Posts Tagged ‘golden state warriors’

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 25, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, fantasy, football, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio
Tags: , , , ,
0

Week 11 went much better for us as everyone ended up over .500 picking the NFL games. I managed to win the week going 10-6 while Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and Mr. Fantasy all went 8-6 for the week. Overall Dan the Man is still in the lead with a record of 93-67. I’m in 2nd place 3 games behind Dan the Man at 90-70. Mr. Fantasy is in 3rd place with a record of 87-73 and Schaumburg Stu is still in the cellar with a record of 85-75. There are no byes in Week 12; so we’ll have a full slate of games to pick starting with 3 games tomorrow.

Thanksgiving is definitely a football holiday and it starts with the Philadelphia Eagles at the Detroit Lions. They have an 11:30 a.m. kickoff where I live. Game 2 has the undefeated Carolina Panthers at the Dallas Cowboys. I found it interesting that in the Las Vegas betting line Dallas was the favorite in this game. This game is scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 pm cst as long as the first game doesn’t run long. The night in the NFL wraps up with a big time rivalry game. It’s the Chicago Bears at the Green Bay Packers at 7:30 pm central. I have not received Mr. Fantasy’s picks for the Thursday games, but I can tell you that Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and I like Detroit to win Game 1, Carolina to stay undefeated in game 2 and the Packers to night game 3. We’ll see if Mr. Fantasy reads this before he sends me his picks and tries to make up some ground by going a different way with his picks.

The Golden State Warriors set the NBA record for victories to start a season last night by easily beating the Los Angeles Lakers 111-77 at the Oracle Arena. The game was almost never in doubt as Golden State took a 30-11 lead after the 1st quarter. Los Angeles did cut into the lead at little going into halftime as they outscored Golden State 27-24 in the 2nd quarter. Golden State still sent into the half leading 54-38. Golden State pretty much put the game away in the 3rd quarter outscoring the Lakers by 18 points 35-17. Golden State ended the 3rd quarter with a 89-55 lead and the record looked to be there’s. Both teams scored 22 points in the 4th quarter to get the final score of 111-77 and the Warriors had there 16th straight win to start the season. Stephen Curry led Golden State with 24 points going 10 of 21 from the floor, but just 4 of 12 from behind the 3-point line. Draymond Green added 18 points led the team in assists with 5 and tied for the team lead in rebounds with Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli with 7. Leandro Barbosa came off the Golden State bench to score 13 points while Klay Thompson also snuck into double digits with 11 points. Julius Randle was the only Lakers stater to score in double digits. Randle scored 10 points and tied for the team lead in scoring with Larry Nance Jr. and Louis Williams. Randle along with Kobe Bryant, Roy Hibbert and Tarik Black tied for the team lead in rebounding with 6. Metta World Peace led the Lakers in assists with 3. As for Bryant he was 1 for 14 from the floor going 1 of 7 from behind the 3-point line. He also went 1 of 2 from the free throw line for a total of 4 points in the game.

Now that the Warriors are at 16 straight wins to start this season the question becomes; how many more can they win. They have a back to back set of games this Friday and Saturday. They play in Phoenix against the Suns on Friday and then they come home to play the Sacramento Kings Saturday. There last game of November is Monday on the road against the Utah Jazz. You’d have t think that Golden State has a very good chance of having an undefeated month. That Monday game in Utah is the first of 7 games in a row on the road as the Warriors head east. Will that road trip be their downfall and they’ll drop a game then.

There where 2 games in the NHL last night and when there is a small amount of games I like t make Dan the Man pick the winners of those games on the Sports Time Radio podcast. He had been doing better with these picks, but that ended last night as he lost both games. The Ottawa Senators scored 7 goals against the Dallas Stars last night; 5 of which cam against Dan the Man’s fantasy goalie Anti Niemi on their way to a 7-4 victory. Mike Hoffman and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each scored 2 goals for the Senators while Jamie Benn had 2 goals for Dallas. I the late game the Anaheim Ducks beat Dan’s pick to win the Calgary Flames 5-3. Michael Frolik netted 2 of the 4 Calgary goals while Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry each scored 2 goals for the Ducks. If you’re a fantasy hockey player hopefully you had Anaheim center Ryan Getzlaf in your line up as he assisted on all 5 goals Anaheim scored.

There are 13 games on the NHL schedule tonight; so I won’t make Dan pick that many games on today’s edition of Sports Time Radio, but it will give you a lot of choices for daily fantasy. The nationally televised game tonight is the Philadelphia Flyers at the New York Islanders. It’s what the NBC Sports Network advertises as rivalry Wednesday.

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

You can Follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Happy Thanksgiving!

How was your week?

Posted: November 21, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, fantasy, football, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

The Jacksonville Jaquars beat the Tennessee Titans Thursday night 19-13. With the win Jacksonville improves to 4-6 and is a 1/2 game out of 1st place in the AFC South. If the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts lose on Sunday Jacksonville will be in a 3-way tie for 1st place. As for our pick Schaumburg Stu and I had Jacksonville; so we start off the week 1-0. Dan te Man and Mr. Fantasy picked Tennessee to win; so they’re 0-1 to start Week 11.

Fantasy wise on Thursday night there looks like there where a couple of solid plays. Blake Bortles went 21 for 30 for 242 yards. He threw 1 touchdown; 1 interception and did fumble once. Bortles did run the football 2 times for 9 yards. Not a huge total, but it could add a point or two for your team. Marcus Mariota went 22 for 35 for 231 yards. Mariota didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but he also didn’t throw an interception either. However he did have 5 rushing attempts for 29 yards and a touchdown. While it’s not giant fantasy numbers for either quarterback their stats aren’t going to hurt you.

I doesn’t look like the running game for either team will be a lot of help to you this week. T.J. Yeldon led Jacksonville in rushing with 54 yards on 14 carries; he also had 3 receptions for 28 yards. Denard Robinson added 27 yards on 7 carries, but neither player got into the end zone. Antonio Andrews was Tennessee’s leading rusher with 78 yards on 15 carries plus 2 catches for 16 yards. Dexter McCluster had 2 carries for 0 yards, but did catch 2 passes for 18 yards. While David Cobb returned for injury and carried the football 4 times for -3 yards.

