"Zeke" Controversy Already

Our new favorite college basketball team, Florida International, led by Isiah Thomas, is already causing a stir and they haven't even started practicing yet!

FIU is scheduled to play in the Coaches Vs. Cancer Tournament in mid November and apparently they thought they were going to open with Ohio State in a regional, but were informed today they'd be facing defending National Champion North Carolina instead. Zeke's not happy about it and is threatening to pull out of the tournament.

What's the big deal? Whether it's North Carolina or Ohio State, FIU's going to get pounded no matter what.... It's not like Ohio State is a Division 2 school or something. I don't think the Golden Panthers chances of winning this tournament has been dampened or anything. Just them being invited to this tournament to participate is the recognition they were looking for anyway.

Click on the title for all the details.

Go Golden Panthers!

Bill

Ramblings

1) A.I. - Apparently Iverson is close to a decision on which team he'll sign with. Rumors have it down to Charlotte, Miami and the Knicks. I'd love for him to sign with the Knicks as I think that uptempo offense is suited for him, however look for him to go to Miami (best chance for a title). Charlotte can only offer the vet minimum ($1.3 million).

2) Beasley in Rehab - Apparently it's for "depression", however I find that hard to believe... He was the number 2 pick in the draft last year, is making probably $20 million with the contract he signed, what's he got to be depressed about? Look for the rumors to start that this is a drug dependency. Actually I'm starting that rumor right now, "Michael Beasley enters drug rehab"!

3) NFL - I'm starting to get excited for the start of football. Everytime I go by the NFL channel, I seem to stop and watch a couple minutes of a preseason game they're showing. I'll have a write up coming right before the season starts on all my predictions (yup, I'm teasing you).

4) Colorado Rockies - That team is rolling right now. Just like they did in 07 when they got hot down the stretch, they're doing it again. Won a 14 inning game last night on a walk off grandslam by Ryan Spilborghs. They might overtake the Dodgers in the west... The Phillies are still my choice to come out of the National League but when a team gets hot, throw out the records.

5) "Thunder" to prison - I saw where former Nebraska running back was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for 1st degree murder. Some degree of doubt apparently, but when you have a checkered past and are involved in a shooting during a drug deal, well...... Let's just say, you didn't do yourself any favors.

6)UCLA Football Scrimmage - The Bruins had their scrimmage Saturday and it looks like the defense is back in great form. The offense struggled but they're young across the board, from the QB, down to the offensive line. Redshirt Freshman running back Jonathon Franklin was the lone offensive brightspot as he tallied 99 yards on 6 carries, including a 60 yard touchdown run. I'll have a write up on the defense later on in the week, so stay tuned.

7) Rivers Inks New Deal - I mentioned this recently to expect Phillip Rivers to sign a contract extension and it happened yesterday. Reports are it's for 6 years, $93 million, with $38 million guaranteed (exceeding Eli Mannings guaranteed $35 million recent deal). The guaranteed part is the key there, as everything else in a football contract is fluff.... Expect Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to have their contracts redone this season and look for the bonuses to exceed $38 million. Don't pay attention to the overall numbers they throw out. Interesting note here I read that Rivers drives a minivan and no matter the money he makes, he's not changing that.. Apparently he has 4 kids and he says it's too much work crawling in and out of SUV's to get to the child seats. A family guy!

Until next time,

Bill

UCLA Bruins

Here in Southern California, when it comes to football, it's all about USC. There is no professional team and Pete Carrol has done such an amazing job with the Trojans, that the other major college power locally gets forgotten at times.

Well no more!

I've decided to follow and report on the Bruin football program this year. With Rick Neuheisel coming in as head coach last year and bringing Norm Chow with him as his offensive coordinator, I think the Bruin program is due to take off, and I'm buying in!

It's easy to be a bandwagon fan and follow the perennial winner (you listening bandwagon Yankee fans??), but think about the satisfaction you can have latching on to the young Bruins, following them as they rise to national prominence and saying you where there when it all started.

1st up is the schedule. UCLA starts at home against San Diego State on September 5th.

