The Best and The Worst

With the NBA Draft tonight all eyes will be on the Miami Heat. The talks the last couple days have been that Pat Riley doesn't like Michael Beasley. So I ask you after having these rumors about this all week...How in the world can the Heat take Beasley now? I am also interested tonight with where Kevin Love will go with reports that he could either be picked at 3 or 10. And how can I not tune in to see how the New York Knicks will screw this year up. Today's installment of "The Best and The Worst" focus' on the 2nd overall pick in NBA Draft history. And I thought that the 3rd overall pick yesterday was easy. Let's get to it!

THE 2ND OVERALL PICK

BEST

1. Isiah Thomas 1981 Detroit - Let's forget what he has done to tarnish his career, Thomas was one of if not the best small guard in the history of the game and made Detroit look like a genius for selecting him 2nd overall. Thomas had immediate impact for the Pistons as he was selected as a starter for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game in his rookie year which was the 1st of 12 he would be invited to. The two-time NBA Champ, was selected as Finals MVP in 1990, was a 1st team All-NBA 3 times, and is currently 4th on the all-time assists list and 9th on the all-time steals list. To top all of his achievements he was also selected to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.

2. Jerry West 1960 LA Lakers

3. Gary Payton 1990 Seattle

4. Jason Kidd 1994 Dallas

5. Alonzo Mourning 1992 Charlotte

WORST

1. Sam Bowie 1984 Portland - Akeem Olajuwon...Sam Bowie...Michael Jordan...Sam Perkins...Charles Barkley. DAMN! The last best moment of this poor guy's career probably was the picture above. During his rookie season, Bowie played in 76 games and averaged 10 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. However, injuries limited him to only 63 games over the next four seasons, including only five during the 1986-87 NBA season and missing the entire 1987-88 NBA season. On June 24, 1989, Bowie, who had averaged 10.5 points per game with the Trail Blazers, was traded, along with a draft pick, to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Buck Williams. His dedication to rehabilitate and play despite the option of quitting the sport while keeping his contract was inspiring. However his basketball presence was mostly a shell of his former playing self. You wanna feel bad for the guy, but I ask you, "WHAT WAS PORTLAND THINKING?"!

2. Darko Milicic 2003 Detroit

3. Danny Ferry 1989 LA Clippers

4. Steve Stipanovich 1983 Indiana

5. Scott May 1976 Chicago

Other notables that were selected in the 2nd slot were:

Len Bias, Jay Williams, Steve Francis, Keith Van Horn, Marcus Camby, Terry Cummings, Kenny Anderson, Shawn Bradley, and Wayman Tisdale

The Best and The Worst

Today my installment of "The Best and The Worst" NBA draft picks of all-time from 5th to 1st overall reaches the 3rd position. The 4th pick that I posted yesterday as I said was very difficult, the 3rd on the other hand, I was able to breeze right through. Don't forget to vote on the side for the best 1st pick of all-time. We all know who is going to be the best number 3 pick for this one so I am going to write about my number 2 instead. Let's get to it!

THE 3RD OVERALL PICK

BEST

1. Michael Jordan 1984 Chicago

2. Dominique Wilkins 1982 Utah - After drafting Wilkins in the 1982 Draft, Utah had no choice but to trade him because of financial situations. They knew that they were going to run into this problem but didn't realize how bad they would get screwed if they traded him. The Atlanta Hawks jumped at the opportunity once they knew of Utah's problem with Wilkins, so they gave the Jazz the best trade offer that was on their table and won the rights to Wilkins which ended up being the best thing for the city of Atlanta. A nine-time NBA All-Star and the winner of two NBA Slam Dunk Contests, Wilkins registered 26,668 points and 7,169 rebounds in his NBA career. His career points total ranks him ninth in career scoring, and he is one of just 14 players to total 25,000 points or more for a career. He is one of four players to have had their jerseys retired by the Hawks.

3. Pete Maravich 1970 Atlanta

4. Kevin McHale 1980 Boston

5. Carmello Anthony 2003 Denver

WORST

1. Chris Washburn 1986 Golden State - One of the top 3 recruits in high school (John Williams and Danny Manning) Washburn went to N.C. State to form one of the best recruiting classes the Wolfpack had ever had. He entered the NBA draft after his sophomore season and was pick only behind Brad Daugherty and Len Bias. He played 72 games over two seasons (one and a half with the Warriors and part of another with the Atlanta Hawks), averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He is widely considered to be one of the biggest busts in NBA draft history. Sports Illustrated named him the second-biggest NBA draft bust in 2005. Washburn was banned from the NBA for life in June 1989 after failing three drug tests in three years. By the mid-1990s, Washburn was still trying to scrape together a basketball career in various minor professional leagues.

2. Rick Robey 1978 Indiana

3. Darius Miles 2000 LA Clippers

4. Dennis Hopson 1985 New Jersey

5. Christian Laettner 1992 Minnesota

Other notables that were drafted in the 3rd slot were:

Marques Johnson, Anfernee Hardaway, Billy Owens, Grant Hill, Chauncey Billips, Rodney McCray, Mike Dunleavy, and Adam Morrison.

Hottest Women in Sports

At 6 feet and 2 inches, this Russian beauty is a former number one tennis player in the world. And she is only 21 years old. Currently ranked number two, Maria Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004, at the age of 17, she defeated Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final. With Wimbledon this week, you can't but help watching her on national television and listen to her scream when she strikes the ball.

The Best and The Worst

If you read my last blog on my new series called "The Best and The Worst" I am counting down the best and the worst NBA draft picks all-time from pick 5 through 1. Today I am doing overall pick number 4 which was very, very difficult to say the least. So many players with the same sort of careers were selected 4th overall. You'll understand what I am talking about when I list the notable 4th overall picks. Let's get right into it.

