10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (1/6-1/8)

10. Buccaneers Schedule Interview With Brad Childress
            Just in case you guys forgot about how incompetent Brad Childress was as a head coach for the Vikings, here’s a link to the second post ever made by No Credentials.

9. Magic Beat Kings By Seven

            This is a result that I expect none of you to care about, but No Credentials needed some good news after all the money we lost on the Steelers. Thanks to Orlando for covering the spread by half a point.

8. Chiefs Remove Interim Tag From Head Coach Romeo Crennel

            I always thought Romeo got a bad rap in Cleveland, so I’m happy to see the former Pats defensive coordinator get a second chance in Kansas City.

7. Giants Destroy Pathetic Falcons

            A fifth grader challenged me to a game of Madden the other day. While I beat him easily (no mercy from me when it comes to Madden), his play calling was much more logical than what Atlanta was running. How do you run the same quarterback sneak on two fourth and ones and get stuffed twice? Remind me to never pick the Falcons in a playoff game again.

6. New England Patriots re-hire Josh McDaniels

            Two sets of kudos need to be given out here. One goes to the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick has been known as a guy that holds grudges, and usually doesn’t get along with former assistants who have left the nest (remember Eric Mangini?). Big ups to him for bringing a guy back who once did eight hundred celebratory fist pumps after beating the Patriots in 2009. The second set goes to McDaniels, who was willing to put his ego aside and return to his old job. Expect McDaniels to rebuild his stock within two years and earn another head coaching gig.

5. Jarome Iginla Scores Goal #500

            Jarome Iginla has been the captain or co-captain of my fantasy hockey teams four of the last five seasons, so I’m happy for Iggy to reach this milestone. Now we just need to give him the Ray Bourque treatment and ship him to a contender.

4. Yankees Posada Retires

            I always thought Posada was a douche bag, so if you want to read nice things about him, check out this post by ESPN’s Wallace Matthews.

3. Texans Clobber Bengals

            It would be really easy to get excited about Houston after the thumping they delivered to Cincinnati Saturday, but I do see them giving Joe Flacco some trouble next Saturday. 

2. Saints Explode in Second Half, Outlast Lions

            If your on the 49ers, you better be praying for 25 mph winds and rain this coming Saturday. It’s going to take some help from Mother Nature to slow down the Saints attack.

1. Tebow, Powered By God, Shocks Steelers in Overtime

            Denver’s offensive game plan was one of the best I’ve ever seen by a team that is a significant underdog. They knew Tebow wouldn’t complete a high percentage of passes, but they made sure the plays they did hit would go for big yardage. The 80-yard touchdown in overtime will probably go down as one of the best sports moments of 2012.

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (5/13-5/15)

10. ESPN’s Matthew Barnaby Arrested During a Domestic Dispute

            Barnaby was a fringe contender to make the 10 worst ESPN employees list, but no one in America cares about hockey, which doesn’t really make him relevant. I don’t want to make to much light of this situation (according to police there was no reports of violence), but when did ESPN begin to have more legal issues than the Cincinnati Bengals?

9. Carl Edwards Dodges Scary Crash in Nationwide Race at Dover

            Edwards was so concerned that he caused this last lap crash that he skipped his usual back flip after winning the race.

8. Matt Kenseth Steals Win

            A very boring race was given a bit of a jolt by an odd caution with 38 laps to go. Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Clint Bowyer were the three fastest cars on the track, but they took four tires on the final pit stop (to put it simply for non gear heads, that was the wrong decision). Matt Kenseth elected to take two tires (again for non gear heads, that was the right decision). Kenseth cruised passed old-timer Mark Martin to take his second victory of the season.

7. Troy Polamalu Graduates From USC

            I’m not sure what Polamalu plans to do with a degree in history after his playing career, but good for him.

6. Chad Ochocinco Rides a Bull

            Of all of Chad’s antics over the past 10 years, this one is my favorite. It’s one thing to propose to a cheerleader, or Velcro a fake name to your jersey, or even legally change your last name. Riding a bull though is pretty serious business.

5. Lightning Smoke Bruins in Game 1

            Tampa scored three goals in 85 seconds of this one and never looked back. Boston looked very old trying to chase down Tampa’s top-3 lines (you’ll recall they had a similar issue against Montreal in Round 1).

4. Jose Bautista Hits Three Home Runs in One Game

            I’m not sure who is responsible for turning Bautista into the 1996 version of Mark McGwire (more than likely a rogue Canadian scientist), but it’s awesome. He smacked five dingers in the three game series at Minnesota, which isn’t the easiest place to hit a home run.

3. Thunder Finally Knock Off Grizzlies

            It’s strange to say it, but I’m going to miss the Memphis Grizzlies. They gave us an epic upset of the veteran San Antonio Spurs. They pushed a much more talented Oklahoma City team to a 7^th game, despite losing the epic triple overtime game 4. They didn’t put out their best effort Sunday, but what are you going to do when Kevin Durant drops 39 and Russell Westbrook gets a triple-double? Look out for Memphis next year when a healthy Rudy Gay returns.

2. Jorge Posada Refuses to Hit 9^th in Yankees Lineup

            What do you get when you mix a washed up player with an oversized ego that’s upset about his spot in the batting order? This story.

            I was planning on talking about how this is only the beginning of issues that New York Yankees will have with aging players, but ESPN’s Wallace Matthews (who actually gets paid to write) beat me to it here.    

1. Chicago Hammers the Heat

            This was a tie game at halftime, but the depth of the Bulls overwhelmed Miami in the 2^nd half. Unlike Boston, Chicago has plenty of big bodies to clean up the boards and shut down the boards. The only thing that held them back in the first half was some sloppy play by Derrick Rose. Miami is in big trouble if they can’t keep Chicago off of the offensive glass (the Bulls had 19 offensive rebounds).

2011 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Rounds 16-17

16-181 = Curtis Granderson, CF, Yankees – I honestly have no idea how Granderson fell this low in the mock (probably due to me over-emphasizing starting pitching and infielders). Granderson was a disappointment during his first year in the Bronx, but did hit 18 home runs in his final 81 games of 2010. A great buy low candidate you should consider taking as early as the 9^th round if you need to fill an outfield spot.

16-182 = Phil Hughes, SP, Yankees – Hughes’ poor second half is the reason he dropped on my board (along with his job pitching in the sand box that is the new Yankee Stadium). He’s going around the 147^th pick in ESPN leagues. 

16-183 = Francisco Cordero, RP, Reds – Another cardiac closer. If you own Cordero on your fantasy team this season, do yourself a favor and never watch him pitch live. Also be aware that if he struggles, Aroldis Chapman is lurking to take his job.

16-184 = Brandon Lyon, RP, Astros – Lyon is essentially the same pitcher as Cordero, but he pitches on a poorer team and has more job security.

16-185 = Michael Cuddyer, 1B-3B-RF, Twins – You won’t get much more than 15 homers and 80 RBIs, but he’s a solid bench player with corner infield and outfield eligibility.

16-186 = Jhoulys Chacin, SP-RP, Rockies – Chacin delivered a strike out per inning during his rookie year with Colorado at the age of 22. For those of you that plan on punting saves, this is a guy you want to get to fill your RP spot.

16-187 = Joel Hanrahan, RP, Pirates – Hanrahan is competing with Evan Meek for the closer job, but his high strikeout rate should give him the edge in that battle. Hanrahan was fourth in strikeouts by relief pitchers last season.

16-188 = Jorge Posada, C, Yankees – This is probably the last season Posada will ever be owned in a fantasy league, as he will lose his catcher eligibility after this season.

16-189 = Ike Davis, 1B, Mets – Davis hit 19 home runs in his first season in the majors, and at age 24, has potential to hit more.

16-190 = Carlos Quentin, RF, White Sox – Health is a concern, but at any point from round 10 on it’s appropriate to take a chance on a guy who could deliver over 30 home runs.

16-191 = Johnny Cueto, SP, Reds – Don’t expect him to turn into a top-10 starter, but Cueto is a solid option to anchor the middle of your fantasy rotation.

16-192 = Johan Santana, SP, Mets – Santana could miss as much as half the season recovering from shoulder surgery last September. It’s important to know if your league has DL spots before adding him to your roster.

17-193 = Andres Torres, LF-CF-RF, Giants – Torres’ numbers would’ve been much stronger if his appendix didn’t explode. It isn’t unreasonable to expect between 10-15 home runs and 20-30 steals.

17-194 = Fernando Rodney, RP, Angels – No matter how bad I need a closer, I will not draft Fernando Rodney. Someone desperate for saves will though.

17-195 = Matt Garza, SP, Cubs – I’m not as high on Garza as others because I feel Chicago is a mess. He’ll be a great buy-low candidate in 2012 when Pujols is playing first base for the Cubs.

17-196 = Juan Uribe, 2B-3B-SS, Dodgers – Uribe should not be targeted as a potential starter, but can be a valuable member of your bench.

17-197 = Jaime Garcia, SP, Cardinals – Garcia’s 2.70 ERA was helped greatly by opponents only hitting .243 against him. Expect it to be at least 3.85 or higher in 2011.

17-198 = Ryan Raburn, 2B-LF-CF-RF, Tigers – Similar to Uribe, Raburn’s multi-position eligibility (in Yahoo leagues only, not ESPN) makes him an attractive option for your bench. A .270 batting average with 20 home runs is not out of the question as he enters the season as Detroit’s starting left fielder.

17-199 = Kevin Gregg, RP, Orioles – You can count on three things in life. Death, taxes, and Kevin Gregg somehow finishing the year with 30 saves.

17-200 = Jorge De La Rosa, SP, Rockies – It’s often not pretty, but he’ll give you close to a strikeout per inning.

17-201 = Nick Swisher, RF, Yankees – There’s no way Swisher (a career .253 hitter) matches his .288 batting average from last year. Still, he’s a great bet to net you 25 home runs by seasons end. You could take him 50 picks earlier and get no complaints from me.

17-202 = Ervin Santana, SP, Angels – Santana was on my fantasy team for all of 2010, and I honestly have no idea how he won 17 games last year. We’ll probably never see him put up a season close to his production of 2008 (16-7, 214 Ks, 3.49 ERA, 1.12 WHIP), but you’ll happy with 170 strikeouts from your 17^th round pick.

17-203 = Frank Francisco, RP, Blue Jays – Francisco is the favorite to win the closing gig for Toronto.

17-204 = Bronson Arroyo, SP, Reds – Arroyo doesn’t have the talent to be a top-25 pitcher, but he’s going to give you a solid 200 innings. He also has a good chance at racking up 15 wins.