2009 SCHEDULE ( Click on an event for complete event information )

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
09/05/09	vs. San Diego State	Rose Bowl	4:30 p.m. PT
09/12/09	at Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	4:00 p.m. ET
09/19/09	vs. Kansas State	Rose Bowl	7:15 p.m. PT
10/03/09	at Stanford	Stanford, CA	TBA
10/10/09	vs. Oregon	Rose Bowl	TBA
10/17/09	vs. California	Rose Bowl	TBA
10/24/09	at Arizona	Tucson, AZ	TBA
10/31/09	at Oregon State	Corvallis, OR	TBA
11/07/09	vs. Washington	Rose Bowl	TBA
11/14/09	at Washington State	Pullman, WA	TBA
11/21/09	vs. Arizona State	Rose Bowl	TBA
11/28/09	at USC	Coliseum	7:00 p.m. PT

So far the big news out of Bruin camp is at the QB position. It's looks like Kevin Prince, a redshirt Freshman out of Crespi High, has stepped forward this fall and taken the reigns. Interesting note here is he grew up 3 blocks away from UCLA's campus, so this is playing out as the local boy makes good story. His fathers a dentist and has his practice right there in Westwood. Could we have a new "Fresh Prince of Bel Air"????

Other news out of camp has Freshman wide receiver Randal Carroll living up to his national billing and looks to be in line as the 3rd wideout, opposite senior wide out Terrence Austin.

UCLA has an intra-squad scrimmage tomorrow, where a lot of the positons and starters will get shaken out. I'll have a report early next week on the defense and then the offense the following week as they lead up to the season opener.

Now I need some swag..... I need an extra large blue Bruin football tee shirt and a pair of gold shorts. Is there anyone out there that can help me out?

Come jump on the bandwagon with me!

Bill

It's Not About The Money, It's About Respect

How many of you out there are like me and tired of hearing that?

Every year, in every sport, you hear some athlete complain about how the organization is "disrespecting him". Why? The player will come up with a bunch of reasons why he's being disrespected but he'll make it a point to say "it's not about the money"! Yeah right.

I'd have a lot more respect for some of these guys if they'd just come out and say they want more money and would sign with whoever gives them the biggest contract. What's wrong with that? I don't have an issue if someone said that. Hell, I'd be doing that if I was in their shoes.

Now obviously you need to phrase it the right way, something along the lines of "I love playing the game of basketball, and while it's true I've been fortunate to have made a lot of money already, I'm just trying to set myself and my family up to be as financially secure as possible. It would be my pleasure to play for any team that wanted to give me a contract in the $60 million dollar range".

What's wrong with that?

Bill

MLB Draft Signings Recap

Midnight last night was the deadline for MLB teams to sign their drafted players from the June draft.

Seeing as how I spent a whole day yesterday trying to tract all of it (some people might call that a waste of time, I'd prefer to think of it as "fun"....), I thought I'd give everyone a quick overview of the final tally. Coming into yesterday, there were 13 number 1's still to sign (out of 30) and agent Scott Boras represented 6 of them. All but a couple signed.

After much going back and forth and threats of signing or not, the number 1 overall pick, Stephen Strasburg, signed with about a minute and 20 seconds to go. The Nationals paid him a record $15 million (and change) to sign, but all and all, probably a win win for both sides.

As Strasburg was being settled, the number 2 pick, Dustin Ackley out of UNC, came to terms with Seattle signing for a bonus of $9.5 million (including bonus escalators) and Donavan Tate signed with the Friars for $6 million.

The Texas Rangers who currently lead in the AL wild card race and have been having everything go their way this year, came down with a snag, failing to sign their number 1. Matthew Purke, a local boy from Texas, was the top rated prep lefty in the draft last year, but him and the Rangers couldn't come to terms. He's committed to TCU this fall, so it'll be interesting if he shows up at classes tomorrow or opts for the Junior College route (becoming eligible quicker for the draft again).

The Tampa Bay Rays were the other team failing to sign their 1st round pick when LeVon Washington walked away from their reported $1.6 million bonus. Interesting note here is he committed to the University of Florida but there are reports saying he hasn't qualified academically..... Look for him to go the Junior College route also and be back in the draft next year.

Local Info:

From what I've been able to gather, he's an update on the 3 El Toro players drafted.

Nolan Arenado - signed with Colorado a bonus of $625,000. A big thank you goes out to Mark Yano for getting me the correct amount!

Aaron Wirsch - signed with Baltimore for $200,000.

Chad Thompson - did not sign with the Yankees. I haven't heard though if he's going to ASU (where he'd previously committed) or a JC in order to be draft eligible next year. He had Tommy John surgery back in April, so it'll be about a year before he's ready to throw again.

Tyler Matzek - Lefty out of Capo Valley and was the 11th pick in the draft by Colorado, signed last night for a bonus of less than $4 million (I don't have the exact number in front of me but it was high 3's....).