THE 4TH OVERALL PICK

BEST

1. Dave Cowens 1970 Boston - Cowens had immediate impact for a team that really didn't need it. If statistics could talk you'd know right away why Cowens was selected as the top 4th pick on my list. Let's get to some of them, 2-time NBA Champ, co-Rookie of the Year (17.0 pts, 15.0 rbs), a NBA MVP (1973), 6-time All-Star, 10 seasons with the Celtics leading to a Hall of Fame career and a member of the All-NBA 50th Anniversity team. Cowens is one of only three players (Scottie Pippen and Kevin Garnett are the others) to lead his team in all five major statistical categories for a season: points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. He accomplished the feat in the 1977-78 season.

2. Dikembe Mutombo 1991 Denver

3. Chris Paul 2005 New Orleans

4. Sam Perkins 1984 Dallas

5. Chris Bosh 2003 Toronto

Worst

1. Bill Garnett 1982 Dallas - Garnett was drafted as the fourth overall selection in the 1982 college draft by the Dallas Mavericks out of Wyoming. He would spend two seasons in Dallas before being traded in 1984. While with the Mavs, Garnett played off the bench where he logged 18.9 minutes and 5.6 points per game during his two season stint, he started just 47 games. In his NBA career, Garnett played in 300 games and scored a total of 1,638 points.

2. Terry Driscoll 1969 Detroit

3. Marcus Fizer 2000 Chicago

4. Al Wood 1981 Atlanta

5. Greg Kelser 1979 Detroit

Other notables that were drafted in the 4th slot were:

Glen Rice, Rasheed Wallace, Dennis Scott, Chuck Person, Jim Jackson, Jamal Mashburn, Donyell Marshall, Xavier McDaniel, and Antonio Daniels

Bulldog CWS Final

Bulldog - a heavily built dog noted for its strong, stubborn grip.

Man, what a tournament for the Bulldogs! Omaha, Nebraska will be filled with them for the next couple of days as the best of 3 final for the CWS starts tonight featuring the number 8 overall national seed in Georgia and the Cinderella storied, number 4 regional seed Fresno State. The definition I wrote above definitely describes these two baseball programs who have gone through much adversity to get where they are and have showed signs of being "strong and stubborn". Having some time this weekend, I was curious to see what the tournament would look like if the brackets looked like the ever popular NCAA basketball bracket sheet, just because I wanted to know what seed Fresno State would be if they did the tournament this way. Come to find out they would have been a 13 seed! Unreal! Now you can understand how remarkable there run really is to the final tonight. Fresno has eliminated 3 of the national 8 seeds (Arizona State, Rice, and UNC), and also has won eight NCAA tournament games against teams in the AP top 20 to get to this point and must defeat one more for ultimate glory. Without an actual ace of the staff because of an injury to their stud pitcher Tanner Scheppers, they relied on a kid that hasn't thrown since June 8th because of tendinitis in his arm to get to the championship. Clayton Allison pitched remarkably last night against the Tarheels pitching 6 strong innings giving up a run on six hits. Fresno's bats have been pretty stunning as well striking 7 homers in just 4 games.

Georgia, who I have been down on since the start of the tournament (I didn't have them getting out of the Super Regional), have beaten some impressive teams and had gotten to the CWS facing elimination 4 times. Manager Dave Perno was a member of the Georgia baseball team that last one the CWS title back in 1990, who didn't get to play in the series so now it must feel pretty surreal to be back. A year ago his Bulldog team didn't even make it into the SEC tournament, but in 2008 he'd have five position starters back (four of whom played in Omaha in 2006) and 11 pitchers who had thrown most of the innings. Including 7th overall pick of the draft Gordan Beckham who was tied for the national lead in homers to start the CWS in 26. While Beckham has lived up to his first-round tag, closer Joshua Fields (18 for 18 in save opportunities) and senior third baseman Ryan Peisel (12 HRs and 56 RBI) have been huge difference makers for the Bulldogs in 2008. It should be interesting series filled with "strong and stubborn" dawgs. Tune in tonight at 7!

The Best and The Worst

Today I am starting a new series that will occur only when the timing is right for me. It is called "The Best and The Worst" which will have a list of the top five of the best and top five of the worst in the category that is given. With the NBA Draft this week all you can do before the draft is have bar talk about the best or the worst picks ever. Since I had a ton of time this weekend, I went and did some hard nose research. This week up until the draft I will be listing the top 5 best followed by the 5 worst draft picks of all time starting with the 5th overall pick to the #1 pick. This was pretty difficult to do especially finding the overall 5th pick of every NBA Draft. What I am doing to decide my top 5 is taking into account what the player meant to the team as a franchise, whether he was traded, how he handled himself on or off the court, if he won with that team, and his overall legacy to that team. So I am letting my readers help me out this week. On the side of my blog please vote for who you believe is the best #1 pick of all-time which will help me decide for the finale this week. Hope you enjoy!

THE 5TH OVERALL PICK

BEST

1. Scottie Pippen 1987 Seattle - Pippen was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics then immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice. In 1988, he got his chance to shine finally becoming a regular starter who helped the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals for the 1st time in over a decade. Scottie played 12 seasons with the Bulls leading them to 6 NBA titles. Other achievements were being a 7-time all-star, 3-time All-NBA 1st team, 8-time All-Defensive 1st team, and also holds a career playoff record for steals (395). Pippen's #33 was retired in Chicago in 2005.

2. Charles Barkley 1984 Philadelphia

3. Kevin Garnett 1995 Minnesota

4. Dwayne Wade 2003 Miami

5. Mitch Richmond 1988 Golden State

WORST

1. James Earl Ray 1980 Denver - Not to be confused with the killer of Martin Luther King, Ray (pictured above on draft day) was picked by a team just entering the NBA looking to be a very competitive franchise. Unfortunately Ray wasn't the answer. After playing college basketball at Jacksonville University, everyone thought of him in northern Florida as a hoop legend in the making. He is still talked about today down here. He subsequently played three seasons for the team, appearing in just 103 games and finishing with career averages of 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Moving to Europe, he went on to play professionally in Italy, Spain and Turkey.

