Bored

Wow I really didn't think the Warriors would be able to win a game in Dallas let alone have it under control in the final few minutes. Baron Davis was king sized tonight. First playoff win in 15 years.

I agree it's ludicrous to say ESPN hurts baseball's populartiy but I personally can't watch a Yankees/Red Sox game because of ESPN. Can't watch a Duke/North Carolina basketball game either. The hype they give those two rivalries go beyond nauseating levels.

I said Tulsa because that was where Mustain was originally rumored to be transfering to.

Poor Tulsa, it appears Mitch Mustain is heading to USC. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2843033

Games not on TNT or ESABCPN will be on NBATV.

Hooray. Nice to also finish with a winning record. Hope TNT ends up with most of the series against Dallas.

Mavericks have decided not to stand in the way of the Warriors getting in as they sat Nowitzski and Howard tonight. Warriors are just pummeling them right now, 55-31 into the half.

ESPN & FOX Games to Poison Our Youth MONDAY Yankees (Carl Pavano) at Twins (Sidney Ponson), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN WEDNESDAY Mariners (Horacio Ramirez) at Red Sox (Daisuke Matsuzaka), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Angels at Red Sox, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX Astros at Phillies, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX Rangers at Mariners, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX SUNDAY Padres at Dodgers, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

Aww now Joe is upset no one will give Dusty Baker a managing job. Rest easy young pitching arms, he won't harm you anymore. Jones is from Curacao. Remember only dark skinned people born in America actually count as real black people when it comes to baseball or at least that's what I've been told the last couple of weeks by ESPN.

Marco Scutaro sucks, he really does. But I'll be damned if he doesn't pull clutch hits out of his ass when you least expect it. Three run, walkoff homerun with two out off Mariano Rivera to win it. Almost takes away the sting knowing Rich Harden might but hurt yet again.

I wonder if somewhere today Mo Vaughn woke up thinking everyone was honoring him.

Sooo Warriors fighting to get into the payoffs for the first time in 13 years and their game today isn't even televisied locally. Wonderful.

