Archive for the ‘football’ Category

How was your week

Posted: November 12, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

The NFL gave us another terrible Thursday night game as this time we got to see the Baltimore Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns 28-7. With the win the Ravens took a 1/2 game lead in the AFC North. Of course the Pittsburgh Steelers still have to play in Week 10. The Browns on the other hand dropped to 0-10.

Now believe it or not the Browns had a 7-6 lead at halftime. Neither team as able to put up any points in the 1st quarter; so you got a hint of how the rest of the game was going to go. The Ravens got on the board first with a Justin Tucker 25-yard field goal. The Browns then out together a 7 play 75 yard drive that ended when Cody Kessler hit tight end Seth DeValve for a 32-yard touchdown pass. The Cody Parkey extra point made it 7-3 Cleveland. Tucker got the Ravens 3 more points as he hit a 40-yard field goal the 2nd quarter clock expired and the teams went into half time with Cleveland leading 7-6. Of course as we know by the final score the Browns didn’t score again in the game. The Ravens used a 9 play 64 yard drive that culminated with Joe Flacco throwing a 4 yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Wallner. The extra point made it 13-7 Baltimore. The teams traded interceptions before the Ravens put together their next scoring drive. This time it was 6 plays covering 47 yards and it ended when Flacco connected with Steve Smith Sr. on a 11 yard touchdown pass. The Ravens successfully made the 2-point conversion when Flacco hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk. That gave the Ravens a 21-7 lead. With the game pretty much over the Ravens out together a 12 play 90 yard drive for a touchdown in the 4th quarter. The touchdown was a 27-yard pass from Flacco to Breshad Perriman. The Tucker extra point got the game to it’s final score of 28-7.

Flacco went 30 for 41 with 296 yards 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Terrence West led the Ravens in rushing with 65 yards on 21 carries while Perriman racked up the most receiving yards for the Ravens going for 64 yards on 3 receptions and a touchdown.

Cody Kessler went 11 for 18 for 91 yards and a touchdown. Josh McCown took some snaps for the Browns as well and went 6 for 13 for 59 yards with 2 interceptions. Isaiah Crowell was the Browns leading rusher in the game with 23 yards on 9 carries. Terrelle Pryor Sr. led the Browns in receiving as he caught 5 passes for 48 yards.

Some now the question is; will the Browns win a game this season. It look as they would get their first win three weeks ago against the New York Jets, but they found a way to give that game away. The rest of the Browns schedule looks like this. Week 11 vs. the Steelers, Week 12 vs. the New York Giants, Week 13 is the Browns bye week. Week 14 they host the Cincinnati Bengals, Week 15 they’re on the road against the Buffalo Bills. Week 16 they’re home against the San Diego Chargers and then they end the season Week 17 in Pittsburgh for their second game against the division rival Steelers. Let me know if you see a win in there because I don’t think I do. The other question for the Browns is with as bad as this team has been will they be replacing head coach Hue Jackson at the end of the season? Jackson is regarded as a quality coach in the NFL and I’m not sure he’s the issue with this team. Even if the Browns do make a coaching change is there a guy out there that could make this team better as the head coach. Of course you’d have to wonder if any of the top names would touch a job like the Browns.

We had some baseball free agent signings and a trade during the last couple days of the General Manager meetings. The Atlanta Braves made two of them. First they signed knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to a 1 year $8 million dollar deal with an option for 2018. Dickey will be 43 years old at the starts of the season and has spent the last 4 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Braves then added to there starting rotation by signing Bartolo Colon to a 1 year $12.5 million dollar deal. Colon turns 44 in May and has pitched the last 3 seasons for the New York Mets.

The Blue Jays also made two signings. They inked Cuban infield prospect Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to a 7 year $22 million dollar contract. Lourdes is the younger brother of Houston Astros infielder Yulieski Gurriel and is considered one of the top international prospects. Gurriel, a Wasserman client, was declared a free agent several months ago but waited to sign until after the completion of his 23rd birthday in order to be exempt from international spending limitations. Unlike his older brother, he’ll require some more time in the minor leagues before surfacing at the big league level. Gurriel Jr. had a showcase last month where it’s reported that 60 to 70 scouts representing 20 different teams showed up for it. Gurriel Jr. worked out at shortstop and centerfield and ran 6.65 in the 60 yard dash. It’s unclear where the Blue Jays play Gurriel Jr. as they have Devon Travis at 2nd base, Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop and Kevin Pillar in centerfield. All 3 of those players are under the Blue Jays control until 2020. It’s possible Gurriel Jr. fills a super utility type role until he fills a full time position. The Blue Jays also signed Designated Hitter (DH) Kendrys Morales to a 3 year $33 million dollar contract. Morales is 33′ he’ll turn 34 in June and spent the last two season with the Kansas City Royals. With the signing of Morales you have to wonder if the Blue Jays will pursue their own free agents Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Bautista. While Encarnacion can play 1st base Morales is pretty much strictly a DH as he’s played just 30 games at 1st base over the last 3 seasons.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made a signing as well. They inked Jesse Chavez to a 1 year $5.75 million dollar deal with the intention of giving him a chance to win a spot in the starting rotation. Chavez started last season with the Blue Jays before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chavez appeared in  a total of 62 games last season; all in relief. Chaves did make 26 starts for the Oakland A’s in 2015.

There was another signing. but it didn’t involve a player. The Milwaukee Brewers announced that they extend manager Craig Counsell though the 2020 season. Counsell took over as Brewers manager in May of 2015 after the team fire Ron Roenicke. Counsell is 135-169 as manager, but it looks as though he’ll be the guy on the bench through the teams rebuild. Financial terms of Counsell’s deal weren’t announced.

Then the trade. The Philadelphia Phillies acquired 2nd baseman/leftfielder Howie Kendrick from the Dodgers for 1st baseman Darin Ruf and 2nd baseman/outfielder Darnell Sweeney. It’s not clear how the Phillies will use Kendrick, but he’ll provide a veteran presence on a young team. By dealing Kendrick who wasn’t happy with his role in L.A. the Dodgers cleared some payroll to pursue free agents. Could this be a deal that actually works for both teams?

You can listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com and you can find the podcast anytime you like at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 19, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

During the regular season the Chicago Cubs tied for 14th in baseball with a batting average of .256. They finished 13th in home runs with 199. They struck out the 9th most in baseball with 1339 strikeouts, but they led baseball in walks with 656.