Each tam had a receiver go over 100 yards in the game. Allen Robinson (Jacksonville) had 5 receptions for 113 yards while Tennesse’s tight end Delanie Walker had 8 catches for 109 yards. Other than Robinson no other Jacksonville receiver put up huge numbers. Brian Walters had 2 catches for 35 yards and just missed connecting on what would’ve been either a long gain or a touchdown pass, but he under threw the football. Julius Thomas had 5 receptions for 28 yards and caught a touchdown pass. Allen Hurns had 3 catches for 19 yards. Clay Harbor caught 2 passes for 17 yards and Rashad Greene had 1 catch for 2 yards. Dorial Green-Beckham had 3 receptions for 40 yards. Harry Douglas (16 yards), Phillip Supernaw (16 yards and a fumble) and Anthony Fasano (14 yards) each had 2 catches and Jalston Fowler added 1 catch for 2 yards.

Jacksonville’s kicker Jason Myers had a good fantasy night going 4 for 4 on his field goal attempts with a long of 36. He also made his only extra point attempt. Ryan Succop went 2 for 3 on his field goal attempts with a long of 49 yards and he hit his only extra point attempt.

Telvin Smith led Jacksonville with 9 tackles while Aaron Colvin, Jared Odrick, Andre Branch and Ryan Davis each recorded a sack. Cody Sensabaugh and Wesley Woodard tied for the Tennessee team lead in tackles with 6. Woodard along with Avery Williamson, Brian Orakpo and Jurrell Casey each had a sack.

The Golden State Warriors improved to 14-0 winning Thursday night 124-117 over the Los Angeles Clippers coming back from being down 23 points at one point in the game. Then last night the Warriors beat the Chicago Bulls 106-94. The Bulls led by 1 after the 1st quarter 29-28, but that was the only lead they had at the end of any quarter. Golden State led 50-47 at halftime; then 77-73 at the end of the 3rd quarter before adding 8 points to their lead in the 4th quarter to get to the 106-94 final score. Stephen Curry led Golden State in scoring with 27 points, but had a tough shooting night. Curry was 9-20 from the floor and just 3-11 from behind the 3-point line on the night. Jimmy Butler was the Bulls and the games leading scorer with 28 points. Butler went 11-21 from the field and 2-4 from behind the 3-point line. Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli each grabbed 9 rebounds to lead Golden State. Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic each had 10 rebounds to lead the Bulls. Green also led the Warriors in assists with 5 while Butler was the Bulls leader in assists with 7. Derrick Rose sat this game out with a sprained ankle.

With 14 straight wins to start the season you have to start wondering when the Warriors might lose a game. They have 5 games left in November and they all look winnable. Sunday night they play in Denver against the Nuggets. Tuesday they’re at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. Friday they play in Phoenix against the Suns. They go back to back, but are at home Saturday against the Sacramento Kings. They wrap up the month on Monday the 30th in Utah against the Jazz. Of course in the NBA any team can lose on a given night, but looking ahead you’d think that Golden State would be favorite to win all of these games. Maybe it would take a Kobe Bryant flashback type of game or a DeMarcus Cousins 50 point type of game to hand Golden State there first loss.

If you’re a fan of the Atlanta Braves do you believe them when they say they want to win more games in 2016 then they did in 2015. While it’s easy for someone in the front office to come out and say that the off season moves they’ve made seem to tell a different story. First they sent Andrelton Simmons to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and then yesterday Cameron Maybin was traded to the Detroit Tigers. Maybin made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2007. In return for Maybin the Braves got 2 left handed pitchers in Ian Krol and Gabe Speier. Krol appeared in 33 games last season all in relief; he was 2-3 with and ERA of 5.79 while Speier made 33 relief appearances in Class A where he was 4-2 with a 2.86 ERA. Now there’s also been talk that the Braves had had talks about trading Shelby Miller. With the moves they’ve made so far; do the Braves look like they’ll win more than the 67 games they did in 2015?

After the way the deal between the Oakland A’s and the Toronto Blue Jays went last season. Where the A’s sent now AL MVP Josh Donaldson to Toronto for Brett Lawrie, Kevin Graveman, Sean Nolin and Franklin Barreto you thought that these teams might be done dealing with each other, but no. Yesterday in a swap of pitchers the A’s sent Jessie Chavez to the Blue Jays for Liam Hendricks. Chaves appeared in 30 games making 26 starts. He was 7-15 with an ERA of 4.18 and had 1 save. Hendricks was 5-0 in 58 games last season all in relief with an ERA of 2.92. By picking up another starting pitcher you have to think the Blue Jays are covering themselves in case they can’t re-sign David Price or another top free agent starter.

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

You can also follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your Week?

Posted: November 7, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, fantasy, football
Tags: , , , ,
0

Thursday night football for Week 9 featured an AFC North match up. The undefeated Cincinnati Bengals hosted the Cleveland Browns. It was a close game for a half as the Bengals had just a 14-10 lead going into the locker room at halftime. Cincinnati put 17 2nd half points up and Cleveland failed to score; so the Bengals where able to pull away for a 31-10 victory. With the win Cincinnati improves to 8-0 on the season. Cleveland fell to 2-7 with the loss.

If Andy Dalton is your fantasy football quarterback you’ll be happy with the numbers he put up for you on Thursday night. Dalton went 21 for 27 and while he threw for just 234 yards he had 3 touchdowns. Dalton also had 6 rushing attempts for 5 yards; so that might be worth a point for you. Johnny Manziel got the start under center for Cleveland and while he did throw a touchdown pass his passing numbers weren’t great. Manziel was 15 for 33 for 168 yards and that touchdown. Manziel did run the football 4 times for 31 yards; so if you played Manziel in your fantasy league his numbers might end up being solid for you.

Neither team had a standout runner for you fantasy team, but a couple Cincinnati running backs had decent nights. Giovani Bernard led the Bengals in rushing Thursday night. Bernard had 13 carries for 72 yards and added 1 reception for 14 yards. Jeremy Hill ran the football 15 times for 52 yards for Cincinnati. Hill also had 1 reception,but it went for 0 yards. Cleveland’s leading rusher was Isaiah Crowell who carried the football 10 times for 38 yards. Crowell did add 3 receptions for 26 yards for his fantasy owners.

