The Long Suffering Fans

Circle me on Google+.

2012-03-12T08:29:00.001-07:00

I still don't have time to drop long blog posts, but feel free to look me up on Google + (+Tommy Tighe) to see my opinions on my favorite teams...

Twitter Feed Has Been Hijacked ...

2011-09-11T18:58:00.001-07:00

... by a Trojans, Ravens, and Red Devils fan. All those people following @TheLSF for the Angels or Domers must have been wondering what the heck was going on this weekend.

In other news, I thought of a great fantasy football team name: Adam Vinatieri Henry.

Something of a sports coma.

2011-08-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to give a head's up so you weren't left wondering. Since the move up to the Bay Area, my job has been much busier than back in Orange County and thus, the blogging has dropped off. Also, I've recently been feeling a pull to going back to just being a normal fan, casually enjoying my teams, rather than analyzing every aspect of their play for the purposes of the LSF.

That being said, I'm making my drop off in blogging official. I'll probably come back by when I just can't keep my feelings in for some reason, but it will be few and far between. Same goes for the Twitter feed. So, check back every once in a while, but don't expect too much.

Talk to you soon...

A Great Weekend For Tony Reagins.

2011-08-22T14:12:00.001-07:00

It was an amazing weeknd for the Angels. They swept the Baltimore Orioles at home, they saw Piñeiro pitch well enough to set up a walk off victory on Saturday, they saw Jerome Williams come out of nowhere to dominate the O's on Sunday for his first win since 2005, and they signed a huge five year extension with rotation ace Jered Weaver along with a full no trade clause. It was an impressive three days, and it has completely turned around the feelings of a Halo Nation that had all but jumped off a cliff after our series with the Rangers.

As you would expect, the real media is all over how awesome we've done over the weekend. Everyone is giving props to the surprising efforts by Borujos, Williams, Piñeiro, and Abreu. Everyone is talking up the superb coaching of Mike "Lorri" Scioscia. That's all well and good, but there is one guy who everyone is ignoring, and this guy deserves most of the credit for what happened this weekend, outside of the actual players, of couse.

That man is Tony Reagins. Tony pretty much gets nothing but crap from Halo fans, despite pulling off some big deals in his time as GM (Big Teix and Haren jump quickly to mind), but it may be the quiet moves that make more of an impact. Who would have thought picking up Jerome Williams last month would have done anything to help the big squad? He had been disgarded and long forgotten, and yet, Tony saw something, and Williams was a complete stud in his first start with the Angels. Now we're hoping for (maybe expecting?) more from this so-called nobody.

And how about the Weaver deal? Not a single soul in Halo Nation expected Weaver to extend his time with the Angels. An impressive young ace who often gets zero run support? I think all of us assumed that he'd be headed to the Bronx when it was all said and done. And then, out of nowhere, he signs a five year deal for just $85 million, and he was given a complete no-trade clause. Weaver's contract speaks loud and clear about his desire to remain in red, and that means a lot to us fans. This may be Tony's greatest move yet.

So let's give Mr. Reagins a little love. He, like his Angels, had a stellar weekend.

At 69-59, the Angels are now just 4 back of Texas in the chase for the division. Tomorrow, the White Sox throw Mark Buehrle (10-6, 3.14) against Ervin Santana (9-9, 3.12). Can Erv keep up his hot streak? It sure would be nice.

Go Angels Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Get Creative Or Die.

2011-08-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

"So, who would you have hitting leadoff?"

The Halos have run out all kinds of different lineups this year. Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis have shuffled in the leadoff hole, Torii Hunter has been a failed experiment hitting second, Alberto Callaspo has been moved all over the place, and Mark Trumbo has gone from crushing as the six man to slumping as the five guy. It seems like Scioscia just can't win. But, when your best hitter is producing at an underwhelming .288 level (HK and AC/DV are tied), you have to try some different looks.

After losing big to Texas last night, the Halos are now 5 games back in the division chase with 40 games to go (9 against Texas). Garrett Richards going down early with a groin injury was the big story (welcome back, Joel Piñeiro?), but that's only because we are so used to the sputtering offense that it isn't even a story to us any more.

However, with the Angels realistically staring death in the face this week if they don't come up with some wins against Texas between now and Thursday, it's time to get creative and figure things out so that we can push a couple more runs across the dish and stay relevant.

If you look back through the history of this blog, I'm sure you'll find numerous posts suggesting what lineup the various LSF baseball squads should roll out there. I've even taken the time to read baseball strategy books in an attempt to learn how to best pick a lineup from any particular roster of players. And, with all that in mind, I present my idea for the Halos lineup from here on out.

1. Howie Kendrick
2. Bobby Abreu
3. Alberto Callaspo
4. Mark Trumbo
5. Torii Hunter
6. Vernon Wells
7. Bobby Wilson
8. Peter Bourjos
9. Erick Aybar

Let the debate begin.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Let The Season Defining Begin.

2011-08-15T09:57:00.001-07:00

After an expected difficult weekend at the Roger (isn't it always), the Halos are entering a season defining part of the schedule. Sure, I say that a couple of times throughout every campaign, but this time I really mean it.

Tonight, the Angels start a four game series at home against the Rangers. After coughing up the series in Toronto, we currently trail those very same Rangers by exactly four games. These are the first four of ten remaining games with these guys, and the games in Anaheim are extremely important. The Rangers have lost 11 of their last 15 at The Big A, and we need to exploit whatever it is that's been making that happen. It's a big, big series.

The series also starts a stretch where the Angels play 18 of their next 24 games at home. With a 17-5 record over thr last 22 games at The Stadium, hopes are high that the squad will be able to put a major push together over this next month.

And speaking of defining a season. Double-A callup Garrett Richards is stepping up on the hill at home against Texas tonight for his second big league start, and his debut in front of the home fans. After getting bashed around a little bit in the Bronx (a game where he said his personal favorite moment was "striking out Derek Jeter"), Richards gets a shot at the high powered offense of the division leaders from Arlington. If he has a great game, he'll be remembered for this one, and the memories of his performance at Yankee Stadium will quickly fade away. It's a big deal for the kid.

We're 65-56, and while it may be exciting to have a palindrome for a W-L record, it's time to get this train back on the tracks and headed in the direction of a 2011 division title.

Best of luck, boys.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

A Deeper Look At Garrett Richards' Debut.

2011-08-11T08:55:00.001-07:00

"Yesterday, our prayers were finally answered when Poochie the Dog made his howlingly unfunny debut."

I don't know why, but Garrett Richards debut yesterday afternoon reminded me of that quote from The Simpsons. If you read the headlines this morning, you probably see that Halo Nation is disappointed with the way the double-A callup performed in New York last night. 5 innings, 6 earned runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 jacks allowed. After one outing, the Riverside, CA native is 0-1 with an inflated 10.80 ERA. Joel Piñeiro then came in an went 3 innings of 3 run ball, showing that maybe Garrett wasn't all that bad.

If we look a little closer, though, maybe the debut of Garrett Richards was better than we thought. First off, let's point out what this 23 year old was faced with. Richards went from pitching in the Texas League for the Arkansas Travelers, to standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium, throwing the rock against guys like Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Chavez, et al. This was an epic task to ask such a youngster, who hasn't even tried throwing against AAA level talent. When you take that into consideration, it helps put the numbers into perspective.

The nerves were obvious, as the usually steady Richards threw two wild pitches in the start. However, he was throwing strikes, and I think that needs to be appreciated. Over 91 pitches, GR nailed down 59 strikes. That's 65% of his pitches being in the zone, and while that may have gotten him into a little bit of trouble, it is also nice to see, because there is nothing worse than a young pitcher handing out free passes all day. His ground ball to fly ball ratio was also impressive, getting 8 outs on the ground and only 1 in the air. While that might be because everything that went in the air went over the fence, the 8-1 ratio also shows that Garrett was keeping the ball down in the zone more often than not, and that's a great quality.

Finally, I'd like to point out how his debut only looks bad because of two mistake pitches. They both came to Curtis Granderson, and they both resulted in jacks. Granderson hit a three run bomb in the first, and launched a solo in the fifth. If you take those two away, and Richards gets the homerun hitter out in those situations, you're talking about a whole different story. How would we consider his debut if he would have gone 5+ innings of 2 run ball? Much different story, right? Plus, that first homer by Granderson, the one that put a three spot on the board in Richards' first career inning? That's a hard one to bounce back from as a rookie. You never want to give up runs early, and once that happened, it became that much more difficult to get things back on track.

It won't get any easier for Garrett, as his next start will be against the Rangers, if he's still up with the big boys in 5 days. But, at least he'll have the home crowd behind him.

At 64-53, the Halos are 1.5 games back of Texas in the AL West title chase. The Thursday morning special (it actually starts at 10:05 am our time) against the Yankees today should be a fun one. Rookie Tyler Chatwood (6-8, 4.10) goes against former Halo and current fatty, Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.33). I think this will be a fun one for us Halo fans.

Go Angels Go!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Worst Players In Halo History.

2011-08-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

As AA callup Garrett Richards takes the mound against the Yankees tonight, hoping to eventually become one of the greatest Angels in history, I figured it'd be a fun time to build a short qucik and dirty list of the worst players in Halo lore. They were doing this with the Celtics on a Boston basketball blog this morning, and it seemed like a cool idea to steal.

My 5 submissions, after quickly checking my memories and the stats, are as follows:

1. Brandon Wood: No, I'm not kidding. Ausrin, TX native Brandon Wood has the lowest OBP and OPS of any player with 450+ ABs in all of Angel history. He hit .168 with a .197 OBP over his 173 games in a Halo uni. I'd say we gave him enough of a chance before we just gave up on him. Look, I was a big supporter of the guy, always begging the Angels to give him a fair shot, but when they finally did, he proved me wrong.

2. Jeff Mathis: We should count ourselves lucky to be able to see such historical type players in such a recent span of time. The Florida native was a two sport star in high school, and with every at bat he shows us that he should have picked football as his career path. Mathis' suckitude has been well documented across Halo Nation. Over nearly 400 games, Math hits .197 with a .259 OBP. Not as bad as Wood, but we never started Wood full time and quickly got rid of him. What's our excuse with Mathis?

3. Tom Egan: Might as well go out and grab an obscure one from the early days of the club. It seemed like it would be so good with Egan, being that he was a native of good ol' LA, but it didn't work out that way. Egan sucked. 238 games, 656 PAs, and a .186 batting average with a tiny .251 OBP. The highlight of this El Rancho High grad's career was catching Nolan Ryan's third career no-hitter. He probably went 0 for 4 with 4 Ks in that game. Boy, I wonder what his CERA was? He was a mistake to have around, and yet we kept him for 10 years. Doesn't inspire much hope for the second player on our list getting cut any time soon (he's already on year six).

4. Buck Rogers: Buck wasn't nearly as cool as his name would suggest. Another guy from the beginning of time, Buck played 8 seasons with the Angels, getting a chance in over 3,300 PAs and finished his Angel career with a pathetic .232 average. You're not going to believe this, but Buck was considered a top defensive catcher during his time, and was started despite having nothing going with the bat. Man, this is just turning into giant list of Jeff Mathis clones. Buck ended up having a much more successful managerial career, as you probably know.

5. Shea Hillenbrand: Easily a forgettable Angel, Shea brought us 200 ABs of misery during the 2007 season. He hit .254 and was well known as the rally killer for the Red Hats as he proved over and over again what a horrible acquisition he was. And it's weird, because he was alright overall in his career, but it just never happened in the OC. He also is one of many on the list of people who have played (and sucked) for both the Halos and the Trolley Dodgers. What a douche.

Honorable mentions: Steve Finley, Mo Vaughn, David Eckstein, and anyone you suggest.

What do you think? I know it's early, and he's still young, but I'm pretty sure that Jeff Mathis is going to win the crown when it's all said and done. Sorry, buddy.

Speaking of Jeff Mathis, he's catching our boy Garrett Richards (even though he isn't worthy to carry the kid's cleats) against the Yanks right now, and we're losing 0-3 in the 2nd after a big Curtis Granderson bomb. Keep focused and get this game back, boys.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Rotation Rumors And Reality.

2011-08-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

Joel Piñeiro has been banished (temporarily?) from the rotation, Jered Weaver dropped his appeal to the six game suspension, and all of the sudden the Halos have some rotation questions. When something like this happens, and when AAA doesn't really have any "for sure" starter callups who are ready to go, the rumor mill goes nuts, and that's just what is happening.

The OC Register started things off by quoting Mike Scioscia back on Sunday, where he said that Matt Shoemaker and Garrett Richards won't fill the Wednesday hole emptied by Piñeiro's exit. Scioscia said, "They are making strides, and they will be on our depth chart at some point." It's interesting, because most people (myself included) thought that Richards would be an automatic callup in this situation. Shoemaker seems like a good option as well, holding down a 2.38 ERA with 110 Ks and 26 walks over 128 innings pitched. He's 10-2 over that time with AA Arkansas, but his numbers since coming to the Bees have dropped off. Meanwhile, Richards success has been well documented. The super prospect is 12-2 with the Travs this season, rocking a 3.06 ERA, 100 Ks, and 40 BB.

They are both studs, and I'm not exactly sure why they aren't an option right now. But, they either aren't, or Mike is stonewalling us. I guess we'll find out soon. However, the rumor mill is picking up even more steam. As of this morning, ESPN's Keith Law has reported via his Twitter account that Garrett Richards has, in fact, been called up. But, Halo announcer Victor Rojas has countered that report, saying he knows nothing of it. I would probably tend to believe Rojas, but more reports are coming in. Roto World has seconded the report along with second (or third) rate Angel blog Halo Hangout. If it's true, Richards would be set to start on Wednesday against the Yankees. It would be quite the major league debut.

But wait. The LA Times wants to get in the mix. The Times is reporting that reliever Hisanori Takahashi is set to take over the empty starting spot, and the official Angels website has been dropping hints to back that idea up. They note that Trevor Bell, Jerome Williams, and Richards are also in the mix, but site their sources to say that Taka will take the Spanks on this Wednesday in Joel's spot. Taka has a history as a starter, including impressive performances against said Yankees in the past, and the Times is saying that he's Scioscia's secret answer to the Piñeiro question.

The cool thing about all of this has been Joel's attitude. "If they want me in the bullpen, that's their decision. They're the bosses. I wish I was pitching better, but it's a bad little stretch- a really bad stretch." You've got to appreciate his statement. He knows what's going on, and he's going to accept it like a stud. I'm guessing he'll either A) be a solid help out of the bullpen or B) be back in the rotation soon.

While we don't know much about the reality versus the rumor of the situation as of yet, we do know a couple of things for sure: The Angels are 63-52, 1.5 games back of the Texas Rangers, and are facing a huge week+ coming up. Three at Yankee Stadium, three in Toronto, and then back home for four against the Rangers. The next 10 days are giant.

This afternoon will see AJ Burnett (8-9, 4.54) try his best against the continually impressive Dan Haren (12-6, 2.81). The Chessmaster has pitched into the eighth inning in each of his last three outings, and he'll look to continue the magic against Burnett, who is starting one day early, and the Bronx Bombers, who have won 8 out of their last 10.

As the Halos get ready for their big series againt New York, I wanted to point out that Mark Trumbo has tied Wally Joyner (1986) with his 22nd homerun for fifth on the list of single season jacks by a rookie. Amazing. Do we realize what we're watching this guy do?

Go Halos. Crush the Yankees.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Kazmir-ification of Joel Piñeiro.

2011-08-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the majority of my Angels posts being either about rookies or pitchers, but that's just the slant that we have going on right now in Haloland.

What the heck is going on with Joel Piñeiro? I'm kind of getting sick and tired of hoping that he will come around start after start. It's just one let down after another with this guy this season, and I'm starting to wonder if La Piñata is headed down the same path as our dearly departed friend, Scott Kazmir.

The last time Jo Jo picked up a win was way back on July 9, and since that win, things have been really, really bad.

July 17: 0.3 IP with 8 runs allowed
July 23: 5.3 IP with 3 runs allowed
July 28: 3.3 IP with 6 runs allowed
August 3: 4.3 IP with 7 runs allowed

Over those previous four starts, Piñeiro is 0-3 with a 14.85 ERA. That's just a flat out disgusting line. Also over those games, he has just 2 Ks, while allowing 6 walks. And it isn't just now. Earlier in the season, back toward the middle of May to the first part of June, the Halos lost in 5 consecutive Piñeiro starts (remember when he was trying to get win #100 and just couldn't seem to do it?). While he has had moments of success, he has only pitched beyond the sixth inning in 4 out of his 18 starts this year, and comparing that with the terminal illness that afflicted Scott Kazmir at he end of his Angel career is just scary.

Overall, Joel is 5-6 with 5.31 ERA and a 1.587 WHIP. His WAR is -1.2 right now, and when you compare that to Jeff Mathis' -0.2 WAR, you start to get even more nervous about our #4 starter. Last year as an Angel, Joel had a +3.1 WAR, and I was kind of expecting a similar thing this time around. I don't think he has a shot to get back to that here in 2011, and while I may not be ready to just cut him like we did with Scottie, I'm getting close to pinning my hopes on possible AA callup and Riverside native Garrett Richards (12-1, 3.04) to fill his spot (or technically, to fill Chatwood's spot, with Chatwood slotting up to #4).

By the way, in case you are wondering, I think Joel's decline goes all the way back to July 28, 2010, when he got scratched from a Red Sox game due to a shoulder injury while warming up (remember, they gave Gas Can Shields the start, and I got all excited that it would be the return of Scottie 2 Hottie, and it didn't work out?). Piñeiro was supposed to miss the rest of the season, but came back early, and was pretty effecitve. However, one has to wonder if that decision has come back to bite him, and sent him to the brink of oblivion.

Let's hope not.

Texas lost last night, so despite dropping to 60-51, the Angels are still just a game off the pace. Tonight the series with the Twins finishes up as Dan Haren (11-6, 2.89) takes the hill against Francisco Liriano (7-8, 4.67). The Chessmaster has only allowed 2 runs over his last 16.67 innings, and he'll be looking to stay on a roll against these Homer Hankie loving freaks from the Twin Cities.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

More High Praise For Ervin And Mark.

2011-08-03T13:48:00.001-07:00

Man, Ervin Santana is a freaking stud. After busting out his no hitter last week, El Rosario came through with a complete game win against the Twins at the Stadium last night. 9 innings of 1 run ball, allowing 8 hits while punching out 7 and walking two. It was quite an encore to his no-no, and showed that he's able to effectively get out of jams and help carry the Halos to victory. Meanwhile, Mark Trumb hit a three run bomb deep to center to boost his rookie campaign homerun tally to an impressive 20. These guys deserve continued praise, and I'm up to the task of giving it to them (hat tip to Halos Heaven for the historical background).

What can I say abot Ervin? 2011 was scheduled to be a down year for him, and overall it has been (I've covered Ervin's "every other year" phenomenon at length in previous posts), however, these last two starts may be the sign of something amazing. First a no-no and then a complete game right after? He may still be just 7-8 on the season, but these are the kind of wins that can turn around the campaign of a young starter with a 3.32 ERA. With yesterday's effort, Santana became the first Angel to follow a no hitter with a complete game since Nolan Ryan did it in 1975. I'm not trying to compare Erv to Nolan, but I think looking at what he's doing in historical context makes us appreciate it more. In fact, it has been 20 years since ANY pitcher in the entire MLB has followed a no-no with a complete game gem, as Tommy Greene was the last to do so way back in 1991.

Ervin is slowly turning some heads, and that's great for the team, when it comes to getting some play outside of the local atmosphere. He's looking like one head of what is developing into a three headed monster. In their last seven starts, the Weaver-Haren-Santana trio are 6-1 with a 1.16 ERA. Now, I'm not suggesting that Erv is going to be able to keep this up over a larger sample size, though I would really like to see that happen. I'm just saying to enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Meanwhile, rookie of the year candidate Mark Trumbo went 1 for 4 last night, but that one hit was a game deciding 3-run bomb that travelled 457 feet into center. The swing was effortless (per my Dad's analysis via text message) and his 20 homeruns show that he was more than ready for the show (Kendrys is shaking on his one good leg). Mark has now driven in at least a run in each of his last eight hits, has driven in 14 over the last 11 games, and leads the entire team in HR and RBI (sorry, Torii). He has become only one of six Halo rookies to hit 20, and he's the first since Timmy did it in '93. And it's only August.

Trumbo has been more impressive than I could have imagined, and while we're always quick to point out how our prospects never pan out (Wood, McPherson, Mathis, et al), we need to focus big time on them when they do work out. Way to go, Mark.

Vernon Wells went 2 for 3 in the game, as well. Can you believe that he has raised his batting average to a stellar .216? Wow!

The Angels are only a game back! Watch out, Texas. At 60-50, we have a chance to get a piece of the division lead as early as tonight (go Tigers go!). Oakland is 12 back and Seattle is 13.5 off the lead. The series with the Twinkies continues at the Stadium tonight, as Jo Jo (5-5, 4.91) goes against Scott "Never Trust A Guy With a Last Name That Is Also A Profession" Baker (8-6, 2.86). La Piñata has been having a well-documented off and on season, and I am on the record with saying that if the Angels are going to be a success in the playoffs (again, if they make it that far), Piñero is going to have to get his stuff sorted out. The Twins' Baker has been underrated this season, holding down a 2.86 ERA in spite of a so-so 8-6 record, but he flat out sucks against the Halos (1-5, 4.49). Let's hope the suckfest continues.

On my way out, I'd like to give props to Big Baby for appealing his unwarrante 6 game suspension, and poops to Garden Grove native Bert Blyleven for rocking the Twinkies cap in Cooperstown.

Go Angels.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Was Aybar's Bunt Acceptable?

2011-08-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Yes. But before I get into why, I'll briefly point out that the Halos did nothing at the trade deadline. This was expected, really, especially with their recent run of success. In the division, the A's traded reliver Brad Ziegler for some prospects, the M's picked up a couple of prospects for Bedard, and the Rangers added Mike Adams and Koji Uehara to their bullpen. In reality, none of the teams got that much better than they were, and therefore the Angels' inaction doesn't mean too much, in my opinion.

With the deadline coming and going quietly around the division, the big story of the day was how the long awaited duel between Jered Weaver and Justin Verlander played out. It was an exciting, intense battle, and it put the question of baseball etiquette at the forefront of our minds. In this game alone, we saw a hitter showing up a pitcher after a jack, a pitcher being tossed from throwing at the next batter following the questionable homerun celebration, and a hitter trying to break up a no hitter in the eighth with a bunt. Baseball purists are rolling over in their collective graves (or beds, if they are still living...and sleeping).

But, with a little explaining, I think I can be a Halo apologist of such quality that I will convince you that everything the Angels did was legit and everything the Tigers did broke the unwritten rules of the game. Of course, the Tigers won 3-2, so none of this really matters, but to avoid being down and complaining about the loss, let's get to exploring the issues within the game.

Carlos Guillen ripped a Weaver pitch into the seats in the seventh, turning a 2-0 Detroit lead into a 3-0 lead, and he stood at the plate and admired his bomb for way to long. His celebratory trot around the bases only rubbed it in even further, as he stared Big Baby down with his hands up, and Weaver barked at him as he went around just to show his distaste. It wasn't just the Angels who thought he was showboating, as the homeplate umpire warned both benches after the homerun not to follow it up with any funny business. That's proof that Guillen's celebration was BS, right?

Well, like any of us would, Weaver ignored the warning and fired the next pitch right at the head of Alex Avilla. After the game, Weav would say that the pitch "got away from him." We all know that's crap, but he had to say it. He could be seen jawing with the Tigers bench on the way to the clubhouse, obviously upset with the classless Guillen.

When Verlander came out to continue his no-hit bid in the eighth, the code of baseball was just thrown right out the door. Erick Aybar came up and dropped down a bunt, trying to break up the no-no with a surprise infield single. Verlander threw wildly to first (on purpose?) and the play was ruled an error. The Tigers' starter stared Aybar down like crazy when EA was standing on second base. He would eventually come around to score, and in the bottom of that inning, Verlander could be seen yelling at Aybar from the dugout, motioning that he'd throw one at Aybar's back the next time they square off.

For us fans, it was awesome.

Now, everyone who knows baseball, knows that you NEVER go for a bunt single late when a guy is working on a no hitter. But, with everything that happened prior to the situation, was it actually acceptable? Was Aybar breaking an unwritten rule of the game to stick up for his pitcher, who had been shown up and then ejected the previous inning? Some are saying that the bunt was allowable because the game was late and close at 0-3 in the 8th, but I disagree. The score and inning of the game had nothing to do with making it acceptable. It was an alright thing to do because he was backing up his boy by sticking it to Verlander. Plain and simple.

All of this overshadowed an impressive game from Bobby Abreu, going 0 for 1 with an impressive 3 walks in the game. It all helped to also cover up the performance of Torii "Declining Trade Value" Hunter. Big Game went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks in the 2-hole, dropping his average to .232.

The Angels are 59-50, 2 games back of Texas, and come home to face Minnie starting on Tuesday, as Ervin tries to make it two no hitters in a row.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Heating Up At The Deadline.

2011-07-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

What's happening to our so-so Angels? As we approached the trade deadline, most of us were looking for big ways to improve our team via player swap. But now, as the deadline sits just two and a half days away, I'm left wondering if doing nothing might be our best option. Man, I'm starting to sound like a Tony Reagins apologist, and the deadline hasn't even happened yet.

Yesterday, the Halos opened their four game series in Detroit with a bang. A 12-7 win where the Halos, like some other team entirely, scored in bunches. Three runs in the second, four in the fourth, and five in the seventh? If I gave you that run down, you'd probably guess the Angels did it on your 30th attempt. And yet, it was us. Erick Aybar, Alberto Callaspo, and Mark Trumbo all had 3 hits, while Howie, Bourjos, and Jeff Mathis all had a pair. The 5 RBI day for Trumo is far and away the best game in his career, as he finished just a single away from the cycle, and he now has amassed 19 jacks in his rookie of the year campaign.

All of this came to make up for Joel Piñero's rough 3.3 innings of 6 run ball. What is going on with him? The bullpen did the job it needed to do to allow the offense to strike back, as Horacio Ramirez, Cassevah, Rodney, Downs, and Walden all helped to hold the door shut. It was a thing of beauty...once Piñero got off the hill. The thing I'm thinking of is that he's really going to need to turn things around if we're going to make any head way in the playoffs (if we do, in fact, make the playoffs). We've got some impressive starters with Weav, Haren, and sort of Ervin (I'll admit I wouldn't have said that before the no-no based on his season so far) but we'll really need Piñata to come around to help make the last push a little more possible.

Don't look now, but the 58-48 Halos trail Texas by just 2 games in the division. With a 7-3 record over the last 10 games, we're the hottest team in the AL West (Seattle is 1-9 over the same time, which we can all enjoy). If we can win this weekend series with the Tigers, and stay on this hot streak heading into the trade deadline, we will be in a great place for the final 53 games.

Aramis Ramirez, anyone?

Enjoy the deadline, Halo fans.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Ervin Tosses A History Making No-No.

2011-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

*Warning: this was not proofread. Apologies.

In the early hours of the work day out here on the West Coast, our boy Ervin Santana was working his magic in Ohio. El Rosario, who is having one of those "not great, but not crappy" seasons went onto the mound at Progressive Field and made history. For the first time since 1984, the Angels watched one of their own toss a no hitter.

After an error by Erick "Trade Bait" Aybar in the first inning led to a Cleveland run on a wild pitch, Ervin shut things down, and never allowed a single hit. 9 innings, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts. It was a thing of magic, dare I say "Black Magic?" (see what I did there?). After turning aside 15 in a row, Ervin entered the sixth allowing a wicked shot off the bat of Jason Kipnis, but Howie Kendrick was able to glove the ball with a nice move to keep the no-no intact. It was a thing of pure beauty for us Angel fans.

The last no hitter by a single Halo pitcher was on the final day of the 1984 season when Mike Witt tossed a gem. We've all seen the highlights over and over again, and now we have an exciting pitching effort of our own generation to enjoy (I was only 2 when Witt pulled it off). More recently, the Halos had a combined no hitter in 1990 against Seattle when Witt and Langston combined. Of couse, we all know that Nolan Ryan is the king of Halo no-nos, throwing 4 during his span in North Orange County. Now Ervin has earned a spot among the greats in Angel (and MLB) lore.

He may not be having his best season, but he just pitched the best game of his life, and when we look back on his entire career, July 27, 2011 will come up as his greatest day on the mound. It's just too bad it happened across the country at a time when most Angel fans couldn't watch it.

Way to go, Erv Daddy. I've been following you since AA Arkansas, and I couldn't be any more proud to be an Ervin fan and an Angel fan in general.

Tomorrow at 10:05 am, the Halos have another brunch time special, this time up in Detroit against Los Tigres. The 5-5 Joel Piñero (4.61) is out to try and stabilize his season against a tough AL Central squad who are yet to name a starter.

Go Halos Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Pssst. One Of Us Isn't Going To Be Here By Sunday?

2011-07-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

What a game yesterday. Jered Weaver and Josh Tomlin engaged in a good ol' fashioned pitcher's duel at Progressive Field, and rookie sensation Mark Trumbo laced a two out two run line drive double in the seventh to give the Halos the lead and the eventual win. Big Baby finished the game with 7 innings of one run ball and ran his record to 14-4 with a 1.79 ERA. If he keeps this up, I just don't think the voters can keep the Cy out of his arms this time around.

Scott Downs pitched a nice 8th inning, running his ERA down to an impressive 1.27, as he continues to show that he was the best offseason acquisition we made. Meanwhile, Waldo had to escape a little self-imposed danger en route to his 24th save, allowing two hits, but getting out with a shutout 9th was all I cared about. The Angels offense could only muster four hits, as Hunter, Abreu, Kendrick (who also picked up the lone walk), and Trumbo put the ball on the bat, but it ended up being enough thanks to the amazing pitching. Not to harp on things, but Vernon Wells, the guy who the media is trying to tell us is turning things around, went 0 for 4 with 2Ks and is hitting .217 for the season. I'm still holding fast to my prediction that he'd be average this year and great next year, but he has to do a lot to get to average before the fall.

