How was your week

Posted: December 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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So Thursday night we had another uninteresting NFL game as the Seattle Seahawks easily handled the Los Angeles Rams 24-3. Unless you’re a Seahawks fan it had to be a tough game to watch. Jared Goff was 13 of 25 for 135 yards and was sacked 4 times in the game. Goff was actually knocked out of this game and is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. With the won the Seahawks clinched the NFC West and are in line to get a 1st round bye in the playoffs.

Goff is now 0-5 as an NFL starter, but he appears to have made some progress even though the team hasn’t won with him under center. The Rams have two games left on their schedule and they’re both at home. In Week 16 they host the San Francisco 49ers and then in the final week of the season they host the Arizona Cardinals. There is a chance that the Rams could win one or even both of these games, but really that doesn’t matter. What has to matter to the Rams right now is to continue to have Goff improve and then try to find a head coach or a quarterback coach that can develop him into a quality NFL starting quarterback. The Rams don’t even have to hire an offensive minded head coach they just have to get the right guys under him that can work with Goff. The Rams gave up 6 draft picks to get Goff. Los Angeles gave the Tennessee Titans four 2016 draft picks; a 1st round pick, two 2nd round picks and a 3rd round pick. Los Angeles also sent a 2017 1st round pick and a 2017 3rd round pick in this deal. Besides the 1st overall pick the Rams used to select Goff they also got two 2016 draft picks in the trade a 4th round pick and a 6th round pick. Now Goff may never develop into a guy who should’ve been taken #1 overall, but he’s a quarterback and that’s where they get drafted at. Don’t forget Sam Bradford was also a #1 overall pick. The biggest question the Rams need to answer is; was Goff the right choice? While I don’t expect Goff to turn the Rams around by himself and lead them to a Super Bowl, but he can be a quality NFL quarterback on a playoff team with the right help. Where can the Rams look to help Goff. Well he’s been sacked 15 times I his 5 starts; so maybe an offensive lineman or two could help. Quick name the Rams leading receiver. Did you guess Kenny Britt? Britt has 67 catches for 987 yards and 5 touchdowns. Britt was a 1st round selection (#30 overall) by the Tennessee Titans in 2009 and was considered a bust for them. This is the most receptions and yards Britt has ever had in a season, but is he a #1 wide receiver? Those are just a couple of things the Rams can do to help Goff improve. Of course without a 1st round pick in next years draft they might have to find another way to get Goff that help. So let me know what you think. How do you see Jared Goff’s career going?

There’s also an NFL game tonight as the league moves into the Saturday market with the college football regular season wrapped up. Tonight will see the 8-5 Miami Dolphins at the 4-9 New York Jets in an AFC East match up. The Dolphins are tied with the Denver Broncos for the final AFC wild card spot, but the Broncos hold the tiebreaker; so Miami has to find a way to pass them in the standings. The Dolphins go into this game without there starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill sprained two knee ligaments in last weeks win over the Arizona Cardinals. Matt Moore will take over under center for Tannehill. Moore has been with the Dolphins since 2011, but that was also the last time he started a game. Counting coming in for Tannehill last week Moore has played in 7 games in 5 seasons. It’s a tough spot for Moore to be put in, but maybe it helps that his first start is against the Jets. New York seems to be having trouble on both sides of the football. The defense is ranked 19th overall; 17th against the run and 22nd against the pass. The offense is ranked 22nd overall; 10th running the football, 26th in passing. Ryan Fitzpatrick came back on a one year deal to quarterback the team, but has been inconsistent to say the least. Geno Smith took over and got hurt and is out for the season. It seems to be Bryce Petty’s turn and you have to wonder if we’ll see Christian Hackenberg before the season ends. Maybe the weather in East Rutherford will give the Jets an advantage as snow is in the forecast. Now I haven’t received Mr. Fantasy’s pick for the game, but Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu have picked the Dolphins to win this game. I actually did go with the Jets to win tonight.

The Miami Marlins weren’t able to sign Kenley Jansen, but they have added two relievers to there bullpen these last two days. First the Marlins announced the signing of Junichi Tazawa to a two year $12 million dollar deal. Then it was reported that Miami has signed Brad Ziegler to a two year $16 million dollar deal. Interestingly both of these pitchers finished last season pitching out of the Boston red Sox bullpen. Tazawa has spent his entire 7 year career with the Red Sox. Last season he was 3-2 with a 4.17 E.R.A, in 53 games. Ziegler started the 2016 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks before being traded to the Red Sox. Combined Ziegler was 4-7 with a 2.25 E.R.A. with 22 saves in 69 games. These two signings add some more depth to a Marlins bullpen that loss Mike Dunn this week. Dunn signed a 3 year $19 million dollar deal with the Colorado Rockies earlier in the week.

