Remember when?

Remember when we thought the Reds were going to be good? Or at least average. Do you remember this? I remember the blogger roundtable, the first one I was part of. The sense of optimism that is only natural every spring. But dang. There go the Reds again. Once again, they are not good. They almost made it to .500 last year, and you have to wonder how they did it, especially coming back with a better team (supposedly) and sucking it up. They might get close to average, but they sure won't be good. Sorry to hear it.

As soon as they drop the "Mighty" from their name, they start acting like it

Well, my prediction for the Ottawa Senators to be Stanley Cup Champions is looking pretty dire right now, as the Ducks win both games at home, going up 2-0 on the best road team in the playoffs. Did the layoff for the Senators leave ’em rusty? That’s what everyone is talking about at least.

Reds go back-to-back

Is there any doubt that the actions of the Reds winning two straight and me coming back to blog action are beyond coincedence? You can thank me later. Or now.

The real A-Rod goes down in flames

Another French Open, another first-round exit for America's Andy Roddick. Time to give up the French? Maybe. Clay certainly ain't his bag, but he hasn't been the same for quite a long time.

The anguish and the agony

I hear it, a voice from the distance. It's Kelly Clarkson. What the flip? Wait......she's singing. What's the song? I think it's called "Since You've Been Gone." I think, yes, she must be, asking me via song. I think it's a personal message directed towards me. How odd.

Hmm.........what's happened since I've been gone? What's happened in the span of a month?

Well..............

The Mavericks blew one of the best records in the NBA by losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors. #1 losing to #8 had NEVER happened in the history of a 7-game series. That was painful.

Three days later, the New Jersey Devils lost to the Ottawa Senators, who I proclaimed would be the next Stanley Cup Champions. They got off to a bit of a bumpy road, losing the first game of the Finals to the Anaheim Ducks, but I still believe they are the better team. If Ottawa prevails, it will be the second year in a row that the Devils have lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Not an encouraging stat, but it does soften the blow a bit.

The Reds, since I posted, have been downright awful and it's a new problem all the time. Hitting goes flat, defense goes awful, pitching goes softball. You name it, it's happened. Sitting at 19-33 is not a pretty sight, that's for sure. They returned basically the same ballteam as 2006, although probably a little improved. Who would have guessed? Well, they are right where many pundits predicted, in dead last. Sad to see it happen like that.

Thankfully, the Raiders haven't played any games, so they haven't had a chance to go awry.

But dang, do I not deserve some love? I'd like to think so, after having 3 of my 4 teams crash and burn so badly in such a short span of time. Being such a diehard fan, I thought I'd be losing my mind, wallowing around in depression, but thankfully I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would be. Not sure how, but that's how it goes. I guess life > sports. Or something like that. That's what we tell the grandkids, anyway.

Ryan Freel brings me back

Well, if there isn't some good news out of the whole Ryan Freel Tries to Kill Himself thing, it's that Tim Mo is back to blog a little bit. I don't know why, but seeing the story/video of Freel's suicidal dive for the ball all over news outlets (including the almighty Drudge Report) just sort of made me want to blog again.

Not that it really matters. It doesn't. I'll be doing things quite differently this time around. I got caught up in the game too much. Trying to blog a substantial amount for 4 different sports teams is very difficult, that's why you don't see it too much. But it killed me. At the same time, school was getting crazy and I just had to quit whenever it was, at the end of April or so, because I couldn't do it. In coming back, I am blogging more for myself and doing what I want to do. So less news reports, less game recaps, less of everything pretty much. Fewer posts for sure, probably more insight (however inaccurate) and more fun. It won't be journalistic excellence, that's for sure. But it will be something. Although I've probably lost all the readers (all 3 of you!) that I had before, but then again, I'm doing it more for myself this time around.

Glad to see you again. It's only been less than a month. Come on people. Thanks be unto Ryan Freel and his death-defying collision.

I don't like to do this, but I am taking a break from blogging. Maybe I'll see you around someday.

Devils 3, Senators 2 (2OT)

Alright I had a huge post but then it got erased, so that blows.

In short, the Devils had to win this game. Not technically, but you don't want to go down 2-0, especially losing both at home. That goal in double overtime by Jamie Langenbrunner may have changed this series around.

The Devils flat-out dominated the first period, leading in shots on goal by 16-5. Then they stopped. The rest of the game, the Senators outshot the Devils 40-17. While it was bad, it wasn't as bad as it seems due to the many missed shots by the Devils, whether due to aim or deflection. So it was a little more even than it appears, but it was pretty bad to put up 4 shots on goal in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The defensive dominance in the first period gave way to goaltending dominance, with Brodeur stopping 43/45 shots for the 3rd star when it probably should have been the first star.

The goal with 3/10ths of a second left in the first period was huge for the Devils. If they don't get that goal, they don't win the game. It helped a lot.