In the post season combined the Cubs are hitting .185; that’s 8th out of the 10 teams that made the playoffs. The New York Mets are 9th at .133 and the Baltimore Orioles are 10th at .100. Of course the Mets and the Orioles only had 1 post season game to put up their numbers. The Cubs have had 7 post season games. The Cubs have 7 post season home runs. That’s the lowest number of the 4 teams still playing. They’ve struck out 63 times in the post season which is 3rd out of the 4 teams still playing. Only the Cleveland Indians have struck out less than the Cubs. They’ve walked 17 times which is 3rd again they are ahead of the Cleveland Indians out of the teams still in the post season.

You can see how things have really went down in the playoffs. Now the Cubs are facing better pitching in every game than they would in the regular season. There’s a reason why people say “Good pitching beats good hitting”. Now after putting up 8 runs in Game 1 it looked as though the Cubs might be out of there slump. 7 innings of Clayton Kershaw and 2 innings of Kenley Jansen put the Cubs bats right back into a slump as they combined to shut them out and even the series at 1 game apiece. In Game 3 last night the Cubs failed to score again. This time it was 6 innings of Rich Hill, an innings of Joe Blanton, 2/3rd of an inning from Grant Dayton and an inning and 1/3 from Jansen that did the job as the Dodgers took the game 6-0.

We’re moving on to Game 4 tonight and the Cubs are turning to veteran John Lackey to try and even the series at 2 games apiece. Lackey was 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA during the season. Lackey lasted 4 innings and gave up 3 runs while getting a no decision in his NLDS series start. The Dodgers are going with 20-year old rookie Julio Urias as their Game 4 starter. Urias was 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in the regular season. Urias has not made a post season start, but did come in in relief and threw 2 scoreless innings. Is it a must win for the Cubs tonight? If they where to lose Game 4 tonight would they see Kershaw as the Game 5 starter in Dodgers stadium to try and close out the series.

The Toronto Blue Jays got there first win in Game 4 of the ALCS 5-1 over the Cleveland Indians. Aaron Sanchez went 6 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5. Brett Cecil, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna all pitched an inning after Sanchez. None of them allowed a run while Cecil and Osuna each struck out 2 batters. Corey Kluber made the start for the Indians. He lasted 5 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7. Dan Otero worked a scoreless inning out of the Cleveland bullpen, but Bryan Shaw really struggled. Shaw pitched just 1/3rd of an inning and gave up 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned and walked 1. Mike Clevinger followed Shaw and gave up 1 run on 1 hit while walking 1 and striking out 1 over an 1 2/3rd.

Josh Donaldson provided some power for the Blue Jays going 1 for 3 with a solo home run. Edwin Encarnacion went 2 for 4 and drove in 2 runs. Ezequiel Carrera had 2 hits; one being a triple and drove in a run. Kevin Pillar had the other RBI for the Blue Jays. The Indians only had two hits in the game and they where both doubles. Tyler Naquin had one and Roberto Perez had the other with Perez’s double driving in the Indians run.

Marco Estrada comes back to start Game 5 for the Blue Jays. Estrada pitched a complete game in Game 1, but took the loss. Estrada gave up 2 runs on 6 hits over 8 innings in Game 1. The Indians are going with Ryan Merritt as their Game 5 starter. Merritt has one career start and 11 career innings all this past season. Can the Blue Jays even the series? Or will there season be over after Game 5.

Mr. Fantasy had a very good Week 6 in our pick contest going 12-3 to take the win for the week, Schaumburg Stu and I tied at 9-6 while Dan the Man was a game behind us at 8-7. Overall for the season Schaumburg Stu is still in the lead at 56-36. Dan the Man is in 2nd with a record of 52-40. Then it’s Mr. Fantasy and I tied at 48-44 on the season. We’ll see if someone has a big Week 7.

It looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be without there starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for to 6 weeks. Roethlisberger had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. The Steelers where informed of the timetable by Dr. James Bradley who performed Roethlisberger’s surgery on Monday. Pittsburgh was hoping to have Roethlisberger back by Week 9, but it looks like it’s going to be a little longer before he can return. Roethlisberger has thrown 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions while totaling 1685 yards while completing 64.2% of his passes. The Steelers are 4-2 and if it’s just 4 weeks that Roethlisberger misses he’ll miss this week’s games at home against the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh’s bye week is Week 8. Then there’s a road game against the Baltimore Ravens and then a home game against the Dallas Cowboys. If it’s 6 weeks Roethlisberger is going to  miss you can add road games against the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts. The 1st place Steelers turn to Landry Jones as their starter. Jones is 1-1 in 2 career starts, but has played in 11 career games. Jones has 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in his career and completes 57.1% of his passes. Can the Steelers hold on to 1st place while “Big” Ben is out? If he misses 6 weeks or 5 games; what will the Steelers record be in the game Roethlisberger misses?

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com the podcast is also available any time at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 12, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, hockey, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

Week 5 of the NFL season is in the books and our pick contest continues to roll along. Schaumburg Stu won Week 5 with a record of 10-4. Dan the Man, Mr. Fantasy and I all finished Week 5 at 8-6. On the season Schaumburg Stu is in the lead with a record of 47-30. Dan the Man is in 2nd at 44-33. I’m holding down the 3rd spot with a record of 39-38 while Mr. Fantasy is in the cellar at 36-41. We’re off to Week 6.

The Chicago Cubs used 4 runs in the top of the 9th against a terrible San Francisco Giants bullpen to win their NLDS series 3 games to 1. Down 5-2 going into the 9th inning it looked like this series was headed back to Wrigley Field for a Game 5 on Friday. Derek Law was on the mound to start the 9th inning, but after a single by Kris Bryant he was removed for left handed specialist Javier Lopez. Lopez didn’t do his job as he walked the left handed hitting Anthony Rizzo and was taken out of the game for Sergio Romo. Ben Zobrist greeted Romo  with a double to score Bryant and advance Rizzo to 3rd. Chris Coghlin was announced as the pinch hitter for Addison Russell; so the Giants countered by bringing Will Smith into the game to pitch. The Cubs countered that move by Putting Wilson Contreras in for Coghlin. Contreras singled off of Smith as both Rizzo and Zobrisy scored to tie the game 5-5. Jason Heyward bunted badly into a fielders choice, but a throwing error by Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford allowed Heyward to move up to 2nd base. Giants manager Bruce Bochy made a double switch as Gorkys Hernandez entered the game to play leftfield and Hunter Strickland was brought in to face Javier Baez. Baez singled to centerfield to score Heyward and give the Cubs the lead at 6-5. The top of the 9th finally ended as David ross hit into a double play, but by that time the Cubs had scored 4 runs on 4 hits and with the help of 1 Giants error had taken the lead.