If you where hoping your favorite team would add some bullpen time is running out. The relievers seem to be coming off the free agent board very quickly. Will have to see who the next reliever is to sign.

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You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Milwaukee Bucks 95 Chicago Bulls 69

Posted: December 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Thursday night the Milwaukee Bucks easily beat the Chicago Bulls in the first of a home and home series 108 to 97 at the Bradley Center. Friday the teams moved to the United Center in Chicago, but the results where very much the same as the Bucks easily handled the Bulls again this time 95-69. You have to wonder if the younger Bucks were better suited to playing back to back nights as they shot 46.3% from the filed while the older possibly weary Bulls shot just 30.4% from the field. With the win Milwaukee moved a game over .500 at 13-12 while the loss sends the Bulls back to .500 at 13-13.

The Bulls only lead of the night came when Robin Lopez hit to free throw to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. The Bulls where only able to score 13 more points in the quarter after the Lopez free throws while Milwaukee put up 34 1st quarter points to take a 19 point lead.

The teams played a dead even 2nd quarter as they both scored 22 points in the 2nd. Of course that didn’t help the Bulls much as they never cut the Bucks lead to less than 18 points. Going into halftime the Bucks still had there 19 point lead 56 to 37.

Neither team was very good in the 3rd quarter as Milwaukee scored 18 points while the Bulls managed 15 points in the quarter. Milwaukee did start the quarter on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 27 points. Even with a rough quarter for both teams Milwaukee still added 3 points to there lead and went into the final quarter up 74-52.

Even with the outcome of the game looking like it was figured out Milwaukee kept there starters in for a good part of the 4th quarter. With 4 minutes left in the game the Bucks had a 30 point lead 94 to 64. Neither team put up many points in those final 4 minutes, The Bulls scored 5 while the Bucks had just 1 point to get the game to the final 95-69.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was the games leading scorer with 22 points. Antetokounmpo had the most assists in the game with 11. Jabari Parker scored 12 points while Tony Snell and John Henson where the other two Bucks starters in double figures with 10 points each. Greg Monroe came off the Bucks bench to post a double-double scoring 14 points and grabbing a game high 12 rebounds. Mirza Teletovic also came off the Bucks bench to hit double figures with 13 points.

The Bulls had just two players score in double figures. Dwayne Wade had 12 points to lead the team while Bobby Portis came off the bench to add 10 points. Portis also had a team high 8 rebounds while Jimmy Butler handed out 6 assists to lead the team.

Milwaukee will get a couple of days off before they host the Eastern Conference leading (18-6) Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night. The Bulls are now on a 3 game losing streak and will get the weekend off before they host the 14-14 Detroit Pistons.

Milwaukee Bucks 108 Chicago Bulls 97

Posted: December 16, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I the first of a home and home series the Milwaukee Bucks easily beat the Chicago Bulls 108-97. Milwaukee had a 24 point lead at one point in the game and they cruised to an 11 point victory at home. Milwaukee got back to .500 with the win at 12-12 while the Bulls are still a game over .500 at 13-12.

The tone for the game was set right at the start as the first bucket of the game for Milwaukee was a 3-pointer by Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee never trailed after that first shot and the closet the Bulls got was 2 points at 10-8. The 1st quarter ended with Milwaukee ahead 30-18.

The 2nd quarter looked like it was going to go the same way as the 1st quarter did as Milwaukee built a 26 point lead after a Jabari Parker bucket made it a 56-30 game. The Bulls did what they could to cut into the lead the rest of the quarter, but they could only get it down to 19 points. The Bucks ended up taking a 64-45 lead into halftime.

The quarter started out as even as it could be one when one team has a big lead. Milwaukee started to add to the lead and when Jabari Parker dunked with 5:24 left in the quarter the Bucks had a 24 point lead at 78-54. That was Milwaukee’s biggest lead of the quarter. This time the Bulls could only manage to knock 2 points off the Bucks lead and the quarter ended with Milwaukee ahead 88-66.

With the game well in hand the Bucks where able to get their starters off the floor. The Bulls did manage to outscore the Bucks 31 to 20 in the 4th quarter, but it was too little too late as the Bucks lead was to big to overcome. Matthew Dellavedova put the finishing touches on the night with a 3-pointer to get the game to it’s final score of 108-97.

The Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo was the games high scorer with 30 points. Antetokounmpo was also the games top rebounder grabbing 14. Jabari Parker had 28 points while Mirza Teletovic came off the Milwaukee bench to add 13 points. Matthew Dellavedova just missed a double-double as he had 9 points and a game high 9 assists. John Henson also grabbed double digit rebounds for the Bucks getting 10.

The Bulls where led by Jimmy Butler who had 21 points. Dwayne Wade score points while Taj Gibson added 19. Rajon Rondo was the Bulls leader in assists with 8. Robin Lopez, Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio all grabbed 6 rebounds to tie for the team lead.

It’s a quick turn around for these teams as they’ll meet again tonight with the game being in Chicago tonight. Milwaukee is looking to get back over .500 with a win while the Bulls would like to stay over .500. The Bulls are 7-4 at home while the Bucks are 3-6 on the road this season.

Minnesota Timberwolves 99 Chicago Bulls 94

Posted: December 14, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Minnesota Timberwolves came into Tuesday night game on a four game losing streak and when the Chicago Bulls went up 21 points in the 2nd quarter it looked as though a 5th loss in a row was going to happen. Instead the Timberwolves where able to come all the way back to snap their losing streak with a 99-94 win.

This is the first time former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was facing his former team. Thibodeau coached the Bulls from the 2010-11 season until the end of the 2014-15 season. Thibodeau had a record of 255-139 with the Bulls and never finished worse than 2nd place in the Central division. Thibodeau also won NBA Coach of the Year in 2011 with the Bulls.

The 1st quarter was all Bulls as they put up 38 points in the quarter compared to Minnesota’s 22 points. After a 10-0 run the Bulls had a 26-6 lead with 5:16 left in the quarter. The Timberwolves where able to chip away at the Bulls lead a little, but still ended the quarter down 16 points; 38 to 22.

The 2nd quarter looked like it was going to be much like the 1st quarter. After a Doug McDermott lay up with 6:37 left to play in the quarter the Bulls had their biggest lead of the night; 21 points at 51-30. The Timberwolves then went on a 22-5 run to end the quarter and going into halftime Minnesota found itself down just 4 points at 56-52.

Minnesota tied the game with 7:41 left in the 3rd quarter at 61 all. The Timberwolves then took there first lead of the game on a Zach LaVine jumper going ahead 64 to 63. The game was tied three more times in the quarter the last tie being at 70 apiece. Minnesota finished the quarter on an 8-5 run and took a 78-75 lead after three quarters.

Now it was the Bulls turn to play from behind. Chicago tied the game at 85 all and then scored the next basket to take the lead at 87-85. Minnesota was able to build the lead back to 4 points, but Chicago battled back and tied the game at 91 all with 1:37 left to play. The Timberwolves went on to score the next 8 points in the game and even with Jimmy Butler hitting a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left it was too late for the Bulls and Minnesota had a 99-94 victory.

Minnesota was led by Zach LaVine with 24 points. Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points while Gorgui Dieng had 16 points. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rickey Rubio each had double-doubles in the game. Towns had 16 points and a game high 12 rebounds while Rubio scored 11 points and handed out a game high 10 assists. All five Minnesota starters played 35 minutes or more and they all reach double figures in points.

Jimmy Butler was the games high scorer with 27 points for the Bulls. Butler also had a team high 9 rebounds. Robin Lopez had 14 points, Dwayne Wade scored 12 points and had a team high 8 assists while Taj Gibson was the other Bulls player to score in double figures with 10 points.

The win was just the Timberwolves 7th of the season against 18 losses. Minnesota gets a few days off as they don’t return to the court until Friday night when they host the 18-7 Houston Rockets. The Bulls are now 13-11 with the loss. Chicago returns to action tomorrow (Thursday) night as they’ll make the short road trip to Milwaukee to face the 11-12 Bucks.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: December 14, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports
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The NFL just wrapped up Week 14; so let’s take a look and see how our picks did. Schaumburg Stu won the week with a record of 13-3. Dan the Man was 2nd at 11-5 with Mr. Fantasy 3rd at 10-6. That of course means I ended up at the bottom with a 9-7 record. Schaumburg Stu has the overall lead with a record of 136-72. We’re running out of weeks to catch Schaumburg Stu, but Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy now tied for 2nd with an overall record of 128-80. Again I am in the cellar with a record of 119-87. My picks where so bad that my cat went to the bathroom on the notebook page I wrote them down on. With 3 weeks left is there any chance I can get out of last place?