After the game, we got some interesting and potentially frustrating news from Sam Miller at the OC Register. I say potentially frustrating because if the Angels don't make a semi-big trade, fans will point to this comment and say "what the hell?" Reports have Arte Moreno saying that he is A) ready to raise payroll, B) looking for a third baseman before the deadline, and C) willing to trade Erick Aybar for José Reyes straight up. Sometimes I wish the owner wouldn't say things like this, because when Sunday has come and gone and we haven't made any significant deal, fans will point to Moreno's statement as conviction against Reagins for being unable to pull the trigger despite being given the green light. I think raising payroll is dumb, mostly because I think you could upgrade at 3B without adding on more money. Also, is Callaspo that bad? Is their some magical solution out there that would be better than him?

About the Aybar for Reyes straight up trade, the Mets have officially turned it down.

Aybar: .283/.317, 7, 41, and an impressive +3.1 WAR.

Reyes: .346/.387, 4, 33, and an even more impressive +4.6 WAR.

I'm shocked that the Mets aren't going for this. Just shocked. Who do we think we are offering Aybar for Reyes? I guess the Angels were figuring that the worst thing the Mets could say was no.

As I finish this, I realize that the Angels and Indians have already played the final game of their series this morning, and it was epic enough to deserve it's own post.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Trout, Trumbo, and Chat Usher In New Era.

2011-07-25T12:22:00.001-07:00

Look, I've tried to walk the line. I'm a gigantic MiLB fan, and as such, I'm always promoting bringing in the next big thing to help the Halos. However, I recognize how often I have been burned by the McPhersons, Mathises, Woodses, and Kotchmans of the world, and I have tried to hold back on my calls to bring on the youth. But when I look at Sunday's 9-3 win over Baltimore, I can't help but get excited about our young studs, and it's making me ask some serious questions as the trade deadline nears.

Mike Trout was the hero yesterday, opening up a slim one run lead for the Halos into a big win, launching a 3-run bomb into the seats at Camden. It was Trout's first big league jack, and while he's still only hitting .179 since his callup, the long ball and 3-RBI day at the yard turned some heads. Hopefully it's a sign of what's to come. Thanks to Trout's jack, Mark Trumbo's day got overlooked. The big first baseman went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI. He brought Alberto Callaspo home with a sac fly early on, and then he singled AC home later on. He's having a solid rookie season, hitting .256 with 18 big flies and 46 RBI, and is clearly rocking a campaign to be our first rookie of the year since Timmy. And all of that offense helped to overshadow the impressive start by Tyler Chatwood. Chatty Kathy went 7 innings of 2 run ball, punching out 5, and ran his record to 6-6 with a 3.64 ERA. Not too bad for a so-so youngster that's been filling a hole on the team.

So, taking all of this into consideration, it's hard not to drool over the way that the Halos' youth have performed this season. And when you're drooling over the youth around the trade deadline, you start to come up with some wild thoughts. We've already explored the trading of Torii Hunter on this blog, and I still think it's a great idea. Just think of what we'd get in return. Now, I'm hearing about the potential dealing of Bobby Abreu (who is about to vest his 2012 option based on plate appearances, h/t to Halo Heaven), and I'm wondering if I like that.

I don't. You know that I'm a mix of a stat head/chemistry guy, and I think that El Comedulce brings a ton of chemistry. While I think that he would bring some value based on his ability to reach base (.381 OBP), I wouldn't want to lose what he brings. I know that the whole "captain" thing is kind of stupid, but if anyone is the captain on this squad, it's Bobby. With the money we'd save, Torii is still the better trade option, in my humble opinion.

The other area we can drop a trade in, besides the outfield, is the middle infield. We've got Howie, Maicer, Erick, Alberto, Romine, Sandoval, and Amarista. To me, HK (leading the team in AVG) are Callaspo (.296 with 33 RBI is serviceable at 3B) are untouchable. The question that comes up every trade deadline is the decision between Aybar and Izturis. We've kept them together for some time, but most Angel fans can accept the fact that at some point, one of them will be traded away. We've gone over this a couple of times at various points in the past, so we'll keep it short.

Aybar is hitting .289 with 7 jacks and 41 RBI along with a .324 OBP. Ma$e is hitting .270 with 4 jacks and 24 RBI along with a .333 OBP. It's a toss up, and at this point it would require much more investigation than I have time for. If I had to pick, I'm keeping Izturis.

All of this has to be at the forefront of our minds with the deadline approaching. When you look at the rumor wire, though, maybe not much will happen (shocking, I know). The first rumor that comes up reads, "Angels Don't Appear To Be Looking For Any Major Deals." That would be the status quo, but if you dig a little deeper, you see that the Angels may have some interest in Heath Bell, José Reyes, Aramis Ramirez, and Garrett Jones. I'm not interested in exploring each of these options just yet, but it's something to think about.

Even more important, however, is today's clash with the 51-48 Cleveland Indians out in Ohio. Dan Haren (10-6, 3.10) looks to keep impressing us against Fausto Carmona (5-10, 5.63). Man, what happened to poor, poor Fausto? In 10 of the last 11 series, the Halos have come away with series wins, and you've got to believe that this trend is going to continue. Trailing Texas by just 3 games in the division, it kind of has to. The Chessmaster will have to be on his game early, as the Tribe are 20-7 when scoring first.

Let's start the week off with a nice win.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Win That Changes Everything.

2011-07-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

The game one loss to the Rangers was an epic failure for the Halos. Losing was bad enough, but losing 0-7 made it that much worse. We had all of our hopes on Dan Haren's shoulders last night, and when he got lit up by the AL West leaders for a five spot in the fifth inning, I'm sure all of Halo Nation was sighing along with me. I'll admit it, and you can see it if you follow the "instant suffering" from last night, when we were down 3-8, I felt like giving up.

Luckily, the Angels have a little more faith in themselves than I have in them. Somehow, this dormant offense came up with six runs in the sixth, grabbed a 9-8 lead, and they got backed up by some impressive bullpen work from Downs and Waldo. The Stadium must have been rocking, as the screaming Halo bats put an abrupt stop to the Rangers 12 game winning streak. It was a big deal.

While Dan Haren got bounced after 4.3 innings, the offense and the bullpen deserve mention. Howie Kendrick was insane out there, getting two hits in the sixth inning alone, and he finished 3 for 5 with 4 RBI. We'll ignore the 2 strike outs thanks to his big and timely hits. He leads the team with a .296 average, which is kind of pathetic in and of itself, but he was the hero last night, and it was an important night to be a hero. Aybar went 2 for 5 with a RBI, Trouty picked up a nice RBI for himself, and the team as a whole worked 5 walks. Those 5 free passes seemed like an important piece to the win, and I think if the Angels can continue to follow the "Bobby Abreu Plan," we'll be on the right path (as long as it's not the Bobby Abreu Meal Plan...oh!).

While Scott Downs had an impressive 2 innings of perfect ball, I think the bullpen focus goes straight to All-Star rookie Jordan Walden. Waldo had a 2 strikeout performance in the 9th, picking up his 22nd save of the campaign, and I think he's showing that he's really finding his way. He's not quite Neftali Feliz (40 saves as a rook last year), but he's clearly been a solid choice (imagine if we were still rolling with Rodney), and I trust him over the stretch run. Heck, he's on pace for 36, let's give him all the respect he deserves.

At 52-46, the Angels are now 4 back of Texas. Seattle is 12.5 off the lead, and Oakland is 13 off the lead. This division is clearly a two horse race, and a win in today's business man's special could go a long way to make this race a little closer. It's kind of a big freaking deal today, too. Jered Weaver (12-4, 1.90) goes against CJ Wilson (10-3, 3.11). While Wilson is considered the king of the hill in Texas, his numbers aren't king-like material when compared to Big Baby, and I'm hoping Jered can weave a little magic to help the Angels win this all-too-important series.

If we win this series, we're going to be stealing headlines, and more importantly, we'll be just 3 back. If we lose, it'll be tough to consider ourselves the class of the division at this point. Let's go get this win.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

A Poem For A Win.

2011-07-20T14:30:00.001-07:00

It's time for the Chessmaster to be the stopper, put a deep freeze on Beltre the bopper.

The Halos need wins and they need them fast, there's no way this Rangers streak can last.

We've got to be good with the glove and with the stick, so sit Jeff Mathis, he can't hit a lick.

Tell the 'pen to throw strikes and to keep the ball low, backing Dan up with zeroes is the only way to go.

So now that we find ourselves 5 big games back, let's get the bases loaded and watch Trumbo hit a jack.

After last night's 0-7 loss, the Halos really need to back up quality starts from Haren and Weaver with some solid offense over the next two games. If we let this chance to get two back on Texas slip through our hands, we're in trouble. It's the second half of July and time is running out. Bring on the victory.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

What Went Wrong In Oakland This Weekend?

2011-07-18T13:57:00.001-07:00

Horrible. Just flat out horrible. The Halos went screaming into the All-Star Break, ripping off wins like they were the Texas Rangers. Coming out of the break, we were looking at a four game weekend series with the Chokeland A's, and pictured overtaking the division lead with a solid three days. Instead, we got straight embarrassed by the A's, losing three out of four, and had to suffer through a tough to watch 1-9 loss yesterday afternoon (providing zero relief after the rough US women's loss to Japan on penalties in the World Cup).

So, after getting so excited about my favorite baseball team coming up to my new home in the East Bay, I'm left wondering what the heck went wrong? How could we get blown up like this by these guys? Who is going to have to shoulder the blame? And maybe most importantly, what can we do to fix things?

Torii Hunter comes to mind, when I try and think of who should take a big chunk of the blame for our poor performance over the weekend. Big Game is supposed to be our big bat, the best guy in the clubhouse, our clutch performer, and all that other junk. Instead, he comes up and goes 0 for 15 over the weekend, grounding into somewhere near 468 double plays. T-Hunt is continuing his rapid decline, sitting on .239 with 11 jacks and 45 RBI this season. Torii's making $18 million from us this year, and is set to make $18 million from us next year. He's had a tough season on the field, and off the field it's been very hot and cold for me this year.

So, with Torii having a deal with the Halos through 2012, what are the Angels to do? We're staring at the trade deadline, and I'm considering making the outlandish demand that we ship Hunter off. Okay, pick your jaws up off the floor, and let's look at this. We've got Vernon Wells, who no one will take in a trade, playing left, and we've got Bourjos (coming back from the DL soon) and Trout up and coming (and he could easily cover right field). Abreu could fill in at right field as needed, but wouldn't you rather watch Mike Trout hit .230ish in right than watching Big Game struggle his way through the rest of the season? And, just consider what we could get for Torii. Despite his down season, I would guess that he still has impressive value on the market.

That being said, if the Angels were ever going to trade him, it would probably come at next season's deadline, if I'm being honest with myself.

There are plenty of other things that this disappointing weekend brought to mind. Jeff Mathis' continued struggles, Joel Piñero's weird season, bullpen issues, and more. Despite all of that, Torii Hunter's issues continue to be at the forefront of my mind.

Now, just because I'm a MiLB nut doesn't mean I want the team to go all youth for the rest of 2011. Just because I prefer to have Trout getting starts instead of watching Torii fade doesn't mean I would have Amarista out there in the middle infield like Scioscia does. However, just like when Bourjos took over in center, there comes a time to make a change, and I'm just wondering how long we have to sit by and watch Big Game struggle before we send him off for a nice small collection of talent.

We're now 51-45 after this little weekend of crap, trailing the continually surging Rangers by 4 games. It's not a great time to fall apart, and now we're welcoming those very same division leaders starting tomorrow for three at the Stadium. This very well may be the series that defines our season (and how many times have I said that this year?).

Speaking of the MiLB, which I was doing a little ways back, I think it's a good time to do a little name and number dropping to increase my longing for a youth movement even more (wait, what?).

Somehow, the Bees are dead last in their division with their 40-55 record. That doesn't mean that there aren't some shining stars, however. How about LA native and promissing SS Gil Velasquez? He may be something of an older prospect, but he's hitting .366 with 6 bombs and 46 RBI in 80 games this year. And we're rolling out Amarista? We've talked about 1B Efren Navaro before. While he may be stuck in a log jam with the play of Mark Trumbo at the show, he's still proving his worth. Hitting .327 with 44 RBI in his 91 games makes him a valuable piece, even if it would just be in a trade. We'll close the AAA offensive studs with another promissing 3B prospect (although I know we've all given up on those). Jeff Baisley, out of Tampa and South Florida University, is just crushing the ball. JB is hitting .317, and that comes along with 18 yard shots and 70 RBI in his 88 contests. Complete stud. One the mound, we've got some promissing talent as well (though most of it is below the AAA level). Ronald Bay leads the starters with a 7-5 record and a 4.53 ERA, while well-known Bucknell grad Eric Junge leads the team with 81 Ks in 121+ innings.

Down at AA Arkansas, the Travs are off to a red hot 13-9 division leading second half start. Now that Trout has jumped up to the show, we'll have to dig a little deeper for prospects. We'll start with switch hitting SS Darwin Perez, who is hitting .308 with 44 RBI in 79 games. He's joined by DR native and 3B Luis Jimenez, who is hitting .305 with 13 jacks and 71 RBI this season. Riverside native Garrett Richards leads the team on the mound with an amazing season. He's 10-1 with a 3.27 ERA and 83 Ks in 113 innings. Is he our mound dwelling savior? If so, he doesn't look that far off. Meanwhile, Matt Shoemaker is looking solid as well, 8-1 with a 2.50 ERA for the Travs this year, 83 Ks in 93.67 innings. Can't wait to see these guys in 2ish years.

Finally we'll gaze at the IE, where the 66'ers are 10-14 to start the second half. UCLA 1B Casey Haerther is hitting .310 with 60 RBI in 91 games thus far, and he is joined by ASU grad Cole Kalhoun as a solid hitter. Cole is leading the team with 15 jacks, and hitting .309 as well. On the mound, you have to recognize Ariel Peña's 7-3 record, 4.02 ERA, and 116 Ks in 105 innings. The K/9 is off the charts with this guy, and he has closer written all over him. Meanwhile, Manuel Flores is 9-6, leading the team in wins, with a 4.09 ERA. They continue up here in San Jose tonight, looking for a big win against the South Bay's version of the Giants.

Wow, reading about the Baby Halos does pump me up. I should do this more often.

Alright, let's take care of the Rangers.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Who Would I Want On "The Franchise?"

2011-07-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

I don't know how it is everywhere else, but up here in the Bay Area, everyone is talking about "The Franchise." The documentary of the Giants 2011 season hits Showtime tonight, and while fears are running high that the Giants may be overexposing themselves to the rest of the world (and thus running the risk of becoming a hated team in the National sphere), people up here are straight up excited.

That's all got me thinking. Which of my favorite squads would I want to watch on this show (and we're pretending that I actually have Showtime for the purposes of this argument, which I don't)?

Los Angeles Angels: They'd have to be ranked in the top three. I think the whole clubhouse dynamic in baseball makes for the most interesting drama possible in this show's format. Watching Jeff Mathis crumble under the pressure of being hated by fans, watching Mark Trumbo develop into a superstar, and watching Scioscia akwardly spill lasagna onto his uniform? It all sounds great to me.

Vancouver Canucks: Obviously, this would be my ideal choice. Watching the Orca carry out their season after losing the Stanley Cup Finals to the Bruins would be awesome (and at the same time, heartbreaking yet again). Overall, though, seeing how they rebound from the rioting on Robson to try and get back to being an elite squad sounds exciting and extremely interesting. Sign me up. Plus, the 'Nucks have some characters on the squad. Bieksa, Kesler, and AB would keep the show interesting as heck.

Notre Dame: This year's Irish would be a very interesting choice. Brian Kelly seems like he'd be interesting to watch, and with the whole drama with Michael Floyd's DUI, this would probably be fun. The QB battle? The evolving defense? The history of the squad? The insane fanbase? It has to rank in my top 3.

St. Louis Rams: Nope. Not interested. Episode one would be all about how the games aren't on TV locally because they can't manage to sell seats? No thanks. A second year QB sounds like an interesting story, but then you realize that it's Sam Bradford, and his lack of personality makes me take a pass.

Boston Celtics: Not only has it already been done by NBA-TV, but I wouldn't even want to watch a second of it (and, in fact, I didn't watch a second of it). Self-indulgent crap. It's weird how much I hate one of my favorite teams. Maybe now that I'm up in the East Bay, I can swap to the Warriors and start liking basketball again. Maybe.

Newcastle: This would probably be really interesting, and I'd probably watch every week. However, my inability to understand their accent is something of a turn off.

Celtic FC: See above.

Chivas USA: Out of all my soccer squads, this is the one I would most like to watch. Robin Fraser taking over this team has been fun to watch from game to game, and an inside look at the job he is doing would be fascinating. Plus, we have some good personalities on this Goat squad. From Kennedy to LaBrocca to Pearce, it'd be a fun show to watch.

So, ranking my top three, I'd probably go with:

1. Vancouver Canucks
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Notre Dame

How about you guys?

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Why The NBA Lockout Has The NHL Looking Stupid.

2011-07-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

Something came to me yesterday while I was driving home, and I just wanted to touch on it briefly. The NBA is in lockout, and if I believe the Bay Area's only FM sports talk station, they may be locked out until January (or maybe for the entire '11/'12 season). This made me realize just how stupid the NHL leadership is these days.

Gary Bettman knew that the NBA was headed toward a lockout, we all did. He also knew that he was looking at an opportunity for a new TV deal toward the end of last season. When he extended the stupid deal with NBC and Versus a couple of months ago, I was upset. I thought it was a stupid deal back when they initially left for Versus, and I thought it was even worse to extend with the never-seen network once the original deal finally expired. However, at the time, I didn't really understand the full impact of the NBC/Versus extension.

With the NBA facing a lockout and the possible cancellation of their season, the NHL had a huge opportunity, especially considering that they had a chance to secure a new TV contract just a couple of months ago. If there aren't any NBA games this upcoming season, what are people going to watch on ESPN, TNT, etc? Well, nothing, now. However, if the NHL would have taken a little less money to get back on ESPN or other cable stations (much like the current NBA deal) they would have been able to take all of those open slots left by the possibly vacant basketball schedule. Could you imagine? It would have been perfect.

If only the leadership at the NHL would have had some sense of how to promote and improve the league through positive exposure. Hockey has been picking up lately, it seems, and a move back to major cable stations with a possible NBA season cancellation would hae furthered that process. Instead, we're left with the sport being shown on a station that is primarily in existence for hunting and cage fighting. What are we to do?

Hopefully when this current TV deal expires, in 2021 I believe, the NHL can try and regain it's relevance.

Hopefully.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Angels Head Into Break With A Huge Sweep.

2011-07-11T12:06:00.001-07:00

Four games, four wins. Are you kidding me? The Halos have reached the All-Star break on a ridiculous roll, and by outscoring the hated M's 22-9 over the weekend, they put Seattle in their place (third place).

Yesterday was especially exciting, as Dan Haren and Felix Hernandez settled into a nice pitching duel. Danny Boy had a rough first inning, allowing a 2-run double to former Halo heartthrob (and frequent DUI suspect) Adam Kennedy, but then he put things together and let the Halos bats bail him out. Mark Trumbo placed a ball into the left field seats for a two run jack in the fourth, and then Alberto Callaspo had a two run double in the eighth to seal the deal. Great, great stuff, and an awesome way to finish off a four game sweep.

You can't say enough about Dan Haren, and it seems like everytime I find time to post on an Angel game, it's a Haren game. Have you noticed that? Maybe that's why I find myself become a bigger and bigger fan f the Chessmaster. Yesterday, Haren went 8.67 innings of 2 run ball, punching out 8, and walking just 2. He boosted his impressive "first half" record to 10-5 with a 2.61 ERA, and continues to make me look stupid for saying he isn't a "co-ace."

Just to be cool and follow what cool people are following, Mike Trout went 1 for 9 over the weekend, scoring twice on Saturday's game. With Friday's game being shown up here in the Bay Area on MLB Network, however, I did see him run down a ball in right center for an amazingly impressive catch. I just hope he and Bourjos can co-exist in the OF come next season (and many seasons to come). And yes, Mike Trout does look somewhat like Tim Salmon, I'll admit it (and you should too).

The Halos are 50-42, trail Texas by a single game, and lead Seattle by 6.5 and Oakland by 11. The exciting battle is getting a little less exciting across the entire division, but the battle at the top is still going to be fun all the way through the rest of the season (so long as the good guys pull it out in the end).

So, I know most people do player grades at the All-Star break, but I think that's a little played out (and I don't have enough time to grade every player), so I thought I'd just put the spotlight on a couple of guys who have been either good, bad, or ugly over the unofficial first half of the season (if a player doesn't make the list, it just kind of means that their season has been fairly vanilla).

The Good:

Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Jordan Walden, Howie Kendrick, Mark Trumbo, Bobby Abreu, Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis, Alberto Callaspo, and Scott Downs

The Bad:

Hisanori Takahashi, Torii Hunter (although, this is debatable, but overall, it hasn't been great), Reggie Willits (the same amount of RBI as Dan Haren), Kevin Jepsen (bad, and ugly)

The Ugly:

Vernon Wells, Jeff Mathis, Russell Branyan (I was wrong on this one, so far)

Outside of Big Game, this list isn't really open for argument because I clearly know what I'm talking about, right?

Enjoy the All-Star break. Best of luck with your start, J Weav.

P.S. I went to the Giants/Mets game at AT&T last night, and it was awesome...and cold. Great place to catch a game.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Did We Just See Danny Boy's Best?

2011-07-06T15:08:00.001-07:00

-Be forewarned, this post wasn't proofread.

To beat Justin Verlander, Dan Haren needed to be at his best. With the pressure on, our #2 starter (or maybe I'm starting to cave in on the whole "co-ace" thing?) tossed a complete game 2-hit shutout, punching out 9 in the process while walking 0. It was a thing of beauty, and we needed all of it. The Halos lone run came on a RBI double by Erick Aybar that knocked in Howie Kendrick, and we would ride that 2nd inning run all the way to victory.

When Dan Haren came over, thoughts were mixed. We all loved Joe Saunders. He was a fan favorite, and it's always hard to let those guys go for anyone. In addition, Haren's numbers in Arizona last season seemed hot and cold. Of course, as time has played out, we have seen that the trade was a perfect move by Tony Reagins, easily his best deal as GM so far. After Haren's performance last night, the greatness of that trade has become even more clear.

What I was wondering as last night's game was playing out was: Is this the best game of Dan Haren's career? Now, that's a tough question to answer. How do we compare single game performances among pitchers? If two games look nearly identical, how can we decide which was a better outing? It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

When we look at the 2011 season, we see one game that presents some competition to last night's pitching duel. Let's compared and select:

Last night: 9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 0 BB
April 12: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 2 BB

We are looking at two complete game shutouts. Last night against the Tigers, he allowed just 2 baserunners, while he allowed 3 against the Indians back in April. However, he only gave up one it. Again, though, he had an extra punch out last night. So, what was the better outing? This is where is gets tough. Let's look a little deeper:

Last night: 122 Pit, 8 GB, 13 FB
April 12: 125 Pit, 7 GB, 13 FB

Does that help us? Based on getting it done with less pitches, and allowing less men to reach base, I'll hold that last night was a better outing. But that's darn close. Expanding to his Halo career prior to this season, we find nothing that can compare to last night. He had a 9 inning loss against Texas on July 31 of last year, right after being acquired, but they tagged him for two runs, so it doesn't stand up. And prior to coming over last season, he didn't have a complete game shutout for Arizona in 2010.

July 10, 2009, Haren tossed a complete game shutout against Florida where he went 9 innings of 4 hits work with 10 Ks and just 1 walk. While his Ks were up in that 8-0 win over th Fish, he allowed 5 base runners against a subpar team, and it just doesn't stand up against last night's gem.

Next we look at September 16, 2008, and we find ourselves some good competition. The Chessmaster went up against San Francisco and tossed the CG/SO allowing just 4 hits while punching out a monster 12 and walking just two. Six men reached base, but the strikeouts may just overcome that issue. To add to it, that game was against Matt Cain, a solid pitcher indeed. He's no 2011 Justin Verlander, but he's quality.

And, for a career that started in 2003, that's it. Haren had zero complete game shutouts prior to the game against the Giants in 2006. That leaves us with three games in Danny Boy's career to pick from for the best game of his career, and here is how I'd rank them.

3. 4/12/11: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 2 BB

2. 9/16/08: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 12 K, 2 BB

1. 7/5/11: 9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 0 BB

There you have it. I'm going on record that last night was the greatest game in Dan Haren's career. That just happened.

I'm willing to accept arguments, but I doubt you'll sway me.

Way to go Dan, easily the best #2 in the American League.

The Angels are now 46-41, completely locked up with Texas atop the division, and finish up their series with Detroit this afternoon with a business man's special. Chatty Kathy (5-5, 3.83) goes against Brad Penny (remember him?) (5-6, 4.43) as the Halos look for the sweep. Here's to Chatwood keeping his decent season rolling along. Man, a sweep would be nice.

Go Angels Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Don't Be A Douche While I Dream Of A Double Header.

2011-07-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

So, what's up? I move up to the East Bay, right in the heart of A's Nation, and all of the sudden the Halos get hot? Doesn't really seem fair, to be honest. Me, the guy who always backs the boys up, even when they're looking awful, can't watch a game because of the move, and they start playing some ball? Oh well, I should just be happy and get over it. Although, I'm starting to get a little worried. Not about the team, but about the fan base.

That's because when the Angels start picking up wins and getting to the top of the division, all the "fan since way back in '02" types start getting cocky. Let's face it, the majority of Angel supporters didn't suffer through the 90's (and 80's) like us. They came on board when the miracle title run happened, and they don't know what it's like to stick with this team through thick and thin. They don't know where this team has come from. The epic failure that we grew out of to become the impressive team that we've watched over the last decade. Because of not knowing the pain, these supporters tend to get a little douchey when things start going well.

And things are really stating to go well lately. With two on and none out in the sixth inning, Miguel Cabrera blasted a long ball to straight away center in an attempt to jump back into last night's game. Luckily, we have the amazing Peter Bourjos patroling the outfield grass, and he made a highlight reel catch into the wall to save the day. Piñero turned in his second straight gem, Torii and Vernon went yard (Wells' was meaningless, yes), and the Angels rode a nine hit tide to a 5-1 win on Independence Day at The Stadium. The win gives us 15 over the last 21 games and 9 in the last 11, keeping us deadlocked with the Rangers on top of the division.

It's exciting, I get it. But, it doesn't give us a license to be a douche. Remember, we're two bad weeks away from getting topped by the last place A's. I don't want to be a giant downer during a nice little run, but just keep things in perspective. Despite us ripping off wins like it was our job, we're still only tied with Texas, and their offense can run circles around ours. But, if the pitching stands firm, and tha bats do just enough, we'll be tough to beat down the stretch.

What's better, is what I see coming on July 16th. The Halos are making the trip up here to the East Bay to do battle with their most hated rivals. It's a double header to make up for a rain delay from earlier this year, and if you buy a ticket you can go to both games. I've decided that this Halo 2-for-1 at the O.com Colliseum is going to be my son's first live baseball experience. How sweet is that? I can't wait to take him to downtown Oakland rocking his puffy red Angels jacket (and, as a result, dodging bullets). Man, he'll love hearing about this when he grows up. What a story to tell your friends about your first game as an Angel fan. Come on!

The series against Big D continues in 3 hours, and it's going to be a tough one. Justin "No-Hit" Verlander (11-3, 2.32) is going head to head with Dan Haren (8-5, 2.85) and it has big game potential. Verlander is a straight up beast, and we all know it. However, The Chessmaster has the ability to turn in a downright nasty performance as well. If Haren is on, it's going to be one heck of a pitching duel.

And, if the Halos pull off the unlikely win, I might have to start acting like a douche.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Help in the Middle for Man Utd?

2011-07-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

First, let me apologize in the gap between transfer posts. I had intended on doing a full breakdown of targets for the Red Devils, but didn't get around to it. Now that we're a full weekend into the official transfer period, United have finalized (or finalised) deals for three key players. The deals had been mooted for quite some time, so the only things in question were when and how much.

Sir Alex Ferguson did his homework and brought in keeper David De Gea from Atletico Madrid, defender Phil Jones from Blackburn, and winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa. The running tally so far is in the neighborhood of £50M. Let's take a look at these fine young players in more detail.

David De Gea
This long, rangy shot stopper has drawn comparisons to predecessor Edwin van der Sar for quite some time. That's impressive considering he is only 20 years of age. A combination of Sergio Asenjo's international duty and Roberto's injuries paved the way for his first team callup at Atletico at the ripe age of 18. Other names like Martin Stekelenburg, Manuel Neuer, Julio Cesar, and Gigi Buffon had been thrown out, but De Gea was always thought of as the first choice replacement for VDS. I'm looking forward to see him form partnerships with Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling, and this next player ...

Phil Jones
Having impressed during his first full season as a regular in the Rovers starting XI, Jones attracted the interest of several of England's top clubs. However, it soon became clear that United were his preferred club, and he took a medical in Manchester prior to the two clubs even agreeing a fee. He recently played with fellow Reds Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, and Danny Welbeck at the U21 Euro Championships. While the England squad failed to progress far, Jones and Smalling put forth an impressive display in the central defense - signalling a very bright future for United's back line. He's pegged as a potential captain for both his country and club, and I expect we will see big things out of him. He's also versatile enough to play as a fullback or a holding midfielder.