Here's something I need help with. Draft positions are "slotted" money wise, but a team can choose to offer whatever amount of money they want to a drafted player and that kid can take it or not. I understand that, but what I don't understand is when later round picks are getting more bonus money than earlier picks... Yes sometimes it may (or does) have to do with a pitcher who injured an arm and consequently dropped in the draft, but many times it's just a position player. Numerous times with no rhythm or reason (big market team, small market team...) I saw instances where a 3rd rounder got more bonus money than a 2nd rounder. In some cases it wasn't even close..... I also saw guys that went in the 17th round get bonus's larger than 2nd or 3rd rounders. If I was a 2nd round pick and the 11th rounder was getting more money than me, I think I'd be pretty upset with my agent. Wouldn't you?

If anyone has clarification on this, please let me know. Next time I see Scott Boras at the field, I have to get this answered!

Hope that's helpful to everyone and if you have any questions or want to know about a particular pick, let me know.

Thanks,

Bill

Monday Morning Ramblings

Happy Monday everyone! This is what I'm thinking about on a gloomy Monday morning.

1) And With a Bolt of Lightening - Yesterday in Germany, Usain Bolt (from Jamaica) set the World Record in the 100 meter dash by running 9.58. Unless you're a track and field junkie, you probably didn't hear about it.... Interesting note here. Back in the late 80's, a scientist came out with a paper showing how no human could ever run faster than a 9.59 in the 100 meters. I guess he was wrong....

2) Tiger Being Declawed - In the final round of the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods led after 54 holes and looked unstoppable rolling to major victory number 15. Somewhere along the way, Y.E. Yang from South Korea "roared" back to take the Championship in what many are calling the greatest golf upset ever. Y.E. Yang? I say Y.E.S!

3) MLB Signing Day - Midnight tonight (ET Time) is the deadline for players drafted in the June draft to sign. As of Monday, multiple picks were still unsigned including the overall number one, Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals have reportedly offered the largest contract ever to a drafted player which would put his guaranteed bonus around 12-15 million. If true, I don't see how he doesn't sign. If you're 22 years old, you have to take that security. Foolish to turn down. Expect him to sign at about 11:59pm......

4) Vick - As I said here last week, I'd have no issue with a team signing him, just hoped it wasn't my team. It wasn't. Did anyone see his interview with James Brown last night? I thought Vick came across well and seems sincere. We'll see.

5) Texas Takes Over Wildcard - By taking 2 out of 3 over the weekend, the Texas Rangers now lead Boston by a half game for the wildcard. Gotta give the Rangers credit. After their hot start I expected them to fade as soon as Arlington stadium heated up, but they've been playing great baseball all year. I still think they'll fade down the stretch, but they've proven me wrong so far.

That's it for now. Hope everyone has a great week!

Bill

AFLAC All American Game - Kissed My Sister!

Had a chance to go to San Diego on Sunday and watch the high school all american baseball game. It's a select group of high school seniors from across the country who are expected to be the top players this coming year. One wrinkle thrown in was Bryce Harper was allowed to play although he's not a senior nor in high school....... More on that later.

The game was played at Petco Park (home of the Padre's) and if you haven't been there before, put it on your list of stadiums to visit. It's a great place to watch a baseball game. Highly recommend it.

The game itself went extra innings and ended in a 4-4 tie, which was fine. The game was played with wooden bats which makes a difference... The ball doesn't explode off the bat like it does with aluminum so there were very few "shots" and only a few balls actually made it out of the infield.

I mentioned Bryce Harper above. In case you've been living under a rock, he's the 16 year old that was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated earlier this summer. He's out of Las Vegas and should be a high school Junior this year but instead he's gotten his GED and is going to Jr College (College of Southern Nevada). He's good no doubting that, but if this all star game is any indication, he's got a ways to go to be the "Next LeBron" (his goal for himself). This too good for high school player went 0-5 with 3 strike outs and 2 weak grounders to 2nd. Not exactly dominating..... One game does not make a player (and certainly true in baseball) however there were multiple players out there that were far more impressive looking than him. He's got a ways to go.

Some notes from the game:

1) Tony Wolters hit a game tieing triple in the 9th, which won him "Player of the Game" honors. He's a SS/2nd baseman out of Vista, Ca committed to San Diego next year. Great glove with a nice short compact swing.

2) Jameson Taillon out of Texas was impressive on the mound. 6'7" right hander touched 95 on the gun and thoroughly blew away the East lineup over the 1st 2 innings.

3) Stefan Sabol out of Aliso Niguel high school here in Orange County was solid and played multiple positions (1st and catcher). Look for him to be a 1st round pick in next years draft. Very toolsy......

4) Deandre Smelter from Macon, Ga. pitched well for the East squad. He seemed to have a live fastball with good depth on his curve. The West hitters seemed to have a hard time spotting his ball as he comes from a lower than three-quarter arm slot.