The Cubs made some defensive moves to start the bottom of the 9th inning. Zobrist moved to 2nd base, Contreras stayed in the game in leftfield and Baez moved to shortstop. In the end none of those moves mattered as Hernandez, Denard Span and Brandon Belt all struck out swinging against Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman.

The Cubs now wait until Saturday to host the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers/Washington Nationals series in Game 2 of the NLCS. The Dodgers/Nationals series is headed back to Nationals Park for Game 5 on Thursday. The Dodgers forced a Game 5 by picking up a 6-5 at home in Game 4 yesterday.

Clayton Kershaw made the Game 4 start for the Dodgers on 3-days rest. Kershaw pitched 6 2/3rd innings giving up 5 runs on 7 hits. He struck out 11 and walked 2 while throwing 110 pitches. Kershaw left the game with the bases loaded in the top of the 7th inning. Pedro Baez hit Jason Werth to force home a run and was removed from the game. Luis Avilian then gave up a single to Daniel Murphy bringing in 2 runs and tying the game at 5 apiece. Kershaw ended up with a no decision, but he ;left the bullpen in a tough spot. A Chase Utley single off Washington reliever Blake Treinen in the bottom of the 8th inning drove in the game winning run for the Dodgers. Kenley Jansen picked up the save for the Dodgers working the bottom of the 9th. Jansen struck out the first two batters of the innings and then Bryce Harper grounded out to 2nd base for the final out of the game.

With the lead in the series the Nationals choose to hold back Max Scherzer. Now they have Scherzer on regular rest for the Game 5 at home. Los Angeles turns to Rich Hill to make the Game 5 start. Scherzer took the loss in Game 1. He pitched 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 5 hits while striking out 5. Hill was the losing pitcher in Game 2. He pitched 4 1/3rd innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7. Who do you have winning Game 5 and moving on to the NLCS?

Did you have both of the American League series ending in 3-game sweeps. Maybe you did, but I bet you didn’t have the teams right. The Toronto Blue Jays easily handled the Texas Rangers in their series to advance to the ALCS. Then it was the Cleveland Indians who where missing 2 of their top 3 starting pitchers sweeping the Boston Red Sox out of the playoffs. The Rangers did have the best record in the American League and while they where a bit of a favorite coming into the series with the Blue Jays; it’s not a huge shock that Toronto won the series. It’s a bit of a surprise that they swept, but not that they won it. In the other series the Red Sox should be nothing, but embarrassed. I can understand Game 2 as Corey Kluber is one of the top pitchers in baseball, but they got beat on games started by Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin. Both back of the rotation guys that the Indians where forced to use due to injuries to Carlos Carresco and Danny Salazar.

The only Red Sox who showed up in the series where Brock Holt who hit .400 with a home run and rookie Andrew Benintendi who hit .333 with a home run. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit .100, David Ortiz hit .111, Dustin Pedroia hit .167 and Mookie Betts hit .200. These big Red Sox hitters where shut down by a guy in Bauer who had an ERA of 4.26 this season and Tomlin who came in with an ERA of 4.40 for the season. The Red Sox where the trendy pick to win it all coming into the playoffs, but I’m sure those guys who where on that bandwagon won’t admit to being there right now.

The NHL season get sup and running tonight with 4 games on the schedule. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators will be the first two team s to drop the puck tonight. Then it’s the St. Louis Blues at the Chicago Blackhawks, the Calgary Flames at the Edmonton Oilers and the night wraps up with the Los Angeles Kings at the San Jose Sharks.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can find the podcast any time you’d like at TuneIn.com

I’m on Twitter @Burketime

 

Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: September 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio
Tags: , , , ,
0

We’re three weeks into the NFL season and our pick contest. Schaumburg Stu and Dan the Man tied for the lead in Week 3 at 9-7. Mr. Fantasy came in with a 8-8 record and I was under .500 at 7-9 for the week. For the season Schaumburg Stu has the lead at 29-19. Dan the Man is just one game out of the lead at 28-20. Mr. Fantasy and I are tied and under .500 at 23-25 on the year. Maybe I can get myself over .500 with a good Week 4.

The Houston Texans hold the early lead in the AFC South with a 2-1 record. The Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans are 1-2 with the Jacksonville Jaquars at 0-3. It’s a very winnable for the Texans, but their chances of doing that took a huge blow now that J.J. Watt is going to be out an extended period of time. There are reports that the Texans will place Watt on injured reserve (IR) today. That means Watt won’t be allowed to practice for 6 weeks and won’t be able to return to game action for 8 weeks. If Watt goes on IR the earliest he could return would b November 27th against the San Diego Chargers. As tough as it would be for the Texans to stay in contention with Watt gone 8 weeks there is talk that this injury may keep him out for the rest of the season. There’s a quote from a Texans team source that’s making the rounds saying “I do believe that he will miss the season, but with the new rule this year, if he were ready in December, he could come off IR”. Long shot. Watt missed all of training camp and the preseason after he had surgery for a herniated disk in his back in late July. The 3-time defensive player of the year and 4-time Pro Bowler played part of last season through the injury, before aggravating it late in the offseason. He also had surgery in January to repair five torn core muscles. Watt started all three of the Texans’ regular season games so far this season. Watt has 1 1/2 sacks, 1 tackle and assisted on 7 other tackles. Watt has never missed a regular season game in his 6-year career and when he missed practice on Monday Texans head coach Bill O’Brien called it “a day off”. The Texans did re-sign defensive end Antonio Smith to help in the place of Watt. Now if Brock Osweiler and the offense can step up in Watt’s absence maybe the Texans can compete in the AFC South, but if they can’t handle the extra pressure even if Watt returns in 8 weeks it might be too late for the Texans to get into the playoffs.

The Washington Nationals clinched the National League East division last week and where battling with the Los Angeles Dodgers to see who would host their opening round playoff series. Now the Nationals knew they would face the Dodgers and any other playoff opponent without inured pitcher Steven Strasburg, but in Monday’s 14-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos torn his ACL and is done for the season. Ramos was injured a throw to the plate where he had to jump to make the catch. There was no contact with another players, but when Ramos landed he torn the ACL. Ramos is over shadow in Washington by the Bryce Harper name and the season Daniel Murphy is having, but Ramos was putting up good numbers before he got hurt. Ramos played in 131 games and was hitting .307. Ramos had 22 home runs 80 RBI’s as well as 25 doubles. Now it’s not just the hitting the Nationals will miss. Ramos has caught 1096 1/3rd innings this season for a staff that has an ERA of 3.50. That’s the second best ERA in baseball. When Ramos caught the teams ERA is 3.46.

