Archive for the ‘NASCAR’ Category

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: May 4, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, football, NASCAR, sports
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NASCAR

Last weekend the NASCAR series was at the Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500. Now there are plenty of people out there who watch NASCAR just for the accidents.If you happen to be one of those people this race did not disappoint you. Only 21 out of the 40 cars that started finished on the lead lap. Some of the top drivers got themselves caught up in accidents and in the cases of Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. they got caught up in two accidents. If you haven’t seen the video yet you should look for the one where Earnhardt Jr, is involved in his second accident of the race. As he’s driving his steering wheel comes off in his hands and he has to grab the connecting rod to try and steer the car. This second accident took Earhardt Jr. out of the race and he ended up finishing 40th. Now Talladega races can get wild as they are restrictor plate races and the cars run together in big group at or around 200 miles per hour.So that normally means when one car starts to crash they take quite a few cars with them. It can also work out to your advantage if you’re in the right place at the right time when these accidents take place. Brad Keslowski ended up in the best plat at Talladega as he led 46 laps and won the race. Kyle Busch cane home 2nd with Austin Dillon in 3rd, Jamie McMurray in 4th and  Chase Elliott who started the race on the pole came home 5th. Tony Stewart was credited with a 6th place finish, but got out of the car at the first caution and Ty Dillon spent most of the race in the car. According to NASCAR rules the driver that starts the race gets credit for where it finishes. Stewart just returned from a back injury and his doctor advise him to get out of the car and allow Dillon to substitute. Dillon did qualify the car and it was set up for him. Stewart ended up running about 50 laps before giving way to Dillon. Matt Kenseth’s run of bad luck continued. He led 39 laps and look to have a car that could contend, but he got caught up in an accident with Danica Patrick and had to settle for a 23rd place finish. On the Sunday Sports Time Radio podcast Chris Olmstead gave us his 3 drivers to look for in victory lane. He did take Earnhardt Jr, but being that it was a restrictor plate race just about everyone would’ve pick him. He did netter with his other two drivers as Kyle Busch came home 2nd for him and his other choice was Chase Elliott who finished 5th. The Sprint Cup series heads to Kansas Speedway for the Go Bowling 400 on Saturday night.

NFL

I thought this was a bit of an odd story. The National Football Leagu has warned it’s players that if they’re traveling to China or Mexico they have to be careful about any meat they might eat. Any meat produced in China or Mexico may potentially contains Clenbuterol, which is banned under the league’s performance enhancing substance policy.  The independent administrator of the NFL’s drug testing program sent out a memo to players warning them of this possibility. Clenbuterol is a muscle-building and weight-loss stimulant. Oddly the NFL has scheduled a Monday Night Football game in Mexico City on November 21st. The Oakland raiders will take on the Houston Texans in that game. The Raiders also hosted a fan fest as part of the NFL draft this past Saturday in Mexico City. Last season Houston’s left tackle Duane Brown tested positive for Clenbuterol after he took a trip to Mexico on the Texans bye week and ate Mexican beef. After a month long process, Brown was finally cleared in April, sources said, allowing him to avoid what would have been a 10 game suspension. Hopefully NFL players take notice and don;t have t go though the same situation as Brown did. Now this just isn’t an issue that the NFL is dealing with. In 2011, five players on Mexico’s national soccer team tested positive for Clenbuterol, and the country’s federation ruled the positive tests were caused by contaminated meat. Then again at the 2011 Under-17 World Cup held in Mexico, FIFA found a majority of all players tested had traces of Clenbuterol in their system. Mexican cattle ranchers are banned from using Clenbuterol as a growth enhancer, but reports suggest that it is still used widely.

MLB

What if anything will the New York Yankees do. General Manager Brian Cashman mentioned yesterday in the New York papers that things had to change with this team, but what. After last nights 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles the Yankees are 8-16 and in last place in the American League East. Now it is still very early in the season, but the Yankees find themselves 6 1/2 games out of 1st place. Now of course you can always make a change at manager, but is this really Joe Girardi’s fault. I’m sure you’ve heard the term; you can’t fire the players; so Girardi may end up being the fall guy for the Yankees. Maybe the Yankees record has more to do with the fact that only Masahiro Tanaka has an ERA under 3.00 at 2.87 in the starting rotation. The other starters C.C. Sabathia (5.06), Nathan Eovaldi (5.46), Luis Severino (6.31) and Michael Pineda (6.33) round out the Yankees rotation. Also no Yankees starting pitcher has more than 1 win. While the bullpen will get some help soon as Aroldis Chapman will be returning from suspension. Of course the back end of the Yankees bullpen has been good. Delin Betances has appeared in 12 games covering 11 2/3rd innings. He has 5 holds, 24 strikeouts, a WHIP of 0.94 and an ERA of 3.09. Andrew Miller has been handling closer duties while Chapman is out. Miller has appeared in 10 games pitching 10 innings. He has 5 saves, 16 strikeouts, a WHIP of 0.40 and an ERA of 0.00; so he hasn’t given up an earned run. Stat wise the hitting looks to be pretty solid. Chase Headley does appear to be struggling hitting just .147. Alex Rodriquez (A-Rod) isn’t hitting for a high average (.194), but does lead the team in home runs with 5 and is tied for the team lead in RBI’s with Starlin Castro at 12. Of course A-Rod strained a hamstring last night running out a ground ball and looks like he’ll end up on the disabled list. Now the Yankees are an older team with a lot of high salary guys coming to the end of their contracts. Can you fix this team? or do you just hope they come around as the weather warms up.

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com you can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: April 30, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, basketball, NASCAR, sports
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During the 1st round of the NHL playoffs they gave us two quality Game 7’s. After last night it’s the NBA’s turn to try and give us two quality Game 7’s. There where three NBA playoff series played last night that all could’ve ended. Two of them are going to a Game 7 on Sunday while just one of them came to a conclusion.

NBA

Game 1 featured the Toronto Raptors trying to close out the Indiana Pacers. It was a tight game early on. Toronto had a 2 point lead after the 1st quarter 22-20 and was able to extend that lead to 4 points going into half time at 44-40. The 2nd half belong to the Pacers. Indiana outscored Toronto 31-20 in the 3rd quarter to take a 71-64 lead. There was no 4th quarter comeback by the Raptors like in Game 5 as the Pacers kept the pressure on and put up 30 points in the 4th quarter to just 19 points for Toronto yo get us t the 101-83 final and force a Game 7 Sunday in Toronto Air Canada Centre.