Ashley Young
Young is no stranger to English football fans, having six campaigns under his belt with Watford and Aston Villa. He turns 26 this week and has secured 15 caps for his native England. Many thought that his arrival would signal the departure of Luis Nani, but those rumours were quickly rubbished. While we do have several wide options now, keep in mind that Gabriel Obertan and Bebe both made bollocks out of their time at Old Trafford and Ryan Giggs has slowed down in what is surely to be the last season of a glorious career - all in Red.

Even though David Gill has spent £50M thus far in the transfer period, we are clearly not done yet. The biggest hole in our squad is in central midfield. Oft injured Owen Hargreaves was not offered a new contract, Paul Scholes retired, Darren Gibson has failed to impress (more on him later), and Michael Carrick, while often very impressive, has been inconsistent.

With that in mind, SAF has his sights set on a midfielder of the Scholes mold. Several names have been thrown out, but the most prominent and legit are Wesley Sneijder of Internazionale, Luka Modric of Spurs, Samir Nasri of Arsenal, Lassa Diarra of Real Madrid, Javier Pastore of Palermo, Daniele de Rossi of Roma, Jack Rodwell of Everton, Steven Defour of Standard Liege, and Yann M'Vila of Rennes.

Wesley Sneijder, 27 - Sneijder is my preferred target of the bunch, as I have admired his play for several years now. In fact, when we sold Cristiano to RMA I was lobbying to have him included as part of the transfer. Instead, United did not inquire and he was allowed to leave for Inter. He is somewhat on the older side, but I think he has several productive years ahead of him. The price seems to keep rising amid interest from several of the world's top clubs - from £30M to the present £40M - but I think that would be well worth it.
Luka Modric, 25 - Harry Redknapp has continually expressed that he is unwilling to sell the Croatian, but I think we all know he will let him go at the right price. That right price, according to rumour, is upwards of £50M. At that price, I don't think this even merits further discussion.
Samir Nasri, 24 - Press coverage of his potential move to Manchester - either with City or United - has been wide. The price the keeps being mentioned is £20M, which seems a little low to me for such a skilled player. In the end I think Nasri leaves Arsenal, but the Premier League as well. With Carlos Tevez's public desire to leave City, I think that is an increasingly less attractive option for a player looking to win silverware. With the strong history between Arsenal and United, I doubt a transaction between the two clubs will happen.
Lassana Diarra, 26 - As he has played for both Chelsea and Arsenal in the past, I have somewhat of a negative predisposition to Diarra. At 26 years of age he is not that old, but his inability to lock down a starting XI position at either of the aforementioned clubs or RMA makes me wary of him. This one is losing steam as I type.
Javier Pastore, 22 - He allegedly has a £50M price tag on him (or is it €?). His club says he is more valuable than Alexis Sanchez, but most don't agree with that. To this point he has relied on pure skill rather than intelligence for the game, which makes me want to avoid him especially at such a high price.
Daniele de Rossi, 27 - de Rossi turns 28 this month, and while he has been a mainstay for Roma I am doubtful he possesses the longevity and skill to be a replacement for Scholes. Pass.
Jack Rodwell, 20 - Highly regarded as the best England U21 player, his potential is mouth watering. However, with many other clubs interested and with memories of the Wayne Rooney transfer from the same club, I doubt this will happen. If Rodwell is allowed to leave Goodison Park, I think it will be at an astronomic price point. Not Pastore astronomic, but still large and inflated.
Steven Defour, 23 - SAF has had his eye on Defour for quite some time, and it was rumoured that United had agreed a fee with Standard Liege in the late winter. Not sure what has happened, but it appears United's interest has dwindled. He could be a good value transfer, but not the superstar quality we need here.
Yann M'Vila, 21 - I'll be quite honest and say that I don't know much about him. At a lower price point than most of the others, he is an intriguing possibility. He's said to be more of a holding than attacking midfielder, however.

There is one name mysteriously missing from the list, however. In addition to Sneijder, he is the midfielder I most personally hope to see at Old Trafford next season. That player is Lyon's Yoann Gourcuff, 24 years of age (soon to be 25). He is a creative playmaker who excels in all parts of the game. Despite his low goal tally, make no mistake that he is instrumental in creating a huge portion of goals for both club and country. The Gourcuff-to-United rumours were aplenty in the Spring, but have since disappeared. What gives?

So who is going to control the central midfield for United's future? My personal guess? Wesley Sneijder.

The Future of the Maple Leafs 1st Line

2011-07-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

Tim Connolly
News just came out that the Leafs have signed Tim Connolly, an unrestricted free agent formerly of the Buffalo Sabres, to a 2-year, $9.5M deal. Right now it's not clear if the Leafs had that offer on the table before losing out on the Brad Richards sweepstakes, or if Connolly was actually targeted to be their 1st line center.

Perennially one of the poorest offensive teams in the NHL, the Leafs could have used a legitimate point-plus per game scorer like Richards. It seems highly unlikely that Connolly can replicate that kind of output.

With no other available free agents with Richards' kind of ability, does this mean the Leafs will hit the trade market to fill the middle of the 1st line? Or is Connolly really it? Mikhail Grabovski has played well, but is not a 1st line center for a playoff contender. There has to be a better answer out there. Who could be available for the right price? Can Brian Burke tap into his former Ducks for Ryan Getzlaf? Just an idea, who know what will actually happen.

Wehrhoff?

2011-06-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick little post about the departure of Christian Ehrhoff. I guess when the 'Nucks handed Bieksa a big contract, we should have expected something like this. Christian Ehrhoff has defected to a gigantic 10 year $40 million contract with the expansion cousins of the Canucks, the Buffalo Sabres. With the deal, the Sabres get exactly what the 'Nucks lose, a solid defender with a huge shot and a great awareness on the ice.

50 points last year and 44 points in his inagural season in Vancouver with only 52 and 42 penalty minutes respectively. Those are the kind of numbers that hockey fans can appreciate. Not to mention that he chipped in 2 goals and 10 assists in our deeply exciting, and deep disappointing, playoff run.

While his contract may be looked at by the NHL for being a tad much (10 years for a 28 year old sounds a bit overboard), he will provide serious help to the Sabres blue line, and Brandon should be more than stoked on his arrival.

As for the Canucks, we have ourselves a big hole to fill. With Vigneault feeling down on Ballard and Sami Salo most likely leaving for some kind of career ending surgery (wait for it), this loss of Ehrhoff is huge. Will the Vannies make a move to get back to pre-2010/2011-season blue line levels? Or, will Chris Tanev and the other Baby 'Nucks have to step it up? A little from column A, a little from column B.

Even though we let the Cup slip through our fingers earlier this month, we should really hold onto our memories from this season, because to me, we aren't looking primed to make the same kind of run again.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Death To The "Co-Ace."

2011-06-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

Dan Haren pitched a freaking gem last night. 7.3 innings, 2 hits allowed, 6 Ks, and just 1 walk. He outdueled Washington's Ryan Zimmerman, who may be the hardest luck loser in the bigs this season, and helped the Angels pick up a sweep against a semi-solid NL team to start this long homestand. So what if our only run was scored when Howie grounded into a double play? It worked, didn't it?

With the victory, The Chessmaster is now 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA, and is showing that he's starting to feel settled in Anaheim. It's great. I'm happy, he seems to be happy, and the Halos are getting hot at the right time, keeping within striking distance of the 2010 American League Champions in the division race.

So, what could possibly be making me frustrated right now?

"Co-ace."

With Dan Haren putting up decent numbers over the first half of the season, the media and the fanbase feel compelled to give him a label. God forbid he just be "Dan Haren, a really good pitcher." No, that's not good enough. It wouldn't be fair to simply just appreciate him for what he is. Instead, we need to bring him up on an equal level with Jered Weaver, our true ace. Rather than just appreciate the fact that we have an impressive ace and a really solid #2, we have to meld them into one, give them the same labels, and call them both our "Co-ace."

I hate it.

Jered Weaver is 9-4 with a 1.97 ERA. Dan Haren is 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA. Where do we get that they are co-aces? Let me ask you this question, you who espouse the "co-ace" label: Who would you pick to start game seven of the World Series?

Case closed.

We have one ace and one hell of a #2. Let's be happy with that, and call it what it is. Something tells me that Dan Haren won't mind (and I know Weaver will appreciate it).

We're 42-40, thanks to going 8-2 over the last 10 games, and we sit just 1.5 back of the Texas Rangers. Halo fans are starting to come back to the bandwagon, though us real fans never left (and were actually enjoying the ride much more, with all the extra space to stretch out our legs). Seattle is 4 back of the lead, with the A's sitting 7 back. I'm so pleased to see them struggling, especially since I live in the Bay Area now.

After an off-day today, the Angels match back up with the Doyers for the weekend, with their eyes on another series win. The Blew Crew are in even worse shape than the last time we met, even though that was just a week ago, and that should make for a fun battle over the next three days.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Making Peace With Chicago.

2011-06-24T16:04:00.001-07:00

As a die hard Vancouver Canucks fan, even after the game seven loss (maybe even especially after the game seven loss), I hate the Chicago Blackhawks. Sure, we finally overcame the demon known as the Madhouse during this most recent postseason. Sure, one of my dear friends (and fellow LSF authors) is a die hard Blackhawk fan. But none of that has any impact on my outright hatred of everything Hawk. Over our recent history, hating the Hawks is almost as much a part of being a Canuck fan as rooting on the 'Nucks.

And that's why it's hard to believe that the Canucks are getting set to announce that the Chicago Wolves are going to be the Orca's new AHL squad. With our beloved Manitoba Moose being kicked out of town to make way for the return of the Winnipeg Jets, we had to go searching, and evidently our search has ended in Chicago. Now I find myself in the odd position of actually caring and being invested in a Chicago hockey team, and as you could guess, it's a weird spot to find myself in.

So, it's time to make peace with the lovely (or so I'm told) city of Chicago. I've often said that Chicago is the US big city that I'd most like to visit next, although it's in a tight foot race with New Orleans. That makes it pretty cool in my book. But, Chicago has to be a much loved American city by all simply for the impressive list of comedians it has produced. Are you kidding me? Bill Murray, John Belushi, Jack Benny, Michael Ian Black, Steve Carrell, Dan Castellaneta, Stephen Colbert, Chris Farley, Redd Foxx, Rick Moranis, Bob Newhart, Mandy Patinkin, Bonnie Hunt, and Harold Ramis are just a few of the greats to come out of the Windy City.

How about the impressive list of movies based in Chicago? Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone (1, 2, and 3), A League Of Their Own, National Lampoon's Vacation, Planes Trains & Automobiles (easily the greatest comedy of all time), Return To Me, Tommy Boy, Uncle Buck, Wayne's World (and Wayne's World 2), and When Harry Met Sally? That's a pretty awesome list.

What else could I possibly need to hear to be convinced that I need to get in line and start loving Chicago? Well, that's not the tough part. The tough part is rooting for a hockey team based in Chicago. It's a weird choice by the Orca, but it is what it is, and it's time to get on board. I mean, how could I not be stoked about a minor league hockey team with a wolf for a mascot that goes by the overwhelmingly creative name of "Skate"?

Done deal.

Go Wolves Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Freeway Is At A Hault.

2011-06-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sure there has been a time since Interleague play began that the Freeway Series pitted two crappier versions of the LA squads against each other, but the memory doesn't readily come to mind. On one hand, you have a franchise that has been taken over by Major League Baseball and has had a rough go of things thanks to an amazing amount of injuries. On the other hand, you have a squad that is celebrating a series win against a 33-42 NL East bottom dweller as if it means the season is turning around (and even that series win took extra innings in game three). So, join me, as I try and determine which team has the upper hand in this weekend's much (?) anticipated Freeway Series.

The Dodgers:

I'll readily admit that I don't know very much about the Doyers. If you know me, you know that I know the teams I support, and that's about it (does that make me a bad "sports" fan?). But, the media has been all over the Blue Crew this year (not so much, now that I live in the Bay Area), and that intense coverage has helped give a nice little glimpse into the situation at the Ravine.

The off the field stuff is well known. First, you've got the savage beating of the Giant fan on opening day. Horrible, horrible stuff. I can't state enough how horrible this was. That being said, I'd light to make a minor point that has been bugging me. After this attack happened, everyone went to great lengths to talk about how the criminals that did this weren't true fans. The same thing happened to my beloved Canuck fanbase when we (predictably) saw rioting after losing game seven of the finals. "Those idiots aren't real fans." Why do the choices we make in our lives determine if we are real fans? Can't a person be an idiot and a criminal, and at the same time be a true fan of a team? I'd venture to guess that soccer fans would answer yes, and so would I. Still, it was a bad situation and I realize how horrible it was. Obviously, I want these punks to be locked up for what they did. However, the getaway driver had an Ethier jersey, so wouldn't you guess that at the very least she's a real fan?

The other off the field problem is the McCourt drama, which has been talked to death. MLB has taken over the team, blah, blah, blah. I'm over it, and I'm guessing much of Doyer Nation is as well.

The on the field product hasn't been all that much better, sadly. To be fair, the Azul have had a ridiculous amount of injuries this season. Despite that excuse, though, they are still 34-42 and sit 7.5 games back of the division leading Diamondbacks (yeah, you read that right). Recently, however, they stole their series with Detroit, so maybe things are looking up. Kemp, Ethier, and Carroll are all hitting .300+, Kemp is slugging a steroid infused 20 jacks (Barajas is next with just 8), Kershaw and Kiroda have ERAs just over 3, and Clayton's 117 Ks over his 7 wins must be exciting to watch.

To further point out the injuries, though, the Dodgers currently have just 4 batters who qualify for the 236 AB minimum to even put them on the team's "batting average leaderboard." That's either a shocking example of how hurt this team has been, or a glitch in the MLB.com stat system.

The Boys In Blue welcome the Angels to the bad part of town starting tomorrow, and if we can get through the weekend without a single Halo fan being killed, I'll consider it a victory.

The Angels:

To say that the Halos have been Bipolar this season would be an understatement (as well as terribly cliché). Flashes of brilliance with the bat is commonly followed by 1 hit performances where they can't even get a guy over to second. Wasted amazing pitching outing after wasted amazing pitching outing, I'm starting to feel like the San Francisco Giants, but without the World Series potential.

We've seen some epic failures this season for the red hats. Brandon Wood and Scott Kazmir were handing their unconditional releases after the organization realized what fans have known for some time, Kendrys Morales was informed that his injury would keep him out for another entire season, Vernon Wells has been what we all kind of expected Vernon Wells to be in his first season, and Mike Scioscia continues to start Jeff Mathis despite all logic and rational thinking.

With all that being said, maybe I should be proud of their 37-39 record and the fact that they only trail Texas by 3 games. It's only been made possible because of Jered Weaver's 2.01 ERA and 9 wins, Dan Haren's 2.96 ERA and 6 wins, Tyler Chatwood being a serviceable young rookie, and the amazing emergence of the young slugging stud Mark Trumbo. If it wasn't for all of that, we'd be Oakland-esque right now.

While there may be a lot to be positive about after the first 76 games of the 2011 season, there seems to be a lot more negativity that we can focus on. And, as faithful long suffering fans, that's what we tend to do. Does a series win against the Florida Marlins mean that this team is turning things around? No. But a series win against Dodgers would help to make us start to think that we might actually be moving toward that direction.

The pitching matchups:

Haren (6-5, 2.96) v De La Rosa (3-1, 4.58)

Chatwood (4-4, 3.84) v Kuroda (5-8, 3.07)

Weaver (9-4, 2.01) v Kershaw (7-3, 3.01)

Man, that Sunday matchup is the one to watch by far. My predictions? I hate doing this, but I'll say that Haren leads us to victory tomorrow, followed by a loss in game two, and finally a 1-0 win for the Halos on Sunday, with both starters going 8 strong innings.

I enjoy this rivalry. I may be alone in that, but I think it's a lot of fun.

So, let's root for the Angels, cheer on the Mets against Texas, and pick up a couple games in the division race, eh?

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Is This Weaver's Cy Season?

2011-06-21T19:20:00.001-07:00

After a strong start by Jered Weaver and two RBI by Torii Hunter, the Halos knocked off the horrible Florida Marlins 2-1 yesterday afternoon. The outcome sent the Fish to their 11th straight loss, tying a franchise record, and boosted the Halos to a 36-38 mark that's good enough for 3rd in the division at 3 back of the 2010 AL Champions. With the way our offense has struggled, even a win against the hapless Marlins wouldn't have been possible without the strong start from Big Baby.

After 7 innings of 1 run ball, allowin 5 hits while punching out 6, Weaver improved his record to a solid 9-4 with a miniscule 2.01 ERA. After breaking out of his little slump, he's back to his masterful self, and I was just wondering if he's back to his potential Cy Young stuff like he was last season. As we all know, Weaver kind of got the shaft in favor of Felix Hernandez in the Cy voting after the 2010 season. Could he be on track to get the award that most Halo fans believe was rightfully his?

When you compare his numbers to those of last year's Cy Young hopefull season, things are looking good. Last season, Big Baby finished 13-12 with a 3.01 ERA, while punching out a MLB leading 233. With his overall solid start, he's on pace for a 19-9 with a 2.01 ERA and a chance to pull down 223 Ks. That's a pretty impressive collection of numbers compared to last season, but it depends heavily on the Angel offense sticking up for him the rest of the way out.

So we know that he has the credentials based on his own merit, but what of the competition? Is there anyone in the AL sitting on the same kind of pace of our beloved Dirt Bag? Well, no, not really. There are 6 American League pitchers sitting on 9 wins right now, and Weaver has far and away the lowest ERA. Justin Verlander has a lower WHIP, putting Weaver at #2 among the 6 top hurlers on the junior circuit, but his ERA is +0.53 on our boy. He's also number two in Ks, behind Verlanderm and thus, I'm guessing, the Tigers hurler present the biggest challenge.

Just as a side note, last year's Cy winning, Queen Felix, is 7-6 with a 3.34 ERA this season. It looks like the voters made the right choice.

No matter what happens, we Halo fans will be cheering on our douchiest pitcher as he marches toward another awesome campaign. I'm just wondering when we're going to realize that all these amazing seasons are adding up to Weaver wearing pinstripes when it's all said and done. Until that inevitable day, though, let's enjoy the ride.

Since I'm not able to post as much, you hopefully understand why I've let proofreading fly out the window. Sorry.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Total And Absolute Heartbreak.

2011-06-16T20:22:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Andrew for shifting our focus on picking up my slack on the posting.

What happened last night in Vancouver was truly heartbreaking for me. 17 years ago, my first year as a soon-to-be long suffering Canuck fan, I watched my team lose a game seven in the Stanley Cup Finals. Last night, it all happened again. I just don't know what to say. The Bruins took advatange of what can only be explained as our hot and cold play (and when it was cold, it was very cold), and they got to hoist the Cup. It's just awful.

Tim Thomas, a goalie who I have grown to hate over the years, impressed the heck out of me. After he played very well in games one and two, and lost, I was sure that we were headed for an easy victory. His Bipolar play we heard so much about, however, never showed up, and he just ended up being solid for the entire seven games. It's just awful.

Roberto Luongo didn't pull it together. His four losses in this series were just terrible. It's just another chapter in his long suffering career. Why couldn't it just happen the way we all wanted it to? Why couldn't Bobby Lu pull it together for the most important hockey game of his (and our) life? Why did that damned puck slide through despite the fact that he seemed to make the save? Why didn't he pay attention on the Bruin goal that came quickly after the delayed penalty was called on that semi-breakaway? You know how we always question if Luongo can regain his confidence after a tough loss? How the heck is he ever going to recover from this? Only time will tell, I guess. Cue Cory?

Long before my heart broke for the Cup loss, it broke seeing Mason Raymond in the crowd, sporting some serious medical equipment after his huge back injury from early on in game six. Sure, his injury clearly had an impact on the 'Nucks ability to get the job done in last night's clash, but like I said before, there are no excuses when it comes to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

So, where do Canuck fans go from here? Well, some decided to start a small riot in the downtown area, as seen above, some decided to throw their sweaters into the fireplace and start rooting for the up and coming Edmonton Oilers, and others (like me) simply walked around with a sad look of our faces for the rest of the night and most of today.

Oh well. The suffering continues.

So it goes.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

GOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!! - Chicharito Special

2011-06-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

After I posted about Chicharito's wonder goals, I got all excited and had to look them up. Enjoy!

Back-to-goal Header

Heel flick (sorry, it was hard to find a decent clip)

Winner against Everton (goal is at about 1:07)

Goal at 1' against Chelsea

Inadvertent header in Community Shield

Out with the Old, In with the New at Old Trafford

2011-06-16T05:26:00.000-07:00

Let's blog about happy things. Tommy has a new, better paying job and is closer to (or currently, with) his in-laws. With more responsibility at work comes a decreased ability to post, so I'll try to step up my game to cover for him.

So aside from girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch, my favorite thing about the summer is the football (i.e. futbol) transfer window. Last year, my beloved Manchester United FC was rather silent at this time - at least compared to our degenerate cross-city rivals. Of our three acquisitions, one turned out to be a huge flop, another an incredible surprise, and the last is considered to be at heart of our central defence's future. (I'm obligated to speak/spell like a Brit in posts about football.)

Let's review those three signings:

Bébé (Tiago Manuel Dias Correia) - the flop of the bunch. He was the first player Sir Alex Ferguson signed without having personally watched him play. Had we signed him 5 weeks earlier, it would have been a free transfer. Instead, we had to fork up £7.4M pounds to activate his release clause with Guimaraes. As he was recommended by former MUFC assistant coach and fellow Portuguese national Carlos Quieroz, SAF took a gamble on he player - possibly due to fear that Real Madrid would grab him first. Bébé had a decent performance or two, but showed little progress to go with poor touch and control. Besiktas of Turkey announced that they have taken him on a season long loan for the 2011/2012 season, with a look towards a permanent transfer following the season.
Verdict: Bust. Sorry Bébé, this isn't the homeless World Cup anymore.
Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) - Chicharito (little pea) was a very low key signing at £6M from Chivas de Guadalajara. He surprised many with his rise to a prominent starting XI position, overcoming top EPL scorer Dimitar Berbatov and previously prolific Michael Owen. His strong play also led to the loan of Kiko Macheda to Sampdoria in the winter transfer period. Chicharito was clutch down the stretch and scored several magnificent goals - a back-to-goal header and a heel flick goal (both against Stoke City), a winning header against Everton, a goal in the 1st minute against Chelsea - the list goes on. All of this overshadows the goal he scored against Chelsea in the Community Shield where the pass was behind him, and he kicked the ball off his face and into the net. But hey, it was a goal.
Verdict: Stud. He's received immediate comparison to MUFC legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and we expect to see continued performances from the Mexican.
Chris Smalling - At £12M pounds, this signing was criticized for some time. Considering he hadn't held down a starting place for Fulham, perhaps it was justified. But again, SAF showed that he knew what he was doing. Smalling was a little shaky at first, but learned very quickly playing alongside Nemanja Vidic. The England U21 center half performed more than admirably in the absence of Rio Ferdinand. He is a clear cut above Jonny Evans, and along with new signing Phil Jones, should command the central defence for United when Vida and Rio are no longer playing with United.
Verdict: Almost a stud ... soon, though. He's a tremendous header of the ball but there may be some growing pains in establishing a relationship with whoever the new #1 keeper will be for United (cough ... De Gea ... cough).

I've already alluded to the current transfer season (Jones, De Gea) but I'll save that talk and speculation for another post.

Glory Glory Man United!

This is it.

2011-06-15T16:29:00.001-07:00

Game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now is the time. This is it.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Bruins Force Luongo Out, Force Game Seven.

2011-06-14T16:54:00.001-07:00

Why not? Why not extend this intense Stanley Cup Final to a decisive seventh game? Why not have Luongo's confidence shaken by a poor performance on final time before the do or die finale? Why not have Henrik Sedin inspire the haters to come out by letting a puck go through his legs when he had a wide open chance? Why not have one of our fastest and most exciting second line players go down to injury in the penultimate playoff contest on a dirty hit that didn't get called for even a minor? Why not have those same refs that missed that call, hand our captain a diving minor on a play where he got knocked out by Chara when he didn't even have the puck?

Why not?

Well, I can think of plenty of reasons why none of that should have happened, but that doesn't matter. The reality of the situation is that it all happened last night, and we have a date for Wednesday night to decide the fate of these Stanley Cup Finals in beautiful British Columbia. The reality of the situation is that the Bruins stepped it up when it mattered most, and have pushed things forward. As much as we have felt like a team of destiny, I'd have to imagine that Bruin supporters feel the same way. Now that it comes to a game seven, we are just 60 minutes away from discovering which side fate is really on.

With all that being said, what more can be said about game six? Roberto Luongo became the story, facing just 8 shots before being yanked. He allowed 3 goals, two of which were very, very soft, and he gave Boston a huge confidence boost. His mighty backup, Cory Schneider, performed admirably, stopping 30 of 32 in relief, and while the Canucks couldn't ride that backup job to a comeback, it did give them the opportunity to try. And try they did. The 'Nucks didn't fold like they did in game three, in fact, they had a strong second period, and opened the third with a goal just 22 seconds in.

My wife made a comment that my face lit up after that Henrik Sedin power play goal, and I'm sure it did. It was a brief moment of joy in a game full of despair, however. Max Lapierre scored a second goal for the Blue & Green with less than 3 minutes to go, and while it was meaningless in the grand scheme of things, it was still fun to see him get his second of the series.

One interesting thing was the way that the 'Nucks got straight dominated in the faceoff circle. Boston won the battle 46-28, and our main man Manny Malhotra was noticeably beaten time and time again on the dot. It was weird, and it allowed the Bruins to really dominate puck possession for large portions of the game.

I will say this, though, and I'm sure you'll be shocked: I disagree with the mainstream media on their assessment of the situation. While most are talking about how the Bruins are riding an undeniable wave of momentum in the series, I'd have to assert that I'd be betting more on the fact that every game of these Stanley Cup Finals has been won by the home team. I don't want to hear about how Boston's wins have been more dominating than Vancouver's. I don't want to hear about how Roberto Luongo isn't going to rise to the occasion despite this being the most important game of his career. All I want to hear is about how the Canucks are undefeated in this series at the Roger, and how that will probably continue to be the case after tomorrow night.

I'll finish by talking about the Mason Raymond injury, and the impact it'll have. Mason was slammed into the boards, butt first, and ended up being taken to the hospital with a serious injury. It has been reported that Mason suffered a "major back injury," a vertebrae compression fracture, and he will miss 3-4 months, not just tomorrow's game seven. It's a bigger loss than the Canucks will admit to, as Ma$e brings speed and a sniper's shot. However, this is game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, and there are no excuses. Jannik Hansen will have to step it up, and I have no doubt that he will. I just hope that Raymond will return to form in time for next season and beyond.

Alright, it's time to put our sanity on the line. Let's put our Blue & Green on one last time and cheer on these damn Canucks.

It's do or die.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

It's Time To End The Pain And Suffering.

2011-06-13T14:29:00.001-07:00

For the franchise, it has been 40 years. For me, it's has been 17. Either way you look at it, the Canucks have a chance to end it all. In tonight's Stanley Cup Finals game six, my Vancouver Canucks have the opportunity to win the greatest prize in all of professional sports, Lord Stanley's Cup.

And how will we feel as fans? What words will capture the emotions we will be going through as we watch Henrik Sedin drink champagne out of that bowl? Will it ever feel real? How about Victor Oreskovich? His name with be engraved on the holy grail of professional sports with all kinds of amazing heroes of the past and present. Is there anything cooler than that?

In 150 minutes, we will all turn our TVs to NBC, we will all toss on our favorite Blue & Green sweater, and we will cheer our hearts out for one hell of a hockey team.

So, for hopefully the last time this year:

GO CANUCKS GO!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Lapierre And Luongo Put Canucks On Verge.

2011-06-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

As most of my readers know, I have moved to the Bay Area to take on a new (higher paying) job, and thus my ability to blog has taken a hit. That being said, I thought I'd drop a little post on my Canucks.

Friday night, my boys trumped the easily hateable Bruins 1-0, and reached the edge of the Championship mountain. Roberto Luongo posted another ho hum Stanley Cup shutout, and the Canuck third liner that everyone in Massachusetts hates banked the game winner off of Tim Thomas' chest. It was a beautiful thing.

To start out, I have to say how proud I am of ol' Roberto. Are you kidding me? 8 goals in game three, 4 goals in game four, and he does this? With all the haters coming back out of the wood work after the two losses in Boston, he took a pre-game walk on the Vancouver seawall to clear his thoughts. And then, he turned in a gigantic shutout that put him just one win away of hockey's biggest prize. 31 shots, 31 saves. All the concern about Luongo's ego taking too much of a hit after giving up the 12 goals in less than two games, and bam! He shuts them out. Just too perfect.

It was something of a now infamous Vancouver play that helped us score our goal early in the third period. It was the ol' send the puck off the boards to a waiting goal scorer move. Kevin Bieksa sent a shot wide, the puck slammed off the boards and came to Maxime Lapierre waiting in front of the net. Lapierre, the second most hated Canuck among Bruin supporters, then banked the puck off of the logo on Thomas' jersey, and it went into the net. It was an electrifying moment for a guy who is working on becoming the greatest trade deadline acquistion of all time.

Just quickly to Tanner Glass' miss in the second. Yeah, it was horrible, but it's Tanner Glass, what do you expect? I mean, the net was completely wide open, and anyone could have buried it, but what are you going to do? Tanner whiffed and blew a big chance, but it worked out in the end, so nobody will remember. Don't miss that one if it comes up in game six, buddy.

As we head into a game tomorrow night where we have a chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup, keep a couple of our shortcomings at the forefront of your mind. First, our horrible power play. We are 1 for 25 on the advantage in these Finals. How we could possibly be up 3-2 with a 1-25 power play is beyond me, but that's the way it is. Another shortcoming is that of the Sedins. Sure, they looked a little physical in game five, but Daniel has just one goal in the series, and Hank hasn't picked up a single point. The Bruins plans to play the Sedins just like the Preds is working. It'd be nice to see that change in our favor. And how about Kes?