5) Yordy Cabrera was the East teams starting SS and final pitcher. He's 6'4" which is large for a SS but he's very athletic and moves well. At the next level he's probably a corner outfielder as that's where his bat plays best. He's too good an athlete to limit to the mound. Speaking of Cabrera's bat, earlier on Sunday he won the home run contest. Another HR contest not won by Bryce Harper........ Let's see if SI publishes that!

I wasn't really blown away by anyone but liked a lot of what I saw. A lot of projectable talent. One thing I'll say is these all star games seem to be about who you know and how connected you are..... Multiple kids out there have a dad who's a high school coach or older sibling already playing ball in college and no doubt that helped them get selected for this. Not saying they're not talented just someone has to be selected for these games and if you have some sort of "in" that puts them ahead of the game.

One noticeable thing that stood out for me was there were no left handed pitchers there.... Last year I believe 5 lefties were in this game and I believe 4 high school lefties were selected in the 1st 2 rounds of the MLB draft in June. Maybe it's a down year for high school lefties? That'll be a curious thing to follow come next spring....

For all the details of the event along with rosters, click on the title.

Bill

"Never Give Up, Never Surrender"!

That classic line from Galaxy Quest came to mind when I read this article in the Boston Globe about Daniel Nava. He's a AA player in the Red Sox organization who just doesn't believe in the word quit.

If you have a young player who loves to play the game of baseball but might not be the best at it, have them read this article. It's pretty inspiring. With all the stories out there on the superstar players who've had everything handed to them and abuse that privilege, a player like this comes along that brings back the appreciation for the game of baseball.

Remember the name - Daniel Nava

http://tinyurl.com/q3tsnm

Bill

In Case You Didn't Hear

Some interesting sports related items in the news today:

1) R.I.P. - Merlyn Mantle - The wife of Mickey Mantle passed away yesterday at the age of 77 from the effects of Alzheimer disease. She and Mickey had been married for 43 years when he passed away in 1995. She'll be buried in Dallas, Texas next to Mickey. R.I.P.

2) Rambo Signs with the Wolves - Today Kurt Rambis will be introduced as head coach of the Timberwolves. I think this was a smart move for him. The rumors I've heard out of LA is that when Phil steps down (whenever that is) he probably wasn't going to get the head coaching job there anyway. They apparently like Brian Shaw to take over so Rambis needed to go elsewhere to prove himself. The Timberwolves have a good young nucleus with Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio (if they can buy him out of his Italian contract). I think this was a good situation for everyone.

3) Donte Stallworth - I see where Stallworth is asking for his sentence to be reduced. Here's a man that admitted to killing a pedistrian by drunk driving, got a riduculously light slap on the wrist and is allowed to train outside the house 5 days a week while serving his house arrest. Are you kidding me?? If this was you or I, we would be in a medium security prison for a year and a half before serving another 12 months in house arrest if we did the same..... Unbelievable.

4) Eli Contract - With Eli Mannings new contract (pending still, but reported to be in the neighborhood of $97 million), expect brother Peyton, Brady and Phillips Rivers to be the next in line. All 3 of their contracts come up in the next 2 years and all are due for a raise. Granted the football contracts are not guaranteed (and largely back loaded), so look for the signing bonus of Eli to be the benchmark these other guys go after.

5) Delaware Betting - This is a story that will have lots of ramifications. I'm planning on doing a full story soon on this so I won't go into details now, but lets just say professional leagues attorneys are gearing up to prevent this from happening. It's been flying under the national radar but this could effect professional sports as much, if not more, than the collective bargaining agreements do. Professional sports have filed an injunction against the state to prevent the waging from starting next month but were denied. Yesterday they filed an appeal and a trial date has been set for December 7th. I'll have more on this next week.

Bill

Josh Hamilton Off The Wagon

Much has been made about Josh Hamilton's story. Current Texas Ranger who was the number 1 overall pick in the 1999 draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He fell into drug and alcohol addiction and was suspended from baseball. After finally getting his life in order and being away from baseball for 6 years, he had an amazing comeback and last year made the All Star team and finished 7th in the MVP voting. Much more to the story than that, but that's it in a nutshell. He's had some struggles this year with injuries and hasn't had the year everyone expected, so some people have been looking for other angles to report on. Well they found one......