Every starter for the Pacers scored put up double digit points led by Paul George with 21. George also led the Pacers in rebounds with 11 and assists in 6. Myles Turner had 15 points, Monta Ellis scored 14 points while George Hill and Ian Mahinmi each scored 12 points for Indiana. DeMarre Carroll and Corey Joseph (off the bench) led Toronto in scoring with 15 points apiece. Jonas Valanciunas with 14 points and Kyle Lowry with 10 points where the other two Raptors to score in double figures. Lowry also led Toronto with 10 assists while Bismack Biyombo came off the Toronto bench to lead the team with 10 rebounds.

In the 2nd game of the night it was the Miami Heat’s turn to force a Game 7 as they  picked up a 97-90 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Now the series returns to Miami’s American Airlines Arena for Sunday’s Game 7. It was a tight game most of the way as Miami managed to take a 3 point lead 27-24 after the 1st quarter. They where able to extend the lead to 59-50 going into halftime by outscoring Charlotte 32-26 in the 2nd quarter. The Hornets where able to cut into the Miami lead in the 3rd quarter by 4 points. Charlotte outscored Miami 20-16 in the 3rd quarter and went into the 4th quarter trailing 75-70. The Heat went on to use a 22-20 scoring advantage in the 4th quarter to pull out the 97-90 victory and force that Game 7.

All of Miami’s starters scored in double figures led by Dwayne Wade wit 23 points. Wade also led the Heat in assists with 4. Luol Deng had 21 points, Goran Dragic had 14 points, Hasan Whiteside had 12 points and Joe Johnson added 11 points for Miami. Whiteside, Dragic and Udonis Haslem (off the bench) each grabbed 7 rebounds to tie for the team lead. Whiteside also blocked 4 shots in the game. Only three Hornets players scored in double figures in the game. Kemba Walker had a team high and game high 37 points and added a team leading 5 assists. Al Jefferson added 18 points and a team leading 9 rebounds while Cody Zeller came off the Hornets bench to add 12 points.

The Charlotte/Miami is scheduled to tip off Sunday’s NBA action at Noon while the Indiana/Toronto game is the third game of the night and is schedule t tip off at 7:00 p.m. While these 1st round series are wrapping up a couple of 2nd round series will be getting underway. The Oklahoma City Thunder visit the San Antonio Spurs to start Round 2 of the playoffs and on Sunday the Portland Trail Blazers are at the Golden State Warriors (Sunday at 2:30 pm) to get their series started.

Speaking of the Trail Blazers. They had a hard fought 106-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Even missing there top two players the Clippers held tough. The game was tied at 24 after the 1st quarter and at the half Portland had just a 2 point lead 50-48. It was the Clippers who came out in the 3rd quarter and took the lead outscoring the Trail Blazers 34-30 and went into the 4th quarter with there own 2 point lead 82-80. The Trail Blazers appeared to pull away when C.J. McCollum’s 3-pointer made it 98-91 with 4:49 left, but the Clippers came back. Los Angeles had cut the lead to 98-95 before McCollum hit another 3-pointer to make it 101-95 with about 2 minutes to play. The Clippers again came back and tied the game on a pair of Jamal Crawford free throws at 103. It was Mason Plumlee putting the game away for the Trail Blazers hitting 3 of the 4 free throws he took and when a 42 foot Austin Rivers last second shot was off the mark Portland was leaded to the 2nd round.

Damian Lillard led Portland in scoring with 28 points and a team high 7 assists while McCollum added 20 points. Three other Trail Blazers scored in double digits. Maurice Harkless had 14 points, Allen Crabbe came off the bench t add 13 points and Al-Farouq Aminu added 10 points. Plumlee not only hit those late free throws, but he grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the team. Jamal Crawford showed everyone why he was the NBA’s 6th man of the year as he had a game high 32 points off the bench to lead the Clippers. Austin Rivers scored 21 points and had a team high 8 assists. J.J. Reddick and DeAndre Jordan added 15 points with Jordan grabbing a game high 20 rebounds before spraining his ankle and having to leave the game. Jeff Green also scored 11 points for the Clippers.

MLB

Dee Gordon was suspended 80 games this week for testing positive for multiple performance enhancing drugs. Gordon tested positive for two anabolic steroids, exogenous testosterone and clostebol. This is known as a “Stack” but these two drugs aren’t commonly used in a “Stack”. Clostebol is described as a simple testosterone derivative, adding one molecule to the standard hormone, so rather than adding different properties in, it’s essentially doubling the dose. The testosterone that Gordon had in his system was cypionate. You may have actually seen that name before in the ads for “Low T” as it’s the commonly prescribed drug for that. It seems odd looking at Gordon’s body type that he would test positive for PED’s.  He issued a statement apologizing for the positive test while going on to say he didn’t knowingly ingest the banned substances. Knowingly or not the positive test is going to cost Gordon 80 games away from the 11-11 Miami Marlins and it will also cost him about $1.3 million dollars this season.

NASCAR

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series moves the the Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500 on Sunday. Qualifying will be held today for the pole position. Chris Olmstead from Beyond the Flag will join the Sunday podcast to preview the race. Every week Chris will also give you his 3 drivers to look for in victory lane. Last week Chris went with Matt Kenseth (7th), Joey Logano (8th) and Chase Elliott (12th); who does Chris have this week? Tune in tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and listen to The Podcast to hear Chris and find out who he’s picking.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

 

How was your week

Posted: April 16, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, football, NASCAR, sports
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NFL

The 1st round of the NFL draft is 12 days away. This week the Tennessee Titans traded the #1 overall pick in the draft to the Los Angeles Rams. What did the Titans get for that pick? Tennessee got the Rams 1st round pick this season which is the 15th pick. Tennessee also got two 2nd round picks; the 43rd and 45th pick of this draft as well as a 3rd round pick; 76th pick in this draft. Wait there’s more as Tennessee will also receive the Rams 1st round draft pick in the 2017 draft along with a 2nd rd round pick in next years draft. Besides the #1 overall pick the Rams will also receive the Titans 4th round pick; at 113th and Tennessee’s 6th round pick which is 177th pick in this years draft. So Tennessee gave up 3 draft picks and moved back 14 spots in the 1st round while Los Angeles gave up 6 draft picks to move up to the top spot in the draft. Was it too much for Los Angeles to give up?