Receiving wise I really hope yoou had Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert in your line up. Eifert caught 5 passes for 53 yards on Thursday night, but 3 of his catches went for touchdowns. Mavin Jones tied Eifert for the team lead in receptions with 5 catches. Jones totaled 78 receiving yards on the night. A.J. Green didn’t have a great night for his fantasy owners. Being a top wide receiver Green is always expected to put up big points in fantasy, but the Browns held him to 4 receptions for 53 yards. If you’re in a deeper fantasy league and happened to have Mohamed Sanu in your line up he paid some dividends for you. Sanu had 3 catches for 25 yards, but added a 25 yard touchdown run. While Duke Johnson Jr. couldn’t get anything going in the run game (3 carries for 0 yards) he ended up being the Browns leading receiver with 2 catches for 38 yards, but he did score the Browns only touchdown of the night. Johnson Jr. caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from Manziel in the 2nd quarter for the Browns only touchdown in the game. Gary Barnidge who had been putting up big fantasy points from the tight end position with Josh McCown playing quarterback caught just 2 passes for 35 yards with Manziel starting. Dwayne Bowe; yes that Dwayne Bowe had 3 receptions for 31 yards and Travis Benjamin also added 3 catches for 22 yards on the night.

If your fantasy league scores individual defensive players Carlos Dunlap had 2 sacks for the Bengals; Geno Atkins also had a sack. Karlos Dansby had 11 tackles (a game high) for Cleveland while Desmond Bryant and Paul Kruger each recorded a sack for the Browns.

Both field goal kickers where perfect on the night as Mike Nugent hit a 28 yard field goal and converted all 4 of his extra point attempts. Travis Coons only had 1 extra point attempt; which he made. Coons also kicked a 27 yard field goal.

It was a turnover free game as there where no fumbles and either Dalton or Manziel threw an interception. When was the last time there was a turnover free Thursday night game?

Baseball is getting set for the off season and this week teams where making decisions on who they’d extend qualifying offers to, who’s option wouldn’t be picked up and which players would be bought out. So many of these decisions have to be made by teams that there are too many to go over. What I can go into was the trade that happen this week. The Seattle Mariners sent shortstop Brad Miller, 1st baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison and reliever Danny Farquhar to the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitcher Nathan Karns, reliever C.J. Riefenhauser and outfielder Boog Powell. While it appears that the Mariners got the best player (Karns) in this trade Tampa Bay picked 2 players that could start for them in 2016 and a solid bullpen piece. Karns started 26 games and made 1 relief appearance last season. He was 7-5 with a 3.67 ERA as a rookie. Riefenhauser pitched in 17 games last season throwing 14 innings. He was 1-0 with an ERA of 5.52. Powell split the 2015 season between Double A (Durham Bulls) and Triple A (Montgomery Biscuits). Powell played a total of 117 games last season. He hit .295 with 3 home runs, 40 RBI’s and stole 18 bases. Miller played in 144 games for the Mariners last season. He hit .258 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI’s with 13 stolen bases. Miller spent the majority of his time at shortstop. but also played 2nd base, 3rd base and all 3 outfield positions. Morrison played in 146 games last season. He hit .225 with 17 home runs and 54 RBI’s. Farquhar had a rough year out of the Seattle bullpen. He went 1-8 with an ERA of 5.12 in 43 games covering 51 innings. In 2014 Farquhar’s ERA was 2.66 in 66 games and in 2013 he picked up 16 saves as Seattle’s fill in closer. Is it possible that this trade might actually help both teams.

The Golden State Warriors are off to a 6-0 start in defense of their NBA title. Golden State picked up that 6th win last night over the Denver Nuggets 119-104. Stephen Curry went 12 of 22 from the floor and 8 of 16 from behind the 3-point line for a game high 34 points. All the Golden State starter scored in double figures led By Curry. Harrison Barnes had 21 points, Klay Thompson scored 18 points, Festus Ezeli scored 16 points and was a perfect 7 for 7 from the field while Draymond Green added 12 points. Reigning MVP Curry is off to a great start to his season. Curry is averaging 35.5 points per game, 6.5 assists per game and is even grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game through 6 games. The Warriors haven’t scored less than 112 points in a game this season and they’ve only had 1 win by less than 15 points. The Los Angeles Clippers loss to the Warriors by 4 points 112-108 last Wednesday night. It’s still very early in the NBA season, but Golden State is the only undefeated team left in the league. Don’t forget they’re doing this with their head coach Steve Kerr out injured. Even this early in the season you have to ask; are the Warriors on their way to repeating?

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

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketme

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 28, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football
Tags: , , , ,
0

I’m not sure if we could’ve gotten a better Game 1 to start the World Series off with. The scoring started off with something I never thought I would see. A inside the park home run by Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the bottom of the 1st inning to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead. The New York Mets came back with single runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th inning off of Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez for a 3-1 lead. With the way Matt Harvey had settled down after the home run in the 1st it looked like the Royals could be in trouble. Harvey had some issues in the bottom of the 6th giving up a double and a couple of singles that led to the Royals being able to tie the game up 3-3 after 6. Both starters exited the game after pitching 6 innings; so it became a bullpen game. With 2 outs in the top of the 8th Juan Lagares singled and stole 2nd. Wilmer Flores hit what looked like an inning ending ground ball to 1st, but Eric Hosmer made an error and Lagares came around to score. Honestly with Jeurys Familia on the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the 9th inning I really thought they where going to get a big Game 1 win in Kansas City, but with 1 out in the inning Alex Gordon hit a solo home run to center field to tie the game at 4-4. Familia got the next 2 Royals hitters and Game 1 was headed to extra innings. Neither team threatened in the 10th as all 3 Mets hitters struck out swinging and 2 of the 3 Royals hitters struck out in the bottom of the inning. Lagares led of the top of the 11th with a single and was sacrificed to 2nd, but was stranded there as the Mets went strikeout, walk, strikeout to end the inning. The Royals got an infield single with 2 outs in the bottom half of the inning, but didn’t threaten. All 3 Mets hitters struck out in the top of the 12th inning. Kansas City got an infield single by Paulo Orlando who was sacrificed to 2nd. An intentional walk put runners on 1st and 2nd. A ground out to 1st moved the runners up, but was the 2nd out of the inning and the next batter flew out to center field to end the inning. All the Mets could manage in the top of the 13th was a 2 out walk. The Royals did get a lead off single to start the bottom of the inning, but after that they had a pop out and 2 ground outs to end the inning. The Mets went down 1, 2, 3 in the top of the 14th. Escobar started the bottom of the inning for the Royals by reaching safely on a throwing error by Mets 3rd baseman David Wright. Ben Zobrist singled to right field and Escobar went to 3rd base. Lorenzo Cain was intentionally walked to load the bases for Hosmer. Hosmer was 0 for 3 as he stepped to the plate to fave Bartolo Colon, but he did hit a sacrifice fly earlier in the game to drive in a run. Hosmer hit a deep fly ball to Mets rightfielder Curtis Granderson. It looked as though Escobar would score easily to win the game for the Roayls and while he did score the game winning run Granderson made the play at home plate much, much closer than anyone thought it would be. Colon took the loss for the Mets pitching 2 1/3rd innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits and he did walk 3, but they where all intentional. Chris Young who is scheduled to start Game 4 for Kansas City worked 3 innings in relief and got the win. Young pitched 3 innings in relief walking 1 ans striking out 3. So the longest game in World Series history ends in a 5-4 win for the Royals after 14 innings.