Oh it's the time of year again where idiots like me waste an entire weekend watching the most boring possible thing to watch in sports, the NFL Draft, but for someone reason we just can't turn away. So in honor of this I'll do what I did last year and take a look back at the 1st Rounds of a few drafts of the past providing zero analysis and bad jokes. Here were the ones I did last year: 1990 1993 1983 1995 This year I picked 1986 to start as the #1 pick didn't even sign and it was quite the draft for my 49ers but they had no 1st round pick so I won't be talking about it. 1. Tampa Bay - Bo Jackson, RB, Auburn No we are well aware that it is not unheard of for #1 picks to whine their way into the trade like John Elway and Eli Manning but for one to not sign at all? Only the 80's Bucs could have pulled off such a feat. Jackson decided he'd rather play baseball for the Royals, who weren't a joke back then, than for the sorry Bucs. The Raiders would then steal him in the 7th round the following year where he'd play partial seasons for them for four years before suffering a career ending hip injury in the playoffs following the 1990 season. 2. Atlanta - Tony Casillas, DT, Oklahoma Solid but never a standout player for 12 years, best known for winning two Super Bowls with the Cowboys. 3. Houston - Jim Everett, QB, Purdue Always seemed like an odd pick as Houston of course already had Warren Moon, Everett never signed and his rights were eventually traded to the Rams. Dubbed the "Quarterback of the 90's", no I'm not making that up, after two very good years in 1988 & 1989 but a complete ass beating at the hands of the 49ers in the '89 NFC Championship Game seemed to shake his confidence and he never lived up the hype. 4. Indianapolis - John Hand, DE, Alabama Another solid but unspectacular top 5 pick, had 10 sacks in 1989. 5. St. Louis - Anthony Bell, LB, Michigan State A bad pick by the Cardinals? A shocking development to say the least. 6. New Orleans - Jim Dombrowski, T, Virginia Primarily a guard in the NFL, started every game for the Saints between 1988 and 1995. 7. Kansas City - Brian Jozwiak, T, West Virginia Bust, lasted three years and never made a start. 8. San Diego - Leslie O'Neal, DE, Oklahoma State Would win Defensive Rookie of the Year after registering 12.5 sacks, finished with 132.5 career sacks and was selected to six Pro Bowls. 9. Pittsburgh - John Rienstra, G, Temple "The Raging Rhino" lasted seven years, almost exclusively as a back up. 10. Philadelphia - Keith Byars, RB, Ohio State Made a name for himself as superb receiver out of the backfield, eventually moving to tight end later in his career. Finished with 610 career receptions. 11. Cincinnati - Joe Kelly, LB, Washington Played 11 years but hell if I remember him. I'll just assume announcers always called him "Jim" by accident. 12. Detroit - Chuck Long, QB, Iowa Lions probably should never take a quarterback in the 1st round ever again. Maybe that's why Millen always takes receivers. 64.5 career passing rating. 13. San Diego - James Fitzpatrick, T, USC Chargers didn't fair nearly as well with their second pick of the 1st round. Lasted six years, did nothing of note. 14. Minnesota - Gerald Robinson, DE, Auburn Total non-descript career only playing two years with the Vikings. 15. Seattle - John L. Williams, RB, Florida I guess this was the year for drafting receiving backs as John L. had 546 career receptions and made two Pro Bowls as a fullback. 16. Buffalo - Ronnie Harmon, RB, Iowa Holy crap, had to be more receptions by running backs than any other draft. Harmon had 582 career receptions, better known for his days in San Diego. 17. Atlanta - Tim Green, LB, Syracuse Better known now as an announcer and writing a lot of bad novels. 18. Dallas - Mike Sherrard, WR, UCLA Suffered a badly broken leg in a scrimmage before the 1987 season, he wouldn't play a down again until 1990 making a comeback as third receiver with the 49ers and Giants. 19. N.Y. Giants - Eric Dorsey, DE, Notre Dame 7 sacks in seven years. 20. Buffalo - Will Wolford, T, Vanderbilt Very good tackle for the majority of his 13 years, made three Pro Bowls. 21. Cincinnati - Tim McGee, WR, Tennessee One very good year in 1989, but merely decent the rest. 22. N.Y. Jets - Mike Haight, T, Iowa Haight wasn't even considered a lock to get drafted at all so this was your typical Jets' 1st round pick. Did last 7 years though. 23. L.A. Rams - Mike Schad, T, Queens University That's Queens University in Ontario, Canada and was the first Canadian university player to ever be picked in the 1st round and did nothing to make his country proud after that. 24. L.A. Raiders - Bob Buczkowski, DE, Pittsburgh Who are you to doubt the scouting genius that is Al Davis? Played a total of two games for the Raiders. 25. Tampa Bay - Rod Jones, CB, SMU Hey at least the Bucs signed him. Did play 11 years, mainly as a back up. 26. New England - Reggie Dupard, RB, SMU Hey he's a running back from SMU so he must be another Eric Dickerson! Um, not quite. 704 career rushing yards. 27. Chicago - Neal Anderson, RB, Florida Had the misfortune of having to replace Walter Payton but he did a fairly good job with three straight 1,000 yard years from 1988 to 1990. Other Players of Note 34. Houston - Ernest Givens, WR, Louisville 43. Cleveland - Webster Slaughter, WR, San Diego State 50. L.A. Rams - Tom Newberry, G, Wisconsin-La Crosse 51. N.Y. Giants - Pepper Johnson, LB, Ohio State 56. San Francisco - Tom Rathman, RB, Nebraska 60. New Orleans - Pat Swilling, LB, Georgia Tech 67. Pittsburgh - Bubby Brister, QB, NE Louisiana 76. San Francisco - John Taylor, WR, Delaware State 78. Cincinnati - David Fulcher, S, Arizona State 84. Green Bay - Tim Harris, DE, Memphis State 96. San Fancisco - Charles Haley, DE, James Madison 101. San Francisco - Steve Wallace, T, Auburn 102. San Francisco - Kevin Fagan, DE, Miami 135. Pittsburgh - Brent Jones, TE, Santa Clara 146. Washington - Mark Rypien, QB, Washington State 162. San Francisco - Don Griffin, CB, Middle Tennessee State 208. Philadelphia - Seth Joyner, LB, UTEP 213. Washington - Kurt Gouveia, LB, BYU 233. Philadelphia - Clyde Simmons, DE, Western Carolina 254. St. Louis - Vai Sikahema, KR, BYU

