Michigan nips Penn State

A classic video

One of the most classic press conferences of all time

what will they create next..

In light of the World Cup and the infamous head butt by France's Zidane, I recently found this on one of my friends blogs

http://addictinggames.com/zidaneheadbuttgame.html

A great first half

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm definitely satisfied with the way the first half of the season turned out for my beloved Tigers. No way did I expect them to have a 59-29 record and have the best record in all of baseball and have a two game lead over the White Sox for the lead in the AL Central.

Heres to hoping they can keep up the pace in the second half and be in the playoffs for the first time since 1987. Hopefully the pitching holds up and the young players like Granderson, Zumaya, and Verlander don't get too fatigued down the stretch. I would hate to do what the Cleveland Indians did down the stretch last year and then have to recall the vivid image of Chicago White Sox coach Ozzie Guillen giving the choke sign (see image)
Also here is hoping that the players (i.e Carlos Guillen, Pudge, Maggs) stay healthy during the stretch run.

The first half of the season was also a great one for two of my three fantasy baseball teams (yeah im a fantasy sports dork). In the random yahoo public league i joined i'm in first place with a game lead over the rest of the competition. I'm boasting a 59-41-10 record and have won seven of my last eight weekly matchups after opening the season by losing the first three weeks.

In the league I care about most (league im in with people from work) I'm a 0.5 game behind Scott for first place with a 118-85-44 record. In that league i've won five straight weekly matchups and seven of my last eight.
Then theres the league I'm doing shitty in.. the league im in with EMU people. I'm 12th out of 14 teams and 39 games behind the league leader.

my wish list

As the second half of the baseball season will begin soon, I decided to make a wish list of players I hope the Tigers acquire for the stetch run.

1. Carl Crawford

Probably not likely because the Tigers would have to give the Devil Rays too much. But Crawford is a young, talented left-handed outfielder with great speed - something that is missing from this year's team.


Stats - .319 average, 12 doubles, 8 triples, 13 home runs, 46 RBIs, 32 stolen bases


2. Alfonso Soriano

A second baseman who has been transformed into a left fielder for my second favorite team - the Nationals. His defense can be suspect at times, but for what he can do with the bat he is well worth it. Not a lefty, which is what the Tigs need, but if they could acquire him it would be a big lift.


Stats - .272 batting average, 20 doubles, 27 home runs, 56 RBIs, 20 stolen bases, 63 runs

3. Dontrelle Willis
Has arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball the past month. Seems unlikely the Marlins will trade him now that they are playing respectable baseball. The price might be too high for the Tigers. The Tigers seem to have enough reliable pitching but you can never have too much.

Stats - 6-7 record, 3.94 ERA, 123.1 innings, 3 complete games, 76 strikeouts


4. Bobby Abreu
Seems to be the most likely of this group. A left-handed bat who gets on base. Has a big salary but seems as things will be worked out in order to reach a deal if one is reached. Likely would lose Craig Monroe or Marcus Thames and possibly a minor league pitcher

Stats - .293 batting average, 22 doubles, 8 home runs, 59 RBIs, 83 walks, 18 stolen bases, .447 on base percentage

*Stats are through the first half of this season

what a coincidence

Just saw that NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth was rear-ended for the second straight day. Seems he must have a target on him.

Kenseth’s rental car bumped at stoplight

One day after a bump from Jeff Gordon sent him spinning out of the lead in the Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, Matt Kenseth felt another nudge as he was stopped at a light in his rental car.

He thought it might have been a tap from Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle, who was following Kenseth from the airport to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for testing.

“He always runs into me, so I thought it was him joking,” Kenseth was quoted as saying Monday in a NASCAR news release. “It wasn’t. It was a student driver and instructor; just pile drove into the back of me. That was exciting.”

Goodbye Ben, hello Nazr

In a couple of days Ben Wallace will be a Chicago Bull. Like many Pistons fans I was disappointed that he decided to leave Detroit when it seemed like the starting five could at least have a couple more long playoff runs to see if they can deliver another title. I also didn't think he'd actually leave, but things happen and change.

At the same time, I understood the business aspect of things and realized that the Pistons couldn't offer him 60 million for four years. Many are skeptical of the signing of Nazr Mohammed as the new center but I'm taking the optimistic approach and thinking we might have something better than people think we have.

When Ben Wallace was traded to Detroit in the summer of 2000 along with Chucky Atkins for Grant Hill, he wasn't exactly an All-Star caliber player. In his last season in Orlando here are his numbers

Ben Wallace (1999-2000 season)
Games- 81 (81 starts)
Minutes /gm - 24.2
Pts/gm - 4.8
Reb/gm - 8.2 (2.6 offensive reb/gm)
Blk/gm - 1.6
FG % - 50.4
FT % - 47.4

Here are Mohammed's numbers from last season with San Antonio
Games - 80 (30 starts)
Min/gm - 17.4
Pts/gm - 6.2
Reb/gm - 5.2 (2.0 offensive reb/gm)
Blk/gm - .61
FG % - 50.4
FT % - 76.5

Their numbers are fairly comparable
Mohammed might not be the defensive presence that Wallace was, but he is an upgrade on the offensive end. While it sucks to lose the face of the franchise this might pay off in the long run

Now I understand

As if I didnt understand before, I got another reminder on how big this area is on there NASCAR.

I was in Meijer picking up some grease for my hair tonight and I overheard a couple of ladies talking in the next aisle over. There discussion began about their day and one mentioned she had watched the race. The discussion took off there as they talked about the end of the race in which Jeff Gordon won by spinning out Matt Kenseth in the final laps.

When the lady who didnt watch the race heard Gordon one she was rather disappointed because she doesn't like him but said she preferred him over Kenseth. The other lady replied I really can't stand both of them and they continued their discussion about their favorite drivers.

After picking up what I needed I took a quick glance over at the next aisle and saw that these ladies just appeared to be your average females.

a trip to the southWEST side

Went home for a little bit yesterday to enjoy the holiday and catch up with some pals. Its amazing all the people I saw while being home for a little bit more than 24 hours. I rolled until town about 3 p.m. yesterday and stopped to get some ice cream and saw a few people I knew working at Dairy Queen.

I went home and chilled there for most of the evening and met my sister's boyfriend Rodney for the first time. Of course I was the last to meet him because I'm never around that way. But from what I hear hes a regular at my house. I ended up heading down to the beach for the fireworks display over Lake Michigan that night and caught up with people I hadn't seen in eons. Ran into one of my classmates and a few of my sister's classmates and then also my friend Erika and one of her pals.

After the fireworks I ventured out to Benton Harbor to meet a few of my close pals at Steak and Shake for a late night snack. Steak and Shake was surprisingly packed with so many people there from the fireworks .. so it took awhile to get food. but that was cool because it just gave me the chance to catch up with Amy, Katie, Kristy and Lynz. Aside from seeing Amy at the end of May, I hsdn't seen the others in quite sometime.

Regardless yesterday was a long day considering I was up at 5 to do pages. and i didn't get much sleep because I was hanging out at a co-workers cookout on Sunday.

Today I stopped at my friend Renae and her husband's house and got a tour. When I get married I'd want to have a house like theirs. It was a decent size and a pretty nice place. Then I ran a few errands and before you knew it it was time to eat. Renae and her husband came over as was my uncle Ron. My sisters boyfriend and his mom and nephew also came but they didnt arrive until after most everyone had already eaten dinner.

while at home it was pretty cool to see the new additions around town, and I was surprised to see that there is a Steve and Berry's in Benton Harbor. I definitely want to hit that up when I return that way