Game 2 is tonight in Kansas City and the Mets will send Jacob deGroom to the mound to start. The Royals will counter with Johnny Cueto as they look to win both games at home. deGroom has won all 4 of his post season starts and has an E.R.A. of 1.80 over 20 innings. He has also struck out 27 batters, but has given up 2 home runs. Cueto has also made 3 post season starts, but is 1-1 with an E.R.A. of 7.88. Cueto has logged just 16 innings in his 3 starts and has giving up 15 hits. After a long Game 1 that saw the Mets use 5 pitchers and the Royals use 6 pitchers in relief you have to think that both managers would like to get into the 7th inning with there starter, but it is the World Series and if a pitcher is struggling you can’t stay wit him. It looks like the Mets have an advantage in starting pitching tonight, but this is why the Royals dealt for Cueto at the trade deadline, but will he come through for them?

Over shadowed for me by Game 1 of the World Series was the start of the NBA season. There where 3 games on the schedule; 2 of which where on national television. It started with the Chicago Bulls getting a 97-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nikola Mirotic led the Bulls with 19 points, Yaj Gibson led the team with 10 rebounds and Derrick Rose led the team with 5 assists. LeBron James led the Cavaliers in scoring with 25 points, Tristan Thompson grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the team and Mo Williams had team high 7 assists. The game you didn’t see on national television saw the Detroit Pistons beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-94. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points to lead the Pistons, Andre Drummond had 19 rebounds to lead the team and Reggie Jackson handed out 5 assists to lead Detroit. Dennis Schroder came off the Atlanta bench to lead the team with 20 points, Paul Milsap grabbed a team high 8 rebounds and Schroder, Jeff Teague and Al Horford tied for the lead in assists with 4. The 3rd and final game of the night saw the defending champion Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-95. Stephen Curry looked to be in MVP form as he scored 40 points and handed out 7 assists to lead Golden State in both categories, Harrison Barnes led the tam with 9 rebounds. Anthony Davis scored 18 points to lead New Orleans, Davis and Ryan Anderson each grabbed 9 rebounds t tie for the team lead in that category and Ish Smith had 9 assists to lead New Orleans.

Schaumburg Stu won our pick contest for Week 7 in the NFL going 9-5. Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy tied at 8-6 and I was at the bottom going 7-7. Dan the Man held on to his 1 game lead overall at 64-41. Mr. Fantasy is 63-42 while Schaumburg Stu and I are tied at 58-47. Let;s see what Week 8 has in store for us.

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

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 8, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball
Tags: , , , ,
0

The Major League baseball All-Star teams where announced this week. You can complain about the starters all you want, but it’s a fan vote and until they change it there’s nothing you can do about it. If you’ve listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast you know that Mr. Fantasy can’t stand the fan voting.

I thought the American League reserves were close to what I thought they would be with the exception of a couple of players. I thought that Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox would be the choice for that team, but they went with Brock Holt. While Betts has better stats and is a full time starter I understand why they choose Holt. Holt has played every position except for pitcher or catcher and since the game “counts” a manager can use that kind of flexibility on his bench. The big surprise to me was the fact that Alex Rodriquez (A-Rod) wasn’t named to the team or even in the final 5 voting. Is there anyone who isn’t surprised by the kind of numbers A-Rod has out up. A-Rod has played in 78 games, he’s hitting .280 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI’s. His OPS Is .892 with an Slugging Percentage of .505 and an On Base Percentage of .387. I can’t even begin to tell you how odd it is that I’m actually writing that A-Rod may have been snubbed as an All-Star this season. Is there a chance that after all of the trouble baseball has had with A-Rod that he was more or less kept off the All-Star team. A-Rod’s teammates  Dellin Betances and  Mark Teixeira were selected as reserves and Brett Gardner is on the Final 5 ballot. You could make a case for Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox being left off the team, but he has a chance to make the team as he is in the Final 5 vote as well. Besides Gardner and Bogaerts, the other 3 players on the Final 5 ballot are Yoenis Cespedes of the Detroit Tigers, Brian Dozier of the Minnesota Twins and Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals. Who do you like out of those 5?

In the National League the Final 5 ballot looks like this. Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jeurys Familia of the New York Mets, Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals and  Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies. While only 1 of the players will make the N.L. team you could make a case that 4 of them should already be on the team. I’ve heard a lot of people om television complaining that Kershaw wasn’t selected. Kershaw is 5-6 with and ERA of 3.08 and while those are good numbers they’re not as good as the other 2 starters who are on the Final 5 ballot against him. Cueto is 6-5 with a 2.61 ERA and Martinez is 9-3 with an ERA of 2.70. Why the big outrage over Kershaw when Cueto and Martinez have better numbers and no one is complaining that they weren’t named to the team. Looking at the National League team far and away the biggest snub is Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki leads all National League shortstops with a .320 batting average. He’s 4th in home runs with 9, 2nd in RBI’s with 45 and has played in 75 games this season. Jhonny Peralta of the St. Louis Cardinals won the fan vote and Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants was added to the team as a reserve and I think both players belong on the team, but you can’t tell me that Tulowitzki doesn’t. There’s your 5 final ballot National League guys. Who are you voting for?