Now last Monday night the NFL match up featured the Baltimore Ravens at the New England Patriots. Now there was a lot of talk about how the #1 rated Baltimore defense would go into New England and shutdown Tom Brady. As we know that didn’t happen. The patriots got out to a 16-0 lead before the Ravens managed a field goal. New England stretched the lead to 23-3 before Baltimore started to make a comeback. Baltimore scored the next 17 points to cut the New England lead to just 23-20. It took Brady and the Patriots just play to make the lead 10 points again as he connected with Chris Hogan on a 79 yard touchdown pass to make it a 30-20 game. Baltimore was able to hit a field goal to make it 30-23, but after Justin Tucker’s onside kick attempt failed the Patriots where able to run out the clock and get the win.

Against the #1 defense Brady was 25 of 38 for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns. Brady was sacked 1 time for -5 yards and also threw an interception. Brady had a quarterback rating of 85.6 in the game and averaged 10.7 yards a pass attempt. The final touchdown pass of the night Brady threw was the 450th of his career. The win was also the 202nd of Brady’s career.

The Patriots improved to 11-2 with the win and are currently on a 4 game winning streak. They have a 3 game lead in the AFC East over the Miami Dolphins. The loss puts the Ravens at 7-6 and knocks then into 2nd place in the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the AFC North leaders at 8-5. Baltimore won the first meeting between the two teams on November 6th; so they currently have the tiebreaker. Baltimore travels to Pittsburgh in Week 16 for the second game between these two teams that will probably decide who wins the division.

After losing to the Patriots on Monday night the Ravens decided on Tuesday to release kick returner Devin Hester. Hester’s indecision on a punt early in Monday’s game led to the Ravens giving up a safety. Hester was having a good year returning kickoffs averaging 24.5 yards a return, but has struggled on punt returns where he’s averaging just 7.2 yards a return. Hester is 34 years old and if this is his last game in the NFL you have to ask; is he a Hall of Fame player? Hester is one of if the best return man in the history of the NFL. In his career Hester has 295 kickoff returns averaging 24.9 yards per return and he returned 5 kickoffs for touchdowns. Hester has returned 315 punts in his career averaging 11.7 yards per return and a NFL record 14 punts returned for touchdowns. In 2006 Hester returned the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl for a touchdown. Hester made 4 pro Bowls and was voted First-Team All Pro 3 times in his 11 year career. Hester never really blossomed as a receiver, but he does have 255 career receptions and 16 touchdowns. Hester also has 1 career rushing touchdown. There isn’t a full time returner in the Hall of Fame, but has there ever been a return man who was the type of weapon Hester was? If you had a Hall of Fame vote would you vote for Devin Hester?

On Monday the Los Angeles Dodgers where able to bring there closer Kenley Jansen back with a 5 year $80 million dollar deal. Now it’s being reported that the Dodgers other big free agent 3rd baseman Justin Turner will also be returning to Los Angeles on a 4 year $64 million dollar deal.

It’s being reported that Jansen was offered more money by the Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins, but took less money to stay with the Dodgers. Jansen has spent his entire 7 year career with the Dodgers and last season became their all time leader in saves. Jansen currently has 189 career saves.

Turner was considered a utility guy until he took over at 3rd base for the Dodgers in 2015. Before locking down the 3rd base job Turner had spent time at 1st base, 2nd base, shortstop and even played some leftfield. Turner had career highs in home runs with 27 and also in RBI’s with 90 last season. Turner also finished 9th in MVP voting last season.

The NBA is going to use the D-League to test four and five person refereeing crews instead of the customary three in an effort to collect data and see if having additional officials involved affects the game. The first game with the extra referees will be December 26th and that will be the first of 9 games to feature extra officials. This isn’t the first time the D-League has been a laboratory of sorts for the NBA. The D-League has been a testing ground in the past for possible rules changes, along with changes in technology and equipment. This season, some of the innovations being brought to the D-League include a coach’s challenge, a reset timeout and a 3-minute overtime period. The experimental crews will have three different configurations. There’s a four-person crew with two officials in lead spots, and two others split between slot and trail positions. Another four-person test will have two officials in the slot, with the others in the trail and lead. And the five-person crew will feature the existing three person system, but with two other officials in stationary lead positions on opposite ends of the court. The NBA went from two-person crews to three-person crews for the 1988-89 season. There’s been talk of larger crews for years, and a four person crew was studied during summer league play at Salt Lake City back in July.

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You can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

Chicago Bulls 105 Miami Heat 100

Posted: December 10, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls picked up there second win in a row Saturday night beating the Miami Heat 105-100. Win the improved the Bulls to 7-3 at home this season and 13-10 overall. This was the Heat’s 5th loss in a row as there record fell to 7-17 on the season.