2. Nikoloz Tskitishvili 2002 Denver

3. Danny Vranes 1981 Seattle

4. Kenny Walker 1986 New York

5. Isaiah Rider 1993 Minnesota

Other notables that were drafted in the 5th slot were:
Ray Allen, Vince Carter, Steve Smith, J.R. Reid, Kendall Gill, and Jon Koncak

Classless

On ESPN the magazine's back page for the past two issues Rick Reilly has begun writing again. This week he writes about a high school Class AAA championship game held in Georgia. Apparently the umpire in the game was doing a "horrible" job. The last player he rang up on strikes was 15th overall pick of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers in shortstop Ethan Martin, to which Martin threw his helmet into the dugout. Martin's brother Cody was pitching in the game and both were complaining about the balls and strikes from the umpire throughout. So comes the bottom of the 4th inning with catcher Matt Hill behind the plate in a 0-1 count. What comes next is absolutely incredible, you be the judge...


Hill after the game said that he thought that a curveball was coming. After further review of the pitch the coach of Gordan College, where Hill was planning on playing ball next year, told him not to even bother coming this fall. Unbelievable what has happened to sports, no wonder why we can't find good referees or umpires anymore. The parents and now the players are scaring them away. After the game the umpire, Jeff Scott, complained of headaches and was taken to the hospital and went for an MRI. Then he decided to get himself a lawyer. Hopefully he got a good one!

CWS Weekend Update

By the time I probably write another blog, the best out of 3 College World Series Championship will have the two teams set for Monday. As much as I am a huge fan of the underdog and love surprising teams making it all the way, which adds drama to the series. I find myself very disappointed with the fact that Miami and Rice (and maybe UNC tonight) are not around for the weekend. Rice was out in two games which was very surprising especially after the heartbreaker to LSU. Miami on the other hand, in my opinion, was a totally different team during Omaha play. Their offense just wasn't there(the same with their defense), which is something that helped them get to 53 victories this season. I was really questioning the coach, Jim Morris, who looked to be over analyzing everything and made his best hitter in the CWS, Jemile Weeks, bunt three straight times. But oh well! In baseball, you gotta play when it counts and like I said in my CWS Tournament Preview, Miami season will be a huge disappointment if they don't get to the championship series. And that is exactly what happened!

This weekend, which will finally lead us to the winners of brackets 1 and 2 by Sunday night, has lots of excitement in store starting tonight with an elimination game that is continued from last night's rain out in North Carolina and LSU. Carolina, which is up 2-0 already in the 1st inning from last night, is the last hope for the ACC who had 3 teams enter the field of 8 in Omaha. Tonight favors Carolina because their excellent pitching staff could use an extra day of rest which gives them an advantage. But, the way that LSU comes from behind you better not change the station in the 9th inning like I did to them in the Supers verses UC Irvine.

Saturday we have a rematch set in bracket 1 for the 2 o'clock game with Stanford (2-1) again faces Georgia (2-0). Obviously Stanford is going to have to beat Georgia twice I don't see being a problem for this team that has been the hottest of the tournament besides Fresno State. Stanford's catcher Jason Castro has been red hot on both the defensive and especially the offensive side of the field. This kid has a charisma that brings you in and you can't help but routing for him. Stanford will be bringing in their lefty ace to the mound in Jeremy Bleich while Georgia sends 10th round pick in senior Trevor Holder to the hill. Another great story for the Cardinals, if you haven't heard already, has a pitcher in Erik Davis you consistently gets his team out of jams after getting hit in the face with a ball years ago damaging his sight so bad that he couldn't see out of his right eye for a full day. So it is safe to say that I am routing hard for the Cardinals this weekend since I still don't know how in the world Georgia has gotten this far in the first place.

Cinderella streaking Fresno State Bulldogs will be waiting for their opponent in tonight's game have the 7 o'clock start on Saturday. You already know all about this team coming out of their Long Beach State Regional bracket as a 4 seed but let me give you some of the things to look for out of this team this weekend as they are one win away from advancing to the Championship Series on Monday. 8 different players thus far in two games have hit homers for the Cinderella Bulldogs. Their pitching has been great thus far with the bullpen pitching 5 scoreless innings verses UNC Sunday night. The big guy in their line up in the CWS play has been freshman sensation shortstop Danny Muno. He is 5 for 9 with a homerun, 5 RBI, with 3 runs scored. The winner of tonight's game should be facing the Bulldogs ace this weekend in Justin Wilson who looked impressive verses Rice with 7 strong innings giving up 2 runs and striking out 5.

I couldn't leave without coming out with some picks before my Championship Preview on Monday. But, my picks are coming from the heart now no more thinking after falling in love with some of these programs.

Stanford and Fresno State will come out victorious this weekend! Enjoy the Weekend!!!

Random Thoughts Today

There is a few things that I would like to touch on before I watch the elimination game in the CWS between Miami and Stanford. Without delay let's get right into my random thoughts today.

Like the saying goes and I have been a firm believer of, even though some of you are convinced that times have changed, but "Defense wins Championships!". This has always been the case, just people have chosen to forget about it. The Boston Celtics who won the NBA Championship last night with a defensive threshold on Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, became the third team to win a major professional championship with their defense. The New York Giants absolutely destroyed the New England Patroits offense on Super Bowl Sunday. And the Detroit Red Wings (I won't pretend to know anything about them), from what I have read was the best defensive team throughout the entire NHL season, winning it all. No matter how bad David Stern changes rules of the NBA game, or the NFL helping out the offense by penalizing the defense; defense will still prevail! I'll even go as far as saying that pitching in baseball is just the same as defense. Good pitching beats good hitting and offense wins games while defense wins championships...words to live by!

