Busch is the man!

I know I know what am I doing blogging about Nascar well I am a big fan. Well this season there is a young gun on the prowl & he is winning everywhere. Kyle Busch aka shrub aka wild thing aka loose cannon, is dominating this year with 8 victories in 22 races. He should easily win at least 2 more & nobody has won 10 or more races since Gordon did it 3 years in a row (1996-10, 1997-10, 1998-13). So Busch has 14 more races to win at least 2 more & put his name up there with Gordon, Petty, Earnhardt, Waltrip, etc.. This is the season Joe Gibbs knew he would get when he signed Kyle Busch last year. Kyle is only 23 years old so he is not going anywhere for a while.

It's Phelps & then everybody else!

4 days into the Olympics & I am sure you've seen Michael Phelps all over the tube, talked about on the radio, & pics in the paper. I for one enjoy seeing him win every race & smashing world records to let all of his oppenents know he is the BEST! Not the best now, but the best EVER. A little trash talk never hurt anyone especially beating the French in a race they had won. That everybody else I mention was Jason Lezak. If you didn't see the 4x100 Men's Relay last night, then you missed out on an epic finish. Trailing by almost a body lenght with 50 meters to go, Lezak caught the Frenchy & set the world record in the process. With this win this evening, the 2 yesterday, Phelps has 5 more events to make it 8 gold medals for the games breaking Mark Spitz record of 7. It should happen but like anything, nothing is for sure. As a proud American I salute you Michael Phelps.

Dunn deal done!

So the big Texan Adam Dunn is leaving the Reds to become the newest right fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks! This should be interesting adding the 2nd leading homerun hitter since 2004, he has 198 HR's during this period one shy of A-Rod to our inconsistent lineup. So I guess Josh Byrnes didn't like having J-Up or Alex Romero in there for our post season run. So my question is why did we go after Dunn, trade 3 prospects in the process, but not consider Barry Bonds. Barry would have been a lot cheaper & his OBP would have been about 100 points higher. Well I do like the fact that the D'Backs are pulling out all the stops & trying to better this team to hold onto our division lead. We need a power hitter in our lineup who can strike fear in opposing teams but is Dunn that guy? Only time will tell but adding another big strikeout hitter to this lineup doesn't sit well with a lot of people but I think we needed to do something so I like the trade. Dunn isn't going to hit for a high average but he could turn a game around with one swing for our favor. Welcome to the Valley big guy & enjoy being on a 1st place team for once in your career.

ASU looks good in practice.

The Sun Devils know that this could be a big year for them, but I am sure Coach Erickson will ensure that it happens. With huge bowl implications early on in their season, the Sun Devils will turn to Senior RB Keegan Herring & Starting QB Rudy Carpenter to shoulder the load. I, like many of the other Sun Devils Fans, know that we cannot look past the Stanford game for the big game the following Saturday with Georgia. Stanford put a damper into USC's championship run last year by beating the Trojans. So Erickson will continue to recruit great talent, bolster the offensive & defensive lines, & groom another solid QB of the future by the name of Jack Elway. With attendance to be up this season, the excellant marketing by the school, I am sure every game will be sold out this season. So I suggest getting your tickets now & attending as many games possible this season because it's going to be a great season. Fork em Devils!

WTF D'Backs!

What the F*** was that last night D'Backs? That was some of the worst baseball I've seen in years. Someone needs to wake these guys up & tell them that the Dodgers are 1/2 game behind us for the division lead. Remember guys, there is no chance at the Wild Card so you MUST win the division. The fact that we are not scoring runs in the first 4-5 innings consistently is really hurting our team & not to mention all the 3rd called strikeouts we are constantly taking game in & game out. Snap out of it men & win this freakin division already. If we give up this lead to the Dodgers, I really don't see us taking it back. We are a streaky team & well if we lose our confidence, you can pretty much call it a season. It's times like this I wish we had a big bat like Texeira to help pull us out but we don't. So unless we plan on pitching Webb, Haren, & RJ ever 3 days we need some runs. Saturday & Sunday's games are MUST wins & Melvin knows it. Get the job done son & make it count. Memo to BoMel, please pitch Juan Cruz & do not pitch Tony Pena. Thank you

He brought the game to the Desert!