It appears as though the Rams made the trade so they could select their franchise quarterback be it Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. There was even a report saying the Rams wanted to make this deal as early as they did so they would have the time to decide between the two quarterbacks. It’s doubtful that the Rams could’ve stayed at pick #15 and been able to draft one of these two quarterbacks; so if they wanted one they had to move up. Did they have to move up to #1 is the question. Now all off season long the experts have been saying there not sure if there’s a franchise quarterback in this draft. Do the Rams see something in Goff or Wentz that makes them think that they’ll be that franchise guy or was Tennessee the only team they could work out a trade with pre-draft?

Just a few seasons ago in 2012 the Rams where on the opposite end of a deal similar to this. In 2012 the Rams sent the #2 pick in the draft to the Washington Redskins in return for 4 draft picks. The Rams received Washington’s 1st round pick in 2012 which was 6th overall as well as a 2012 2nd round pick which was the 39th pick. The Rams also received the Redskins 1st round picks in 2013 and 2014. Washington traded up to select a quarterback as well. They took Robert  Griffin III with that 2nd pick. The Rams drafted Morris Claireborne at #6 and Janoris Jenkins at #39 in 2012. The 2013 1st round pick they aqcuired ended up in another trade as it was sent with a 2015 7th round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for 3 draft picks. The Rams picked up the Falcons 2013 1st round pick which was #30 and they selected Alec Ogletree. The other 2 draft picks the Rams got where a 3rd rounder (#92) and a 6th (#198) in the 2013 draft.The other 1st round draft pick the Rams got from the Redskins ended up being the #2 pick in the 2014 draft and the Rams used it to select offensive lineman Greg Robinson. Now that the Rams are the team giving up multiple draft picks it will be interesting to see who Tennessee ends up drafting with them.

The NFL also released it’s schedule for the upcoming 2016 season. As they like to do the opening Thursday night game is a Super Bowl rematch as the Denver Broncos host the Carolina Panthers. If you’re interested in looking at the NFL schedule here’s a link for you to check it out. 

NBS

The first round of the NBA playoffs start today (Saturday) with 4 games. There are two Eastern Conference match ups and two Western Conference match ups on the schedule. The 7th seeded Indiana Pacers  at the 2nd seeded Toronto Raptors  tip-off their Game 1 at 11:30 a.m. Central Standard Time (cst) that’s followed by the 8th seeded Houston Rockets  at the #1 seeded Golden State Warriors are at 2:30 c.s.t. The third game of the day has the 5th seeded Boston Celtics at the 4th seeded Atlanta Hawks and the night wraps up with the 6th seeded Dallas Mavericks at the 3rd seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.  On Sunday the NBA action tips off at 2:00 p.m. cst with the 8th seeded Detroit Pistons taking on the #1 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Game two has the 6th seeded Charlotte Hornets facing off against the 3rd seeded Miami Heat. Game 3 has the 7th seeded Memphis Grizzlies at the #2 seeded San Antonio Spurs and the night cap has the 5th seeded Portland Trail Blazers at the 4th seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

On yesterday’s Sports Time Radio podcast Dan the Man made his picks for the series winners in the NBA. Starting in the Eastern Conference he has the #1 Cleveland Cavaliers over the #8 Detroit Pistons. Dan likes the #7 Indiana Paces over the #2 Toronto Raptors. He went with the #3 Miami heat over the Charlotte Hornets and Dan also likes the #5 Boston Celtics over the #4 Atlanta Hawks. Over in the Western Conference Dan has the #1 Golden State Warriors over the #8 Houston Rockets. Dan also mentioned that he thins this series will be a sweep for the Warriors. Dan likes #2 San Antonio Spurs over the #7 Memphis Grizzlies. He also likes #3 Oklahoma City Thunder over the #6 Dallas Mavericks and he also has the #5 Portland Trail Blazers over the #4 Los Angeles Clippers. Feel free to leave your picks here in the comments or reach out to Dan on Twitter @SportsTimeRadio or @DanZeeeMan and let him know what you think about his picks.

NASCAR

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is at Bristol Motor Speedway this week for the Food City 500 and Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) started off the weekend about as good as you can. Not only did JGR driver Carl Edwards win the pole with a speed of 127.997 mph but 4 of the Top 5 starting spots in the race went to JGR drivers. Edwards teammate Matt Kenseth will start next to Edwards in 2nd while JGR’s Denny Hamlin starts 4th and final JGR driver in the race Kyle Busch goes off 5th. The only non-JGR driver in the Top is Joey Logano from Penske Motorsports. Will qualifying success lead to victory lane you never know, but it’s better to start up front at Bristol than in the rear. Just a side note Dan the Man’s favorite driver Clint Bowyer will start 36th for Sunday’s race.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: March 16, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, College Basketball, football, NASCAR, sports, Uncategorized
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Last Sunday the NASCAR series was at the Phoenix International Speedway for the Good Sam 500. On Sunday morning Chris Olmstead from Beyond the Flag joined the Sports Time Radio podcast to preview the race. As Chris is wrapping up his preview we have him select three drivers that he thinks have the best chance to end up in victory lane. For the Phoenix race he went with Jimmie Johnson who finished 11th as one of his choices. His other two choices where Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick who ended up finishing 1st and 2nd. Harvick edged out Edwards by 9/100th of a second. Edwards had actually found his way past Harvick on the last lap, but Harvick was able to pull up side by side with Edwards and after some contact it was Harvick who was able to narrowly pull out the victory. The win of course puts Harvick in the Chase along with Denny Hamlin, Johnson and Brad Keslowski. The Sprint Cup series continues the west coast swing as they go to Fontana California for the Auto Club 400 at the Auto Club Speedway. Chris will join us on the podcast a little after 10:00 a.m. to preview the race and make his picks. Tune in to hear if Chris can pick back to back winners.

Now I don’t watch much if any college basketball, but you know that I filled out a tournament bracket. Pretty much all I know about the college basketball season is the highlights I’ve seen on the various sportscasts I watch. Anyway here’s what I managed to come up with for my Final Four. I have Villanova coming out of the South bracket; facing Texas A&M out of the West bracket. Villanova wins this match up and goes to the championship game. I have North Carolina coming out of the East bracket to face Michigan State who wins the Midwest bracket. I have Michigan state winning this game and advancing to the Championship game. So my finals match up has Villanova vs. Michigan State and I have Michigan State winning the NCAA championship. So my Final Four is actually Villanova, Texas A&M, North Carolina and Michigan State. I guess will have to see how this goes for me.