Who’s the top free agent left on the market in the NBA? Actually it would be LeBron James. James is very busy playing general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers making sure they sign the players he wants them to sign. Case in point the Cavaliers just signed 32-year-old Williams to a 2-year, $4.3-million contract. Williams played 27 games for the Charlotte Hornets last season. Williams averaged 17.2 points per game and 6 assists per game. Williams did play a little over 30 minutes per game, but don’t expect that out of him for the Cavaliers next season. Tristan Thompson is still trying to work out a deal to return to Cleveland and it’s being reported that James won’t resign with Cleveland until they come to an agreement with Thompson. It had been reported that Cleveland reached an $80 million extension contract deal with Thompson on the first day of free agency, however, the deal fell apart and there has been no update regarding the contract discussions since. There is no other team in the NBA that is going to give Thompson this kind of money; so expect him to resign with the Cavaliers eventually. Don’t forget that Cleveland has already signed Kevin Love to a $110 million contract extension. Additionally, the Cavaliers resigned guard/forward Iman Shumpert for $40 million. When the franchise re-signs James and Thompson as widely expected, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will be facing a massive luxury tax bill. Don’t forget that J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova are also free agents, but James hasn’t expressed any interest in resigning either player yet. While James has found it very easy to spend owner Dan Gilbert’s money this off season have the moves Cleveland has made moved them any closer to winning an NBA title.

The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors told David Lee and his agent that they would do what they could to trade him. There was even some talk that Golden State would package their 1st round draft pick with Lee in a deal, but that didn’t happen. Yesterday Golden State traded Lee to the Boston Celtics for veteran swingman Gerald Wallace. Lee lost playing time when the Warriors opted to go with smaller lineups that featured more 3-point threats. Lee averaged 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds in 18.4 minutes last season, his lowest averages since his rookie season. In the 2013-14 season, Lee averaged 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds while playing 33.2 minutes per game, but Warriors head coach Steve Kerr decided to give the bulk of Lee’s playing time to Draymond Green, who averaged career highs in points (11.7), rebounds (8.2) and assists (3.7) during the Warriors’ title run. Wallace played in 32 games for the Celtics last season. He averaged 1.1 points per game and 1.8 rebounds per game. Wallace hasn’t averaged double digit in points since 2011-12 season when he split time between the New Jersey now Brooklyn Nets and the Portland Trailblazers. Wallace has 1 year left on his contract and will make 10.105.855 for the 2015-16 season. It seems like Boston got the better end of this deal, but Lee didn’t fit into Golden State’s system; so it was better for them to deal him even if they didn’t receive fair market value.

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

You can also follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday.

Posted: June 17, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey
Tags: , , , ,
0

On Monday the night the NHL season came to an end as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lighting 2-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals to win the series 4 games to 2. Then last night the NBA season came to an end as the Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 to win that series 4 games to 2.

Golden State pulled out to a 13 point lead after the 1st quarter 28-15. The Cavaliers cut into the Golden State lead in the 2nd quarter going into halftime down just 2 points; 45-43. Golden State stretched their lead to 12 points by the end of the 3rd quarter; 73-61. The Cavaliers did outscore Golden State in the final quarter 36-32, but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors held on for an 8 point victory and their first NBA title since 1975. Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry led Golden State in scoring with 25 points apiece. The move of Iguodala into the starting line up by Golden State coach Steve Kerr not only help the Warriors win the NBA title, but Iguodala was named finals MVP Iguodala added 5 rebound, 5 assists and 2 steals in Game 6. Draymond Green scored in double figures with 16 points and had a triple double adding 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 6. Festus Ezeli and Shaun Livingston came off of the Golden State bench to score 10 points apiece. LeBron James was led the Cavaliers in scoring with 32 points, rebounds with 18 and assists with 9 missing another triple double by just that 1 assists. J.R. Smith added 19 points. Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson had double, doubles for the Cavaliers. Mozgov had 17 points and 12 rebounds while Thompson cored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. In Game 6 Golden State was the better shooting team from the field making 43.5% of their total shots and hit 38.2% from behind the 3-point line. Cleveland made 39.0% of their total shots and 23.1% from behind the 3-point line. Cleveland was the better free throw shooting team making 27 of 39 (69.2%) of their foul shots while Golden State hit 18 of 29 (62.1%) from the foul line. It was quite surprising that the finals M.V.P. went to Iguodala as James was the best player on the floor even in a losing effort. You have to wonder if James coming out yesterday (Tuesday) saying he didn’t want to be named M.V.P. if the Cavaliers lost the series had an affect on the M.V.P. finals voting. James logged a ton of minute in this finals series and he did everything he could to help the Cavaliers win, but with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving missing significant time with injuries it proven that one great player couldn’t carry a team to a title.

On Monday night Duncan Keith scored in the 2nd period to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead and it turned out to be the only goal they would need, but Patrick Kane did add another Chicago goal in the 3rd period to give the Blackhawks a 2 goal lead and get to the score the game ended at 2-0. It was the Blackhawks 3rd Stanley Cup victory in 6 season and Keith won the Conn Smythe trophy given to the outstanding player in the playoffs. Keith became the first defenseman since Bobby Orr in 1972 to score the Stanley Cup winning goal and win the Conn Smythe trophy. Orr actually pulled this feat off twice; he did it in 1970 as well. Corey Crawford came up big for the Blackhawks when they needed him as Tampa Bay had some quality scoring chances and Crawford even stopped Steven Stamkos on a breakaway. The victory tied Crawford with Tony Esposito for career playoff wins by a Blackhawks goalie with 45. It seemed to have been a series where experience triumphed over youth. Throughout the series it seemed as Tampa Bay was the better team and was outplaying the Blackhawks. Chicago never seemed to panic and never found themselves down by more than 1 goal at any time in the series. Actually the 2-0 win by the Blackhawks in Game 4 was the only game decided by more than 1 goal. It was a good time for Kane to come through with his 1st goal of the series.