I am very happy for the "Big 3" from the Boston Celtics to finally win a ring and get an enormous monkey off their backs. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett have never been to the NBA Championship having both lost a Conference title and were brought to Boston to bring them back to Championship glory and both did not disappoint with the numbers they put up in the series. But, I am happier for Paul Pierce! Pierce in my eyes has always been the great player that has never gotten the recognition that he deserves. He has been with the Celts his entire career which is hard to find now a days, 10 years to be exact. Now, making it to the top of the mountain with a Finals MVP to show for it. Good for you Paul, I believe that you have now guaranteed your number 34 being retired and hung in the rafters in The Garden.

After thrilling fans with a U.S. Open win for the ages, Tiger Woods will undergo season-ending knee surgery. We have just witnessed a Major for the ages that lasted 5 days that had incredible ratings, and now the PGA will have to rely on the parity in the rest of the professional field to keep golf going until Woods comes back. I am not mad at Tiger for pressing his knee to play on his favorite course for a major. He won and now it is all worth it for Tiger. Because majors is all this guy really cares about and he just won his 14th to move closer to Jack Nicklaus' 18. One quick stat that I found intriguing to get off the surgery subject...Tiger needs to finish in the top 10 of every major until 2019 to catch Jack's record of 79 top 10 finishes in majors. WOW!

For my College World Series update...two teams moved on to a 2-0 record that really no one thought was coming. Fresno State, the Cinderella team that was a 4 seed in their Regional, has not stopped defeating teams that are suppose to be handling them. Defeating the likes of Rice and North Carolina yesterday has put the Bulldogs in a great spot now waiting either LSU or a rematch with the Tarheels. Georgia in bracket number 1 has gone undefeated as well beating the likes of Miami and Stanford, who square off in a elimination game tonight at 7 on ESPN. Still not sold on this Bulldog team, but that is why the College World Series is so great. Last year's champ Oregon State barely made the field of 64 but still ended up defending their title and winning it all. Hope that you all were able to catch the LSU/Rice game yesterday afternoon...instant classic!

Hottest Women in Sports

California is a state that has tons of beautiful women, and this lady is no exception. Jennie Finch is probably the most famous softball player around the world, and I dare you to say that this is not the result of her athletic performance alone!

Real Men of Genius

What a Weekend!

Is there anything better than sitting your ass on a couch with a beer in hand watching sports all day long? Sunday afternoon was filled with a great variety of sporting events that even a avid sports fan like myself was tossed up between what to watch. Saturday wasn't half bad either! My remote control was working overtime after 5 o'clock Sunday and I am sure that when I use it at some point today the batteries will be worn out. On top of all of this I was seriously hung over, and went swimming with my cell phone Saturday night. So I couldn't think of anything better than doing what I did yesterday. Being a sports couch potato.

Let's start off slow. The USA World Cup soccer team had a World Cup Qualifying match with Barbados Sunday. The final score ended up looking like something out of a EA Sports Fifa World Cup game on PS2 with the level on easy. They should automatically qualify the USA team every year instead of having them play all of these small countries in South America wasting our time. With games like the one yesterday, you kind of understand why the US fails in World Cup play. Not only are the European teams that much better but the US never gets some good competition before World Cup play begins. Anyway, this is soccer and I think I spent way too much time writing about it.

On the Major League Baseball circuit, interleague play was back this weekend with one of the intriguing series taking us back in time, the Boston Red Sox were traveling to Cincinnati to face off against the Reds. How can we not help but to think of that incredible World Series that the Reds won in 7 games when they faced off this weekend? One major story occurred in the Cincinnati locker room when Ken Griffey Jr. was reported to saying that he would veto his no trade clause for a trade to the Tampa Bay Rays. WOW! If I was the Rays I would be on the phone today. The short porch in right field, getting a veteran superstar, and having the DH or 3rd outfield that is desperately needed in your line up can only get the Rays mind racing. Since I have yet to see the Rays play this season, I will be on ebay ASAP if this trade gets done. So Tampa...GET IT DONE!!!

Before the start of the game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtic and LA Lakers did you really think that there was any way the Celts were going to win the game. I mean, I know that I wrote the other day that there wasn't a chance in hell of them winning game 4 and they proved me wrong by winning one of the greatest games in Finals history. But, for the NBA to allow the series that everyone wanted to be over in just 5 games, there's no way! I thought that the refereeing was the best last night than any other games in the series thus far, except in the final 2 minutes. There were tickie-tack fouls called on Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce on the defensive end that made me scratch my head. But, the topper was Kobe Bryant's steal from Pierce that ultimately sealed the game for the Lakers that blew my mind. Seeing it live I thought that it was a clean steal and Pierce was just tired but watching it in slow motion was another story. At no point when Kobe reached for the ball from Pierce did he touch the ball, it was all arm, chest, and crotch. But, should we be at all surprised at the outcome, not I! Thanks also to Kevin Garnett, for missing those two free throws down the stretch which didn't help much either. You would think that he would have stepped up to the plate and drove the winning run in after the heat he has endured over the years as not being a clutch player. But he didn't and it is on to Boston for game 6 Tuesday night!

Wasn't watching the final round of the US Open absolutely incredible to view Sunday? Thank god I have the day off today and able to watch the 18 hole playoff between the peoples choice for the weekend Rocco Mediate and a limping Tiger Woods. From hole number 1 all the way through to 18 how could you have turned the station unless you have a brother that had the remote in his hand and he refused to believe you that the US soccer team was going to win. Phil Mickelson disappointed me again this weekend, so what does he do...shoots a 68 on Sunday when he is already out of contention, nice. After I finish this blog I will be parking my butt on the couch watching the playoff probably with a beer in hand...again!

Finally, a real quick update for the College World Series. I watched mostly every game this weekend except the start of the Fresno State/Rice game and the end of the Carolina/LSU game yesterday. Three of the top 4 seeds in the tournament lost their first game this weekend so two teams will be eliminated by Tuesday night. A great match up today features an elimination game between Miami and Florida State at 2 o'clock. These two teams had an incident the last time they played where benches were cleared so today should be interesting. Miami who was my pick to win it all, lost to Georgia Saturday night in the 9th inning after leading the entire game. This was the first loss when leading after 8 innings the Hurricanes had this year...they were 46-0 before that! Tonight's game features Stanford and Georgia with the winner having the upper hand in bracket one. Should be another fun day, feels like another Sunday! Should probably go and get some beer!!!