I was a little surprised when the report came out that the Denver Broncos matched the contract offer made to running back C.J. Anderson by the Miami Dolphins. The contract has a  a guaranteed $5.25 million signing bonus, and his base salary of $675,000 is also guaranteed. In addition, $1.7 million of his $2.9 million base salary in 2017 is guaranteed. Anderson’s base salary of $4.5 million in 2018 and 2019 are not guaranteed. He will have to be on the Broncos’ roster to earn his base salary in those years. Anderson was tendered at a one-year, $1.671 million deal, with the Broncos holding right of first refusal on the restricted free agent. That meant the Broncos could match any offer, but it also meant they would not have received any compensation from the Dolphins if Anderson had signed there.With Anderson back in the fold it will give the Broncos one less thing to worry about as they try to figure out their quarterback position. Denver did acquire Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles, but they’ve said all along he won;t be the only quarterback in camp. Denver has shown some interest in Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers as well as free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The New England Patriots made a couple of moves yesterday. First they sent defensive end Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals for guard Jonathan Cooper and a 2nd round draft choice. Jones is entering the last year of his contract, but is coming off a career high 12 1/2 sacks last season. In 4 years with the Patriots Jones had 36 sacks. Cooper was the 7th overall pick in the 2013 draft. He played in 14 games last season starting 9 for Arizona, but has had some injury issues. The 2nd round pick is a plus for New England. Remember they lost their 1st round draft pick as a penalty for deflate gate. Even without Jones New England was still deep along the defensive line, but that didn’t stop them from adding one more as they signed free agent Chris Long to a one year deal. Long formerly of the St. Louis now Los Angeles Rams is coming off a couple of injury plagued seasons. He played in just 6 games in 2014, but came back to play 12 games last season recording 3 sacks. Long was the 2nd overall pick of the 2008 draft and had 54 1/2 sacks in 8 seasons with the Rams.

The Oakland Raiders have made quite a splash in free agency this off season. They brought in pass rusher Bruce Irvin as well as signing the best offensive lineman on the market in Kelechi Osemele. Not it’s being reported that the Raiders will offensive tackle Donald Penn. Bringing Penn back means that Osemele will play guard for sure. It also means that quarterback Derek Carr will have a very large offensive line in front of him. Penn goes 6’5 and 305 pounds, Osemele goes 6’5 and 333 pounds along with the other starters Rodney Hudson at 6’2 and 291 pounds, Gabe Jackson 6’3 and 336 pounds and Austin Howard 6’7 333 pounds. If it’s not the biggest offensive line on the National Football League it has to be right at the top.

Another signing took place yesterday as Mike Wallace agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Ravens. Wallace spent last season with the Minnesota Vikings and on his way out the door took some shots at his now former quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. After being released by the Minnesota Vikings in a salary cap move there was some talk Wallace would resign with Minnesota, but Wallace didn’t feel this way saying “When this process started, I knew I wasn’t going back to Minnesota. I was like, ‘I need a good quarterback,'” Wallace said. “I need a quarterback who is proven and can get things done. [Ravens Quarterback Joe] Flacco has always been that guy.” In his one season with the Vikings Wallace caught 39 passes for 473 yards and 2 touchdowns. The 39 catches tied for Wallace’s career low. He also had 39 catches as a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In Baltimore Wallace will team with the returning Steve Smith and hopefully Breshad Perriman. Perriman lost his rookie season last year to injury, but if he can contribute the Ravens could have a solid receiving core.

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 18, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, fantasy, football, NASCAR, sports
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Week 10 in the NFL was not good to us pick wise. I believe we actually had the worse week we’ve ever had since we started making picks. Mr. Fantasy set a record for the worst week anyone has ever had going 3-1. Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and I where all under .500 as well finishing 6-8. Dan the Man has the overall lead with a record of 85-61. I have moved into 2nd place with a record of 80-66. Mr. Fantasy;s poor showing dropped him to 3rd a game behind me at 79-69 while Schaumburg Stu still finds himself in the cellar with a record of 77-69. We’ll see how Week 11 goes for us, but how could it be worse.

Major League Baseball started handing out awards starting with Rookie of the Year. Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs won the award for the National League. Bryant was a unanimous choice getting all 30 1st place votes. Matt Duffy of the San Francisco Giants finished 2nd getting 22 2nd place votes and 4 3rd place votes. Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates finished 3rd getting 4 3rd place votes and 16 3rd place votes. New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard came in 4th picking up 3 2nd place votes and 4 3rd place votes. Miami Marlins 1st baseman Justin Bour picked up 1 2nd and 1 3rd place vote while Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Steven Piscotty of the St. Louis cardinals each received 1 3rd place vote.

The American League Rookie of the Year voting was much closer, but in the end Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros took home the award.  Correa received 17 1st place votes and 13 2nd place votes just beating out Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians who received 13 1st place votes and 14 2nd place votes. Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins finished 3rd picked up 20 3rd place votes, Toronto Blue Jays closer Robert Osuna received 2 2nd and 2 3rd place votes to finish 4th. Billy Burns of the Oakland A’s received 1 2nd place and 3 3rd place votes. A second Twins played Eddie Rosario received 2 3rd place votes and Texas Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields received 1 3rd place vote.

MLB also handed out their Manager of the Year award. The Cubs made it 2 for 2 as Joe Maddon picked up the manager of the Year award in the National League. Maddon received 18 1st place votes 11 2nd place votes and 1 3rd place vote. Mike Matheny of the St. Louis cardinals finished 2nd getting 9 1st place votes 12 2nd place votes and 6 3rd place votes. Terry Collins pf the New York Mets finished 3rd in the voting getting 3 1st place votes 7 2nd place votes and 13 3rd place votes. Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates picked up 8 3rd place votes while Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants and Don Mattingly of the Los Angeles Dodgers each received 1 3rd place vote.

In the American League 1st year skipper Jeff Bannister of the Texas Rangers took home the American League Manager of the Year award, Bannister received 17 1st place votes 8 2nd place votes and 3 3rd place votes. A.J. Hinch of the Houston Astros finished 2nd in the voting getting 8 1st place votes 13 2nd place votes and 3 3rd place votes. Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor finished 3rd in the voting picking up 2 1st place votes 3 2nd place votes and 14 3rd place votes. John Gibbons of the Toronto Blue Jays received 1 1st place vote 5 2nd place votes and 2 3rd place votes. New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi received 2 1st place and 2 3rd place votes. Ned Yost the manager of the World Series champion Kansas City Royals received 1 2nd place vote and 5 3rd place votes while Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim got 1 3rd place vote.