Apparently over the winter (January), Hamilton was in Arizona doing some preseason work when one night he walked into an Irish Pub on the ASU campus and "fun" ensued...... (click on the header for the whole story and pictures. I know you want to see the photo's so just go ahead and click on it now, I'll wait..................................... Ok, done looking? Good). Far be it from me to pass judgement on other people, as I myself live in a glass house and realize it's not smart to throw stones. In reading the story and looking at the photo's, a couple thoughts came to mind:

1) I want my boys to go to ASU. Is that wrong to say????

2) Here's reason number 37 I want to own an Irish Pub.

3) I hope this was an isolated incidence and not a pattern he's falling back into. From all accounts, he seems like a good guy that's worked hard to get his life back in order. He has a lot to live for, so hopefully nothing more comes from it.

4) Why are the girls eyes blacked out? Seriously, why are we protecting them (their identity), but not Hamiltons? They're in a bar, so they're not minors....Just because he's a professional athlete it's ok to publicize him and his indiscretions but not theirs? That doesn't seem right to me....... Why protect them? They didn't do anything wrong, but if they're there participating in this, and the media wants to show Hamilton, then they're fair game also.

On Saturday afternoon, Hamilton spoke before his game and I have to give him credit. He stood there and answered all the questions and didn't try to hide from it. He apologized to everyone and didn't make excuses. He admitted he made a mistake and is trying to learn from it and hopes people can forgive him. Unlike most (not all) of the professional athletes who want to side step questions and use as much deniability as they can hoping people will let something go, Hamilton "man'd up" and took responsibility. I can respect that.

Now where's that ASU online application for my boys to start filling out...........

Bill

Warriors V. ABA

********* Due to contractual obligations, this game will not be blogcast live this evening*******

(In other words, I have a life and have something else to do!)

I may do a recap later if anyone is interested in the details.

UPDATE

ABA - 6
Warriors - 1

Another one of those games, where the Warriors hit but couldn't string the hits together to generate runs. Villar supplied the only run on the night with a solo blast to left. Conmy threw well on the mound but ABA was able to do enough to push across 6.

That finishes the tournament for the Warriors. Although it might not have ended the way they'd hoped, they still had the opportunity to play in 100+ degree temps, and isn't that what it's all about? They also got to start a game at 11pm and really, how often do you get that opportunity in life?

Thanks to the coaches for all the hard work and effort that was put in for this, the boys appreciate it!

Bill

Warriors V. DBAT Mustangs

Thursday night, 7pm, Central Time, the South Coast Warriors will be taking on the DBAT Mustangs. What does DBAT stand for and where are they from? They are a premier organization out of Dallas, Texas that has been around since 1998. Their teams are comprised of Dallas area youth. They've had some pretty good ballplayers come through their program since 1998 with the most notable being Clayton Kershaw, pitcher for the LA Dodgers. For more information about the Mustang program go to http://www.dbatmustangs.com/

After a little rain, we're ready to go! Warriors visitors tonight, so they bat 1st.

1st inning - Villar flies out to RF, Tolman grounds out to 2nd but Conmy with a single up the middle. James, battling a hand injury from last night, flies out to CF to end the top half of the inning. A rainbow is appearing due to the rain, but not sure that's a good sign. Somewhere there's a joke in that but it escapes me right now........ Conmy is pitching tonight for the Warriors. 1st "stang" K's, 2nd batter doubles off the RF wall (that one went over the rainbow....), 3rd batter walks, 4th batter singles, bases loaded... those walks are going to kill you DC.... 5th batter hits a ball that gets under James glove at ss, 2 runners score, 1 out. 6th "stang" grounds out to SS scoring another run, and then Conmy K's the 7th batter to end the inning. After 1, Mustangs 3-0.

2nd inning - Pags starts off grounding out to ss, B-rash with a base hit between 1st and 2nd. 1 out, runner on 1st. Manzo with a pitchers best friend (6-4-3 double play) to end the Warriors at bat. Up strolls the Stangs 8th batter to lead off the bottom of 2. On a seperate note, Casey Kotchman just jacked one for the Red Sox, and the good guys lead the Yankees 3-1 in the 4th!

1st batter ropes a double to left field, single to left, scoring another run, batter takes 2nd on the throw.... 3rd batter, sacrifice fly, 1 out. Next batter, sac fly to right, another run. Conmy gets the 3rd out on a comebacker. 5-0 Mustangs through 2. "Wipe out" is playing on the sound system and thats how the Warriors look tonight...

3rd inning - Yano grounds out to ss, Logan grounds out to second and Villar grounds out to ss (twisting an ankle on the bag). 1, 2, 3... The pitcher for DBAT is not throwing very hard, my JUGGS gun has him 78-81 although he touched 85 once, but the Warriors are having a hard time waiting... Adjustments need to be made the second time through. SuperTramp cranks from the stadium speakers as the Mustangs look to extend their lead.