Happy Father's Day Dad!

You are always there for your kids!

The 2008 CWS Preview

Fresno State Bulldogs

The final eight are ready to go in Omaha! We got some of the favorites that did not disappoint during Regional and Super Regional play and a lone sleeper that no one (including myself) gave a chance to reach this point. Before I get into a team by team analyst then to my predictions I would first and foremost like to add something that occurred today. The NCAA will keep the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., through 2035 under an unprecedented 25-year contract extension. This is a very big deal because I remember thinking not to long ago that a deal might not get done this year and that would mean that in the year of 2011 the CWS would not be played in Omaha, something that hasn't happened since 1949. Kudos to the NCAA for getting the deal done! On to my preview...

MIAMI - The overall number 1 seed entering the field of 64. Making their 23rd appearance in Omaha, last winning the title in '01. Freshman phenom Chris Hernandez, who is making the a lot of noise entering the CWS, has a 11-0 record this season with a 2.62 ERA and will be getting the call to start their opener verses Georgia on Saturday night. I obviously have been very high on the 'canes since the get-go with their powerful offense, but if you got a chance to watch them in the Supers you got to notice more of their defense and timely pitching against Arizona. They got a tough draw with the foursome in their top part of the bracket but this team who had 5 players drafted in the first three rounds of the MLB Draft, should stay alive after this crazy weekend.

NORTH CAROLINA - The overall number 2 seed entering the field of 64. Making their 7th appearance in Omaha, losing the championship game the last two years. The Tarheels really took advantage of an easy round by advancing to Omaha in just 5 games. Are they finally ready to get over the Omaha hump? Well, they certainly aren't going to be fazed by the lively crowd having played 13 games there the last two seasons. Also, they have an awesome pitching staff that led the nation with a team 2.83 ERA and 640 strikeouts which features a trio of future 1st round picks in Alex White, Matt Harvey, and stud Adam Warren. The only downfall if you can call it that in their line up is that they don't have a whole lot of power. But, their 2,3, and 4 hitters hit a total of 68 double on the year. Carolina faces a hot LSU team on Sunday, and I fully expect them to keep their hitters off balanced and move on for another shot at the NCAA title.

FLORIDA STATE - The overall number 4 seed entering the field of 64. Making their 19th appearance in Omaha without a title to show for their efforts. This Seminole team has been shaky to say the least, having to win six elimination games during the first two weeks of the NCAA tournament. Winning a national championship is certainly Florida State's goal throughout the next 12 days. The Seminoles won 54 games this season, hitting .354 with 101 home runs, which ranked first and fourth among NCAA Division I teams, respectively. Led by All-America catcher, and 5th overall pick in the MLB Draft, Buster Posey, who hit .460 with 26 homers and 92 RBIs, the Seminoles averaged 9.9 runs per game. I am a little concerned if Florida State can get away with the way they have been playing in their location in the top half of the bracket. Stanford, who in my opinion, is playing the best ball right now will be a big step in the right direction if they win on Saturday.

RICE - The overall number 6 seed entering the field of 64. Making their 7th appearance in Omaha, having won their lone title back in '03. The Owls join the Tarheels as the only teams to make the last 3 CWS'. If any team can best North Carolina in the arms race, it's Rice. The Owls come at opponents with all kinds of talent, power and depth on its pitching staff. They posted a 3.63 ERA behind ace Ryan Berry and a bullpen featuring flamethrowers Cole St. Clair, Brian Price (the Red Sox's first-round pick), Matt Evers and Bobby Bell. Rice along with Carolina had a nice easy road to Omaha, but won most of the games close. I didn't get a chance to see Rice play yet but my sources tell me to remember the name, Rick Hague. The freshman shortstop has really come on strong as of late and is currently batting .347. Rice faces off against the Cinderella team in Fresno State, should be a win, but who am I. I my opinion it'll be Rice and UNC to come out of the bottom bracket.

LSU - The overall number 7 seed entering the field of 64. Making their 14th appearance in Omaha, having won 4 titles in the '90s and their last one in 2000. The Tigers great ride back to legendary Omaha has been truly remarkable after missing the NCAA Tournament in 2006 for the first time in 18 years then missing the SEC Tournament in 2007 for the first time since 1984. Now LSU is back and is not just a football school anymore. Mid-season the Tigers began a SEC-record 23-game win streak that started at Tulane on April 22 and continued all the way through an 11-4 win over Southern Miss to clinch the Baton Rouge Regional on June 1. During that perfect stretch, the Tigers overcame deficits in 17 games to keep the streak alive. As a team, they hit .324 with 42 home runs while outscoring their opponents 219-101. Two of the hottest bats during the run belonged to sophomore DH Blake Dean (.424, 11 HRs, 34 RBIs) and junior first baseman Matt Clark (.392, 12 HRs, 39 RBIs). In what I believe is the best matchup of this weekend, LSU's offense faces UNC's pitching should be very interesting.

GEORGIA - The overall number 8 seed entering the field of 64. Making their 6th appearance in Omaha, having won their lone title back in 1990. I haven't been sold on Georgia at all since the tournament started, but I can say that they have one of the most feared hitters in the CWS on their team in shortstop and number 8 overall pick in the MLB Draft, Gordon Beckham. He along with Buster Posey are tied in first in the nation in homers with 26. Georgia has had lots of scares throughout this tournament having slipped their way out of the Regionals after losing the opener to Lipscomb and squeezing be Georgia Tech twice. The Bulldogs are 16-0 in elimination games at their home field over the years but now they travel to a land where they haven't fared to well the last decade. Tough challenge with Miami on Saturday night then having to face the loser of the Stanford/Florida State game on Monday, not good!