Today MLB will announce the Cy Young award winners. In the National League the Chicago Cubs will try to go 3 for 3 as Jake Arrieta is up for the award. Arrieta is going up against two pitchers from the Los Angeles Dodgers as Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke are both up for the award. Over in the American League Sonny Gray of the Oakland A’s, David Price of the Toronto Blue Jays and Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros are the 3 finalist for the award.

On Thursday MLB will announce the Most Valuable Player winners from each league. In the National League the 3 finalist are Bryce harper of the Washington Nationals, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds and Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The American League finalist are Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays, Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals and Mike Tout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

It’s down to 1 race and 4 drivers in the NASCAR season. Sunday afternoon NASCAR runs the Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami speedway where they will crown the 2015 Sprint Cup champion. Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and defending champion Kevin Harvick are in the running to take home the title. Each driver has a story to go with his shot at winning. Harvick’s is obvious as he tries to go back to back with titles. Truex Jr. is a single car team competing with the larger multiple car teams. Busch missed 11 races after crashing during the first Xfinity race of the season. Gordon may be the sentimental favorite as this is the final race of a great career for Gordon in the #24 car. I’m not sure if NASCAR could’ve gotten four better stories for the championship race. Who are you rooting for?

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your Week?

Posted: September 5, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, NASCAR, Sports Time Radio
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If you’re a Kansas City Royals fan are you worried that your team has a 13 game lead in the American League Central and are pretty much cruising into the playoffs. Some experts seem to think that it’s a bad thing that Kansas City won’t have any high tension games going down the stretch to end the regular season. I’m kind of on the other side of this and while I get it that a team can’t turn it on and off as needed I think Kansas City is in a great spot. Kansas City has 28 games left in the regular season; they are 82-52 and like I mentioned 13 games ahead in the A.L. Central. This can work to Kansas City’s advantage. They’ll be able to get their pitching rotation in whatever order they decide. They should also be able to get some players like Kendrys Morales (133), Eric Hosmer (131) and anyone else they thin needs a day off as their regular season comes to an end. While Salvador Perez is one of the better young catchers in baseball; he has caught a lot of games this season (117) and if Kansas City can get him some time of as their season wraps up he’ll be at or close to at the top of his game going into the Division series. Kansas City made one of the bigger moves at the trade deadline giving up 3 players to get Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds. Cueto has made 7 starts for Kansas City; he has a 2-4 record with andERA of 4.21 not the top of the rotation pitcher they thought they where getting in the deal. Cueto has really struggled in his last 2 starts. He gave up 7 runs (6 earned) on 13 hits over 6 innings 2 starts ago to the Boston Red Sox and in his last start he gave Cueto gave up 6 runs on 8 hits over 5 innings against the Baltimore Orioles. Now with the lead the Royals have in their division they’ll be able to let Cueto go out and continue to work on whatever he needs to as he faces American League hitters on a regular basis for the first time in his career. Kansas City will also be able to use the rest of the regular season to evaluate the bullpen. While the Royals bullpen is still one of the best in baseball closer Greg Holland has battled injuries off and on all season and while he has saved 29 games his ERA is on the higher end for a closer at 3.83. Any time Holland has had to miss games due to injury Wade Davis has filled in and has been very good. Davis has picked up 13 saves in place of Holland this season. Davis also has a record of 7-1 and an ERA of 0.97; yes you read that right his ERA is under 1. Kansas City still has Kelvin Herrera setting up games before Davis and Holland and they’ve even gotten Ryan Madson helping out in the bullpen. Madson hadn’t pitched since 2011 because of injuries. Kansas City brought him into spring training and it’s paid off for them. Madson has appeared in 55 games for Kansas City this season; he has a 1-2 record with an ERA of 2.45 over 51 1/3rd innings. Madson has also gotten 2 saves this season out of the Kansas City bullpen. As good as the Royals bullpen was in the playoffs last season if Holland is 100% and with the addition of Madson believe it or not it might be better this season. Having as big of a division lead as the Royals do will allow them to get Holland rested and healthy and not worry about the bullpen. Also with the re-emergence of Madson not all the closing duties will fall on Davis and he’ll be able to get some days off down the stretch. So I have to wonder if Kansas City have a big division lead is really an issue.

I believe that I’ve mentioned on Sports Time Radio podcast that I watch way too much of the MLB Network. Earlier this week they had a plug that they would be discussing the race for the National League Cy Young award. I sat through the commercials and waited for them to start talking about it. After a couple of boring segments and another commercial break they finally said let’s look at the Top 3 contenders for the N.L. Cy Young award. Teammates Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner where the 3 names they threw out. Greinke may be the front runner for the award as he is 15-3 through 27 starts with a fantastic ERA of 1.59. Kershaw is 12-6 with an ERA of 2.16 over 27 starts. Bumgarner has started 27 games as well and is 16-7 with an ERA of 2.96. Three very good  candidates, but for some reason they seem to have overlooked a top Cy Young Award contender. Now I don;t know if it’s because he’s not a big name like the other 3 pitcher they brought up, but Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs should really of been mentioned with the other 3. Arrieta has more wins (17) than any of the 3 pitchers they brought up and his ERA (2.11) is 2nd in the National League among starting pitchers behind Greinke. Why was Arrieta left off of their list? He’s pitching for a winning team as the Cubs are in control of the last N.L. wild card spot and he just threw a no-hitter which the MLB Network did completely devalue after he pitched it. I don’t understand the stupidity of not looking at every pitcher especially one that’s putting up the numbers Arrieta is this season. The sad part is I’m sure there are a lot of guys who work for or appear on the MLB Network that hold votes for the end of the year awards and if they’re not believing in Arrieta he’ll have no chance at winning anything no matter how well he pitches or if his team makes the playoffs.

Now even though Mr. Fantasy and I will be at our money league fantasy football draft Dan the Man is going to step in and talk to Chris Olmstead from BeyondtheFlag.com tomorrow (Sunday) on Sports Time Radio. They’ll preview the Bojangles Southern 500 for you. The race is at Darlington Speedway and is a Sunday night race. You’ll want to listen to Chris as he makes his Top 3 picks on which driver will end up in victory lane.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime.  

How was your Week?

