

BTS III

Another Behind the Scenes look courtesy of JersyMikeJr.

Wow what a great show last night! We had alot to cover as far as the NFL scheduling goes and as far as the Draft. Thanks to Chad we had had Baseball Tonight! We have other guests lined up soon.

Well still on deck in the draft you have Sergio Kindle, Brian Price, Jimmy Clausen and Arrelious Benn. The funny thing about Benn the WR from Illinois is that last week Joe Fortenbaugh said he might be available for the Panthers and he was right. We didn't really get to discuss to why teams chose players over others but we will soon know and it will be discussed on next week's show. Also not discussed was the Ben Rothelisberger situation. We're wanting female prospectives on that so for now tabled. We all know he's suspended without pay for the 1st 6 games and upon satisfactory completion of his behavior evaluation could be reduced to 4 games. Is this too stiff? Insert comments please.

Back on the draft there are some darkhorses that I didn't get to bring up. 3 guys to watch where they fall are OT Jared Veldheer of Hillsdale College in Michigan, DE Alex Carrington from Arkansas St, and WR Andre Roberts from The Citadel.

Veldheer is a 6-8 315lb mauler. He hs benched as much as 415lbs, produced 4 1000 yard rushers and has never allowed a sack in a 46 game career! Michael Oher meet your new brother!

Alex Carrington is a 6-5 285lb sack machine. At the Senior Bowl he was a monster during 1-on-1 drills with combination of speed nd athleticism. Standing tall during the run was a weakness, but totalled 19.5 sacks in his lst two seasons and becoming the second highest leader in Arkansas St history.

Last but not least is WR Andre Roberts fro The Citadel. The 5-10 195 may not wow you with blazing speed, but he has an elusiveness in the punt return game that 1160 career yards attests to. In addition to elusiveness he's a precise route runner as he led the Southern Conference in receptions (285) and recieving yards (3743). He'll need to bulk up in the gym to get off press coverages at the line.

BASEBALL

Thanks to Chad Potier once again being our baseball guru at this time. Spring has sprung and summer looms around the corner. It is at this time that the swish of a basketball net will cease, the gridiron will be waiting for preseason practice and the hockey horn will die. The only sounds will be of a golf club and the crack of the bat.

The leader for my services as a baseball fan right now is my childhood team of the Braves. I too was bombarded by images of Chipper Jones, the Crime Dog, David Justice and John Smoltz. With thepick up of red hot Jason Hayward, the Braves are in the drivers seat for another NL title. Not to far behind the Braves are the Twins, White Sox and Astros. If you are a fan of either time now is your chance to get at me.

This concludeds BTS. Tune in for more features!

Farewell to Bobby Cox


Written by Chad Potier

4/3/2010

I have so many memories form my childhood: my first LP, my first .45, my first cassette tape, my first CD, but the one that really stands out, is when cable TV first came into my life. I am not saying I remember the day the cable guy came and installed it, but I remember having choices, more choices than I could have ever imagined. My favorite of those choices was TBS, The Superstation. Anybody who grew up in the 80's and 90's can tell you about coming home from school and watching Leave it to Beaver, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie, and of course, The Flintstones.


What does this have to do with Bobby Cox, you may ask? Simple, during the spring and summer, my cartoon bliss was overtaken by Atlanta Braves' baseball. Growing up in southwest Louisiana, the Houston Astros were the closest MLB team, and I love the 'Stros, but it was hard to ignore the Braves. Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Chris Chambliss, Phil Niekro, and Bobby Cox were names I heard everyday. Skip Caray's voice became as familiar as Milo Hamilton's. Seeing Leo Mazzone, rocking back and forth while sitting on the bench next to Cox, became an all to familiar sight.


The teams of the 80's were not that good, but boy did something happen in the 90's. When Cox returned in the 1990 season (replacing Russ Nixon mid-season) something magical happened. Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, and John Smoltz became one of the best pitching rotations EVER. Add Chipper Jones, Dave Justice, Ron Gant, and league MVP and batting champion Terry Pendleton and it was like the stars had aligned. From 1991–2005 the Braves won an unprecedented 14 consecutive division titles. This also began my disdain for them; as I said before, I am a Astros fan. Cox's Braves gave the 'Stros everything they had, every time they played; including the epic 18 inning battle on October 9, 2005, in game 4 of the NLDS at Minute Maid Park. (The 'Stros would go on to the World Series and be swept by the Chi-Sox.)


Cox has the longest current tenure in Major League Baseball, as well as the all-time record for ejections (154). He played with Mickey Mantle, in '68 and Thurman Munson, in '69. He is as much a part of baseball's landscape as the 7th inning stretch and, for this fan, will surely be missed. So thank you and farewell, Bobby; my memories of baseball will for ever be linked to you and the Braves. Now, maybe, the Astros can be contenders.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

BTS II

We have a great night planned for tonights show. We hope to get a females prospective on the Rothlisberger situation. We will breakdown the NFL Draft, the NFL schedule, NBA Playoffs, talk to Chad Potier of the HereWeGeaux podcast and hopefully not lose any of you in the process. Chad will be bringing some baseball heat!

The NBA playoffs will come to close sometime in early June and there will be a hush in the sports world. Then we hear a crack of a baseball bat. Therefore it is this that prompts co host JersyMikeJr to search for a baseball team to root for during what we call "the dog days of summer." To participate simply tell Jersy why you follow which team you follow and why and tell him about the farm system. Let it be noted the two teams in the lead are San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves with Chicago White Sox not too far behind.

That's all folks see ya tonight!

BTS I (Behind The Scenes)

This is an exclusive Behind The Scenes look at ThaSPORTSKRIB courtesy of JersyMikeJr

Bobcats just got hammered 92-77 by the Magic. Now with the 'Cats down 2-0 coming back to Charlotte, things don't look very promising at all. It's bad enough I have to take the gloat from wcsteelerfan, but the 'Cats have no answer for the weapons that are the Orlando Magic.

On an interesting note is it me or did the Magic get all of the calls? I wonder how much that organization paid those zebras. At one point Stephen Jackson walked over to an official with a sweatband over his eyes as if saying, "Here's the evidence dummy!" That was my lone momment of comic relief.

Considering the fact I guranteed a win in a private conversation with wcsteelerfan, tommorrow night will be interesting.

Thanks for reading look out for the show!