STANFORD - The number 1 seed in their Regional bracket entering the field of 64. Making their 16th appearance in Omaha, having won the title back to back in '87 and '88 for their only titles. Stanford's five consecutive trips to the College World Series from 1999 to 2003 seem very long ago. But, the Cardinals are back with very impressive play in the Regionals and knocking out overall 5th seed Cal State Fullerton in only two games in the Supers. They did it the hard way, but the Cardinal are rolling now. The victory over Fullerton was the sixth in a row of the postseason for Stanford, which had to win four in a row to get out of the regionals after losing its opening game to UC Davis. There is really nothing special about this team other than they are winning with timely hits and a great bullpen has gotten the job done. Stanford faces off verses Florida State at 2:00 on Saturday and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they keep this momentum going.

FRESNO STATE - The number 4 seed in the Regional bracket at Long Beach State entering the field of 64. Making their 4th appearance in Omaha, having no titles and their last trip here was back in 1991. My favorite team! Saved the best for last! The three-time WAC champion Fresno State (42-29) became the first regional No. 4 seed to reach Omaha, since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1999. More impressive, they survived without star pitcher Tanner Scheppers, a recent second-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates sidelined with a shoulder injury. Beating the likes of Long Beach State, San Diego, and recently knocking out the overall number 3 seed Arizona State in the Super Regional, has given the upstart Bulldogs a ton of respect entering the final 8. The biggest reason for this impressive run has come from their coach, Mike Batesole, who just received National Coach of the Year Award this week. Like I wrote earlier being without their ace Scheppers, the rest of the Bulldog staff has stepped it up and the offense has come up big at the right times. This weekend will be a special treat since I wasn't able to see any of their games being on the west coast. They start up the CWS with a match up against Rice on Sunday, think that they will be intimidated? After the recent resume that they put up, I don't!

PREDICTIONS

FINAL FOUR

Miami

Stanford

North Carolina

Rice

CHAMPIONSHIP

Miami

North Carolina

MIAMI IS YOUR 2008 NATIONAL CHAMP

(like I said from the beginning)

"You know what I'm talkin about."

Random Thoughts Today

I have many random thoughts going into the writing of today's blog and most of them have nothing to do with sports. But, I really don't want to bore you with those thoughts. Before I get into my thoughts for today, a very big College World Series Preview will be written tomorrow night just so I get my picks in time for Saturday afternoon's start of this great tournament. Just to remind everyone, I correctly picked 5 of the 8 teams that advanced to Omaha. MAN I'M GOOD!

If I was going to pick a weekend to watch golf for 4 straight days without interruption it would be this weekend. At 8:06 this morning Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Adam Scott teed of in probably the best 3some to open the US Open. I already know the scores for most of the players, but this is a long, long tournament. As I expected the leader was going to be around -2 to -3 and I really think the winner will finish at about -10. Torrey Pines has been Tiger's best course when it comes to Opens and Phil grew up on this course and has been waiting for another opportunity to win close to his home. I don't know if either of these guys will win it, but it'll be nice for once that we finally get a chance to see them paired together on a Sunday.

I don't know if everyone feels this way but I am really sick and tired of all the scandals that are happening in out major sports. Tim Donaghy's name is driving me crazy. The NBA finally has gotten my attention for the past couple of years and now I am really ready to turn my back on them again. When I wasn't watching the NBA as much I was always saying that the NBA was a fixed league. But I was kidding around! Now this guy who has gotten himself into trouble and is now selling the FBI anything that they want. Proving to me that I was serious all along. Nice NBA! I have always liked the way David Stern has handled his role as commissioner of the NBA, I am just interested to see how will he get the NBA out of this huge disaster. I know this much, I won't be looking in the boxscore for how many points so-and-so had in tonight's game. But, I will be taking a look at the fouls and foul shots.

Oh and by the way, the Lakers are home tonight and they will win! You heard it here first. Foul shot differential Lakers 50 Celtics 10.

Chad Johnson is the biggest phony I know. What a (word for a cat)!!! He was so big and bad in front of the media all off season and the Bengals called his bluff and he lost. HAHAHAHA! You suck Chad now I am not pissed that the Redskins didn't get you.

(This is for my cousin) M -E -T -S! MetsMetsMets!!! They suck!!!! How in the world do you get swept by a team like the San Diego Padres that are missing their two stud aces and have a line up that resembles a MASA D team. Another thing is why Willie Randolph still in the dugout is beyond me? Hey New York, the Pitbull needs a coaching job, and I know for a fact that he'll do a better job then stinky Willie.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, especially Pablo and Tina, for such a great weekend. It really was a blast for me, not only for you to include me in your wedding party, but to be in the company of everyone I care about in one place on your wedding day was great. I had such a great weekend that lasted what seemed like a couple of hours. Hopefully Glastonbury comes a callin and I'll be home before I know it. I didn't realize how much I missed all of you until this past weekend, love you all! And to Chad, Kev, and Chops thanks for the couch...again!

600

What does the number 600 mean to you as a baseball fan? To me it is a number that only a few have gotten to, some with talent alone and a few with the help from science. 600 will be reached by more and more players as I get older, but this number should still be the margin of very high achievement over time. Recently the number of players to reach 600 home runs for a career changed to six, by a player who has stayed out of the sounds of "HGH, steroids, and performance enhancing". Ken Griffey Jr. who took a little longer than thought to reach this great feat was very humble today on the radio on my way home from Jacksonville. He was quoted saying comments like, "I play this game to have fun and to help my teammates win; I was taught to always play this game to the fullest and I believe that I do that; I am not the greatest player to stay out steroid talks; Injuries are part of the game and if I got hurt doing something stupid instead of getting hurt on the field than I would feel bad about me taking so long to get to 600, but since I got hurt on the field playing hard then I have no regrets on how my career has gone." Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa are two of the recent ball players to reach the 600 club and both have been involved with talks of steroid scandal. And I blame them for Griffey's 600th homer not being as glamorous as I thought that it would be in the media. This is a big deal people! Griffey is from the new school but has old school values that were taught to him by is father Ken Sr. who was a class act in the MLB during his playing days with "The Big Red Machine". Junior has always played the game hard, having fun in doing so, and he has just reached a plateau that I think is legendary and absolutely remarkable. Especially for a guy that has had problems with injuries, endured scrutiny when leaving Seattle for his hometown of Cincinnati, and throughout his time with the Reds has had trade talks loom over him. Congratulations for your 600th HR to a guy who has always played the game the right way, just did it in the wrong era.

