MLB RACE TO THE PLAYOFFS

By William Lee July 31st 11:05 PM

As the race to the Major League Baseball playoffs start to wind down with about 58-60 games left on average for teams here is a look at who would be in if the current standings held today.

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American League:

AL EAST: New York Yankees (66-37)

AL CENTRAL: Chicago Whitesox (58-45)

AL WEST: Texas Rangers (61-43)

AL Wildcard: Tampa Bay Rays (64-39) 2 games behind*

National League:

NL EAST: Atlanta Braves (59-44)

NL CENTRAL: STL CARDINALS (58-46)

NL WEST: SD PADRES (60-42)

NL Wildcard: San Francisco Giants (60-45)1.5 games behind*

1st Round Matchup & Seeding:

AMERICAN LEAGUE*****

New York Yankees #1 vs. Chicago Whitesox #3: Prediction: New York Yankees

Texas Rangers #2 vs. Tampa Bay Rays #4: Prediction: Texas Rangers

NATIONAL LEAGUE*****

San Diego Padres #1 vs. Atlanta Braves #3: Prediction San Diego Padres

St Louis Cardinals #2 vs. San Francisco Giants #4: Prediction St Louis Cardinals

Lance Berkman to the Yankees

By William Lee July 31st 11:02 PM

Lance Berkman one day after being traded to the New York Yankees started in the 2nd spot behind Derek Jeter. While the Yankees collected 6 hits as a team and Cano had 3 hits, Berkman hit 0.00% by going 0-4 against Ray's Matt Garza who threw a no hitter his last time out. It will only be time as he will be a nice addition to the team.

Miami Heat picks up Eddie House

By William Lee July 29 4:31 PM

Guard Eddie House known for his ultra quick release and 3 point specialist has agreed to take a 2 year veterans minimum contract 2.8 million by signing with the Miami Heat. Eddie House said "I couldn't refuse to turn down the offer to play with Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh."

Perhaps now it is looking bleak to signing Jerry Stackhouse who I was pulling for but I like this pick up.

MLB Trades and Acquisitions July 29 Thursday

By William Lee July 29 4:12 PM


Jorge Cantu shown on the left.

Florida Marlins traded Jorge Cantu to the Texas Rangers for prospects. This strengthens Texas incredibly. I know there were talks about the Angels trying to get Milwaukee's Prince Fielder but unless that happens I can definitely seeing Texas now winning the AL West.




Roy Oswalt shown on the left.

Phillies and Houston agreed to complete the trade before the trade deadline this Saturday by swapping Roy Oswalt for JA Happ (lefty). JA Happ had a terrific year last year as this might be a good trade for both sides. Phillies currently on a 7 game win streak will try to sustain this momentum into the NL East race. Roy Oswalt is set to start on Friday for the Phillies.



Miguel Tejada shown on the left

San Diego Padres have traded minor league pitcher Wynn Pelzer to the Baltimore Orioles for 6 time all star Miguel Tejada. Miguel Tejada will provide a much needed bat for the Padres who are currently on the top of the NL West.

Josh Howard resigns 1 year deal with Washington

By William Lee July 28th, 11:06 PM

Josh Howard: on the left

Josh Howard has agreed to sign a 1 year deal with the Washington Wizards which gives him a chance to prove to himself and fans of the NBA again of the all star player he once was before tearing his left ACL knee. I believe this is the right timing and opportunity for Josh Howard to prove himself that he still got it. Although I've never seen players recover fully post ACL injuries Amare Stoudemire comes to mind who just signed a $100 million dollar 5 year contract with the New York Knicks. Good Luck Josh on making a comeback!

STARCRAFT II RELEASED

By: William Lee July 28th, 9:48 PM

One of the most anticipated PC games in 2 decades, Starcraft II has released this game yesterday July 27th. So far Amazon has rated the game on an average of 2.8 out of 5. Some of the unsatisfactory complaints have been a lack of LAN support, Blizzard's (company) strategy to milk the gaming industry by only being able to play with one race, Terran, and lastly about it's pricing. The current market price for Starcraft II is $60.00 and many haven't been happy about it. However, as expected the graphics and game play action have been rated superb.

2010-2011 NBA EAST POWER RANKINGS

By William Lee July 27 2:30 PM

After reviewing the NBA off season free agency acquisitions and losses certain teams got stronger and some just are fun to watch as they stay in rebuilding mode for the immediate future.

I ranked each playoff team from the 2009-10 season from each conference by measuring each team by looking at player additions and player losses during this off season to see if they would make it to the playoffs in the upcoming 2010-11 season.