No it was scored a hit. Podsednik was playing way in and he had to scramble back to the wall so it wasn't the easiest of chances but a competent defensive outfielder might have got it. It's actually kind of tough to see if it hit the wall before it went off his noggin' but funny never the less. Also of note, Milton Bradley clearly pulled up lame on the tying run and was limping to the dugout but of course the A's announcers didn't say anything but Bradley getting hurt hardly ever comes as surprise.

A's piss poor offense scrapes together two in the 9th to beat the White Sox 2-1. Worth catching the game ending highlight as the game winning hit by Mark Ellis bounced right off Scott Podsednik's head while trying to make the catch against the wall.

Speaking of Meadow, I was a little annoyed they never bothered to mention why she was back home. I'm assuming her and Finn broke up.

Yankees! Red Sox! Bonds is cheater! A-Rod isn't clutch! Hey look FOX is televising games the first weekend of the year. Just what the nation needed, more Joe Buck. ESPN & FOX Games to Poison Our Youth SUNDAY Mets (Tom Glavine) at Cardinals (Chris Carpenter), 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 MONDAY Devil Rays (Scott Kazmir) at Yankees (Carl Pavano), 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPN Cubs (Carlos Zambrano) at Reds (Aaron Harang), 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN2 Red Sox (Curt Schilling) at Royals (Gil Meche), 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN Orioles (Erik Bedard) at Twins (Johan Santana), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Rangers (Kevin Millwood) at Angels (John Lackey), 10:/7:00 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Mets (John Maine) at Cardinals (Braden Looper), 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Mets at Braves, 3:30/12:30 PM, FOX Twins at White Sox, 3:30/12:30 PM, FOX Dodgers at Giants, 3:30/12:30 PM, FOX SUNDAY Red Sox at Rangers, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

Is it just me but if you don't have a specific rooting interest that the Final Four can be kind of boring compared to the rest of the tournament? SATURDAY Georgetown vs. Ohio State, 6:07/3:07 PM UCLA vs. Florida, 8:47/5:47 PM

Might as well get this joke out of the way...I am totally GAY for Mike Piazza tonight. He homered in the 9th off of a suddenly not touching his hat nearly as much K-Rod for the win.

