Five For Friday

1) Basketball Wives - I know I haven't done a recap since week 3, but the shows been great, and I'm still watching (Sunday nights, VH1)! The first few episodes centered around Royce (Miami Heat dancer), then it went to Gloria (Matt Barnes wife), then Jen (Eric Williams wife) and now it's focusing on Evelyn (employee #8's long time girlfriend). In the last episode, the girls fly to Los Angeles so Evelyn can confront the person she "thinks" has been emailing and texting her "threatening" stuff. They don't say what that is, but a quick google search shows someone posted nude photo's of her online (I'll wait while you look for the pictures - hint - go to the YBF website... just saying, not that I looked or anything......). She hired a "P.I." (and throwing that slang out there numerous times), before we finally get to see who she thinks it is. Turns out it's Vanessa Davis, wife of Ricky Davis (known psychopath..). Vanessa denies it, Evelyn threatens her and throws a drink in her face. Evelyn looks really bad here with her accusations, so I hope for her sake she's right! Here's an article detailing more info. Vanessa Davis Basketball Wife

2) NBA Playoffs - Well I think I jinxed the Celtics and Lakers last week by claiming it was a lock they'd meet in the finals... Since then, both have struggled with Phoenix and the Magic both winning multiple games to get back into the series. I'm not backing off now, however, the Celtics really need to close it out tonight, otherwise I've got a feeling the Magic are going to pull a "Flyers" and come back after being down 3-0.

3) Ubaldo Jimenez - Has he been lights out for the Rockies or what? With his latest win Wednesday, his record moves to 9-1 with a microscopic era of 0.88... He's currently on a 16 inning scoreless streak. Still a long way to go in the season, but Jimenez has a shot at Bob Gibson's era record of 1.12. Dwight Gooden was the last person to come close in 1985 when he posted a 1.53 era. A fun fact - Ubaldo and I share the same birthday, January 22nd, although he might be a couple years younger.....

4) World Cup Soccer - The US finalized their team the other day and while I had hopes about how far they'd advance, after looking over the roster, I think they're in trouble. World Cup starts June 11th and it takes place in South Africa. I'm a big fan of the World Cup and am looking forward to it. I'll probably have more to say as we get closer, but for now, don't be rooting for the US unless you're a big fan of the long shot!

5) Raiders - Don't you just love the audacity of Al Davis? I see where he's now filed a grievance against Jamarcus Russell trying to reclaim $9.55 million that is owed or was payed... Not quite sure on that... Hasn't Davis done this before with coaches Lane Kiffin and Mike Shanahan? He comes up with some story saying they defaulted on their contracts so he doesn't have to pay what is owed. Man knows no bounds! Usually I'm for the owners in contract disputes as it's usually the player trying to get out of a contract, but in the case of Davis, I gotta go with the employees. It's a running soap opera with the Raiders, that's for sure and until Davis is gone, stuff like this will continue.

Until next week,

Bill

Five For Friday

I know I've been missing for a while but wanted to get a quick Friday write up out.

1) Floyd Landis - Wow, big surprise hearing about his admission yesterday. When athlete's get "accused" of steroid use and nobody believes them when they say they didn't use, here's an example of why we don't believe them. Landis has been VERY vocal saying the positive results were wrong and even suing (or threatening to sue) the Paris based cycling federation that suspended him. Apparently he's run up over 2 million in legal fee's fighting this. Hell, I believed him! Now he comes clean. As the saying goes, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". Here me Lance?????

2) Hanley being Hanley - I love Hanley Ramirez talent but with this latest episode I'm done with him. These spoiled athletes thinking they're above the game, I'm fed up with it. I agree with every thing Fredi Gonzalez (the Manager) said, did and how he handled it. I hope and pray the owner (Jeff Loria) backs his manager. This has happened now too many times with Ramirez, either he has to change or they get rid of him. Some one please stand up to these selfish athletes!