1st Stang singles up the middle, Conmy getting sick of this and sends a message hitting the second batter. 1st and 2nd, 0 outs. 3rd batter sac bunts over. 1 out, 2nd and 3rd. 4th batter with a deep pop fly to Manzo in RF, caught, and throws to the plate. Double play on the swipe tag by Tolman. We go to the 4th 5-0 Mustangs.

Got Melky? In the other big game tonight, Melky Cabrera just went yard for the Skanks, now 5-3 Yankess bottom of 4...

4th inning - Tolman leads off with swinging bunt, man on 1st, no outs. Conmy grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. James with a single to RF, Pags with a double to left, runners on 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs. Brashears K's to end the top half of the inning. In the bottom half, Conmy K's the 1st batter, but the 2nd gets a single up the middle. 3rd batter flies out to CF. 2 outs.4th batter single to right side. 1st and 2nd, 2 outs. 5th batter single up the middle. Villar charging hard, throwing home, safe at the plate, but Tolman throws to 1st and catches the runner sleeping. James slaps on the tag for the 3rd out. 6-0 Mustangs. Warriors are dying a slow death........

5th inning - Manzo grounds out to start off. Yano with a shot towards RF but a big, corn fed, larger than life Paul Bunyan 2nd baseman hauls it in before it can land! 2 outs. Roberts with a base hit to RF. Villar rips a double off the center field fence, 2nd and 3rd 2 outs. Tolman weakly grounds out to first to end the inning. Good thing he was thinking opposite field there and waiting for the ball to travel instead of getting out on his front foot and rolling over on it (hey I can rip my own kid here.. :) ............ ) Still 6-0 Mustangs. In the bottom of the 5th, the Mustangs go ground out to 2nd, single to CF, K and flyout to RF. 6-0 bad guys after 5.

In other news, the Red Sox, Yankee game didn't take place tonight....... Do you hear me? IT DIDN'T TAKE PLACE!!!!!

6th inning - An interesting note here as the Warriors come up. Warriors with 7 hits, Mustangs with 9. It's all about timing..... Conmy flies out to deep center, James pops up to ss and Pags strikes out to end the 6th. Some large Mustang is making his way to home plate as I type....... And he hits a HR to lead off the bottom of the 6th. 7-0 Mustangs. 2nd batter with a basehit to left. Roberts in to pitch. Wild pitch advancing batter to 2nd. That would be the winning, mercy run. Next batter with a double off the wall to score the winning run.

Final Mustangs 8, Warriors 0.

Warriors come back tomorrow night (8:30 central time) and face ABA out of New Mexico.

Thanks for tuning in, see you tomorrow night.

Bill

Warriors V. Owasso

Hi folks, we're coming at you with a live update from beautiful Owasso, Oklahoma. Tonight in a second round game, the South Coast Warriors out of Lake Forest, Ca are challenging the hometown Owasso Rebels.

It's a 9:30pm start time with game time temps in the 80's with a cool, stormy breeze.

The Warriors are the home team so Owasso is coming to bat.

1st inning - Tyler Brashears is on the bump for the Warriors. He strikes out the first batter and the number 2 hitter pops up to Yano at second base. The number 3 batter hits a single up the middle, but Tyler comes back and gets the clean up hitter on a comebacker. Going to the bottom of the 1st.

After Villar grounds out to second, Tolman goes 5.5 hole, runner on 1st. Conmy follows with a single, 1st and 2nd, 1 out. James continues his hot hitting with a double bringing in Tolman with the 1st run. Storm brewing as Thunder is heard in the distance, or was that a groan from the Owasso fans???? Kincade hits in Conmy but the Rebels throw out James at the plate on a great play. End of 1, 2-0 Warriors.

2nd inning - In the top half, the Rebels go 1, 2, 3 on 2 infield balls and a pop up to right field. Brashears looks on tonight. In the bottom of the inning, Brashears leads off with a hit by pitch, then after a wild pitch and an overthrow, comes into to score. Manzo follows with a double, followed by Tolman going oppo with a double off the left field ball bringing in Manzo, 4-0 Warriors.

3rd inning - Owasso gets on the board. After Brashears K's the 1st batter, a walk, followed by a hit, followed by a groundout to Yano at 2nd. A line drive up the middle brings in the 1st run for the Rebels, but Brashears strikes out the next batter to end the top half of the inning. Up come the Warriors. In the bottom half, James singles to right center, Jones follows with his own single to right, then Kincade walks to load the bases. Time out Owasso. Pitching change. After switch Yano grounds back to the pitcher where they go home to get the runner and then to first for a double play. Brashears follows with a single, plating Jones. Manzo strikes out to end the 3rd. 5-1 Warriors going to the 4th.