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Add: Ramon Sessions

Lost: Lebron James, Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair

Coaching Change: Byron Scott replaces Mike Brown.

Motivation: We can do it without Lebron I bet you!

Prediction: 9th seed in East

Orlando Magic:

Add: Chris Duhon, Quentin Richardson

Lost: Matt Barnes

Coaching Change: None

Motivation: We have recent experience and we can use it to surprise a lot of people

Prediction: 3rd seed in East

ATLANTA HAWKS:

Add: Josh Powell

Lost: None

Coaching Change: (Yes) Assistant Coach Larry Drew promoted to Head Coach (14 year experience)

Motivation: We resigned Joe Johnson, we're younger than other teams and now have some experience under our belt.

Prediction: Atlanta #5

BOSTON CELTICS:

Add: Jermaine O Neal

Lost: Tony Allen

Coaching Change: Yes Assistant coach Tom Thiboddeau signed as Head Coach for Chicago Bulls

Motivation: Less than 6 points away as 2009-10 Champions.

Prediction: #1 Seed East

MIAMI HEAT:

Add: Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Eddie House, Juwan Howard, Mike Miller, Big Z, James Johnson, Jamaal Magloire

Lost: Michael Beasley, Quentin Richardson, Jermaine O Neal, Dorrell Wright, D Cook, S Randolph

Coaching Change: None

Motivation: We have the best trio that ever signed in NBA History

Prediction: 2nd Seed East

MILWAUKEE BUCKS:

Add: Corey Maggette, Chris Douglas Roberts, Drew Gooden

Lost: Luke Ridnour, Dan Gadzuric, Charlie Bell

Coaching Change: none

Motivation: We have a excellent point guard with 1 year experience, signed CDR, have a healthy Bogut ready to take on some premier teams.

Prediction: 6th in East

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS:

Add: Virtually none.

Lost: Theo Ratliff, Tyson Chandler, Larry Hughes, Raymond Felton

Coaching Change: None

Motivation: With DJ Augustine starting he may have a chance to really explode but it's a gamble. They still have their core in Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw, and Gerald Wallace.

Prediction: 8th seed in East

CHICAGO BULLS:

Add: Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver

Lost: Kirk Hinrich, Hakim Warrick, Brad Miller

Coaching Change: Yes, Tom Thiboddeau (Former Assistant Coach for Boston Celtics)

Motivation: With new coach, new direction, and a great core, Chicago has a positive outlook.

Prediction: 4th Seed.

EASTERN CONFERENCE: predictions for 2010-11 season

1) BOSTON CELTICS
2) MIAMI HEAT
3) ORLANDO MAGIC
4) CHICAGO BULLS

5) ATLANTA HAWKS

6) MILWAUKEE BUCKS

7) NEW YORK KNICKS (new playoff team)

8) CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

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9) CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

10) WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Angels Add Dan Haren Sunday

By William Lee July 27th 3:45 AM

A day after Dan Haren joined the Angels on Sunday July 25th, he started for the Halos against the Redsox. However, the debut was ended shortly after the starting pitcher got hit by a line drive by Kevin Youkilis. Both teams are eagerly chasing for a playoff spot as the Angels are 7.5 games behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers. Dan Haren seems to be a natural fit for the Halos as well as the team colors. Hope to hear Dan Haren will be okay for the next natural start.

The team definitely will get the push they need with a starting pitcher like Haren. Though Haren only sports a 7-9 record. On the flip side of things the Arizona Diamondbacks doesn't seem to be done with trading as they mentioned Chad Qualls and Chris Snyder as well as Edwin Jackson and Adam Laroche.

Well see in a couple of days but the Rays have shown interest in acquiring Chad Qualls according to Ben Nicholson Smith from mlbtraderumors.com

CLIFF LEE REPORT CARD WITH TEXAS

By William Lee: July 27 3:04 AM


After 3 games I wanted to see the immediate effect on what Cliff Lee brought to the table as an Ace for the Texas Rangers.