I remember when I was in middle school & just started to get into hockey, a hockey icon by the name of Wayne Gretzky was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles 20 years ago yesterday (08-08-8). This trade is still the biggest in all of sports because of what Wayne did for hockey. By making this trade, the Kings brought an excitement & entertainment to offset the Showtime Lakers. Gretzky helped bring Hockey to warm weather cities such as Florida, Nashville, Carolina, Dallas, Anaheim, & even here to the Desert. He changed the game with his play making ability forever. He could score pretty much anytime he wanted but more importantly he got his teammates involved. I remember Bob Miller & Jim Fox calling the games while watching ASPN here in Phoenix like it was yesterday. They helped me learn the game of hockey but Gretz was the reason I watch hockey. Then hearing the news 12 years ago we were getting a team it just put the icing on the cake. Now Gretzky is our Coach & getting our young team to the playoffs will be a challenge but they are certainly capable this season. Wayne Gretzky will always be my favorite player & I quickly learned why he was called the Great One.

Breathing in Beijing!

Is it me or every time you see a picture of Beijing or any part of China people are wearing masks? Ok so the air isn't the greatest, no wait it's worse than you think. So why did we give the Olympics to China if their air is so bad? There are the usual events, we are the favorites in most events, our womens soccer team already lost & our gym twins are out of commission. I am not to excited about the Olympics other than hearing our National Anthem being played & watching our Mens Basketball Team take the Gold back. Since Jerry Colangelo took over the USA Basketball Program, he has developed a complete team to help us regain Olympic Gold. With the Olympic coverage 24-7 for 2-3 weeks, I am sure we'll have plenty of time to catch a few minutes of it. Michael Phelps is going for Olympic history but the talk is mostly of Amanda Beard bearing it all. So let's cheer on our fellow Americans to victory & collect as many medals as possible.

Wake up offense!

Damn D'Backs please wake up your bats! This is the 2nd night in a row we couldn't do squat against a no name pitcher. When our pitchers are giving a solid effort & hold the opposition to 2 runs, why are we not scoring for these guys? It's getting a little ridiculous how many runners we leave on base. I bet most of you are regretting not trying to get Texeira in trade from the Braves; he seems to have found a nice home in Anaheim with the Angels. Our rally in the 8th inning was nice but it was too little too late. I know Haren or Webb wasn't on the mound but come on guys, hit the ball. I don't think I've ever seen so many called 3rd strikes in my life the way C.Y., Reynolds, & Montero take. Guys you are up there to hit the ball so at least take your hacks. If you put the ball in play who knows what can happen. So let's regroup after this loss & get our act together because our lead is only 1 1/2 games now over the Dodgers.

We got work to do....

So our first preseason game came & we couldn't weather the storm know as the Saints. There wasn't much to cheer for tonight but there was a couple of things that we can build on. The first was Matt Leinart's performance. He did fairly well throwing 7-8 for 91 yards but more importantly no turnovers. He orchestrated a couple of solid drives but still looked a bit rusty out there; some more playing time in the next 3 preseason games should help. A second bright spot was rookie RB Tim Hightower out of Richmond. He was quick through the small holes but more importantly found his way to the endzone early in the 2nd quarter. Our defense looked a bit shaky most of the night with poor tackling & coverage mistakes mostly by Aaron Francisco. Oh well it is only the 1st preseason game but still as a Cardinal fan I expected a better showing as did most of the valley. I guess half the crowd decided not to attend the game tonight as well because for a minute I thought we were playing @ Sun Devil stadium from a few years ago.

1 ace down, 1 to go!

Memo to Josh Byrnes & Jeff Moorad, sign your Ace Brandon Webb right now please. This guy once again proved why he is going to be in the Cy Young race year in & year out. He pitched a gem last night & earned his MLB leading 16th victory of the season with a complete game. He is in the top 2 in 4 out of the 7 major pitching categories including winning percentage & innings pitched. Once again I want to say to the D'Backs GM, sign this guy Josh Byrnes! By signing Haren you made it clear that you want to keep the pitching core but why didn't you sign Webb first? I like Haren a lot, but I like Webb more & why shouldn't I; the guy has been doing this since his 1st full season in the big leagues. He was the guy groomed to take over when Schilling left & he hasn't disappointed. I mean tis guy should have 18 wins right now with us blowing 2 leads for him last month in Philly & L.A. So B. Webb keep doing your thing, keep pitching your heart out, & they will pay you. We want you to start & end your career in a Diamondback uniform.