Just a note, of course for the finals the DH is used in New York and the pitcher's hit in Montreal. 80's Tournament Finals: 1980 Montreal Expos vs. 1980 New York Yankees Game 1: Expos 13, Yankees 3 Ellis Valentine homered twice off of Tommy John and went 4 for 5 on the day as the Expos bombed the Yankees in Game 1. Steve Rogers pitched a complete game in the win. Game 2: Expos 8, Yankees 7 Goose Gossage blew the save as the Expos scored five in the 9th stealing both games in Yankee Stadium before heading back home where they are undefeated in the tournament. Andre Dawson sparked the rally with a two run homer and Larry Parrish eventually put them in front on an rbi double. Game 3: Yankees 9, Expos 8 Yankees recovered from a five run 6th from the Expos to comeback to win and hand them their first defeat at Olympic Stadium. Yankees had built a 7-3 lead highlighted by a Bob Watson grand slam in the 2nd off Bill Gullickson before the Expos erased the deficit. Yankees tied it in the 7th and then Jim Spencer hit a pinch hit homerun in the 8th off Elias Sosa for the eventual winning run. Game 4: Expos 8, Yankees 2 Expos once again rough up Tommy John and once again Steve Rogers goes the distance for the win. John didn’t get through the 2nd as the Expos scored six runs off him, the knockout blow coming on an Andre Dawson homerun. Game 5: Expos 3, Yankees 2 Gary Carter is the hero as the tournament ends on a thriller. Yankees scored both their runs in the 4th on back-to-back homeruns by Rick Cerone and Graig Nettles off of Scott Sanderson. After the Expos scored a single run in the 6th, Carter tied the game up in 7th with homerun off of Ron Guidry. Then leading off in the 9th he launched one off of Goose Gossage, to cap a miserable series for him, into the leftfield stands for the championship. The 1980 Montreal Expos are the Team of the ‘80s!? Expos win the series 4 games to 1 All-Final Four Team C: Rick Cerone, '80 Yankees 1B: Bob Watson, '80 Yankees 2B: Willie Randolph, '80 Yankees 3B: Larry Parrish, '80 Expos SS: Bucky Dent, '80 Yankees LF: Ron LeFlore, '80 Expos CF: Andre Dawson, '80 Expos RF: Ellis Valentine, '80 Expos SP: Steve Rogers, '80 Expos RP: Woodie Fryman, '80 Expos Final Four MVP: Ellis Valentine, .383/.383/.809, 47 AB, 11 R, 18 H, 3 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBI

Rich Harden pitched seven shutout innings tonight and even better his arm didn't detach at the elbow and go flying into the stands.

Francisco Rodriguez doctoring the ball The guy who wrote "The Cheaters Guide to Baseball" thinks he caught K-Rod putting a little something extra on the ball the other night.

After the 2003 season Miguel Tejada was a free agent and A's general manager Billy Beane had a major decision. He could either re-sign Tejada and allow Eric Chavez to leave as a free agency the following year or allow Tejada to leave and sign Chavez to a long term extension. He chose to allow Tejada to leave and ink Chavez to a 6-year, $66 million deal. Protests from some A's fans aside this made the most sense. Chavez was to that point the better hitter, the better fielder, and was two years younger than Tejada. The other reason it made sense was the A's had a prospect at shortstop who would be ready to step in as an everyday player the very next season. You know the story by now Tejada has put together three very good years in Baltimore while Chavez has seemingly fizzled out on ever reaching the MVP potential many thought he would fulfill. You also know the other side of the story in that Bobby Crosby has become a bit of a running joke from being a trendy MVP pick going into last year by some ESPN "experts" and now to an injury plauged, potential bust. This is possibly a make or break year for Crosby to show he can stay healthy and show he is capable of living up to the hype. Tonight in the opener he let a ball go right through his legs and then was the primary cause of a four run Mariner 6th inning as he dropped a ball while trying to turn what appeared to be an easy, inning ending double play. The sad thing is that the one thing about Crosby that has been very positive so far in his MLB career has been his defense and he didn't even have that going for him tonight. It's just one game and I really could careless at this point but not a good first impression to the season for a guy some already want to see out of Oakland. And I leave you with a random list that I wanted to do but didn't think it was worth an entry. Since today was the true Opening Day here were the Opening Day starters for each team in 1997 which I thought would be mildly interesting to look at. Kevin Ritz John Smiley Terry Mulholland Kevin Brown John Smoltz Shane Reynolds Curt Schilling Ramon Martinez Todd Stottlemyre Jim Bullinger Pete Harnisch Joey Hamilton Jon Lieber Mark Gardner Doug Brocail (!) Brad Radke Dave Cone Jeff Fassero Ben McDonald Ken Hill Jamie Navarro Pat Hentgen Kevin Appier Jimmy Key Charles Nagy Ariel Prieto Tom Gordon Mark Langston

Oh shit son, you can download "One Shining Moment"!

Great start to the season for Bobby Crosby, lets one go right through his legs and then next inning lets a tailor made, inning ending, double play throw from Dan Haren clang right off his mit helping lead to an ongoing Mariner four run inning.