The teams played a very even 1st quarter. Each team built a 4 point lead at one time just to watch the other come back. The teams where tied at 24 all with 1:31 left in the quarter. Nikola Mirotic hit a three pointer with 30 seconds left to give the Bulls a 29-25 ;lead, but Willie Reed tipped in a Josh Richardson miss for the last points of the quarter and make it 29-27 after one quarter.

The 2nd quarter played out a lot like the first as the teams stayed pretty even and the game was tied 7 times during the quarter. The Bulls did manage to take 4 point leads on two different occasions. Miami built it’s own 4 point lead with 1:32 to play, but the quarter ended with the Bulls scoring 6 of the final 8 points and the teams went into half time tied at 55.

Miami hit a 3-pointer to start the 3rd quarter, but the Bulls scored the next 8 points to take a 63-58 lead. The Bulls built there biggest lead of the game at 13 points three different times in the quarter. The last 13 point lead 77-64 was after a Taj Gibson jumper with 5:18 left to play. Miami was able to knock 5 points off the Bulls lead in the final 5 minutes of the quarter and the Heat went into the 4th quarter trailing 83-75.

The Bulls built the lead back to 10 points at 89-79, Miami went on a 14 to 6 run and found themselves down by just 2 points at 95-93 with 4:56 left in the game. The Bulls where able to get the lead back to 5 at 101-96, but Miami next 4 points and this time trailed by just 1 point at 101-100. Miami didn’t score again in the game and Jimmy Butler went 4 of 4 from the free throw line down the stretch to give the Bulls a 105-100 win.

Jimmy Butler went 15 of 16 from the free throw line on his way to a game high 31 points. Dwayne Wade added 28 points while Taj Gibson was the only other Bulls player to reach double figures in points with 13. Robin Lopez grabbed a game high 10 rebounds while Rajon Rondo handed out a team high 6 assists.

Goran Dragic led the Heat with 21 points and also handed out a game high 11 assists. Hasan Whiteside scored 20 and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 8. Three players came off the Miami bench to score in double figures led by Tyler Johnson with 15 points. Josh Richardson added 11 points while Derrick Williams scored 10 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 8.

Chicago returns to action Tuesday night as the host their former head coach Tom Thibodeau and the 6-17 Minnesota Timberwolves. Miami will try to snap there 5 game losing streak Monday night when they return home to face the 9-13 Washington Wizards.

How was your week

Posted: December 10, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports
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The Oakland Raiders have to be considered one of the surprise teams of this NFL season. While I think most pundits had the Raiders improving on their 7-9 2015 record I don’t remember any of them saying the Raiders would get to double digit wins. Oakland has 10 wins right now and they have three games left in this season. The Raiders where in 1st place coming into Thursday nights game against the Kansas City Chiefs and they went out and had what was probably there worst game of the season. Oakland lost 21-13 to the Chiefs Thursday night and the game brought up some questions about the Raiders. Being that it was a short week; was it just a bad night? Is Kansas City that good? or the more pressing question could be; how hurt is Derek Carr? Carr injured the pinky on his throwing hand in the Raiders 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 13. Carr left the game for a short period of time, but returned to lead the Raiders to a victory. Carr had his worst game of the season, but even with that he had the Raiders in position to possible tie the game late in the 4th quarter. Oakland had a 4th and 1 on the Kansas City 14 yard line with 2:06 left in the game. A false start penalty made it 4th and 6 from the Kansas City 19 yard line. Carr tried to connect with Seth Roberts on a possible game tying touchdown, but the pass fell incomplete and the Raiders turned the football over on downs allowing the Chiefs to run out the clock. Carr was 17 of 41 for just 117 yards. He was also sacked 1 time for -8 yards. The loss drops the Raiders into the first wild card spot, but they are three games ahead of the next closet wild card team. Should Carr be rested to allow his pinky time to heal before the Raiders head into the playoffs? or should he try to play through it? Week 15 has the Raiders in San Diego to face the Chargers. Week 16 they’re home against the Indianapolis Colts and they end the season on the road in Week 17 against the Denver Broncos. Now winning the division still isn’t out of the questions as the Chiefs play the Tennessee Titans at home in Week 15. Week 16 they host the Broncos and the Chiefs also end the season on the road as they play in San Diego against the Chargers in Week 17. The Raiders advantage is that the Titans and the Broncos are still in playoff contention and the Chiefs have to face both of them while the Raiders will just see the Broncos. So that makes the quarterback question even tougher. Is winning the division enough of a motive to continue to play Carr or is resting that pinky injury more important? If you’re a Raiders fan; what would you like to see them do with David Carr?