How will the Nationals replace Ramos. Jose Lobaton is the veteran option Dusty Baker could go with. Lobaton has played in 36 games for the Nationals this season and is hitting .226 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI’s. Washington does have another option in 23-year old rookie Pedro Severino.  Severino has played in 13 games this season and is hitting .333 with 1 home run and 3 RBI’s. I’m sure both catchers will be on the playoff roster, but who’s going to get the at bats. Do you go with the veteran in the playoffs or do you take a shot with a rookie? Will have to wait and see what decision Dusty baker makes.

Now I mentioned Washington was already short handed with Strasburg out due to a strained flexor mass in his pitching elbow. There is a chance that Strasburg could be back before the NLDS, but it looks like they’ll be going into the playoffs without him, at least for the first round. Also added to the injury list is 2015 MVP Bryce Harper. Harper has been banged up all season and is now dealing with a thumb injury. There have also been reports that Harper has been dealing with a shoulder injury all season, but he has denied that. Either way he’s not playing like the MVP he was last season.

Now playoff related with the Ramos injury is the fact that he’s going to be a free agent this off season. He was looking at a pretty good pay day until this injury. now you have to ask yourself; what’s a team going to pay a catcher who’s recovering fro a torn ACL. With this injury happening so late in the season you have to wonder if his recovery will carry over into next season. What kind of a contract will a catcher who’s going to miss the start of the 2017 season get. If Ramos’ rehabilitation takes longer than expected he could be out until the All-Star break. Ramos is 29 and it will be interesting to see if there’s a team out there that’s willing to pay him will he’s doing his rehabilitation.

Have you watched any pre-season NHL yet? They just got the pre-season going this week and I’m going to check out some of the Chicago Blackhawks/Pittsburgh Penguins game tonight. Now with the World Cup of Hockey in the finals there are still a few guys that aren’t with their NHL teams. Since it’s pre-season and there are only 2 more possible games left in the finals those players will be back with their teams soon. Before you know it October 12th will be here and they’ll be dropping the puck in the regular season.

Listen to Sports Time Radio on http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com You can also find the podcast any time you want on http://www.TuneIn.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: September 21, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

Schaumburg Stu won Week 2 in our NFL pick contest with a 10-6 record. Stu has started the season off with back to back wins. Dan the Man took 2nd with a 9-7 record. Dan and Stu where tied going into the Monday Night game, but sadly Dan went with the Chicago Bears while Stu had the Philadelphia Eagles. Mr. Fantasy and I where both 8-8 on the week. Overall Stu has the lead with a 20-12 record. Dan the Man is 2nd at 19-13. I’m holding onto 3rd place at 16-16 while Mr. Fantasy is residing in the cellar at 15-17. Can Stu win a 3rd week in a row? Or will Dan the Man win a week outright. At this point Mr. . Fantasy and I would be happy to break .500.

With the exception of the struggles they had right around the All-Star break the Chicago Cubs have been the best team in baseball. The Cubs have the best record in baseball at 96-55 and are the only team that has clinched their division. With 2 more wins or 2 Washington Nationals losses the Cubs will clinch home field through the National League playoffs. Sadly they can’t have home field advantage for the World Series as the American League won the All-Star game and that’s how home field for the World Series is decided.

When it comes to post season awards the Cubs should do quite well there as they have at least 3 contenders for the Cy Young award and 2 very good contenders for the MVP award. I’m not sure that Kyle Hendricks has the respect of the voters to win the Cy Young, but he has to be right there. Hendricks is 15-8 and has the lowest ERA in baseball at 2.06. Hendricks isn’t putting up huge strikeout numbers (161), but he also doesn’t walk a lot of guys (43); so his WHIP is under one at 0.96. Jon Lester is having a very good year as well and with an 18-4 record; he’ll have a shot at a 20 win season. Lester’s ERA is 2.36 and he’s struck out 184 batters after yesterday’s start; so he should reach the 200 mark for the season. While Jake Arrieta isn’t having as good of a season as he did last year; he’s still pitching well. Arrieta is 17-7 with a 2.96 ERA. While Arrieta should get some votes for the Cy Young I think some of the voters may hold the fact that this season doesn’t compare to last season against him. As good as Hendricks has been do you have Lester ahead of him for the Cy Young? As far as MVP goes you could pretty much put Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo name in a hat and pull one out for the award. Bryant is hitting .296 with 37 home runs and 97 RBI’s. Bryant also has an OPS of .950. Rizzo has very good numbers as well. He’s hitting .293 with 37 home runs and 104 RBI’s with an OPS of .939. Now you couldn’t go wrong with either guy as they are both having MVP type of seasons on a big time winning team. The fear might be that they cancel each other out in the MVP voting and someone else ends up winning the award.

You can look at all the numbers you want and those are the guys who win the awards. That’s the thing you need to do to win one of those, but on every team there’s an MVP that may go under the radar. On the Cubs this season their guy is easily Addison Russell. The 22 year old shortstop has played in 142 games so far this season. He played in 142 games all of last season. While it would be nice to see Russell’s batting average a little higher than the .245 he’s currently at, but is someone said that he’d hit 21 home runs and have 93 RBI’s so far I’m not sure if anyone would’ve believed you. When the Cubs need a clutch hit Russell is the guy they want to see at the plate. When the offense was this week what snapped them out of it on Monday night was a home run by Russell. It’s not just with the bat either; Russell is fielding 97% at shortstop. He has made 14 errors this season, but he is currently #1 in defensive WAR for National League shortstops. Russell was also voted to his first All-Star team this season and he should make many more of them through his career. Russell was a 1st round pick of the Oakland A’s in 2012. He was the 11th overall pick in the draft. The Cubs acquired Russell along with Billy McKinney, Dan Straily and cash considerations for pitchers Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzja. If you talk to any Cubs fan about trades you’re sure to hear about the deal that sent Lou Brock, Jack Spring and Paul Toth to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens and Bobby Shantz. It’s considered the worst trade in Cubs history. Is the trade that brought Russell to the Cubs the best trade in team history. Now Russell won’t win the National League MVP and I’m not even sure if he’ll receive any votes for the award, but the Cubs wouldn’t be where they are this season without him.