After their Stanley Cup victory there were a few experts debating on if the Blackhawks were a dynasty. Some have pointed out that they’ve never won the Stanley Cup in back to back seasons, but the counter is that even in the seasons were they didn’t win it all they went to the conference finals. The Blackhawks are also the first team to win 3 Stanley Cups in the salary cap era. Remember the salary cap is designed to make the teams even.  The Blackhawks have sustained their success the same way the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings did: with a stable and special group of players and some of the best coaching in NHL history. If the Blackhawks find a way to win another Stanley Cup or two in the next few seasons; would that make them a dynasty? While there will be some changes in the off season for the Blackhawks their core group of player is intact and young. The Blackhawks have been involved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs every season since 2009.  The Blackhawks have reached the Western Conference Final five times and the Stanley Cup Final three times in those seven seasons. They were within an overtime goal of being a favorite to win the Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers last season; so is another Stanley Cup or two out of their reach. Being a dynasty is subjective to each person, but dynasty or not the Blackhawks are a Cup contender and should be for the foreseeable future.

I’m getting a kick out of the American League All-Star balloting. As of yesterday the Kansas City Royals had 8 players that would start the All-Star if voting ended right now. I’be heard a lot of the experts complaining about this and I actually heard one suggest that if Omar Infante wins the vote at 2nd base he should decline the honor. Infante isn’t having the best season; he’s hitting .221, but it’s fans vote and if that’s who wins the vote he should play in the game. Royals manager Ned Yost was asked about this situation and was told about some of the complaining and he had a great response. Yost told everyone who didn’t like the way the voting was going to “go out and vote”.

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week?

Posted: June 6, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, horse racing, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

Will we see our first Triple Crown winner since 1978 (Affirmed) today at the Belmont Stakes when American Pharoah takes the race track?  At this point American Pharoah needs little introduction. He won the Kentucky Derby by a length and the Preakness Stakes by seven. His top competition in those races, Dortmund and Firing Line, are both skipping the Belmont, making American Pharoah an overwhelming favorite (3/5 betting odds) at the Belmont. He lost the first race he entered, but has won all six since. His name, by the way, is misspelled because it was entered incorrectly into an Internet registry, so he was stuck with it. Dan the Man and Schuamburg Stu believe American Pharoah will win the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown so he is their pick to win the race. Frosted is the other favorite at 5/1 and he’s Mr. Fantasy’s choice to win. Frosted Wood Memorial in April, but has had several good showings, including a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Joel Rosario is riding Frosted and he did win last years Belmont Stakes on Tonalist. As you can tell my co-hosts didn’t reach while looking for a Belmont winner as they took the favorite and the the horse with the 2nd best odds. I on the other hand have decided to go with Keen Ice who is a 20/1 shot going into the race. Keen Ice finished 7th in the Kentucky Derby, but has a strong bloodline f or the Belmont. Curlin, his sire, finished second in the Belmont. There are a total of 8 horses running in the Belmont Stakes. Besides are picks here are the other horses in today’s race. Materiality (6/1), Mubtaahij (10/1), Madefromlucky (12/1), Tale of Verve (15/1) and Frammento (30/1). Who’s your pick?

Thursday morning I got home and was really looking forward to seeing the highlights of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. As I flipped from morning sports show to morning sports show I was surprised to find that no one was really giving much coverage to Game 1 if at any at all. Of course since ESPN and Fox Sports don’t televise NHL hockey they could care less that the Stanley Cup finals are being played. They’ll bury the story in the middle of their highlight shows were no one may even notice they’re talking about it. Oddly though both network will complain that hockey doesn’t get the coverage it deserves, but yet they don’t cover it. I was able to watch the first 2 periods of Game 1 on television and heard the 3rd period on the radio; so I was able to hear the entire game, but I was hoping to see the 3rd period highlights. Later in the day I was finally able to find some highlights on Comcast Sportsnet which focus on the Chicago teams.

If you saw Game 1 you had to come away thinking that the Tampa Bay Lighting were the better team and even though they were for the most part of Game 1 they ended up losing the game 2-1. Tampa bay went into the 3rd period with a 1-0 lead and had controlled quite a bit of the game, but in the 3rd period they appeared to be playing not to lose instead of playing to win. You have to wonder if nerves or inexperience or possibly both got to the Lighting in that 3rd period. Alex Killorn gave Tampa Bay the lead in the 1st period with a great redirection of the puck by Corey Crawford. Anton Stralman and   Valtteri Filppula assisted on Killron’s goal. That was the only goal of the 1st period; so Tampa Bay took a 1-0 into the dressing room. Neither team was able to put the puck in the back of the net in the 2nd period; so Tampa Bay continued to lead the game 1-0. Teuvo Teravainen was finally able to get the Blackhawks on the scoreboard getting the puck pass Tampa bay goalie Ben Bishop and evening the game at 1-1. Duncan Keith and Andrew Shaw assisted on Teravainen’s goal. It looked as though we were going to get an overtime, but Antoine Vermette scored the game winning goal about 15 minutes into the 3rd period on an assist from Teravainen to put the Blackhawks ahead 2-1 which is how the game ended.

Both goaltenders played well as Crawford stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced while Bishop stopped 19 of 21 shots in goal for the Lighting. Keith as always was the Blackhawks leader in minutes played with 29:15 and Stralman was the Lighting’s minutes leader with 25:29. You’ll hear the announcers say that the Blackhawks are a finesse team, but Brent Seabrook was credited with 7 hits to lead the game in that category.Ondrej Palat was Tampa bay’s leader in hits with 5. Niklas Hjalmarsson of Chicago and Jason Garrison of Tampa Bay each blocked 4 shots to lead their teams in that category. Game 2 is tonight (Saturday) in Tampa Bay.