3) MMA Fighting - I've really been enjoying both TUF season 11 and the Bellator Fights. Both free and both have had some great fights and story lines this year. Last week on Bellator was one of the best "technical" fights I've ever seen. Patrizio "Pitbull" Freire versus Wilson Reis (pronounced "Haysis" - substitue an "H" for an "R"). Both Brazilian, both black belt (and high level black) brazilian jiu jitsu guys. Freire ended up winning the decision but all thru that fight it was dynamic. Take downs, attempted submissions, escapes. At either point if 1 guy made a mistake it could have been over. Great fight. In the Ultimate Fighter, I've been enjoying the animosity between Ortiz and Liddell. Unlike last season with Rashard Evans and "Rampage" Jackson where every episode seemed to denigrate into calling each other bitches, Liddell and Ortiz are more civilized with their put downs of each other. Genuine hatred between the two but they know how to get under each others skin without the childish antics. Question though that has to be asked..... Nick Diaz - One of the favorites, highly thought of, nice guy but did have to pull out this week due to tearing his ACL. However every time I listen to him talk or watch his mannerisms, my "gaydar" goes up....... Just comes across as awfully feminine... Am I the only one seeing this??

4) NBA Playoffs - I've been trying not to get too excited about the possibility of this, but this train is rolling and I don't see it stopping.... Celtics/Lakers. Offense versus Defense. Now it wasn't a stretch thinking the Lakers could make it back, but Boston limped down the stretch and was a below .500 team after the all star break. For what ever reason, and I don't know what it is, they flipped a switch and are looking like the team that started the season 23-5. They're healthy and the "big three" look like they've finally excepted the fact that Rondo is now the best player on the court and they defer to him. I'm know crossing my fingers and getting a fresh keg for my kegerator, this is going to be a good one!

5) The Rays - Can they keep up this pace? That's the question. They're off to an amazing start. The only thing more impressive than their won/loss record (30-11) is their runs scored to runs allowed (some ungodly number that only the 27 Yankees surpassed). They're on pace to win close to 110 games and truthfully the only thing I see slowing them down is injuries. So far they've been amazingly healthy, but it's a long season. Due to their small payroll they don't have the luxury to have a strong bench and be able to pick up a stud at the trade deadline (Cliff Lee anyone????). I'm now in their corner (which is probably the kiss of death.....) and hope they stay healthy. I'd love for them to have a monster year. We'll see....

Have a good weekend,

Bill

El Toro / Trabuco Hills

El Toro - 4

Trabuco - 1

It's over.

In the season finale, El Toro closed out their season by finishing up their 3 game sweep of the Mustangs.

Jordan Wirth threw 7 strong innings, making his statement for varsity next year. It was a particularly rough year for Wirth as the season started out great for him, but shoulder injuries forced him to shut it down for a majority of the year. After rehabbing for the past month and a half, he ended the season on a high note.

On the offensive side, Brian Graves, Devin Schaefers and Jake Tredwell all had nice days at the plate and the final stamp of the year was put up by a James Meager shot over the left field fence in the 7th. Defensively, probably the best game by the Chargers in awhile, as they'd put together some sloppy games recently, but tightened up today.

In the final synopsis for the year, El Toro finished with a record of 24-5 overall and 14-1 in league. Along with being the Sea View league JV champions, they also captured the coveted Foothill Tournament Championship (see Max Preps for all the details.....), and at one stretch in the season, they reeled off 18 wins in a row.

Led by coaches Jackson and Hammond, they probably played above and beyond expectations. It was a great season and after taking a couple weeks off, they'll be back out for summer ball and preparing for next season.

Congratulations on an incredible year.

Go Chargers!

Bill

Trabuco Hills \ El Toro

El Toro - 7

Trabuco - 3

Congratulations to the 2010 Sea View League JV Champions!

In a spirited, intensity filled, manager ejected game, the young Chargers got down early, but fought back and rolled to the victory, clinching the league Championship.

In the first inning, ET pitcher Brett Hammond picked off 2 Mustang runners drawing the ire of the Trabuco manager.... Heated unprintable words were directed at "Blue" causing the manager to take the rest of the game off. Seemed to fire up Trabuco as they responded by driving Hammond out of the game in the next inning by posting multiple runs and loading the bases up with nobody out. Enter Ben Villines.

Villines responded by getting out of the inning and not allowing another Mustang runner to score the rest of the way.

In the 3rd, ET got it going with a Logan Roberts hit which seemed to untap the Trabuco keg, allowing the Chargers to put up a 4 spot in the inning and never looking back after that.