I hope you’ve been scanning the waiver wire in your fantasy football league early this season because there have been quite a few injuries already this season. In Week 1 we saw Keenan Allen of the San Diego Chargers and Robert Griffin II of the Cleveland Browns go out with injuries that ended their seasons. In Week 2 there where some more big time fantasy names that where injured. The Chargers lost another key piece of their offense for the season when running back Danny Woodhead torn his ACL. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson tore his meniscus ligament, but there re actually reports that he could play this Sunday. Sticking with running backs Jonathan Stewart of the Carolina Panthers will miss 1-2 weeks with a hamstring injury and Doug Martin of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is going to miss 3 games with a hamstring injury of his own. Jimmy Garoppolo of the New England Patriots was playing well filling in for the suspended Tom Brady, but he sprained the A/C/ joint in his throwing shoulder and will miss a couple for weeks. Josh McCown took over at quarterback for the Browns when RG II got injured. Now Cody Kessler will be the 3rd Browns quarterback to take a snap in a game this season as he takes over for an injured McCown. Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears injured his thumb during the Monday Night game and it looks like he’ll miss a few weeks. It’s being reported that Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is questionable for this weeks game, but he’s been dealing with an ankle injury all season; so it’s tough to tell if this is something new or just the injury he’s been playing with. Hopefully you’ve been out on the waiver wire or making trades to replace these guys because there are a lot of quality fantasy names that are injured.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can find the podcast anytime you want on TuneIn.com

I’m on Twitter as well @Burketime

How Was Your Week?

Posted: August 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,
0

Alex Rodriquez (A-Rod) played in his 2784th career game last night as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3. Now an August 12th game normally wouldn’t get this much attention, but it was A-Rod’s last one with the Yankees. After 12 seasons in Yankees pinstripes the team was parting ways with A-Rod. He was to be released right after last nights game and would then sign a one year deal with the team to be a Special Advisor. There was one year left on Rodriquez’s player contract and I guess the Yankees figured they might as well do something with him since they where paying him anyway. A-Rod went 1 for 4 in the game. He hit a double and he drove in a run. It ended up being a bit of an odd week leading up to A-Rod’s last game. At first Yankees manager Joe Girardi said A-Rod could play as much as he wanted. It was a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox and then last nights game, but when the games against the Red Sox came up there was no A-Rod in the line up. As the manager Girardi has complete control over the line up card and I have no issues with him not wanting to play A-Rod. The issue I ended up having was when he used the lame excuse of he was trying to put the best line up on the field for the team t win. Now A-Rod was having a bad year hitting right around .200, but your best line up to win with had Mark Teixera and Aaron Hicks in it. Both of these players are hitting under .200. What’s the real reason Girardi kept A-Rod out of the line up; who knows, but I’m not buying the best line up to win deal. I know I’m floating into Dan the Man territory here, but what if Yankees management wanted to keep A-Rod on the bench and out of the line up. I know that might seem weird, but the Yankees are going to pay A-Rod $21 million next season to pretty much do nothing. He was just 4 home runs away from the 700 home run mark and his contract has “Marketing Bonuses” in it for home run milestones. Is there a chance that Yankees upper management just didn’t want to give A-Rod anymore more because I’m sure there was a bonus waiting for him at 700 career home runs. Rodriquez had also asked Girardi to play 3rd base in his final game and was told no. Girardi did allow A-Rod t start the 9th inning at 3rd base before he was removed so he could get one final ovation from the home crowd.

Rodriquez has the numbers that a Hall of Fame career should have. He’s a career .295 hitter and has 3115 career hits. I mentioned the 696 home runs, but you might not remember that back in 1998 A-Rod stole 46 bases and has 329 career steals. He is a three time MVP (2003, 2005 and 2007) and finished 2nd in the voting twice (1996 and 2002) and 3rd in the voting once (2000). He is a 14 time All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner and won the AL batting title in 1996. A-Rod exceeded his rookie limits on 1995, but if he hadn’t, with the year he had in 1996 he would’ve won Rookie of the Year easily. He led the league in hits once, doubles once, runs scored 5 times, RBI’s twice and home runs 5 times. It’s easily a Hall of Fame career and then as your looking at his player card  you notice that there are no stats for the 2014 season. As we all know A-Rod was suspended that season for his use of performance enhancing drugs. So as you look back at what is statistically a great career you have t wonder when the PED use started. His numbers where great right out of the gate. In 1966 he hit .358 with 54 doubles, 36 home runs and 123 RBI’s. Those are great numbers for a 20 year old in his first full major league season, but was he clean? There have been unsubstantiated rumors that A-Rod was using PED’s all the way back to high school. Unless the voters change the way they’ve handled the Hall of Fame voting since PED’s have become an issue it looks like A-Rod will be on the outside looking in.

The NFL pre-season kicked off this week and already fans are out of control. In the Chicago area where I live fans where already on the ledge because the Chicago Bears lost their pre-season opener 22-0 to the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. Did I mention that it was the first game of pre-season. These people need to take a deep breath and relax. There are still 3 more pre-season games on the Bears schedule before they open the season for real on Sunday September 11th on the road against the Houston Texans. I understand that a fan wants his team to look good, but if they don’t the game you just went nuts about doesn’t mean anything. In Week 1 of the pre-season sometimes the most important thing is to get through the game healthy. Also let’s be fair here; if you had the Bears going to and or winning the Super Bowl this season you have another set of issues that need to be looked at. I fully understand that football is king when it comes to the 4 major sports, but if you’re giving up on your favorite team after Week 1 of the pre-season because they lost you might want to look for a new sport. With the way the NFL is now and the rules about hitting in practice tackling is so bad that even in Week 1 and Week 2 of the regular season some teams are still acting, looking or even playing like it’s still the pre-season. Again simple take a step back, take a deep breath and relax.

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

The Podcast Now on Tune In Radio!  Apple users can download us straight to the Podcast App!