Now yesterday (Friday) I didn’t have any issues at all finding highlights from Game 1 of the NBA finals game that Golden State won 108-100 in overtime over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers jumped ahead by 10 points at the end of the 1st quarter and looked like they might run away with Game 1. Golden State got themselves back into the game cutting the Cavaliers lead to 3 points going into halftime at 51-48. The game was even by the end of the 3rd quarter at 73 all. Of course the game was tied at 98 apiece at the end of regulation. LeBron James had a chance to win the game for Cleveland at the end of regulation, but missed a tough shot as time ran out. Overtime seemed almost like a different game as Golden State out scored Cleveland 10-2 in the overtime quarter and won 108-100.

Cleveland’s point guard Kyrie Irving limped to the locker room after aggravating his troublesome left knee in overtime. It was later found out that Irving broke his left knee cap. He’ll have surgery and is out for the rest of the finals series. Irving will now join Kevin Love and Andersen Varejao on the sidelines for Cleveland. Is Irving’s injury going to turn out to be too much for Cleveland to overcome. The NBA finals gets the extra day off between game 1 & 2; so they’ll take the court tomorrow (Sunday) for Game 2. Irving’s injury will add even more to LeBron’s work load and going against the team that had the best record in the NBA this season will it be too much for the best player in the NBA to handle. Since the NBA is an offensive league people forget just how good of a defensive team Golden State is. James did score 44 points in Game 1, but without Irving in the line up Golden State will be able to adjust a little more to LeBron and that may make his life a little tougher. It appeared that Golden State was the better team going into this series and with Cleveland losing it’s 2nd best player for the series the question may become; will they be to win a game?

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

So how was your week?

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: June 3, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
Tags: , , , ,
0

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.

How was your Week

Posted: February 7, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, sports
Tags: , , , ,
1

2/7/15

For the first time last night (Friday) we started the podcast with an interview. Eric Huysman from Climbing Tals Hill came back on Sports Time Radio to discuss some Houston Astros baseball, but mostly to talk about the MLB Networks Top 10 2nd baseman rankings. On Eric’s first visit to the podcast he learned what big fans of Jose Altuve we where and tweeted out that MLB Network had him 6th on their Top 10 list. You have to look at the source of the list and try hard to not take fantasy baseball into consideration when making a list like this. That can make it tough and I try not to be to fantasy bias, but I think 6th is quite low. I’m sure the list had a lot of Sabermetics involved in it and there is some East coast bias. Then add in the fact that the Astros have been bad for a few seasons now and I’m sure those are some of the reasons they held Altuve down. Here’s the MLB Network list:

#1 Robinson Cano Seattle Mariners

#2 Dustin Pedroia Boston Red Sox

#3 Ben Zobrist Oakland A’s

#4 Neil Walker Pittsburgh Pirates

#5 Ian Kinsler Detroit Tigers

#6 Jose Altuve Houston Astros

#7 Howie Kendrick Los Angeles Dodgers

#8 Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies

#9 Brian Dozier Minnesota Twins

#10 Scooter Gennett Milwaukee Brewers

Besides the error in ranking Altuve; where is Dee Gordon? I have no issues at all with Cano at #1 and I don’t think even Astros fans would argue that ranking. I would’ve had Altuve as the #2 2nd baseman. I like Zobrist at #3 and Gordon would be #4 for me. Give me Kinsler at #5, Walker at #6  with Utley at #7 with Pedroia at #8. Kendrick would be solid at #9 and I would have Jason Kipnis at #10. Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals would’ve been on this list, but he’s playing 3rd base this season.  Am I a little bias towards Altuve; yeah I’m sure I am. If you follow this blog you know that I believe he was the MVP in the American League last season. While Houston was 70-92 in 2014 I think you could make a case that Altuve is just as important to the Astros as Mike Trout is to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Where would the Astros of ended up last season had they not had Altuve. Not only did he win a batting title; which with Sabermetrics doesn’t mean a whole lot, but he also hit clean up at times for the Astros. While Trout is the best player in Major League Baseball, Altuve hung with him stat wise in 2014. Trout scored more runs 115-85, had more triples 9-3, more home runs 36-7, more RBI’s 111-59 and walks 83-36. Altuve led in hits 225-173, doubles 47-39, strikeouts 53-184, stolen bases 56-16 and batting average .341-.287. You can just pick the stats that you like best and run with them. Now if Altuve’s numbers can compare with the best player in baseball and last seasons MVP award winner; how is just the 6th ranked 2nd baseman in M.L.B. for the 2015 season.

We where hoping to have some breaking news on the podcast last night, but it never happened as James Shields is still unsigned. Shields camp was saying that he’d sign with a team by the end of the week. Now depending on what the end of the week is to you maybe he has until tomorrow (Sunday) to sign with a team. Now that Shields contract terms appear to have changed the Chicago Cubs have shown some interest in him according to reports. I found it funny that on Chicago sports radio fans where calling in and complaining about this signing if it happened because Shields has a bad post season record. Did I miss the Cubs repeated trips to the post season and all those World Series titles that they’ve been winning. I guess since the Cubs are the trendy pick this season and in the coming seasons I guess their fans think they can be picky. I would think as a Cubs fan that you’d be excited to add a pitcher of Shields quality. Shields takes the ball every five days as he’s made 31 or more starts every year since 2007. Now at 33 years old I can understand that a team wouldn’t want to go four or five years on a contract with Shields, but you could go three years with him and maybe an option for a 4th depending on how he pitches. I guess we’re still waiting for the “end of the week” to find out where Shields pitches in 2015.

The two best teams in the NBA played last night as the Atlanta Hawks (42-9) defeated the Golden State Warriors (39-9) 124-116 in Atlanta last night. Jeff Teague led the Hawks in scoring with 23 points, but seven Hawks where in double figures. Paul Milsap had 21 points, Kyle Korver and Mike Scott had 17 points, DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford had 12 points while Kent Bazemore added 11 points. Scott and Bazemore came off the bench for the Hawks last night to add scoring. Horford grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the team while Korver had 7 boards. Dennis Schroder tied Teague for the team lead in assists with 7 while Horford also handed out 6 assists. Korver was 5 for 9 from behind the 3-point line while Bazemore and Scott both went 3 for 3 from behind the 3-point arc.  Atlanta shot 55.6% from behind the 3-point line last night going 15 for 27 in the game. Klay Thompson led the warriors in scoring with 29 points, Stephen Curry added 26 points and Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green add 12 points for Golden State. Green also had 20 rebounds and handed out 6 assists as Curry led the Warriors in assists with 9. Thompson was 4 for 8 and Curry was 4 for 9 from behind the 3-point line, but the Warriors shot just 36.4% from behind the arc. The game was tied at 52 all at halftime. The Hawks where able to get a 4 point lead after 3 quarters and outscored the Warriors 35-31 in the 4th quarter for the win. Did we get an NBA finals preview last night; it’s still to early to tell, but we did get a good game. With the win Atlanta now has the best record in the NBA Golden State is in the midst of playing four games in five nights and take on the New York Knicks tonight in New York. The Hawks get a day off before visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.