Still annoying that the Devils sat back and waited for the Senators to come at them. They got lucky they only let in 2 goals, but Brodeur was back there making sensational plays. But that's not the way to play the game, as John F. definitely agrees with me over at In Lou We Trust. Go check his blog out every dang day because it blows mine away. Props to Tom Lycan as well for posting within seconds after the victory was completed.

It was a good win, but it could have been a terrible loss due to the fact that the Devils exhibited no offensive pressure throughout the rest of the game. I would imagine that to be fixed come Game 3.

Reds 8, Pirates 1

This was a fun one to watch. Once again you are reminded of the kinds of things the Reds could do if they were able to put it all together on a consistent basis.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: The starting pitching, even throwing Milton in there, has been dang dang good this far in the season for the Reds, and they can't even remain above .500. When the starers go sour, it will be a long season. Until then, enjoy the 2nd-finest performance by a Reds starter this year (after Lohse's outing against the Cubs). Matt Belisle started and ended for the Reds, giving up 5 hits and a run while K'ing 5. Extremely well done. He had a perfect game going until the 6th inning where he gave up a double and a single which scored the only run. From there, he got a little weaker but still finished out the game. He didn't look as dominating in the lateer innings, giving up more hits but getting fortunate double play balls in the 7th and 8th innings to kill off any threat and then went 1-2-3 in the 9th. What a game. Great stuff. A ton of strikes and just having the attitude, he was very mentally keen.

Hitting: Ryan Freel led off and was 2/4, scoring twice. It was a perfect game pitchers duel through 3 innings but the Reds scored in the 4th on a Hamilton walk and a Conine double. Then Cincinnati does what it does well and that's have the occasional breakout inning, which was the 5th. Belisle started it, oddly enough, with his crazy sac bunt attempt where a lot of weird things happened. Ross & Dunn were on the corners with 1 out and Belisle bunted into the ground. He got tagged out and then the catcher threw to 2nd base when he Ross go there. Wilson tagged the BASE and not the player, so Ross was safe because it was no longer a force out, because Belisle was already out. Dunn saw all that and ran across home plate. Then 2 singles and a double later, the Reds had some more runs and they weren't finished until Gorzelanny mixed in a balk, scoring Phillips from 3rd base. The Reds tacked one on in the 8th on another Conine double and an EdE single. Then Conine threw in 2 more RBI's on a bases-loaded single. Phillips was 2/5, Conine was 3/5, EdE & Ross were both 2/4. On the other end of the totem pole was Hamilton, who had a double but then K'ed 3 times which was pretty nasty. Adam Dunn was 0/3 with a K and a grounder that went for a double play.

Fielding & such: Dunn stole second base in the 5th inning. I think he's 5 for 5 now, a very opportunistic stealer. Did he steal any last year? I think maybe 1 or 2. Good stuff from him. Freel got caught stealing in the 7th. You'll have that with Freel. Not sure if he's given the wrong signals or if he gets bad jumps or reads, but he'll get caught a few times before the year is out and he will have more bases than not, but it's something to improve. Do what Dunn does, dang it. 2 double plays with Phillips in the mix, one from EdE, the other from Gonzo.

The Randy Moss Experiment is over

Good news I guess. Sort of sad, just remembering back two years ago when I heard the news Randy Moss was leaving Minnesota to come to Oakland. It was huge news, a sensational day. Oddly enough, the first team Moss played against as a Raider is the team he was traded to: the New England Patriots. Hard to imagine Moss as a Patriot, I was getting all set to see him with the Green Bay Packers, but it was New England who swooped in and made the deal. The Raiders received a 4th-round pick that they used to select John Bowie, a cornerback from Cincinnati who just happened to be one of, if not THE, fastest player in the draft.

The experiment began with the Raiders trading their #1 pick, Round 7 pick, and linebacker Napolean Harris to Minnesota for Moss. That was a blockbuster deal. Moss did do some things well in Oakland, but his numbers and production were nowhere near what everyone thought he was capable of doing, and that was due to some injuries as well. It's hard not to scapegoat Randy Moss, more and more people disliked him over time and wanted him out of here. So now he is. It's too bad things didn't work out and it's not all on Moss for that, but a good chunk of it was. It didn't help to have him whine and nag when the team was doing so poorly and the cardinal sin is to admit you're not going 100%, which is what Moss did on more than occasion.

So now we have Mike Williams, Jerry Porter, Ronald Curry, and Doug Gabriel. Williams, in a sense, replacing Moss, though I didn't think that was the case but it looks like it is now. Not that Williams becomes the #1, but here's hoping he can pick up his game with former coach Lane Kiffin. That's the hope and the idea. So Josh McCown throws the balls for a year or half a year and then Russell waits his turn, hopefully trimming some fat off of his body and beefing up his mental attributes and then the Raiders are in business a couple/few years down the road.