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 27, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,
0

I really use to have an interest in inter-league play. Remember I said use to. Inter-league play is just a shell of it’s former self and a lot of the time I don’t even notice that a series is an inter-league match up until it’s over. I always wanted to know who was going to DH for a National League team and watching the American League pitcher bat could be entertaining. Now there’s an inter-league series pretty much everyday and it’s really just taken the luster off of it. This week we have the Chicago teams matching up in what they call the Crosstown Cup. At least I think that’s what they’re calling it now. To me now it’s just a 4-game series between two teams. Is there anyone out there that still is interested in an inter-league series or are you like me and it’s just another series in a 162 game season. I would love to get your point of view on inter-league play. Are you like me and you’re no longer interested because of the oversaturation of games or is there another reason you’re down on inter-league play. Also if you’re on the other side and you still enjoy inter-league play let me know why you still enjoy watching it. Feel free to leave your comments here or e-mail me SportsTimeRadio@Hotmail.com.

As NFL teams get ready to open camp one of the biggest question still out there is; who’s going to be the New York Jets quarterback. Last seasons starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Jets remain stalemated in contract negotiations as training camp opens on Wednesday. The sides have not talked about a contract recently and remain far apart. The Jets and Fitzpatrick appear to be far apart on what Fitzpatrick’s value is. In February, the Jets offered Fitzpatrick a three year, $24 million dollar contract, according to sources. It included $12 million in the first year, but only $6 million in each of the last two years. Fitzpatrick is 33 and made $3.25 million last season. He ended up having his best season as a pro. He threw for a career-high 3,905 yards and a Jets team record 31 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. The Jets went 10-6 last season after going 4-12 in the 2014 season. If not Fitzpatrick then who. Geno Smith appears to be the first quarterback in line. Smith appeared in one game last season going 27 for 42. He threw two touchdowns and one interception while throwing for 265 yards. Bryce Petty was drafted in the 4th round of the 2015 draft; so could he be an option at quarterback. The Jets also have this years 2nd round draft pick Christian Hackenburg in camp; so is there a chance that he might win the job. The Jets have stated that they don’t expect Hackenburg to be the teams starting quarterback, but if Fitzpatrick and the Jets can’t come to a contract agreement you’d think they’d go with whichever quarterback gives them the best chance to win. Who’s the Jets starting quarterback Week 1?

Amar’e Stoudemire signed a contract with the New York Knicks so he could announce his retirement as a member of the Knicks. Stoudemire came into the NBA straight out of high school. He was the 9th pick in the 1st round by the Phoenix Suns and went on to win the Rookie of the Year award with the Suns. Stoudemire averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in 846 career games over 14 seasons for Phoenix, New York, Dallas and Miami. The 6-foot-10 forward/center was named an All-Star six times and selected to two All-NBA first teams. In Phoenix Stoudemire teamed with Steve Nash to form a formidable pick and roll tandem. Stoudemire may go play overseas. He has lucrative interest from China or he could join Hapoel Jerusalem, which is the Israeli team he co-owns. Stoudemire spent 8 seasons with the Suns. 4 1/2 seasons with the Knicks. He spent half of the 2014-15 season with the Dallas Mavericks and he played 52 games last season for the Miami Heat.

We’ve had a couple of deals in baseball this week. The Cubs made a big move and acquired relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees for pitcher Adam Warren and three minor league prospects. They Yankees received minor league shortstop Gleyber Torres, minor league outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. Both Torres and McKinney are Top 100 rated prospects. Warren was trade by the Yankees to the Cubs last off season for 2nd baseman Starlin Castro, but Warren struggled to find a spot with the Cubs and had just been optioned to Triple-A Iowa before being sent back to New York. Chapman will be a free agent at the end of the season and had express interest in signing an extension wit the Yankees while he was there; so could he return in the off season? Chapman should solidify the back end of a Cubs bullpen that has had some issues this season. The other deal saw the San Diego Padres send outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. to the Toronto Blue Jays for Hansel Rodriguez a 19 year old right handed pitcher. Upton value increased this season. His batting average was just .256 with the Padres, but he’s hit 16 home runs and had driven in 45 runs. Upton has also stolen 20 bases this season. The Blue Jays did make another deal as they swapped relievers with the Seattle Mariners. Toronto had designated relief pitcher Drew Storen for assignment over the weekend and they where able to work out a deal with the Mariners to send Storen and cash considerations to Seattle for relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit. Details There are quite a few rumors out there and we’ll have to see which teams are going to make moves and which teams are just talking about making moves. Will the teams that are rebuilding like the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves or the Minnesota Twins start to deal some players as we move closer to the trade deadline?

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

The Podcast Now on Tune In Radio!  Apple users can download us straight to the Podcast App!

How was your Week?

Posted: July 16, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,
0

 

Yesterday (Friday) was the last day for NFL teams to sign players they had placed the Franchise Tag on to long term deals. If a deal couldn’t be reached then the player would go through the 2016 season playing for what the Franchise Tag ranks his position at. If I remember correctly it’s the average of the Top 5 salaries at the position. One player who looked like he wouldn’t be able to come to an agreement with his team and even threatened to sit out the entire season was Von Miller of the Denver Broncos. Miller won the Super Bowl MVP award and until yesterday was unable to come to contract terms with the Broncos. Apparently Miller was so unhappy he even cropped Broncos General Manager John Elway out of a photo he posted on social media. Yesterday the Broncos and Miller agreed to 6 year $114.5 million dollar deal with $70 million dollars in the deal being guaranteed. This deal makes Miller the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history based on guaranteed money, as well as the highest-paid player in Denver franchise history.It’s being reported that Miller gets a $23 million signing bonus and $42 million guaranteed at signing, $61 million guaranteed after the first year and $70 million guaranteed after the second year of the deal. The guaranteed money was the biggest hurdle the two sides needed to clear to get the deal done. A lot of the big money contracts handed out to defensive players haven’t really worked out. Just ask the Miami Dolphins about Ndamukong Suh’s contract. It’s a big time deal for a Super Bowl MVP so now he has to play up to it.

Miller wasn’t the only player to receive a new contract yesterday. The Baltimore Ravens agreed to terms wit their kicker Justin Tucker on a 4 year $16.8 million dollar deal. Tucker’s deal includes $10.8 million fully guaranteed, with a $6 million signing bonus. The New York Jets and defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson reach a contract agreement yesterday. Wilkerson’s deal is for 5 years and $86 million dollars. The deal also includes . $36.75 million of the deal guaranteed at signing. The contract also  includes a $15 million signing bonus. The contract, which averages $17.2 million per season, also includes an injury guarantee of $53.5 million. The Oakland Raiders signed cornerback David Amerson to a 4 year contract extension worth a maximum value of $38 million dollars. Amerson wasn’t a Franchise player for the Raiders, but they still worked out a contract extension with him.