4th inning - Rebels go strike out, single to center, pop out to center, strike out to end their half. "Buster" is lighting them up tonight! Up come the Warriors. In the bottom half, controversy arises.... Villar with a single to left but gets thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Words fly and Villar gets tossed. Tolman follows with a strike out, 2 outs, nobody on. Conmy legs out an infield hit and James follows with a bomb off the center field fence scoring Conmy. Jones follows with an rbi single. Kincade follows with a strike out to end the inning. 7-1 Warriors, end of 4.

5th inning - The Rebels need to get something going soon. Single, error by Tolman at ss (bitch...), hit by pitch. Bases loaded, no outs. Walk, Owasso has their second run. Now 7-2, bases still loaded. Brashears hits the next batter, 7-3, bases loaded, nobody out. James injured catching, he's been replaced by Paglialonga (we need a ruling here. Can we just call him "Pags"?). The ghosts of The Mick and Roy Rogers are rearing their ugly heads this inning..... If this continues much longer, I might have to break out in a verse of the musical "Oklahoma" and you don't want that. You hear me, YOU DON'T WANT THAT!!!! By the way, I'm drinking again..... Ok, back to the action. Buster strikes out the next two, but then a passed ball and single to left, followed by another strike out to end the top half of the 5th. Now 7-6 Warriors. The fat lady is warming up her vocal cords in the wings....... Or in this case, I'm warming up my vocal cords and googling lyrics from "Oklahoma"! Lets go Warriors.... We go the bottom of the 5th. Yano pops out to right, 1 out. Brashears singles up the middle and Manzo follows with his own single. 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Portanova (?) strikes out and Tolman hit by pitch. Bases loaded, 2 outs. Conmy grounds out to short to end the the 5th. 7-6 Warriors.

As an interlude before the 6th inning starts, a little info about the play Oklahoma. As you know, Oklahoma was another masterpiece from the amazing duo of Rogers and Hammerstein. Oklahoma is set in the American Indian Territory at the turn of the century. A ranch hand, Curly is infatuated with Laurey, while Will Parker returns early from his trip to Kansas City to find his sweetheart has a problem with the word "no". Ok, back to the action!

6th inning - top of 6th. Buster's fired up and goes K, K, K! Warriors coming to bat. It's now midnight in Oklahoma as Pags flies out and Jones hits a double to center. Kincade gets on due to an error scoring Jones. 8-6 Warriors, Kincade at 1st, 1 out. Yano singles, then 2 outs to end the inning. We go to the 7th.

7th inning - 1st batter struck out, 2nd singled, Brashears picked him off at 1st, 2 outs. 3rd batter singled up the middle. 4th batter grounds out to Conmy at 3rd, game over! Warriors 8, Rebels 6. Game finished 45 minutes earlier than last night, as it's only 12:15am local Oki time....

News is not all good though, as James' hand has swollen up on him and it looks like he'll be going to the emergency room to get checked out. Hopefully it's just a bruise.

The Warriors come back tomorrow (or I guess I should say, later on today....) at 7pm Central time against the Mustangs out of Texas. They're a "factory" comprised of kids from all over the greater Dallas area. They should be good competition for the small town boys from Lake Forest.

And as Dennis Miller was so fond of saying, "That's the News and I'm Outta here"!

Bill

5 Things I think I think

1) Michael Vick Should Be Reinstated - What he did was horrible and he deserved the jail sentence he got. However he served his time and paid his penalty. He should be given a second chance. I hope to hell it's not with my team but I'd have no issue with him when he resigns. My only hope is he does some speaking (either on tv or in person) on humane care for canines.

2) Steroids - Release the list of 104 and be done with this. Maybe it's unfair to the other people on the list who were told it was anonymous, but this "witch hunt" of the names that have come out is not right. They were all wrong for doing what they did, but the sooner all this comes to light, the sooner we can be over this.

3) UFC 101 - I'm fired up for the fights this weekend. Anderson Silva / Forrest Griffin is going to be real interesting. Griffin is bigger and stronger than Silva with Silva more talented.... I like both guys but I'd love for Griffin to pull it out. Why? I'm not sure..... I fully expect Florian to come out hard against BJ Penn, but see Penn overwhelming him. Griffin by decision, Penn 2:30 by submission in round 1.