Also, wasn't it interesting to see Tanev replace Ballard, rather than play with him? I will love it someday in the future when we get to hear Coachie V actually explain what happened between he and Ballard this season.

So, we have game six tomorrow night in Boston. Will the Canucks be able to get their first road win of the Finals, and at the same time end 40 years of pain and suffering? Will the Bruins fight hard for Nathan Horton, and send the game back to beautfiul British Columbia for a winner take all game seven?

I'm not sure my heart would be able to take it, so let's finish them off as soon as possible.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but my Canucks are just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup Finals.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Now What?

2011-06-09T16:44:00.001-07:00

There isn't much I want to say about last night's 0-4 game four loss to the Bruins, but I'll share a little.

I'd just like to give a big middle finger to Bruin fans and their players. You guys go on and on about how dirty we are on the Canucks. I hope you watched the game last night, you piece of trash chowder heads.

McQuaid is a huge bitch. That play in the third was unbelievable. First he pulls Ehrhoff down by the face as he skates by, and then, after the whistle, he purposely leans over to lay an end over end hip check on an onrushing Canuck player. It was so cheap and dirty, even Keith Ballard decided to try and drop the gloves. If was freaking pathetic.

Although, Tim Thomas is an even bigger bitch. In that same period, the Bruins classy goalie ripped Alex Burrows in the back of the leg with his stick for no reason, and when AB turned around, Thomas brawled with him. What the hell?

What was even weaker about all of this is that it all came with Boston leading by four goals. So, when you guys are even or behind you like to pretend you're a totally good bunch of guys, but when the win is a sure thing, you start acting like bums? Total garbage. You don't even deserve to be in the Cup Finals with an attitude like that. It's just a total lack of respect for the game.

Sure, I could get into the whole Luongo being pulled thing. I could delve into the Canucks going 0 for 6 on the power pay. I could even talk about how Coach Vigneault made a huge mistake by starting Alberts as the #6 D-man rather than Tanev. But I can't. Mostly because I'm only 30 minutes away from completing my final day of work in Orange County before moving to the Bay Area. But also because the real story of the last two games is how weak, cheap, and dirty the Bruins are, despite pretending that they're a bunch of good ol' boys playing for the US of A. It's clear that they aren't. They're just a bunch of dirty bitches in black and gold sweaters.

And don't even get me started on the weak calls on the 'Nucks by the refs, especially the "slash" on Henrik Sedin where the Boston player tripped on his own feat and fell over. Yeah, conspiracy theories are picking up steam.

Man, I'm upset about last night's game.

It's anybody's series at this point. However, if Luongo doesn't get back into his groove, we had might as well just give up now.

See you Friday.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 6/9/11.

2011-06-09T08:26:00.001-07:00

I know there is barely any LSF action today, but this may be the last time I ever get to do one of these posts, so I had to seize the opportunity.

Blue Jays (A) v Kansas City

The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (B, J) v Colorado

Best of luck to the two long suffering squads today.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

I'm Calling Out Vernon Wells.

2011-06-08T15:50:00.001-07:00

No, I'm not calling Vernon out for his poor play. Not only would that be way too easy, but it's been done by just about every Angel fan around this season. Instead, I'm calling him out for being a jack hole to the fans and supporters of this squad.

If you know me, you know that I put a lot into quotes from players on the teams I support. Some people think it's dumb, but I'm a character guy, what can I say? While I'm obsessed with stats, especially in baseball, I still hold onto the clubhouse chemistry and character of players as impactful to a team's success. I've given crap to Torii Hunter this season, as he has been running his mouth in an attempt to avoid having people actually pay attention to his poor play. And now, it's Vernon Wells' turn.

After being injured by a bad batting average, Vernon returned to the lineup last night after a poor rehab stint in the IE (we miss you, Rancho). In his first game back, last night's 1-4 loss to the Rays that included stranding Mark Trumbo at third with no outs in the seventh, he sucked. It was funny because the Angels players praised him in the media prior to his return. There was lots of talk about the boost that he would give the team upon his return, which didn't make much sense to us fans.

Us fans were proven right last night, as Vernon went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his first game back. When asked about the booing from the supporters in the seats, Vernon had this to say:

"It is what it is. You get hits, they cheer, you don't, you get another reaction."

So, here is my problem. When you were brought over in a trade for two, much loved among the fans, players like Juan Rivera (loved by me) and Mike Napoli (loved by everyone else because he can hit the occasional, pretty, long ball), and you bring a monster (aka, stupid) contract with you that prevents us from gathering more/better talent, you sure as heck had better produce. Since coming over to the Halos, Vernon is hitting .179 with 4 homeruns and 13 RBI. His on base percentage is just .219, and he's only hitting .123 in front of the home fans. In his last 10 games, he's hitting .194, so I guess that's an improvement, but it isn't a lot to hang your hat on.

What's my point? Well, my point is that a professional baseball player who has an ounce of class wouldn't make a comment like he did. When the fans are booing you, you should talk about how they deserve better, how you're going to work harder to turn things around, and how they have a right to express their feelings about your play. You show some freaking love for the supporters of your team, and you take some freaking responsibility for your awful offense. You don't have to be an All-Star to be loved by the fans (heck, Hank Conger is only hitting .232, and we love him, and wouldn't think of booing him, by the way), but if you don't speak better of the fans, you're a loser even if you hit .290. If you get to .300, though, we'll love you even if you are a douche. That's just how it is.

So there you have it, Vernon. Get some hits and respect the fanbase. Live up to the expectations the organization has for you. And do it all, very quickly.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads in Action 6/8/11.

2011-06-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

Let's see what's going on for the long suffering squads today.

Dodgers (B, J) v Philadelphia

Blue Jays (A) v Kansas City

Angels (T) v Tampa Bay

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v Boston

Just as an update, I only have two days left at my job in Orange County before my move to the Bay Area. As a result, my posting will take a serious hit, because I'm guessing I will actually be busy at my new job.

Good luck today.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Boston Conjures Up Memories Of Blackhawks.

2011-06-07T15:05:00.001-07:00

Well, that was a shit storm of a game three for my Vancouver Canucks. After staying even through the first 20 minutes, Boston used a cheap shot to their young stud Nathan Horton to give them a reason to win, and just destroyed the Canucks 8-1 last night. It was almost something of a joke. Goal after goal got by Luongo, with some of them being very, very soft.

I'm not interested in breaking this game down goal by goal, but I do have a lot to discuss. First off was the overall feel of the first period. Most media members and Canuck fans are saying that the 'Nucks were riding high after the first period. They assert that Vancouver had all the best chances, and had the upper hand in play. I sure didn't see that. Sure, Tim Thomas had to make a couple of big saves, but to me, the Canucks looked lost out there. They didn't seem to be making their passes, they seemed to be getting outskated, and they seemed to be getting the worst of the big hits (legal hits, that it). That being said, I liked our chances because I figured that Boston threw everything they had at us, and we still escaped even at 0-0. That seemed to be good news.

Of course, the bad news was the hit that happened just 5 minutes into the game. Aaron Rome lit Nathan Horton up with a horrible hit. Call it what you want. It was a cheap shot, it was a head shot, it was a late hit, and it was the kind of check that the NHL is trying to get out of the league. Horton was laid out on the ice, and needed to be carried off on a stretcher. It was just horrible stuff. The news came later in the game that he was able to move his extemities at a local hospital and that sure was nice to hear. Aaron Rome was handed a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for the hit, which made sense. Somehow, the Canucks were able to kill off the 5 minute Boston power play, and that's the only reason why I felt confident after the first period.

Today we found out that Horton is out for the remainder of the Cup Finals with a "severe concussion," and Aaron Rome has been suspended for the remainder of the Cup Finals as well (it's 4 games to be completely fair, and that'll take him out for good). I'm in the minority of 'Nuck fans on this case. Most are saying that the suspension is way too harsh, pointing to the fact that there has never been a suspension of more than one game during a Cup Final. They also point to Ben Eager's horrible hit on Daniel Sedin from earlier in the playoffs, which led to no suspension. It boils down to this: the NHL has decided that suspensions will be based on the extent of the injury, which is a little weird, but that's the way it is right now. For me, I can take all that, and figure that he deserves to be out for the remainder of the Finlas. I don't see how anything else could have happened with all the flack the NHL has picked up here lately.

Some people are suggesting that this suspension is a "make up call" for the NHL not suspending Alex Burrows for the whole biting thing back in game one. I don't really see that, because the hit was bad in and of itself. Rome had a chance to abort the hit, and followed through, despite the fact that Horton had passed the puck long before. Romey has no history of being a cheap player, and I don't think he did it on purpose, but it happened, and he deserves to be suspended.

Thank you, Milan Lucic, for making your coach look like an idiot. After game two, when Max Lapierre put his fingers in the face of Bergeron, taunting him in regards to the Burrows' incident, the Bruins' head coach talked about how classless our team was and how nobody on his team would do that. He wouldn't put up with it. Well, Milan Lucic proved him wrong, sticking his fingers in Lapierre's face and daring him to bite down. Well, well, well. I guess you guys are just as classless, eh? Maybe, since it was Lucic, it's just a Vancouver thing.

The next thing about last night's game was the whole leaving Luongo in issue. What the heck are you doing, Vigneault? Coach V said that he asked Luongo if he wanted to go back out there, and he said yes. Why is a coach letting his goalie make this choice? What is Luongo supposed to say? No thanks, I'd rather sit down? I don't think any athlete would say that, and the coach is ultimately responsible for this choice. So, Luongo gives up 4 goals in the second, I guess I'd let him go back out for the third. Once he gives up a goal 11:38 into the third while the Bruins were shorthanded, you have to get the hook. What a joke. I'm worried about two things because of this situation. First, I'm worried that Luongo is going to have a huge hit to his confidence based on how this game went down. Second, I'm worried that the Bruins have gained confidence regarding their ability to get the puck past Roberto. It just isn't good, either way you look at it, and I blame Coach V.

How short will the leash be in game four? It's an interesting thing, and I for one am shocked that no one around Orca Nation has started talking about Cory Schneider getting a start in game four. I don't think it's a good idea, but I am so used to Canuck supporters being just a little more panicky and crazy than I am (although, just a little, if I'm being completely honest), so I'm shocked that talk isn't out there. As for the goaltending on the other end, I'm wondering when we are going to see this hot and cold Tim Thomas that we heard so much about. So far, he's been nothing but great. It would suck to have him figure it all out now and remain this consistent.

So, Ference, Recchi, Marchand, Krejci, Paille, Recchi (again), Kelly, and Ryder all got the puck past Luongo, and only Jannik Hansen could tickle the twine for the Blue and Green. The even more depressing thing is our power play. Sure, we went down big, but how many chances did Boston give us to get back into this one? We had 8 power play opportunities, including a four minute double minor. Everytime we went on the advatage, the announcers would point out how this was a good chance for us to shift the momentum. And, in one of the most important games of the season, we went 0 for 8. Unacceptable. We looked lost, we gave up two shorthanded goals, and we had some difficulty setting the thing up every one of those eight times. Not cool.

With Romey being out, you'd have to imagine that Keith Ballard and Chris Tanev will draw in, and Alberts will take a seat. Hopefully Ballard can prove that this suspension will make our team even better, and just stick it to Coach V for benching him all this time.

One cool thing, with all due respect to Nathan Horton, is that the hate level and intensity of this series has completely gone nuts. Boston fans hate us, we hate them, and the hatred is spilling over to the players on the ice. Lucic sucker punched Burrows three times to the dome, Kesler stepped it up and brawled for the first time in recent memory, and the teams clearly already don't like each other very much. Hatred aside, Wednesday night's game is huge.

Do we leave this whole game behind, dominate game four, and get a convincing 3-1 lead? Or, does Boston come out of nowhere, rally around the Horton injury, and draw even at 2-2? The two options have such different implications it's almost too crazy to comprehend.

Let's regroup, and take game four.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Weekly" Football Post #101.

2011-06-07T08:50:00.001-07:00

Chivas got some revenge over the weekend, beating the team that eliminated them from the US Open Cup. Much in opposition to RSL supporters' desires, Marcos Mondaini returned from suspension and scored the Goats' golden goal in a 1-0 win over Portland. You'll remember that Mondaini dropped a really reckless foul on RSL star Javier Morales, which injured Morales for the remainder of the MLS season. Salt Lake fans wanted Mondaini to be out just as long with a suspension, but the league didn't agree. In his first game back since the May 7th incident, he cashed in.

Chris Cortez started things with a pass to Paulo Nagamura. Naga streaked down the sideline and laced a perfect ball to Mondaini, who was waiting right in front of the goal. Marcos easily redirected the ball into the netting, and Chivas had the lead after 70 minutes of hard fought soccer. Portland's Jack Jewbury (awesome name, by the way) forced Dan Kennedy to make a huge save on the other end just moments later, and DK was up to the challenge. Despite dominating possession for the remainder of the contest, Portland couldn't make much of it, and Chivas picked up a huge win at the HDC.

Defender Ante Jaziç got a rare day off, as we look at Robin Fraser's lineup:

G: Dan Kennedy- He came up big when he needed to, picked up another clean sheet, and helped to keep Chivas undefeated in their brief two game homestand with this year's expansion cousins. He's making Gaucho Nation quite proud.

D: Michael Lahoud, Heath Pearce, Zarek Valentin, Michael Umaña- It was quite a different back line for the Goats, with Lahoud and Umaña drawing in, but it worked. It just goes to show that we have more defensive depth than people thought. Hope you appreciated the rest, Ante.

M: Ben Zemanski, Nick LaBrocca, Paulo Nagamura (Simon Elliot 82)- As we've seen the season go on with this new 4-3-3 formation, I think this is kind of the dream midfield. It'd be nice to have Gavin back in the middle, but LaBrocca has been such a pleasant surprise after coming over from TFC for Flash Gordon.

F: Jorge Flores, Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 68), Marcos Mondaini (Blair Gavin 87)- Speaking of Gavin, it was cool to see him coming back from injury and getting on the pitch for a couple of minutes. Hopefully it's a sign of positive things to come from the Akron grad. It was also nice to see Chris Cortez finally show why Fraser has been giving him all this time on the pitch recently, as his substitution for the ghost known as Justin Braun was obviously well times. And how about Marcos? Suck it, RSL.

The win gets Chivas back to .500 ball, as they sit at 4-4-5. And, those 17 points are good enough to help the Goats climb to the #6 spot in the West and the #8 spot in the league overall. That's right, Chiva Fighters, we are officially in the playoff picture. Man, those Eastern Teams are bad (Chivas would be #3 in the East!). So, now that we're in a playoff spot, it's time to hang on, because that has to be the goal of this team, even though we've been rebuilding a bit this year. Good job to Robin Fraser, no doubt.

Chivas faces off with hated rival Houston next time out. The Dynamo are 3-5-6 on the season with a 0 goal differential, and haven't won in their last five games. Talk about a chance for the Goats to improve their place in the table even more!

Projected/Desired lineup: Dan Kennedy, Ante Jaziç, Heath Pearce, Zarek Valentin, Michael Lahoud, Nick LaBrocca, Ben Zemanski, Paulo Nagamura, Marcos Mondaini, Chris Cortez, Jorge Flores.

¡Arriba las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 6/7/11.

2011-06-07T08:03:00.001-07:00

Well, that was a rough night last night. Let's hope this day off from hockey does us well.

Dodgers (B, J) v Philadelphia

Blue Jays (A) v Kansas City

The LSF Game of the Day: Angels (T) v Tampa Bay

Let's enjoy some baseball, eh?

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

'Nucks Look To Tighten Finals' Grip.

2011-06-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Man, was game two exciting and anxiety provoking, or what? Both of these games have been intense every step of the way, and I've put in an offer for an automatic defibrillator, just in case game three gives me a heart attack.

I'm kind of going to bring my feelings about game two in a less than chronological way, because I want to start with Max Lapierre. Has anyone on this team surprised the fan base as much as Max? When we picked him up at the trade deadline, it was kind of a "oh yeah, this journeyman is going to help us" deal. Manny Malhotra went down, and Lapierre stepped it up. He has been a physical force, and has put pressure on opposing goalies as the third line center throughout this second season. It has really been fun to watch. In game two, he provided me with one of my favorite moments.

With the media amazingly focused on what has become known as "Bite Gate," Lapierre poked a little fun at Patrice Burgeron, and Boston is all up in arms. Yes, it looked like Alex Burrows bit the gloved finger of Burgeron in game one. No, the NHL didn't suspend him, much to the chagrin of Bruin supporters (especially when he scored the game two winner in OT, you chowderheads). So, you can see why, as a passionate Canuck supporter, I took so much pleasure in Max's little joke after the whistle of one play. Involved in a dust up with Bergeron, Lapierre placed his gloved fingers into Bergeron's mouth and dared him to bite down.

Bruin supporter, and especially their coach, went nuts. Max was labeled as a disrespectful, dirty player, and many commented on their lack of surprise with the number of teams he has played for in his relatively brief career. Guess what? I don't care! He's been a freaking stud in this postseason, and the prank he pulled on Bergeron was just the latest in his studly moves.

Speaking of "Bite Gate," I'm guessing that Alex Burrows more than made up for all the bad press he was getting. He said, after the game, that the negative attention didn't bother him, but had a negative impact on his parents. However, he said that his father told him the best way to get over everything was "to go out and score some goals." Alex surely did that. AB tallied two goals and picked up the assist on Daniel Sedin's third period game tying goal into a wide open net. And his second goal, just 11 seconds into OT, was truly something special.

Burrows now has the honor of scoring the second fastest OT goal in the history of the NHL Playoffs. Hank won the draw, Edler got the puck, Edler fed Dank, and Dank handed things off to Burrows. Alex streaked down the side boards, with Chara all over him. He faked his shot, getting Tim Thomas to bite and come way out, and then went behind the net. Burr came around, with Chara being unable to keep up, and pushed the puck into the wide open net for the win. Freaking thrilling.

The refs put the whistles away for this game, handing out just two minors to the Bruins and three to the 'Nucks, and that kept the flow of play moving along nicely. Of course, it also made for an unreal building of anxiety as the contest went on. Both goalies were on again, with Tim Thomas stopping 30 of 33 and Roberto stopping 28 of 30. Again, Bobby Lu didn't have to stand on his head exactly, but he did have difficulty with the Bruins listening to Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada, and moving Chara back out on the point instead of leaving him to try and screen Luongo. The screening didn't work in game one, but putting the big boy back on the point seemed to help. Heck, it led to their second goal, as a Chara blast was deflected by the Medi-Care covered Mark Recchi.

And then there was that goal by Milan Lucic. It certainly wasn't the nicest goal, as he just pounded away at Luongo until the puck went in. My appreciation for him certainly took a hit, but I think I can forgive him for scoring a Stanley Cup Final goal against his boyhood team in his hometown, since we ended up walking off with the win.

So, where are we at this point? I feel in a very similar spot as I did when we went up 2-0 on San Jose, only a little more nervous. While many Canuck supporters are saying that we have had the upperhand despite the really close and last second outcomes, I tend to think this series is a little tighter than the mainstream media is portraying it. A zero-zero game until Raffi Torres scores a game winning goal with 18 seconds to go? A comeback win that needed overtime to complete the Vancouver victory? This baby is close, and we've only won home games, so what's the big deal?

As I said during the Sharks series, we are suppossed to win at home, and we did. What happens next all depends on how we play in Bean Town. And, in all honesty, a lot will depend on the first ten minutes of game three. Who will come out with more intensity? Who will drop the big hit right out of the gate? Who will get that quick strike goal to rattle the opposing goalie's confidence? I hope it's my boys, but we'll have to wait and see.

In 46 tries, only 4 teams have come back from a 0-2 deficit to win the Stanley Cup. If we win game three, our death grip on these Bruins gets ever tighter. Let's do it.

GO CANUCKS GO!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

One Million Reasons Trumbo Is Better Than Torii.

2011-06-06T10:17:00.001-07:00

Alright, I don't literally have one million reasons, but there sure are a bunch of reasons. I'll be honest, Big Game Hunter totally fooled me. I just did a post about his resurgence and how he was possibly finally figuring things out this season, and then this weekend happened. Sure, I know that Mark Trumbo are Torii Hunter don't play the same position, although Trumbo has experience in a minor league outfield, but I'm just shocked at how much better than Torii, Trumbo has proved himself to be thus far.

Back on May 31, I wrote about Torii's .320 average over the previous 14 days, along with 4 jacks and 12 RBI. I wrote about his .367 average in Baseball Reference's High Leverage situations. I was fooled, and this weekend's series against the hated New York Yankees underscored just what a fool I am.

We'll compare Big Game's weeknd with Mark Trumbo:

Friday-
Hunter: 0 for 3, with a walk
Trumbo: 2 for 3, with a walk

Saturday-
Hunter: 0 for 4, with a K
Trumbo: 1 for 4

Sunday-
Hunter: 0 for 5, 3 LOB w/ 2 outs
Trumbo: 1 for 4, with a jack

Overall-
Hunter: 0 for 12, with (I heard) 15 LOB, including 2 GIDPs yesterday
Trumbo: 4 for 11, with a jack

Wow. Torii is supposed to be our best hitter, our most feared presence in the box. And yet, when the big bad Bronx Bombers come into town, he can't even muster a hit. When he grounded into his game ending and rally killing double play yesterday, I just threw my hands up and laughed. How is he doing this bad?

His 16 GIDPs ranks him first in the league. His average with RISP is a beyond pathetic .225. With 2 outs and RISP, he's an even worse .161. What happened to our clutch outfielder? You can even make an argument that he's turning into the next JD Drew. When the game is tied, he hits just .226, and it only improves to .236 when the game is separated by a single run. However, with the margin of difference is greater than four, he shines at a .389 clip. It's really sad. Are we watching the quick end of a really nice career, rather than the slow fade that we would have expected to see?

If you want to make yourself feel better, just look at serious rookie of the year candidate Mark Trumbo and his numbers. We were confident when we thought Kendrys would be out until May, but when the truth came out, we all got a little worried. Did Trumbo really have what it takes to be an everyday major leaguer? It's looking like the answer is a resounding yes.

The Anaheim native has quickly become a fan favorite. A .262 average, 11 jacks, and 29 RBI in his first 55 games? Spot on. He already has a WAR of +0.9, and his splits have me hopeful. He's hitting .256 with RISP, and surprisingly, he hits .308 the first time he faces a pitcher, rather than sucking at first and getting better after getting some looks.

He can do it, because he's a serious line drive hitter. 38% of his hits come on line drives, more than grounders of fly balls (way more than his 1 bunt for a hit), and when you're making the kind of contact to drive the ball like that, your really squaring things up nicely. By the way, we start a series with Joe Maddon and the Rays today, and Trumbo is hitting .412 against them here in 2011. Bring on the wins.

As I go out, though, I want to point out that I'm not trying to say that a solid effort from Mark Trumbo is going to cover up Torii Hunter's poor offense over the course of the season. In games the Halos win, Big Game hits .304, and he only hits .155 in games we lose. Therefore, you have to agree that we're only going to be a successful team if Torii gets back on track.

Tonight, the Halos send Tyler Chatwood (3-2, 3.64) to the hill against David Price (6-5, 3.52). If our Fontana, Ca native is dealing his best stuff, we could have quite the pitching duel on our hands here. But, let's hope that Torii Hunter and Mark Trumbo can rough this Price kid up a little bit. Yeah, I'm still calling his a kid.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 6/6/11.

2011-06-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Hopefully the Canucks can continue to march toward their sweep of the Bruins tonight.

Dodgers (B, J) v Philadelphia

Blue Jays (A) v Kansas City

Angels (T) v Tampa Bay

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v Boston

Just two more wins. Unbelievable.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Weekly" Football Post #100.

2011-06-03T15:29:00.001-07:00

All of the absences made big holes for the Goats in their midweek clash with the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps at the HDC. With Alejandro Moreno, Jorge Flores, Andrew Boyens, and Simon Elliot all either on International duty or suspension duty, Chivas wasn't able to bring their recently found aggression to the table, and could only muster a 1-1 draw with the bottom of the table bad guys from the Stanley Cup city.

46 minutes into the game, Nick LaBrocca came away with a thrilling goal to get us started. The former TFC star blasted a shot from outside of the box, and beat 'Caps keeper Joe Cannon. NLB's cannon beat Vancouver's Cannon. It was encouraging, especially after some opportunities that we let slip away early on. However, it only took two minutes for Vancouver to get even. Camilo got inside the box with the ball and put the it into the upper corner to get things squared at 1. It was a shockingly quick comeback, but we'd get a potential huge boost about 20 minutes later.

Eric Hassli came in with a late tackle on Chivas midfielder Ben Zemanski, and he got shown the red. With Hassli off, the Goats had 24+ minutes of advantage to put some pressure on. Despite getting 5 shots on goal from that point to the final whistle, we couldn't make the magic we needed to get the lead back late. That's a disappointing way to go down.

Robin Fraser didn't like the effort, "We were too passive, mostly in the first half." Passive isn't a descriptor you want used for your team, and really they were passive for the whole game. It was our one-man advantage in the final 20-some-odd minutes that made it seem like we were being aggressive. Goat defender Heath Pearce called the attackers out as well, "We were really bland in our attack with a lack of creativity and movement..." I don't really like Heath talking bad about anything other than the defense, but there you have it.

Let's take a look at the lineup:

G: Dan Kennedy- He continues to solidify himself as our starter, with some crappy efforts mixed in. He deserved better with the result in this one.

D: Zarek Valentin, Michael Umaña, Heath Pearce, and Ante Jaziç- This isn't too different from our usual defense, and in fact, it may have been even better. Pearce gets some junk thrown his way for spitting game after the match.

M: Gerson Mayen (Paulo Nagamura 60), Ben Zemanski, Francisco Mendoza (Michael Lahoud 60)- Amazing to see Mayen start, and get a great assisting-type play on the LaBrocca goal, and really amazing to see Naga back and healthy. It was a patchwork midfield, and they did as well as you could expect.

F: Nick LaBrocca, Justin Braun, Chris Cortez (Victor Estupiñán 76): LaBrocca scored, and was the only bright spot up front, slotting up from the midfield. Meanwhile, there was no excuse for Braunie, Cortez (although less so), and Estupiñán not making anything happen. Come on, Justin!

At 3-4-5, Chivas are still ranked 7th in the West and sit 12th overall in the league. That means we're still out of the playoffs by two spots and about 1 point. Staying in striking distance certainly helps keep the hope alive. This weekend is a big match against Portland (5-4-2). The Timbers have been doing fairly well for their first year in the league, and a big win against the team that knocked us out of the US Open Cup a while back would go a ways to getting this train back on the tracks.

Projected/Desired lineup: Kennedy, Pearce, Jaziç, Umaña, Valentin, LaBrocca, Zemanski, Nagamura, Braun, Mayen, Estupiñán

¡Arriba Las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 6/3/11-6/5/11.

2011-06-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's time for the sports weekend to get going. Let's see what's on tap:

Friday-

The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v Baltimore

Dodgers (B, J) v Cincinnati

Angels (T) v New York

Saturday-

Blue Jays (A) v Baltimore

Dodgers (B, J) v Cincinnati

Angels (T) v New York

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v Boston

Chivas USA (T) v Portland

Sunday-

Blue Jays (A) v Baltimore

Dodgers (B, J) v Cincinnati

The LSF Game of the Day: Angels (T) v New York

Keep the eyes on the prize, Canuckleheads.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Canucks Win A Thrilling Game One.

2011-06-02T09:44:00.001-07:00

One down, three to go, and could it have been more intense? The way things played out, it became a game that felt like it was constantly in overtime. Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo were putting together an unbelievable game, and you just kind of knew that a single goal would be enough to do it. I just don't think any of us would have guessed Raffi Torres would be the man to score that single goal.

I'll touch on the goal quickly before getting to the rest of the game. While Raffi was the goal scorer, the goal really came about because of a seriously nice play by Ryan Kesler, and a perfect pass by Jannik Hansen. Kesler stood up the Bruins at the blue line as they tried to clear the zone, and sent an amazing pass across the ice to Hansen. The Great Dane then found a streaking Torres heading to the net, and Raffi deflected the spot on pass from Hansen past Thomas. It all came with just 18.5 seconds left in regulation. When the goal was scored, you could clearly see what I meant when I said that it felt like overtime for the entire game. The players and the fans went completely nuts. The Canucks played tough, and won game one.

Roberto Luongo is doing everything he can to shed the criticism. 36 saves on 36 shots led to his third game one shutout of the postseason, and we all know how each of those series turned out. Luongo made some big time saves, got helped out by the iron once, and looked fairly comfortable in the cage. He never seemed to be overwhelmed by the pressure, and just took each shot as it came. And yet, Tim Thomas had a more impressive game. Despite only stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced, even the most casual observer saw that Thomas made more big time saves. He just seemed to make saves when it seemed impossible to do so. It happens to Luongo everytime. Even when you shutout the bad guys in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals, you kind of get outplayed by the guy on the other end of the ice. The media didn't think so, though, as Luongo finished as the first star, Thomas as the second.

A ton of attention has to go to the Dan Hamhuis situation from the second period. Just about four minutes in, Hammer laid Milan Lucic out with an unbelievable hip check. I mean, this was incredible. Lucic was flipped completely over right in front of the bench on the check, and his boy (and probably my most hated Bruin after 60 minutes) David Krejci didn't like it. It was a completely clean hit by Hamhuis, but Krejci decided to skate over and cross check Hammer in the face, knocking him out of the game with an injury. It was a dirty, low life move, and I'm hoping the NHL looks at it (though I doubt they will, with Campbell stepping down from his discipline post, but then again, maybe that'll change things for the better). I know it won't happen, but Krejci should get a game for going head hunting like that.