There where four players who didn’t agree to new deals with their teams and can no longer negotiate long term deals again until after the season. Each is tied to his team for one year on a franchise player price. Those four players are; Kirk Cousins, quarterback Washington Redskins. Eric Berry, safety Kansas City Chiefs. Alshon Jeffery, wide receiver Chicago Bears and Trumaine Johnson, cornerback Los Angeles Rams. In a few of these cases it may actual be in the teams best interest to have these guys player under the Franchise Tag for a season. There are still plenty of questions about Cousins as a quarterback and now the Redskins get a chance to look at him for one more season before deciding if they want to make a long term commitment to him. There are a lot of experts who think Jeffery is a #1 receiver in the NFL, but he’s had his share of injuries. The Bears now have the entire season to see if he can stay healthy and be their top receiver. Berry returned to the Chiefs after going through treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma 2014. After being declared cancer free, Berry came back for the 2015 season and was named to the Pro Bowl, the AP All-Pro team, and was named the 2015 AP Comeback Player of the Year. While it’s not the happy ending to the story that people will want; it’s not a bad idea for the Chiefs to let Berry play under the Franchise Tag and make sure he stays healthy. Johnson led the Rams with 7 interceptions last season. He had never had more than 3 in any season before 2015 and I don’t believe the Rams had any injury concerns with Johnson. It may have been more of a case of him having his best season in 2015 and the Rams may want to see if he can repeat that or if it was an anomaly.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss this week’s NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway because of concussion like symptoms. Earnhardt Jr. mentioned he wasn’t feeling well going into last weeks races in Kentucky, but thought it might be a sinus infection or allergies. After the medication that Earnhardt Jr. was given by a family doctor didn’t help he met with a neurological specialist. After that evaluation was done it was decided that it would be best for Earnhardt Jr. to sit out this week. Now there is no timetable for Earnhardt Jr’s return and this maybe end up being more than a one race absence. Remember Earnhardt Jr. missed two Sprint Cup Series races in the 2012 season after suffering two concussions in a six week stretch. It’s a difficult time for Earnhardt Jr. too miss, but it’s better for him to sit out than try to drive with those symptoms. Earnhardt Jr. currently sits 13th overall in the driver standings, but does not have a win. Depending on how many races he’ll have to sit out there’s a chance that Earnhardt Jr. will fall out of The Chase. Alex Bowman is going to fill in for Earnhardt Jr. in the #88 car for the New Hampshire race. Bowman drives part-time for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. JR Motorsports is owned by Earnhardt Jr. It was announced yesterday that if Earnhardt Jr. is going to be out for the July 24th race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Jeff Gordon will take the wheel of the #88 car as the fill in driver. This type of injury will be a day by day thing to deal with and hopefully it won’t keep Earnhardt Jr. out to long. Of course it’s better to wait and make sure he’s 100 % before he gets back behind the wheel. There;s no reason for him to put his life at risk or possibly something happening to another driver. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Jimmie Johnson won the pole for Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 with an average speed of 133.971 m.p.h. Johnson will share the front row with Kyle Busch who’ll start 2nd. Martin Truex Jr starts 3rd while Kyle’s brother Kurt Busch is starting 4th. Denny Hamlin starts 5th to round out the Top 5.   

 The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

The Podcast Now on Tune In Radio!  Apple users can download us straight to the Podcast App!

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 6, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,
0

Did Kevin Durant signing with the Golden State Warriors ruin the upcoming NBA season? I’ll be the first to say that I don’t like what Durant did, but in the end it was his choice. I’m not a fan of players chasing a championship and I like to see them earn them where they’re playing at. Now I’ve seen a lot of experts and just other people I know that are saying let’s just skip the NBA season and get right to the finals of Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers. Now the Warriors are coming off the best regular season in the history of the NBA, but a failure to win the title more or less makes the season an asterisk. Now Golden State has added Durant to a line up of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Now Golden State did have to trade Andrew Bogut to get Durant’s contract under the salary cap. This Golden State team could end up being the highest scoring team in NBA history and I actually heard one expert say they wouldn’t lose a regular season game next season and sadly he wasn’t kidding.

What I am wondering now is if the way to beat the Warriors is to beat the Warriors up. Physical play isn’t really something you see in the NBA anymore, but Golden State is going to be a small team and you have to wonder if teams will see that and try to go that route. While Bogut wasn’t any type of offensive force with the way the Warriors play he was a true rim protector on defense. Now Durant is a 7-footer he now that type of a defender. Can Festus Ezeli fill that role of rim protector or will Golden State need to try and resign Marreese Speights or Anderson Varejao to try and do that job. It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see either Speights or Varejao brought back as Ezeli is the only center currently listed on the Warriors roster. There really isn’t a big time center left on the free agent market.It is possible that a veteran like Kendrick Perkins would take a low dollar contract to play with the Warriors and have a chance at another title, but how much help would he be?  I’m sure there are NBA head coaches especially in the Western Conference that are already looking at ways to beat Golden State. Would physical play be the answer and would the referees allow a tam to play physical enough against Golden State to beat them. Right now the only thing I’m looking forward to this coming NBA season is to see how a team beats Golden State. Is there anything else to look forward to?

After sitting out the last two NBA seasons there are reports that Ray Allen could be interested in returning to the league. The report said that Allen’s representatives reached out to two teams; the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Allen turns 41 on July 20th and while he’s not absolutely sure he wants to return he is intrigued by the possibility of playing for another championship. While the Warriors and Cavaliers have been contacted to see if they are interested in Allen’s services the report said that Allen would also consider joining the Los Angeles Clippers or San Antonio Spurs. Allen averaged 9.6 points per game for the Miami Heat in 2013-14, his final season. For his career Allen averaged 18.9 points per game and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line. Allen is a 10-time All-Star and won championships with Boston in 2008 and Miami in 2013.