Some good at bats and solid fielding later, the Chargers were celebrating their Championship. After going undefeated in league last year as Freshmen, this core group came back and only had 1 league loss this year as JV (still 1 game to play). Solid play thru out the whole season, up and down the roster, was the secret. At different times various players stepped up and had big games.

Congratulations to the El Toro JV squad, 2010 Sea View League Champions!

Go Chargers,

Bill

El Toro/ Edison

Edison - 5

El Toro - 4

In the final game of this 3 game series, Edison capitalized on several ET miscues and won an exciting game 5-4.

Being a non league game, El Toro still can clinch the Sea View league Championship on Tuesday when they host cross town rival Trabuco Hills High School in a 3:15pm start. With the loss, El Toro's record falls to 22-5 on the year and 12-1 in league play.

Go Chargers,

Bill

Foothill / El Toro

Foothill - 10

El Toro - 9

The streak is over!

El Toro's 18 game unbeaten streak came to halt Friday as Foothill traveled down to Lake Forest and beat the Chargers 10-9.

The back and forth game saw ET jump out to a 7-2 lead but the resilient Knights fought back and scored 8 unanswered runs before withstanding a Charger 7th inning rally. The game ended with the bases loaded with Chargers. Couldn't have been any more exciting.

El Toro did most of their damage early as good hitting by Jayson Yano, Devin Schaefers and Logan Roberts put up 7 runs. The Knights rarely seemed to square balls up but they kept getting on base as all had good approaches at the plate and put a ton of balls in play.

With the loss, El Toro's record is now 22-4 and 12-1 in league. They have a two game lead over Trabuco Hills with 2 games against the Mustangs next week. On Saturday, they'll finish up their back to back Saturday series with Edison as they travel up to Huntington Beach for an 11am game.

Go Chargers,

Bill

El Toro/Foothill

El Toro - 5

Foothill - 4

Matt Le Vert supplied the offense and Brett Hammond limited the Knights bats, as the Chargers remained undefeated in Sea View League play.

Le Vert had an rbi single in the first and a mammoth 3 run shot in the 3rd (his 4th hr on the year), helping stake ET to a 4-1 lead. It was 4-2 in the 6th, when Mitchell Tolman put one down the left field line driving in Nick Paglialonga with what would prove to be the winning run, as Foothill finally strung together multiple hits in the bottom half making it 5-4. The Knights had a chance to tie, but Logan Roberts hosed a runner at the plate trying to score from 2nd.

In the 7th, Ben Villines relieved Hammonds and closed it out.

With the win, ET moves to 22-3 on the year and extends their unbeaten streak to 18 games. With a win on Friday (against Foothill again), they'll wrap up the Sea View league title. Game time is 3:15pm at Charger Field.

Go Chargers,

Bill

Edison / El Toro - "One Ring To Rule Them All"

El Toro - 6

Edison - 2

Lot's of exciting play and fired up fans on this Saturday morning, non league game at El Toro.

After both sides went 1,2,3 in the first, El Toro put up a run in the second. Matt Le Vert doubled followed by a Logan Roberts single to right field making it 1-0.

In the 3rd, Jordan Wirth got the first 2 outs, then Edison strung together 3 consecutive hits to go up 2-1. Shane Jones came on and got the last out to end the threat. Edison's side was fired up to take the lead, but El Toro answered in the bottom half.

Brian Graves lead off by getting on by an error, Mitchell Tolman singled, Jayson Yano walked, loading them up and Devin Schaefers single tied it up. James Meager followed with a suicide bunt putting ET back up, then after an intentional walk to Le Vert, Roberts followed with a hit by pitch rbi making it 4-2.

Jones continued to string together great pitch sequences and shut down Edison the rest of the way (4 1/3rd shut out innings), while El Toro strung together some more solid at bats and extended the lead. In the 4th, Graves led off again but this time ripped a double to left center, Tolman followed with a single, putting runners at the corners and Yano stung a sac fly to center, 5-2. Schaefers followed with a double but ET failed to score again.

In the 6th El Toro scored again with a Tolman base on ball, Yano sac. bunt and a Jake Tredwell triple, giving us the final of 6-2.

With the win, El Toro moves to 21-3 and pushing their winning streak to 17 straight. They come back with a big home and home league series on Wednesday and Friday against the Foothill Knights, both start times at 3:15pm, with Wednesday at Foothill and Friday at ET.

Go Chargers,

Bill