Of course, Boston fans (and maybe Jon Davis, who still complains about the hair pulling) are focusing on the Alex Burrows-Patrice Bergeron "fight" at the end of the first. After the horn sounded, there was some rough stuff between the pair. Burrows, being held back by the ref, was holding onto Bergeron's shield and eventually ripped off his helmet. He was then rubbing his glove on Bergeron's face, as the ref continued to try and break it up. When Bergeron returned the favor and stuck his glove in Burrows' face, AB appeared to bite his finger through the glove. They both got penalized, but Bruin supporters want Burrows suspended. Maybe the finger just ended up in his mouth? Maybe I'm ready to admit that one of my favorite Canucks is a dirty fighter?

But, the impressive action from the Canucks came on the penalty kill. They faced a long 5-on-3 early in the second and killed it well, and that made all the difference. Despite being outshot as the second period went on early, the Canucks kept the momentum pretty even, and that has to be a big reason why they were able to turn it around and win late in the third. Boston seemed to give Vancouver all they could handle in the second, and then they ran out of steam somewhat in the third. If it wasn't for Thomas' heroics, it could have easily been 3-0 by the time Raffi scored.

And how about the lesser known Canucks? Jannik Hansen, as mentioned, was a beast. He may have been the best player out on the ice over the entire course of the game. Mason Raymond shined on the secone line, in a game where he needed to because Chris Higgins was a ghost. Ma$e had two shots, including a breakaway, that I couldn't believe didn't go in. Meanwhile, Max Lapierre continued to show that his acquisition at the trade deadline was pure genius. The physcial presence, the quality shots on goal, and the impact he makes for that third ine? Priceless. We didn't think we had anyone who could fill in for Manny, but Max slotting from the fourth line to the third has made all the difference.

Before I go out, I'd just like to reaffirm that Milan Lucic is a beast. Man, I'd love to have that guy on this team, and I don't ever say that about guys on the other side of a playoff battle.

Now we wait again. Game two in Vancouver doesn't go off until Saturday, and we'll have to suffer through two more days of over-analyzation. We'll hear all about how the team that wins game one of the Stanley Cup Finals goes on to win the series 77% of the time. We'll hear all about how our speed was too much for their toughness. We'll hear all about how we might end up sweeping these guys to win it all (round one in seven, round two in six, round three in five...do you see the pattern?). We'll hear all of that, and we'll need to remember to keep our heads down, keep working hard, and take care of the task at hand.

There are only three wins standing in between my Vancouver Canucks and Lord Stanley's Cup.

It's insane.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 6/2/11.

2011-06-02T08:01:00.001-07:00

For the first time since I've been doing these "squads in action" posts, we don't have any LSF squads on the schedule today.

So, sit back and relax, as sports takes a break.

Spend some time with your family, or something, you deadbeat.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

And So It Begins.

2011-06-01T15:33:00.001-07:00

With the long layoff, this game one has been analyzed beyond belief. We've heard interviews with Comox, BC native Cam Neely (part of one of the worst trades in Canuck history/best trades in Bruin history), we've heard from the family and friends of Vancouver native and Boston superstar Milan Lucic, and we've looked back to that February 26th regular season 1-3 loss to Boston and tried to figure out what went wrong.

We've sat through analysis from former Canuck Brad May on NHL Network's On The Fly, we've listened to almost every expert say that we are the favorites heading into this Cup Final, and we've watched as the news of the Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg has led the NHL news wire instead of our glorious return to the Finals.

We've gone through all of that, and now we're finally here. We sit less than 90 minutes away from the puck drop of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals between the Boston Bruins and my Vancouver Canucks.

You all know the story, it's been 17 years since the Canucks last trip to the Finals. A series in 1994 that we lost in 7 games to my cousin's New York Rangers. Before that, it was a sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders in the Finals back in 1982, the year of my birth. Before that, nothing. This in only our third chance to drink from that glorious cup. But, with all that being said, this is clearly our best chance. We have never entered a Cup Final as the favorite, and with the inconsistent play of Boston and more importantly their goalie, Tim Thomas, us fans are feeling pretty pumped up.

The cheers of "Do it for Manny," have turned to "Do it with Manny," as Manny Malhotra has a tiny chance of getting back to play with the boys during this series. While he has been with the team every step of the way after his eye injury, motivating the boys back in the clubhouse, having him step back onto the ice would provide a huge boost to the squad. Could you even imagine him coming back? Those faceoffs in the zone on the PK wouldn't be a fear inspiring situation anymore. He probably won't play in game one, but there's hope he might get back before it's all said and done, and that would be pretty special.

And how about the cheers of "Luuuuuuuuuu!"? Is there anyone else on the Canucks who is on more of a mission to silence the haters? For some reason, a lot of people don't buy into Roberto Luongo, despite him winning the Gold Medal in the Olympics and despite him being an amazing NHL player. But, even he knows that he has to get one more accomplishment under his belt before he can be considered a truly great goalie. That accomplishment is just 4 wins away, and you'd have to believe that he's not about to let this opportunity slip away. He's better than Tim Thomas, and we all know it. You know it, I know it, and he knows it. Silence those hater, buddy.

Don't forget the Twins. The Canucks were questioned for taking them in the draft, but that hasn't been an issue, eh? Daniel and Henrik have been called the top two players in the entire world, and they have been stepping it up during this postseason. The only concern is that the Bruins have made it clear that their game plan is to come at then like the Preds, and with the way Nashville silenced the Twins, that makes me a little worried. But again, these guys realize the stage that they are on, and they are here to win.

What else does Ryan Kesler have to do? He has been just perfect during these playoffs. Amazing defense during the Chicago series, thrilling offense during the Nashville series, and a game tying goal on one leg in the dying seconds of the San Jose series. If you ever didn't believe in our best American born player, you do now. He's the real deal, and we're all very proud of him. RK-17 needs to continue to push forward, appreciating the extra rest between San Jose and Boston more than anyone on either team, and he will be a huge difference maker in this clash.

Has there been a better defender than Kevin Bieksa? Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo, Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, et all just haven't contributed the way that Bieksa has. He's been so good, that I'd say he has clearly risen to the position of being our #1 defender right now. How many media members would have traded him for a bag of pucks last summer? Idiots. Bieksa scored that magical goal that clinched the Western Conference Finals, and his big hits have really made a difference. Can he keep up the solid play? I'd like to think so, and I can't wait to see him do so.

Don't forget Coachie V. Alain was one goal away from being fired and thrown out of town back in the Quarterfinals, and now he's on the brink of becoming known as the greatest Vancouver coach in franchise history. It's funny how these things work out in sports.

As for the bad guys, Nathan Horton is overrated, Zdeno Chara is a dirty player, Tim Thomas is hot and cold, and Milan Lucic is the only cool guy on a squad full of muppets. That's right, I'm trying to build up the hate here. As was said on Vancouver radio, there isn't an Original Six squad that we have less of a history against, but after the next two weeks or so, there won't be an Original Six squad that we have more history against. No matter what happens, the Bruins will become an intense part of the Canucks franchise history after this series is finished, and that's part of what is so cool about all of this.

So, here we go. 40 years of hockey in Vancouver has all come down to this. It's game one of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Boston Bruins and my Vancouver Canucks, and it's game time.

GO CANUCKS GO!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Piñeiro Error Highlights Poor Defense.

2011-06-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

First the Halos won that thrilling comeback game on Memorial Day. Then, with Joel Piñeiro looking for career win #100 for practically the 100th time, they jumped out to a nice 2-0 lead in the first inning of yesterday's game at the Kauff. Add to that the fact that the Rangers had lost earlier in the day, and it's pretty clear that things were looking up for the boys in red. That is, until the third inning.

With a runner on first and one out, La Piñata received a comebacker and went to second base, looking to start an inning ending 1-6-3 double play. Instead, he hurried the throw, binked it off of the Royals runner, and watched as the bal rolled into the outfield. With runners on the corners, the wheels came off for our beloved #4. RBI single, RBI single, 2-run double. That's all she wrote. The Royals would pick up 5 runs in all off off Joel after his error, and they never looked back, as they beat the Angels 3-7.

Mark Trumbo and Jeff Mathis each had 2 hits and a RBI a piece, but you had to realize that any team with Bobby Wilson as the DH isn't going to mount another epic comeback, right? Erick Aybar was able to make me proud, nabbing his 13th stolen base of the season, St. Peter got his 6th.

For me, though, the game highlights a huge and glaring problem for my ball club: Defense. When you have a team with a weak offense, and I think even the most intense Halo apologist would agree that we're at least a little weak on the run scoring side of the game, you are only going to win with solid pitching and mistake free defense. The 2 errors from last night's game (I'm calling you out too, Trumbo) showcase how the Halos aren't doing their usually slow offense any favors by biffing easy and fundamental plays with the leather.

The Angels currently rank 12th in errors (the 12th least errors of any team in the MLB) in the overall league, and when only 8 teams make the playoffs, it's pretty clear that being the 12th best defensive team isn't going to cut it, especially when you only have the 18th best offense (in terms of runs scored) trying to make up for the errors. It doesn't really work out.

And it's becoming a pattern. In 2010, the Angels defense was even worse, ranked 24th out of the 30 MLB teams. It just doesn't work when you don't have the offensive to make up for it. Remember those World Champion San Francisco Giants? Heavy on pitching and weak on hitting, right? Sounds kind of like the model that the Angels have been going after. Besides their pitching, their 4th ranked defense (in the entire MLB) was the secret to the Giants' success. The Giants had an error per game rate of 0.45 during their Championship season, while the Halos rocked a 0.70 rate.

While it has improved this year to an E/G mark of 0.54, it still isn't good enough to help this team make up for it's much talked about lack of offense. In case you are wondering, the 2011 World Series Champions as crowned by ESPN back in March, the Phillies, are sporting an E/G of 0.42, even better than last year's eventual champs.

So, that's a lot of complaining about defensive problems, but not a lot of solutions. What can we do? Well, the obvious answer would be to replace the biggest offenders with guys who can handle the glove a litle better, so long as you aren't losing to much with the stick.

We'll look at the bottom five players on the roster with defensive WAR:

Bobby Abreu -0.3
Alexi Amarista -0.3
Vernon Wells -0.3
Jeff Mathis -0.1
Mark Trumbo -0.1

Now we'll look at those five with their offensive WAR, and I'm sure you already are thinking about who needs to ride the pine to improve our defense:

Abreu +1.2
Amarista -0.4
Wells -0.7
Mathis -0.1
Trumbo +0.7

So, Abreu and Trumbo have been producing offensive numbers that seem to cover up their defensive issues, especially because Abreu should be playing at the DH full time. That leaves Amarista, Wells, and Mathis to get off the field. And, when you boil it down, it really comes down to getting one guy off the field. Alexi Amarista is only up because HK-47 is on the DL, but with the Branyan acquisition, I don't see any need for Amarista to play, as Ma$e and Aybar can take over the middle infield daily with 3TO filling in at left. Wells is on the DL, so we don't have to worry about him bobbling the ball right now.

As I said, that leaves us with one player. One guy who is making more errors and defensive miscues than his offense can make up for. One guy who we need to get off the field to help improve our defense, and thus our team as a whole. It's almost too easy to believe.

Take a seat Jeff Mathis, you are our biggest liability. You have a negative defensive WAR, you have a negative offensive WAR, and you only throw out 21% of base stealers. I know Mathis sucking is hardly breaking news (heck, we've covered the topic here about a billion times), but it is time for the Angels to put him out of his misery and start Hank Conger. "The Conger Need Food" has a dead even defensive WAR (0.0) and a +0.4 offensive WAR. He's been throwing out 23% of base stealers, and he has 3 jacks and 12 RBI in just 31 games (103 ABs), while Mathis only has 1 homerun and 8 RBI in nearly the same time span (102 ABs).

We all know the switch would do a lot to help our offense and the growth of our up and coming catcher, but it would also do a lot to help our defense. Hank is ready, let's give him his shot. It's over, Mathis.

At 29-28, the Angels have been jumped by Seattle. While the Halos trail the Rangers by a game, Seattle sits just 0.5 back of Texas, and Oakland is 2.5 in the rear view. A really early game against the Royals this morning will feature Tyler Chatwood (3-2, 4.13) going against Felipe Paulino (0-4, 5.68). I'm not going to break it down, it's just a must win for Chatwood and the crew against a joker like Paulino.

Let's get it done.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

May Stats.

2011-06-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

It's that time of month again. Let's take a moment to review the stats from the month of May.

Total Posts Per Blogger: 1,186

Total "Instant Sufferings" Per Twitter: 2,014

Total Posts In May: 50

Ranking All-Time: Tied for the 3rd most posted month in history, along with January 2011.

Most Viewed Post Of The Month: "Making Peace With Raffi Torres" by Tommy on 8/26/10 was viewed 325 times.

2nd Most Viewed Post Of The Month: "Ben Eager Sucks, Canucks Smoke Sharks" by Tommy on 5/19/11 was viewed 176 times.

Top Referring Sites:
1. Google sent us 1,490 readers
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5. Pharm-Drug-Shop.com sent us 7 readers (that's got to be the most bizarre one yet)

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So, there you have it. Let's keep up the good work on this ever growing team blog!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 6/1/11.

2011-06-01T08:13:00.001-07:00

It's a new month, and it's a big night.

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v Boston

Angels (T) v Kansas City

Blue Jays (A) v Cleveland

Dodgers (B, J) v Colorado

Chivas USA (T) v Vancouver

Go Canucks Go!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Has Torii Hunter Turned It Around?

2011-05-31T15:22:00.001-07:00

After taking two out of three from the Twinkies over the weekend, the Halos won a wild one against the Royals on the Monday holiday, ripping off a 10-8 victory. While Ervin Santana looked very beatable, going just 6 innings of 6 run ball while walking 4, and my boy Rich Thompson looked just as bad in his 0.67 innings or relief (2 runs on 3 hits), the Halo offense came up huge to get the team back into things. The Angels bats scored 6 runs in the final three innings, including three in the ninth, and took Kansas City down at the Kauff.

While Bobby Abreu led the team with a 4 for 5 afternoon, it was Torii Hunter that stole the show. Big Game went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI, including two jacks. Hunter hit a solo bomb in the seventh, and added a two run job in the ninth, and got his team leading RBI total to 31 (+4 on Mark "ROY" Trumbo). After starting the season as our big chump, running his mouth about how everyone sucks but him, I'm starting to wonder if he's finally figuring things out.

Over the last 14 days, he's showing that this might just be the case. In the last two weeks, he's been hitting .320 with 4 jacks and 12 RBI in 13 games (50 ABs). His SLG over that amount of time is .640, and you can understand what an improvement this is over his April numbers of .222/4/12. Yeah, he has just as many homers and RBI over the last 14 days as he did over the entire first month+ (that season opener in March, included), and has done it while rocking an average nearly +.100 on his April stat line.

And, as he showed in yesterday's clash with Los Royals, he comes up big in important situations. Baseball Reference's Leverage stats show us that in high leverage situations, Torii is hitting .367 with a .421 OBP and a .714 SLG. Those are pretty great marks for situations where the game can dramatically change in terms of win probability. We (and I include myself in this) have given him a ton of crap for the way he's played in 2011, but with his recent turnaround, it seems like he's making a statement as our best offensive talent.

So what do we expect from here on out? Are we planning on Torii hitting .320 from here to the All Star break? I don't think so, but we would like to see him continue to crank up that average and the other production numbers. Spiderman is still hitting only .249 on the season, and my goal would be that he brings his season average up to somewhere near his career average of .274 by the midway point in the season. Keep in mind that he hasn't hit .274 or below in a season since 2005 in Minnesota when he hit .269. He's bouncing back, and it's fun to see.

Keep it up, Big Game.

After a pretty successful Memorial Day weekend, the Halos are 29-27, and sit 1 game back of the Texas Rangers (29-25). Seattle is 1.5 back of Texas, and Oakland sits 2.5 back as the only team in the division below .500. Look at Seattle going 8-2 over their last 10. I know I keep saying it, but man, this is a fun division right now.

Just to give credit where credit is due, let's look at the offensive leaders on the team thus far.

BA: Howie (.322), Aybar (.308), AC/DV (.306)

HR: Trumbo (10), Hunter (8), Howie (7)

RBI: Hunter (31), Trumbo (27), AC/DV (26)

SB: Aybar (12), Abreu (8), Bourjos/Izzy (5)

And, for me, it's important to compare these stats to the MLB league leaders. Otherwise, I start to overrate my team. So, the league leaders are:

BA: Joyce at .368 (Tampa)
HR: Bautista at 20 (Jays)
RBI: Gonzalez at 46 (Boston)
SB: Boum and two others at 19 (Houston)

This afternoon, the Halos and the Royals go at it again at the Kauff. The Angels will throw Joel Piñero (2-1, 3.15) against Jeff Francis (1-5, 4.52). Francis has been crazy inconsistent this season, most recently having a bad outing against Baltimore. Piñero can't claim much more, as he's been on and off since coming off the DL this season. He allowed 4 runs in 6.67 innings last time out, and hopes to put things together against KC this time out.

Quickly on the way out, I'll point out that Howie Kendrick is slated to come back to the lineup this week against the Yankees, while Vernon Wells is still set to be out until the next Halo homestand. Meanwhile, Scott Kazmir allowed 10 runs in a single inning of his second AAA rehab outing. What are we going to do with this joker?

Speaking of AAA, I figure it's a good time to do our first tour around the Baby Halos system this season. We'll start with SLC, who got a win from Matty Palmer to improve their record to 24-28. Two hitters deserve mention, and they are Gil Velazquez and Jeff Baisley. Velazquez (SS) is a Los Angeles native and is hitting .368 with 24 RBI in 44 games, while Tampa native Baisley (3B) is hitting .347 with 13 jacks and 47 RBI in 50 games. He's straight up on fire. Meanwhile, Amalio Diaz and Eric Junge have looked good on the mound, with three wins a piece.

AA Arkansas are 23-22 after a win against Corpus. Vineland, NJ native and super prospect Mike Trout is continuing to progress faster than all of us expected, hitting .305 with 6 jacks and 18 RBI in the 45 tests with the Travs. Meanwhile, Orangel Arenas and Garrett Richards have 5 wins a piece on the mound. Orangel is a Venezuela native, and is pitching big time, rocking the 5-2 record and the 3.55 ERA despite not really punching guys out like a champ.

Our brand new single-A club from Inland Empire won 11-7 in their last game, as the 66ers improved to 23-28. 1B and UCLA alumn Casey Haerther is hitting .303, and has been a huge bright spot for our new California League club. ASU grad Kole Calhoun leads the squad with 10 bombs, as they continue to chase first place Rancho (we're coming for you, Tremor). DR native Ariel Peña leads the team with 5 wins, and he's 5-1 with a 4.05 ERA along with 61 Ks in 60 innings pitched. He's showing some promise for the IE.

Alright, I think that's enough blabbering. I'll just end by pointing out that my move to the Bay Area is now just two weeks away, and once I start my new position with Contra Costa County it will probably lead to a drop in blogging because I'll actually be busy at work. I'll keep up as best I can, but I just figured I'd throw that out there.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Weekly" Football Post #99.

2011-05-31T10:32:00.001-07:00

All the Barca jerseys are coming out of the bandwagoner closets after that Champions League Final, eh? Sorry, Andrew.

As we officially say goodbye to the European and Mexican soccer seasons, it's time for the "weekly" football post to focus on the glorious (and undersupported) MLS. Let's get to it.

Chivas USA 3 - 3 Columbus

It was billed as a probable 0-0 draw, as the league's two lowest scoring squads met on the pitch somewhere in Ohio. Instead, we saw a crazy offensive battle (or maybe it was a lack of defense) that featured Columbus marching back from being down by a goal on three separate occasions. The Goats may consider themselves lucky to escape with a point, considering Jorge Flores got ejected after his second yellow, 20 minutes away from time. It almost ended 3-4 in favor of the bad guys, but Ante Jaziç was able to clear a ball off the goal line in the 90th to preserve that precious point.

I'm sure Robin Fraser is stoked on this one.

It was Nick LaBrocca who got us started early, tallying a goal on an impressive Braun assist just 4 minutes in. That had me pretty excited, but the Massive countered just 13 minutes later on an Andrés Mendoza netter. In the 37th, we got that slimmest of leads back again via the head of Andrew Boyens. Boyens rose to the challenge to head the ball home after a spot on corner from the continually improving defender Heath Pearce. Boyens will be off for international duty following this game, so it was nice to see him contribute on the way out.

Fellow Kiwi, Simon Elliot, made a mistake just on the other side of the half, however, that led to Mendoza getting an equalizer. The whole play got set up for Columbus after El Sueño banged a shot off the goal post in the 49th, as the Crew gobbled up the ball and marched downfield for Mendoza's brace. Just 5 minutes later, though, Sueño made good by scoring the third Chivas goal of the game. Flores was able to outpace the defense and pick up a beautiful pass from Ben Zemanski that was just perfect, and he converted for our third lead of the game.

But, 7 minutes later (again with the 7 minutes), Columbus got a lucky netter than would be the final twine tickler of the match. Eddie Gavin blasted a shot from outside the box that deflected off of a Chivas defender and to the foot of Emmanuel Ekpo. Ekpo received the ball, spun on Zarek Valentin, and blasted the ball home for the game tying goal. The Crew dominated the remainder of the game, being a man up, but Chivas was able to keep them out (barely) and maintain the tie.

G- Dan Kennedy: Everytime I pump this Gaucho up, he seems to have a rough outing. Sure, the defense had the bigger problems, but Kennedy has to take a little blame after a couple of tough outings lately.

D- Zarek Valentin, Andrew Boyens, Heath Pearce, Ante Jaziç: If it wasn't for Jaziç, this defense would have been getting totally abused after this game. Sure, they were up on offense (Pearce got an assist and Boyens got a goal), but outside of our Nova Scotia native (Jazzy), the defense was a let down. How does Valentin get busted on that last Columbus goal? Even worse, how doen Fraser not sub someone in for one of these guys?

M- Ben Zemanski, Simon Elliot (Gerson Mayen 89), Nick LaBrocca: Good game from the middies, outside of the one mistake from The Silver Fox. I love me some Mayen as a sub, but the Los Angeles native could have come in about 10 minutes earlier to mix things up a bit.

F- Jorge Flores, Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 89), Alejandro Moreno (Francisco Mendoza 79): Good game for the three guys up front, but El Sueño was clearly the big shot. It's one thing to see him getting so much time as a starter, it's a completely other thing to see him getting serious shots and even a goal. Tough way for Moreno to go out, though, as he's off for international play.

At 3-4-4 (13 points and a +1 goal differential), Chivas USA are sitting 7th in the West. We are tied in points with San Jose, and up by 4 on Vancouver (fall from grace?), while we are trailing Portland and RSL (fall from grace?) by 4. Overall, we sit #12 out of the 18 MLS teams, and while we have a ways to go, we're doing alright for this point in the season with this new of a team. 2-2-1 over our last five, we get back to action rather quickly. Tomorrow we get a mid-week clash against the aforementioned Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1-5-6, -4 GD). Vancouver haven't won since their thrilling season opener against Toronto, and they have seen quite a dip in attention around the Vancouver sports scene. They are kind of swept up in that whole Stanley Cup thing, you know?

So with the Stanley Cup starting on Wednesday, and the 'Caps/Chivas clash going on that day as well, which do you think will get better ratings in BC? Sorry, soccer, but I promise that we'll watch the highlights.

Elsewhere in the MLS...

-David Beckham racked up another headline making assist, as El Salvadorian Miguel Lopez scored a golden goal for the Galaxy against New England.

-Seattle shocked the MLS world with a 2-1 win over RSL in Salt Lake. The result ended RSL's 29 game unbeaten streak at home. Pat Ianni and Tacoma native Lamar Neagle deserve a pat on the back for that one.

-Dallas and Houston finished in a 2-2 draw after an 87th minute goal from SMU alumn Colin Clark. Surprisingly, the Toros are now unbeaten in their last 8, and sit at 6-3-4. Didn't they suck rather recently?

-Despite New York being without Frenchie McHandBall and other stars, Vancouver could only earn a draw against the team named after an energy drink. The 'Caps scored on a penalty in the 23rd, but Red Bulls equalized just 11 minutes later. They had a sell out crowd in Vancouver, though, as 21,000 supporters showed up to wave their Canuck towels.

-Toronto is just bad. Philly put them down like an old dog, grabbing a 6-2 victory. I really, really wish Andrew was a bigger TFC fan.

-The change in name isn't helping Sporting Kansas City, as they could only draw with the former champs from Colorado. However, with a 1-6-2 record this season, a draw with the 2010 champs may be considered a victory. Where are you, Omar Bravo?

-After having to go to penalty kicks in US Open Cup play earlier in the week, San Jose and Chicago ended their game with a 2-2 draw over the weekend. The Fire got a goal in the 80th from Fort Lauderdale native Cory Gibbs to earn the tie.

Set the table...

The new MLS Playoff qualifying makes a little more sense than the old style, as there won't be any weird conference jumping any longer. Now, the top 10 teams overall make the postseason, with the top 3 teams in each conference getting a bye into the quarterfinals, and the "wildcard" teams battling it out to start the postseason. Right now, we're looking at these top ten teams, along with their points:

1. LA (29)
2. Dallas (22)
3. Philly (20)
4. Seattle (20)
5. NY (18)
6. Colorado (18)
7. RSL (17)
8. Portland (17)
9. Houston (15)
10. DC (15)

That leaves Chivas USA just 2 points out of a playoff spot at the #12 slot. We're in striking distance, and a mid-week game with the second-to-worst team in the table could really have us feeling better about our chances.

¡Arriba las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/31/11.

2011-05-31T08:05:00.001-07:00

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Let's see what's on tap for today.

Blue Jays (A) v Cleveland

Angels (T) v Kansas City

The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (B) v Colorado

It's a light day, and that's good, because tomorrow's intensity level is going to be off the charts.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Canuck Fans Waiting, And Waiting, And Waiting.

2011-05-26T15:49:00.001-07:00

Well, we aren't going to have to wait as long as Leaf fans for the Stanley Cup, but we sure do have to wait a long time for our first Cup Finals series in 17 years to get underway. I figured I'd toss up a quick post to register my feelings on the topic of what will become seven days off in between the Western Conference clincher and the Stanley Cup opener.

So much has been debated on the whole time off versus staying hot by playing right away in all the various major sports and their playoffs, and I think both sides of the argument make good points. Rest is great because it gives players time to get fit, and after seeing Kesler play on one leg in game five against San Jose, I'm all for the rest. However, rest sucks because you aren't as sharp when you finally get back to playing. It takes a little bit of time to get back up to the speed of the game, especially in the playoffs. Having to play again right away is great because you stay hot, you stay on a roll, and you maintain your momentum. However, having to play again right away sucks because you can't catch your breath, you can't heal up, and you have less time to plan your attack against a new opponent.

I'm not going to decide which is better, because I don't think there is an exact answer, but I'd rather approach this from a fan perspective. After all the excitment of the Blackhawks series, we were thrust right into the series with Nashville after just one day off. That seemed a little too intense to me, as we had zero time to celebrate and relish in the quite historical game seven victory. After we beat Nashville, we had a couple of days to wait for San Jose, and it felt perfect. With the first Stanley Cup game not coming until Wednesday of next week, I feel like we risk the danger of losing a firm grasp on the excitment of reaching the Cup Finals.

Outside of that, I'm a little miffed that either the Bruins or the Lightning (it'll be the Bruins, let's not fool ourselves) will have plenty of time, after their Friday night game seven, to travel and develop their plan for game one of the Cup finals. I think a Sunday start would have been awesome, or if they really had to wait, a Memorial Day game also would have been a spot on idea. But Wednesday? Come on!

As for me, I'll keep trying to keep that flame lit under Orca Nation as we wait out this gap between the series, and I'll keep my Canucks hat fixed firmly on my head to remind me of just what we've accomplished, and what we have left to accomplish.

See you Wednesday, Bru-ightning!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Halos Bring "Russell The Muscle" On Board.

2011-05-26T15:01:00.001-07:00

Who saw this coming? As Joel Piñero and the Angels are getting shutout 0-4 against the A's in today's series ending day game (top of the 7th, as I type), news has come out that the Halos have signed Russell Branyan. The Warner Robins, Georgia native is an interesting signing. While he's 35 years of age and clearly at the tail end of his career, it was only last year when he hit 25 jacks in 367 ABs for the Indians/Mariners.

To make room on the roster, the Angels placed Howie Kendrick on the DL retroactive to May 20, and as his day-to-day went on, it became clear that this hammy might require a trip to the injured list, and there you have it. The signing of Branyan is quite a surprise, though, and I don't think anyone saw it coming. He was cut from Arizona last week after going .210/1/2 over 62 ABs in 31 games. So, let's explore the deal.

First off, we love us some nicknames, and Branyan comes with a couple of built in beauties. The obvious "Russell The Muscle" is an instant classic, but the less popular "3TO" is my personal favorite. 3TO stands for "three true outcomes," given to him due to his propensity to either draw a walk, strike out, or hit a home run. I really dig that.

As for the value of the signing, I think I'm on board with it. Last season, Russell rocked a 2.6 WAR. While Baseball Reference says that 2+ is an All-Star level WAR (that's debatable, in my opinion), I'm more interested in how his value compares to the rest of the Halos. If you look at the 2010 Angels, only one player had a WAR superior to Branyan's WAR from that 2010 season. That player was Torii Hunter, who sported a 2.9 WAR last season, and I think this shows that the addition of Branyan may be an underrated acquisition.

The only question is, where does he fit in? 3TO is a corner infielder and sometimes corner outfielder. We've got Trumbo and Callaspo at the corner infield spots, and they are two of our best hitters, so you'd have to imagine that this deal was to help pick things up for the Vernon Wells injury. Branyan will most likely take over in left field while Vernon sits out, and he's a ridiculous upgrade over Willits, Amarista, et al out in left. It also, probably, means that Wells is going to be out even longer than we imagined.