Raiders select Michael Bush

!!!!!!!

This was my pick for the 2nd round way back when before all of that nonsense occurred (and I'm still not sure about all of it) but the Raiders got him, it just happened to be the first pick of the 4th round!! This is very awesome news, I flipped out when I saw the Raiders had him. I had wanted him all along. There were very few running backs I'd prefer to watch in college than Michael Bush. I know I'm going on a limb here, and I don't quite believe it as much as I did a couple years ago, but I thought Michael Bush had the potential to be the best Bush in the NFL. If you get my drift, he could surpass Reggie. That was the idea. Not sure what the status is now, but it was clear Al Davis & Co. could not pass up that talent finding him still hanging around after 3 rounds. Very very good pick right there. Time to get excited about that one.

Mr. Russell

"I’m ready to go out there and hear the Raiders Anthem and hear things go wild and I’m happy to be a part of that. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity and chance and now I’m ready to go in and compete. I’m ready to go to work."

Raiders pull off huge trade

The Oakland Raiders traded their 4th-round selection for the Detroit Lions for Josh McCown AND Mike Williams. Not one of them, but BOTH. McCown, you'll remember, interviewed and was though to have the job last year before he accepted the Lions' offer. Mike Williams still has the potential that made him a 1st-round pick in 2005, though he has underachieved this far. Still a pretty solid move, hard to argue with. You're not getting tremendous playmakers, but you're getting two players who can play pretty dang good ball when they are at their best. For a 4th-round pick, that's not bad at all.

Raiders select Zach Miller

Tight end from Arizona State. Let's hope he can hang on to the ball.

Raiders select to trade

With the first pick in the secound round of the 2007 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select..................to swap 2nd-round picks with the Arizona Cardinals and receive a complementary 4th-round pick as well.

Not sure the ins & outs behind the deal as the Raiders drop 6 spots in the 2nd round. Hopefully they will still be guaranteed to get the guy that they want in that spot, and then they would have just picked up another selection. The problem with all that is the fact that I was hoping that the Raiders would pick Alan Branch, seeing to it that he was still hanging around after the completion of the first round. Oddly enough, that's the player that the Cardinals chose with the Raiders' old pick. So that's annoying. Hopefully somebody good is coming our way and hopefully Oakland knows what they are doing.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

"Obviously, they've been making it tough for me to score," Nowitzki said.

Reds do some things

Reds already got one of their 2 PTBNL's in a guy named Marcus McBeth. Looks decent. Hopefully he will have more success than the Shakesperean character.

Also, in a much-anticipated move, Rheal Cormier has been DFA'd. Let's hope we never see him again. Brad Salmon has been called up and we can probably expect to see him pretty soon.

Face of the Franchise

Raiders select JaMarcus Russell

End the speculation, there it is. Everyone was right. He's the man now.

Senators 5, Devils 4

I wasn't around for hardly any of this game, so I won't pretend like I was. And I'm fairly glad I wasn't, to be honest.

Sure, the Devils came back from 4-0 down to get to 4-3, and then from 5-3 to get to 5-4. But it might as well have been 5-0. A loss is a loss. Not that the positives for the Devils are non-existent, they were able to come back to get within striking distance and they do know that they can score on Emery if they try. But, like I say, a loss is a loss.

Everyone talks about how this series will go the distance, how it will be extremely balanced, how it will be a low-scoring affair. None of that really applied to Game 1, and the Devils might not have the firepower to go the distance for they are surely not the better team.

The thing that bothers me the most is Martin Brodeur's performance. I don't know the whole story, I don't know if the defensemen are more to blame than he is or who is to blame, I will leave that up to the other blogs who know a heckuva lot more than I do. What I do know is that 4 goals were scored on Martin Brodeur, in a row, on 9 shots in the period. We cannot afford to have Brodeur "find himself" somewhere in the middle of the series, he needs to find himself right now. Who knows, chances are high that he will bounce back considerably well in the next few games of the series, and that would be incredible if he could do so. But this may the beginning of the end for his postseason dominance. I just don't understand how it happens. Everyone warned about it, Ottawa was much deeper and much better than Tampa Bay. While they didn't have a single best line, they had infinitely better players. And that was proven, as the #1 line went wild in New Jersey. It's just tough when they clawed back with 3 solid goals, to give up another one right away to put it away at 5-3. And that goal made the difference as Parise was able to get a late goal in the game. For nothing, to be sure, but it could have been for something. Brodeur did get better after that first period, but who wouldn't? When I stopped in to check the score, saw it was 4-0 in the first, I was almost positive I would see a different goaltender in net. I realize it's Brodeur, but still, I was a little surprised. He was able to get somewhat of an edge back, but that's hard to deal with. It's nice to know the Devils can score, that's pretty cool. But they need to play extremely better if they are to have a chance with this team, this team that is dang, dang good. They could be gone pretty soon if they don't.