Hottest Women in Sports

Natalie Gulbis first became a golfer to watch when, at 14, she became the youngest to qualify for an LPGA tournament. By age 18, she was already a professional, winning over just as many fans with her sex appeal as with her swing. Now at the tender age of 25, though she may think otherwise, she is easily one of the sexiest female golfers around. If she was golfing in my foursome on a "oh so hot" day in Florida, my mulligans would get overused!

Random Thoughts Today

This will be my final post for a few days with my trip back to my hometown tomorrow for my good friend's wedding this weekend. He definitely picked a good weekend from what I understand since the weather looks to be "Florida like". A couple of things that I would like to get to before I start packing.

Let's get right to the Belmont since I'll be missing it because of the wedding, thanks a lot Pablo...just kidding! Below is a video of one of the greatest finishing in Belmont history back in 1998 when Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet lost his Triple Crown bid by a nose. Could this happen to Big Brown? Since there hasn't been a Triple Crown winner since I was a little more than 6 months old. The big question is not how Big Brown will do with his hurt huff, but if he does get hurt on the track will horse racing be finished? This is getting to be a very touchy situation, and if something happens I don't even want to know how people will react. Big Brown draws the No. 1 post on the inside for Saturday's race. Some have said that this post position could hurt it, but if my sources are correct the No. 1 post has produced the most Belmont winners 23 since 1905. Big Brown is a 2-5 favorites for the 1 1/2 mile race. We can only wait, only I have to wait til Sunday!

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Tim Beckham with the No. 1 pick in the baseball draft Thursday, choosing the talented high school shortstop from Griffin, Ga., over Florida State catcher Buster Posey. Beckham was recognized as one of the best pure athletes in the draft and labeled a legitimate five-tool player. He established himself as the top prep prospect in the nation with solid performances at last summer's high school showcase events and hit .482 with six homers, 13 doubles, 41 RBIs and 23 stolen bases as a senior. Other notables that were selected in the 1st round were:

3B Pedro Alvarez 2nd overall to Pittsburgh

2B Jemile Weeks 12th overall to Oakland (Rickie's younger brother)

C Buster Posey 5th overall to San Francisco (projected to be #1)

SS Anthony Hewitt 24th overall to Philadelphia (from Salisbury HS, CT)

LHP Dan Schlereth 26th overall to Arizona (son of former NFLer and ESPN analyst Mark)

Finally you can't tell me that Ken Griffey Jr. shouldn't be feeling any pressure these last couple weeks on hitting his 600th HR. This is a pretty big deal for a guy who's injuries have given him setback after setback. He'll be playing in home run friendly Miami facing the Marlins this weekend. NOW GET IT DONE JUNIOR!!!

NBA Finals

The most potent offensive team verses the NBA's most dominant defensive team. The league MVP looking for his 4th ring verses a great trio of all-stars looking for their first. The best rivalry of the 20th century faces off tonight in Boston as the Celtics with the league's best record faces the number 1 seed of the Western Conference in the Los Angeles Lakers.

Obviously the key factor of this series is how the Celts will stop or slow down Bryant. Personally, I don't think that that is possible. I will say this talking about factors, Boston must...MUST win Game 1. Because I really believe that this series could go to the Lakers in 5 games or to Boston in 7. And, if Boston comes out nervous and looking terrible on defense they have no shot in this series. Another key factor for the Celtics is the play of everybody else besides their "BIG 3". Rajon Rondo who I absolutely never show love for, can't make key turnovers and must be confident in his shot. I wouldn't care so much because he is a terrible shooter, but when he passes up on "by yourself" 15 footers, your playing right into the Lakers hands. On the Lakers side of the ball I really think that all they need to do is play like they did in Utah. Utah, is one of the better rebounding teams in the league as are the Celts, and a lot has been mentioned that the Lakers are terrible off the boards. Rebound the ball and keep your possessions and things will certainly favor them.

Now let's have some fun. My all-time Boston Celtics / LA Lakers starting squads...

BOSTON CELTICS

G - BOB COUSY

G - K.C. JONES

F - JOHN HAVLICEK

F - LARRY BIRD

C - BILL RUSSELL

LA LAKERS

G - MAGIC JOHNSON

G - JERRY WEST

F - ELGIN BAYLOR

F - JAMES WORTHY

C - KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR

Jackie Moon

Greatest Season of All-Time

Finally at #1!!! I am back this week with my last installment on my favorite greatest season of all-time before the turn of the century by an individual. This has been fun for me to do. Before I give you my #1 I would like to thank Wikipedia and ESPN for all the knowledge that was given to me to be able to give you my round down from 20 to 1. It has been a very long time since I posted #20. Let's go over it again...