I already kind of found the deal and underrated one, but now that I look at it as an upgrade in left, I really like the deal a lot. What's crazy is, what will happen if Branyan does his business and goes .250 with 10 jacks and 25 RBI over the next month or so, and then Wells is healthy again. How could you slot him back in at that point and not get killed by the fans? And, if Branyan sucks, he just gets replaced when Wells is healthy. It seems like a can't lose situation.

Reagins has been doing better and better as of late (save, the Wells deal, maybe, although judgment will be saved until next season on that one), and I'll give him props for this Branyan signing.

Best of luck, 3TO, and welcome to Halo Nation.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Meet Ervin Santana: Our Big Game Pitcher.

2011-05-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

I couldn't pass up this photo of Hideki Matsui, because I thought they snapped a shot of him sleeping in the dugout during the game. To my surprise, the caption read, "Oakland DH Hideki Matsui follows the game from the dugout." If you look real close, his eyes, in fact, are open. Wow.

If you read the blog, you know that I have a theory about Ervin Santana. We don't have to spend the time proving it again via Ervin's stats, as we've done that many times before, but let's just say he's an "every other year" kind of pitcher. Even the most basic glance at his career stat line would make this obvious to even the dumbest three year old. So, based on the overwhelming evidence, I made a bold prediction back in March-ish that Santana would be complete crap this season. And, early on, it looked like I was right yet again.

In his first three starts, El Rosario allowed 3 runs in each game, going a combined 21.67 innings. He went 0-1 over those three games. So that wasn't that bad, if we're being honest, but then he took a giant step back. Erv gave up 6 runs in 4 innings against Texas and followed that with 5 earned runs against Boston over 7. He quickly dropped to 0-3, and his ballooning ERA was at 5.51. Not a very good start for your #3 guy, right? Despite giving up 4 runs (only one was earned) in his last start of the month of April, the Angels slugged him to his first win of the year against Tampa, and he ended April 1-3 with a 4.89 ERA.

On May 4 in Boston, he pitched a no hitter for four innings, but was removed due to concerns about the long wait time before the game due to the rain delay. That could have been when he turned the whole season around, but because of the weird interuption, it wasn't. In his next two starts, everyone's favorite Hooters' Husband coughed up 9 runs in 13 innings. So, as of May 19, our #3 pitcher was sitting on a 1-4 record with a hefty 4.85 ERA.

It was at this point, as I admitted in a post earlier in the week, that I laughed out loud when people said that Ervin Santana and Tim Hudson were set to engage in a thrilling pitching duel. How could the real media feel that we would take them seriously when a guy with the aformentioned stat line is going against a guy who was 4-3 with a 3.03 ERA, and they try and sell us on the pitching duel that was sure to ensue? But, I was completely wrong. It wasn't a pitching duel, so I got that part right, but it was Ervin who dominated, and that completely surprised me.

Going against one of the true aces of the league, Ervin pitched a complete game shutout, punching out 7 along the way and walking none, as the Halos routed the Braves 9-0. It was insane. I chalked it up to another fluke, similar to the way he pitched against Boston earlier in the month. With the A's coming into town, and their ace Trevor Cahill slated to go against Ervin, I figued last night's game would be Santana's probable crash back down to Earth.

However, he made sure to prove to once again, that I know nothing about sports. Going against the best Oakland has to offer (which isn't that great, I get it), Ervin went 6 innings of 1 run ball with 6 Ks en route to the Angels huge 4-1 win. Just like that, El Rosario is 3-4 with a respectable 3.95 ERA. The turnaround has not only showed us that Ervin can pitch well even after getting off to a poor start, but even more so it shows us that he may be our big game pitcher.

While Jered Weaver and Dan Haren have been faltering and struggling to score runs, Ervin has been going up against the best pitchers around the league, and has been bringing his A game. A quick look at his splits only underscores his mid-season transformation:

April: 1-3, 4.89 ERA, 1.345 WHIP
May: 2-1, 2.81 ERA, 1.031 WHIP

If he keeps this good thing going, he may completely blow my theory out of the water. Let's just hope he goes against the other team's ace when his spot in the rotation comes back around. I'm looking at you, Bruce Chen.

Lastly, I just wanted to use Ervin to help disprove the whole, Jeff Mathis CERA issue. You know how Jeff Mathis is the worst hitter in baseball since 1994? Well, Mike Scioscia justifies playing him because of his defensive abilities (which we have proven wrong in a previous post) and his CERA (a magical stat that only the Angels pay attention to). Let's look at what Ervin has to say about the issue.

Ervin's ERA with Conger: 3.06
Ervin's ERA with Mathis: 5.82
Ervins's ERA with Wilson: 4.05

Where was that lovely CERA in the three starts Ervin had with Mathis guarding the dish? Very interesting.

The Angels finish their four game series against the A's with a business man's special this afternoon. We send Jo-Jo Piñata (2-0, 2.67) to the mound against Brett Anderson (2-4, 3.18). Anderson has been solid lately, dominating the Angels over 6.67 on May 16 and following that up with a hard luck loss to San Francisco in his last start. Meanwhile, Piñero goes for his 100th career victory yet again, trying to right the ship after a rough outing to Atlanta his last time out.

Let's see if we can keep the long bombs flying out of the yard, and win this series.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/26/11-5/29/11.

2011-05-26T08:06:00.001-07:00

Here's to an exciting sports weekend.

Thursday-

The LSF Game of the Day:Angels (T) v Oakland

Blue Jays (A) v Chicago

Friday-

The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v Chicago

Angels (T) v Minnesota

Dodgers (B, J) v Florida

Saturday-

Blue Jays (A) v Chicago

Angels (T) v Minnesota

Dodgers (B, J) v Florida

The LSF Game of the Day: Man Utd (A) v Barcelona

Chivas USA (T) v Columbus

Sunday-

Blue Jays (A) v Chicago

Angels (T) v Minnesota

The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (T) v Florida

Should be an exciting Champs League final. Have a great weekend, you muppets.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

An Out Of Body Experience.

2011-05-25T15:15:00.001-07:00

It was, is, and will forever be an unreal moment. The Vancouver Canucks got a bounce that can only be see as Divine Intervention in double overtime, and Kevin Bieksa's slap shot went into the net and sent this long suffering squad straight to Lord Stanley's Cup Finals. As the confetti fell to the ice and hundreds of thousands of Canuck supporters around the world went into a frenzy of celebration, it truly felt like an out of body experience. And to think, there are still four more wins to go.

I almost can't even explain the moment that it all went down. There is no way that words can do it justice. If you weren't watching the game start to finish, if you weren't sitting on the edge of your couch with your hands on your head in a mix of hopeful anticipation and fear, you can never really know how it felt. It was the weirdest and most confusing goal I've ever seen, while at the same time being possibly the greatest single moment in my life as a hockey fan (though I may be a creature of the present, because 1994 was a long time ago, I was only 12 at the time, and it beind my first year as a Canuck fan I didn't really understand fully what it meant).

Let's see if I can actually set this up to give you just a slim sense of how it felt. Just over 8 minutes into the game, Daniel Sedin sent a no look behind the back pass from behind the net to Henrik near the crease. Hank slid it to Alex, and my boy AB nailed the game opener. To be honest, I didn't even cheer. I simply pumped my fist once, knowing I didn't want to get too excited lest I end up suffering the big let down. About 10 minutes into the second, Dan Boyle got the Sharks even. On the power play, Boyle sent in a slapper that was deflected by Keith Ballard's glove and down into the net. It was a horrible break for Ballard, who didn't really have a great game, and I'm just left wondering why he even put his hand up to block the shot with his glove. It was a mistake, but we knew there'd be more to come.

Unfortunately, it came just 24 seconds into the third. A huge turnover led to a two on none rush in on Luongo. Roberto decided to charge Setoguchi, and came WAY out of the crease while attempting to nail a poke check. Guch easily got around him and sent the puck into the empty net. It was a horrible goal to allow as a team, but I still felt confident. As the period went on, though, my confidence seriously dipped. The 'Nucks pulled Luongo with about two minutes to go, but I didn't figure anything would work out. With 14 seconds to go in the game, however, Ryan Kesler provided a shockingly awesome goal. Kes tipped in a shot from Henrik Sedin, and completely saved the game. We were headed to overtime.

The Canucks were hot in the extra frame early on, and that gave us some hope, but nothing came together. There was a couple of no calls that hurt us, including Jannik Hansen literally getting his teeth knocked out by a high stick. That had me going nuts. But somehow, Luongo kept us safe. Even Kyle Wellwood came close to scoring a goal, if you can believe it, but Bobby Lu saved the game with an impressive glove (imagine how a Welly game winning goal would have played among Canuck fans). It was just one of those overtime games where you knew it was going to go a nice long distance.

Then, just about halfway through the second overtime, it happened. With the puck in their offensive zone, Alex Burrows worked hard to keep the puck and passed it back to Alex Edler. Edler had Sharks closing in on him and decided to throw the puck off the glass and down behind the net. Once the puck hit the glass, though, confusion took over. The puck seemed to completelty vanish, players started looking around and pointing to the netting above the glass assuming that it went out of play, and then the puck appeared in the net, bouncing out as if it was shot in somehow. The light went on, the confetti blew out, the crowd went nuts, and nobody knew what happened.

When we looked at the replay, it all came together. Edler's clear in attempt deflected off of the metal piece in between the glass and took a crazy bounce back out to the blue line. Only one player on the ice knew where the puck was, and that was Kevin Bieksa. Bieksa blasted a one timer after the puck came to him on the lucky bounce, and with Niemi looking off to the side trying to find the puck, Bieksa's shot slid into the net to clinch the Western Conference Title. It was insane, it was confusing, it was a really ugly slapper in all honesty, but it didn't matter. Bieksa nailed the shot, and the Canucks are off to the Cup Final.

It doesn't even feel real yet.

And that's just what happened, not anything more. How freaking crazy is all of this? I haven't even mentioned how Ryan Kesler, who scored the insanely timely game tying goal, pulled up lame earlier in the third period and had to go to the dressing room. He scored that goal while basically playing on one leg. I didn't even mention how his injury happened when Boyle scored his goal, which gave San Jose a little extra advantage, and had most fans watching Kesler rather than seeing the goal actually go in. I didn't even mention how much Roberto Luongo stood on his head. He stopped 54 of 56 shots on goal, and it if weren't for him, we wouldn't have even been in that position with seconds to go.

All of that adds to the amazing moment, and there is so much more. How about Henrik Sedin refusing to touch the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, the trophy for winning the Western Conference, as a way of breaking negative traditions? Stan Smyl touched the trophy in 1982, and we lost the Stanley Cup. Trevor Linden touched the trophy in 1994, and we lost the Stanley Cup. By refusing to touch the trophy, Henrik was saying, "We aren't finished. This is nice, but it isn't our ultimate goal." And I think all of the fan base is feeding off of that decision by our captain.

How about Joe Thornton? Yeah, I can give love to the other team, especially once they are knocked out. Thornton came back from his game four injury and played game five with a separated shoulder. And he did really well. I tip my hat to him for being tough, and he earned my respect.

On the other end of that coin, I finally saw why Alain Vigneault has been disinterested in slotting Keith Ballard into the lineup. I never understood it until I saw it last night. A lot of other websites are saying that he played alright, but I say no, he didn't. First Ballard skated the puck from the goal line to the center line, and dumped the puck into the zone, I believe it was in the first period. The only problem was that he sent it in prior to reaching the center line, and got called for the icing when there was absolutely no pressure to ice the puck. Really bad. He also deflected the first San Jose goal in via his raised paw. He also coughed up a puck in the zone, and had to be saved by the younger Chris Tanev. Okay, okay, I get it.

And how about Tanev? How awesome does this kid keep proving he is. He's got the puck behind Luongo will Shark players coming down on him, and he showed no fear in passing it out. No stupid icing play, just a solid play. Tanev has got ice in his veins, and even if Ehrhoff comes back, I don't see sitting Tanev. Sorry, Ballard.

To continue to give some love to San Jose, I have to admit that this was far and away the best game they played in this series, and I'm sure that this makes the loss even harder for Shark fans. They dominated long portions of this game, and this seemed to be the game with the most 5-on-5 action, as the refs finally got the message and put their whistles away, so that says a lot. If San Jose was going to win a game in this series, when you look at all five of the contests, this would have been it (yeah, even more so than when they actually won).

Am I rambling? I just feel like we're living a dream as supporters of the Orca right now. We seem like a team of destiny. I've been saying that for a while now, and after the way that game ended last night, I don't think you'll disagree with me. It is just, flat out, incredible.

The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning play their game six tonight, as Boston has a chance to close it out and punch their ticket to Vancouver for early next week. Here's what I think: Tampa Bay would be an easier team to beat. They don't even know who they want in goal, and have looked horrible for long stretches of this series. They also have former Canuck fan favorite Mattias Öhlund on their team, and that would be fun to see him reach the Cup.

That being said, I want Boston. I want Boston just like how I wanted Chicago in the opening round. I think the Bruins would provide a difficult and intensely exciting test, I hate Tim Thomas, you have the whole Lucic connection, and I just think winning the Cup against an Original Six team would help silence all the haters. The last thing I want is the Canucks to win the Cup, only for the haters to suggest it wasn't a big deal because it was against some team from Florida.

No matter what happens, I sure want that Eastern Series to go 7 games so that Kesler and company can rest up and get fit.

Well, until we know who we're getting, let's just continue to enjoy the moment.

Man, I'm proud to be a Canuck fan.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Haren Can't Get 6 Runs Of Support.

2011-05-25T09:36:00.001-07:00

Excuse me if this Halo post rambles, but it's going to be hard to stay focused on recapping last night's baseball game after Kevin Bieksa's double overtime goal that sent my beloved Canucks into the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm saving that post for the afternoon, so let's try and turn our thoughts to baseball.

How many times before yesterday's Angels-A's game did you hear about how great Dan Haren has been this season? How The Chessmaster deserves to have a much better record, but he just can't get the run support that he needs to get the wins. Sure, even I pointed that out in my post yesterday, so it must be true. However, if Haren gave up 5 runs, you certainly wouldn't blame the lack of run support for his loss, right? Wrong! That's exactly what happened last night.

Danny Boy went 7 innings of 5 run ball, despite 6 Ks and just 1 walk. He gave up 2 jacks, though, and that was enough to make it his worst start of the year. So, he had his worst start of the year, let's not blame anyone, and just move on, right? That's what I would think. But no, according to the "real" media, this was the offense's fault yet again. Headline after headline on the internet today, we read, "Angels Bats Quiet As Haren Has Off Night." Really? Why would you lead the headline with the fact that the bats weren't there for Dan, when the real story is that he had the worst start of the season? Give the bats a break!

David DeJesus was the Haren killer, blasting two homeruns against The Chessmaster, and that was enough to take care of us. Trevor Bell didn't help in his relief effort, allowing a run in his 2 innings to follow Haren, but it didn't really matter at that point.

Instead of hating on our offense, how about giving a pat on the back to Guillermo Moscoso. The AAA hurler went 6 innings of shutout ball despite walking 3 and allowing 3 hits. He pitched well enough to win, and you can't ask for much more from a callup. The Angels left 7 on base and went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Even though they probably wouldn't have won due to Haren crapping the bed against a crappy A's offense, it would have been nice to see the bats put a little more effort out, I'll admit.

Not a single guy had a multi-hit game, Mark Trumbo went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks, and Conger and Amarista combined to go 0 for 7. Izturis and Aybar had the only extra base hits, Izzy and Bourjos picked up stolen bases, and Torii Hunter got the lone RBI as he singled Aybar in during the eighth inning. It was over well before that happened, though. David DeJesus, who had already blasted the aforementioned two yard shots, cancelled out Hunter's RBI with a one-run double in the 9th. We were flat out dominated.

Nobody effs with DeJesus.

The loss to the A's makes the AL West that much tighter:

Rangers: 25-24, 0 GB
Angels: 25-25, 0.5 GB
Mariners: 23-25, 1.5 GB
A's: 23-26, 2 GB

It's a fun division, let's be honest.

The four game series with the hated A's continues tonight as Ervin "Young Gun" Santana (2-4, 4.18) looks to pitch like he did against Timmy Hudson and the Braves as he faces Trevor Cahill (6-1, 1.79). Cahill is far and away the Oakland ace this season, and they look to him to keep this injured rotation somewhat on track. Meanwhile, Ervin looks to show that his complete game shutout against the Braves last weekend wasn't a fluke. I don't know about that, but I sure hope he can put a nice start together against the A's.

Let's get this series lead.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/25/11.

2011-05-25T07:50:00.001-07:00

I'm on cloud nine after the Canucks beat the Sharks in double overtime last night, earning their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 17 years (my first season as a long suffering Canucklehead) on one of the most bizarre goals I have ever seen in my entire life. Great stuff.

I'm sure today will be something of a let down, but let's see what we have scheduled.

Blue Jays (A) v New York

Dodgers (B, J) v Houston

The LSF Game of the Day: Angels (T) v Oakland

Can't wait for the Cup Finals.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Canucks-Sharks Game Five Pump Up Post.

2011-05-24T16:17:00.001-07:00

Welcome back to British Columbia, we're about to get it done. The Canucks are geared up to battle the Sharks in game five of the Western Conference Finals, and I join all Canuck fans in hoping that we can just get it done tonight. Sure, we have three chances to close the series out, but wouldn't it be nice if we could just finish it as soon as possible? The answer is yes, it would be quite nice.

A win tonight would not only punch the Canucks ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals, but it would also hand us a nice little rest before the battle with the East kicks off. And not only would that allow the players to catch their breath, but it would also allow us fans to celebrate the Western Conference Championship more than the 18 hours we got to celebrate the game seven win over the Hawks. I think we need that extra celebration time.

If we win tonight, it will be our first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 17 years, to the day. That's right. On May 24, 1994, we closed out the series with the Toronto Maple Leafs (sorry, Andrew) in double overtime to earn a trip to battle the Rangers in the Finals. So, history is on our side.

It helps, also, that the Sharks are a team with a history of going quietly into the night. San Jose is a long suffering hockey team, and their fans are probably already bracing themselves for this expected exit, as they have had to do so many times before. I'm guessing that Ben Eager will be back out there, as the Sharks try to throw everything they can at the 'Nucks. And while he may be annoying, it's good for us because he takes a grip of penalties. Maybe we can get a couple more 5-on-3s? That seems to have worked out for us.

Alright, let's end this thing and send this lovely fanbase into a frenzy.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

One LSF'er Moves To Enemy Territory.

2011-05-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

That's right, loyal reader (I'll use the singular based on the probable lack of readers, plural, this blog has). The LSF is having one of it's writers move to a different location yet again. This time, I'll be heading up to the Bay Area along with my family for a move to the East Bay, to be exact (and to a job that pays a lot more). As you well know, the East Bay is the home of one of the LSF's main rivals, the Oakland Athletics, and I'm going to be smack in the middle of enemy territory. How many guys walking around the East Bay are rocking Halo red? Well, in three weeks, there will be one.

It's also kind of cool because it puts LSF authors in three major spots around the country. We'll have Beasy and J representing in Orange County, myself up in the Bay Area, and our boy Andrew holding it down in Dallas, TX. Talk about an expanding team blog, we've got it covered from all angles.

Speaking of the enemy, the Angels played the A's at the Big A last night, and won a thrilling game 4-1. It was cool because, as I "tweeted," I was sitting on the couch watching the game while drinking a Firestone California Pale Ale out of my Angel pint glass, and I couldn't have felt any happier. Even if the Halos would have lost to the A's yet again, it would have been a good time. But thanks to Torii Hunter and (gulp) Jeff Mathis, the Angels busted the aching A's to keep pace with the healing Rangers.

I want to start by addressing Jered Weaver. He hasn't been getting wins at all lately, and this time he came out with a no decision. 7 innings of 1 run ball seems pretty great right? He left the game tied 1-1, and I'm guessing that most are going the blame the Halo offense for letting him down. But, while the innings and runs against looked good, I'm wondering if he could possibly have had a bad game in all reality. Why would I say such a thing? Well, he only punched out 5, a low total for him, and he walked 3, a high total for him. Out of his 110 pitches, he tallied just 67 strikes versus 43 balls, and that strike total was boosted by getting touched up for a couple of hits in his final inning.

Look, I don't want to be a punk to Jered when he's not getting the run support he needs, but I'm also not going to pretend that he's still pitching as well as he was during his 6-0 run. He's not, believe me.

Meanwhile, Scott Downs continued to prove me right with his solid inning of relief (thanks for warming up Takahashi, now go ahead and sit back down). Downie gave up two hits, but held it down for the hold, and has dropped his ERA of 0.66. What more could you want of our new lefty? Like I said in the last post, he's been awesome since he's regained his fitness. Waldo was also on point, nailing down a solid save with a couple of pitches reaching 100 MPH. He is just dealing straight up gnarly heat, and the bad guys looked completely overmatched.

Much has been made today of Waldo being on the hunt for a new entrance song. He's currently rocking some Rob Zombie job recommended by fellow hurler Dan Haren, and it just doesn't seem to fit him. He's kind of a clean cut guy, and doesn't look like a Zombie-type dude. I'll submit the search to our readers. What song do you think Waldo should come out of the pen to? Leave it in the comments section. As for me, I'd go with "The Set Up" by Reel Big Fish, but I'm a dork, so there's that.

When you look at last night's win over the hated A's, you have to give love to Torii Hunter and Jeff Mathis. First, when the game was tied 1-1, Torii Hunter fielded a single out in right field and fired home a so-so throw to Mathis at the plate to cut down the attempted go ahead run. I'd love to pump up Big Game for the play, but it wasn't a great throw, really. Instead, I'm going to do something I don't do often around here, and that's give love to Jeff Mathis. The Mathis-matician made an amazing play on the ball, and applied the perfect tag to keep things knotted up. After the two combined for the defensive heroics, they stepped up to the plate to deliver the key hits we needed them, as well.

Bobby Abreu stole second base after getting on with a fielder's choice, and Torii Hunter ripped the ball off of the right center wall, easily scoring El Comedulce for the go ahead run. Alberto Callaspo got walked, Trumbo grounded into another fielder's choice, and after Trumbo got a free pass to put him on second with Torii waiting on third, Jeff Mathis delivered a blooper into left field that plated them both. It was kind of funny, because it looked like Mathis crushed the ball (for him), and it only fell in front of the left fielder, who wasn't playing deep to begin with. But it didn't matter. Mathis was the hero for a brief moment.

Hey, he's hitting .202 now! Let's start pumping this guy up.

When I was watching the game last night, I was also very happy to see Alberto Callaspo playing well. AC/DV made an awesome stop at third base on a hot shot grounder, and picked up a hit and a walk in the game. It got me to thinking about how much of an underrated good trade Alberto Callaspo was for Sean O'Sullivan to the Royals. At first we were all kind of ticked about the deal, as SOS seemed like he was developing into an alright starter. And who was this Callaspo chump? We pictured him as an Erick Aybar clone, if you go back and read my posts, and now look at how he's turned out.

Callaspo is hitting .296 with 2 jacks and a solid 23 RBI. His OBP is .364 and he has turned it up when we are on the road, boasting a .319 mark away from the Big A. He has been such a pleasant surprise, especially with the Angels finally giving up on Brandon Wood (Arrrrrr), and I'm glad to have him. Meanwhile, Sean O'Sullivan isn't doing so great for the Royals. So far this season, SOS is 2-3 with a 5.60 ERA over 7 starts and 2 relief jobs. He has clearly lost his way, and his role to some extent. I'd say that we can finally shake Tony Reagins' hand and say good job for this trade. I'm sure the Del Taco fan would appreciate it.

The win has the Halos at 25-24 and helps us keep pace with Texas, as we continue to trail by just 0.5 games. Seattle is 1.5 back of Texas, and Oakland brings up the rear at three back, as we continue to enjoy the battle in the most competitive division in baseball (not good, just competitive).

Tonight we get another shot at a AAA pitcher. Due to the injuries we covered last time around, the A's are forced to send Guillermo Moscoso (0-0, 0.00). Moscoso is 3-2 with a 4.02 ERA for Sacramento this season, and has some big league experience with the Rangers back in the day. He'll match up with the mighty Dan Haren (4-2, 1.84), who will look to continue to show just how great he is. It has been six starts since The Chessmaster picked up a win despite his amazing pitching, but he's unphased, "It's the story of my life. I'm sleeping well." Good stuff from a great guy.

So, I'm moving up to the East Bay, and you know I'll be bringing Halo pride all over that place, especially if we can pick up another big win tonight.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Weekly" Football Post #98.

2011-05-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the last multi-team football post for some time. The European leagues wrapped things up over the weekend, and the MLS is the only domestic league that I follow that will be in action come next weekend. That being said, let's help Newcastle and Celtic go out with a bang.

Newcastle 3 - 3 WBA

Actually, for the Magpies it was more of a thud. Up 3-0 with 47 minutes gone in their game with West Brom, Newcastle watched as Somen Tchoyi put together a hat trick to help his squad earn the stunning draw. It was a rough end to a game that looked like it could be a hopeful final clash of the capmaign for 'Castle.

Not only was it bad news because of the way we lost, but WBA also denied us a chance for a top ten finish, and sent us to finish below hated Sunderland, who got that #10 spot. What a joke. 16 minutes in, Newcastle grabbed the lead as Steven Taylor fired home a pass from Løvenkrands to get us started. Six minutes before the half, we scored on a bit of controversy. Ameobi headed the ball in and Løvie popped it higher. The WBA keeper caught the ball as it went behind him, but not before it was over the line. He appealed to the refs, but their decision was an easy one. Just two minutes into the second half, WBA helped out after an Enrique cross and scored an own goal to put us up by a triple.

Boy, we were looking good. And then, Tchoyi decided to show up. His hat trick decimated the awesome lead that we had built up, and left the Boys in Bars feeling flat with the season coming to an end.

At 11-14-13, Newcastle completed their first season back at the top level as the #12 team in the league. Our 46 points were 34 behind the league champions from Manchested United, but 7 clear of the relegation zone (farewell Birmingham, Blackpool, and West Ham). Staying out of relegation trouble was our goal coming back for our first season, and we did well to meet that goal, especially after the loss of Andy Carroll to Liverpool.

See you next season, Toon Army.

Celtic 3 - 0 Motherwell

The Bhoys left no doubt as to who should hoist the Scottish Cup with their dominating performance over the weekend. It was Neil Lennon's first trophy win as Celtic manager, and it puts a positive spin on things after falling short to Rangers in the SPL title race.

Korean superstar Ki Sung-yueng opened the scoring 32 minutes in and Mark Wilson bounced a ball off of a 'Well defender 40 some odd minutes later to guarantee victory. Of course, Charlie Mulgrew's late free kick with 2 minutes to go did a little to help out as well. Add to that Fraser Forster's clean sheet in his final game on loan for Celtic, and you have a pretty triumphant day. It's no SPL title, but it's something, and hopefully it's something that Lennon can build on. Like the banner streaming from the light aircraft hired by Celtic supporters to do a pre-game fly over said, "In Lennon We Trust."

As we covered last time, Celtic finished their season 29-4-5, and finished 1 point back of Rangers. At least we qualified for Champions League.

See you next season, Bhoys.

Chivas USA 0 - 1 Los Angeles

Well, that wasn't the plan Robin Fraser drew up for the Super Clásico. 26 minutes into the match, David Beckham sent a free kick to the head of Chad Barrett, and Barrett sent it into the net past Dan Kennedy for the golden goal. Despite getting outplayed by the Galaxy, Chivas had some good opportunities to equalize. The best chance came on a Ben Zemanski shot from eighteen yards out. It was close for the Akron graduate, but it rang off the post. Just like that, we failed to capitalize on some chances, and we lost the battle for the HDC 0-1.

We've been playing so well, so hopes were running high as we headed into this rivalry derby. Why wouldn't we be able to bring our top game in against the Galaxy? Well, in reality, the Galaxy are one of the top teams in the entire MLS, and to lose 0-1 to them isn't really that bad. Sure, it would have felt really good to beat our biggest rivals, but what are you going to do? Well, one thing we are going to do is examine the lineup that Fraser put out there.

G- Dan Kennedy: He's been playing so well, and if just one of the Goat shots would have scored, we'd be talking about how great he did.

D- Ante Jaziç, Heath Pearce, Andrew Boyens, Zarek Valentin: Our defense has been getting better and better as the season has gone on, and I'm proud that they've done it all while Jimmy Conrad has been injured. However, I would have liked Lahoud back there in place of Boyens.

M- Simon Elliot, Jorge Flores (Francisco Mendoza 58), and Ben Zemanski: Kind of interesting to see El Sueño back here in the midfield, instead of playing up. Obviously, it was an experiment that didn't work.

F- Nick LaBrocca, Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 66), Alejandro Moreno: And moving LaBrocca up didn't work either. We had better get our front line straight before we lose Moreno for 6-8 games on international duty.

At 3-4-3, Chivas USA sit 7th in the West and 12th out of 18 teams overall in the MLS. Despite our narrow loss to LA, we still rock a +1 goal differential, and are still 3-2 over our last 5 league game. Plenty of positives heading into this weekend's match against Columbus on the road. The Crew are 3-3-4 on the season with a -2 goal differential, and have only pulled together one win over their last 5 games. Seems like a good chance for Chivas to bounce back.

Projected Starting 11: Kennedy, Jaziç, Valentin, Pearce, Lahoud, LaBrocca, Mondaini, Zemanski, Flores, Braun, Moreno.

¡Arriba las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/24/11.

2011-05-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

It looks like the Sharks will be without their mascot tonight, as he was arrested for wearing those ridiculous camo shorts and having a name as uncreative as "Sharkie." How will they recover in time for game five?