There was an interesting debate this week on which running back either Ezekiel Elliott or David Johnson is he front runner for M.V.P. Elliott is currently the NFL’s leading rusher with 1285 yards and has 12 rushing touchdowns through 13 weeks. Johnson is 3rd in rushing with 1005 yards and has 11 rushing touchdowns. Johnson is more involved in the Arizona passing game than Elliott is for Dallas. Johnson has caught 64 passes for 704 yards and has 4 receiving touchdowns. Elliott has 28 receptions for 322 yards and a touchdown. Of course Elliott’s Cowboys are 11-1 and are the first team to clinch a playoff spot. Johnson’s Cardinals are 5-6-1 and are currently 2 games out of a wild card spot. In most cases a quarterback is the front runner for M.V.P. so it’s a little different to see a couple of running backs being talked about for the award. While I’m still thinking that Tom Brady will end up winning the M.V.P. award, but how would you separate these running backs. I guess it depends on what the word valuable means to you. (Valuable meaning) Is a running back who’s going to be on a playoff team more valuable than a all around running back on a team that looks like it won’t make the playoffs. The Cowboys are touted as having the best offensive line in the NFL. Does that diminish Elliott’s accomplishments? On the other hand the Cardinals have just 5 wins and you have to wonder where they would be if Johnson wasn’t on the team. With three weeks to go will have to see what kind of numbers these two running backs continue to put up and if they can stay even it will be up to the voters to decide. Now if you had a vote who’s your NFL M.V.P.?

The baseball winter meetings wrapped up with two veteran players finding new teams. Fernando Rodney signed a 1-year $2.75 million dollar deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. There are appearance bonuses in Rodney’s contract that could boost it up tp $4 million if he hits them all. Rodney turns 40 next March and split last season between the San Diego Padres and the Miami Marlins. With San Diego Rodney was 0-1 with an E.R.A. of 0.31 with 17 saves. In Miami Rodney went 2-3 with an E.R.A. of 5.89 and 8 saves. Will Rodney be used as a closer in Arizona or will the Diamondbacks find someone else to close with Rodney as the set up guy with closing experience. The other signing saw Dexter Fowler leave the World Series champion Chicago Cubs to join there division rival the St. Louis Cardinals on a 5-year $82.5 million dollar deal. The Cardinals where in the market for an outfielder; preferably a centerfielder; so I’m not surprised they signed Fowler. What is a bit of a surprise to me is the length and the dollars involved with the signing. Fowler hit .276 last season with 13 home runs. Fowler has always been looked at as a lead off type of hitter, but he had just 13 stolen bases last season. Fowler did walk 79 times last season and had an On Base Percentage of .393. Fowler turns 31 next March; so he’ll be in a Cardinals uniform until he’s 36 as his deal also includes a full no trade clause. Do you like Fowler as the Cardinals centerfielder?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com don’t forget that you can also listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

Chicago Bulls 95 San Antonio Spurs 91

Posted: December 9, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The San Antonio Spurs cane into The United Center last night having won all 13 of their road games this season. The Chicago Bulls where on a 3 game losing streak coming into the game. Of course that means that the Bulls won the game 95-91 because that’s how things go; I guess.

The score was tied three different times in the 1st quarter and the biggest lead any team built was when the Bulls took a 7 point lead 19-12 after Doug McDermott made a lay up with 2:53 left in the quarter. It was a relatively low scoring 1st quarter, but the Bulls ended it with a 21-17 advantage.

San Antonio cut the leas to 2 points a couple of times early in the 2nd quarter, but the Bulls were able to pull away as the Spurs could manage just 15 points in the quarter. Dwayne Wade hit a 3-pointer with .07 seconds left in the quarter to give the Bulls a 45-32 lead at halftime.

The Bulls where able to get the lead to 15 points before the Spurs started to make up a little ground. San Antonio outscored the Bulls 31 to 27 in the 3rd quarter and ended the quarter on a 11-2 run. The 3rd quarter ended with the Bulls up 9 points 72-63.

The first basket of the 4th quarter was a 3-pointer by Patty Mills to get the Spurs to within 6 points, but that’s as close as they would get. San Antonio did manage to outscore the Bulls again in the 4th quarter 28 to 23, but that wasn’t enough to over come there slow first half and the Bulls ended up with a 95-91 win.

Dwayne Wade led the Bulls in scoring with 20 points. Jimmy Butler was just 4 for 14 from the field while scoring 13 points. Taj Gibson, Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo all scored 12 points. Rondo just missed a triple-double as he tied for the game high with 10 rebounds and handed out a game high 9 assists.