Vs. Baltimore Orioles July 10th: Cliff Lee gave up 9 hits and 6 earned runs with Texas losing the game 1-6.
Vs. Boston Redsox July 17th: Cliff Lee gave up 6 hits and 2 earned runs with his team losing 2-3.
Vs. LA Angels July 22nd: Cliff Lee gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs with his team winning 3-2.
Immediate Impact:
With the necessary data and stats provided above the trends point out that the immediate impact Cliff Lee brought to the Rangers was not as great as Texas expected in a highly touted Ace. However, the important trend that was surprising was that in all 3 of the games he started he pitched 9.0 innings in both games against Baltimore and Boston as well as 8.1 innings in his last start against the Halos. The other important trend is pointed out in the lack of run support he has over his last 3 starts with Texas only scoring 1 run, 2 run, and 3 runs. The projection seems to be 4 runs in his next start. All in all however, Texas seems to be making hits as the team had a total of 4 hits vs. Baltimore, 7 hits vs. Boston, and 8 hits in the Angels. Another increasing trend as Texas is aware of trying to give their ace some cushion to provide him with wins. Cliff Lee did earn a 8-3 record with his former club in Seattle.
With about 63 more games left to be played and about 12 starts if Cliff Lee pitches every 5 days he has a chance to improve his current record of 9 wins to possibly 20.

MLB RACE TO WORLD SERIES PROJECTIONS

By William Lee: July 26th 5:22 PM

If the current standing in Major League Baseball hold the following teams would enter the playoffs in the current order.












American League:
#1 New York Yankees [62-35] 2: 1 odds to win world series
#2 Texas Rangers [58-41] 6:1 odds to win world series
#3 Chicago Whitesox [53-44] 15:1 odds to win world series
#4 Tampa Bay Rays * (wildcard team) [59-38] 6: 1 odds to win world series

National League:
#1 San Diego Padres [58-39] 15:1 odds to win world series
#2 Atlanta Braves [57-41] 7:1 odds to win world series
#3 St Louis Cardinals [55-44] 10:1 odds to win world series
#4 San Francisco Giants * (wildcard team) [56-43] 15:1 odds to win world series

Miami Heat Season Tickets Jumps 150 Percentage of Increase Overnight

Season Tickets Percentage of Increase 150%+ for Miami Heat

By William Lee: 5:07 PM July 26

In an article posted Jonathan Berr on Dailyfinance.com I would like to point out how Miami's new trio of superstars: Lebron, Dwyane, and Chris would affect Miami Heat's season ticket sales.

Before they signed there was a lot of uncertainty that Dwyane Wade would resign with the Miami Heat. This was shown on average season ticket prices for the 2010/11 season at $3238.61. However, one day later after the Heat acquired all three players season tickets averaged out to $8249.99 according to Fansnap a search engine for ticket sales.







You can check out the rest of that article here at:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/lebron-james-economic-imact-miami/19548001/

Jerry Stackhouse Wants to Wear Heat Uniform

By William Lee: July 26: 5:13 PM


Jerry Stackhouse joined NBATV broadcast panel and announced publicly about having a chance to winning a championship before retiring. His primary choice would be to join the Miami Heat for this upcoming season. Jerry Stackhouse would be such a good fit theoretically for the Miami Heat who would bring veteran leadership along with a pretty nifty jumpshot.


I believe the Heat organization should waste no time in picking up Jerry Stackhouse.

17 Year Old trades Cell Phone for Porsche

This is not related to sports but story still amazes me.

Quick Summary:

A 17 Year Old Teen, Steve Ortiz, traded a cell phone that his friends gave him an ipod. After making a series of swaps, he eventually landed a 2000 Porsche Boxster.

Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/21/steven-ortiz-local-teen-t_n_654246.html
Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBtA0OsYOOc

List of Trades He did (w/o. spending extra cash***)

1) Used Cell Phone (Blackberry)
2) Cell Phone
3) Ipod
4) Dirt Bike
5) Macbook
6) 1987 Toyota 4 Runner
7) Souped up Golf Cart
8) 1975 Ford Bronco
9) 2000 Porsche Boxter

He is looking to possibly trade the Porsche for a Cadillac Escalade.

Los Angeles Lakers Depth Chart

Link to ESPN's depth chart of the Los Angeles Lakers 2010-2011 Roster
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/depth?team=lal

As the Lakers won the 2009-2010 championship and Kobe and Derek Fisher each have 5 championship rings, the Lakers are moving on without fan favorites Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Adam Morrison, and Josh Powell.

Added:
1) PG - Steve Blake (veteran pass first point guard with high IQ)
2) C - Theo Ratliff (interior toughness, shot blocker)

Possible Free Agents to Add:
3) SG/SF - Matt Barnes (a veteran role player with tremendous physicality)

2010-2011 Off -Season Analysis:
From who the Lakers acquired in the off-season and who they lost, I feel the Lakers significantly downgraded talent wise. Judgining by the way the Lakers handled free agency the Lakers added more veterans to their squad, though at the point guard spot they still have trouble especially with defending the premier lightning quick guards such as Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, and Chris Paul's. However it is not about the regular season as we have witnessed and it is all about when it counts during the playoffs. In addition Championship teams take action by building equity and the Lakers at this point have built tremendous momentum to win another championship.