What's on tap for the long suffering squads today?

Blue Jays (A) v New York

Dodgers (B, J) v Houston

Angels (T) v Oakland

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v San Jose

There is also a crazy battle in the Nations Cup between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and with the game on ESPN3, you know I'll be representing my Sligo pride.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Don't Apologize For The 5-On-3.

2011-05-23T15:06:00.001-07:00

I don't want to hear it, San Jose. I don't want to hear how you guys got robbed by the refs at the Shark Tank last night. That just isn't how it happened, and you know it. Orca Haters want Canuck fans to put an asterisk next to their 4-2 game four victory over San Jose, but they're all idiots. Too many men on the ice, delay of game...those are stupid penalties to take, and the Sharks deserved to face the 5-on-3 three straight times. During that whole outburst of penalties, there wasn't a single bad call. And before you talk trash on us for winning thanks to the three straight 5-on-3s, take a long look at yourselves in the mirror, and figure out how you could get shutout on five straight power plays to start the game.

Game four did a lot to erase the pain from game three, but as the game started, we certainly didn't clean up our act. We lost game three due to some crappy play on the ice, getting called for penalty after penalty, and we opened up game four the same way. Man, if we didn't win this game, Coach V would be getting killed right now. How in the world are you going to let your players play with such a lack of discipline at the start of game four? Pathetic! Glass went twice, Bieksa got a high stick, Raffi went off for a charge as the first period ended, and Hammer had a clear hook to start the middle frame. There wasn't a single call that I'd point to as a bad call, we deserved it all.

Coming out of those five straight penalties, I was shocked to be sitting at 0-0, and I'm guessing Shark fans were as well. What the heck were the Sharks doing not coverting, especially the way they'd played with the advantage so far this series? We have to question the Sharks, but we have to give credit to the Canucks as well. After just playing awful on the PK all series long, the 'Nucks came back on the disadvantage and played a ridiculously solid game. It was unbelievable. And the frustration over not scoring on any of those five chances led to the wheels coming off for the Teal.

A high sticking penalty to Danny Heatley at 8:15 was followed by a hook to Mitchell at 9:05. 11 seconds into the first 5-on-3, Ryan Kesler scored on a crazy one timer. He was fed by Sami Salo, and blasted one of the nicest one timers I have seen in my entire life. Okay, back to the 5-on-4. At 10:39, though, the Sharks would get caught with a too many men penalty, and we were back to 5-on-3. Shark supporters can't argue with that call, and just 16 seconds into that two-man advantage we converted again. Sami Salo blasted his own one timer from the point after getting a perfect pass from Hank, and we were quickly up 2-0.

As if that wasn't enough, Douglas Murray chipped the puck out of play just 6 seconds later, and the Canucks were back on the two-man advantage. I haven't seen anything like it in my 17+ years as a hockey fan. It was incredible, and the Blue & Green didn't let the opportunity slip away. Just 10 seconds into the third consecutive 5-on-3, Sami Salo one timed another slapper into the back of the net on a pass from Henrik, and within the span of 1:55, the Canucks had scored three 5-on-3 goals to take a 3-0 lead over the Sharks. The 'Nucks looked surgical, as Canuck announcer and Vancouver native John Shorthouse put it, and he's dead on.

So don't apologize for winning the way we did. It was a clinic out there against the Sharks, and we don't have to feel bad about winning thanks to their poor play. There weren't any bad calls on the whistles that came, and while it may have made the game a little choppy, it was exactly what should have happened. The Sharks completelty lost their cool, and that happened even without Eager on the ice (though rumors have him back for game five).

5:43 into the third, Alex Burrows proved that we could score on the 5-on-5 as well, and Henrik proved that he's a player destined for the record books. Hank sent a pass through the legs of Antti Niemi to a waiting Alex Burrows, and AB tapped the puck in, unmarked. The pass was one of those plays where you think, "He didn't mean to do that, did he?" I think he did, and it shows how awesome he is. Henrik assisted on each of the goals, getting himself a four point game, and he has already broken the Vancouver record for most playoff assists. And to think, the media was killing this guy in the Nashville series.

Desjardins and Clowe got a goal a piece late, but Roberto Luongo looked good enough to get the job done between the pipes. It's funny, because the Canucks only put 13 shots on goal in the game. Yeah, the game. We've seen them post more shots on goal in a single period during these playoffs than they did during this entire game. 6, 4, and 3 were the shot totals per period for the Canucks, and if they wouldn't have dominated on the power play, we'd be complaining about our lack of shots while San Jose put 35 on Luongo. He stopped 33, though, and we finished with a team shooting percentage of 31%. Those two facts, combined, get you a win.

This game against San Jose also showcased our depth, and their lack of depth. We were without Christian Ehrhoff, Aaron Rome, and Mikael Samuelsson, and we were able to slot guys in who played very well. Keith Ballard was finally able to draw back into the lineup, and he looked good in his 10:34 on ice. Ballard's gigantic hip check was on point, and hopefully he earned a little love from Vigneault after playing to that level after being a healthy scratch for so many games. He was paired with 21 year old Toronto native Chris Tanev, and Tanev looked very serviceable in his 9:13. The former Stouffville Spirit star looks like a smart youngster, and he appears to have a ton of upside.

Meanwhile, the Sharks looked lost after Joe Thornton was sent off with an injury. When they were down by two as the game ticked down, even the NBC announcers counted them out because they didn't have Thornton to be the spark they needed. When you're this deep in the postseason, you have to get contributions from everywhere, and if you are collapsing because one guy is out, you don't really deserve to move beyond the round you're in (and you're lucky to be where you are, to be honest). Thornton will be playing tomorrow, but you have to wonder how much he'll be playing and if he'll be anything near 100%. Doubt it.

In the first four games of this series, the Sedin twins have 15 combined points, and that's seen as a blessing after they got roughed up in the Nashville series (7 points in 6 games, and a -10 rating). After the game, Henrik addressed it, "We're both believers in if you work hard, you do the right thing, it's going to turn around." He's right, and he's leading the league in playoff assists. Also of note, the Canucks scored on just one 5-on-3 advantage in the entire regular season, and their three goal outburst on the three 5-on-3s in this game were the fastest 3 goals scored by the Canucks in their franchise's playoff history.

We are one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. I almost can't even believe that I'm typing that. You all know that I first became a fan in February 1994, which ended up being a season when the Canucks went to the Cup Finals (only to lose in seven games to my cousin's Rangers). Right now I'm possibly witnessing the first return to the Cup Finals since that season, and it's like living a dream.

Let's go get this game five win at home on Tuesday and wait out the Boston-Tampa winner for a chance to hoist the Cup.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Halos Get 2 Out Of 3 Against The Team Of The '90s.

2011-05-23T10:58:00.001-07:00

Don Sutton went 28-24 with a 4.16 ERA over his 3 years with the Halos. It was the twilight of a career that was mostly spent with the Trolley Dodgers. Last night, the current Braves broadcaster tossed the first pitch prior to the Angels-Braves game in front of 40,000+ at the Stadium in celebration of our squad's 50th anniversary. He's aged into a kind of a weird looking clown/Harpo Marx hybrid, and he barely fit into his oversized red jacket. Good times.

How about them Angels? It seems like every time they play a game, they are out to prove that I don't know anything about baseball. It all started Friday morning. The Halos were in the middle of a pathetic (and LSF documented) slide after three series against the three other squads from the AL West. I was feeling pretty low, and on the way into work I heard about Friday's matchup against the Braves. It was set to be Tim Hudson against Ervin Santana. The guy on the radio, I believe it was Roger Lodge but I don't want to always bring up how he's usually right and I'm usually wrong (we've already gone into that in the past), makes the statement, "What a great pitching matchup this is going to be." I laughed, because I've paid attention to just how bad Ervin Santana has been this season (as I predicted) and how Tim Hudson has looked pretty decent.

When I got into work, I joked with my boss, and we both made the "bold" prediction that the Angels were just going to get smoked in the game. Of course, the Halos beat the Braves 9-0 on the heels of a complete game shutout by El Rosario. See? I don't know anything. Why are you even reading this blog (I ask my zero readers)? After scoring just one run over the previous three games against a couple of loser teams, the Halos surprisingly found their bats against an ace and a decent squad.

The Angels scored six runs in the third inning, capped by a three run bomb from Kendrys...er....Mark Trumbo. Trumbo would finish the game 3 for 4 to lead the surprising offensive outburst. Alberto Callaspo also had 3 RBI in the game, bringing his total to a second on the team 23 (Torii leads with 24). Yeah, to say AC/DV is underrated is an understatement. But, even though we nearly got free hot wings at Hooters (are the Angels still doing that?), Ervin was the main attraction. 9 innings, 7 strikeouts, 4 hits, 0 runs, and a 0 walks. 103 pitches, 70 strikes. He even avoided hitting any Atlanta batters in retaliation after Hudon beaned Bourjos, Izturis, and Erick Aybar. We hadn't seen anything like this out of Erv Daddy all year (as his 2-4, 4.18 stat line would suggest), and it was awesome.

Saturday was a different story, and I think the media has it all wrong. Joel Piñero went out looking for his 100th career win, and pitched 6 shutout innings. With Scioscia's decision to send him back out in the 7th, however, the wheels kind of fell off. La Piñata allowed 4 runs, as the Braves drew even, and Atlanta gained the eventual advantage via an Amarista error in the 12th. The media claimed he Halos, who now lead the league in extra inning games (and, probably, extra inning losses), were victims to their bullpen once again, but I'm here to tell you that is dead wrong.

We can debate sending Joel out for the seventh. He had a shutout going, but he has been slowly regaining his ability to pitch deep into games, and why not show some faith in your 'pen and sit him down? I probably would have pulled the plug, unless he asked to go back out there. That aside, how did the bullpen blow this game? After Piñero left, we got shutout baseball from Rodney, Takahashi, Downs, Walden, Thompson, and Jepsen (4.67 innings in all). Trevor Bell came in for the 12th and gave up the game winning run to the Braves, but it was unearned. Amarista's error set up the eventual game winning double, not horrible pitching from the bullpen.

The reason the Angels lost was that they stopped playing offense halfway through the game. The Halos didn't have a single hit after the fifth inning, and sitting on a lead (even a 4 run lead) is never a good idea. With all the heat that people have been throwing at the pitching staff this year, let's place the blame for Saturday's loss where it is due...on the bats.

But instead of laying down and giving the series over to our National League foes, the Angels stepped it up on Sunday thanks to Tyler Chatwood and Torii Hunter, and took the series. Chatty Kathy went 7 innings of 1 run ball, punching out 6 along the way, and again reminded us of how little we care about Scott Kazmir's rehab assignment. Meanwhile, Torii Hunter blasted a crucial two run bomb to finally wake up his bat, finishing the game 2 for 4 to raise his average to .231. Yeah, raise it to .231, you read that right.

Scott Downs deserves some credit in the game as well. Since coming back from injury (twice), Downs has been electric on the mound for the Angels. His 0.71 ERA is superb over his 12.67 innings pitched, and his 0.00 home ERA obviously can't get any better. While much has been made of Takahashi's problems since being signed, not enough has been made of Downs' success, and so I just wanted to put a little emphasis there. Walrus also picked up save #8, so that's cool too.

So after a nice weekend, the Angels are 24-24 and just 0.5 games back of the Texas Rangers in the race for the division lead. Seattle sits 1.5 back and Oakland has fallen back to the cellar, a whopping 2 back of Texas. This division may not be any good, but it sure is a hot and exciting race, and that's really all that matters.

The Angels welcome their most bitter rivals into town this week for a fun four game series. Oakland has posted an identical-to-the-Angels 3-7 record over the last 10 games, and both teams look to this four game series as a way to turn their fortunes around. While the A's swept up the Angels in last week's brief two game series, including a 14-0 game, the Halos are coming in hot after the series win over the Braves this weekend. Meanwhile, the A's got swept in the Bay Bridge Series (although it was three relatively close games) and haven't won since that aforementioned 14-0 game against us.

The series kicks off tonight with Jered Weaver (6-4, 2.45) praying for a win against Josh Outman (0-0, 0.00). Outman hasn't pitched a big league game since 2009 when he went off for Tommy John surgery, and he has drawn into the lineup after the A's lost both Brandon McCarthy and Tyson Ross to the DL. Weaver has completely collapsed since he started the season 6-0, partly because of his declining pitching (and more specifically, punchouts) and partly because of a lack of offensive backing. But, he needs to rise above all that and prove that he is the ace the Angels have made him. A win against the A's would be a nice way to rebound

Let's get it done.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/23/11.

2011-05-23T08:39:00.001-07:00

What a weekend! My Canucks are a single win away from the Stanley Cup Finals, and I couldn't be more proud.

What's going on around LSF Nation today?

The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v New York

Dodgers (B, J) v Houston

Angels (T) v Oakland

Is Fat-tolo really pitching against the Jays tonight? I guess it's open season on pinstripes.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Canucks-Sharks Game Three Pump Up Post.

2011-05-20T13:26:00.001-07:00

If a pre-game tradition is working, it's my duty to keep it going. And so, I bring you the third pump up post of the Western Conference Finals. So far, we've had two pump up posts, and the Canucks have come away with two wins. Can't stop now.

I have mixed feelings about this series, to be honest. The Canucks played better than the Sharks in game one, and barely squeaked out a win. In game two, the Orca just flat out made San Jose look like a team full of chumps (although, Ben Eager didn't need the help). So, I'm ready to hop on board with the majority of Canuck fans who are saying that we're firmly in control of this series, and San Jose has no chance, especially if we win tonight. I can point to the way that the Shark players are coming out in the media to prove my point. When you have players calling out the other team as "cowards" and "phonies," and they are talking about playing a game three like it's a game seven, they seem to be showing just how rattled they are. Especially when the 'Nucks are keeping their mouths shut and just getting the job done.

On the other hand, the Canucks only won their two homes games. That is what they should have done. The series will have a much different feel if San Jose wins tonight, and it will be all even if the Sharks hold serve at the Tank. So is being up 2-0 right now really a sign of how much we are dominating, or is it just exactly where we should be based on the home ice advantage? That's the part that has me a little apprehensive about saying that it's all over.

That, and the fact that both of these teams almost blew a 3-0 series lead earlier in the postseason.

All that being said, I'm hopeful that the Canucks will continue to dominate the neutral zone, continue to dominate on the third line, and continue to put those confident Twins out on the ice to keep the Sharks guessing. A win would be huge, but a loss wouldn't be the end of the world (unless it happened tomorrow at 6).

Even so, I'm kind of feeling another big Vancouver victory, and if we paste these guys like we did on Wednesday, they aren't getting off of the mat.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Halos Are Proving Me Wrong.

2011-05-20T13:09:00.001-07:00

I really try hard to be positive about the Angels no matter how bad they are doing, especially in May. I think that came across in my last Angel post where I bad mouthed Torii Hunter for saying that things couldn't get any worse. I took steps to try and prove that all the doomsday talk was unwaranted.

And then there was yesterday. A simple pop fly to Torii Hunter in the ninth inning at Safeco got lost in the sun, and the Mariners earned a ridiculous walk off win. It was a perfect example of how the Halos have been as of late, and it kind of woke me up to the fact that things may in fact be as bad as they can get. Sure, we're in a crappy division and we're still only 1.5 games out of first place, but we just look lost out there right now. And it's not just the fact that we're losing that is bothering me, it's who we're losing to.

Everyone has an opinion on the unbalanced schedule in baseball. Some fans don't like it because they think it gives an unfair advantage to teams in a down division, and other fans (like me) think it's cool because you get to play your division rivals more often and get more chances to pick up games in the division standings. No matter your stance, one thing is clear with this type of schedule: You have to do well against teams within the division to have a chance. You aren't going to be successful if you don't beat teams in your division.

And that's what has me so worried. Check out the run down of the last 7 games:

@Texas: 1-4 loss
@Texas: 3-2 win
@Texas: 4-5 loss
@Oakland: 4-5 loss
@Oakland: 0-14 loss
@Seattle: 0-3 loss
@Seattle: 1-2 loss

That's a 1-6 record in the last 7 games, all against teams in the AL West. Not only did we go 1-6 over the week, but we got outscored 12-35. That starts to make the negative reality creep in a little bit.

Maybe Torii Hunter dropped that ball yesterday because he was trying to prove to me that he was right about things not being able to get any worse. Heading into a series with Atlanta certainly isn't going to help. We'll be sending the bottom of our rotation (Ervin, Joel, and Tyler) up against the top of their rotation (Hudson, Hanson, and Lowe), and I don't think simply returning home to Anaheim is going to be enough to push us forward through this three gamer (even if it is interleague play, which I hear we're good at).

Don't think I'm all doom and gloom, though. It's only May 20, and even though some people are predicting that the world will end tomorrow at 6:00 pm, I'm guessing that the Halos will still have plenty of time to right the ship this season. Anything can happen when the division is this crappy.

Let's shock the world and get a win against our old foe Hudson, eh?

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/20/11-5/22/11.

2011-05-20T10:09:00.001-07:00

It should be a fun sports weekend. Let's see what's going on.

Friday-

Blue Jays (A) v Houston

Dodgers (B, J) v Chi Sox

Angels (T) v Atlanta

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v San Jose

Saturday-

Blue Jays (A) v Houston

Dodgers (B, J) v Chi Sox

Angels (T) v Atlanta

Celtic (T) v Motherwell

The LSF Game of the Day: Chivas USA (T) v Los Angeles

Sunday-

Blue Jays (A) v Houston

Dodgers (B, J) v Chi Sox

Angels (T) v Atlanta

Canucks (T) v San Jose

The LSF Game of the Day: Everton (J) v Chelsea (B)

Man Utd (A) v Blackpool

Newcastle (T) v WBA

It's the final weekend of domestic soccer in Europe, and that Everton-Chelsea match is quite a way to go out. Also, here's to hoping the 'Nucks close out the Sharks by Sunday afternoon. Lord Stanley, here we come! Enjoy the weekend.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Ben Eager Sucks, Canucks Smoke Sharks.

2011-05-19T10:13:00.001-07:00

The text mesage from Andrew read, "Is this a football game?" Being that I was watching on a DVR delay and the score was 2-2 when I received the message, I was a little nervous. Would it finish 2-2, and he was making a joke about the lack of low scoring safety games in the NFL? Would the Sharks blow this thing up and beat the Canucks 21-6? Fear ran through my body. Luckily, the Canucks were on the winning side of said football game, beating up on the Sharks 7-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.

I don't even know where to start with this game. The Sharks came out fast and aggressive and looked like the better team as things got underway. 2:28 into the game, following a tripping call to Aaron Rome (don't worry, he'd make up for it later), Logan Couture split the defense to get in on Luongo and score. While his backhand to foreand move was nice, the fact that the Canucks defense left enough room for the Sharks to drive a truck in on net was inexcusable.

Lucky for us, though, Joe Pavelski tripped Daniel Sedin twice on the same play and got sent to the box about 5 minutes later (I'm guessing Shark fans are calling it a double-dive). Daniel would make good on the advantage, getting a sweet pass from Henrik in the high slot, and busting Niemi. 39 seconds later, Christian Ehrhoff slid a puck in front of Niemi and Raffi Torres (of all people) was there to softly redirect the puck in. I find Raffi's goal celebrations to be hilarious, as every time he scores a goal he reacts as if it was an OT winner in game seven of the Cup Finals.

The goal by Torres completely changed the momentum, but the refs would hand the Sharks a gift at 12:19 to help keep the game even. I believe it was Joe Thorton chasing down a puck in the corner when he slipped and fell. Daniel Sedin was right behind him and put his hands forward as Thorton was falling. The refs called it a cross check, despite the fact that Daniel never touched him as he went down. It was a horrible call, and it resulted in a Sharks goal less than a minute later when Patrick Marleau swatted at Luongo's covering blocker, forcing the puck into the net. I would have liked a quick whistle there, but I was okay with a 2-2 game after 20. In fact, after the first period (or actually up until there was like 2 minutes left in the first period, because the opening frame ended with a boat load of play stoppages that kind of killed the momentum) I was thinking that I may be witnessing one of the most exciting hockey games I'd ever seen, it was that fun.

In the second period, the teams came out of the gate much more apprehensive and careful. That is, until 12 minutes in, when Chris Higgins fed a perfect two line pass to Kevin Bieksa, who got in all alone on a sweet breakaway. Bieksa calmly slid the puck past Niemi and into the net, with a goal that was a true thing of beauty. It was an electrifying goal. Six minutes later, somehow, Bieksa was dropping the gloves with Patrick Marleau. Marleau hadn't fought in about 4 years, and he looked outmatched. Bieksa seemed to sense this, and kind of looked like he wasn't giving Marleau all he could, but he obviously dominated the fight.

Ben Eager, watching from the bench, didn't like how it went down (and later suggested that Bieksa is a "phony"). He stood up and started yelling at the Canucks bench about it, and when he went back on the ice, he promptly (and intentionally) boarded Daniel Sedin. Daniel popped up quickly, albeit with a bloody nose, and Eager got a two minute minor. The call was a joke, based on the clear intent of the boarding hit, and Coach Vigneault told the refs as much during the game, standing up on the bench and screaming. After the game he said he expected some kind of disciplinary action from the league. I sure hope so (but I doubt it).

Now, at this point I'll mention that the now famous Green Men were absent from the game. For the first time in recent memory, they weren't in their usual seats near the penalty box. However, I believe that the organization found a suitable replacement. As you can find all over the internet today, a female flasher in a 'Nucks home jersey gave Eager all he could handle when he went to the box, and the TV coverage didn't mind showing it as well. Well, that girl is now famous, and her father is probably real proud. Wouldn't you think those piercings would hurt?

While the Canucks didn't score on that Eager penalty, Ben was ready to help us out again just 7 minutes into the third when he stuck out his leg as he went to the bench for an obvious intentional trip. Chris Higgins tallied the power play goal for the Canucks on that one (yeah, yeah, Mike Gillis is a trade deadline dealing genius), and that was the point where the wheels completely fell off for San Jose. At 10:47, Setoguchi served a too many men penalty that prevented a Sharks breakaway (or allowed it, depending on how you think of it), and Daniel Sedin scored again just a minute later.

Now, at this point, my writing can't do the Twins (and I'm not talking about the sin bin flasher) justice. Daniel and Henrik started to play with a swagger we haven't seen in some time. They were passing back and forth to each other, making the Sharks chase them, and just made everyone in teal look foolish. It was like they were out there just messing with them NHL Street style, between the legs passes and everything. They were pulling off their amazing brand of hockey about 4 minutes after the Dank goal, getting the Sharks to focus only on them and chase the puck like sheep, while Aaron Rome crept in on goal, got a pass, and scored his first career playoff goal. Rome!!

Mason Raymond would score the seventh of the game, as the Sharks were getting carted off for roughing penalties and just showing a total lack of composure, and then Ben Eager would make his true colors even more clear. Eager rushed the net got a pass from Pavelski and simultaniously shot the puck and elbowed Luongo in the head. As Luongo was knocked onto his back, the puck went in. Being a classy guy, and remembering that his team was down by 4 goals with just minutes to go, Ben Eager stood over Luongo and started talking garbage. Pavelski and other Sharkies tried to pull him away, but he kept running his mouth. He was sent to the box again, leaving Shark fans to wonder why their coach was giving this joker so much third period ice time after he was practically costing his team the game.

Roberto decided not to cough up the details of Eager's chirping in a post game interview, but he did his usual "strong game despite allowing one soft goal" routine that I think we are all getting used to by now. He stopped 28 of 31, and did well enough to earn the win.

Now, I will say a couple of things for the Sharks. First, their power play cannot be stopped. They went two for two for in the game and I believe are perfect in the series. Something has to change for the Canucks, because that isn't acceptable. Second, the Sharks must have taken three high sticks to the face that caused blood last night, with Thorton's being the most notable, and they didn't get any of those calls. I'd definitely be complaining about that as a San Jose supporter.

As for the 'Nucks, outside of the lack of a penalty kill (maybe Manny will be coming back after all?), they were awesome. Kevin Bieksa was incredible, getting the Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) and bringing the big hits all night. His crushing blow on Wellwood stands as a highlight (although, when Wellwood got double checked by Higgins and Lapierre, that was pretty sweet, too). Our third line of Max Lapierre, Jannik Hansen, and Raffi Torre was off the charts. They played such an impressive game, and completely outmatched the Sharks third line. And finally, how about those Twins? Daniel and Henrik looked confident out there, and a confident Daniel and Henrik equals a confident Vancouver Canucks.

So, up two games to none, the Canucks take the quick flight down to the Bay Area for games three and four. For San Jose, memories of last year's loss to the Blackhawks are surely creeping in. For Vancouver, a serious chance to put a death grip on the Sharks comes on Friday night. Will we see the Orca come up big again, or will the Shark Tank inspire the Teal to play a solid 60 minutes for the first time in this series? I think I know what we're all hoping for.

Death grip! Death grip!

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/19/11.

2011-05-19T08:07:00.001-07:00

Boy, that Western Conference Finals game last night sure was embarrassing...for San Jose! What's up for today?

Angels (T) v Seattle

Blue Jays (A) v Tampa Bay

The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (B, J) v San Francisco

Hey, at least the Dodgers have a one game streak of not letting people get beat into a coma after Giant games. Let's see if we can get that to two, eh?

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Canucks-Sharks Game Two Pump Up Post.

2011-05-18T16:11:00.001-07:00

I did a pump up post for game one of the Western Conference Finals, and we won. So, you know I'm going to have to keep the practice up as long as the streak stays alive.

With the long lay off since game one, we've had plenty of time to pick apart the first clash and make some bold claims for game two. The mainstream media has been focused on how the Canucks aren't being accepted as "Canada's Team," and that's been done to death. "Fans" of both squads have continued to take opportunities to suggest that Roberto Luongo just doesn't have what it takes to be a big time goalie, even though he's one of only four starting keepers still alive. Meanwhile, the Sharks have taken the time to take shots at the Canucks, and call them a team full of divers. See what happens when you give a series too much time between games?

After all that garbage, we are finally just 110 minutes away from the puck drop at the Roger, and we can get back to hockey. The Sharks have made one thing clear, their plan is to beat the Canucks by being more physical. It's an odd strategy, as the Canucks have clearly shown that they can hang as a tough physical team during this postseason. I'm not sure how that is going to work out for them, but I say bring it on. We've got Lapierre ready to step it up along with the other third liners, and maybe Ryan Kesler will come around and take Joe Thorton up on his offer to fight this time around.

So here we go. Depending on how the game goes tonight, the series will have a very different feel to it. If the Canucks hold serve at home, we head down to San Jose with a big chance to put a death grip on the series. If San Jose wins, we're looking at a similar situation to the second round, only the panic and fear around Orca Nation will raise to a new level because we're just one step away from the Stanley Cup Finals. May the best team win.

And by that, I mean...

GO CANUCKS GO!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Things Can't Get Any Worse."

2011-05-18T15:21:00.001-07:00

Do you remember back in Spring Training of 2010 when Torii Hunter opened his mouth about race?

"People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African Americans. They're not us. They're imposters. Even people I know come up and say: 'Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a Black player?' I say, 'Come on, he's Dominican. He's not Black.' As African American players, we have a theory that baseball can go and get an imitator and pass then off as us. It's like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips. I'm telling you, it's sad."

Prior to that outbursts, I found Torii Hunter to be a great guy. I enjoyed how open he was to the media, and I thought he was a blast. I mean, he seems to be a good guy, but he just started to open his mouth and say the wrong things. It's hard to say if it's just a lack of knowing when to keep things to himself, or if he's actually just a jerk.

After getting in hot water over the race comments, Torii took a stance of keeping his mouth shut to the media. He kept things to himself, and for the most part kept quiet. I only wish that he would have continued that into this season, because he's back to running his mouth, and it's pissing me off. Earlier this season, he blamed the Halo youth movement for the early season hot and cold play.

"(The last two years) we were a little more mature. Older guys, a mixture of younger guys. But we've got a lot of new faces, a lot of guys with less than five years in the big leagues. And they're still trying to find their way. So consistency could be a problem in that."

We don't need to get into it again, because we've covered it, but the performance of the youth at that point had nothing to do with our lack of winning. It was a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position by our veterans, especially Torii Hunter. If was a weak shot, and it pissed me off.

And now, Torii is sounding off after our embarrassing 0-14 loss to the hated A's. Despite the fact that we were in first place in the division just a couple of days ago, Torii seems to think that things "can't get any worse" for the Angels. However, he seemed to suggest that getting blown out and being thrown on the bench after not performing well in the game was better than the close game we lost in game one of the series.

"It's kind of easier to get over when you lose like that as opposed to last night. I couldn't sleep last night. Tonight I'm going to get some good rest because that's just a butt whooping."

For me, I'm a character guy. Sure, I'm a stat head in a certain sense, and I love to follow all of the numbers associated with baseball, but when it comes to my favorite team in any sport, I want my team's players to have a good character. Running your mouth in the media while talking trash on your team doesn't work for me. Maybe he'd get a pass from the casual fan if he was ripping the ball, but even then I'm questioning it.

In case you're wondering, Torii is hitting .227 with 4 homeruns and 19 RBI in 43 games. His WAR is -0.2, which is the lowest value of his career, if you don't count his 19 plate appearance effort in his first year in Minnesota back in 1998. His 12 GIDPs this season rank him first in the American League, and he has also made more outs with the bat than anyone else in the AL.

I'm not sure what's going on with our Pine Bluff, AR native, but the only thing I can say in my attempt to be a gigantic Halo apologist is that it's only May 18. Torii has plenty of time to turn things around, and with our weak depth in the outfield, he's going to continue to get starts no matter how poorly he hits. However, I'd like him to work on keeping his mouth shut a little more often.

The young guys are not the reason that this team isn't playing perfect ball. And yes, it could get much worse than being 0.5 games back of first place in the division with 119 games to go in the season. Especially if Torii keeps running his mouth.