Posted: August 1, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, football, NASCAR, sports
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Right before their first training camp practice the Seattle Seahawks announced they had signed quarterback Russell Wilson to a 4 year, $87.5 million dollar contract. Wilson was entering the final year of his four-year, $3 million rookie contract. Wilson’s rookie contract did not include a fifth-year option because he wasn’t a first-round pick. Because of that, Seattle would have had to use the franchise tag on him in 2016 currently projected at more than $25 million; if no extension had been signed by then. $31 million in Wilson’s new deal s a signing bonus and $60 million is guaranteed. In 2014, Wilson completed 285 of 452 passes (63.1 percent) for 3,475 yards with 20 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He also rushed for 849 yards and six more touchdowns. The Seahawks have a 36-12 record through three seasons with Wilson at the helm, no quarterback in NFL history has helped his team win more games. Wilson’s career numbers match up very well with the best quarterbacks in the NFL over the last three years. He’s one of six quarterbacks with at least 9,000 passing yards, 60 touchdowns and 500 rushing yards during that time frame. Now that Wilson is signing and being paid well; the Seahawks may have to deal with the issues of trying to pay all their other key players enough to keep the team a championship contender. In some cases these issues may have already started on the defensive side of the football of the Seahawks. Kam Chancellor was a no show for the opening of camp. Chancellor’s holdout is due to him being unhappy with the compensation in his contract signed before the 2013 season that will pay him $4.5 million in 2015. There was some reports that 2 other Seattle defensive players might skip the start of training camp, but both defensive lineman Michael Bennett and linebacker Bobby Wagner were there for the opening of camp. Bennett has been the most vocal about his contract. Bennett is hoping his versatility along the defensive line will merit a pay raise from the Seahawks. Bennett has lined up at both defensive end positions and defensive tackle at various times during his two seasons with the Seahawks. It looks like both Chancellor and Bennett will have to wait until Wagner is signed to a new deal before they can get one. All reports seem to point to Wagner being the next in line. He was an All-Pro last season despite missing five games with a painful toe injury and has been Seattle’s starting middle linebacker since being a second-round pick in 2012. After back to back Super Bowl appearances it looks like it’s time for Seattle’s top players to get paid.

With NFL training camps open it’s time to start looking forward to your fantasy football draft. Now last season all the experts had 2014 pegged as the year of the running back, but that didn’t really came to pass. What will this season be called? Now there are still top running backs out there, but will it be suggested that you need to grab one in the 1st round to be competitive in our league. How many running backs will be considered elite heading into your draft? 6, 7 or maybe 8 at the most. There are your Jamaal Charles (Chiefs). LeShon McCoy (Bills) Matt Forte (Bears), Eddie Lacy (Packers) and even though he’ll be suspended to start the season I think you have to count Le’Von Bell (Steelers) and I can’t forget Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks). After that you’ll have to make some choices. Will DeMarco Murray repeat his success with Philadelphia? Does Arian Foster have another good fantasy season in him with Houston? Of course the biggest running back question may be; what will Adrian Peterson give you after missing almost the entire 2014 season? Now there may be some new running backs moving up that you’ll be able to find a little later in your draft. Players like Carlos Hyde (49ers), will C.J. Anderson (Broncos) take over the #1 role in Denver. Todd Gurley (Rams) and Melvin Gordon (Chargers) were both 1st round picks and are expected to take lead backfield roles for their teams. Latavius Murray (Raiders) showed some potential last season and it looks like Mark Ingram (Saints) is the lead running back; finally. One of the bigger surprises a fantasy owner may get this season if he can actually find a way to stay healthy is  Darren McFadden (Cowboys). McFadden looks like he’ll get to line up behind the best offensive line in the NFL, but that big if will him has always been can he play 16 games. Fantasy owners should have a little over a month to figure this out before the season gets rolling along. Of course will have the pre-season to look at guys and try to find sleepers, but what I want to know is are you taking a running back in the 1st round this season?

I’ve been trying to stay away from discussing the Tom Brady suspension, but I do have some questions that I’m guessing will never be answered. How does deflating footballs get you suspended for more games than getting arrested for smoking pot? Brady got 4 games and Le’Von Bell had his suspension reduce to 2 games for his arrest. I think the biggest oddity is the fact that Greg Hardy was convicted; appealed that conviction and was found innocent when the victim couldn’t be found to testify and reports came out that her and Hardy reached a monetary settlement. Sadly I’m drawing a blank on what the original conviction was, but I believe it was a pretty violent encounter. Hardy was on the exempt list for all but 1 game last season and he was then suspended for 10 games this coming season. After his appeal; was by the NFL that suspension was reduce to 2 games. After reading all of that remember that Brady got 4 games for deflating footballs.

I want to remind everyone that tomorrow (Sunday) on Sports Time Radio Chris Olmstead from BeyondtheFlag.com will join me on the podcast to preview the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Speedway. Brad Keselowski had the fastest practice time yesterday, but will that be enough for Chris to pick him as one of his three drivers who might end up in victory lane?

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can also follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 29, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, NASCAR
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We’re coming up on the trade deadline and there’s been quite a bit of activity with some of the bigger names changing teams. The Kansas City Royals made 2 big moves that should position them as the favorite in the American League. First the Royals went out and picked up Johnny Cueto and cash from the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati received 3 young pitchers in return Brandon Finnegan. Cody Reed and John Lamb. Kansas City then went out and picked up utility man  Ben Zobrist and cash from the Oakland A’s for 2 minor league pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea.

The New York Mets had made a move earlier to get a couple of hitters, but then they went out and tried to shore up their bullpen acquiring Tyler Clippard from the A’s in return for minor league pitcher Casey Meisner.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim seem to be stocking up on outfielders as they picked up 3. First they got Shane Victorino and cash from the Boston Red Sox for infielder Josh Rutledge. Then they picked up David DeJesus from the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Eduar Lopez. Then they also added David Murphy from the Cleveland Indians for minor league shortstop Eric Stamets. I was wondering why the Angels where picking up all of these outfielders, but then I saw that Matt Joyce was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a concussion and there have been reports that Mike Trout has a hand or a wrist issue.

The Washington Nationals acquired closer Jonathan Papelbon from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitcher Nick Pivetta. Papelbon will take over closers duties for the Nationals and Drew Storen will be put into a set up role.

The Toronto Blue Jays may have made the biggest splash in the trade market as they picked up shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and reliever LaTroy Hawkins from the Colorado Rockies for shortstop Jose Reyes and 3 pitchers Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco.