Kawhi Leonard was the Spurs and the games leading scorer with 24 points. Patty Mils came off the Spurs bench and hit 4 of the 6 3-point sots he took on his way to 16 points. In his return to Chicago Pau Gasol scored 13 points and tied for the game high with 10 rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge also added 10 points for San Antonio.

The win put the Bulls two games over .500 at 12-10. Chicago gets a day off before they host the 7-15 Miami Heat Saturday night. The loss dropped the Spurs to 18-5 on the season and ended there short three game road trip. San Antonio also returns top action Saturday night as they head home to face the 6-15 Brooklyn Nets.

Detroit Pistons 102 Chicago Bulls 91

Posted: December 7, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Detroit Pistons got there fourth win in five games last night as they beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The win gets the Pistons over .500 on the season at 12-11. This was the third loss in a row for the Bulls and there record fell to 11-10.

Is it time to look at the Bulls schedule and question if fatigue is an issue. The Bulls had a solid 7-game west coast road trip going 4-3. That road trip ended November 25th and they got four days off before playing there next game. Then starting with there game November 30th the Bulls will play 10 games in 12 days. While seven of the game at  home there is travel involved. Earlier the Bulls had a the 2nd of a back to back in Dallas. Last nights game was also the 2nd of a back to back and they went from Chicago to Detroit. Now that’s not a terrible travel, but being the 2nd game of a set could be the issue. The Bulls have five games left in this set of games. They end with a set of back to back games against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 15th and 16th.

The Pistons started the game with three 3-point shoots. They made two and Reggie Jackson was fouled on his and made 2 of his 3 free throws to give the Pistons an 8-0 lead to start the game. The Bulls went on a 9-2 run to get right back in the game at 10-9. The Pistons went on to control the rest of the 1st quarter scoring 22 points to the Bulls 11. Detroit took a 32-21 lead after one quarter.

The Pistons built there lead to 17 points with 3:47 left in the 2nd quarter at 51-34 after an Andre Drummond dunk. Drummond’s dunk was the last points the Pistons would score in the quarter as the Bulls did there best to cut down the lead. Chicago scored the final 10 points of the quarter to cut the Detroit lead to 7 points at 51-44 going into halftime.

The Bulls hit the first 6 points of the 3rd quarter and cut the lead to 1-point at 51-50. The Pistons built the lead back to 5-points at 57-52, but then the Bulls went on a 12-5 run to tie the game at 64 all. From there the teams traded the lead seven times in the final 4:11 of the quarter and it was the Bulls that ended up with a 72-71 lead after three quarters.

The Pistons came back at the beginning of the 4th quarter to take the lead at 76-75 and never gave the lead up again. Darrun Hilliard hit a lay up with 5:48 left in the game to extend the Pistons lead to 10 at 89-79. The Bulls never got any closer than 6 points as the Pistons pulled away for a 102-91 win.

Tobias Harris was the Pistons leading scorer with 22 points. Andre Drummond had 15 points and tied for the game high in rebounds with 10. Marcus Morris scored 15 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 12 points. Ish Smith came off the Pistons bench to lead the game in assists with 10.

Jimmy Butler was the Bulls and the games leading scorer with 32 points. Dwayne Wade had 19 points and a team high 7 assists while Taj Gibson had a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to tie for the game high. Rajon Rondo returned from his one game suspension to add 10 points.

Detroit has to turn around and play again tonight as they’ll travel to Charlotte to face the 12-9 Hornets. The Bulls get a day off before they face one of the top teams in the Western Conference. On Thursday night the Bulls play the 18-4 San Antonio Spurs.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: December 7, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports
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Pretty  much since the 2016 season the talk has been that the Chicago White Sox had to trade Chris Sale and start there rebuilding process. Now just about every team had been rumored to be in on Sale and you can’t blame them. It was looking like the Washington nationals where the front runner to land Sale, but they weren’t willing to give the White Sox two top prospects. In the end the Nationals where left holding the bag as the Boston Red Sox stepped up and gave the White Sox four of their Top 30 prospects for Sale. The Red Sox sent #1 minor league prospect Yoan Moncada, right handed pitchers Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz plus outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe to Chicago for Sale.