4) NFL Training Camps - Holds zero interest for me....... Yes, I know, it's the time to follow the rookies and new free agents, but I'm sure most of us could go through all the teams and select 95% of the starters..... Once the regular season starts I'm there, but don't bore me with these training camp stories.

5) Tour De France - Is that borefest over yet? I suppose it's like every other sport, you have to do it in order to appreciate it, but I just have no interest in following that... It's steroid issues are bigger than baseball, football and the East German Womans Swim Team combined. I realize there are strategies involved and such, but isn't it similar to a marathon where the most physically and mentally prepared person will win?? Why aren't other bicycling tours hyped like Frances? What makes this one a bigger international draw than say one that takes place in Italy or somewhere else? If it wasn't for all the steroid issues would anyone even care if this takes place?? I probably wouldn't...

Bill

Warriors take game 1

In an Oklahoma late affair, the South Coast Warriors defeated Tucson High 9-1 in the 1st round of the Mickey Mantle 15U World Series. Due to some earlier games running late, this game didn't get started until 11pm Central time and finished up at 1am.

Jordan Wirth was dominate on the mound for the Warriors going 5 innings and only allowing 1 run and limiting Tucson to 3 hits. Shane Jones came on in the 6th and went 1,2,3 to close it out.

The Warriors offense was led by a Dan James home run and 2 doubles. Mitchell Tolman chipped in with an rbi single and double and Nick Villar, coming off the home run derby victory, stayed patient at the plate and took what they gave him by drawing 2 walks and hitting a hard single up the middle.

Tonight the Warriors come back at 9pm and take on the home team Owasso High School. Should be a large crowd on hand as apparently there is nothing else to do in town other than watch youth baseball........ Rumor has it they are a big, vocal crowd. Should be fun!

Go Warriors,

Bill

Mickey Mantle AABC 15U World Series

Thought I'd give some updates as to how the South Coast Warriors (15U travel ball team out of Lake Forest, Ca) are doing.

The tournament takes place in Owasso, Oklahoma (outskirts of Tulsa) and features 14 of the top 15U travel teams from around the country.

The Warriors won the Orange County section in Southern California which qualified them. They'll start play this evening against a team from Tucson, Arizona.

The weather is not just hot there but "Africa hot"..... Temps touched 101 today with a humidity index of 90..... perfect baseball weather! Of course I'd say that no matter what the temperatures were..

The exciting news so far was Warrior Nick Villar winning the home run contest last night. With some great pitching from fellow Warrior Jayson Yano, Nick hit 4 balls out of Stigall Field in 10 attempts. Knowing Nick, they all went to left field, which is 320 feet down the line (before expanding out to 360 in center). You don't need to be Bryce Harper to hit it out, but it's still further down the line than Fenway Park. Great Job Nick!

Should the Warriors win tonight, they'll come back tomorrow and face the home team Owasso. For those of you that are not familar with Owasso and Owasso High School, they are a national power that has won the Oklahoma Division 6 State Tournament 8 times since 1998 (including the last 3 years in a row). They ended this past season as the number 3 ranked high school team in the country (according to USA Today) so they consistently field top notch programs. Should be a great game.

As updates come in, I'll post them.

Go Warriors!

Bill

Who'd You Rather Have?

With out giving you names, who'd you rather have on your team? Player A or player B:

A) .283 batting average, 26 hr's, 77 RBI's, 28 doubles, 0 triples, 64 runs scored, .548 slg% on 400 at bats.

B) .299 batting average, 23 hr's, 69 RBI's, 28 doubles, 2 triples, 53 runs scored, .581 slg% on 358 at bats.

Both are switch hitters, with Player B being 3 years younger.

Here's something that may help you decide. Player A is making $22.5 million this year (and will make about that a year for the next 8 years) but player B is only making $600,000 this year.

Little bit easier to decide now?

Yes Player A is Mark Texeira and Player B is Kendry Morales. I like Texeira and have no issue with the money he's making but the Angels are looking like genius here by (eventually) deciding to let Texeira go and giving the every day job to Morales. Here we are 100 games into the season and Morales is giving the Angels virtually the same production as Texeira is giving the Yankees. Sometimes as fans we get caught up in wanting our team to go out and sign every big name player on the market and then slamming management when they don't. Sometimes being fiscally responsible and trusting your farm system pays off and I think it's only fair to compliment management when it does work out that way.

Granted one season doesn't make this a great deal, but it's looking more and more like the Angels knew what they were doing with Morales. They saved some payroll space allowing them to fill other holes and give them some flexibility this offseason to either resign some free agents (Lackey most likely) or go out and bring in a big name free agent.

Bill