As you can see some of the bigger names that were mentioned have now switched teams, but there is still one left; Cole Hamels! I saw a report that the Phillies have asked for every teams best offer today; so they can look at them and decide if they will deal Hamels. It appears as though the Phillies came way down on their demands for Papelbon as they took a Double-A reliever in return. The Phillies have had a very large asking price for Hamels; so we’ll see if it comes down as the trade deadline gets closer. While I wasn’t surprised to see Tulowitzki finally get traded I was surprised that Toronto was the team that acquired him. I was very disappointed in Tulowitzki’s reaction as he was leaving Colorado. He had mentioned that while he didn’t have a no trade clause in his contract he had a handshake agreement with the Rockies owner that they would run any trade by him before making it. Now the Rockies didn’t have a chance to discuss this deal with Tulowitzki as he was on the field playing against the Chicago Cubs. Tulowitzki was removed from the game after the trade was completed and he made his statement about being disappointed after he was dealt. Sorry, but Tulowitzki needs to get over it. Where they suppose to wait until after the game to make the deal; so they could speak to him about it. Colorado made Tulowitzki a very wealthy man and dealt with all of his injury issues for a very, very long time. It’s not like they went back on their word they where just in a situation were they couldn’t attempt to do what they had told him they would do. On top of it all he’s going form the team that was in last place in the N.L. West to a team that is currently 3 games out of a wild card spot in the American League. Now if Hamels isn’t the next big chip to move who is? Could Cincinnati continue to move pieces and deal  Aroldis Chapman. Some other Reds names have come up like Mike Leake, Jay Bruce and even Todd Frazier as possibly being traded. Another interesting team could be the San Diego Padres. Will they breakdown and deal some of the parts they acquired this off season as it seems it hasn’t worked out for them. The Milwaukee Brewers could be another team with players to deal. Would some be interested in adding Francisco Rodriquez to their bullpen or how about an outfielder like Gerardo Parra. Carlos Gomez name has even come up in some trade talks, but would the Brewers move him. The Detroit Tigers seem to be on the fence on if they’re buyers or sellers this trade deadline, but they’re going to have to decide very quickly as we only have a couple of days left to make deals. These last few days before the trade deadline should be interesting to watch. I’m sure I missed some players who might be moved, but hopefully I got close to covering some of them.

This past Sunday NASCAR held their race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and believe it or not Kyle Busch found a way to win his 3rd race in a row and his 4th race out of the last 5. It’s been a pretty magical run for Busch, but oddly he’s still not qualified for The Chase just yet. It might be more of a shock if Busch didn’t get into The Chase with the way he’s been driving, but right now he’s 32nd in the driver standings. Busch has to be in the Top 30 to qualify for The Chase; he is currently 23 points out of 30th place. This week the race is the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway. Can Busch make it 4 in a row or will someone else find their way into victory lane. We’ll preview this race with Chris Olmstead from BeyondTheFlag.com on the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio. I’ve had a couple of people ask me this; so here it is. NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. 

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: June 3, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
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Chris Olmstead from Beyond the Flag was on the podcast Sunday morning and one of his picks to go to victory lane was Jimmie Johnson. Earlier in the week I had heard one of the Waltrip brothers mention that he thought there might be some troubles on the #48 team. He specifically mentioned what he thought was an issue between Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus. I guess whatever issues there n=might or might not have been it all worked out Sunday. Johnson didn’t have a great car early in the race, but it came around when it matter and he led the last 23 laps on his way to his 4th victory of the season. Kevin Harvick finished 2nd, Kyle Larson was 3rd, Kasey Kahne finished 4th and rounding out the Top 5 was  Aric Almirola. We’re halfway through the NASCAR regular season and the circuit still has to go to Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway twice. There are still 2 road course races at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. There’s also a stop at the newest track on the schedule Kentucky Speedway just to go over a few of the races left on the schedule.

Is there anyone out there really surprised that Adrian Peterson showed up at Minnesota Vikings O.T.A.’s this week. I like the statement Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer made when he more or less said that Peterson could play for the Vikings or not play at all. Peterson and his representatives have done a lot of crying this off season as they tried to force the Vikings to trade him. Minnesota held it’s ground and it looks like Peterson will be in a Vikings uniform for the 2015/16 season. Once Week 1 rolls around Peterson’s salary of $12.75 million dollars will be guaranteed. Peterson is trying to get the last 2 years of his deal guaranteed, but that’s brought even more criticism from fans who believed he should be grateful for the organization’s continued support after his legal troubles. This story is just getting started; so I’m sure will hear a lot more complaining if not from Peterson himself, but from the people who represent him.

Are you ready for the Stanley Cup Finals to get started? They’ll drop the puck tonight in Tampa Bay for Game 1 at 7:00 p.m. Central time. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville did quite a bit of line juggling in the Western conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks and you have to wonder if he’ll match up his 4th line of Marcus Kruger, Andrew Desjardins and Andrew Shaw against the Tampa Bay Lighting’s triplet line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. I would think that the 1st lines will match up against each other. We should see Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad match up with Steven Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula and Alex Killorn. Patrick Kane did skate with Toews during Game 7 of the conference finals; so we’ll have to see if the Blackhawks will continue to keep them together. Tampa Bay will have to decide if they’ll try to match their top defensive pairing of Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman against the line with Kane on it or the Blackhawks top line with Toews on it. The defensive pairings are easier for the Blackhawks just for the fact that Duncan Keith is always on the ice. Keith is normally paired with the underrated Niklas Hjalmarsson, but did skate with Brent Seabrook in the conference finals. The Blackhawks other 3 defenseman Kimmo Timonen, Kyle Cumiskey and Johnny Oduya really need to step up and help the Blackhawks defense. Hedman and Stralman have been getting quite a bit of ice time for Tampa Bay and the Lighting will need their other 4 defenseman Jason Garrison, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle and Andrej Sustr to factor in this series. Defense and goaltending should become more important as a lot of experts are predicting and offensive series with lots of goal scoring.

How do you feel about Tampa Bay trying to prevent Blackhawks fans from getting tickets to the games in Tampa Bay. They’ve even went so far as to say that you won’t be able to wear Blackhawks gear in the bars and restaurant at Amalie Arena. This has always seemed kind of stupid to me and Dan the Man is convinced that teams do it just for the publicity. The Nashville Predators have been trying to do this with Blackhawks fans for a few seasons now and there still seem to be a good amount of Blackhawks fans at those games. I’m pretty sure when the puck drop for Game 1 and Game 2 in Tampa bay there will be plenty of Blackhawks fans in attendance.

Thursday night the NBA Finals tip off at Oracle Arena as the Golden State Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State received the best news it probably could’ve gotten as Klay Thompson was medically to play in Game 1. Thompson took a knee to the head in the clinching game against the Houston Rockets and was diagnosed with a concussion. Thompson was diagnosed with the concussion last Friday and missed two days of practice. He returned to the court on Monday and has been symptom free. Thompson completed the NBA’s concussion protocol and will be ready to play on Thursday night. With Thompson being cleared to play both teams should be at full strength. The Cavaliers will of course be missing Kevin Love, but Kyrie Irving should be close to if not 100% for Thursday nights game. 