Can the Denver Broncos and Von Miller come to a contract agreement before the July 15th deadline for franchise players to come to terms on long-term deals. Broncos General Manager John Elway reached out to Miller over the 4th of July holiday weekend and the two had a 10-15 minute conversation on the phone. Elway wanted to let his franchise player know that the Broncos still love him and still want to re-sign him, league sources said. Elway told Miller that Denver would reach out to his agents this week in an effort to jump start talks and procure a long-term deal, a source said. Until this weekend, the last time the two sides spoke was June 7. About a month ago Miller stated that he would not play this season under the franchise tag, and all contact between the sides had ceased. The Broncos placed the exclusive franchise tag on Miller March 1st. Unless Miller and Denver can reach agreement on a long term deal by July 15, Miller will make the average of the top-five salaries of his position for this year. And since it’s an exclusive tag, that will prohibit Miller from talking to any other teams. Miller had 11 sacks, 35 tackles and four forced fumbles and was elected to his fourth Pro Bowl selection in 2015. He has 60 career regular-season sacks. Miller was the MVP of the Super Bowl 50 as the Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers. Miller had 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in the Super Bowl. Miller also recorded also had 2.5 sacks and an interception in the Broncos’ win over the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

The Major League Baseball All-Star teams where announced yesterday. As always there where players that belong on the team that didn’t make it, but when you use fan voting like baseball does you’re going to get that. There is still one open spot on each roster and there are five players in each league up for it. In the American League it’s between Ian Kinsler of the Detroit Tigers, Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox, Michael Saunders of the Toronto Blue Jays and George Springer of the Houston Astros. Over in the National League the five are Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, Jake Lamb of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Starling Marte of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies. Who do you got for the last spot in each league?

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

The Podcast Now on Tune In Radio!  Apple users can download us straight to the Podcast App!

How was your week?

Posted: May 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to lock down a spot in the NBA Finals with a 113-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors. This was the first time in  the series that a home tam had lost a game. The Cavaliers won Game 1, 2 and 4 in Cleveland while Toronto had surprisingly held serve winning Games 3 and 4 in Toronto. The Cavaliers built a 6-point lead 31-25 after the 1st quarter and just continued to add to it. They extended the lead to 55-41 going into halftime and that was pretty much the end of it for Toronto. The Raptors where able to cut into the Cavaliers lead in the 3rd quarter, but the 2 points they knocked off the lead wasn’t enough to get them back in the game. The Raptors outscored the Cavaliers 33-31 in the 3rd quarter, but that cut the Cleveland lead to 12 points at 86-74. The Cavaliers where able to pull away in the 4th quarter as they outscored the Raptors 27-13 to get the game to it’s final score of 113-87.

LeBron James led the way with 33 points for the Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and had a team high 9 assists while Kevin Love scored 20 points and grabbed a team high 12 rebounds. J.R. Smith also scored in double figures adding 15 points as four of the five Cavaliers starters scored in double figures. The Cavaliers where an impressive 17 of 31 (54.8%) from behind the 3-point line in the game.

It seems for the raptors when Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan play well they win those game. Well both Lowry and DeRozan shot 50% from the floor. Lowry had 35 points while DeRozan added 20 points. Lowry shoot 11 of 22 from the field and was 6 of 12 from behind the 3-point line and 7 for 7 from the free throw line. DeRozan was 9 of 18 from the floor and made both free throws he shot; he did miss his only 3-point attempt of the game. Lowry and DeRozan also tied for the team lead in assists with 3 apiece while Bismack Biyombo grabbed a team high 9 rebounds.

This is the second straight season that Cleveland will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, but this is the 6th consecutive trip to the NBA Finals for LeBron James. He went four seasons in a row with the Miami Heat and then of course these last two seasons with the Cavaliers. The other seven players to accomplish this feat where all members of the 1950’s and 1960’s Boston Celtics dynasties. Those seven other players are Bill Russell, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Tommy Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, and Bob Cousy.

The last year James did not play in an NBA Finals was 2010 – which marked Kobe Bryant’s last title with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron played in another Finals in 2007 with Cleveland, and sports a record of 2-4 so far – both titles coming with the Heat.

In the 6th round of the NFL draft the Baltimore Ravens took Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds. The Ravens will look to use Reynolds as a return man and wide receiver. Of course the issue when you draft any player from a service academy is they have a commitment to that branch of the service. Of Friday at his graduation speech at the Naval Academy  Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Reynolds can defer his military service to play in the NFL. This was considered the final step in allowing Reynolds to play for the Ravens.  It was two weeks ago when Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus submitted a request where he “strongly recommended” that Reynolds be cleared to join the NFL after a standout college career. Mabus recently said he couldn’t think of “a better ambassador for the United States Navy or for the United States military than Keenan Reynolds.” Reynolds finished his college career as the FBS’ all-time leader in total touchdowns (88), rushing yards by a quarterback (4,559) and points scored (530).

While the Ravens got some good news with Reynolds they also had an issue this week as the NFL forced Baltimore to cancel one week of organized team activities and fined both the team and coach John Harbaugh on Thursday for violating off season rules. The Ravens acknowledged the punishment by releasing a statement on Thursday. It’s being reported that the Ravens were fined $343,057 and Harbaugh was fined $137,223. Apparently the rule that was broken was when the Ravens put rookies and first-year players in pads for a five-minute period at a recent rookie mini-camp. This is the second time in six years that the NFL has punished the Ravens for violating off-season rules. In 2010, Baltimore had to cancel the final week of OTA’s, after six players complained to the players’ union about late meetings and two others reported being held too long on the field after practice. I honestly didn’t know that either of these things would be a violation. I thought that it was just part of your job as an NFL player, but what do I know. This punishment was similar to what the Seattle Seahawks  received in 2014. The team was fined $200,000 and Carroll was hit with a $100,000 fine. The Seahawks also lost two days of mandatory mini-camp for violating non-contact rules in the off-season.

It seems like there’s been talk of Julio Urias being brought up to the major for quite a while now. Well last night it finally happened as Urias made his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Urias started against the New York Mets and it was quite the debut performance a lot of people expected. The Dodgers had announced that they would keep Urias to 85 pitches in this start and he did get close to that total, but it was in just 2 2/3rd innings. Urias gave up 5 hits, 3 runs (all earned) while walking 4 and striking out 3. Urias pitch count reached 81 in his short outing. Urias wasn’t involved in the decision; a 6-5 win for the Mets.

Dick Calmus was the last teenager to start a game for the Dodgers back in 1963 and he didn’t get out of the 1st inning. I’m sure there are a lot of people out thinking that it was Fernando Valenzuela. While Valenzuela did pitch for the Dodgers as a teenager it was out of the bullpen; he actually didn’t start a game for Los Angeles until he was 20 years old. Felix Hernandez was the last teenager to make a start in the majors. Hernandez started for the Seattle Maruners on August 4th 2005 against the Detroit Tigers. Hernandez pitched 5 innings gave up 1 run, 3 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. With the way starting pitchers are handled now they may be a big gap between Julio Urias and the next teenage starter.

 

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link and you can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Older Entries
Newer Entries