Roy Oswalt Possible Destination St. Louis

According to ESPN and Sportsnation reporters,
Roy Oswalt could be heading to St. Louis Cardinals as a possible team still in this year's National League Centrals' race 1.5 game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds. The MLB is a grueling season and anything can happen. Currently St. Louis sits on a 56.2 winning percentage, a 54-42 record. With about 66 more games left in the regular season in order to hold the spot adding an ACE starting pitcher would solidify St. Louis' chances to head on to possibly face the San Diego Padres, of course if San Diego is to hold their lead in the National league west in a #2 vs. #3 matchup. St Louis has a great chance to head to the World Series with a starting pitching staff with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Jaime Garcia along with Roy Oswalt if he gets thrown into the mix.

One thing to worry about is the long term plans that St. Louis organization would do about securing Chris Carpenter or maybe giving Albert Pujols a shorter contract extension because Roy Oswalt asks for such as hefty price with Oswalt demanding the team he would be traded to pick up $32 million for the next 2 seasons.

Chris Paul Seeks Trade Out of New Orleans

According to ESPN reports and LA Times NBA Blog, Chris Paul the franchise point guard for the New Orleans Hornets is publicly requesting a trade out of New Orleans to preferably New York which Chris Paul mentioned himself as his favorite destination and his second favorite being the Orlando Magic. Chris Paul is great friends with Orlando Magic's center Dwight Howard who has been telling Orlando executives to bring in Chris Paul as their starting point guard. Lebron James, twitted Best of luck to my brother (referring to CP3).

Now having said that....I don't know if Chris Paul is being immature by looking at his friends in Lebron, Wade, and Bosh and what they did by creating a big 3. Or if he and his closest advisors are telling him to get the hell out of the Big Easy. Anyway a change of mind or change of heart, during tough times in a recession money talks. It's all about business! Nothing is personal!

It seems to me and I'm sure everyone is catching on that times have changed and the new model of sports teams is creating an all star team with as many as teams can afford. Or are players trying to avoid the collective bargaining agreeement.

Now I'm sure we will see Carmelo resisting to sign that contract extension with the Nuggets.

Few Pointers About Lebron James Before Criticizing Him

Here are some facts:
Yes Lebron signed with the Miami Heat. Yes he is clearly hated on by a lot of people for leaving Cleveland. It is also true that he left a lot of people waiting on his decision to sign with a new team. It is true that Dan Gilbert the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers disapproves this and expressed it in a formal letter almost putting a curse to Lebron and the Heat that they will never win a championship.

However, I feel the need to express several viewpoints as a player fan from an individual view point and how Lebron James is a person just like you, me, and anyone else.

Lebron James is one of the best players in the league. This is accepted by everyone who love him or hate him even used to love him and now hate him. Taking it a step further and what he has accomplished during his lifetime as a professional athlete excluding being able to win a championship, he is a once in a lifetime type of talent. Expressing it the best way you can Lebron James has a tattoo that says CHOSEN 1.

My exact point I'm trying to get across is that Lebron James can freely choose to do what he wants in his career. Everyone has a different personality. Lebron James has one. Michael Jordan has one. Kobe Bryant has one. Traditionally it makes sense that when you have the talents to back up your life plans you ultimately make a choice that suits the best interest to yourself. And this is when a person's personality comes into play. People make decisions in their life according to their personality. Yes this can be seen in day to day actions of your friends, parents, etc...Many argue and teach the fact of sound and right ways to live and make decisions in life. However, many at the same time can't do this when a situation is presented to them because of their personalities and the way people grew up.

I will go on for the purpose of this post to say that from a individual standpoint. Lebron James is not a born leader. He wasn't taught growing up to be one. Single parent raised from one mom. With that structure he doesn't have the personality traits to push out strongly with one factor: mental toughness. What I will argue next is that Lebron James' innate talent which comes strongly from his physical gift as a 6 foot 8 player with incredible physical gifts carried him this far. In order to win multiple championships to cement that legacy a player like Lebron James deserves he needs to develop mental toughness. And previously what showed a lot of this was Lebron's dynamic ability to pass the ball to his teammates. Lebron doesn't always feel the need to take this biggest shots. He was criticized for passing the ball in game winning opportunities when his team didn't deliver. As he got better and his supporting cast was able to deliver we forgot who Lebron James the player was a distributor/scorer. This is where the difference is seen between him and Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant is definitely not a distributor. His strengths lie in him as a scorer and clutch performer. Lebron was basically forced into the role to carry his team because he was just so talented. But from a personality angle he was more of a value type of player.