To no surprise at all the Chicago Bulls hired Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg to replace Tom Thibodeau as their head coach. Hoiberg received a 5 years $25 million dollar contract from the Bulls. Hoiberg went 115-56 at Iowa State and led the Cyclones to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back Big 12 tournament titles. Hoiberg had a 10 year NBA career including 4 seasons with the Bulls. Hoiberg had career averages of 5.4 points per game, 1.6 assists per game and 2.7 rebounds per game. It also looks like the Bulls will get their wish and Thibodeau won’t be getting an NBA head coaching job next season. The Bulls plan all along was to try and shut Thibodeau out of any open head coaching positions and right now only the Denver Nuggets are in the market for a head coach and I don;t believe Thibodeau’s name has been mentioned. It’s was petty of the Bulls to do that to Thibodeau even of they didn’t like him or couldn’t get along with him, but sadly they weren’t above being childish. Thibodeau is due to receive $9 million over the next couple of seasons from the Bulls which was another reason I thought the Bulls would like to see him get another head coaching job. Unless something else opens up or the Nuggets come calling Thibodeau will either have to take an assistant coaching job or sit out and wait for an NBA head coaching opening.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: May 27, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
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The Cleveland Cavaliers easily won Game 4 of the Eastern conference finals to sweep the Atlanta Hawks out of the NBA playoffs. While I wasn’t surprised to see the Cavaliers win this series as I like a lot of people had them going to the NBA finals, but I was a little surprised they swept this series. Atlanta was the best team in the Eastern conference during the regular season and I thought they would find a way to win a game or two in this series. Game 4 ended up being the biggest blowout of the series a 30 Cleveland win 118-88. The Cavaliers took a 12 point lead at the end of the 1st quarter 32-20 and that was pretty much the end of the Hawks. Cleveland added 5 points to their lead going into the half at 59-42. The Cavaliers just kept pulling away as they added 8 points to their lead by the end of the 3rd quarter 85-60 and even in the 4th quarter when the game was pretty much decided the Cavaliers still added another 5 points to their lead to get to that 118-88 final score. LeBron James led the Cavaliers in scoring with 23 points, but 5 other Cleveland players scored in double figures. J.R, Smith scored 18 points, Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson scored 16 points, Timofey Mozgov had 14 points and Matthew Dellavedova added 10 points for Cleveland. Thompson pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers and Smith also grabbed 10 rebounds in the Game 4. James lead the Cavaliers with 7 assists. Irving was returning from injury and played just under 22 minutes and it was good for Cleveland to get him into a game before the finals. There was a lot of talk of if he should play or if the Cavaliers should just hold him out until the finals started. As long as Irving came out of Game 4 healthy it was the best thing for him to get a game and some minutes under his belt before the NBA finals start. Jeff Teague led Atlanta in scoring with 17 points in Game 4. Paul Millsap had 16 points and 10 rebounds 8 assists while Kent Bazemore had 12 points and 8 assists, Shelvin Mack and John Jenkins both added 10 points for Atlanta. With Kyle Korver missing Game 4 with an injury Atlanta shot 15.6 % from behind the 3 point line going 5 for 32. The only Atlanta player to make more than one 3 pointer was Jenkins and he had 2. It was a rough end for a team like Atlanta that played so well during the regular season and this will just add to the playoff failures the Hawks have had over the years.

The first chance for Cleveland to learn who it’s finals opponent might be is Friday. Game 5 between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets tips off at 8:00 p.m. Central time on ESPN with the Warriors leading the series 3 games to 1 and looking to close it out. I’m sure every Golden State fan was relieved to see Stephan Curry come back on the court and play some minutes after the horrible fall he took earlier in Game 4. This was another situation where there was talk of if Curry should’ve returned to the game. I don;t see it being any issues as long as he was medically cleared to return to the game by  a doctor. You’d have to think if Curry isn’t have any lingering issues from the fall you have to think they’ll be able to close out the Rockets tonight, but Houston did come back from being down 3-1 to the Los Angeles Clippers in their last series. Not that my predictions ever work out; so sorry Warriors fans, but I’m taking them to win on Friday.

NASCAR had it’s longest race of the season last Sunday. It was the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Carl Edwards used a fuel mileage strategy to get a win and propel himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing #19 into The Chase. Greg Biffle also running a fuel mileage strategy had his best finish of the season finishing 2nd. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 3rd, Matt Kenseth finished 4th and Martin Truex Jr. led the most laps (131) during the race, but came in 5th. Now I’m a fan of NASCAR, but I have to say that I don’t enjoy the races that are won with fuel mileage. I understand that strategy is all part of NASCAR and wins are of the up most importance with The Chase set up, but I didn’t enjoy it. NASCAR has had 9 different winners so far this season; so those 9 drivers look good for The Chase. Now the Sprint Cup series goes to Dover International Speedway this Sunday for the Fed-Ex 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks. Will there be a repeat winner? or will NASCAR get it’s 10th different winner this season?

There were a couple of other races on Sunday. Juan Pablo Montoya won the Indianapolis 500 trading the lead with Will Power a few times late in the race before he pulled away for the win. Power had to settle for 2nd place. The F1 series had the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday and for the 3rd consecutive year  Nico Rosberg won. It appeared that Lewis Hamilton was on his way to victory in Monaco, but some poor strategy cost him and he ended up in 3rd place. Besides Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel was the other driver to take advantage of Hamilton’s issues and finished 2nd. I saw very little of the Monaco Grand Prix, but I did get to see quite a bit of the Indianapolis 500. Did you watch ither race? or are you a fan of either of these racing series?

The New York Rangers evened their series with the Tampa Bay Lighting last night with a 7-3 victory. The win by the Rangers forces a Game 7 for this series Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Central time. New York had a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd period and then out scored the Lighting 5 to 2 in that 3rd period to pull away for the win.  Derick Brassard had a hat trick for the Rangers scoring the 1st, 5th and final goals. Nikita Kucherov had both of the Tampa Bay goals in the 3rd period. We’ll see if the Chicago Blackhawks can extend their series against the Anaheim Ducks tonight. Anaheim leads the series 3 games to 2 with Game 6 being played tonight in Chicago. The Game is on the NBC Sports Network starting at 7:00 p.m. Central time. Will we get two Game 7’s in the NHL conference finals?

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

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