Tonight we start another short two game series against a division rival, as we head up to Safeco to battle the M's. The freefalling Jered Weaver (6-3, 2.26) will try to get back to his winning ways against the pride of Apple Valley, CA Jason Vargas (2-2, 3.86). A win, and we could jump back into first place. I guess things could get a lot worse, right Torii?

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/18/11.

2011-05-18T07:50:00.001-07:00

Thanks to that Kid Rock concert in Vancouver, we've had a ton of time off since game one of the Western Conference Finals. But, we're back, baby!

Blue Jays (A) v Tampa Bay

Angels (T) v Seattle

Dodgers (B, J) v San Francisco

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v San Jose

It's time to hold serve at home. Game on.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Fernando Rodney For A Bag Of Balls, Or Best Offer.

2011-05-17T14:50:00.001-07:00

Fernando Rodney should be placed on suicide watch, or possibly homicide watch, after last night's game at the hilariously named "Overstock.com Coliseum" in Oakland. How often are we going to have to watch this guy blow is before he goes the way of Scott Kazmir? Seriously, toss this guy down a bottomless pit. Strikeout, walk, walk, wild pitch, fielder's choice that scored Oakland's walk off run. Oh, and the strikeout was on Hideki Matsui, so it isn't all that impressive.

Sure, Walden blew the save one inning before, but the focus goes straight to Rodney's failings, which is good news for Walden because it takes the pressure off of him. Rodney is 2-2 with a 4.67 ERA over 20 games this season, a season where he was quickly dispatched from his job as closer of this team when the season began. That quick move by Scioscia said it all, as the confidence this organization has in Rodney has reached a nice round number of absolutely zero. His May ERA is 7.94, and he's allowed at least a run in 6 of his last 10 relief outings. It has been really, really bad. Pathetic, even. He, to quote Sandlot, plays ball like a girl.

So what do we do with this chump? Do we send him to the DL like his horrible hurling brother Scott Kazmir? Do we cut him loose and eat the money like our old friend Kevin Appier? Do we swap him out for minor leaguer Michael Kohn and let him rot in Salt Lake City until his contract expires? So many options. One thing is for certain, though, and that is that we cannot have this guy on the hill with the game on the line EVER AGAIN.

But, are the failings of Fernando Rodney just a microcosm of a much bigger problem? Our bullpen has caught a bunch of junk this season, despite me saying that the 'pen would be the key to our success in 2011, and I'm left wondering what's going on. Are our relievers just this bad? Or, is there a huge lack of management and a lack of defined roles put in place by the organization that has led to these issues?

Let's run down our current bullpen arms:

Jordan Walden- 0-1, 3.26
Rich Thompson- 1-2, 2.33
Hisanori Takahashi- 1-0, 5.47
Fernando Rodney- 2-2, 4.67
Kevin Jepsen- 0-2, 7.11
Scott Downs- 1-0, 0.00
Trevor Bell- 1-0, 3.38

So, there are a couple of bright spots, but the problems are clear. Takahashi, Rodney, and Jepsen have just been downright pathetic, and Scott Downs doesn't have much of a sample size to judge him by to be honest. All in all, this bullpen is lost. We don't have the right guys up, we don't have the right guys in the right roles, and we just aren't hitting our stride as we should. Rodney needs to be shown the door, Jepsen needs to be sent down to AAA to figure himself out, and Takahashi needs to pull himself together. We can't get rid of Taka, we just need to ride him out and hope for the best. The other two I mentioned, however, are completely negotiable.

It's your call, Halos. Are you going to make the right choice and get the suckers out of there? Or, are we going to have to stay up extra late thanks to a rain delay only to watch our pathetic relievers blow it all in the tenth? Please make the right choice.

Tonight we get Tyler Chatwood (2-1, 3.67) and Gio Gonzalez (4-2, 2.68) at "The Big O," and hopefully we can get a split out of this mini-series.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Weekly" Football Post #97.

2011-05-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

As the European leagues work to a close and the MLS season kicks into high gear, the "weekly" football posts marches on.

Newcastle 2 - 2 Chelsea

Wait, we tied Chelsea? Amazing! I guess I will concede that the Blues put a different looking lineup out there, realizing that they didn't have much to play for with Man Utd clinching the title the day before. But that's beside the point. The Magpies were down and out, and snached a draw from the depths of the game to walk off the pitch with a point against one of the EPL's truly great teams.

When Ivanovic scored for Chelsea inside of two minutes, I think most of us in the Toon Army were pouring our Bloody Marys and settling in for a what would be a long morning. But, just 8 minutes later Jonás Gutiérrez deflected in a free kick to draw us level (it was a really lucky, almost accidental goal). Things got interesting all of the sudden, which I certainly didn't expect from this test. And we held that draw all the way until the 83rd minute when a Chelsea free kick was bounced home by some guy just named "Alex." When your team goes down 7 minutes shy of the whistle, hope doesn't run too high. But, somehow, a poorly marked Steven Taylor was able to put a head to a Nile Ranger cross, bury the ball into the net, and secure the thrilling draw in front of the Chelsea supporters.

With 45 points in 37 games (and a -1 goal differential), 11-14-12 Newcastle sit 12th in the EPL table. With just a single game to go, we're 6 clear of relegation, and we can finally celebrate! However, we have also secured that we will finish as the lowest LSF team in the EPL (strong finish by Everton). No matter, though, as the goal of staying in the top flight after this season has been met. The final game of the year is against #11 West Brom, and it should be a fun way to go out.

Celtic 4 - 0 Motherwell

Even a sound thumping of the Steelmen couldn't help Celtic supporters avert depression over the weekend. While we finished the SPL campaign with a huge win, we missed out on the SPL title to Rangers by a single point. How often did the title seem firmly in our grasps this season, and we dropped out at the end, when the race was getting tough, and lost it again do those nail bombing Protties.

Gary H88per and Georgios "Super Greek" Samaras scored the goals in the opening half, while the pride of Malaysia Shaun Maloney and Paddy "So (Northern) Irish It Hurts" McCourt scored in the second half to secure the easy win. The squad already knew that the game didn't matter before it kicked off, and the players considered it something of a tribute to coach Neil Lennon for all he has had to suffer through this season. Nail bombs, bullets sent through the mail, attempted attacks by fans, all in his first season as Hoops head coach. He has risen above it all, and we're so lucky to have him aboard.

Man, soccer in crazy.

The season ends with a 29-4-5 record, which is just ridiculous that you only get second place with those kind of marks, and Celtic will play one final match against Motherwell this weekend for the Scottish Cup before they wrap it all up.

Guadalajara 0 - 2 UNAM

The playoff dream seems to have ended for Chivas and their fans. After opening up their first round against Pumas with a 1-1 draw, the Goats got pounded 0-2 in the second leg (at Pumas, by the way), and were forced out of La Liguilla.

Chivas was without some core defenders, with Hector Reynoso gone to suspension, and others off for injury, and they got handed a red in the 84th to Saucedo, which just showed that their frustration was mounting. It's all over, though.

It wasn't a perfect season, But hopefully Chivas can rebound before Apetura 2011.

Chivas USA 3 - 2 Red Bulls NY

There may have been a power outage that delayed the game between these two squads, but the Goats saw no such lack of power when it came to their offense. Justin Braun finally came out of his shell, and boosted his starting credentials with a thrilling hat trick en route to the victory over New York.

Bruanie's 56th minute tally was the game winner, and it was a situation of being in the right place at the right time. Simon Elliot sent in a free kick that Moreno headed off the post, and the rebound came right to the waiting Braun. He hadn't scored a single goal this season, and in a matter of 54 minutes he produced one third of his total from last season. Braun's 5th minute goal came on a feed from Nick LaBrocca, as he received the ball, split the defense, and curled a perfect shot in. His second of the three came 26 minutes later when Heath Pearce fed Jaziç on a free kick, and Jaziç found Braun, who went five hole on the Red Bulls keeper (going five hole in soccer is pretty impressive).

Henry scored in the 21st and De Rosario was given a penalty that he converted in the 35th, but the Red Bulls couldn't find the late equalizer with Dan Kennedy between the bars. For Chivas, it was the second road win of the year, and the third win in the last four overall.

Let's look at Fraser's lineup:

G: Dan Kennedy- Sure, he gave up the Henry goal, but he can't be held accountable for Pearce pulling the guy down before the second goal. A win is a win.

D: Zarek Valentin, Michael Lahoud (Mariano Trujillo 30), Heath Pearce, Ante Jaziç- I loved that Lahoud started, and despite Pearce's penalty, he and Jaziç made a big difference on the offensive end. It didn't look like the defensive football we've come to expect from the Fraser squad, but it worked.

M: Ben Zemanski, Simon Elliot, Nick LaBrocca- Once again, our midfield was on point. Zemanski is showing how well he can play this season, and how quickly has LaBrocca made us forget about Flash Gordon?

F: Jorge Flores (Francisco Mendoza 84), Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 69), Alejandro Moreno- Justin Braun was out of this world in the game, and while it was cool to see Cortez get some love, I would have preferred to have Estupiñán out there in the 69th instead.

Knocking off the top team in the East sure has done a lot to boost this team's confidence, even though we are still ranked 7th in the West. At 3-3-3, Chivas are 2 points shy of the 5/6 tandem of Seattle and Portland, and have a narrow 3 point lead on San Jose. The +2 goal differential sure is nice, and so is the overall MLS ranking of #12 out of 18.

Next up is a clash against the hated Galaxy in the Super Clasico Derby. Los Angeles are 5-2-5 and tops in the West, along with a +5 goal differential that is good enough for third in the MLS overall. You always know that this is going to be an exciting match, and hopefully we can put these jokers in their place this weekend.

¡Arriba Las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/17/11.

2011-05-17T07:42:00.001-07:00

Well, the storm that forced the Angels and A's to start and finish late last night is finally here, and it's time to see what we have going on around LSF Nation.

The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v Detroit

Angels (T) v Oakland

Dodgers (B, J) v Milwaukee

It's another slow day around the office, but our only hope in the NHL returns to action tomorrow, so we've all got that to look forward to.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

In Hockey, As In Nature, Orca Dominate Sharks.

2011-05-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe dominate isn't the right word. But, the Canucks have grabbed the 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals after their 3-2 victory at the Roger last night. We may not have played perfect hockey, but it was enough to beat San Jose last night, and that's all that matters. When you win a game like that, it makes you feel good, because you have room to improve along the way. The main positive take away was that the Canucks continued to push forward when they were faced with some adversity in this game, and that has been a feature of this squad throughout this year's playoffs. That's the mark of a champion.

San Jose's first goal, made possible by a really stupid mistake by Roberto Luongo, isn't the mark of a champion. With the puck behind the net, Roberto made a couple of poor decisions in a really short amount of time. First, he played the puck under a little pressure, which usually ends up being a bad idea. Second, he played the puck even though Dan Hamhuis was rushing to make a play of his own. Third, and most discouraging, he threw the puck into the middle of the ice, rather than along the boards. As often happens when you do that, Joe Thorton was standing in the faceoff circle, and received the puck as if it was meant to be a tape to tape pass from our keeper. Luongo dove back to the crease, but it was way too late to make up for the mistake, as the puck went in to give San Jose the lead as the first period ended.

It was too bad, because we kind of dominated the opening 20 minutes up to that point. The 'Nucks won the first period faceoff battle 12-5, and outshot the Sharks 11-10, but the Sharks will be remembered as winners of the start of the game, because the SportsCenter highlights probably skip right to the giveaway 18:47 in. Luongo was upset, but not as much as the fan base, who had memories of Dan Cloutier dancing in our heads.

The Canucks continued their solid play, however, pushing forward in the second period. Just 1:49 in, it paid off. Max Lapierre was able to bury a pass from behind the net by Jannik Hansen to tie things up. Could the Canucks possibly look any smarter for their deadline acquistions of Higgins and Lapierre? Their play in the postseason has basically given Mike Gillis a free pass to do whatever he wants in the future, because he has shown that he can steal guys who don't look like much on paper, and they perform really well in BC. He's helped to put together this team of destiny, and I don't think anyone is going to question him (except maybe on the Raffi signing).

Despite Patrick Marleau scoring a power play goal late in the second, I think most of us felt good about our chances. The Canucks pounded the net in the final minutes of the middle frame, and I was shocked that Niemi kept us out. The 'Nucks put a whopping 7 shots on goal in the final three minutes of the second period. And yet, Niemi was equal to the task. You could see him sprawling around like crazy, keeping Kesler and Hansen out like a brick wall. While Nor Cal hockey fans may have seen this and felt positive about their chances, I was feeling the same way, because eventually one of those is going to go in.

And, thanks to Kevin Bieksa and Henrik Sedin, two of those went in, and we won the game. At 7:02 of the third, Bieksa received a pass from Alex Burrows up at the top of the circle, and blasted a game tying goal. 79 seconds later, Christian Ehrhoff slap-passed a puck to Henrik in front of the net, and #33 danced around Niemi and slid a backhander into the back of the net. For Henrik, it was a pretty meaningful goal, redemption after all the "he must be injured to be playing this poorly" talk. He finished with 2 points, and earned the game's first star.

Shark fans should be concerned, in my one-sided opinion. In a third period where you were leading 2-1, and then fell behind 2-3 with more than half of the period remaining, your team only put 7 shots on goal. 7! Even when Niemi got pulled as time ticked off, you didn't sense the pressure you typically feel during an empty net/extra attacker situation. Why didn't they show up when it mattered most? Well, it's because the score made the game look a lot closer than it was. While it wasn't a perfect night for the Canucks, they played better than the Sharks from faceoff to final horn, and it became really apparent over the final 20 minutes of play.

Did anyone else find the Sharks' post game press conference interesting? Their coach had to defend Kyle Wellwood, as the Vancouver media was like, "Why would you have this goofball on the team?" It's hard for me, because I was something of a Welly apologist when he was here, but I realize he was barely a serviceable third line center during his time with us. It just seemed kind of weird that he had to do that. Between Wellwood, Eager, and Niemi, this series has all the rivalry we need.

On another note, that double call of holding by Boyle and diving by Lapierre at 17:36 of the third period made no sense. I can only suggest my conspiracy that the refs (and thus, the NHL) didn't want to hand a power play to the leading team as time ticked down in this game. How can you say that a player legitimately committed a penalty on another play, but that guy also embellished the penalty, and give it to both of them? That doesn't make any sense. I didn't see anything close to a dive from Lapierre on that play, and I just don't get it. Horrible call.

Despite all that, the Canucks have won the first game of the series. We can all erase the giant "8" on our respective white boards and replace it with a giant "7." We are now 3 wins away from the Stanley Cup Finals and 7 wins away from hoisting said Cup. But wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. We have a little lay off before Wednesday's game two, pushed back an extra day because Rogers Center booked a Kid Rock concert at the arena this week, assuming that the Canucks would be eliminated by now. Well, we're still playing, and we're looking better than ever.

Bawitdaba.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Texas Closes Gap on Halos Over Weekend.

2011-05-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

We threw out our top three starters on the hill against our most intense competition in the AL West over the weekend, and we got beat. After getting busted 1-4 in a Weaver start on Friday, we needed a ninth inning RBI singe from Maicer to win on Saturday, and then got the return treatment yesterday in the eighth from Texas' Chris Davis. Just like that, our unexplainable but nice lead in the division over the blue shirts has dipped to just 0.5 games.

After a weekend like that, I'm left wondering what the heck is going on with Jered Weaver, if Erick Aybar is playing significantly better than Maicer Izturis, and what we are supposed to do about our outfield depth problems. Let's get to exploring these issues one-by-one.

What is going on with the Big Baby? Weav started the season 6-0 with around a 0.98 ERA by my calculations. Since then, Jered has gone 0-3, and has coughed up 11 runs in 18 innings (5.50 ERA). It's the tale of two pitchers, and I'm not sure what's going on. I know what's not going on, and that's what ESPN is saying. An article following the game on Friday asserted that Weav simply "set the bar too high" to start the season, and that he's still doing great if you look at it independently of the first six. Um, no. A 5.50 ERA is not still doing great. Sure, he set the bar high, but he's good enough to where that shouldn't have anything to do with it. The first six teams he faced currently have a 121-119 record, which is a .504 winning percentage. Meanwhile, the last three teams he faced currently have a 65-52 record, which is a .556 winning percentage. So there is a little of that whole "he's been pitching against better teams as of late" issue going on, but not a ton.

Instead, I'll point to his ability to punch fools out. Over the first 6 games, Jered rocked a 9.7 K/9 mark. In his last 3 outings, he's only punching fools out at a 6.0 K/9 rate. That's a hefty drop off, and the fact that the others teams have been able to put the ball in play against him over the last 3 games has made a huge difference. Has his accuracy dropped? Has his velocity dipped? Is he just facing teams who happen to strike out less? Those are all good questions, but I think the fact is clear that when Weaver is punching hitters out, he's humming along, and when they are getting the bat on the ball against him, bad things happen. Strike 'em out, ace.

So, how about this battle between Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis? Who would have seen this coming? In the Spring, Izzy looked pretty on-and-off, and Aybar looked barely better. And yet, they've both come out red hot now that it matters. Impressive as heck, eh? So, who is going better? The media seems to promote Erick Aybar over Izzy, but is it warranted? Aybar is hitting .351 with 2 jacks and 14 RBI this season, just coming out all kinds of nuts. He's hitting .383 against right handed pitching, and in the last ten games, he's produced 5 multi-hit efforts. Meanwhile, his buddy (or, rival?) Maicer Izturis is hitting .319 with 3 jacks and 13 RBI this time around. He's hitting an amazing .425 against left handed pitching, and in his last 10 games he has 4 multi-hit games. If he wouldn't have gone 0 for 5 in yesterday's game, he'd still be hitting somewhere in the .330s. With the outfield injuries sending Howie Kendrick to play on the grass, and we'll get into that later, we've gotten to see both Izzy and Aybar in the lineup a lot more often, and that's a good thing. As we get back to normal, however, and as Callaspo continues to do well at third, we're looking at a platoon situation at SS. As it stands right now, why not have Izzy go against lefties and Aybar against righties, along with Ma$e helping out at DH and 2B (as he has done so far)? We all know Izzy needs a little more time off to stay away from the injury bug (which only going against lefties would do for him), and hopefully he can get that as we continue to utilize our talented infielders.

How about that outfield? Talk about a mess. First, all the "real" Angel fans trash on Vernon Wells for starting slow. Next, he goes to the DL and we find ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Just this weekend, we have found ourselves with Howie Kendrick, Reggie Willits, Peter Bourjos, Torii Hunter, and Bobby Abreu out in the outfield. Now, you all know that HK is my current favorite Halo, but even I can admit that he looks lost out in left field. I watched him this weekend, as he charged a fly ball only to have it go over his head, and lead to an extra base hit for the Rangers. Did anyone who was complaining about Vernon Wells know we were this weak in the field? I may not have been bashing Vernon, but even I didn't know we were this short in the outfield. Isn't there a better option than shifting our middle infielders to the grassy area?

Well, I think my opinion is perfectly clear, if you have been reading my Halo posts since Spring Training. Chris "Freaking" Pettit is the answer. Pettit is sitting on our 40-man, and he is just wasting away while we suffer through Reggie Willits and a shifting of traditional infielders out there. It's a joke. Pettit is a Pasadna native, a Loyola graduate, and is hitting a horrible .186 right now in Salt Lake, but has 17 RBI on just 21 hits. Now, I understand that he isn't ripping the ball out there, but he was a man possessed during Spring Training, and I just think that the 26 year old is ready to fill in while Vernon is out. Get him up here and give him a shot, he's at the very least better than Willits.

At 22-19, the Halos are leading the division by 0.5 games over Texas, as was mentioned, and they start up a huge rivalry series against Oakland tonight. Oakland is just 1.5 games back of the Angles, playing .500 ball, and this series will be a little more intense than the casual observer would realize. The red hot Joel Piñero (2-0, 1.33) looks to stay solid against Brett "Ignore The Record" Anderson (2-3, 3.21). It's probably been a while since the Angels and A's were such similar teams, questionable offense that hits for average rather than power, but a pitching staff that has the ability to keep the team out of a slump. It should be a fun, although quick, two game series, and hopefully we can pick up two.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/16/11.

2011-05-16T08:48:00.001-07:00

Welcome to a new week. Let's see what's going on for the long suffering squads today:

Blue Jays (A) v Detroit

The LSF Game of the Day: Angels (T) v Oakland

Dodgers (B, J) v Milwaukee

With all of our basketball teams eliminated, and only my Canucks pushing on in hockey (awesome win last night, by the way), the "squads in action" posts are going to keep shrinking. But, it's still nice to know who is playing who.

Best of luck to all of our long suffering squads.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Canucks-Sharks Game One Pump Up Post.

2011-05-15T13:13:00.001-07:00

It was a little over 17 years ago that I became a Canuck fan. Most of the LSF'ers know the story. My Ranger fan cousin convinced my to become a hockey fan, I randomly flipped through his glossy season preview book, randomly picked the Canucks to be my team, and they just happened to meet his New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals that very same year. It was fate, and I've been a long suffering Canuck fan ever since.

17 years ago was also the last time the Canucks appeared in a Western Conference Final series. 17 years later, I'm married to a native of San Jose, and here we are. The first time the Orca have made it to the third round of the playoffs since the year I became a fan, and they've made it back only to play the hockey team from my wife's hometown. Isn't sports great?

If you've read a handful of my Canuck posts over the regular and post season this year, you've noticed that I keep mentioning how this is our year. Sure, we've always wondered how far we could make it year in and year out, but when the puck dropped in October of 2010, there was a different feeling among the members of Orca Nation. This was our year, and we all kind of felt it. Well, if this is a team of destiny, as we've all claimed, we need to start this series with a big win at home. The problem is that Shark fans feel the same way. If there is any team that feels the pains of being a quality regular season team only to not make it the distance in the playoffs like the Canucks feel, it's the Sharks. I can't think of another team I'd feel this good about going against in round three. Not because I think we'll beat them (although I do), but because it is a battle between two quality teams that I respect, and I'll be cheering for the winner of this series in the Finals no matter what.

By the way, for those of you who say that this series has no intensity, you just aren't paying attention. Do the names Ben Eager and Antti Niemi mean anything to you? Yeah, there's a little bit of built in hatred there.

It's going to be a fun series, and I'm going to take the Canucks in 7. Wouldn't it be classic if a team went up 3-0, only to have it go 7? These two teams know all about that.

Alright, let's get it done.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Angels Test Fans' Will To Live.

2011-05-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

As has been well documented across the internet and radio waves today, yesterday was a horrible day for Halo Nation. Prior to the game against the White Sox, Francisco Rodriguez was placed on the DL and Kevin Jepsen was called up. Even closer to game time, it was announced that Kendrys Morales was going to be shut down for the season (again) with yet another surgery. And then there was the game. After Fernando Rodney and Jordan Walden blew the lead to the Sox in the eighth and the ninth, Kevin Jepsen showed he was the wrong guy to pull up.

Planning on intentionally walking the Chicago batter to load the bases and set up a force at any base situation, Jeps air mailed the ball at least ten feet over the catcher, allowing the go ahead run to easily score for the road team. As you can imagine, the Halos eventually dropped the game 4-6 in 10 innings. It was a horrible end to a horrible day, as the joy of breaking the Guiness World Record for most people in one place wearing wrestling masks was quickly squashed. In the words of Alexander, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

So, is there any silver lining for this squad after a day like May 11, 2011?

Actually, there are plenty of silver linings. Despite the loss, the Halos are 21-17 this year, and sit first in the West with a 1.5 game lead over the Rangers. Yeah, we're in first place, so what's with all the doom and gloom? Want more positivity? The Angels have three guys hitting over .300 right now. Ma$e is ripping at .328, surprising us all after his rough Spring. HK-47 is hitting .320, en route to his first ever batting title (called it). Even Alberto Callaspo is making us forget about that Adrian Beltre failure (as the media puts it), as he's hitting .302.

And how about our youth? Mark Trumbo, the guy we brought up to cover for Kendrys Morales for that one month he'd have to sit out (wink wink), is tied for the team lead with 6 jacks, and is tied for second on the team with 17 RBI. On the mound, Tyler Chatwood has filled in as well as we could have dreamed. Chatty is 2-1 with a 3.67 ERA, leaps and bounds ahead of Scott Kazmir, who I believe fell into a bottomless pit recently somewhere in Arizona.

Both Jered Weaver and Dan Haren own 1.87 ERAs with a combined 10-4 record. They also have combined for an impressive 111 punchouts so far, and that's not the end of it. Rich Thompson continues to vindicate me for telling everyone how awesome he is, holding a 1.16 ERA in his 19.3 innings along with 22 strikeouts.

And that's not to mention the Guiness World Record for wrestling masks.

You see? Hope abounds!

So, as we head into this weekend's series with the Texas Rangers, starting with the top of our rotation (Weav starts Friday), let's be positive, have hope, and get a couple of big wins. Kendrys gone, Jepsen sucks, and we lost in extras. So what? We're doing great.

Go Angels Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

An Open Letter To The Eliminated Boston Celtics.

2011-05-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Celtics,

Well, we can all finally stop pretending that we had a chance this year. Thank goodness. It was getting hard to keep up the façade. I've tried to be an honest supporter, but maybe I wasn't as objective about your chances as I could have been. And that's okay. Us fans get all wrapped up come playoff time and start to believe that anything could happen. Sure we were old. Sure we lacked chemistry since just after the trade deadline. Sure we didn't have anything anyone would call a NBA talented Center (although I thought in my stupid Green brain that Krstic would become that guy). Sure we were going up against the Heat in the second round. But maybe, just maybe, we could squeeze through and make a run. It's funny how fans think.

But, as we all kind of expected in the far reaches of our minds, the Heat dominated us and showed us the door after five games. The mostly used in game 5 lineup of Garnett, Allen, Green, West, and Krstic just couldn't pull of the upset. What a shocker! The more upsetting thing than you guys actually getting eliminated, is that I don't think there is anyone left who can stop Miami, and that pisses me right off. In this series, we weren't just playing for supporters of the Green Army, we were playing for all the NBA fans who hate LeBron and the Super Heat. We failed them all, and now we're all going to have to suffer the consequences of LeBron taking his title to South Beach. It's disgusting.

Where do we go from here? That's the question when a team like this gets bounced from the playoffs. My biggest fear is that nothing will be done. Pierce is back, Garnett is back, Allen will probably exercise his option to stay, and Rondo will heal up and be back. Glen Davis, my favorite player on the team, is an unrestriced free agent, and he's probably gone. He had a horrible postseason, has clashed with Doc Rivers in the recent past, and has been outspoken about his dislike regarding the Perkins deal. That's all a recipe for getting a pink slip. Jeff Green is a restricted free agent, and that would be a shock if he was handed walking papers prior to proving Ainge right for trading for him. Delonte is also a free agent, and I don't see any reason for him to go. He's a serviceable backup point guard, and even though they're a dime a dozen in the NBA, he's a crowd favorite.

But, how will letting Glen Davis go help this team? Are we really going to be a championship threat with Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, and "Crappy Center X" starting again? When you have reached the end of the line with a product, isn't it time to mix things up and take a different approach? Can we really go through another season with this core of guys? I surely hope not. I've never denied that my favorite version of this team is from the Pierce-Walker-Jefferson-Perkins-West days. When you guys put "the big three" together, my love of the team took a serious hit. I didn't want to cheer for basketball's Yankees. I liked raising a beer to to Jiri Welsch, Tony Allen, and Walter McCarty. I see the elimination of the team here in 2011 as a wake up call, and a chance for the organization to take a step back and once again becme a fun team to root for.

I've always been baffled at the Doc Rivers love fest. The National media has always tried to spoon feed us how great of a coach Doc is, but how did they view him before he had Garnett and Allen aboard with Pierce? They didn't. Nobody cared. The drastic image change of this team starts with Doc. He says he'll "probably" be back as the coach next year, but I hope he changes his mind. Leave the team, and let us truly rebuild into a different type of squad, so that we can actually have a chance to compete. I'm not saying I know what should be done exactly, I'm just saying that the team as it stands doesn't stand a chance again next year, and why waste time with it? Blow it up, start over, and give us supporters something to get excited about. We're more than willing to go through the growing pains.

I think the fact that we got outscored 16-0 in the final four and a half minutes of last night's game proves my point.

I look forward to next season...maybe.

With a passion for the Green,

Tommy

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/12/11-5/15/11.

2011-05-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing it's going to be a pretty light day around LSF land, but maybe it'll pick up over the weekend. Let's see if I'm right.

Thursday-

The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (B, J) v Pittsburgh

Guadalajara (T) v UNAM

Friday-

The LSF Game of the Day: Angels (T) v Texas

Blue Jays (A) v Minnesota

Dodgers (B, J) v Arizona

Saturday-

Angels (T) v Texas

The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v Minnesota

Dodgers (B, J) v Arizona

Man Utd (T) v Blackburn

Everton (J) v WBA

Sunday-

Angels (T) v Texas

Blue Jays (A) v Minnesota

Dodgers (B, J) v Arizona

The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v San Jose/Detroit

The LSF Game of the Weekend: Chelsea (B) v Newcastle (T)

Celtic (T) v Motherwell

Rangers (A) v Kilmarnock

Chivas (T) v Red Bulls NY

Guadalajara (T) v UNAM

Best of luck to all the long suffering squads over the weekend.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

LSF Squads In Action 5/11/11.

2011-05-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Another light day around the LSF Nation. Let's see what we've got going on:

The LSF Game of the Day: Celtics (T) v Miami

Dodgers (B, J) v Pittsburgh

Blue Jays (A) v Boston

Angels (T) v Chicago

Celtic (T) v Hearts

Hopefully the Green Army can keep their series alive and go on to beat the Heat. Otherwise, we're destined for a horrible offseason of LeBron boasting about making the right decision.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē