El Toro Boys Frosh/Soph Update

With an 11-1 win over Woodbridge on Wednesday, ET holds a 22-5 record on the season including being 10-0 in the Sea View league.

With 6 games left (5 in league) , the Chargers look to close out the season on a positive note.

Here's the remaining schedule:

Fri - 5-1 - Woodbridge - home - 3:30 start
Sat - 5-2 - Aliso Niguel - away - 11am start
Wed - 5-6 - Huntington Beach - away - 3:15 start
Fri - 5/8 - Huntington Beach - home - 3:15 start
Tues - 5/12 - Foothill - home - 3:15 - start
Thur - 5/14 - Foothill - away - 3:15 - start

5th Consecutive No Hitter - Update

Update - Schuster gave up a double in the 3rd inning, so the streak is over. 

Today at 1pm PT, Patrick Schuster, out of Mitchell High School in Tampa Florida, will be going for his 5th consecutive no hitter. 

The high school record is 6. 

If you're interested, you can tune into ESPN News where they'll be supplying pitch by pitch coverage of the game.

Bill

What's Bill Thinking?

1. NFL Draft - I didn't get a chance to follow to much of it on tv, but some interesting choices... I did pretty good on my mock draft. A few trades messed somethings up, but I got a high percentage of the guys.
2. Oakland Raiders - The Raiders second round pick is going to be highly followed. Michael Mitchell, a safety out of Ohio University. He didn't make any of the Mid America Conference all teams (they have 1st, 2nd and 3rd) and wasn't even invited to the combine. He was so lowly rated that he didn't make a lot of the scouts top 15 safeties available in the draft list, yet Al Davis deemed him the 57th best player available.. Comments from some other teams after the draft was they only rated him a free agent, not a guy that would be drafted in the 7 rounds...
3. Jets Take Mark Sanchez - I hate the Jets. Let me say that again. I HATE the Jets. Yet, I like Sanchez and want him to do well... I'm not quite sure how I want this to turn out.
4. William "the refigerator" Perry - Still in the hospital but his condition has been upgraded. He's suffering from an inflammation disorder with his nerves and was in critical condition last week.
5. Everythings right in the world - Red Sox sweep the Yankee's. I'm happy!

Bill

NFL Mock Draft

Hi everyone - Welcome to my 4th annual NFL Mock Draft! I've been burning up the phone lines for the past week talking with all my inside sources trying to get a handle on the pulse of this draft.

Oh hell, who am I kidding....... I have no inside sources, but I have read about 1,000 articles and seen about 50 mock drafts by the so called "experts", who do have inside sources.

What I've come to realize is that other than a few picks here and there, it's pretty much a crapshoot as to which player a team will pick. One team makes a "surprise" pick (or a trade) and that changes what everyone behind them does because the player they were intending on drafting is now no longer there.

As of Friday morning it looks like a done deal for the Lions to draft Matthew Stafford. Supposedly they've exchanged contract numbers and are working on the final figures (length of contract and upfront bonus). Also a new rumor came out this morning by Peter King that the Patriots, with their cache of picks (6 in the top 100 and 11 overall), have contacted Jacksonville at 8 and Green Bay at 9, looking to move into the top 10. They've apparently targeted a specific player they like ( rumor has it LSU DE Tyson Jackson ) that won't be there when they make their current 1st round pick (pick 23). If a deal like this goes down, then the order of players could drastically change. Same holds true on a couple teams looking to move up should Mark Sanchez fall by Seattle at 4.

Anyway, with those thoughts in mind, here's my prediction for the 1st round tomorrow:

1. Detroit Lions - Matthew Stafford - QB - Georgia
2. St. Louis Rams - Jason Smith - OT - Baylor
3. KC Chiefs - Aaron Curry - LB - Wake Forest
4. Seattle Seahawks - Mark Sanchez - QB - USC
5. Cleveland Browns - BJ Raji - DT - Boston College
6. Bengals - Brian Orapco - DE - Texas
7. Raiders - Darius Heywood Bey - WR - Maryland
8. Jaguars - Andre Smith - OT - Alabama
9. Packers - Tyson Jackson - DE - LSU
10. SF 49ers - Michael Crabtree - WR - Texas Tech
11. Buffalo - Eugene Monroe - OT - Virginia
12. Denver - Robert Ayers - DE - Tennessee
13. Redskins - Michael Other - OT - Mississippi
14. NO Saints - Chris "Beanie" Wells - RB - The Ohio State
15. Houston Texans - Brian Cushing - OLB - USC
16. SD Chargers - Malcom Jenkins - CB - The Ohio State
17. NY Jests - Jeremy Maclin - WR - Missouri
18. Broncos - Peria Jerry - DT - Mississippi
19. TB Buccanears - Clay Matthews - LB - USC
20. Detroit Lions - Brandon Pettigrew - TE - Oklahoma State
21. Philly - Knowson Moreno - RB - Georgia
22. Minn. Vikings - Eben Britton - OT - Arizona
23. Patriots - Darius Butler - CB - Connecticut
24. Atlanta - Vontae Davis - CB - Illinois
25. Miami Dolfags - Evander Hood - DT - Missouri
26. Ravens - Rey Maualuga - LB - USC
27. Colts - Percy Harvin - WR - Florida
28. Bills - Phil Loadholt - OT - Oklahoma
29. G Men - Alphonso Smith - CB - Wake Forest
30. Titans - Alex Mack - C - California
31. Cardinals - Donald Brown - RB - Connecticut
32. Steelers - Max Unger - C - Oregon

There you have it, my prediction for the 1st round. Since I started writing this I've heard a couple of impending deals that'll change somethings, but for the most part, this is my best guess. A couple players may not end up on the team I predicted, but they'll still get picked around that slot...

The draft starts Saturday at 1pm PT. If you're not around a tv tomorrow, when you come home, click on my link to take you to the official website of the draft for all the picks.

Bill

Free Money!

Only one week left to file for a property tax reduction. 

If you've bought a home in the last 5 years (or know someone who has), fill out the one page reassessment form and mail it in by April 30th. Your cost is ZERO and could save you thousands of dollars on your property tax bill. 

It's a simple form, only requiring about 15 minutes to fill out. I can get you all the information you need to complete. 

To get the form, click on the title "Free Money" or my article from April 15th entitled "Property Tax Reduction" and you can access it and print it out. 

Tell your friends, family, neighbors, co - workers. 

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me at (949) 394-0074.

Thank you,

Bill

Sea View Scores

Here are a couple recent Sea View F/S scores:

El Toro          - 6

Aliso Niguel - 3

El Toro         - 8

Northwood - 0

Trabuco Hills   - 3

Tesoro              - 12

Trabuco Hills           - 4

Huntington Beach   - 1

Steroids and the Angels

This topic came up today about the Angels and if an asterisk should be applied to their 02 World Series Championship.

Troy Glaus admitted recently he was taking steroids that year (he was selected the World Series MVP) and pitchers Scott Schoeneweis and Brandon Donnelly have also been "outed" from that team. And let's face it, with all of the known drug and substance issues Scott Spezio has gone through, I don't think we can rule him out here.

That's quite a few key guys from that team connected with steroids. Does it taint their title?

You tell me.

Bill

What's Bill Thinking?

Ok, today I'm debuting a new series called "What's Bill Thinking?"  Here are the sports news currently on my mind:

1. John Maddens retirement - No matter if you liked or disliked him, you knew he was on if you were listening to the game. He revolutionized sports reporting and for good or bad, changed it forever. He'll be missed.
2. NBA Playoffs - With Garnett being out, the Celtics have no prayer in the East (as evidenced by Chicago taking them down in the 1st game). We're looking at a Cleveland / Lakers final. Not that I like either team but I hope to hell the Cavaliers win this..... I'll have more on the playoffs next week after round 1 has been concluded.
3. NFL Draft - The draft is this weekend. I'm currently putting together my 4th annual 1st round predictions which I'll post on Friday. My predictions can only get better (as some of you can attest)!
4. "The Bird" has flown the Coop - Mark "The Bird" Fidrych" died last week while working on his dump truck..... Apparently as he was under the truck repairing some stuff, his shirt got caught in a moving piece and he died by strangulation.. Weird.... The game misses characters like him. Name me a player in today's game that has that uniqueness about him? Manny comes to mind, but who else? Yes, baseball is a business, but I miss people like Fidrych, Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky and Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. What happened to the great nicknames? In the history of the game, even the great ones had nicknames that if mentioned you knew who they mean't. "The Bambino", "Joltin Joe", "The Splendid Splinter", "Mick the Quick", "Hammerin Hank", "Yogi", "the Say Hey kid", "the Iron Horse", "Mr. Cub", "Stan the Man", "Tom Terrific", "The Express", "Mr. October". Instead we have "Arod" and that's it. How come Albert Pujols doesn't have a nickname? 
5. Greg Paulus - It looks like now that the Duke point guard has finished up his basketball eligibility he's going to transfer to Michigan and try to win their starting QB position on the football team. For those that may not know, Paulus was one of the top rated QB's when he came out of high school 4 years ago. He elected to just play basketball in college but I love this idea. Why give up the dream when you don't have to?? Besides, Michigan would then pay for his 1st year of his Masters Degree.... Pretty smart kid if you ask me!
6. "Illegal" Nick Adenhart Tee Shirts - Saw this today on an Angels website. Some controversy going on as a guy has started selling Adenhart tee shirts. MLB doesn't currently have any licensed Adenhart tee shirts, so there was no place for anyone to buy one after his death. This guy put together one and started selling it online for $15.75 (including shipping and handling which was $5.75). No it's not illegal as he hasn't used the MLB logo, but a bunch of people have been complaining to the Angels about it, saying he shouldn't be making money off this. My response to these people? Get a life! He's not doing anything wrong and at $15.75 he's not ripping anyone off. If the Angels (and MLB baseball) do get around to licensing and selling a shirt, do you think you'll be able to buy it for under $35.00? NO. After his shipping costs and costs of goods (tee shirt and silk screening), he's basically making $5 dollars a shirt. So he sells a couple hundred (his website says he's sold 100 so far)... It's not like he's retiring on this. Someone, somewhere is going to make money here, that's called a Capitalist Society, people need to get over this.... 
7. And finally, speaking of the NFL Draft - I heard today that Eugene Monroe, an offensive lineman out of Virginia who's expected to go in the top ten in the draft has a 60 year old brother... How is that possible?????? Does he have an 80 year old father? 

Until next time,

Bill

Jones' Good Ass BBQ and Foot Massage

I saw this on Sports Illustrated this morning. 

With a title like that, are you honestly not going to click on it?????  

What does this have to do with sports? Who knows, who cares!

Enjoy,

Bill

Mission Viejo 5, ET 3

In a hard fought battle, the Diablos nipped the Chargers Thursday night at Deaudeux Field in Santa Ana. 

ET scored a run in the 1st but Mission came back in the bottom of the 2nd and capitalized on 2 Charger errors to score their 5 runs. 

Michael Cipolla came on for MV and limited the Chargers the rest of the way, scattering a couple hits and keeping ET from threatening. 

Mission ended up 3-1 for the tournament and El Toro fell to 2-2. 

Bill

El Toro Frosh/Soph take down Mater Dei

In a tight back and forth battle, the Chargers nipped the Monarchs 5-4. 

Mitchell Tolman, Tyler Brashears and Byron Manzo all had big hits for ET, while Jordan Wirth and Jake Tredwell used an array of curveballs and knuckelballs to keep the Mater Dei hitters off balance. 

The Monarchs had their chances in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings loading the bases, but the Chargers came up with timely defense to prevent any damage. 

El Toro travels back to Mater Dei tomorrow evening to face the always tough Mission Viejo Diablos in the finale of the four day tournament. Game time is 6pm. 

Come on out and catch some great action!

Bill

ET 3, University 0

In a second round game of the Mater Dei Tournament, El Toro shut down the University Trojans. 

John Greiner went 4 strong shut out innings and then Collin Parker, in his first pitching stint of the season, closed out the final 3. 

Daniel Conmy led off the 4th inning with a triple and Mitchell Tolman brought him in with a sacrifice fly to left, to get the Chargers on the board. Tyler Brashears followed a hit and walk with an rbi single to give El Toro the cushion they needed to coast over the final couple innings. 

The Chargers come back tonight against host Mater Dei in a rematch of an early season game won by El Toro. Start time is 3pm. 

Bill

El Toro boys drop opener of Mater Dei Tourny

El Toro lost 6-1 to Tesoro in the opening game of the Mater Dei Frosh / Soph Tournament. 

Daniel Conmy started for ET and was dominant through the first 3 innings, shutting out the high powered Titans and only facing the minimum 9 batters (including 5 strike outs). The Chargers posted a run in the 2nd on a single by Andrew Kincade and a double by Jake Tredwell, giving them a 1-0 lead heading to the 4th. 

El Toro made a pitching change to start the 4th and that jump started the Tesoro bats as they put up 4 runs in the inning. Brandon VerWayne hit a homerun in the 6th to close out the scoring. 

El Toro comes back on Tuesday night versus the University Trojans. Game time 7pm. 

In other games, Trabuco Hills came up on the wrong end of a 6-1 score against Mission Viejo. Alex Luaces did his part by going 3-3, but it wasn't enough against the tough Diablo pitching. 

The Mustangs will be facing another tough opponent today at 4:30 when they go up against Long Beach Wilson.

Bill

The F.I.U. Golden Panthers - Updated 4/23/09

Hi everyone - I saw this article today with an update on his contract status. Pretty interesting... As I've said, I'm not a big Isiah Thomas fan, but I think this is a great deal for FIU. You better believe I'm going to start following their program, which this hiring does.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/ncaa/04/23/thomas.ap/index.html?eref=sircrc

With Isiah Thomas agreeing on Tuesday to take over the men's basketball program there, I thought I'd give you a little info about the school, because, let's be honest, you've probably never heard of Florida International before.

They're considered a commuter school, along the lines of a Cal State Fullerton, with their main campus in Miami. They started classes back in the early 70's and now have approximately 30,000 undergraduates. 

As to their basketball program, they are a member of the Sun Belt Conference, along with schools such as Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, South Alabama, New Orleans, Middle Tennessee State and North Texas (along with a few others...). They are what is known as a "Mid Major" program. 

Two current alumni in the pro's are Carlos Arroyo and Raja Bell. 

The athletic director of the school, Pete Garcia, has been building up the sports programs of the school since taking over in 2006. He hired famous Arizona State assistant baseball coach, "Turtle" Thomas (you may know him from his how-to catching dvd's) to take over the baseball program and has been instrumental in building the new on campus football stadium which is due to open this fall. 

To be honest, I dislike Isiah Thomas, however, I think this is a GREAT hire for the school. What's the downside? In an era where a lot of the top high school basketball players are only staying in college for 1 year, why not go to South Florida and play for Isiah Thomas for a season? If you're a point guard, wouldn't you want to learn from him? So you spend a season in the Sun Belt Conference before moving to the NBA, it's not like it's going to hurt your draft stock..... 

To go to the FIU sports website, click on the title. 

Bill

Property Tax Reduction

Do you think your property taxes are too high? If so, you can notify the tax assessor by the end of April and they'll reassess the value of your home.

If you click on the header, there is a 1 page form that you fill out and mail in. It's easy to do and the best part is it's free! It took me maybe 15 minutes to complete.

If you've purchased your home within the last 5 years, your value has unquestionably dropped but even if you've owned your home longer, you may still be able to save $1,000's on your taxes. Is that worth 15 minutes of your time?

Being a real estate agent, I do have easy access to all the information you'll need to complete the form, so if you have any questions or need any help, please feel free to send me an email at billtolman@gmail.com or call me at (949) 394-0074.

The form does need to be completed and mailed in by April 30th, so don't wait.

Thanks,

Bill

Sports News You May Not Know About

I thought these were interesting:

1. I mentioned last week about Courtney Paris for Oklahoma and how she promised she'd pay back her tuition is the woman's Oklahoma Sooners didn't win the National Championship. Well they didn't and she claims she'll make good. However (or as Stephen A. Smith would say HOWEVVA......), the University President say's he's flattered she'd offer but they don't expect her to fulfill her promise. This actually gives me incentive to follow her WNBA career and see what sort of money she makes..... 
2. I noticed in the remarks section of the the New York Met's the other day they released 21 year old  minor league pitcher Pedro E. Martinez. Yes Petey's son! Wow, Pedro is 37 and he has a 21 year old kid........ I can't imagine having a kid when I was 16......... 
3. Boston's opening game yesterday started at 4:06pm as a nod to Ted Williams batting average back in 1941.
4. Mike's youngest son, Marcus, signed a letter of committment yesterday to play basketball at University of Central Florida. Do you think their attendance will increase this year???
5. And finally, I saw this clip on YouTube today. Yesterday in a practice round at the Master's, Vijay Singh hit a hole in one. Not totally unusual other than the fact he actually skipped the ball off water........ You gotta see it to believe it (click on title for link). 

Bill

El Toro 7, Trabuco Hills 6

Another exciting game at Chargers field. 

After it looked like El Toro put the game away in the bottom of the 7th, Trabuco Hills battled back with 2 runs in the top of the 7th to tie it. Jake Portanova worked a walk to bring the Mustangs within 1 and then Kody Weil put a ball down the right field line to tie it up. 

In the bottom of the 7th, the Chargers loaded the bases with 1 out when Collin Parker was the "right guy in the right spot" and put a ball through the drawn in infield bringing in Tyler Brashears with the winning run. 

With the win, El Toro brings their Sea View record to 7 and 0 and the loss dropped Trabuco to 2-5 within league. 

Both teams are off for the rest of the break and start up again on the 13th. 

Bill

Wirth with a No, No

Jordan Wirth threw a no hitter Monday as El Toro took down Trabuco Hills 6-0. Using "Blue's" generous strike zone, Wirth was able to paint the corners with his fastball and freeze the Mustang batters with his curve. Tyler Brashears made a running 1 handed catch in the seventh to preserve the no hitter. 

The Chargers used a Byron Manzo home run and timely hitting by Villar, Conmy and Tolman to supply the runs. 

These 2 teams come back on Tuesday for another spring break affair as they hook up at El Toro at 11am. 

Bill

Sea View Frosh / Soph Schedule for Week of 4/5

This week, El Toro and Trabuco Hills face each other on Monday and Tuesday and Woodbridge and Northwood challenge each other on Tuesday and Thursday. 

The ET, TH games are 11am start times with the Monday game at TH and Tuesday game at ET.

The Tuesday Woodbridge / Northwood game is at Northwood, with the Thursday game at Woodbridge. Both games are 3:30pm start time. 

Huntington Beach and Foothill have the week off but come back next week to face each other. 

Good luck!

Bill

Baseball Predictions

Here's my best guess on Opening Day:

AL East - Red Sox

AL Central - Indians

AL West - Angels

AL Wild Card - Yankees

NL East - Mets

NL Central - Cubs

NL West - Dodgers

NL Wild Card - Phillies

AL Champion - Red Sox

NL Champion - Cubs

World Series Champion - Red Sox

Yes I know I'm biased, but Boston has too much pitching and depth to ignore. Injuries will happen during the year but I think they'll be able to withstand it. 

As for individual awards, here you go:

MVP - 

AL - Josh Hamilton

NL - Albert Pujols

Cy Young - 

AL - CC Sabathia

NL - Johan Santana

Rookie of the Year - 

AL - Matt Wieters - Baltimore

NL - Jordan Shafer - Atl

Should be a fun year!

Bill

Thursday Sea View Action

On Thursday, Trabuco Hills hosted Northwood and walked away with a 3-2 win. Michael Mobley started for the Mustangs and went 3 strong innings. Curtis Graham, Matt Levin and Dylan Churchill came on and limited Northwood the rest of the way. Churchill also had a walk off bases loaded hit to win it. AJ Borland supplied great hitting and catching, throwing out 3 Timberwolf base runners. 

In other Sea View games, El Toro continued their great start by traveling up to Foothill and taking down the Knights 9-2. Tyler Brashears limited Foothill for 6 innings and Jake Tredwell came in for the last inning and closed out the victory. Collin Parker led the hit parade with a couple hits including a home run. Also stroking the ball was Daniel Conmy, Nick Villar and John Greiner. 

And in the other Sea View contest, Huntington Beach took down the Woodbridge Warriors. 

El Toro travels to Santa Ana on Saturday to face the always tough Mater Dei squad before continuing with league play next Tuesday against Trabuco Hills. 

Bill

Ramblings

Lot’s of Final Fours coming up over the next week, here are somethings to watch 4   (pun intended…..): 

- Sunday in Woman’s College Basketball (yes it still exists), UCONN faces Stanford and Louisville takes on Oklahoma, with the winners moving on to the Championship game on Tuesday. The UCONN women will roll, that’s pretty much a given…. However something interesting to watch is Courtney Paris for Oklahoma. Before the tournament started she guaranteed Oklahoma would win the tournament or she’d refund the University her scholarship which is about $64,000. Needless to say, I’m not pulling for her! I hope she does well, but I’d love to see her put her money where her mouth is….. 

- In the men’s bracket, can Villanova do like they did in 85 and pull an upset? The ghosts of Rollie Massimino, “easy” Ed Pinkney, Harold Jensen, Dwayne McClain  and Gary McLain will be haunting Ford Field as the Wildcats take on the Tar Heels. In the other game, can underrated Michigan State take out the UCONN men’s team? With the apparent impending sanctions coming up next season, the Huskies seem to be on a mission. 

- In the Frozen Four (I’m sure everyone has been following that….), we have BU taking on Vermont and Miami of Ohio facing Bemidji State ( and no, I have no idea who the hell Bemidji State is. I suppose I could google it, but I'm too lazy....). BU is the prohibitive favorite as they’ve been on a tear since the new year started (see my post on the Frozen Four from March 23^rd), but with college hockey, anything can happen…………… I think. 

- In other news, we have MLB baseball starting up on Sunday with the Dodgers facing the Giants and the Braves traveling to Philadelphia to face the World Champion Phillies. Most other teams get started on Monday and Tuesday. On Saturday I’ll post my predictions for the year, so be sure to check in for that. 

- Broncos trade Cutler to Bears. I hope this falls on Chicago’s face…… I’m all for athlete’s getting the most money they can when their contracts are up, but I’m sick of the incessant whining they do when things don’t go as they like. So Cutlers feelings were hurt when they looked into dealing for Cassel. Grow a pair and get over it. He’s making enough money to drown his sorrows in the comfort of some blonde, big breasted girl, so he should have just dealt with it.  I’m pulling for Denver to have a great year and go deep in the playoffs, and see Chicago fade away in December. 

- I’m a big John Calipari fan and was a little sad to see him leave Memphis. I hope he can bring Kentucky’s program back to prominence but would have loved to have him stay in Memphis and build that into a traditional power. No matter what he does at Kentucky, it’ll always be Rupp Arena and unless he wins 5 NCAA Championships, he’ll always be behind Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and Rick Pitino when people think of Kentucky coaches. He could have been a legend in Memphis…… 

- I am looking forward to seeing more of the new Yankee Stadium. I may have to take a trip back east to check it out. One interesting tidbit I heard, is that there are about 300 seats that have obstructed views. Not sure the cost of these seats, but nice design New York! The Yankees are saying they’ll install TV monitors there so no one will miss the action, but if that’s the case, why go to the game? Why not just sit home and watch on tv? 

- And finally, Michael Vick will be in court on Friday to discuss his bankruptcy plans. That should be interesting. Some early info is he plans to return to football this fall (assuming Roger Goodell lets him back in) and this summer he’ll be working 40 hours a week doing construction in Virginia.  Anyone have any ideas about which team he'll end up making his "comeback" with?

Bill

Sea View League Standings - Updated 4/04

As of April 4th, here is how the Frosh / Soph Sea View league standings are shaping up:

Wins Losses

El Toro       5-0

H Beach      4-1

Foothill         3-2

Trabuco Hills  2-3

Northwood   1-4

Woodbridge     0-5

Good luck to all the boys!

Bill