#20 - Lawrence Taylor 1986

#19 - Steffi Graf 1988

#18 - Bobby Jones 1930

#17 - Pedro Martinez 1999

#16 - Marcus Allen 1981

#15 - Walter Johnson 1931

#14 - Jimmy Connors 1974

#13 - Michael Jordan 1987-88

#12 - Ted Williams 1941

#11 - Bobby Orr 1969-70

#10 - Lou Alcindor 1966-67

#9 - Bob Gibson 1968

#8 - Jerry Rice 1987

#7 - Oscar Robertson 1961-62

#6 - Dan Marino 1984

#5 - Barry Sanders 1988

#4 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82

#3 - Babe Ruth 1921

#2 - Pete Maravich 1969-70

The Philadelphia area was in for a treat in during the 1961-62 season. A man born in Philadelphia and played college in Kansas was in just his third year in the NBA with the Philadelphia Warriors, 7'1'' Wilt Chamberlain had the greatest season known to man. In that year, the center set several all-time records which have never been threatened since. He averaged 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game. Chamberlain's 4,029 regular-season points made him the first and only player to break the 4,000-point barrier. To place this in perspective the only player other than Chamberlain to break the 3,000-point barrier is Michael Jordan, who scored 3,041 points in the 1986-87 NBA season. Chamberlain once again broke the 2,000 rebound barrier by grabbing 2,052 rebounds. Additionally, he was on the hardwood for an average of 48.5 minutes, playing 3,882 of his team's 3,890 minutes. Because Chamberlain played in overtime games, he averaged more minutes per game than the 48 minutes in regulation. In fact, Chamberlain would have hit the 3,890 minute mark if he had not been ejected in one game after picking up his second technical foul with 8 minutes left to play. On March 2, 1962, Chamberlain delivered another remarkable performance and became the first player to score 100 points in a single NBA game, in the 169–147 victory of his Warriors against the New York Knicks. In addition to Chamberlain's regular season accomplishments, he scored 42 points in the NBA All-Star Game, which is still the all-time record, on 17-23 shooting and pulled down 24 rebounds. In the 1962 NBA Playoffs, the Warriors met the Boston Celtics again in the Eastern Division Finals, a team which Bob Cousy and Bill Russell called the greatest Celtics team of all time. Each team won their home games, so the series was split 3–3 after six games. In a closely contested Game 7, Chamberlain tied the score at 107 with 16 seconds to go, but then Celtics shooting guard Sam Jones sank a clutch shot which won Boston the game and the series. Wilt and the Warriors finished 11 games behind the Celtics during the regular season in the East and moved to San Francisco after the season.

Chamberlain scored 50-plus points 45 times. Just how impressive is that? Michael Jordan cracked 50 points 37 times in his entire career. How can this season not be #1? I was hearing on the radio this past Sunday on my way to Jacksonville and this local radio station guy was talking about the greatest big men ever. Guys older than me who got to see some of "Wilt the Stilt" were saying that he was over rated. What planet they were on was one thing, but I really felt like calling in and just telling these idiots just stick to NASCAR!!! Just imagine for a second if Wilt shot a little better than Shaq at the foul line what kind of numbers he could have put up! Wilt was the best big man ever, and in my countdown to #1 had the best individual season of all time before the turn of the century.

Hope that you enjoyed! Now I need a something new...any suggestions let me know!

Hottest Women in Sports

Sasha Cohen, 23, the very attractive figure skater won us over back in the Winter Olympics in 2002 finishing in 4th place. Then 4 years later showed up on the national stage at the 2006 Winter Olympics, a little older, looking very well developed and finished with a silver medal. Cohen announced that she intends to compete into the 2010 season and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Sasha, is a very good reason to watch figure skating!

Rejected!

I love Sonic commercials!

Jackass and Kobe

Regional ReCap

My predictions for the CWS could have been dumped the very first day, when Miami was trailing Bethune-Cookman in the 6th inning. Everything I knew about college baseball would have fallen right on my face. After the world gotten to see my fearless predictions since it was posted as a "Pick of the Week" on BadChoiceMilk's daily blog. But, instead...Miami came back and won and my picks for the Super Regional round are pretty damn impressive if I say so myself. Out of the 16 teams that advanced to the Supers, I correctly picked 12 of them. Though both of my "sleeper" teams (South Carolina and San Diego) were eliminated in the championship game of the regional round, I still have 6 of the 8 teams alive for the CWS in Omaha. I was lucky enough to go to Jacksonville this weekend and catch most of the Regional Round on their local cable stations which had games all day on Sunday on two stations and one station had the Georgia/Georgia Tech game last night. The Super Regional which starts up this Friday should be pretty exciting with some enticing match ups. The Supers should be televised, so make sure that you don't miss it. Here's a little of what happened this weekend and what to look for this week.

The big story in the Regional round was the play of the ACC teams. Like I posted in my preview the ACC is my favorite conference coming into the CWS and they did not disappoint me. Out of the 16 teams that advanced to the Super Regionals 4 ACC teams made the field (Miami, North Carolina, N.C. State, and Florida State). While the SEC who the committee thought was the best conference this year, I remember posting in my preview that they would fall apart in this tournament and again I was correct. Of the 9 teams to make the field of 64 only Georgia and LSU were the ones to advance to the Supers and in my opinion could be gone this weekend.

Another great story that occurred was the play of Fresno State who was the 4th seed in the Long Beach State Regional. They moved on to the Supers by defeating LBS then beating San Diego twice, once yesterday in the Regional Final. Being that this Regional was in the west coast we didn't get to enjoy it but truth be told, Fresno must have been doing something right by beating these two powerhouse teams that most everyone thought would be in Omaha this year.

UC Irvine who made it to Omaha a year ago, probably played the best ball over the weekend by beating Oral Roberts three times and Nebraska once to advance to the Supers against LSU, the nation's hottest team. I would be a little worried if I was LSU especially playing a team like the Anteaters who got most of there team back from a year ago.

Florida State almost didn't make it out of the Regionals again this year. They lost to Bucknell in the first game and had to win 4 straight games to advance to the Supers. In each win, they had to come back from being down early in the game. Is this a good thing or is FSU flirting with being disappointed again? I believe this will be good going into the Supers against a very good Wichita State team. They have had to get through adversity early and now their confidence should be good enough to beat WSU twice to advance to their first CWS in a long time.

The match ups for this weekends best out of three Super Regional round starting June 6 to June 9 is as follows:

Miami vs. Arizona

N.C State vs. Georgia

Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford

Wichita State vs. Florida State

North Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina

UC Irvine vs. LSU

Rice vs. Texas A&M

Fresno State vs. Arizona State