If you’re in a fantasy hockey league like Dan the Man and I are it was a good night to play all of your Columbus Blue Jackets and a bad night to start the St. Louis Blues Brian Elliott in-goal. Elliott gave up four of the seven Blue Jackets goals and was pulled for Jake Allen; who gave up the final three Columbus goals. Nick Foligno was the only Blue Jackets player with multiple goals scoring two to bring his season total to 20. Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen, Corey Tropp, Matt Calvert and Scott Hartnell where the other Blue Jackets who put the puck in the back of the net last night. Brandon Dubinsky and Johansen also picked up two assists for Columbus. Paul Stastny was the only Blues player to score a goal. Curtis McElhinney got the win on goal for Columbus stopping 33 of 34 St. Louis shots. The Blue Jackets turn right around and play the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa tonight while St. Louis has a rivalry game with an early Sunday start (11:30 a.m.) against the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime and remember you can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

So how was your week?

How was your Week? 4/19/14

Posted: April 19, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,
0

20140501-102334.jpg

Baseball is coming up on one month into it’s season. The NFL is preparing for the draft. While the NHL playoffs started earlier this week the NBA playoffs get under way today.

The NBA 1st round match ups look like this. In the Eastern conference; #1 Indiana Pacers vs. #8 Atlanta Hawks. #2 Miami Heat vs. #7 Charlotte Bobcats. #3 Toronto Raptors vs. #6 Brooklyn Nets. #4 Chicago Bulls vs. #5 Washington Wizards.

In the Western conference it’s #1 San Antonio Spurs vs. #8 Dallas Mavericks. #2 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. #7 Memphis Grizzlies. #3 Los Angeles Clippers vs. #6 Golden State Warriors. #4 Houston Rockets vs. #5 Portland Trailblazers.

There are some good 1st round match ups, but all the talk seems to be centered around the #3 seed vs. the #6 seed in both conferences. A lot of experts think the Nets may have tried to work their way into the #6 seed to get the match up against Toronto. The Nets have been one of the top teams in the NBA since January 1st and there veterans seem healthy and rested for the playoffs. Will they be the surprise team in the East? The talking has started in the Clippers/Warriors series already. Klay Thompson said that Blake Griffin flops and I believe he called him a bull in a china shop as well. The Warriors Andrew Bogut is out for this series and while that provides some inside match ups for the Clippers to take advantage of it will give the Warriors a chance to play small and make it tougher on the Clippers DeAndre Jordan or maybe even limit his minutes.

In the East it’s tough to see any other team except Miami going to the finals. Indiana has such struggles down the stretch you have to wonder if they’ll be able to get ready mentally for the playoffs. The Nets had a great regular season record against the Heat, but that was the regular season. I don’t have the guts to call a Bobcats upset over Miami in the 1st round either. Out West I really think you could put all eight teams names in a hat and pick the winner out of it. I really believe that any of these eight teams could come out of the West, but I think the winner of the Rockets/Trailblazers series might surprise a 2nd round opponent and go to the conference finals. With the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers all missing the playoffs you’d have to think the NBA itself is rooting for the a Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder match up for the finals. The best possible outcome for the NBA would be the two best players, LeBron James & Kevin Durant, matching up.

The NHL playoffs got started this week and here are the match ups we’re looking at. In the Eastern conference it’s the Boston Bruins vs. the Detroit Red Wings; Detroit leads the series 1 – 0. Tampa Bay Lighting vs. the Montreal Canadians; Montreal leads the series 2 – 0. The Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets; Pittsburgh leads the series 1 – 0. New York Rangers vs. the Philadelphia Flyers; New York leads the series 1 – 0. In the Western conference it’s the St. Louis Blues vs. the Chicago Blackhawks; St. Louis leads the series 1 – 0. The Colorado Avalanche vs. the Minnesota Wild; Colorado leads the series 1 – 0. The San Jose Sharks vs. the Los Angeles Kings; San Jose leads the series 1 – 0. The Anaheim Ducks vs. the Dallas Stars; the Ducks lead the series 2 – 0.

While these series have started and it’s hard to call upsets and stuff like that Dan the Man and I did talk some hockey on Wednesday’s show. We both like to see the Blackhawks repeat as we live in the Chicago area, but will have to see if they can bounce back from a triple overtime loss in Game 1. I was leaning towards the Wild as kind of my surprise team, but they lost a tough Game 1 to Colorado. I thought Jonathan Quick was going to come up big for the Kings and they would be a Stanley Cup contender, but they dropped Game 1 as well. Pittsburgh had a tougher Game 1 than I thought they would, but they came out of it a winner. Detroit is a tough 1st round match up for anyone and might be able to get past the Bruins in round 1. There’s a long, long way to go in these series; so will see how they play out over this weekend and into next week.

As we get closer and closer to the NFL draft I see more and more mock drafts. I caught one the other day, but I don’t remember which expert it was who out it out, but he had quarterback Teddy Bridgewater dropping all the way to the 1st pick in the 2nd round going to the Houston Texans there. It was an interesting choice of a quarterback who would drop. In most of the experts eyes it’s Johnny Manziel being the quarterback that will drop out of the 1st round. As we all know none of this is a science. I saw a draft a few weeks ago that had Khalil Mack being the 1st player chosen, but then expert released another draft a week later and had Mack just outside the top 10. My guess was, he took out Mack in his #1 spot, so people would talk about his mock draft and it worked; his is one of the drafts I remember. Maybe we can get Dan the Man or Mr. Fantasy to put together the first ever Sports Time Radio mock draft.

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

So how was your week?

Newer Entries