One of the biggest choices that athletes would make in their career is to pick the best situation to be able to win a championship. To sum it up....at the end of the day if you take a look back at what you did there might be nothing that quickly springs up with something to show for. Of course Lebron when he looks back into what he has done for himself and for the Cleveland Cavaliers he hasn't been able to step up and deliver. Last season months ago in Mid May he had the greatest chance to head back to the NBA Finals to possibly dethrone the Champs in the Lakers. The Boston Celtics clicked and started playing well at a perfect time outplaying the Cavaliers going on to beat them in the second round. Many feel as if Lebron choked or quit on his team during this series. However, as great of a player Lebron James showed that he was maybe we don't or didn't realize that at the time Lebron was maybe giving his best. To actually measure potential is very difficult thing to do. All I know for a fact is that the Cleveland Cavaliers losing to the Celtics came unexpected. And that this might have been a signal for change.

Lebron along with those closest to him that help him make life changing decisions for his Lebron's benefit probably got their message across that the reality of Lebron winning multiple titles in Cleveland after that beating to the Celtics was slim. I would say with Kobe Bryant who is still in his prime easily can win two more championships and would go on to surpass Michael Jordan who owns 6 rings. Kobe has 5 currently. And with 2 more rings Kobe would have 7 arguably the best to have ever played the game.

At a critical stage in Lebron's NBA career Lebron had to look at few road blocks or obstacles in preventing him from winning multiple championships. Number one was the Celtics who still have a great chance to win multiple championships even now, number two the Orlando Magic, and number three the Los Angeles Lakers. Both Eastern squads match up well against Cleveland. Hate it or love it this is true from what we seen in the past. What can be countered however is the fact that Antawn Jamison the mid season acquisition had little time to gel with the squad which can be argued as one. But the biggest reason for Cleveland not being able to be winners was the team's defensive mindset and mental strength. Neither Lebron James nor his supporting cast not one proves to have a mental strength that players can build off of. Not Mo Williams. Not Antawn Jamison. Not Anthony Parker. Maybe one player in Anderson Varejao. But Varejao being an international player holds culture barriers to effectively take charge when the team is down.

With having said my opinions about Lebron James people need to realize that Lebron James really wants what is best for not only himself but for those around him which ultimately makes him a real winner and the real king A Chosen 1.

A Review on Lebron James and His Decision

Lebron James finally decides to change scenario and style by switching teams from playing full seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and recently signed a $110.1 million dollar contract with the Miami Heat.

In an one hour special hosted by ESPN, I was so shocked to find Lebron signing with the Heat. Lebron's words verbatim match "I have decided to take my talents to South Beach...I have made a decision to play for the Miami Heat."

Immediately Charles Barkley as well as a group of panelists, reporters, and ex coaches showed their expressions of dislike and dissaproval for Lebron leaving the Cavaliers.

Charles Barkley in a phone interview with NBA TV said I would have loved to see Lebron James staying in Cleveland. I understand his perspective, but a lot of guys including myself always played basketball to beat the best players.



Recently Michael Jordan in a celebrity golf tournament added to the theory of trying to create their own legacy by beating the best in the league. But he quickly threw in the fact that times are different now.

In what has been one of the most anticipated free agent showdown for a professional athlete in the history of the NBA Lebron James has shifted the attention to himself shortly after the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2009-2010 championship in mid to late June.

The reasoning for this is simply that the NBA free agency market opened up for players to sign with another team on July 1st.


From this period on Lebron took time to meet with officials, coaches, and owners from the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and finally the Miami Heat.

Odds from Las Vegas for him to sign with a team were quickly changing day to day as Cleveland remained the favorites to resign LBJ. The closest teams were Chicago at 3:1 New York 3:1.

Never in my mind did I expect Lebron to join forces with Dwyane Wade a proven champion who earned his ring along playing with Shaquille O Neal back in 2006.

A big factor in Lebron James making the decision to head to Miami to form the newest "Big Three" (named after Boston Celtics when Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen) was probably Chris Bosh' decision to join the Heat which adds to the proven argument that a championship contender definitely needs a big man.


When Lebron James realized the reality of winning multiple titles playing alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh it probably became heavily considered.