Sale was the 13th pick of the 1st round in 2010 by the White Sox. He made his debut that same year. Sale didn’t become a starter until 2012, but has finished in the Top 6 of the Cy Young voting since then. Sale is 70-47 as a starter. Sale has had over 200 strikeouts the last four seasons and led the A.L. in 2015 with 274 strikeouts. Sale led the A.L. in complete games last season with 6. It’s tough to give up a pitcher like Sale as he is a true ace. It will be a few seasons before we know how this trade will be evaluated. Moncada did play in 8 games and got 20 at bats at the major league level last season, but spent most the year in Double-A where he hit .277 with 11 home runs. It appears as though Moncada will play 3rd base, but he spent the majority of his time at 2nd base in the minors. Kopech finished last season at high Class-A where he made 11 starts going 4-1 with an E.R.A. of 2.25. Kopech throws 100 m.p.h. but is still a few seasons away from being a factor in the White Sox rotation. Diaz spent all of last season at Class-A. He pitched in 37 games all in relief and had 10 saves. Diaz record was 2-5 and his E.R.A. was 3.88. Basabe spent most of last season on the same team as Diaz before being moved up to high Class-A for 5 games. Basabe hit .264 combined with 12 home runs and 53 RBI’s. Basabe did steal 25 bases. Moncada is 20, Kopech is 20, Diaz is 22 and Basabe is 20; so while we may see Moncada in a White Sox uniform it will be a while before the other players acquired in this reach the major league level.

Sale will be added to a Red Sox rotation that features 2016 Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, David Price and it looks like the other two rotation spots are to be decided between Clay Buchholz, Steven Wright, Drew Pomeranz  or Eduardo Rodriquez. Right now it doesn’t look as though the Red Sox other top pitching prospect Henry Owens will be in this battle.

While Sale was the biggest move the Red Sox made it wasn’t the only move they made on Tuesday. Earlier in the day they sent 3rd baseman Travis Shaw and minor leaguers Mauricio Dubon and Josh Pennington to the Milwaukee Brewers for set up man Tyler Thornburg. Shaw can play 3rd and 1st base hit .242 with 16 home runs with 71 RBI’s last season. Dubon is a shortstop who finished the year at Double-A where he hit .339 in 62 games. Pennington made 13 starts in low Class-A last season going 5-3 with a 2.86 E.R.A. Thornburg appeared in 67 games for Milwaukee last season gong 8-5 with an E.R.A. of 2.15. Thornburg did save 13 games, but blew 8 saves last season. Thornburg should serve as the Red Sox main set up guy and he did have 20 holds last season.

The other move the Red Sox made on Tuesday was the signing of Mitch Moreland to a 1-year deal worth $5.5 million. Moreland had spent his entire 7-year career with the Texas Rangers. Moreland had a down year average wise hitting just .233, but did have 22 home runs and drove in 60 runs. Moreland is a left handed hitter who has played mostly 1st base in his career, but he has played 45 games in rightfield. Moreland has a career .996 fielding percentage at 1st base; so it looks as though he may take over in the field and Hanley Ramirez will move into the DH role.

Not to be out done the other Chicago baseball team that just happened to win the World Series appears to have found their closer. With the prices for Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman get up around $20 million a season the Cubs turned to the trade market to get a closer. While it hasn’t been officially announced it’s being reported that the Cubs have agreed to send outfielder Jorge Soler to the Kansas City Royals for Wade Davis. Davis did miss some time last season with a forearm injury, but still converted 27 of 30 save opportunities and had an E.R.A. of 1.87. Soler appeared to be the odd man out in the Cubs outfield; so moving him makes sense. Soler also had some injury issues last season. He played in 86 games, hitting .238 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI’s. While Davis is in the final year of his contract Soler still has 3 years left on a 9-year $30 million dollar deal.

There where a couple of other signings yesterday. Carlos Gomez agreed to return to the Texas Rangers in a 1-year $11.5 million dollar deal. The Rangers acquired Gomez as a free agent on Aug. 20 after he had been released by the Astros. He played in 33 games for the Rangers and hit .284 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs. He had a .362 on-base percentage and a .543 slugging percentage. The other signing saw the Tampa Bay Rays ink catcher Wilson Ramos to a 2-year $12.5 million dollar deal, but the deal includes playing time incentives to make up to $18.25 million over the two years. Ramos is recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered last September; so he has to pass a physical for the deal to be completed.

Here’s how are NFL picks went for Week 13. Mr. Fantasy won another week going 12-3. Schaumburg Stu and I both had 10-5 records for the week while Dan the Man struggled going 8-7. Overall Schaumburg Stu still has the lead at 123-69. It’s looking like Schaumburg Stu is going to be tough to catch. Mr. Fantasy has moved into 2nd place by  a game as he is 118-74 overall with Dan the Man right behind him at 117-75. That of course means I am still in last place. My overall record is 110-82. I guess we’ll see how Week 14 goes for us.

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